I never liked breakfast.  Even as a kid, typical breakfast food just never was tempting to me…sausage, bacon, eggs, waffle, pancakes…ick. I don’t hate them, I just never have gone out of my way to eat them.  HOWEVER, as I fixed my nice big bowl of maple and brown sugar flavored weight control oatmeal this morning, I realized just how much my habits have changed.  It’s only been a month and a few days, but I am now actually HUNGRY when I get up in the AM.  I actually look forward to some yummy, fiber rich, low fat, tasty breakfast.  I never used to eat until around 10 am, then it was junk, junk, junk.  I am getting healthy here, folks!  woohoo!

A good day today, as far as food goes…Healthy Choice frozen entree for lunch, yummy Japanese Yakisoba Noodles for dinner (homemade, with Chicken Breast and lots of onions, carrots, snowpeas, peas, and absolutely no added fat).  Easy on the snacks (veggies and fruit)

Last night, too, was an AMAZING dinner…homemade shrimp fajitas.  The hub loved it too!   Will share recipie:

Shrimp Fajitas (Works with chicken or beef too)

1/2 onion, sliced thin

1 tsp olive oil 

1-2 tb. ground Cumin

1 tsp. paprika

1 Tb. lime juice

salt to taste

Sliced red and green bell peppers

20 large frozen cooked  Shrimp

Fresh cilantro leaves, chopped

Tortillia, your  choice (I like white corn, hub chose multi-grain for his)

Thaw cooked shrimp according to package directions.  While thawing, heat oil in pan, add onion and stir to coat.  Add cumin, salt to taste, and enough water to cover and “stir fry” onion in oil/water combo until tenderized…adding more water if needed to avoid scorching.  (Keep an eye on it) When onion is cooked to desired tenderness, add paprika, lime juice, and peppers.  Cook a couple minutes until peppers begin to tenderize. 

Coat shrimp with a little more cumin, salt, and pepper.

Add shrimp to pan and stir just until heated thru. (Don’t overcook shrimp)

Sprinkle with fresh cilantro, and serve on warmed tortillias.  Yum!

I feel so good when I can serve up a yummy dinner that everyone loves, but that is healthy.  It’s FEEL-GOOD FOOD, because I literally feel good after eating it!  I no longer get that sickish, stuffed, icky feeling I used to get…like after I’d polish off a bowl of cookie dough.  I used to make cookie dough, just to eat it.  Wow, I’ve come a long way.

And I’m so glad my kids are seeing their parents eat healthy foods, but NOT OBSESSING over what they eat…I can’t obsess, or I’ll lose it, I swear.

OK…enough.  Today’s a bit of a down day…low energy, tired, kinda not feeling good, bit of a cold, yelled at my kids…an ick day.  No, it’s not PMS, I just don’t feel great.  But….I’m not eating for comfort. And that’s cool.

I’m sure I’m the ONLY person in the world who has ever tried a low-carb or other “quick result” diet, lost weight, then been embarrassed when back it came, with interest.  I’m reading blogs and success stories every night (instead of sitting in front of the TV and porking out) and finding little nuggests of wisdom…such as “This is not a sprint…it’s a marathon.”  I love that! A sprint you run start to finish, get winded, and bam!  It’s over.  A marathon is much harder.  It takes training, patience, dedication, and on the day of the race, determination to get all the way to the end…and recovery after.  Is’nt that just what we’re all doing here?  No more of the quick-cure “sprint” to losing pounds breathlessly…we’re in training, we’re all at a different level, and even when we stop and “rest” for a minute (go off program for a day, week or even a year) we can rejoin the race…when we’re good and ready and choose to do so.  And we run for life.

 Anyway, I wrote that little thought on a post it and stuck it on my desk, right over my computer monitor.  Every little thing helps!

Today, eating not so great…but could have been worse.  I made the yummiest stuffed bell peppers in the crock pot.   Got home with the family after church (we get home a little after 2 pm, ravenous!) and ate double what I’d planned.  I figured with the amount I made, I’d have one for lunch tomorrow.  Um, well, decided it was worth the points and scarfed the second one today!  16 point lunch.   SOOO good, and yes, it was worth the points.  I use brown rice in it, and a little wheat germ for an undected fiber boost, so didn’t feel hungry the rest of the day.  That doesn’t mean I didn’t eat more anyway!  Not terrible, and I did obey the “if you BITE IT you WRITE IT” rule…but 3 points of solid belgian chocolate bar (Christmas leftovers, actually I’m pleased they’ve stayed in the cupboard as long as they have) and son’s and my nightly bowl of microwave popcorn with a few m-n-m’s tossed in for fun really added up!  My toddler had a few m-n-m’s too, that daddy gave her in a cup, and she “generously” dumped them in my popcorn bowl.  Ooops.  I’m over points, and was kind of annoyed with myself for doing so, and a bit moody (translation:  kinda bitchy!) in the early evening ’cause I had no points left (hub asked me what was wrong) but STILL…compared to my former eat-fests, I’m waaaayyyy better off.  I’m making a goal to have 1 or 2 perfect days this coming week, meaning drink all my water, all my milk, eat all my veg servings, exercise, and stay in points.  1 or 2 perfect, and the rest good. 

