Home Cookin': Breakfast and Pulled Pork Sandwiches

Breakfast was the topic of this weeks WW meeting and I've been attempting to break out of my normal breakfast--cereal with Almond Breeze. So far I've made an Egg Beaters omlet, Egg white McMuffin, and this parfait type breakfast. It looks like a lot of food, and it is really filling for a very minor three points (cereal and milk is 4 pts). I put it in a bowl the first time I made it, but you couldn't tell what everything was in the picture.

• 1/2 Light and Fit Vanilla yogurt
• 2 oz fresh raspberries
• 5 oz fresh strawberries
• 1/2 cup Kashi Crunch cereal

This beauty is one of my favorites--BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich! Typically, I'd order this at a BBQ place and guess the point range 15-25 points. I've adapted a WW reciepe into this (I've made it several times) which is 1 point per oz. In the picture, the serving is 5 oz and the bun was 3 points. Total, this meal cost me 8 points.

• 1-1 1/5 pound pork roast with limited fat
• 3 cups of BBQ Sauce of your choice
• 4 cups of water
• chopped onions

Instructions:

• Add pork roast into crock pot
• Cover with 2 cups BBQ Sauce
• Add water and onions to sides (allow top of roast to be coated in sauce)
• Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 4 hours
• Flip roast over half way through cooking time
• After cooking, take roast out of crock pot (it should be falling apart) and shred into large bowl. Make sure to remove all extra fat to keep point value low.
• Add remaining cup of BBQ sauce and stir
• Serve on Hamburger bun/roll of choice and add BBQ sauce if needed individually

Food Obsessed

Disclaimer: What you are about to read is real. The words were thought while running errands in a timespan of one hour.

On the way to Lowe's
Jen: Oh, there is Jamba Juice. I could get a jamba juice for only four points. Hmm...

On the way out of Lowe's
Jen: Jamba Juice is an option, but Jennifer you shouldn't spend the money and you could make one at home and you don't. Get in the car and drive away.

On the way to Walmart
Jen: McDonalds...I could get chicken nuggets, no chicken nuggets are too high in points and not filling... Classic grilled... like always... oh and an ice cream cone! No, remember mission five, eat at home. You have plenty of food at home. Upon seeing a sign for pizza: Yum, pizza sounds good, I could order myself a pizza, but I would have to eat the whole thing...

Inside Walmart, shopping and checking out
Jen: Those donuts look so good and fattening, walk away, Jennifer, walk away. I should get a WW muffin, they are low in points. picks up the box: no, not for four dollars and three points each. in check out line: a snickers sounds good, oh, so does an ice cream sandwich, no Jennifer. I can just go to McDonald's and order a ice cream cone for cheaper and only three points.

McDonald's Drive though
Jen outloud: Can I have a kids meal and an ice cream cone, please? Wait, cancel the kids meal, just a ice cream cone... (I know, I broke down here!)

At Target
Jen: you didn't cave in too bad, at least you didn't buy a kids meal, good job. Walking in the door at Target: how about popcorn, no Jennifer, no popcorn... a soft pretzel would be better... no jennifer, you're eating at home...

At Home
Jen: okay... what should I eat... warming something up is all I have the energy for...layered enchiladas take two.

Home Cookin' Lesson: Layered Enchiladas

Often I joke that the WW meetings are like my AA meetings, but the main difference? Alcoholics can/should/do complete stop drinking when they are "on track" with AA! I will fully admit that I am a foodolics, a truly fat child, a food-lover and it would be better for me to stop eating; however, I can't stop eating completely or I'll die! It would be like an alcholic having to have one class of wine, but just one, a day! So it brings me to a dilemma that I'm sure everyone who has ever tried to lose weight comes to--which food to eat, how much to eat, how to fullfil the cravings, and how to pass up on something you really want.

I use to make a big deal about how I lost weight even though I ate out four or five times a week; as part of my renewed sense of purpose and mission #5 (cooking healthy, filling foods) I will begin cooking.

Today, for lunch I was craving cheese (as always) so I decided to make a yummy layered enchilada cassarole. We made something similar at my Tupperware party and I've been dying to make it again. This time, I carefully measured out the cheese and all the other ingredients to make sure I was accurage to my recipe I created on the WW website (coolest thing ever--Recipe Builder--free with ETools).

For 8 points, this recipe creates 6 servings.

Layered Enchilada Cassarole

• 12 oz boiled chicken breasts, shredded finely (I used my KitchenAid Mini-Chopper for perfect little pieces)
• 1 can Enchilada Sause (green or red, mild or spicy, I used mild red)
• 9 small Corn Tortillas
• 2 1/2 cups Shredded Colby and Monterey Jack Cheese
• 1 small can sliced olives

Instructions (I used my handy-dandy tupperware microwave container and cooked it all there, but I'm assuming that it would work exactly the same in the oven)

• Spray bottom with Pam Non-stick spray
• Layer three corn tortillas
• Layer a thin layer of shredded chicken, olives, cheese
• Cover with another layer of corn tortillas
• Pour as much enchilada sause as desired
• Repeat three times (to double the recipe, add more layers)
• Top with remaining cheese and olives
• Cook in Tupperware Cook n' Serve for 15 minutes on Med-High (Oven times different!)
• Sit for 5 minutes and serve

Weight loss Vision

Tonight I attended my weekly weight watchers meeting like normal; however, tonight wasn't a normal meeting. I asked to start over, start fresh with a new book and a new outlook. The first year on WW I lost 80 pounds. The second year of WW I maintained my weight and gained a little back in the last five weeks of craziness. Maintaining 185 pounds is not okay for me; I need to lose 48 more pounds to be considered healthy. So tonight, I begin anew. As this comic says, I am tired of being in the "in-between" which is where I've lived for the last year.

I'm prepared with groceries, meal plans, print outs to make my custom journal, and a new mindset. My body is different than it was when I started at 270 lbs and I must treat it differently.

In my leadership class I just finished, we talked significantly about our professional vision when it comes to education and it was VERY easy for me to develop, write, and implement my action steps to make this vision a reality. I think the concreteness (I know, not a word) of it helped me see the small and big steps to take and made it achieveable. As we learned in class, a vision is a long-term goal projected for two to three years. The mission is the process we take to get there. I will take the same approach in my weight loss struggle

My vision: I seek a healthy lifestyle where obesity is not an issue, proper eating and exercise are integrated with life, and I am able to do anything I set my mind to without consideration of my weight.

My missions: I will not accept maintance, nor rely upon the past. I will stay within my points target. I will journal my food (every lick, bite, and taste) before it goes into my mouth. I will measure and weigh my food because I know it works. I will cook healthy, filling foods for Dave and myself. I will begin the journey to regular exercise.