Oatmeal Fail.

I woke up this morning in a grumpy mood, because I have a cold and didn't sleep well.  Little one was excited to see me, but still.  Grump grump grump.

So, we got out to the kitchen and I got her all settled in with breakfast and then realized that I was out of the instant oatmeal I've been eating.  Doh!  I'd been meaning to try to make some oatmeal with oats that I've had in my pantry, so I figured 'Hey, why not?'.

Not.

It may not look half bad, but trust me, it was all bad.  They were old-fashioned oats (which I heard makes a difference because they are thicker than steel cut?) with some honey, sliced almonds, and raspberries.  I took a bite, almost vomited, and then added some blackberries and blueberries as well.  Bleck.  How do people eat this?

Gross.

So, I put it out there on good ole' FB this morning and some lovelies suggested adding brown sugar, cinnamon, apples, pumpkin, raisins, craisins, agave, baby food, sliced bananas, maple syrup, etc.  Apparently steel cut oats are amazing?

You know what I did tonight?  I bought more instant oatmeal.  Rest easy, Alissa, good oatmeal is coming in the morning.  :-)

How do YOU make oatmeal?  What did I do wrong?  Is it really just supposed to be that disgusting?

Anyway...

Dinner tonight!  It was yummy!  Here are some pictures!  :-D

Summer Tomato Soup

I got this recipe out of a book called 1 Stock, 100 Soups by Linda Doeser.  I haven't actually used this book much, but thought I'd venture out into soups again.  There are so many different ways to make your own tomato soup!

Red Onions, Scallions, Celery, and Garlic simmering...

Add Tomatoes...

Cook for a while...

Blend.  Oh!  This might be tough if you don't have an immersion blender...
(Got one for Christmas!)  

Season it! 

Sorry, I don't think I can be much more specific than that without violating copyright laws... and I did tweak a few things to make the soup lower calorie when I made it.  You can make your own vegetable stock or buy it, add any kind of veggies (which might make it less of just a tomato soup, but who cares?), and of course season it the way you like.  Experimenting is fun.  :-)

To go with the soup, I may have made some tuna melts... not really Alissa-style because they had celery in them.  I NEVER add celery to my salads.  Why did I this time?  Eh, I figured it was a good way to get some good veggies into dinner... *sigh*  Who am I becoming?  Hehe.

White Albacore Tuna in Water (60 cal per sandwich)
Then I added a teaspoon of light mayo, a stalk of celery,
and I would have seasoned it with Old Bay, but I forgot.

Lay them on a tray and add cheese if you desire it!

Alissa's Tuna Melt

As you can see, I often desire cheese.  I'm working on that.  In the meantime, it was pretty darn delicious and the whole dinner was about 557 calories.  Works for me, but if you need to lighten things up, as I said, there are lots of ways you can do it!

How do you like to eat tuna?  I used to only eat it with pretzels.  Little salty ones.  Oooooh, with dill relish mixed into it.  Mmm... tuna.  ;-)

A Delicious Day

Two posts this month!  I'm on a roll, baby.  

This week I'm cooking all kinds of fresh veggies.  In my refrigerator/freezer/pantry right now are:

• Corn on the cob
• Beets
• Mushrooms
• Brussels sprouts
• Tomatoes (grape and regular)
• Onions (pearl, red, and scallions)
• Broccoli
• Snap Peas
• Squash and Zucchini
• Carrots
• Red bell peppers

Last night, I made a good old favorite:

White Chicken Chili  (456 calories)

You can follow the directions on the seasoning packet, but I often like to make my own seasoning to save a little money (and lower sodium!).  If you've got the spices to do it, do it!  Different recipes offer up different spice suggestions... garlic, oregano, cumin, onion powder, etc.  I always add a touch of cayenne pepper to spice it up.

I will say that I also always use ground chicken because I know when it's cooked.  Cook it in a bit of EVOO.  This was organic ground chicken and I added a can of chickpeas, a can of cannellini beans, and a cup of water.  Bring to a boil, let it simmer covered 10 minutes, then top with a healthy handful of cilantro, a bit of shredded cheese, and a dollop of sour cream.  The calorie count above included the cheese, light sour cream, and cilantro... and it was a third of the entire recipe.  Hubs got to take the last third for lunch today.  Lucky punk.

On the side... this was about 1/2 a yellow squash and 1/2 a zucchini (both fairly small).  I sprayed my grill pan (do you have one???) with a bit of PAM and grilled them up.  Mmm...

