Words & Weigh

Yummy Yammy Soup

2011-01-14T09:02:00.002-06:00

I made a version of this soup last week but I didn't record my recipe. Well - there was no recipe - it was another of my "create a soup with what's available" endeavors. It was quite tasty, and I am going to attempt to re-create - and hopefully improve upon it.

Last time I pureed the soup with my hand blender, some bits of the celery string were present. This always bothers me when I use celery in a pureed soup. So this time attempted to "de-string" the celery with a vegetable peeler to improve upon the texture. It seemed to work!

My preferred store bought vegetable stock is a brand called "Kitchen Basics"® .

It has less salt that most other brands (230g/serving), no MSG, no glutens, and the salt it does have is sea salt. And I recently found a "No added salt" version which I have yet to try. Not today, though!

Yummy Yammy Soup

1 large yam, peeled and cubed
3 large carrots, peeled and cut into chunks
3 stalks of celery, strings peeled away and chopped
1 large chopped onion (or 3 medium leeks, white part - thoroughly cleaned and sliced)
4 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 quart or litre of vegetable stock
2 tsp. dried thyme
Fresh pepper
Pinch of kosher salt - or to taste if you're not worried about too much salt
Chopped fresh dill for garnish

1. Soften the onion and celery in oil. Sprinkle with salt and fresh pepper. Add garlic, carrots, yam and continue to cook for 10 minutes.
2. Add thyme and vegetable stock. bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 25 - 30 minutes . Check carrot and yam for softness and cook a little longer if necessary.
3. Cool mixture for a little while, then puree with a hand blender.
4. Add chopped fresh dill and serve!

This recipe made about 7 cups of soup.
I swore I would never be one to puree soups because they seem not to be as filling as soups that have the chunks of vegetable intact, but I am finding that not to be the case! And the added bonus is being able to camouflage all sorts of vegetables from your refrigerator drawer in your soup for added nutritional punch!

Now that Weight Watchers® has moved to the Points Plus® Program, I have not determined the points value per cup - but I'm estimating that each cup contains at least half a cup of pureed sweet potato, which counts as 2 points. All the other ingredients are 0 points. The oil adds barely .5 of a point to each serving.
Paired with a nice salad and a roll, it makes a lovely Weight Watcher® friendly lunch.

Cabbage Rolls like my Mother Used to Make - Vegetarian

2010-12-28T11:02:00.000-06:00

When I crave the taste of cabbage rolls,or holubchi, I make the lazy version - as outlined in an earlier blog. For special occasions I will make the authentic kind - rice actually rolled into cabbage leaves and simmered in a low oven for several hours. This is the kind my late mother used to make. Only hers were dainty and petite and of uniform size. Mine - not!

They are picky and time consuming to make so it is a rare occasion indeed that I deign to make them. On Dec.25th we were going to my nephews home for dinner, so I volunteered to make cabbage rolls to take along.

The pickiest part is preparing the cabbage for rolling. I use the steamer basket of my stock pot to prepare the cabbage. I get an early start so there's plenty of time to get each stage done.
Because the job tends to be messy and wet, I like to spread a nice clean towel on my work surface and get started. I'll be using the towel to separate the cabbage leaves from the head and allow them to cool on it.

Cabbage Rolls

1 med. cabbage
2 cups long grain rice
1 large onion
3 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 cans tomato soup

Stage 1: Preparing the cabbage

1. Cut the hard bottom off the cabbage and make slits around the base of the core. This is to allow steam to get in and make the leaves easier to remove. Remove any imperfect outer leaves and save. Wash thoroughly.

2. Place the cabbage in the steamer basket , core side down, and allow to steam for a good 10 minutes before checking to see if the outer leaves can be easily removed. After 10 minuted, remove steamer basket. You should be able to remove a few of the outer leaves. I got 5 on the first go and that seems to be all I could get per round of steaming.

They must come off the cabbage easily and be removed without tearing. As soon as you feel resistance, it's time to put the cabbage back into the steamer for more steaming. Deepen the slits around the core - being careful not to cut too deep in order not to damage leaves. You may have to cut away a little more at the base of the leaves in order to free it from the cabbage with each removal round.
Continue with this process until all leaves of a size that will be suitable for rolling have been removed. The closer you get to the inside of the cabbage, the thicker the leaves. Return the loose leaves to the steamer for several minutes to soften. They'll collapse into the steamer and lose stiffness.
Trim the thick center ribs as thin as possible without making a hole in the cabbage.

Stage 2: Preparing the Rice

1. Partially cook the rice. Normally water to rice is a 2:1 ratio. For par-cooking, I use a 1:1.
2. Saute onion in vegetable oil until soft.
3. Combine onion, remaining oil, rice, salt and pepper and allow to cool so that it can be handled.

Stage 3: Rolling, rolling, rolling.....

1. Place a spoonful of rice on each leaf, and roll.Tuck in the side edges as you go.

2. Place into a roasting pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray and lined with remaining leaves that were too small to use for rolling or with the outer leaves that were removed earlier. (If no leaves are available, not to worry!)
3. Salt and pepper each layer.
4. Dilute 2 cans of tomato soup with 1-1/2 cans of water, mix well, and pour over the cabbage rolls.
5. Cover with foil or remaining leaves and roaster lid and bake for 3 hours at 325°. Check to make sure cabbage is done, and increase cooking time if necessary.

Alas, they were gone too quickly and I neglected to get a picture of the cabbage rolls once cooked.

I'm told that I can save a lot of hassle preparing the leaves if I freeze the head of cabbage, and thaw before rolling. Then I can eliminate the steaming step. I have not tried this, but I will for the next time. It will certainly make the preparation a much quicker process!

And yet another Bran Muffin Recipe

2010-12-19T11:25:00.000-06:00

This is another recipe that originated from the little cookbook "Just Muffins®" compiled by Gaye Hansen. My recipe, however, bears little resemblance to the original which was titled "Delicious Bran Muffins".
Once again, I dip into my frozen banana stash. It also allows me to use up the yogurt (plain or fruit) that is a few days past its prime. I think it's the cinnamon and nutmeg that make these muffins so appealing. They are currently my favorite bran muffins. They smell wonderful while baking and taste yummy warm or cold! To cut back on the sugar, I substitute half of it with Splenda®.

'Bran'ana Muffins

1 cup yogurt (plain or flavored) or 1 cup buttermilk
1 cup natural bran flakes
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup brown sugar (or 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup Splenda®)
1 cup flour
1/2 tsp. cinnamon (or more if you like it.)
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking soda
2 mashed bananas
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1. Soak bran in yogurt (or buttermilk) for 15 minutes.

2. Add the oil and eggs and stir well
3. Add the remaining dry ingredients. (Probably best sifted, but I don't usually bother! Maybe that's a mistake!)
4. Stir in the mashed banana.
5. Spoon into muffin pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray.
6. Bake at 350 for 25 to 30 minutes. Makes 12 moist,delicious muffins.

These muffins don't keep their height once they cool - and I'm not sure why. Perhaps sifting the dry ingredients would help. Any seasoned bakers out there might know the reason and let me know....
Regardless, they quickly disappear.

In terms of WeightWatcher® points, they work out to approx. 3 points per muffin.

Potato Latkes - Definitely not low-fat!

2010-12-04T10:19:00.000-06:00

At this time of year, all thoughts of watching calories goes out the window. It's Chanukah - and time to enjoy the annual treat of Potato Latkes. My husband and I are crazy for these - and we can easily eat 5 lb. of potatoes worth between us. BAD!!! Luckily, it's infrequent.

I don't follow a recipe, and so far I haven't had any failures. I did jot down measurements (sort-of) for the purpose of this blog,

A few things I have learned over the years of making these (and tasting the latkes made by others).
- They taste just as good if you use the food processor to shred instead of doing it by hand. (It took me at least 10 years to learn this one.)
- Rinsing the shredded potato helps to eliminate the unsightly "greying" caused by the starch exposure to air.
- Processing the onion in a mini chopper instead of the processor eliminates big chunks of onion in the mix
- No amount of onion is too much
- Finishing on cooking parchment on cookie sheet in the oven ensures that the latkes are cooked through - and maintains the crispiness

Potato Latkes

5 lb. russet potatoes
3 med. onions - finely chopped in mini-processor
3 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup flour
Salt and pepper to taste
Vegetable oil

1. Peel and shred potatoes in food processor. Coarse or fine shred - your choice.

2. Rinse the starch out of the shredded potato, and press out as much water as possible. I find that this process keeps the potato nice and white. I use the strainer part of my salad spinner, and it works just fine!

3. Process the onions and combine with the potato in a large bowl - big enough to get your hands into for mixing!

4. Add the eggs and flour and mix thoroughly with your hands. (It almost like making bread dough!)

5. Start a couple of large frying pans on med-high heat with a couple tbsp. oil in each. When the oil is hot, make patties out of the potato mixture and gently place in the hot oil to fry. Flatten with a spatula.

Keep an eye on them, and flip when golden. You may have to add a little oil for the second side.
(You also have to keep watch for latke snitchers as the first batch may not make it to the next step.)

6. When golden brown on both sides, transfer the latkes to a cookie sheet lined with cooking parchment and continue by baking in the oven at about 325° while you fry the rest. The timing is not an exact science - and they'll be delicious!

7. Keep on frying until you've used all the potato mixture. You may need more cookie sheets, and employ "FIFO" when serving. (First In - First Out).

