Cauliflower Nachos

Jeremy shared a link on Facebook to a video of how to make cauliflower nachos. He thought maybe we should give it a try, so I made some last night.

First, let me tell you, you do not need a video to make these nachos. It is just about the easiest thing ever in the history of ever to make.

So what you need is:

1 head of cauliflower
1 cup fat-free shredded cheddar cheese
3-4 tbsp. salsa
3-4 tbsp. guacamole
Olive oil spray
Garlic powder
Onion powder
Cumin
Chili powder
Salt and Pepper

Pre-heat your oven to 425.

Line a baking dish with tinfoil, spray it with the olive oil spray. Chop up your head of cauliflower, try to leave the pieces larger to mimic tortilla chips. Spread the cauliflower on the baking sheet. Spray the cauliflower with the olive oil spray. Now, I seasoned the cauliflower with garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. But you can really use whatever you like. Bake for 20 minutes.

Pull the pan out and top with one cup of shredded cheese, put it back in the oven and bake at 400 for another 10 minutes or so (you want your cheese nice and melty, but don't let your cauliflower pieces burn).

Serve up with cauliflower nachos onto your plates and personalize. We used salsa and guacamole to top off our nachos, but again you can get creative (just be sure to add anything extra into your WW tracker).

As the recipe is right here, it was 4 SP for half the pan. Not bad on points, so I could probably add a little chicken or black beans or fat free refried beans OR splurge on regular shredded cheese and it would still be ok on my points. I'm going to be honest and tell you that I don't think there is anything on earth that can really replace regular ol' corn tortilla chips. And I'm not going to tell you this was just like regular nachos, because it wasn't. However, it was still very good and satisfying. I would make it again in a heart beat.

If you make it and change it up any, let me know how it turns out for you.

Frozen Chocolate Peanut Butter Pie

Someone (Stacy, I'm looking at you) tagged me on this Weight Watcher recipe for a frozen chocolate peanut butter pie. She told me I should make it and review it on my blog. Who am I to say no?

What you'll need:

A graham cracker pie crust (the recipe actually had you get crumbs and use some butter and milk to make your own crust...but I am lazy)
12 tbsp. Chocolate peanut butter powder (I found mine in the protein supplement/healthy food section of the grocery store)
6 tbsp. water
1/4 cup Weight Watchers whipped cream cheese, room temp
1 Weight Watchers giant chocolate ice cream bar, melted
3 cups light whipped topping

Combine the chocolate peanut butter powder and the water. It isn't smooth, at this point, but just mix it up the best you can. Whisk together the cream cheese and the melted chocolate bar, add that to the peanut butter mixture. It should start to smooth out at this point, but there might still be some lumps. Fold in the whipped topping and pour the whole mess into the crust.

Put it in your freezer overnight or for several hours. I cut mine right out of the freezer and I had to really work at it, so you could probably let this thaw just slightly before trying to cut it to serve.

The recipe says that it's 5 SP for 1/12 of the pie. I am here to tell y'all that eating only a 1/12 piece of pie is an impossible task. So...I cut mine into eight pieces and said the heck with it.

It was worth every point. So good, so easy, and so delicious during a super hot Texas summer day.

Ask, and you shall receive

 

Black bean and butternut squash enchilada casserole

 

 

What you'll need:

 

2 cups butternut squash, cubed

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 green bell pepper, chopped

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 can corn, drained and rinsed

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

Salsa, enough to cover the bottom of your baking dish

6 whole wheat tortillas, small

1 cup light sour cream

1 cup enchilada sauce

Shredded cheddar cheese, fat free

Cumin

Garlic powder

Chili powder

Salt and pepper

 

Pre-heat the oven to 375.

 

Line a baking sheet with tinfoil, spray down with non-stick spray. Place the butternut squash and bell peppers on baking sheet. Toss veggies with olive oil and season with cumin, garlic powder, and chili powder. Roast for about 30 minutes or until the butternut squash is fork tender.

 

On the same baking dish, combine the corn and black beans with the roasted veggies. Salt and pepper to taste.

 

Put enough salsa to cover the bottom of your baking dish (I used a 2.5 qt. Corningware dish).

 

Place two tortillas down, add some of the veggie mixture, add some of the sour cream (it doesn't have to totally cover the layer under it), add some of the enchilada sauce, sprinkle on some cheese. Repeat those steps until you have filled your baking dish.

 

Cover with a lid or tinfoil and bake for 25 minutes.

 

Uncover and bake for 10 more minutes.

 

This will service 4-6 people, depending on how big you cut the pieces. We just cut ours into four pieces, so one serving was 9 Smart Points.



