Be Back Soon!

I'm sure you're all wondering where the heck I've been?!?! I will be back soon, I haven't forgotten about you!

It ended up being quite the busy summer and I have not had time to cook. At all. I know, sad, right?

So I bet you're wondering what I've been doing?

• Traveling a bit for work and fun
• Running! If you knew the previous me, you'd likely fall off your chair if the word run even entered my vocabulary. Well, it's true. I have become a runner. I spent a good portion of the summer training for a 193 mile road relay race with 11 other people. And it was a BLAST. I ran a total of 15.5 miles in 24 hours (3 legs of the race). Never in a million years did I think I would ever accomplish that. So to be honest, that's where a lot of my cooking time went, but it was worth it in the end.
  
• Home renovations. Currently this is the biggest chunk of my spare time. I'm in the midst some serious home renovations. It's quite the time suck, but they are some needed projects (as in a brand new bathroom and another bathroom gut plus some other projects) and I hope to have them wrapped up soon.
  

Since we all go through many busy times in our lives, it's still important to keep control of what we eat and try to keep as healthy as possible. I did alter my eating habits a bit this summer to accommodate the amount of running I was doing, but mainly that consisted of a few more pasta nights and an excuse to eat peanut butter on mornings I ran. I wasn't able to make many dinners, but here's a bit about my strategy for keeping the pounds off and eating healthy:

• FRUIT AND VEGETABLES. It was summer. I kept around especially a TON of fruit and many vegetables as well. Basically, whatever was on sale that week I would stock up on and plan what I ate around that
• Stick with the grocery store routine as much as I could. My schedule was a bit out of whack, so I wasn't always able to shop at the same time, which has often been a big key to my success in keeping healthy food around and meals in the fridge we could heat up quickly. But I still made time at least once a week to get to the grocery store and stock up on fresh food. This significantly reduces the amount of last-minute take-out that can happen
• Stock up on low-calorie, pre-packaged snacks. I generally try to avoid these when I'm cooking a lot, but when time's tight, if I have a 100 calorie pack around, I'll eat that for a snack on the go instead of something worse for me.
• Sandwiches. I made sure to keep bread, deli meat, low-fat cheese and other sandwich items around. In a pinch it can be the best meal. Oh, and some fat free pretzels. Yum! Sandwiches can go a long way and there's lots of variety for those of us who don't like to eat the same thing every day.
• Crock pot: I did manage to use it once or twice. One of my favorite beer/chicken recipes should hopefully be coming soon
• Chips and salsa. Keep portions in check for the taco chips, but they are easy to keep around and can be a good side to many quick summer meals
• Yogurt. The perfect breakfast on the go with some fruit.
• Tacos. It's quick to cook up a couple of pounds of taco meat (I usually do half lean ground turkey, half extra lean ground beef) and have tacos over a couple of days.
• Water. As always, hydration is key. Really helps with the hunger.

Hopefully I'll have a food post on the way soon!

I'm Back! Lots of good recipes on the way!

I'm sure some of you were starting to wonder if I'd abandoned you...nope! I spent the last two weeks traveling here with a group of high school students:
I chaperoned a high school France trip with my mom and my high school French teacher. Since this was a tour with a set itinerary, I'm sure you can imagine it posed a bit of an eating challenge to try and keep within a normal eating pattern. All dinners were included as part of the trip, so I didn't have control over what was served. However, even though the food can be pretty rich in France (and soooooooo good), their portions are a lot smaller...

So, after still making sure I had some of my favorite French culinary items (I'm a sucker for stinky cheese, bread and wine), I am happy to report that after 2 weeks in France I gained less than 1 pound (Ok, I will admit I've been home for 4 days and have been eating very healthy since then but still..) and I am very proud of myself.

What was my strategy?

