I just made something easy for dinner tonight. The bratwursts come from Trader Joe’s and are cooked in a little water and oil until the water evaporates and the sausage browns. The roll is a Cobblestone sausage roll. I cut off the ends and pulled some of the bread out of the center to make it 3 WW points. The sauerkraut is from a can doctored up with caraway seeds and Splenda. I really like Maille’s whole grain mustard with the bratwurst.
Bratwurst in bun with sauerkraut
We were going to make chicken enchiladas but at 7 PM it seemed like too much trouble so we switched to tacos. I pulled some chicken off our large Costco rotisserie chicken and shredded it, sliced cabbage, and got our condiments while John singed the corn tortillas over an open flame. In ten minutes dinner was ready.
(Very pale picture. I need to get some different plates!)
Chicken tacos with cabbage, salsa, and yogurt crema
Apple pie! Soup with a stick of butter in it! Hunks of homemade bread! Yes, I ate it all yesterday but as I used to tell my classes at Weight Watchers, you are not overweight because you ate a piece of birthday cake on your birthday. It is because you eat the cake on all the other days too! Granted since we celebrate both Jewish and Christian holidays I have a few more opportunities than are good for me, but the most important thing is to get right back to eating correctly.
On Monday John sauteed some shrimp and I made rice pilaf and broccoli. This dinner is a solid, healthy dinner. WW points – 7 (we used a little oil and a little light butter) What I ate on Sunday is like how professional athletes look at their losses. First what can I learn from it, and second, forget it.
On to the new week!
Shrimp, rice pilaf, broccoliWe had a really fine dinner to celebrate Rosh Hashanah and it was vegetarian to boot! Our daughter and I went crazy baking. I made an apple pie since apples are symbolic for the holiday and our daughter made challah. Challah is an egg bread which she managed to make with some of her leftover sourdough starter. It was soooo good.
Challah
For the main course I made Autumn Soup. It’s a soup made out of equal parts onion, rutabaga, sweet potato, butternut squash, and carrots. You saute them in butter for a bit, add some vegetable stock, and then cook it until all the vegetables are soft. I used a stick blender to turn the vegetables into soup. Then with the addition of some cream and cayenne and an adjustment for salt, it is done. We garnished our bowls with lemon and chives. This was also soooo good.
Soup vegetables
Finished soup with challah and traditional apples and honey for a sweet year
Finally I actually made an apple pie. Our daughter and grandson helped me to peel all the apples and make the pie. It was a lovely dinner full of good things to eat and happiness.
OMG, I made apple pie!
Rutabagas take a long time to cook. Instead of hauling out the Instant Pot I just put them in boiling water and it took at least 45 minutes. They turned out really tasty though all mashed up with a little butter and salt. So glad that it finally turned cooler so that root vegetables can be back on the menu.
John did a great job roasting the chicken and I also prepared the broccoli. Division of labor in our house, John, head chef and preparer of all meat. I am sous chef and preparer of all things vegetable. We make a good team.
Chicken breast, rutabagas, broccoli
Here’s my pot of lentils with turkey sausage and a bunch of different vegetables burbling on the stove prior to dinner.
Lentil stew
I really like lentils! All the vegetables make this a really hearty stew. Seriously you don’t even need the meat. It is easy to make by just sautéing up a few vegetables, adding the lentils and chicken or vegetable stock, cooking about 20 minutes or until the lentils are tender and putting in the greens (I used lacinato kale) at the last minute.
Looks delicious in my bowl too!
Lentils with vegetables and smoked turkey sausage
Thursday’s dinner was another “pantry” dinner. Some pasta, a can of tuna, olive oil, an herb, and a vegetable. Although I used fresh snow peas and tarragon, it could just as easily have been made with frozen peas and dried parsley or oregano.
John boiled the whole wheat penne in salted water while I sautéed some onions and garlic. When the pasta was nearly done I added the snow peas and tarragon. After he added the pasta to the pot and I had made a kind of sauce out of pasta water and olive oil, I put in the tuna trying not to break it apart too much. For finishing I added a little drizzle of our best olive oil and some cracked black pepper.
WW points – 11
Whole wheat penne with tuna and snow peas
Tuesday isn’t just the night for tacos anymore! Our taco night consisted of shrimp tacos on corn tortillas topped with salsa, cabbage, and yogurt/cumin crema. On the side we had spicy black beans and the rest of the broccoli salad from Monday.
This was a fun and healthy dinner. It fit right into my WW lifestyle with only 4 points
Shrimp taco, spicy black beans, broccoli salad
Weatherunderground said that it hit 102F in my town yesterday. That is too hot to be turning on the oven or stove! So right before it was time for dinner John went to the grocery store and picked up a rotisserie chicken. I had already made a couple of yummy sides.
One of the sides was sliced home-grown red and green tomatoes, cucumbers and onions. I dressed it with lemon juice and Italian-style, WW no-point dressing that I make. I finished it with kosher salt and cracked black pepper. It was pretty enough to get its own picture!
Sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, and onions
My other side consisted of chickpeas, celery, and scallions in a Greek yogurt/light mayonnaise dressing. Both sides were so good that John and I ate all that I made. On my plate along with the sides is a chicken breast that I took the skin off of and some barbecue sauce. WW points for entire meal totaled 3.
Chicken breast with BBQ sauce and two yummy sides
Sorry for getting this post up late. I completely forgot about doing it!!
John grilled the mushrooms after marinating them with a little olive oil and bourbon balsamic vinegar. We served them on light bread toast with a thin smear of light mayo. The toast was more than a little dry. I guess we will go back to eating higher calorie regular bread and have one slice instead of two. I garnished my faux burger with pan roasted onion and basil. For the broccoli salad I substituted Splenda for sugar and water plus xanthan gum for most of the olive oil that is supposed to be in this salad. Obviously without the sugar and most of the oil the texture and taste was a little off but it was still edible.
Grilled Portobello mushroom and broccoli salad
Omnivore 