MIA

So sorry that I have been missing in action. Life is crazy and something usually ends up taking a back seat. Right now it has been this poor blog and my Weight Watchers. I am hoping that as the craziness of summer wraps up at work, that I can get back to a good routine and back to losing weight again.

On the bright side it is my birthday is weekend and I get to go to Toronto to see my family. I have to work for most of it, I am on course, but at least I will get to see my family on that night. I am going to try my very best to be more consistent with posting and cooking, which I haven't been, after this crazy week is over. :)

Stuck in Park

That explains how I feel right now. Stuck. I can say that I am not doing much to get myself out of park. I am stressed out. A lot of stuff is building up and it is hard to deal with it all. I am feeling kind of blue too. Matt is still not feeling his best, so I am spending a lot of time doing things on my own. I am not always my best motivator. I KNOW what I need to do, but it is just a matter of getting myself to do it.

I have not been cooking that much this week either. I did however make meatloaf from the Kraft Canada site, which is a recipe I have made before. It is really good and simple to make. What I did different is to cook it in a 12 tin muffin tray, making 12 mini meatloafs. This is actually what I ate for dinner a night this week, as Matt was not feeling good enough to eat much. It was a good way to portion control the meatloaf. I will definitely be doing this again, but next time I will freeze a few of them for quick dinners.

Weight loss wise I have lost 1.8 of the 2.6 pounds I gained. I have been trying my best to keep my hands busy, which has been helping to stop me from snacking at night. I have new obsession, hairband and bow making. I don't have any children but it I keep going I may have enough to go in a craft sale. Lol! I started making them for a friend's little girl and I cannot stop, once I have some finished I will post some picture.

I have a Weight Watchers chocolate chip cookie that I want to try, but I need to get a few more ingredients first. Once I make them I will be sure to post a recipe review.
~Eryn

Friday weigh in results and an eye opener

Hello everyone!

Well I have posted about my lack of enthusiasm about tracking, and I did track for a few days and then I slacked off (yes- again). The results of this are a 2.4 lbs weight gain. BOO! But totally my own doing. I have tracked for 2 days consistently this new Weight Watchers week. Not much, but a start.

This is hopefully the wake up I need to get my butt back in gear. I have walked almost every day last week, like good long walks, not short little walks. I have been trying again. I am uncomfortable at this weight and I am smaller than I have been in a few years, not that I small by any means (yet). I want to be healthier so starting a family is easier. I want to have more energy for work and be a good role model for my preschool and kindergarten children. I want to weigh less than my boyfriend. I want to wear shorts and feel ok about it. These are some of the reasons I want to lose this weight. It feel like it is a curse that I have carried my whole life, something I want to be free of.

I am going to try my best to cook everyday this week. Something I haven't really done since Matt has been sick. I am going to go through the freezer and pantry and try to use some of what we have, as money is tight right now. I need to find some budget friendly meals. Anyone know of any websites or recipes for these? Let me know your favorite!

~Eryn :)

Weigh in and a summer treat

Happy Canada Day!

It's a long weekend for me, which is much needed. Work has been busy, as kids are out of school and in care full time so we have more children thrown into our daycare mix. On the plus side beach days start soon, so it's nice to get the children out of the centre for a day.

Weight Watcher's wise I weighed in this morning and was down 0.8lbs. I am happy with that, as I gained last week and I didn't track this week at all. I needed a break and I took it. I started tracking again today. I also started walking more consistently, as I had not been really walking at all. This coming week I would like to get 40 Activity Points, and not eat them. I really want to reach my 2nd 10% weight goal.

I went for dinner at my father in law's tonight and I wanted to make a dessert that didn't cost me like a million Points +. I remembered a dessert that was featured on the Biggest Loser, and it was Jell-O mixed with Cool Whip. Since it is Canada and everything is closed, I looked through the cupboards and I had tons of Jell-O and no Cool Whip, but I had Dream Whip. So I searched Kraft Canada and found a recipe that I could tweak. It was called "Fruity Mousse Cups." I changed the fruit cocktail to frozen strawberries, as my father in law is allergic to cherries and I didn't feel like killing him, LOL. I also changed the Cool Whip to Dream Whip as that is what I had. It was yummy and point friendly.

