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!

ALL DONE!. . .Well. . .almost!

Here are a few pics of our new (brand new) and re-purposed rooms. It's been so nice to be able to spread out a little, but it all still looks like we just moved in! I'll be glad to fill it up and add art & window treatments to make it feel like home! It was a long road, but so glad we decided to keep our house and make it our HOME!

A great simple appetizer. . .

Found this in one of my fav chef's cookbooks. . .Barefoot Contessa!
Bruschetta with Peppers and Gorgonzola

Ingredients
Good olive oil
1 red bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1 yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced into thin strips
1/2 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon capers, drained
2 tablespoons julienned fresh basil leaves
Kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Baguette
3 ounces creamy Gorgonzola or other blue cheese, at room temperature
Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a medium saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the peppers and cook until soft, about 12 to 15 minutes. Sprinkle with the sugar and continue cooking for 2 more minutes. Stir in the capers and basil, and season, to taste, with salt and pepper. Set aside.

Slice the baguette crosswise into 18 thin round slices. Brush the bread rounds lightly with olive oil on 1 side. Arrange them in rows, oil side up, on a sheet pan lined with parchment paper and toast in the oven until lightly browned, about 7 to 10 minutes.

Top each toast round with a teaspoonful of the pepper mixture. Place 2 small pieces of Gorgonzola on top. Return the toast to the oven for 1 to 2 minutes and warm through. Serve immediately.

HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY SOY BOY!!

I can't believe my baby just turned 10!! He had a HUGE sleepover. . .there were 7 of them. We played indoor soccer/flag football, ate a ton of pizza, played 'capture the flag' outside in the dark at 9pm. . .oh, fogot we also saw a movie! Then if they weren't worn out already, at midnight, we lined them up, turned on some tunes & made up a short dance routine! They had a blast & I hope that Soy Boy's 10th birthday was fun and memorable for him. We are so proud of him! Happy big boy birthday soy boy!

ALMOST DONE!!

Happy Birthday Chunky Monkey

Well, as a family, we are TRYING, and I used that term loosely, to break the habit of having huge, over the top birthday parties for the kids and are, instead, trying to make it smaller and more meaningful with just the family. Chunky Monkey turned 6 this past week and honestly, it felt like Christmas all over again! We kind of told her that the ski trip was her big present but wow, she was a princess for the day & then some!! We took her balloons and cupcakes to school and had lunch with her the day of her birthday. That evening, she chose what we were having for dinner which was. . .a complete ham dinner. . .just like we had on Christmas Eve. . .it's one of my favorite dinners and not all that hard to prepare, so I was good with that. She also chose a cake out of a cookbook she got as a gift one year and I whipped that up while she was at school that day. . .THEN, on Friday, my girlfriend and I took the girls (who have the SAME EXACT BIRTHDAY) to a spa (specifically for kids) for a mani & pedi then out to dinner with our whole families. . .THEN to the country club for some live music and an evening of showing off their glowing nails (feet too) to anyone who would have a look!!! So, as you can see, we've been very successful in scaling back. . .NOT!

Break a Leg!

I used to be a member of the ski club in high school and hadn't realized how much I missed it until we took the kids skiing last weekend. It was incredibly fun and between me not skiing for 25 years, and the kids and hubby pretty much total beginners, we did exceptionall well!

We found out that the waitress we had at dinner at the hotel was a ski instructor, so we were able to book her for a private lesson for Chunky Monkey and Soy Boy said he wanted a 'boy' instructor so the next day, they were unleashed on the slopes for the first time. They each had their own private instructors for 2 hours and by the end of that, they were coming down an 'easy' slope totally unassisted. By that time, Foodie Dad and I had started getting the hang of things,too and we enjoyed skiing together for the next 5 hours! By that time, Foodie Dad and I could barely walk, but the kids cried to have to come off the mountain.

Soy Boy's natural athletic ability didn't let him down on skis, for sure. . .he was whizzing past all of us. . .Chunky Monkey totally blew us away and would go down the mountain, as if standing still. . .singing. . .yes, singing as she went! It was priceless! We are dying to go back and actually considered going this weekend, but the fridgid temps and snowy roads had us reconsider. . .but don't worry. . .WE'LL BE BACK!