8. Enjoy! Serve with sour cream or applesauce. (In my house, ketchup is the condiment of choice).

Pumpkin - Bran Muffins

2010-09-25T12:10:00.000-05:00

I can never follow a recipe straight out. It seems that I always have to make a substitution here or there. Whether it be Splenda® for part of the sugar, or cut back on the oil - or whatever, there is always some variation.
Today's Pumpkin Muffins are no different.

I popped into our neighbourhood Superstore (Loblaws) yesterday, and was greeted by large crates of pumpkins on the way in the door. I was inspired to make something with pumpkin. I love the spices that enhance the flavour, and it seemed like just the thing for a fall day. But did I want to bother with fresh pumpkin? Not today - so I headed for the canned products and bought a can of pure pumpkin.

This recipe is a variation of my Bran-Banana Muffin recipe which is a variation of a Bran Muffin Recipe from my "Just Muffins" booklet by Gaye Hansen. It in no way resembles the original - but served as the springboard for the creation of the new recipe.

Pumpkin Bran Muffins

1 cup Fat Free Yogurt
1 cup bran
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup Splenda®
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg or allspice
1/4 tsp. cloves
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

1. Soak bran in yogurt for 15 min.
2. Add oil, eggs, pumpkin puree and mix well.
3. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add raisins at the end if using.
4. Spoon into muffin pan which has been sprayed with vegetable spray - or into paper baking cups.
5. Bake at 350 for 25 - 30 min, until toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These make a moist and tasty muffin. The nice thing about the pumpkin puree is that it does not add any point value to the recipe if you are a Weightwatcher®. When I make these again, I will likely bump the spices a bit as they were a little too subtle in the muffins, but on the whole this recipe was a success.
My husband is not a fan of pumpkin recipes, so his opinion is still to come!

I calculate the Weightwatcher® point value to be approx. 3.25 per muffin for this recipe.

Relish the Thought of Overgrown Cucumbers (or How I lost my Home Canning Virginity!)

2010-08-22T18:05:00.000-05:00

My husband and I have just returned from a week in Chicago ( business, unfortunately - not vacation) and my cucumbers used the opportunity to grow into blimps. Giz of Equal Opportunity Kitchen http://eatfordinner.blogspot.com/ suggested I toss them into the composter, but I didn't have the heart. I nurtured those cucumbers, fertilized them, watered them, provided them with beautiful coloured cages to climb - how could I resort to such an undignified end for their brief lives?

After googling and a bit of research, I decided to try my hand at preserving cucumber relish. I remember the delicious relish my mother used to make when I was a youngster, and wondered if I could pull it off. I have never in the almost 60 years of my life ever canned anything, so this would be a new experience.

Off to Canadian Tire® to buy supplies:

and a book:

Bernardin® are the folks that make the jars. They were the resource I counted to hold my hand through the process. This recipe is from Bernardin® Guide to Home Canning and makes 6 - 500 ml. jars of relish.

Cucumber Relish

7 cups peeled, finely chopped cucumbers
4 cups finely chopped green pepper
4 cups finely chopped red pepper
2 cups finely chopped celery
1 cup finely chopped onion
1/2 cup pickling salt
2-1/4 cups granulated sugar
3 cups white vinegar
3 tbsp. celery seed
3 tbsp. mustard seed

1. Peel the cucumbers and seed them. The recipe I used did not say to seed them, but when using watermelon sized (well, almost) cukes, the seeds are undesirable.

2. Chop all the vegetables and combine in a large glass or stainless steel bowl. Little did I know that this process would take well over an hour! Once all the vegetables are combined, add the pickling salt, mix well and allow it to sit for 4 hours.

(I found it necessary to alter the recipe. I under bought peppers and over peeled cukes, so my cucumbers took up the slack for my pepper shortfall. Also I had red and yellow peppers and no green ones, so that was another deviation from the original recipe. I'll know in 2 weeks if my changes were a good idea or not. That's the suggested wait time before using the relish in order to allow flavours to blend.)

3. Line a salad spinner basket or sieve with cheesecloth and scoop the relish mixture into it to drain.
Rinse it well and drain several times as it's pretty salty. Very salty! Squeeze out the excess liquid.

4. Combine sugar, vinegar, celery seed and mustard seed in a large stainless steel saucepan. Mix well and bring to a boil. Add the vegetables and return the mixture to a gentle boil for 10 minutes.

Jar preparation:
At some point near the end of the 4 hour wait time, prepare the mason jars for use. The clean jars need to be placed on a rack in a canner and covered with water. Heat the water to a simmer (180° F/82° C.) The snap lids need to be heated also in the same temp water - not boiling. Keep them hot until ready to use. Remove from the hot water with a jar lifter. Tilt to drain all the hot water out.

5. Ladle the relish mixture into the jar to within 1/2" of the top rim. This is the headspace. Using a non-metallic utensil, poke around in the mixture to remove air bubbles. Wipe the rim of the jar to remove any stickiness and centre the SNAP Lid on the jar. Apply the screw band securely until resistance is met. Do not over tighten.

6. Place the jar in the canner. Repeat with the remaining jars and relish mixture.

7. Cover the canner and bring the hot water to a boil. Process by boiling the filled jars for 15 minutes. Remove jars from boiling water without tilting and cool upright, undisturbed for 24 hours. After cooling, check the jar seals to make sure the lids have sealed properly and curve downward. Remove the screw band, wipe dry and replace. Do not tighten firmly.

8. Label and store in a cool, dark place.

The recipe was supposed to make 6 - 500ml jars. I only got 5 out of it. The way I figure it, with the canner, jar lifter, jars and book I had to purchase to make it, each 500 ml. jar is worth $7.41 not including tax! . (That's not including the non-cucumber vegetables I purchased.) Maybe Giz's idea to pitch the cukes wasn't such a bad one after all! I should listen to her more often!

However, my mother would be proud of me if she was here to see it! My first preserves! Ever! The experience - Priceless!

Cauliflower-Carrot Soup

2010-08-08T14:38:00.000-05:00

This soup doesn't look much different than last week's "Anything you want it to be " soup. Lighter and not green in color - but because it's pureed with a hand blender, it has that same look and texture. I was a holdout against pureed soups - I thought that keeping the vegetable in chunks would make it more filling, but I`m gradually coming around. There`s more of an elegance to them - and you can hide all kinds of nourishing stuff in them and your family will be none the wiser!

This one is really easy - and makes use of minimal fresh ingredients: onion, cauliflower, carrot, dill. Add to that a litre (or quart) of vegetarian stock, some water and 1 tbsp. vegetable oil and you have a very nice practically ZERO point soup if you are on the Weight Watchers® program.

Cauliflower-Carrot Soup

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
1 large diced onion (1-1/2 cups)
6 cups finely chopped cauliflower
1 cup diced carrot
1 liter (Approx.4 cups) vegetable broth
1 cup water
3/4 - 1 cup fresh dill, loosely packed
fresh pepper

1. In a soup pot, saute the onion in the vegetable oil to soften.
2. Add the cauliflower and carrot and saute a little longer.
3. Add the vegetable broth and water and simmer until the carrot and cauliflower are soft.
4. Add the chopped dill for the last minute of cooking time.
5. Remove from heat and puree with a hand blender.

This recipe makes 8 cups of soup. All items are "point free" except for vegetable oil - which is 3 points for the entire soup. That's less than 1/2 a point per cup serving.

Options:

- Make the soup creamy by adding 1 cup skim milk. That would bump the point value per cup slightly.
- Instead of dill, season with curry - 2 teaspoons. This should be sauteed with the onions.
- Omit dill and stir in 1 tsp. pesto when serving the soup.
- Omit dill and add a dash of nutmeg when serving.
- Add 1 cup of shredded cheese after pureeing (and the appropriate point value per serving.)

Anything You Want it to be Soup

2010-08-02T13:00:00.000-05:00

I recently returned from a 4 day vacation trip to Las Vegas with my sister-in-law. We had a wonderful time - saw "Jersey Boys" and "Donny and Marie", played the slot machines, shopped and partook of many appealing buffets. The money I spent in Vegas stayed in Vegas, but the extra pounds adhered and came home with me. So, it's back on the WeightWatchers track for me. And here's a soup to get me started!

I was shopping in our neighbourhood Superstore (Loblaws in other parts of the country) a few days ago. Normally, the fresh produce in this store looks very tired and unappealing, but that day was an exception. There were bunches of fresh spinach that looked outstanding! Clean and perky and irresistable. I had to buy a pound of it!

Part of it would go into a salad, and part of it would be for a soup recipe that I got from my sister-in-law who got it from her mother. I do not know the original source of the recipe. The original title of the soup was Broccoli-Cheese Soup, but the vegetables can be anything you want them to be. I used spinach and broccoli this time, but I would try cauliflower, carrots, leeks, turnip, and even potato if I wasn't trying to cut back on the carb calories.