Strawberry Mousse Cups
Source: Inspired by: Kraft Canada
Serving: 4 • Size of Serving: 1/4 of serving dish • Points+: 4
Calories: 140.9 • Fat: 1.9g • Protien: 2.4g • Carbs: 31.9g • Fibre: 1.1g

• 1 Package Strwberry Jell-O
• 1 Package Dream Whip made according to package directions or 1 cup Cool Whip
  
• 1 ½ cups Fresh or Frozen (defrosted) Strawberries
• ¾ boiling water (for Jell-O)
• 2 Cups Ice (for Jell-O)

First make the Dream Whip according to the package directions and set aside to set (if you have Cool Whip skip this step- obviously).

Defrost the strawberries if you are using frozen and drain if there is excess water. If strawberries are whole, chop them into pieces. Place them into the bottom of the dish you are using. A 8X8 square dish or a similar size round dish.

Next make the Jell-O. Boil ¾ cup water and mix with the Jell-O powder. Stir 2 minutes or until powder is dissolved. Next add 2 cups ice and stir until Jell-O starts to set, 3-5 minutes. Remove any left over ice cubes.

Add 1 cup Dream Whip (or ¾ Cool Whip) into Jell-O. Gently stir until mixed. Pour mixture on top of strawberries. Chill until set. Spread remaining Dream Whip on top of the Mousse or top with remaining ¼ cup Cool Whip if that is what you are using.

***This was SO good!! Definitely a nice treat for a hot summer day. Everyone enjoyed it and said it was a make again dessert. It would be good with all kinds of different fruit/ Jell-O combinations.

Enjoy!

~Eryn

Checking In

Hey all!

I have been having a "non tracking week" this week. It was TOM for me (sorry if that is too much info) so I have been feeling awful. I didn't really exercise and I just ate until I was satisfied. That is a new thing for me. Usually I over indulge till I am nauseous. But I went out with friends to a sports bar and get onions rings and only ate like 4 of the entire order. I was pretty proud of myself. I also had Chinese food last night and did the same thing. When I was full I stopped.

Since it was that time of the month, I was up the 0.4lbs I lost last week. But I gain anywhere from 0.5 to 5lbs of water weight usually, so I was ok with that. I am hoping to be down that and more at my next weigh in on Friday. I am getting back to tracking so I can get back to losing.

I didn't cook much this week so I have no new recipes to share. I am hoping to cook more this week. Hope everyone has a great week.
~Eryn

Weigh In results and some other stuff

At my weigh in this Friday I was down 0.4lbs. Not much I know, but not a gain either. After a week of stress, Matt being sick, no grocery shopping and just eating what we had in the house, we were too poor to buy much this week other then milk when we needed it. But we survived and are doing a big shop tomorrow to stock up on everything.

It's Father's Day today, so happy Father's Day to my dad's and all the other dad's out there. And to my Matt, who is not a father yet, but is a great dog father to our fur babies.

I don't have a full blown recipe for you all today, but I have a great way for you to add flavor to chicken. I think it works best with chicken with the skin on still, but if you marinated skinless chicken it would be awesome. You just take the packaged powder fajita seasoning, whatever brand you like, and either brush the chicken with a little water or oil. Then sprinkle the fajita seasoning on the chicken. I didn't use a whole package, what was left over I mixed with a little water and Matt basted it on as the chicken cooked. We BBQ it and had it with Spanish rice and salad. It was yummy!

I will post a new recipe soon. I am headed over to Skinny Taste to see what is new and delicious!
~Eryn

P.S. I added a new ticker to the top to act as a motivation and quick reference. I am kind of excited about it, as it took a few tries for me to get it centred, lol!

Catching up and two favorite recipes

Hello, it's been awhile. I had a small gain two weigh ins ago. Last week I had a better week and lost 1.4 pounds, bringing me down to the smallest I have been in years; not that I am anywhere near goal yet, but baby steps, right?

Matt has been sick, money and been tight and stress has caught up with me. I have been trying not to let it get to me. I have been trying not to eat my feelings, but it's hard. I am hoping that I am not going to have a huge gain this week. I am hoping for a stay the same kinda week or a small loss.