Grilled Yellow Squash and Zucchini  (45 calories)

Tonight's dinner was a little more ambitious because it was a new veggie recipe using my grill pan (best thing ever) and I cooked chicken tenderloins instead (which scare me because it's harder to tell when they're cooked!).  

Success and success!

Chicken Tenderloins (110 cal for 2)

Grilled Yellow Squash, Zucchini, Red Bell Pepper,
Grape Tomatoes, Mushrooms, and Pearl Onions

Grill them all on the grill pan and then enjoy as much as you want!  Not a ton of calories for any of these veggies!!!  Have you ever had a pearl onion?  I hadn't had one before and they are a little bit sweet.  I like!

Summer Vegetables with Fresh Salsa

Okay, so I cheated a little bit with this recipe... I was going to make the Cherry Tomato Salsa that was recommended to go with the "Summer Vegetables", but I had fresh salsa in my fridge.  It included tomatoes, onions, and cilantro, so I just went with it.  Yum.

I seriously probably could have eaten the entire bowl of veggies.  They were that good.  Who knew that salsa would make them better?  Okay, maybe all of the veggies except for the bell peppers.  I don't really like bell peppers, but I ate them anyway in the attempt to get my little one to try some.  Hehe.  Fail.

Dessert, you ask?  Why yes, I did make some!

Pumpkin Pudding (Yes, that's a piggy whisk)

Pour into ramekins (1/4 Jell-O box is 130 cal if you use skim milk)

Add toppings!  Raisins?  Granola?  Fruit?  What do you like?

Today was a delicious day.  What did you eat that was delicious today?

Finding a Balance

Well hello friends!

Remember me?  

Your good buddy who used to cook and blog about it?  

No?  

*sniff*

Well, I've decided to come back and blog more often.  I know I've said that before, but I'm revamping my lifestyle (and that of my hubby and daughter) and want to share some new recipes as I try them out.  Here's the deal... my daughter is 18, almost 19 months old now, and I gained a ton of weight when I was pregnant.  In the past almost 19 months, I've lost about 84 pounds.  How did I do it?  A little bit of Weight Watchers, a whole lot of exercise (Stroller Strides, which is apparently now called Fit4Mom, and TurboFire), and most recently, calorie counting using an app and website called Lose It!  (I may have ditched WW when I discovered that calorie counting worked better for me... to each his own!)

I buckled down with the hubs around Thanksgiving and took off a chunk of weight that I've been struggling to lose forever.  I'm still not quite where I'd like to be, so I'm continuing the journey, just trying to invite more vegetables and grains and healthy things into our lives.  Welcome veggies!  Welcome grains!  It's good to see you!

Trying to balance protein, carbs, and good fats has been a struggle for me, but I think an important one that I need to address for my body.  So, here's what I ate last night... sorry, it's not the best picture!  

Alissa's Mexi-Rice Bowl (570 calories)

1/2 c. Brown Rice
3 oz. Ground Turkey (spiced like taco meat- you could use a seasoning packet, but I make my own)
1/4 c. Scallions
2 T. Salsa
2 T. Sour Cream
4 Grape Tomatoes (chopped)
1/4 c. Black beans (drained and rinsed)
1/8 c. Shredded Cheese (any kind- I used a Mexican blend because it's what I had!)

Now, if you wanted to cut calories even more, you could ditch the cheese or use less rice and add other things like spinach leaves or mushrooms.  Avocado or guacamole would be a yummy addition, and if you really wanted to, you could put it all in a giant burrito shell.  You could ditch the meat entirely if you are vegetarian or use Morningstar crumbles (which I sometimes love).

That's what's great about Mexican food.  It's good any way you eat it.

I also wanted to share some pictures of my new tomato and strawberry plants... now that we have a house *gasp* and it has a deck *gasp*, we have space for things like plants!  :-)

Goals:
1. Don't kill them.
2. Keep other animals away from them so we can eat the fruits!

I added the second goal yesterday when we saw two little red strawberries sitting on the railing of the deck.

Can you see them?

Who took a bite and left it there???

I was happy to see that there was a little red strawberry still in the plant, so I picked it and shared it with my loves at breakfast.  ;-)

First Strawberry Success!!!

I checked the deck railing this afternoon and the two strawberries on the railing are both gone.  Squirrel?  Bird?  I hope you enjoyed them!  You won't be getting any more!

On that note, how do I keep birds and squirrels from getting more?  *Keep in mind that I've never been successful with plants.  Ever.  In my life.

I'm hoping to change that.

Happy cooking, friends!  :-)

Four Months Later...

