Break the Cycle

Yep - somethings are better bought in bulk - especially if you KNOW you'll use it. Poptarts - great for swim meets - or long car drives. With a family of 6 - we can easily go through a box in one trip. Our favorite - Hot Fudge Sundae (these are especially good in the summer frozen). Add in a few boxes of your favorite cereal (1/3 less sugar Fruit Loops) and you've got breakfast for months. Now - whats the catch??? If you spend $49 at Amazon on Kellog's products - you take off $20 just by using the coupon code KELLOGG1 Free shipping too (make sure you change it to the free shipping button) So - for $30 I got 12 boxes of 8 count poptarts, and 7 boxes of cereal - that's a little more than $1.50 a box - can't beat that !!! Click here to go grocery shopping at Amazon I also get my laundry detergent this way - I'll be sure to post when those deals are good. Jerzy

If you are a person that sews, or crafts - you know the value of a good light source. I love Ott-Lights - although they can be expensive - Jo'ann's has them at 50% off right now, plus use a coupon code JANFSE8353 for free shipping. Plus they have some kids crafts on sale (30% off) Joann's

We had a computer friend over for dinner last week - raving about some new thingy he attaches to his computer - and then it can work as a local phone. Seems he bought a few of these things - going to ship them overseas - use them here - whatever. Seems like lots of work when you can use Skype for free? And the charges for calling a phone instead of a computer are very minimal ??? PLUS - you can get a phone number - so that people in other countries can call you - and you can prepay credit for them ... Check it out - it's a wonderful service Jerzy

2 Bay Leaves 1/2 Tsp. Red Pepper Flakes 2 Medium Carrots (chopped or diced) 2 Medium Celery stalks (chopped or diced) 1 Cloves of Garlic (minced) I used more. One Large onion (diced) 10 oz fresh spinach 28 oz. diced canned tomatoes (I didn't drain it) 1 tblsp Basil 1 tsp. oregano 4 c. vegetable broth ___________________________________________ Place all ingredients into slow cooker. Cover and cook on high for 5 hours. Removed bay leaves. Stir and serve. 1 cup = 0 Points

Yesterday's Turkey Dinner in a box was wonderful. Of course, I ate more than I intended - so to be fair - I just wiped out my entire extra 35 AP's for the week. SOOOO - this week will be a bit tougher - sticking just to 28 points, but I know in my head that if I exercise, I can add up to 4 more points - and I can do that !!! WI was good this week - down another 2.2 lbs. Still about 10 lbs away from my all time lowest - but I'm slowly getting there. Made a decision to start working (for real) on my office. One little thing at a time. So for today - I'm going to haul everything I don't need up to the attic - which includes a brand new microwave, and 2 lamps and a new coffee maker. Ebaying some of the stuff - should make for extra $$$ for the new furniture... Today - leftovers - plus I made a cake for the Dreamsicle Cake - if you've never tried it - do so one day. It's better in the summer - but if you like cake - it's good all year round, plus it...

Been searching for a new bread machine - I love fresh baked healthy breads - but my old machine just wasn't doing the job anymore. I finally settled on this one - waited and waited for it to go on sale or find it on ebay cheaper - no go. I think I'll finally spring for the $200 and have some good bread next week

Cumin Chicken 2 tsp ground cumin, divided 1/2 tsp dried oregano 1/4 tsp garlic salt 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each) 1 TBS canola oil 1/2 cup picante sauce 1/4 cup water 1 tsp reduced-sodium chicken bouillon granules Combine 1 tsp cumin, oregano and garlic salt; sprinkle over both sides of chicken. In a large nonstick skillet, brown chicken in oil on both sides. Combine the picane sauce, water, bouillon and remaingin cumin; pour over chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; cover and simmer for 8-12 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink. Remove chicken and keep warm. Cook and stir the sauce over medium-high heat for 3-5 minutes or until thickened. Serve 3 Tbs with one piece chicken

First things first - down 1 lb. Not sure how I feel about that - I know I watched what I ate this week - but also made some poor choices in the beginning of the week, and didn't treadmill much, so 1 lb is good, I suppose. Full meeting today - glad to see so many old faces again. Our "backrow" was discussing how a few lifetimers have gotten "too thin". Yes, there is such a thing as too thin - but I doubt if I ever will get there. Didn't follow along too well with the meeting today - it was about choices you could make for meals - if I have time, I can usually provide pretty healthy meals for my family. The trick is to prepare ahead of time, I suppose. Plus, it helps not to go overboard on the desserts. I talked dh into delivery cupcakes to DS's school next week - so that's one temptation out of the way. Dinner today will be crab cakes . For 2 crabcakes is only 3 points - so I could really have 4 of these babies !!! That with pasta and salad a...

