WWJDoWW March 9, 2011

In case you weren’t sure – that title is What Would Jesus do on Weight Watchers. And by Jesus I mean me.

I’m not sure if anyone actually cares about this, but I’m going to tell you anyway.

watch me wobble.

Before I joined, I always thought of Weight Watchers as this secret society of weight loss, what with their code numbers, special meetings and handbooks. I’m going all Joshua Jackson in The Skulls and reveal their secrets -  hold on to your hats.

Weight Watchers recently had an overhaul, so the Points program you may have heard about was transformed to PointsPlus, with newly skinny Jennifer Hudson as it’s spokeslady. I’d like to take a moment to comment on the fact that I think her success with weight watchers maaaaay have gone too far, because she has fallen prey to “I used to be fat and now I’m skinny bobblehead” syndrome. It plagues many a former fat person, think about it.

Anyway, Points are now based on fat, carbs, protein, fiber and sugar alcohols in food. Veggies and fruits are zero points. The fact that fruits are free is pretty huge, considering they count against you in most diets.  I think the idea behind it is promoting better choices over anything else.

Once you join weight watchers, you are given a points allowance based on current weight, height, age(?), and weight loss goal. I was given 29 points per day. You also get 49 bonus points to use however you’d like during the week. I’ve found that I don’t touch the extra points very often, but they are a great cushion, just in case. A friend of mine used hers for alcohol – smarty pants.

In addition to the initial 49 bonus points, you can also earn points through fitness. Tonight I took a Zumba class and gained 4 extra points for the week. Last night I ran 33 minutes and gained 5. I have no idea what the system is, so I just go with it.

Here comes the part that I always wondered most about, before I joined the ranks. What the heck does one point get you? I’m about to be one of those girls that lists out everything they ate today as if anyone cares. If you really, really, don’t care, just stop reading.

Ready?

Breakfast – 6 Points Total

• (2) Coffee with Hazelnut Creme Creamer – it’s the creamer from the in house barista creamer commercial. Jump on this wagon, it’s bangin.
• (4) 12 grain toast with a Laughing Cow Creamy Light Swiss spread on it- jump on this wagon too, you won’t be disappointed. I use these things to make cream sauces, in place of cream cheese, melted with salsa as queso, and just spread on crackers. The possibilities are endless. If you do decide to try, buy them at Target. They’re half the price of anywhere else I’ve seen them.
• (0) Apple

Lunch – 5 Points

• (2) Progresso Light Vegetable and Noodle Soup -these soups are delicious, filling, and totally guilt free. I actually ate them before Weight Watchers, just cause they’re tasty.
• (2) 3 French Fries – Yup, three french fries cost me two points. Do you know how many french fries I’d normally eat in one sitting? 57. The only reasonable french fries I’ve found are from Chick-fil-a. Their stuff wouldn’t be considered healthy, but it’s really not that bad in the grand scheme of fast food.
• (0) Banana

Dinner – 10 Points

• (8) Taco Salad- My salad consisted of taco seasoned ground turkey (2/3 cup), 6 black olives, cheddar cheese (not even the fat free kind – real, wonderful, cheddar cheese), lettuce, and tomato.  I started thinking about this salad at 2pm, continued to think about it while I worked out, went shopping for all the ingredients, walked home in the cold, prepped them and enjoyed. Man, did I enjoy.
• (1) Reduced Fat Peanut Butter
• (1) Reduced Fat Mayonnaise
• (0) Banana – I combined the peanut butter and mayo to dip my banana in. Go ahead and barf all over yourself, Michael almost did. My mom’s lineage is sort of  PA Dutch, and this was a trick she used to do to make the peanut butter more creamy and spreadable. I also consider Strawberry Shortcake to be biscuits and macerated strawberries with milk poured over them. Don’t judge us, we can’t help our amish tendencies.

To tell you the truth, I was actually really full after the salad and only ate the banana because of my relentless need for dessert. If you need some help in the math department (don’t be ashamed, I still count on my fingers all.the.time), that brings my points total for the day to 21. I could feasibly go buck wild and eat 8 Oreos (yes, oreos are one point each – who would have thunk?), but since I’m not hungry, I’m won’t (I realize this is common sense for 99% of people. It was not for me until a month ago). In combination with my 4 Zumba points, today was a total weight watchers success.

