Goals

I'm in sales.  My life revolves around goals.  Goals for how many phone calls I make.  How many emails I send.  The number I clients I see outside of the office...and in the office.  How many times I have lunch each month with clients.  And, of course, I have revenue goals.  I think being so goal-centric makes me set goals outside of work.  Goals for when I finish doing laundry, when we clean the house, everything I want to do before Cooper's birthday party.  I set "goals" for Christmas in how much money we're going to spend.  I guess that's more of a budget, than a goal. 

Anyway...I'm also not the best a meeting my goals.  I do great at work.  But that's how I get paid.  At home...things fall through the cracks rather quickly.  The Halloween costume for Cooper that I was going to make 2 weeks ago?  Yeah - I bought the fabric last night.  So when I started this diet I was asked to set a goal for how much I want to lose.  That's the point of a diet, right?  To reach a "goal weight?"  I'm not quite there yet, but I'm pretty darn close.  And yesterday I hit my first mini-goal.  5lbs.  I would have loved to drop 10 before our vacation, but I decided to be a little more realistic.  ((remember all of those lunches I'm supposed to have with clients?))  Instead I decided on 5.  I actually hit 5.5 and I still have 2 weeks before our vacation!  Score.

Pizza Pizza!!

I found this recipe in one of my Weight Watchers cookbooks years ago.  We've made it any time we've had a bit of leftover something - chicken, taco meat, etc.  Quick and easy!  Plus - you can adjust the ingredients to fit your points for the evening.  Last night I used 5 points.

Mexican Pizza

Whole Wheat Tortilla - 1

2oz cooked chicken - 2

Shredded 2% Mexican Blend Cheese - 2

Salsa - 0

Bake at 350 for 7-10 minutes.

We've also changed this up a bit with jarred pasta sauce and mozzarella.

What diet?

This weekend my cousin and his wife came to visit.  It was a last minute thing, but we haven't seen them in a while and we were looking for a chance to open some of our California wine.  Jason and I are going back in two weeks (yay!!) and we need to make room in the wine fridge for the wine we plan on bringing back.

We grilled some steaks and I wanted some sort of potatoes as a side.  I usually have the hardest time keeping mashed potatoes warm after we cook and mash them, so I decided to try these au gratin potatoes again. 

Lesson learned: some recipes are not meant to be made healthy. 

Last time I made these I used Half & Half and 2% shredded cheddar cheese.  Don't do that.  They were ok...but after making them Sunday, it's just not worth it.  Save the recipe for a day when you want something rich and creamy and so not good for you.

Potato Gratin Cups adapted from So Tasty So Yummy

• potatoes
• gruyere cheese, shredded
• heavy cream
• salt & pepper

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.  Preheat the oven to 350.  Slice potatoes 1/8" thin and cut to fit in muffin tin.  Layer potatoes in muffin tin, filling it about 1/3 of the way.  Top with a thin layer of shredded cheese, salt & pepper.  Repeat until full and pour 1 T of heavy cream over the top of each muffin cup.  They bake down so if the filling seems too tall, don't worry.  Bake 25 min, until it starts to brown on top.

Cluck cluck

Any day now I feel like I may sprout feathers and start clucking.  We're eating a LOT of chicken these days.  It's healthy, easy to prepare and can be used a hundred different ways.  I buy a huge package of chicken breasts or tenderloins each week and either use them in a recipe (like the previous post) or I grill the whole package for tacos, salads, sandwiches...you name it.  Plus, Cooper seems to be a huge fan of chicken.  Veggies...not so much these days.  But chicken...doesn't stand a chance.

This week I marinated some chicken and Jason threw it on the grill Sunday afternoon.  And OMG was it so freaking good!  You know those parties you get invited to and think "what the heck am I going to buy at this party?"  I always want to go.  I like getting to visit with friends, see the products, and of course the hostess usually has a wide variety of snacks.  I like snacks.

Earlier this year I went to a Homemade Gourmet party.  That was a first...but I like to cook.  Plus, I was given strict instructions to bring Cooper.  He was so tiny then!  And stationary...Anyway, I bought a few things - mostly dip mix type things.  But I also grabbed the Cilantro Citrus marinade.  I added the olive oil as directed and put the chicken in the fridge overnight.  The outside of the chicken charred a bit because of the oil, but we like it that way.

Since we've been cooking quite a bit of chicken I tend to try a mix it up a bit with the marinade - adding in a variety of flavors each time to see what I can come up with.  This was by far the best.  Just try it - trust me, you won't be sorry!

Swiss Enchiladas

Only they were not Swiss.  Last week Kelly and Eileen came over for the afternoon so that we could cook some dinners for the freezer.  I mean, if you're going to mess up your kitchen you may as well double the recipe and hang out with a friend at the same time.  I chose two recipes and we each went to the store for what we needed.

We also learned a valuable lesson.  This is not something that should be attempted when at home with two children and no husbands.  Especially if one child has boycotted his naps (ahem *Cooper* ahem) and is cranky.  It was like herding cats.  Or something.

In the end, we managed to get two recipes completed to put in our freezers.  This recipe had to be alterted a bit so that it was a little more Weight Watchers friendly.  I thawed it out Wednesday so that Jason and I could have dinner.  It was good the first night when I threw it in the oven, but the second night out of the microwave...it just didn't taste as good to me.  The sauce gets a little funky in the microwave.  Jason and I both decided that it was ok, but we'd rather have some other kind of enchiladas than try this again.

Swiss Enchiladas from Cooking Light

• 1 T olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups chopped onion
• 2 cups chopped cooked skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 2 breasts)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 4.5oz cans diced green chiles, undrained
• 1 14.5oz can petite diced tomatoes, undrained
• 2 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 T all-purpose flour
• 1/4 t salt
• 6 8" whole wheat tortillas (low-fat)
• 2 cups shredded 2% milk Mexican blend cheese, divided

Preheat oven to 350.  In a large nonstick skillet, heat olive oil.  Add onion and cook 5 minutes, or until tender. Stir in chicken, garlic, chiles, and tomatoes. Reduce heat, and simmer 7 minutes or until liquid evaporates. Set aside.
Combine milk and flour in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 5 minutes or until mixture thickens, stirring constantly with a whisk. Stir in salt.
Warm tortillas according to package directions. Spoon about 1/2 cup chicken mixture and about 2 1/2 tablespoons cheese down center of each tortilla; roll up. Arrange filled tortillas in the bottom of a 13 x 9-inch baking dish coated with cooking spray. Pour milk mixture over tortillas, and top evenly with remaining 1 cup cheese. Bake at 350° for 25 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Remove from oven.

Serving size: one tortilla, 7pts per serving