Chillllay Babay

Even though its August and hot out, I wanted Chili tonight. I am also going out of town this weekend and chili is something my son can easily heat up for himself (my husband will also be here but he is not much of a cook). There are zillions of recipes out there for chili and mine is nothing new or innovative. That said, I really like it and its easy to make and its zero smart points per serving if you use the 99%ff ground chicken or turkey.I use the instant pot but if you don't have one, you can just use a nice dutch oven to cook it up in. I doubled up on it tonight so we would have plenty, but I find  it will make 4-6 nice healthy portions without doubling. I love to eat mine over a bowl of riced cauliflower. It bulks it up without adding too many calories.

Lots of cans!

Amy's everyday chili

Ingredients:

16oz package of 99%ff ground chicken or turkey

1 can kidney beans rinsed and drained

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

1 small onion chopped

3-4 cloves of garlic (if I'm feeling lazy I used the chopped frozen cubes)

1 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes

1 15oz can of diced tomatoes (or tomato sauce) I like the texture of the diced tomatoes but sometimes I use the sauce, my son likes that better.

2T chili powder

1T cumin

dash of garlic powder

salt and pepper to taste

Spray oil

1. I set the instant pot to saute and let it heat up.When it gets hot, I use my misto olive oil mister and spritz some in to coat the pan. I throw in the diced onions and let them soften about 5 minutes. 

2. Once onions are soft, I throw in my frozen garlic cubes, let them heat up and then add the ground chicken or turkey. I make sure its cooked all the way through and browned a little. When you use the instant pot though, if you get little bits stuck to the bottom of the pot it might give you problems coming to pressure, so make sure that nothing is stuck.

3. Once that is done, hit the off button on the saute feature. Throw in the beans, the tomatoes and then the spices and your salt and pepper. I don't stir any of it.

4. Put your lid on, hit manual and enter 30 minutes.

5. Most of the time I just let the pressure naturally release, but sometimes I get impatient.

All the ingredients are zero points, unless you use tomato sauce, you might have to account for a point or two per serving if you use sauce.

heating it up to cook up the onions

Browing the chicken

I love this stuff. I get it at Trader Joes. They also make ginger. Its the best stuff!!

Just dump everything in

I got impatient tonight and I used the quick release method. It made my whole house smell like delicious chili. It was like a chili diffuser. The only problem was it was so tasty, I ate entirely too much.

I had some fresh corn and I crunched up some  Good Thins corn chips. Yummmmm!

Black Bean Corn Goodness

A little mis en place 

I have been making this salad for well over 20 years. I think I read a recipe in a magazine, never wrote it down but made up my own version of it. It's not rocket science but its very good, on its own, on some chips or even on a regular salad. Its the thing my family asks for at bbq's. Its pretty easy, and does not use a lot of ingredients. I always forget to buy the cilantro though. According to 23 and me, I am not one of those people who thinks cilantro tastes like soap. Lucky gal that I am. If you have a genetic soap taster in your midst, I think you could leave it out. It would still be good. As far as weight watchers points go, the only thing in it with points is the olive oil.

So here it goes: My Famous Bean Salad

Ingredients:

1 can black beans rinsed and drained

3 ears of corn, cooked and then all the kernels cut off

5 tomatoes-diced (you can use any kind of tomatoes, I even threw in a bunch of the tiny grape tomatoes from my son's garden).

1/2 cup cilantro diced

1 medium red onion diced

Juice from 3 limes (you want at the very least 1/3 cup of lime juice. I like more)

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

2T EVOO

Salt and Pepper to taste

Basically you just throw it all in a nice pretty bowl, cover it, let it sit in the fridge for a bit and eat. It tastes a lot better after it has hung out in the fridge for a few hours. I like to make it the night before we will eat it to give all the flavors time to marinate.

So as far as smart points go, I figure this makes 8 servings and its 1 point for the olive oil. 

Enjoy!!!!!!

corn and beans, beans and corn....

My son contributed these cuties from his garden. Sometimes his hobbies are helpful.

Voila- Good enough to eat.

