Amaretto Walnut Bread Pudding

I've had a wicked sweet tooth since I adopted healthier eating habits. Learning to mitigate this has been a key skill I've had to learn along the way.

When guests come for dinner, I usually make a relatively light meal, followed with a full power dessert. In my opinion, the last thing you eat stays with you. This last weekend, we had our friends over for dinner. We served baked chicken with green beans and polenta, all in all a pretty healthy meal. We served this bread pudding for dessert.

Bread pudding is one of my favorite desserts. I guess it's because it's so rich, and because no one ever makes it. It's unique, and really easy to make. I found the recipe on Epicurious.com, an awesome recipe site. I deviated from it by:

• Only using 1 1/2 cups of sugar (per the reviews)
• Using 1 quart of half in half instead of a pint each of cream and whole milk (half and half is much cheaper)
• Adding about 3/4 to 1 cup of coarsely chopped walnuts
• Adding about 1/2 cup of rasins

The recipe turned out fantastic. Don't skip the step where it tells you to toast and process the crumbs. This gives the top an awesome texture and flavor. Our guests enjoyed it, and Jenny and I got our sweet fix.

I'd recommend leaving out the rasins, as they clashed with the amaretto in the recipe and overwhelmed the dessert. I'd also suggest cooking it in multiple smaller pans, because the crusty edges were the best part.

Each slice (1/26 of the 13x9 pan, or 1" x 4.5") is 5 pts., so it's important to eat this in moderation. It's a good idea, once again, to plan ahead and budget yourself some room earlier in the week. We also gave the leftovers to Jenny's family, because we knew that having it in the house would be too much trouble and grief!

One reviewer also mentioned baking it with Splenda, which I may try because it'll drop the point value by 1 pt. per serving. Substituting skim for the half and half will also save you a point per slice, but that may adversely affect flavor and texture. If anyone trys it, please let me know.

Yummy breakfast eats...

I'm not able to do any major cooking with my finger out of commission, so Jenny's taken over in the cooking department. She made me this awesome breakfast on Saturday:

It's half an orange (1 pt.), a slice of turkey bacon (1/3 pt.), a mini blueberry muffin (1 pt.) and some scrambled egg whites (2 pts.). Call it the Conway's version of a Denny's breakfast at home.

The blueberry muffins are Betty Crocker Carb Monitor muffins, with applesauce substituted for oil.

Jenny also used a trick my sister taught us, to mix a little cottage cheese in with our eggs. This makes them richer with a slight hint of cheesiness. Ours came out a little wet, so in the future I'd put the cottage cheese in a paper towel and wring it out to remove some excess moisture before cooking.

Once again my awesome wife comes through and takes care of me. She rules.

Hot Dogs Rule

There are few things in life that give you as much joy and satisfaction as a good hot dog at a baseball game. Sure, I know having children gives you a ton of joy, and that finishing your first ascent of Mt. Everest can leave you with a profound sense of satisfaction, but hot dogs are easier to clean up after and you don't need a sherpa to carry them back to your seat (even though my seat was only 400 feet lower than the peak of Mt. Everest).


I know there are supposedly bad things in hot dogs. You know what, I don't care. Heck, sulfites have to be ok in small quantities. Ignorance is bliss. Humans have been eating animal parts stuffed into casings for millennia with spectacular results, and I intend to carry on these fine traditions for a few more decades.

Besides, is there anything more American than eating a hot dog at a baseball game? Heck, the hot dog even speaks to our keen sense of individuality. You can have your dog short, foot long, with kraut, mustard, relish, onions, mango salsa or without. Personally, I'll take mine with spicy mustard and onions. Just no mayo (too Dutch) or Ketchup (I'll leave my rant against the evils of Ketchup for another post).

