Eating out … and getting exactly what you WANT!

I went out to eat at a local restaurant which is known for their seafood. I’m not a big seafood fan BUT I do enjoy fried seafood (primarily fish and clams) every once in a while. I knew the restaurant sold a staple grilled chicken dinner (which I have had in the past) but … I really wanted fried haddock.

Decisions, decisions. I had enough points in the day to have the fish and not feel guilty about it. Plus, since it’s what I really wanted, I knew if I didn’t have it, I wasn’t going to be satisfied with the chicken dish – so I decided to just order the fish. Although, I knew if I ordered the haddock basket I would eat every single French fry and the container of cole slaw … because I know me, I just would.

I noticed under the salads section on the menu there was an option to add ether chicken, steak, shrimp or baked fish to the salad for an additional cost.  I asked if I could substitute the baked fish for fried haddock and was told “of course, no problem!” So that’s exactly what I did.  I ordered a large garden salad – without croutons, with raspberry vinaigrette on the side (the waitress advised that this was the lowest calorie option they had available, so I went with it – using the “dip” method – dipping the end of my fork into the dressing before eating the salad).  And I ordered my fried haddock along with it.

My meal came out; I had my fish (and my tartars sauce!) and was completely satisfied and happy.  I took half my fish and salad home and ate it later on in the evening.

I estimated the haddock filet to be 13 points plus values, the tartar sauce to be 4 points plus values and the teeny tiny amount of dressing I may have used to be 2 points plus values.

Was it worth it? Every point, bite, lick and taste!  Why? Because I wanted it, I tracked it and it satisfied me.  And guess what?  I stepped on the scale the next day and was down 3 pounds!

QUESTION:

Are you comfortable going out to eat and having what you want but in a way you’re comfortable having it?

Filling Simple Breakfast

I’ve learned to really love and enjoy breakfast.  Prior to joining Weight Watchers, breakfast was a distant memory. I never ate breakfast and if I did fall into a breakfast habit it was always a McDonald’s or Dunkin Donuts specialty.  These days McDonald’s and Dunkin Donuts breakfasts are a distant memory and filling and point friendly breakfasts are on the menu.

This particular meal was a product of a few leftovers. Jimmy Dean breakfast sausages from “brinner” (breakfast for dinner) the night before and a serving of Trader Joe’s Roasted Potatoes with Peppers and Onions.  To tie it all together, I scrambled up ½ cup of egg substitute, seasoned with pepper, salt and spices.

The greatest part about this meal is the fact that aside from it being filling, it was only 4 points plus values!  One of the Jimmy Dean breakfast sausage patties is 1 points plus, a serving (3/4 cup) of Trader Joe’s Roasted Potatoes with Peppers and Onions is 2 points plus values and the ½ cup of egg substitute is 1 points plus values.

QUESTION:

What is one of your favorite breakfasts?

Trader Joe’s Baked Jalapeno Cheese Crunchies

I purchased a bag of Trader Joe’s Baked Jalapeno Cheese Crunchies because I am a lover of cheese curls/doodles and I tried the original baked cheese crunchies and was a fan.  I was intrigued by the jalapeno flavoring, although a little weary because with spicy chips/snacks you never quite know how spicy they are going to be.

Even though these have 33% less fat in them than regular cheese crunchies, you really can’t tell with the jalapeno flavoring.  The less fat “flavoring” is far more noticeable in the original flavored crunchies.  These do pack a punch in the jalapeno department. They are spicy and can be a little much if you eat too many.  I can’t say I was a huge fan of these, but they were good.  I think I much rather the original flavor because sometimes spice just hits me wrong.

The great thing about these is that a serving is 33 crunchies and a serving is 4 points plus values.  Not bad because I feel like with these I’m getting a lot more bang for my point buck in comparison to other cheese curls/doodles on the market.

QUESTION:

Have you tried either of the Trader Joe’s Baked Cheese Crunchies?

Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Cereal

I spotted this new Hershey’s Cookies ‘n’ Creme Cereal at Target but refrained from purchasing because I had a few boxes of cereal at home to eat up.  Well, since I was in the midst of my cereal kick I ended up finishing off a box so I picked up this as a new flavor cereal.  I anticipated that this cereal would be phenomenal.  I mean cookies and cream? One of my favorite ice cream flavors ever in cereal form? No doubt it had to be amazing…

I opened the box, measured out my ¾ cup serving and ate it with some almond milk and I have to say … I was disappointed. It didn’t measure up to what I thought it would taste like.  It reminded me of a subdued cocoa puff with another flavor mixed in the background.  You can’t quite taste the “creme” but the chocolate is really mild and a little boring.  It’s not a sweet cereal to say the least.  The flavor combination kind of threw my taste buds for a loop.  This is a cereal I’d eat once in a while, but it’s not a cereal that’ll be my staple … nor will it be a cereal that I’d purchase again.