It’s now way later than I thought, and my bed is calling my name. For anyone who ever wondered about weight watchers – welp, now you know.

more adventures in foodery. February 9, 2011

Isn’t it so nice to find people that like the same things you do?

When I quit my last job, I got to select a handful of resumes out of 254 that applied for my job (I can’t fathom why so many people did, it really wasn’t that awesome) for my then boss to interview. As fate would have it, my boss agreed with me and she was immediately picked from the pile and we have spent the last 7 months bonding over food and jobs and relationships and dogs.

where for art thou, tacos don memo

Back in the fall, before arctic winter set in, we started a quest to try all the best food trucks in University City. We got exactly 1 truck in before we forgot our goal and the world froze over.  That afternoon, we set out to find Tacos Don Memo. This particular truck had excellent reviews and we were pumped to try it. We trekked the 8 blocks to the truck, empty bellies, cash in hand, and were totally foiled. We couldn’t find it. We wandered back and forth around where it was supposed to be, and it just wasn’t there. Since we had already decided on mexican, we went to the next mexican truck we encountered, MexiCali (please click the link, the dancing peppers on the website are fantastic). I give this truck 5 stars for awesomeness. My burrito was fresh and large and totally satisfying. I even went back the next week because I liked it so much.

i forgot to shoot the bunz.

With a new year ahead of us, we decided to resume our quest. Today’s lunch truck adventure took us to 33rd and Spruce, to Tyson Bees. I’m not really sure where the name comes from, because this truck serves korean/thai food. The truck itself is decorated in psychedelic multi -colored paint, and the people working the truck were young and hip looking (did I just make myself totally uncool by using the word hip? I think yes). When you place you order, they give you a playing card which they call out when your order is ready. I was the King of Clubs – high card! I ordered Thai Basil Chicken over Rice, and my fellow adventurer got Korean BBQ Short Rib Beef Tacos and an Edamame Taco. We also got a pork bun to split. We grabbed a table inside one of Penn’s dining areas (which, i might add, was super packed with rowdy college kids- what is this, a college?), because it was way too cold to eat outside.  The pork bun was unique in that it wasn’t pork stuffed into a bun, but instead laid on it like a taco. I could have eaten 40 of them. My thai chicken serving was pretty large, and came with a side salad of chickpeas, edamame and peas, as well as some kimchi. I give Tyson Bees a 5 also – my food was excellent and it’s been 3.5 hours and I’m still completely stuffed.

Before you go thinking that I just hand out 5 star reviews like it’s my last day on earth, let me assure you that some things I eat are NOT super delicious. The next time I encounter one of those things, I will be sure to let you know.

Another interesting thing that happened today is that during my walk from my building to my lunch buddies, I encountered on the sidewalk a sleeve from a puffy jacket, a piece of stray weave (tumbleweaaaavvveeee), and a tampon. Based on these artifacts, I’m going to go ahead and deduce that someone had a way more interesting lunch break than I did.

i need to get over things. January 18, 2011

Last night me and my husband went out to dinner. The night before that, we got in a fight (which started because he wouldn’t tell me what kind of apples he wanted while we were at the grocery store, and I flipped my lid for no reason. I guess if this is the worst of our problems, we’ll be OK) and sat in separate rooms for a couple of hours. This is only noteworthy because the two rooms of my apartment are separated by french doors, which means we can still see each other. This means I have to remember to glare into the other room every time I look up, instead of letting the closed door symbolize that for me. Why can’t being in a rage for no reason be simple? Geez.

26th birthday scrapple cake, that's how much I love scrapple.

Returning to the actual story, to celebrate our day off we went to dinner at a local bar whose best known menu item is called The Shame Burger. It’s a burger topped with homemade scrapple and a fried egg. For all of you scrapple haters out there, you can save your breathe, cause that sh*t is delicious. However, homemade scrapple is something even I am wary about. If you know anything about scrapple at all, you too would wonder why anyone would want to make it themselves. Some things are better off eaten unawares, if you ask me. I opted for a burger with goat cheese and mushrooms, which was sadly not delicious.

hat, ugh.