Since I have not shared any recipes as I promised, I have two for you. They are both from my Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook.

Chicken and Vegetable Fried Rice
Source: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
Serving: 4 • Size of Serving: 1 3/4 cups • Points+: 7
Calories: 282 • Fat: 7g • Protien: 20g • Carbs: 34g • Fibre: 5g

What You Need

• 1/2 pound ground skinless chicken breast
  
• 1/4 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
  
• 1 tbsp teriyaki sauce
  
• 2 tsp canola oil
  
• 2 large eggs, lighlty beaten
  
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
  
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
  
• 6 scallions, cut into 1 inch lengths
• 2 tsp minced peeled ginger
• 2 garlic cloves minced
• 2 cups cold cooked long grain brown or white rice
• 1/2 cup frozen peas, thawed
  

Make It
Spray a nonstick wok or deep large nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and heat over medium-high heat until a drop of water sizzles in a pan. Add chicken and stir-fry until cooked. Transfer to medium bowl; stir in broth and teriyaki sauce.

Add 1 tsp oil to wok. Add eggs and stir-fry until set, breaking eggs up as they cook. Add to chicken in bowl.

Add remaining 1 tsp oil to wok. Add carrots, bell pepper, scallions, ginger, and garlic; stir-fry until tender, about 5 mins. Stir in rice and peas; stir-fry until rice begins to brown. Return chicken-egg mixture to wok; cook until heated through.

** I love this rice. It is so good. Even Matt likes it and asks me to make it for him often. Definitely helps with Chinese food cravings.

Yogurt Biscuits
Source: Weight Watchers New Complete Cookbook
Serving: 16 • Size of Serving: 1 biscuit • Points+: 2
Calories: 64 • Fat: 0g • Protien: 2g • Carbs: 13g • Fibre: 0g

What You Need

• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 cup plain fat-free yogurt
  
• 1 tsp sugar
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
  
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
  
• 1/2 tsp salt
  

Make It
Stir together 1 cup of flour and the yogurt in a large bowl until blended and very smooth; sprinkle with sugar. Cover bowl loosely with plastic wrap and let rest in a warm place. (80-85F) at least 4 hours or up to overnight.

Preheat oven to 425F. Spray baking sheet with nonstick spray.

Whisk together remaining 1 cup flour, the baking powder, baking soda and salt in a medium bowl. Stir into yogurt mixture until well blended.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured work surface; pat into 6X8 inch rectangle. With pizza cutter or long, thin knife, cut dough lengthwise into 4 strips, then cut each strip into 4 pieces (making 16 pieces). Place biscuits 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheet.

Bake 10 mins. Reduce oven temperature to 400F. Bake until golden brown, about 10 mins longer. Transfer to wire rack, serve warm.

** This is another recipe that I have to double because Matt loves it so much, he will hint when he wants them, "ummm....we're out of biscuits, just so ya know." LOL!

As always enjoy. Send me some losing vibes for my weigh in tomorrow!
~Eryn

Small Recap

I haven't posted in awhile. I need to find a new recipe to make to share with everyone. My plans to make one this weekend, didn't pan out. I did the Relay for Life and was super tired before I went to the potluck/shower thingy for my friend. I just ended up bring fruit and dip from the store.

On Friday I weighed in and I was up 0.8. Boo. but I know it is a result of lax activity and food choices. I am doing much better so far this week and hope to continue. I want to see the scale move in the right direction. To do this I know what I need to do, it is just keeping myself on track.

On a brighter note, I exceeded my activity minutes goal for the 30 Challenge I joined on the WW 20's Board. I ended up with 280/250 minutes. I was like to beat that again this week.

I also found a new hobby, hair bow making. Lol! I know it sounds a little weird or lame, but it really distracts me to have something else non-food related to do in the evenings. I am making them for my friends daughter, because in our small town baby hair accessories are non existent.

Anyways, off to work for me. It is baked ham and scalloped potato day at work (I work at a childcare centre). So I am going to try my hardest not to over do it. It is hard sometimes...but I am feeling pretty motivated today! I will post some pictures of Relay for Life and my hair bows later.

