The Loss of an Energy Bar

Tonight I am mourning the discontinuation of my favorite "energy" bar, The Twisted by Premier Nutrition. I had recently found this bar to be a good meal replacement when added to a fruit for a quick post workout lunch. I had trouble finding it at the retail locations indicated on their website, so I ordered 36 bars from their website and had them delivered just last week. Tonight, as I was looking at their website, trying to give my sister some of their nutrition information, I noticed that they had discontinued the entire line of bars. Travesty!!! And I cannot find out why they have been discontinued. I hope that this is only a temporary discontinuation. Maybe there has been a run on pretzels or nougat?

My nutritionist, Meridan, has said that it is only a glorified candy bar and of course, as I type this, she is on the Channel 11 news! Oh goodness! She's after me!!! Her argument is based on the ingredient list. It is not all natural as compared to the Clif bar.

After I get through my current stash, I might just go back to the Snickers Marathon bar. The only place that I have ever found them are at 7-11 individually. I only really like the Multigrain bars and Sam's carries them in the variety pack, but I am not a big fan of the taste or the points plus values of the other flavors in the pack. Or, I might just have to find myself a more natural bar that I like...and that has chocolate.

An Apple A Day

An apple a day does in fact keep the doctor away. I am very lucky to be thriving through this cold/flu season. I have continued to take my vitamins (a multivitamin, Cooper Complete Elite Athlete and Omega 3 Supplement) in addition to eating 2-3 fruits per day. Of these fruits, at least one is an apple. This helps maintain a healthy GI system and healthy teeth. I have found that I really like Honeycrip Apples that are in season from November - January. You might see them at Whole Foods or Central Market a little later than this but it is rare and they are usally quite expensive at that time. Another favorite is the Pink Lady apple. It is very similar in flavor profile, crisp and sweet, to the Honeycrisp, but it has a longer season. Recently, the prices on Pink Ladies has risen and I have found that Gala apples are particularly sweet this year. I have found them at Kroger mostly and occasionally at Walmart. So, how do you determine if an apple is ripe? I smell them. If they smell "Apple-y", then I know that they are ripe. So, munch on an apple today! You will be glad you did!

Tasty Afternoon Treat

Over the past two weeks, I have become overly disenchanted with my afternoon snacks. In addition, I have been ravenously hungry as soon as I get home, spurring me to eat a lot of snacks while waiting for dinner to cook. So, I have been on the search for a high protein, low carb snack. Today, I tried edamame in pods that I found at Sam's. They are in small, individually portioned packs and come in right at 1 WW points plus per pack, with 8 grams of protein. The fact that there were so many to eat helped with my chew factor. In my mind, the more I chew, the more satisfied I become. It took me approximately 30 minutes to eat the entire pack as I did it while reviewing a spreadsheet. The true test will be the 6:00 test. Am I ravenous or am I doing okay? They come with seasalt to put on them after you steam them (you steam them right in the little packets). I wonder if I could boost the flavor by adding other seasonings...maybe a trick to try on the weekends!

Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hotdish

Tonight we tried our second new item of the week. This time it was a new recipe: Broccoli, Beef & Potato Hotdish (casseroles for everyone NOT from Minnesota). I had received it in an email from Cooking.com earlier in the week. It was originally published in the Eating Well Magazine, so I had high hopes. After that, i figured out that it only had 10 points plus based on the products that they used. With a few adjustments, I was able to cut it back to 9 points plus, which, for me, is reasonable for dinner.

One of the best things about this dish is that the broccoli tastes absolutely delicious! You roast it before you add it to the casserole. On top of everything, you envelop everything in a cheese sauce that is absolutely delicious! I personally always use full fat cheese because it is also full of flavor. So, I cut back on the milk to fat free skim.

This takes a little bit of time (2 hours total) but is great for a weekend dinner. I love casseroles because once you put it in the oven, you can clean the kitchen, set the table, and just relax, waiting on dinner. This is all I served because it had veggies, protein, and a wee bit of starch.

Here is the link to the recipe on Cooking.com: http://www.cooking.com/Recipes-and-More/recipes/Broccoli-Beef-Potato-Hotdish-recipe-12552.aspx

Enjoy!

Five New Things

This week at Weight Watchers, our fearless leader, Sandra, charged us with trying 5 new things over the course of the next week. I feel I must follow this advice closely because last week, she said track, I did, and I lost 3.4 pounds! So, I will follow this advice, in addition to tracking and hopefully we can lose one or two more pounds this week.

The first thing that I am trying is to grow something different. I had to give up my beloved ivy, Fred, when I left Cooper two weeks ago as I downsized from a nice sized office to a cubicle. Scoobie and Max would eat Fred, so he could not come home with me. Yesterday, we found a cute little jade plant at Lowe's. I bought a Notre Dame inspired (of course!) pot, some cactus potting mix, and now we have Freida:



After watching many Gardening by the Yard shows featuring Paul James, I have been inspired to grow succulents, but have never found a place for them in our landscape. This is my first step and I am really pleased. Who knows? I might have Hens and Chicks someday!

Tasty Salad - An Oxymoron?

I know, most of you are saying, tasty and salad do not belong in the same phrase. How about satisfied? That is the other adjective that describes the salad that I had today at Avanti at Fountain Place. It was a Salmon Cobb salad. It had grilled salmon, roasted tomatoes, feta, and a poppyseed vinaigrette. Only 8 points on Weight Watchers when I cut out the egg. I also used a trick from my good friend Jill. I got the dressing and the feta on the side. I put on the 2 Tbs of dressing and about 1/8 c of the feta on my salad. So good! And because the salmon has the healthy oils and protein that I need, I feel completely satisfied! I even skipped the bread basket with the olive oil sitting next to it! I was going to snap a picture with my phone but in the fanciness, I thought it would be inappropriate. I will go back, but I am in the mood to explore the great downtown of ours and see what else has changed since I worked here 13 years ago. From what I can tell from my research, Mariano's has left downtown for Skillman and that makes me very sad. Alas, El Fenix is within walking distance, but I can have that in Plano any time. It's time to celebrate the new!

The Good Life

So...where where we? I don't know. As Flylady would say, "Jump right in, whereever you are". So, I am. Since my last post, January 2010, much has changed. I started a new job last week. It is a much different commute. I take the train to downtown so that I do not have to struggle with the horrible Dallas traffic. I am getting back into reading, my bible devotional, my email, and my books. Oh, it is quite enjoyable.

I now have a membership at the YMCA. Many people would scoff at that fact, but it is a really nice facility with a plethora of workout equipment. Today I was really surprised to find that many people were running outside. There was one man waiting for someone so I asked him...where do you run? He says there are many routes, but you do have to watch out for traffic (thanks to my dad, I won't cross against a crosswalk, so that can be time consuming downtown). He and his friend run over to the Katy trail for a short 6 mile run or on up to SMU for an 11 mile. These people are either really fast or they get much longer lunches that I can ever hope to have. Don't people work?

I am slowly but surely getting used to the corporate grind. After working at Cooper for 7 years, I was very spoiled. There are no microwaves on my floor and if I work out at lunch that means that lunch needs to be ready to eat. I have been alternating between peanut butter or ham and cheese sandwiches. This is getting very boring. I miss my warm meals. Alas, I am going on an adventure to find a nice ready to eat lunch that is low in points. Surely, this should not be hard. I'm thinking hummus or babaganoush with veggies. The one drawback? I'm not a fan of raw veggies...the silver lining? Maybe if I eat them with hummus or babganoush, I will like them better.