Having Friday off from work was nice – we got the grocery shopping done, my meal plan was done so it was nice not to have an agenda yesterday. After I got back from WW yesterday, Tony made me breakfast – he makes the best eggs – nice and spicy!
Since I am not exactly sure what portions were in this breakfast, I am calling it 10 points. š The apples were delicious! Thanks Tony!
My MIL and SIL LOVE brussel sprouts. I am not a fan yet, but decided to make a brussel sprout dish for one of my SIL’s lunches this week – I adapted the recipe from here – I was lucky enough to win her last giveaway and got this book in the mail the other day – thanks for picking me, can’t wait to read it. š
So this recipe is adapted to serve 1 – I added roasted red pepper instead of the yellow pepper and added mushrooms.
Roasted Brussel Sprouts with Couscous (1 serving: 211 calories, 5.3 fat, 34 carbs, 6.2 fiber and 7.7 protein = 5 PointsPlus)
- 1 cup brussel sprouts, trimmed and halved
- 1/4 cup roasted red pepper, diced
- 1/4 cup sliced mushrooms
- 1/4 cup grape tomatoes, halved
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
- 1/2 cup cooked couscous (I used Near East garlic and herb)
- salt and pepper
Heat oven to 425. Toss the brussel sprouts with the oil and salt and pepper. Bake for 20 minutes, turning them over after 10 minutes.
In a skillet saute the red pepper, mushrooms and grape tomatoes for about 5 minutes. Add vinegar and toss to coat. Add in brussel sprouts and cooked couscous and cook for another minute until well combined. Add additional salt and pepper if necessary.
I think this is a very generous serving for only 5 points! I grilled a 4 oz. pork chop on the side for her lunch, so her lunch will come in at 10 points. š
Hannah and I even got in a long walk yesterday – one hour! It was nice just catching up and laughing together and its the first Saturday she’s had off in a long time – and she was babysitting last night and works today, so it was nice spending time with her. Here’s a picture from our walk:
Tony and I decided to smoke some meat – I could have sworn I bought a second roast at the store, but we didn’t so Tony went to Jewel – we typically hate that store, it’s over priced and crowded. He ended up bringing home a boneless chuck pot roast.
While I wanted to do a dry rub, Tony suggested just salt and pepper and let the smoker impart the flavor – he was right – this meat was so flavorful. I started it out on the lower rack for the first 30 minutes, then moved it up to the higher rack for the last 45 minutes. We had hickory and apple wood chips on top of the coals.
I made a cauliflower gratin on the side. Except I reduced the butter and flour to 2 tablespoons and only used 1.25 cups of skim milk.
The meat was smokey, tender and delicious – before Tony I never would have considered grilling that cut of meat, but it’s delicious. š
Calling all Holiday 2011 Challengers!! How are you doing? I’ve changed up my goal for the challenge. I realized that there are only 12 weeks left until December 31. So I want to lose 12 pounds, which would put me in the 140s! I haven’t been in the 140’s since 2007 – I gained 30 pounds after being put on insulin because all of a sudden I could eat whatever I wanted to!
My plan this week is to go to the gym. Seriously, I haven’t been in a month and I am paying for it, so I may as well use it. My goal is to hit the gym up 3 times this week – and to swim at least once.
I have done great on no more bed time snacks – no salty foods before bed at all. I am sure that’s what helped my -2.4 this week š
Hope you enjoy your Sunday! It’s another beautiful summer day!
And if you have any brussel sprout recipes to share I would appreciate it. š
12 weeks until December 31? That’s crazy talk! We had our first snow on Saturday, so I can definitely tell that winter is on it’s way, ick! I’m not ready yet at all.
I’m not on the brussel sprout bandwagon yet either, but I think that could be a fall/winter goal, to at least try them!
Hi Vat. OMG…I love brussel sprouts!!! As for the challenge, I wasn’t on track over the last few days. It’s thanksgiving weekend here, we were at a potluck and I just ate without tracking. I am however, still on the water drinking train, so I guess it’s a half success. Back on track today on all counts today though. Have a GREAT week.