A ¾ cup serving is 3 points plus values.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any new interesting cereals lately?

Dinner: Carba-Nada Pasta with Trader Joe’s Turkey Meatballs

It’s been a while since we had pasta and I really had a hankering for it.  Since we were having pasta, I decided to try out two Trader Joe’s products I had picked up for a pasta night – turkey meatballs and garlic marinara sauce.

I’ve grown into quite a loving fan of Carba-Nada pasta. 1 ½ cups of pasta is only 3 points plus which is quite a bang for my buck, points wise.  Not only am I getting a bigger serving of pasta, but I’m getting it all for almost half the points of regular pasta.  I made myself two servings of pasta – one to have for dinner and the other to have as leftovers the following day. Of course, we made regular Barilla pasta for my boyfriend to have with his serving of pasta.

I had some red peppers on the countertop that I had picked up at the grocery store. I typically like to boost up my pasta with extra flavors, so I sliced up a whole red pepper, a medium onion and put it into the oven to roast.  When the pasta and onions were done, I simply tossed them into my cooked pasta dishes.

I tossed the pasta with servings (1/2 cup) of Trader Joe’s Garlic Marinara Sauce.  The sauce is thick and sticks to the pasta.  Each ½ cup serving is 2 points plus. The sauce is incredibly flavorful and adheres to the pasta nicely.  Nothing is worse than runny sauce on pasta that just makes a soupy mess.

 

As a side to our pasta, I cooked the Trader Joe’s Fully Cooked Turkey Meatballs in the oven. I let the outside brown until heated throughout and then garnished the pasta dishes with the meatballs on the side.  A serving size is 2 meatballs which calculate out to 3 points plus values. I decided to have a double serving for 5 points plus values.  The meatballs are totally delicious – my boyfriend quite enjoyed them and they were a hit. So much of a hit, I repurchased a bag on my last Trader Joe’s trip. They don’t have that “frozen meatball” flavor that I find frozen meatballs typically have.

The whole dish shown was only 10 points plus values! Quite a steal for a boatload of delicious food!

QUESTION:

What is your favorite way to have pasta?

Dinner: Homestyle Stuffing Chicken Breast w/ Potato

For the first time in a while, my boyfriend made a dinner request – stuffed chicken breast. So that’s what we planned on having and that’s exactly what we had!  I have to admit, it was a super easy and quick meal, but it was also delicious.

Barber Foods sells boxed stuffed chicken breasts which are raw. Basically, you remove the chicken breast from it’s individual packaging, put onto a baking sheet and bake it in the oven for the designated amount of time until cooked through.  I’ve been a fan of this brand for along time – their broccoli and cheese being one of my personal favs. But since Barber Foods makes a lot of their chicken with cheeses in them – it really limits what we can purchase since my boyfriend is not a fan of cheese.  The Barber Foods Seasoned Raw Stuffed Chicken Breasts with Homestyle Stuffing is a hot commodity and pretty hard to find sometimes. It’s a simple seasoned chicken breast, which is stuffed with homestyle stuffing.  They are delicious, moist and just a super quick and easy way to get dinner on the table without the extra work if you were to assemble stuffed chicken breast on your own.

While the chicken was cooking, we “cheated” and cooked the potatoes in the microwave.  We also used canned green beans as a side and unsweetened natural applesauce.  Dinner was done and plated in less than 35 minutes.

My entire plate shown was 9 points plus.  6 points plus for the Homestyle Stuffing Chicken Breast, 3 points plus for 5.5 ounce of potato, green beans and ¼ cup apple sauce.

QUESTION:

Have you tried any of the Barber Foods chicken breasts?

Lay’s Air Pops Sour Cream & Onion

I first spotted the Lay’s Air Pops Sour Cream & Onion chips at CVS when running in to pick up a prescription. The chips weren’t marked, so I didn’t pick them up – but when I spotted them at the grocery store I decided to give them a shot.

At first it was nice to see Lay’s come out with a healthier alternative to potato chips. Sure they have a line of baked potato chips, but if you’re a snacker, you’ve seen brands come out with similar products.  Looking at the bag, I thought they’d be the Lay’s version of Pop Chips – but upon opening them, I found they are rather a cross between Pop Chips and Kellogg’s Cracker Chips. They’re as thick as Pop Chips, but their light and airy like the cracker chips. They have the classic Lay’s sour cream and onion flavoring.

The chips are sold in three flavors: original, barbecue (which I also purchased) and sour cream and onion.

A serving size is 1 ounce – roughly 19 crisps.  A serving is 3 points plus values.  The bag itself only contains 3 servings, so if you went a little heavy handed into the bag and lost track and ate them all – the whole bag is 10 points plus.

QUESTION:

Have you tried the Lay’s Air Pops?