Broccoli Cheese Soup (or Anything You Want it to Be Soup)

1 tbsp. canola oil
small chopped onion (I used the white part of 3 leeks that were about 1-1/4" in diameter)
2 diced carrots (approx. 1 cup)
1 stalk chopped celery (approx. 1/2 cup)
4 cups of water
4 tsp. of chicken bouillon flavouring
(I used vegetable broth in place of the water and bouillon flavouring
2 pinches of kosher salt (1 tsp. if you're not watching salt content)
freshly ground pepper - a liberal amount if you like pepper
1/2 lb. chopped broccoli including the stalk
1/2 lb. fresh spinach including stems
1-1/2 cups skim milk
1 cup shredded cheese - preferably low fat

1. Saute the onion or leek, carrots and celery in the canola oil until softened.

2. Bring liquid to a boil. Add the bouillon flavouring if using water.Add salt, pepper.
3. Add the sauteed vegetables and the fresh vegetables and simmer until all the vegetables are cooked - approx 15-20 minutes.

4. Toward the end of the cooking time, reduce the heat and add the skim milk.
5. Add the cheese and allow it to melt into the soup.

6. Puree with a hand blender while it is still warm.
7. If desired, garnish with some fresh dill or any suitable herb of your choice, and serve!

This recipe made 7 cups of soup. With low fat shredded cheese, that would work out to approx. 2 points per cup serving. With regular cheese, it would be closer to 3 points.

Devilishly 'Dilly'icious Potato Salad

2010-07-09T08:38:00.000-05:00

Potato Salad has a very short life in this household. Both my husband and I can make a meal of it if we don't ration ourselves. In fact, as soon as it's made it MUST be sampled to see if "it's fit to eat". It always is....
I suppose it's pretty traditional potato salad - much like my mother used to make. But my 2 key flavor boosters are Keen's® Dry Mustard and fresh dill. The "Devil" in the name comes from the dry mustard which is commonly added to the egg yolk mixture in deviled eggs.

I don't usually measure - so consider these quantities as guidelines and adjust to your personal taste.

Devilishly 'Dilly'icious Potato Salad

8 cups cooked cubed potatoes
8 hard boiled eggs
1/2 cup green onion
1/2 cup sliced radishes
3/4 to 1 cup light Miracle Whip®
1 - 2 tbsp. Keen's® Dry Mustard (the stuff in the yellow can with the red label)
1/2 c. loosely packed chopped dill
Salt and Pepper to taste
Paprika

1. Boil potatoes (approx. 5 lbs. worth). To cool them quickly, I spread them on a platter to expose them to air. I am never organized in advance, so this works for me.
2. While they are cooling, I sprinkle the Keen's® Dry mustard on them. It makes it easier to distribute the mustard flavor throughout.

3. Hard boil the eggs. They can be cooled quickly by letting them sit in cold water prior to peeling. Using an egg slicer, cut up 5 of the eggs and place in a large mixing bowl. Reserve 3 of the eggs for a garnish if desired. Or chop them all up and include them in the salad.
3. When the potatoes are sufficiently cool, dump them into the large bowl with the eggs and combine with all remaining ingredients.
4. Thoroughly mix the salad to distribute the Miracle Whip® and all other ingredients throughout. Transfer to a serving bowl and garnish with the sliced egg. Sprinkle with paprika and refrigerate.

This recipe serves 6-8.
I calculate the Weight Watcher point value to be approx. 3 points per half cup.

Banana Bread

2010-06-26T11:23:00.000-05:00

It seems that there are always tired, over-ripe bananas sitting in the fruit bowl. I have 3 choices - bake with them, toss them into the freezer to add to my growing collection of frozen bananas with the intention of using them for baking - or throw them into the composter. Today is another one of those days where guilt for my over-buying gets the best of me and I have to bake yet another banana recipe. Perhaps I should change the name of my blog to "Bananas 'R Us!"

This recipe is from my girlfriend Kim who got the original from a cookbook called "Lick the Spoon" by Marilyn Smith. I do not own the cookbook, so I can't comment on the book overall, but we have enjoyed this recipe numerous times. I did change it a bit - cut back on the sugar and oil from the original.

The recipe calls for wheat germ which I couldn't find in my freezer. (That means it's time to clean out the freezer or put wheat germ on the shopping list. I wonder which I'll pick.....)
I used ground flax instead. I think it should be a good substitution since I cut back on the oil from the original recipe.

Instead of 3/4 c. of brown sugar (original recipe) I cut it back to 1/2 c. - and used a blend of 1/4 cup brown sugar and 1/4 cup Splenda®.

So here's the recipe - and it's an easy one.

Banana Bread

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup Wheat germ (or 1/4 c. ground flax)
1/4 cup bran
1/4 cup All purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda

Wet Ingredients:
2 large eggs
1/2 cup canola oil ( I cut back to 1/4 cup)
1 cup mashed bananas (approx. 3 bananas)
3/4 cup brown sugar. (I cut back to 1/2 cup - and used 1/4 cup Splenda® and 1/4 cup brown sugar)

1/4 cup chopped nuts. (optional)

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spray a 9' x 5' loaf pan with vegetable spray.
Mix together dry ingredients.
Mix wet ingredients separately. A few pulses with a hand blender works beautifully.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until moistened.
Add the nuts if using.
Pour into 9' x 5" loaf pan.
Bake at 350 for 40 - 45 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool for 10 minutes, remove from pan, and continue cooling.
Enjoy!

The flax meal was the perfect substitution. The banana bread is delicious and moist - and the easiest recipe to make as long as you have the ingredients!

Banana - Oatmeal Muffins

2010-05-16T12:05:00.001-05:00

I have a frozen banana collection. Instead of tossing out the bananas that are past their due date, I toss them in the freezer and add them to my stash. When I have plain yogurt to use up, I dip into my frozen banana collection and make my favorite muffins - Oatmeal. This recipe is a variation of the Oatmeal Muffin recipe from the booklet "Just Muffins" by Gaye Hansen. I've removed the oil and substituted bananas, and use Splenda® instead of the sugar to make it more diabetic friendly.

Banana-Oatmeal Muffins

1 cup rolled oats
1 cup plain fat free yogurt ( or fruit yogurt if desired)
1 egg
1/2 cup brown sugar or Splenda®
3 mashed bananas
1 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 c. raisins or dates (optional)

1. Stir yogurt into oatmeal and let stand for up to an hour in refrigerator.

2. Add egg and mix well.
3. Mix in sugar or Splenda® and mashed bananas.
4. Blend in sifted dry ingredients and raisins.
5. Spray muffin tins with vegetable spray and fill with mixture.

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes. Yield - 12 muffins.

In Weight Watcher point value, each muffin made with Splenda and Fat Fee Yogurt is worth about 2 points.

Pina Colada Muffins

2010-04-24T19:14:00.000-05:00

As many of my baking or cooking ventures go, I'm motivated by items I have that I want to use up. Today it was some coconut left over from Passover. I usually end up throwing it out at some point when it is no longer usable (usually the next Passover.) Along with some crushed pineapple, I had the makings for

Pina Colada Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all purpose flour
1 Tbsp. baking powder
1/4 cup Splenda® or sugar
1/2 tsp. salt
2 eggs, well beaten
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup to 1-1/4 cup crushed pineapple, drained
1 cup coconut

1. Sift dry ingredients into large bowl.
2. Beat eggs and add to dry mixture along with milk and oil. Stir until moistened.
3. Add coconut and pineapple and mix well.

4. Spray muffin pan with veg.spray and fill with mixture approx.3/4 full.
5. Bake at 425° for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

The inspiration for this recipe came from a recipe for "Hawaiian Muffins" from a little red booklet called "Just Muffins" compiled by Gaye Hansen.

Her recipe called for sugar - I substituted Splenda® to make it a little more diabetic friendly for my DH. It also called for only 3/4 cup of crushed pineapple - I used 1 cup - and if I make them again, I'll increase that to 1-1/4 cups in order to add a bit more moisture.

We liked them - especially when warm out of the oven and spread with margarine.

The weight watcher point value - to be advised!

Root Soup

2010-04-17T11:00:00.000-05:00

Where did the time go? My last post was during my Passover cleaning. Since then I have barely given a passing thought to this or any of the other 2 work related blogs I help administrate. I'd like to say it's been a very busy time (it has) but I think it has been because of poor time management. And along with the poor time management, I have neglected tracking weightwatcher points and have had some serious misdemeanors in food choices. So far, no weight gain - but I'm flirting with danger.Time to get back on track.

I looked in my fridge this morning to see what would make a good zero point soup. I had parsnip (left over from chicken soup prep at Passover) carrots, and beets. All root vegetables. I was curious to find out if the 3 together would make an interesting soup. Thus, my "Root Soup" was created.

Root Soup

Ingredients:
2 cups carrot coins (about 3 large carrots)
1-1/2 cups parsnip coins (about 3 med.)
2 cups julienned beets (3 medium)
1 L. vegetable stock
Bay Leaf
1/4 tsp. fresh pepper
1/4 cup fresh chopped dill
2 1/4" sized chunks of sour salt
1 tsp. sugar

1. Spray the inside of a soup pot with vegetable spray.
2. Sweat the vegetables.

3. Add the stock and simmer until all the vegetables are soft.
4. Add the seasonings while the soup is simmering. Taste and adjust seasonings as required.

I don't think I have ever made a soup without onion. I realized once this soup was finished that I could have used onion since it qualifies as a "root" which was my criteria. Potato would also be an option (but it would add points).

It resembles borscht because the beets colour everything, but the parsnip adds a distinctly different flavout.
I like it well enough to make it again - perhaps with the additions of onion and potato for variety.

