Chicken Taco's Recipe

I am not trying to be dramatic, but when my youngest sons were small and you'd ask them what was for dinner, they would always want tacos-which were never my favorite.  I guess because I just was never really crazy about ground beef.  But since starting my weight loss journey for the 100th time, I realized I could use other ground meat like turkey or chicken (which is what I prefer).  Now, I am wanting to have tacos all week long like the boys did.  I finally get it.  Ok, well I am not one of those bloggers that just go on and on about stuff before we get to the recipe.  So here goes.

What you'll need:

1 pound of lean ground chicken
1/2 yellow or white onion, chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 orange or green bell pepper, chopped
1 can of salsa verde
1/2 package of low-sodium taco seasoning (or use your own blend)
(1 tsp of each: onion powder, garlic powder, cumin, salt & pepper)
Pam

What you'll do:

Spray your skillet with some oil (3-4 sprays), and add in your peppers and onions plus seasonings.  Season with your heart, you can add more or less of really whatever you want.  Once the veggies are tender, make a center and add in your meat and season your meat as well.  Chicken doesn't have much flavor - so go crazy.  Keep an eye on your meat, and keep chopping until well crumbled.  Once the meat is cooked, 5-7 mins-add in the can of salsa verde and simmer on low until thickened.

Heat your corn street tacos in a separate skillet until browned up a little.  And assemble.  At this point, you can eat them however you like, adding lettuce, avocado, sour cream, or cheese-whatever your taco-eating mind can come up with.

I did not create this recipe, you can find a version of this all over TikTok, YouTube or online.  I have four of these at a time, and without the toppings it is 3 Weight Watcher Points :)

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Weston's German Pancakes

So, I woke up this morning to a partially cleaned kitchen.  I went to bed a little early last night, so I left Weston cleaning the kitchen.  I went to sleep, knowing that when I woke up in the morning I would be upset that the kitchen wasn't cleaned to my standards.

This morning, just as I suspected-I got up to a 1/2 ass job kitchen cleaning.  My mom was lucky enough to text me good morning as I was snapping photos of noodles in the sink left from the night before.  She gave me some great advice, she said: "go wake him up and make him clean it properly, he shouldn't be in there sleeping in....don't go in yelling or angry-just tell him to get up and fix the problems!"  I waited until I was cooled down - and did just that.  He got up and he re-did the kitchen.

Then he made me German Pancakes.

Mom Score!

What he used:

6 Eggs
1 Cup AP Flour
1 Cup Milk
4 Tbs of Butter
1 Tsp Vanilla
Sprinkle of Cinnamon
Pinch of Salt
Powdered Sugar for sprinkling on top
Syrup for pouring on top if desired

What he did:
Preheated the oven to 425, and as the oven heated he had the butter in a 9x12 pan melting.  While that was heating and melting, he mixed all the other stuff together in the stand mixer.  Once it was melted, he took the pan out and poured in the mixture-baked it for about 10 mins.  Once it was done he sprinkled lots of powdered sugar & then.....we ate it, and it was good-tasted like French toast & quiche had a cool sweet baby!

Oh and bonus, he gets culinary points for making food at home during the distance learning time.

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Potato Salad Recipe

I love making potato salad, but it’s not really something I make to much.  I don’t have a recipe, I just wing it every single time.  This time I decided to write it all down so I could share with my friends.

I hope you’ll enjoy it!

What you’ll need

3 pounds of pealed, diced potatoes (I used white & yellow)
1/2 white onion (sliced and diced)
3 eggs
1 cup of Dukes mayo
1 tsp of mustard
1/3 cup of relish
1/2 tsp of dill
2 tablespoons of apple cider vinegar (optional)
Salt & Pepper to taste

What you’ll do:

Boil your potatoes & eggs together for 8-10 minutes.  Take your eggs out and set them aside to cool in an ice bath.  Drain potatoes and return to pot, off the heat, and drizzle with some vinegar and let cool for a bit (30-40 mins).  Once eggs are cooled, you can go ahead and peel and dice them.

Add all the other ingredients to the pot of cooled potatoes and mix to incorporate gently.

Go ahead and test the potato salad out, to make sure it has enough salt/pepper.  If it's good enough, put into your container you plan on it in and pop that bad boy into the fridge for a few hours.  Or just eat it.  Either way!  Enjoy!

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Bunny Butt Pancakes

My mom text me a photo of bunny pancakes, and right away I knew Olivia and I had to make them.  Here is our version-which is almost the same as the version my mom sent me, and sadly I don’t know who to credit for this original idea.  Sorry about that.  But thanks for sharing and inspiring us to make bunny butt pancakes.  Our bunny was not amused, but my honey bunny was <3 

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Lela's Lasagna - The Recipe

Again, with the complaining about not having all the things I need to cook something.  To be fair we really never have lasagna.  I am not patient enough for the noodle boiling.  But I got some really lovely whole wheat NO BOIL noodles from DeLallo (online).  Anyway, before this gets too complicated we don't have any mozzarella.  An Internet search, three different recipes and I think I finally came up with one the family will eat.  So the mashup receipt is.....

