Kinda freaked....

Sooo I just logged onto Facebook and was told someone just requested a new password from my account. Then I went into my WoW account and was told that someone ( by multiple people) had just been on saying they were me...Then my dad came downstairs saying someone had pulled into the driveway and opened the door earlier that night, only to close the door when the dog started barking...wtf is going on?? I'm freaked. Just changed the password on all my accounts. Any advice?

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!