1. Portion control - I didn't go to France with the idea that I couldn't have some of my favorite things (yes, I had some croissants, pain au chocolat, crepes AND dessert). But what I did was control it. As with the way I eat at home, if something wasn't one of my favorite items, I didn't eat it. For the stuff I really liked, I made sure to have it but space it out as much as I could and not overdo it. I am proud to say that even with some of the awesome desserts we had as part of the dinners, I didn't finish them. It took a lot of self-talking, but I did it.
2. Picnic and fruit stands - Instead of sitting down to a restaurant for lunches which were on our own, for almost every meal my mom and I would picnic. We'd stop in a little grocery store and pick up some bread, cheese, fruit, snacks, etc. Also, since it was June and there was TONS of seasonal, fresh fruit, I ate a TON of cherries while we were gone. It was easy to pick up a bag at a fruit stand and have them while we were out and about during the day. Not only was this a good option on our waistlines, it helped our pocketbooks as well!
3. Water - Keeping hydrated was huge. We always kept water on us (which also meant we were signing up for the sport of "olympic WC searching"...for those of you who have traveled in France, you know what I'm talking about...bathrooms aren't always easy to find...and then there's often one, maybe two stalls). Besides helping control hunger, water makes you feel better, especially when traveling. Every night with dinner we asked for a pitcher of water with the meal (and then usually 2-3 more as the dinner went on :) ).
4. Yogurt and Compot - Two awesome options at most hotels for breakfast. Even though the yogurt isn't fat free, it's awesome in Europe, and is usually a small portion with much less artificial flavoring. Adding a little bit of honey to plain yogurt was great for breakfast and sticks with you. They also often offer applesauce or compot for breakfast, which is one of my favorite things to eat in France and a good breakfast option. I'll admit, I often jacked the compot from the hotels to also have with lunch. :)
   
5. Bring a little something from home - We packed some home snacks for part of our picnics as well - some trail mix, almonds, 100 calorie breakfast muffins, granola bars, and WW 1 pt. bars. These were a nice addition to our picnics.
6. Good friends - While our students were in their family stays we had the opportunity to visit some of our friends in France. They were very gracious about having food items we could enjoy but not feel bad about eating later. One friend had fat free yogurt in stock (I KNEW there was some!) and our other friends made a wonderful ratatoullie dinner one evening with a lettuce salad and AWESOME vinaigrette. We ate well.

So, those are just a few tidbits on what I did to still enjoy my travels but not fall completely off the bandwagon. Will get working right now on some of the recipes I wanted to blog BEFORE I left! In the meantime, here's a few photos from the trip:

We have to start with a food picture. Now this is my kind of salad. This was the caprese salad we had for our dinner on the Eiffel Tower. Since tomatoes are my favorite food, you can imagine my level of elation when I laid eyes on our salad. Cherry tomatoes over mozzarella with fresh basil, olive oil (notice the small amount on the plate...that's seriously all the salad needed) and a taste of pesto. I was in heaven:

And here are a few more photos from the trip(some food related, of course):
Afternoon break in St. Malo (Brittany):

Giant container of honey to go along with the fat free plain yogurt...yum:
Glass of rosé beachside in La Baule:Wine barrels on our vineyard tour in the Loire Valley:American Cemetary overlooking Omaha Beach in Normandy. We were there less than a week after the 65th anniversary of D-day:

Le Mont St. Michel:
Wine and bread...cheese was probably gone at this point!

I sent it back

I recently went out to dinner for a friend's birthday. I know for many people, eating out can be the most challenging part of a weight loss plan or even sticking with healthy eating. If you read my original post, I mention I consider myself Sally from the movie When Harry Met Sally.

This particular episode of eating out was simple. I ordered an ahi tuna sandwich that didn't come loaded in sauces, etc. There was a wasabi sauce on the side. And I was having a bit of a splurge night, so I got the tortilla chips for the side instead of a salad (however, I will add that I did not eat them all...that's portion control, which is an entirely separate topic that involves a serious discussion on willpower!). I actually kind of laughed as I was ordering, because I only had one small simple request: no butter on my bread.

You see, while I was carefully reading the menu, I noticed a certain "code"...grilled bun...otherwise known as the bread is buttered. Typically, you'd think if a sandwich already comes with a sauce (in this case wasabi aioli...most often mayo, which I now always leave off), then the bread wouldn't need butter in addition...WRONG! Most of the time the bread is still buttered. In my opinion that's overkill, but maybe that's because I've gotten used to things not needing butter. The flavor of the food should speak for itself...why do we need to drown it in butter? Don't get me wrong, in some dishes butter is a logical choice (in moderation, of course)...but in my opinion, when trying to have a tasty splurge, I don't need the butter.

So, when I ordered, all I had was a simple..."could I please have my bun without butter?" Our server nodded her head, said "sure" and that was that....until my sandwich came, of course.

