Chicken Cordon Blue

Chicken Cordon Blue Bleu

Tuesday is golf day around here. After work I pick up my husband (we commute together) and he drops me off at home then speeds north to the driving range. On these nights we don’t eat together, he usually eats on the road (read: fast food) and I take the opportunity to make something I like for dinner (it’s so nice not to ask the age old question - “What do you want for dinner?”). Tonight it was Chicken Cordon Blue. Yum, right?

Most CCB is really high in calories and fat because it’s deep fried, but this version is baked. It’s not exactly like the real thing, but its still really good. I served mine with 1% cottage cheese, but it would go great with mashed sweet potatoes. That was just way too much effort tonight though.

INGREDIENTS: (for one)

• Boneless chicken breast, fat trimmed
• Deli ham (I use Healthy Choice - it’s 40calories for 3 slices)
• 28g. Weight Watchers Mozzarella Cheese
• 1/4c. Corn flakes, crushed
• 1/4c. Egg Beaters

Food Journal - Monday

Breakfast: 8
Plain Bagel, Dunkin Donuts (6pts)
Light Cream Cheese, Dunkin Donuts (1.5pts)
Ice Coffee with Skim milk & Splenda, Dunkin Donuts (.5pts)

Morning Snack: 2
Light String Cheese, Frigo (1pt)
Fiber 1 Yogurt (1pt)

Lunch: 6
2c. Mixed Greens (0pts)
20g Dried Cranberries (1.5pts)
12g. Reduced Fat Blue Cheese (1pts)
Red onion (0pts)
70g. Leftover Chicken (1.5pts)
3 TBSP Fat Free Balsamic dressing, Maple Grove Farms (0pts)
2 South Beach Peanut Butter Cookies (2pts)
No sugar added peaches, Del Monte (0pts)
20oz. Water (0pts)

Afternoon Snack - 3
Kettle Korn (1pt)
1/3c. Frozen Yogurt (2pts)

Dinner: 14
3c. Salad (same as lunch except I added Walnuts) - (7pts)
140g. Sweet Potato “Fries”, McCain (4pts)
Sugar Free Jello Pudding Cup (1pt)
Mixed nuts (2pt)

Evening Snack: 3
Fiber 1 Granola Bar (3pts)

Total Points for the day: 37

Daily Activity Log
1 Hour walk

Stuffed Peppers

This is probably not rocket science for most of you, but I was fishing around in the fridge today and came across red peppers and leftover Mexican casserole and thought..hey..stuffed peppers.

Easiest thing to make in history and oh-so-good.

INGREDIENTS:
Leftover Mexican Casserole
Low-fat Shredded Mexican Cheese (I use the WW variety)
Red Peppers
Olive Oil Spray

DIRECTIONS:
1. Spray pan with Olive oil spray.
2. Cut red pepper in half and stuff with Mexican Casserole (1/2c. each side).
3. Top with shredded cheese.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.

WWP: 4pts per half

Food Journal - Wed & Thurs

Click “read more” for the journal!

Mexican Fiesta

OK, not a full blown - mariachi band, tortilla-eating, salsa dancing good time…but Mexican food none-the- less. Slightly lame Mexican food…but hey, what do you want? I’m not Mexican! Well, depending on who you ask I’m not. My mother-in-law thinks that because I am of Portuguese (<25%) decent, and Portugal is next to Spain, and in Spain they speak Spanish, and in Mexico they speak Spanish…so really, it’s the same thing. Help me Lord.

Someday I’m going to mess with her and show up at her house riding a donkey with a sombrero on my head. Or maybe the next time she comes over I’ll frame a picture of myself photo-shopped next to Juan Valdez. Shoot, he’s Colombian. Well in Columbia they speak Spanish so I’m sure she wouldn’t notice the difference.

Can you tell I’ve thought about this WAY more than necessary? Sí?

Mexican Rice

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 sprays cooking spray
• 4 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 1/4 cup salsa
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 15 oz canned fat free refried beans
• 10 oz frozen corn kernels, thawed
• 4 oz canned green chili peppers, mild, diced
• 1 Tbsp chili powder
• 3/4c. Black or Pinto Beans
• 3/4 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese, divided (I like WW Shredded Mexican Cheese!)
• 2 Tbsp cilantro, fresh, chopped (optional; for garnish)

VitaMuffin Review

I have been scouring the grocery store for weeks looking for these little chocolate muffins - unsuccessfully, until last week.  My local Hannaford now stocks them in the organic freezer section near the Ezekiel bread (which I’m also dying to try).

I first heard about VitaMuffins from Hungry girl.  She just raves about them.  She even has a game on her site called “Whack-a-Snack” that give you a 5% off coupon code at Vitalicious.com.  They also receive a lot of hype on the Weight Watcher Boards due to the fact that most of varieties are only 1 point.  This is big news in the dieting world.  Guilt free, good-for-you chocolate.  Vitalicious even claims they are better for you than eating an apple!

Chart courtesy of thenibble.com

 The charts don’t lie.  50% of most of your daily vitamins!  The 2oz Deep Chocolate variety that I bought even had 6 grams of fiber!  Wow!

But how do they taste?

Mostly good.  I wouldn’t expect fireworks in your mouth, but they were pretty tasty.  The variety that I bought comes frozen.  Vitalicious.com recommends that you:

Thaw at room temperature for about 30 minutes or remove them from their package and defrost for 10-15 seconds in the microwave.

I didn’t do that the first time, so they were a little dry and well, frozen.  But the second time I allowed them to thaw for a while and they were much better. 

Would I buy them again?