Returning, again, to the actual story, we walk into the bar, and the place is packed, but there is one four top table left open in the corner, next to a table of grownups. I’m not 100% sure what the age is that one becomes a grownup, but this group definitely was, and I am definitely not. As we approached the empty table, I noticed that a large brimmed hat and coat are sitting on one of the chairs. I walk towards the chair next to it, thinking that this 60ish year old man who is clearly the owner of the stuff will make a motion to move it away, at which time I would have said “You can leave it there, no problem, we don’t need that seat”. Instead, the guy pretends like he doesn’t even see us sitting down, and leaves his coat and enormous hat on the chair at what is now someone else’s table. I was immediately enraged. The longer we sat there, the more angry I became because this guy was a total jackhole. Everything he said was loud and pretentious and obnoxious, and he kept lifting his glass to get the waitresses attention in a way that made me want to break the stem off and slam it in his eye. As if all of this weren’t bad enough, at one point he looked around his table, decided it was too crowded and moved their entire condiment holder (which was a fancy beer six pack holder, yay for recycling) ON TO OUR TABLE. As if we weren’t even sitting there! I stared at it in horror like someone had put an entire rancid carcass on our table, and dude didn’t even blink an eye. OHMYGOSSSSSHHHHHH. He totally could have played this off like “Hey, did you guys order food? Here you go, that orange sauce is pretty good!”. Nope, he just continued to pretend we weren’t there. To make matters even worse, quizzo started shortly after this. If I thought this guy was annoying before there was a game being played, man, was I in for a treat. This guy kept shouting at the man running the game to move things along or collect the answers or give better instructions, since obviously he was the king of the bar.

While normally I do my best to respect my elders, I am leaving this one up to karma and hoping that retribution comes quickly. You should also make a mental note to move your coat and giant hat if ever you see me approaching, or I will sic the fates on you as well.

I also have to publicly apologize to my husband, who was the only person in range who I could take out my anger on. I’m sorry for yelling at you for not talking loud enough, when really I wanted to yell at the guy next to me for talking too loudly. I’m also sorry you fell down on the way home and I laughed about it, a lot.

food and space. January 17, 2011

I’m home from work today, remembering Martin Luther King Jr.’s contributions to America, and also sitting in bed at 11:30am. I spent all weekend eating delicious homemade food and couldn’t wait to tell you about it so you can run home and make it as well.

Soupppppp

Up first is a delicious soup that an amazing friend of mine (and my most faithful commenter!) made for me on Friday. She actually got the recipe from another wonderful friend, who has a whole food blog full of things that are guaranteed to be delicious. Creamy Chili-Corn Soup with Chicken and Black Beans. This.soup.was.amazing. I literally could not stop thinking about it, so I made it for myself again last night. At only 377 calories for a 2 cup serving, you can’t really go wrong. If you’re not a fan of spicy things, don’t be nervous, neither am I. Actually, that’s not entirely true, I love spicy, but my mouth does not. I’m trying to build up a tolerance, but it seems that it’s a slow process. Here’s the link to the recipe, it’s the last one on the post. Try it, I promise you won’t be disappointed.

breakfast stacks!

The second recipe actually comes from weight watchers, but it definitely does not taste like diet food. It would be perfect for a brunch, and it’s cooked in a muffin pan so makes serving quick and easy. It takes a little bit of prep work, but the end result is absolutely worth it. Bacon, potatoes, eggs and cheese all in a perfect little package, what more could you ask for in the morning? Check out the recipe here, or stop by my place, we have a bunch leftover.

**Please do not base the quality of the food on these pictures. I had no intention of even writing this post at cooking time, and they were only taken to send to my mom on my phone. Next time I will do better.

On a completely unrelated note, I had this conversation in the car yesterday:

Muffy: Where is the sun?

Bekka: It’s setting behind you, out the back window.

Muffy: What does setting mean?

Bekka: That means it’s going down. When the sun comes up it’s called rising.

Muffy: I know, I have a book about it.

Bekka: About what?

Muffy: About planets. There is a little one you know. It’s called Clifford.

Bekka: Uhh, do you mean Pluto?

Muffy: Oh yeah, Pluto. I never go-ed to space though.