I think I can handle fro-yo, so long as it's blended with ice cream

Let me just start this by saying that I HATE FROZEN YOGURT. I figure that if I'm going to eat ice cream I may as well just eat ice cream. I compromise and usually get "light" ice cream, but lately? The only frozen treat I allow myself are Weight Watchers Giant Cookies and Cream bars. More on those another time.

Yesterday in a complete stupor I accidentally put a carton of Dreyer's Slow Churned Yogurt Blend ice cream in my cart. I actually meant to put the No Sugar Added vanilla in my cart but since Sydney had completely worn me out all day yesterday and the night before ... like I said, STUPOR. I realized my mistake by the time I got to the checkout but I didn't care. This had basically the same nutritional info as the reduced sugar, just ten more calories per serving (come to think of it, I didn't check serving sizes to compare. I wonder...). I figured I'd give it a shot with my balsamic strawberries. Anyway, for a 1/2 cup serving it's two Weight Watchers points ... not too bad! I had about a cup serving last night I think (two scoops). It tasted good to me ... it definitely had that yogurt-y flavor in there but it was very mild and as far as texture goes it wasn't as rock-hard as the no sugar added vanilla (I hate that).

Thumbs up! The rest of the container is in trouble at this house!

Strawberries with balsamic vinegar

Strawberries are in season right now, and at Costco they have these HUGE 5-lb containers of strawberries for about $6. Needless to say, I always have to buy one when I'm there. My intentions are always the best ... I tell myself that I'm going to have fresh strawberries until they're coming out my ears because they're good for me and they're not a lot of WW points. HA!

Yesterday I picked up a new container, thinking that the strawberries in my fridge from last time had probably gone bad. When I got home and went to exchange the old for the new, I found that my "old" container of strawberries was still in good shape and suddenly? I've got TEN pounds of strawberries!


Luckily a blogger buddy of mine recently posted that she'd put balsamic vinegar on her strawberries as a way to flavor and preserve them. HUH? I was just as confused as I was intrigued by this. Don't get me wrong, I love strawberries and I ALSO love balsamic vinegar. The combination just seemed to weird to be good. I googled a recipe (sure enough it's the Italian way to eat strawberries! Mangia! I'm an uncultured redneck!) and used this one as a template for my own little experiment. Hey! I had strawberries to burn and if I didn't end up liking it what did I have to lose?

First I hulled and cut up the strawberries and then gave them a quick rinse. I set aside a smaller bowl to make balsamic strawberries and just sprinkled sugar over the rest in another container to preserve them for later. Then to my bowl I added an easy tablespoon of the balsamic vinegar (I was scared!) and a tablespoon of sugar. The recipe also called for pepper, which I omitted. Then I left the covered bowl on the counter until I could get around to dessert later (it took three hours).
Later when Sydney was sleeping and after I'd eaten my dinner, I spaded a few scoops of ice cream into the bowl and took a tentative bite.

I was pleasantly surprised! I was expecting the sharp taste of vinegar, but instead the strawberries just tasted flat out DELICIOUS! They weren't too sweet or too bitter ... perfection. The marination was the key: the vinegar absorbed into the berries and married the sugar beautifully. I will probably be making this again tonight for my husband when he gets home from his trip (and then making it again and again all summer long!).

Must-have kitchen tool: Ice cream spade

If you're like me, you LOVE ice cream. Especially when pregnant. When my husband and I first got married it was soon decided (by me) that if I was going to do most of the cooking, he was going to be responsible for making the coffee and scooping the ice cream. He did all right with the coffee-making (despite making an unholy mess every time he did it, ha!) but the ice cream scooping? The man turned out to be a complete WIMP! I have never heard so much whining about ice cream IN MY LIFE! You'd think a man who can bench press more than 200 pounds wouldn't have trouble with a tub of ice cream, but you'd be WRONG. He struggled terribly with the cheap traditional scoops we'd received as wedding gifts. And he WHINED.

Lucky for him I found this little beauty at TJ Maxx Homegoods: a KitchenAid ice cream spade. This spade is much like the scoop of my childhood (my mother is ice cream's #1 fan and has been known to take out an entire half gallon container BY HERSELF in two sittings. I am NOT exaggerating. Anyway, she has one of those old-school all-metal spades like they have at Coldstone or Marble Slab and it's the way we scooped ice cream every night at my house for my ENTIRE LIFE) only better! It slices through ice cream like butter, and has a very comfortable handle. I will never "scoop" ice cream again!

