Busy, Busy, Busy!

Hey all!  I am so glad you stopped by to visit the pumpkin patch!  I have so much to tell you this week!  No I am not expecting!  (yet).....Other good stuff!  As you know, I have been doing Weight Watchers and last week I hit a bump in the road.  Well, I am happy to report that bump is gone!  I lost another 3 pounds this week!  I am so very very happy!  This makes 15 total!  15 down and only 35 to go by July!  I did try some new things this week that I will share here in a bit!  Please be sure to read all the way to the bottom.  I will be sharing my favorite food finds and 2 new recipes!

Okay, so Weight Watchers isn't all that is taking up time in my life these days!  Besides being a busy teacher and mom, I am now a busy author and illustrator for my children's book.  I have paid my first installment in having my book published!  I am almost finished with all the illustrations (only two left) and then it will be officially in the publishing process!  I will be selling my book to anyone that would like a copy.  It is a book written about a Little Girl's Dreamland.  It will be titled, "My Beautiful Girl, Go to Sleep".  I am sure you can guess where I got the idea.......if you said my own daughter, Emma......you are exactly right!  While lying in bed listening to her jabber and play in her crib one night till 10:00 pm, I came up with the idea.  Imagine that!

I started writing down the words that I wanted to tell her that would maybe help her want to drift off.  I can't wait for it to come out and be finished!  I can't wait to show it off!

I have 2 funny stories to tell!  Okay, so last week was not a good Weight Watchers week for me.  I started questioning why.  One of the theories I came up with was that I was maybe drinking too much Crystal Light and not enough of the pure H2O!  So this past week I bought 2 64 oz. jugs for my water and I happily filled my 64 oz. jug with pure and clear tap water.  My friend and coworker also started Weight Watchers last week.  I took her in the extra 64 oz. jug that I had purchased.  I figured if it was helping me, I would share. Thusday morning, she pops in my classroom at 10:00 in the morning, and flaunts her empty 64 oz. jug.  She also said, "You don't know who you are messing with when it comes to drinking your water!"  So on Friday, I periodically checked her jug to see which one of us would finish their water first.  Can you believe that just a little competition changed me from just drinking 32 oz. during the school day to downing 64 oz by noon?!  Of course, my class ended up having more bathroom breaks than usual (so I could go too)!  But I got all my water in and then some!  I think all the extra water helped to flush me out and helped contribute to my 3 pounds this week......so for that I say, "Thanks Tonia (my coworker, friend, and now competition)"!  Oh and by the way, she won.....but the challenge is on for next week!

My other funny story also happened on Thursday!  I usually take a breakfast sandwich either made by Jimmy Dean Delights or Weight Watchers for breakfast...but since I wanted a good weigh in on Friday, I decided that on Thursday I would eat one of my Weight Watcher's Blueberry Muffins for breakfast (less sodium than the sandwich was my thinking).  I packed my muffin and opened it when I got to school.  I took a bite and thought, "This tastes funny!"  But see, I had put lemon in my water and thought maybe it was the nutrasweet in the muffin mixing with the lemon in my water so of course, I took another bite.  Again, it tasted weird.  I decided to look at it a little more closely. 

Upon closer investigation, there was little fuzz on top of the blueberries in the muffin!  You guessed it!  Mold!  I am highly allergic to mold.  I immediately told my fellow teachers (after throwing away the muffin) that if they found me lying on the classroom floor, to call 911 immediately!  Of course, I didn't believe 2 bites of a moldy blueberry muffin would kill me but I didn't want to take any chances.  I just kept thinking about the headlines in the paper......."Moldy Muffin Kills Local Teacher".  I didn't want that to be my legacy so I thought letting my friends know what I had done, might allow them to tell the paramedics (if needed) what exactly I ingested!  Needless to say, everything ended up okay and I learned a valuable lesson......always check your muffin!  I am hoping this week is not as funny on my part and leave me looking like a fool!

So I promised to share some favorite food finds and some recipes with you.....and here they are!

A Few of My Favorite Things:
* Kroger brand Grilled and Ready Teriyaki Chicken Breasts (only 4 points and DELICIOUS!)
* Kroger brand Fat Free French Onion Dip (2 Tblsp. 1 pt)
* Special K chips (found in the cracker aisle) (30 of them for 3 points)  I like the Sour Cream and Onion!
* Tyson Grilled and Ready Steak Strips (Found in the Deli Meat)(I put them on salad) (1/2 the bag is 3 points)
* Still loving the Jif Peanut Butter to Go (7 points for the whole thing or I often use half and count it as 4 pts.)
*Athenos Hummus and Melba Crackers (2 Tblsp Hummus = 1 point, 8 Melba Crackers 4 points)
*Weight Watchers Smoked Flavor String Cheese (1 pt.) with 1 cup black seedless grapes (0 pt.)
*Breakstones Doubles Cottage Cheese and Fruit (3 pts.)
*Dove Dark Chocolate Pieces (1 pt. each)  I let these melt in my mouth when I am craving chocolate!
*Light Kraft 3 Cheese Ranch Dressing (2 Tablespoons = 2 points)
*Aunt Milly's Thin Buns in Hawaiian Flavor (2 pts. a bun)

And here are those recipes.....I think I will share 3 of them with you this week!  One for a dessert, one for a breakfast or energizing snack, and one for dinner!

1 = Dessert (I believe you should always eat dessert first, so we will start with the dessert recipe!)

Faux Ice Cream Buddies
*1 Keebler Brand Sugar Cone
*1/4 cup Fat Free Cool Whip
*1/2 tsp. strawberry jam or Smuckers fat free ice cream topping in chocolate/butterscotch/and caramel

Fill a sugar cone with the cool whip.  Top with the jam or topping and freeze until firm.  Enjoy for only 3 points!


2 = Breakfast or Energizing Snack

Banana Burrito
*1 whole grain low fat tortilla
*2 Tablespoons Peanut Butter ( I use 1/2 of on of my jif to go cups)
*1 banana

Spread the peanut butter evenly on the low fat tortilla.  Lay the banana at the edge of the tortilla and roll up and over the banana (in burrito fashion).  Enjoy for 7 points!


3 = Dinner

Mexican Chicken Baseballs
*3 oz. fat free cream cheese, softened
*2 tsp. margarine, melted
*1/4 tsp. salt
*1/4 tsp. pepper
*4 Tblsp. of a package Taco Seasoning
*2 Tblsp. milk
*2 Tblsp. chopped onion
*3 large chicken breasts, cooked and cubed
*1 8oz. tube reduced fat crescent rolls

With a mixer, combine the cream cheese, butter, salt, peper, seasoning mix, milk, and onion.  Pour mixture over chicken cubes and stir.  Separate the crescent roll dough into four rectangles and seal perforations.  Spoon 1/2 cup mixture into center of each rectangle.  Pull opposite corners of dough to center and seal.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.  Enjoy 1 baseball for 8 points!  Eat with a side of fresh green veggies or salad!


I hope you enjoyed reading this week's blog and these recipes!  I do have a pie recipe I will share at a later time for all my friends not doing weight watchers!  It is for Caramel Coconut Pie!  I just got it in the mail and it makes my mouth water just reading the recipe, so I think I will go chew some gum and drink my water so I can forget about it!  Have a great week!