Week 1 Menu

I get a HUGE number of points in a day.  So many that even though I didn't necessarily "try" to stick to my points yesterday I still managed to, even though I had a full-fat flavored latte and a cupcake with friends after my pedicure yesterday.  Honestly, I planned these menus without too much regard for their points values, figuring that my meals are, IN GENERAL, fairly healthy and I just eat the wrong snacks or too much of what I make.  That said, most of the recipes I'm cooking this week either came from the Weight Watchers website or from this blog, which is one of the reasons I decided to try WW again.  Gina's recipes all look amazing and flavorful, have been "lightened" by her, and include both the "old" WW points value and the new points plus value.  What's not to love?

Like many people, I skip breakfast more often than I should.  However, I know I NEED to eat breakfast, so what works best for me is to "automate" it and eat the same thing every day, or rotate through some options.

So, each day for breakfast I will either have a bowl of oatmeal with some fruit and maybe a tiny bit of brown sugar (just to complicate this weight loss thing, I have sworn off artificial sweeteners), half a whole wheat pita pocket with lean meat and cheese or egg and cheese, or a whole wheat English muffin with egg and cheese or Canadian bacon.

Tip:  Did you know you can scramble an egg in your microwave?  Spray a microwave-safe bowl with cooking spray, place an egg in the bowl, beat, and microwave for about 1 minute.  Scrambled egg, and as a bonus, it's nice and round and perfect for going on top of an English muffin.  I assume you could use egg beaters for this, too.

At lunch, I tend to eat leftovers or make something with leftovers (ie, take chicken breasts from last night and use them on top of a salad).  If that doesn't work out I'll have a frozen meal (such as lean cuisine).  I'm an at-home mom with two small kids, and as THE cook I really don't want to have to make more than one "real" meal per day.

For that reason, this blog will focus on dinner recipes, with a few desserts, snacks, and sides thrown in for good measure.

Here's this week's dinner menu:

Monday:  Cheese Fondue and Caramel Apple Pie .  These are not light, but it is Valentine's Day.  I will likely use most of my "extra" points today between the TWO kid's parties I'm attending and the Fondue.  I may have to skip the pie.

Tuesday:  Skinny Sloppy Joes and salad

Wednesday:  On Wednesdays, The Big Geek has guitar lessons.  The little geeks will eat light salame and cheese for dinner (their choice), and I will likely have leftovers or a bowl of cereal.  I had planned to make a risotto that is not light, but I don't think I'll have the points for it.

Thursday:  Slow Cooker Pernil  with Cuban style black beans.  And look  what I can do with the leftovers!

Friday:  I'll attempt to lighten this Cajun Chicken Pasta .


Saturday:  Garlic Roast and Dijon Potatoes

Sunday:  Arroz con Pollo.

My snacks for the week mostly include fruit and veggies, sometimes with a dip like hummus or even peanut butter or cheese when points permit.  I am going to try a stuffed celery recipe that lightens the flavors of buffalo wings, which I'll post if it's worthwhile.
 
So now for some opinions:  What do you want from this blog?  Just the weekly dinner menu?  Menu plus shopping list?  I know that I will use it both to record recipes and to track my journey, I'm just wondering what the few of you who read this would like to see.

Have a great day, everyone.  Here's to new beginnings!