Goal...and Pumpkin Biscotti

Not, sure how, but I managed to get 1.5 full pounds below goal while traveling. Maybe it was stress, because I've most definitely been stressed, or maybe its been the fact that I haven't had access to my nightly hot cocoa, whipped cream and biscotti. Maybe.

So, now I'm officially maintaining. So, yeah, I get three more points per day. I know exactly how I'm going to spend them this week....SPIKED EGGNOG! Yes, Sir-E Bub. I can't wait.

Anyway...just got back in the office from being on the road...and I got a new computer while I was away, so lots of things to manage. Will post the recipe later.

Ok. Here's the recipe. I made another batch last night to bring to my mother in laws for Thanksgiving. Think of it as my personal olive branch.

Pumpkin Biscotti | 1 WW pt

1 1/2 c all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 c sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp nutmeg

1/8 tsp ginger

1/8 tsp clove

EnerG Egg Replacer for two eggs (or you can use two egg whites)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 canned pumpkin

1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350.

Sift together the flours, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices.

Whisk the eggs, pumpkin and vanilla together. Pour into the flour mixture.

Flour surface and hands and knead dough, this will take a while, it will be crumbly at first, but it will all come together with a little elbow grease.

Form the dough into two equal size balls, and then form each ball into a log about 12 inches long and 2-3 inches wide. This way you get 12 biscotti for each log and you can easily portion the WW points, it's one per biscotti when you make 24.

Bake the biscotti at 350 degrees for 22-30 minutes (I did 27 minutes). Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees. When slightly cool cut each log on an angle into 12 pieces. Place the biscotti cut side down on the baking dish and bake for an additional 10 minutes, after 10 minutes, flip biscotti and bake on the other side for 10 minutes. 

The biscotti still may be a little chewy after this, but if allowed to sit overnight, should harden and be perfect for dipping into cocoa, coffee or hot cider.

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone!

Down to One

First...they fired my coordinator last week which is why I have been completely and utterly MIA.
I didn't have enough time to do my own job, and now I have to do my work, and the work that my assistant usually took care of. Not good times. I've been so bloody tired, so tired in fact that the other day when I ran out of conditioner, I went to the linen closet and grabbed what I thought was a bottle of conditioner and proceeded to wash my hair and then condition it, and complain the whole time about how "this conditioner sucks, it doesn't seem to be conditioning much." I didn't realize until the next day when I got in the shower that I was conditioning my hair with a bottle of body lotion. I haven't been cooking much, when I'm not on the road, I'm just strapped to my desk, and when I actually get home, I've just been throwing together salads and microwaved meals. CB has been eating a lot of pizza lately because I'm just not there to cook.

Balls I hate this. And, I have to get back on the road this week and won't be back until Sunday night....yeah, just in time to get up on Monday morning and go back to work. And blogger has been biting the big one because it hasn't been alerting me to comments on the blog, so I missed all of the ones that you left on the Moroccan stew that I last did, sorry I wasn't ignoring you, blogger just didn't let me know you left a comment.

So, here we are, one pound away from goal, on the road again and a week before Thanksgiving. I wonder when I'll actually lose that last pound.

Hope to be back on here soon. I have a few recipes I haven't blogged yet, so hopefully I can throw those up before I head out again.

Be back soon...in what capacity, who the hell knows

Off the Wagon...On the Wagon

I was in the Big Easy for three day and totally let my diet slide. This mornings weigh-in had me at gaining a pound this past week. I'm grateful it was only a pound and hopefully it will be easy to get back on the wagon now that I'm home. I'll try and do some cooking this week too. Damn business travel is screwing me all up.

Morocan Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Carrot Stew | WW 4 pts

Look, I'm only going to tell you this once. MAKE THIS DISH! It does not taste low fat, it does not taste like weight watchers, its amazing. I loved it so much that I have plans to make it again (sans chickpeas) for Thanksgiving as a side dish.

It. Is. That. Good.

Don't omit the red pepper or the cumin or the cinnamon. It makes the dish. Mmmm.

Oh, yeah, and get out there and Rock the Vote! Happy Election Day Everyone.

Moroccan Slow Cooker Butternut Squash and Carrot Stew
Weight Watchers | 4 points

1 spray(s) cooking spray 1 small onion(s), chopped 1 medium garlic clove(s), minced 1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch cubes* 1 cup(s) carrot(s), baby 1 cup(s) canned crushed tomatoes 1/2 cup(s) vegetable broth 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon 1/2 tsp ground cumin 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes 15 oz canned chickpeas, drained and rinsed 1/2 tsp table salt

Coat a small skillet with cooking spray. Add onion and garlic; sauté for 5 minutes. Place squash in a 3-quart or larger slow cooker (crockpot). Add sauteed onion and garlic, carrots, tomatoes, broth, cinnamon, cumin and red pepper flakes. Cover and turn on to low heat; simmer for 6 hours. Add chickpeas and salt. Stir, cover and heat for an additional 5 minutes. Yields about 1 1/3 cups per serving.

