Crashy crash

Hey world- I've been absent its true! This time I have good excuses!

1- I have started a career as a Pampered Chef consultant and I am having a blast!

2- I watch my nephew full time and him with my own son all day makes for an exhausted night and I totally pass out early.

3- I got into a car accident and there was a few weeks full of phone calls , physiotherapy and paperwork that took up alot of time and effort! Don't worry we're all ok!

I'll just put all that crazy behind me and get on the bloggity blog track.

Ethnic cooking- masalaaaa

I know its been a while- and im sorry! Its been crazy busy and with birthdays and mother's day, plus an extra long week of strep throat its been hard to stay on all tracks.

The good news is in my absence from my blog I have lost 5.9lbs! I have lost 26 out of 55 baby lbs. Go me!

There was a small period of time where there was so much going on that I didn't real care to think about weight watchers. All I really wanted was to eat what I want, when I want. And you know what? I don't really want that freedom anymore. It obviously has not gotten me anywhere good and So I have been back on track. Do I stll love those damn cookies? You bet I do. Do I eat an entire box in just a couple days? No. And that is one of the hardest things on this new lifestyle journey. But I do want to lose weight, and I always have wanted to and I am learning that one day at a time really is the best approach. So I eat my cookies, and I have a steak or an iced cap. But I think about it first. And I plan for it. And I feel ok about it when I'm done eating or drinking it because I know I'm not undoing everything I worked for. AS LONG AS I REMEMBER NOT TO PANIC AND EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT!

Part of the spectrum is trying new things- and lately I have really enjoyed more ethnic foods such as Indian. I made this meal the other day and my hubby and I both went nuts for it. Sadly I don't have the completely correct measurements as I made it at supperworks, but it is definitely worth the share. I am mainly guessing!

MASALA FISH

3 servings

3 Basa fish Filets
Canola Oil
1 large yellow onion, diced
1 tsp Cumin Seed
1 cup crushed tomatoes
2 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp garam masala
1/4 tsp turmeric
1/ tsp fresh green chilis
1/4 tsp cumin powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup water
salt

Put the fish in a ziploc and toss half the lemon juice on it and let it sit for a wee while- rinse the fish off under cold water and dry it.

In a large, deep fry pan (that has a cover, for later) cook the onion, oil and cumin seeds on medium high until the onions are browning and cumin is fragrant. About 5 minutes.


Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Carefully add fish, making sure each piece is covered in sauce. Cover and simmer approx. 15 min. Stir occasionally; add a little water if necessary (internal temp. 158F/70C).



Serve over Basmati rice and with a dollop of plain yogurt and cucumber slices.

This was so mild and delicious- a serious new favourite meal.

2 parties, 2 cakes, one weekend

Hiya! Just another shortish post today- A couple pictures of my most recent cakeventures. I made my son 2 cakes on the weekend for both his kid and family birthday parties- The stand alone cupcakes are chocolate, fudge filled vanilla buttercream and the red and white fondant was all cut out using my cricut cake- I was very tired, very sore and did not get to do yellow and white as I had planned. But in the end it looks more like Dr. Seuss cupcakes which is a-okay and delicious.



The second cake was cupcakes iced together- I drew out and cut the sign and all the little alphabet letters were cut with alphabet fondant cutters. They are devils food cupcakes with no filling and vanilla buttercream.

I got a message on my phone a couple days ago asking about making cakes for someone- I have not yet called them back due to toddler related pandamonium at home but hopefully there will be more cakes in the near future!

Easter Beasters

oops this is my easter blog post that was accidentally left in the edit folder- better late then never!



A shot of my Easter Cupcake nests



Proof of the gigantic Easter Beaster Feast- This year there was even more veggies and fruits- I made the fancy Devilled eggs



These are the Little People Eggs from fisher price- They were absolutely perfect for my son since he is only 1 and I obviously will not be giving him chocolate. They were filled with these adorable little chick and Bunny, Easter kids, and more.