~ Eryn

P.S.- I am going to find a recipe to share with everyone soon, I promise! :)

Hmmm...

I don't know what to title this. I just thought I would update my blog since I haven't in awhile. I weighed in last Friday and I was down 0.4lbs. I am finding that this time on Weight Watchers I am losing a lot slower. I am hoping that means that it will stay off for good. I am also hoping that I am out of that darn plateau I was in and am back to losing consistently. I have been lacking in the activity department this week. I am on an earlier shift and finding it harder to walk. I have also been lacking energy. Excuses I know.

I promise I will post a recipe later on in the week. I am going to try a new dip from Skinny Taste for a potluck I am going to on Saturday. My internet has been down, so it has been hard to post. Hope everyone is having a good week.

~Eryn

Peanut Butter Cookies

Here is the peanut butter cookie recipe. I got the recipe from one of the YouTube channels I watch. I think the points were based on the old system, so they were called 1 point peanut butter cookies. When I added the nutritional info provided, they came out to 2P+. You could probably cut them thinner or make them smaller to make them 1 P+. But regardless they are good.

Peanut Butter Cookies
Servings: 24 • Size: 1 Cookie • Points+: 2
Calories: 61 • Fat: 1.7g • Protein: 1.4g • Carbs: 10.1g • Fibre: 0.2g

What You Need

- 1 cup all-purpose flour

- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda

- 1/8 teaspoon salt

- 3 tablespoons reduced-calorie margarine (stick-variety) or 3 tablespoons light butter

- 4 tablespoons reduced-fat peanut butter

- 1/3 cup packed light brown sugar

- 1/4 cup sugar

- 1 large egg white

- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

- Cooking spray

Directions:

- Combine flour, baking soda and salt in a small bowl, set aside.

- Combine margarine and peanut butter in another mixing bowl, beating on medium speed until blended and smooth. Gradually add both sugars and beat until blended. Add egg white and vanilla and beat until smooth. While beating on low speed, gradually add flour mixture and mix until just blended.

- Transfer dough to a large piece of plastic wrap and roll into an 8-inch log. Wrap log in plastic wrap and freeze for 2 hours. (Note: You can make the cookie dough up to 3 days in advance and freeze until ready to bake.).

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat 2 large baking sheets with cooking spray. Remove cookie dough from freezer and slice crosswise into 1/3 inch-thick slices; place slices 1 inch apart on prepared baking sheets. Bake until golden around edges, about 8 to10 minutes. Transfer cookies to wire racks to cool completely.

**These cookies are really yummy. They are not a soft cookie though, very crunchy. I think you could most likely cook them less for more chewy cookies. Beware of the dough, it is so delicious, I think Matt ate like 1/4 of the log before I was able to cook them. Definitely a make again for cookie cravings.

I am starting a new 30 Challenge with some of the ladies on the WW 20's board. I am looking forward to it. I am thinking my reward for the end of the challenge will be the OPI or China Glaze Crackle polish, that stuff is cool. Either that or a hair cut. I only need to lose around 4.5 pounds to reach my 10% Goal. I would really like to do that by the end of the challenge. I know it seems like a small goal, but I have been losing slowly, so I want to set myself up for success instead of failure.

As Always,
~Enjoy! Eryn

Weigh In

I thought I would start posting my weigh ins, since I do want to incorporate more of my daily life into my blog.

Today was the day that I weighed in for the week. I have been in a plateau for the past four weeks, so I have been stepping up my exercise this week. I managed to earn 41 activity points, which I think is the most I have earned since start Weight Watchers Online. Anyways back to the point, at my weigh in today I was super excited to see that I lost 1.6 lbs! It may not be tons, but I am finding that during this weight loss journey, it is a lot easier for for me to lose slowly and keep it off for good. It's not just about the destination, but all the roads and detours that you have to take to get there.

I will post a new recipe this weekend, as I have a peanut butter cookie recipe that is non-dieter approved, lol! Happy May 2-4 to all my Canadian readers! I am looking forward to a well deserved long weekend! :)

~Eryn

Bagels- Yes I Made Bagels!

