It’s super wet, and each shovel feels like its 20 pounds.  So my blogging time before work became shoveling so that the home health care nurse can get to our house safely.

So this post will be short and sweet – but come back tomorrow and I’ll show you my recipe for 7 point corned beef hash!

Happy Friday!  Do you have plans for the weekend?

The flavor was apple cinnamon, so I decided to carmelize a Fuji apple in 1 teaspoon of butter and 1 teaspoon of brown sugar for my fruit layer – Fuji apples are my favorite apple – they never are pithy, they are always sweet, and for the record, also make the most amazing apple pie.  I had to share with you this picture from our Thanksgiving 2009, if nothing but to show you Tony’s history of shenanigans.

I had set my ready to be baked apple pie on the counter to remove a pecan pie.  As I took the pecan pie into the dining room to cool, I came back to find this:

Um, my actual apple pie turned out like this:

And speaking of apple pie – do not eat this.  I threw the package away it was so disgusting.  Um, it’s not like chewing dessert!

It was partly sunny and around 40 degrees for my run.  I ended up doing a 5k in 34:30!  My first 1.5 mile split??  Fifteen minutes!  I obviously started out too fast, but I am happy with my final time.  It gets a bit better every run.

I had mini beef tacos for lunch:

• 4 mini corn tortillas (4)
• 3 ounces ground sirloin (3)
• 3/4 ounce mozzarella cheese (2)
• red pepper, cilantro, hot sauce, cucumber and salsa (0)

This was a big old plate of food people – totally filling!

I had to share this bananas foster bread pudding I made over the weekend.  At least that’s what I am calling it.  I bought a loaf of crunchy bread that Tony likes – it comes in a paper bag, and at the check out, they put the “open” part of the bag and tie a grocery bag around it.  I brought it home, stuck it in my pantry – the next day the half that wasn’t in the grocery bag was rock hard.

I walked into the living room and asked Tony “do you think you would like banana bread pudding?”  He thought I was going to bake banana bread, and use that for the bread pudding.  But I had other ideas, because you know I had to visit my $1 rack!  And look at all these bananas.

Bananas Foster Bread Pudding – makes six 3/4 cup servings, 7 WW points each

• 3 large bananas, sliced
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar, divided
• 7 ounces of dry bread
• 1 tablespoon slivered almonds
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 tablespoons sugar
• 2 cups fat free milk
• 2 large eggs

In a non-stick skillet add the bananas and 1 tablespoon of brown sugar.  Over medium low heat, cook the bananas until the brown sugar melts and they get carmelized – about 10 minutes.  Let cool slightly.

In a large bowl, add milk, eggs, cinnamon, sugar, vanilla and mix until the eggs are combined.  Toss in the bread and carmelized bananas, and let the bread soak for 15 minutes – I put a plate on top to keep the bread submerged.  Heat oven to 350.  Bake for 40 minutes.  Cool at least 15 minutes before cutting into it.

The verdict?  Tony said it was awful.  Awfully delicious!  This would be a nice splurge for a Sunday brunch too.

For dinner I ended up making Nicole’s Chicken Marsala Pasta.  Her version comes in at 13 WW points, so I tweaked mine a bit – I used half the amount of evaporated milk, and used half and half, reduced the butter and oil by half – so my plate had a bed of baby spinach, 4 ounces cooked pasta, 3 ounces of chicken (sorry, I don’t like mushrooms – but Tony does!) and some mozzarella cheese – so my plate comes in at 9 points.  It was delicious Nicole!

Yesterday I got an email from the PR department of Applebees.  They have teamed up with WW to provide WW friendly dinners:

“Weight Watchers is excited to continue working with Applebee’s to provide these three new endorsed menu items,” said Dave Burwick, President, North America of Weight Watchers International. “These flavorful and satisfying items are a great way for Weight Watchers members, or anyone seeking better for you options, to easily make healthier decisions while dining out.”

Grilled Jalapeno-Lime Shrimp (Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 8): A hearty portion of grilled chipotle lime shrimp and black bean corn salsa tossed with lime juice and chopped cilantro, served on a mix of grilled zucchini, marinated tomatoes, onions & red peppers with steamed white rice.

Cabernet Mushroom Sirloin (Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 12): Applebee’s 7 oz. grilled House Sirloin with sauteed Portobello mushrooms & onions in a Napa Valley Cabernet sauce with steamed herbed potatoes and garlic broccoli.

Creamy Parmesan Chicken (Weight Watchers PointsPlus value: 12): Applebee’s juicy grilled chicken breast with creamy au gratin Parmesan sauce, served with steamed spinach and mushroom rice pilaf.

Don’t those look amazing?  Sadly, the nearest Applebee’s to us closed down.  I’ll have to see if there is one near my work – you know I’d be all over the spicy shrimp!  When is the last time you’ve been to Applebees?

I am having lunch today with Hannah and two of her friends she’s known since 4th grade – should be fun!  Make it a great day!

