Why do I have to always come up with a Title??

So I am a little late posting this week.  It has been a crazy week.  I did have weigh in on Wednesday this week.  And IT WAS GREAT!   I lost 1.6 lbs this week.  That is a total of 7.6 lbs in three weeks.   So something is working.  I have noticed a change in my clothes already.  I seem to have dropped one dress size.  I am also only .8 lbs from my first goal.  I have every intention of blowing through that goal next week.

On a sad note, my family lost our beloved pet Sasha this week.  It was a blow for us.  We loved her very much.  Those of you with pets know how they become a member of the family.  They are like another child that you have raised.  Sasha was 14 years old.  We originally got Sasha for a companion for our beautiful boy Nicodemus (Nick).  She kept Nick young and playful longer than most Rottweilers.  Rottweilers normally have a lifespan of 7-9 years.  Nick had hip dysplasia in both his hips and was diagnosed with it when he was only 1 year old.  The Vets suggested expensive surgery at Auburn, but instead we got Sasha.  Sasha kept Nick active and he ended up not needing surgery.  Nick lived until he was 13 years old and never had another problem with his hips until he contracted bone cancer.  After Nick died, Sasha got lonely.  We could not play with her all the time.  When Daddy brought Sugar (his Christmas present) back to us, Sasha rebounded from her mourning over the loss of her brother.  I fervently believe that Sugar brought Sasha back to us, because she had been less playful and sad after Nick passed on.  This last year, Sasha has had a companion again.  So although we were not happy about expanding our family to include Sasha (DAD)... thank you Daddy for bringing her into Sasha's life.

Everyone should give their furry family member a hug and thank them for the unconditional love that they give you everyday!

Weigh in Day!

Well I had my third official weigh in.  (Of course, pretty soon I will not remember what number the weigh in is, but until that happens ....)  So I am very pleased to announce that I have lost another 3.8 lbs.  That is a total of 6lbs in two weeks and I received my 5lb star.  WOOOHOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Now on to the great part of tonight's blog.  My celebration dinner.  I will first show you each dish separately then the final plate.  So first a salad of sorts.  Sauteed Arugula and Tomatoes with Cheese and Pine Nuts.  I really liked this because as my friends know, I LOVE goat cheese and this dish has plenty of it.

This dish is not only very colorful, it is also easy.  Basically, you toast the pine nuts then set them aside.  Then using grape tomatoes, heat olive oil in a pan then add the tomatoes.  You sweat the tomatoes until they start to split then mash them down.  Once you have done that, you add garlic and toss in the Arugula, which is then wilted.  Put it all in a bowl add in the roasted pine nuts and crumbled goat cheese and TADA!!!!!

The second side (would really be an appetizer but I wanted it as a side dish) was Prosciutto wrapped Asparagus.

This basically blanched Asparagus wrapped with Prosciutto and fat free cream cheese.  It is finished off with a sprinkle of Balsamic Vinegar (you should never skimp on this, always use the best) and fresh ground pepper.

Now for the main dish.  Grilled Rib-eye with Barbeque Sauce.

This was made with a homemade sauce which consisted of Ketchup, garlic, ginger, brown sugar, stone ground mustard, and Worchestire sauce.  Coat the rib-eye with the sauce and grill. Easy Peasy!

The final plate ..... BEAUTIFUL!!!!!!!!!!!!

BON APPETITE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who Said You Can't Eat Good Food on a DIET!!!!!

So I was talking to my good friend Kelly Breakey, who is avid blogger.  (She is much better at it than I am.) I was telling her about my blog and how it has now evolved into a place where I talk about my weight loss journey through Weight Watchers.  Then I was telling her about all the great meals that I have been making. and she suggested that instead of just writing about them, I should post pictures of the meals that I make so that you can see just how good they look. (Of Course, the powers that be still have not perfected smellovision or tastovision so you will have to just trust what I tell you about the aromas and taste).