I used our spade for the first time in a long time (thanks to Weight Watchers I'm not eating so much ice cream anymore. Sigh) and I was reminded of how awesome it is! Hopefully I can find an ice cream that won't cost me too many points so it can go back on duty this summer!

Surviving Weight Watchers, Vol. 3: Fiber One Bars

My friend Joy is a Weight Watchers point-wringing expert and told me that the more fiber a food has, the less points it costs ... something about high fiber balances out fat and calories. I don't know how this magic works out but I don't care ... gimme FIBER! So one day I was perusing my grocery store for packable foodstuffs for in-a-hurry emergencies. I had my iPhone with me (do you have the mobile application, by the way? GENIUS!!), so I entered the nutrition info for these granola bars in the points calculator and guess what? TWO POINTS!! I was even more excited when I actually ate one of these ... they are REALLY good. Lots of chocolate and very tasty.

So? Go to Costco and buy these - in the oats & chocolate flavor - in bulk. Station in your purse/diaper bag/car. SURVIVE.

xoxo, Manda

Disneyland's Cafe Orleans (YUM!)

My husband grew up going to Disneyland with his family. I went for the first time in 2002 (but I'd been to Disney World as a kid). Yesterday we ate lunch at Cafe Orleans (near the Pirates of the Caribbean ride) and John and his family kept commenting that the food at Disneyland is awesome compared to what it used to be! We feasted on ratatouille with corn cakes and asparagus, frites with garlic and parmesan and spicy aioli, a monte cristo with raspberry preserves that would make you WEEP, French onion soup ... it was AMAZING! Despite the crowds we were seated relatively quickly and ate until we were stuffed for about $40 per couple. If you're at Disneyland any time soon, don't miss out on Cafe Orleans!!

Surviving Weight Watchers, Vol 2: Breakfast muffin

This is one of the EASIEST things you can make to save yourself from the DOOM of HUNGER!! The key? These amazing Oroweat Double Fiber English Muffins. They should be available at most grocery stores, but I usually grab a few packs when I go to Target (I don't have a Super Target, just a regular one with a limited grocery section). The muffins are ONE POINT for the entire thing!! I often use them instead of a bun for a veggie/turkey burger as a way to shave off a few points. THEY ARE SO AWESOME! I also occasionally spread some The Laughing Cow Light cheese on one if I need a filling snack. It is a great substitute for cream cheese or butter (and as a side note, I HATE SWISS CHEESE! This cheese is very mild and tastes nothing like regular Swiss).


So, here's the recipe, a mere THREE points:


Breakfast Muffin (3 points)

1 Oroweat Double Fiber English muffin, toasted - 1 point
1 serving (1/4ish cup) Quick Egg Whites - 1 point
1 wedge The Laughing Cow Light spreadable swiss cheese - 1 point

I learned a trick about scrambled eggs when I used to work at a bagel shop in college that served sammys on bagels. Use a small microwavable bowl ... plastic or glass will work fine. Spray it with Pam, then pour in your egg mix. Microwave for 2-3 minutes, until you can see that the eggs are cooked on the bottom of the container you're using (there shouldn't be any liquid hanging around in there, unless you LIKE that sort of thing. In which case? GROSS). It might appear that your eggs are going to overflow at some point because they get REALLY puffy in the micro, but don't panic, they go back down and I've never had an accident. When you're done you have PERFECT scrambled eggs already shaped in a circle and you can just flip it onto your sandwich!! No mess, no pans on the stove, no overly dry eggs! I actually prefer to eat scrambled eggs this way, even when NOT on a sandwich!!

Surviving Weight Watchers, Vol. 1: Yogurt with fiber

Lately I eat based on getting the maximum food for the minimum amount of points on Weight Watchers. I'm going to try and share a few of the recipes I've come up with and foods I've discovered that have helped me lose 21.5 pounds so far! These combinations are filling, taste good and are healthy even if you're NOT on Weight Watchers!! :)

Yogurt with fiber = 3 points

8 oz. Fage Greek Total 0% Yogurt (plain) -2 points
1 tbs. Honey - 1 point
1/2 cup Fiber One cereal - 0 points
1 cup fresh strawberries - 0 points

I often eat this for breakfast or as an afternoon snack when I'm really struggling. Does the job! Strawberries are in season right now so I'm always looking for ways to get through the huge containers I buy at Costco. It's one fruit you can eat a lot of and it hardly costs you anything! YAY!