Happy Birthday Honey!!

Tuesday is Dan’s birthday and I have a very special day/night planned. It’s tradition that we take off work for each other’s bdays and spend the day together and this year is no different. I plan to get up early to take the boys for a run so Dan can sleep in for probably the second time ever; he normally pulls morning duty with the dogs since I am not a morning person whatsoever. After the boys are nice and worn out, I’ll let them jump in bed and snuggle Dan while I make breakfast. While it may not seem like a big deal to get up and make breakfast for most people, it’s a huge deal in our household. I have a tendency to sleep until noon when I don’t have to go to work AND Dan’s pretty self-sufficient in the mornings; on a normal no-work day, he’s up, showered, had breakfast, played with the dogs and is working on something or other long before I even roll out of bed. On a normal weekend, by the time I get up and make breakfast, it’s Dan’s lunchtime.

For his special day, I’m going to make his favorite breakfast treats: apple-pecan pancakes with sliced banana, real scrambled eggs (not eggbeaters/eggwhite combo) and real bacon (not turkey, ps this is twice in the same week, he will be overjoyed!) with an asiago bagel from Einstein on the side for his guilty pleasure. Not sure if I’ve ever mentioned this before, but Dan has a sandwich obsession, he can (and will) turn any meal into a sandwich. This happens most at breakfast; he casually piles everything from his plate onto his toast and forgoes his silverware to eat his sandwich with his hands. I swear he doesn’t even know he does it anymore. Side note: I once saw him sandwich a huge hunk of lasagna between two enormo pieces of garlic bread … he’s obsessed!!

I had planned for us to picnic in the park for lunch with the dogs but now the weather forecast is iffy so I’m not sure if we’ll still be able to do that. Dan’s idea of a perfect day is a mix of lounging and playing with the dogs; therefore, I thought it’d be great to take a picnic (pick-a-nick) basket over to Lake Grapevine for a fun afternoon with the pups so we could play fetch in the lake. There is no funnier sight to see than my Gus’ head barely bobbing above the water while he swims hurriedly back to shore with a ball in his mouth while Fredo splashes around crazily trying to steal the ball back before they reach us. Fredo always reaches the ball first but Gus usually steals it from him and Fredo won’t push Gus under water so he rarely is able to steal it back, a wrestling match in the muddy shore occurs shortly thereafter. Note to self: pack blankets to cover the inside of the car for the drive home. So that is what I hope to do Tuesday afternoon, weather permitting.

For Dan’s special birthday dinner, I made reservations at his favorite place for a 4 course wine dinner!! So that’s 4 courses of his favorite foods with 4 wine pairings, can’t wait! Shhhh, he doesn’t know yet, I offered to tell him but he wanted to be surprised. Then to close out Dan’s special day, I’ll let him pick what movie to watch and we’ll cuddle up under the blankets with a huge tub of popcorn, watch whatever terrible movie he’s sure to pick out, and call it a night.

The rest of our week is going to be a bit hectic, and aside from Monday night, our regular plans are totally shot. Wednesday evening, I have plans to go out for a friend’s birthday and Thursday evening I have a company event. In order to try to stay on plan, I’ll be packing my gym bag and shower things with the hope of making it to the gym for at least a short workout before both events. I’ve also already fully cooked both nights’ dinners and will be packing them in my lunch bag so that I can eat before I go out and (hopefully) don’t indulge on something fatty and non-points friendly. The upside is I’ve really planned ahead of time to try to stay on track; the downside is the dinners for both nights are pretty boring and repeats of recent meals. After over-indulging all weekend long for Dan’s bday weekend, I really do need to stay on track but we’ll see what happens. Soooooooo, wish me luck!

This week’s meal plan:
Monday – Indian-spiced grilled chicken with asparagus and red peppers
Tuesday – 4 course wine dinner!!!!!!!!!!
Wednesday – turkey tacos with black beans
Thursday – meatloaf with roasted veggies and oven fries
Friday – grilled pork chops with broccoli and carrots

Apple-Pecan Pancakes
Makes 6 large pancakes / 1 pancake = 5 points (normally I’d laugh at something where 1 serving is 1 pancake but these really are filling enough that I only want one)
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup regular flour
1/6 cup cornmeal
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp nutmeg (you could also add ginger but I don’t because Dan’s not such a fan of ginger)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup non-fat plain greek yogurt
2 eggs
1 tbsp safflower oil (or canola)
1 large apple, cored, peeled and chopped into itty bitty pieces
3/4 cup pecans, chopped into itty bitty pieces (I just buy the bag of already itty bitty pieces)

- whisk the eggs, yogurt and oil together
- mix dry ingredients in a separate bowl
- slowly add the dry ingredients to the egg mixture, whisking slowly until fully blended
- fold in apples and pecans and stir well
- drop by ladleful onto hot, greased skillet
- enjoy!!

