Good Eats!

Fact:  I love to cook.   Fact:  I am on Weight Watchers.  These two facts together, make me a little bit sad.  I did Weight Watchers 5 years ago.  I lost a lot of weight.  I probably lost too much weight.  I maintained it for a year or so, but slowly, as I returned to cooking the old way, and then ultimately stopped my morning jog in the park, the weight, although not all of it, found it's way back to me.  I knew I had to go back to get it off.   The last time I did this.  I challenged myself to make cooking as fun as it always was for me, by finding creative ways to introduce better food, and fresher ingredients into my/our diet.  I actually found that I still enjoyed cooking very much.  Even though it was different.  And once again I am finding myself in the kitchen  with a whole new set of ideas and menus.   So if you are new to my blog, you might think that this is primarily a food blog.  It isn't.  You will find me posting a lot of food here, because I am a foodie!  And cooking is a big interest of mine.  But I blog about all of the things I love to do, and of course the people in my life that are dear to me.  So bear with me as I shed my winter coat, and soon I will be posting about a lot of other things too.
This was our dinner tonight.  I had some ripe avocados.  We had gotten some lump crab meat at fresh & easy the other day.  So naturally, crab stuffed avocados had to be on the menu this week.

Missing from this photo is a red onion.  I only cut off a smidge, and finely minced about 2 T of it to top the avocados with.  Below was Mr. G's plate.  He got two avocados.  And two pieces of parmesan toast.

If you are counting points, this was high.  On the new points plus system,  avocados are 3 pts for 1/4 avocado!!  That is criminal!!!  We have avocado trees.  And lots and lots of wonderful avocados, all year long!  And it is a good fat.  So, I threw caution to the wind, and had myself a WHOLE avocado.  I used a lo fat/calorie mayo, and steamed the asparagus in water, no butter added.  The sourdough was lightly buttered and topped with shredded parmesan, then grilled.  It was high in points.  But so worth it.  And sometimes, you just have to do it.  My plate was much more dainty than Greg's.

If you make these, using three avocados, and an almost full jar of lump crab meat ( it would seem one hungry son opened it up to have a taste )  Add to this, approx. 2 T of mayo.  I used lo fat, but you can use the full version.  I used the zest of one fresh lime, and also the juice of about 1 1/2 fresh limes.  A handful of fresh cilantro, sea salt, cracked pepper, two ribs of celery, thinly minced.  And a bit of either fresh garlic, or minced in a jar works fine too.  Mix and scoop into avocado boat.  I topped each one with a tiny bit of very finely minced red onion, and sprinkled a bit of smoked paprika (LOVE this stuff) on top.  Served them on a bed of butter bib lettuce.  With fresh steamed asparagus and parmesan toast.  It was heavenly!!!

How do you like my circa 1978 Tupperware?  I still use the same stuff I had when I got married!  I could use a few new pieces, that is for sure.
For lunch today, I had albacore tuna salad in 1/2 a whole wheat pita, topped with micro greens.  A few pretzels on the side.  Made with same lo cal mayo.  I don't seem to mind it at all.  I know some do.  But it works for me.

It too was delicious!

One of my favorite snacks is a piece of lo fat bread, with a thin spread of almond butter (love this stuff!), and a thin spread of Nutella.  I had Nutella for the first time when my Mom and I were in Italy a few years ago.  They have it on everything over there.  It is very yummy.  And sometimes I slice half a banana on top.  This is almost desert-like delicious!

I am certainly not going hungry!  I am losing, although slowly.  When I was exercising, I lost the weight quite a lot faster.  With a bum knee, I am not doing much lately.  Not even racing Noah, as he loves to do around here.  But I am down 8 pounds.  Clothes are feeling better on me, and I feel a BUNCH better just by changing what I am eating.  And another thing that has made this kind of fun for me, is that both of my daughters are on this same health food thing that I have been on. We have really shared a whole lot of ideas and products with one another, and it has made it fun to share this with them.  We go to Farmer's Market together, talk about new finds, and I know they are really cheering me on in my quest to shed my winter coat.

And maybe every once in a while, I will throw in an old school kind of Kris menu too!!  You've gotta live!!!
Over and out, on this wet, rainy, and cold Wednesday night.
PS Mama, thank  you for teaching me to love good food.    You are the best cook I know. I got my love of cooking from  you. And my girls got their love of cooking from me.