-1 pound and Low Fat Pasta Salad Recipe

I did the "forbidden" well not really and weighed myself again yesterday. I dropped another pound! I am excited! I weighed again this morning and it was the same. I am thankful for that!

Its probably all this moving we are doing at work. They built a brand new college facility and its huge and we "get" to move and pack. How fun is that? {eyeroll} Its actually been good for my health apparently! A co-worker and I share the same office -- and pray for me -- I really don't want to get a bad attitude -- but I could use some help packing. Ya know? I'll leave it at that and try to keep the attitude that I was hired to do a job and will do it unto the Lord.

Ok -- deep breath!

I wanted to share my Low-Fat Pasta Salad Recipe. Its really good and just in time for the holiday weekend coming up. Feel free to leave out the olives but I indulge for the salad.


Michelle’s Pasta Salad

1 16oz. package garden rotini (I like Martha Gooch best)
1 bottle Fat Free Zesty Italian salad dressing (I use Kroger brand)
½ cup chopped red onion
2 Roma tomatoes, diced
1/2 cucumber, peeled and diced
1 package frozen Kroger Mexican Blend Vegetables
(it has broccoli, cauliflower, red pepper corn, kidney beans etc)
1 small can sliced black olives
Salt and pepper to taste

Cook pasta according to package directions -- leaving it a bit al dente. Drain pasta and allow hot water to collect in another bowl. Rinse pasta with cold water to chill quickly and drain well.

Meanwhile put onions and frozen veggies in the hot water from the pasta and let sit for a few minutes to soften onions and vegetables. Drain well.

Combine all ingredients – you will not use the entire bottle of Italian dressing in the beginning, but after cooling in the fridge for a few hours, go ahead and add the rest and stir well.
I think in the beginning it soaks up a bunch.

-2 pounds


Its been a busy week -- so I weighed in this morning and I am down 2 lbs.

This is NOT unusual for me -- its whether it stays that way and goes down another 2 lbs after this week is over! {sigh}

That is my struggle ... I have been much more active this week and I am going to try and continue to do so. I do pretty well on the kinds of food I eat -- I just need to watch the AMOUNT.

I wanted a turkey sub from Subway for Mother's Day. I don't like to go out because restaurants are so crowded! My daughter brought me one -- and I only ate half. (In the past I have eaten the entire thing!) GASP! Come on, admit it you are guilty too! LOL!

I ALWAYS get turkey and all the vegetables, usually do mustard and lite mayo. Yum! I love the vegetables that is the best part!

How did you all do? Off to visit ....

May Day Challenge Begins!


Today is the day! And would you believe I remembered all week and then totally forgot about this! I did get a photo of me -- my husband was actually taking me with my horse and I told him to skip the body, but ... he didn't.

I weighed myself this morning, I know they say you shouldn't weigh yourself every day -- but I do. Does anyone else that weighs daily have a fluctuating weight of 3 lbs? And, uh, its not that time of the month. {sorry!}

My short weight loss story: In 1992 after the birth of my youngest child -- I weighed too much! I'll be honest, since I'm not at that weight today. I weighed in at a whopping 183 lbs. I am 5'8" tall.
I began a job that involved a lot of walking, and lost 20 lbs with that. I think that "boost" helped. I wanted to lose more, so I began a fat free diet and over the next few months, lost another 30 lbs. I did weigh on Friday mornings only. So, I was down to about 133/134. I did reach my high school weight of 129 once -- but my mom was pretty ill at the time and that probably contributed to it.

I kept the weight totally off -- but then in 2002 it started to creep back on. I think many things contributed to it -- lack of movement and then lazy about what I ate. After I gained back 20 lbs -- I realized -- Uh oh! This is not working. I then began a sporadic way of eating -- and I believe my body couldn't figure out if it was starving itself or not -- and for the last year -- I have STRUGGLED to lose weight. I'll lose a few, then it will come back. Its been a vicious cycle and very discouraging. I lost 12 lbs in 2006 but 7 of those are back.

About a month or so ago, I decided to get with the program. I think the hardest part is actually eating on a schedule. My husband says that is the main key -- and then eating healthy foods. I've managed to lose a few more, but have been back and forth on the scale this week. Ugh!!

I would like to lose 20 lbs. I am 41 years old, I do NOT need to be a size 6. It would be nice, but to be honest, I'd probably look sick.

Here's what I'm doing:

Walk for one hour at least 5 times a week. At least. Its been raining here -- and thankfully none today so hopefully I can get on the band wagon and walk this evening.