Methinks you'll have to get used to once-in-a-while appearances from me from now on... I just can't keep up like I did before!  It might be a mix between having a toddler and not trying as many new recipes now that I have some cooking skill.

Since Thanksgiving, the hubs and I have been calorie counting and really trying to whittle down our weights.  I've been looking for lots of low-cal, delicious recipes and have tried a few things recently I thought I'd share with you.  So far I've lost about 16 lbs and am officially back down to pre-preggo weight (it sure took me long enough!).

Southwestern Egg Rolls

Alissa's Alfredo Lasagna

Okay, so this might sound like it's not-so-healthy.  It really depends on what you put in it.  I made it with RF ricotta cheese, a TON of spinach, lean ground beef, mushrooms, light alfredo sauce, and no-bake noodles.  If you portion it out, it's delicious and you don't have to feel guilty about it!  :-)

Pretty picture, right?

I have discovered the secret to yummy, light scrambled eggs... and I'm going to share it with you right now.  Are you ready?  Laughing cow cheese.  I've had this lunch almost every day for the past two months and it's filling, full of protein, and worth every calorie.

I use 1/2 c. of egg beaters, 2 wedges of any kind of laughing cow cheese, Old Bay, and pepper.  Sometimes I add mushrooms, spinach, a touch of lean ground beef... really, anything your heart desires in scrambled eggs is okay.  I like to put it on an English muffin (high fiber) with a Mushroom Lover's Morningstar veggie burger on the side.  I'm addicted.

Top with fresh salsa and a little guac or fresh avocado.  Heavenly.

Seriously.

Quinoa Pizza Bites

These were good, but I would recommend using pepperoni slices as suggested in the recipe.  They were good without, but needed something!  I also didn't have a tiny muffin pan, so I just baked them like cookies.

Alissa's Split Pea Soup

I made this with a bag of split peas... which I didn't realize would actually split or explode all over the pot as they started cooking.  I didn't take an after picture, but I should have!  I added potato, corn, chicken/veggie broth, mushrooms, and some spices.  It ended up thick and pretty tasty.

Next up...

Green Smoothies!  I've started having these more often lately.  Usually I add whatever we have in our house... banana, apple, strawberry, blueberry, etc.  Then you load it up with spinach or kale and add ice to get it the thickness you want.  I've been making them with soy yogurt and vanilla soy milk so that Liv can drink some, too.  Always yum.

Tilapia with Salsa and Black Beans

This is exactly what it says.  I made brown rice and mixed salsa into it, added black beans, and topped with tilapia (seasoned however you like).

Homemade Mexican Pizza

We are huge fans of Cheeseburger Pizza and just switched the toppings a bit to make it Mexican.  On this pizza, I used taco seasoned lean ground beef, fresh avocado, grape tomatoes, black beans, corn, and shredded cheese.

Broccoli, Cheese, & Potato Soup

Tomato Soup

I couldn't find the exact Taste of Home recipe that I used for the tomato soup, but there are so many there!  I might have to try some others.  :-)

For Christmas, I got an immersion blender... and it's AWESOME!  Here I am using it!  :-)

Smooth soup!

Sorry that this post was so random.  I'll try to post new recipes as I make them so I don't have to have crazy posts like this one!

Hopefully you see something you'd like to try... enjoy!  :-)

Spinach!

Spinach.  Super food!  It's so amazing for you... full of nutrients, good source of protein, high in vitamins, full of iron, low in calories, versatile... Popeye loves it.  Click here to read more about the benefits of spinach.  :-)

I will say that when I was pregnant I hated spinach.  Couldn't touch it.  Now that I'm not, I'm back to loving me some spinach.  Here are two recipes I've tried recently that are chock full of the healthy green stuff.  Both are WW friendly, too!

Yay, got to use my food processor to make this delicious concotion!  Mmm... Jim and I ate it with some random things we found in the house... carrots, crackers... and then decided to splurge and get some chips for dipping.  All worked well.  Obviously if you go with veggies, it's even less points. 

Spinach and Artichoke Dip (WW recipe)

 The following pictures I took of our dinner tonight.  It looks like a jumbled spinach mess, doesn't it?

 

 

Cheese Enchiladas (WW recipe)

The recipe calls for bigger shells, but I did smaller ones... I thought it actually worked out pretty well.  After baking, it smelled soooo good with the fresh salsa.  Yum!  I think next time I may add some meat or mushrooms... something else to add to the texture a bit.  They needed something more, in my opinion.  Just not sure what!  Any suggestions? 