Allergy season is upon us!

Let me start by saying I am not an expert or a doctor so please don’t fault me if you do not agree. I must share that I have been virtually allergy-free for a few years now and I 100% credit my daily teaspoon of local, raw, unfiltered honey. Honey has been touted as an allergy vaccine of sorts for a very long time, long story short: bees pick up the pollen and turn it into honey which you consume, thereby building up your natural immunity to the pollens used by the bees. By eating local honey, you are ensuring that you’re building up your immunity to your local pollens. Honey you buy in a regular grocery store is pasteurized, the honey is boiled and filtered to make it clear and to give it a long shelf life. The boiling kills all those fabulous antibodies that you want to consume to build up your immunity though.

There are reports and studies on both sides of this statement so please research further if you are so inclined; I read both sides and figured “eh, why not give it a try?” and here we are. I started eating honey as an allergy vaccine after my first spring in Bedford. My allergies were so bad that I was missing work to stay home, in bed, in complete and total darkness and silence with a tissue shoved up my nose hoping that the Benadryl and Excedrin would eventually kick in or just knock me out. I was a lifelong allergy sufferer and had tried prescriptions, herbs, various OTC meds, even chiropractics and acupuncture but nothing really worked. I figured honey couldn’t make anything worse, so why not just give it a try.

Now, after a few years of taking 1tsp of local, raw, unfiltered honey daily, I can awaken with a clear head and eyes, completely fine, despite the fact that the pollen counts are through the roof and Dan and most of my coworkers are suffering. Honey doesn’t work like a pill or liquid, it is not an immediate solution, and it takes a year or so to really start experiencing significant results. After a few days, you’ll notice a slight improvement; after a month or so you’ll notice more, but it’s a long commitment. BUT since it’s not a pill, it’s also not a big deal if you miss a day or two (or month) either. That first year, I didn’t notice a huge difference but by the second year, wow! This is my fourth spring and I feel great!! [knocking on wood] I will admit that I’m dragging a bit today, but that could also be because it is a Monday, I am not home, in bed, with a pounding migraine and loss of peripheral vision like how I was for many years.

I still have bad allergy days from time to time, but now it’s only 1 or 2 per allergy season (vs. once/twice a week) and I hope in time those go away completely. Also, I feel terrible that Dan is suffering, but this is another one of those “if he’d just listen to me” situations so I am reminding (torturing) him daily (with a smile) that I’m right, he’s wrong, and he should just eat a tsp of honey and stop being so stubborn (it’s so fun, right Shan??). Side note: Dan doesn’t believe that eating honey will cure his allergies, but he also refuses to admit that he suffers from allergies. Second side note: crushing up a Benadryl tablet or two and serving it to your honey in his sweet tea so that his nose stops running, he stops clearing his throat so loudly that you can’t hear your tv show and (if you’re lucky) he passes out is not “drugging” him, it’s taking care of him when he’s not feeling well and too stubborn to just swallow a goshdarn pill. Last side note, promise: if you stir it into the tea before adding the ice, it dissolves completely and is 100% unnoticeable. (shhhhh, don’t tell Dan)

Ok back to my original story … I like eating a tsp of honey straight out of the jar; however, I know not everyone can handle that much biting sweetness. I also really enjoy stirring it into my morning tea, when I actually have time to make myself a morning tea (although don’t stir it into boiling water, see note above about making sure your honey is raw; I heat my water in the microwave to warm it just enough to make the tea steep but I don’t heat it to anywhere near boiling). Dan, who is normally a sweets freak, surprisingly doesn’t like honey all that much, so I’ve been experimenting with hiding it in different things to get him to eat some. He has unknowingly been consuming raw honey in his salad dressing, sweet tea and sauces for almost a month now and I must say that this allergy season doesn’t seem to be as rough on him as it has been in the past. Today’s pollen count would have made him SO cranky and sleepy this time last year but he got up and went to work without too much complaint this morning and he seemed fine when I checked in on him mid-day, and here it is almost 9pm and he's still going strong. I plan to keep this up through this allergy season and most of the summer, hopefully by fall his allergy suffering will decline at least a little more; wish me luck!!