Eat 3 healthy (smaller portion than normal!) meals a day with 2-3 healthy snacks. (fruit or veggies/popcorn) I've seen results when I do eat correctly.

I just need a boost I think -- and not sure how to achieve that?

Advice is more than welcome..

So let the loss begin. We can do this.

Savory Chicken Salad


1/4 cup fat-free mayonnaise
1/4 cup fat-free sour cream
1 tablespoon honey mustard
1/4 teaspoon celery salt
1/4 teaspoon ground pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
3 cups diced, cooked chicken
1 1/2 cups seedless green grapes, halved
1 cup chopped celery
3/4 cup scallions, including the tops, sliced
1/4 cup almonds, chopped and toasted (in original recipe, I don't use)

In a large bowl, combined the mayo, sour cream, mustard, celery salt, pepper, and onion powder; mix well. Add the chicken, grapes, celery, and scallions; toss until well mixed. Stir in almonds, if using, before serving.

This the best chicken salad, I have ever had. You can even leave out the grapes and its still yummy and low in fat!

Chocolate Oreo Cake

Servings - 16
WW Points - 4

Ingredients:
1 pkg. Devil's Food flavor cake mix
12 oz. diet soda
2 egg whites

Filling:
4 oz. fat free cream cheese
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup Cool Whip Free
6 reduced fat Oreo cookies, coarsely crushed

Glaze:
2 squares semi-sweet baking chocolate
2 Tbsp. light margarine

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9 inch round cake pans with non-stick cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine cake mix, diet soda and egg whites. With an electric mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Divide mixture evenly between the two cake pans. Bake for about 26 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of cake comes out clean. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 10 minutes. Turn out of pans and cool completely on wire rack.

To make filling, combine cream cheese and sugar. Beat on medium speed with an electric mixture until well blended. Fold in Cool Whip and cookies.

Place cake layer on serving plate top-side down. Spread evenly with cream cheese mixture. Place second cake layer on top.

To make glaze, place baking chocolate in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for 1 to 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds. Blend in margarine. Allow to sit for about 5 minutes for mixture to thicken slightly.

Spoon glaze over top of cake and serve. Refrigerate any remaining cake.

Recipe: Devin Alexander's Cinnabon: Classic Cinnamon Roll

Saves: 371 calories, 26 g fat, 5 g sat. fat

You could tell that these were lowfat but they were still yummy!! I borrowed the book from the library but the recipe is posted on the internet. Its a few pages long, so just click the title of this message. I used my bread machine to mix the dough and it came out fine.

My husband says, "I have never had a bad cinnamon roll, some are just better than others!" He loves cinnamon rolls so I made these for him. They are gone. You can see from the photos they came out really good! I ended up making a pan and a half.

Homemade Bagels

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups warm water (112-115 degrees F)
2 tablespoons dry yeast
3 tablespoons sugar
1 tablespoon salt
4 1/4 cups bread flour
8 cups of water, for boiling
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon water

Instructions:
1. In a small bowl, mix yeast, sugar and warm water together and let stand 3 minutes.
2. Mix 2 cups of flour with the salt in a large bowl; then add the yeast mixture. Stir until combined and slowly mix in the rest of the flour.
3. Knead dough on a floured surface for 5 minutes, adding additional flour if necessary. Dough should be fairly smooth and somewhat firm. Place dough in a greased bowl, cover and let rise until double.
4. Punch dough down (if making cinnamon raisin bagels, add the cinnamon and raisins now -- knead just enough to swirl the cinnamon through the dough). Divide and shape into 12 balls. Allow to rest for 5 minutes.
5. Bring 2 quarts of water to boil. Make a hole in each ball of dough and pull open about 2 inches, making a bagel shape. Place the shaped dough onto a cookie sheet and cover for 10 minutes.
6. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drop 2 or 3 bagels at a time into the boiling water for about 45 seconds, turning each once.
7. Drain cooked bagels on a wire rack. Mix egg white and water; brush tops with egg white mixture and top with optional toppings, if using. Place bagels on greased baking sheets.
8. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, turning once half-way through baking. (If making plain bagels, you can flip the bagels; otherwise, just rotate.) Bagels will be lightly browned and shiny.

Notes: I have made these numerous times with much success. I have also made the dough in one of my yard sale bread machines and it turned out fine. I have found that when you are forming the balls, make them as smooth as possible prior to putting the holes in the dough.

I am going to make Banana Nut Bagels and Honey Wheat bagels tonight. I will post recipes if they are a success!

One of the best things about this recipe is that there is no added fat -- so fat count is basically nil.