Creamy Broccoli Cheese Soup

Lately, I've had a craving for a creamy soup. Rather than going out and "splurging" I decided to create my own, and I know exactly what's in it.

This creamy broccoli cheese soup is reminiscent of the soup served at Panera Bread. The soup they serve is 6 PointsPlus for 1-cup; 9 PointsPlus for the 1 1/2 cup serving size bowl. This soup makes me just as happy, and it's only 3 PointsPlus for 1-cup; 5 PointsPlus for 2-cups.

I'm not a fan of fat free cheeses, but if you decide to swap the reduced fat shredded cheddar for fat free, your bowl of delicious soup is only 2 PointsPlus. If you're doing Simply Filling or Simple Start, you'll still only need to account for 1 Indulgence PointsPlus.

Broccoli Cheddar Soup

3 cups low sodium vegetable broth (I used Trader Joe's)
1 cup fat free half and half
16oz frozen organic broccoli
2 carrots, grated (or 1 cup carrot shreds)
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
4 Tbls corn starch
2 Tbls water
1 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese


1. In a large microwave safe bowl, place the grated carrots and top with the frozen broccoli. Microwave on high for 4-5 minutes, until broccoli is thawed and carrots are soft.

2. In the bowl of a food processor, addd the broccoli and carrots and pulse until finely chopped.

3. Transfer chopped broccoli and carrots to a large saucepan. Stir in the vegetable broth, half and half, minced garlic cloves, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil.

4. While waiting for the soup to boil, mix cornstarch with water to make a slurry. Once soup comes to a boil, stir in slurry, and cook over high heat until thick.

5. Reduce heat to low and stir in cheese.

6. Ladle into bowls and enjoy!


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6 servings | 3 Weight Watchers PointsPlus

Sloppy Taco Joes

This week has been a crazier week than usual. I find that when my schedule is packed, eating well is the first thing that goes out the window. I was determined to keep it simple, yet make sure I was following my Weight Watchers Simple Start plan. I feel better and more in control of myself, my emotions, and my hunger if I just take an extra five minutes to plan out my meals.

Here's something I whipped up before I went into work. Who doesn't like a 3-ingredient recipe? That's all it takes to make these Sloppy Taco Joes. It took all of about 15 minutes to cook and divide into containers. It made 4 meals, and instead of the bread, I served it with a 1/2 cup of quinoa and a piece of fruit. It was a quick and easy lunch.

If you're doing Weight Watchers, this is a Simple Start meal or 4 PointsPlus for just the Sloppy Taco Joe mixture.

Salted Hershey Kiss Popcorn

Week one of Simple Start is done, and I'm down .8lbs. It wasn't what I wanted, but anything moving in a downward direction I'll take! Jennifer, who weighed me in, reminded me the small numbers are good, safe, healthy, and mean I'm not swinging around with big losses and big gains. She's right.

The theme this week was, "You can't eat it if you don't have it." How right is that? I do all of my shopping for the week on Saturday, and I find by Thursday I'm out of food but I don't want to go to the store because I'll be going in two more days for my big shopping trip. That's the day I struggle with the most - I want to go out to eat "because there's nothing in the fridge." So when I went to the store today, I tried to be aware of that and plan food that can be made on those two final days before my grocery trip on Saturday.

Something else I realize I needed to plan are snacks because I've found myself very snacky in the evenings. Most of the time I try to ignore it, but this week I just wanted to indulge. What's your go-to snack right now? One of the snacks my Weight Watchers leader Noelle shared that she makes was a Fiber One brownie, fat free Cool Whip, and strawberries. Lots of volume in that snack so you feel full afterwards!

As I was thinking about snacks that would fit into Simple Start, would be kind to my indulgence points, yet truly feel like an indulgence, I settled on my own version of "gourmet popcorn." I discovered Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Air-Popped Popcorn is 3 PointsPlus for 2 1/2 cups, and it's a Power Food! Heaven! It's also very bland, so I'm going to look at it in a positive way: it's a blank canvas and ready for me to add my own fixings. And if I'm going to add something to this canvas, it's going to be chocolate. Chocolate, glorious chocolate. One ounce of chocolate is 4 PointsPlus. I did the math: 6 Hershey Kisses is one ounce, 4 PointsPlus. I can do that. Drizzled on the popcorn and sprinkled with sea salt? YES.

