NH Linda, I hadn't tried any FF feta yet but I will now based on your recommendation. I used to love feta cheese omelets! I love to cook too. I'm looking forward to you sharing your recipes.

Vickie, no problem. The site I went to about cholesterol is run by the American Heart Association. Here's the link: http://www.americanheart.org/present...identifier=512

I hope you're feeling better today. It stinks to feel rotten!

Angela

Thanks, Angela. That was the link. Don't know why I didn't think to look at the AHA! I've already sent it off to my BIL AND called him to tell him that I sent it.

I'm done making the phone calls that I can make for now so I guess I need to get on the treadmill.

I'm trying to make myself feel better with a little postive self talk. We'll see! Thanks for caring.

good morning, ladies. i just had a huge core breakfast and am feeling sassy.

vickie, your new cut and do will give you a lift out of your funk. hang in there. when it's time for your mri, remember to take some deep breaths and think positive thoughts.

lindanh, ff feta sounds fantastic! i love feta on a spinach salad with strawberries. well, i love walnuts on it, too, but will forego them for awhile.

i need to get offline now. i'll be back later. have a good day.

:grouphug: BIG GROUP HUG FOR VICKIE - I hope you are climbing out of your funky mood and I agree that the cut and color will do wonders for you. Enjoy!

I love guacomole - but for me this is a red light food so I don't bring avocados into the house too often. I found a local grocer that makes this fabulous FRESH salsa - so I will sometimes mash up an avocado and mix it with this. Speaking of the salsa, I have added it to couscous and it is fabulous - just throw in about 1/4 cup w/the water and this makes a nice flavorful, slightly spicy couscous - and it looks pretty too!

Well last night I managed to exercise - except that I almost expired from the heat. One would think that at around 9 pm it would be bearable - and I really needed an incentive to walk so I decided to walk to the Starbucks where I would "reward" myself w/a decaf nf cappuccino. So it's about a 3 min drive from our house - and it was a 50 min walk. The walk isn't so bad, but it was still @#$#@@ hot out. Called dh and he met me at Starbucks (at around 10 pm ) and yes I got a ride home. But radio said w/humidity it was like 35 DEGREES OUT - WHICH IS LIKE CLOSE TO 100! ...at 10 pm - isn't that insane? Yes I was dripping wet when I got there and feeling pretty drained - I did manage to enjoy my cappuccino and the AIRCONDITIONING in the car on the way home. I am very proud of myself for exercising as I have not done so in more than a week.

Cindy - enjoy your event at work - and your PB too!

Melissa - I guess it depends on the couscous ingredients? I would not obsess about it too much? Just enjoy it! ;)

Big fight over computers last night as well - seems ds informed his sister and dh that I said he had sole ownership of the den computer for the next 2 weeks to finish his high school stuff (not true). Gave his sister "permission" to use my computer in our bedroom!!! (not allowed). Dh was resting and asked ds to leave (she would not). Had to push the office chair out of the room w/her in it! Can u imagine!!! So this is what I came home too - and yes I WANTED TO EAT EVERYTHING IN SIGHT! But I didn't - luckily dh had made the marinated chicken so I had a big chicken breast, a whole baked sweet potato and a corn on the cob - AND WAS STILL HUNGRY!

I did manage to "resolve" some of the issues - but boy I felt like a drill sergeant and it is to hard trying to get everyone to agree and cooperate as they all have their own agendas! A mom's work is never done! :dizzy:

Now I MUST EAT LUNCH - actually missed my "breakfast" due to back to back meetings - managed an apple and coffee at 11 am - but in meetings all pm so I better eat!

Later,

Frouf:)

