Happy Sunday everyone! Thanks for all the comments on my weigh in this week on Facebook and Twitter. I am always glad to have a loss ~ anything down is good, but, sometimes, you just think it should be more. Thanks for helping me realize it all adds up in the end and any loss, even a .2 lb loss is a good loss!
After my meeting, I grabbed a Venti Iced Dirty Latte to sip on while I cooked breakfast. (4 point+)
I have been wanting to make these Jennie-O Taco Muffin Cups ever since I saw them on the Biggest Loser last week. In fact, I went out and bought everything to make them the next day LOL. They are actually pretty easy to make.
Preheat your oven to 400.
Brown up a package of Jennie-O Lean Turkey Sausage. Did you all know these are only 1 point+ each? I was surprised by that in a good way.
Spray your muffin pan with nonstick spray and add in your tortillas. I used 3 corn tortillas cut into 8 wedges, with 2 wedges per muffin tin.
Slice your cooked sausages in half and add 1 sausage to each muffin cup.
Top with 1 Tbsp of Salsa. I used Trader Joe’s Serrano Salsa Fresca.
I think that the recipe calls for a bigger muffin tin than what I was using. The recipe says to use 3 Tbsps Egg Whites, however, I only had room for 2 Tbsps per muffin cup. I used egg beaters.
I had to bake my cups for 20 minutes to get them browned, cooked through and to where they sprang back to the touch. (The recipe says 10 minutes.)
Top each muffin with 1 tsp of cheese.
Place pan back in the oven for 1 minute if needed to get it to melt.
MMMMMMM! Did I mention, you can click HERE to get the recipe?!
I had 2 Muffins for 5 points+ (based on my changes). I omitted the olives and topped them with cilantro. They are delicious!!! Even The Husband LOVED them ~ he ate 5 and now wants the rest for breakfast tomorrow LOL.
I bought these Trader Joe’s Sweet Potato Gnocchi with Butter and Sage awhile back when I saw them in the Fearless Flyer.
I totally checked the points+ when I was at the store to see if they were worth it. I was skeptical that 1/3 of the package would fill me up for 6 points+.
So, I decided to BOOST the serving by adding a whole bag of these Carrots Rustica.
I envisioned them getting coated with the sage butter sauce!
I portioned everything out into 3 containers for 6 points+ each. I definitely would NOT recommend the stove top cooking directions because it got mushy. Next time I would microwave it and mix it all together. Delicious!
Rounded out with a side of orange slices.
The Husband and I continued our Words with Friends Scrabble battle this afternoon since it was a rainy day. I “broke” for a snack mid afternoon with some Peanut Butter Goodies ~ 2 for 4 points+.
30 minutes later, I was STILL hungry so I picked a 0 point+ banana to snack on.
I have been wanting to make Shannon’s Slow Cooker Turkey Sausage Lasagna ever since I saw her post the RECIPE on Friends for Weight Loss. I think it was the fact that she used BACON and CHEESE that kept me thinking about it all week.
When I started to put the recipe together, I realized I didn’t have any jarred pasta sauce. So, I improvised and made Mary’s Turkey Merlot Sauce.
I pretty much followed her recipe except I used 96% lean ground beef, 1/2 lb lean turkey sausage and added some more spices (Italian seasoning, crushed red pepper flakes). I actually FORGOT the bacon LOL.
New Product FIND!!! I was super excited that Trader Joe’s now has FAT FREE Ricotta. They usually only carry full fat ricotta so I bought this before I even knew what recipe I’d used it in.
My “cheese” filling included the fat free ricotta, 3/4 cup finely shredded part skim mozzarella, 1/4 cup chopped basil, crushed red pepper flakes, garlic salt and black pepper.
TJ’s No Cook Lasagna Noodles ~ I LOVE these! You actually can use regular noodles in this recipe since they cook all day in the slow cooker.
Layer it up and cook on low for 5 hours.
WOW!!! 1/6th of the pan for 13 points+ and worth every bite. I LOVE layers of cheese and noodles and cheese and noodles 
Since I didn’t quite follow the recipe, here is the low down of what is in the pot!