Pretty good week- here’s my link: http://www.emptynest1.com/2011/10/challenge-day_10.html
Not a good week for me. Lots of other things going on in the home front that’s causing my eating to either spiral out of control or just not be a focus at all. That goes for exercise too.
Anyone with any tips to how to stay on track when everything else is first & foremost on your mind?
I have never been a Brussel sprout fan but have discovered I like other roasted veggies so I may have to give the sprouts another try roasted. The second week of exchanging food journals with my friend went well. I was down another pound inspite of next to no exercise. One day I kept within my points but it was almost all junk food. I wasn’t happy to share that day with my friend but I won’t be doing it again. Here’s to some increasing my exercise this week!
The brussels spouts recipe looks awesome. I would try it with quinoa. I try and sub in quinoa anytime a recipe calls for couscous, especially because I am vegetarian and the nutrition value with protein is better on the quinoa. Sounds like you have some good, and very reasonable goals for the next 12 weeks. Best of luck…I know you can do it!
I got a tad carried away this weekend which led to some anxiety on the food front, but the best thing I can do is start off better as soon as the next meal rolls around. Now if only my stomach would like me and I could eat things I want/need…
I’ve got the working out part down, I just need to stick to my meal plan. I’ve been getting super snacky at night so I’m thinking I either need to eat dinner later or plan a healthy snack in there.
I also want to get in three weights sessions.
Wow are there really only 12 weeks left in this year! This year has flown by. I’m probably going to need to re-evaluate my original goal of losing 20 pounds and shoot for getting into the 140s as well. The broken rib set me back a bit, but I will weigh in on Wednesday and take it from there.
I had a great week. I tracked my food on Spark People most days. I’ve been drinking lots of water and herbal tea. I was completely pain free as of early last week which was 2 weeks after my broken rib event. It will be three weeks this Tuesday. I am slowly easing back into marathon training (very slowly), but hope to be back to long runs in a couple of weeks.
Goals for this week include strict journaling, no afternoon snacking and absolutely no graham crackers at work (aka “the graham crack”). I work nights at a hospital and there are always graham crackers to nibble on. Seems so innocent until I’ve eaten 3 or 4! Bad bad habit.
Hope everyone had a great weekend. Here’s to a successful week.
I was supposed to have Friday and Monday off..but you know life and work happen and now I don’t, so I am glad you had it off for me…the meat and potatoes look simply delish!
Roasted Brussels sprouts are my favorite. A couple years ago I made a raw, shaved, marinated Brussels sprout salad; it was unexpectedly good, but I haven’t made it in a while. I’ll let you know if I find the recipe.
I love the photo from your walk!
Have a great week!
My car is still broken, so I’ve had to walk everywhere which helped me be down 1.3 this week!
I will also take the goal of 12 pounds by the end of the year.
I did great not eating crap at work, skipped 2 gourmet muffins and giant cookies at work!!
My favorite fast Brussels sprout recipe: trim off bottom and take off outer layer of leaves, then either shred them in a food processor or julienne with a sharp knife (I cut each sprout in 2-3 pieces from root to tip and then rotate and cut 3-4 times again to make small strips. It looks like it will be a lot of work, but I can do a good-size serving for two in under 5 minutes). Toss in a very hot pan with a little bit of oil (or oil plus butter), stir a few times as it almost instantly browns/caramelizes, and then put lid on and drop down heat for a moment or two until crisp/tender. Can add just salt and pepper and they’ll be great, or can also ramp up with additions: bacon; a little drizzle of brown butter or balsamic; lemon juice and poppy seeds; Parmesan; cream to coat the leaves . . . endless possibilities. Oh, and if you serve these alongside any orange veggies (carrot, butternut squash, etc.) for some reason the flavors complement each other amazingly well and each dish tastes even better.