I had my egg sammie – english muffin (3), 1 egg (2), 1 ounce deli ham (1) and 3/4 slice of provolone (2), with two tiny cuties on the side.   Breakfast as a delicious 8 points.

I went to check my blood sugar before I left to run.  Shit.  It was 125.  Perfect, but too low to work out.  I ended up eating 2 crunchy peanut butter granola bars (5) and 3 more clementines (0).  20 minutes later my blood sugar was 117 – wtf?

In the end I just decided not to exercise, it would be stupid to keep eating just to work out.

In this months Food Network magazine they had a recipe for Posole Rojo that sounded amazing.  It called for 3/4 cup dried chiles de arbol for the base of the soup.  You were to soak the dried chiles in hot water for 30 minutes, then blend them up with water and garlic.

Um, I should have tasted it, because after I strained and put 1/2 cup of this spicy liquid in the base of my soup, it was too hot – even for me, so you know that’s saying a lot!

So this recipe is nothing like the one in the magazine, but it turned out really good.  I also ended up taking out the pork (it was only about 3/4 pound of pork stew meat) because it over cooked, so the points came out super low at 4 points per 2 cups!  Note:  I am still leaving the 3/4 cup of dried chiles in the recipe, because once I added a 28 can of crushed tomatoes and 2 cups of water to the broth, the heat was perfect.  You can definitely start out with less though!

Not Food Network’s Veggie Posole – makes six, 2 cups servings at 4 WW points

• 3/4 cup dried chiles de arbol
• 1.5 cups of water to soak the chiles
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 2 teaspoons ground cumin
• 8 cups chicken broth
• 2 cups water
• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon Mexican oregano
• 1 can of drained black beans
• 1 can of drained yellow corn
• 1 can of drained hominy

Break the dried chiles in half and dump out as many seeds as you can.  Put the chiles in a bowl of 1.5 cups of boiling water, put a plate on the chiles to keep them submerged and soak for 30 minutes.  Transfer the chiles and soaking liquid in a blender with the garlic and pulse until smooth.

Add the blended chiles to a stock pot.  Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 30 minutes.  Serve with chopped pickles jalapeno and cilantro.

Who Loves the Sandwich King?  Me!  I am partial because he grew up in the town next to where I grew up.  Last week he was on a local Chicago news show and made “The Roast Beast Master with Crispy Onions and Creamy Horseradish Sauce.”  Tony definitely made it a menu request!

Now I know I am going to get a lot of flack here.  You all know Tony and I hate onions.  But we love onion rings!  But they have to be very thin, with batter, only sweet onions – and of course deep fat fried!  And I love anything with horseradish, so I was in.

I did change things up just a bit – I reduced the amount of mayo in the horseradish sauce – This makes just about one cup of sauce, it ended up making 12 tablespoon servings, which is 1 point.  Now I keep thinking about how I’ll use the rest of this horseradish sauce, it was so good!

Creamy Horseradish Sauce (makes just over 1 cup, 12 servings tablespoons for 1 point)

• 1/4 cup mayo
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 1/4 cup prepared horseradish
• 2 teaspoons honey
• 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
• salt and pepper

Mix well.

Onion Rings: (I halved The Sandwich King’s original recipe)

• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 onion THINLY sliced
• 1 cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cayenne
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• salt and pepper

Soak the onions in the buttermilk for 20 minutes.  Whisk the flour, cayenne pepper, paprika and salt and pepper and put in a zip top bag.  Toss the onions in the flour mixture until thoroughly coated.  Fry at 350 degrees (we used our beloved deep fryer) and cook until golden 2 – 3 minutes.

So here is how I deconstructed this recipe to figure out the points.

• onion roll (4 points)
• 2 ounces lean roast beef (2)
• 3/4 ounce cheese (2)
• 1 ounce of onion rings on top (2)
• 2 servings of the horseradish sauce (2)

So my entire Roast Beast Master with Crispy Onions and Creamy Horseradish Sauce comes in at 12 points.

Winning!  Turns out I bought sliced pot roast beef (which was Deitz & Watson brand on sale for $5.00 last week) so it tasted a lot like Arby’s!  This will definitely be back on our menu – soon!

I have to give a shout out to Lori - I won her grand prize for the Heart Healthy Weekend when I ran 5 miles without stopping.  Guess what I won??

Her homemade roasted coffee!!  I tried to bid for it during a fund raiser but it got too rich for my blood – its brewing as I type this so I’ll let you know how it is.  It smells delicious!  Thanks Lori!

I also had the wrong link in yesterday’s post for Rhonda’s homemade hot sauce (thanks for letting me know Veronica!) so check it out here.

Check this recipe out – Erika from the Teenage Taste made crispy goat cheese!  Actually, I am going to try to recreate one of my favorite appetizers I used to eat all the time when I worked at a restaurant – garlic toasts that had goat cheese rounds on top, served on top of thinly sliced proscuitto then drizzled with a balsamic glaze.  Hey, if I put baby spinach with it, it might turn out to be relatively health?!

