Happy Monday all! Thanks to all of you for making me feel normal on yesterday’s post about my 4 foot Cooking Magazine Stack ~ it is nice to know I am not the only one out there who doesn’t want to always let all those good recipes go LOL. I LOVE that so many of you jumped in on the count down to Thanksgiving and even my Canadian Friends jumped in too! We are all going to achieve those goals, one day and one week at a time.
I snacked on a banana and an egg (SF) – 2 points+ before heading out for my morning dentist appointment. At my dentist appointment I realized a completely unrelated benefit to Simply Filling and summer time Farmer’s Markets. My Hygienist asked me what I did differently this go round (from my last 6 month appointment) because my teeth are looking amazing.
She then went onto to say something that totally made me glad for the choices I’ve been making for the last 3 months. She said she thinks that often in the summer with all the fresh produce and variety out there we tend to eat more things that are “good” for our teeth versus in the winter when we eat more “starchy” comfort foods that cause more plaque.
I have never told her I do Weight Watchers and secretly, I smiled inside and gave myself a pat on the back thinking she is completely right….She made my day of course with that famous sentence of “no cavities” too!
So Cool….seriously, just another reason to keep doing what I am doing!
After my appointment, I stopped at Starbuck’s for a Grande Nonfat Decaf Latte with caramel drizzled on top (SF) – 3 points+.
I couldn’t wait to dive into lunch today and have more of my Spicy Sweet Potato and Corn Chowder with “Bacon”. (SF) – 5 points+. For those that asked yesterday, I will be posting the recipe this week.
I am taking a lunch salad “break” this week and going back to one of my all time fav’s. I’ve missed my spicy, crunchy, peanutty slaw.
Broccoli Slaw + 1 Tbsp Sunflower Seeds + Spicy Peanut Dressing = (SF+2 WPA) – 2 points+
Today’s activity points consisted of spending 2 hours moving and setting up desk for two of my co-workers. I was pretty excited to watch my green bars on AL light up.
I was also starving by the time I got back to my desk so I grabbed a Fage 0% Strawberry.
SF + 1 WPA for the jam, 3 points+ for the entire container.
I paired it with the fruit salad The Husband made me this morning ~ he said it’s a rainbow fruit salad because there are so many grape colors 
He is a clown!
As soon as I walked in the door, we shared the rest of the Parmesan Almond Crisps. There is a reason I only make 8 at a time…..They would call my name all day long until they were gone.
(SF+2 WPA) – 2 points+ for 2 crisps!
I decided to venture out from my usual Trader Joe’s Spicy Peanut to try LiteHouse Thai Peanut Dressing since I have heard they are similar.
I am not as thrilled with the ingredient list…..
But, I do dig that you get 2 Tbsp for 1 points+. It isn’t as sweet but it is thicker and creamier.
We actually ate dinner in 3 phases because The Husband wanted to make his first ever bone in BBQ Ribs….he just didn’t realize they take about 2 hours to cook
He made up salads to “tied” us over and I topped mine with 2 Tbsp of LiteHouse Thai Peanut Dressing. (SF + 3 for the avocado & dressing). 1 tsp of sunflower seeds = 0 points+!
While the ribs cooked, I made us “Fried” Hasbrowns with peppers and onions.
(SF) – 4 points+
2 hours later his “rack o ribs” was done ~ I have to admit, they smelled and looked pretty darn amazing.
I had 2 of the small pork ribs on the end ~ he did a fantastic job with his rub and sauce. They were salty, spicy, sweet and fell right off the bone. (Simply Filling Like) – 5 points+
Week 3 Active Link (AL) Results ~ I was so excited to see that even with my exercising every other day, I AM moving more throughout the day with 31 Activity Points earned last week = Success!
The grey bar represents my 12 week challenge ~ my goal each day is to exceed it.
STATS (12 am – 9 pm)
- 2,481 calories burned
- 7,698 steps taken
- 8 WPA used, 36 WPA remaining, (29 Daily Points+)
- AL Results ~ 3 AP, 88% ~ I might just need to go find some activity to get to 100%!
