Keep on Trying

According to the WW scales, I'm up another pound, even though I'm back down to normal according to my scale at home. Hmph. My regular leader wasn't there, and the substitute lady was not particularly helpful, so I'll just see what happens next week. My focus must be on keeping doing what I'm doing while not freaking out.

One thing that I plan to do in this way is to keep experimenting with new foods and recipes. Here's what I've done recently. 

On Saturday, I tried the acorn squash I bought. I think I didn't cook it long enough. I used a recipe that called for cutting in half and filling the hollowed-out center with chopped apples. Cook for 35 minutes, then pour on a melted combo of 2 tsps butter with 4 tsps honey and sprinkle with cinnamon. Cook for another 20 minutes. I would add more time on the front end of the process, though, at least in my oven. The apple and honey really sweeten the flavor without bad-for-you brown sugar which I like. I used Brummel and Brown butter, so it was a little lower in points than full butter. All said, it was good, but not something I'm scrambling to make again.

I now have to figure out what to do with the butternut squash I bought. I'm excited to mess around with it. Maybe soup?

A more successful endeavor was dessert based. I love granola in my yogurt, but it's so stinking high in calories! I had some Kashi Vive honey cereal that I need to eat. I remembered that I had once added it to yogurt, but I couldn't remember if I didn't repeat that because I didn't like it or because I just forgot to try again. So...I tried again. It's great! It adds a nice crunch to the yogurt with far fewer calories than my granola. I also added some frozen raspberries so it was like a true yogurt parfait. Ooh! I also added some cocoa almonds...mmmm....a touch of chocolate. That adds points, but it's quality calories. Almonds are good for you.

Then, I was recently eating an apple while thinking about having a salad for dinner. Then I had a recollection of the time I had apples in my salad at Panera. It had seemed a weirdo combination at the time (hey--this was back when ordering a salad at a restaurant was rare and only based on guilt, not health consciousness). I decided to try it at home. I had some spinach, onions, and green peppers already, so I added part of an apple (the whole thing seemed excessive). I added a little balsalmic vinaigrette for dressing. It was great! It provides a nice added crunch and texture, plus the sweet tartness of the apple goes so well with the bitter tartness of the vinaigrette. This is especially great for me since I don't really ever add meat to anything anymore. The apple kind of gives the visual hint of meat without the fat or calories. I cut mine up into pretty small chunks, but you can do whatever you want.

I also bought a small bottle of 100% pure maple syrup (made in the state where I live: Wisconsin). I have a bunch of bulgur that I made the other night, so tomorrow morning, I'm going to heat some of that up for breakfast and add a tablespoon of syrup and some blueberries. My hope is that it will be like a hint of pancakes only healthy. I looooove blueberry pancakes, so we'll see if this cures a craving. I'll let you know!

Of course, maple syrup isn't great for you, but if you just add a little bit for flavor, it's just fine. And, honestly, we can't deny ourselves all the great things in the world, and syrup is definitely a great thing! I just recommend looking for syrup that is 100% pure. Otherwise you're getting a little syrup with a bunch of corn syrup and added sugars and fillers. Who needs that? Real maple syrup is kind of pricey but worth it!  I'll let you know how this experiment goes in the morning.

So there are my newest adventures in cooking. Any ideas you have are totally welcome. I have a few friends who are reporting in soon with new good ideas. I will keep you posted!