Did someone say Taco Tuesday?

Ok..ok....so, I didn't exactly make tacos for Taco Tuesday. But it's in the same vein, so I'm gonna' count it.

Salsa Chicken Chulupas!

Y'all, these are so, so good. And so, so easy.

This is what you need:

~ chicken breast, skinless, boneless. I used two chicken breasts (and we have left overs). You can judge if you need more to feed your family.
~ a jar of salsa, any salsa will do. I've been using a chipotle citrus salsa you can find at HEB. It is out of this world good. Now, keep the amount of chicken you are using in mind here. You want it to be fairly saucy, so if you are using a lot more chicken you might need more salsa.
~ box of tostado shells (we used the Ortega brand, Rhonda....she asked me earlier and I couldn't remember)
~ one can, Fat-free refried beans
~ pico de gallo
~ shredded lettuce
~ tomatoes, chopped
~ shredded cheese, Mexican blend
~ cumin seasoning

So, in the morning, throw your chicken (I put mine in frozen) and salsa in a crockpot, top with some cumin. Turn on low and let it cook all day. Now, if your crockpot runs hot, hot, HOT (bonus points if you read that in the voice of Ruby Rhod.....extra bonus points if you know who Ruby Rhod is), you might have to turn it on later in the day or move it to warm later in the day. Use your judgment based on your equipment.

At dinner time, shred up the cooked chicken and return it to the crockpot. Warm up the refried beans on the stove. Once they are warm, slather a thin layer of the beans on the tostado shells. Top with some of the chicken.

After that, you can get creative with your toppings. We used pico de gallo, shredded lettuce, and fresh chopped tomatoes. You could also add some avocado and black olives. Whatever you like.

Sprinkle a little shredded cheese on top and dinner is served.

*Two chulupas is 10 Smart Points

Let's get cooking!

I joined Weight Watchers about a month ago. Since then I've been sharing my dinner plates on my Instagram account (find me: justjinny) with the Smart Points value. I asked on my Facebook page if anyone would be interested in the recipes I try out. I got enough YES responses back to decide that I'd start sharing my recipes here.

I want to pre-face this by advising I am not a real cook...I just play one in my kitchen. Some of these recipes are made up, altered, and eye balled so my measurements and timing might not be exact. You'll have to use your own judgment and cook at your own risk.

Let me start with last nights dinner.

I'm calling it Lemon-garlic spaghetti with broccoli, chickpeas, tomatoes, and sweet bell peppers.

A mouthful, I know.

I wanted to make spaghetti but without the red pasta sauce and with more vegetables (that is really key with WW...more vegetables and fruit for everything). So I did a quick google search for "spaghetti, broccoli, and chickpeas" and browsed around for a template recipe. The recipe I decided to work off of called for 3/4 cups of olive oil..for a recipe that serves 4-6 people. 3/4 cups of olive oil is 50 Smart Points people. It also called for 1 pound of rigatoni pasta (48 Smart Points), a cup of parmesan cheese (14 Smart Points), and 19 ounces worth of chickpeas (12 Smart Points). Obviously I was going to have to modify this a bit.

So here is what I used:

3 servings of 100% Whole Wheat spaghetti (a serving is about 2 oz. You might have a handy way ot measuring out spaghetti...I eyeballed it)
1/2 can of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
2 lemons (for the zest and the juice)
Two heads of broccoli, chopped up into florets (or you can buy the pre-packaged kind)
Handful of cherry tomatoes, chopped
1-2 mini-sweet bell peppers, cut into strips
1/4 cup Shredded mozzarella cheese, fat free
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Italian seasoning blend
Garlic seasoning
Salt and Pepper

Start a pot of water to boil, be sure to salt it.

After draining and rinsing the chickpeas, throw those in a small bowl with half of the olive oil and about half of one lemon's juice. Zest a little of the lemon on it too. Add salt and pepper and set the bowl aside.

Once the water is boiling, throw in the broccoli and let them soak in there for a couple of minutes. Remove the broccoli with a slotted spoon to a colander and rinse under cold water. Add your pasta to the same boiling water and let it cook until it's however tender you like it.

While the pasta is cooking, in a large skillet heat up the remaining olive oil (I know it doesn't look like much, but it's enough) and add the garlic and red pepper flakes. Cook until garlic is golden. Add the broccoli, tomatoes, and bell peppers to the skillet and cook until tender, about 4-5 minutes. Add the bowl of chickpeas and cook until heated through. This is a good time to add more lemon zest and juice, salt and pepper, garlic and Italian seasoning. It's all to taste, so do it up however you like.

