Not So Hot

Diet = massive fail.

French Onion Soup

Super delish diet French Onion Soup! Super satisfying.

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp regular butter
3 large vidalia onion(s), halved lengthwise, then thinly sliced crosswise
6 cup(s) vegetable broth, low-sodium
1/2 cup(s) red wine, dry
1 leaf/leaves bay leaf
1/4 tsp dried thyme, or 1 fresh sprig
1/4 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
5 oz French baguette bread, cut into 16 rounds
1 cup(s) low-fat Swiss cheese, shredded, part-skim, Jarlsberg cheese
2 Tbsp shredded parmesan cheese

Instructions:
Melt the butter in a nonstick Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 8 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and well softened, about 12 minutes.

Add the broth, wine, bay leaf, thyme, and pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, about 30 minutes. Discard the bay leaf and thyme.

Preheat the broiler. Place the bread rounds on a baking sheet and broil 5 inches away from the heat until toasted, about 2 minutes on each side.

Place 4 rounds of bread in each of 4 ovenproof soup bowls. Add the onion soup (about 1 1⁄2 cups for each bowl). Sprinkle evenly with the Swiss cheese, then the Parmesan cheese.

Stand the bowls on the baking sheet and broil 5 inches from the heat until the cheese melts and is light golden brown, about 3 minutes. Yields 1 bowl per serving.

Diet (un)friendly

WHY do I keep reading Bakerella?! Every time I do I come across something I want to make and then consume. Just look at those Hi Hat Cupcakes! Chocolate cake topped with chocolate-encrusted marshmallow. *Drool*.

If that trip to the Dominican Republic weren't looming quite so closely, I don't think I could stop myself from making these and then inhaling them all. I just keep thinking of all the variations I could do with these. The marshmallow could be left undipped. Candy Melts would be excellent for these tasties - imagine them topped in blue or pink or red! Or dark chocolate with red sprinkles? Wow I am giving myself a hernia.

Oh, and btw - Bingo night; don't remember what I started the day eating, but ended it with (delicious!) calamari, Blue Moons, and those ever exciting cocktails! And, we didn't win. Not a thing.

Apple-Cinnamon French Toast

This is one of my favorite recipes ever. I found this years ago in Eating Well magazine. This is best to make ahead the night before, and refrigerate.

Ingredients:
2 cups egg beaters
1 1/2 tbsps ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsps nutmeg
1 1/2 tsps vanilla extract
1 cup slices dried apples
1/2 cup packed raisins
16 oz whole wheat bread
3 tbsps honey
1 tbsp unsifted powdered sugar
3 cups fat free milk

Directions:
- Whisk milk, egg whites, honey, vanilla and in a large bowl.
- Trim crusts off 8 bread slices and set aside. Cut the crusts and the remaining bread into 1" pieces. Toss the cut bread with dried apples, raisins, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
- Coat a 9x13" baking dish with cooking spray. Transfer the bread mixture to the pan. Lay the reserved crustless slices evenly over the top of the casserole, trimming to fit.
- Whisk the milk mixture one more time, then pour evenly over the bread. Press the bread down with the back of a wooden spoon, making sure it’s evenly moist. Cover with parchment paper, then foil, and refrigerate for at least 8 hours or up to 24 hours.
- Preheat oven to 350 °F (175 °C).
- Bake the casserole, covered, for 40 minutes. Uncover and continue baking until puffed, set and lightly browned, about 20 minutes more.
- Let stand for 10 minutes; dust with confectioners’ sugar and serve.

Steak and Potatoes

I just came across these super cute cake pops on Bakerella.com and now I want to make them. My daughter would be absolutely thrilled. The problem is, then I would want to eat them. I am especially excited about the Big Bird pops. It's a good thing I don't have any cake mix, and I'm too lazy to make it from scratch right now.

I really don't even want to go into how bad I was yesterday, and today is not shaping up much better. Yesterday started with syrup drenched pancakes and ended with steak and potatoes. Along with those very addicting Vodka-Sprite cocktails. (Seriously, people, if you haven't tried these - don't do it! They're seriously delish. 888 Blueberry Vodka and Sprite.)

Tonight I'm going to Bingo. Not so sure how many calories will be imbibed, but it's not going to be a small number. Tomorrow night is my first weight-in in almost a month, and it's the first weigh-in in which I will be gaining weight. I have two friends coming with me, so I am especially nervous about the number on that scale.

The baby is spending the day at the sitter, and I've already done the vacuuming and steam cleaning. Now, I am off to take a nap.

The Perfect (Mini) Pizza

I have been using this recipe for a while now, and every time I bake these mini pizzas, they're a hit. It's hard to find a diet friendly pizza, so I thought I'd share it with world!

Ingredients:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- one packet of active yeast
- one cup whole wheat flour
- one cup white flour

Directions:
- Add the yeast to the water and let sit for five minutes. Add olive oil.
- In food processor combine the whole wheat and white flour. Add yeast mixture to flour mixture. Process for about five minutes, until dough forms a ball.
- Spray a medium size bowl with nonstick fat free cooking spray. Put pizza dough in the bowl, and spray top of dough with cooking spray. Cover loosely with saran wrap.
- Let rise in a sunny spot for at least an hour, but preferably several hours.
- Break into five or six pieces and, on a lightly floured surface, stretch each piece to about five inches. Transfer to a cornmeal covered cookie sheet.
- Cover with pizza sauce, mozzarella, and lots of veggies!
- Bake at 400 degrees for fifteen minutes.

Get creative! I like a pear and goat cheese pizza. Or fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.

Vodka-Sprite Cocktails

Well, I did really well yesterday. Until I decided to take myself to my friends' house after my daughter was asleep. Several Vodka-Sprite cocktails followed, along with a salad with mango-chicken sausage and eggs. Verrrry good, but not conducive to dieting, to say the least. I am definitely subscribing to the three-small-steps-forward-one-GIANT-step-back method of dieting.

My Mother is Making Me Fat

She is driving me crazy - absolutely crazy - about blogging. She made me create this blog so she would in fact have someone following her. And since I am on a weight loss journey, I finally acquiesced. So go look at her Blog, so she'll leave me alone about not having any comments or followers. Stitching by the Sea

I am, and have been on Weight Watchers (on and off anyway) for about ten years. Honestly, most of that time was spent off Weight Watchers, but all well. I have been through two pregnancies, lost a child, and separated from a husband within the last five years, so my weight has been a bit of a yoyo, to say the least.

At my heaviest, (about five or six months ago) I was 40 pounds more than I weigh now. I rejoined WW after I lost the first 20, and have lost and additional twenty pounds and ten percent. I still have thirty or so more to go!

I am spending February in the Dominican Republic so my daughter can get to know her father's family better. I hope to have my arms less like Jello and more like steel by the time I get there. Bathing suit here I come...ready or not!