I might be becoming my uncle...

....and not like in a way of liking KU and living in Colorado. However, since starting the Biggest Loser competition at work and actively trying to make healthier choices with eating, I find myself following my Uncle Roger. He started following Weight Watchers several years ago and lost quite a bit of weight and he has done it by sticking with a routine. Everyday he has a turkey sandwich, carrot sticks, pretzels and some almonds for lunch (or something like this). And so...I have started my own routine lunch that seems to be working for me.

Most lunch days I have been taking to work cottage cheese and peaches, some baked chips and a mini bagel with a bit of cream cheese and turkey on it. Sometimes I had a piece of fruit too This combination really seems to fill me up and I like when I am rushing around in the morning to not have to think about what to pack. For breakfast I am doing a similar routine meal of english muffin with an egg beater and cheese on it, with maybe sausage. Anyway, hopefully I can stick with this; although I am still not "winning" the contest, I have lost 21.5 lbs since January 7th (2 more weeks to go). On the right track! Thanks for the inspiration Uncle Roger! I think of you whenever I am counting out my pretzel sticks or baked chips. :) I may never cheer for the red and blue but I think you're on to something here.

Come out, come out wherever you are....

Yesterday we got another round of snow.....probably 3-6 inches (I am horrible at guessing). I am SO over winter! The cold, the snow, the slush, the extra layers of clothes....etc, etc.

To entice spring out, I have put away all winter decorations and put out my centerpiece for spring and bought a basket with flowers for the front door. This ought to bring the temperature up, right?!

Ash Wednesday....

I am actually going to address two topics- 1) recycling 2) Lent. These go together because I recently set-up my "recycling center," aka- I bought a new trash can to recycle cans in after my friends Lindsay and Kylie visited last month. Well, it's been going really well and I have recycled oodles of cans....but today I decided to give up Diet Coke for Lent. I'm already anticipating the withdrawls. The headaches, oh the headaches! So, will keep you posted on that front. Maybe it will help with the Biggest Loser contest at work....one lady is plowing ahead and doing well each week and I think as of last week I am in second place. Anyway, really random post but that's the latest "news" here!

For the Love!

As I mentioned in my last post; I made dinner for two of my good friends here in Topeka. My friend Amanda actually lives in Lawrence but the weather was bad here so I invited her to stay in my guest bedroom Sunday night, especially since her husband is in Colorado for work (where she will be moving soon- sad face). My friend Sarah also came over for a nice evening of food and talk. They are two of the kindest and most genuine people I have met since moving here and I really enjoy spending time with them.

A few weeks ago, I saw a recipe for "Creamy Tomato Soup" in the newspaper. Crazy enough, I have never had any tomato soup (yes, even Campbell's) but I was inspired to try and make this. As a bonus, I got to blend everything with my hand mixer I got for Christmas and I have a mild obsession with....don't tell anyone. Anyway, they braved the snow and cold to come over for some soup and they brought some tasty rolls and wine. My mom had made some chocolate-covered strawberries for church and gave me some of the leftovers to share (yum!) and I used a heart-shaped pan to make some brownies to go with a scoop of ice cream. A great evening shared with friends! Hope everyone had a wonderful Valentine's Day with some sweet people!

Some craft action to make the party more festive!

Happy Valentine's Day!

For Valentine's Day I copied all the recipes for my mom that she had given me...hers were sadly misplaced when they moved into their house last year. Labor of Love! But she is now reunited with her favorite recipes (can you imagine not having your favorites?!?!) and in return she offered to buy me a new recipe book for all of my favorites. We share a love for cooking and I have her to thank for it. I got to pick out my new book Saturday and I really LOVE it!

I also treated myself with a new apron that I adore...got it at a cute little kitchen shop here in town. I wore it cooking a Valentine's dinner for a couple of friends so my friend Amanda thought we should take a picture. I will hopefully use it to cook many future dinners!

