Happy Friday!  We made it.  Whew!  I have a question for you though – are you living your best life?  I’ve been listening to so many podcasts this week, and the bottom line is, while there is a lot of things you can’t control in your life, there are so many that you can – if you are willing to make that change.

I can’t remember who I was listening to, maybe it was Rachel Hollis, but they said that the reason people don’t make changes in their life is because they are comfortable being uncomfortable, if that makes any sense.  They know what to expect, what that feels like, and well, for some, trying to do something different is just downright scary.

Am I where I want to be yet?  Where I could some day work with food for a living?  Nope, but the dream is there.  I am working on my video editing skills, and hope to do some more cooking tutorials.  And even if it doesn’t get me to the ultimate goal, I love doing that kind of stuff.  So in the end, haven’t I already won?

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I forgot to bring along the recipe for the zucchini muffins – it’s sitting on a piece of paper in my kitchen.  They come in at 5 smart points and 171 calories each – so good!

Here is the breakdown of the food – nearly 500 calories, and 8 points.

The Biz and Jenn show was on location at The Farmers Market 😀  She was THIS close to buying a delicata squash, but in the end, couldn’t pull the trigger – more for me!  But I will say, if you aren’t a fan of anything in the squash family, even if you batter and deep fry the squash like my #delirings, you probably still won’t like it.  I happen to love most squash, so I am a happy camper.  My twin sister?  Not so much!

Look at all the beauty!!

These apples were huge!

And I treated myself to flowers this week – $4 for that bunch – how gorgeous!!

My lunch was inspired by the Farmers Market – Phoenix Bean spicy marinated tofu and a veggie rice paper roll for $5.  So good – I texted this picture to Hannah and she was obsessed.  

One of the attorneys in my office told me that he and his husband went out to breakfast last weekend.  Brian ordered something on the menu called cream cheese cake waffles and was intrigued and ordered them.  You guys, it was just a slice of cream cheese cake sandwiched between two waffles!  How crazy is that?!  

But it got me to thinking.  I love chicken and waffles.  What if I made a carrot cake waffle, add some apple (because I still had two apples left from apple picking!) and made a cream cheese syrup? 

I am really close on this recipe – not quite there.  I only used 1/4 cup of brown sugar for 4 giant waffles (I use 1/2 a waffle a serving) but I may need to add a bit of fat to the waffles.  This is a work in progress.  Best part was that I did the whole batter in the food processor.

I love how they look!

The end product.  While not my best plating, the flavor combination in this was off the chart.  Salty, crunchy, sweet – a party in my mouth.  I used store bought chicken tenders and added buffalo sauce to them in a pan.  One thing I did different was this morning I put the pancake syrup in a wide mouth container and used a stick blender to blend it – it was 1 tablespoon whipped cream cheese, 1 tablespoon powdered sugar and 1/4 cup sugar free pancake syrup.  

In the photo below, you can still see the bits of cream cheese that didn’t blend well.  I am going to tweak the recipe a bit more and post it next week – I promise it will be worth the wait.  

Do you guys love the sweet/savory combo – or do you want to throw up in your mouth a bit?!

I am working Apple Fest tomorrow in Lincoln Square – but it’s supposed to rain all day.  Fingers crossed we get some reprieve from the rain.  The Chopping Block is smoking something like 700 pounds of pork, and of course, their famous apple pie that you can buy in a cast iron skillet and you get to keep the skillet.

My plan is to go to the 7 a.m. WW meeting, which is now called a workshop, not a meeting anymore.  Wellness Works is the new program now that Weight Watchers is now known as WW.   I haven’t fully read up on it yet, but basically by using the app, you earn wellness points based on foods that you eat, and fitness that you get in.  Let’s be honest, it’s all about the number on the scale, otherwise we wouldn’t be on this journey, but they want to embrace the journey along the way – making one better choice at a time.

I have no idea what the scale is going to be for me tomorrow.  After a 4.2 loss last week, and I am -20 points over for the week.  

But I feel good!  I wasn’t tempted by any of the food that my roommates have in the pantry (cookies, sugared cereal, so many different kinds of chips!).  I felt in control of my food choices this week, and that feeling is priceless.  Could I have eaten more vegetables?  Probably 😀  But you know I am going to be making more #delirings this weekend!