Drain the pasta, but keep about 1/4 cup of the pasta water. Add the pasta and the water to the skillet with everything else. Cook over moderate heat, stirring, until everything is coated with the "sauce". Now, I'll tell ya'll...there really isn't a sauce, really. It's just not thick enough to be called that. But the liquid does have flavor, so that's what you want to try and get all over everything.

Again, take a taste and see if it needs any more seasoning. Add what you need, you'll notice I didn't really tell you where to add all the lemon juice. It's really up to you and what you like. I like a lot of lemon zest and juice, so that's what I used.

Top with the shredded cheese and serve while warm.
It was very flavorful but light...probably because of the fake "sauce". I like all the different textures with the broccoli and the chickpeas. The recipe I started from didn't call for tomatoes and bell pepper, I just decided to add those in there. For a pasta dish, it wasn't too bad on the points. 10 Smart Points per serving of pasta. The original recipe would have been at least double that. Overall, for a "let's just add this and put a little less of that" type of dinner, it ended up being a pretty tasty meal.

Vacation Revelations

We recently went to Florida for a family vacation with my mom and sister. My mom turned 60 and what she wanted to do was go to the beach. So, that is what we did.

We had a great time visiting my aunt and the beach was great. I didn't have a concern in the world about wearing my bikini while we were there. I didn't obsess over who might be looking at me, what they might be thinking about me. I didn't feel self-conscious at all...until I saw the pictures.

Photo-bombed by my bat arm

I'm really glad that I was able to enjoy myself in the moment. But..I'm not happy with where I let myself backslide to. If you're a new reader you might not know that a few years ago I lost 60 lbs. At my heaviest (known) weight I was 211. I've done very well at maintaining, for the most part, but I have found over the last year that the weight is creeping back on.

Near my heaviest weight

Near my lowest weight

My current weight

I've put on about 20 lbs from my lowest weight. And it's not like I didn't know it was happening. The scale doesn't lie. But I was turning a blind eye to it, putting on the back burner. Until yesterday..for the first time since I lost all the weight I couldn't wear a top because my arms were too big.

Talk about eye-opener. As I sit here, if I listen to my body, it's telling me it's not happy. I'm not comfortable, just sitting here.

So something must be done. And it will start with re-evaluating what I'm eating and how much of it I'm eating. I wish I could say with confidence that this will be easy...since I've done it before...but I'm not so sure that will be the case.

Sabotage

Did you sing this post title a la The Beastie Boys? No? What is wrong with you?

I have been trying to slowly get back in the habit of working out and eating right. But I have found myself slipping back into old habits. I can't seem to keep myself from eating. This is a habit that I was doing really good at controlling. I was talking myself out of the second plate of food. I was convincing myself that it was ok to throw food away (I know, I know...wasteful...but when it comes to my health and my food addiction...I'm doing it).

But lately, I've been sabotaging myself. It has been all about the mindless eating. I'm eating donuts (after I already had a bagel). I'm eating chocolate bars. I'm eating second servings. That last slice of garlic bread? Oh yeah, it's going in my mouth (#twss). I'm eating Halloween candy. I'm eating all the Christmas cookies.

Put it in front of me....I'm eating it.

I cannot stop myself.

And the scale is telling on me. It keeps creeping up and up and up.

So, I'm talking about it. Putting it out there. If you see me with another chocolate bar, please feel free to slap it out of my hand. If we happen to go out for dinner, feel free to suggest that I get the salad...and then half it into a to-go box. Really. I need to re-train myself once again to do these things.

Because I refuse to let myself go back.

On the menu for this week

When Pinterest first became a thing, I didn't really think it would ever become my go-to for 'how to do all the things'. But, it has grown into something I use nearly as much as Google when I want to know how to make something.

I especially use it for menu planning. I make a two-week dinner menu before our bi-monthly shopping trip. Along with some standard menu items, I like to try a few new dishes. Enter Pinterest. It's where I go to gather all those recipes that I want to try. And where I go to flip through my Pins, like a new cookbook, to decide which ones I'll try this time around.

So, I wanted to share the new menu items I'm going to try this week.

Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

When we were out at my in-law's last weekend they were talking about Shepherd's Pie. Turns out it was on pretty heavy rotation when my husband was growing up. I have never hade Shepherd's Pie before so I thought I would try it out. Most recipes I found include peas and carrots, but this is not how my husband's mom made it. So, I'm using the above recipe but with the vegetables substituted with baked beans. I'm not really sure how sweet potato, tomato paste, and baked beans are going to go together. But, we are going to find out.

One Pot Chili Mac and Cheese

Who doesn't like mac-n-cheese?! And I am all about "one pot" meals. The less mess I make in the kitchen, the better.