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Salted Hershey Kiss Popcorn

2 1/2 cups (1oz / 28 grams) Trader Joe's Reduced Guilt Air-Popped Popcorn
6 Hershey Kisses (or 1oz chocolate), unwrapped
Sea Salt
Sandwich sized Ziplock bag

Line a small tray with foil or wax paper. Place popcorn on the tray in a single layer. Try to fill in the holes as much as possible - you don't want the chocolate falling through the cracks.

Place the Hershey Kisses in a small microwave safe bowl and microwave for 30 seconds. Stir, and then return for another 30 seconds. The kisses should be melted; if they aren't, microwave on 10 second intervals.

Spoon the melted chocolate into the sandwich bag - try to get it as much in one of the corners as much as possible. Snip a tiny corner off of the bag and drizzle over the popcorn. Immediately sprinkle with the sea salt. Don't be stingy with it - the popcorn isn't salted so it can use the help.

Eat now for a slightly messy treat, or leave on the counter for the chocolate to harden. Eat or store in a quart sized bag for your next snack attack.

10 Minute Lentil Taco Bowl

After weighing in at my Weight Watchers meeting, I made the decision to reset the scale. Resetting the scale means a fresh start. All of my previous weight records - the gaining, the losing, the gaining, the losing - is erased.

I had made the same decision in February of last year, hoping it would kick start something in me.

It didn't.

To be honest, as much as I was frustrated and wanted to change, I just wasn't willing to put in the effort to make the change. I'd put in the effort a few days out of the week and then not the rest. I wanted to lose weight doing what I was doing - not being 100% committed. I ended up gaining an additional six pounds on top of ten that made me reset the scale the first time around. Sixteen pounds. Yikes. It just felt like that number kept hanging over my head. Even though I was losing weight, I never saw the negative number because the booklet kept showing me that I was still up pounds. That number was slowly being chipped away, but I didn't really see the progress. So I decided to erase the whole thing and start fresh again. I can now see the progress - down .4lbs this week. I need to keep chipping away at my ultimate goal, but it feels good to see that minus sign and not that plus sign.

In the spirit of new and fresh starts, I decided to try Simple Start for a week. Actually, I've decided to combine tracking with Simple Start. The point of Simple Start is to eat Power Foods since they are the most filling - and eat until you are satisfied. Not full, but satisfied. No measuring, no tracking, just keep it simple by focusing on the Power Foods. To help me keep a handle on what I'm eating, I'm going to track/measure as I go along. It's been a really great challenge to see what meals I can create based on Power Foods.

Here's something I came up with using lentils. It really took me all of ten minutes to make - thanks to a package of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils. The longest part is just waiting for the lentils to simmer with the taco spice. Build the bowl however you want. I used brown rice, but feel free to use quinoa or even polenta. Whatever floats your boat!

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10 Minute Lentil Taco Bowl

1 package of Trader Joe's Steamed Lentils  - or - 2 1/2 cups cooked lentils
2 Tbls homemade taco seasoning or 1 taco seasoning packet
1 cup of water
1/2 cup brown rice per person/serving
Lettuce
Pico de gallo
cilantro
green onions
2 Tbls fat free Greek yogurt per serving

Place the lentils in a medium sized saucepan with taco seasoning and water over medium high heat. Bring the mixture up to a hard simmer and then turn down to simmer. Stir occasionally and cook for about 10 minutes until the lentils are heated through and spices are absorbed. Serve 1/2 cup of lentil mixture over 1/2 cup brown rice. Top with veggies and fat free greek yogurt. Enjoy!

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5 servings | 5 Weight Watchers PointsPlus 

Simple Start To Losing Weight

One thing I love about a new year is the feeling of a fresh start, a clean slate. I know I can do that easily each day, but I feel like a new year gives me the chance to step back and look at the big picture and plan from there.