Honestly, i’m not sure.  They were a great snack for 1pt, but they were also very pricey - $4.99 for a 4-pack (yikes, right?).   I may try their vitamuffin mix which is more versital.  Roni over at Weight Watchen had a contest a few months back using VitaMix.  She got some really great responses including:  Raspberry Chocolate Waffle Cups, and my favorite VitaBrownie Pizza. 

What do you think?  I want to hear your opinions on VitaMuffins!

Food Journal - Tuesday

Today started off well, but I totally derailed at the end.  Tomorrow is a new day!

Breakfast:  3

1/2 Bagel, Weight Watchers(.5pts)
1 TBSP Fat Free Strawberry Cream Cheese, Kraft(.5pts)
Fresh Strawberry slices (0pts)
6oz. Lowfat Blueberry Yogurt, Stonyfield Farm Organics(2pts)
Fresh Blueberries (0pts)
20oz. Water (0pts)

Morning Snack: 3
Light String Cheese, Frigo (1pt)
14oz. Raw almonds (2pts)

Lunch: 10
2c. Mixed Greens (0pts)
12g Walnuts (2.5pts)
20g Dried Cranberries (1.5pts)
12g. Reduced Fat Blue Cheese (1.5pts)
1/2c. 1% Cottage Cheese (1.5pts)
Fresh Blueberries (0pts)
Sugar Free Pudding Cup, Jello (1pt)
20oz. Water (0pts)
1 Brownie Bite (2pts)

Afternoon Snack: Kettle Korn - 1

Dinner: 20

1 srv. Mexican Rice (6pts) - recipe coming soon!
2 Pinto & Chicken Burritos (12pts)
Light string cheese, Frigo (1pt)
Tootsie Roll pop (1pt)

Evening Snack: 7
Wendy’sChocolate Frosty (7pts)

Total Points for the day: 44

Daily Activity Log
Nothin’

Food Journal - Monday

Breakfast: Cereal - 4.5
1/2c. Fiber 1 Cereal, General Mills (0pts)
1/2c. Heart to Heart Cereal, Kashi (1pt)
1c. Puffs, Kashi (1pt)
2/3c. Skim Milk (1pts)
1 medium Banana (1.5pt)

Morning Snack: Granola bar - 2
Peanut butter Granola Bar, Kashi

Lunch: Veggie Lasagna - 8
Frozen Lasagna, SmartOnes (6pts)
Sugar Free Pudding Cup, Jello (1pt)
Pear (1pt)

Afternoon Snack: Kettle Korn - 1

Dinner: McDonalds - 9
Southwestern Salad (6pts)
Southwest Salad Dressing (3pts)
Diet Coke (0pts)

Evening Snack: Blueberry Pie - 5

Total Points for the day: 29.5

Daily Activity Log
10 Minutes of jogging, 20 minutes brisk walk, 1o minutes crunches on exercise ball

Monday Weigh-In
Same…grrh!

Cinnamon Flax Scones

Cinnamon Flax Scones

Last Thursday during Life Group, while everyone else was watching LOST (blah!) my little friend Lilli and I decided to make a “cooking project”.   I decided that I wanted to use the milled flax seed I bought at the grocery store several months ago because up until then I hadn’t found a use for it.  A quick Google search came up this recipe for cinnamon flax scones at Bob’s Red Mill.

INGREDIENTS:

• 1-3/4 cups White Flour, Unbleached
• 1/4 cup Milled Flax seed
• 1/3 cup Sugar (plus more for sprinkles)
• 1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
• 2 tsp. Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp. Salt
• 1-1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
• 1/3 cup Light butter
• 3/4 cup Fat Free Buttermilk
• 1/3 cup Raisins

DIRECTIONS:

Thoroughly mix flour, milled flax seed, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Cut butter into dry ingredients until a pea-sized, mealy texture is formed. Add FF buttermilk. Do not over mix.

Place dough on floured breadboard with raisins. Knead 5 to 7 times to incorporate the raisins. Roll until dough is 1/2 inch thick. Cut into triangles 2 inches wide by 4 inches long. Place on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 12 minutes or until done.  Be careful not to over bake or they will be dry!

Serves:  16

WWP:  2

Lilli was so proud of “her” creation.  She told me her favorite part was when I let her use the pasty tool to fold in the butter.  Oh, what fun.

Scones before the bake.  Originally I started with 8 scones, but after they bake they were huge I cut them in half again to make 16.

Into the oven they go!

One of the best things about cooking with a kid is that they love doing the dishes.  I put Lilli right to work, careful to spread several towels on the floor underneath her.

Lilli so proud of herself.

Granola French Toast

Granola French Toast

adapted from Rachael Ray magazine

INGREDIENTS:

• Light Whole Wheat Bread ( I used Country Kitchen Light)
• 1/4c. Egg beaters
• 1/4c. Light granola (I used Back to Nature Cranberry Pecan)
• Cinnamon
• Pam cooking spray
• Sugar free strawberry preserves (optional)
• Sugar free honey (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Grind granola in a food processor until fine (to make two pieces of Granola French Toast I used 1/4c. of granola).

2. Beat 1/4c. egg beaters with 1 tsp of cinnamon.

3. Roll bread in egg mixture and then in ground granola.

4. Heat large skillet to medium low. Spray with Pam cooking spray and cook until light brown on each side.

5. Transfer to plate and enjoy!

6. Top with toppings or whatever you like (toppings not included in Point count). I like to use Sugar Free honey and Sugar Free Strawberry Preserves.

WWP: 4 PTS (for 2)

Serves: 1