Granola Bites

I have a mild obsession with bento boxes. I love how cute they make food look. I've been following a couple of bento blogs for awhile now and it finally hit me that bentos are perfect for Weight Watchers. Everything is pre-portioned out in small serving sizes and it makes boring lunches a little more fun.

So, I started making my own bento-like lunches. I don't have all of the cute egg shapers, sandwich cutters, and garnishes that typical bentos use. I don't even have a real bento box, I just use Rubbermaid Snap & Store containers. Once Max starts school in a few years, I'm sure I'll get all of the cutesy stuff to make his lunches with but until then, I'm ok with my plain food stuck in containers.

It has been a tremendous help in keeping my lunches within points limits, healthy, and fun. I forces me to think about what I'm going to have to eat and how much I'm going to eat. I have to prepare my lunches the night before, so it also helps me pre-plan my points for the following day.

I found that I was having trouble finding a good dessert/sweet snack for my lunch that was fairly low in points buy still filling. So, I did what I usually do and went searching on my favorite blogs. I found an awesome granola recipe that can be made in mini muffin cups to make them bite-size! The points are pretty low and could be even lower if you wanted to use liquid Splenda instead of honey and/or omit the chocolate chips. I think they are good the way they are.

Granola Bites

From Another Lunch

Ingredients
2 1/2 Cups Quick Oats
1/2 Cup Crispy Rice Cereal
1/2 Cup Brown Sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 Cup Canola Oil
1/4 Cup Honey
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla
1/2 Cup Mini Chocolate Chips

Optional (not in points calculation):
3 Tablespoons Ground Flax Seed
3 Tablespoons Wheat Germ

Directions

1. Liberally grease mini muffin cups with cooking spray.
2. Preheat oven to 350F.
3. In a large bowl, mix all ingredients except for the chocolate chips.
4. Take your time mixing so the dry ingredients can really soak up the wet ingredients. If it seems too dry, add in a teaspoon more oil.
5. Continue to mix until the ingredients begin to form small clumps or balls.
6. Add in the chocolate chips.
7. Fill each muffin cup with granola and pack down firmly.
8. Bake for 12-15 minutes, until golden brown.
9. Remove from oven to cooling rack.
10. IMPORTANT: Do not remove the bites from the pan until they are completely cooled! This will take several hours. Removal prior to cooling will result in crumbly granola.
11. Once completely cool, remove from the pan and store in an airtight container.

Yields: 30 bites

Sesame Chicken

I have a weakness for Chinese take-out. Specifically for sesame chicken. At least once a week I'm trying to convince Vince to order Chinese for delivery. Our favorite take-out place recently got a new chef, and we are not fans. We've since tried several other places in the area. They have each been ok but nothing to write home about.

In an effort to a) keep my daily points from going out the window; b) keep a tighter reign on our dining out budget; and c) satisfy my sesame chicken craving; I went looking for an easy recipe to make at home.

This recipe is both easy and delicious. It came in at less than half the points of restaurant sesame chicken, so I think this one is a keeper.

Sesame Chicken

Adapted from Gourmet: Day to Day

Ingredients
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon Salt
1/8 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
4 Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast Halves (~1 lb), cut into bite size pieces
1/4 Cup Reduced Sodium Soy Sauce
1/4 Cup Sugar
1/2 teaspoon Sesame Oil
2 Tablespoon Sesame Seeds

Directions

1. Put the flour, salt, and pepper into a gallon sized ziplock bag.
2. Add the chicken to the bag, zip the top and shake well.
3. Coat a large non-stick skillet with olive oil cooking spray and heat.
4. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes or until no longer pink.
5. Transfer the cooked chicken to a plate.
6. Reduce the heat on the skillet.
7. Add the soy sauce and sugar to the skillet.
8. Stir and cook for about 2 minutes, until the sugar is completely dissolved.
9. Remove from heat immediately to not burn the sugar.
10. stir in the sesame oil and sesame seeds.
11. Add the chicken and toss thoroughly to coat.