I had to taste some to make sure it was good.

link to print recipe

So Salady

I usually meal prep on Sunday evenings during the school year but this summer, my schedule has kind of gone out the window. I had a little time today so I decided to make up a bunch of salads to eat over the weekend. It really helps me stay on track if  don't have to start making food at the time I need to eat the food. I am totally loving this bagged salad from costco. It has shaved brussels sprouts and kale and it comes with a little baggie of dressing and pumpkin seeds and craisins. I toss the dressing and make my own but I love love love the extra little sweet joy that I get from the dried cranberries.  I also get the 'love beets' from costco.  Beets are one of my all time favorite veggies and these are diced and in vinegar. They are perfection because when you roast beets at home, it always looks like you murdered someone on your kitchen counter. 

The bagged salad and the beets are 0 smart points. I use 1 T of the craisin/pepita mix for 1 smart point and 1 t of the seed/grain mix for one smart point.  I also add some chicken  (0 sp) and 2 T of my dressing for 1 smart point. The whole shebang is 3 smart points total. You could totally jazz it up with some blue cheese crumbles.

How beautiful is this??? The colors all match! So aesthetically pleasing as well as delicious

This is the little bag of craisins and pepitas along with a seed/grain blend I got at  Trader Joes

Like I said, I toss the weird poppy seed dressing that comes with the salad and make my own. This is my go to dressing. I love lemons!!!! Its so simple and quick to whip up.

Lemon Mustard Dressing: Serving Size, 2 T, makes 8 servings at 1 sp each

1/2 c lemon juice
2 T dijon mustard
1/4 EVOO

Mix up in a jar and enjoy

Still life with lemons

I like my chicken 'Jerkified' aka burnt beyond recognition.

This makes me all tingly inside. 

Overnight Chocolate Banana Oats

So pretty!

I am a little late to the overnight oats in a mason jar thing, but I am making up for lost time. I stayed away from carbs for so long that these are like a delicious cheat meal for me. Sad, I know, but they are really tasty and they look really pretty in my cute blue mason jars. I sometimes make up to 4 jars at a time. Right now I am making two. At first it kind of made me nervous to burn up 5 points for my first meal of the day, but they are worth the points. Oats are really good for you, the fiber is filling. The chia seeds are a great source of omegas and cocoa powder is an antioxidant.





Amy's Chocolate Banana Overnight Oats (5 smart points)

1/3c rolled oats (3 smart points)
1 teaspoon chia seeds (1 smart points)
1 tablespoon cocoa powder (0 smart points)
1 banana, cut in half (0 smart points)
1/2 cup plain fat free Greek yogurt (0 smart points)
1/3 cup milk of your choice (depends on what milk you use, the Califia toasted coconut almond milk is 1 point)


1. Cut your banana in half, take one half and mash it up in a small bowl. Put that at the bottom of your jar, and save the rest for later.
2. On top of banana mash, add your oats.
3. In the small bowl you used for your banana, throw in your yogurt, and the cocoa and mix up. Put that on top of the oats. If you want to add some sweetener, you can. Sometimes I add my drizzle of honey, I don't even count it because its such a tiny amount. The bananas add a lot of sweetness though.
4. Sprinkle on the chia seeds, add the milk.
5. Slice up the remaining banana and layer that on top.
6. Screw the lid on. You can give it a little shakey shake if you so desire, or just mix it up in the morning when you eat.
7. Refrigerate

Reminds me of mashing bananas for my son when he was a baby

I just love a drizzle of honey

It is so nice to wake up and have your breakfast  waiting for you!

Print Recipe

Obligatory First Post

So I am writing this to myself at this point, but that is ok. I am hoping to share lots of recipes and pictures and at the very least document my process. I am a lifelong dieter and I hope to be someone who gets all this crap figured out one day. I am currently in the process of losing 15 pounds gained from a 100 pound weight loss. I have spent the better part of the last 3 years working towards this loss, and while a lot of it came off at the beginning, it has come to a screeching halt for the last half of the year. I am trying to get back to a place of self control and feeling better about myself. I know it cannot be connected to a number on the scale, but I also know that I absolutely 100 percent can not let myself gain this weight back. Its a non negotiable. So, in an effort to get my crap together I am going to start writing. And taking pictures. And working my way through these muddy waters. 

I am not a nutritionist, I am not a doctor, I am by no means an expert. I am someone though who has extensive diet experience, and I love to cook and take pictures and write and be creative. 

and because pictures are nice,
               here is a picture of some delicious melons I cut up last week.  My melon picking game is strong this summer.