Spinach Enchiladas

Ingredients:
1 onion -- chopped
4 cloves garlic -- minced
2 Tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 cup preferred chiles
1/2 package large bag of frozen spinach
1/4 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup canned black beans -- drained
8 tortillas
1 cup salsa
2 Tablespoons Taco seasoning
1 cup low-fat Mexican-style shredded cheese

Directions:

In a skillet over medium heat, saute onion and garlic in oil until golden. Stir in chiles/peppers, mushrooms, and black beans, cook for 3 minutes. Transfered thawed, drained spinach to the skillet, cook until heated completely through, and ingredients are well mixed.    

 Meanwhile, soften tortillas by heating them in the microwave for 1 minute in the package. Then, place 1/4 cup filling in the center of each tortilla, until all 8 tortillas are filled an equal amount. Roll up and place seam side down in an oven proof dish that you have sprayed with Olive Oil cooking spray. Smother with salsa, and cheese. Bake at 350ºF until heated and bubbly.

The Spinach Enchiladas serve 8, and has only 3 points (the points for the sour cream is separate). I served my enchiladas with a side of roasted vegetables, and hummus.

Points for January 24, 2011:

Breakfast= 6

Snack= 3

Lunch= 3

Snack= 2

Dinner= 10

Quaker granola bar= 3

Total= 27 points

Eggplant Parmesan

Eggplant Parmesan
8 Servings
4 Points

Ingredients
1 cup dry bread crumbs
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
4 Tablespoons Italian Seasoning
4 egg whites
½ teaspoon salt
2 medium eggplants
Olive oil cooking spray
3 cups spaghetti sauce
1 cup part skim milk mozzarella cheese—shredded
2 Tablespoons fresh parsley-- chopped

Directions

In a shallow bowl, combine bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and 2 Tablespoons of Italian Seasonings. Mix well.In another shallow bowl, lightly beat together egg whites and salt. One at a time, dip eggplant slices into egg whites, then into crumb mixture.

Turn to coat both sides with crumbs.
Place slices on 1 large or 2 small baking sheet that have been sprayed with non-stick spray.

Spray tops of slices lightly with olive oil cooking spray. Bake at 400ºF for 15 minutes. Remove eggplant slices from oven, turn them over, and spray again with cooking spray. Return to oven and bake for 15 more minutes.

My Sauce

Instead of using store-bought low-fat sauce, I took a bunch of veggies (spinach, mushrooms, onions), and a can of tomatoes, and made my own sauce! I added the additional 2 Tablespoons of dried Italian seasonings to pep it up.

To assemble the casserole, spoon some pasta sauce over the bottom of a baking dish (either a deep caserole dish, or a 9x13).

Top with eggplant slices. Spoon more sauce over eggplant, followed by some mozzarella.

Repeat; layering with remaining eggplant slices, sauce, and mozzarella. Sprinkle parsley over top. Return to oven and bake, uncovered, for 20 minutes, until cheese is completely melted and sauce is bubbly.

I served our Eggplant Parmesan with a home-made pasta salad (which came to 3 points a serving).

Over-all review of Sunday, January 23, 2011:
Oatmeal= 2 points
Yogurt= 2 points
Banana= 2 points
Orange= 1 point
Veggie grilled sandwich = 3 points
Pasta salad= 3 points
Eggplant Parmesan= 4 points
Fiber Granola Bar= 6 points

TOTAL= 23 points

My goal has been to stay within 33 points, since that is the recommended points for my height, weight, activity level, and age. I feel really proud of myself! And, Marc and I both enjoyed the Eggplant Parmesan-- Marc said it was; "fuckin' delicious."

Prep. Work

To prepare for this week we needed to go grocery shopping. We shop at Winco, because it is employee owned and operated. Following our shopping list, and our menu for the week we are able to stay within our food budget, and make good decisions in terms of the products we buy.

This is our menu for the week:

Saturday: Dine-out

Sunday: Eggplant Parmesan

Monday: Spinach Enchiladas

Tuesday: Caribbean Rice & Beans

Wednesday: Greek Salad

Thursday: Mediterranean Pasta Toss
Friday: Roasted Garlic and Onion Linguine

Our shopping list.

Winco is laid out in sections, and that's how I organize my grocery list-- doing this also makes it a lot easier to know what's in your cupboard:

How to Calculate How Many Weight Watchers Points You Get

Instructions

Things You'll Need:

• your weight
• your activity level
• your height
• your age

1. The first step is going to be establishing a baseline for Weight Watchers points depending on your sex and whether or not you are nursing. If you are female give yourself 2 points to start. If you are male give yourself 8 Weight Watchers points to start. If you are nursing give yourself 12 Weight Watchers points to start. This is the first step to calculate how many Weight Watchers.

Example: I am a woman so I start with 2 points.

2 .The next thing you will do to calculate Weight Watchers points is to add to the number you got in step 1 depending on your age. If you are between 17-26 add 4 points to your weight watchers point total. If you are between 27-37 add 3 points; 38-47 add 2; 48-57 add 1; and over 58 add 0. This is because your metabolism slows as you get older so when you calculate how many weight watchers points you get.

Example: I am 26 years old so I add 4 which gives me a total of 6 points.