INGREDIENTS
Sauce
- 1/2 lb uncooked lean ground turkey sausage (you can do sweet or hot)
- 1 lb 96% lean ground beef
- 1 carrot, finely chopped
- 1 small onion, chopped
- 3 clove garlic clove, minced
- 28 oz cans whole peeled tomatoes in juice
- 28 oz crushed tomatoes with basil
- 6 oz can tomato paste
- 1 cup merlot wine
- 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- Sea salt & Black Pepper to Taste
Lasagna
- 1 3/4 cup fat free ricotta cheese
- 1 3/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheeses, divided
- 1/4 cup chopped basil
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp garlic salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 9 dry lasagna noodles
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
3 point+ Alexia Garlic Bread on the side!
The folks over at Wish Bone know I eat a lot of salads and sent along their newest flavors for me to try. I started off tonight with the Bruschetta Italian.
Tomato+Basil Italian at only 1 points+ per tablespoon!
I used 1 Tbsp on my simple salad and liked how I could taste the tomato ~ it has a sun dried tomato flavor and is on the sweeter side of Italians.
NEW AT FRIENDS FOR WEIGHT LOSS
* New Tip of the Week & Guest Recipe ~ check them out at the bottom of the page!
* This week’s Challenge ~ What MOTIVATES you?
HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MENU THIS WEEK
* BLTA’s
* BBQ Chicken, Scalloped Potatoes & Grilled Romaine Salad
* Cheesy Mini Meatloaves, grilled asparagus
* Honey Lime Shrimp Tacos
DESSERT ~ CEiMB ~ Banana Splits with pineapple brown sugar topping
I really want to try this Cauliflower Pizza Crust but The Husband told me no more funny things with cauliflower 
Q’s
What is on your menu this week? Are you trying any new recipes or foods?
Only two new things this week for me, but, that will probably change when I see your menus. I have a feeling my menu will change as the week goes on since nothing really sounded good when I planned it out. 
Night all!
Seriously I SO need to try those cute little muffin goodness Ha.. I am going to get up super early and head to T.J’s to get everything to make those for lunch for myself and hubby I know he will love those! 🙂 Oh and I tried Shannon’s lasagna on Friday and everyone loved it in my house 🙂 Now I’m gonna go to bed dreaming about those muffin goodies Ha 🙂
My WWF name is purplebirdchristin… you should totally start a game with me! 🙂
Thanks for the muffin cup reminder Danica! I was going to try that crock pot lasagna yesterday, but wanted to try one of the new Jennie-O So Easy entrees that I found; made the turkey meatloaf and it was yummy! Baked it in the toaster oven while I steamed veggies and grilled romaine. Probably no new recipes for me this week, just old stand-by’s:turkey panini’s tonight, grilled cheese & Amy’s tomato soup tomorrow, parmesan topped tilapia (recipe from WF), and boboli white pizza so far. Have a great week!!
Congrats on the loss. I made that cauliflour pizza crust on friday. I liked it, but use as much garlic as you can. Seriuously I do like it, but wouldn’t try it unless you seriuosly like cauliflour(which I do) and it will be a weekly treat for me. and I will add more garlic .
I also sprayed too much pam on the bottom of the foil she says to bake it on. Just gonna bake it on a non stick baking sheet next time. HTH.
Hi Danica! I’m a reader of your blog, i just don’t normally comment, but i just wanted to congratulate you on your weight loss this week! it does all add up in the end, and your doing such a great job! I have a question for you as well, i too am on weight watchers, and have been doing well on the program, but for the past 2 weeks, one of them i maintained from the previous week, then this week i only gained like .2 pounds, so really nothing, but perhaps i could be doing something different, something, but just wondering how do you deal with weeks like this?? Thanks for your input!
LOVE that gnocchi but I agree, they get so mushy when you cook them on the stove.
I saw those muffin cups on TBL last week and thought they looked great, too! I’m definitely putting them on my “make soon” list! Don’t think I’ve seen the Jennie-O sausage anywhere though, so I may have to sub something else!
Great job on your WI, D! You are absolutely right… I always say that any loss is a good loss! It all adds up in the end 🙂
So glad you liked the lasagna!!! Your changes sound yummy! Love the merlot in the sauce!!! I am creating a peanut butter chocolate cheese cake this week…. Looks like it will be 5 Pts per serving!
How funny Danica, I have the lasanga in my slow cooker for dinner tonight. I kept it at 9 points by using 1/2 pound ground turkey and 1/2 pound turkey sausage but I added lots of spinach to mine also. Hope it’s as good as yours looked! I’m also making your fiesta enchilada this week cause it’s a family favorite!
omg those egg muffins look AWESOME! i want some! i need to make a vegetarian version of them…hrm…
Everything looks so yummy. I’m definitely going to be trying these recipes. Thanks for sharing.
