WW *Orange Recipes*

These were sent to me by our wonderful leader, Pam. Boy do they look yummy!

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Desserts: DREAMSICLE PUDDING - Approximately 5 servings, 1 C = 2 Pts or 10 servings, 1/2 C = 1 Pt

1 pkg sugar free Orange Jell-o (0 Pts)
1 pkg sugar free instant vanilla pudding (1.5 Pts)
1 can mandarin oranges, drained (2 Cups, 2 Pts, wasn't sure of can size used)
8 oz fat free Cool Whip (7.5 Pts)

Dissolve Jell-o in 1 cup of very hot water.
Add 1-cup cold water.
Let sit for 5 minutes. Add the pudding mix and beat with mixer. Stir in oranges and fold in Cool Whip. Refrigerate for 2 hours.

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Cakes: MANDARIN ORANGE CAKE -

1 box white cake mix 12 oz diet orange Soda 1- 8 oz tub fat free whipped topping 1 box Sugar Free Fat Free mandarin orange Jell-0 1 - 11 oz can mandarin oranges Mix the white cake mix and the orange pop and 1/2 of the mandarin oranges together. Pour into sprayed 9"x13" baking dish. Bake according to the cake mix directions. Allow cake to cool. Icing: Mix the Cool Whip and the Jell-o together. Spread over cooled cake. Arrange the remaining mandarin orange segments on top. 15 servings - 4pt each

Beer

It's a hot summer's day and you have been working hard. You feel parched and a good cold beer would taste great, but you don't want to drink your points away. So, what do you do?
Try Miller Genuine Draft Light. It has only 64 calories and it does taste wonderful!
Life shouldn't have to end just because you are choosing to eat a more healthful way.
Thank you to all the companies out there that are hearing our calls for lower calorie foods and drinks that actually taste good!

Maribeth's Curried Squash Soup

1 point per cup
This is the perfect recipe to warm you on a cold winter day! It is easy, nourishing and delicious!

4 cups peeled and cubed Butternut Squash
2 cups fat free reduced sodium chicken broth
1 Onion, chopped
1/2-1 tsp Sweet Curry Powder
14-1/2 tsp ground Ginger
1/4 tsp salt or salt substitute
1/2-1 tsp crushed Thyme

Fat Free sour cream

In a large sauce pot combine all ingredients except the sour cream, cover and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes.

Ladle small amounts into blender and puree.

Serve with a tsp of fat free sour cream swirled in the middle of the bowl.

For WW meal plan, I figure only about 1 point per cup of soup.

Moving

Are you one of those people (like me) who thinks that exercise is a four letter word? That's me. I haven't had the energy to do rigorous planned exercise since before my kids were born, and my daughter is going to be 33 in December!

What I realized when I started WW was that I had to do something to get myself moving. Even if it was just baby steps.

I started with something small. I ran up and down the stairs. Lame, I know, but it worked. Then I went on to taking walks around my neighborhood. I found that I liked this even more because I got to see people. How fun is that!

I still feel like I need to find my ideal exercise. The one thing I really love to do, that I will be able to do for the rest of my life.

Too bad licking an ice cream cone isn't considered vigorous exercise! I would excel at that!

New England Pot Roast

New England Pot Roast Dinner

Easy to make using this standard method or use your crock pot.

Serves 8
7 pts a serving

Ingredients

• 1 sprays cooking spray
• 2 & 1/2 pound lean beef round, well trimmed (use boneless bottom round roast)
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/4 tsp table salt
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 4 stalks celery cut into 4 inch pieces
  
• 1 & 3/4 cup water
• 1 packet onion soup mix(or use low sodium beef broth)
  
• 1 & 1/2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar, or red wine vinegar
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 8 medium uncooked red potatoes, scrubbed and quartered (about 1 & 3/4 pounds)
• 1 pound baby carrots
• 1 Tbsp parsley, fresh, chopped (for garnish)

Instructions

• Place oven rack in lowest possible position; preheat oven to 350ºF. Coat a Dutch oven (a large pot with a tight-fitting lid) with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat.
  
  
• Sprinkle roast with pepper and salt; place in pot and scatter onions around roast. Cook, turning roast and stirring onions occasionally, until roast and onions are browned, about 8 minutes. Pour water (broth) into pot; stir in soup mix, vinegar and thyme and bring to a boil.
  
  
• Cover pot and bake in oven for 1 & 1/2 hours. Place potatoes and carrots around roast; cover and bake until roast and vegetables are tender, about 2 hours more. Remove one potato from pot and puree it in a blender; stir pureed potato into gravy to thicken it.
  
  
• Transfer roast to a cutting board and slice against grain into 16 slices. Garnish with parsley and serve with vegetables and gravy. Yields about 2 slices of meat, 1 cup of vegetables and 1/4 cup of gravy per serving.

My Meetings

During the last year and a half that I have been on WW, I have learned a few little things I want to pass along. I hope it will help you in your journey.