Make it a great day!

Out of the 12 containers of Chobani they sent me, I only have three left, so I think I’ll be over the breakfast parfaits for a while!  This one comes in at 6 WW points.  (3 points for the yogurt and 3 points for 1/4 cup granola).

When it got time to run I checked weather.com – a balmy 40 degrees and sunny!  I decided to do a walk/run/sprint – 2 minutes walking, 2 minutes running and 1 minute sprinting.  I did that for 50 minutes!

While I was running I found a cell phone on the ground.  The battery had popped off but the back was right by the phone – I was able to put it together and it turned on.  When I got back to the office, I called the last person called and left a voicemail hoping I could return it to the rightful owner.

I had it sitting on my desk when it rang and it said “Mom calling.”  So I answered it and the first words out of her mouth was “where did you find it?!”  I explained that I found it when running and they she stopped and said “wait a second, who is this?”  Turns out she thought I was one of her daughters!

I explained where I worked and she came and picked it up.  You know the neighborhood I run through with the huge houses?

That’s where they live.  Pretty sure I should have gotten a $100 reward – ha!  But that was my good deed for the day.

So this was my first attempt at making a Philippine Dish.  I still don’t know much about the cuisine, but if this dish is any indication, I think I’ll love it.  If you have any Philippine dishes you want to share with me, I would appreciate it!

I got this recipe from Gio at The Hungry Giant.  I did make a few changes – one I used pork stew meat because it was on sale for $1.99 a pound.  I also couldn’t find shrimp paste (still not exactly sure that that is!).  I weighed out the pork after it was cooked and it was 18 ounces, so each serving (makes 4) 4.5 ounces of pork, 2 ounces of the sauce, with 1/2 cup of cooked brown rice and steamed broccoli is 12 WW points.  WORTH EVERY ONE!

Binagoongang Pork Adobo

• 1.75 pounds raw pork (shoulder, stew meat) (will be 18 ounces cooked)
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1/4 cup minced garlic (his recipe called for 2 heads of garlic!)
• 1 teaspoon black peppercorn
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons coconut cream (his called for 6 ounces, but when I looked at the back and saw 2 tablespoons was 110 calories, I decided to scale it back to 2 tablespoons – turns out the sweet/heat balance was perfect)

Marinate the pork with the vinegar, soy sauce and brown sugar for 30 minutes.  Heat oil in pan.  Take the meat out of the marinade, let the sauce drip back in the bowl, and brown the pork in batches.

Add garlic and peppercorn and cook for about a minute or so.  Add in remaining marinade, chili flakes and water.  Simmer for about an hour or until meat is tender.

Add in coconut cream and simmer for 15 more minutes.  Its such a simple sauce but the flavor is the perfect balance of sweet and heat.  I shared it with a co-worker who said “the flavor is spot on!”  However, after reheating the pork in the microwave, a few of the smaller pieces got a bit tough.  I think next time I’ll use pork shoulder, because believe me, there will be a next time!

On Sunday night Tony asked “is the menu already planned for the week?”  Of course the answer was yes, but I said “what do you feel like?”  His answer?  Taco Salad with Fritos!

He wanted this on his taco salad too!

His salad:  taco meat, black olives, tomatoes, bean dip, avocado, cheese and fritos and lettuce, the only green I can get Tony to eat:

Mine:  2 ounces taco meat, 1/2 ounce cheddar cheese, cucumber, carrots, black beans, corn, avocado, baby spinach, lettuce and my dressing was 1 tablespoon of light ranch mixed with my salsa.  A delicious 8 point salad!

Check out my friend Rhonda – her husband likes spicy shit like me and she MADE HER OWN HOT SAUCE!   As soon as I finish the 13 bottles I have in my house, I am making this!

Don’t forget to submit your BSI – Potato Recipes!  Winner gets two jars of my baja fresh salsa!

Not to say I am not bizzy though!  I did end up deep cleaning my pantry, computer desk and back room.  Let’s just say Hannah was impressed with my cleaning skillz!

Since I ate such a late breakfast, it ended up being brunch.  I had a 3.5 ounce bagel sammie with some clementines on the side – 11 points.

I never officially ate lunch, but I counted about 4 points of licks and tastes as I was cooking for the week. 

Some of the new readers might not know what BSI is.  It stands for “Blogger Secret Ingredient.”  Basically an ingredient is chosen, announced on Monday and you have a week to submit a recipe using that secret ingredient.  You would email your link or recipe to the host of the week, they will display the recipes on Sunday, then pick a new host for the week on Monday.

The only problem is that sometimes hosts get busy, and weeks might go by without a winner or new host.  So I think going forward, I will host every week and see how that works out.  Thoughts??