Addiction

I have quite possibly found a new love for dinner....homemade pizzas. Mmm. There are several variations to keep it interesting. My mom LOVES the Flat Out tortillas which are really good and when you put them in the oven with whatever topping, you get a really thin crispy pizza. My baby sister enjoys the english muffin pizza. You toast your english muffin, top and then put in the oven. My friend Kylie told me that bagels are the way to go and I am planning on trying these soon....surely you can't go wrong with this. So, moral of the story....if I enter rehab in the near future, I think it might be for homemade pizzas. There is a bit of protein if you use low-fat beef or turkey pepperoni, some veggies and some carbs and cheese. All of this could be yours for only 250-300 calories (or 5-6 WW pts). What more could you want? Did I mention the cheese? :) Pictured is an english muffin pizza...

Boston-Cream Peanut-Butter Breakfast Banana Split

I tried another recipe from the Biggest Loser cookbook. It is from the breakfast section and was pretty tasty....I would say 3 out of 5 Mmms. You place banana halves in a bowl with cut sides facing inward. Spread peanut butter evenly over the open bananas. Spoon the yougurt in the middle and top with 2 tablespoons of crunchy low-fat cereal, such as granola or Grape-Nuts.

Per serving it has 294 calories, 8 g of protein, 7 g fat, 5 g fiber

I ate it awhile before working out and it really gave me energy to get through it. Worth a shot if the ingredients sound good to you.

Recipe #1 from The Biggest Loser Cookbook

First of all, wanted to update that the egg casseroles turned out great (pretty sure they don't surpass Glory Days pizza though Kylie). I had a co-worker from Lawrence stay in my guest bedroom Tuesday night after bunko so she didn't have to drive home late and she had one and loved it. I also gave a couple to my parents and they too thought it was a keeper.

Anyway, Kylie and Lindsay gave me "The Biggest Loser Cookbook" for my birthday and I have spent the week looking at recipes to try. So many choices! I told them I would post they as I go...the first one up is a low-calorie ice cream sandwich. I would give this 2 1/2 Mmm's out of 5. All you do is put some (1/4 cup-ish) sugar-free Cool Whip between two graham cracker squares and put them in the freezer for at least 2 hours to freeze. I had one today when I got home from work to celebrate surviving the work week. It wasn't bad and hit the spot for something sweet but it wasn't my favorite thing ever. I LOVE the Skinny Cow and Weight Watcher ice cream sandwiches but they are like $5 a box. This is definitely a cheaper choice and easy to make. I think using chocolate Cool Whip would up it to 3 Mmm out of 5. Here is a picture.....anyone else have any good recipes they have tried lately?

Ramekin Love

As I have been participating in the "Biggest Loser" contest at work, I have been making a very intentional effort to make good choices with food (minus this weekend with the bar food/pizza "incidences" as we will refer to them) and increasing my work outs to get results. I am currently in 2nd place out of 18 people....in case you were wondering. :)

Anyway, a big part of this for me personally is for me to plan ahead for the week. It's so easy to get busy and not have ingredients to make healthy stuff. So, tonight I created some little individual egg casseroles in my ramekins that my sis gave me a couple years back. I love, love, love these little ramekins. I think they are so pretty and I love using white cookware. I think the food just really stands out against the white background. Prior to this historic event, I was only using them to make heaven- aka, chocolate molten cakes.

I didn't really have a recipe but just wanted to make it low-calorie and filling. I used liquid egg whites, green pepper, onions, low-fat cheese, and low-fat sausage and they are 4-6 pts for Weight Watchers (200-300 calories) depending on how much cheese/sausage you put in each one. WW is my weapon of choice for keeping track of what I'm eating and a proven method that has helped tons of folks (including myself in college) slim down! I ended up cooking them for 25-30 minutes and will have breakfast ready in the fridge the rest of the week! I think some ketchup or salsa might help to add a some flavor. We'll see tomorrow morning how they taste!!