Zero Point Vegetable Soup! ( A dieting girls (or guys) best friend!

Zero point vegetable soup!  Here are the ingredients you will need.  This soup can become your very best friend, especially on days you need to conserve all your points for going out for supper that night!!!  I have a friend who doesn't like cabbage so she leaves it out!  I have also modified it to make it a meal and added some cooked chicken breast. It has points then, but only what the chicken adds.  This recipe makes 4 servings!  If you decide to eat the whole thing in a day, I would suppose you should add a point or two.  Oh, I happen to LOVE mushrooms as well and they are also a zero point food so I have added them and broccoli  (also zero points) to it to change it up!

• Non-stick, no fat cooking spray
• 2/3 cup carrots, sliced
• 1/2 cup onions, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 3 cups fat-free broth (beef, chicken, or vegetable)
• 1 1/2 cups green cabbage, shredded
• 1/2 cup green beans
• 1 tbsp. tomato paste
• 1/2 tsp. basil
• 1/4 tsp. oregano
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup diced zucchini

Sautee onion, carrots and garlic in cooking spray for about 5 min to softe n them up.

Add broth, cabbage, green beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano and salt. Bring to boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.  Stir in zucchini and cook an additional 5 minutes and enjoy!

Last post today...I promise

Okay this is going to be difficult because I cannot be jumping on the computer each time I have an idea but this was important!  If you are new to this I hope you will appreciate my hints!  I would suggest to EVERYONE to get a digital food scale!  I know they say so many oz. is the size of your thumb, fist, palm etc... but you really have no idea unless you get a food scale.  And since so many points can come from meat, and for the most part in the recipes you are only allowed 2-3 oz per serving, going over an oz or 2 can really affect your point count! 

Ok, on this note, I think it is a good time to mention ground turkey!  It is a wonderful alternative to ground beef.  It has less points per serving and if you incorporate it into your meals slowly (i did half and half for awhile before we switched) even your kids or husband won't notice!

To begin......

Here are some of my favorite snack ideas that aren't a lot of points and can be quite good.

Laughing Cow cheese can be you new best friend!!  At only 1 point per wedge it is fabulous and it can be used in soooo many different ways.  I like to pair it with the Special K crackers!  One wedge of cheese and the 100 calorie cracker serving is only 3 points but makes a great snack!  It can also be used on a toast, an english muffin, or a baked potato! 

Another favorite is J- E -LL- O, sugar free of course.  By itself for one serving is 0 (yep that's right folks ZERO) points.  I am a huge fan of the 1/2 cup ziploc containers.  It helps me gauge the right serving size and it makes me feel like I accomplished something eating the whole thing!!  Add ontop of it a little fat free cool whip and guess what still a big fat ZERO..  okay however sometimes I do like to count these types of things (double zeros if you will) as one point.  I mean, of course if something only has 5 calories it is no points but does that mean I can 100 of them and still have 0 point consumption.  I think not.

Another use for the containers would be for fat free pudding. It is only 1 point per serving! I always buy things in the boxes and make them myself.  It is usually about half the cost and since pudding and jello only takes about 5 min to whip it is worth the savings!  Of course you can also top the pudding with a little cool whip too!  Makes it just seem a little more like a dessert!!

Another favorite, hmmm and come to think of it can also have fat free cool whip on it (guess you better just keep that in the freezer!) is the 1 point cupcakes!!  The best part is that they only take 2 ingredients and they would be a GREAT thing to take to work especially if several people are dieting.  They couldn't be simpler, take 1 box of reduced sugar cake mix of your choice and add a can (12oz) of diet pop of your choice. Pour in cupcake pan and bake.  Yep that is it.  And then of course top with FF C. W. It is really fun to experiment with the cake flavors and pop.  A few of my favorite is choc. cake with Diet Dr. Pepper or Diet. Root Beer and white cake with Diet Cherry 7 Up.  On the cool whip subject though, you should never use more than 2 TBLS per seving to keep it from counting as additional points!

Okay so off of the sweets for a minute, eggs are also a great snack option.  Did you know that you can eat 3 hard boiled egg whites and it only counts as 1 point!!  These are a great thing because you can make them ahead of time so they are ready to throw in a lunch bag for work or grab when you are hungry and don't want to consume a lot of points!

This is a start.  I need to get my thoughts and items in order a little better so I can get some more stuff on here!  Wishing all my new readers the best of luck on their new adventure in getting healthy!!

Welcome!

Okay here is the promised blog. I have some ideas for things and I am still working on the layout, but if you have any suggestions or recipes you want to add or anything please contact me! If you want a recipe of a certain kind or for a special occassion let me know and I will search it out and post it.  Hope you enjoy your reading and good luck on your weight loss journey.  So far myself, starting the blog today is the only motivation I have on my journey.  However, you will be excited to know that I did use my elipitical and treadmill today!!

Needed to dry the mattress pad somewhere :-)