Meatless Monday – Broccoli & Ginger Tofu Stir-Fry

 

I had such a good experience the first time I used Tofu for Meatless Monday, I decided to try it again! I found this recipe in the Weight Watchers Fall 2009 20 minute Recipes magazine. I have modified it slightly so only be 2 servings (instead of 4), I served with rice instead of pasta and I only used broccoli instead of a stir-fry vegetable mix.

Broccoli & Ginger Tofu Stir-Fry

1 cup cooked brown rice

Cooking Spray

1/2 of a 20 oz. package of extra-firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2” cubes

1/3 of a bag of frozen broccoli florets

1/4 cup diced onions

1/2 cup vegetarian vegetable broth (just shy of 1/2 probably)

2 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce

1.5 Tbsp of dry white white

1/2 Tbsp cornstarch

1 teaspoon fresh peeled and minced ginger

1.5 garlic cloves minced

1. Heat large non-stick wok over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray, add onion and tofu and sauté 7 minutes or until browned.

  

2. Microwave broccoli according to package directions. Whisk together the next 6. Add broth mixture to wok and cook 2 minutes of until slightly thickened. Remove pan from heat and stir in vegetables. Serve over rice. (Serving size 1 1/2 cups tofu mixture and 1/2 cup rice)

WW Point Value – 5 per serving

Note: While my rice cooked, I pressed the tofu cubes to release excess moisture.

This is an ok stir-fry. I will eat it, but prefer the Baked Tofu recipe much better. The sauce has a good flavor, but the tofu in this recipe is bland. I think marinating the tofu in the vegetable broth mixture before cooking would be a good solution. Or using a Lawry’s type marinade. I love their Sesame Ginger one!

I did it! A weekend on-point!

Do you see that people? That is every drink and morsel of food that entered my mouth from Friday-Sunday night. (Just add 1 point for a bag of 100 calorie popcorn that I ate after I snipped the above image) I only went into my flex points by 3.5! They thought I was crazy last night, logging onto my Weight Watchers account from my Blackberry logging in every beer and even 1 shot, but I had to keep track! Too many times I just drink and say "forget it, I lost count!" Not this time!

So I would call this weekend a great success for me! I managed to go to the movies and resist temptation, I made White Bean Burgers on Saturday, I made 3 so I knew I would have healthy meals easily available on Sunday. I'm not going to share the recipe here because I didn't really care for them that much, no great shakes really. In summary, some simple planning made it easier to stay on track!

How about that Super Bowl? I was rooting for The Saints and I guess it paid off!



Me and Kelly with our Mardi Gras beads.

I had a wonderful time at the bar with friends. I missed so many commercials! That's my favorite part...I love the Betty White Snickers commercial though! And the Budweiser one with the Horse and the Cow on either side of the fence. So adorable!

Chaser Update: He is almost 100% back to normal. He's still a little groggy, but he's happy and playful and no worse for wear. He was so pitiful. For those of you who missed it, Chaser The Wonder Schnauzer had a vaccine reaction on Saturday.

Be sure to check back tonight for my Meatless Monday recipe. I'm playing with Tofu again with a Broccoli, Ginger and Tofu Stir Fry with brown rice.

Did you watch the Super Bowl? What was your favorite commercial?

Eventful Saturday!

 

First off, I did GREAT at the movies last night! I snuck in two 100 Calorie bags of popcorn (one for me, one for Kelly) and a bottle of Diet Peach Snapple. Kelly snuck in some “fun size” (aka – evil size) chocolate candy!

I almost got busted at the concession stand when my dear friend Kelly, who forgot her drink and had to buy one, badgered me in front of the guy at the register about why I wasn't buying a drink. I had to give her the "giant eyeball are you serious stare-down" before she realized what she was doing. I ate my bag of popcorn and 1 evil size Snickers bar. My snacks were better than the movie “Dear John” I’m afraid. I just was not impressed at all. We rented “Whip It” to try and redeem the evening and it did! That movie was fantastic!

This morning I took Chaser to the Vet. He’s such a happy dog, no matter where he is!

 

However, after his appointment he was not too happy. I got home with him and he began panting heavily and broke out in terrible hives. Having been a Vet Tech for a few years I recognized the signs, he was having a vaccine reaction and took him right back to the Vet. They gave him some IV Meds and stopped the reaction. I’m very happy to say that he is doing much better but tonight he is a very tired pup!

After our eventful morning, The Husband and I headed out to get groceries and supplies for the Super Bowl party at the bar tomorrow. While I was out, I picked up this!

I’m sad to report that it appears my Wii Fit has been correct on my weight, only off by about a pound.  However, I am happy to have this new scale and have set up a weighing area in my laundry room along with a graph to track all the body analysis this crazy scale does! Remember, there’s a $5 off coupon at Coupons.com for WW Conair scales! I ended up paying $24 for this after the coupon.

 

Once home, I was famished, the yogurt I had eaten at 10am was gone. So I whipped up a quick Tuna Salad and ate it on tostadas with some spinach. YUM!

My Tuna Salad is simple!

1 package of tuna

2 Tbsp Miracle Whip

1 Tbsp Dill Pickle Cubes

1-2 squirts of lemon juice

Salt, pepper, garlic & onion powder and paprika to taste.

