November 23 to 29

Week of November 23 to 29, 2008

B E L I E V E !

"Do or do not—there is no try." –Yoda

FOLLOW UP ON LAST WEEK: Have you made your list and checked it twice? What list, you ask? The list of what you plan to eat this Thanksgiving. You now know the values of the foods; now it’s up to you to fit them into your plan so that you can enjoy them without guilt!

THIS WEEK: We have people in our lives who are supportive of our efforts to lose weight, but we also have some people who sabotage our hard work. Come learn how to deal with them this week!

DONATE BLOOD, SAVE A LIFE: Okay, this Blood Drive is in jeopardy of being cancelled. I only have two persons registered, and I need your cooperation! On Saturday, December 6, a Blood Drive will be held at the WW Gateway Center from 2:00 to 5:00 pm. The Center is located in Gateway Square and is in the same shopping center as Outback Steakhouse and Carraba’s Restaurant. Registration is requested—please email me at mawwleader@yahoo.com to sign up. This is NOT just for WW members—spouses, friends, kids (must be at least 18 years old), neighbors, co-workers are ALL welcome to participate! If you are concerned about having to cut back on gift giving this year, then consider making a donation of something that may help to save a life. I hope to see a LOT of you there!!

WAHOO AND CONGRATULATIONS TO…

10% award: Jason from Daily Express; Donna S from Tuesday AM Giant; Lori from Wednesday AM Gateway; Janet F and Janet Y from Thursday PM Gateway
Goal weight: Claire from Wednesday AM Gateway; Charlene from Tuesday PM Giant

If I missed your celebration, email me IMMEDIATELY, and I will include it in next week’s newsletter. Be sure to tell me what meeting you attend!

JINGLE ALL THE WAY: Hopefully, you all picked up your “jingle all the way” pin at a meeting last week. For each week you weigh in between now and January 1, you will earn another bell for your pin. Use this anchor to remind yourself that you are WORTH the effort to take care of yourself this holiday season and that you CAN be successful despite the temptations around you. If you didn’t get a pin, see me for one—I’ll have them with me.

THE WHITE CHRISTMAS BAG: Donations are being accepted through Monday, December 8th. If you don’t know what this bag is about, email me or see me in the meeting room this week, and I’ll explain it to you.

GREG'S JOKES FOR THE WEEK: Here are a couple of jokes to celebrate Thanksgiving!

If the Pilgrims were alive today, what would they be most famous for? Their AGE

Why can't you take a turkey to church? Because they use such FOWL language

What's the best dance to do on Thanksgiving? The turkey trot

Can a turkey jump higher than the Empire State Building? Yes - a building can't jump at all

How can you make a turkey float? You need 2 scoops of ice cream, some root beer, and a turkey

What kind of music did the Pilgrims like? Plymouth Rock

Why did the police arrest the turkey? They suspected it of fowl play

RECIPES OF THE WEEK: Here are some for Thursday PLUS a few that you can use to get rid of the leftovers…

Cranberry Sauce Mini Cups
Makes 24 at 1 ¼ pt each

1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple , in its own juice
2 packs sugar free, fat free raspberry gelatin
1 can whole berry cranberry sauce
2/3 C chopped walnuts
1 apple, chopped

Drain pineapple, reserving juice. Add enough water to juice to measure 2 ½ cups; pour into saucepan. Bring to a boil; pour mixture over gelatin mixes in a large bowl. Stir for 2 minutes or until the mixes are completely dissolved. Stir in pineapple, cranberry sauce, walnuts and apple. Spoon into 24 cupcake tins (muffin tins) that are lined with cupcake papers (or, spray the tins with cooking spray and just put mixture into the sprayed tins). Refrigerate for at least 2 hours or until firm. Don’t forget to remove the paper liners if you use them : )

Crustless Pumpkin Pie (thanks to Connie from the Wednesday AM Gateway meeting for this one!)
Makes 8 servings at 2 pts per slice

1 can pumpkin (NOT pumpkin pie filling)
1 can fat free (skim) evaporated milk
½ cup egg substitute (or 2 eggs)
2 egg whites
½ cup sugar substitute (you know which one I mean…)
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp allspice
¼ tsp ginger
1/8 tsp salt
½ cup reduced fat graham cracker crumbs

Combine pumpkin, milk, egg or egg substitute, egg whites, and sweetener; beat until smooth. Add the spices and the salt; beat until combined. Stir in graham cracker crumbs. Pour into a 9 inch pie plate that has been sprayed with fat free cooking spray. Bake at 325 degrees for 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool completely before slicing.

Pumpkin Trifle
Makes 18 servings at 4 pts per serving

1 pkg spice or gingerbread cake mix
1 1/4 cup water
1 egg
4 cups cold fat free milk
4 pkgs sugar-free instant butterscotch pudding mix
1 can solid-pack pumpkin (15 oz)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp each ground ginger, nutmeg and allspice
1 carton reduced-fat frozen whipped topping, thawed (12 oz)

In a mixing bowl, combine the cake mix, water and egg; mix well. Pour into 8" square baking pan that has been sprayed with non-fat cooking spray (the recipe says 1 pan, but I think you’ll need either 2 8-inch pans OR 1 13x9.2 pan). Bake at 350 for 35-40 mins or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. When completely cooled, crumble the cake. Set aside 1/4 cup crumbs for garnish.

In a bowl, whisk milk and pudding mixes for 2 minutes or until slightly thickened. Let stand for 2 minutes or until soft set. Stir in pumpkin and spices; mix well. In a trifle bowl or 3 1/2 qt glass serving bowl, layer a fourth of the cake crumbs, half of the pumpkin mixture, a fourth of the cake crumbs and half of the whipped topping. Repeat layers. Garnish with reserved cake crumbs. Serve immediately or refrigerate.