Honey Mustard Citrus Dressing
Makes about 1 1/3 cups; 1tbsp = 0pts, 2tbsp = 1pt
1/2 cup light orange juice (I buy the Minute Maid one and it’s good)
1/3 cup grapefruit juice
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon local, raw, unfiltered honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
2 teaspoons minced peeled fresh ginger

Mix this all together in a blender or whisk vigorously until fully blended; chill at least 1hr before serving and enjoy! You can also add a little orange and lemon zest; garlic works really well in place of ginger but don’t use both or it is nasty. Dan really likes this one over spinach with grape tomatoes and walnuts.

I get my local, raw, unfiltered honey from Father’s Bees in Colleyville; you can find their honey at Bedford, Colleyville and I think Hurst and NRH farmers’ markets. The Cooper St market in Arlington sells raw, unfiltered honey from Waxahachie, which is semi-local but Colleyville is just up the street and the bee farm is only about 7-10min from my house, now THAT’S local!

WW Week 9

I’ve been following WW for 8 weeks and experienced 7 weeks of losses at the weekly weigh-in. At this week’s (week 8’s) weigh-in, I experienced my first gain, and while not significant, was super disappointing. I have to admit that I somewhat expected it, between taking time off from the gym and over-celebrating St. Pat’s, I was pretty sure I hadn’t lost. I had, however, hoped I’d at least maintained. I may be disappointed, but I’m not discouraged, and I’m looking forward to this week as a harder challenge: lose that pound I gained + lose another pound to get myself back on track! To do so, I’m taking myself back to how strict I was in the first few weeks; I’ll be sure to get at least 30-40min of exercise every single day and will be tracking every single sip and taste. I’m also refusing to tap into my activity points. I will definitely slip into my bonus points because I enjoy my weekend wine, but I plan not to use all 49 and those activity points are going to just sit there and remain completely unused. I’m also going back to something that worked well for me last summer when I noticed I felt super tired in the afternoons: instead of one normal lunch portion, I’m going to have two smaller lunch portions, one at 11am and the other around 230pm, with a very light snack of fruit & nuts just before heading to the gym at the end of the work day.

This week’s meal plan – breakfasts will be egg & sausage casserole; morning snacks are fiber one yogurts; early lunches will be ww-recipe corn chowder; late lunches will vary based upon leftovers. Here are the dinners I’ve planned for the week:
Monday – Chicken in a lemon/thyme marinade with grilled veggies (squash, zucchini, eggplant, tomatoes)
Tuesday – Beef stew
Wednesday – Chicken fajitas (peppers, onions, mushrooms, spinach) with black beans
Thursday – Tagliatelle Carbonara (without the alfredo-like sauce, can I still call it Carbonara??) – recipe below
Friday – Turkey burgers and roasted veggies (oven fries, baby carrots, broccoli)
--- made a deal with a coworker that if we both lose our goal at Thursday’s weigh in, we’re being bad for lunch (but still tracking) so I had to go with a super low points-value dinner to be safe ---

As a side note, I do try to get Dan’s input on the weekly meal plans but as usual, his response was “whatever” when I asked what he’d like for dinners this week. His only request was to pack him less citrus for his afternoon fruit because he bit his tongue and apparently the pineapple I gave him this morning really hurt that spot on his tongue so I picked him up a nectarine, gala apple, 2 pears and a red plum at the farmers’ market. OH I also checked out Colleyville farmers’ market this week; I’ve been a Bedford farmers’ market devotee for a long time but was disappointed last weekend when I learned they got their garlic from China!! I am a big believer in eating local produce and that just really didn’t sit well with me. Colleyville’s market is nice, and they have a pretty good selection, but some of their items seemed like they had been out a little too long; many of their red peppers were puckered and tomatoes bruised, which is fine for sauce but not so great for salad. I will be heading over to NRH’s market next week; haven’t been there in awhile since we switched dog parks but they had a fab selection last time I checked.

