Watching What We Eat Wednesday #5

So, this week's recipe is one of my favorites! Generally speaking, I'm NOT a bran muffin fan, but these muffins are DELICIOUS and only 2 pts each! My friend Kathleen came up with this recipe. She's an AMAZING cook and has lost 100lbs with WW! Anyways, I LOVE THESE MUFFINS! LOVE LOVE LOVE THEM! I need to make me a batch now! Hope everyone's week is going fabulous! :)

Kathleen’s Bran Muffins  (2 points) 

½ cup Hot Water     

½ cup “All Bran” Cereal 

¾ cup Unsweetened Applesauce  

1 cup Splenda

½ cup Egg Substitute    

1 cup Buttermilk

1 cup Bran Flakes     

1 ¼ cup Flour     

1 ½ cup Oats

1 tsp. Salt     

2 tsp. Baking Soda

2 tsp. Baking Powder   

 4 tsp. Cinnamon 

2 Tbl. Molasses   

 1 tsp. Vanilla 

Preheat the oven to 400° 

Mix the hot water and All Bran cereal and set aside.  Mix in a bowl for 4 minutes the applesauce, Splenda, egg substitute, buttermilk, and bran flakes. Mix the molasses and vanilla into the applesauce mixture.  In another bowl mix the flour, oats, salt, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.  Add the dry ingredients to this mixture just until combined.  Spoon the mixture immediately into a 12-count muffin tin.  The tins will be full.  Bake for 13-15 minutes. 

recipe by: Kathleen Wilson

Watching What We Eat Wednesday #4

I have family in town, so this is short and sweet. Hopefully you all like this recipe. It seems to be a perfect treat to sit and munch on outside while on a picnic. It's really simple and so refreshing. The best part is it's guilt free! 

Banana Pops (2 WW pts)

2 medium bananas, peeled and halved crosswise

1/4 cup crisp rice cereal

1 tablespoon toasted chopped coconut

1 tablespoon finely chopped peanuts

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg, ground cinnamon, or apple pie spice

2 teaspoons maple-flavored syrup

-Insert a wooden stick *into the cut end of each banana half. Place on a baking sheet. Freeze 1 hour or till bananas are firm.

-Meanwhile, in a shallow dish mix cereal, coconut, peanuts, and nutmeg. Brush frozen bananas with syrup, then roll in cereal mixture to coat.

-Wrap each pop individually in plastic wrap; return to freezer. Freeze 2 hours more or till completely frozen.  

-Serves 4.

*NOTE- If desired, substitute plastic forks or knives for the wooden sticks :)

Nutrition Information- 93 calories, 1 g protein, 19 g carbs, 2 g fat, 0 mg cholesterol, 23 mg sodium, 266 mg potassium.

ENJOY!

YAY, an AWARD!

Well, I woke up this morning to find that I was the recipient of a fine award! Boy, did this ever MAKE.MY.DAY!! I've been lacking when it comes to writing posts on this blog, probably because I have been lacking when it comes to doing well with my weight loss goals. It's not like I'm gaining left and right, but I'm not losing like I want to either. I'm been stuck around this same weight for some time now and need to get my rear into gear! I hate that I'm not seeing the scale go down as quickly as I like. However, I need to remind myself that when you get closer to your goal, getting the weight to come off becomes even more difficult. Those last few pounds prove to be really stubborn!!!

Nuff said about that. I'm happy to get this great award from Lorie!!! Her blog is inspirational to so many of us and I can't go a day without reading it. It's my "pick me up" when I need the extra push to keep going!! 

I really need that push right now because I want to make my goal I set for myself. I wanted to get to my original WW goal before my MIL got home and she gets home on the 24th of July!! AHHHH! I don't have much left to lose to get there, but what I do have to lose is proving to be rather difficult to get off! I'm TRULY gonna focus and write EVERYTHING down that I eat and try really hard to get to that goal. Although I know it is obtainable, I'm also not gonna beat myself up if I don't quit make it. I'm not saying I'm already giving up, I'm just being realistic and gonna be happy with the LOSS I see by the time she gets home. I WILL weigh less in a few weeks than I do now and that will be great motivation for me to KEEP ON GOING! I have additional weight loss goals beyond this goal on the 24th of July, so I have reason to keep my spirits high and remember to FOCUS ON WHAT I HAVE ACCOMPLISHED, NOT what I have not yet accomplished. It's best not to wallow in our downfalls. We must pick ourselves up and try try again! We'll be SO MUCH HAPPIER with ourselves if we focus on the positive and look to the future rather than justifying our downfalls and getting trapped in the vicious cycle of over-eating and sedentary lifestyles! 

Alright, there's my soapbox for now. I'm too lazy to re-read it and ensure it makes any sense. Hopefully it does. I'm so happy to have met the bloggers I have that continue to motivate me and pick me up when I am down. That is truly the reason for my success!! To all of you bloggers that have not yet received the award I have made and are here reading, be sure to snag up my custom made award for all my MOTIVATORS! It's over there on my sidebar!

It's all of you who truly keep me on the path towards weight loss!!

Watchin' What We Eat Wednesday #3

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The recipe I'm posting this week is SUPER easy and really really good. I didn't think my hubby would like it as he's not a onion fan, but he really really thinks these are delicious! YAY for me as I LOVE onions. Anyways, these are so good! You'll feel like you are cheating!! Enjoy! I'm excited to come around and see everyone else's recipes for this week :)

Twice-Baked Potatoes (2 WW points)

4 small baking potatoes (5 to 6 ounces each)

2 ounces reduced-calorie cream cheese, cubed and softened

2 tablespoons snipped chives (I just use finely chopped green onions here as I have that on hand more often than chives)

1/4 teaspoon dried basil, crushed

1/8 teaspoon salt

dash of pepper

3 to 4 tablespoons skim milk

Paprika

*Prick potatoes with a fork. Bake in a 375 degree oven for 45 to 50 minutes or til tender. Cool slightly. Cut potatoes in half lengthwise. Gently scoop out each potato half, leaving a thin shell. Set shells aside.

*Put pulp into a small mixer bowl. Add cream cheese, chives (or green onions), basil, salt, and pepper; beat until smooth. Add milk, a tablespoon at a time, beating until potato mixture is fluffy and smooth.

*Pipe or spoon potato mixture into shells.  Sprinkle with paprika. Place on a baking sheet. Cover loosely with foil.

*Bake in a 375 degree oven for 10 minutes. Uncover potatoes and bake 10 minutes more or til heated through. 

Nutrional Information per serving: 98 calories, 3 grams protein, 18 grams carbs, 2 grams fat, 5 mg cholesterol, 70 mg sodium, 318 mg potassium.  Not exactly sure what the fiber count is for you doing WW, but an average sized potato has 3 grams of fiber, but that DOES include eating the skin of course. That's where most the fiber is located :) ANYWAYS, I just count this recipe as 2 WW points as I usually don't eat the skin anyways and even if I did, the the point value is right on the border b/w 1 and 2 points, so I always round up :)

There is also Microwaveable directions. I've never tried them this way, but here are the directions in case anyone is interesting :)

Microwave Directions: Micro-cook pricked potatoes at 100% power (high) for 10-12 minutes or til tender. Halve potatoes and prepare filling as above. Place filled potato shells on a 12 inch microwave-safe platter. Cover with venter clear plastic wrap. Cook on high for 1 to 2 minutes or til heated through.

Recipe from Better Homes and Gardens New Dieter's Cook Book

ENJOY!

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