New Tastes

We interrupt our usual programming for our first fun little foodie blog by one of our beloved Contributors.  This just made it to our Super Bowl Sunday food plan!  Any other good Maria Cucina recipes out there, Bellators?

_

At the beginning of this year, I made the unfortunate decision to step on my scale, and I may or may not have cried. I was no longer in the “I’d like to lose five pounds” club. I was in the “Wow, so if I lose 20 pounds… I’ll still need to lose some weight” division.

I’ve been there before, but previously I’ve had a cute baby to comfort me. As my youngest child is five, this was all my own doing. Well, mine and the pasta, the cookies, maybe some red wine…

At the ripe age of not-going-to-admit-how-old, I’ve tried SEVERAL weight loss programs. I’m not good at eliminating sugars and carbs, and I’m not great at carefully planning six, small meals a day. I’m not knocking either of those programs – I’ve done both with some success.

What I’ve found is that Weight Watchers is most effective for me. I like the flexibility of being able to eat a cheat meal without eliminating the week’s progress, that exercising “earns” food, and that I have a method to track what I’m eating.

A few years ago, while doing Weight Watchers (after that last cute baby), I stumbled onto skinnytaste, a blog with recipes that were both realistic AND indicated points per serving. I had been struggling with eating more than salads but still staying in my “points.” The recipes on the blog weren’t cheeseburgers and fries, but they also weren’t grilled chicken and broccoli.

As skinnytaste has evolved over the years, the author has expanded from just indicating Weight Watchers points. She has recipes tagged for Paleo, Whole 30, Keto, Gluten Free, etc., and you can search the blog to find those recipes specifically. I’ve also purchased one of her cookbooks which I consult on occasion.

Recently, I made the Turkey Chili Taco Soup. I made a few modifications that didn’t change the points value as far as I could calculate, and it was so good that I didn’t mind that the rest of my family was eating cheese tortellini. (For the record, my kiddos would have eaten the soup, but there would have been grumbling about onions and peppers – the struggle is real). The soup took me 20 minutes to make, and I froze a few portions for future lunches.

Disclaimer: I’m not getting a kick-back from either skinnytaste or Weight Watchers (I’m actually paying Weight Watchers monthly), but I always appreciate someone giving me some new ideas for healthy dinners. Hopefully, the same holds true for you!