Mon 31 Oct

5.5 Oats, raisins, pear, milk
2. Juice
Subtotal: 7.5

0 tea
5 PB&J sandwich
1 banana
Subtotal: 13.5

2.5 latte
1.5 snacksize choc
Subtotal: 17.5

5 stout chili with mashed potato
Subtotal: 22.5

9 6 snacksize chocs
3 hot choc

Subtotal: 34.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0.5 Daily activity points
34.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: -10.75)

EXCEEDED POINTS BY 3 pts : (

Sun 30 Oct

2.5 cereal w milk
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 5

4 cheese on toast
0 diet coke
Subtotal: 9

0 carrot & celery sticks

3 dip

3 chips

2 turkey meatballs

5 spaghetti
1 salad

7 apple & pumpkin butter pie

3 beer

Subtotal: 34

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
34 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: -7.75)

EXCEEDED POINTS BY 3 pts : (

Sat 29 Oct

2 juice
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 4.5

2.5 peanut butter sandwich
Subtotal: 7

9 3 avocado, cheese & tomato on toast

3 2 snacksize candies

0 diet coke

Subtotal: 19

2.5 latte

2 juice

Subtotal: 23.5

8 salmon

2 salad with avocado & vinagrette

1 bread

Subtotal: 34.5

2 2 glasses wine
1 grapes & cheese
Subtotal: 37.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
37.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
1.75 Banked points used (updated balance: 4.75)

EXCEEDED POINTS BY 4.75 pts : (

Fri 28 Oct

2.5 cereal with milk
2 juice
Subtotal: 4.5

2.5 latte
Subtotal: 7

2 curried ground beef & rice
2 cheese sandwich
0 tomatoes, carrots & snap peas
Subtotal: 11

0.5 1/2 banana
4.5 3 snacksize candies
Subtotal: 16

2 2 pieces bread
1 carrots & celery with ranch
8 2 shrimp crostini
Subtotal: 27

7.5 5 snacksize candies
Subtotal: 34.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
34.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
3.5 Banked points used (updated balance: 1.75)

Thu 27 Oct

2 juice

2.5 latte

2 toast with marmite

Subtotal: 6.5

3 peanut butter sandwich

Subtotal: 9.5

4.5 1 brownie bite with frosting

5.5 2 cookies

0.5 1/2c fresh fruit

1.5 6oz apple cider

Subtotal: 21.5

4 chow mein

2 rice

7 2 brownie bites without frosting

Subtotal: 34.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
3 Daily activity points
34.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0.5 Banked points used (updated balance: 5.25)

Wed 26 Oct

2.5 cereal & milk
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 5

1 carrots & hummus
1.5 peanut butter sandwich
Subtotal: 7.5

3.5 turkey & slaw sandwich
0 diet coke
4 4 cookies
1 raisins
Subtotal: 16

3 Skinless chicken drumstick
1.5 roast sweet potato, potato & carrots
Subtotal: 20.5

2 chai latte

4 1/4c trail mix

2 cottage cheese with fruit

Subtotal 28.5

3.5 hot chocolate

Subtotal:32

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
2 Daily activity points
32 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
1 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 5.75)

Tue 25 Oct

3 Cereal & fruit & milk
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 5.5

0 tea
4 fruit cereal bar
0.5 1/2 pear
Subtotal: 10

3 turkey, cheese & slaw tortilla wrap
Subtotal: 13

4 1/3c trail mix
0 snap peas
Subtotal: 17

2 2 cookies

Subtotal: 19

5 spaghetti squash with turkey pasta sauce

3 choc nana shake

Subtotal: 27

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
27 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
4 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 4.75)

Pre-Pregnancy Weight Obtained!

Woohoo! I'm officially below the starting weight (65.5) of my second pregnancy!! The last 2 days I was just below it (65.4), but today I was 64.9, so I think I can definitely say that I've reached it!!

Now bring on my pre-first-pregnancy weight (63.5), and then my pre-marriage weight (60)!!!