Night all!
Those ribs look amazing and have always been on my too-try list! Can you lead me to your husband’s recipe? As always, love what you have to say 🙂 And I forgot to mention yesterday, I have one of those very tall stacks also, plus a huge pile of print outs! Where do you store all of the recipes you want to try? Any suggestions?
Hi Gail,
His “secret” for making ribs is to create a type of rub using whatever he finds on the spice shelf. Then, he wraps them in foil, bakes at 275 for 2 1/2 hours either the night before or in the morning. Place them on the grill for about 15-30 minutes, baste with sauce and dig in!
I haven’t found a great way to organize my recipes. I’ve used binders, recipe cards, recipe boxes, saved them in my email, etc. If it is something I am making soon, I will print it out for my weekly stack.
Let me know if you find a great way to store them. I am thinking about doing a ziplist recipe box for everyone but I haven’t decided yet.
Danica
I keep all my recipies in a huge 3 ring notebook (3-4 inches wide) and my “want to try” recipies in a file folder inside the notebook. I also put 2 recipes back to back in a plastic sleeve so that when I am cooking that don’t get food all over them.
Danica, what kind of sunflower seeds, i.e. roasted, raw???
Hi Jane,
I love using roasted sunflower seeds with or without salt because you ca taste them and they have more flavor than the raw. I have bought raw to roast them myself too.
Danica
Hey! A little trick I learned. Cook your rack of ribs the night before. You salt and pepper both sides, wrap in tin foil and bake on 275 degrees for about 2 – 2 1/2 hrs. After they have cooled, refrigerate. Take out of the refrigerator in the next couple of days, skim off the fat and throw on the grill. Grill with your favorite sauce until heated through. (Saves time that night and allows you to get most of the fat off, win-win situation.)
Oh my we need the hubs recipe for those ribs 🙂
I never thought I’d say this but since I’ve been doing the SF I have been using my 49 weekly points and it’s still working great. No guilt and the scale is still showing me love!
Honestly Danica I don’t think I would have tried the SF if it hadn’t been for you. Thank you.
Awesome! That chowder looks yummy I will have to make it once it cools off and stays cool here!! My Dad smokes ribs all the time so good! Happy Tuesday! 🙂
HI DANICA –
GREAT POST. THOSE RIBS LOOK AMAZING. YUMMY YUMMY YUMMY.
I AM GOING TO GO OUT AND GET THE LITEHOUSE DRESSING BECAUSE WE DON’T HAVE A TRADER JOE’S WITHIN 4 HOURS OF WHERE I LIVE – SO GLAD I CAN FINALLY TRY SOMETHING SIMILAR TO THAT FAMOUS DRESSING YOU ALWAYS USE. CAN’T WAIT. PLUS 2 TBSP FOR 1 POINT WOOT WOOT.
SO I AM THROUGH WITH MY AL ASSESSMENT PHASE AND AM HAPPY TO REPORT I AVERAGED 5 ACTIVITY POINTS A DAY IN THE 8 DAYS. SO MY GOAL FOR THE NEXT 12 WEEKS IS 6 A DAY. I HIT YESTERDAY AT 105% AND REALLY NEED TO WORK ON IT TODAY. DIDN’T GET UP THIS MORNING – MAYBE WILL GET ON THE WII TONIGHT AND DO A LITTLE ZUMBA TO BURN SOME CALORIES.
I CAN’T WAIT TO GET THE RECIPE FOR THE AWESOME LOOKING SOUP.
Who doesn’t love going to the doctor and hearing good news?! Congrats on your pearly whites- woner how white they were after those ribs haha 😛
Gaaa those ribs look good! What time is dinner?! LOL! I have been know to have stacks of magazines. What I have started doing is go through and pick the recipes I want and then go to the magazine website and search for the recipe and save to flash drive. If recipe not available to save then I cut from magazine and put into a binder. Most of the websites have the recipes found in the monthly issues and I thought I really do not have to buy —–but theres something about having that magazine in my hand!