Happy Sunday all! We are back from our weekend trip to Reno. The Husband had a business meeting up in Carson City on Saturday so we decided to make a weekend out of it and have fun in Reno. This was our first trip taking Simply Filling on the road this month and all in all, I think it was a success. I found breakfast very easy to stay on Simply Filling because eggs, oatmeal and fruit are everywhere. Oh and lattes too! Lunch and dinner was a bit more challenging, but, I went with making healthy choices even if not all were Simply Filling Choices.
We didn’t make it back in time for our Weight Watchers meeting so no weigh in ~ I really wanted to see the scale (crazy to say but true lol). I am not sure if I will try to find another meeting this week or wait until Sunday. I’ll let you all know for sure what I decide.
To keep things short & to the point, I am just going to post a few highlights from our weekend and move on to this week’s menu so I can dive into my new Every Day with Rachel Ray magazine.
Oatmeal with nothing but bananas on top for sweetness!
When we stopped for drinks and snacks, both days I picked part skim mozzarella and water.
How to entertain yourself on a 3 hour drive 
I can pretty much find a Farmer’s Market in every town we visit and I can never resist stopping and taking pictures.
The Carson City Saturday’s Farmer’s Market is pretty cool ~ they have so many unique vendors from crafts to foods (so many I wanted to try!) to fruits & veggies.
Lunch was a bit more challenging since everyone met at Pizza Factory! After browsing the salad bar, I knew there was no way that this would keep me full….like at all.
Salad with 1 Tbsp Ranch on the side (2 points+ towards my WPA)
So, I ordered a mini pizza with mushrooms, peppers and onions. Then, made sure I only ate half which equaled about 1 slice of a Veggie Pizza ~ Portion Control!!!
Based on their nutritional info page, 2 slices mini cheese pizza = 9 points+ towards my WPA
I was so excited for dinner on Friday Night. I knew I had used up all of my WPA for the week (should’ve planned that one better!) so I decided to stick with healthy choices and only eat the things I really wanted to have.
Although, I honestly pondered the all you can eat sushi, we decided on the Hibachi Grill at Ichiban (inside Harrah’s).
Hands down the BEST Hibachi place we have ever been ~ we will definitely go back here.
Weight Watcher’s Online actually has all the info you need to calculate the points+ for Hibachi places which is really cool.
I actually challenged our cook to use no butter and very little oil. I am pretty sure he thought I was crazy, but, he did a great job “saucing” things up without all the added fat from the butter.
I think it is because of the added butters that they do not have Hibachi as Simply Filling, however, I made notes for which foods could be Simply Filling depending on how they are cooked.
Filet Mignon is Simply Filling when cooked without added fats.
Teriyaki Chicken is Simply Filling as well.
Fried Rice ~ Totally not Simply Filling and totally worth the 10 points+ for this bowl!
On our way home we stocked up on groceries for the week, did a little prep cutting up fruit & boiling some eggs. Then, I whipped up this quick Vegan Two Bean Salad for lunches. It was supposed to be 3 bean, but, I forgot the green beans
HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MENU THIS WEEK:
- Carne Asada Tacos or Salads
- BBQ Buffalo Chicken Salads (wrap for him)
- Fresh Tomato Basil Soup & Simply Filling Grilled Cheese
- Grilled Thai Turkey Salad
- Sweet Potato BLTA Nacho’s
- Mushroom Ravioli’s A La Kale, Caprese Salad
Q’s
What is one highlight from your weekend?
Night all!
Is there a recipe for the bean salad?? It looks amazing!
Hi Gretchen,
Yes, I will post it this week.
Danica
Hi Danica~
One highlight from my weekend was that I was “home alone” and totally adhered to “Simply Filling”! I’ve been with WW since ’86 and never tried anything other than POINTS. When you started “SF” recently it gave me the courage to give it a try and so far, so good! My concern has been figuring how to eat this way with dishes that contain multiple ingredients. I love to cook and Simply Filling has caused me to be fearful of being creative in the kitchen. For me, it’s easy to eat “clean”–grilled boneless skinless chicken breast and steam veggies for instance but when it comes to a casserole I’m lost. This will be a challenge for me, but by doing my homework and using your information I will once again be happy in my kitchen!
Thanks, Jamie
Hi Jamie,
When it comes to cooking for Simply Filling I break down the ingredients. In places where I can substitute a Simply Filling item for a non Simply Filling Item, i.e., 0% Greek Yogurt for Low-Fat Yogurt or whole wheat pasta for regular, I do that. From there, I idenitfy the points+ values of the non simply filling ingredients and divide it by the total number of servings to determine how many WPA I need to count for the non simply filling items. If majority of the ingredients are not simply filling, then, I just count the points+ per serving towards my WPA.
Does that help?
thanks for sharing and asking,
Danica
Thank You for your reply and yes, it does help. Anytime we approach something new it just takes a bit of getting used to. I’m hangin’ in there!
Hi Danica,
My downfall is ice cream so when you had Simply Filling Homemade Ice Cream I had to try it.
First, you said a splash of milk. What do you consider a splash? I did it in my Magic Bullet. In your photo it looked like you used a food processor. Does it make a difference? Yesterday I tried it with strawberries and today with blueberries. Both were delicious but they were both drinkable. I was hoping to ‘have’ to use a spoon.
Laura
Hi Laura,
You know it does matter. I have found that the ice cream does not work well in a blender or in my magic bullet. It works best when you use a mini chopper or a food processor with sliced bananas. About 1-2 Tbsp is the splash I use.
Here is the other mini food processor I use – I got it at Target.
http://danicasdaily.com/sun-dried-tomato-pasta-wbacon-asparagus-walnuts
Danica
Looking forward to your recipe for bean salad.
This weekend I made 2 of your recipes: the corn, asparagus and chickpea salad and the BETTER THAN A BIG MAC! Both were fabulous and I’ll be making them again soon. My husband is loving all the new recipes I’ve been trying! My burger was soooooooo good and juicy, and I opted to wrap it in a big piece of leaf lettuce instead of using a bun. My kids thought I was weird but it was awesome!