I thought Great Idea!  Why didn't I think of that.  I mean you all know how I love to take pictures of my food when Jim and I are at a great restaurant and post those pictures on Facebook to taunt you, right?!  So why not post the pictures of food that I actually made and was within my accepted Weight Watchers points.

So Here Goes!  This weekend we had two great meals.  The first was Somo Loltada, straight from the Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion App.

This Peruvian favorite was easy to prepare.  Total prep time including marinating for an hour ... 1 hour 20 minutes. Cook time was 35 minutes.  It is a beef dish prepared with serrano chiles, sweet red peppers, tomatoes and Yukon gold potatoes.  It smelled great and tasted even better.  Best yet it was only 10 points.  Yep all that yummy goodness and only 10 points.  Since I get 36 points a day, I could have had seconds, except for the fact that the first serving filled me up.  And Yep, Jim liked it.

Now on Sunday, I decided to leave Peru and head to Asia.  I prepared General Tso's Chicken with a side of Stir Fried Bok Choy.  These also came from the WW Kitchen Companion App.  (Gotta tell you, that App is simply amazing.)

Now I know the plating of this is not ideal, but once again very filling dish.  The spices just made my kitchen smell great.  The Bok Choy was stir fried in Sesame Oil with ginger, garlic and red pepper flakes.  Now Jim didn't really care for this because he didn't like the texture of the Bok Choy.  I on the other hand really liked it.  The General Tso's Chicken however got approval from Jim, Me, and Laura.  Spicy, but not too spicy, tasty and once again, one serving was enough.  This whole meal, Bok Choy included, was again only 10 points.

Well, today I am taking a break from cooking and eating a salad using the new Lean Cuisine Salad Additions.  If you haven't tried them yet, do.

Weigh in is on Wednesday this week.  So I will keep you posted.  Stay healthy!

Weigh in Schmeigh in

So I went to my second weigh in today.  My first weigh in was last week which set my starting weight. So was it Good New or Bad News you say!  Well first let me tell you about the wonderful foods I ate this last week.  Because the recipes make so much, I ate left overs from earlier in the week.  I think I can safely say that the best thing was the Chicken Wrap with Spiced Yogurt.   It was amazing.   Not too spicy, just right.  More importantly it was easy to make.  Made all the components the night before then just put it together Saturday night.

Monday was good too.  I made a Chicken and Bok Choy stirfry.  It was very tasty and hit all the right spots.  I know you think with all that you are eating Angela, just how the hell do you expect to lose weight.  Well now for the news .... I lost 2.2 lbs.  YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Days!!!!!

A New Adventure!

Okay so after spending time with my Aunt (who has sworn that if I blog about her she will reveal all my secrets), I have decided to try and lose weight using Weight Watchers.  I tried this before but was not successful.  This time I plan on going to the regular meetings each week.  I started on Sunday.  I have prepared 3 meals using recipes from the Weight Watchers App.  And so far they have been fantastic.  Sunday we had a baked chicken with roasted tomatoes.  Monday we had Tomato and Roasted Pepper Lasagna.  Tonight I made a Flank Steak with Chimichurra sauce and a Hollandaise sauce for vegetables.  It has all been delicious.  For those of you who know me, you know that I am 5'9 (used to be 5'11 but i shrunk) and all through my teens I was skinny.  I was Waif before waif was in.  In my mid 20's, I went on Clomid to get pregnant.  I had PCOS syndrome.  The combination between the drugs and PCOS warped my metabolism and I gained weight.  I have been over 100lbs over what I weighed when I got married ever since. 

I don't know about you, but when I see myself in my mind, I am still skinny.   I get a shock every morning when I look in the mirror.  It is time for that shock to END!  As I go through this with you, I would appreciate your support.  I will share some of the recipes and my thoughts on the system.  My Aunt started back at the first of the year and has done great.  I can only hope that I do as well.  Feel free to share your attempts at losing weight and your frustration.

In the interest of full disclosure, I will keep you abreast of my weight loss (but not how much I weight). LOL!!!!

Finally, I will attempt to post more often as well.  Well wish me luck!