Mon 24 Oct

5 oats, craisins, apple & milk
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 7.5

7 tuna salad sandwich
Subtotal: 14.5

2 chai latte
2.5 latte
3 1.5 oz pulled pork
Subtotal: 22

6 Risotto
1 Coleslaw
2 Creamsicle
Subtotal: 31

Food Log: Sun 23 Oct

2.5 Latte

2 Frittata

1.5 1c fresh fruit salad with balsamic port reduction

2 Zucchini banana muffin

3 Mimosa

Subtotal: 11

3 3 slider buns

1 1/2oz cheese

9 6oz pulled pork (homemade, low fat)

1 1c coleslaw

0 diet coke

Subtotal: 25

3 cider

1 6 olives

4 artichokes

1 baguette

Subtotal: 34

2 chai latte

1.5 1oz pulled pork

Subtotal: 37.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
37.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
6.5 Banked points used (updated balance: 0.75)

Food Log: Sat 22 Oct

Breakfast:
2 juice
2 zucchini muffin
3 cranberry muffin
1 fruit
Subtotal: 8

Lunch:
2.5 latte
3 cheese & pastrami sandwich
0 sugar snap peas
Subtotal: 13.5

Snack:
0 diet coke
2 2 cookies
Subtotal: 15.5

Dinner:

7 9oz tuna steak with sesame seed crust

0.5 mashed sweet potato (with milk)

1 broccoli in cheese sauce

Subtotal: 24

Snack:

3 chocolate fudge

1.5 1oz pulled pork

Subtotal: 28.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
28.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
2.5 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 7.25)

Food Log: Fri 21 Oct

Breakfast:
2 1c cereal
0.5 1/4c milk
2 1/4c craisins
1 1/4c yoghurt
Subtotal: 5.5

Snack:
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 8

Lunch:
3 beer
9 Chicken club sandwich
2 Few sweet potato fries
Subtotal: 22

Snack:
0 carrots
0 diet coke
Subtotal: 22

Dinner:
0.5 pumpkin soup
4 1/2 enchilada
0.5 1/2T light sour cream
Subtotal: 27

Snack:
2 Creamsicle
Subtotal: 29

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
1 Daily activity points
29 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
2 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 4.75)

Back in my Size 8s!!!

A few people have been commenting lately that I look great, and that my jeans are looking baggy. I bought a pair of size 10s after giving birth, as I was sick of my maternity jeans, but my pre-pregnancy jeans (size 8) were WAY too tight.

I went out to the local wine bar on Tuesday night for a meeting/social, and thought I'd try on my pre-pregnancy jeans... they fit!!! Woohoo!! I had to do a little dance in front of my friends to celebrate!!

I still have a little bit of a muffin-top, but I had that with the size 10s too (and to be honest, I've had that since I was about 14!!). Any bigger in the waist, and the pants are way too big round the butt & hips, and don't stay up.

It's Not About Nutrition

I recently discovered a great blog by Dr. Dina Rose about teaching kids how to eat. The underlying theme of her advice is that it's more important to teach your kids healthy eating habits than it is to worry about their day-to-day nutrition. The logic being, that if you teach them the right habits, then nutrition will follow, and will set them up for life. Whereas, hiding veggies in their pasta sauce or muffins, or forcing them to eat 'two more bites' of brocolli might result in acceptable nutritional intake at that moment in time (or not!), but they're unlikely to develop healthy eating habits for life.

The 3 tenets of her ideology are:
- proportion: we should teach our kids to eat healthy foods most of the time, less healthy foods less often, and junk food only occasionally.
- variety: we should teach our kids to eat a wide range of foods.
- moderation: we should teach our kids to eat only until they feel full.

I'm starting to implement some of her ideas with my just turned 2-year-old. I'm finding it a struggle though, as I don't exactly have the healthiest eating habits myself, and counting points right now also complicates things. Although I guess if I can stick to those 3 tenets, particularly the proportion one, then it should make counting points (and sticking to my daily allowance) easier.

I'll try to report on progress regularly.

Food Log: Thurs 20 Oct

Breakfast:

2 oats

0.5 milk

0.5 orange

2 juice

2.5 latte

Subtotal: 7.5

Snack:

0 tea

Subtotal: 7.5

Lunch:

9 1.5 grilled cheese sandwiches

2 bowl pumpkin soup

Subtotal: 18.5

Snack:

0 cucumber

2 2 chips ahoy cookies

2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 22.5

Dinner:

5 6oz fish

2 spinach, beet & feta salad

Subtotal: 29.5

Snack:
2 creamsicle
Subtotal: 31.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
31.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0.5 Banked points used (updated balance: 2.75)

Food Log: Wed 19 Oct

Breakfast:

2 1c cereal

0.5 1/4c milk

3.5 mocha

Subtotal: 6

Snack:

2 cheesestick

Subtotal: 8

Lunch:

3.5 vege curry

2 rice

Subtotal: 13.5

Snack:

4 muesli bar

2 cheese

0.5 1/2c berries & grapes

Subtotal: 20

Dinner:
12 1.5 enchiladas
1 1.5 T light sour cream
Subtotal: 33

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
33 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
2 Banked points used (updated balance: 3.25)

Food Log: Tue 18 Oct

Breakfast:
2 oats
0.5 milk
1 nectarine
2 juice
Subtotal: 5.5

Snack:
2.5 latte
1 Carrots & hummus
Subtotal: 9

Lunch:
1.5 lentil & pepper soup
1 bread
Subtotal: 11.5

Snack:
1 carrots & hummus
Subtotal: 12.5

Dinner:
4 Risotto
Subtotal: 16.5

Snack:
3 1 meatball, 1 puff pastry
2. 3 bruschetta
12. 6 cheesecake bites
3 3 glasses wine
Subtotal: 36.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
36.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
5.5 Banked points used (updated balance: 5.25)

Smokey goodness!

Tonight, I tried another recipe from my friend's blog... this time, a Lentil & Red Pepper Soup. I've never cooked with smoked paprika before... WOW! What an amazing flavor! And it made the sauteed onions, garlic & peppers a beautiful color too!

Once again, I halved the amount of oil needed to saute, which meant the entire recipe came out at only 11 points. I had two big bowls, at only 4 points total!

Bonus: my 2 year old loved this too, although I did use the immersion blender on his before serving it to him (he's going through a "no-lumps" phase).

Food Log: Mon 17 Oct

Breakfast:

2 oats

0.5 milk

1 nectarine

2 juice

Subtotal: 5.5

Snack:

2.5 latte

0 carrot sticks

Subtotal: 8

Lunch:

3.5 vege curry

2 rice

2 cheese stick
Subtotal: 15.5

Snack:
2 2 slices toast
1 1T jam
Subtotal: 18.5

Dinner:
4 lentil soup
1.5 yog with honey
0.25 half kiwifruit
Subtotal: 24.25

Snack:
0.25 tea with milk & sugar

4 bruschetta

1 frozen juice-pop

Subtotal: 30

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
30 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
1 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 10.75)

Food Log: Sun 16 Oct

Breakfast:
1. Half orange & half banana
1.5 half cup plain yoghurt
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 5

Lunch:
3 mimosa
6 divorced eggs (sans chorizo)
Subtotal: 14

Snack:
2.5 latte
Subtotal: 16.5

Dinner:
3.5 Vege curry
2 Rice
5 Naan
Subtotal: 27

Snack:
6. Ice-cream
Subtotal: 33

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
2 Daily activity points
33 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 9.75)

Food Log: Sat 15 Oct

Breakfast:
2. 2 slices wholegrain toast
1. 2t yoghurt butter
0. Marmite
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 5.5

Snack:
4.5 Blueberry Muffin
5 Pumpkin Spice Latte
Subtotal: 15

Lunch:
0.5. Plum
4 Turkey, hummus & cucumber sandwich
0 diet coke
Subtotal: 19.5

Snack:
2 Hummus
0 carrot, cucumber, tomato
Subtotal: 21.5

Dinner:

1.5 baked potato with 1T light sour cream

6 tortilla-crusted tilapia

1 tomatoes, cucumber & olives with balsamic vinegar

Subtotal: 28

Snack:

3 Hot Chocolate

Subtotal: 31

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
31 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 9.75)

Food Log: Fri 14 Oct

Breakfast:

2 oats

2 raisins

0.5 pear

0.5 milk

1.5 small juice

Subtotal: 7.5

Snack:

2.5 latte

Subtotal: 10

Lunch:

3 Beer

2 Blackened Chicken

6 Salad with egg & blue cheese dressing

1.5 3 hersheys kisses

Subtotal: 22.5

Snack:

0.5 nectarine

Subtotal: 23

Dinner:

3 tortilla chips & salsa

1 rice

1 beans

6 fish taco

Subtotal: 34

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
2 Daily activity points
34 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
1 Banked points used (updated balance: 9.75)

Better for you doesn't mean good for you...

I've been wanting to make this Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart ever since I read about it a few weeks ago. But then I sat down & worked out the points... 92 points for a 9-inch tart! Even if I halved the recipe & just made two individual-sized tarts, that's still 23 points per serve - more than 2/3 of my daily allowance. I guess I'm not making that for dinner!