Seashore Crab Cakes with Creamy Chile Sauce 3 points/ 4 servings Ingredients 1 pound canned crabmeat, lump, or frozen and thawed 1 small jalapeno pepper(s), cored, seeded and minced (do not touch seeds with bare hands) 1 medium scallion(s), white and green parts, minced 1 slice whole-wheat bread, toasted and cut into very small pieces 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 large egg(s), beaten 1 medium egg white(s) 1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise 1/4 tsp table salt 1/4 tsp black pepper 1 sprays cooking spray 1/2 cup fat-free mayonnaise 1 tsp Dijon mustard 1 small jalapeno pepper(s), red or green, or Fresno chile, cored, seeded and minced (do not touch seeds with bare hands) 1 1/2 tsp fresh lemon juice 1 Tbsp scallion(s), minced, green part only Instructions Preheat oven to 400°F. Drain crab well. Place in a bowl and break up any large chunks. Add jalapeno and next 8 ingredients. Mix well. Coat a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Scoop up crab by 1/3-cupfuls and shape into 8 patties. Place on baking...

INGREDIENTS: 1 tablespoons olive oil, divided 1 lemon 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast meat 1/4 teaspoon salt, divided 2 medium zucchini 1/4 cup chopped parsley 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 2 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Drizzle 1/4 tablespoon of the oil in a roasting pan. Remove the zest from the lemons in thin strips; set aside. Thinly slice the lemons and place half of the slices in the pan. Rinse the chicken and pat it dry with paper towels; place it on top of the lemon slices and season with 1/8 teaspoon of the salt. Slice each zucchini in half lengthwise, then slice each half into 1/4-inch-thick half-moons. In a bowl, combine zucchini, parsley, pepper and remaining oil, lemon slices and salt; toss well. Spread zucchini mixture around the chicken and sprinkle the Feta cheese on top. Bake until chicken is cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Divide chicken, zucchini mixture and lemons among individual dinner plates and sprinkle w...

INGREDIENTS: 12 cloves garlic, divided 2 cups red wine (or use red grape juice with a splash of cider vinegar), divided 2 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided 1 tablespoon olive oil 4 turkey cutlets Pepper, to taste 4 sun-dried tomatoes, chopped 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard COOKING INSTRUCTIONS: Place 10 of the garlic cloves in a saucepan with 1 cup of the wine and 1 cup of the broth. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer until sauce has reduced and is a mahogany glaze. Pour sauce and remaining wine (or juice/vinegar) and broth into a food processor or blender and puree; set aside. Chop remaining garlic cloves and set aside. Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat; add turkey cutlets and brown on both sides. Don’t worry about cooking them all the way through. Pour sauce over turkey in skillet. Add chopped garlic, sun-dried tomatoes and mustard; continue to cook over low heat until cutlets are cooked through and sun-dried tomatoes have plumped.

Going to try a couple new recipes this week - came from Saving Dinner - I also picked up a couple new cookbooks from the library this week - will post any I find interesting. Also signed up for the million pound match up sponsered by the Biggest Loser - you and a buddy join together - to lose weight- and maybe win prizes. Details here I signed up with dh - we should be able to do really well - if we stick to it. I'm proud to announce I've treadmilled 2 days in a row now. YEsterday I ended up with 11,300 steps on my pedometer - and today - even though it's only 7 a.m., I've already logged 3500 steps - so going for 12,000. Should be easy enough - right? Feta Chicken with Zuccini and Turkey with Garlicky Red Wine Sauce dinner tonight? Not sure - tomrrow is a long day of swimming - so fish is usually easy - maybe make a roast in the crock today? It's frozen - so better get it started now....

Finally - right? We didn't do a whole lot of touristy stuff this time around - but I did want to share some pictures of interest (at least to me) These first ones are the making of a mattress - carpets are thrown out into the street (dirt streets) and then the cotton is dumped and shredded (as if this makes a softer mattress - not) Then men sew it up into whatever the owner provides. Here it was a new mattress for our neighbor across the street - one of the sons was getting married later in the week - I guess it was a wedding gift???? Pretty neat - but talk about a "firm" mattress !! We sleep on these while we're there - my back aches for the first week or so until I get used to it. While we were there - our dd celebrated a birthday. Lots of my quilting friends had sent her cards and gifts - I think the Egyptian Post Office was overwhelmed by the amount of mail she received that week - they were happy when they finally got to meet her "in person". The cakes ...

A new year, a new start, and new outlook - we've tried it all before. What's new - except the last number of the year has changed. We are still the same people as before. One day before or after isn't going to help us get our life on track. That being said - like millions of other people - I've made New Years Resolutions. Yes, I want to lose weight. Yes, I want to spend more time with my family. And yes, I know I need to exercise regularly. These things I know - the hard part is doing them. My WW leader has gone south - really - she's moved a couple states away. Our new leader is an old member of our meeting - she's very perky - and will take some getting used to. BUT - I must give her a chance. I must make up my mind to participate - even if it means just paying attention to what others suggest. Even though I've been there longer then most at my meeting - I don't know if what that newbie is saying might help me out - so next week - I will try...