To start this week off, I decided to choose:  potato!  Super cheap and versatile.  Please send me your potato recipe links in the comments section – or you can email me your recipe at mybizzykitchen@gmail.com.  You do not need a blog to participate.  And you can use recipes from your archives too!

I decided to make potato gratin.  I went to Skinny Taste to get an idea on how to make a lighter version.  While I only used two potatoes, I decided to run her recipe through eTools.  She said using 2 pound 4 ounces of potatoes, light butter, and reduced fat cheese, each serving (nearly a cup) came in at 3 points plus. 

Um, I got 5 points per serving, using 50% reduced fat cheese.  Even if she used the 75% reduced fat Cabot cheese, not sure that would shave off 2 points per serving.  Has anyone ever questioned Gina’s points on her recipes before??

So here is my version, using real butter and regular cheese.  Makes six servings at 5 WW points.

Potato Gratin

• 2 large potatoes, peeled and slices thin (my 2 potatoes weighed 1 pound 4 ounces)
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons flour
• salt and pepper
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 3 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
• 1.5 cups skim milk

Put the milk in a pot and warm over medium heat.  Add salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Slice potatoes pretty thin.  Heat oven to 425.  Spray bottom of pan with Pam.  Layer potatoes, then dice up 1 tablespoon of butter and sprinkle over layer, then dust with 1 tablespoon of flour, then add 1.5 ounces of cheese, and repeat with second layer.

Pour hot milk over the top.  Bake for 45 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.

Even though it was 35 degrees I decided to grill bone in chicken breasts to go with our potatoes.  Although I ended up finishing the chicken in the oven because I didn’t have enough charcoal.  It’s hard to find charcoal in February!

After Hannah had a serving she said “why do potatoes have to have points?!”

Cheesy and delicious!

Our bone in chicken breasts were huge – one covered almost my whole plate!  So I cut mine in half and had it with buffalo sauce – 6 oz. of chicken with my potatoes, dinner comes in at 11 points.

So send me your potato recipes!  The winner will get two jars of my baja fresh salsa!

Here are a few of my past BSI entries:

BSI – Cherries - Grilled cherry salsa:

BSI – Beets:  Beet Hummus:

BSI: Lemon – Grilled pork chops with lemon thyme sauce:

Hope you have a great day!

I must admit one develops and close relationship with a lady whose fingers are buried 5 inches deep into ones stomach cavity. A certain amount of trust and closeness are required for such a harsh treatment. We meet three times per week. During the treatment I lay on the couch helpless as a baby lamb.

It is as it happens the only way that this wound will heal. While it seems counterintuitive to me; apparently opening and draining fluids from me through a black sponge stuffed into a surgical opening will hasten my recovery.

With all of the above said my nurse and I have plenty of time to discuss our lives and histories. She does however confuse me, and makes no excuses for doing so.

My first point:

The Philippines are a bunch of islands, kind of thrown into the South China Sea with Malaysia to its southeast. It is in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by water. My able and talented nurse cannot swim and hates the water.

Secondly:

Based on all of the programs where guys travel everywhere in the exotic Philippine climate to eat native cuisine, there is common element; fruit. It seems that plantains and pineapples grow from every roof. My classically trained nurse hates fruit.

Thirdly:

When is asked if her family was effected by the tsunami she laughed at me and said “I’m not from Japan!” seems fishy to me.

There is much more I have to learn about her. She hates yogurt (Biz gave her some Greek yogurt and she said she ate it, but hated every bite), on that point we agree. She became engaged in Venice while backpacking through Italy. She loves very spicy food (eww), and has two lovely children.

I have several months to get to know more about the Philippine enigma, I will update you as more abnormalities surface.

Tony (that is my only name!)

Thanks for the lovely guest post honey!

I have a lot of food to make this week, so I will make this short and sweet.  I also have to deep clean my pantry today.  The other day I spilled A WHOLE container (like 3 cups!) of sesame seeds and it was raining sesame seeds all over.

I love canned potatoes.  They are cheap and delicious – Aldi sells this brand for .59 cents a can.

I cooked them in some Pam, salt and pepper, then scrambled an egg with them.  I had some leftover steak that I needed to cook up, so I topped my potato mixture with 2.5 ounces of steak.  No cheese was even needed!  Breakfast comes in at 7 points.

I went to the grocery store (spent $93) and then got my eyebrows threaded – I got a woman who literally did it in like 60 seconds so the pain was minimal.

Tony asked if I brought home anything for lunch.  It’s funny, because that used to be our routine, I’d be out and about, text him to ask what he wanted and bring home a cheezy beef or gyros.  He hasn’t eaten real food for so long, that it never even crossed my mind!

So I made hot dogs.  His with relish, mustard and celery salt (and tomato if I had any) and I just had yellow mustard and spicy pickles.  Can you tell I was hungry, my one and only shot of my dog came out blurry.  But in case you are wondering, that’s not too much mustard.

