Easy Veggie Ideas

What are some great ways to eat lots of veggies throughout the day? Here are some of my favorites:

1. Pita Pizzas or Calzones
-Start with Western Bagel Alternative Pita
-Spoon some low cal pizza sauce
-Pile on the veggies
-Top with a little bit of mozzarella cheese


2. Weight Watcher's 0 point vegetable soup
-Can freeze in individual servings

3. Quick Egg White Veggie Omelet

4. Broccoli Salad (Lasts for a few days in the fridge)

5. Green Giant Valley Fresh Steamers
-Frozen veggies with cheese sauce you steam in the microwave
-1 pt. for huge serving

These are my top 5, what are your ideas?

The Best Broccoli Salad Ever!

I never thought I could eat raw broccoli until I made this salad. You can use florets, or broccoli slaw mix. Either way, it is amazing! My husband wants me to make it every week and he can eat 2 cups at a time.

8 Servings/ 2 pts. ea (about a cup)

2 bags broccoli slaw or 8 cups chopped broccoli
7 T Sweet Poppy Seed Dressing (I used Trader Joes, but another brand at 2 pts. for 2 T would work too)
1/2 C Dried Cranberries
1 oz. candied pecans, chopped
2 oz. light feta cheese, crumbled

Mix everything together and enjoy!

Container Vegetable Garden

As part of my quest to make vegetables a bigger part of my life, this year I decided to plant a container vegetable garden. This type of garden is perfect for people who do not have a big planting area or maybe just have a deck or patio and no yard at all. Now is the perfect time of year for doing this. I am not a gardener, and do not consider myself to have a "green thumb" at all.

But how great will it be to be able to eat garden fresh vegetables in a couple of months?

For those of you who are interested, this is how I got started:

1. I bought/found my containers and saved a lot of money by using storage containers instead of traditional pots, which are expensive. I went to Walmart and bought some big buckets for $8 each, and drilled drainage holes in the bottom with my husband's drill. The plastic pots that size were $14. Then I found a couple of rectangular storage bins laying around in the garage, and drilled holes in them too!

2. Then I went to Home Depot and bought my potting soil. I bought the cheapest one that would work for vegetables, because you can add your own fertilizer/plant food. The big bags I bought were $4.99 each, versus $13 for Miracle Gro.

3. Then I went to a gardening center/nursery to buy my plants and plant food. You can buy them at Home Depot or Lowes, but as a beginner gardener, I wanted to talk to someone knowledgeable about which plants to buy. The plants are about the same price anywhere, anyway.

4. Came home and filled my pots with soil, and mixed in my plant food, and planted the plants.

This happened last Thursday, and they have already grown at least 3-4 inches already! It is very exciting. I encourage everyone who has even the tiniest sunny place to plant a veggie or some herbs. It is really a fun thing to do with kids, or even with your partner. And not to mention, a really smart thing to do in this economy.
Patio Tomatoes
Zucchini
Green Beans
Green, Yellow and Red Bell Peppers
Grape Tomatoes

Skinny Habit of the Week: Load up on Vegetables

Last week's Skinny Habit actually lasted about two weeks, so I thought it would be good to introduce the next one. Load up on vegetables. Another one that is so simple in theory, but I think it is hard to actually do every day.

I love vegetables. I love some raw, some cooked. I still don't think I eat enough of them, except at dinnertime. I think my difficulty is not having quick, easy, accessible veggie options. If I have to wash, cut and steam them,(except at dinner time, when that is normal) I probably won't eat them and will choose an easier snack or lunch option.

We know why vegetables are good for us, but why are they essential for losing and maintaining weight?

1. They are low in calories and high in volume
2. Most of them are high in fiber
3. They contain a lot of water which fills you up
4. They can help reduce food cravings
5. The nutrients from veggies can help our physical and emotional well-being

So my goal with this week's posts, is to explore all the possibilities with veggies. Any tips and advice on how you get more into your diet are welcome!

Breakfast Musings

While my daughter eats breakfast, and I sit at my computer eating mine, I thought I would read a few of my favorite blogs. This post made me think.

I started the in-vitro process this month. Gave myself injections every night, and went to almost daily doctor's appointments to check the progress of my follicles. (The fluid-filled sack the eggs grow in.)

Once the follicles start growing, any real exercise is off-limits. So to make a long (and painful) story shorter, after about 8 days only 3 of my 10 follicles were responding to the medicine. In-Vitro was cancelled and replaced with Intrauterine Insemination. So that was done on Saturday and Sunday. Now I am just trying to keep my stress levels low so that it has a chance of working.

What does this have to do with anything? Well, Roni's post made me think about exercise. I had to stop exercising and it was an almost-daily habit to get a great work-out in. Right now, I am told to take it easy, and with my particular fertility doctor, if I do get pregnant, NO exercise at all is permitted in my first trimester, as I am considered high-risk. I can't even walk the dog I don't have.

I would have thought this would have been a welcome break, and it was at first. But I miss it. I can't believe I do. I miss feeling the sense of accomplishment. I miss the energy it gave me. I miss the endorphins it released. I miss the sense of becoming stronger and fitter.

Don't get me wrong. I am not complaining about this process I am going through. Any future child is worth all this. But I have learned something about myself, that Roni in her post has discovered also. I really do love exercise and can't wait until I can add it back into my life.

Oikos Organic Greek Yogurt

One of my favorite things to eat with breakfast is greek yogurt. For 2 WW points, it is a great way to start off your day right. This morning I had open face egg white sandwiches with Oikos Honey flavored greek yogurt on the side. I am really full for only a 5 point breakfast.

A few little facts about this yummy, thick, tart and creamy yogurt:

*110-120 calories for each 5.3oz container
*Fat Free
*13-15 grams of protein
*Comes in plain, vanilla, honey and blueberry
*You can download coupons off the Oikos Website
*So much more satisfying than regular yogurt!

Give it a try. It is super good.

"Skinny" Monkey Bread

Here is a super yummy recipe for monkey bread that is low in points/calories. To make it a filling breakfast, I added some banana and eggs to make a great weekend breakfast. Great for Sunday brunch, or for a holiday breakfast.
6 Servings-3 Pts. ea. (about 130 calories)
8 Servings-2 Pts. ea. (about 100 calories)

1 Tube Pillsbury Buttermilk Biscuits (Small Blue Can, comes in packages of 4)
1/4 C Splenda
1 t. Cinnamon
1/4 C Brown Sugar
2 T light butter
2 t. milk

Preheat oven to 400. Spray a pie pan with butter flavored non-stick spray. Cut each biscuit into 4 pieces. (I used a pizza cutter and it worked great) In a large zip lock bag, pour in the cinnamon and splenda. Put the biscuit pieces in the mixture and shake till coated. Place each piece into the pie pan. In a small saucepan, heat the brown sugar, butter and milk. Boil for 1 minute, and then pour over the biscuit pieces. Bake for about 8 minutes. Cut into 6-8 servings.