He did a really good job of finding the eggs and was really excited when he clued in and realized we were giving him things. ;)



This is my easter basket of presents- overkill...yes I know. I told my husband "I overdid it again" and his response, instead of being that I was in trouble was "With you hunny, at this point its just par for the course and I wouldnt expect less" lol. I have no intention of giving giant baskets like this always but its full of thigns I needed to get him and a couple little things. The good news is alot of these items were from the dollar store or under 5 dollars- Except Elmo- Elmo was a gift from Nana, but I felt he helped complete the basket. <3

365 days of awesome

Today I would love to wish my sweet lil monkey of a baby, Miles, a very happy 1st birthday. Love you sweet bum, XOXOXO

Mini Eggs, Big issues

Easter! oh lordy lord it's Easter. And as everyone knows, Easter seems to rain chocolate 100x more violently then Christmas and Valentines day combined. Why? Because unlike Santa who brings gifts with some candy, or your loved one who brings a small box to say I love you, The Easter Bunny brings you buckets and buckets of chocolate- at least he makes you work a little to find it first. Its completely overwhelming being at any store, especially Walmart and Zellers.

I have not celebrated the easter bunny visiting my house in over 15 years and have always built Easter around the Catholic reasons for celebrating but I never seem to get out of the weekend with the scale unscathed. My mother in law God bless her likes to make all us "kids" an easter basket full of chocolates and that sweet little golden bunny as a place setting for dinner. I always savour that basket-



But then comes Easter brunch. Oh yes. Easter brunch with 30 very loud, very hungry Italians. The good news is that while I am anticipating all the eats, I am realizing just how weight friendly our Easter can be. There is a sewing table in my Aunt's basement- very large...and COVERED with food corner to corner at Christmas and Easter.


While Christmas Eve is lots of fishes and fried dough balls stuffed with caulifower or CINNAMON SUGAR and so much more savoury things, our Easter is just a little bit more forgiving. With plenty of cookies and cakes but i digress. Leaving Good Friday and all its shrimp, tilapia, lingini and mussels out of the equation, our table is covered with fruit, veggies and dip, cheeses, pickles, olives and frittatas- there are usually 3 frittatas and they are each stuffed to the brim with a fresh vegetable like peppers, spinach, peas. There is spanakopita (yeah, I don't know how it got on our Italian table either but we would all be very mad if it ever was forgotten) . But in that Spanakopita is serious amounts of spinach and much less feta and fillo then one would think because it is homemade. There is a blueberry strata and thinly sliced luncheon meats. Some of which used to be handmade by my grandfather- who is in his mid 80's now and just can't do it anymore. We were spoiled to have a butcher in the family and lucky for us he was very serious about cutting off as much of the fat as possible- so lean, homemade nitrite free meat for all.


But the big thing, the one thing no one can wait for is the EASTER PIZZA. A pizza bread stuffed to the brim with pepperoni, eggs, ham and cheese in a pizza dough case. They made everyone their very own last year and because I was so very very pregnant it was the greatest day of my life. There is also tortula bread- a very dense, very yolk full sweet bread we only get Easter day too.

I don't even know where I am going with any of this I'm dreaming of the pizza. Oh yeah... Easter and chocolate and food.

This is my son's first Easter, and falls 1 week before his first birthday. I want to allow him to eat SOME sweets when he gets older- but I do have a lot of fears that he will end up like me, and I don't want that for him. I will of course let him eat what he likes when we have our family celebrations but when he get's near the table with 100 types of cookies on it, I will be carefully monitoring him. If only I had more control practicing what I preach. I am also a holiday freak and needless to say I have gone overboard- buying small gifts and things- much of which are all gifts he needs anyway- Bibs, sippy cups, toddler crayons and a colouring book, bath duck, wee toy truck, you get the hint. There is going to be no chocolate- except for a chocolate flavoured toddler cookie- I did want him to experience a first easter egg hunt so I err...asked...the Easter bunny for the toddler friendly Eggs that have little people figurines in them. I also asked the bunny to fill small carrot and egg shaped containers with Cheerios and banana and peach puffs.

I hope I can make it through Easter without a gain! Wish me luck I guess!

Dino-Mite!

I got my cricut cake machine and im in love! This is my cake I made for my Nephew Jimi on his first birthday. Shortest post ever!

Fat Friday: Eggplant Caponata

Whoops, it appears i negelcted my blog. cest la vie I guess. Onward....

hooray for me! I got through the last few weeks,and I enjoy seeing that I am 1.8 lbs lighter this week. I am less than 2lbs away from my first goal of 5% weight loss. The best part about this weight loss is that it proves that it is possible to enjoy your week, not feel deprived and still lose. afew Fridays ago I had movie theatre popcorn (Probably the best in my entire life) and an entire 10" wood fire oven pizza. Not to mention butter soaked edamame beans and red wine. It was a wonderful night out with the hubby and friends, and I'm glad the scale didn't bring any guilt. The following week however was different as I went out and seriously miscounted a few things.

I ended up going 18 points over my bonus. Leaving me the deepest in the red I have been to date. I gained .2lbs which was really not enough to panick over, just be cautious of. I was however being really behaved all this week and trying to stay on my feet and moving. I only lost 0.3 lbs but I am working toward at least a 1lb lost come friday. I haven't been eating great, and I havent been eating badly. Nothing fried, but there has been probably too much butter, and too much chocolate, with not enough fruit. I'm not really sure why, I just am finding it hard this week to control some cravings. I havent run out of points, I still have half my bonus. But im making shit decisions. And im not really feeling lettuce. But every day is a learning curve.

Here is a new recipe for Eggplant Caponata. It's tasty, it`s sweet, it`s tart, its not very high in points and cooks in under ten minutes to boot. You're gonna love it.

EGGPLANT CAPONATA

1/4 cup diced onion
1 cup frozen grilled eggplant
1 cup diced tomatoes with juices
1/3 cup roasted red peppers
1 tsp garlic, minced
1/2 tbsp capers, drained
1 1/2 tbsp raisins
1 tbsp red wine vinegar
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp oregano
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes
3 cups cooked rotini
shredded mozzarella

Cook pasta according to your basic pasta rule- salted water, until al dente- usually about 8 minutes. While pasta is cooking, heat 1 Tbsp. olive oil in a large frypan. Sauté onions over medium heat, approx. 5 min. Add all remaining ingredients except the mozzarella. Cook until well heated through. Serve over pasta, topp with however much mozzarella you fancy. Finish it with a drizzle of fresh extra virgin olive oil and enjoy the delicousness.

Entertaining on a diet

Now it's important to remember that while I did title this post "Entertainment on a diet" I am in fact not on a diet. I am a weight watcher. But it was a better sounding title.

I am always happy to entertain friends for lunch, dinner, cocktail hour, any occasion. But being so tuned into trying to eat better it can get a little crazy trying to stay within points range.

The other day I entertained a girlfriend for lunch who is also trying to keep tabs on what she eats. I decided to make a spread based on the things I had in my fridge that I eat everyday, with one treat in the mix.


I served...

Rice crackers
Weight Watcher Pretzel Thins
Ryvita Multrigrain crackers
Salted Almonds
Goat Cheese
Hummus
Chili pepper jam
Veggies
Dip- low fat ranch with yogourt to stretch it out
Pita bread
Smart pop popcorn
Cheddar cheese
Strawberries and Grapes
Homemade Lemonade- The treat.

With all the little finger foods we ate slowly while we chatted and since I had weighed all the cheeses and dips before hand, I was able to track how many points I was consuming.

Lunch was delicious, snacky, and guilt free. Not to mention, half of the food was left over.

Feeling Pickled

It's a bloggin miracle- I can suddenly put pictures up no problem. Sweet.

Well I had my weigh in Friday morning, and I did not do well, but I did not do badly. I went to the weigh in knowing I had a week that was far from perfect, so to see that I had not lost was far from a suprise. It was something I was prepared for. The good news about it, is that I only gained 0.2lbs, therefore I technically gained barely anything. I learned my lesson and so I move forward.