However, the thought of tomatoes & goat cheese was on my mind, so I found another, somewhat similar recipe online, with much less butter & no eggs. It worked out at 48 pts for a 9-inch tart (12 pts for each individual-sized tart). That was much more acceptable, although only in relation to the original... 12 pts for a small tart is still pretty bad compared to most other dinner options!

Still, because I knew it was coming, I planned my day accordingly, and still had a couple of points to spare for an evening snack.

Next time, I think I'll do a freeform version of the tart - roasting the tomatoes separately, and then piling everything on top of a small square of cooked pastry - the tart was almost too rich, and there wasn't enough room on the tart for enough tomatoes to balance out the amount of crust. Freeform would allow a much greater ratio of tomatoes to cheese & pastry, and therefore would DRASTICALLY reduce the points value.

Tomato, Caramelized Onion & Goat Cheese Tart

48 WW Points total (12 pts per individual-sized tart)

Crust:

1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour (9pts)

1 t sugar (0.5pts)

¼ t salt (0pts)

1 stick (113 grams) cold unsalted butter, into small cubes (24pts)

4-5 T ice water (0pts)

Filling:

1 large onion, finely sliced (0pts)

1t olive oil (1pt)

8 oz. mild soft goat cheese (13pts)

2 T sour cream (1pt)

1 T herbes de Provence plus more for sprinkling over the tomatoes (0pts)

Salt and ground black pepper (0pts)

2 pints cherry or grape tomatoes (0pts)

To make the crust, place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor, pulse for 2 seconds to combine, add the cold butter and pulse until the butter cubes are the size of peas. Start with 2 tablespoons of ice cold water and add 1 tablespoon at a time pulsing, try to avoid adding too much water, the dough should come together when you squeeze the mixture in your hand. Gather the dough together on the counter, form a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about an hour.

Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat and add the onions. Stir to coat, then reduce heat to medium-low & cook until golden brown & caramelized. Stir every 10 minutes or so, and add a teaspoon of water as needed to prevent drying out & sticking. Once caramelized, remove from heat & cool to room temperature. (Note: if you don't have time to caramelize the onions, just finely dice them & saute until soft & translucent, then cool to room temperature).

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Roll the dough and fit into one large tart pan or in individual ones, using the rolling pin remove the excess dough. Refrigerate for 30 minutes, dock the dough with a fork, and line the tart shell with a piece of parchment paper or aluminum foil and use either pie weights or beans. Bake for 10 minutes, remove the weights and return the tart to the oven, bake for another 10 minutes and let it cool to room temperature.

Meanwhile, to make the filling, add the caramelized onions to the goat cheese and mix well, then add the sour cream and herbes de Provence, season with salt and pepper to taste.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Once the tart shell(s) have been cooled to room temperature, fill with goat cheese mixture, arrange the tomatoes on top, sprinkle with a little herbes de Provence and bake around 10 minutes until the crust looks golden and the tomatoes are slightly charred. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes and serve.

NOTE: I was in a hurry so after the dough had chilled for an hour, I just pressed it into the pie tins rather than rolling it, and only chilled briefly after that while the oven warmed up. I also didn't let the crust cool to room temperature after cooking - I poured the filling straight in & then baked. It still tasted great, but just had a more rustic look due to the pressed crust.

Doh! I forgot to take a photo of the finished product... it was so pretty!

Food Log: Thu 13 Oct

Breakfast:

2 oats

2 raisins

0.5 kiwifruit

0.5 milk

2.5 latte

Subtotal: 7.5

Lunch:

3 1.5 wholewheat english muffins

1 1/2T edamame hummus

1 1oz sliced turkey

0 cucumber

2 chai

Subtotal: 14.5

Dinner:

12 Tomato & Goat Cheese Tart

3 Beans & Greens

Subtotal: 29.5

Evening snack:
1.5. Small juice
2 1/4c craisins
Subtotal: 33

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
1 Daily activity points
33 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
1 Banked points used (updated balance: 10.75)

Beans & Greens

I had some lovely swiss chard growing on my porch, and some beet greens in the fridge that needed using, so I decided to try this recipe from my friend's blog.

I skipped the blanching step, as the greens I used weren't as bitter & tough as kale or spigariello, and it turned out great, although I would have preferred a higher greens:beans ratio.

Due to Lauren's belief that the key to this dish is plenty of butter & salt (with which I wholeheartedly agree!), I kept the 3T butter called for by her recipe, but I halved the oil. The entire pan came out to only 22 points, although it was so delicious that I had to make myself stop after eating half of it!! Luckily, I had plenty of points to spare yesterday.

2-year-old S wasn't so keen on it though... he refused to even taste it, so had leftover salmon & roast veges from yesterday's dinner (oh well, more for me!).

Although the photo doesn't do it justice, the stems from the beet greens made the onion turn a beautiful pink color which just looked gorgeous in contrast with the white beans & dark greens.

Food Log: Wed 12 Oct

Breakfast:

2 oats

0.5 sugar

0.5 orange

0.5 milk

Subtotal: 4.5

Snack:

2. Cafe freddo

Subtotal: 6.5

Lunch:

0 diet coke

2 small pottle cottage cheese

2.5 sandwich with 1oz pastrami, lettuce & cucumber

Subtotal:11

Snack:

3 Feijoa muffin

Subtotal: 14

Dinner:

11 Beans & Greens

Subtotal: 25

Snack:

3 Feijoa muffin
1.5 cheesestick

Subtotal: 29.5

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
1 Daily activity points
29.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
2.5 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 11.75)

Food Log: Tue 11 Oct

Breakfast:
2 1/2c oats
0.25 1/2t sugar
0.5 1 small apple
0.5 1/4c milk
2 juice
Subtotal: 5.25

Snack:
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 7.75

Lunch:
2 Wholewheat tortilla
2 Cheese stick
1 1.5oz Pastrami
0 Lettuce, tomatoes
0.5 1/6c kidney beans
0.5. 1/2c melon
Subtotal: 13.75

Snack:
3 Feijoa muffin
0. Tea
Subtotal 16.75

Dinner:
7.5 5oz Salmon
1.5 3 oz roast potatoes (1/4T oil per serve)
0. carrots & swede
2. creamed spinach (1T light sour cream & 0.5oz parmesan per serve)
1. bread
1 4oz glass wine
Subtotal: 29.25

Dessert:
4 Affogato (espresso & ice-cream)
Subtotal: 33.25

SUMMARY

31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
33.25 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
2.25 Banked points used (updated balance: 9.25)

Feijoas, Feijoas, Feijoas!!!

I was out for a walk on Saturday when I saw a guy tipping buckets of feijoas (aka pineapple guavas, for my American readers) onto his greenwaste pile on the side of the road.

Me: "You know you can eat them, right?"

Him: "Yeah, I know. But have you seen the size of our tree... we're sick of them! Help yourself if you want some."

Me: "Oh, I LOVE feijoas... don't mind if I do!"

Him: "Feel free to knock on our door next week too, we'll have bucketloads more by then".

Me: "Awesome, thanks!"

So now I have a HUGE bowl of feijoas sitting on my kitchen counter, which I can smell every time I walk past them. Needless to say, I've eaten quite a few. Luckily, feijoas (and most fruit) are pretty low on the points scale (1pt for 1 cup of flesh, which is about 8 medium feijoas). I also made some fresh feijoa & apple juice... delicious! Although the juicer wasn't particularly efficient at getting the juice out of them - I think a juice press would do a better job (plus you can't juice the skins, so I had to cut & scoop & then juice... just as easy to eat the feijoas & just have apple juice!!).

Feijoas generally start to turn brown & get bitter about 3 days after falling from the tree, so I have just cut & scooped the rest of them, and blended up the flesh to put into the freezer. I found a feijoa & lime muffin recipe that I'm keen to try, and I figure we'll add the rest to our smoothies or juices (or vodka cocktails!).

Aah... a little taste of home : )

Food Log: Mon 10 Oct

Breakfast:
2 1c Special K
0.5. 1/4c milk
0.5. 1/2c feijoas
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 5.5

Snack:
0 Mixed veges & cherry tomatoes
1 Pear
Subtotal: 6.5

Lunch:
5. Pasta Puttanesca
1. Feijoa Apple Juice
3.5 Chocolate Milk
Subtotal: 16

Snack:

1 Feijoas

2.5 Latte

Subtotal: 19.5

Dinner:

6 Pasta Puttanesca

1 Feijoas

Subtotal: 26.5

Snack:

3 Feijoa muffin

Subtotal: 29.5

SUMMARY
31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
29.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
1.5 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 11.5)

