Things I'm Loving Thursday

1. Being done with a very very busy work day. PTL!

2. Enjoying a happy hour with coworkers who I am enjoying getting to know even better.

3. Burberry purfumes. In this frigid inflow of cold weather in Houston I'm loving the warm fragrances from Burberry!

4. Spending time with good friends Stephanie and David this weekend! Going to Stella Sola a restaurant owned by a good friend of our's father.

Stuffed Chicken Cordon Bleu - Weight Watchers Style 7 Pts +

This recipe was so good! It is from the new weight watchers points plus program and in orange are my notes/modifications.


Ingredients:

1 medium onion(s), finely chopped
1 cup(s) cremini mushrooms, thinly sliced (I chopped mine to be like the onion)
6 oz spinach
1 oz soft-type goat cheese, reduced-fat (2 tablespoons)
5 Tbsp dried bread crumbs, plain variety
2 large egg white(s), lightly beaten
4 tsp water
20 oz uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, 4 (5-ounce) (I did 2 5 oz ones for me, one for dinner and one lunch for the next day, and then one 8-10 oz. (normal sized the way they come) for Jonathan.
2 oz low-fat Swiss cheese, (1-ounce) slices, each cut in half
4 slice(s) turkey ham, thin



Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray a nonstick baking pan with nonstick spray. To make the filling, spray a nonstick skillet with nonstick spray and set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and mushrooms; cook, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spinach and cook, 3–4 minutes. Remove the skillet from the heat. Stir in the goat cheese and 1 tablespoon of the bread crumbs; set aside. (Add in some salt as well here, maybe a quarter teaspoon or so, just a pinch and taste, it needed a little something)



Whisk egg whites with the water in a small bowl. Place the remaining 1⁄4 cup bread crumbs in another small bowl.



Cut a pocket into the side of each chicken breast about 2 1⁄2-inches long. Place one-quarter of filling inside each slit. Lightly press pocket closed. Wrap 1 half slice of cheese, then one slice of ham around each chicken breast, making sure the ham covers the cheese; secure with a toothpick. Dip the chicken, one piece at a time, into the egg white mixture, then into the bread crumbs. Transfer to the baking pan. Lightly spray the chicken with nonstick spray. Bake until the chicken is cooked through, about 25 minutes. Remove the toothpicks before serving.
Yields 1 chicken breast per serving. (The swiss cheese and ham I had did not go all the way around the chicken. I just placed it to try and cover a lot of the opening)

Enjoy!

Weekend Recap

We finally had a weekend to catch up on things at home. And for the most part we did (even if its not perfect). It meant sacrificing a few out of town events, but it was desperately needed. I mean we still had Christmas up for goodness sakes!

We got Christmas put away. Here are a few pictures of what Christmas in our home looked like this year. My color scheme was deep red, dark apple green (maybe that's not the name of it?), and turquoise.

I made a couple of wreaths to match our tree, like this one here hanging from the china cabinet.

Kitchen tree. Turquoise tinsel to match the overall turquoise theme of our home (note the light beautiful turquoise glass subway tiles in our kitchen. Probably my favorite part of our condo). Complete with little glass ice cream cones and cupcakes in shades of antique pastels, and some fun Disney ornaments!

Jonathan's tree! Sports, Sports, and cars!



We cleaned and cleaned the downstairs, mainly the kitchen. You see we cook nearly every night and usually its not just something simple, so I've just become used to the fact that our kitchen will take constant cleaning, but sometimes like this weekend will need some extra attention.



I went grocery shopping on Saturday night. It turned out to be a wonderful time to go, its basically empty!



We went to church and enjoyed the wonderful 11:11 band and a sermon about the name of God. This week, El Elyon, which means God most high. A good reminder that who are we to go about life our own way when God is the most sovereign? Here you can find past sermons, and this week's should be up soon. Dave Riggle preaches in our service for this series.

We saw the King's Speech. A wonderful movie! Surprisingly funny too.



We cooked. I tried out a weight watchers recipe for chicken and dumplings in an effort to satisfy my Cracker Barrell craving. It was ok, but I learned that so far, chicken and dumplings just isn't meant to be healthy. Maybe I'll find another recipe. Normally the WW ones are amazing, this was just eh.



We watched Miss America, where I sadly realized I am now too old to compete. (sigh)



We read. Well I read just a little, Jonathan is an avid reader these days with his ipad.

Things I'm Loving Thursday

1. My nail polish, Barefoot in Barcelona by OPI. I chose this color on Saturday when I got a quick manicure and it goes with EVERYTHING in my fall wardrobe, plus I have no chips 6 days later, I repeat none!! I have cooked, cleaned, worked, etc. and its still great! It's amazing.

2. Weight Watchers Points Plus. I joined weight watchers officially on January 3, going to meetings each week and all. As of this morning I have lost 5 pounds! The new program is a totally new points system that ignores calories and looks instead at carbs, protein, fat, and fiber. It is based on science and the way our bodies process each. Therefore, you really get more food for your points! I can explain more if you'd like, but basically I NEVER feel deprived, eat what I want, and bottom line is, its working!

3. Weight Watchers etools. I have the etools kit where you have access to all the weight watchers things online, like recipes, and tracking your points online/phone. The recipes are amazing! Jonathan and I picked out one for each day pretty much since I started and he is loving it too! I will have to share some here!

On his ipad, there is the coolest free app called Weight Watchers Kitchen Companion. You do have to subscribe to the weight watchers monthly pass to access it though. When you pick out all your weekly recipes you can add all the ingredients to your grocery list automatically. We literally took the ipad to the grocery store on Sunday and checked off the items as we bought them as it even has them categorized by part of the grocery store. We bought a whole weeks worth of food and were in and out in less than 45 minutes on the near busiest day I've ever seen the grocery!

Plus when you are cooking, you use the ipad like a cookbook basically and when it says an amount of time to do a step, you click on the time and it pops up with a timer!! You can have multiple ones going at the same time. Ah its made life/cooking a little more fun!