Yields: 4 servings

Baked Honey Dijon Pecan Salmon

So, this recipe has been making the rounds in the blogosphere. I've had it bookmarked forever (along with a million other recipes I need to post) and finally decided to try it out. It was delicious! I can see why so many people are writing about it.

I've been trying to add more fish in to our diet. I'm actually not a big fish eater but I love salmon. I have several salmon recipes to post and will be trying out some others for trout, snapper, and orange roughy in the future. I'm also going to try going meatless once a week. We'll see how that goes...we really like our meat around here!

This recipe offers a very generous portion size and is very filling. I changed the measurements of the ingredients to get the points value down and it still came out really good and full of flavor. This one is a keeper for sure.

I served it with a broccoli/cauliflower mix and rice.

Baked Honey Dijon Pecan Salmon

Adapted from Sweet Beginnings

Ingredients
4 - 4 oz Salmon Fillet(s)
1/8 Cup Margarine, melted
1 1/2 Tbsp Dijon Mustard
3/4 Tbsp Honey
1/4 Cup Panko Breadcrumbs
1/4 Cup Chopped Pecans


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a small bowl, mix together margarine, mustard, and honey.
3. In a separate bowl, mix breadcrumbs and pecans together.
4. Place the salmon in a baking dish.
5. Brush each fillet with the honey mustard mixture and then sprinkle the tops with the nut mixture.
6. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

Yields: 4 servings

Joey's Bison Meatloaf

I'm a meatloaf fan. I always have been. Not only do I think it tastes good, but it is an easy meal to make during the week. I can also make it as individual "muffins" or mini loaves so they are nicely portioned out. Vince on the other hand has no love for it. I've tried countless recipes trying to get him to eat (and like) meatloaf. He would grudgingly eat it but kindly ask that I not make it again. So I finally asked my mom what she does for meatloaf. I figured that a woman with 5 kids and 7 grandkids must have a secret of some kind for meatloaf. Boy, was I right.

Mom said that she finally asked Joey, my oldest nephew, to help her come up with a meatloaf recipe that all of the kids would eat. I knew that if a 12 year old boy would readily eat it that Vince would eat it too. So, mom gave me Joey's meatloaf recipe. I tweaked it a little to use what I had in the house and it was a hit. This is seriously the best meatloaf I have ever eaten in my life. It was so good that we ate it all before I had time to take any pictures of it, so you'll have to wait until the next time for that. The loaf itself came out so moist that it was very hard to slice into servings so I might make it as mini loaves or muffins next time to save myself from trying to portion it out. Other than that, I won't change a thing.

This recipe is NOT diet friendly in any way shape or form. I knew that going in so I made sure to save enough WW Points during the day to have this for dinner and not destroy my day. You could also use some of you weekly Points for it if you wanted to. However, if you are watching other things like fat, salt, or sugar, you may want to change some ingredients to suit your needs.

Here is the ingredient list for Joey's Original Meatloaf Recipe:
1 1/2 lbs ground beef
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 cup Special K cereal
3 large eggs
2 Tbsp plus about 1/2 cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot water

My tweaked "grown-up" version is below.

Joey's Bison Meatloaf

Ingredients

1 Pound Ground Bison
1/2 Cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/2 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
2 Large eggs
1 Cup Golden Grahams cereal
1 16oz package of low-sodium bacon
2 Tbsp plus 1/3 Cup ketchup
1/2 cup hot water

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large skillet, cook half of the package of bacon until crisp.
3. Crumble the cooked bacon and set aside.
4. In a bowl, mix the bison with the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, cereal, eggs, cooked/crumbled bacon, 2 tablespoons of ketchup, and water.
5. Form the meat mixture into a loaf and place either into a loaf pan or onto a baking pan.
6. Cover the top of the meatloaf with 1/3 cup of ketchup.
7. Top the entire meatloaf with the raw bacon strips. Making sure to tuck the ends of the bacon under the loaf to prevent them from curling up during baking.
8. Place in the oven and bake for 45-50 minutes.
9. Remove from oven and let rest for 15 minutes. Then slice and serve.

