Thursday, September 27, 2012

Low Point Pizza Dough

Now I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again... I am obsessed with pizza! I’m always trying to find new ways to make pizza with low points that also tastes really well.  I’ve already shared with you my Spinach Pizza Dough, now I’ve made an even lower point pizza dough that is less dense.

The secret ingredients? Yogurt and applesauce to replace the oil! Sounds crazy but it tastes great!

Ingredients
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup ground flax meal
¾ tsp. salt
1 tbsp.  Apple sauce
1 tbsp. non-fat plain yogurt
 2 ¼ tsp. yeast (Or envelope of yeast)
1 cup warm water

First, depending on your yeast you may need to mix with water. The yeast I use I mix 2 ¼ tsp. with ¼ cup warm water, mix and let sit for 10 minutes. If you don’t have to mix with water first then just add it to the flour.
In a large mixing bowl combine  1 ½ cups whole wheat, ½ cup ground flax meal and ¾ tsp. salt.
Add yeast, 1 tbsp. apple sauce, 1 tbsp. non-fat plain yogurt and ¾ cup of warm water. Mix well.

Stir in the remaining flour, then knead on lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes or when smooth and elastic. Then place in a bowl covered with a clean towel for 30-60 minutes (check your yeast package to see if they recommend a shorter or longer rise time).

 Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Grease your pizza pans (I use 2 cookie sheets, since I like thin crust) with cooking spray.  Now spread out your dough as you would with normal pizza.
 
 
Bake for 10 minutes, then add your favorite toppings and bake for another 10-20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

The whole dough is worth 26 points! To figure out how many points per slice your pizza is, add up the points of your toppings and the dough and then divide by how many slices you cut.  The pizza I did with this dough ended up being 2 points per slice!
You can make this dough 25 points by just doing all whole wheat flour and not adding the ground flax meal. I like adding it for nutritional value and I like the nutty flavor.

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Weigh-in Day


It’s weigh-in day!!! 174!! I'm down another pound!!
I have to say I LOVE WEIGHT WATCHERS!!!  This past week I did not make the healthiest choices, I had some Gold Fever Wings from Ninety Nine, I did have them with a salad before I would have ordered fries too. The whole thing of wings was a whopping 34 points!! I had planned on only having a few at dinner (which I did), have a few more later on and then a few the next day at lunch. Well I had the rest later on that night.  It tasted so good when I was eating them but then after I felt like crap! It reminded me that fried greasy food like that might seem like it’s going to be delicious but in reality it’s really not. I’ve also decided I’m going to make my own version of Gold Fever Wings that’ll be healthy(ish).

Is there a food that you want so bad, but then when you have it, you regret it?

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Crockpot Pumpkin!

The other day we were able to get some pumpkins for free, the same pumpkins from KBeaner's fall photo shoot.  I figured since I’ve been all about baking with pumpkins (in the can) why not try cooking my own pumpkin! Big plus that it was free, and organic! I looked online for ways to bake pumpkins and then I stumbled upon this tutorial where you cook your pumpkin in a crockpot! I’ll take any excuse to use my crockpot, I love how easy it is and it doesn’t heat up our apartment.


This morning I washed my pumpkin in hot water, and then I cut it and took out the seeds (I’m going to be roasting the seeds later so I saved those).

I put 3 cups of water into my crockpot so that the bottom was covered in about ¾ inches of water. All you have to do next is add the pumpkins, turn the crockpot to high and wait 3 hours.

The tutorial I used said to wait 4 hours but I found my pumpkins were ready after 3 hours. You know they are ready when you can easily take the skin of the pumpkin off.

Let the pumpkin cool, the peel of the skin and the puree. I used my little hand blender but if you’re lucky enough to have a big food processor or blender puree in that.  I forgot to take a pic of the finished product..sorry!

Now use in your favorite recipe that calls for pumpkins. Maybe try Pumpkin Pancakes!

Later on I roasted the pumpkin seeds I had saved.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

While it’s preheating towel off your seeds, I sandwiched them between two paper towels.

Lay them out on a greased baking sheet (I used Pam) then sprinkle on salt, and any other seasonings you like.

Bake for 20 minutes, half way through stir them around so that they cook evenly.

Enjoy!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Before and After (well during)

I added a page on here of my weight loss pictures, I started looking for more, and I found one at my largest. It was taken a few days after having KBeaner. I can't believe that is what I looked like, I knew I was very heavy but I never saw myself as that big. (On a happy note I forgot how tiny she was!)

All day I've been debating on whether or not to post this. I feel embarassed that I let myself get to that weight, I know in the picture I had just had a baby, but being pregnant does not give you an excuse to gain a ton of weight and forget about your health.

After a lot of thinking I decided I need to post this, maybe, just maybe it'll inspire someone else to put down those chips and get off the couch or to eat a little healthier, then it will be so worth it. Also I'm proud of all the hard work I've done these past two and a half years... I lost 88lbs! That is nothing to be embarassed of!

 
I really hope this motivates you to better yourself, and get healthier. Trust me, if I can do it, you can do it!!

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Weigh-In!

Hey everyone!! It's weigh-in Wednesday for me. This was a very big weigh-in for me. My Dad had made a deal with me that if I could get my weight to 175 he would buy me a Kindle Fire or an equivalent to it. He made this deal with me in July when I was 188.

Well.... today I am... 175!!!!

Woooo hooo!!! I'm so excited! Not just to get my prize but to also to be this weight, it’s a very liberating feeling. I've lost 88lbs since the day I gave birth to my daughter (January 2010), and I've lost 25lbs since starting Weight Watchers this May!
Here are some tips that have helped me.

Drink, drink, and drink I drink at least 64oz of water a day. I have a reusable water bottle that is 20oz; I try to drink a whole one in the first hour of my day. The water wakes me up, which I know sounds weird but it does! Also drinking water will help you save money; you won’t need to buy so many juices or sodas.
Keep Track I bought a small cute notebook from Target that I use to keep track of my points. I also keep track of my exercise, water, and how many fruits and veggies I’ve had.
Measure Measuring your food helps a lot so that you can get used to the correct serving sizes of food. Weighing your food on a food scale is helpful as well especially for chicken or other meats.

Fruits and VeggiesI try to have 5 servings of fruits and vegetables a day (emphasis on try). Obviously they are so healthy for you and if you’re doing Weight Watchers most of them are ZERO points!! Some days I get all my 5 servings in and sometimes more, sadly most days I don’t. I’ve been trying to add more veggies to my meals. I hide spinach in my pizza dough. even my toddler likes that one!

Splurge a little Once in a while you need to splurge, well at least I do. My splurges aren’t exactly big splurges. I’ll make a healthy-ish dessert, or I make my healthier pizza a lot (seriously, a lot, I have a pizza problem). I try to find a healthier version of the food I want (I make pizza with spinach pizza dough) but sometimes you need a real burger! On those days I try to work out a little more or harder, and eat more veggies and fruit. It’s all about moderation and balance.
Don’t Give Up Sometimes a “little splurge” can turn into a binge. Its okay if that happens, doesn’t give up, or beat you up about it. You can’t expect yourself to eat perfectly all the time. If you have a binge accept it, and start your healthy eating again. Sometimes if I eat badly at lunch part of me thinks “well I already ruined today might as well eat more junk” but I have to remind myself that I can make it a better day by eating healthier and in moderation.

Are you Hungry? It’s good to know if you are actually hungry or if you’re just bored/tired/thirsty/upset. This is a big problem of mine, and I still struggle with it every day. Thankfully I am getting better at listening to my stomach. Sometimes if I’m not sure if I’m hungry or not I make myself drink a cup of water or wait 10 minutes. If I’m still hungry after that I know I’m actually hungry, most of the time I’m not.
Embrace Sneaky Exercise There is a lot of exercise that doesn’t feel like exercise... I like to call that sneaky exercise! Such as taking a walk, my daughter and I go for at least one walk every day. I make it more of a workout by pushing her in her Smart Trike. You don’t really feel like you’re working out but pushing a 27lb toddler up a hill… that’s a work out!