While everyone else was arranging their plates, unrolling their silverware and preparing to dig in, I quickly seized the opportunity to inspect my sandwich before the server could leave. And sure enough, there was my tasty-looking tuna sitting open-faced on a bun, glistening in melted butter.

So this is the part where it helps to not be shy. I got the server's attention and simply stated (while handing her the plate), "could I get this on a bun without butter?" And there. I sent my food back. I wasn't rude about it, I just sent it back. And my food returned in a few minutes on a bun without butter. Perfect, that's all I need. I can now enjoy my food and a.) not feel entirely guilty doing so and b.) not be incredibly angry that the kitchen couldn't accomodate one simple request.

I can't tell you how many times I've ordered something in a special manner and they get it wrong. Who knows where the message is being lost, but I always ask if they CAN prepare it that way, since some items are often already prepared (this is often the case with vegetables that might already be cooked in oil or butter, so I ask if it's possible to get something steamed without butter or oil. If not, then it's usually the side salad).

So my point is this: Don't be afraid to send a meal back if the kitchen doesn't make it to your liking. There's no need to be rude about it, especially since we really have no idea if the server didn't pass the message forward or if the kitchen ignored/forgot about the request. It took me a while to come to terms with this, especially since I'm not a picky eater so I wasn't accustomed to ordering things in a special manner...and I generally didn't like to draw attention to what I was ordering. BUT, I have learned that I do have a say what I put in my body and if a restaurant can't accomodate that, I should take my business elsewhere. That may sound a bit snobby, but if I don't take care of myself and make that choice, no one is going to make it for me. Plenty of people have severe allergies to food and need things prepared in a special manner, so I consider this along those lines.

Don't be shy. Don't be rude. It never hurts to ask. You never know...you just might empower someone else to order their meal in a way that suits them when they might not have otherwise.

Crockpot Thai Chicken: simple and not boring

Some people mention when they start WW or a healthy eating routine that they get sick of eating chicken all the time. Thankfully, this blog will NOT be about a million and a half chicken recipes. Even so, with a bit of creativity, chicken doesn't have to be boring...there are a ton of ways to make it and incorporate a variety of flavors and still have a low fat dish.

One thing I've learned through this journey of losing weight and now keeping the weight off, is to make sure to vary what I cook and eat. A little creativity goes a long way without a ton of effort. If we eat the same thing everyday of course we're going to get bored and eventually quit and go back to our old habits. And who could blame us?

One thing that helped me along this path is that I'm a bit of a dork about finding new things to try. I'm always looking for something new I can make that's tasty and fits my eating plan. Even if that's not you, if you are getting bored or see yourself slipping, you might just need a bit of a change to renew your efforts. It might help to consider a couple of different items you could pick up at the grocery store this week to try something different. Even buying a different kind of fruit for a snack can be a start.

BUT, this entry is a chicken recipe. And honestly, the only reason chicken is showing up so early in this blog is because I had a lime to use before it went bad. However, chicken can be a lifesaver especially when we're short on time. So can the crock pot. And this is a good option.

Ingredients:

Plus the chicken, of course.

• 2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts, frozen (about 4 breasts)
• 1 cup hot salsa
• 1/4 cup, heaping, reduced fat peanut butter
• 1Tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
• Juice of 1/2 a fresh lime (or 2 Tbsp. lime juice)
• 2-3 tsp. freshly grated ginger (I mince mine)
• 1 jalapeno pepper, seeded and chopped (optional)
• Fresh cilantro
  

Directions:

Spray the crock pot with cooking spray and add chicken. In a separate bowl, mix together salsa, peanut butter, soy sauce, lime juice, ginger and jalapeno. Pour over chicken. Mix up a bit so sauce is distributed throughout the crock pot. Cook on low 6-8 hours (mine is usually plenty done after 6 hours).

Garnish with fresh cilantro and serve over brown rice.

Makes 4-8 servings (see nutritional information).

Notes:

We like our food a bit spicier, so if you don't prefer it that way, you can leave out the jalapeno and use a medium salsa. Even with the hot salsa, if you add more lime juice, it will even out and be less spicy.

I serve this with minute brown rice, cooked according to package directions. I cook it in chicken broth instead of water to give it more flavor. Season with some salt, pepper and chopped green onions after it's done cooking.

