Black Eyed Peas Salad

I first saw this recipe in Vegetarian Times Magazine.  I changed it up a bit, buy using dry beans instead of canned and changing up the seasonings/dressing.  I was really happy with the look of it (it's colorful!) and it tastes great!  Only 3 Points Plus for a full 1 cup serving.

1 cup onion, finely chopped
1 cup dry black eyed peas
3 large carrots, chopped
4 medium green onion, sliced
8 ribs celery - use inner stalks and leaves
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tsp salt
1 cup chopped bell pepper (red or green)
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp chili powder
1/2 cup cilantro (chopped) (optional)
15 oz can stewed tomatoes (moderately drained) and chopped  coarsely
1 tbsp Tapatio hot sauce.

Use 1 cup dry black eyed peas. Put in a heavy pot, add 6 cups water and bring to a boil. Boil for 5 minutes. Turn off heat. Cover and let stand for one hour. Drain and rinse. In a large bowl combine peas, carrots, celery, bell pepper, onion and green onion together. Add drained (oka if they are still saucey) stewed/chopped tomatoes. Add olive oil, hot sauce, and stir, mixing it all up. Refrigerate for an hour, stir. Adjust seasoning and hot sauce to taste. Serving size - 1 cup
1 cup = 3 points plus
Make 8 one cup servings

Zucchini Pancakes

Zucchini pancakes are easy to make, low calorie, light and healthy, and they cook up really quick.  You can serve this with a tossed green salad and some fruit and it makes a perfect lunch or dinner for a warm day.

2 large uncooked zucchini, Grated   1 egg 2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (grated/powdered) 1/4 cup All purpose flour 1 tsp garlic powder 1 tsp table salt 1/2 tsp black pepper 1 tsp sweet red pepper flakes Grate zucchini and set aside. Crack your egg right on top of the mound of zucchini, add flour, spices, parmesan cheese and I added some sweet red pepper flakes. Mix until everything is incorporated. Use cooking spray to spray a nonstick frying pan or griddle. Heat pan and use a 1/3 cup measuring cup to scoop mixture into pan and then gently flatten into a patty. Cook until lightly browned, flip and cook the other side. Serve hot. This recipe with my 2 zucchini (about 7" zucchini) makes 7 patties. Serving size: 2 patties Makes 3.5 servings Points plus - 3   A nonstick grill pan is great for lots of different things.  Zucchini pancakes, eggs, pancakes, bacon, making quesadillas. You can pick one up pretty inexpensively at stores like Ross and Big Lots.  But if you want a top of the line...this one's pretty nice!

Checking In: Weeks 11 & 12

Wow...I don't know if I should post a "ta-da" picture or a "womp womp" picture.  First of all, I totally missed last week's check in here on Pudgy Pomegranate.  Life has been busy....so last week, I walked, tracked, and did great with my plan, but hopping on the scale at last week's weigh in I was disappointed - but okay with it - with the .2 pound loss.  Yep, only .2 pounds.  My justification was that the week prior, I had lost 3 big ol' pounds...and hey, the scale moved downward so who was I to complain, right?  

So I vowed that I would, in week 12, go for a loss to hit my 15 pound mark.  So I did great this week.  I walked (even on Saturday!) I earned 16 activity points for the week (that's really good!), I tracked, I kept within my points.  But I managed to get sick with a cold. And I don't know if it's the cold, the meds, or what, but today I went to weigh in and for the first time in 12 weeks, the scale was UP!!!!  WHAT????  Yep, it was up.  .6  And the thing is, I seriously don't know why.  I can own up to it if I had screwed up, not exercised, not drank water...etc.  but I did all those things.  So why the gain?  So today, I am feeling like I get the big "womp womp".  

Ta-Da!! It's week 12 and I've made
positive life changes even though
the scale didn't show me the love
this week.

But it's just a number, right?  And I'm so much more than just a number.  I have lost 12.6 pounds in 12 weeks.  That's still a pound a week (YAY).  My clothes are fitting better and my energy level is okay (if I didn't have this cold!)  

So the goal for this week is to try to change things up a bit.  Maybe have more points for breakfast and lunch and less for dinner - I usually save more for dinner since that's when I'm with my family.  So we'll see how it goes.

So for now, I'm giving myself the "ta-da" because in the long run, I'm doing well, enjoying life, eating a healthy variety, and making positive changes!

Stuffed Portabella Mushrooms with Quinoa and Feta

This was my first attempt at stuffed portabellas and they came out great.  Even my non-veggie husband liked them - a lot!  They're good as a main course served with a tossed green salad. 4  portabella mushroom(s), washed and stems removed    1/2 cup uncooked quinoa 1/2 onion, chopped 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese 1 Tbsp lemon zest 1 small zucchini, chopped 1/2 cup shredded carrots 1 Tbsp garlic paste (or minced garlic) 1/2 Tbsp olive oil 1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, julienned Heat oven to 350 degrees. I use my pizza stone, but you can use a cookie tray. Spray washed and stemmed portabellas with cooking spray,  and add salt pepper and garlic powder to the gill side. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes until you prepare the filling. In a non-stick wok or pan with a lid,  add the oil, garlic and onion, chopped zucchini, sun-dried tomatoes and carrots and stir fry until veggies are tender. Add 1/2 cup quinoa and 1 1/2 cups water. Cover with a lid and simmer. If you need more water, add a bit. til quinoa is tender about 30 minutes.   Remove portabellas from oven and cool on counter while quinoa cools a bit. Stir feta cheese into the quinoa mixture, add salt and pepper to taste. Add lemon zest. Using a 1/3 cup measuring cup, scoop filling and mound on portabellas equally between the four mushrooms. Pop back in the oven and heat until hot about 15 minutes at 350 degrees. 5 Weight Watchers points plus each ****************************************************** I'm throwing this pizza stone on here for your consideration.  I love mine and use it for way more than pizza, including cookies, boregs, portabella mushrooms, baked kale.  You can see mine in the photo of the portabellas.  It gets a nice dark patina to it as it gets used (mine is unglazed) and I've had it for a few years now.  Things done stick to it, and it's easy to clean.  Do you have a pizza stone?

