Weekly Recipe and Weight loss Post!

March 18, 2009

Today was weigh in and I lost another 2.2 lbs. I gave thanks immediately to God for giving me strength throughout my Gatlinburg weekend. I had several people ask me what I ate on the trip in order to still lose weight so I'll give you a short summary: Breakfast was usually a Fiber One bar and some type of fruit. Lunch on Friday was grilled chicken skewers with green peppers and onions, sweet potato, and salad with low fat dressing. I also ate 1/2 of a yeast roll. Dinner Friday was 3 soft chicken tacos (no sour cream) and some refried beans. (I splurged a little). I had coffee later that evening but no dessert. Saturday lunch was Grilled cedar plank talipia, steamed broccoli, salad with low fat dressing and 1/2 of a yeast roll. Later that evening we went by Starbucks and I had a skinny cow caramel latte and a reduced fat cinnamon coffee cake (I could not believe Starbucks had a reduced fat dessert and it was absolutely delicious)! I was not really hungry after splurging on the coffee cake so for dinner, I ate some fat free kettle popcorn, a pack of reduced fat peanut butter crackers, and some fruit. I worked out on the treadmill twice while we were away so I managed to get some exercise in as well. I had a good time and still managed to stay within my points.

I am going to publish 2 recipes this week, one for turkey burgers that has been requested and one dessert to show folks that you can eat desserts with less calories that still taste great. Okay, Andrea, this is the part of my blog where you may stop reading and start drinking those protein shakes. (ha ha)

Turkey Burgers

1 lb of lean ground turkey (93% lean preferably)

1 tablespoon onion flakes

1/4 cup of egg beaters (whites only)

1/4 cup of Progresso Panko bread crumbs (plain)

1 tsp of garlic powder

1 tsp pepper

In bowl, mix ground turkey, onion flakes, egg beaters, bread crumbs, garlic powder, and pepper.

Pat out in (4) 4 oz. patties. Grill 10 minutes on each side or until done.

Note: If you want your burgers with a little more moisture, spray bottom of non stick pan with olive oil cooking spray and cook burgers on med. high covered until done on both sides. This allows some of the juices to stay around the burger. You can take them out and place them on a paper towel before you put them on a bun.

Serving suggestions: I buy a new product from Arnolds called Sandwich thins. You can buy these at WalMart at the deli area in front of the counter. They come 8 in a pack and you can buy them in white, wheat, rye or multi grain. They are Awesome! I spray a little I Can't Believe Its Butter Spray on each side of the sandwich thin and grill or toast the top of it until light brown. I add my turkey burger, 1 Tbsp. reduced fat mayonnaise, lettuce, tomato, and pickles. Yum Yum!

(My husband throws a few jalapenos peppers on his and sometimes we add salsa)

Weight Watcher points for burger only is 5. Sandwich thins is 1. Hellman's reduced fat mayonnaise 0 Points. Total WW points = 6.

I serve mine with sweet potato fries and fresh mixed fruit.

Devine Strawberry Cake

1 box of yellow cake mix (dry)

1 12 oz can of Diet 7 up or Diet Sprite

2 small boxes of sugar free strawberry jello

2 cups of water

1 cup of fresh cut strawberries

1 1/2 tsp of splenda

1 8 oz container of sugar free cool whip

In bowl mix dry cake mix and 12 oz. can of diet 7UP or diet sprite. Spray 9 x 13 pan with cooking spray. Pour batter in pan and bake according to directions on cake box.

When cake is done, set aside to cool. Allow cake to cool to room temperature. Mix in bowl 2 small boxes of sugar free strawberry jello and 2 cups of boiling water. Poke holes in top of cake and pour jello mixture over cake. Cover cake with saran wrap and refrigerate. Cut fresh strawberries up in bowl. Add 1 1/2 tsp of splenda and allow strawberries to sit in refrigerator for approximately 30 minutes. Take cake and strawberries out and spread strawberries over top of cake. Whip cool whip with wire whisk and spread over top of strawberries and cake. Makes 20 servings. Weight Watcher points: 3 pts per serving.

I have also used a mixture of raspberries & strawberries and blueberries. You can get creative with this cake so experiment a little.

Hope you're hungry now and let me know what you think if you make either one of these recipes.