Cheesy Potatoes
YIELDS: 12-15 servings at 5 pts per serving

32 oz Ore-Ida Southern Style Hashbrowns
12 oz light sour cream
2 cup Kraft Mild Shredded Cheddar Cheese
10 3/4 oz Campbell's 98% Fat-Free Cream Of Chicken Soup
8 Tbsp reduced-calorie margarine
1 tsp table salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 cup onion(s)

Preheat oven to 350. Spread hashbrowns in 9 x 13 pan. Mix everything else, except margarine, in a bowl and spread evenly over potatoes. Dot top with margarine slices. Bake at 350 for 1 hour. Let stand 5 minutes before serving. Lower points even more by using fat free cheese and sour cream and by using less margarine on top.

“Homemade” Turkey Noodle Soup
(uses WW Chicken and Noodles side dish)
Makes 6 cups at 2 pts each

2 cans fat free chicken broth
1 C diced carrots
1 C diced celery

Boil gently until veggies are tender. Then add:

¾ lb cooked, diced leftover turkey meat
2 C water
1 package WW Chicken Side package

Bring to boil; simmer 10 minutes untl the noodles are soft.
Cherry Salad
Makes 16 half-cup servings, 2 pts per half-cup serving
Source: WeightWatchers.com e-Tools
1 20-oz. can lite cherry pie filling
1 14-oz. can fat-free condensed milk (NOT evaporated milk!)
1 12-oz. carton fat-free non-dairy whipped topping (again, you know what I mean…)
1/4 c. lemon juice
1 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, drained
Mix milk, pineapple, and lemon juice. Add lite cherry pie filling and non-dairy topping. Chill.
No Guilt Turkey Potpie
Makes 4 servings at 5 pts each

1 cup cooked chicken (or turkey), cubed
1 pkg. (about 9 oz) frozen mixed vegetables, thawed
1 can (10 3/4 oz) 98% Fat-Free Cream Of Chicken Soup
1 cup skim milk
1 egg
1 cup reduced-fat baking mix

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In 9" pie plate mix chicken, vegetables and soup. Mix milk, egg, and baking mix. Pour over chicken mixture. Bake 30 minutes or until golden brown.

Pumpkin Veggie Soup
(1/5th recipe: 35 calories/ 0g fat/ 400mg sodium/ 6.5g carbs/ 2g fiber/ 3.5g sugars/ 2g protein)

Ingredients:
4 cups fat-free broth; vegetable or chicken
1/2 cup canned pure pumpkin
1 small zucchini
1 1/2 cups chopped celery
1 medium-sized red pepper
*Optional: salt and pepper; to taste

Directions:
Cut pepper and zucchini into large chunks. In a large pot, stir to combine broth and pumpkin. Add celery and cook on high heat. After a few minutes (once soup is hot but not yet boiling), add zucchini and peppers. Once soup has reached a boil, reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes, or until veggies are tender. Add salt and pepper, if desired, and dig in! Makes five 1-cup servings.

Be creative… Toss in a half of a cup each of canned corn kernels and black beans for the last few minutes of cooking. With the addition of these Southwest-inspired ingredients, each serving is just 1pt!

1/5th recipe with corn and black beans: = 1 pt

Upside Down Pumpkin Cheesecake Pudding
Makes 10 servings at 2 pts each
Ingredients:
8 oz fat free cream cheese (room temperature)
8 oz fat free non-dairy whipped topping
8 oz fat free sour cream
2 pouches 100 Calorie Packs graham cracker thins(crushed)
1 can pumpkin (16 oz)
1 Tbsp lemon juice
3/4-1 cup sugar substitute (depending on how sweet you like it)
2 tsp. pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Mix cream cheese, non-dairy topping, sour cream, lemon juice and sugar substitute. Then add the pumpkin and pumpkin pie spice. Mix it all together and pour into 10 dessert dishes. Top with a small handful of crushed graham cracker thins. Chill in the fridge for a few hours, then enjoy!
THOUGHT FOR THE WEEK: I just read something interesting—a woman on the WW message boards wrote that she has chosen to not track any points she eats this coming Thursday, Thanksgiving Day. Her logic is that she “stresses” too much on that day, and then, because of the stress, she continues to eat throughout the weekend. Yes, sure, I can see how not tracking at all will be helpful while consuming the most bountiful meal we eat all year. GIVE ME A BREAK!!! Are you kidding me? Is she serious?? This journey is all about creating new habits, isn’t it? Is eating what you want, when you want, how much of what you want, without any accountability what got us in trouble in the first place? Is this NOT the habit that created our current issue that we are working so persistently to change? Then can someone please help me to understand how going BACK to that behavior will help us in any way?? Sorry, kids—I really try to be patient and understanding and accepting of people doing whatever works for them. BUT…I have NEVER seen this behavior work in positive way for anyone…NEVER!!! If you’re even THINKING about doing this, consider this message as a slap to your head, and instead start spending your time planning how you’re going to stay in control on Thursday. Do you remember the three questions that will help you to prepare to successfully navigate the “food” piece of the holiday?

1. What am I going to eat?
2. How much of it am I going to eat?
3. How frequently am I going to eat it?

There’s no need to stress over this—make a plan, follow it, trouble shoot after it’s over, and then continue the journey. Enjoy the people you are with, give thanks for all the blessings you have in your life, say a little prayer for those who have less than you do, and celebrate the day for its true meaning! Have a peaceful, happy Thanksgiving!

Be a Tigger, and keep on bouncing!!