Body After Baby: Week 2

Well, this week didn't go as well as last. The start of the week went well but Eli got home on Thursday night and it was pretty much all down hill from there. We ate at Dairy Queen one day and Eli cooked a Chocolate Cream Pie another day. Need I say more?



But I did manage to loose .8lbs! That brings my total weight loss to 3.6lbs. It's better then gaining, right?



I went to yoga 3 times: twice with Ethan and once by myself. I also worked the floor change at Express and that's a work out on it's own.



I have a good menu planned for this week. I'm going to be walking the mall with a friend on Tuesday and yoga on Friday and Saturday. I gotta keep moving!

Samantha at Mama Notes, our fearless leader, has posted a challenge and a question for us this week.

Challenge: How many sit ups can you do? When I was in high school I would do 200 every night. Ha!! After abdominal surgery and carrying a baby I'm pretty sure that number is way down.

Question: What is your favorite part of your work out? I would have to say the end! It takes me some effort to get motivated to exercise. Depending on what the work out is, I enjoy the act but the at the end I aways feel so good and glad that I took time for myself.



Here are some more tips on how to stay on points:

Sometimes I get pretty tired of just regular old potatoes. I love to cut them up, with the skin still on them, and bake them. Oven fries are great because you can spray them with nonstick cooking spray, add some seasonings and they aren't any more points then a regular old baked potatoes! I like to add chili powder, onion powder, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

I wanted to find a recipe for chicken nuggets for Ethan so I looked in one of the cook books my Mother-In-Law gave me for Christmas. (She bought me 2 that I really wanted! The Pioneer Woman Cooks and Make it Fast, Cook it Slow. I love them! Thanks Vicki!) I made these nuggets in the slow cooker and they are so good! Ethan loves them and I love that I know what I'm feeding my baby.

For the crust I used ground up Cheerios and wheat germ. I used a smaller slow cooker and halved the recipe. After about 2 hours I checked on them and some of them were done and some I had to turn and cook longer in order to get the crust crispy.

While I was making them it reminded me of some chicken fingers I made from a low fat recipe book my Mom gave me a long time ago. Secrets of Fat-Free Cooking is a great book with low fat recipes and tips. I think the chicken fingers are the only thing I have made out of this cook book so I'm excited to try some other recipes out.

Chicken Fingers w/Honey Mustard Sauce
3c corn flakes
1/2 t poultry seasoning
1/4t black pepper
3 T fat-free egg substitute (you can also use 1 egg+2 egg whites)
3 T skim milk
1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (4 breast halves)
Nonstick cooking spray

Sauce
1/4c +2T nonfat or reduced fat mayo (I just skip the mayo all together)
3T spicy mustard
3T honey
2T lemon juice

Blend the corn flakes in a food processor until crumbs. (Before I got a food processor I put them in a ziploc bag and smashed them up!) Combine the crumbs with seasonings. Combine the egg and milk and whisk together. Cut each chicken breast into 5 long strips. Dip the strips first in the egg and then the crumb mixture, coating all sides well. Coat baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray, and arrange the strips in a single layer. Spray the tops of the strips lightly with the cooking spray, and bake at 400 for 15 minutes or until the strips are golden brown and no longer pink inside. For the sauce, just stir all ingredients together. These are 1 point per strip with 2t of sauce.

Put those together with some oven fries and a salad and you have yourself a meal!



Here's another Low Fat recipe we had last night with our Turkey burgers:



Tex Mex Sweet and Red Potato Salad (From Weight Watchers Turn Around Program Cookbook)

1lb each of Sweet and Red Potatoes

4 tsp olive oil

2 onions, chopped

6T fat free mayonnaise

3T chopped fresh cilantro

1tsp grated lemon zest

1/2tsp salt

1/2tsp cumin

1/4tsp ground coriander

1/8tsp cayenne



Cut potatoes into cubes. Toss with 2tsp olive oil and roast at 425 for 35-40 minutes. Meanwhile, cook onions in oil in skillet. Combine mayo, cilantro, lemon zest, and seasonings in small bowl. Combine potatoes, onions and sauce, mix well. Serve warm or at room temp. 2 points for 1/2 cup.


When Eli got home from work I was putting Ethan to bed so he cooked the Turkey burgers on the grill. When they were finished he asked me what kind of meat it was. He said "It almost seems like they are turkey burgers." LOL!!! I never even thought of telling him so he could make sure they were cooked all the way through. They were and with the seasoning I put in them they tasted just like hamburger meat.



I hope you all had a great week and I look forward to this one being even better! Hop over to Mama Notes to read about all the fun.