Before

and After

Preparing for Passover - Up Close and Personal

2010-03-28T09:01:00.000-05:00

Blu Greenberg quotes her mother in "How to Run a Traditional Jewish Household". She says her "mother used to say that the Jewish housewife was the only one who didn't go out of bondage on Pesach" (Passover). I think of this expression every year when Passover approaches and it's time to start the cleaning preparations. Ideally, every drawer - every pocket - every nook and cranny should be vacuumed or washed.
I am not a "traditional Jewish housewife" and I would far rather spend my time in other pursuits. But get the cleaning done I must, for Passover comes - like it or not - and in our household we observe.

This year I had cleaners come and do the major cleaning in the rest of the house. What a blessing! We do not go to the extreme that some folks do - but what we do works for us. Extreme dusting and vacuuming suffices.

The kitchen is a different story. This is the one opportunity each year in which I am "forced" to go through cupboards and fridge and ruthlessly clean.

The whole goal of preparing for Passover is to rid the home of leavened products, called chametz, for the eight day period. This includes all breads. cookies, cereals, pastas, cakes - any products where grains will have made contact with water for 18 minutes or more - which would be enough time to start the leavening process. For most families, this would create a financial hardship, so any of these items that might remain in the home are packed away and not used for the eight day period. Instead, we eat matzah - which, although made with wheat, is prepared with supervision so that flour and water are mixed and baked within the 18 minute time frame. Which is why matzah is flat and hard. During the biblical exodus, there was no time for the Jews to bake bread to take with them in their hasty retreat out of Egypt. So we commemorate that exodus by eating matzah or products made with matzah meal.

Back to my kitchen - or, to be precise, my fridge. There are pitfalls to having a big fridge. It hides all sorts of sins! Salad dressing - best before June 2009. A brand new cream cheese - best before January 2010. Tofu - best before December '09. Past dated yogurt. This is a small sample. All get pitched. A shameful waste of money. I resolve not to buy so much in the coming year. The items that will still be good after Apr.6 are packed up and taken to the downstairs fridge. The shelves and drawers are washed and replaced, and the new foods - purchased specially for Passover - are removed from their bags and ready to use when Passover begins. A small area in the fridge contains the foods we will try to use up before Monday.
I still need to buy more groceries - primarily the fresh fruits and vegetables and other kosher for Passover groceries we will need for the coming week.

We do not use the same pots and pans and dishes during Passover that we use every day. Because they have been used with chametz, we will pack them away or tape up the cupboards in which they are housed.
Instead, we bring out of storage the several tubs containing the dishes, pots and pans that we use at Passover only. It's a little like "moving" every year at this time. Some of the cupboards are emptied, washed out, contents put into boxes for temporary storage to make room for the Passover items.

For a couple days the house looks like it has been ransacked. I think if a burglar broke in, he would leave because he would think someone beat him there. But as Passover draws nearer, order is gradually restored.

Clean Out the Fridge Suey

2010-03-12T21:56:00.001-06:00

I've heard that good food takes a long time to prepare. Well, so does mediocre food! It wasn't bad, really - but it wasn't "have a second helping" great - which can be good if you're a weight watcher!
I shopped last week with the best of intentions - stocked up on vegetables and had every hope of using them throughout the week. It seems that my intentions exceeded the available time, and I ran out of week before I ran out of veggies. So, it was "sell 'em or smell 'em" - or in my case, "use 'em or lose 'em"!
What were my choices? Tonight - either soup or a stir fry. I opted for the stir fry so as to use the lean ground beef I took out of the freezer this morning as the meat in my dish.

Among my veggies starting to grow tired in the crisper were baby bok choy. They were so cute, I had to buy them - without the slightest idea of how to prepare them. They should be good in a stir fry. The bag of cole slaw mix with a best before date two days ago. Still looked fine. This would do. The large mushrooms, the broccoli crown, some baby carrots, a couple stalks of celery - all good for a stir fry. Oh - and that 1/2 pound of asparagus that I didn't use earlier in the week - that would add a touch of sophistication.
Wash, wash, wash, chop chop, chop.....all the prep for a stir fry certainly takes time!

I precooked the ground beef with a large chopped onion and 4 cloves of crushed garlic along with pepper and Mrs. Dash for seasoning. I precooked it and then drained it and measured how much I had so that I would be able to calculate the WeightWatcher point value of my dish. I reserved 3 cups of the ground beef for my stir fry. (The remaining 3 cups will become spaghetti sauce tomorrow.)

Time to sir fry the vegetables. Some vegetable spray into my non stick pan - and then the carrots (quartered lengthwise), celery and the stalk of the broccoli - all chopped into bit sized pieces. A splash of vegetable stock to help them cook - then the asparagus (cut into thirds), and the package of cole slaw mix.
Once wilted, I added the broccoli. After a few minutes - the baby bok choy and the sliced mushrooms went into the pan.

It really did look very pretty - all bright and colourful!

As seasonings, I used 3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce and some Victorian Epicure Stir Fry Seasoning . I added more vegetable stock and allowed it to steam.

The final addition was the ground beef - back into the mix to warm up. And then it was ready to eat - served on rice.

I would have preferred more spiciness to it - it was a little too bland. My DH added ketchup (he thinks if it's ground beef, adding ketchup is a given). I added soy sauce - but it would have been better if I had put some hot pepper flakes into the mix as I was cooking it - or something with a little kick!

However - I did reduce the vegetable inventory - which was, to quote Martha Stewart, "a good thing". (Does she still say that?)

Not My Mother's Cabbage Rolls

2010-03-07T14:32:00.000-06:00

My late mother used to make the most wonderful, delicious, dainty cabbage rolls - or holubchi.
She would patiently par-boil the rice, prepare the cabbage leaves by trimming the veins and steaming (or even freezing) the cabbage leaves in advance to make the rolling easy. Her holubchi were a work of art. They were all of uniform size and they lined up smartly in the roaster as they waded in a tomato soup sauce.

I have made REAL cabbage rolls a few times. They were often irregular in shape and often had rice spilling out of the ends that I had not managed to tuck in properly. I don't make them anymore. Instead, I make - you guessed it - Lazy Holubchi! They taste the same - but they are half the work and they don't highlight my incompetence as a cabbage roller!

Here's my version. My husband loves them.

Lazy Holubchi (Cabbage Rolls)

2 cups uncooked rice
3 cups water
1 large onion, finely chopped
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp. salt (optional - if you are trying to avoid salt)
1 tbsp. oil
Approx. 1 pound coarsely shredded cabbage (8 cups raw)
1-10 oz. can of tomato soup. (Alternatively, use 2 cups tomato juice or canned tomatoes.)

1. Par cook rice in the salted water. Remove from heat while it is still underdone.

2. Spray a non-stick pan with vegetable spray and add 1 tbsp oil. Saute the onion until transparent. Add a little water or vegetable stock to the pan if it starts to stick. I keep the amount of oil at a minimum to reduce the calories.

3. Microwave the cabbage to partly cook. (I like to use the sensor cook for fresh vegetables on my microwave. Alternatively, the cabbage could be steamed long enough to soften it a bit. I found the 8 cups of raw cabbage reduced to 6 cups partly cooked.

4. Spray a roasting pan with vegetable spray and combine the cabbage, rice and onions. Pepper it and mix it well to distribute all the ingredients.

5. Dilute a can of tomato soup with an equal amount of water and pour it over the rice mixture. Poke the mixture with a spoon in several places to allow the liquid to penetrate.

6. Cover and roast at 325° F. for 1-1/2 - 2 hours. Check part way through - and if it appears to be dry, add some liquid - either tomato juice or water. Mine took 1-1/2 hour, but if the rice had been par-cooked less to start with, it would have needed longer. Best to test. If cabbage and rice are soft, you know it's ready to eat!

This recipe makes about 10 cups of lazy holubchi. In WeightWatcher points®, it works out to 2.5 points per cup.

We had it with veal chops and salad, but I can easily make a meal of it on its' own.

Oven Baked Pickerel Fillets

2010-03-06T11:36:00.002-06:00

I'm not a particular lover of fish. I do, however, try to include it in my diet as often as is tolerable. I like the non-fishy tasting fish the best. So pickerel (known as walleye to you folks south of the 49th parallel) finds favour with me. It's light and mild. And especially delicious breaded and pan fried in golden butter. Alas, the weight watcher in me knows that's not healthy, so I'm experimenting and trying to find an acceptable substitute. Dipping the fish in egg whites and dredging it in seasoned breadcrumbs worked. It lacked that buttery goodness - but - hey! That buttery goodness is what packs on those extra pounds. One has to make sacrifices!

Seasoned Breadcrumbs

2/3 cup breadcrumbs

1 tsp. garlic powder

pinch of pepper

1 tsp. parsley flakes

1 tsp. Mrs. Dash® seasoning

This recipe made too much for 1 lb. fish fillets, but there was some leftover. Next time I will double the recipe and use about half a cup and freeze the rest for future use. I would also use this on chicken pieces. It's a salt-free Shake'n Bake® substitute!

Oven-Baked Pickerel Fillets

Preheat oven to 400° F.

1 lb. pickerel fillets

1/3 cup egg whites

1/2 cup seasoned bread crumbs

Rinse pickerel fillets and shake off water. Dip in egg white and dredge in seasoned bread crumbs.

Lay the pieces of fish onto cooking parchment on a cookie sheet in a single layer.

Bake at 400° for 15 minutes.