What you’ll need:

9 No-boil whole wheat lasagna sheets
1 jar of marinara
1 pound of Italian sausage
1 cup of Ricotta cheese
1 egg
Fresh Basil Leaves cut into strips
1 cup of Parmesan cheese
2 cups of milk
3 1/2 tablespoons of butter
3 tablespoons of flour
Sprinkle of nutmeg (optional)
Salt & pepper to taste


What you’ll do:

Preheat that oven of yours to 350.  Get out your 9x9 casserole dish and spray it generously with some oil so nothing sticks, I find this easier for noodle retrieval and clean up.

First I  cooked the sausage, then I put in the store-bought marinara-heated to bubbly.  While all that is happening, I put in the ricotta, egg, salt & pepper to taste, oh and before I forget.....I also added some fresh basil from my window garden.  Delish-I used about 10 leaves-julienned them and set the mixture aside.

I heated the milk in the microwave for three minutes, meanwhile, in a separate saucepan, I melted the butter and added in the flour.  Let that cook for a few minutes then added in the hot milk and whisked like crazy until it was thick and bubbly.  Added in the cheese, salt & pepper-done.

Now comes the fun part.  Building the lasagna.  I first started with a ladle of the sauce mixture, then put down three sheets of pasta-side by side, then the ricotta mixture-then the hot cheese sauce & repeat-two more times.  I did have a few mozzarella balls-so I put them on top.  Cover in foil and bake for 40 minutes.  Remove foil, bake an additional 10 minutes.  I let this babysit for about 7 minutes before I couldn’t stand it anymore and had to eat it.

I must say, it was the best lasagna I have not only had but also made.  Billy agreed-and he would know because he loves lasagna and has had way more than me.

Okay well, I am not a professional cook, recipe maker, or blogger.  But I love food, so I am sharing this.

Lela xoxo

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Baked Vegan Donuts

What you'll need:

1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (I used Gluten Free)
2/4 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3/4 cup soy milk
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbs apple sauce (I used unsweetened)
5 tbs butter (I used Country Crock Plant Butter-Almond)

What you'll do:

Pre-heat the oven to 350.  Spray two donut pans (got mine from Amazon) with spray oil.

Sift flour and baking powder into a bowl, add in sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg and mix together.

Add in the soy milk, vanilla, applesauce and melted butter and whisk together until smooth.

Put batter into a piping bag (I used a large ziplock) and pipe batter into pan.

Bake for about 15 mins, or until lightly brown on top and let cool for a few minutes and then transfer to a cooling wrack while allowing them to cool before using glaze or topping.

*for topping*

Mix some sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl that is a bit wider then the donuts.  Melt some butter in a separate bowl.  Brush each donut one at a time with butter and dip quickly into the cinnamon sugar mixture.  Place donut on parchment paper and add more sugar if desired.

You can also melt some vegan chocolate in the microwave for about 30 seconds or until smooth, dip each donut into chocolate and sprinkle with sprinkles if desired.  Place on parchment paper to cool-or put into the fridge for a bit to let chocolate set.

(got the recipe here!)

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Pizza Dough (yummy)

What you'll need:

1 (.24 oz) package active dry yeast
1 tsp white sugar
1 cup of warm water
2 1/2 cups All-Purpose flour
2 tbs of extra virgin olive oil

What you'll do:

Pre-heat oven to 450.

In medium bowl, dissolve yeast and sugar with warm water.  Let stand for about 10 mins.

Stir in flour, salt & oil.  Beat until smooth.  Let rest 5 mins.

Turn dough onto floured surface and pat or roll into shape.  Transfer crust to lightly greased pizza pan, or cast iron skillet (I made two in my skills with this one recipe).  Add desired toppings.  Bake for 15-20 mins or until golden brown.  Cool slightly before cutting so the cheeses set.

ENJOY!

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Unfocused.

I love food.  I have the body of someone who loves food to prove it.  But over the years, and as I get older I find it much harder to be healthy-due to unhealthy habits.  I have been thinking about making some changes in the way I cook, the way I eat out and the way I deal with food/my relationship with food as a whole.

In talking to my daughter, who is a long time vegan-we & I mean my family tend to have the meat as the main focus of each meal.  When really, it should be the tiny portion or maybe just not even there to start with.  Don't get me wrong, I like eating meat.  But I don't have to dislike it to try to change my relationship with it or change the way I eat on a daily basis.  In having said all that, I have decided to scale back on my meat intake.  I am going to try to reduce the amount of dairy, eggs and sugar I intake as well.  Focusing more on whole real foods as the major and main source of my diet, not the other way around where as my daughter puts it.  So when cooking, making vegetarian dishes or versions of dishes for myself and even the family!  Making things plant based; and real.  Having fruits and veggies available at all times for snacks, not string cheese and potato chips.

I don't want it to be a big deal, or to announce it to the world as who knows what will happen in a month, two months-will I be able to keep up with it?  Will I loose my focus?

To sum it all up, my main focus isn't to become vegetarian per say, it's about being healthy and eating healthy.  Making smarter choices when I am able and just being more mindful.  I want to be strong, in my body and in my soul.  Last night, as I sat on my porch having a glass of wine I could hear the cows at a neighboring farm moo and I thought, I won't be eating any of you guys for a long long time & felt happy about that.