Pasta with Sprouted Lentils, Mushrooms and Sun-Dried Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1/2 pound crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes (moist pack, not in oil)
2 cups sprouted lentils
4 cups fresh spinach leaves
1 medium onion, sliced
4 large cloves garlic, chopped fine
Salt & Pepper
8 oz. pasta
1  1/2  Tbsp olive oil
Parmesan cheese (optional)
red pepper flakes (optional)

This recipe just "happened" because it's what I happened to have in the fridge at the time.  The result was very yummy and light, and a great way to use your sprouted lentils.

Bring a large pot of water to boil.  Add a tsp of salt.  Add the pasta, and cook until tender.  Drain.

Add the spinach and lentils last to keep
lentils crunchy.

Heat your wok.  Add olive oil til heated, then add onion and garlic.  Cook til fragrant.  Add mushrooms and sun-dried tomatoes.  Stir cooking until soft.  Add spinach leaves next and stir til wilted.  Lastly, add your sprouted lentils.  You don't want to cook them too long because they have a nice crispy crunch that you'd like to keep.  Stir, turn off heat.

Add the drained pasta to the vegetable mixture.  Stir together.  Serve in bowls with parmesan cheese and red pepper flakes, if desired.  Makes 4 servings (about 1 1/2 cups each)

It's best to get everything prepped ahead of time.

I use my walk for all kinds of cooking.  It's my favorite pan in the kitchen.  Here are a couple nonstick woks in case you're looking.

  

Catching up: Week 10 - Pinch Me!

Ta-Da!!  Three whole pounds down
this week!!  13 pounds down!

I had a busy week.  Over the weekend, Neddy and I stacked over 600 bricks and created two big raised beds in our yard.  I planted veggies.  My friend and I walked on our lunch break a few times.  So I go to my Wednesday lunchtime meeting, get on the scale and what NEVER happens, Happened!!  I LOST THREE (3!) POUNDS this week.  Notice the caps!  Yep!  I'M SHOUTING!

This brings my 10 week total weight lost to 13 pounds!  That was yesterday.  This morning I hopped on the scale, kind of as a "pinch me...I must be dreaming" kind of thing, and it was still there!

So it makes me wonder what's different?  Why the sudden weight loss.  Yes, we stacked bricks and worked out in the yard, but my active link monitor didn't even register that as activity. I've been trying to evaluate the difference and the one thing I can think of is that now that lent is over, I started back on dairy and therefore, higher protein foods, like greek yogurt, cottage cheese and eggs.  I'm still keeping within my points and tracking.  But i'm wondering if that's what's responsible for my numbers this week.

But whatever it is, I'm good with it!!!

Here's a picture of the work we did this weekend.  It starts in the lower right bottom  with our terrible soil garden space...and progresses up to the raised bed, the new soil, Neddy filling the boxes and then finally, up top, the finished and planted garden.

Checking In: Week 9: I Did It!!

I did it!  I met my first mini goal!  10 pounds lost!!

Well, it finally happened!  You know how it is when you get up first thing in the morning, go about doing your morning "stuff" and right before you get dressed for work, you hop on the scale for your weigh in.  Well, for the past week, I have more than hit my 10 pound mark, but weigh in is not until 12:30 p.m.  And in that time between 5:30 in the morning and 12:30, there a lot of life that goes on:  There's the morning coffee, a little something for breakfast...some water...you get the idea.

So if you read my post last week, I had 1.4 pounds to lose to make it to my 10 pound mini-goal.  And come Wednesday morning, I didn't think it was going to happen because my home scale had not moved significantly enough from the week prior.  So it was totally unexpected when I went to my meeting and the leader said, 'Oh, good, you lost again...."  The loss was EXACTLY 1.4 pounds making my grand total loss in 9 weeks to be 10 pounds!  Woot!!

So what did I do differently this week than last?  Want to know?  The answer is NOTHING.  I did nothing different.  I stayed consistent.  I tracked, I stayed within my points and I walked (and walked and walked...and still did my bathroom counter pushups).  (I'm averaging about 70 pushups a day now!!)

My friend Karen and I (the one that's lost 18 pounds in 9 weeks, thank you) have been doing what I call the "Green Light Walk" on our lunch break.  We walk until we hit a red light.  And so we have to turn and follow where the green light takes us. Anytime you stop at a red, you must change direction and go to the green.  I work at 7th and Fig.  This week we ended up taking Hope all the way down to Pico, and then walking all the way around the Convention Center and back to work.  It was a 3.6 mile walk. 

So I'm happy. One mini goal down, and the next mini goal is set.  Losing another 10 is already under way! 

What's working for you?  Let me know how you're doing.  I'd love to hear from you.

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Do you use a pedometer? It's fun to see how far you're going.  Pedometers have come a long way and you don't need anything fancy.  Here's a basic one from Timex, but nowadays, if you carry your phone with you, there are pedometer apps that keep track of your miles and calories burned.  Still, if you don't want to carry your phone with you, the classic pedometer will clip onto your waistband.