Back to Reality and Back on Plan!

OH, I KNOW!  I've been extremely neglectful!  You guys don't deserve it.  The stress of preparing for vacation got me sick before I left for Miami and the Bahamas, and then the stress of returning home got me sick when I landed.  But alas, here I am, alive and well, with recipes to share!

First, I'm going to share with you the way my boyfriend and I spent our New Year's Eve.  I made us some Hungry Girl Lean Bean N' Cheese Enchiladas, the recipe for which can be found here.  (4 PointsPlus for one enchilada)  They were HUGE, and soooo delicious!!  I would definitely make these again and often, because they definitely satisfy any cravings for Mexican food.

To go with the enchiladas, I made homemade tortilla chips out of the leftover tortillas.  I just cut the tortillas into triangle wedges, laid them on a prepared baking sheet, and cooked them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees.  (I would watch them though because some ovens vary and if you burn them, you're done.)  Top these "chips" with some 0 PointsPlus salsa, and you've got yourself a healthy Mexican midnight snack.

To go along with the Spanish theme, I made some Hungry Girl Party-in-a-Pitcher Sangria.  I hate to say it, but I think Hungry Girl dropped the ball on this one.  I've never heard of oranges, bananas, or strawberries in sangria.  The fruit would have been better all by itself.  Other than that, I may just be a weakling, but the sangria was WAY TOO STRONG! I had to dilute every glass with more Sprite Zero and Diet Cranberry juice.  Next year, we'll stick with the Moscato wine we know and love.

On the plus side, the sangria did look really pretty in the glasses.

And this is what our entire Mexican fiesta looked like:

Next, I've got some great ideas of what to do with boring, plain, bland Original Quaker Instant Oatmeal, with absolutely no flavor at all.  The whole reason I bought the Original-flavor oatmeal was to see what I can do with it to make it taste better.  It's obviously healthier than flavored instant oatmeal since it doesn't have any artificial flavors or high amounts of sugar.

The first step for me was to add some Splenda to the oatmeal, because I have a huge sweet tooth.  Next I decided to add some cinnamon and a sliced up banana.  I may have also added 1/2 teaspoon of Brown Sugar Splenda.  Mix it all up, and you've got a giant bowl of oatmeal for only 3 PointsPlus.
(Please excuse how messy this bowl looks; I accidentally exploded the oatmeal in the microwave.)

The next thing I tried was adding some thawed frozen fresh peaches, obviously with some Splenda.  This was certainly good, but since I'm biased to bananas, that oatmeal was better.

My mom loves to add blueberries and cranberries to her oatmeal, and I'm sure apples and cherries would taste just as good.  Let me know if you try it and how it turns out.

The week before I left for vacation I wanted to be extra good with my fruits, veggies, and proteins since I knew I wouldn't be getting much of that while I was away.  So I discovered some interesting ways to spice up salads.  (You may just have to trust me on these... I know they're a little weird.)

I am a HUGE ketchup lover, and since it's extremely low in PointsPlus value, I decided I'd see how it went on my salad.  All this is is a packaged lettuce mix with a few tablespoons of Ketchup.  I counted it as 1 PointsPlus because I used a lot of ketchup, but if you have a smaller salad with only a bit of ketchup, it should be 0 PointsPlus. --- Like I said, I know it's weird! But if you love ketchup, trust me on this one - Please!

 

While that was more of a side dish, this next salad is more of an appetizer or even a main meal.  It's just lettuce with 1/2 cup of MorningStar Farms Meal Starters Sausage-Style Recipe Crumbles (2 PointsPlus) and 2 tablespoons of Ken's Lite Creamy Caesar Dressing (3 PointsPlus).  The crumbles add just enough substance to this salad to really fill you up for a while, and feel free to mix it up with different lower-calorie dressings!

Since I had some salsa leftover from the tortilla chips, and salsa is 0 PointsPlus, I thought I'd try it on a salad.  BAD IDEA - DO NOT TRY!  It was just a huge failure...

So after all those salads, it was finally time to leave for Miami, my Carnival cruise, and the Bahamas.

And now for the complete opposite of what you're supposed to do on Weight Watchers... MY VACATION: (and these pictures aren't even half of it...)

So that was my little one-week escape from reality and escape from counting PointsPlus, and it was all extremely delicious and relaxing.  Now that I'm back home, it's back on track and back on plan!!  I've got to stop looking at those pictures though...

I cannot wait to get back to my cookbooks, and I'm sure my kitchen misses me.  So until next time... Happy Eating!!
- Steph =)