Anyone hungry?

Here are a couple recipes that were requested! My Crock Pot is *very* efficient (almost too much), so you may have to cook yours longer.

Ham & Potatoes Au Gratin

2 cups of diced extra-lean ham
4 cups of diced raw potatoes
1 cup of chopped onions
3/4 cup shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese
1 -10 3/4oz can of Healthy Request Cream of Celery Soup (Or you could use cream of chicken) 1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
1 teaspoon yellow mustard

Spray your crock-pot with butter flavored cooking spray.
Combine ham, potatoes and onions.
Sprinkle cheese evenly over top.
In a small bowl, combine soup, pepper, parsley and mustard.
Add soup mixture to potato mixture.
Mix well to combine.
Cover and cook on low for 8 hours. (Yikes! Mine only took a little over 2 hours on low.)
Mix well before serving.
Makes five 1-cup servings at 3.5 WW pts per serving.

Crock Pot Santa Fe Chicken

Slow cooked shredded chicken with corn, tomatoes and black beans. Prepare the night before and turn your crock pot on in the morning for an easy weeknight meal. Low fat and low in points. Serve over rice with chopped scallions, fresh cilantro, fat free sour cream and reduced fat cheddar.

Servings: 7 servings (1 cup each) Points: 3 ww points per cup

24 oz (1 1/2) lbs chicken breast (In my 2.5 lb bag of frozen chicken breasts, this was three breasts.)
14.4 oz can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies (Rotel)
15 oz can black beans
8 oz frozen corn (I used a 12 oz bag b/c I love corn!)
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
14.4 oz can fat free chicken broth
3 scallions, chopped
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp cayenne pepper (to taste)
salt to taste

Combine chicken broth, beans, corn, tomatoes, cilantro, scallions, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, cayenne pepper and salt in the crock pot.
Season chicken breast with salt and lay on top.
Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours. (I cooked mine on low for 6 hours and then did the next step.)
Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.
Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.
Adjust salt and seasoning.
Serve over rice (extra pts). (One cup of cooked rice is 4 points.)

(I also added 1/4 cup 2% shredded cheese for 2 points and 2 Tbsp of lowfat sour cream for 1 point, so with one cup of rice, one cup of chicken, cheese, and sour cream, mine was 10 points.)

There you go! Here are some sites I have found to be very helpful. You can also just do a Google search for Weight Watchers recipes.

This site has WW recipes and *lots* of helpful links!!
http://weight-watchers-points-recipes.blogspot.com/

Here is the food list with points:
http://quiddity.cc/rachel/diet/wwfoods.htm

Here is a calculator to find the points in a food. All you need is calories, fat, and fiber per serving. (There is a formula to figure out how many points a day you get.)
http://www.webmilhouse.com/pointcalc.php

I would highly encourage anyone who has a little or a lot of weight to lose to give WW a try. I am the least motivated person, but I am very organized and need accountability. I enjoy going to the meetings, not necessarily for the actual meetings (I work on my grocery list, LOL), but for the weekly break from my kids and just for the extra accountability.

Someone mentioned weighing in front of others. No one sees your weight. Not even you! Only the WW team member sees your weight, and she writes it in your notebook. You don't have to share with anyone. But believe me--there will *most* likely be people there who are thinner than you and heavier than you. We're all there for the same purpose. I kind of like going to my meetings because at 32 I feel really young. LOL There are even several men who go to my meeting. They sell the WW stuff there, and it is just a nice weekly time. My mom and I always go out to eat (sensibly) afterwards, and then we do our weekly grocery shopping. I am usually gone from 5 p.m. until 10 p.m. on Thursdays. It's a nice break from two demanding young boys.

One more thing, and then I'll be done. I really like that my meetings are on Thursdays. I would not choose a Monday weekly start for a diet, like most of the population. Weekends are big temptation times, so I'd rather have my weekends at the start of my week, not the very end. If I want a treat like a real Dr. Pepper (only 3 points!), I don't feel bad having one on Friday night as I'm watching nail-biting March Madness basketball games like I did last night, because it's a loooong time until I weigh in again. Just my opinion. :)

Have a great weekend!!!! Feel free to email me with any questions! theamicks77@comcast.net