I have been so busy this week I let exercise take a back seat, which stinks b/c I was in such a good routine last week!!! I also need to return to the gym, I haven’t been in like a month either. Still doing slim fast. I’ve had people compliment me that I’ve lost weight, but honestly I don’t feel it or see it. And even if I did, I know it wouldn’t be noticeable for them to compliment, so I know they’re just being nice.
I like your goal of 1 lb. per week. There are 10 weeks to the wedding and 10 pounds has been my goal all along. So I think I will try to achieve that too.
So– Curves, bike rides, shake weight, slim fast — all in hopes to lose 1 pound per week until the wedding!!!
Glad you were able to sneak in some extra time with Hannah! How wonderful :)!! That cauliflower gratin looks amazing! And I am a huge brussels fan. I like them straight up steamed! They’re also very good with an orange soy type sauce. My progress has slowwwwwwwwwwwwed to nothing over here. I am going to focus on protein! Happy Sunday
I want a smoker :pout: I wonder if Pooldad would like one for Christmas? heehee
Good job not snacking at night. It really showed on Saturday! Woot! Woot!
That meat looks so delicious. I want a sandwich, on a baguette, with spicy mustard. YUM!
Hope your weather there is as pretty as ours here and you are outside enjoying it. š
this is comical (to me only I’m sure”
I meant to say “sticking” with milk… Okay. I’m done.
I developed this Brussel sprouts recipe years ago for Cabot. And I will be the first to say it’s not really on the lighter side of my usual veggie side dishes… but it’s SO yum and a great way to introduce Brussel sprouts to folks who think they don’t like them. I actually heard in a seminar years ago that cutting Brussel sprouts in half helps release some of the bitter taste? Sounds kind of like an old wive’s tale, but I live by it… and have made Brussel sprout-eaters out of folks who never had been before.
whoops… I forgot to leave the link!!
http://www.cabotcheese.coop/pages/recipes/recipe.php?id=305
Okay… yet again, another reply (I should think before I comment š
I think you could easily trim down the recipe I shared by using 50% reduced fat cheddar & stinking with milk. You could probably use 2 whole eggs + 3 egg whites, to reduce calories even more… just a thought.
I LOVE Brussels sprouts – my favorite way to make them is just roasted with spices!
I’m doing good this week – still off exercising due to my neverending injury, but I got a sports massage & acupuncture yesterday and kind of have a better idea what’s going on with my pain. They think it’s actually a muscle stuck in a contracted state, rather than a pulled muscle. We’ll see – I’m looking forward to experiment with it this week.
I would have never even thought about grilling that cut of meat either, might have to give it a try when Ray gets back.
I had a great week, not sure if I had a loss, but I’m only .8 away from my 10 lb mark…I can’t wait to get there! I’ve been doing pretty good at keeping active and drinking my water as well.
This week my main goal is to work on counting every single thing I eat š Hope everyone has a great week!
Nice job cutting out the bedtime snacking! š Glad you are going to hit the gym – I shall live vicariously through you for the time being!
As my wedding gown didn’t quite fit this past Monday at my first fitting, I’m sticking to the WW program like stamp to a letter. My tailor said between me losing whatever I can and her letting the dress out as much as she can, the dress will be beautiful. My second fitting is the 21st. Wedding is the 29th! She’s giving me as much time as possible to shed some pounds. My goal is about 10lbs (those first 10 on WW when I stick to it come off quickly).
I love brussel sprouts but Dave won’t let me cook them if he’s in the apartment LOL. My favorite way to cook them is to chop up some lean bacon, cook it, then saute roughly chopped brussel sprouts in the bacon fat. Return the bacon to the pan when you’re just about finished with the brussel sprouts.
This is another awesome recipe…and with the heat, I bet even you will like them: http://www.thebittenword.com/thebittenword/2010/03/sauteed-brussels-sprouts-with-sriracha-and-cashews.html
Thanks Rachel!! You can do it – either way you are going to be a beautiful bride!