Recipe Review:: Hungry Girl's Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

Have you heard of Hungry Girl? Well, if you haven't, you should go check her out here! She's a girl that likes food and doesn't want to feel deprived of her nummy food so she has found ways to make super delish recipes in a low-fat/low-cal way.

The other night I decided to go for it and whip these up. Here's another one of the ones I was apprehensive about because of the pumpkin. You see, the only part of the pumpkin I like to eat is the seeds (baked up, of course) so I wasn't too sure of what I would think of these.

Well, I put my dislike of pumpkin aside and tried them. They are delicious! I could tast a hint of pumpkin, but ma said she couldn't (but she also likes pumpkin) Maybe I was looking for it? I don't know. Either way, I like them, the kids like them, ma likes them. I guess they turned out pretty well. I would definitely make them again!

Yum Yum Brownie Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 box devil’s food cake mix (approx. 18oz)
• 1 can pure pumpkin (15 oz.)

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Mix the two ingredients together. Don't add anything else that may be mentioned on the box, such as eggs, oil, or water. The mixture will be very thick and you will be tempted to add in other things to make the batter smoother. DO NOT DO THIS AS IT WILL RUIN EVERYTHING!
• Place batter into muffin tins (or mini muffin tins) lined with paper, or sprayed with non-stick spray. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes.

Per Serving (1 muffin or 3 minis): 181 calories, 3.5g fat, 2g fiber

**Points Value - 4

Recipe Review:: Hungry Girl's Cinnamon-vanilla French Toast Nuggets

Have you heard of Hungry Girl? Well, if you haven't, you should go check her out here! She's a girl that likes food and doesn't want to feel deprived of her nummy food so she has found ways to make super delish recipes in a low-fat/low-cal way.

The other morning I made these for breakfast. It was easy, fast and super tasty. My kids even loved devoured them! I would definitely make them again in the future and when doing so, I would probably either stick the other 8 in the fridge and reheat in the oven the next morning or just toss 'em over to the kids.

While the 16 were very filling, I'm not about to sacrifice 6 points for these in the future. I would probably pair it with a Fiber One Yogurt (1 point) or something.

Hungry Girl's Cinnamon-vanilla French Toast Nuggets

 

Ingredients:

• 2 hot dog buns
• 1/3 cup fat free liquid egg substitute
• 1 tsp Coffee-Mate Sugar Free French Vanilla powdered creamer
• 2 dashes cinnamon
• Optional topping: sugar-free pacake syrup (I only dipped mine in the syrup, rather than pouring over them)

Directions:

• Split each bun in half, cut each of those halves into 4 pieces, leaving you with 16 pieces of bread.
• In a small bowl, dissolve powedered creamer n 1 tablespoon warm water. Add egg substitute and 1 dash of cinnamon, stirring until mixed well.
• Bring a large pan sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat. Dip or soak bread pieces in egg mixture, covering them completely. Place egg-dipped bread pieces in the pan and cook for 3-5 minutes, flipping occasionally to cook all sides.
• Remove from heat and plate your nuggets Sprinkle with another dash of cinnamon. If you like, top with some sugar-free pancake syrup.

Makes 2 servings (I didn't see this when I made them and thought 'man, this is a lot!' No wonder!)

Per Serving (8 nuggets): 151 calories, 2.25g fat, 1.5g fiber.

**Points Value - 3

**NOTE** I added a little bit of vanilla extract to the egg mix to give it some more flavor. Not changing the point value of it.

Week 3 of the weigh-ins

Ok, I'll admit it - I was wrong.
I was wrong about the amount of weight I thought I might lose this last week.
I was wrong about my measurements.
I was wrong thinking I would actually workout last week.
I was wrong in eating things I shouldn't have before bed - even though they were still within my point allotment for the day.
I was just plain old wrong.

Last week was going to be a good week, or so I thought. I didn't work out - even though I told David, ma and myself that I would. I counted and tracked my points, but I was giving myself too much slack (is what I'm thinking) I was letting myself have real sugar in my coffee instead of sweetener, not measuring my creamer in my coffee, not finishing my water... The list goes on and on and on.

I only lost 0.2 pounds last week. Bringing me down to 203.8lbs. I know any loss is a good loss, but I know better. I know this isn't a good loss. So I have recommitted myself this week. I have been measuring every single tiny little thing already (and it's only day one) I'm writing everything individually in my tracking book instead of grouping it all together. For example: 1/4c egg beaters - 1pt, 1/4 ff shredded cheddar cheese - 1pt, 2tb of green peppers and onions - 0pt, 2pcs lean turkey bacon - 1pt VS what I was writing: omelet - 3pts.)

We'll see if this helps me this week.

Another week, another weigh in

Well, I am sad to say, I didn't work out at all this week. No butt kickings from Jillian. Ugh. Anyways. I stuck to my points and it still paid off. I lost 3.8 pounds this week - bringing my total loss to 8.8pounds and bringing my weight to 204.

I only have 5 pounds to lose and then I'm under 200 again. It frustrates me because this was a milestone I met last year and then went above it. I can't wait for it to happen and I'm afraid it's going to happen RIGHT before Vegas and that will bring me back up. Oh well, I guess you just have to deal with the punches as they come, right?

First weigh-in back!

I just realized I never came over to post the results of my first weigh-in back! I weighed in at 207.8 - which means I'm down exactly 5 pounds! I know the first week (and sometimes second week) is the high losing week since you lose water weight first, but it's a nice jump start for me. I am resisting all temptation of weighing myself at all this week and waiting until the end of the week. See, I get so obsessive and become a daily weigher and it just messes with my head when I do it. So that's how I made the decision to wait until Friday to weigh myself again. We'll see how it goes! For now, I will celebrate my 5lb weight loss!!