Then I went to the movies...Got movie popcorn that was the greatest I've ever had. Still drooling. Then we had dinner with friends at a wood fire oven pizza restaurant where I ordered a 10" pizza with bocconcini, prosciutto, onions and spinach. They forgot the spinach and I ate the whole thing- But when I got home to track my points I just put in all my points and bonus points- So if i did over estimate then at least I wont use ALL my bonus points on top of the pizza. The wine was a delicious touch ;)

I really should have had the margherita pizza- next time.

This week I made my own pickles- yay! yum! These particular ones are not the kind you put on the shelf for months and years- You make them and put them in the fridge to munch for a couple weeks then make a new batch. I got the recipe from Rachael Ray, and i changed it a bit to fit what I had at home.

Quick Pickles

• 1/2 cup white vinegar, eyeball it
• 2 rounded teaspoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon mustard seed
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 clove cracked garlic
• 1 teaspoon dried dill or 2 tablespoons fresh dill leaves, chopped or snipped
• 1 bay leaf
• 4 kirby cucumbers, cut into 1-inch slices on an angle

Preparation

Heat small saucepan over medium high heat. Add vinegar, sugar, mustard seed, salt, and garlic to the pan and cook until it begins to simmer and sugar dissolves. Toss the dill, bay leaf, and sliced cucumbers together in a heat-proof bowl. Pour the simmering liquid over the cucumbers and stir to evenly coat. Allow to cool to room temperature or chill before serving.

Fondant button brownies and fishy mcfish...though not at the same time

Well it has been 6 days and I was finally able to get pictures up. Fat friday is once again way late, but hey!

Before I get into the healthy, allow me to start with the not. For my aunt’s birthday I made her Chocolate Brownie cupcakes with handmade fondant decals. They were delicious, and dense in that rich creamy dreamy way. They were roughly 10 points each, well spent. Here are a few shots of them and the decals. My Aunt loves to sew so I made her some buttons.

They were so beautiful and I splurged on the fancy cups since it was her bday and I <3 Her. Sadly they tumbled 3x on the way to her house and were so squished and sad I was pretty sad. I won't be using the cupcake caddy again. The sides aren't high enough to support and kind of sideways tilt.

Onto the healthy!

My weigh in was A+. I lost 2.0 lbs. I was just shy of my 10 lb mark and I’m excited to MAYBE get the badge for it at the next weigh in. I’ve used all my bonus points and then some this week due to some poor choices and bad calculating. I will be happy with maintaining the same late but we will see.

Month 1: 6.2 lbs
Week 1: 1.4 lbs
Week 2: 2.0

Total: 9.6 lbs

Total baby weight lost- 17.6 lbs

This week I am talking about choosing fish for dinner. Growing up, I highly disliked fish. With the exception of tuna covered in mayonnaise and fish n chips smothered in vinegar and tartar I never used to touch it. Salmon was especially disgusting to me as I was insistent it tasted like metal. But just like alcohol, as I got older I learned to like it more. I still don’t like crustaceans with the exception of well cleaned non jumbo shrimp.

In my Weight Watcher meeting recently we were talking about Salmon and how it is higher in points then most fish and lean meat. But no one can argue the health benefits of eating salmon. There is a meeting leader who swears she loses the most weight on the weeks she eats Salmon at least once. So I tried it and looky looky, I lost 2 lbs.

I made a basil and garlic crusted salmon and it was yummy. I made a supperworks dish called Cornmeal Crusted basa, which had a pineapple salsa (sans Cilantro, yuck)

For the Basa, I can break it down for you without having to do the whole recipe layout. Take a white fish filet, dip it into cornmeal and sesame mixed in a bowl. If I had to give you a ratio of how much cornmeal to sesame, I would tell you 80% cornmeal, 20% sesame. Broil the fish until well done, 8 minutes-ish. For the pineapple salsa, just mix together green onion, red peppers and crushed pineapple. Fruity fruity yum yum.

