Recipe Recap - Week of January 11

Now that I'm posting my weekly menu, I thought it would be good form to let you know about the recipes that are new and how they worked out for me. There's a few factors that I'll take into consideration:

• Was the recipe comprehensive and easy to assemble?
• Did I like it?
• Did Joey like it?
• Was it good when reheated?

Chicken Cacciatore - This was a very simple recipe to make and the ingredients were easily found. I didn't cut up the chicken but instead placed them in the slow cooker whole. It tasted wonderful. Joey enjoyed his for dinner over some egg noodles, while I opted for tofu shirataki noodles. We both loved the sauce and the chicken was very moist and just fell apart. We enjoyed it for lunch the next day with some crumbled WW Pretzel Thins. A definite hit.

Taco Soup - We both really enjoyed this recipe. It reminded me of a taco-inspired chili. The only item that I didn't include was the ranch seasoning as I couldn't find it. It makes many servings and it's a wonderful hearty meal, especially in this cold weather. Great with some low fat sour cream and shredded cheese or bread.

Slow Cooker Polynesian Chicken - I didn't get to make this as we decided to take advantage of my later call to rehearsal. We had chicken souvlaki with Greek salad instead. I will make this soon.

Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup - Joey liked this and I didn't. I expected more of a creamy black bean soup and this didn't do it for me. Joey liked all the components, but said that he prefers a tomato based soup or a creamy soup. I am on the hunt for a creamy black bean soup. Please post if you have such a recipe. I will let Joey finish this batch off.

Crockpot Salsa Chicken - I took the chicken out of the freezer for this tonight. I will let you know how it goes! Seems simple and I'm sure it will be yummy.

One Inspiring Lady

I've had the pleasure of meeting quite a few of the amazing gals on the 20's boards. Last fall I had the opportunity to meet the wonderful and inspiring Jessica. Jess rejoined Weight Watchers last year and has been a force to be reckoned with ever since! To date she's lost an incredible 24 lbs on program. She has amazing dedication to the program and her weekly activity routine.

Each week Jess does videos on her youtube channel. She talks to her viewers about her weekly weigh ins, talks about successes and challenges she's having and also does tip videos with ideas on topics like working out, dining out, staying motivated etc.

Jess rocks.

I love her determination and overall upbeat and positive attitude. It's definitely contagious. She always has great things to say to people when they are feeling frustrated with their journey and her commitment to the working out (hot yoga, spinning, body pump, pilates etc.) encourages the rest of us!

My idea for writing this ♥ Jess love ♥ post today was based on something Jess wrote on the boards the other day that really resonated with me:

A week is 21 meals, if you mess up one meal, it's NOT a big deal! And it doesn't mean you messed up your whole week! Instead of giving up for the week, track, move on and stay OP

I try to get this message across to my members all the time and I thought it was a great way to think about it.

I'm so excited for Jess to get to goal and I feel incredibly lucky to know her and have her as a friend. Love you Jess!!!

Menu Plan - Week of January 11

It's been a very busy 2009 so far! I went back to work this week and I also started rehearsals for my new show. With everything that has been going on, meal planning has become even more important than normal. You'll notice that my slow cooker is being used a lot! It's made preparation so amazing and easy... because at the end of a long day I don't want to come home and cook!

Breakfasts - cereal w/ 1%, smoothies, yogurt w/ fruit, oatmeal

Lunches - leftovers of whatever I'm cooking for dinner the night before

Dinners
Monday - Chicken Cacciatore w/ salad and whole wheat pasta (recipe also in Best Eats)
Tuesday - Taco Soup w/ low fat sour cream & shredded low fat cheddar cheese
Wednesday - Slow Cooker Polynesian Chicken w/ brown rice (from Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health)
Thursday - Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup
Friday - TBD -
Saturday - Crockpot Salsa Chicken with brown rice

Snacks - fresh fruit, yogurt, applesauce, edamame, McCain's Cheesecake singles, SmartOnes Strawberry Shortcakes, Nature Valley Fiber Source bars, All-Bran bars, WW Pretzel Thins or WW 1 point peanut butter bars

Check out some other meal plans for the week at Orgjunkie.com

Look what I got!

Merry Christmas to me! Today we went and picked out my new Crock Pot and I'm really excited! My first attempt at dinner cooked in the slow cooker is going to be Thai Curry from an amazing blog I found yesterday - A Year of Crockpotting. The author of the blog was on the Rachael Ray show recently and it was a recipe that Rachael gave her. I'm excited to try it and I'll let you know how it goes!

I came across another great blog yesterday called $5 Dinners. She's got great ideas for meal planning on a budget, so be sure to check it out!

If you have any tried and true slow cooker recipes please send them to me or post them in a comment!

New Year Book Review - Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health

Happy New Year! I'm happy to be writing my first post for 2009!

I had a very low key New Year's Eve. I took a walk with Joey and after lunch we ended up at one of my favourite stores in the city - BMV at Bloor and Spadina. If you've never been to this store - please go! It's a huge used bookstore with a wide selection of books, dvds, comics, cds all at fantastic prices. I rarely walk out of there empty handed. I often find books that are nearly new that I've been holding at a new bookstore or checking out on Amazon. Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health... and Don't Forget the Chocolate is no exception. I've nearly bought this book at least twice at Book City so I'm very excited to have found it at BMV for $11.99!

Since I had no major plans last night, I curled up on the couch next to Joey and the cats while watching the various NYE countdowns and simply devoured this book. I find food and nutrition so interesting and I loved all that I can learn from this incredibly well written book. The book goes through various food groups and talks about the benefits of each. It aligns extremely well with the Weight Watchers Good Health Guidelines and all throughout the night I kept reading quotes from various sections about studies done in the world to Joey because I found them so interesting. In the back there are a lot of recipes that encorporate Liz Pearson's nutritional know-how with Mairlyn Smith culinary expertise.

The book is filled with lists including tips for healthy eating in a hectic world, tips for eating out, info on sodium and fats as well as what to look for in a nutritional information label. I love how much information is doled out in an easy to read format with humor strewn in for good mix. The recipes look to be simple and quick and include nutritional information for easy Points calculations.

I know that I'm going to continue to read and reference this book in the future and I look forward to trying out a lot of the recipes!