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Grilled Cheese-Family Favorite.

So, I am always looking at recipes on facebook, instagram, websites, blogs, pinterest...all over.  I came across a recipe for a grilled cheese recently, and could only remember it was on wheat bread, had fig preserves on it, arugula and brie.  I should have pinned it or something, but anyway I ordered the ingredients that I could remember, did a grocery pick up and came home and made this amazing treat.

What I used:
My George Foreman indoor grill
Couple of sprays of Olive Oil (I used the hand squirt version from Pam)
One loaf of whole wheat french bread (sliced)
President Brie
Fig Spread/Preserves
Arugula Lettuce

I put the sandwiches together, as seen above (spraying a few sprays on top of the bread that is being cooked) and cooked two at a time (they are small) on my GF grill until the cheese was melted 2-3 mins.

Mmm Mmm GOOD!

Now, these are not exactly WW friendly, they turned out to be about 5 points per sandwich.  But worth it. 

xoxo, Lela

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Recipe - Zero Point Homemade Chicken Sausage

Zero Point Chicken Sausage

1 1/2 pounds of ground chicken*

1 tsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp dried thyme leaves

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp white pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (I also like red pepper flakes)

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

**you can use whatever spices you like for sausage**

Put your ground chicken into a bowl that has a lid and set aside.  Mix the spice together in a smaller bowl and then sprinkle on top of your chicken, mix that really well getting all those yummy spices all mixed into the meat.  Put the lid on your bowl of chicken and let marinate in the refrigerator over night.

The next morning, when you're ready to enjoy, prep your non-stick skillet with a few sprays of cooking oil on medium heat.  Pat out your sausage into 16 patties, place in your hot skillet and cook sausage until completely (about five minutes on each side).

*you can grind your own chicken as well using two or three chicken breasts

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WW & Eating Out Around OUR Town

Well good morning, today I did a little research about what to eat while out and about that has low points, I read a few blogs but they points are not adding up in my app (purple).  So I am creating this little cheat sheet, basically for myself - but if someone else wants to use it that is fine by me - and I am only adding in food because I don't drink any of their "fat" coffee drinks, soda or juice.  I have water or unsweetened tea.  And I am really only adding items that I would actually eat to this list, since this is---well, my list haha.

I'll start with DD & DB because they are the closest to me at work :) Starbucks is in the BUILDING.

Dunkin' Donuts & Star Bucks

DD Hashbrowns - 4pts

DD Ham Egg and Cheese Wake up Wrap - 5pts

DD Egg and Cheese Wake Wrap - 5pts

DD Bacon Egg and Cheese Wake up Wrap - 6pts

DD Egg and Cheese on English Muffin - 9pts

DD Plain Bagel - 9pts

DD Ham Egg and Cheese on English Muffin - 10pts

SB Classic Oatmeal (no toppings) - 1pt

SB Classic Oatmeal with Blueberry - 3pt

SB Ham, Cheddar and Peppers Sous Vide Egg Bites - 7pts

SB Plain Bagel - 8pts

SB Butter Croissant - 8pts

SB Bacon and Gryere Sous Vide Egg Bites - 9pts

SB Bacon Gouda and Egg Breakfast Sandwich - 10pts

SB Fig and Chicken Spread Sandwich - 13pts

SB Sausage Cheddar and Egg Breakfast Sandwich - 14pts

SB Roasted Ham, Swiss and Egg Breakfast Sandwich - 15pts

Chick-fil-a

0-5 points

Breakfast

Hash brown scramble bowl with grilled chicken (no potatoes) - 3pts

Lunch/Dinner

Grilled Chicken Nuggets (12) - 0pts

Chopped Egg Topping - 0pts

Fruit Cup (small or medium) - 1pt

Light Italian Dressing - 1pt

Buffalo Sauce - 1pt

Honey BBQ Sauce - 2pts

Regular BBQ Sauce - 2pts

Side Salad (no dressing) - 3pts

Chicken Noodle Soup (small) - 3pts

English Muffin - 4pts

Grilled Chicken Sandwich - 5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast

Egg White Grill - 6pts

Hash Browns - 8pts

Chicken minis (3) - 8pts

Hashbrown Scramble Bowl with grilled chicken - 8pts

Bacon, Egg and Cheese on English Muffin - 8pts

Greek Yogurt Parfait with-out Granola - 7pts (with granola 9pts)

Lunch/Dinner

Chick-fil-a Sauce - 6pts

Grilled Chicken Filet Salad (no dressing) - 6pts

Nuggets (8) - 6pts

Superfood Side (small) - 6pts

Waffle Potato Fries (small) - 9pts

Chicken Tortilla Soup - 9pts

Cobb Salad with Nuggets (no dressing) - 10pts

Mac and Cheese (small) - 10pts

11-15 points

Breakfast

Chicken Minis (4) - 11pts

Hashbrown Scramble Bowl - 11pts

Buttered Biscuit - 11pts

Chicken Biscuit - 15pts

Lunch/Dinner

Waffle Potato Fries (medium) - 11pts

Chicken Sandwich - 12pts

Spicy Chicken Sandwich - 12pts

McDonalds

0-5 points

Breakfast
Scrambled Eggs - 0pts
Egg White & Turkey Sausage Bowl - 5pts
Fruit & Maple Oatmeal (no brown sugar) - 5pts
Hash Brown - 5pts

