Hot damn I can finally eat brussel sprouts! Now on to the ten page story of my life with brussel sprouts and then we’ll get to the recipe.
Just kidding. The story is brussel sprouts are nasty and I have now finally found a way that I like them. Yay!
Ingredients:
14 oz Brussel Sprouts 1/2 tsp Salt 1/2 tsp garlic and pepper spice blend (found in most grocery stores, or you can use garlic powder and pepper) 1 tsp olive oil 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
Method of Preparation:
Cut brussel sprouts in half, removing the stem if present. Place in a bowl of warm water for 15 minutes. Drain and pat dry the brussel sprouts.
Pre heat your air fryer to 400. It usually only take a couple of minutes, but I like my basket smoking hot when I put my sprouts in.
Place dried sprouts either into a bowl or a zip top bag. I prefer using the ziplock bags – it just seems like you can mix everything up better with them. add salt, garlic and pepper, olive oil, and balsamic vinegar. Stir well, or shake shake shake it up in your zip top bag.
If you want to go to a fast food place and get a sandwich, it’s going to cost you. Most chicken sandwiches are between 11-20 some odd points! That’s crazy!
I’ve made a version that seems just as decadent but comes in at 7 green points. I’m not sure if the chicken would still totally count for blue, but those of you on blue know!
So I found these Tyson air fried chicken breasts:
4 smartpoints
These are only 4 points! I also cook them in the air fryer – 7 minutes each side, and I throw the bun in for the last minute to toast it as well. If you don’t have an air fryer the package has directions for the oven. I don’t know if they’ll be as crispy as they get with the air fryer, but I’m sure they’ll still be good!
Speaking of the bun:
This bun is only 2 points and is really decent! Of course there are better buns out there, but this one is a great sub and very point friendly!
I put light mayo on mine to which can range from 1 to 2 points, depending on how generous I want to be. Usually I go with one serving for one point, and a tab bit of mustard which is free.
So there you go! I end up with a delicious 7 point sandwich that according to my opinion is just as good as those huge point options from the fast food restaurants!
Like my blog? My first and second novels have been released! It’s set in a small, holiday obsessed town, and if you love Hallmark movies you’ll love this book series!
The first book in the series is called Going Home. Becca, our heroine, returns home after a 25 year absence to reclaim a sentimental family heirloom. She hopes to go in and out unnoticed, especially by the man she’s loved since she was eight years old.
The odds are stacked against Becca, small towns being what they are. Her 25 year old secret is about to be exposed, and she just might get a second chance at love.
Confession time. I hate zucchini noodles, or zoodles as they are called sometimes. People raved about them replacing pasta and every time I tried to make them it was a slimy disappointment. Then I learned the secret to zoodles. Never, ever, under any circumstances do you cook them. You make the sauce and then cover the cold, raw zoodles in it, warming them with the heat from your sauce.
Right. So the last time I posted I was going to get my act together and start acting right.
Life threw back it’s head and laughed an evil laugh. Silly girl, we can’t have that.
I ended up leaving town for work. It was supposed to be for a week, and that week turned into two, and those two turned into a month.
If I knew it was going to be this long I would have booked a stay in one of those extended stay hotels with a small kitchenette, but by the time I realized I wouldn’t be going home any time soon, it was to late.
I’ll admit my first thought was I. Am. Screwed. Eating out is my Achilles heal, and now I was going to have to eat out every meal for a month.
My whole trip was last minute, but I was lucky enough to stay in a hotel that had a small refrigerator and microwave in the room.
Do you ever seen those hard boiled eggs floating in mystery liquid in the gas station and wonder who on Earth would buy something like that?
This girl, that’s who.
I also used to wonder who would buy them already boiled at the grocery store when it’s so easy to do at home. Now I know!
So breakfast was covered. Hard boiled eggs? Check. Greek yogurt? Check.
Yeah…It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Looking back through the posts here I see the last time I connected was to post a new recipe, and before that to lament the fact that I’d gained five pounds back.
Oh how I wish it was just five pounds now. Through that challenge I posted I lost them and thought I was back on track.
per·spec·tive: a particular attitude toward or way of regarding something; a point of view.
Perspective was a very important word while I was losing weight, and I think it is even more important now.
I had a little perspective wake up call this weekend, and thought I’d share it with you all. It was a lesson I’ll never forget, but sometimes gets pushed to the back of my mind until a reminder brings it to the surface.
We have to go in the way-back machine for this one folks. It was back in 2002, the first time I joined Weight Watchers. I was a losing machine, but hungry all the time. You are only going to get so far that way, and thankfully Weight Watchers and myself have come a long way since 2002.
So my crazy busy work schedule is hopefully behind me for awhile, so I’m back, and not a moment to soon. I actually missed my monthly weigh-in for June, something I swore would never happen.
That’s not real life though. Real life is messy and unpredictable. Real life seldom presents you with the best possible circumstances to maintain your health, and you have to learn to roll with it.
One month will not make or break me. I’m going to admit to you all, I was nervous as hell when I stepped on that scale. Sure there are habits that are ingrained now, but the habit, the most important one, had disappeared since the advent of the Freestyle program.
Tracking.
For over a year and a half I religiously tracked my food. Even if I had to guess I still guessed and put it in my Weight Watcher app. I started out with the best intentions. So many of the now free foods were my daily staples. Tracking all those zeros seemed like a big waste of time, so I started to relax with it until tracking was non-existent.
How could I go from being so disciplined to a free for all in such a short amount of time is truly terrifying. I was pleasantly surprised when I hit my goal number on the nose when I stepped on that scale a couple of weeks ago. Obviously some of those habits still do a body good.
The problem is at one time I was five pounds under that number. It may not seem like much, but I know that it starts as a little snowball and grows bigger as it rolls down the hill. Maybe it’s silly, but I felt better, stronger with those five pounds gone.
I love the movies. I don’t go near as much as I used to, but there are certain movies that just must been seen at the theater.
The Avengers being one of them.
There are certain things that when I see the Smartpoint values I say no way.
Movie popcorn is not one of them. It is my ultimate guilty treat. At least I don’t do the buttery topping, so there’s that. A medium popcorn without the topping is a whopping 15 Smartpoints.
So what’s a Weight Watcher to do?
PLAN.
Breakfast: 2 Smartpoints
2 Hard Boiled Eggs: 0 Smartpoints
Premier Protein drink (for coffee): 2 Smartpoints
I’m still busy as hell but thought I’d drop a quick post with some new food finds! You can click here to see all my posts about various food finds I’ve had
Costco Food Finds:
All yogurt is not created equal in my eyes, and Fage is the BEST. It is also EXPENSIVE. Costco has a 3 LB tub for $5.99 which really puts the price in line with regular yogurt you find at the regular grocery store! Score!
I love these things on salad! 15 are 3 Smartpoints but totally worth it for me. They also have these at Trader Joe’s, but Costco is much closer to me and I only do Trader Joe runs every other month or so. It is nice to have another place where I can get these!
I love me some Blueberry and Lemon, and when I’m craving something sweet this is it for me! You can make this in the oven or the Instant Pot and it’s super easy! It is dense and very filling.
Ingredients:
3 Large Eggs
1 Cup Fage Non-Fat Greek Yogurt
2 Teaspoons Lemon Zest
1 1/2 Cup Flour
2 Teaspoons Baking Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Kosher Salt
1Cup Stevia Baking Blend (I use Aldi’s zero calorie)
1 1/2 Frozen Blueberries
Optional (for oven preparation) 1 beaten egg for egg wash
My 30 Point Life 