I hope you all try the FF feta cheese and can find it in your local stores. I truly love it, I love Greek salads as well and this keeps it core if you use a ff Italian or Vinegarette dressing.
I just went out to lunch with my DH and am wondering if I can count a hamburger patty I had (no role) as CORE... I have no idea what % of fat content it was. Do you all think I should? I ordered a hamburger plate with no roll, veggies and I did have fries with it. But, today is a "special" day the last day before we get our kids home for the SUMMER until September, the last private lunch out that we could share before THEY invade us each day! He has a home business, so we are lucky to have private time when they are in school. They get out on Monday for the summer, but due to finals, each day is a half day now until the end. I earned 2 points on the treadmill this morning and am counting 4 of my 35 FP for the fries, well worth it.
I'm thinking that I will count the beef patty as a core thing, but wanted to know the opinion of you all.
Vickie said she looks forward to me sharing recipes and I must say that I will be glad to do that, but I am a make up things as I go person and will be glad to share what I make up! Try at your own risk!
I have been contemplating gluten free recipes, actually. There are many starch items that are core than can make up things like "cake" or "bread" and will be doing a bit of research on that. I will also be looking up frozen juice concentrate and how that effects core foods. I have an interest in also looking into making homemade mayonaise.... very high in points and non-core. But, I find myself wondering about mayonaise. Here is a link to a site with directions on how to make it:
http://www.premiersystems.com/recipe...ise-sauce.html
You can use a CORE friendly oil and portion control this extensively and have mayonaise without counting it in your flexpoints? Is that really so????
Read the recipe, nothing in it if you use the right oil is not core. If I made it and used just a Tablespoon or so, wouldn't I be having my oils for the day this way? Looking for an opinion here!
Also, here is a recipe you all should try, it's a WW recipe and also orginated, I think, from Cooking Light magazine. Use FF feta cheese with it and it is totally CORE as well as put it over whole wheat pasta. It's totally awesome!

Greek Style Scampi

1 teaspoon olive oil

5 cloves garlic - minced

2 28 oz cans whole tomatoes - drained and chopped

1/2 cup fresh parsley - chopped and divided

1 1/4 pounds large shrimp - peeled and deveined

1 cup feta cheese - crumbled

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add garlic; saute 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and 1/4 cup parsley. Reduce heat; simmer 10 minutes.

Add shrimp; cook 5 minutes. Pour mixture into a 13 x 9 inch baking dish; sprinkle with cheese.

Bake at 400° F. for 10 minutes. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup parsley, lemon juice and pepper.

Yield: 6 servings.

WW Points: 5 points per serving

Cooking Light


Linda in NH, time to get off line and pay the bills

group hug sounds wonderful to me. thanks for thinking of it, frouf. sounds like you had quite a walk last evening. how many aps did you earn? you're right. it's insane for it to be that hot at 10 pm.

lindanh, i'd count that burger patty as core. you made excellent choices. congratulations. i'm ready for some cake recipes. i have been baking muffin tops using mixes from south haven farms. they are 1 pt each. i especially like them with granola added.

cher, melissa, anna, i can't remember which one of you was asking where to get the kasha. i couldn't find it in my grocery store the other day so i went online and found it here: http://search.store.yahoo.com/cgi-bi...m/nsearch.html i ordered the 5 lb bag and it got here in just a couple of days. it's working fabulously in making the granola.

we are going to the archery shop to practice in a few minutes. there's a fun event coming up this weekend. we're not shooting competitively this time--just shooting for fun. we'll be shooting our recurve bows (stick bow and arrows). when we're shooting to compete we shoot compound bows (wheels, cables), sights, etc.... lots of high tech. this weekend will be laidback. we'll mainly just be there socializing and soaking up some nature.

i just did some math and figured out that if i allow one year to lose the 41 lbs i need to lose---ALL I HAVE TO LOSE IS 1.5 OUNCES A DAY!!!! it's funny, but when i look at it that way, it seems easy.

That's a nice way to look at it Sandra. It definitely seems do-able that way!

I took an archery class in college, and absolutely LOVED it. I was one of only two girls in the class, and the smallest by far. The guys used to make fun of my tiny "toothpick" arrows. Some day I'd like to get back in to it.

And, drumroll, big news... I saw 120 on my scale this morning!! TOM is finally over, and my weight is dropping like it always does. I'm waiting till tomorrow to see if it's just a fluke or if I can really truly change my ticker to say goal met. That'd be nice!

We're trying the black bean soup tonight. It sounds good, and it'll match the weather today. It's finally cooler and grey and cloudy.

I'm going to finish sewing Annika's PJ's today - then move on to Ainsley's. I found this cute pink fabric with big red strawberries all over it at Wal-Mart for $2/yard, so I got a bunch. I figured for pajamas, who cares if it's cheapo fabric. I did prewash it, and it stayed intact, so I'm not too worried. :D

I'm pretty excited about my guitar lessons as well. I've been practicing hard this week, and can actually play one of my favorite songs!! :woo: Yippee!