Basil Garlic Crusted Salmon

2 Salmon filets

A bunch of fresh Basil (1/2 cup)

2 cloves garlic

1 tbsp olive oil

Salt

Pepper

1/8 cup Parmesan, grated

Blend all ingredients (But not the filet!) together in a mini chopper or pestle n mortar. Spread over the salmon filets and bake at 375 until done. Roughly 20 minutes. Check for doneness before you take it out.

I served mine with a salad made up of lettuce, cucumber, orange segments and a orange juice vinaigrette. I also served it with rice and steamed carrots tossed with cinnamon.

2 seriously fast, seriously easy and seriously delicious meals to make you feel fed. The smart way.

Fat Fridays- A pizza, a Salad, a happy tummy.

Fat friday, 4 days late. I have been trying to add photos to this silly blog for over a week. And I am not impressed. Today I finally got these two photos up on what feels like a fluke. When I went back to some old posts to add photos the same problem occured. I am seriously considering starting a new blog somewhere else and exporting this one. Ugh.

That off my chest, Friday was my weekly weigh in and I was quite happy with it. I finished the first week of the second month and I lost 1.4lbs, to a total of 7.6lbs since joining monthly pass. I am .3lbs away from breaking into the next set of tens. Hopefully I will also break into my 10lbs. It's something to look forward to. So

Month 1: 6.2 lbs
Week 1: 1.4 lbs
Total : 7.6lbs

Another happy thought is that I have already lost 16 of my 58lbs of baby weight without struggling and that makes me even more excited.

This week i'm focusing on 2 different ends of the lunch spectrum. Salad, and Pizza.

I have never been a huge salad fan but over the last year I have been learning to enjoy them. However there is alot of sticker shock when it comes to restaurant salads as they can sometimes have alot of hidden calories. When I make a salad I try to keep the dressing low in points but big in size. I also like alot of vinegar so I thin and stretch out the dressing by adding some. I can't eat just lettuce so I try to pile in as many crunchy and delicious things as possible.

This is my chicken pear salad. Its huge, it's tangy, sweet and filling, not to mention balanced. This is my go to salad on days where I know I need to get more greens in. Make sure you pick one of your bigger bowls when you make this!

CHICKEN PEAR SALAD

2 generous handfuls of leafy lettuce- Mine was romaine and spinach
1 pear, any type diced into cubes
1/8 cup dried cranberries
1 tbsp walnuts, roughly chopped
30g cheddar, diced small
Cucumber, cut into discs and halved
2oz chicken breast, cleaned and cubed
Hot sauce
salt and pepper
1 tbsp dijon
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp low fat sour cream
cider vinegar- your pick how much


cook the chicken in a fry pan on medium high until well browned and cooked through. Season with salt and pepper. add a few shakes off hot sauce to the pan and saute for a minute before removing chicken from heat.

Whisk together dijon, olive oil, sour cream, vinegar and more salt n pepper in a small bowl. Layer rest of salad ingredients together in a bowl, topping with chicken and dressing. Total points value, 10 pts.

Now the day after my salad I find myself feeling like i need a carb. I'm starting to feel like I am craving something a little less resposnsible. What better way to flfill the need without ruining everything or using up all my bonus points for the week? PITA PIZZA.

This is a go to pizza I make for the hubsters and myself. And when my son is old enough to eat pizza, I am hoping this will be the only kind of pizza he knows. Or as he gets older, at least prefers.

PITA PIZZA

1 Weight Watchers pita (Or any pita of choice that is 4pts or under)
1/4 cup marinara sauce
15g part skim mozzarella
5-10g goat cheese or feta
5 turkey pepperoni
mushrooms
peppers

Turn oven on to 375F. Spread all ingredients on the pizza in your favourite way. Bake until melty and serve with salad or veggies and dip. Points total? 7! 7 points for a pizza. And 10 for a salad. Who'da'thunk.