Fab Grab for Lunch Option - Only 7 Weight Wacher Points

Okay, so it's not the healthiest choice, but it's an easy choice when you are on the run or out and about and in doubt about what you can have.  You can bop on into the grocery store, or probably party store, and grab one of these wraps and just know it's only 7 points.  It is a ready-made wrap.  You just peel back the paper top and it's ready to eat as is.

If you are like me and don't like to be wasteful, yet crave a regular ol' sandwich occasionally and don't want to waste the rest of the lunch meat you had to buy to make that single sandwich, then this is an option for you that you can dress up with lettuce, onions, and tomatoes.

Beefy Black Bean Chili for 7 Weight Watchers Points

This is not a Family Favortie, but 3 of the 5 of us do love it.  The positive to something not being a Family Favorite is that I can store leftovers for Fast Grabs for myself and just KNOW the points value of it.

Mr. F actually requested I make up a double batch this time he loves it so much.  The Fact that he liked it so much in the past meant I would Frequently go for a Fast Grab leftover only to discover he had taken it to work for lunch!  That caused me some hardship trying to Figure out what to replace it with last minute. 

Ingredients: 

2 tsp. olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 Tbsp. chili powder
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1 lb. lean ground beef (10% or less fat)
2 (14-1/2-oz.) cans stewed tomatoes* (see Quick Tip below)
1 (19 oz.) can black beans, rinsed and drained
1 (14-1/2 oz.) can no-salt-added corn kernels, drained
1 large ripe tomato, chopped
1/4 ripe avocado, finely chopped*
32 baked tortilla chips

Quick Tip:  I chop the whole stewed tomatoes, but to save time, I discovered that you can use pre-diced stewed tomatoes.  The quantity in 1 can is enough, but you can judge the quantity you wish to add into this dish yourself as to whether or not you would want to add 2 cans of pre-diced, stewed tomatoes.  I also freeze my quartered avocados, pull out a piece about an hour before dinner, and then dice over top of the dish.


Instructions:

Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat, then add the onion.  Saute until softened, 3-5 minutes.  Add the garlic, chili powder, cumin, and oregano.  Saute, stirring constantly, 1 minute longer.  Add the beef and brown, breaking it apart about 5 minutes.

Stir in the stewed tomatoes (I chop the whole stewed tomatoes or buy pre-chopped and used only 1 can).  Add the beans and corn as well.  Simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the flavors are blended, about 20 minutes.  Serve with the tomato, avocado, and tortilla chips.

Optional garnishes:  Chopped red onions or scallions, cilantro.  You can serve as listed here, or serve over rice as well.  Just figure out your points for the addition of the rice. 

Points:  7
Yield: 6 (approximate 1-1/3 c.) servings

346 calories, 10 g total fat, 43 mg cholesterol, 448 mg sodium 42 g total carbohydrate, 9 g dietary fiber, 26 g protein, 101 mg calcium

Fab Grab Lunch of Lentil Soup & Bagel Thin WITH Butter for 7 WW Points!

Here is another easy peasy Fab grab.  Great for taking to work for lunch for working moms.  Can't call this one Family Friendly, as I'm the only one who eats it, but I L-O-V-E this soup.  (All other lentil soups I've tried didn't even come close and were actually revolting on occasion.)

I whole cupful is only 3 Weight Watchers points.  The Bagel Thin is only 2 points, but with 1 tablespoon of butter on it is only 2 more for a total of 4.

(I buy multiple cans when on sale & label with expiration date) I always have it handy for those days when I just don't know what to make from scratch for lunch that way.

Family Friendly Taco Salad - 8 Weight Watcher Points

Yes I can and do eat taco salad when doing Weight Watchers.  Of course, as my points allowance goes down, so does the way I make some of my dishes.  Right now, however, I have a lot of points to use each day, and when my dinner is going to be around 10 points, I make sure that my breakfast, lunch, and snacks are Far Fewer in points. I doubled the below recipe tonight.

Homemade taco seasoning (zero points):

Brown your pound of lean ground beef and crumble.

Add in the following:

1 tablespoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon paprika

Mix well and add in 1/2 cup water.  Cook until water evaporates to your taste. 

Assemble the following ingredients to make taco salad:

1 ounce of the seasoned lean ground beef mixture        2 points
1/8 c. (0.5 oz.) Mexican blend cheese                            1.5 points
28 grams of regular tortilla chips                                    3 points
1/2 tablespoon fat-free sour cream                                 0.25 points
about 1/8 c. diced onions is                                            0.12 points
0.8 oz. cubed avocado                                                   1 point
shredded lettuce                                                             0 points
diced tomato                                                                  0 points

TOTAL                                                                         7.87 (or 8) points


You can minimize the points by using baked tortilla chips (which my local grocery no longer carries), low-fat cheeses, and by eliminating the sour cream or avocado or both. You could also substitute fat-free greek yogurt for the sour cream as well.

It is Family Friendly because with all of the fixings set up in the middle of the table and the addition of some hard shell and/or soft-shell taco shells/tortilla shells, the kids can make whatever they want--the tacos, the soft tacos, or the taco salad. 