Yields 8 servings (slices)

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

Chicken Parmesan is one of my favorite meals. Unfortunately, the breaded and fried chicken doesn't really scream healthy. I found this recipe while perusing food blogs and was pretty skeptical. I mean really, it just doesn't sound like the most appetizing burger in the world.

Boy was I wrong. This recipe has easily made it in to our regular dinner rotation. It is worth quite a few WW points but definitely worth it. I paired it with a big salad (veggies are 0 points on the new system) to keep the meal from becoming too horrible.

Chicken Parmesan Burgers

From A Taste of Home Cooking

Ingredients

1 Pound Ground Chicken
1/4 Cup Seasoned Bread Crumbs
1/4 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
4 Tablespoons Tomato Sauce
4 oz Grated Mozzarella Cheese
4 Light Hamburger Buns
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. In a bowl, mix the chicken with the bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, and seasoning.
2. Form into 4 patties.
3. Cook the patties in a pan until cooked through, flipping the burger halfway through cooking.
4. Turn off the heat.
5. While still in the pan, top each burger with 1 tablespoon of tomato sauce and 1 oz of mozzarella cheese.
6. Cover the pan and wait for the cheese to melt.
7. Remove the burgers from the pan and serve on toasted hamburger buns.

Yields: 4 servings

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

Ok, so brussel sprouts aren't the most exciting vegetable out there. Like most people, I've never really liked brussel sprouts. I've been trying very hard to incorporate more green vegetables into my diet so I thought I would give these tiny cabbages another shot.

I searched high and low for some way to cook these things without just boiling them to death. Most people will just boil them until they are mush, put some salt on them and then complain that they don't taste good. Gee, I wonder why that would be?

I finally ran across a recipe for broiled brussel sprouts, from Brany Boils Over, that had potential. I changed it up a little and came out with a recipe that I would make again. It would make a great veggie dish during the holidays too.

Roasted Brussel Srpouts

From Branny Boils Over

Ingredients

1 10 oz Bag Frozen Brussel Sprouts
6 Tablespoons Plain Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoons Margarine, Melted
1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
1 Teaspoon Onion Powder
1/2 Teaspoon Nutmeg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions

1. Steam the sprouts in the microwave.
2. Cut eat sprout in half lengthwise.
3. Spray a baking dish with PAM.
4. Place the cut sprouts into the baking dish.
5. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
6. Sprinkle all of the seasonings onto the sprouts.
7. Mix the bread crumbs and margarine together and sprinkle over the top of the seasoned sprouts.
8. Bake for 20 minutes.

If you really want to get fancy you can stick the sprouts under the broiler for 5 minutes after baking. This will give you a nice crispy crumb topping.

Yields: Approximately 6 servings (1/2 cup each)

Please forgive me, I have Baked Falafel

I know I'm a LLPOF (liar, liar, pants on fire). I said I took a short break and would be back and then...nothing. I haven't posted in almost 3 months. That is completely inexcusable. I guess I should start by giving an update on what's been going on here and then, to try to win your forgiveness, I'll give you a most excellent recipe for baked falafel. You will love it, I promise.

So bake in August, when I last posted, I was still on the weight loss journey and becoming increasingly frustrated with my lack of progress. I was also a little down about our fertility problems. Well, let me tell you all of that has changed!

On September 1st I went to my fertility doctor for my routine blood draw and to begin planning my next cycle of medications. That afternoon I got a call from the nurse telling me that our August cycle had worked. We were finally pregnant! I was in shock. I had been having PMS symptoms for a couple of days and was absolutely positive that I was going to start my period any second. I even went to the store to by tampons after my blood draw. I called Vince at work and told him that I was pregnant. He was in the middle of a meeting and couldn't talk, but I think he was a little lost for words anyway. As soon as I got off the phone with him, I ran over to CVS and purchase a couple of digital pregnancy tests. I needed to see the positive result for myself. I took a total of 4 tests that afternoon. It was a shock each time to see "Pregnant" show up in the window.