Now before everyone thinks I've ditched my weight loss goals and doomed my body to eternal suffering, note that one raging hot dog every few weeks won't kill you. In fact, if you PLAN AHEAD, you'll be more than ok. The point of changing your lifestyle is to lose weight and enjoy food. This means eating healthy most of the time, and enjoying the foods that you love some of the time. As the cookie monster says, "A cookie is a sometimes food."

Kitchen Safety

Ouch.

Jenny and I were going to a friend's house to make them dinner when I was careless and bought myself a trip to the local urgent care center. Two hours, a co-pay and 5 stitches later I'm here typing a post about kitchen safety...

I learned the hard way after I bought good kitchen knives that you can hurt yourself really fast being careless or sloppy. In this particular case I cut the backside of my middle finger when I was cleaning, not using, my cutting board. I left the knives in the sink (big mistake) while I was cleaning the rest of the dishes and I ran my knuckle across the blade my serrated bread knife.

So we had to cancel dinner, and we spent an evening with a nurse instead of our friends.

Moral of the story...there's a lot of dangerous stuff in the kitchen. Knives, ovens, etc. should be respected, but not feared, at all times. Pay attention, and don't move quicker than your skills allow. Have fun, but be safe.

Spinach, Mushroom and Turkey Meatballs with Pasta

Today's recipe comes courtesy of the Calorie Commando, Juan Carlos Cruz. I don't watch his show very often, but I happened to watch the episode where he made spinach, mushroom and turkey meatball subs. I made the meatballs per his recipe, but much smaller (about 1 inch in diameter). This results in them being 3 meatballs for 2 points. My batch made about 65 meatballs, which froze beautifully for later use.

I sprayed a nonstick skillet with a liberal coating of non-stick spray and tossed in the frozen meatballs and about half of a diced onion. After the meatballs were browned and the onions were carmelized, I dumped in a can of diced tomatoes. Juan Carlos did this on his show instead of adding canned spaghetti sauce, which has more calories (and less tomato flavor, in my opinion). As the tomato juice boiled down to a thicker paste, I added some fresh parsley, dried oregano, cilantro, and a little salt. I don't know how much, I'd say a pinch of each.

I served the meatballs and sauce on top of one serving (2 oz. uncooked) whole wheat pasta.

According to my calculations, the dinner was 8 WW points (4 for the meatballs and sauce, 4 for the pasta).

How to do it right

As I've already mentioned before, I've had many times where I've let my self control take a break and I overate in a social situation. This last week, I got one right.

We had an all day meeting at work, with a catered breakfast and lunch. Since I knew about the meeting, I asked our office administrator what was on the menu. I've got a great relationship with her, so she knows to look for me before events like these. Often times, knowing what's coming is the most important step.

For breakfast, we had the usual plate of supermuffins and breakfast cakes. Some of the "cinnabuns" were bigger than the desserts my wife makes in our kitchen! Knowing what to expect, I ate breakfast at home and had a cup of coffee at work.

It's also important to set your environment up for success. I sat down for the meeting and promptly moved the large bowl of pretzels down the table to the other end. I knew that if I sat in front of them the whole day that I'd eat the whole bowl. Thankfully, I got by without snacking.

Lunch was a great mexican buffet. You have to learn to "read" these buffet lines to find the best food options. This one had:

• Fajita Chicken
• Fajita Beef
• Tortillas
• Spanish Rice
• Tomato and Cucumber Salad
• Salsa
• Cookies

Fajitas are usually grilled, so I knew that in moderation they'd be a safe bet. I served myself a little chicken (3 pcs. about the size of my thumb), a healthy portion of the grilled tomatoes and onions from the fajitas, a decent scoop (about 3/4 cup) of spanish rice, some salsa and half a plate of the awesome cucumber salad. I skipped the cookies entirely.

The meal was filling, tasty, and relatively low in points. When I got hungry in the afternoon I had a small handful of pretzels to hold me over.

No one noticed my reduced calorie meal, and I got the satisfaction of telling my wife that I made it through that situation without going overboard.

