Happy Tuesday all! I had so much fun reading all your comments on the Winter Brussels Sprouts Salad. Do you know I never even gave eating raw brussels sprouts a second thought until you all mentioned it? I mean, I just figured it was like another form of cabbage or kale and being shaved would be like that. So, today, I decided to put a “warm” spin on my salad to see if I liked the raw or the cooked brussels sprout salad better.
But first, the day started off with my favorite Healthy Egg Roll with a big Sriracha Swirl.
Simple Start/Simply Filling (SS/SF+ 1 WPA) – 5 points+
Mid morning I grabbed a Starbuck’s Non-Fat Latte with caramel drizzle. (SS/SF) – 3 points+
All day long I was excited for lunch because I actually cooked up this Warm Bacon & Brussels Sprout Salad this morning.
It sort of came together based on the flavors that I thought would sound good as well as what I had on hand.
I started off by chopping up 2 slices of Lean Canadian “Bacon”, 1/4 red onion and a few sweet pepper rings.
I sprayed a large nonstick pan with a good coat of nonstick spray and decided to brown the bacon, peppers and onions.
Meanwhile, I prepped the salad ingredients ~ My shaved brussels sprouts, a little red cabbage, a little carrot and about 1 tsp. fresh thyme to give it that fall/wintery flavor.
Once the bacon, onion and peppers were lightly browned, about 4 minutes, I added in the salad mix.
Drizzled with 2 tsp. olive oil and a sprinkle of sea salt & black pepper. I “fried” everything for about 5 minutes until the brussels sprouts started to turn slightly browned.
Remove the mix from the heat and finish by adding 1/2 cup steamed edamame
A sprinkle of white balsamic vinegar and a few pomegranate seeds.
I then, packed up my Warm Bacon & Brussels Sprout salad to go with 2 Tbsp. roasted walnuts to sprinkle on just before serving.
I absolutely loved this ~ the salty, smoky bacon, worked so well with the tart, crunchy pomegranate seeds and caramelized sweet veggies. The walnuts added the perfect touch with the thyme making this taste like fall in a bowl.
So cooked may be better than raw as long as you don’t mind being the girl with a stinky lunch in the office 
(SS/SF + 3 WPA) – 8 points+
Eaten with the spork that The Husband packed in my lunch for me 
Late afternoon during the crunch time getting all our reports ready for the big meetings this week, I snacked on a fruit bowl a la The Husband and a Sargento reduced fat colby stick (SS/SF) – 2 points+.
I finally made my Ham, Pepper and Pineapple Flat Out Amazing Pizzas for dinner tonight.
On my pizza I included:
- Canadian Bacon
- Pineapple
- Sweet peppers
- Cherry Peppers
- Jalapeno
- Fresh tomatoes
- 1/3 cup part skim mozzarella
- pizza sauce
- 1 Multi-Grain Flat Out Wrap (the only flavor I think tastes good!)
His is on the right ~ he boycotts any pineapple or jalapenos on his pizza, but, I snuck a few jalapenos in there
You didn’t think I stopped here did you….
I topped my FOUR slices with a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes! We both devoured our pizzas (I skipped the salad). (SS/SF) – 7 points+
Here are my stats today:
- Simple Start Day 16: 3 WPA used, 35 WPA remaining
- 25 Daily Points+ 0 WPA used, 49 WPA remaining
- Here is my FitBit Flex Dashboard!
Would you believe all these steps were racked up today going back and forth in our office today printing and copying reports, etc..
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
How do you top your pizza? Do you have a favorite topping?
Night all!
Good morning,
Your pizzas look delish! I like all toppings really, but I do love broccoli on my pizza! It gets a wee bit roasted and the flavour changes, and I just love it so much!
I’m making the flatouts on Friday for dinner! We love pineapple on our pizza! Of course in Australia, they eat pineapple on everything…Bryan also loves it on his burgers 🙂 I like making white barbecue chicken pizza…mix c. 1/4 sweet chili sauce w/ 1/4 c. favorite barbecue sauce and marinate shredded chicken; instead of red sauce as a base I mix 1 c. FF ricotta, 1 c. low-fat shredded mozzarella, and 1/4 c. Parmesan…spread over crust (I either use ww boboli, or the organic from WF), top with 1 slides red onion and the chicken…Bake at 400-425 for 12-15 min…love this one!
How long does one typically stay on WW? Is it for the rest of your life or until you reach goal?
If you want to maintain that goal weight – you will have to stay on plan (and that holds true to any weight loss plan). That doesn’t mean you would have to continue with meetings and counting points forever; some are very good at staying on plan after reaching goal without doing either; some are not – it depends on the person. But you can’t maintain a goal weight by reaching the goal and then going back to all the bad habits – because the weight will come back!