On September 15 I went in to the doctor for my first ultrasound. I was 6 weeks pregnant at that point. We were able to see a little blob and a tiny little flicker of a heartbeat. On September 22 we had our 2nd and final ultrasound with the fertility doctor. At this appointment our baby looked like a little Gummi Bear with arm and leg numbs. We were able to see a strong heart beating away at 131 beats per minute.

My last ultrasound was on October 25. This was done as part the NT scan to test for Down's Syndrome. Our baby actually looked like a little baby at this point. He was jumping around all over the place, kicking at the ultrasound wand, and waving his/her arms around. He/she flipped over to moon us at one point too. It was very cute. We will not find out the sex of the baby until mid-December when we do the anatomy scan. I can't wait to see him/her again!

I've made my first maternity clothing purchases and will be wearing them very soon. My belly just keeps on growing. When I got to 8 weeks along, my doctor had me come off of the Metformin that I had been taking. As soon as I came off of it, I gained 7 pounds. My doctor and I were worried about my weight during this pregnancy so I made an appointment with a dietitian. The dietitian put me on a strict carb control diet and upped my calories to 2000 per day. I've also been told to limit my exercise to keep my heart rate under 140. I have so far lost 4 pounds, so I am doing well keeping healthy. I'm also hopeful that I won't have much to lose once the baby is born.

In other news, we have decided to do some renovations to our condo. We are meeting with a contractor tomorrow for pricing and timelines. We are going to remodel our kitchen, put in a laundry room, add a den workspace, put in crown molding and new baseboards, and put in new lighting and tray ceilings in the bedrooms. We are hoping to have all of the work finished by April so that we have time to set up the nursery before the baby gets here.

I have not been reading as much since summer ended. I have a few book reviews to give on books that I read over the summer and I'm always looking for a good read. Recommend 'em if you got 'em!

I've been going through more of my photos from various vacations and trips so I'll be making a few posts to show off some of my photography. I know it is a complete attention whore thing to do but, isn't that the purpose of a blog anyway?

Thanksgiving is in 2 weeks. That means that Christmas is right around the corner! I plan to be giving lots of updates on Black Friday sales and my holiday baking projects. I have tons of recipes to add to my list.

So, without further ado...Baked Falafel!

Since meeting with the dietitian I have been searching for recipes that are low carb and higher in protein. I found an awesome blog by a registered dietitian and have slowly been trying out her recipes. So far so good! I got this recipe from her blog and made a few slight changes to suit my personal tastes.

I found the recipe on the blog PreventionRD. Please check out her whole blog, she has tons of yummy stuff on there!

Baked Falafel

From PreventionRD

Ingredients

1 Cup Dried Garbonzo Beans (Chick Peas)
1 Medium Yellow Onion, chopped
1/2 Cup Fresh Parsely, chopped
1 Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Minced Garlic
1 Teaspoon Cumin
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
6 Tablespoons All Purpose Flour
5 Whole Wheat Pitas, cut in half
Roasted Red Pepper Hummus
Cherry Tomatoes
Cucumber Slices

Directions

1. Soak the beans in water overnight.
2. The next day, drain the beans and put them into a food processor with the onion.
3. Pulse until well chopped and blended.
4. Add the remaining ingredients and blend well.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
6. Lightly grease a baking sheet. (I use PAM spray.)
7. Form the bean mixture into walnut sized balls (about 20) and place on the baking sheet.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

Spread 2 tablespoons of hummus on to a pita half and then fill with 2 falafel balls, cucumbers, and tomatoes.

This recipe can be doctored up in any number of ways. Use tahini sauce instead of hummus, or use a different flavor of hummus. Use any type of vegetable you want to stuff the pita with. Very filling, nutritious, and low on points!

Yields: 10 servings