Food Log: Sun 9 Oct

Breakfast:
2. 1/2c oats
0.25 1/2t brown sugar
0.5. 1/2 banana
2.25 Latte
2 1c fresh apple/orange/kale juice
Subtotal: 7 pts

Lunch:
3 1/8 rotisserie chicken, no skin

6 3 inch chorizo link

3 Green salad with avocado

1 Various sauces & dressings

4 1/2 small french fries
Subtotal: 24 pts

Afternoon snack:
0 cherry tomatoes & cucumber
Subtotal: 24 pts

Dinner:
2 1/2c white rice

5 Vegetable Curry
Subtotal: 31 pts

SUMMARY
31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
31 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 10)

Temptation...

Today was hard... but I managed to get through it & stay right on points!

First up, we went to a friend's to watch the Texas vs Oklahoma game & an early lunch. On arrival we were offered bagels & bloody marys, and then later were served up BBQ ribs and queso dip with corn chips. Luckily, I had brought over the coleslaw (with healthy yoghurt dressing) that was leftover from our fish tacos last night, so I filled my plate with that, and only had a tiny amount of everything else. Still, it all added up to nearly 9 points!! Plus I'd had my usual oats & coffee for breakfast (5.75pts), and we were going to a 2-year-old's birthday party later in the day!

I knew that they'd be serving tacos & cupcakes at the party, so I looked up in advance their nutritional values, so I could plan accordingly (BTW - this is a fantastic tactic, as you're not left trying to figure out points on the fly and then either overeating and not having enough points left later, or undereating and wishing you'd eaten one of the treats that you resisted).

My plan was to have 1 taco with a single tortilla, not a double (5pts rather than 6) and 1 cupcake with most of the frosting scraped off (~5pts). But I was hungry when we got there (lunch had been early and the zero point carrots & tomatoes I snacked on before the party didn't do much to stave off my pangs!), so ended up eating 2 tacos.

BUT I MANAGED TO RESIST THE CUPCAKE TEMPTATION!! Yes, you read that right... I had 2 tacos, so I DIDN'T eat any cake! I was so proud of myself! Especially when the birthday girl's grandma tried to force me to take some home because there were so many leftover!

We were a little peckish later that evening, so I made a quick frittata (3.5pts) with lots of veges and had some feijoas (1pt) for dessert.

I'm now sitting here watching the rugby world cup with a chai latte (2pts) & banana (1pt). Turns out I probably could have eaten a cupcake today, although I would have used a couple of my "banked" points. However, I'm glad I didn't... we're going to a yum cha brunch tomorrow, so I need to save all the points I can!! Sheesh, weekends are hard when you're counting points!

Coleslaw with Yoghurt Dressing

1 cup low fat, plain yoghurt (3)

1 T light mayonaise (1)

1/2 t dijon mustard (0pts)

salt & pepper to taste (0pts)

16oz package of coleslaw mix (0pts)

Mix dressing ingredients together, then stir into coleslaw.

Recipe is 4 points total. Makes 8 half-cup servings (0.5pts each).

Frittata

4 eggs, lightly beaten (4)

2 oz feta crumbles (3)

vegetables of your choice (I used spinach, onion & tomatoes)

canola spray (0)

Saute vegetables briefly in canola spray in small oven-proof frypan, then spread evenly across pan. Pour eggs over vegetables and sprinkle feta on top. Cook on medium heat until top starts to harden. Remove from heat & place under broiler until cheese is golden.

Recipe is 7 points total. Serves 2 (3.5pts each).

Food Log: Sat 8 Oct

Breakfast:
2. 1/2c oats
0.25. 1/2t brown sugar
0.5. 1/4c milk
0.5 1/2 orange
2.25 Latte
Subtotal: 5.5

Lunch:
1 Bite of bagel w salmon cream cheese
3 2 small BBQ ribs
0.5 1T BBQ sauce
0.5 1/2c coleslaw
1.5 3 cornchips
1 1T queso dip
0.5 4oz Bloody Mary
Subtotal: 13.5

Afternoon Snack:
0. Cherry tomatoes & carrot
10. 2 chicken tacos
Subtotal: 23.5

Dinner:
3.5. Spinach, Tomato & Feta Frittata
1 4 feijoas

Subtotal: 28

Evening Snack:

2 Chai latte

1 Banana

Subtotal: 31

SUMMARY
31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
31 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
0 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 10)