3. Next, you will take the numbers you added together in step 1 and 2 and then adjust it for your weight and height. You are going to take the first two numbers of your weight. (You would add 20 if you weighed 204 pounds.) You will also adjust for your height. If you are under 5 ft you will add 0, between 5'0" and 5'9" you will add 1, and over 5'10" add 2.

Example: I weigh 246 pounds so I will add 24 points to my total giving me 30. Since I am 5'7" I will add 1 more point giving me 31 points.

4. Finally, you will calculate your points by adjusting for your activity level. If you spend most of your day sitting down, add 0 to your weight watchers points total. If you are occasionally sitting but mostly standing add 2. If you are walking most of the time add 4. If you do physically difficult work, add 6.

Example: Since I just started at home with Weight Watchers, I am keeping my activity level at 0, and I will adjust it accordingly as I incorporate more and more activities into my daily life.

General guidelines

Less than 150 pounds: 18 to 23 points

150 to 174lbs: 20 to 25 points

175 to 199lbs: 22 to 27 points

200 to 224lbs: 24 to 29 points

225 to 249lbs: 26 to 31 points

250 to 274lbs: 28 to 33 points

275 to 299lbs: 29 to 34 points

300 to 324lbs: 30 to 35 points

325 to 349lbs: 31 to 36 points

over 350lbs: 32 to 37 points Additionally, you are given 35 flex points that you can use for the week. These flex points allow you to have an occasion treat that you may not otherwise get if you stuck to just the daily points allowance.

How to Calculate Weight Watcher points:

P= (c/50) + (f/12) - (min {r,4}/5)

P=points

c=calories

f=fat

r=dietary fiber

Dietary fiber greater than 4 is not used. Only fiber up to 4 grams is used to calculate Weight Watchers points. For example, if dietary fiber = 2, then 2 would be used to calculate the points. However, if dietary fiber = 5, then only 4 dietary fiber would be used in the calculation.

For example, based on the calculation for weight watchers points, every 50 calories would be equal to one point and every 12 grams of fat is equal to one point and for every gram of fiber (up to 4 grams) you deduct 1/5 of a point. So if a food item had 100 calories, 2 fat grams and 2 fibers, you would use the following formula to calculate weight watchers points.

(100/50) + (2/12) – (2/5)

2 + .17 - .4 = 1.77 points

Points are then rounded to the nearest whole point, so this particular example would be 2 weight watcher points.

Suzy Home-Maker to the rescue!

I am putting together my menu for the next couple weeks, which means it's time to make my shopping list, and go to Winco! It is my hopes that this will keep Marc, and I on track in regards to our house-hold budget, help us stick with our goal of staying at home to cook, and be a fun way to incorporate a more vegetarian-friendly menu.

I also hope to take pictures of our meals this week, post the recipe, and how many Weight Watcher points said serving of the meal was!

In the meantime, I am having a nice, well-deserved quiet morning (almost a little too quiet). Marc is sleeping (which NEVER happens), I am bundled up in the basement watching SatC, and I plan on starting my menu, and shopping list so that when Marc gets up we can get out of this house for a few hours!

...and, I am secretly hoping I can convince him that we deserve at least a night out to dinner...

There isn't much I feel I need. A solid soul, and the blood I bleed.

I had a difficult time keeping up with posting in my blog this week, but I did promise myself that after I had 3 hoop sessions I would make my first in a series of videos. I was blessed with beautiful weather this week so I was able to get outside and hoop 3 days in a row! It was like Spring!

We've been cooking at home, but I don't feel guilty about my food decisions when we have enjoyed take-out, or soda. I feel like this week has been a good example of personal choices as far as balanced is concerned, I've enjoyed some yoga, stretching, swimming, hula hooping, and chasing around three kids all week!

So far, I am struggling with making new habits, breaking old bad habits, and trying to get serious about this blog. Wish me luck, because I'm going to keep trying!

The beginning.

The following are pictures of me from a couple of years ago:

‎"I am an excitable person who only understands life lyrically, musically, in whom feelings are much stronger as reason. I am so thirsty for the marvelous that only the marvelous has power over me. Anything I cannot transform into something marvelous, I let go. Reality doesn't impress me. I only believe in intoxication, in ecstasy, and when ordinary life shackles me, I escape, one way or another. No more walls." --Anaïs Nin

My entire life I have been afraid to tell people how much I weigh. I have always felt like it was some dirty little secret that I couldn't let anyone find out about. However, one can not hide 300 pounds, regardless of how hard one tries. In the last several years I have undergone many life changes, and in the spirit of continuing change I hope to use this blog as a tool to bring positive life affirming awareness, and life-long change for a healthier way of living.

I hope to share my ups and downs, recipes, talk about my goals, hula-hooping, my triumphs and failures, how I'm handling stress in my life, and pictures of the beautiful change I want to be in this world. I don't want to lose weight, because of self-loathing-- I am coming from a place of self-love. I want to be healthy, full of life, and in love with my world.

Until I have a better idea of what direction I want this blog to take I am going to set a couple of goals for this week:

1- I will go for two good walks with Marc.

2- I will hula hoop at least three times this week.

3- I want to commit myself to only drinking water, and tea this week. I want to keep myself hydrated!

The following pictures are a little more current: