Cliff Notes Version - Family Update!

This about covers it since February. . .Foodie Dad's Birthday, DC Trip, Daddy-Daughter Dance. . .Soccer. . .Spring Fling with the girls and Soy Boy's 11th Birthday!! WHEW!! OMG. . .how can I forget!!!???? We saw PRINCE~!










Here's what we've been up to!!!

Time if FLYING by. . .

Our lives seem to be getting busier over time. . .it's been 6 months since I've posted last. . .I will try to get caught up and give some highlights of what we've all been up to! Kids went back to school and it always seems like the time between Oct 1 and Jan 1 flies and seems like a big blurr.

We finally finished, totally finished, our renovation/addition. We have enjoyed having the extra space so much. This kids have really settled into their playroom and they spend many hours in there enjoying their friends. . .

We 'Christened' it by having a huge party in September to include members of a Cocktail Club that we belong to as well as many of our other friends and neighbors. . .


The along came Halloween. . .

And Christmas. . .and a big Christmas party including Carolers. . .

Then just last night, a wonderful Valentine's Day Dinner!!!

Back on the Chain Gang. . .don't worry I mean SCHOOL!

The kids have started school. I have started back into the daily grind of cleaning/laundry etc. I miss the kids, I miss the lazy days & hanging out at the pool. We had a great summer, no doubt. If it would quit being 100 degrees, I could kind of get excited for the holidays! MY FAVORITE!

Summer is f..a..d..i...n...g FAST!

Our annual beach vacation is now a memory for yet another year. . .we didn't ride jet skis or do anything wild and crazy. We stuck to our annual traditions. . .a La Cirque show, seafood buffetts, putt-putt & lots of time on the beach! The kids are always so sad to come home and we have to give them "you have so much to look forward to" speech. . .including Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas!! YIKES!! I can't believe that we are more than half way there! It's all good though. . .it's my favorite time of year!

Grilled Vegetable Salad from Family Reunion

Well, we just got back from out (almost) annual trip to visit my mom for our family reunion. The reunion is about 2 main things. . .visiting and EATING. . .& not necessarily in that order! I made this grilled vegetable salad and it seemed to be a big hit. . .saw it on Food Network so here it is!

GRILLED VEGETABLE SALAD
Ingredients
1/2 bunch asparagus, trimmed and cut into bite-size pieces
1 pint cherry tomatoes
1 medium red onion, cut into 1/2-inch rings
1 yellow bell pepper, quartered, seeds and ribs removed
1 red bell pepper, quartered, seeds and ribs removed
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 pound feta cheese

Dressing:
1 medium clove garlic, chopped
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Directions
Preheat grill to medium.

In a large bowl, toss the vegetables with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Grill the vegetables, turning occasionally, until charred and tender, about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove to a platter. Sprinkle with basil and feta.

In a small bowl, mix garlic, balsamic vinegar, and olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and drizzle over vegetables.

I'm in the Hot Seat!

Had an annual exam this week. . .not that they are not humiliating & uncomfortable enough. . .the first words out of my doctor's mouth when he came into the room were "we have to talk about your weight". Sitting there, wearing nothing more than a glorified napkin, I was mortified. He said things like ". . .when you're heavy" - ". . .the extra weight can be causing that. . ." - ". . .the added pounds increase risk for. . ." & "have you been fitted for a bra recently. . .the extra pounds can cause pressure points". . .etc etc etc. . .it was like he was pounding me over the head with a sledge hammer! He told me I had packed on an extra 20 lbs over the past 3 years. If I keep up this pace. . .it doesn't look good! I guess being a Foodie has considerable disadvantages!

I talked to my doctor some more (once my eyes came back into focus from the repeated blows) and to some very insightful & supportive friends. I have 2 new best friends. They are Weight Watchers Zero Points Garden Vegetable Soup (recipe below) & www.sparkpeople.com (thanks Steph). My approach is slow and low. . .I'm going to simmer before I boil! Less calories IN. . .more calories OUT. . .sounds simple enough right?

My doctor calculated the amount of calories I should be taking in (and yes, he paused to explain to me what a calorie was, like I was from another planet and judging by the size of me I apparently had no CLUE what one was)! I tried weight watchers years ago and had already knew about this soup (only 61 calories per cup). . .so, my goal is to lose 20lbs by Christmas by cutting my calories & thinking about every bit of food I put into my mouth. When you are writing it all down as you go, the pitfalls become glaringly apparent.

That's where www.sparkpeople.com comes in. There are great, easy, calorie counting tools there. By adding each food, you can easily see who the calorie-culprits are and then decide how you can exchange those foods to easily cut the calories. Another problem of mine is portions. It's amazing how out-of-whack my judgement is when it comes to how much 1 portion of pasta is! I was feeding 3 of me!

For instance. . .when I made spaghetti & meatballs this week, and listed all the ingredients in my sauce. . .a 1/2 cup portion came to a measly 35 calories cause I make it from scratch using canned tomato puree. No problems there. . .add 2 small homemade BEEF meatballs and there went a quick 500 calories! Even if you don't need to lose weight. . .try tracking your calories for a few days. I bet you'll be really surprised! See you can have your soup and eat it too!















WEIGHT WATCHERS ZERO POINTS GARDEN VEGETABLE SOUP RECIPE
Hands-on time: 20 minutes
Time to table: 1 1/4 hour
Makes 9 cups

6 cups broth (today I used Light Vegetable Stock)

Cooking spray
2 carrots, peeled and diced
1 large onion, diced
4 teaspoons garlic (from a jar or substitute four cloves minced garlic)
1/2 cabbage, chopped (or use a bag of slaw, the biggest chunks you can find vs the fine, don't skip the cabbage for it somehow makes the soup)
1/2 pound frozen green beans
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 large zucchini, diced

Bring the broth to a boil in the microwave. (This is a time-saving tip that can be skipped if there's no hurry.)

Spray a Dutch oven with cooking spray and heat on MEDIUM HIGH. Add the carrots, onion and garlic and cook for about 5 minutes. Add all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the zucchini and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce the heat to MEDIUM and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the beans are tender. Add the zucchini and cook until the zucchini are tender. Serve and enjoy!


NUTRITION ESTIMATE
Per Cup: 61 Cal (3% from Fat, 24% from Protein, 73% from Carb); 4 g Protein; 0 g Tot Fat; 0 g Sat Fat; 13 g Carb; 3 g Fiber; NetCarb10; NetCarb10; 52 mg Calcium; 1 mg Iron; 701 mg Sodium; 0 mg Cholesterol; Weight Watchers ... hmmm ... 1 point

NUTRITION NOTES This soup is low-cal, low-carb, high-fiber and no-fat. But hmmm. What about the claim that it has no points in the Weight Watchers world? I suppose so, since all the ingredients are "free". But honestly, a calorie's a calorie and so I count every one of them whether from chocolate cake or fresh vegetables. In my book, this Garden Vegetable Soup counts as 1 point but is a definite one-point winner.


KITCHEN NOTES
Zero point soups are easy to make without a recipe. Just cook a pile of non-starchy vegetables in 6 cups of a non-fat broth. It's even easy to convert one-point soups to zero-point soups.


So, I guess it took my doctor, to totally bonk me over the head into reality to get me motivated. I can't wait to waltz into his office NEXT year with my "I'll show YOU!!" look on my face!

Many Firsts in the past couple of months. . .growing up so fast!