I was never able to open the pictures my sister took on Sunday, but our friends gave us some old pictures that had me laughing.  I know I’ve talked about having glasses as big as my face before, but what’s with the giant mumu flower printed dresses?

I think these were both taken in 1996 – this picture below was when my sister was 7 months pregnant with her son who just turned 16!  Because you really can’t tell which one if us is pregnant, I am on the right side.

I know why I wore those shapeless dresses.  I somehow had the illusion that no one would realize I was fat and it would “hide” the fat, but in retrospect, they only make me look bigger!   I was only 28 in those pictures – it seems like such a lifetime ago. 😀

So I decided to do the Simply Filling plan yesterday.  I thought my breakfast would be perfect – I made another breakfast parfait, this time leaving out the granola to save on my flex points – this one was pommegranate Chobani, apple and banana.  It wasn’t until I entered my breakfast into eTools AFTER I ate it, that I realized only plain Greek yogurt is on the simply filling plan, so my breakfast was 4 points, leaving me with 30 for the rest of the week.  Sadly I left my camera at home – after I took my lunch pictures, my battery was low so I was charging my camera in my bosses office and walked off without it.  Um, pretty sure you’ve seen your fair share of my parfaits though! 😀

I worked through lunch yesterday so no run/walk – it was actual normal 40ish degrees when I left the house this morning!

I did, however, come up with a super tasty spicy tomato soup.  All the ingredients were on the “super food” list, except for the bread crumbs.  Half a cup of bread crumbs is 5 points, so divided by 4 servings, this was 1.25 Simply Filling points, 8 WW points if you are counting points, and 348 calories, 11 fat, 17 carbs, 1.45 fiber and 36 protein if you count calories.  Whew!

Spicy Tomato Soup with Chicken Meatballs

  • makes four servings:  2 1/4 cups of broth and 10 meatballs.  I love balls.

Ingredients for Balls:

  • 1.5 pounds boneless skinless chicken breast
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup bread crumbs
  • 2 cloves garlic
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
  • 2 teaspoons ground cumin
  • 2 teaspoons fennel seeds
  • 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for the soup:

  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 teaspoon ground coriander
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon garam masala
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
  • 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (I added 1/2 teaspoon of crushed red pepper to each batch of meatballs I seared)
  • 4 cups chicken broth
  • 1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
  • 1 12 ounce jar roasted red peppers, packed in water
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 teaspoon of salt

I tend to be a throw everything in the pool kinda cook.   Throw all the ingredients for the balls in a food processor and pulse until it has the texture of ground beef.  Shape into 40 balls and cook in 1 teaspoon of olive oil and Pam over pretty high heat – you want to sear the outside, but not cook them all the way through.

Next, in a large stock pot – add all the soup ingredients, except the apple cider.  Using a stick blender, I blended the tomato mixture, then added the balls into the soup and simmered for about 15 minutes, or until the balls are cooked through.  Remove from heat and add the apple cider vinegar and adjust the salt if needed.  Serve with cilantro.

Luckily I had taken pictures over the weekend when I made this soup – this is such a flavorful soup – spicy, but flavorful spicy.  And super filling – get it, since I am doing the Super Filling plan on WW?!  I crack myself up sometimes. 😀

I had beef stroganoff on the menu – but my version literally is ready in about 15 minutes.  The only thing that takes a while is boiling the water for the egg noodles.  Except egg noodles aren’t a super food, so I nuked a spaghetti squash for myself.

Skippy, I am sorry to keep showing you my cheap meat prices!  I bought two of these for our dinner.

My other secret weapon – a packet of brown gravy.  Literally ready in about 3 minutes.  I sauteed mushrooms for Tony to add to his.

My store sells these 2/$1 and sometimes they go on sale 4/$1 and I stock up.  1/4 cup of gravy is only 20 calories!

My plate – sorry this is a bad picture, but this was tasty.  Spaghetti squash, beef, brown gravy and chopped baby spinach.  All on the Simply Filling plan. 😀

Don’t forget to enter your BSI – Pasta recipe.  Either leave your link in the comments section of this post, or email me your recipe at mybizzykitchen@gmail.com and I’ll post it for you on recap day.

Come back tomorrow for a Lighter Corn Chowder Soup – I am switching back to counting points today – love that you can switch back and forth!

Make it a great day!