Tagliatelle Carbonara (without the alfredo-like sauce)
6 servings / 10 pts

1 lb / 16oz whole wheat fettuccine*
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (you can totally use less than this, but this is what I used for the points value since I learned I’m pretty heavy on the pour into a skillet)
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp faux butter (I use smart balance)
5 oz light / low-sodium deli ham (about 6 slices)
1 c frozen peas, thawed
Salt & pepper to taste
Grated parmesan – optional but tasty, adds to points value

- Cook the pasta according to package instructions, drain but reserve 1 cup of the pasta water; return pasta to pot
- Heat olive oil in skillet, add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is translucent and garlic is super fragrant, about 2-3 min
- Add butter to skillet and melt, add ham and peas, cook until peas are heated through, about 3-4min; reduce heat and simmer about 5min longer then add to pasta
- Toss pasta with sauce, add salt & pepper to taste, add enough reserved pasta water to make a light sauce (I usually end up using about half)
- Enjoy!!!

*tagliatelle is just a fancy word for fettuccine, I like using it because Dan can’t say it

Laissez Les Bons Temps Rouler!

The highlight of this week’s menu is of course the jambalaya I’ll be serving on Tuesday … I have a shellfish allergy so mine strays from the traditional in two ways: 1) no shrimp, and 2) I use turkey sausage. Last week, I made a perfect copycat Cajun Chicken Pasta, one of my FAVORITE dishes from Chili’s (second only to their skillet queso). Eaten at Chili’s, the Cajun Chicken Pasta is an alarming 35pts; however, lightened up and eaten at home, you can have this same dish for only 8pts!

Our menu for the week:
Breakfasts – FiberOne Yoplait yogurts and Bacon & Egg casserole
Lunches – leftovers and soups
& of course, our dinners …
Monday – roast chicken & veggies with wild rice
Tuesday – jambalaya!!!!
Wednesday – chicken enchilada casserole
Thursday – pesto & feta stuffed chicken … we had this not too long ago but Dan so loved it that he asked for me to add it on the plan for this week, it really is just that good!
Friday – balsamic marinated flank steak with hand-cut steak fries and broccoli/cauliflower

Cajun Chicken Pasta
4 servings / 8 pp each
The base for this recipe is Hungry Girlfredo
4 wedges Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss
4 tbsp fat-free sour cream
¼ c reduced-fat grated parmesan
2 chicken breasts
1 tbsp blackened seasoning
4 c whole wheat penne pasta
1 c sliced mushrooms
½ c frozen peas
Olive oil, olive oil spray
Salt & pepper

- Lightly coat the chicken breasts with olive oil spray and season generously with blackened chicken seasoning; press the seasoning into the breasts (both sides) and allow the chicken to rest on the countertop for about 20min
- Spray grill pan with olive oil spray and heat over medium; add the chicken breasts and cook about 7-10min each side or until fully cooked through
- Lightly sauté mushrooms and peas until mushrooms are soft and peas are no longer frozen; keep warm
- While chicken is grilling, cook pasta in lightly salted water; when draining, reserve 1 c of the pasta water
- Return pasta to pot, add cheese wedges, sour cream and parmesan; add reserved pasta water by the ladleful until the sauce becomes creamy; add vegetables and toss to coat; add salt & pepper to taste
- Slice chicken breasts and serve over the pasta; dust entire dish with additional blackened chicken seasoning

Jambalaya
8 servings / 5 pp each
1 pkg turkey sausage – either smoked or hot Italian seasoning
1 lb chicken breast
1 red pepper
1 green pepper
1 small jalapeno pepper
2 celery ribs
1 onion
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 15oz or 1 28oz canned diced tomatoes
1 can / 2 c fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
3 c cooked enriched brown rice
Cayenne pepper
Cajun seasoning
Salt & pepper
Olive oil

- Cook sausage in grill pan until cooked through, slice into 1” thick pieces (or smaller) and keep warm
- Season chicken with salt & pepper, cook in grill pan until cooked through, cut into large chunks and keep warm
- Dice peppers, celery & onion
- Heat 1tbsp olive oil in large stock pot; add diced veggies and garlic, cook until veggies have softened
- Add diced tomatoes and simmer 10min; add seasonings and cook until fragrant (I use quite a bit of cayenne but start with 1tsp or less if you’re not a spicy person); when using Cajun seasoning, it will fill your house with a sweet smell that is just fabulous, once you start to smell that sweetness, move on to next step
- Add chicken broth, turkey sausage, chicken and add more cayenne pepper, Cajun seasoning, salt & pepper to taste (if needed)
- Allow the dish to simmer over lowest heat setting for at least an hour but preferably 2-3 hours, until the chicken is falling apart when you try to pick up a chunk with your fork
- Cook rice and add to dish just before serving

Enjoy!!!!