Wow! Those taco muffin cups look so tasty. Those are absolutely going to be on my menu this week.
I saw those on Biggest Loser last week and really wanted to try them this week, but forgot all about them when I made my menu/grocery list for the week 🙁 They look delicious though, as does that lasagna!!!! YUMM!
awesome muffin recipe! i swear i saw something similar to this on the biggest loser? maybe i’m crazy.
anyway, hope your weekend was a great one!
xo.
Those muffin cups look SOOOO good. As does the rest of your day’s food. Hang in there, any loss is a good loss (though I SOOO understand how disappointing it is when you think it’ll be more. GRR) Have a great day.
Wow you always have the yummiest recipes!! I didn’t end up making those banana muffins this weekend but I will def make them soon. And I think I will try those breakfast muffin sausage things – they look awesome! I love sausage so it’s nice to know I can still indulge in it here and there without overloading my points. Thanks!
I am definitley going to try that lasagna! It looks fantastic! This week I am going to try a szechuan peanut noodle recipe from one of my many Weight Watcher cookbooks. I think it is the Hit the Spot cookbook…
I am a HUGE fan of meatloaf in muffin cups. I’ve got three variations so far and the possibilities are endess. I love how it makes portion size a no brainer and also makes the best leftovers. I love how these ones have tortilla in them. Very clever!
My sauce 😀 I’m working on a vegan version with all kinds of veggies. Hoping to get it posted by next week.
I would first love to congradulate you on your loss!! Woot! Woot! I took had a loss as it is my first week of WW and I lost 5.4 lbs!!
Second, the gnocci thanks for the tip! I am a avid TJ shopper and created a whole wheat gnocci recipe which tops at about 11 points a serving, but the serving is HUGE!
I too am a Starbuck feen and have a new addiction called “Dirty Latte” thanks to you! It’s a good thank you, my hats off as I love new drinks with no sugar free subs!
I saw something similar to the breakfast cups on $10 dinner, I will have to definately try this it looks too good to pass up. Any idea on the chicken breakfast sausage from TJ’s as a sub?
Thanks again for doing what you do!
Cheers!
I made the mini cheesy meatloaves and they are very good! I don’t have a menu made out for the week. I did buy some broccoli slaw to make a salad, and I want to try a new salmon recipe.
The lasagna looks awesome!
i also thought the sweet potato gnocchi ended up over done. I measured it out by the serving size- 1 cup, and there were less than three servings in the package.
Thanks for sharing your menu each week. I wish I liked eggs because all of your breakfasts look good but I just can’t eat em. 🙁
Those carrots are so pretty! I was tempted to buy them the last time I was at TJ’s. Added to next trip’s list…
Yum yum yum Danica!!! I will definitely be trying the lasagna soon!
OK Danica, I made the Lasanga last night and it was AWSOME. We lit into that crock pot like we hadn’t eaten in days and polished it off. Truely one of the best recipes I’ve tried. I put lots of cooked spinach in mine to add the veggies. Will make this one again and again and again………….
Hi Lizzy,
Thanks for reading and for the question. You know when I have week’s like that I first focus on what I am doing right (the little successes) as well as the fact that there is no time/speed in which I am going to lose weight. Some weeks are better than others and it’s all about being persistent over perfect. I also look for other things that might be showing I am losing when the scale doesn’t. Do you take your measurements? I do once a month. I did a post over at Friends for Weight Loss on why I think this is important and I have a chart over there too.
Here is a link for that.
http://www.friendsforweightloss.com/tools-for-success-measure-it/
That being said, I also look at things I might be doing differently than in the week’s when I lost. Is it near my particular time of month because i know on that week I will either maintain or have a slight gain. Did I eat something salty before I weighed in that could be impacting the scale.
Once I’ve ruled out all of those things, I look back at my journals when I was losing to see if I am eating differently. Am I writing down every single bite I ate? Am I measuring out every single thing I ate? Often, these two things get in the way as my bites add up and my portions grow. I also look to see if I am meeting all my healthy guidelines and getting enough water and making healthy choices.
When all else fails, I just stick with it because I know eventually my body kicks in if I keep working the program and the loss shows.
I hope that helps a bit ~ stick with it and I know the scale will show your hard work.