The whole shebang, with 2 Mission Corn Tortillas (baked until crisp to make a “tostada”) ended up only being 7 points.

So, it’s been a very eventful day here! I’m relaxing with a beer watching Iron Chef with the husband. We plan to watch some movies tonight and rest up for tomorrow.

I hope you are all having fantastic weekends!

Are you ready for some football?

Weigh-in this morning: 166.2lbs +2.8lbs from last week. Of course, last week I had an uncharacteristically big loss (-3.5lbs) and I know I made terrible food choices and did a lot of mindless snacking in Greensboro. I think the combination of that explains (although does not excuse, I still stand by my "no excuses" policy) why I had a gain. I will buckle down this week. I am also going to buy a real scale. I've been weighing myself on the Wii Fit only, so I'm curious to see how a scale compares. Coupons.com has a $5 off a Weight Watcher Con-Air Scale coupon, so that will help!

I am setting a Mini-goal, that's not so "mini" to me.

Stay on track this weekend.

That's it. Track everything I eat and drink and stay on on-point. I can and will do this even if it takes using all of my Flex Points. Did I mention my husband is a bartender? We always go to his bar for Super Bowl and they have a big party with loads of booze, food, shots and friends. It's going to be tough, but I know I can do it. Right while typing that, I heard the ESPN Sports Center jingle.

Weekend plans for me:

Tonight: Go see Dear John with my friend Kelly. Sneak snacks into movie theater. Come home, meal plan for next week while catching up on my DVR'ed shows.

Saturday: Chaser The Wonder Schnauzer goes to the Vet, then it's shopping for Super Bowl party stuff and groceries with the husband. Have no idea the plans for tomorrow evening but I'm sure they will be laid back since we will be out on Sunday.

Sunday: I have a 3 mile run in the morning and then I am going to eat a healthy breakfast and lunch before heading up to the bar for the Super Bowl! This year I'm mostly just excited about the commercials, but if I have to pick a team, it's probably going to be The Saints!

What should I sneak into the movies tonight? I know I'm going to sneak in a 100 Calorie bag of Pop Corn...anything else? What's your favorite movie snack?

Happy Friday everyone!

My 100th Post!

Good Morning Everyone!!

Do you know what this is? It's my 100th Blog Post!! They always celebrate for 100th TV episodes, so I'm going to celebrate my 100th Blog Post. Yay me! :) I have come a long way in 100 posts. Some days I have no idea where I want to go with this blog, most days I don't even know what I want to write. It has been such a huge motivational tool for me! Encouragement that I get in emails and comments makes me smile every day! The Unlikely Success Story has been a huge tool in my journey, and I plan to continue to utilize it as such!

Ok, onward and upward!

As part of Operation Freezer I have a ton of talapia filets in my freezer that I need to begin to cut down on. I'm not a huge fan of talapia, it occasionally has a dirt like taste (to me) that I just can't get past unless there is a lot of flavor in the way it's cooked. Last night, I found my new favorite recipe and I believe I will be eating a lot more talapia. I found a recipe for Greek Lemon Fish in a Prevention cookbook that I have and can't find a link to on Amazon or their site. Here is how I changed it up a bit.

This is for 1 filet, 1 serving and is 4 ww points.


Greek Lemon Fish




Ingredients
1/3 pound(s) raw tilapia
1/2 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic clove(s), minced
1/2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp Spice Islands World Flavor Greek Seasoning

Instructions

Whisk olive oil, seasoning and lemon juice, set aside.

Coast nonstick pan with cooking spray and cook talapia filet for 2 minutes per side.

Pour olive oil mixture over fish and allow to cook for 1-2 more minutes.

Serve talapia with pan juice spooned on top.

I served it with a side of Quinoa that I cooked in chicken stock with olives and green beans. It was a very satisfying, healthy meal!

If you haven't tried Quinoa yet, I highly recommend it! It has a great flavor and texture! From the website, here are some more reasons to enjoy Quinoa!

4 more reasons to enjoy the benefits of quinoa:

1. It’s a VEGETARIAN solution, a balanced-amino-acid source of high quality protein.

2. It’s a SENIOR solution, a high-iron food that raises the hematocrit, delivers more oxygen to the brain, fights senility.

3. It’s a DIABETIC solution, a very low-glycemic-index cereal type food.

4. It’s a TASTE SOLUTION, quite delicious.

How can you go wrong!

I did my 30 minute training run this morning.



It felt like my legs were lead and I never really found my stride. You have to take the good runs with the bad. They happen sometimes!

I had my Green Smoothie this morning, this time with Banana, Peaches and Spinach and now I'm enjoying a Chai Tea with some Light Vanilla Soy Milk. It's the first time I've had Chai Tea and I like it! With the Vanilla Soy Milk is tastes a little like a spice cake with cream cheese icing. Or at least that's how it tastes to me! I think it might be a somewhat acceptable substitute (occasionally) for my morning travel mug of coffee!

So, it's Thursday...we have almost made it to the weekend. Who's excited for Superbowl? Anyone making any special recipes for the big game? I'd love to hear about them!