Getting Back into it...

Tonight, I put in the effort and actually made dinner. It was sort of a casserole thing, so it was very filling. Plus, it was easy to make and made a bunch of leftovers for later in the week. I had never heard of "Johnny Marzetti" before this, but I'm glad I found the recipe online. The only change I made was I added fresh garlic and fresh basil to the sauce. I think simmering it for 15 minutes made a great difference in just adding it right away. This is the first casserole with pasta and sauce that the noodles didn't get overcooked. Yummy!

Lightened Up Johnny Marzetti

originally adapted from Allrecipes.com, I found this recipe on My Kitchen Adventures

Servings - 8 Serving size - 1/8th of recipe ( approx.1 cup+ )

Points Plus per serving - 8 points+

Calories - 298.5, Total Fat - 4.8g, Carb. - 43.7g, Protein - 21.8g, Fiber - 5.7g

12 oz. whole wheat pasta of your choice

16 oz. extra lean ground beef or turkey ( 93/7 )

1 cup onion, chopped

1 cup fresh mushrooms, diced

1/2 tsp. - 1 tsp. garlic powder

salt and fresh ground pepper, to taste

1 TBS. granulated sugar

2 TBS. Worcestershire sauce

2 (15 ounce) cans of tomato sauce, reduced sodium, if possible

4 oz. reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese

1. Cook pasta in large pot of boiling water that has been generously seasoned with salt. Undercook pasta by 1 minute, according to package directions. Drain.

2. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray a 9 x 13 casserole dish with cooking spray.

3. In large nonstick skillet, brown the ground beef , onion, mushrooms, and garlic powder. ( You can put it all in together and cook at the same time) When beef is browned and onions are tender, drain off any excess liquid you might have. Replace meat mixture to skillet and add tomato sauce, sugar, Worcestershire sauce, and salt and pepper and stir to combine. Allow to simmer for 15 minutes to blend flavors.

4. In prepared casserole dish, layer half the pasta, followed by half the tomato/meat mixture, and then half the cheese. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Cover with foil and bake in oven for 20 -30 minutes, or until heated through.

Baby Steps...

It's funny how difficult even simple things can be sometimes. You would think that meal planning, grocery shopping, and couponing would be simple when you get into it, but sometimes it's just plain overwhelming! Trying to align Weight Watchers and saving money can be tough. Baby steps, I suppose.

After weeks off of meal planning, it was time to get down to business today. I surfed the web, clipped coupons, scanned through my cookbooks, and went grocery shopping. My fridge was bare when today began, and now it's full of healthy stuff. I'm pretty proud of that.

Tonight's dinner was one I found from Emily Bites. She has an awesome website full of great WW recipes. Here's tonight's choice (which turned out to be spicy but delicious):

Asian Chicken and Vegetables with Spicy Peanut Sauce

(from emily bites)

Ingredients:
1 c fat free, reduced sodium chicken broth
2 T peanut butter
2 t soy sauce (I used reduced sodium)
1 T sriracha (Thai hot sauce – found by the other Asian products)
1 T sugar
12 scallions (green onions), cut into small pieces
12 oz bag of broccoli slaw (can usually be found in the produce section by the bagged salad)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite sized pieces
2 T of crushed or chopped peanuts (I pounded mine with a meat mallet)

Directions:
1. In a small saucepan, combine the chicken broth, peanut butter, soy sauce, sriracha and sugar. Stir together and bring to a boil. Once boiling, reduce heat and simmer. Keep simmering over low heat throughout the remaining steps.
2. Lightly mist a large sauté pan or skillet with cooking spray and add the broccoli slaw, scallions and ½ cup of the peanut sauce. Stir to combine and bring to a medium-high heat. Cook until the vegetables are tender and sauce is absorbed (5-8 minutes). Transfer vegetables to a separate dish and cover to keep warm. Set aside.
3. Mist the pan with cooking spray again and bring it back over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, the garlic and 2 tablespoons of the peanut sauce and cook until chicken is cooked through.
4. Mound the vegetables evenly onto four plates and top with the chicken. Spoon the remaining peanut sauce over the top of each plate. Sprinkle crushed peanuts over the top and serve.

Yields 4 servings. WW P+: 7 per serving

Enjoy! :)

Everyone Knows How to Boil Water...

Everyone seems to know how to have a food blog. Or at least, a blog with recipes.

Let me start out by saying I began Weight Watchers for the 3rd time in October 2010. I had hit my lowest point, self-esteem wise while tipping the scales at my highest weight. I knew I had to do something different with my eating habits or things would continue to get worse.

I followed the plan and saw results. The biggest change I went under was actually making dinner. Planning meals. Making a grocery list! What a change it makes when you actually try to cook something.

I began to post the titles of my recipes on Facebook, and many of my friends requested the recipes. I even had a coworker ask me to post my recipes online.

That's where this blog comes in.

My plan is to make healthy meals that are not too fancy (hence, a "spork" in the title) while still keeping food fun.