Today we picked out some pumpkins and of course I made it into a fall photo shoot…






 

Tuesday, September 18, 2012

Pumpkin Pancakes!

Recently I have pumpkins on the brain!! So we made pumpkin pancakes for breakfast the other morning. I had never made them before, I googled recipes for a bit and found this one and adapted it.

Pumpkin Pancakes! (3 pts. for two!)

  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 2 tablespoons Splenda
  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon allspice
  • 1/2 teaspoon ginger
  • 2 cups almond milk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons applesauce
  • 1 cup canned pumpkin
(I forgot the All Spice)
 

First mix all of your dry ingredients.

Then mix in your wet ingredients.

(how your batter looks after mixing)
 
Cook your pancakes on a medium heat skillet. I used a ¼ cup to add the batter to the skillet, so my pancakes were all equal in size. They are very thick so after flipping once I smushed them down with the spatula, so that they would cook faster (I’m impatient).

(the finished product!)
 
Enjoy! I didn’t have any syrup in the house so I used peanut butter and jelly, it was delicious! The pancakes were so good; I even had one without anything on it!






 

Friday, September 14, 2012

Weigh-in and Spinach Pizza Dough


Wednesday is my weigh-in day. Last week I was 178lbs, which is super exciting, I’m not sure when the last time I was in the 170’s was…maybe the beginning of high school?  And now I’m….176lbs!!!
(me on weigh-in day!)
 
As you know I’m doing Weight Watchers, so weigh-in day also means starting over with my extra points day!!  I’ve noticed I tend to make a splurge meal on Wednesday nights.  I have an obsession with pizza, seriously I could eat it every day and it wouldn’t get boring. I actually eat a lot of pizza, you’re probably thinking “How is she losing weight and eating a lot of pizza?” Well to answer your question, I make a healthy version of pizza, I eat it in moderation (most of the time) and I keep track of how many points I’ve eaten. That’s why I love Weight Watchers you can eat what you want and still lose weight you just have to keep track.
For while I was making pizza with the store bought pizza dough because I felt like that was healthier than frozen pizza, then after listening to my mom (yes Mom, I listen!) I realized I could make pizza dough that is healthier and cheaper.  After making the whole wheat pizza dough a few times I realized I could be making it even healthier, by adding veggies right to the dough!  It adds volume to the dough and you’re getting a serving of hidden veggies in it. What’s not to love?

(This is the link to the recipe I used to inspire this http://breadworld.com/Recipe.aspx?id=150 )

Spinach Pizza Dough 
2 cups whole wheat flour
½ cup Ground Flax Meal
¾ tsp. salt
1 tbsp. + 2 tsp. apple sauce
 
1 tsp. olive oil
2 ¼ tsp. yeast (Or envelope of yeast)
1 cup warm water
½ package frozen spinach

 
First, depending on your yeast you may need to mix with water. The yeast I use I mix 2 ¼ tsp. with ¼ cup warm water, mix and let sit for 10 minutes. If you don’t have to mix with water first then just add it to the flour.
In a large mixing bowl combine 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour, ½ cup ground flax meal, and ¾ tsp. salt.
(K-Beaner helping mix, its her favorite part.)
 
Add yeast, 1 tbsp. and 2 tsp. apple sauce, 1 tsp. olive oil and ¾ cup of warm water. Mix well.
Stir in the remaining flour, then knead on lightly floured surface for about 5 minutes or when smooth and elastic. Then placed in a bowl covered with a clean towel for 30-60 minutes (check your yeast package to see if they recommend a shorter or longer rise time).


While your dough is rising cook your spinach as the package directs. Next you need to drain as much liquid out as possible. I put the spinach in a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the water out. It’s kind of gross looking and turns your towel green so make sure it’s a towel you don’t care about!

(Don't peek!)
 
When your dough is done rising knead in your spinach. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Grease your pizza pans (I use 2 cookie sheets, since I like thin crust) with cooking spray.  Now spread out your dough as you would with normal pizza.


