A Great Healthy Recipe I Received For Summer Vegetable Stew Gratin

  
Fresh herbs and garlic say summer. Serve this summery stew as a side dish to grilled meats or fish, or as a delicious vegetarian main course with a crisp green salad and crusty whole-grain bread.



Weight Watchers points = 2
Servings 4
Preparation Time 15 Minutes
Cooking Time 26 Minutes

Ingredients

 

1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced

2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced

14 oz canned stewed tomatoes, with basil, garlic and oregano

2 tsp fresh oregano, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried

2 tsp rosemary, fresh, chopped or 1/2 tsp dried and crumbled

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 cup(s) dried bread crumbs, sourdough  

3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

Instructions

Preheat oven to 450°F

Coat a large, nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium heat. Add onion, zucchini and garlic and sauté until softened, about 6 minutes. If pan becomes too dry, add 1 or 2 tablespoons of water.

Stir in tomatoes, oregano, rosemary and cayenne, increase heat to high and boil until almost all liquid has evaporated.

Put vegetables into a shallow, 1-quart baking dish and sprinkle with bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese.

Bake until bubbling and nicely browned on top, about 10 minutes. Cut into 4 portions and serve.

How I Had A Very Healthy Labor Day Barbeque This Weekend!!

Hello everyone I hope you all had a great Labor Day weekend, I sure did :)  This year I decided to have a Labor Day Barbecue at my house which was a big hit.  I was very prepared to have healthy food available for all of the guests at the Barbecue which was on sunday.  I went to the grocery store and bought honeydew melons, a watermelon, a veggie tray, whole grain hamburger buns, tomatoes, onions, lettuce, chicken, and ground turkey to make turkey burgers.  For drinks we had bottled water and some diet sodas for everyone to enjoy.  I cooked the chicken and turkey burgers on my charcoal barbecue which came out excellent and very healthy.  Their were raw veggies and cut up fruit to snack on before the food was ready to eat that everyone enjoyed a lot along with the drinks. A tip that I would give to you is to have a gathering or barbecue at your own house so that you can have control over the food that is there.  So we had a great day, ate very healthy, and everyone had plenty to eat on a great summer day in Southern California!!  I hope you all had a great Labor day Weekend and are relaxed for the upcoming 4 day work week.

PERFECTIONIST - WHY THIS IS TOUGH FOR ME!!

So by now many of you may know that I have lost 230 pounds and maintained the weight loss for well over a year now.  I am finding out that maintaining the weight loss has been much tougher believe it or not than the journey of losing the weight.  This has been tough for me because I'm a perfectionist which means that I eat healthy and exercise on a daily basis or after one bad meal, snack, or day of not exercising I just eat whatever and completely fall off the wagon.  Their is just no middle ground for me and it's either 100% or 0% which has really kicked into high gear after I got to my goal weight.  During my weight loss journey I lost weight consistently on a weekly basis which was great since I needed to drop weight.  Now that I am working on maintaining my weight loss and staying the same weight it has been very difficult because I'm not trying to go up or down in weight.  I do know that I am a perfectionist because in college when I was in sports we had a sports psychologist come in and test all of us and the results were that I was a perfectionist.  This isn't just in what I eat but in competing sports and at work I'm the same way in that I either give it my all or give it pretty much no effort at all.  So if you are struggling with maintaining your weight loss or are having a tough time on your weight loss journey then I would highly suggest that you find out if you are a perfectionist.  If you are then you can do your best in finding the middle ground and not have the do or die mentality.  As far as weight loss goes I was told several times by someone that I look up to that it's like when your driving your car and miss the off ramp.  We don't just throw our arms in the air and say oh well and keep on driving until we run out of gas but we wait for the next exit and then get back on track with a little detour.  I hope this helps you all out and have a great and very healthy Labor Day Weekend!!!

TRY THIS OUTSTANDING WEIGHT WATCHERS FRIENDLY BLUEBERRY COFFEE CAKE!!!

cakes

POINTS® Value:    3Servings:  8Preparation Time:  12 minCooking Time:  240 minLevel of Difficulty:  Easy

Pick up some sugar-sweet blueberries at a farmers’ market and then whip up this scrumptious coffee cake in no time. It bakes while you’re out enjoying the summer sun.

Ingredients

	3/4 cup(s) all-purpose flour
	1/4 cup(s) whole wheat flour
	1/3 cup(s) sugar
	1/2 tsp baking soda
	1 1/2 tsp baking powder
	1/4 tsp table salt
	1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
	1 large egg(s), beaten
	1/2 cup(s) plain fat-free yogurt
	2 Tbsp canola oil
	1/2 tsp vanilla extract
	1 cup(s) blueberries
	2 spray(s) cooking spray
	1 Tbsp powdered sugar

Instructions

• Combine both flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Combine egg, yogurt, oil and vanilla extract in a small bowl; stir well. Beat egg mixture into flour mixture with a wooden spoon until smooth; stir in blueberries.
  
