HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Happy Valentine's Day , Everyone!

For the first time ever I received roses on Valentine's Day! I know , I know , you know I am single and not seeing anyone right now so you want to know who gave me flowers. Well, I won them at the membership drawing at the Y. I knew one day I would get roses on Valentine's Day. I am happy.

Well I am going to pull a few out of my pack and surprise my grandparents with flowers today. I am using my blessing to bless others too.

Today is weigh in day. I will post later on what I find out.

One more thing, I awoke to a white outdoors. We had a small dusting of snow this morning. It was so pretty and so rare. Thank you Lord for the beauty of snow.
Tags: life, valentines.

My Chicken Enchilada Casserole

OK, here is my version of the chicken enchilada recipe that I promised in my last entry. I do not follow recipes when cooking, baking yes, cooking no. Recipes are a suggestion to me and my cooking mind does the rest.  I tried to use ingredients on hand without going out to buy just for the recipe. I also used the leftover taco shells in a taco salad we had the next night.

 

Becky's Chicken Enchilada Casserole

 

4 boneless skinless chicken tenders, cut into cubes

2 cans of Progresso® Light Southwestern-style vegetable soup

1 onion chopped

    chopped garlic ( your preference as to how much)

3/4 cup uncooked rice

2 oz cream cheese

1 cup pinto beans

1 can of corn, drained

1 can chopped tomatoes with green chiles

2/3 cup of shredded low fat cheese

4 taco shells , crushed

 

Brown chicken tenders in skillet. Add onions and garlic. Add the soup when onions are tender. Add rice, pinto beans, corn and tomatoes. Stir. Stir in cream cheese. Let boil. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Transfer to casserole dish and top with crushed taco shells. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and then top with cheese.

 

There was enough for about six to eight decent size servings if accompanied with a nice salad. The points value is based on full fat cream cheese and shredded cheese which is 6 per serving.

 

Hope you enjoy, I did.

Tags: life, chicken enchiladas

Delicious light dinner

I have to share this recipe from Progresso Soup.

http://www.bettycrocker.com/Recipes/Recipe.aspx?recipeId=44701

Here it is for those who just want to read it. Double it if you have to.

 

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

A can of Progresso® Light soup just made it easier to create a casserole. Chicken breast gets a Mexican twist in this delicious casserole. Prep Time:20 min Start to Finish:55 min Makes:3 servings
11 Ratings 4 Reviews Read Reviews Rate/Review Recipe

1	boneless skinless chicken breast, cut into thin bite-size strips
1/2	medium red bell pepper, finely chopped
1/4	teaspoon ground cumin
1	can (18.5 oz) Progresso® Light Southwestern-style vegetable soup
1/4	cup uncooked instant brown rice
1	oz fat-free cream cheese, cut into cubes
3	tablespoons Old El Paso® fat-free refried beans (from 16-oz can)
4	corn tortillas (6 inch)
1/3	cup shredded reduced-fat mild Cheddar cheese

1.	Heat oven to 350°F. In 12-inch nonstick skillet, cook chicken and bell pepper over medium-high heat 4 to 6 minutes, stirring constantly, until chicken begins to brown and bell pepper is crisp-tender. Sprinkle with cumin.
2.	Stir in soup. Heat to boiling. Stir in rice; reduce heat to low. Cover; cook 10 minutes or until rice is tender.
3.	Stir cream cheese into chicken mixture until well blended. Spread 1 tablespoon of the refried beans on 1 tortilla; place, beans side up, in bottom of ungreased 1-quart casserole. Top with 1 cup chicken mixture; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of the cheese. Repeat 2 times. Top with remaining tortilla; sprinkle with remaining cheese.
4.	Cover; bake 20 to 25 minutes or until mixture is hot and cheese is melted.

Nutrition Information

1 Serving: Calories 250 (Calories from Fat 35); Total Fat 3 1/2g (Saturated Fat 1g, Trans Fat 0g); Cholesterol 30mg; Sodium 880mg; Total Carbohydrate 35g (Dietary Fiber 6g, Sugars 4g); Protein 19g Percent Daily Value*: Vitamin A 35%; Vitamin C 30%; Calcium 15%; Iron 10% Exchanges: 2 Starch; 1/2 Other Carbohydrate; 0 Vegetable; 2 Very

 

I will post my version of this later my computer is having non-cooperative issues right now. I used this recipe for inspiration. Check out the other recipes using the Zero points Progresso light soups.

