Weight Watchers: Microwave Potato Nachos

I've recently found 2 Weight Watchers cookbooks at a thrift store and this recipe looked SO good in the book.

SEE!  (And it's so easy to make.)

So I decided to make them and I thought I would share the recipe with you guys.

What you need:

1 Large baking potato, scrubbed

1/4 teaspoon ground cumin

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon ground pepper

1/3 cup bottled chunky salsa

1/2 cup canned black beans, rinsed and drained

1/3 cup shredded reduced-fat cheddar cheese

1 scallion, sliced

First, cut the potato into 3/8-inch-thick slices; arrange in a single layer in a microwavable dish.  Sprinkle the potatoes with the cumin, salt, and pepper.

  

Cover with plastic wrap, then prick a few holes in the plastic to vent.  Microwave on high until tender, 6 minutes.

Spoon the salsa over the potatoes; sprinkle with beans and cheese.  Microwave, uncovered, on Medium until the cheese is melted, 1 1/2 - 2
 minutes.  Sprinkle wit the scallion and serve at once.

This is what mine looked like:

Not as pretty...but very yummy!

PER SERVING (3 nachos): 95 Cal, 1 g Fat, 0 g Sat Fat, 0 g Trans Fat, 2 mg Chol, 416 mg Sod, 17 g Carb, 3 g Fib, 5 g Prot, 104 mg Calc. 

POINTS value: 1.

Weight Watchers: Mini Chocolate-Chip Cookies

I found this Weight Watchers recipe online for chocolate-chip cookies. 1point each!  Here is what you will need:

	2 Tbsp salted butter, softened
	2 tsp canola oil
	1/2 cup(s) packed brown sugar, dark-variety
	1 tsp vanilla extract
	1/8 tsp table salt
	1 large egg white(s)
	3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
	1/4 tsp baking soda
	3 oz semi-sweet chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 375ºF.
• In a medium bowl, cream together butter, oil and sugar. Add vanilla, salt and egg white; mix thoroughly to combine.
• In a small bowl, mix together flour and baking soda; stir into batter. Add chocolate chips to batter; stir to distribute evenly throughout.
• Drop 48 half-teaspoons of dough onto one or two large nonstick baking sheets, leaving a small amount of space between each cookie. Bake cookies until golden around edges, about 4 to 6 minutes; cool on a wire rack. Yields 1 cookie per serving. 

I'm pretty sure I made my cookies a little larger than what the recipe called for. :) These were really yummy! Especially for 1 point Weight Watchers cookies but they are a little fluffy...kind of like pancakes...or something... I'm not quite the perfect baker so it could have been something I did wrong. Ha! :)  I hope you ENJOY!

Weight Watchers: Crispy Peanut Butter Squares

These are pretty much Rice Krispie Treats with peanut butter in them...I never knew how easy it is to make them.

Here is what you will need:

 3 Tablespoons light butter

Cooking Spray (I forgot to put in the picture)

4 cups miniature marshmallows

1/3 cup reduced-fat creamy peanut butter

6 cups Rice Krispies

Step 2: Find a helper.

 Measure out your ingredients.

Next, melt butter in a large saucepan coated with cooking spay over medium-low heat.  Add marshmallows, stirring until melted. 

 Add peanut butter, and cook until melted. Remove from heat.

 Immediately add rice cereal, and stir until cereal is coated. Press mixture into a 13 x 9-inch pan coated with cooking spray.

 Cool completely. Cut out 18 squares. Then ENJOY!

Weight Watchers points: 2 points per square

Per square: Cal 98. Fat 2.7g. Pro. 2.2g. Carb 17.5. Fib 0.7g. Chol 3mg. Iron 0.7mg. Sod. 137 mg. Calc 3mg. 

Losing weight

I'm obsessed with The Biggest Loser T.V. show...I'm currently wasting my time away re-watching all of the seasons on netflix now. I'm at the end of season 4 now.  I love the finale....I love seeing the changes these people have made in their lives. I've always been a softy for makeover stories so I thought I would share with you a little about my weight loss story.  When I got pregnant with Journey I think I weighed 145ish... I gained about 40ish pounds when I was pregnant so I ended up being around 185 or so... This picture was the day Journey was born, August 31, 2010:

(I've stolen all these pictures off of Kerrie's Face Book page) I Hate this picture of myself but it gives you a good idea of how big I was then. (and it's such a cute picture of Deci.) 

These next few pictures are from our move out to Oregon. January 2011. We were in San Francisco, CA at the time. I believe I weighed 151. A week before we left I was still in maternity pants.

We started Weight Watchers a few months after this and I lost around 10 pounds after a few months. I stayed around 140-144 for a while and just a few months ago Q and I decided to start Weight Watchers back up.  This morning I got on the scale and weighed the lowest I've weighed since we've been in Oregon.  135.6! I've lost 16 pounds since I've been in Oregon! Here's a recent picture...I don't have a full body shot but I believe you can tell from my face.

I'm pretty proud of myself.  I know it's only 16(ish) pounds and I realize that most of the weight was because I had a baby but that baby is  16 months old now! It's extremely hard to lose weight. I'm extremely proud of Q also. Over the past few years he has lost somewhere around 70 or 80 pounds! 

Now, If I could just get someone to give me a makeover! :)