My Mom got me these pickles Austin when she was visiting my brother and his family.  Since I am her favorite child, its only natural that she thinks of buying me shit when with my sibling.  And they are amazingly delicious – super thin, tangy and spicy all at the same time.  Lunch came in at 7 points.

As I was meal planning with Tony, I mentioned steak and baked potatoes and he said yes, but he wanted the steak to be thin.

I decided to make a chimichurri sauce for my steak – it really wakes up a steak and slaps it in the face.

Chimichurri Sauce (makes 1/2 cup – 1 tablespoon is a serving for 2 points)

• 1 cup packed cilantro
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
• 2 gloves garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

I put this in my mini food processor – my regular food processor was too big.  Just chop until all the leaves and garlic are chopped.

My dinner:  5 ounce of thin steak (5), tablespoon of sauce (2) and a 7 ounce baked potato with light margarine (5).  Dinner is 12 delicious points.

Hannah and I went to the gym yesterday too!  I ran 2.5 miles in 25 minutes!!  I am still trying to build up my speed and stamina in running.  If I were to keep that pace up, that means I can run 5 miles in 50 minutes – which would shave 8 minutes off my previous best time!

Thanks again Tony for your wonderful story!  Hugs!

My office had an impromptu lunch yesterday, so I didn’t run at lunch.  While pizza was ordered (you all know how I loves my pizza!) I stuck with the plan and had my 8 point taco salad.  I didn’t take a picture of it because we were eating lunch in our conference room, but thanks to Google images!

Except mind didn’t have any black olives!

Can someone explain to me why Friday afternoons are the slowest work afternoon? I wanted it to be 5:00 so bad because guess what Tony wanted for dinner? PIZZA! 

Not just any pizza – he was flipping channels the other day and Michael Chiarello was making a pizza with potato and pancetta.  You all know I could have pizza every day, so I jumped on this band wagon.  Try as I might, I couldn’t find the recipe online, so we adapted a similar recipe from Guy Fieri.  Remember when I was Guy Fieri for Halloween?  This picture still makes me laugh out loud!

I already had pizza dough in my fridge, so I took it out and let it come to room temperature for about 20 minutes.

I love pizza dough that’s been in the fridge – it develops so many flavors.

Potato and Pancetta Pizza (makes 1, 14 inch pizza)

• 1 ball of pizza dough (about 8 ounces for a 14 inch pizza)
• 1 cup Yokon Gold potatoes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus some for brushing
• 4 ounces of pancetta, diced
• 1/3 cup diced red pepper (my side)
• 6 ounces shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated pecorino romano cheese
• basil (my side)
• 1 teaspoon lime juice and lime zest  didn’t have limes so I used lemon juice and zest (sprinkled over my side)

Preheat oven to 450.

Bring a pot of water to boil and add salt.  Add three potatoes to the pot and cook just until the potatoes are tender, but not fully cooked – about 8-10 minutes.  Remove the potatoes from the water and place on a paper towel to dry and cool.  Once cool enough to slice into 1/4 inch thickness.

While the potatoes are cooking, cook the pancetta over medium heat, until most of the fat has rendered out and its crispy.  Drain on a paper towel.

Roll out the dough to desired thickness.  Place the sliced potatoes on top of the pizza, so that the entire surface is covered.  Drizzle with olive oil over the top of the potatoes and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, just until the potatoes start to brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven, sprinkle with the cooked pancetta, peppers, red pepper flakes (the peppers are my side only!) and top with both cheeses.  Place the pizza back in the oven and cook for about 7 more minutes until all the cheese has melted and the top of the pizza begins to brown.

Garnish with black pepper and chopped basil.  Let the pizza sit for a couple minutes before cutting – drizzle with lime juice and lime zest. (lemon juice and zest)  Cut, serve, and unbutton your pants.

Pancetta is very salty, especially when you crisp it up, so that’s why I didn’t season the potatoes.

I scored this chunk of pecorino romano cheese for $3.30!

I ended up mixing rosemary and lemon zest for my side of the pizza – I actually loved the citrus notes.

Can you tell which side of the pizza is mine?

I only had two pieces

So I was right about my WI – it was a wash:

The running saved me this week.  Turns out I can’t have Fritos in the house!  I did my fair share of undocumented snacking this past week, so my mantra this week?

If I bite it, I must write it!

Some of the items on my menu next week:

Nicole from Prevention RD: chicken marsala (one of Tony’s favorites!)

Mellissa from I breathe . . . I’m hungry:  corned beef and cauliflower hash.  (um, yes please!

Tony and I were talking about our filipino health care nurse and we both agreed we’d never had any type of filipino cuisine.

As luck would have it, my store has pork stew meat for $1.99 cents so I’ll be making Binagoongan Pork Adobo from Gio at The Hungry Giant.

What’s on your menu this week?  Hope you have a great Saturday!

You all are too nice about telling me how young I look – I’ll be 44 next month!   But I’ll take the compliments.