I'll report back how everything turns out. But you can always follow my NOM board and/or my TRIED AND TESTED board, with my very fancy grading system of +'s and x's, on Pinterest.

What new recipes are you trying this week?

All the cool kids are doing it

New years always means RESOLUTIONS! You know the age old typical resolutions. This is THE year we are going to get lean and clean up our diet..right?! The TV is overflowing with ads for diet plans and exercise DVD's and equipment. According to Jillian Michaels you can just WALK AWAY the pounds..its so revolutionary! The greatest thing since sliced bread....which none of us are allowed to eat anymore...right?!



Except, March rolls around. And the newness has been brutally worn off by reality and daily life. Changing long held habits is hard. It's not fun...no, it's not. It really, really sssuuuccckkkss. It takes up a lot of time and it costs a lot of money. Especially if you want to go all in on a gym membership/diet plan/personal trainer. You have to pay all kind of fees, buy a ton more work out clothes (or do laundry every night), buy all new organic, locally grown, fresh foods and cooking supplies. Have you seen how much that crap costs?!

So, I've pretty much given up even making new year resolutions. But that doesn't mean that a sister can't try and set teeny tiny goals..that don't take a new wardrobe or gym membership to accomplish. This year I'm going to try and drink more water. I just need to do it, it's good for me and I can do it while sitting down. I'm going to try and make better food choices. I started tracking my food on myfitnesspal again. I'm going to try really hard not to let the calorie goal be a hard line in the sand for me. It's really ok if I go over it, I just want to be more mindful of what I'm eating on a daily basis.

Using a lettuce leaf rather than a tortilla is a smart move.

Making sweet potato, broccoli, and chicken for dinner is a good choice.

All I really want to do is stay hydrated, not snack too much, find fun and inexpensive ways to eat a little better, and get off my butt and workout a little more (not every day...don't be crazy). Here's to 2015 and small and manageable life changes.

M is for...mmm, mmm, good

 

Day 13. Favorite Fall recipe

It has to be my husband's chili, hands down. But if I told you how he made it...I'd have to kill you. Kidding (sort of). Honestly, I could tell you the basics of it...tomato sauce, pinto beans, bell peppers, onion, etc. but I don't know how he makes it. He's like a kitchen mage up in there with all his spices and voodoo.

So, instead, you'll get another fall favorite. I've blogged about it before, complete with photos, so you can find it here.....Green Chili Chicken and Dumplings.

Life on the home front.

Every morning, when I walk out of the kitchen to the living room to open the curtains, Lola pops her leg up in the air and insists that I give her a belly rub. A morning belly rub to get her through the day. A day full of lolling and sleeping. Her life is so rough.

Summer is coming at us like a fright train, with temps reaching the 100's already. On days like that the ground gets too hot to take the dogs for walks. So we take them on rides instead, which suits Duke just fine...especially when we roll the window down for him.

Jeremy surprised me with roses, chocolates, and Mother's Day cards from him and the fur kids on Saturday. But that wasn't ALL..he also brought me new plants for our front yard. West Texas is in a serious drought. Just about everyone's lawn is brown and dead due to severe water restrictions. Between no water and the extreme heat in the summer and rare freezing temps we have had the last few winters, many of our trees and shrubs have died. So Jeremy spent his day out in the heat, chopping down trees and digging up plants. And planting new, pretty things.

 

On Sunday, we had my mom and Jeremy's parents over the lunch (next time I promise to have dessert, Mom). Dolly was there too, of course. I didn't get a picture, but I painted her nails a silvery-white (she brought me the polish she wanted to use). We also watched one of her favorite movies, currently, 'Dear Dumb Diary'. I swear the songs will be stuck in my head for days. But it was still a cute movie.

I hope you had a fabulous Mother's Day weekend!

Puppies and Pedicures

We held our first fundraising event for West Texas Angels for Animals on Saturday. Putt for Pups was held at our local putt-putt place. We had hot dogs and face painting, we were selling home made dog treats and t-shirts. Raising money for the animals and promoting adoptable animals that are available. For our first event, I think it went well. Maybe a hiccup or two, but over all..a very good turn out. It was great to see so many families bring their own rescue pups out for the event.

The AFA crew.

My sister even helped out.

AAnnndd, as you can see from above, my sister was in town for the weekend. Yes, we DID just see her earlier this week when we went to Dallas for the concert. This is probably what it would be like if we lived closer together.  We went to see our friend, Benita, in a play on Saturday night. It was held in a modular theatre which really gives the audience the chance to get up close and personal with the stage and actors.