I know I haven't posted anything in awhile, I was just caught up in life. I was reading the Awesome 20's board on the WW site and I saw that one of the girls there had posted about making bagels. She posted the recipe, and I copied it as something to try out. I was intimidated to try this, but they were much easier to make then I thought they would be! Here is the recipe:

Bagels

• 4-5 cups flour (I used white all purpose, because that is what I had)
• 1 tbsp brown sugar
• 1 tbsp yeast
• 1 tbsp canola oil
• 1 1/2 cup warm water
• pinch of salt

Proof the yeast (mix water, sugar and yeast in a bowl and allow to foam and rise up a bit). Add flour 1 cup at a time until you can't add anymore. Turn dough out onto lightly floured counter top and kneed in a little more flour. Knead the dough for 5 minutes until smooth. Use the oil to coat a large bowl, put the dough in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap. Set aside for about 15 minutes.

While waiting for the dough to rise, boil a large pot of water. Once boiling add a pinch of salt to the water. Pre-heat the oven to 450F. After 15 minutes, take the dough out of the bowl and cut into pieces. Form into bagels by rolling out dough and putting the ends together. Drop formed bagels into boiling water. Boil for 30 seconds, turning once. Remove from water. Once all bagels are done, this is the time to add seeds or other flavourings. Use a pastry brush and brush a little milk on the tops of the bagels. This will help them brown nicely. Bake until golden, approximately 10 minutes for small bagels and 15 minutes for large.

16 4" bagels work out to 3P+ each. ** These turned out yummy! I am excited to eat bagels, as I haven't had them in awhile. They may not be beautiful, but they are good. Even Matt liked them. :)

Enjoy~ Eryn

Muffin Mix Oatmeal Apple and Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

Yes I made these muffins from a mix. Does that make me lazy, no I think that it makes me a time saver. I live in a tiny town, like 8500 or so people. The closest large town, Winnipeg MB or Thunder Bay ON are both 4 hours away. Anyways the point is that ingredients for baking are kind of "extras" in my one income household.

I was wanting to use up some apples, so I doctored a mix. The mix I used was "No Name Oatmeal Muffin Mix."

Oatmeal Apple or Blueberry Muffins
Serving: 12 • Size: 1/12 of recipe • Points+: 4
Calories: 160 • Fat: 4g • Protien: 2g • Carbs: 29g • Fibre: 1g

Oatmeal Apple
What You Need

• Oatmeal Muffin Mix (the large 900g bag)
  
• Apples- I used about 1 1/2 cups of Gala Apples (it was like 3 medium apples. You could also use whatever apple you like to bake with.)
  
• 3 tbsp apple sauce- to replace the one egg my mix called for
  
• 1 cup water- this is just what my mix called for
  
• dash cinnamon
  

Make It
I preheated the oven to 400F. I then put 1/2 the bag of dry mix into a large bowl. I peeled and chopped (small) my apples and added them to the dry mix. I stirred the apples to coat them in the mix. I then added remaining ingredients- water, applesauce and cinnamon to the bowl. I stirred until just mixed and no dry mix was left at the bottom.

I used an ungreased 12 muffin tray and put muffin liners in each slot. I separated the dough into 12 muffins and put them in the oven.I baked them for about 45 minutes. They took longer then the 25 minutes that it stated on the bag because of the fruit I added.

Oatmeal Blueberry
What You Need

• Oatmeal Muffin Mix (the large 900g bag)
  
• Frozen Blueberries- 1 cup would do, but my boyfriend likes blueberries so he added a lot more, closer to 2 cups! Also I used Wild blueberries, so if you use domestic (which are bigger) then you won't need as much. Honestly add as much blueberries as you like. LOL!
  
• 1 egg- what my mix called for
  
• 1 cup water- this is just what my mix called for
  

Make It
I preheated the oven to 400F. I then put 1/2 the bag of dry mix into a large bowl. I added the frozen blueberries to the dry mix. I stirred this to coat the blueberries in the mix. I then added remaining ingredients- water and egg to the bowl. I stirred until just mixed and no dry mix was left at the bottom.