I have to give a shout out to Tony’s home health care nurse – not sure how to spell her name, so I may not do it justice, but her name is Shallette.  She is a super cute Philapino woman, who loves spicy food!  I gave her some of my baja fresh salsa when I was home when she made a visit.

I should have tasted it though because you never know with jalapenos – some of my salsas get hotter the longer they sit.  This batch, while flavorful, wasn’t spicy at all, which is why her husband and son loved it!  You know the best part?  She called last night to confirm her appointment today and she’s now calling him Tony!  (um, some of you may not know that Tony is not my husband’s real name – its his “stage name” for the blog!).

She takes great care of him, gets his sense of humor, and for that I am grateful.

Now some of you may throw up your mouth a little at my breakfast yesterday – bring it on.  There is a show Tony watches on one of his “man channels” called Drinking Made Easy.  They mostly go into bars that have creative cocktails – the latest episode Tony called me in the living room – they were at a restaurant in British Colombia that was doing a wine pairing with food and my beloved cheese.

One wine was paired with a thick slice of corned beef with an ale mustard – seriously my mouth watered simply looking at it.  Then one of the combinations they had was a wedge of blue cheese with honey on top.  I instantly thought that combination would be amazing – a balance of sweet and sour.

So I hallowed out a piece of ciabatta bread so it weighed 2 ounces.  I scrambled up 1/2 cup of egg whites with baby spinach, then stuffed that into my bread shell, then put 2 tablespoons of blue cheese on top, then drizzled 2 teaspoons of honey over the top, and then put it under the broiler in the toaster oven.

I know it doesn’t look that pretty, but the flavor was amazing – I got a bit of blue cheese and honey in every bite, and it is a good combo.  I am going to have to invest in some good blue cheese and try this again on a tasting plate – um, you may see it on my lunch menu next week!  Breakfast comes in at 8 points.

When it was time to work out, my blood sugar was only 130, so I ate 2 granola bars (Aldi Brand) while at only 180 calories for both, come in at 5 WW points.

I had a great run/walk for 45 minutes.  I ended up walking 3 minutes, running 1 minute and sprinting 1 minute – it felt great!  42 and sunny – nice!

Lunch was so good – I forget to make this, and its so simple.  I made stuffed zucchini boats.  I put a whole zucchini in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes.  Let it cool and put it in my lunch bag.  I browned 3 ounces of ground sirloin with a pinch of Italian seasoning and crushed red pepper.  Put that in a separate container.

At work I cut the zucchini in half – I like a crisp tender zucchini, so you can cook yours longer if you like.  I scooped out the middle, split the meat mixture between the two, topped with my fire roasted tomato sauce I made the other day and topped it with an ounce of shredded mozzarella – it took about 5 minutes under a hot broiler and lunch was done.  And only 6 points!

Only one slight problem – I didn’t check my blood sugar when I got back from my run.  It must have been on the low side because I took the normal amount of insulin I would have for that plate – about 45 minutes later, my blood sugar dropped to 50.   My boss came to my desk to give me something and she was like “what’s wrong with your eyes!”  My eye look weird when I have low blood sugar and I start to sweat.  I know, it’s a pretty look!

I ate a pear, that wasn’t enough, so I ended up eating a cup of Vanilla Almond cereal that I had in my desk.  So between the 5 point granola bar to fuel my work out, and the 4 points of cereal to recover from my workout, my run was basically a wash.  Oh well, at least I survive to eat and run another day!

I have to give my buddy Rachel a shout out.  Last year when Tony was sick she sent us some “fuck cancer” magnets, but also sent me this seasoning.

Sadly it had gotten pushed to the back of my spice cabinet, but when I rearranged our cabinet over the Christmas holidays, I found it and holy shit is this stuff good.  Super spicy, think black pepper spicy.

I had defrosted chicken breasts.  Tony didn’t have much of an appetite for dinner becuase guess what he had for lunch?  A butter burger from Culver’s!  He enjoyed every last bit of it, but since its the most food he’s eaten in a while, we have to slowly get his appetite back.

So it was just me.  So I got to use my spicy seasoning.  I love a good pan gravy.  What could be bad about gravy!  Here is a super simple one, that will be an explosion of flavor in your mouth.  I am so serious.  This is one serving for 3 WW points.

• 1 teaspoon butter (1)
• 1 teaspoon flour (0)
• 1/3 cup white wine (I used box chardonnay because I am klassy like that) (2)
• 1/3 cup chicken broth (0)
• salt and pepper to taste (0)

I sprinkled my 4 ounce chicken breast liberally with the seasoning.  Over medium high heat I pam seared the chicken (if you need to get in your oil for the day – you can saute in 1 tsp. of olive oil).

I had pounded my chicken so it was even, so it only took about 3 minutes a side. I set it on a plate to rest.  Then I lowered the heat to medium low.  Added the butter.  When melted I added the flour and cooked for 1 minute.  Then I added the wine and chicken broth and let it come to a boil – it took about 5 minutes for the sauce to thicken.