Sunday was fun day! We continued our family tradition of having lunch at the church's spring festival. The brisket is NOT to be missed. Every year for as long as I can remember we have gone to the spring festival. My Grandpa use to help make the sausage and brisket and the women in my family volunteered in the arts and crafts room or in the dining hall. It's just one of those things that has always been.

And then we went for pedicures...with wine! Because we are fancy.

 

 

   

What I did this weekend

I'm sorry that a weekend wrap up post is all I can manage for y'all lately! Life has been hectic with the addition of our first ever foster dog. She is learning all about crate training and going potty outside and NOT growling at the cats. It's been..crazy and exhausting. But I know it will be worth it in the end to see her find her forever home.

Precious loves sitting in laps.

On top of that, my sister came for a visit this weekend. And she brought her dog along, as usual. So that made two cats, three humans, and four dogs (one who is still learning that people and cats and dogs and the outside are all ok) in our little love cottage for the weekend. We made it work, but I'm really, really sleepy.

My sisters dog, Lula, in the shirt I bought her.

  We, the three humans..I mean, tried out the new burger place in town. It was good, but nothing like the Sunset Grill (which is closed..and I'm still not over it). Last night, my mom came over and my sister made us all pizza. She was going to try a "clean" recipe, but that didn't quite work out so she ended up making normal pizza. We didn't tell my mom that it wasn't "clean" until she was already eating it. She is a bit of a picky eater..lol. We watched Dallas Buyers Club while we had dinner. It was good, not the type of movie I normally go for, but I can see what people are talking about it.

Seester makin' tha pizza.

Yeah..this was my weekend.

Today Jeremy has been working on the hallway. The weather was beautiful all weekend and a yucky cold front moved in over night. So, I've been practicing my couch potato routine all day..watching a marathon of Flashpoint (thank you, Netflix) and taking Miss Precious out for her bathroom breaks. And Jeremy has been playing Mr. Handy man. I can't wait until it's all finished.

It's always the prep work that gets ya.

New runners for the hallway.

Oh..and my seester brought me a present. A new mug to add to my ever growing collection (actually, one seems to break right before another comes into my life). It's too pretty to put away so it's currently displayed on the kitchen counter.

Kinda looks like my new rugs.

Maybe this week I will be able to find the time to tell y'all about how my sister and I got a lost dog back to it's owner. It was pretty unbelievable how it all went down. I hope y'all had a great weekend!!! Until next time....

What I did this weekend

You know those weekends when you get to lay around in your PJ's and do nothing? This was not one of those kind of weekends. I've been busy, busy, busy.

Saturday morning marked the first official meeting for the West Texas Angels for Animals Project. I didn't manage to snap a picture of us because I was too busy eating and/or talking. In a two hour period I don't think there was a moment of silence. We were hashing thoughts and ideas so fast I was lucky to get notes down on paper before we were on to something else. Feel free to like our Facebook page (linked above) if you like. We are open to networking dogs out of San Angelo to surrounding areas so if you are a Texas reader and you love animals, we'd love to have your support.

After the meeting, the husband and I went to see a new piece of public art. We have an organization in town called 'Art in Uncommon Places' and they have installed several pieces of art all around town from sculptures to murals. This new piece is at the base of the Lone Wolf Bridge and its called 'Forever Love', a large metal heart to put padlocks on..ala the Love Bridge in Paris.

On the back of our lock it says 'Beyond Forever'

Today we went to the carnival with my in-laws and our niece. The rodeo has been in town for the last two weeks and that means carnival time. When we were growing up, the fairgrounds were THE place to be during rodeo time. It was always crowded and the rides all seemed so large and loud and lit up. You could run around with your friends and ride your favorite rides over and over again, eat food that was terrible for you, and laugh at the silly side shows tents they had set up. I remember one year it was the snake lady. You would give up a ticket to go into this tent and there was a (fake) coiled up snake body with a (real) woman's head inside this (mirrored) box. Of course, the woman was able to talk but she couldn't move the fake snake body. Anyway, we haven't been to the carnival since we were dating. And there were no freak show tents.

I picked up the baby goat even though the sign said not to. Breaking the law!

Dolly riding the merry-go-round

Nanny had some crazy hair on the slide

She got a sno cone AND cotton candy

Dolly and I riding the caterpillar roller coaster (twice)

I tried a deep fried snickers for the first time ever. Y'all didn't want to see pictures of that. It was probably the worst thing EVER for me, but it was pretty dang delicious. Between the sunshine and the fried food I was worn out and I came home to nap for an hour.

Even though I enjoy my 'lay around and do nothing' weekends, this was a pretty awesome weekend!