We liked it, and I would make it again this way. This method would work for other soft fish that don't take kindly to pan frying - such as sole. Next time, I might give the breaded fillets a quick spray of vegetable oil .

As for WeightWatcher® points, each of our pieces was approx. 3 oz, and each piece had no more than 1 tbsp. breadcrumbs in all, so that would be 3.5 points per piece of fish. The amount of egg white used per piece was negligible.

Olympic (aka Greek) Salad

2010-03-01T00:00:00.001-06:00

I couldn't let the Olympics go by without some sort of food tribute. Since it was the Greeks who originated the Olympics, what else but Greek Salad with Olympic Rings!

I made the "Olympic Rings" by dipping sliced onion rings in egg white and then in seasoned breadcrumbs and baked them at 350 for about 25 minutes. They were not a culinary delight, but it was the thought and not the taste that "inspired greatness"!

We had friends over for lunch prior to the Canada - U.S. Gold Medal Hockey Game ( Yay, Canada!) and I served Greek Salad and crustless quiche made with shredded potatoes, dill, mushrooms, asparagus and cheese along with the eggs.

The "Olympic (Greek) Salad" was pretty traditional - made with lettuce, cucumbers, red onion, green onion, radishes and tomato along with black olives and feta cheese and Good Seasons Dressing. I'm a fan of Kraft's "Good Seasons" Salad dressing which I make up using the lower fat version with less oil and more water. I can't buy it in my city, so when friends or I go to the U.S., I have to have some brought back! It's the best!

I never seem to tire of it.

I've used travel to Toronto and the Olympics as an excuse not to track WeightWatcher points over the last couple weeks . I confess, I've slipped back into some old bad food habits. Now that these events are behind me, it's time to get back on track lest those pounds start to creep back!

Chocolate Carrot Cake

2010-02-15T10:24:00.001-06:00

Yesterday was Valentine's Day and I have to confess that I was immersed in watching the Olympics on TV and trying to learn a bit about Wordpress for a business related blog. But it was Valentine's Day - and my husband loves chocolate...and he's not supposed to have sugar. What to do?

I looked through "375 Sensational Splenda Recipes" by Marlene Koch and found "Chocolate Carrot Cake".
It sounded like a strange combination to me - but if people can make chocolate cake with a can of tomato soup - why not carrots?

I read through the recipe and wonder of wonders - I had all the ingredients in the house. Well, not quite. I don't buy orange juice anymore because my DH should avoid the liquid fruit sugar, but I did have some shriveling oranges from which to squeeze the juice.The recipe called for 2/3 of a cup of orange juice, but I found that it needed more. At least 3/4 of a cup or maybe a bit more.

I even had prune puree in the freezer! I made a batch some months ago and froze it in small containers.

I find that when using Splenda in a recipe, there is a slightly different taste than it would have with real sugar. But it's a small sacrifice!

Chocolate Carrot Cake

Ingredients:

1-2/3 cups all-purpose flour

1/3 cup cocoa powder

2-1/2 tsp. baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. cinnamon

1-1/2 cups Splenda Granular

1/4 cup prune puree or 1 small jar baby food prunes.

1/4 cup canola oil

1 large egg

3 large egg whites

1-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup orange juice. (I used more.)

2 cups grated carrots (about 3 medium)

Optional:

1/4 cup shredded coconut

1/4 cup pecan pieces

2 tsp. powdered sugar.

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Coat a 9"x13" cake pan with non stick spray.

2. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add Splenda and set aside.

3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together prune puree, canola oil, egg, egg whites, vanilla extract and orange juice.

4. Fold flour mixture into liquid mixture a little at a time. When all flour is incorporated, fold in carrots.

5. Pour batter into the pan.

6. Before baking (if desired) sprinkle coconut and pecans on top. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pan on a wire rack. Dust with powderd sugar if desired before serving.

I chose to top it with strawberry yogurt - since it was, after all , Valentine's Day - and strawberry yogurt was the closest thing I had to strawberries!

Divide the cake into 16 pieces.

According to the cookbook, 1 piece is 3 WeightWatcher points. The 1/4 cup of yogurt topping would add 1 point if the nuts and coconut were also used.

New Age Borscht - Not Like My Mother Used to Make

2010-02-04T10:35:00.001-06:00

I remember the borscht my late mother used to make. It was pink and creamy and had peas and potatoes in it in addition to the vegetables I use to make mine. I don't think it would qualify as a "Zero Point" soup by today's WeightWatcher standards!

I weighed in at my neighbourhood WeightWatcher meeting yesterday - and the news was heartening! I broke 2 barriers - 30 lbs. accumulated weight loss AND I'm now officially under 150 lbs. in weight. Yes - I started my journey tipping the scales at 180 - and I'm only 5 feet tall. That's 3 pounds for every inch of my height! I was beginning to look like a refrigerator - and it was time to gain control.

I am a big fan of soups for lunch - they are warm, filling and satisfying - and can be low in points if the ingredients are zero-low point values. One of my favourites is borscht. I started out using a Meatless Borscht recipe from a WeightWatcher cookbook that preceded the "points" value calculations, but it has evolved to a point where it barely resembles the original recipe.

Why "New Age"? Well, it's a working gal's time saving version - I use packaged baby carrots, packaged cole slaw mix, leeks instead of onions - and no fat or cream. It's purely vegetarian.

New Age Borscht

2 cups chopped leek (3 leeks - white and pale green parts)
1 cup chopped celery (3 stalks)
1 cup chopped baby carrots
2 cups beets - julienned
3 cups packaged cole slaw mix or shredded cabbage
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. tomato paste
5 cups vegetable broth
2 bay leaves
1 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tbsp. sugar
1/4 cup chopped fresh dill ( or 2 tbsp. dried) or more if you like dill

Spray a large pot with vegetable spray and "sweat" all the vegetable ingredients except beets and cabbage.
After these have softened, add the beets and continue to cook for a few minutes.
Add the cabbage. If it gets a bit sticky to the pot, add a little vegetable broth to loosen.

4. Add chopped dill, salt, pepper, broth, tomato paste, bay leaves, lemon juice and sugar.

5. Simmer until vegetables are tender - 45 minutes or so.

This recipe makes about 9 cups of borscht. Point value is 0 per 1-1/2 c. serving. Enjoy.

"Frittater" Frittata

2010-01-31T10:44:00.003-06:00

I have always wondered what the difference was between an omelet and a frittata - and after visiting the "Get Cracking" site, I now know. Basically - when open faced and the ingredients are mixed into the egg, it's a frittata. When the egg is folded around the ingredients, it's an omelet. http://www.getcracking.ca/tq-oandf.html

Potato, Leek and Pepper Frittata

1 tbsp. vegetable oil
2 large potatoes, peeled and shredded
1 cup chopped leek (The white and a bit of the green of 1 leek)
1/2 cup diced red pepper
Pinch of salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 cup liquid egg whites
1/4 cup water

Spray a 9" non-stick pan with vegetable spray and add 1 tbsp. oil.
Lightly brown the shredded potato and add the leeks and red peppers part way through the cooking.
Sprinkle with a bit of salt and pepper.

Continue to cook until you are satisfied all are cooked or softened.

Whisk the eggs with the water and pour over the potatoes, leeks and peppers.

Cover with a lid and cook over medium-low heat until eggs are set. While they are still runny, poke through the contents and pry away from the pan around the outside to allow egg to run through to the bottom of the pan to hasten cooking.

When eggs are set, sprinkle shredded cheese on top, cover and allow cheese to melt.

If you'd like the eggs a little browner, here's my trick for flipping the frittata intact. Loosen the frittata from the pan with a spatula around the outside edges toward the middle while being very careful not to break it. Cover the pan with a large plate, and, wearing oven mitts, pick up the plate and the pan together and flip so the plate is on the bottom and the frittata falls onto the plate. Return the pan to the burner and slide the frittata back (now bottom up) into the pan to finish cooking. Sprinkle with the cheese and allow it to melt.

You wouldn't know it to look at my pictures, but it really is a tasty and filling brunch or light meal.

This recipe serves 2 generous portions for a points value of 6.5 each.

It's all Greek to Me

2010-01-26T09:35:00.000-06:00

Warning..this post is WeightWatcher X-rated.

Last night my women's group held a "Surprise Greek Dinner". A perfect activity for a cold and blustery January evening in Winnipeg!
Upon arrival, everyone was given a menu / order form to complete. And - you guessed it - it was in Greek. We had to order by number. The catch - there was no translation. Only the fates (or the 3 organizers) knew what we would be eating for each of the four courses.

I was lucky. My first course arrived. It was Greek Salad and bread. And a toothpick. No cutlery with which to eat! Luckily, on the table were breadsticks, carrots and celery - well washed with the "scoop" end intact, so if necessary, could be used as a utensil.

I gave up trying to eat my salad with a toothpick and resorted to using two breadsticks as chopsticks!

It is surprising how resourceful a bunch of women can be when it comes to food!

Some of the gals were less lucky than I - some had the dessert first. There were some bizarre combinations - water,toothpick and knife - or salad, main course and napkin. Any number of possible combinations - and all contributed to the hilarity.

All first course items were removed before the next course was served.

Second course for me was coffee, the main dish (which consisted of vegetarian moussaka, spanakopita and lemon potatoes), and a knife. Oh great! By this time my breadsticks had broken and I had to resort to using a chunk of celery as a scoop.