Food Log: Fri 7 Oct

Breakfast:
2. 1/2c oats
0.25 1t brown sugar
0.5 1/4c milk
0.5 1/2 pear
2.5 Latte
Subtotal: 5.75

Lunch:
3 Grilled chicken breast
0.5 Salad w vinegar & 1/2t olive oil
3 Beer
Subtotal: 12.25

Afternoon Snack:
1.5 Milky chai
Subtotal: 13.75

Dinner:
3.5 Wholewheat tortillas
4 1/2lb tilapia panfried with canola spray
1 1c coleslaw w yoghurt mayo
2 creamsicle
Subtotal: 24.25

Evening Snack:
1. Banana
Subtotal: 25.25

SUMMARY
31 Daily allowance
2 Daily activity points
25.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
5.5 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 9.5)

Vegetarian Month

Well, I guess technically it should be called "pescatarian month", as we're still eating fish, but somehow that doesn't have quite the same ring to it!

Hubby & I have decided to stop eating meat for a month, to see what affect it has on our cholesterol (and weight), and also as a kind of detox before the gluttony of the holiday season is upon us.

We're not going to cook meat, or go out of our way to eat it, but if someone's gonna offer us some meaty deliciousness on occasion, we probably won't say no.

Luckily our toddler LOVES fish, and is only so-so on chicken & red meat most of the time anyway (except for rotisserie chicken, sausages, hotdogs & meatloaf, of course!). He also (usually) eats beans, so his protein intake shouldn't suffer too much. However, he's been pretty fussy lately, so I don't know how he'll handle some of the new vegetarian dishes we'll be trying.

I guess we'll see!

A friend of mine is vegetarian & has a great blog with lots of yummy veggie recipes, so I'll be trying out some of them this month, along with some old favorites.

Food Log: Thurs 6 Oct

Breakfast:
2. 1/2c oats
2. 1/4c raisins
0.25 1t brown sugar
0.5. 1/2 banana
2.5 Latte (1c 2% milk)
2 1c fresh apple/orange juice
subtotal 9.25 pts

Morning snack:
1.5. 1/2c corn/bean salad
1.5 30g cheese
subtotal 12.25 pts

Lunch:
1. 1 slice wholewheat bread
1 1t peanut butter
0.5. 1/2 banana
subtotal 14.75 pts

Afternoon snack:
0 tea with milk (so little milk, that I don't count it)
0.25 small piece melon
Subtotal: 15pts

Dinner:
5. 1/6th recipe Pasta Puttanesca Bake
1.5. 1/2 c Bean/Corn Salad
2. Creamsicle
subtotal 23.5 pts

Evening snack:
3 Banana-choc shake
Subtotal 26.5pts

SUMMARY
31 Daily allowance
0 Daily activity points
26.5 TOTAL POINTS CONSUMED
4 Unused daily points (to add to bank)
0 Banked points used (updated balance: 4)

Day 1... it's started!

Woohoo! I made it through Day 1!!

I was totally craving sugary goodness mid-afternoon, but managed to hold out & have an apple instead!! Early in the day, I sat down & worked out the points for a friend's delicious pasta bake with puttanesca sauce I've been wanting to cook for a while... it was 50+ pts!! I tweaked the recipe a little (half the cheese, half the olives, and only 1t oil to sauté the garlic; but otherwise exactly as the original) and got it down to 30 points for an 8x8 baking dish. I thought I'd eat about a quarter of it (8pts), so ate through the day accordingly. But in fact, 1/6 of the dish (5pts) was plenty when served with a bean & corn salad (recipe below). It was delicious, but I'm sure the original is even better with twice the cheese & olives!

Bean & Corn Salad

1 can black beans, drained & rinsed (5 pts)

1 (10oz) package frozen corn kernels, thawed & drained (4pts)

1 red pepper, diced (0pts)

1T olive oil (3pts)

2T red wine or sherry vinegar (0pts)

1/2t dijon mustard (0pts)

salt & pepper to taste (0pts)

Mix corn, beans & pepper together in a bowl. Create vinagrette by whisking together oil, vinegar & mustard. Season to taste then pour over vegetables. Chill before serving.

Recipe is 12pts total. Makes eight 1/2 cup servings (1.5pts each).

Note: This recipe was adapted from one that includes 4oz cubed pepper jack cheese, which is added just before serving. I didn't think I'd have enough points to add the cheese, but it adds a nice textural contrast if you do.