One of the most intimidating things to me about “eating healthy” is the idea that I have to do something totally new.

For a while I focused on modifying the familiar to be fewer (Weight Watchers) points.

Some of my discoveries are on this site:

• Homemade Crunch-Wrap (replacement for the Taco Bell version)
• (Turkey) BLT sandwich
• Coleslaw

They’re on the old Points system, but the general idea is still there. And I liked them.  Ate them all. the. time.

And then I started reading a few foodie blogs (for the recipes) and started to learn more about the chemicals in these fabulous low-fat &/or high-flavor foods.  Really, it started creeping me out.

I began to think about the modified/distorted high-fat foods that are universally condemned (and yet, consumed) and wondered how my specialty, low-point foods were different.  Were they really better?  Was low fat or low-cal the absolution of any magical combination of non-food chemicals, or was there some sort of line I ought to draw “for the sake of my health” as I labeled my efforts at weight control.

And now I think, yeah.

But everything in stages.  I don’t believe in instant maturity. Or even that being less-mature = immature.

It is the nature of humans to instantly despise what we’ve struggled to conquer or grow through, and I hope I’m not doing that here. But I do still think there’s always a better to work for.

I don’t believe we can learn a mess of stuff at once, implement it all in a day or a week and end up with perfect, trim little lives.

I think we do what we can, as we can, then push to do a little more than that.

I look for permission to fail; not to excuse my failures, but to buoy me up to begin again, so that the fear of failing again won’t prevent me from even trying the next time.

And I seek simplicity, so that stretching really can happen incrementally.

The crockpot was my first way for this in whole-food cooking.  In a Betty Crocker slow-cooker cookbook I discovered a chili recipe that pointed-out at only 3-points a cup (old system).  I modified it for the way I do things and you can find it here.  The BIG DEAL?  I recognized all the ingredients. And none of them were processed more than canning.

“Real food” didn’t have to be scary, complicated or exotic.

For the next chunk of time I’m going to post my discoveries. And just because I’m your friend, I’ll even point them out for the new WW P+ values.  Even though I’ve moved to what now seems like level-three: I’m actually calorie-counting, people.

Never thought I would, but I am, and I’ll put that into another post in the future.

In the meantime, here’s a foodlist of what I hope share with you over the following days:

• Potato Bake
• Crockpot sloppy joes
• Egg-crust Pizza (modified frittata)
• Moroccan Chicken (slow-cooker)

Well, if you’ve been in my world you know that my life got… interesting over the last two years, and my 6/09-11/09 weight loss (life-changing as it was: size 12 to size 6) did not last.

The short version is that we discovered food sensitivities in our family the same summer we put our house on the market, so I had to re-learn how to cook: sans gluten, soy or eggs.

Thankfully, the eggs seem to be a problem only when the birds have been fed soy, so now we’re growing our own quacky layers that we’ll figure out a soy-free plan for when they reach production age.

In case you’re interested, cutting the soy from my life virtually eliminated my migraines. Totally worth the sacrifice.

And about the time I begin to doubt, a reminder soars through.

So since the last time I wrote here, I’ve transferred to cooking basically everything from scratch, and using real (as in non-modified) dairy, mayo, etc.  This means (cover your eyes, darlings) FULL FAT versions of anything that my grandma ate growing up.

Also since I wrote last, Weight Watchers has “updated” their plan (“free” fruit; OhHunny don’t I know how to manipulate this one!), which means all the pointing-out of recipes before this date are for the old system.  Since most of them use ingredients with soy or gluten I don’t have any reason to update them.

(If you like it and update it yourself I’d be happy to include it here on the blog for future reference. Just add a comment the the recipe post.)

I will now provide last night’s creation for your enjoyment:

Chocolate Dip

1 Tablespoon coconut oil (4) melted
2 Tablespoons sugar (3)
2 Tablespoons milk (0)
1 Tablespoon cooking cocoa

Melt oil in microwave-safe dish and stir in remaining ingredients. I used a fork and nuked it a couple blips more to encourage the sugar to dissolve completely.

This mixture got me through a couple cups of strawberries last night.  It was basically my dinner.  And under the new system the strawberries are free (I tracked!) so a belly-full, goopy chocolate desert only cost 7 (PP) points.

Totally worth it.

Enjoy!

Have you noticed I like spicy?

Ingredients:

• 9 cups coleslaw mix (or shredded cabbage + grated carrot)
• ½ medium red onion, shredded or chopped fine
• ½ cup light sour cream
• ½ cup fat free Mayonnaise
• 3 tablespoons Raspberry-flavored vinegar
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• ½ tsp celery seed
• ½ tsp kosher (large grain) salt (no, it’s not essential to be this specific, but I’m liking it)
• ¼ tsp freshly ground pepper

Mix veggies in large-ish bowl.

Mix flavorings thoroughly into the creamy stuff, then toss with veggies.

Makes 7 *generous* portions for 1- point each.

To keep track of Points values on homemade foods or left-overs, keep an overhead marker by your fridge and write the value on the plastic container before you put it away.

I also use permanent markers on the labels of anything that’s not going to be reused (mayonnaise jar, chip bag, cracker box) so I never have to calculate points more than once.

This list is going to include specific products, just because they’re available to me; so this list will be most useful to local folks.  Maybe.

4 pt — Turkey wrap

3 pt –  Turkey/fruit salad (from the WW first booklet)

4 pt + meat — Quesedilla

4 pt — Crunch wrap

3 pt — Asian wrap

3 pt — BLT sandwich

6 pt — Big serving Yogurt Stuff

6 pt — Grilled Cheese Sandwich (I don’t do these much anymore– the wraps are so much “cheaper”.

1 pt — 1 cup of soup (2 cups = 3 pts), canned or broth & veggie based, like spicy shrimp soup.

2 pt — to add crackers (or eat them on the side)

5 pt — Nachos: 1 oz (30g) chips with ¼-cup cheese. (Another one I don’t do much any more.)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup diced carrot (2 large)
• 1 cup chopped onion (1 medium or 1/2 large)
• 1 cup chopped red pepper (1 whole)
• 1 can corn (or 2 cups frozen kernels)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp butter (or substitute 67% oil spread — not the “light” variety)
• 1 tsp your favorite hot sauce – divided
• 2 tsp citrus grill seasoning (spice mix) – divided
• 8 oz chopped raw shrimp

Set 6.5 cups of water to heat with 2 tablespoons chicken base.

Spray 12-inch frying pan with cooking spray and saute carrots until warm and beginning to soften.  Add onion, pepper, corn and garlic, saute until soft.

In a smaller pan melt 1 tsp butter/substitute,  add 1/2 tsp your favorite hot sauce and 1 tsp citrus grill seasoning before adding chopped shrimp.  Cook and stir until just beginning to turn pink.

Add veggies and meat to simmering broth, taste after 5 minutes or so.  Add the remaining 1/2 tsp hot sauce and citrus seasoning if you want a stronger hot or savory flavor.

1 point per 1-cup serving.
3 points for 2 cups.

I was just getting ready to post my latest favorite soup (Spicy shrimp with warm veggies.  That’s warm as in color– nothing green this time), and as I reviewed the steps in my mind I realized that I create/post the kinds of foods I’m not likely to make without having tasted them already, or watched them being made.

Which is really too bad, and now I’m going to be a bit more open about this sort of stuff.  Before now I’ve never looked directly for what I tend to like, so my discoveries/experiments have been fairly random.

For example the multiple-multiple step lettuce roll meat that shocked me even as I wrote it down (Who would ever want to try this out of the blue?!) was something I helped make during a cooking demonstration at my church.

Being a part of making it, as well as enjoying the results has made it a staple in our home– both because I now know how to do it (and that it tastes good), and because it fits so well the other weird part of my fooding personality: mindlessness.

That’s all I know to call it right now.

There is this “efficiency” part of my personality that likes to think as little about details as possible.  I want to be living, not constantly re-deciding and investing energy in something that ought to be settled already.

I think this is why/where soups, one-pot meals and wraps exemplify my eating style so much.  I prepare everything once, know Points, and move on with life.  I have enough things I want to do that I prefer not to make a pet out of eating and food choices.

While I was learning this system they did become to some extent an end in themselves, but at this point I prefer to put them back as a means to an end.

Now I’m back to my pattern of maximizing my time through doing something while I eat. (Usually reading, but sometimes writing.) This means my favorite meals are one-handed meals, which explains the wraps and extensive chopping of fillings before the meal itself.

Another use for the lettuce roll meat mixture.

Start by verifying the calorie/fat/fiber combo of your 1-point flour tortilla shell and a small corn tortilla = no more than 2 points.

(Optional step)
Brush one side of the corn shell with lime juice and hot sauce, sprinkling with cumin

Place corn tortilla in toaster oven for 3-6 minutes

While it’s toasting, combine

• 1/4 cup seasoned ground meat (I used the meat mix for points-calculating.  Be sure to adjust your points-total if you use a different meat)
• 1/2 wedge light laughing cow Cheese

Microwave to warm/melt, and stir.

Warm flour tortilla in microwave to soften, then spread meat and cheese in center.

Spread toasted corn tortilla with 1T (or less) light sour cream, and set on meat in shell.

If you’ve got less than 2-inches clearance to the outer edge, your finished product will look better if you break the corn shell into quarters.  Yes, sorry, it seems tacky, but once its broken in that way, you’ll be able to maintain your layers however tight you have to wrap up your edges.

On top of your crunchy shell you’ll have just enough room for a thin layer of veggies

• Thin-sliced pepper
• lettuce
• tomato bits

Beginning on one side and moving in one direction all the way around, fold up the edges over the middle.

Place folded-side down in a frying pan (non-stick or prepped with cooking spray) and cook until toasted (~3 minutes on medium-low). Turn and repeat on reverse side.

I will sometimes hold the flipping spatula on the top of the wrap to press the folds together until they set.

Recipe yields one 4-pt serving.

On a 1-pt tortilla shell layer

• favorite favorite chopped veggies (or whatever you have on hand)
  • Sliced peppers
  • tomato
  • pea pods/snap peas
• 6 tablespoons of low-fat cheese
• dust with powdered cumin

Arrange on half the shell (if pan-cooking) or, my favorite, set in toaster oven for 3-5 minutes.

Roll up while hot, and wrap in aluminum foil if you want to eat it on the go.

This is one of those things you could conceivably prepare ahead, wrapping in foil and just waiting on the toasting step till just before you eat.

4 points as written.

This is also a great place to use up left-over meat.  Just cut it into small pieces and remember to add the appropriate number of points.

This list is going to include specific products, just because they’re available to me; so this list will be most useful to local folks.  Maybe.

3 pt — Strawberry Oatmeal

2 pt — 3/4 cup Honey Sunshine Cereal (Kashi), w/ 1/2 cup milk

4 pt — 4 food groups breakfast

3 pt — Yogurt pineapple and graham crackers

2 pt — 3/4 cup Total cereal, wheat flakes with 1/2 cup milk

5 pt — Big Omelet

7 pt — Pancakes (6 1-pt, silver dollar pancakes + 1/2 cup strawberry syrup)

2 pt — Oroweat’s Double Fiber English muffin (toasted) with butter spread and honey

It’s important to remember that (especially) the low-point options cannot be combined and retain their original point values.  The breads in particular jump quickly in points, growing from 1 to 3, or 2 to 5, depending on the ballance of calories to fat and fiber.

*Always double-check your combination to make sure you’re not inadvertantly going over your expectation.*