Recipe Review :: SkinnyTaste Sesame Encrusted Chicken Tenders

This recipe is a favorite in our house. I love it, kids love it, hubs loves it. They are a little time consuming, but they are so worth it in the end. When I make them I pair it with the Skinny Baked Mozzarella Sticks (also a HUGE hit in our house) I'll post that recipe soon too. 

Sesame Encrusted Baked Chicken Tenders

Servings: 4 1/2 • Serving Size: 2 chicken tenders • Old Points: 4 pts • Points+: 5 pts
Calories: 196.9 • Fat: 9.1 g • Protein: 22.9 g • Carb: 5.7 g • Fiber: 1.5 g • Sugar: 0.3 g Sodium: 400 mg

Image is from SkinnyTaste.com

Ingredients

• 18 oz chicken tenderloins 
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 2 tsp low sodium soy sauce
• 6 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
• 1/2 tsp course salt
• 4 tbsp panko
• olive oil spray (I used Canola oil spray)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with non-stick oil spray. Combine the sesame oil and soy sauce in a bowl, and the sesame seeds, salt and panko in another. Place chicken in the bowl with the oil and soy sauce, then into the sesame seed mixture to coat well. Place on the baking sheet; lightly spray the top of the chicken with oil spray and bake 8 - 10 minutes. Turn over and cook another 4 - 5 minutes longer or until cooked through.

Recipe Review :: SkinnyTaste Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

A while back the hubs started watching what he was eating and exercising pretty regularly. When he first started that he would pick up some Smart Ones from the grocery store and one of the ones he picked up and LOVED was the Santa Fe Style Rice & Beans. Well, when I saw a recipe that was kind of similar to it on SkinnyTaste.com, I knew I had to make it for him. 

I made the Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken and we both loved it. I served it over 1 cup of white rice (for an extra 5 points) and skipped the scallions on top. I also left out the cilantro - we're both not huge fans of cilantro. The picture below shows some cheese sprinkled on top.. you could do that if you wanted to (for more points) but we didn't bother and it was delicious without. 

Somehow when I made it I didn't get 8 servings, but 7 instead. Not sure why there was the difference..  This recipe will definitely be in regular rotation. 

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken 

Servings: 8 servings • Size: 1 cup • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 190 • Fat: 1.5 g • Fiber: 5.6 g • Carbs: 23.1 g • Protein: 21 g



Image from SkinnyTaste.com

Ingredients:

• 24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast
• 14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies
• 15 oz can black beans
• 8 oz frozen corn
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
• 3 scallions, chopped
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
• salt to taste

Directions:
Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot. Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top. Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred. Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in. Adjust salt and seasoning. Serve over rice or in a tortilla (extra pts).

Weekly Weigh-In: Week 1

Wow. It sucks to say "week 1" since I have gone down this path so many times, but I have to put a number on it. All behaviors aside, I had a great first week. 

-3.0 pounds

I will admit I was not 100% on point all week. I had ice cream, I had coffee with unmeasured sugar (instead of my usual Splenda), I had a greasy cheeseburger, I had mini peanut butter cups. Throw all of those things together and you'd expect I wouldn't lose anything, right? Well, I realized when I add the point values of all of these untracked, unplanned foods together - I actually ate about 48 of my 49 weekly points. I've never been much of a believer of eating the weekly points since I thought I couldn't lose if I was. This is proof that I can eat my weeklies and not feel guilty about it.

I only got 2 workouts in this week - that's bad. I can say, "At least I got some sort of physical activity in." but that would be me making excuses and allowing this to continue to happen in the future. My friend Liz said one time that she eats all of her weekly points, but she makes sure to earn that many activity points. I like the idea of that! While I know it might not work for everyone - she's lost 40lbs on WW, so I trust her advice and am willing to try it. 

I have a running/dining date with my cousin on Saturday and we're planning on going to Shamrock's. Now, let me be honest here - we're going there with the intention of eating Juicy Nookie burgers. I've never had one and she's having a last hurrah/birthday week. Saturday will consume all of my weekly points and I plan on burning off that meal before I even eat it, which means I have a lot of work ahead of me this week. 

Goal for the week: Earn 49 activity points. 