Ups and Downs

I've seen so many people, electrified with initial weight loss success, beam with joy,"I've lost 3 lbs. in the first two weeks, so I'll reach my goal weight in 8 months!" Sorry, but no.

Johnny, tell 'em what they've won...

My journey from 281 to 179 (at the time of this post) has been filled with MANY peaks and MANY valleys. See chart 1.

Like many who embark on a serious lifestyle change, I experienced great initial success and results. Unfortunately, these successes gave way to reality as I settled in for the long haul and accepted the realities of this profound shift in my life. I have had many plateaus, the worst of which lasted almost a year and a half as I hovered around 220 lbs. Fortunately, I managed to maintain enough control over my eating habits to not gain an appreciable amount back.

Let me make it clear that such plateaus didn't come from failures in my program, but in periods of low morale and motivation. If I could pass on one piece of advice, it is to remember that LOSING WEIGHT IS HARD WORK. This is especially true when you have lots and lots of weight to lose.

So how did I do it? Simple...I never quit. It never entered my mind. I learned to ride out the plateaus and not gain weight back, and to keep my composure even when my motivation was lacking. Sure I had a few spikes on my journey, but on the whole, I've been incredibly successful. And the triumph is that even several years later, I'm still doing it. I'm still winning.

Curried Turkey with Couscous

This dinner came about because of a boredom with my usual flavors. I can get into a rut with dinner, using the same flavors over and over and over...

I'm blessed with a huge spice rack, so the seasonings were available. We had the couscous and orange flavored Crasins in our pantry. The fruitiness of the crazins really offsets the spices and veggies.

Curried Turkey with Couscous

8 oz. Lean Ground Turkey
1 med. Sweet Onion, diced
1 med. Green Pepper, diced
3/4 cup Crasins
1/4 tsp. Curry
1/4 tsp. Cumin
Salt and pepper to taste
3 cups prepared Couscous

Spray skillet with non-stick spray or oil from an oil spritzer. Saute the first four ingredients until the turkey is browned and the onions and peppers are soft. Add seasoning, stir, cover and cook for a few minutes more over low heat to meld the flavors.

Prepare 3 cups of Couscous according to package directions. I used Near East brand, which is available at my local megamart.

Serve 1/3 of turkey mixture with 1 cup of couscous. As far as WW points are concerned, when I made it it came out to 10 points total (6 for the turkey, 4 for the couscous).

The parsley on top isn't necessary, but makes for a nice picture!

Three Bean Turkey Chili

This recipe is a household favorite. My guy friends and I like it at the hot end of the spectrum, but out of respect for my wife's delicate taste buds, I usually make it on the mild end and spice it up later with some Tabasco.

3 Bean Turkey Chili

2 lb. Lean Ground Turkey Breast (99% fat free)
2 lg. White Onions, diced
3 cloves Garlic, mashed
1 can Dark Red Kidney Beans, drained and rinsed
1 can Great Northern, drained and rinsed
1 can Black Beans, drained and rinsed
2 cans Diced Tomatoes
1 sm. can Tomato Paste
2 ½ cups Water
3 tbs. Chili Powder (up to 5 tbs.)
1 tsp. Salt
1 tsp. Pepper
1 tsp. Oregano
1 tsp. Tabasco (up to 2 tsp.)
In a large heavy pot, brown turkey with onions and garlic. Add remaining ingredients and simmer gently until thickened, stirring frequently. Cover, remove from heat, and allow to cool to eating temperature to let flavors mingle (about 30 min).

Most packages of ground turkey have nutritional info on the package. It's important to use ground turkey breast, and not simply "ground turkey." Dark meat turkey has about the same amount of fat and calories as ground beef. The ground white meat turkey is the key to keeping this recipe light!

When I make it, it produces 3 quarts (13 cups) at 3 WW pts. per cup (40 points per batch). This is an estimate, and you should add up the points yourself using the points calculator. Also note that this recipe freezes very well. We put it in 2 cup servings into zipper top bags in the freezer.