Product Review:: Pop Secret Snack Size 94% Fat Free Butter Popcorn

This popcorn has definitely become a lifesaver for me! There are so many times when all I want to do is snack on something and I've made popcorn. I'm not a huge fan of butter on my popcorn (call me crazy) so this is perfect for me since it's lightly buttered. I just add a little popcorn salt and we're ready to go.

Besides the taste, the best part of about this bag of popcorn is YOU GET TO EAT THE WHOLE BAG! Yeah, I know it's only a little bag, but still.... ;-) I eat one bag daily!

*Points value: 1

Product Review:: The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese Wedges

I have to admit, I only bought these because they were used in a few Hungry Girl recipes I wanted to try. There's just something about spreadable cheese wedges that kinda rubs me the wrong way. I came to the realization that I would never know if I liked something if I wasn't willing to give it a chance (real scholarly of me, eh?) DUH!

Well, I was definitely judging a book by its cover here! These are super nummy! So far I've only used them for one recipe, but they serve their purpose and are nothing like I thought they would be. I'm so willing to try more recipes using them now!

You get 8 in a package for about $3.50. That was a little spendy to me, but then I realized I wouldn't be using more than 1 at time and that the cost was almost $.45/wedge. It became ok since I knew it would last me 8 recipes!

*Points value: 1 (per wedge)

Product Review:: Yoplait Smoothies

First of all, YUM-O! I decided to buy this because I love smoothies, I saw it on The Biggest Loser (yeah, I know I'm a sucker for endorsements) and because at Target my $1.00 off coupon made it only $1.50. I'm so glad I bought them cause now I'm hooked!
All you do is dump the contents in the blender with 1 cup of skim milk (or 1 1/2 if you want it thinner) and blend. Voila! I actually made mine with 1 1/4c. of milk since I didn't want it too incredibly thin and I was still able to drink it through a straw as well as eat it with a spoon. It was a nice creamy, sweet, fruity snack to end my night! I'd totally buy more and think you should try it!

It does make 2 servings so be willing to do one of the following: share, tuck it in the fridge for later or eat it all up! I chose to use the points and eat it all up!

*Points value: 2 (for half the mix)

Recipe Review:: Hungry Girl's Big Bad Burger Wrap

Have you heard of Hungry Girl? Well, if you haven't, you should go check her out here! She's a girl that likes food and doesn't want to feel deprived of her nummy food so she has found ways to make super delish recipes in a low-fat/low-cal way.

Today for lunch I tried her Big Bad Burger Wrap and it was so tasty! I was a little apprehensive at first based on one of the ingredients I had to use. See, I get a little weird about new things sometimes, but I have learned I need to try new things to not be so bored with my food.

I decided not to post the picture that has been supplied by HG because it really doesn't look all that appetizing. I didn't think to take a picture until I was done. Oh well, trust me - it was good! Next time I have it (probably tomorrow!) I will take a pic of it.

I added a Just for 1 broccoli & cheese dish (0 points) and I was stuffed!

Hungry Girl's Big Bad Burger Wrap

Ingredients:

• 1 large La Tortilla Factory Smart & Delicious Low Carb/High Fiber tortilla
• 1 Boca Original Meatless Burger
• 1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light Original Swiss Cheese
• 1 pickle spear, chopped
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 1 teaspoon ketchup
• 2 dashes Frank's RedHot Original Cayenne Pepper Sauce

Directions:

• Prepare Boca patty according to box directions. Chop patty into bite-sized pieces. Set aside.
• To make sauce, combine mustard, ketchup and hot sauce in a small dish. Set aside.
• Warm tortilla in the microwave for 10 seconds. Lay tortilla flat and spread cheese wedge on top.
• Place chopped burger and pickle in the center of the tortilla. Top with sauce. Roll it up and eat!

Per serving (entire recipe): 199 calories, 5.5g fat, 1,368mg sodium, 27.5g carbs, 16.5g fiber, 4.5g sugars, 23.5g protein. !

**Points Value - 4

**NOTE** I made a couple modifications that actually still kept it at a value of 4 WW points. It changed the nutrition value listed above, but not in a way to modify it's value.
I couldn't find the tortillas called for so I actually bought the Multi-Grain FlatOut Pita Wraps, which have the same point value of 1. I also added some lettuce and tomato to mine - again, not changing the point value since they aren't worth anything in such a small amount.

And I'm back...

So, I'm back on the weight loss journey. I fell off the wagon a little while ago and have since restarted (with lack of serious commitment) a few times. It's now time to FINISH the journey I have already started.

These are all things I have done in preparation of finishing this:

• I rejoined Weight Watchers today.
• I purchased the EA Sports Active for the Wii.
• I upgraded my heart rate monitor to a Polar F6 - with recommendation of my niece, Katie.
• I bought a new pair of workout capris and a pair of workout shorts.
• I took my measurements (blech!)
• I had David take some before pictures of me (yuck!)

I've already done Weight Watchers and I know it works. I just need to keep my commitment and motivation and we should be just fine!

I weighed in at 212.8 pounds this morning. I've gained 10 pounds back from what I'd already lost, but that's to be expected without watching what I eat and not exercising. I have 62.8 pounds to lose. I CAN DO THIS! It's very feasible to say I can do this by the end of the year. If I were to lose an average of 1.5# per week that means I can lose it in 43 weeks. That takes me to December 31st. I will surely welcome it before then, but this is my goal date!
I'm going to continue using my ticker at the top, but I'm keeping it at what my starting weight was initially since it is important for me to know that's where I originally started.

 I CAN DO THIS!