Hi Andrea,
I agree with what Laura said ~ it becomes your lifestyle because you make a switch to healthy habits that you can maintain for life. Once you reach your goal/lifetime, it’s free to attend any Weight Watchers meetings and all online tools are free too.
If you use the program as a quick fix, and return to the same habits that caused you to gain weight in the first place, then, you will likely be back in the Weight Watchers losing phase.
It is always a journey to maintain the new lifestyle even if you are notin the losing phase.
Danica
For my pizza I usually grab a tortilla or a pita (whatever is available) with a wedge or 2 of Laughing Cow Herb and Garlic cheese spread, literally 3 shavings of raw red onion sprinkled over top, hot peppers, thinly sliced yellow and Kumato tomatoes (I have issues with just red tomatoes), a little salt and pepper, and a thin drizzle of Avocado oil. Stick under the broiler until the tomatoes wilt and get slightly charred. Top with peppery Arugula dressed in white Balsamic and Avocado oil and a little saly and pepper. Devour! Depending on the size of tortilla or if you use a pita, you’re anywhere between 6 and 9 points for the whole thing. Shaved Asparagus works well on this too instead of Arugula. My favorite tooping though is anything spicy. I’m a spice nut too ^_^
Over 10K steps just from walking around in the office. Yeah, I believe it. I do that regularly in my office with a good portion of the day spent just in the stairs going between floors to deliver files or pick up materials. Ah, the life of an office worker.
Catherine your pizza sounds delish…just wondering what brand is your avocado oil? Gotta try some 🙂
Depends which store I go to ^_^ It’s either President’s Choice (PC) from Loblaws or Irrisistible brand from Metro. They should have this at any local health food store too, usually in a cylindrical metal bottle or even dark glass. So far I have found any brand is good. Kind of hard to mess up an avocado… unless you let it go too ripe ^_^
Danica-
Try the Lavash bread at TJ’s too! Works AWESOME for pizza. Crunchy and thin and good! Doesn’t give you that “I ate too much bread” feeling that normal pizza does. Speaking of TJ’s- where in the store do they keep the marinated mushrooms that you have on your shopping list? I looked for them yesterday but didn’t see them. I did, however, pick up the Spicy Peanut Dressing and the Peppered Bacon that you suggested. Can’t wait to try both!! 🙂
Hi Donna,
I find them next to the olive oils, olives, artichoke hearts in a jar, not the cold section. They are delicious and 0 points+ and 100% Simply Filling.
Danica
Danica your blogs are awesome! I’m a new comer and I look forward to following your daily updates. This is my birthday month (Yes, I celebrate the entire month! Don’t judge me, 😉 I’ll be signing up to start WW on Feb. 1st. In 2009 I lost 30lbs using Flex Points. Since than I’ve gained 13 pounds that I need to shed. I’m so happy to have stumbled across your blog, which will help keep me on task through my weight lost journey to “preserve my sexy” ! ;-D
oh! that salad looks delish!!! I haven’t seen the shaved brussels sprouts though so will have to look for them? And can I just say again, how much I love your blog?! 🙂 Oh & I got a fitbit flex this past weekend – yay! I love it!
Those pizzas look so good! Definitely trying that recipe soon.
And who says that those of us who work an office job can’t get our steps in – way to go!!!
Hi Danica,
I was ecstatic when I saw the picture of your Flatout Pizza…! Since following the Simple Start plan, I never even considered it. I immediately went to their website and dumped the list of all Flatout options into an Excel spreadsheet so I could easily identify the Power Foods ones. I found 5 options. Yay!
However, I know you used the “Multi-Grain Flat Out Wrap” for your pizza, but I didn’t see any WPA points listed for it. (The closest on the list that I found was the Flatout Healthy Grain – Multi-Grain with Flax and that is in our app as 3pp.) Is this the one you use? And if so, is this one of your “tweaks”?
If you use a different one which IS a power food, can you tell me what is the complete name – or a picture would be great! ?
Love your blog!
Janet
Hi Janet,
I have always considered “Flat Out Wraps” the same as light or reduced calorie breads. That being said, I know that some are power foods (almost all flatout fold it breads, the light flatouts and the 100% whole wheat). The one I use is the Multi-Grain with Flax which is not listed and I am not sure why, perhaps because it’s multi-grain versus 100% whole wheat. That being said, it is the only flavor that I love as I think most others taste a bit like cardboard 🙂 They are all the same calorically, however, you could pick the the power foods list or count it against your indulgence if you prefer. I tweak it since it’s the same in my book.
Thanks for asking,
Danica
I just love reading your posts and seeing what clever ways you have of creating SS/SF meals!! I just love pepperoni, so I have started using turkey pepperoni, I also love mushrooms, so I always load my pizza up with them. Thanks for all the inspiration!!
Danica,
You made some beautiful/colorful meals. Thank you for sharing, and frequently including a bit of Starbucks and wine to keep it real 🙂