This picture doesn't do the food justice! It really was delicious - and any thought of tracking points went out the window! As it was, I couldn't eat all of it and ended up taking a portion of it home.

My third course was water, lemon rice soup and a napkin. The celery had to serve as my spoon because I had yet to receive any usable cutlery!

My final course was dessert (a chocolate shell with fruit) and finally a fork and spoon! A lot of good they did now!

It was a great evening - such fun. I recommend the activity highly!

My weightwatcher resolve vanished with the arrival of the first course - but so what!

I'm sure all 35 of my weekly flex points were consumed in that one meal....but I'm still smiling about it. No regrets whatsoever!

The important thing is - I'm back on track today - and maybe I'll dust off that treadmill or engage in some heavy duty cleaning to burn off some of those extra points!

Lazy Lasagna (aka Bowtie Lasagna)

2010-01-24T11:51:00.001-06:00

In an effort to eat vegetarian more often, I often try to create entrees with Yves Veggie Ground Round®.
http://yvesveggie.ca/index.php

Anywhere ground beef is normally used in a recipe, this product can easily be substituted.

There is a Mexican Ground Round (quite spicy). I freeze it in 1/3 cup allotments and use it on salad to add some kick and a little protein, and add 2 WW points to the salad. There is also an Asian Ground Round which I have not yet tried.

The original Veggie Ground Round® can be used in spaghetti sauces, lasagna, shepherd's pie and stroganoff. I've tried it in all these ways and can vouch for it.
Jewish dietary laws forbid the mixing of meat and milk together in a meal, so a traditional ground beef based lasagne made with cheeses would be a no-no in my kitchen. This product is a way to use a vegetarian substitute - get the same texture and taste - and still conform to kosher rules. Not to mention a healthier alternative!

What vegetables I use depends on what I have in my fridge or cupboard on any given day. If I have fresh mushrooms - I use them. If I don't, I'll throw in a can. Sometimes it's canned diced tomato, sometimes crushed. This summer I'm going to harvest my extra tomatoes and freeze them so I can use a healthier alternative than the salty canned product. (Mind you, there are low salt products available. I just don't happen to have any right now!)

So, without further ado, here is my Lazy Lasagna.

Ingredients

4 cups cooked bowtie noodles (rotini noodles work well also)
1 yellow pepper, seeded and chopped (or green,red,or orange or equivalent combination)
2 cups sliced mushrooms
1 lg. onion, chopped
2-3 cloves crushed garlic
1 cup cooked chopped spinach (with all moisture squeezed out)
1 pkg, Yves Veggie Ground Round®
1- 14 oz. (398 ml) can crushed tomatoes
1 - 14 oz.(398 ml) can tomato sauce
1 tbsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 cup cottage cheese ( dry curd has the lowest salt content)
1/2 c. plain yogurt
1 cup (3.25 oz.) shredded low fat mozzarella cheese

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Cook bowtie noodles according to the package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water to avoid sticking, and set aside.

2. Spray a large non-stick pan with vegetable spray and saute onion, garlic and peppers until softened. Then add mushrooms and saute until mushrooms soften.

3. Add the Veggie Ground Round, spinach, tomato sauce, crushed tomato and seasonings.

4. Stir in the cottage cheese and yogurt.

5. Pour the entire mixture into a 9 or 10 cup casserole dish or lasagne pan and top with the shredded cheese.

6. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes or until cheese has melted and juices are bubbling around the edges.

7. Allow it to stand for 15 minutes or so before cutting it into wedges.

This recipe fills a 9 cup casserole dish and serves 8. Each serving is approximately 6 WW points. Served with a green salad, it makes a very filling meal.

Behold the humble cottage cheese....

2010-01-15T09:29:00.001-06:00

Behold the humble cottage cheese
However served, it's sure to please.
Used in a meal or for a snack..
As a weight loss food - keeps me on track.

Okay, so my poetry is not the greatest. But I do want to pay homage to the lowly, simple cottage cheese. Seems to me you can dress it up and take it anywhere! It has taken me a while to learn to appreciate it, but I have learned to like it in a variety of ways, and it's now a staple in my fridge.

Here are seven easy ways to enjoy cottage cheese as a light meal or snack. In each case, I use Fat Free C.C. to calculate the points value.

2/3 cup C.C. with a cut up apple and sprinkled with Splenda and cinnamon (3 Weightwatcher points)
2/3 cup C.C. with a 5 oz. can of fruit salad or diced fruit (4 WeightWatcher points)
2/3 cup on a 7 oz. baked potato - topped with green onions and salt and pepper or salsa (5 WW points including the potato)
Cheater Cheesecake - 1 cup C.C., 2 pkg. Splenda, 2 tsp. cocoa powder and a splash of vanilla (4 WW points)
In a Lazy Single Serving Sweet Kugel - 1/2 c. CC mixed into 1/2 c. cooked egg noodles. Add a pkg. of Splenda and a sprinkle of cinnamon. (4 WW points) If you use a full cup of noodles, it would be 6 WW points.
Another variation of a savoury noodle combo - 1/2 c. CC mixed into 1/2 c. cooked noodles. Mix in a chopped green onion, salt, pepper and 2 oz. tuna. (6 WW points)
Lazy Perogies - 1/2 c.CC, 1/2 c. cooked noodles, sauted onions, 1 cup cooked potato - mashed (6 WW points)

I would consider the last three items on the above list a lunch or dinner because of the high points value. When eaten with a salad ( 0 points) and a fruit serving (1 point), you get a full meal deal!

It seems to me that Cottage Cheese is darn near to being a perfect food. It qualifies as a serving of dairy on the WW program. (I am not a milk lover, so it's hard for me to get my required dairy servings into my daily fare.)
Body Builders love it because it's a non meat source of protein. It's high in bone healthy calcium and low in calories and fat. It's a filling food that staves off hunger for a good period of time. And it's low in carbohydrates, so great for diabetic diets.
Now, if only I could convince my diabetic DH that he likes cottage cheese. I do try to include it in a number of hot dairy main courses that I prepare, and he willingly eats those. Today I snuck 1/4 c. into our breakfast egg white scramble and he ate it and liked it, so maybe in time he'll learn to appreciate it in it's more natural state!

Easy Salmon Patties with Dill & Cucumber Sauce

2010-01-04T19:50:00.001-06:00

I often forget to take something out of the freezer to thaw in time for dinner, and today I did it again. But I did have canned salmon in the cupboard, and a few weeks ago I made some salmon patties (sans the Dill-Cucumber Sauce) that we both liked a lot, so I thought I'd make them again.

I based my salmon patties on a recipe from a cookbook called The Art of Cooking for the Diabetic© by Mary Abbott Hess, and in my usual fashion made a few substitutions/ alterations.

Salmon Patties with Cucumber Dill Sauce - my version

.
Salmon Patties
1 lg. can (426 g) or 2 small (213g) cans of red or pink salmon
1 cup dry oatmeal
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 cup liquid egg whites or 2 beaten eggs
3 green onions, finely sliced
1 tbsp. fresh dill
1/4 tsp. pepper
1 tbsp. vegetable oil

Cucumber Dill Sauce
1/2 cup plain low fat or fat free yogurt or sour cream
1/3 peeled English cucumber - diced
1/2 small tomato, diced
2 green onions, chopped finely
1 tsp dried dill weed

Drain salmon and mash well. Add the oatmeal, milk, egg, green onion, dill and pepper.(You may wish to add salt, but I figure the salmon is salty enough and am trying to avoid additional salt.) Mix well and form into 6 round patties.
Fry the patties in a non-stick pan that has been sprayed with vegetable spray and have added 1 tbsp. veg.oil. Cook over medium heat 4-5 minutes per side until nicely browned.

To make the sauce, combine all the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and mix well. Serve on or with the salmon patties.

Each pattie with a couple tablespoons of sauce works out to approx. 3 WeightWatcher points.

I don't know if I would make the sauce again to use with the salmon patties, but I would like to try it on a baked potato. I think it would make a nicer pairing.

Orange you glad I baked muffins again?

2010-01-01T17:15:00.007-06:00

Yikes! When I decided to look for the nasty smell emanating from my fridge, I didn't expect to find a bushel of oranges. Well, maybe not a bushel - but a goodly sum. And apples, too. Altogether too many. And that's not counting the petrified ones I had to throw away. Time to look for a recipe that can use up some of these surplus fruits.

Her web site is http://www.gourmania.com/.

I did modify it slightly - I used Splenda® instead of sugar, liquid egg white instead of 2 eggs, and I added 1/4 cup of flax meal since I am consciously trying to include flax in more of the foods I prepare. If you read my last blog, you'll understand why! I ended up using only 1 of the oranges when all was said and done, so I'm sure I'll be hunting for more recipes to use them up. The apples will be much easier - there are so many more recipes!

DH and I didn't give them much of a chance to cool before we tucked into them. And not being sure of the taste verdict, we each had to have a second one. I suppose I should have calculated the Weightwatcher® points before scarfing the second one, but it's too late now! Good thing all I had for lunch was a salad.

Blueberry Cornmeal Muffins

1 cup cornmeal

1 cup whole wheat or all purpose flour

2 tsp. baking powder

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/8 tsp.salt

1/2 cup plain nonfat yogurt

1/2 cup orange juice

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup granulated sugar (I used Splenda®)

2 large eggs or 1 lg.egg plus 2 egg whites (I used 1/3 cup liquid egg whites)

1 tsp. ground cinnamon (I used a heaping teaspoon)

1/4 cup flaxmeal - optional. This was not part of Norene's original recipe.