Happy morning, on a whim I tried on my 16 jeans (my next size to get back into, which I’ve been in for a couple years until recently) I was actually able to button them!  I couldn’t legally wear them out of the house (that tight!) but, THEY BUTTONED!  My mid section is where I gain, and buttoning those jeans has been impossible for months and months, so that was a happy moment indeedy!

Anyone who likes stuffed bell peppers…here’s my method to make them as healthy as possible.  I’m open to more suggestions…and I know I could use ground turkey, but in November (Before WW) we bought a side of beef, and I have to use it up!)

SAVORY STUFFED BELL PEPPERS  in a Crock Pot

4-6 good sized green bell peppers

1.5 lbs. lean ground beef (could use turkey, but I have a freezer full of beef!)

1 med. onion, diced

1 can tomato soup

GENEROUS palmful (probably around 2 tb.) chilli powder

1 Tb. paprika

1 Tb. ground cumin

3 cloves fresh garlic (I press into meat mixture with a garlic press, you can mince it if you want)

salt and pepper to taste

worchestershire sauce to taste, I like about 3 tb.

Instant (10 minute cooking kind) brown rice

2-3 Tb. wheat germ (Totally optional, just adds fiber)

1/2 soup can water

1 can low-sodium tomato sauce

Additonal  amount of seasonings listed above

2-3 Tbs. shredded cheese  (optional, the hub likes a little cheese and he has more points)

Brown 1.5  pounds ground beef with chopped onion, then drain it, in a colander, over paper towels on a plate to catch fat.  Pat and squeeze and mush around the hot ground beef with additonal paper towels to press and absorb out as much grease (ie., fat, calories, and points!) as possible.  Return beef to clean pan (I use the same pan, but wash it after the browning step to get rid of extra fat) and add in the chilli pepper, paprika, cumin, soup, 1/2 can water, garlic, salt, and instant brown rice.  Bring to a boil, then remove from heat.  DON”T cover (the rice should still be somewhat crunchy)

Rinse and cut tops  off of bell peppers to create ‘cups’, and remove inner ribs and seeds.  Reserve tops.  Place each pepper ‘cup’ in crock pot standing up.  My round pot fits five peppers, yours may need more  or less.  Fill each with meat and rice mixture, pressing down into peppers with a spoon.  If additonal filling is left over, just put it on the sides and in the middle between the peppers.

Mix the can of tomato sauce with chilli powder, cumin, worchestershire sauce and paprika.  Top each meat-filled pepper , with a generous portion of the sauce, and pour any leftover sauce on the meat around the sides. If you like, next  top each cup with a green pepper “lid” (the tops of the peppers).  Cook on low for 5-6 hours…don’t overcook because the rice will get mushy.  Right before serving, remove “lids” from peppers, and top sauce with a teeny bit of grated cheese, return pepper lids and recover pot for a minute just to allow cheese to melt.  YUMMY!

Named by my 6 year old who slurped up 3 bowls of the stuff.  A little twist of lemon at the end made it incredibly good.

Dump all together in a large pan:  ( Sorry I don’t measure, I just guesstimate) 

1 box Swanson Chicken broth

about 2 cups water, 2 tsp chicken boullion, (or chicken base, or boullion cubes) 

1 whole onion, diced fine

4 stalks celery, chopped up into thick chunks

Couple handfuls of baby carrots, chopped up

handful of “homestyle” noodles (my noodles take 25 minutes to cook, you  may need to throw them in later depending        how long your noodles say to cook them–just cook everything else and add the noodles at the end)

4 frozen chicken breasts (just throw in frozen, when cooked, rough chop or shred them)

3/4 cup chopped ham,  (I happened to have 1/2 a ham steak  leftover,  trimmed the fat, chopped it up and tossed it in)

1 fresh lemon (squeeze in juice at the end for an amazing flavor pop…my husband and kids LOVED it

Toss it all in the pan EXCEPT the lemon juice, Bring to a rolling boil, and simmer until the chicken is cooked,  and carrots are how you like them.  Don’t overcook the noodles. Mine are the thick homestyle noodles that take 25 minutes to cook.  You could also cook the noodles separately and add them at the end.

Keep an eye on it while boiling, may need to add extra water or broth. 

Right before serving, chop up the chicken and return to the pot, then squeeze  a little lemon juice into the soup and stir.

POINTS HINT:  I let my son have the lions share of the noodles, I took just a few into my bowl…still felt indulged but with fewer calories and points.  My personal bowl came to 4 points…yours would depend on the amount of noodles you eat, etc.