One of my goals for this year is to go to Weight Watchers for free. I've been paying my monthly dues for awhile now and haven't reached my weight loss goal. I'm dedicated for a few weeks, and then I stop being dedicated and gain back what I've lost. It's annoying, and it's my own fault. My weight is a life long battle, and it's kind of stupid to be tangled up in something so ridiculous for so long. Know what I mean? I think last year I gave myself a reprieve after an extremely difficult 2012, but looking back, I pretty much wasted 2013 in terms of getting myself back on track. So, I'm ready to buck up and do this thing...not because it's a new year, not because it's "resolution time," but because I'm continuing the process of what I already started about three months ago. I'm already down several pounds, and I'm working on keeping the number going downwards.

One of the things I love about doing Weight Watchers is there are no restrictions on food, literally. I saw a commercial for another weight loss service on TV and the host said, "Can you have mac and cheese? Ummm...nooooo...of course not, but you can have [this weight loss system's] version and it's good!" With Weight Watchers, I can have the real mac and cheese because it teaches me how to account for indulgences. When I first started with the program, I was a little confused by the points and just wished they had a program that I could follow with recipes to get me going. I'm so excited they've now released a version of the program called Simple Start, complete with recipes.

It's a two week program with an emphasis on what Weight Watchers calls "Power Foods": lean proteins, fruits, vegetables, whole grains, fat-free dairy and dairy substitutes. It's truly a no-brainer way to lose weight for those who are just starting out. It's also a great shot in the arm for those of us who have been doing the program for awhile. As long as you eat Power Foods until you are satisfied, there's no need to count. There are also 7 extra "indulgence" points for items that aren't power foods, like chips, jam, butter, ice cream, etc.

Simple Start has some seriously easy, no-brainer, meal ideas, plus ideas on how to create your own meals. There's also a Simple Start app for the iPhone and Android, so you can easily access the recipes. It really takes the guess work out of what to eat. Since I'm still not doing a lot of gluten or dairy, I'll just follow the alternative ideas the guide provides.

So why am I telling you all of this? Because I've been there. I remember what it was like to start losing weight. It should be easy - "eat less and move more" - but for those of us who battle weight, it feels complicated. I've had great success with Weight Watchers (when I follow the program!) and I love that they've made it even easier for someone to get a jump start on life change. If that's where you are, I just wanted you to know there's something out there that can help you get the ball rolling.

Here's to a great 2014!

Erin


(PS - really, Weight Watchers isn't paying me to talk about them. Everything I said, I said for free and on my own. I'm a middle child like that.)

Shockingly Good Pumpkin Chili

Seriously. Yes. There's pumpkin in this chili recipe. Why "shockingly good?" Because...who actually expects pumpkin in chili to be good, right?

This is exactly what my family considers "weird" cooking, so I made it and took it into work. They were a little leery about pumpkin in the chili, but it got nothing but big thumbs up. The pumpkin is very subtle and makes the chili very creamy. Plus, it's a nice nutrient boost. It's very hearty, meaty, and filling, and a 1-cup serving is only 4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus. I was ravenous at lunch, so I ate two cups for 9 PointsPlus and it totally hit the spot.

The chipotle peppers in adobo sauce add a nice, smokey heat. If you've never tried them before, try 'em for this recipe. Just package the rest of the peppers and sauce up in a sandwich baggy and freeze for your next recipe...or for when you make this again.

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Shockingly Good Pumpkin Chili

2lbs of lean ground beef (93/7)
1 large onion, diced
1 large green pepper, diced
1 zucchini, diced
8oz sliced baby Bella mushrooms
14.5 oz can diced fire roasted tomatoes
15oz can tomato sauce
15oz canned pumpkin
1 cup water or broth
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, chopped, plus one heaping tsp of sauce
2 Tbls chili powder
1 Tbls unsweetened cocoa powder
1 Tbls cumin
1 Tbls coriander
2 tsp salt
2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Cook the ground beef in a large skillet on the stove until it's cooked through. Drain and transfer to a big slow cooker.

Add in remaining ingredients and stir to combine.

Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 6-8 hours. Alternatively, mix in a big pot and cook over medium heat on the stove for a couple of hours.

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11 servings | 4 Weight Watchers PointsPlus per serving