1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries. (If frozen , do not thaw.)

Preheat oven to 375° F. Line a 12 compartment muffin pan with paper liners or spray with cooking spray.In a large bowl, measure all the dry ingredients and mix well.
Add the yogurt, orange juice, oil,sugar or Splenda, eggs, and cinnamon. (Norene suggests using a food processor and processing with quick on/off pulses until smooth.) An option is an electric mixer. I was too lazy to drag out either of these, so I mixed vigourously with a spoon.
Stir in the blueberries with a rubber spatula.
Scoop the batter into the muffin pan, filling each compartment about 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown and the tops spring back when lightly touched. Cool slightly before removing from pan. Makes 12 muffins which can be frozen.

They smelled amazing while they were baking (the cinnamon, I think.)

The muffins didn't rise a whole lot - maybe because they were cornmeal based, and cornmeal muffins generally don't rise much. Perhaps if I had followed Norene's directions and used the processor or even an electric mixer they might have been higher. Next time! These are a definite "Doagain". Each muffin works out 3 Weightwatcher points with Splenda® or sugar.

Flummoxed by Flax?

2010-01-01T10:49:00.001-06:00

I recently purchased some Flax Meal at our neighbourhood Bulk Barn. So now what do I do with it? I have been reading of the benefits of flax meal in the "Outsmart Diabetes" magazine, and on the following Web Site:
http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/a/flaxinfo.htm

So I know flax is a good thing for my DH to get into his daily diet. And it's not so bad for me, either, as a WeightWatcher. It's Omega-3 content slows the rate of digestion, making a person feel full longer. For diabetics, it reduces also inflammation and improves insulin resistance. It's also a high fiber food that helps to control blood sugar. So - with all that going for it, how do we incorporate it into our daily diet? It has a pleasant nutty taste that is not at all hard to take.

I keep it refrigerated in a small, easily accessible plastic container since it can go rancid fairly quickly.

Here are the 10 ways I have found in my research - so it should be easy!
1. Sprinkle a tablespoon on your salad
2. Stir some into your soup.
3. Mix it into yogurt or cottage cheese.
4. Add it to pancake mix, waffle mix, banana or quickbreads - even cookies!
5. Add it to breading for chicken. (Using Shake and Bake? Add a couple tablespoons of flax meal to the bag.)
6. Add it to meatloaf or burger mixtures.
7. Sprinkle into breakfast cereal - hot or cold.
8. Use it in a smoothie.
9. Use some in Apple or Fruit Crisp topping.
10. Pretend it's an herb and use it along with seasonings for roasted or pan fried potatoes.

You get the picture - the list could be endless. The flax meal just has to become part of one's daily food prep vocabulary.

Isn't Omega-3 also supposed to be good for memory? I seem to have forgotten! Better get more into my diet!

Spinach and Onion Quiche Without a Crust

2009-12-25T18:38:00.009-06:00

I have fallen in love with Liquid Egg Whites. They are a weight watcher's best friend, and just what the doctor ordered for my DH who is not supposed to have egg yolks and had been told to cut back on carbs. The liquid eggs are low in point value and a filling food(for me) and high in protein and iron (for him). Today's breakfast was a Spinach and Onion Quiche.

Ingredients:
1 10 oz. pkg of baby spinach
1 lg onion, sliced
2 cups liquid egg white
Salt & pepper
2 oz. shredded cheese.

Microwave the spinach and put into a strainer. Press out as much of the liquid as possible and put the spinach into a bowl.
Saute the onion until soft and combine with the spinach. Season with salt and pepper.
Add the 2 cups of liquid egg white, and pour the mixture into a quiche pan that has been sprayed with non-stick spray. Sprinkle the shredded cheese onto the mixture.

Bake at 375 for 35 min.

This recipe makes 4 generous portions, and each counts as approx. 2.5 points on the WeightWatcher's program. With multi-grain toast, this makes a most satisfactory breakfast.

Cost or Value???

2009-12-24T07:28:00.006-06:00

The last 2 days have been a milestone in this Weight Watcher's life. Tuesday started with a tentative "I wonder if these Size 12 pants fit me yet" and , miracle of miracles THEY DID!

My DH thought they looked big, but I think he was just being kind and supportive!

And last night I weighed in at my Wednesday WeightWatcher's meeting - and I had achieved the 25 lb. mark.

That started me thinking about the cost of membership versus the value. I have friends who have told me that they feel that paying $15.00 a week for the privilege of standing on a scale at a meeting an expense they'd rather not incurr. I say anyone who has weight to lose would rather not incurr the cost - IF we could do it alone!

Sure, I've thought about the $15 I shell out every time I weigh in. What would it buy me if I wasn't attending a meeting? A pizza? A few cappucino's? Burgers? Fries? A few additional pounds? The need for larger sized clothing?

The value of the program, on the other hand, is in the tools I've gained in the management of my weight. It's in the weekly guides that I was given in the first 10 weeks - a set of resources to consult again and again. It's in the ability to judge and manage portion size. It's in the ability to recognize the difference between "satisfied" and "full" and push my plate away. (That was a challenge! I always thought I had to eat until I was full!) It's in the satisfaction of knowing I am eating in a healthy manner and preparing healthy meals for the benefit of my DH and myself. It's the skill of being able to work in the foods I love so as not to feel deprived - and still show a drop on the scale. It's in the boost of self esteem I get when I graduate to a smaller size. I could go on......

I have way more to say on the subject of value, but I'll save it for other blogs! (Although it may sound like it, I DO NOT work for WeightWatchers, but I am a happy advocate for the program!

A Lucky Find

2009-12-22T08:16:00.003-06:00

I'm a sucker for books, and finding this one in Safeway of all places was a stroke of luck. I've always considered my knowledge of the various varieties of fruits, vegetables and herbs to be limited, so this book is just the thing I need to expand my horizons. What particularly captured my interest was the section on different ethnic specialties.
Several years ago, my DH and I spent a couple weeks in China. We lived in an apartment instead of a hotel, and I was shopping for and cooking vegetables I didn't recognize. I loved the adventure of shopping in a Chinese supermarket. I felt like I was in a bubble - floating around, surrounded by a cacophony of sounds I didn't understand, packaging I couldn't read and a multitude of foods of which I had no knowledge. If I had this book with me at that time, I would have felt a little less alien!
This book, titled Dr. Richter's Fresh Produce Guide was published by Try-Foods International. ISBN is 0-9703139-0-x if it is of interest. It has a 2003 copyright.
What I like about it are the clear, vibrant pictures and details. For each variety it holds nutritional information, general info, selection and storage tips, and most important, preparation and cooking tips.
Since I am following the Weightwatchers program, I am getting a little bored with the same vegetables again and again. And veggies are a HUGE part of what I eat, so I'm counting on this book to help me "veg" in new directions!

Soup of the Week - "Cole Slaw" Soup

2009-12-15T21:56:00.007-06:00

I got around to taking a picture of my "Soup of the Week" ingredients last Sunday, but never got the blog done - so here it is. The soup is all but gone after daily lunches, and it was one of my better efforts to date. So I'll try to recall what I did to make it - as it's a definite "doagain".

This weeks ingredients were:

1 package Manischewitz Vegetable Soup Mix with mushrooms
2 leeks (white part - well washed and chopped up
medium onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - chopped

cauliflower - chopped - about a cup
broccoli - chopped - about a cup and 1/2
3 stalks celery- chopped
3 carrots - sliced
1 rutabaga - cut into 1/2'' cubes
1/2 bag of cole slaw mix
1/4 cup chopped dill - loosely chopped
Mrs. Dash Seasoning
Freshly ground pepper
Marjoram
2 bay leaves
1 container vegetable broth (only because the soup vegetables outgrew the amount of water I used.)

My starter was a package of "Manischewitz" Vegetable Soup mix which contains some dried peas, lima beans and barley along with some noodles and seasonings.

Directions:

1. Bring 8 cups of water to a boil and add the packaged peas and bean mixture. Reserve the seasoning package to the end of the cooking time. (These need at least 2 hours to simmer.)

2. Add the chopped onions and the following seasonings to the soup pot: Mrs Dash, dill, freshly ground pepper, marjoram .

3. Saute the vegetables in a large skillet. When the soup has simmered for about an hour, add the vegetables and continue cooking. (Here's where the vegetables I prepared outgrew the amount of water I used, so I added a container of vegetable stock. I wish I had saved the packaging of the one I used, as it was excellent. It was in a light green box, purchased at Superstore, and had the words "Tastes like homemade" on the package. It was much lower in salt than most of the other vegetable stocks I have bought, so I will definitely buy this one again.

4. Toward the end of the cooking time, add the seasoning and noodle flavour package from the soup mix.

The Verdict - It was robust, nicely seasoned and tasty. Even DH (Mr. I don't like soup) ate it, and it got a great review from a friend who had lunch with us one day.

I ended up with about 16 cups of soup, so that figured to less than 1 WeightWatcher point per cup, so I counted it as 1 point anyway. It was a great filling food!

I'm not sure why, but a hot soup at lunch seems to fill and hold me so much better than a salad.

