Happy Sunday all! Thanks for all the nice comments and emails on our Australian Vacation. We really did have a blast, but, it’s always good to come home and get back into our routine. This month kicks off New Year’s Resolution #3 ~ Meatless March. I never in a million years thought that The Husband would join in, but, he is game and plans on going 90% meatless. So far he is doing fantastic – so proud!
I actually pondered for awhile on if I would continue Simply Filling while doing Meatless March or if I’d go back to counting points+. I know myself and know I’d end up a carb-a-terrian if I count points because like all the pastas and breads I love are meatless! So, to keep myself in check, I am staying the course and doing Meatless March Simply Filling style and I am excited for it. I will still continue to show SF + any WPA used along with the points+ values for those counting towards their daily target.
Before heading out to our Weight Watcher meeting (I missed everyone!), I made The Husband and I Healthy Egg Rolls to go.
These spicy, tortilla, egg & cheese rolls are addicting and the best part is they only take a few minutes to make and eat. (SF + 1 WPA) – 4 points+
Since I knew we would be having a late lunch/dinner and walking for about 4 hours at the Alameda Antique Faire, I packed up a few snacks. In just 3 days I’ve learned I need to eat something every 2-3 hours when going meatless versus every 4 hours.
Snack #1 grapes with an apple and Sargento RF Sharp Cheddar Cheese Stick (SF) – 2 points+.
While walking around the fair, we shared 1/4 cup of Honey Comb Sunflower Seeds from this month’s Nature’s Box ~ so addictingly good. (SF + 2 WPA) – 2 points+
I was starving as we headed out around 2 pm, so I grabbed the last of the snacks I packed (just in case) as we sat in traffic. (SF) – 2 points+.
I have been wanting to go back to Yan’s China Bistro every since I first went there with Tracy a little while back. We both ordered off the lunch menu ~ $7.75 for everything!
Chinese Peanut Chicken Salad ~ the peanuts & sweet sesame vinaigrette dressing totally make this salad deliciously refreshing. It’s pretty small so I’d say 0 points+ and SF
I skipped the daily soup since it wasn’t meatless ~ that was so hard but I felt proud! Instead, we each had a veggie egg roll. (SF + 4 WPA) – 4 points+
Hilarious fact ~ The Husband picked up one half and totally dunked in the Chinese Hot Mustard and put it in his mouth before I could tell him ~ “That’s Hot!” 
I fell in love with this spicy garlic sauce the last time I was there so I optioned for the Eggplant in Garlic Sauce. In hindsight, I should’ve picked mixed veggies because that’s a lot of egg plant to try to eat.
I had half the eggplant served up with 1 cup brown rice (SF+2 WPA) – 8 points+
I love their soy sauce container ~ I pretty much put soy sauce on everything just so I could use it.
When we got home, we had this beautiful purple flowering plant on our door step. It was a good bye present from our neighbor who just moved away this weekend. So sweet.
I put it right next to our first basil plant of the season that we bought yesterday so it has a friend.
We received a few fun packages while we were away that I will be sharing with you all this week. First up, the folks at Chobani sent us their two newest flavors to try. It was hard to choose which flavor to have first…
2% Banana
And 0% Pear
In the end, I went with the Pear for dessert because it’s 0%, 3 points+ and SF+1 WPA. It honestly tastes just like biting into a pear and will be delicious when topped with cinnamon.
HERE IS WHAT IS ON THE MEATLESS MENU THIS WEEK:
- Baked Cheesy Caprese Pasta, salad
- Russian Chopped Salads
- Southwestern tortilla pizzas or bean & cheese burritos a la The Husband, salad
- Nacho Frittata with Kale Chips
- Fiesta Enchilada Skillet or Vegetable Gyoza with Edamame Soycatash
- Breakfasts ~ Healthy Egg Rolls, Egg White Fluffies, Cheesy “Sausage” Breakfast Burritos, Oatmeal Protein Pancakes
- Lunches ~ Egg salad sandwich, Butternut Squash, Barley & Almond Salad
- Snacks ~ Hard boiled eggs, light cheese sticks, Greek yogurt, fruit, veggies, nuts
QUESTION OF THE DAY:
What is on your menu this week? Any meatless meals or snacks? I am definitely on the search to try as many new ideas as I can – share away!