Lunch/Dinner
Side Salad (no dressing) - 0pts
Apple Slices - 0pts
Bacon Ranch Salad with Grilled Chicken (no dressing) - 5pts
Southwest Salad with Grilled Chicken (no dressing) - 5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast
Egg McMuffin - 7pts
Fruit 'n Yogurt Parfait - 8pts
Sausage Burrito - 8pts

Lunch/Dinner
Chicken Nuggets, 4 nuggets - 6pts
Small French Fry - 7 pts
Hamburger - 8 pts
Artisan Grilled Chicken Sandwich - 9pts
Cheeseburger - 10pts
Caesar McWrap with Artisian Grilled Chicken - 10pts

11-15 points

Breakfast
Hotcakes (no syrup) - 15pts
Apple Pie - 11pts
Bacon, Egg & Cheese McGriddles - 13pts (I have them take off the cheese for less points)
Sausage McMuffin with Egg - 14pts
Bacon, Egg & Cheese Biscuit - 14pts (I have them take off the cheese for less points)

Lunch/Dinner
Filet-o-Fish - 12pts
McChicken - 13pts
Bacon Ranch Salad with Buttermilk Crispy Chicken (no dressing) - 13pts
Bacon McDouble - 14pts
Quarter Pounder with No Cheese - 14pts

Subway

One thing to remember, at Subway is the cheese is 2pts a slice-so you can reduce the points by just not having cheese :)  These points are calculated wo/sauces (they can cost you-so look them up)

0-5 points

Breakfast

Apples - 0pts
Egg Patty - 1pt

Lunch/Dinner

Fresh Fit Oven Roasted Chicken Salad (no dressing) - 0pts

Fresh Fit Veggie Delight Salad (no dressing/cheese) - 0pts

Low Fat Vinaigrette Dressing - 1pt

Fresh Fit Turkey Breast Salad (no dressing) - 1pt

Fresh Fit Roast Beef Salad (no dressing) - 1pt

Fresh Fit Rotisserie Style Chicken Salad (no dressing) - 1pt

Fresh Fit Black Forest Ham Salad (no dressing - 2pts

Fresh Fit 6" Oven Roasted Chicken on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast

Egg and Cheese on Flatbread - 9pts

Lunch/Dinner

Fresh Fit 6" Turkey Breast on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 6pts

Fresh Fit 6" Rotisserie Style Chicken on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 6pts

Fresh Fit 6" Roast Beef on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 7pts

Tuna Salad (no dressing) - 7pts

Fresh Fit 6" Sweet Onion Chicken Teriyaki on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 8pts

11-15 points

Breakfast

Bacon Egg & Cheese on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 10pts

Bacon Egg & Cheese on Flatbread - 11pts

Steak Egg & Cheese on Flatbread - 11pts

Lunch/Dinner

Tuna on 9-Grain Wheat Sub - 12pts

Tuna on Italian Sub - 13pts

Wendy's

This place is the closest to our house, so it's easy for the husband to run in and run out :)

0-5 points

Breakfast

Apple Bites - 0pts

Lunch/Dinner

Baked Potato (plain) - 0pts
Grilled Chicken Patty Only - 0pts
Saltine Crackers (1pk) - 1pt
Lite Sour Cream - 1pt
Small Chili - 3pts
Jr. Hamburger Patty Only - 3pts
Large Chili - 5pts
Chicken Nuggets (4) - 5pts
Garden Salad (no dressing) 5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast

Breakfast Potatoes (small) - 7pts
Bacon Egg and Cheese Classic - 8pts
Sausage and Egg Burrito - 8pts
Artisan Egg Sandwich with Bacon - 10pts

Lunch/Dinner

Ultimate Grilled Chicken Sandwich - 6pts
Grilled Chicken Sandwich - 7pts
Chicken Nuggets (6) - 7pts
Grilled Chicken Wrap - 8pts
Jr. Cheese burger - 9pts
Apple Pecan Chicken Salad (half dressing) - 9pts
Small Fry - 10pts
Crispy Chicken Sandwich - 10pts

11-15 points

Breakfast

Breakfast Potatoes (large) - 11pts
Bacon Egg and Cheese on Croissant - 13pts
Bacon Egg and Cheese on Biscuit - 14pts

Artisan Egg and Natural Sausage - 15pts

Lunch/Dinner

Jr. Bacon Cheese Burger - 12pts
Chicken Sandwich - 14pts

Popeyes

Blackened Tenders - 5 for 1pt
Mashed Potatoes with Cajun Gravy - 2pts
Green Beans - 2pts
Red Beans and Rice - 5pts
Coleslaw - 5pts

Taco Bell

0-5 points

Breakfast

Mini Skillet Bowl - 4pts

Breakfast Soft Taco with Egg and Cheese - 4pts

Hashbrown - 5pts

Lunch/Dinner

Black Beans - 1 pt

Black Beans & Rice - 4pts

Soft Taco with Chicken - 4pts

Crunchy Taco with Chicken - 4pts

Crunchy Taco - 5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast Soft Taco with Bacon - 6pts