For me, meetings are probably at the top of the list for helping me to stay on an even keel. What's so important about the meeting, you might ask?

There are several parts that make my Wednesday Morning Meeting the most important thing in the world to me. In fact, I do not schedule anything for Wednesday mornings! That is MY time.

Going in and weighing in, keeps me honest. It is so easy to be at home and say to yourself, "Well, next week I'll be so good and get this weight off", but the next week never comes and the weight loss never comes either. By weighing in, I feel I am holding myself accountable, at least one day a week.

The second thing that truly surprised me was, the camaraderie I feel with the men and women in my group. In fact several of us get together before the meeting, after we have weighed in, and share our victories and our sorrows while we have our breakfast. These people have helped me, kept me strong and I hope in turn, that I have helped them too.

Our Leader and the staff at the meetings are so knowledgeable. They know what we are all feeling and going through. They have been there, and they are still walking the walk with all of us.

Even though I reached my goal, I found that I got a little cocky and gained back some of the weight. Not too much. But enough that I had to get tough with myself and get back to basics. You see, not weighing in, missing a few meeting, I had started to eat and then tell myself that during the next week, I would be VERY good. It just doesn't work that way. I was very good at kidding myself. Sop back to the meeting I went!

I've decided that I will always be a WW. I love to cook, I love to eat and most of all I love to eat what I cook. Truly a dangerous combination.

Just Say No!

Monday was one of those days that I know you can all relate to. A friend I don't see often called and wanted to get together for coffee.

As many of you know, most places that serve coffee also serve other yummy things, that definitely wouldn't look good on me next week. I was quite stressed about this. What would I do? How could I get through without my usual, "Oh this is a special occasion", and then order something that is totally not on my eating plan right now.

It wasn't that I really needed or wanted anything. I'd had a good lunch and I wasn't hungry. Still, all I could think of was the "treat".

My friend called again, later in the morning and I asked her where we should meet up, but before I could even let her answer, I asked her if the book store would be okay?

We met there and although her son was with her and he was hungry, I was able to "just say no", when the conversation turned to food. In fact, I ended up walking all around the docks with them and getting some unexpected exercise.

After the little visit, I realized that I had taken control and I was very happy with myself. It's not always easy, and yes, I do blow it from time to time. However, I feel so much better today than if I had eaten something just for the sake of "celebration"!

What do you do in a similar situation? Are you able to just say no or do you have little tricks that help you stay strong?

FIBER ONE MUFFINS

Here it is. The original recipe.

FIBER ONE MUFFINS

2 pts in 6 muffins and 1 pt in 12 muffins.

Ingredients
3 c. Fiber One Cereal
1 c. Skim Milk
1/2 c. Brown sugar, packed (Can use Splenda Brown Sugar)
4 oz Eggbeaters = 2 eggs
2/3 c. Applesauce, no sugar added
2/3 c. Raisins, optional (Add points for raisins)
1/2 c. Oatmeal, any kind, I use old fashioned
1 tsp. Baking soda
1 tsp. Cinnamon + 1 tsp Nutmeg (I use 1-2 tsp pumpkin spice)
1 c. Whole Wheat flour

Preparation
Mix cereal and milk in mixing bowl and let soak. Add sugar, eggs, oatmeal. Add baking soda, applesauce, raisins and flour.
Stir well. Spray muffin tin with cooking spray. Do not use paper muffin liners.Fill muffin tins full with batter (they do not rise much. Bake in preheated oven of 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes. Makes 12-15 muffins. Eat immediately or freeze for later. Freezes well.

NI: Calories 141; Total Fat 1.5; Fiber 7.5


Put in any spices you like! I’ve also made them with nutmeg and vanilla, yum!

Reaching A Plateau

I think it has happened to us all at one time or another. We are going along, doing everything right, when suddenly, everything stops!

Last year I was going along, doing very well. I was using my 19 pts efficiently, and moving around pretty well outside. Then, from the last week in September until the last week of October, nothing moved! In fact I gained little bits of weight each week! What was this!

I was getting worried that I was doing something wrong. That, or the plan was not working at all. One of the ladies who weighs me in, suggested I journal carefully and bring my journal in to the next class. She also suggested that I change what I was eating.

I went home and thought about it. Yes, I had been eating the usual things for months. My day had become fairly predictable. So that week, I tried eating different meals each day.

By this, I mean that I avoided my daily snack of light popcorn, and substituted fruit or vegetable snacks. I ate more chicken and fish and limited my beef to 2 meals a week. At lunchtime I would have a small salad and use the Pepperidge Farm Deli Flats, with some thinly sliced turkey.

I also moved more. I actually walked my dogs and I ran up and down stairs at every opportunity.

I logged everything. The next week I gathered my journal and went off to class. I was ready to sit down with our leader and go through it all, sure I was committing some terrible error in my eating, that I just wasn't seeing.

Instead, I had a good weight loss, and I was back on track.