 

http://www.bettycrocker.com/products/progresso/progresso-light.htm

 

 

 

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Tags: life, diet, recipes

Today was a tough one

Today I struggled to stay in my points. I started off real good before going to church but lunch blew it. Well not blew it but it took a lot of points. We went to a local mom and pop steakhouse. I always get the greek hamburger steak and today was no exception. I ate my very small side salad with my dressing on the side. I did order fries ( you know these places have the best fries ) but I gave half of them away to my nephew as soon as the meal arrived. I also had one small piece of bread with butter. Unfortunately the munchies and feeling of unsatisfaction hit me about an hour and a half later. I ate a few one point items and decided to clean my car to get my mind off of food. As I began to think about my lunch meal, it dawned on me I had used alot of points on things that were not filling. For the past three weeks I have tried to make vegetables my main source at lunch and they are very filling. Today the vegetables were the small side instead of the main course, no wonder I was hungry so early.

How did I combat this at dinner? I made a delicious pot of one point vegetable soup and a grilled cheese sandwich. Total dinner points was 5. YAY!

PROUD MOMENTS:

Making myself do something productive when I was wanting to munch.

Not blowing it the rest of the day when I knew I was low on points and being pro-active and making something filling and satisfying too without going over my daily points.

Making enough of the soup to have some for lunch tomorrow and freeze for another meal.

Tags: life, points, progress

Not so bad

Well I had to weigh in two days early because of my work schedule. I was expecting a weight gain after my big splurge for the Super Bowl. I got up on the scale very reluctantly and discovered that I had maintained. I didn't lose but I didn't gain. YAYYYY!

I do hope next week is a weight loss though.

Tags: life, weight loss

This made my day

I had one of those days today. Nothing went right and I received four calls from my most disturbing southern gospel customer driving me crazy about a new cd that releases tomorrow.

I was on my way to see my dad at the physical rehab facility when my mom called and said, " you don't have to come tonight, you can just  go home." Well first off , I do not ever have to go see him, I choose to go see him to encourage him. I was already half there so kept on driving to see him. I was walking down the hall thinking in my mind, I am so tired of the smell of this place and I am so tired of walking this hall and was thinking I am so tired of alot of things right now. I want my life to be normal again. With all this going through my mind, I passed a room and noticed something big and unusual. It was a beautiful white and black spotted Great Dane.The owner of the dog walked out just as I passed so I turned back to pet the dog when the man asked if there was someone I would like the dog to visit. So we surprised my dad with this big visitor. This man brings two of his Great Dane's in every other Monday night as therapy for the patients. He only had one with him this evening because his big car was being used for something else. Well, I am not a patient and this dog was therapy for me. That big dog really made my day. Well my dad was smiling too and enjoying him but I was ecstatic.

Here are a few pics.

Yes, that big three year old booger sat on me. Well he attempted to. I don't think anyone has a big enough lap for him. Now if he cheered me up can you imagine what he does to the patients. What a great thing to do with a dog!

Oh also we started talking to the owner and he had a great story to tell too. He just found out he had a 31 year old daughter and met her on January 2. He ran into an old acquaintance last year and he asked about his old flame when he found out that she had passed away. This acquaintance also told him that she had a daughter that was the spitting image of him. He then found the obituary of his old flame and tracked his daughter down in North Carolina. She accepted him with open arms and they are doing great. What a great story.  Of course there is way more to his story but that's the condensed version.

Lord, I pray that you bless this man's relationship with his daughter. I also pray Lord that this man continues his ministry with his therapy dogs and will shine his light for you during these visits.

 

 

 

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I don't miss this feeling

I am green. I over indulged for the Super Bowl Party. I watched my points and kept them low most of the day. I just started keying in my food points and wowie bozowie, I am in trouble. All I can say is no wonder my tum-tum hurts so bad right now. The sad thing is I stopped eating way before I normally would have. So just imagine what I was normally eating on such an occassion. WOWIE!

I have to honestly say, I do not miss this bloated and tight feeling. The feeling that you feel like you should be rolled around instead of walking from place to place. I am finding new meaning to the old toys called  Weeble-Wobbles. I know you remember the phrase, "Weebles Wobble but they don't fall down". Well I am weebling and wobbling and I am about to fall down into my bed.

UGGH! I don't miss this feeling.

Now let me tell you what I am proud of. It was a beautiful day and I went for a one mile walk. I am proud I did walk but am sad that I have not rebuilt my strength yet to handle more than one mile. I am also proud when confronted with potato chips that I did not eat more than two servings. I know I did overindulge on other things but the chips are a start.

Ok, I am going to wobble to my bed now. Did I mention that I don't miss this feeling? Oh, ok maybe I will get the point at the next party.

Tags: life, super bowl, over indulgences