Bake for 10 minutes, then add your favorite toppings and bake for another 10-20 minutes or until done. Enjoy!

The whole dough is worth 27 points, my pizza ended up being 2 points per slice after counting the points of the toppings and dividing the total points with the number of slices I cut the pizza into.

 Here is my equation- # of points for dough + # of points for toppings/how many slices the pizza is cut into=points per slice
(my pizzas' all done! I used fat-free mozzarella cheese, left over taco meat (99% lean ground turkey), tomato sauce and onions)
 
 
I've made this before with zuchinni instead of spinach, so try out your fave veggie and let me know how it goes!

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Sidewalk Chalk Paint!

My daughter, like most kids love painting and sidewalk chalk. So when I found out I could make sidewalk chalk paint with things I already had in my cabinets, well I was ecstatic! All you need is water, cornstarch, and food coloring!

(I even had fun with the sidewalk chalk paint)
Sidewalk Chalk Paint

1 part cornstarch
1 part water
few drops of food coloring

Just mix equal parts of cornstarch and water in a bowl. Put the mixture into a muffin tin and add  the food coloring to make a bunch of colors!

Then get to painting!!

 



I had Kyra choose the colors she wanted, and explained how primary colors make the other colors. If your children are older you could have them experiment with creating different colors. We've done this a few times this summer and everytime it's a big hit! An afternoon of pretty much free fun, gotta love it!


Also in case you were wondering sidewalk chalk paint washes off just like normal chalk, and even if they get the "paint" on themselves it comes off easily with a little water.

Sunday, September 2, 2012

My story so far..


OK so the name of the blog is a little deceiving, I am a mama, I am frugal, but I’m not that fit, yet! I hope you will join me on this journey. Here is my weight loss story so far…

I have a 2 year old daughter, the day I gave birth to her I weighed in at 263lbs, and I’m only 5’6. That was the heaviest I have ever been, and I do not plan on getting back there or anywhere near there.  I was around 220lbs when I found out I was pregnant. 

(This is me in December 2009 at my baby shower)
 
After my daughter was born I lost 30lbs in the first few months, I think mostly due to attempting to breast feed (I struggled with that for a while, but that’s a story for another time), and all the stress of being a new mom.

(My daughter and I. I was about 220lbs)
 
That July I had a physical with a new doctor, she recommended that I see the dietician there. I was all for it! I didn’t want to be so large anymore, and most importantly I wanted to set a healthy example for my daughter.  At my first meeting with my dietician I was around 220lbs. She was very nice and helpful.  She had me start journaling what I ate, then after that she showed me how to use the diabetic eating plan (I am not diabetic though) which is the formula from when weight watchers originally started. After I had the hang of that I added 150 minutes of exercise a week. 

My weight dropped to 200lbs in about a year or so.  I know I could have lost more weight, but for whatever reason I didn’t take it as seriously as I should.  I didn’t always write what I was eating and sometimes I’d “cheat” and not write down everything I wrote.

In December 2011 my friend and I decided we should help each other stay accountable with our eating and exercise. At that point I had gained 10lbs.  We messaged each other throughout the day; we’d tell each other what we ate and what exercise we had done.  I lost 10lbs doing that!

Then I got stuck, like I seem to always do at 200. It’s like there is a huge wall I could never get through.  I decided that I would go back to Weight Watchers. I had done it a few times in college and lost about 30lbs doing it, of course I gained it back but this time I actually want to change my life.  I started on May 23, 2012 weighing in at 200lbs today I am 180lbs.

This time with Weight Watchers I feel like it is different. I have a ton of support from friends and family,   I am doing this not to be skinny but to be healthy, I want to live a long happy life and I want to be an inspiration to my daughter.  I work out for at least 30mins six days a week and I haven’t “cheated” on Weight Watchers, I eat what I want but I make sure I always count every point. 

(This is me at 187lbs I'll take a new one soon!)
 
 
Sorry I don't have that many pictures..I didn't like having my picture taken back then.