Thursday 13

Now I really have no right to even post these, since I've had so much trouble staying at my WW points range since like Christmas...but on the flip side, maybe reminiscing about my ol' tried and true tricks of the trade will help catapult my recent successful few days back into weeks, and months...anyway here is my Thursday 13 list of my all-time favorite WW low point meals and snacks. You're not going to find straight up fruits and veggies on here, because that's a given. We should already be making these a priority in our daily lives.

13. Cottage cheese. Bleck! Hate it? I used to also, and then one day for some weird reason I decided that maybe my taste buds at in my mid 30s might be different than when in the 4th grade. 1 cup of 1% is 4 points. The surprising amount of protein will keep you full for hours. HOURS.

12. Hillshire Farm Deli Select Thin Cut Turkey. Sure it's way too salty and probably pumped full of nitrates. But dammit it tastes good. And at 2 ounces and just 1 point per serving, hey.... Works well by itself, or...

11. Thomas' (of english muffin fame) Multi Grain Bagel Thins. Tastes like you're eating a bagel. Well, that's because you are. Kind of. A really thin bagel. 3 points. Combined with some turkey, you've got yourself a filling 4-point sandwich. Go crazy and throw some brown mustard on it and you've got yourself a party. (In England, do they still call them English muffins? If not, then what do they call the muffins that we call muffins?)

10. Lindy's Bagel Thin Breakfast Sandwich: Take two egg whites, dash of milk, salt and pepper, stir in spray-coated plastic container. (I use a round ziploc brand bowl.) Cover with paper towel, microwave for 1 to 1 1/4 minutes. Place "poached" egg on mini bagel. Add an ounce of hillshire farm turkey or ham or whatever meat that's one point. 5 points. Add slice of FF cheese, 6 points. When I'm feeling especially frisky, I make the egg sandwich, no meat, plus an ounce of GOOD cheese, like havarti or gouda for an 8 point sandwich. Mmmm. I realize that's not really "low-point," but it's filling and SUPER good.

9. Chocolate fix: I buy a big grandiose bar of 70% dark chocolate, Giardelli, usually, found in the baking aisle with the unsweetened chocolates. The one I get is 2 points per square, and it's a big honkin square. Thing is, I don't really care for dark chocolate. Well, it's ok, I get that chocolate-y taste without the urge to go completely bonkers at eat the whole thing, and it satisfies my sweet tooth.

8. Chocolate fix #2/Chocolate milk substitute. I've never been a big milk drinker. Strangely, when I was pregnant with my oldest, I was suddenly addicted to chocolate milk. I've since given it up, but do love a good chocolate protein shake to stave off my horrid sweet tooth, The extra protein is great for running/rebuilding muscles, too. Now there are many kinds out there, but I love EAS Myoplex. It's generally sold at $12.99-$13.99 in "cases" of 4, however around here you can find them on sale at Walgreen's every few weeks, buy one-get one half off.

7. Orville Redenbacher's 94% FF popcorn. Carbs, salt, high munchability factor(R). 5 points for the bag. You can't lose.

6. 96% FF extra lean ground beef. If you've always preferred ground beef to the taste of ground turkey, guess what bovine lovers, this beef is lower in fat/points than the typical ground turkey (93 to 7 ratio) 4 ounces is 3 points.

5. The above makes a great taco salad. Add 4 ounces meat (or less, sometimes that’s just too much meat for me), plus 1 ounce 2% shredded mexican cheese blend (2 points), add one chopped tomato, 2 to 3 cups spinach. For dressing, choose one of the following: 2 T salsa (0 points); 2 T FF Western Dressing (I think this may be a regional thing-1 point); or 2 T taco sauce (0 to 1 point, depending on brand.) Total 5-6 points. Use the same mixture of ingredients with 3 small, authentic corn tortillas (range of 3 to 4 points depending on brand) and you’ve got yourself a reasonably decent point-sized taco dinner.

4. Fish. Holy carp (get it, carp, not crap?) Fish is low in points, isn’t it? I don’t know why I don’t eat it more often. Fresh is always best. But I’m going to share a secret with you. If you can locate Gorton’s classic grilled shrimp, the whole bag is just 4 points! And it really tastes pretty good to be coming from a bag. Downside, one bag can put you out anywhere from $6 to $8. That’s kind of a lot considering you still need a little something on the side, like a salad or whatever.

3. Rotisserie chicken. Maybe you see a pattern here. Protein rocks! I’ve used rotisserie chicken from the grocery store deli as a main dish and thrown a salad together, and voila, dinner is served. It’s also good for any recipe that calls for chicken (i.e. chicken salad, chicken soup, etc…)

2. What? Chicken again?! Yes. Ok, another awesome trick I’ve found is to make my own roasted chicken. I take a package of chicken breasts (or whatever , I suppose, I only eat white meat…) and throw it in the crockpot. Then I take a can or two—however much it takes—and add into the crockpot until it covers the chicken. Cook for about 8 hours on low, give or take. I really don’t know, I just play it by how it looks. Once it’s done, take a fork or whatever and poke at the chicken. It will break up so easily, you could honestly shred it like this. I use this in salads, soup, chili, etc… I make filling for buffalo chicken sandwiches by tossing it with my favorite hot sauce. Barbecue? A tablespoon of BBQ sauce instead (add an extra point.) And the broth leftover in the pot? Make some soup with that deliciousness, or boil some cabbage with it. It’s phenomenal.

1. Flatout bread (fake) pizza. Take one of these gems (now 3 points) plus ¼ cup tomato sauce spread thin. Trust me, you don’t want much more than this. Add veggies of your choice. (All 0 points.) Add 1 to 2 ounces 2% mozzarella cheese (2 to 4 points depending on amount and brand). Add a 30-gram serving of turkey pepperoni for an additional 2 points. Bake at 375 degrees until cheese starts to brown. Cut like a pizza to make it last longer, or roll that baby up and eat it like a trendy little pizza wrap.