Breakfast Soft Taco with Sausage - 6pts

Grilled Burrito with Fiesta Potatoes - 9pts

Grilled Burrito with Bacon - 10pts

Lunch/Dinner

Cheesy Rollup - 6pts

Chips & Salsa - 6pts

Cinnabon Delights (2pk) - 6pts

Soft Taco with Beef - 6pts

Cheesy Fiesta Potatoes - 7pts

Cinnamon Twists - 7pts

Spicy Potato Soft Taco - 7pts

Bean Burrito - 8pts

11-15 points

Breakfast

Quesadilla with Bacon - 15pts

Quesadilla with Steak - 15pts

Quesadilla with Sausage - 16pts

Lunch/Dinner

Shredded Chicken Burrito - 13pts

Hardee's

So don't hate me, but we don't really have a lot of places to eat breakfast or fast food breakfasts that are going to be low in points.  Hardee's is a go to for my husband, but looking at the points today I can see that this will be a hard one for me to justify when using points-so may not be going back to this joint for a while.

0-5 points

Breakfast

Couldn't find anything

Lunch/Dinner

Chicken Soft Taco - 5pts

Chicken Hard Taco -5pts

6-10 points

Breakfast

Small Hash Rounds - 9pts

Lunch/Dinner

Chick Tenders (3) - 6pts

Small Hamburger - 8pts

Small Cheeseburger - 9pts

Charbroiled BBQ Chicken Sandwich - 9pts

Small French Fries - 10pts

11-15 points

Breakfast

Frisco Breakfast Sandwich - 12pts
Egg and Cheese Biscuit - 12pts

Breakfast Slider - 13pts

Loaded Breakfast Burrito - 14pts

Lunch/Dinner

Beer Battered Onion Rings - 14pts

& other places I like to go:

Chipotle

Roasted Corn Topping - 0pts

Fajita Vegetables Topping - 0pts

Black Beans - 1pt

Pinto Beans - 1pt

Lime Brown Rice - 3pts

Chicken - 3pts (donno why)

Steak - 3pts

Cheese Topping - 4pts

Sour Cream Topping - 5pts

Queso - 5pts

Carnitas - 6pts

Lime White Rice - 6pts

3 Taco Size Tortillas - 7pts (you just have to add in your toppings)

Burrito Size Tortilla - 9pts (this is why I get the BOWL)

Chips - 17pts (wowza)

So I normally get "burrito bowl, chicken, black beans, white rice, fajita veggies, corn, sour cream & cheese" for 19 pts-now mind you, I have not gotten this since I started WW-so I'd get the brown rice now and maybe lay off the sour cream/cheese (maybe do light or 1/2 to cut that down and make it a for 9pts (not bad)

Panera

Breakfast

0-5 points

Steal Cut Oatmeal with Almonds Quinoa and Honey - 4pts

6-10 points

Ham Egg and Cheese on Farmstyle - 7pts

Steel Cut Oats with Apple Chips and Pecans - 9pts

Steel Cut Oats with Strawberries, Pecnas and Cinnamon Crunch - 9pts

Chipotle Chicken Scrambled Egg & Avacado Wrap - 10pts

11-15 points

Bacon Egg Scramble Cheese Wrap - 11pts

Egg and Cheese on Brioche - 11pts

Bacon Egg and Cheese on Ciabatta - 12pts

Bacon Egg and Cheese on Brioche - 14pts

Steak and Egg on Everything Bagel - 13pts

Lunch/Dinner

0-5 points

Apple - 0pts

Banana - 0pts

Fruit Cup - 0pts

Ten Vegetable Soup (cup) - 1pt

Chicken Noodle Soup (cup) - 2pts

Slice of French Baguette - 4pts

Caesar Salad with Chicken & Dressing (half portion) - 5pts

Turkey Chili (cup) - 5pts

6-10 points

Half Steak and Arugula on Sourdough - 6pts

Modern Greek Salad with Quinoa and Dressing (half portion) - 7pts

Fuji Apple Salad with Chicken & Dressing (half portion) - 8pts (4pts without dressing)

Half Napa Almond Chicken Salad on Country Rustic - 8pts

Half Roasted Turkey and Avocado BLT Sandwich on Country Rustic - 9pts

Broccoli Cheddar Soup (cup) - 9pts

Creamy Tomato Soup (cup) - 10pts

Half Roasted Turkey Apple and Cheddar on Cranberry Walnut - 10pts

Autumn Squash Soup (cup) - 10pts

11-15 points

Half Toasted Tuscan Grilled Chicken on Ciabatta - 12pts

BBQ Chicken on Flatbread - 12pts

Half Cuban on Ciabatta - 13pts

One of my favorite things to get at Panara is a 2pick for lunch (easy enough) and the bacon souffle, which is 21 points.  I can get the cheese one for 19 points....but why bother-no more souffles for me.

