Early weigh in

Going to have 3 days of visiting pumpkin farms, cemeteries and shrines, and we know eating is going to be a bit crazy so we decided to weigh in a day early

Me- DOWN 1.4
Nick DOWN 3.4
Bob DOWN 0.2

Good thing is that even if I blow it this week( will probably happen with Carmel apples and pizza) , I am pretty sure I now know what is going to work best for my body and I can get back on track easily. It's a good feeling .

Now off to enjoy for festivities of fall !

Math problem

If you live in a family of 3 and make a cake that divides into 16 servings, what does this mean ?

It means you will have enough servings of cake ( 1 per day per person) to last 5 days and then wonder what to do with the remaining piece on the 6th day. While thinking of what to do, you will begin to wonder why you even made the thing in the first place, if you can freeze the last piece, and then wonder how far in advance you would have to defrost it for someone's snack time. Then you realize that if you do this for 3 weeks you will wind up with 3 pieces in the freezer, which makes an extra snack for one day. Then you begin to consider the debate on who gets what flavor and wonder how to label these in order to facilitate said debate.

Same applies to muffins, but for 4 days with no leftovers.

If I were a thin girl

This popped in my head yesterday , while battling the stomach rumbles and counting the minutes to my next meal. My apologies to the fine writers who created Fiddler on The Roof, but Tevia can serve as a good role model for one embarking on weight loss

If I were a thin girl( tune of If I were a rich man)

If I were a thin girl
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd sniggle iggle up.
If I were a skinny girl.
I wouldn't have to count points.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were an itty bitty ish,
Skinny mini thinny winny girl

I'd buy my bras and panties at Victoria's Secret
Right in the middle of the mall.
They'd be in blue and green and fiery fuchsia
There would be one long staircase just going up,

There would be ones for days when I feel like a siren
and ones when I'm feeling like a prude
And others for no reason, just because

I'd fill my closets to the brim with new styles all shown in the fashion mags
For the sake of looking cool
and each new shrug and jeans and croptop and babydoll
would make heads turn my way
As if to say "There goes a skinny girl."

If I were a thin girl
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd sniggle iggle up.
If I were a skinny girl.
I wouldn't have to count points.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were an itty bitty ish,
Skinny mini thinny winny girl.

I see my hubby standing, looking like Fabio tonight
.With hair whipping in the wind
( hey it's a fantasy after all)
I see him whisk me off on horseback at sunset
Oy, what a change there's been in him
.All because I am a skinny girl

The most delicious treats in town the will not fatten me
There's no need to count calories
Food just burns off
One of these, Reb Tevye
three of these Reb Tevye
Racking up calories that would cross Jillian's eyes !!!
And it doesn't matter how many points I ate be they good or bad
When your thin it don't matter anymore

If I were thin I would not need time on a track
To walk and walk each day
And maybe then I'd toss my scale away
.I'd write some blogs to tell folks just how I did it ,yes I would surely know the way
Cause when you're thin they think you really know

If I were a thin girl
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
All day long I'd sniggle iggle up.
If I were a skinny girl.
I wouldn't have to count points.
Ya ha deedle deedle, bubba bubba deedle deedle dum.
If I were an itty bitty ish,
Skinny mini thinny winny girl

Don't try this at home

Now here is one I bet you have not tried !

I was reading yesterday about some aspects of folk magic amongst different cultures in regards to shamanic type healing. Fascinating stuff that is mostly removed from reality, but occasionally a thread of truth could be found that fits in with modern medical understanding. A lot of stuff that is amusing to the modern mind, such as writing a letter to the mice infesting your home to leave and so forth. Many strange uses for onions and eggs in regards to ills stemming from bad relations with fleas , ticks and faeries as well ( attacks of arthritis used to be attributed to "elf-shot").

As I read through, I found a very interesting remedy for weight loss. Take an egg, tell it to take your extra fat away, rub it all over your body and take the egg to a crossroads and bury it. No counting points, no need for a heart rate monitor, no hours in the gym, just you, an egg and a quiet intersection of two dirt roads. What was Weight Watchers, Jenny Craig and The Biggest Loser thinking when they created their programs when the solution is clearly a lot easier than estimated ???

Pumpkin bread

Yesterday was crisp, cool and a little drizzly. Bob had a funeral to sing for in the morning and then Mass in the afternoon, so any plans for getting out to do fall sort of things went right out the window. I used the day for a baking session of assorted muffins and breads that were made with healthy ingredients and could be frozen in portion controlled sizes for later. It's probably just as well, as we learned that Bob ( and most likely Nick) has a rather serious allergy to both mosquitoes and now Chiggers. They start out looking like a mosquito bite, then get a fluid filled bump on the top of them, itch to an insanity provoking level and then turn bright, beet red in a spot about 3 inches in diameter for a few days. Insect repellents without DEET serve as basting sauce, and those with DEET are harmful, so it really makes me consider any benefits of any kind of outdoor activities now. We have been having a chigger epidemic here for the last 3 years, and somehow they have invaded our car. No way to avoid exposure to them in the car, not completely sure how to kill the ones in there, and not a whole lot of answers found for this. So to cut down on any further possible exposure, the woods are out for now. Walking will have to take place indoors.