Since my chicken seasoning was pretty spicy, I only needed to add a pinch of salt (sorry Skippy!).  Now this is a more tart sauce because the wine never really cooks out of it, but I lean towards tart sauces – the butter rounds it out nicely though.

All together I served it over a bed of fresh spinach, 1/2 cup of mashed potatoes, the chicken and gravy.  Yep, this took about 20 minutes from beginning to end – definitely worthy of company!

Did I tell you guys that I love gravy?  Dinner comes in at 9 points.

I think I am going to have another parfait today – this time with Chobani’s passion fruit flavor – can’t wait to try it!

Don’t expect much from my weigh in this week – I think my exercise will be enough to keep me the same – um, I may have had some Cheez-Its last night while Hannah and I watched American Idol in her room last night.  And we ate Cheez-Its, not Cheese Nips – there is a difference!

Make it a great day!

It kinda made me chuckle, and it probably will make you chuckle too when I give you the answer:  shampoo.  Yep, being the low maintenance gal that I am I usually kill two birds with one stone and just wipe my face with shampoo when I am in the shower.

I do, however, use this for eye make up removal, the few times a week that I actually wear makeup.   Neutragena Eye Makeup Remover – lotion.  It’s light and not greasy at all.

My lack of wearing sun screen in my younger years has caught up with me as you will notice in this picture.  You can click on this link for the foundation that I use.

So every night before I go to bed I put this on:

While this is pricy at $10, a little goes a long way – I probably replace with about once every three months.  Exciting shit, right?!

Guess what?  I didn’t have a fruit and yogurt parfait for breakfast!  I know, crazy, but I felt like eggs.  I baked a potato for Tony last week that he didn’t end up eating, so I diced up 6 ounces of potato (4 points) and sauteed it with green pepper, red pepper and 1/4 cup of salsa and of course some hot sauce (0 points).

I had every intention of making a black bean, corn, red and green pepper egg white omelet, but my pan was shitty and it stuck, so it ended up being a scramble with 3/4 ounce cheddar cheeese for 4 points.  On the side was a delicious pear – breakfast comes in at 8 points.

When it came time to run it was partly sunny and 38 degrees – almost balmy!   Since I ran 5 miles last weekend without stopping, I told myself I had to keep running.  I did a 5 minute walk to my “starting line.”  The problem I have always had with running outside is starting out too fast – something I can control on a treadmill.

I didn’t stop – and ended up running 3 miles in 32 minutes – what??!!  And being the technically saavy person that I am (not!) I was so excited I was able to upload this picture to Facebook.

If I can run that fast (for me) at 162 pounds, just think how fast I’ll be at 140.

Remember that turkey breast I roasted on Sunday?  I made an open face Kentucky hot brown that night, and had an idea for a bbq turkey open face sandwich.

• 1 ounce Kaiser roll (1/2 a roll, then I took out some of the bread guts til it got to 1 ounce (2)
• 1/4 cup chipotle bbq sauce (1)
• 3 ounces roasted turkey breast (2)
• baby spinch on the bottom (0)
• 2 tablespoons pickled jalapenos (0)
• 3/4 ounce of shredded cheddar cheese (2)

On the side I had carrot sticks and for dipping, 1 tablespoon light ranch (1) mixed with 1 tablespoon of my salsa (0).  This amazingly delicious filling lunch comes in at 8 points.

Did you see that little condiment cup?  When I went to Sam’s Club to pick up office stuff last week.  Um, I don’t think my regular Sam’s Club has a restaurant supply aisle!  I got 10 of these cups for $5.  I left a couple at work, and will use the rest to use as tiny measuring cups when putting recipe ingredients together.

So after meeting with a team of doctors these past few days, the consensus is for Tony to continue with a certain medication for 2 weeks, and start to eat solid food.  He has been eating Carnation Instant Breakfasts with chocolate ice cream the last couple days – turns out that’s pretty nummy.

I had stir fry on the menu, so we decided to try Tony out on thinly sliced beef that was sauteed in a bit of soy sauce, olive oil, salt and pepper on a bed of white rice.

I only have plain stir fry bottled sauce on hand, but I decided to come up with a different sauce.  You know I loves it spicy!

Spicy Honey-Mustard Stirfry Sauce (makes 4 servings, 2 WW points each, about 1/4 cup or 2 ounce each)

• 2 teaspoons corn starch
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon reduced fat peanut butter
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1 tablespoon hoison sauce
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 teaspoons soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon hot pepper sauce (I used the teriyaki hot sauce Hannah got me)
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Mix all the ingredients in a food processor and mix well.

I added a bit of olive oil to our hot wok – added the beef, let it sit for the first minute to get a bit of crust, then remove to a plate.  Next add any veggies you want (I usually add about 1/2 cup of water to my veggies, put the lid on and steam them for 2-3 minutes – the water usually evaporates).