Chili's

0-5 points

Steamed Broccoli - 0pts

Black Beans - 1pt

House Salad (no dressing) - 2pts

Corn on the cob - 3pts

Southwest Chicken Soup - 3pts

Chicken Fajita's (no toppings that are not free)- 4pts

Side of Mexican Rice - 5pts

6-10 points

Classic Sirloin (no sides) - 6pts

Grilled Chicken Salad - 7pts

Sirloin with Grilled Avocado - 7pts

Ancho Salmon - 9pts

Margarita Grilled Chicken - 10pts

Mango Chili Chicken - 10pts

11-15 points

Lunch Combo-Boneless Wings (no fries) - 11pts

Loaded Mashed Potato - 12pts

Home-style Fries - 13pts

Lunch Combo-Tacos 1975 (no chips) - 14pts

Chicken Caesar Salad - 15pts

Lunch Combo-Bacon Avocado Chicken Sandwich (no fries) - 15pts

Olive Garden

0-5 points

Grilled Chicken on Garden Salad (no cheese/no dressing) - 0pts
Whole Grain Linguine - 0pts

Minestrone Soup - 1pt

Paste e Fagioli Soup - 2pts

Salad w/dressing - 4pts

Breadstick - 4pts

Grilled Salmon - 4pts

Chicken Fingers (app) - 5pts

6-10 points

Create your own Pasta Marinara Sauce - 7pts
Chicken Piccata (dinner) - 8pts (lunch portion is 7pts)

Chicken & Gnocchi Soup - 8pts

Chicken Margherita (dinner) - 9pts

11-15 points

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce (lunch) - 11pts

Chicken Giardino - 11pts
Whole Wheat Linguine with Meat Sauce - 11pts
Zoodles Primavera (lunch) - 15pts
Cheese Ravioli (lunch) with Marinara - 15pts

So you can get the whole grain pasta with grilled chicken (0 points) add in marinara for 7 points (yum)

Texas Road House

0-5 points

Buttered Corn - 2pts

Herb Crusted Chicken - 2pts
Grilled BBQ Chicken - 2pts
Mushrooms - 2pts

Sweet Potato - 3pts
Fresh Veggies - 3pts
Grilled Salmon - 3pts

Sirloin - 4pts

Roll - 5pts / Butter is 4pts

Side Salad (no dressing) - 5pts
Mashed Potatoes - 5pts
Smothered Chicken with Jack Cheese - 5pts

6-10 points

Portobello Mushroom Chicken w/veggies - 7pts

Ranch Dressing - 10pts (wowza)
Chicken Critters - 12pts (with steak fries it's 19pts)

11-15 points

Side Caesar Salad - 14pts
Fried Catfish (3) - 15pts

Waffle House (breakfast only)

0-5 points

Scrambled Egg - 1pt per egg (with cheese 3pts)
Over Medium Egg - 1pt per egg
Hashbrowns - 2pts
Grits - 3pts
Ham - 3pts
Bacon - 5pts
Sausage - 5pts

6-10 points

Buttered Toast - 7pts for wheat & 8pts for white

11-15 points
Waffle - 16pts

FYI this is a WORK IN PROGRESS!

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WW Friendly Pizza Dough

So I've made the two ingredient pizza dough before & it's "okay", I mean-it's better then NO PIZZA for sure.  But I have been seeing on a facebook group for WW recipes for a "skinny pizza dough" that is sort of the same, but with a few different ingredients.  I am thinking, this "skinny" version may be way way better!

What you'll need:

• 1/2-3/4 cup of water
• 1tsp of yeast
• 1/2 tsp of salt
• 1/2 cup of fat free Greek yogurt
• 2 cups of self rising flour

What you'll do:

1. Heat oven to 425
2. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl
3. Stir in yogurt and mix until it starts to combine
4. Start by adding in about 1/2 cup of water, add more by the tablespoon if there is loose flour in the bowl
5. Dust counter top with about 2 tbs of four, add dough (should be a little sticky) - work until no longer sticky
6. Sit dough back into bowl and let rest for thirty minutes
7. Or roll it out and form into pizza crust and let sit for thirty minutes, poke with fork a few times to prevent bubbles
8. Add toppings of your choice
9. Bake on lined cookie/pizza sheet for about 14 minus
10. ENJOY!

Original recipe can be found here (My Bizzy Kitchen)

I have not tried this recipe yet-but I plan to, writing this post to "remind" me later :)  Oh and apparently, you can use this recipe to make other things like:

• Cinnamon Rolls
• Naan Bread
• Garlic Knots
• Garlic & Cheese Bread Sticks
• Meat/Fruit Pockets
• Calzones
• Stromboli Sandwiches
• Muffin Tin Taco Cups
• Pot pie top crust

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Weekly Meal Plan - 09/23/2019

This weeks meal plan has all been planned out.  LOL!  I maybe should try to phrase that better.  This week, our meals will be:

Sunday: Chicken Pita's (Thanks to Every Plate)
Using the Every Plate recipe (and supplies) for this delicious meal.  Now we are short four potatoes, so we'll see how we can make it work-we all seem to fight over potatoes around here.  We all love them so.

Monday:  Pasta Night with french bread
I have not decided what type of pasta we will be having on Monday.  Once I get to the grocery store-I'll know more.  I want to look at the pasta and get my inspiration at the grocery store.  I'll also bake a homemade french loaf of bread for those wanting to enjoy a warm slice.