A great side dish is steamed green beans with some salt, pepper and a bit of jarred garlic.

Variation: Once cooked, let chicken cool a bit in the crock pot, take two forks and shred the chicken. As leftovers, it makes a great base for a wrap.

Results: Tasty! I've made this meal a number of times and it is awesome to throw in the crock pot in the morning for a weeknight meal. When we first made it, I thought the salsa and peanut butter looked nasty together, but it tastes great when cooked...so don't be grossed out as you're stirring the ingredients! This dish has great flavor and is certainly a step away from boring old chicken. We really like this one and I make it frequently. Another nice thing about it is the ingredients are easy to keep on-hand, so it's a great choice when I haven't quite planned ahead.

Nutritional information:

At 4 servings (using 4 chicken breasts totaling about 2 lbs):

362.7 calories
9 grams of fat
2.1 grams of fiber

About 8 WW points. If using smaller chicken breasts, this could reduce the points value.

Alternative: Shred the chicken and then I estimate it makes about 8 servings (easier to divide!). At 8 servings, it's:

181.3 calories
4.5 grams of fat
1 gram dietary fiber

About 4 WW points.

Enjoy!

Welcome! Let's get cooking!

Welcome to Chews Wisely!

I've been thinking about starting a blog for quite some time and have finally decided to take the plunge. There are a number of blogs I follow on a regular basis, both work and hobby-related (mainly cooking, home renovation and anything related to Paris and/or France), but my own hesitancy in starting a blog has been rooted in the fact that, well, in my opinion, a blog needs a theme. What did I have to share with the online community? Do I really have the extra time and energy to put into this task? The few people to whom I've mentioned I'm starting a blog weren't 100% sure I do have the time to commit to this, but they've all been positive and excited about the topic, so here it goes.


This blog will be dedicated to cooking, eating and living a healthy lifestyle; mainly a Weight Watchers lifestyle. My goal is to share a bit about my journey, but mainly to make this a resource for some awesome recipes and meals that are a world away from tasting like cardboard (I'm not a boring eater, so I'd better not be a boring cook!) and tips for sticking with a healthy way of life. You really can eat healthy and still have tasty food in your life - hopefully this blog will help others achieve that. I will try to include the points value for recipes as much as I can. From time-to-time I may also blog about home renovations. My husband and I spent an entire summer gutting and completely redoing our kitchen (with the help of some very dedicated family members) and we will be embarking on a basement bathroom soon. I will say that after the amount of work that went into the kitchen, I have put a lot of effort into making sure it gets some good use!


About me: I am a relatively newlywed 20-something girl from the Midwest who lost 55+ pounds through Weight Watchers and became a member of the lifetime crowd in December 2008. I never in a million years thought something like this was possible. I now weigh less then I did when I was a freshman in high school. I'm not kidding. And I only joined the program after I saw my mom and my sister have success over a summer. I must admit, I was still reluctant the day I walked in there and might have turned around and walked out if our leader was the fake, cheery, rah-rah type, but she turned out to be tough, down-to-earth and wasn't going to tell me I could never again have a beer or glass of wine. So I stayed. And I'm glad I did. That was late August 2007 and I haven't looked back.


I really have had a mental shift since joining Weight Watchers, and it truly has become a way of life for me. Before I joined I worked out regularly and cooked in a fairly healthy manner, but I had always been overweight. I was active in my youth and I don't have overweight parents, so who knows what was up...BUT, the top ten fundamental changes to my adult lifestyle include:

1. I no longer waste calories on stuff that's not my favorite (i.e. potato salad at a grill out. Don't love it, don't hate it. I just choose not to eat it anymore and use my points on something else). In other words, it has to be a 10.
2. Portion sizes. Before WW, I hadn't really given them much thought. This is a very helpful thing of which to be aware...it's amazing how big our portions sizes can be, both at home and in a restaurant! Measuring things at the beginning was very helpful.
   