Banana Blueberry Blog

2009-12-12T15:29:00.005-06:00

As usual, I had a couple bananas rapidly turning black on the counter. I refused to add them to the ever-growing black banana collection in my freezer, so muffins seemed like a good idea.

I used one of my new Diabetes Cookbooks: Complete Canadian Diabetes Cookbook, edited by Katherine E. Younker, and once again made what I thought were weightwatcher and diabetes friendlier substitutions. I lowered the fat by using applesauce and only 1 tbsp. oil, and subbed Splenda for the sugar.

This is my version of

Blueberry Banana Muffins

2 bananas, pureed

1/2 cup Splenda

1/3 cup applesauce

1 tbsp veg. oil

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/3 cup yogurt (I used a 100 g. fruit yogurt)

1/2 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Combine pureed banana, Splenda, applesauce, veg.oil, egg and vanilla in a large bowl and mix well.

2. Add the dry ingredients into the bowl, followed by the yogurt. Stir in well, and add the blueberries.

3. Drop batter into muffin cups that have been sprayed with Pam, or lined with paper liners. This recipe makes 12 med. sized muffins.

4. Bake at 375 for approximately 20 minutes - until tops are firm to the touch.

By my calculation of the combined ingredients points values, each muffin works out to 1-1/2 points on my Weightwatcher program.

The verdict - Pretty good for a low (almost no) fat muffin. They are certainly sweet enough.

A good low point snack!

Classic Beef Stew with Mushrooms

2009-12-06T09:48:00.012-06:00

I love Amazon.ca. Numerous times a year I order books. Last week, my theme was Diabetes Cookbooks - 3 of them, all published in co-operation with the Canadian Diabetes Corporation. I have Canada's Diabetes Meals for Good Health by Karen Graham, Complete Canadian Diabetes Cookbook, Edited by Katherine E. Younker, and the one I'm using today - Canadian Diabetes Slow Cooker Recipes by Judith Finlayson.
I am using the recipe "Classic Beef Stew" as a guide, but because I like to improvise with ingredients and I only have .645 kg (2.4 lbs.) of meat and not a full kilo, I'll be adjusting the recipe a bit by adding fresh mushrooms. And, at this stage, I'm not sure what else because I haven't started yet. It's "Dollar Days" at Sobey's and IGA, so I have baby carrots and mushrooms waiting in the wings. The challenge for me will be not to add potatoes. How can there be a stew without potatoes? I have NEVER made a stew without potatoes. This will be the first if I can do it!

I've brought up my slow cooker from the basement, washed the dust away, and It's ready to go!

Basic Ingredient List:

1 tbsp olive oil
1.4 lbs stewing beef, trimmed and cut into 1 inch cubes.
2 onions, chopped medium
4 stalks celery, chopped into 1/4" pieces
2-3 large carrots, chopped into 1/2" chunks - or 2 cups baby carrots.
At least 2 cloves of garlic. (I will use 4)
1 tsp. dried thyme. (I love thyme in a stew - I will double it.)
1 tsp. salt.
10 dried peppercorns
1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 cup vegetable broth. (Recipe asks for low salt beef broth, but I don't have any.)
1/2 cup dry red wine
2 cups fresh mushrooms, quartered
2 bay leaves

1. Brown the beef in a skillet using a little of the olive oil at a time and medium-high heat. Transfer it to the slow cooker when it's lightly browned. Already I had to deviate from the recipe and sprinkle the meat with garlic powder and Mrs. Dash Original Spice Blend.

2. Reduce the heat to medium and add onions, carrots, and celery to soften. Again a sprinkle of garlic powder and Mrs. Dash. Then add mushrooms, garlic, salt, thyme and peppercorns. After a couple minutes, add flour and stir into the pan. Then add the liquids and stir until it thickens a bit. Add the bay leaves.

3. Transfer the whole works to the slow cooker, give it a thorough mixing. Cover and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours or on high for 4 or 5 hours. Remove the bay leaves before serving.

As I was making it, I thought about variations. Rutabagas and leeks perhaps?

The verdict - DH liked it. I liked it too, but I felt there was a little too much of the red wine flavour. Next time, I would cut back or omit the wine and add more garlic!

THE Diabetes Info Session - What I learned

2009-12-05T16:51:00.006-06:00

Wednesday of this week, DH and I attended the Diabetes info session that his doctor prescribed. Much was common sense - eat a balanced diet, limit salt, don't smoke, manage stress, keep cholesterol levels normal, exercise .... all things we all need to hear and do.
Most aspects of the suggested diet will benefit me as a weightwatcher, but there are some differences. For me, when I'm determining the points in a serving of a particular food, I look at the calories, the fiber and the fat content.I'm allowed 18 points per day plus 35 additional over the course of a week. But pay attention to the carb grams? Not so much!
DH has to look at the carbs and the fiber. If the fiber is 3 g or more, he subtracts that from the carbohydrate grams. So, if carbs are 30 and fiber is 4, he counts it as 26 g. And the limit for him is 60-75 carbohydrate grams per meal. If he sticks to the lower end, he should lose weight.
He should be testing his blood a couple hours after he's had his meal. I'd like to see him track what he has eaten, then 2 hours later to test his blood and see the effect.
It goes without saying that he should eat more of the Non-Carbs: vegetables, proteins, legumes, meats, cottage cheese, cheese and limited fats. Most of these foods are also very weightwatcher friendly and filling, so they'll be good for me too.
The carbohydrates are: potatoes, corn, rice, pasta, cereal, bread, fruit, milk, yogurt, ice-cream - All the really good stuff! This will not be easy for a bread and sweets lover. The items he loves the most will be like mainlining sugar straight into the bloodstream for him!
We have our work cut out for us!

Motivated by Cottage Cheese

2009-11-30T21:17:00.006-06:00

What to make for dinner? I had 1/2 a container of 1% cottage cheese that I wanted to use, so I've been searching for recipes that incorporate cottage cheese into a diabetic and weightwatcher friendly entree.
Not finding quite what I wanted, I decided to improvise and made the following dish.

Rotini with Creamy Mushroom and Tomato Sauce

1 tbsp. Olive oil
1/2 c. Chopped onion
2 cloves crushed garlic
2/3 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1/2 28oz can President's Choice Blue Menu "No Salt Added" tomatoes
(plus reserved liquid)
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
Freshly ground pepper
2/3 c. 1 % cottage cheese
1/3 c. skim milk
4 cups cooked rotini - (Catelli Smart High Fibre)

Cook pasta separately, drain and set aside.

Saute onion, garlic and mushroom until soft.
Add tomato and liquid and cook together for 5 min.
In a blender, blend cottage cheese and milk together until smooth and creamy.
Add it to the simmering tomato liquid.
Add the pasta to the liquid and heat thoroughly.

Sprinkle with parmesan when serving.

The verdict: I liked it and would make it again.

I am counting 1 cup as 6 Weightwatcher points.

It's pretty low salt and low cholesterol, so should serve as a healthy diabetic friendly meal. Let's see what my DH thinks of it.

Soup of the Week

2009-11-29T12:55:00.003-06:00

I believe that one of the secrets of my successful weight loss to date (besides journaling every morsel that goes into my mouth) are my "soups of the week." Today's is based on a vegetable soup mix from "Manischewitz" which can be found in the kosher section of the grocery store. I selected this one over the others because the salt content was so much less than the other varieties.
I started with the soup mix in 8 cups of boiling water, added a bay leaf, large chopped onion, garlic and some additional herbs and spices: thyme, dill, marjoram, Mrs. Dash, pepper (no salt because we have to limit DH's salt intake). After about 3/4 hour of the soup simmering, I added the following vegetables: 1 cup chopped carrots, a stalk of chopped celery,a cup of chopped cauliflower, a chopped parsnip, a bit of chopped broccoli stems, and about a cup of chopped cabbage. There's a little package of seasoning that is added in the last 10 minutes or so of cooking. Soup is done in about 2 hours. I got about 12 cups of very thick soup. If I divide it into 1-1/2 cup servings, I get 8 servings - and I will count it as 1.5 points per serving. I'll try freezing some of it to see how it holds up.

The verdict: Tastes good but needs salt. This I can add when I'm going to eat it.
Hopefully I can get DH to eat it too. He's not a soup lover, but this soup is high fiber, low salt and low calorie - just what his doctor ordered, so maybe I can convince him.

Getting Started

2009-11-29T12:35:00.004-06:00

So how does one begin a blog? What motivates a person to blog?
I have to admit that I am the last one in my family to get involved in this social networking business - and I don't want to be left behind.
And what to blog about? Well - my life is not overly exciting. I work. I come home. I prepare meals. I feed my cats. I avoid housework. I go to Weightwatchers weekly trying to shed those nasty pounds that have snuck onto my body over the last 15 years. An ordinary life - but a good one.

What do I have to say that is worth sharing?

Well - a couple things. I've been attending Weightwatchers now for 14 weeks, and I am down 21.4 pounds, which I think is wonderful. I've lost my extra chins and my boobs now stick out more than my stomach did. This is good. I can now shop in the regular petites section of a department store. (Yes I'm overweight and undertall.)

And my husband's doctor has read him the riot act about diabetes control, so that's a new challenge we are facing. So I'm happy to start sharing my trials and tribulatons in coming up with interesting and palateable meals that address our issues.

So that's what I hope to do - and in the process to learn bout blogging and find out why it's such a popular phenomenon.

Happily Losin' It!