Tuesday:  Taco's (of course)We'll be making our traditional taco dinner (beef/turkey mixture) served with warm flour tortillas, hard corn shells, lettuce, tomatoes, beans, cilantro rice, sour cream & cheese.

Wednesday: Chicken and Sour Cream RiceThis is a classic in our family, and really easy!  It consists of boneless skinless chicken breasts (or a rotisserie chicken), and chicken flavored Rice a Roni.  We will cook the chicken (boil) until cooked through and then follow the instructions on the RaR package, after it's all cooked we put in sour cream for an added creamy element-and that's it.

Thursday: Pork stuffed burgers with potato wedgesWe had this one week that the boys were not home, and well-it was that good that we want to share it with the kiddos.  So we'll be making this again just using the Every Plate recipe.  I hope I can make it as good, I've never bought ground pork before-so I don't really know what I am looking for.

Friday: Homemade PizzasThis is pretty self explanatory.  Olivia and I like veggie pizzas-so that will be super easy (mushrooms and onions for us) and pepperoni for the boys.

Saturday: Billy's chicken wings, homemade mac & cheese, roasted green beans
I'll have write out the recipe for Billy's bbq hot wings because they are delish-this will be the third time we've made them-they are certainly going into the rotation.

This meal planning stuff is no joke, it's hard to think ahead like this.  It's hard to commit to the plan and it's hard to go grocery shopping and buy all this crap.  This is week two, please someone tell me it gets easier!?

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Every Plate - Review (box number 2)

{UPDATE}  I am all out of free boxes!  You can still get $20 off your first order by clicking here though....still a great deal!  ----->CLICK HERE<-----

So my family decided to give Every Plate another try-because our first box was such a hit.  So much a hit, that one of the recipes will be made again next week so the entire family can enjoy it (we just are buying all the ingredients on our own).

Okay, so let's talk about what is in our box this week:  four ranch steaks, green beans, shallots, garlic, peppercorns, beef stock, red wine vinegar, demi-baguettes, button mushrooms, linguine pasta, pork sausage, reduced-fat milk, Parmesan cheese, Yukon gold potatoes, roma tomatoes, lemons, Persian cucumbers, sour cream, chicken breast strips, Turkish spices and whole wheat pitas.

Meal 1 - Peppercorn Steak with Garlic Butter Bread sticks and Roasted Green Beans

Would we make it again?  We'd totally make this again, maybe with a pepper grinder & maybe with a better cut of steak (the steak they sent was tasty but not very tender).  The idea of roasting green beans is amazing, love it so much & will totally continue to roast my veggies from now on thanks to EP.

Meal 2 - Pork Sausage and Mushroom Linguine with a Creamy Parmesan Sauce

Would we make it again?  Probably not this version, we all like the version of this that I make better.  I wasn't a fan of the sausage, it had hard bits in it & I cannot stand eating sausage that has hard things in it (bone maybe?), which is why I opted to just have mine with some yummy mushrooms.  It was yummy, and lower calories then my version as it came with low fat milk.  I may use that part of the recipe for the future - as I didn't see much difference in the flavor.  I wish that it would have come with some veggies to go with it, maybe broccoli or zucchini, I don't know-for a chef crafted meal I thought it was missing some freshness or brightness.

Meal 3 - Greek Chicken Pitas with Tzatziki and Lemony Potato Wedges

Would we make it again?  Surprised to say, yes-we would.  Even the picky eater of the house liked it, now mind you he didn't put tomato, cucumbers or the sauce on it but he loved the meat flavor, the ketchup flavor and the lemon potatoes.  Though we didn't have enough potatoes to go around.  They should have sent us 10 potatoes - but we only received 6.  I did contact EP and they gave me almost $10 to use towards my next purchase-which is pretty generous for 4 small potatoes.

Now let's talk about the items once they are prepared:  All the recipes were pretty easy to complete.  The only thing we found difficult was crushing the peppercorns in a ziplock bag as they suggested, it tore the bag & left the peppercorns pretty intact.  I used a meat clever - and pounded the crap out of it too.  I think I prefer a grinder for this.  Loved the shallots as an added bonus with the steak and the garlic bread was amazing as were the roasted green beans (who knew).  Will we continue to get these boxes, yep.....we sure will.....we continue to love them y'all.

And finally, let's talk about the price:  For our first box, I had a coupon for $20 off which brought my total for three meals for four people to $38.90.  Our second box, this box was upgraded so we could have the steak (for our anniversary) for $2.99 more per serving.  So our total was $80.83 (average about $6.74 a person/meal)

We have decided to get a during the week of October 3rd as well, and that will include 1. Spicy Honey Butter Chicken with Zucchini and Roasted Sweet Potatoes 2. Vietnamese Steak Bows with Carrot, Pickled Cucumber and Sriracha Mayo and finally 3. Creamy Penne Gratin with Cheesy Bechamel, Mushrooms and Thyme.

(click here if you want to try it yourself & get $20 off) or if you want to try a free box-send me an email at hello@homewithlela.com and I will send you the information on that.  Happy Cooking!

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Every Plate - Review (is it worth the price)?