How do you like to eat spinach?!  :-)

Emily Bites!

I feel like I talk about Pinterest a lot.  Do I? 

 

I apologize if that's the direction my blog has gone.  I'm just in love with how easy it is to find recipes (and DIY crafts for that matter) there.  A while ago, I stumbled upon a great site called Emily Bites.  She basically takes recipes that she's either found in other places, or created herself, and makes them a little lighter (sometimes a lot lighter).  For those of us tracking P+ with WW, it's quite helpful because she's got it all laid out nicely.  

 

Emily, you rock.  I just think you should know that.  I've also been sort of stalking your site lately.  I hope you don't mind! 

 

Here are a few recipes I've made from her site recently.  I have plans to try many more.  :-) 

 

Mac & Cheese Muffins

I didn't use elbow macaroni for these, as you can probably tell.  I used Ditalini pasta!  First, because I didn't have any elbow macaroni and I figured any pasta might work.  Second, I wanted to make some Ditalini pasta for my little one to try (it's perfect for baby fingers). 

On that note, I would strongly recommend NOT using Ditalini pasta for this recipe.  I think using another kind might get the muffins to stick together a little better.  Don't get me wrong... these were delicious, just a little messy!




Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps

 

I know what you're thinking... 'That's not a wrap, Alissa!'  You're right.  It's not.  I didn't have any in the house the first time I made these.  They actually were more like Bacon Cheeseburger Sloppy Joes.  Not too shabby!  I was sure to get some for the second time (see below).  :-)  I didn't toast them because I'm generally not a fan of toasting... is that weird?  I do think that when I make them again I may try toasting just for fun. 

 

Actual Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps

Cheeseburger Pizza

You may also have noticed a theme... we were kind of on a little bit of a cheeseburger kick.  Cheeseburgers might be one of my all-time favorite foods.  A friend of ours suggested putting a fried egg right on top of that pizza.  So, I guess you could do that.  It would certainly add to the points, though!  ;-) 

Here are a few other recipes that caught my eye:
Cincinnati Chili - If you follow my blog at all, you already know this is my favorite chili of all time... I'm interested to try this version and see how it is!
Banana Pancake Bites - Uh... yum?
Buffalo Wing Hummus - Yeah... I might try this really soon.

Seriously, folks... Emily Bites just looks delicious every time I go there. 

Eating More Plants

Happy August!  I can't believe it's August already... once August hits, it always seems like the summer is going fast (even if it's not).  I think this summer has felt very long, partly because I've been staying home with my sweet baby girl and she's grown so much!  We've been keeping super busy, too.  It almost seems like we are busier than we were during the school year, thought I know that can't possibly be true. 

On that note, I'm sure it will seem like summer is even longer than it already has been when I don't go back to school this year.  I'm a pretty lucky girl to be able to stay home.  <3

Anyway, with summer in full swing, I've been trying to eat more plants.  Plants are tasty!  Good for roasting, grilling, salad-making, etc.  I've been thoroughly enjoying corn-on-the-cob, which I've never really appreciated before this summer.  Why?  I don't know.  It's delicious! 

Spicy Black Bean Burger, Corn-on-the-Cob, and Grilled Eggplant

I also have a new appreciation for veggie burgers.  I know, right?  Who am I?  What have I done with Alissa?  Veggie burgers?  What's the world coming to?  Yeah... so, Morningstar products (at least the ones I've tried) are pretty good. 

You're probably wondering how I cooked everything.  I'm glad you asked!  I cooked it all on my grill pan.  Have I told you lately how much I love my grill pan?  I have?  ;-) 

The picture below is dinner I made tonight.  I'm not even sure what to call it... I kind of threw some things in a pan and cooked them up.  It consists of ground chicken, cream of chicken soup, pinto beans, frozen corn, garlic, and some seasonings (cumin, cayenne pepper, poultry seasoning, red pepper flakes, and a touch of garlic salt).  It's scooped over some brown rice and next to some grilled potatoes and mushrooms. 

I must also say that that's the saddest salad I think I've ever made.  It's just baby spinach and tomatoes... but it worked.  Initially I was debating about adding the spinach and mushrooms to the chicken mixture.  It probably would have been just as good.  By the way, this was a success!  Hubby liked it and even went back for seconds.  :-)  That's always a good sign.

Untitled Dinner...

These are just blueberries covered with strawberry yogurt (it's what I had in the fridge) and put in the freezer.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  :-) 

Yogurt-covered Blueberries

I hope you're making something amazing in your kitchen!!!