All this and she cooks too!

My wife surprised me after a long day of work with a special dinner. Jenny made ricotta and spinach stuffed chicken.

She had it in the oven so that we could go out and get some exercise and come home to a warm meal. We recycled some awesome veggies (made by my friend James for my bible study the night before) and bam, dinner. She even had angel food cake and strawberries for dessert!

Why am I featuring it here? To demonstrate:

1. My wife is an awesome cook, too. It tastes as good as it looks.
2. Even dinner on a Wednesday night should be special.
3. You can have something fresh and flavorful AND good for you.

She got the recipe from our weekly Weight Watchers meeting, so the stuffed chicken was only 6 points. For all you non-WW people, that's pretty light. The recipe keeps the calories and fat down by using a 6 oz. chicken breast and using low fat ricotta for the filling. The spinach adds a lot of flavor and great nutritional stuff. To my knowledge, the recipe doesn't add additional fat. The angel food cake is pretty light to begin with, and she frosted it with Cool Whip Free (or the like) and dropped some sliced strawberries on top.

So to sum up, Jenny kept the meal light by:

• Controlling portion size
• Using low or no-fat items in place of full fat alternatives
• Adding healthy veggies to give flavor and bulk without calories
• Adding seasoning instead of fat for flavor

Bravo, sweetheart!

Beer Bread

It's beer. It's bread. It's beer bread.

I've always found the science of baking to be a little intimidating. I feel this stems from the regimented process of measuring, weighing and precisely controlling ingredients. I turn to the culinary world to avoid this type of empirical measurement, to make food without strict recipes and instructions. My job as an engineer supplies plenty of that, thank you very much.

Last night, on a whim, I decided to dive in and bake a loaf of bread. This bread is easy to make since there's no yeast to mess with (the baking powder works as a leavening agent). Because of this, however, you probably won't want to make sandwiches with it. It tastes a lot like banana bread, except replace the banana flavors with Sam Adams Boston Ale.

Next time, I'll either crank up on the sugar a bit, say to half a cup, or use a sweeter beer like Honey Brown or a lambic of some sort. I think I'll also reduce the baking powder to 1 tablespoon, since I sensed a slight soda-like aftertaste.

You can find the recipe here.

Each slice (1/12 of loaf) is 3 Weight Watchers points.

Easter at Mom and Dad's

Even after four years (and counting) on Weight Watchers, I still face a constant struggle to eat everything in sight. The fight has gotten much easier, but it certainly hasn't gone away.

This last weekend I traveled to South Carolina to celebrate Easter with my parents and my dad's extended family. Leaving the confines of my home is always a test for me - to resist the urge to hurt myself and my progress losing weight.

Growing up in a family of big eaters, I always seem to revert to the woodchipper-like eater I left behind almost a decade ago. This is especially true at big family events with food and goodies everywhere. Still, occasionally I manage to do well. My Mom helps wherever she can, making salads and vegetables. But with 20 people in the house it's up to me to control myself.

See exhibit A - dessert time. Tiramisu, dirt cake, apple pie, chocolate cheesecake and the best damn carrot cake I've ever eaten (baked by my Father, bottom left). A classic opportunity to send my consumption (and weight) through the roof. I had a little dirt cake and a slice of said carrot cake. Very commendable.

When in this situation I try to listen to my body as much as possible. Am I really hungry? Do I really want this food? Why am I eating? Many overeaters eat simply because the food is available. I'm guilty of this more than anyone else. This weekend, cheese slices, jelly beans, crackers and other snacks found their way into my mouth to feed a false sense of hunger.

All told, I was not terribly successful at maintaining self control. A quick check on the scale on Monday said I'd gained a few pounds.

What to do? The same thing I do every time I get a setback...collect myself, focus on my mission, and get back to shedding pounds.