So my family decided to give Every Plate a try.  What is Every Plate you ask, well they boasted on Facebook that they were an Affordable Meal Kit program, having meals at just $4.99 per person.  The meal kits can come every week, every other week or once a month-or never again, you have control over that.  They have meal kits for two or four people.  We opted to get the kit for four, since that was as high as it would go and have the kit delivered the week the boys were with their other parent, so it would be just three people enjoying the dinners.

Well first off let's talk about what we got in our box:  Two packages of ground pork, two packages of ground beef, four chicken breasts, two units of pepper jack cheese, one garlic clove, 20 potatoes, two packages of broccoli, two large zucchinis,  a lime, two packages of jasmine rice, four potato buns, two slices of bread, four onions, a halved piece of ginger, BBQ sauce, sour cream, beef concentrate

Meal 1 - Gooey Stuffed Pork Burgers with BBQ Onions and Crispy Potato Wedges

Would we make again?  Absolutely.  This one was a winner, not only did it take no time at all t prepare but it was really tasty.  We think that the boys would love this one.  I couldn't get over the idea of BBQ onions.  I mean, I love onions-I love them so much.  This recipe didn't disappoint in that department.  Once caramelized, we put in the BBQ sauce and those already delicious things were elevated to another level.  We loved the toasted buttery garlic potato buns as well.  The pork burgers had hardly if any shrinkage.  Some of the cheese did ooze out as it cooked, but I love cooked crispy cheese, so who cares right?

Meal 2 - Gravy Lover's Meatballs with Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Broccoli

Would we make again?  Totally.  This was took about ten more minutes for us to prepare and cook, but the end results were great.  The beef was of good quality, hardly any oil left over after baking them, the mashed potatoes were amazing, who knew roasted garlic would elevate a simple dish?  Not this girl, but I know now and I cannot ever forget it.

Meal 3 - Teriyaki Chicken Breasts with Zucchini and Ginger-Lime Rice

Would we make again?  Well to be honest, we never made this per the recipe.  The boys came home, and four chicken breasts just aren't enough-so we put them in the freezer.

Now let's talk about the items once they are prepared:  The recipes were easy to follow, everything was step by step.

And finally, let's talk about the price:  For our first box, I had a coupon for $20 off which brought my total for three meals to $38.90.  But if we continue to get boxes they will run $68.87 a week on the weeks we opt to get them delivered.  All in all not to bad, right?

(click here if you want to try it yourself & get $20 off)

p.s. here are a few more pics of the pork burger (just because I love onions)

Update:  I have three free meals to give away to anyone that would like to try it, just message me your email address :)  

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Spaghetti Squash-Spaghetti

So my sweet husband's sweet co-worker sent him home with two spaghetti squashes.....and I decided to cook one up for the two of us while he was at baseball practice tonight.

I cut it in half, scooped out the seeds-rubbed it with EVO, sprinkled on some salt & pepper and backed it upside down on a lined cookie sheet for about 45 mins.  Flipped it over, ran a fork all inside of it to get the "spaghetti" loose.  Add in some marinara on top of each (mixed it up inside the shell of the squash.  Topped it with vegetarian meat balls, mozzarella & Parmesan cheese.  Baked it again for an additional 20 minutes & voila.  Delish and kind of healthy, right?

xoxo, Lela

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Hot, Fluffy, Bread!

Why is it so hard to give up bread?  I mean, even though I have cut gluten out for the most part - I still try to find ways to eat bread-even if it's just gluten free bread!  Bread is so yummy. Today, we had some free food given to us at work and I even grabbed a slice of bread and quickly put it back - I mean, I know how it will make me feel (like shit)....so why even bother!  So I had some tuna salad and roast beef instead (NO BREAD).........no wonder I can't loose any dang weight!  Insert cuss word!

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Best Gluten-Free Product's I've found SO FAR

Man, I really thought being GF would be much harder then it is.  I must say, it's a bit easier then I imagined.  Only because apparently being GF is pretty common and so there are tons of companies that are providing great options for people who gluten free or non-GMO eaters.

I love to make a nice cheese burger at home from time to time, and so far the best bun I have found is UDI's hamburger buns.  It's fluffy like a regular wheat bun, but it's also almost buttery-like a crescent.  Yummy right?  I found mine in the freezer section at Winn-Dixie.

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GF 1WEEK

Hi! I've been GF for over a week now, and here are some things I've noticed:

• sleeping better
• less stiffness
• less bloating
• clearer brain
• happiness (what?)
• weight loss

Now, not a lot of weight loss but a bit.  It just feels different, I didn't really think about how it could change my life because I honestly didn't think the doc was right.  I just rolled my eyes and thought oh this is just a plain to get me on board with getting my thyroid checked.  Which I've decided to let him do anyway (he just doesn't know it yet) lol!

Some of my favorite GF stuff so far:

• Udi's Hamburger Buns

Sorry, that's all I've tried so far, though I have bought a lot of stuff from www.vitacost.com to try, but give me a minute.

More to come,

Mmmmmm....honestly, I like this better than any other roll I've ever had in my entire life.

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But I love Bread....

We all struggle with little pains, little uncomfortable things happening to our bodies as we age and as we grow (up).  I am not different then most.  I just suffer through it silently.  Thinking it's just part of life and part of how I am.  But here lately some of those symptoms seemed to be increasing in frequency and comfortableness.....

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