I caved

Last night my overwhelming desire for ice cream defeated me. I did great all day, drank all of my water, had a great dinner (which I wasn't nearly full or satisfied from) and the pang for ice cream hit. I wish I could say I was good and I measured my serving before I ate it, but I did not. I scooped it into my bowl and ate it. I considered more for a little while, but overcame the want and went to bed instead.
I didn't let it get the best of me and screw up my points for today. I continued with my great breakfast, drinking my water and getting in a workout.
So what I screwed up a little... I didn't let it ruin me. I'm just being real and honest - that's a turnaround for myself.

Oh, How Pinteresting

I totally stole this idea from my niece, Christine. She's posts over at Momma B - go check her out! Turns out she links up to The Vintage Apple, where I'll have to link to as well.
Not sure if there are rules or guidelines for this, but it seems like a lot of people post between 5-10 things that they've pinned. I'll kind of go with that for now. Maybe next week I'll have some stuff that I pinned and MADE!

Strawberry Orange Sorbet? Yes, please!

Something I need to remind my self of.

Skinny Chicken & Broccoli Alfredo. Yum! I'll have to make this soon!

Fabulous and Skinny, Shanghai Chicken Salad - ok, obviously I shouldn't be pinning while hungry

I have naturally wavy hair (that is also frizzy), but this tutorial seems like a nice way to get smooth waves after I've straightened my hair!

If you've ever watched Max & Ruby - you'll understand. 

I'll admit - I totally turn in to a 9 year old at this point. 

Love this color combination!

Yeah, this recipe is to die for.

Want to follow me on Pinterest? You can find me here.

Where's the wagon I keep falling off of?

I really feel like a broken record here. I start writing on the blog, watching how I eat & exercising, keep it up for a little while, and then I quit. I've fallen off this wagon so many times that I think I may have a broken butt. Ha ha.

I've never felt so unmotivated before. I will feel inspiration to get my act together to get healthy and lose this weight and then I snap my fingers and its gone before I've even started. I'm an expert with the delay excuses and it's time I call myself out on them.
I know when I blog and journal with WW I actually stick to it - or at least I have in the past. I have to give it another go around, but instead of this only being my weight loss journey, I plan on making it my regular blog - kind of like I had before. I figured if I'm only writing about food and exercise then I may never face the reasons I keep setting myself back and by doing this... I'm keeping it honest and real. 

My weight is back up after not tracking my points or working out. I'm at 222.0. I checked back on my weight tracker and when I weighed myself in July 2008 (after Parker was born) I was 225. I only weigh 3 pounds less than I was 1 month post-partum .. 4 YEARS AGO! I'm going to be honest and tell you I definitely had tears in my eyes when I realized that. I'm mad at myself over the fact that I also gained 9lbs since January. What am I doing to myself?!

Last night I took the time to make my week's meal plan. I've started the WW Points Plus this time so it's harder for me to just whip up a meal plan really quick. You see, I used to know my point values so well that it was very rare that I actually had to look up the values of food so it took me all of like 20 mins to make a week's meal plan. Last night was different - it took me just over an hour, but I made the time for myself to get it done. I'm important enough to spend that time on if it helps better my self. 

So, with all of that said... feel like taking the journey with me again?

Recipe Review :: Gina's Skinny Recipes Chicken, Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup

I happened to stumble upon a new (to me) site that was chock full of tasty, healthy low-cal/low-fat meals and haven't been able to get off the dang site since. I have found so many recipes that I can make for my whole family, some that I can make just for myself and freeze leftovers and some that even just my husband and kids might like. The site is Gina's Skinny Recipes (Skinnytaste).

I'm so glad I found this recipe. I love soup - especially a thick soup with rice, but they are always so high in points that I feel too guilty enjoying them. This is a nice, hearty soup that tastes delicious! A huge advantage is that David loves it - huge score!

Chicken, Shiitake and Wild Rice Soup

One thing to note is the rice expands the longer it sits, so you may need to add more water to adjust the correct thickness. This reheats fine the next day with a little added water. For the wild rice combo I used Rice a Roni Long Grain and Wild Rice.

• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 small onion; chopped
• 1 tbsp flour
• 8 cups (64 oz) fat free low sodium chicken broth
• 1 cups water
• 2 carrots; chopped
• 3 garlic cloves; chopped
• 2 celery ribs; chopped
• 4 skinless chicken thighs
• 4.5 oz long grain rice and wild rice combo 
• 1/2 cup long grain white rice
• 4 oz. shiitake mushrooms, sliced (I chopped)
• 2 tbsp light sour cream 
• salt and fresh pepper

Melt butter in a large pot on medium heat, add onion and saute until soft but 

not browned, about 3-4 minutes. Add flour and saute another minute.
Add chicken broth, water, carrots, garlic, celery, and chicken thighs, cover

and simmer 20 minutes. Add wild rice mix along with it's seasoning, long

grain rice, mushrooms, salt and pepper to taste and simmer on low, covered

25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Remove chicken from pot and shred with two forks, return to pot, add sour

cream and more water if too thick, adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve.

As a side note: I added about 1/2 cup of canned corn to it - for a little added texture.

Makes 6 servingsPer serving (1 1/2 cups): 237 calories, 4g fat, 2g fiber 

**Points Value - 5
**Points+ Value - 6

Recipe Review :: Gina's Skinny Recipes Lemon Blueberry Scones

I happened to stumble upon a new (to me) site that was chock full of tasty, healthy low-cal/low-fat meals and haven't been able to get off the dang site since. I have found so many recipes that I can make for my whole family, some that I can make just for myself and freeze leftovers and some that even just my husband and kids might like. The site is Gina's Skinny Recipes (Skinnytaste)

I absolutely love Caribou's lemon blueberry scone and get them any chance I have. Now that I am on Weight Watchers I can't just have one any old time, so I am in desperate need of finding a recipe I can enjoy enough to not crave the deliciousness from Caribou. I made these and they are incredibly tasty. My only complaint is that they taste a little too much like shortbread for my liking, but the cumbly-ness they have is perfect.

The recipe is actually for lemon cranberry scones, but I used blueberries instead (I have a supreme love for lemon blueberry baked goods) I've modified the recipe to reflect what I made. No nutritional value changed. You can see it on her site here. Since it is a lower point value for just the 1 item, I paired it with a Greek yogurt (my faves are Yoplait Greek and Chobani) and added a cup of coffee (with creamer and Splenda, of course)

Lemon Blueberry Scones

For perfect scones, be careful not to over-knead the dough and be sure your
butter is chilled. Leftovers can be stored in air-tight containers for up to two
days. I've tried these using all whole wheat flour but I prefer to use a blend of
whole wheat and white. Enjoy!


Lemon Blueberry Scones

• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice, divided

• 1/2 cup low fat buttermilk (I didn't have buttermilk so I went the backup 

           way 1/2 tbsp of lemon juice, 1% milk to the 1/2 cup line)

• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1 tbsp lemon zest
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 large egg
• 2 cups Ultra grain flour (or 1 cup white, 1 cup whole wheat) 
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp chilled butter (must be cold) cut into small pieces (I grated it 

          with a cheese grater)

• 3/4 cup dried blueberries

Position rack in top third of oven; Preheat oven to 375°. Line baking sheet
with parchment paper. Make glaze by combining 2 tbsp sugar and 1 tbsp lemon
juice. Combine buttermilk, remaining lemon juice, sugar, lemon zest, vanilla,
and egg in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk.Combine flour, baking powder,
salt, in a large bowl, stirring with a whisk. Cut in chilled butter with a pastry
blender, or you could use 2 knives, until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
Gently fold in blueberries. Add buttermilk mixture, stirring just until moist.
(dough will be sticky)

Place dough onto a floured surface and knead lightly four times with floured
hands. Form dough into an 8-inch circle onto baking sheet, about 3/4" thick.
Using a knife, cut dough into 10 wedges (do not cut all the way through).
Brush lemon glaze over dough. Bake until golden, about 18-20 minutes, or
until a tester comes out clean. Serve warm or room temperature.

If you leave out the dried fruit, the scones are 4 points plus each.


Makes 10 servings


**Points Value - 4    
**Points+ Value - 5