Night all!
I LOVE the new Chobani pear! So yummy! I love that you are doing Meatless March! I grew up vegetarian so I love vegetarian foods!
Danica – I tried the simply filling method last week and gained 1/2 pound. I was discouraged but leader said “at least you ate healthy” which I did. I journaled everything and she didn’t think I was eating enough protein. I was stuffed but did eat a lot of veggies. This weekend I did’t do the SF but I will try again this week. Maybe I am doing something wrong. Do you still count points when you do it? I thought the whole thing about SF is that you didn’t have to count points.
Kathy
Kathy, I do the Simply Filling Technique and love it. You only have to count the points for foods not on the Power Foods list, like the cheese stick and the Chobani flavored yogurts (which in my opinion are SO delicious they are worth the 3 or 4 pts), and you have your weekly 49 to use for that.
Stick with it. You are eating healthy veggies and you WILL lose weight, promise.
Hi Kathy,
When working the Simply Filling program, you do not have to count your daily points+. The only thing you need to count is any non-simply filling foods against your WPA. If I feel like I need to check how I am doing, I will count my daily points+ and good health guidelines to ensure I am keeping my portions in check. I have done this on occasion when I have had an off week and didn’t lose or gained. It does take a little time to kick in but I have no doubt you will get the hang of it and see the scale go down.
Good luck and keep me posted on how it goes.
Danica
Question when you are doing a Meatless Simple filling do the Morning star mushroom burgers count as Meat? I have gone to really liking Morning star products and would appericate any information! Thanks Danica!
HI Colleen,
You know Weight Watchers does not mark too may Vegetarian Items as Simply Filling. However, I would count the mushroom burgers as Simply Filling because they are made with real ingredients and fall into the bucket of a lean protein for vegetarians.
Danica
Good for you! Meatless and simply filling you are amazing. Can’t wait to see your menus!!
One idea for snack is hummus…. use as a dip for the veggies….. Another one guacamole
excited to see some meatless recipes! if you went vegan you’d probably lose weight and get healthier 🙂
Danica,
First, I want to say I’m totally jealous of your antiquing/market outings every week. Just love that you and DH do that together all that time. That is my dream life with my DH and some day we will have weekends off to do that. AWESOME! Keep inspiring!
As for that basil plant, I recently made a lasagna (full of sweet sausage) at http://proverbs215.blogspot.com/2013/02/lasagna-with-sweet-sausage-and-basil.html that had fresh organic basil in it and it was wonderful. I couldn’t believe how much taste it added. I mixed basil into my salads for a week after that. YUM!
Our meatless meals as of late have been peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, spaghetti (or other pasta) with homemade, simple marinara, spinach curry over rice, and soup and cornbread biscuits (we’ve been trying to use boxes of that up) or salads with cornbread squares. Last fall I tried a yummy coconut pumpkin soup recipe at http://proverbs215.blogspot.com/2012/11/coconut-pumpkin-curry.html that is meatless. I think you’d love it!
I can’t wait to try some of your meals and I appreciate a fellow carb monster more than you can imagine 🙂
I made a fantastic lentil stew with curried butternut squash a while ago. Even my meat lovin’ husband enjoyed it. Here is the recipe I used.
http://www.healthyfoodforliving.com/red-lentil-and-butternut-squash-curry-stew/
If you give it a try, let me (and Lauren, the recipe creator) know!
I love making a big batch of cowboy cavier (with black eyed peas as one of the beans) and having that for a snack with crudites or light chips but also as a topper for a big salad as a meal. There are tons of recipes for it on the internet. Some say put on a whole bottle of vinegarette but I don’t use those. I find one that has you make your own vinigarette and lighten it as much as possible.