Danica
Hi Sami,
Yes, I used the Biggest Loser Recipe 🙂
XOXO,
Danica
Hi M,
CONGRATULATIONS ON THE LOSS!!! 5.4 LBs is awesome ~ so proud of you!
As far as TJ’s sausages, if you like sweeter sausage go for the chicken apple or the mango. For a saltier one, try the tomato basil or the jalapeno chicken sausage. I actually LOVE all their chicken sausages so I imagine any would work great.
Do tell which sausage you try and if you liked it.
Danica
I made the taco muffin cups and cannot wait to try them in the morning. I should have waited to eat dinner so I could try one tonight. I made mine with eggwhites and omitted the black olives too so hopefully they are yummy. A friend of mine makes homemade salsa so thats what I used.
I would love to try the lazagna but my crockpot broke, need to buy another one since I use mine weekly!
Have you tried to make the gnocchi and carrot dish again in the microwave. I picked up both items when I was at t.j’s last night. I came back to your site to get your recipe and saw you said you would microwave it next time. have you tried it yet and what did you think if you did. I am preparing the taco cups tonight and gonna bake them tomorrow morning
Hi Jenna,
I have not tried it again but would definitely recommend cooking the gnocchi in the microwave, then, cooking the carrots separately. Toss to combine and divide into 3 servings. I think that the Gnocchi would hold up better this way. I definitely wouldn’t cook them on the stove again. Even though mine was mushy, it was still tasty.
I made more taco cups for this week too – so good!
Can’t wait to hear what you think.
Danica
made the taco cups this morning (well made them last night and baked them this morning) I loved them and ate 5 of them…i wanted to eat more lol I made some subsitutions based on what I had or what I thought would be yummy =D I didnt have jenno turkey sausage but I had sweet chicken w/ peppers sausage from trader joes I cooked up 3 of those and sliced them and put two slices in each cup. I had some peach salsa (also from t.j’s =D) that I used cause I love sweetness with my savory dishes. ANd I didnt use any cheese cause if you cant have a huge amount I cant taste it so I tend to leave it off…also helps lower the point value =D I loved these they were so good, my bf liked them said they were good but he would prefer regular salsa (personally I thought the peach salsa made it lol) I saw these on biggest loser ( I’m a biggest loser fan too…whot whot) but wasnt even intriqued to make them until you made them lol
oh I meant to tell you the way I made them they ended up being 1.5 points (old weight watchers plan points)each. I think the less sausage and no cheese really made the difference I am not on points plus I was only maintaining on points plus so went back to the old trusty plan lost 35 lbs on. 15 more to go =D
Jenna ~ YUM!!!! I LOVE your variation by mixing up the sausage and the salsa! Thanks for sharing!
Danica
It was really good. I can’t follow a recipe I have to add my own things =D LIke last night I made the gnocchi and carrots, BUT….I added a bunch to beef it up =D I cooked the gnocchi in the microwave like you suggested and started to cook the carrots in the microwave it was taking forever and I decided to “brown” the carrots in a skillet, so while they were only half way unflawed I threw them in the skillet while I was browning them I got the brillant idea to throw in a handful of chopped onions and bell peppers, garlic and spices. then I mixed with the gnocchi….it was pretty darn good if I say so myself, and I do =D
AWESOME Jenna! Your dish sounds pretty amazing too.
Danica
oh, I think I WILL be trying that cauliflower crust. I may or may not tell the husband though. I think I’d like to hear his verdict BEFORE he knows about the cauliflower.
Just made the muffins! I substituted turkey bacon in place of the sausage. Yum! I was planning to just throw some to warm in the oven in the morning for my husband to take to work, but I guess he thought they were an after dinner “snack”, so he ate half the tray. I guess that is a good sign!
I am so happy I discovered your blog a few days ago! I made your Mexican “Pizza” for dinner and it is my new favorite thing! Love this blog!
HI Ashley,
That is AWESOME! I am so glad the recipe is a WIN for both you and your husband. Mine is the same way with the muffin cups. He usually asks me if they are for dinner when I try making them for the next day and I always have to share – ha!
I NEED to make that Mexican pizza again – it’s been too long!
Thanks for reading,
Danica
You should definitely try a cauliflower crust for pizza! It is time consuming but life changing. I absolutely love it. 🙂
I am very anxious to try those egg muffin cups! Just pinned to try them soon!!! Thanks. Have a great day!!