So, the baking opportunity yesterday was a good thing. Cool temps make a warm oven a very welcoming thing. I made apple corn muffins, pumpkin bran muffins and something called Velvet Pumpkin bread for last night's dessert. We have a practice of getting a "treat" for the weekend, and if you bake it yourself you can save both money and calories. This one turned out very good !

                      Velvet Pumpkin Bread (3.5 PTS- 16 servings)


                        Vegetable oil spray
  1                cup  canned pumpkin
                        Egg substitute equivalent to 2 eggs
                        --OR 2 eggs slightly beaten
     1/3           cup  fat-free milk
  2        tablespoons  light margarine
  1         tablespoon  vegetable oil
  2               cups  all-purpose flour
  2          teaspoons  baking powder
  1           teaspoon  ground cinnamon
     1/2      teaspoon  ground ginger
     1/4      teaspoon  ground nutmeg
     1/4      teaspoon  salt
     1/2           cup  chopped pecans -- dry-roasted
     1/2           cup  sugar
     1/2           cup  firmly packed light brown sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly spray a 10x5x3-inch loaf pan with
vegetable oil spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl,
combine pumpkin, egg, milk, margarine, and oil, stirring well. In a large
bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and
salt. Stir in remaining ingredients, mixing
well.

Make a well in center of flour mixture. Pour
pumpkin mixture all at once into well. Stir until just moistened. Don't
overmix. Pour batter into loaf pan.

Bake for 1 hour
or until cake tester or toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove
from pan and let cool on cooling rack.

Makes 16
Servings (slices)

Per Serving:
Calories
159
Protein  3 g
Carbohydrates 28 g
Total
Fat 4g (1 g. sat.)
Sodium 127 mg
% calories from fat
23
Fiber 2g
Cholesterol 0 mg

If it's Saturday, it's weigh in !

After a week of Weight Watchers 123 points, weigh in

Me- DOWN 1.4
Nick- exactly the same
Bob- DOWN 1.4

Lather, rinse, repeat !

Spice crusted tuna

One of the foods I am trying to focus on in our eating plan is fish. Low in calories and saturated fats, high in protein - what is not to love if you are working towards weight loss ? Fish is also a quick cook food, so it can fit in the time budget for most people as well. Problem is, most of us learn to bread it and deep fry it, and any health benefits go out the window. Cooking fish in a healthy way can be a little intimidating ! My problem has been getting the speed in which fish cooks downpat. Something in my mind screams error when a piece of protein supposedly goes from raw to cooked at a high temp in less than 10 minutes, yet this is the nature of most fish. In short, I am learning to cook fish properly now.

Last night I made some herb crusted seared tuna that may have been one of the best things I have ever eaten . My son called it chocolate fish and my husband said it was almost melt in your mouth steak, so I knew that I had found a winner. Do not let the number of spices intimidate you - there are several !

16-spice Seared Tuna W/mustard Mint Sauce

  3 tablespoons  ground cinnamon
  3 tablespoons  ancho chili powder
  3 tablespoons  pasilla chili powder
  3 tablespoons  ground cumin
  3 tablespoons  ground coriander
  3 tablespoons  ground ginger
  1 tablespoon  ground cloves
  1 tablespoon  ground fennel seed
  2 tablespoons  garlic powder
  2 tablespoons  onion powder
  1 tablespoon  allspice
  1 teaspoon  chile de arbol
  3 tablespoons  brown sugar
  2 tablespoons  kosher salt
  2 tablespoons  coarsely ground black pepper
  1 teaspoon  cayenne pepper
  3 tuna steaks -- (6-ounce)
  2 teaspoons  canola oil
  3 tablespoons  Dijon mustard
  2 tablespoons  honey
  1 tablespoon  prepared horseradish -- drained
  3 mint leaves -- finely chopped
   Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine all of the spices in a bowl. Rub 1 side of each tuna steak with some of the rub. Heat oil in a large pan over high heat. Place the tuna in the pan, rub-side down, and cook until golden brown and the spices have formed a crust, about 2 minutes. Turn over and continue cooking for 1 to 2 minutes for rare doneness. Drizzle each steak with some of the Mustard-Mint Sauce.

To make the mint sauce  whisk together the last five ingredients in a small bowl and season with salt and pepper, to taste.

I served it with something we call chineese sesame noodles


 CHINESE SESAME NOODLES

     1/4 cup  peanut butter, creamy
     1/2 cup  hot water
     1/3 cup  soy sauce
  2 teaspoons  honey
  1 clove  garlic -- crushed
  1 teaspoon  ginger
  6   ounces  noodles -- cooked ( I used soba/buckwheat noodles)
   1 can mandarin oranges, drained

In a large bowl, mix the peanut butter or sesame paste with hot water
until creamy.  Whisk in soy sauce, honey, garlic and ginger.  Add the
noodles. Top with orange segments  Serve warm or cold.