Then I tossed back in the beef, and 1/4 of the above sauce and cooked for 1-2 minutes until the sauce is thickened.  I sprinkled mine with a bit of sesame seeds, and served mine over 3/4 cup cooked rice.

Here’s a quick tip – I cheated on the rice – there is a Chinese restaurant next to the post office I have to stop at on my way home from work every day – for $1.50, I can get a giant container of perfectly cooked white rice.

• 4 ounces beef (4)
• 1.5 cups mixed fresh veggies (0)
• 1/4 of stir fry sauce (2)
• 3/4 cup cooked rice (4)

I actually loved this sauce – the tang from the Dijon mustard and the spice from the teriyaki hot sauce was great – I think next time I’ll sub in Chinese hot mustard to make it extra spicy.

Alright kiddos, time for me to get in the shower.  I have an idea for breakfast that involves egg whites, blue cheese and . . . honey.  I know, it sounds weird, but in my head it turns out good – you’ll have to come back tomorrow and see!

Make it a great day!

Um, who told him I loved spicy nuts?   Thank you Tony for a wonderful card – I love you back times 100!

Of course, since I didn’t have to be up as early as I normally do on a day I go to work, I was up and alive at 7:15.  I let Tony sleep in a bit and after I was up for about an hour, I started to get hungry.

I was looking in my fridge and saw that I had a pint of blackberries (.99 a pint last week!) so I decided to make a blackberry sauce, except with Splenda, not sugar.  What goes well with a blackberry sauce?  Pancakes!

Whole Wheat Pancakes with Blackberry Sauce

• 2 points per pancake with 1/4 cup of blackberry sauce for 1 point (but 3 pancakes turns out to be 7 points)

Ingredients for Pancakes:

• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder (next time I’ll bump this up to 1 tablespoon)
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1.5 cups vanilla soy milk
• 2 eggs

Mix the dry ingredients together.  Mix the soy milk and eggs until eggs are combined.  Mix both together.  Let batter sit for 15 minutes before cooking pancakes – about 2 minutes per side.

Ingredients for Blackberry sauce (makes 1 cup, 1/4 cup each serving or 1 WW point)

• 1 pint blackberries
• 1/4 cup splenda
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch

In a non-stick skillet add all the ingredients and simmer of medium-low heat for about 10 minutes.  Using a fork or potato masher, mash the blackberries.  Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to a week.

For my plate, I mixed in my 1/4 cup of blackberry sauce (1) with 1/4 cup of sugar free pancake syrup (1) and had 3 pancakes (7).  Breakfast comes in at 9 delicious points.

The best part about this is that because there is only 1 tablespoon of sugar in the pancakes and the tartness of the blackberries, this is really not an overly sweet breakfast.

I also thought this sauce would be good on ice cream too.  Just sayin.

Then we had the home health care nurse come to check his blood level for his artificial heart valve.  Then it was time to go to the gastrointestinal doctor – they are running more tests, but he thinks the c-diff is still present, so we are taking additional medication hoping that will work.

Then we went to the outpatient pavillion for more blood work.  Then last, but not least, we saw the surgeon for our wound vac check up.  There would have been no way Tony could have done that on his own, so I was glad I could be there with him.

But you know what?  We are both sick of doctors and hospitals.  Yeah, I said it.  Hopefully we will start to turn a corner here and get our lives back to normal.  I miss sitting next to him on the couch, because he’s more comfortable in his lay-z-boy.  I miss the impromtu breakfasts and lunches when we are out and about.  I just want him to be well.

So by the time we got home Tony was exhausted, and I was starving.  We had a bag of unopened Fritos in the pantry – they have been giving me the stink eye ever since we never opened them for Superbowl Sunday.  I caved.  My ham and cheese sandwich and a serving of Fritos – 10 points.

Then Hannah came home from school.   She bought me a really cute sweater and shirt from the thrift store and a $15 Starbucks gift card.  While Tony rested, she and I went to Aldi to pick up a few things and since we were driving right by, we went to our local thrift store.

I give you aloof model:

I actually bought that jacket – it was $9, but all the outwear was 75% off – score!  Not sure who makes it because there isn’t a tag, but its super soft and lined – perfect for the spring.

I now give you gangsta model:

I guess we could call this one glam cowgirl?

And then we had fun with . . . wigs!  Before anyone gets all grossed out, these were brand new wigs – hence the giant tag draped on my shoulder.  First of all, I wish my hair were this thick, and second, I actually like the style and red color!

It was actually nice just to goof off, even for just an hour – thanks Hanners.

Dinner was simple – I got some fire roasted canned tomatoes from Aldi (.69 cents a can!) and made a pasta sauce with rigatoni.  Pure comfort in a bowl for 10 points.  I know it looks like a lot, but its sitting on 2 cups of chopped fresh baby spinach underneath the pasta.

I didn’t work out yesterday, so I need to get out at lunch today and then do 30-day shred after dinner tonight.

Thanks again for all your well wishes for Tony!