3. Eating out. I really changed the way I eat out. I'm not afraid to ask for a to-go box at the beginning of the meal and pack up half of it right away to bring home (which is a nice perk for my husband...he gets lots of yummy leftovers!). Again, I pick times I'm going to splurge on my favorite things and don't get them all the time. I really like seasoned kettle chips. But I now only get them at one of my favorite restaurants, where I know they're going to be good. I also used to order buffalo wings a lot. Come on, they go so well with beer! There's one brew pub nearby that has a great buffalo chicken sandwich that's grilled and served with bleu cheese crumbles instead of dressing. That's where I go when I want that. I'm also not afraid to ask for a breaded chicken breast to be grilled instead, and always ask them to leave the butter off buns, etc.
4. Ordering in a restaurant. I think this deserves its own number. I have become Sally from the movie When Harry Met Sally and I'm not apologetic about it at all. I'll be honest. It bothered me at first, but after I thought about it more I decided that was dumb. We have a choice what we put in our bodies, and there shouldn't be shame in asking for what we want. I'm nice about it, but I am no longer afraid to send back something if they say they can cook it in a special manner and don't. As this blog continues, I'll share more about how I order in a restaurant. If I do it now, this will never end. Just ask my husband. He laughs under his breath every time I order. Good thing I don't talk quietly. My order carries across the table in a loud restaurant just fine. ;)
5. Working out. It has to be part of any weight loss routine. Getting active is really an important part of life. It's just that before I thought this was the biggest part of the equation. While it's important, it's not everything. As mentioned, I was always fairly active. I've generally gone to the gym and I love to swim and golf. I just really learned this has to be paired with eating right. It won't do it alone.
   
6. Meal planning and grocery shopping. I can't tell you how important this is. I now grocery shop at the same time every week. Before, my shopping was extremely sporadic. Not only has this helped me get organized about what I'm buying, I also save money, because I hit sales at the right time (especially on meat and fresh food). I also plan ahead on what meals to cook and cook a few things that we eat over the course of the week. This cuts down on the last-minute, "oh, let's get takeout from ____" on busy days. When there's something on hand to heat up quickly, that excuse doesn't work. The crock pot has become my best friend. I'm sure at some point during the life of this blog, I will elaborate on my obsession with my crock pot. Seriously, I am in love with my crock pot.
   
7. Always ask to bring something. Besides the fact that it's polite, when there's a social gathering, ask what you can bring or just show up with food. That way you know there is something there you can munch on with everyone else. A few easy favorites are a bag of fat free pretzels, hummus with whole wheat pita bread, a fruit or veggie tray or even tortilla chips and salsa. I have some yummy party friendly appetizers I'll share too.
   
8. Learning to say no. I wasn't always very good at this. I no longer feel obligated to eat something just because someone is pushing me to do so. And when I do have something, I can refuse seconds, or take a very small portion at the beginning. Splitting things with someone else is also helpful. And when a certain restaurant just isn't fitting in my plan for the week, sometimes I just decline (sorry if you've been on the receiving end of this. I really do want to go, since this is a fun, relaxing thing for me...I've just had to learn to take care of myself when needed).
   
9. Water, water, water! Keeping hydrated is very important. Drink water throughout the day. When starving, I always start with a big glass of water, which really helps take off the edge.
   
10. Ask for help. Before joining WW, I had the attitude that I could do it myself. And I always did manage to get started...I lost about 10 lbs before walking in the door of WW. But that's usually as far as it went. I thought group meetings were dumb. I didn't realize how much I'd learn from other people and thought it would be rather patronizing. It wasn't that way at all and I'm so glad I got over it. The people around me have really supported me...my husband, my immediate family, my in-laws and extended family, my friends, my boss, other "co-workers" (too complicated to explain, but you know who you are). I couldn't have done it without you.

So, I hope this blog will be inspiring to someone out there needing a bit of a kick start or the encouragement to stick with a healthy lifestyle. And if nothing else, maybe someone will enjoy some yummy food. Or I'll finally be able to share the recipes I've been promising some people (especially my mother-in-law, who is patiently waiting for some crock pot recipes!).


I'm certainly someone who lives to eat doesn't eat to live. So that's me. Welcome to my blog.


And lastly, I have to give credit where credit is due, so I hope everyone read to this point! Thank you so much to my boss' husband, who came up with the name for this blog. It's thanks to him that I'm finally getting started. I couldn't for the life of me think of a clever name and he has quite the knack for things like this...I'm told this took him all of 10 seconds to create. So thanks to him...let the cooking begin!


~Chewing wisely