Well, better get going with the afternoon. Lots to do, and it's so comfortable here today I've got all the windows open, airing everything out. Aaah.

Later!
Angela

Sorry to burst that bubble, Sandra ... but 41 pounds is 656 ounces. At 365 days in a year, it's roughly 1.8 ounces a day. Probably one extra glass of water per day would take care of that!

Still do-able though, huh?

kathy, that doesn't bust my bubble. i'm just proud i had figured it that close. :lol: the funny thing is i didn't think to figure 365 days. i took the long route via months. oh, well, i am a lucy clone.

angela, is there an archery shop in your area? i'd love it if you could get back to shooting. we could swap shooting stories. i can't tell you how proud i am of you for getting your weight down so low. that's amazing.

Just dropping in for a minute while I am here at work. Having FOUR days off this weekend has messed me up. I'm so tired!! :yawn:

Sandra, I like your idea! 1.8 ounces a day isn't bad! Oh, and that wasn't me that asked about kasha. I don't even know what it is!

NH Linda, you have great ideas, I hope that you will continue to share them!

Frouf, does the drama ever stop for you? Good job with your walk last night. I'm very impressed!!

Vickie, :grouphug: I hope you're having a good afternoon!

Angela, Congrats! :balloons: You have done so well. You are an inspiration! Not to mention making your children pajamas. I'm so impressed. I would love to be able to do that!

Radmom, as long as you count the points and stay within 35/week, you're doing fine!

Angela, congratulations! If you don't stop, you'll be seeing the teens pretty soon!!

I don't think I told you that my DS (27 y/o) lost his job last week. He had been there for four years and it was a shock, because his boss is our neighbor and good friend. Anyway, we have another friend who works at Dr Pepper and who managed to get him an interview this afternoon. It sounds really promising and I'm hoping he can get on there. The money is really good (mid-40s) for a guy that age and he doesn't mind hard work. He'd be delivering to stores. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

Happy day to all. My coworker had to leave for a doctor appointment so I've been sorta busy this afternoon doing some last minute tweaks on these lessons that deliver to site in a few weeks. Now I'm about to go back into the lab to test the fixes, so I'll be off again, but wanted to check in and say hey to everybody.

A quick hello to all of you - it will take me a while to catch up on who is who, etc!

Thanks for the info on the PB - I thought it was ok as long as I counted the points.

For lunch I did have the big salad at Fazoli's and splurged and had 1 breadstick - which I will count the points for also. I have divided up the points at about 5 per day......

Back to work!

Angela - way to go - how awesome to finally see your personal goal (of course the last time I weighed 120 I was about 15 yrs old? :) )

As for kasha/buckwheat - it is a GREAT side dish - has a nice nutty, crunchy flavor. I buy it here by the box - comes in 3 "styles": fine, medium and whole - the mediume I find works the best as the whole is quite large/crunchy and the fine tends to get mushy.

There are directions on the box - but basically you boil about 2 cups of water w/salt (I generally use chicken broth) then add the kasha (about 1/2 box or 1.5 cups?) and simmer about 10 mins until all water is absorbed. To make it extra yummy, in separate pan I saute a chopped onion, some sliced mushrooms and maybe green pepper in olive oil...then mix this into the prepared kasha! A real jewish recipe is kasha and bowties - same as above, but you cook bowtie pasta (in our case whole wheat) and mix it into the prepared kasha - this is extremely filling and I do tend to pig out on this so try not to make it too often!

Never even thought to figure out and "eat" my aps - that's how often I exercise!

Kathy sorry to hear about ds's job - what a bummer. But at least he already has something on the horizon - wishing him luck that this works out! (I love diet dr pepper by the way).

Of course I have now whipped out the calculator so I can figure out how many ounces I need to lose a day! What a great idea Sandra. Your weekend shooting sounds fun altho I of course have no concept of different types of bows and arrows so I'm glad you know what you're doing! :)

And I think someone was asking about cake? I have heard of using low fat angel food cake mix and mixing it w/a can of crushed pineapple - very low in points but obviously not core - I think if you make it into cupcakes it is about 1 point each? which reminds me need to find time to experiment w/the baked oatmeal muffins and see what happens!

Still at work - and leaving soon to see what new drama awaits me at home!

Frouf:)