I used an ungreased 12 muffin tray and put muffin liners in each slot. I separated the dough into 12 muffins and put them in the oven. I baked them for about 40 minutes. They took longer then the 25 minutes that it stated on the bag because of the fruit I added.

Enjoy~ Eryn

Crustless Broccoli Quiche

Hope everyone is having a great week so far. I have been trying my best to stay on plan, I have also been trying to get some more activity. So far I have gotten in activity 3 out of the 5 days in my WW week so far. I have been enjoying my Biggest Loser 30 Day Jump Start DVD. There are like 6 different workouts that are 10 minutes each, so it is easy to fit at least 2 in a night.

Anyways I have a few recipes to post about. Tonight I will share the quiche I made tonight for lunches the rest of the week. I was craving quiche (random I know) so started searching online. I got the recipe from the Kraft Canada Website. Here is the link: http://www.kraftcanada.com/en/recipes/crustless-broccoli-quiche-88588.aspx. The recipe went as follows:


Crustless Broccoli Quiche
Source: Kraft Canada
Serving: 6 • Size: 1/6 of recipe • Points+: 4
Calories: 150 • Fat: 7 • Protien: 12g • Carbs: 11g • Fibre: 1g

What You Need

• 4 eggs
• 1 1/4 cups skim milk
• 1 1/2 tsp dry mustard
• 3 slices whole wheat bread, crusts removed, cubed
• 3 cups broccoli florets, cooked, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped onions
• 3/4 cup Kraft Double Cheddar Light Shredded Cheese

Make It
Heat oven to 350 F.

Beat eggs, milk and mustard with whisk until well blended. Add bread; mix lightly. Stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour into a 9-inch square baking dish.

Bake 45 minutes or until centre is set and top is lightly browned. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting to serve.

**I think you could add almost any vegetables to this and it would be good. Adding ham, bacon or sausage would be good as well. Just make sure to adjust the points accordingly if doing so.

This is definitely a make again recipe. I cut mine a little larger for 6 P+ per serving. This would also be a good thing to make head and freeze.

Enjoy~ Eryn

My 1st Recipe Attempt- Strawberry Squares

Hello World!

This is my first post on this blog. I am doing this to 1) keep all my Weight Watchers (WW) recipes together and 2) have a place to share them with everyone!

A little about me:

• I am 28 years old and a Virgo
• I live in a tiny house in a tiny town called Dryden, in beautiful Ontario, Canada
• My boyfriend Matt and my two dogs (fur-babies) McGee and Milo also live with me in the tiny house
• I am on Weight Watchers (again) and have lost 35lbs so far with the Points Plus System
• I love to cook and bake, but do not like to clean up after myself
• I love the colour pink- especially hot pink

I got this recipe from skinnytaste.com. Seriously if you haven't checked it out yet, do so Gina's recipes rock. My boyfriend loves berries and anything sweet, so when I saw this I knew it would be a winner.

Strawberry Squares
from: skinnytaste.com
Servings: 24 • Size: 1 2-inch square • Points+: 4 pts
Calories: 138.2 • Fat: 4.7g • Protein: 2.1 g • Carbs: 21.7 g • Fiber: 0.1 g

• 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup canned strawberry pie filling
• confectioner's sugar for dusting
• baking spray

Preheat oven to 350°. Spray Baking Pam in a 13 x 9- inch baking pan.

In a large bowl, on the medium speed of an electric mixer, cream the butter with the granulated sugar until smooth, about 2 minutes. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla. Add the flour and mix thoroughly.

Spread the dough evenly in the prepared pan. With a small, sharp knife (or toothpick), score into twenty-four 2-inch squares. Place a teaspoon of pie filling in the center of each scored square. Bake for 30 - 35 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center of the pan comes out clean. Cool to room temperature, then sprinkle with confectioner's sugar before cutting and serving.

These were easy to make. Although mine were not as beautiful as the ones on skinnytaste.com, they were so YUMMY! Matt loved them, my co-workers loved them too. None of these people were on diets or are watching what they are they are eating. They couldn't believe that they were not that bad for you. These were definitely a make again treat.

Let me know if there is a recipe you would like me to make and review.
Enjoy~ Eryn