• Coat a 2-quart round soufflé dish with cooking spray; spoon batter into dish. Coat a sheet of aluminum foil with cooking spray; cover dish tightly with foil, coated side-down, so no water seeps in.
  
• Pour 2 cups of hot water into a 5-quart or larger slow cooker; place covered baking dish in slow cooker. Cover slow cooker; cook on HIGH for 3 to 4 hours. Remove baking dish and cool on wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn cake upside down onto a wire rack to cool completely. Dust with powdered sugar before slicing into 8 pieces. Yields 1 slice per serving.

Notes

• You can substitute fresh or frozen and thawed raspberries or chopped strawberries for the blueberries, if desired. You can also switch to a berry-flavored fat-free yogurt.

WHY I GOT RID OF MY OLD CLOTHES THAT WERE TOO BIG ALONG MY WEIGHT LOSS JOURNEY

When I started on my weight loss journey as I have stated in past blogs I wore an 6 XL shirt and had a 64 inch waist.  When I began to drop weight and smaller clothes began to fit me comfortably I  got rid of my bigger clothes and donated them to charity or to relatives that could have use for them for several reasons.  The first reason is so I would have room in my closet which isn't much because my wife takes up 3/4 of the closet space (lol) to buy new smaller size clothes that fit properly.  This was a great feeling to be able to go out and buy smaller clothes knowing that I had been successful on my weight loss journey.  The other reason which is very important is because I knew that I had to atleast stay the same weight and size or my clothes would be very tight and uncomfortable.  The last thing that I wanted to do is go shopping for bigger clothes because my new clothes no longer fit me.  So in doing this I kept on dropping weight slowly and remained on my new lifestyle change of eating healthy and exercising on a daily basis.  I kept on doing this until I reached my goal weight which I have now been at for over a year.  In my closet now are XL size shirts and 36 inch pants/shorts which I plan to keep on wearing until they wear out or I buy new clothes at the same size or smaller.  So a big piece of advice that I would like to give out is not to keep your clothes that no longer fit because you have dropped weight and inches for the above reasons.  Have a great and very healthy week everyone :)  

ONLY TRACK WHAT YOU EAT ON DAYS THAT YOU WANT TO LOSE WEIGHT!!

Tracking what I eat in a food journal that can be bought at any grocery or stationary store has been the number 1 reason for my weight loss and maintaining my weight loss over the past 4 years. It may take some time to get used to doing but it's so very important.  It's more than just writing down what you eat on a daily basis.  A lot of time before I eat anything I know that I'm going to have to write it down and then I think twice if I really want to eat that certain food or meal and track it.  This is a very useful tool to use when I may be struggling because I can look back on what I have been eating and compare it to what I have ate in the past when I was doing good and dropping weight.  When I don't track what I eat I tend to just eat whatever I want at the moment because I don't have to write anything down.  What tracking does for me is to keep my self accountable for everything that I put in my mouth.  So if your struggling or need to get over a plateau that your experiencing then try this out which I'm sure will help greatly.  I also write down how much exercise I do daily in the tracker which is also a great incentive for me to get out and exercise.  So as the title of this blog states I only track on days that I want to lose weight or maintain my weight loss which is everyday!!  I hope that everyone is having a very healthy week so far...   

MAKE DAILY EXERCISING FUN THIS SUMMER!!

This summer I have been having a lot of fun doing different activities outside which is a great source of exercise.  What has helped me out a lot is that I'm doing things that I really enjoy and it doesn't feel like I'm exercising at all.  I have really been mixing up what I do each day instead of doing the same thing day after day which has really helped.  Here is an example of what I did last week for exercise which was fun for me.  Of course when I do these activities I have my mp3 walkman on with my favorite music that gets me pumped up!  On monday I went to the beach and walked down the main street and looked through the shops which was a lot of fun and had a healthy lunch while I was down there.  On tuesday I went back to the beach because I just love going there to see the ocean and all of the people down there enjoying the sun like myself. I walked down the pier and back which is about a 1 mile walk, then went down the stairs to the boardwalk and walked for about 60 minutes before heading back to my car.  On wednesday I went to the gym and did a great full body workout which I try to do atleast 3 times a week which helps me to get stronger and afterwards I get the endorphins pumping in my body which feels awesome.  On Thursday I turned on exercise t.v. and did my favorite 10 minute back and abs workout.  Later that night I had to work on the graveyard shift and instead of dreading it I made it go by quickly by walking through all the buildings which took about 3 hours, plus it makes me look like I love my job to my employer which I do!  Friday was a day that I went for a long 90 minute walk around my neighborhood and at my local park which was great for a change in scenery.  On saturday I went golfing for the first time in a long time and instead of taking a cart for 18 holes I walked the course with the bag on my back which was a lot of fun and excellent exercise.  On Sunday I went bowling with my wife and some others which was fun and a total different kind of exercise plus I got to spend some quality time with my wife.  Bowling isn't a ton of exercise but it's a lot of fun and I like to take it easy on Sundays and not worry too much about eating perfect and doing tons of exercise.  So this is a good example of how we can mix up our exercise routines and make it fun especially in the summer months when the weather is so great for most of us.