Rating = Sp God Damn Good

Lemon Pepper Asparagus | ww 0 pts

Besides losing weight, the one thing about being on ww that I love is that I have discovered asparagus. I never ate it before joining ww and now I literally cannot get enough of it. Although, I had heard the whole "asparagus makes your pee stink" theory I had never really paid much attention to it. That was, until I was traveling recently had asparagus at dinner, it was a long day with lots of conversing with people and by the time I had gotten to my hotel room I had forgotten that I had eaten at dinner time. I prepped for bed, removed my eye make-up, washed my face, brushed my teeth, flossed, and then I had to pee. As I sat there on the toilet I began to smell something terrible, I looked around the bathroom for what could be causing the stink, and then said to myself.."I'm going to have to call housekeeping to come up here and clean this bathroom...it stinks." It wasn't until I got up to flush the toilet that I realized that it wasn't a lack of housekeeping, it was ASPARAGUS PEE!

I could not stop laughing at myself, imagine if I had called housekeeping to complain about the odor in my bathroom and it was me all along...yeah, that would have been smooth.

Anyway, today is Monday and it is my weekly weigh-in (I just want to say that I won't be only posting on Mondays, its just that the travel schedule for work has been horrendous and it won't get better for a few weeks...so I'll try to post more than once a week, but right now...ugh, bear with me.) So, this morning at weigh in I had dropped another 1.5 pounds from last week giving me a grant total of 11 pounds (i think that's right) and I have 2.5 pounds to go until goal, which I'm sure will be harder to achieve with all the Halloween candy, Thanksgiving food, and spiked eggnog that I'm sure to consume over the next two months. But, hopefully I'll stay on track...hopefully.

Grilled Lemon Pepper Asparagus
1 bunch asparagus
1 lemon
salt and pepper

Trim the woody ends off of the asparagus, then place in boiling water for 30 seconds. As soon as 30 second is up submerge in an ice bath to stop the cooking process. Prepare a grill pan with cooking spray, get pan nice and hot.

Remove asparagus from ice bath and season with salt and pepper and a little lemon zest. Place on hot grill pan, squeeze lemon juice onto asparagus as it grills. Cook to your liking turning asparagus a few times while cooking.

Rating = Damn Good

Vegan Cinnamon Chocolate Chip Biscotti | WW 1 pt

Ugh, I was traveling again last week and ate from a salad bar 4 out of six meals, so as much as I would have liked to have been cooking and baking, I was conferencing and trying my hardest to be healthy while "on the road".

When I got home I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had lost a few more pounds, yep; and then yesterday I ate eggplant parm (full fat), chocolate ganache cake (totally full fat) and a slew of other not so weight watcher friendly things. So, when I weighed myself on Saturday and Sunday morning, I was a full two pounds lighter than when I weighed myself today, for my actual weekly weigh-in that I have to record on the WW website. So, grand total from last week is that I'm still down a half a pound from last week and 9.5 pounds total, but had I not been such a little piggy yesterday I think the scale would have been a bit lighter. Was the cake and the eggplant parm worth the heavier number on the scale? Not at all, lesson learned.

I did however have time to make one little vegan low fat biscotti recipe yesterday morning. Each little tasty treat is only 1 point and I find that I really enjoy dunking them in a mug of sugar free hot cocoa at night after dinner. I again got this recipe from the Fat Free Vegan Blog I mentioned in my previous post. Check it out.

1 1/2 tbsp Energy Egg Replacer
6 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp baking soda
2 cup(s) all-purpose flour
3 tbsp mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup(s) sugar

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.Put the egg replacer and water into a blender and whirl for a few seconds, just to mix.

Mix this mixture with the other ingredients. Dough should be sticky but not runny. Turn out onto a floured surface and shape into 2 logs about 3 inches wide. Flatten the logs to about 1 inch high. Place on a lightly oiled or non-stick cookie sheet and bake for 30 minutes.

Allow to cool for 10 minutes and then cut into 1/2 - 3/4 inch slices. Place cut side down on cookie sheet and bake for 10 more minutes. Repeat on other side for another 10 minutes. When done, the biscottI may seem soft, but they will harden as they dry.

Rating - So Damn Good