Plateau's happen. They are your bodies way of slowing things down so that you don't lose too much too fast. No one likes them, but everyone has had them.

So if you reach a point where you are stuck, shake up your foods, eat new things, move around a little more, journal and most of all, be patient.

Tomato Aspic

Here is a recipe that I adapted from one my friend gave to me. It's a tasty treat on a hot summer day.

Servings: 8, 1 pt. per serving

Ingredients

	3 oz fat-free cream cheese
	1 cup(s) Kraft Fat-Free Mayonnaise Dressing
	1/2 cup(s) onion(s), finely chopped
	1/2 cup(s) carrot(s), finely chopped
	1/2 cup(s) celery, finely chopped
	1/2 cup(s) green pepper(s), finely chopped
	8 oz Campbell's 25% less sodium tomato soup, undiluted
	2 envelope(s) unflavored gelatin, dissolved in 1/2 cup of cold water

Instructions

Bring undiluted soup to a boil, whisk in cream cheese until smooth. Add Mayo, and gelatin until smooth. Add vegetables. Cook for a minute. Pour into 8 inch square baking dish or gelatin mold. Chill for 4-5 hours.
Cut into 8 equal pieces, and serve on a bed of lettuce, with 1 tsp of fat free mayonnaise.

I'm hungry and on the go....

When you are on the go, but need to eat, what can you do? Well if you are like me and need a little coffee to get yourself going, stop in at Dunkin' Donuts. They have two Flatbread sandwiches that are low in fat and calories and points as well. Leave it to my favorite coffee vendor to come up with something yummy and point friendly.

Dunkin' Donuts Egg White Veggie Flatbread PER SERVING (1 sandwich): 290 calories, 9g fat, 680mg sodium, 39g carbs, 3g fiber, 4g sugars, 11g protein -- POINTS® value 6*

Dunkin' Donuts Egg White Turkey Sausage Flatbread

PER SERVING (1 sandwich): 280 calories, 6g fat, 820mg sodium, 37g carbs, 3g fiber, 5g sugars, 11g protein -- POINTS® value 6*

-- 

Stuffed Zucchini Boats

Tonight I made this easy recipe for my husband. It's for Stuffed Zucchini and each serving has about 3 points. Serves 8

• 1 lbs. ground turkey
• 4 large zucchini
  
• 1 c. onion
  
• 1 cup chopped green & red peppers
  
• 1 c. rice (I like the brown rice best)
  
• 1 large jar tomato sauce (I use low sodium sauce)
  
• 4 tbs Italian seasoning
  
• 1/4 c. fat free mozzarella cheese (I used regular part-skim cheese for 1 extra pt. per pepper)
• 1/4 tsp. garlic (I used minced garlic from a jar.

Cut Zucchini in half and scoop out the center.
Blanch zucchini halves for 5-8 minutes in boiling water, or until tender.
Place zucchini shells in casserole dish.
Sauté turkey, garlic, onion and peppers and 2 tbs of Italian Seasoning until done, add cooked rice.
Mix tomato sauce with 2 tbs Italian Seasoning, then pour 1/2 into dish with turkey mixture.
Cook until hot.
Stuff cooked mixture into zucchini and pour remaining tomato sauce over zucchini.
Cover and bake for 45 minutes.
Uncover. Top with cheese and bake another 10-15 m. minutes or until cheese is melted.

What Makes You Happy?

Recently I was with a friend of mine, who is also on the WW journey. I noted that she ate somewhat differently than I did, and then it dawned on me, we all eat different things and yet we're all on the same plan.

So I looked at what she was eating. Were there things I could add to my food plan? She liked the Greek Yogurt better than the one I eat. I tried it, but she has a few more points to play with than I do, so I decided to stick to my own on that.
However, she did introduce me to something wonderful! Here is the scoop on these tasty 2 point treats!

Serving Size 1oz Servings per Container about 6

Amount Per Serving

Calories

130

Calories from Fat

60

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 7g		11 %
Saturated Fat 2g		10 %
Trans Fat 0g
Monounsaturated Fat 2.5g
Cholesterol 5mg		1 %
Sodium 230mg		10 %
Total Carbohydrate 17g		6 %
Dietary Fiber 3g		12 %
Sugars 3g
Protein 2g

Vitamin A 0 %	Calcium 6 %
Vitamin C 0 %	Iron 4 %

So tell me. What one thing makes it easier for you to stay on your plan? Leave it in the comment section or email me.

Welcome

Hello, and welcome to all you Wednesday Morning Losers! I have set up this blog to post recipes, comments, ideas and helpful hints on how to succeed on this "Wild Wonderful And Wacky" WW lifestyle plan!

Each week I'll be posting a recipe or two, any articles I find or anything you might like to share with the group.

Please leave your comments and share with me, what you would like to see on these pages. They're our pages, and I want to have as much of your input as I can, as I shape this blog.

Have a great week!

Maribeth