For now, this mixture works for me, and today I still have 1.25 points left. I'm stuffed! Enjoy!

Tuna Tomato for 6 Weight Watcher Points

You can probably manipulate the points by using a Fat-Free version of the ranch, but I don't have to right now on my current allowance, so I don't.

For this dish, all you need is:

1 nice firm and ripe whole tomato                  0 points
A 5-ounce can of albacore tuna in water        1 point/ounce (total 3.3 pts.)
3 Tablespoons of low-fat mayo                      (I add this w/the almonds to make a point)
A healthy pinch of toasted sliced almonds     (I add this w/the mayo to make 1 whole point)
1/2 Tablespoon of ranch dressing                   1 point
Lettuce                                                             0 points

My low-fat Hellman's mayo comes out to zero points per tablespoon, but I assign it a point for using 3 tablespoons and count the pinch of almonds with it as well.  Since it comes out to 5.3 points for me, I round up to 6 just in case.

I have no idea where I got this recipe from.  It was easy enough for me to remember and I like it enough to eat when not dieting.  I will also serve this up to the ladies who join me for a lunch.

When I was doing NutriSystem, this is one of the three options I had for the pouch of tuna salad they provided as a lunch.  Sometimes I used the almonds and ranch dressing and others I didn't, depending on whether or not I had the allowance of the Extras.  The other options I made for that tuna salad pouch were a simple tuna fish sandwich with onions added in, and this Tuna Melt recipe. 

In the picture above, I used too many almonds and too much ranch. I was winging it based on suggested serving sizes according to the packaging of the ingredients I used because I couldn't remember the points, but I adjusted the recipe I am sharing accordingly for your use.

Wash your tomato and cut off the bottom if it doesn't sit well without rolling.   Core the stem piece out. Cut your tomato into 8 wedges (think pizza style), but do NOT go all the way through.  Go about 3/4 the way down with each cut.  Then gently open the tomato so it rests all flowered out.  Fill it with your tuna mixture of all of the tuna fish and 3 tablespoons of lite mayo.  Top with a drizzle (no more than 1/2 tablespoon) of ranch dressing and a healthy pinch of toasted sliced almonds (no more than 0.12 ounces). Put a bed of lettuce down onto a plate and place your finished tuna tomato on top.  Cut with a knife and fork down and through the lettuce for each bite.

I will come back at a later date and show you another way to prepare and eat this dish. 

Voila! All done. 

It's Fraudulent the Way they Label Foods for Servings

I know we're all well aware that Food labeling practices can be questionable, but when they are allowed to say that there are approximately 2 servings per can, it ought to actually be at least ALMOST two servings.  This isn't even close, and it isn't the only product to Fall well below the claim.

The label on this can of tuna says there are about two servings.  It also lists 2 ounces as a single serving size.  Well almost 2 servings would be closer to 4 ounces in my opinion.

This can make calculating points a little tricky.  Tricky equals Frustrating for me.

In actuality, this is more like 1.5 servings per can, as in "Let us throw in a little extra fer ya over your one allotted single serving."  I guess it's kind of like pricing things $X.99, as if we believe $9.99 isn't really $10. 

Here is yet another of my favorite's with a Fraudulent label.  I love this soup, but the can says "About 2" for how many servings are within.  It says that 1 whole cup is a single serving, but when I divide the can into precisely half, each serving is 3/4 cup.  Multiply THAT by 2 and you wind up with 1.5 servings if each serving is a cupful.

So what do I do?  I eat the 3/4 c. serving so I can have it for lunch twice, but I still count it as the full cup for figuring my points because I'm lazy.  See why it's Frustrating?

Fierce Friday DIY Facial Review - 1/31/14

Wellll......I tried this skin-tightening egg white, mashed avocado, and honey recipe for a DIY facial tonight.  It sort of burned my skin, but I left it on for 20 minutes anyway.

Firstly, I don't think the mixture was quite right.  Maybe because I had extra-large eggs, but I didn't have any "liquid" to drain off.  It mixed rather well, but was very runny and not mask-like.  I decided to throw it into my Magic Bullet blender because that tends to add a lot of air and sort of whips what you mix with it.  It did blend it wonderfully and whip it wonderfully, but it was thin and not still not very mask-like.  Next time I try it I will add only one egg white and try it to see if it gets more paste-like.

The burn made me panic a tad, and I had to get into the shower to wash it off.  When I wet it with warm water to rinse it, it just slimed around.  Yes, my skin DOES actually FEEL tighter, but I'm not sure if it's a drying effect yet or not.

I put a tweet out to a Hollywood makeup artist, to see if they had any Feedback on the ingredients.  I'll keep ya posted on this one.  (so far, no extra input)

Update:  2/1/14 (the next day)

I came back to tell ya that while I can't see that my skin appears tighter, my pores are smaller!  Not sure if that's what "tightening" meant or not, but I like the way my skin looks today.  My makeup looks particularly smooth, so I'm voting this a must do again! 

(I couldn't tell much of anything last night after my hot shower, as my mirrors were steamed up! lol)