Moms Chocolate Oatmeal

Who else would make an amazing oatmeal that's chocolate, but MOM?! I actually ran across these doing my weekly shopping at Wegman's 2 weeks ago and decided that at $1.99 for a 5 pack, how could I say no? Mom's Best Dark Chocolate Instant Oatmeal practically begged me to buy it! It's all natural, oatmeal (good for me) and chocolate! Done deal!

I actually have been making "chocolate oatmeal" for a few years. One of my favorite ways to get some "naughty chocolate" into my tummy, while losing weight, was to create my own version of chocolate oatmeal using some plain ol' Quaker quick oats packs and a packet of sugar free hot cocoa mix. But with my changes towards a "cleaner eating" style, I had to give up basically everything "sugar free" or with added "fake" sugars in them so there went my chocolate oatmeal in the morning!

Until now!

I finally made a bowl for breakfast the other day and I must confess this will be a staple in my cupboards now! I love the texture, the flavor is very real and it's all natural! The price comes out even friendlier than my original "homemade" version($1.99 for a box of 5.. that's 40 cents a serving), plus I'm now filling up my tummy with all natural products and not a bunch of chemicals! MUCH BETTER!

The nutritional numbers come out great too.

One serving/packet, prepared with water is 160 calories, 3g fiber and 2.5g fiber. On the Weight Watchers® point® system that comes out to 3 points® a bowl. Add a glass of OJ (1 cup) and you have a very filling and healthy breakfast for 5 points®. That should last you well into the late morning for sure!

Wish me luck on my journey to "eating clean" and  healthy! 
And please feel free to comment and share ideas for trying to live and eat "clean"!
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEED TO GET FIT BUT DON'T WANT THE GYM MEMBERSHIP?

THINK ABOUT A TRAMPOLINE!

Check out The Trampolines King Website for tons of FREE information & guidance in purchasing this wonderful piece of equipment that is affordable and helps burn TONS of calories (not to mention tons 'o fun)!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AssistU has been the whole reason I've had
the best results following the
Weight Watchers® program...
changing 1 lb or less losses to
an average of 3 lbs most weeks!
Check out this ALL NATURAL HERBAL SUPPLEMENT!
Mention Beverly's Blog "One Day At A Time"  when you order 
to get the best price available!

Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!



Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me along with AssistU....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties - tons of ideas, comic relief & great give-aways!

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



3.

4. BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.

Purple Potatoes Galore

My "sweetie" had commented nearly a year ago that he was dying to try something he once read or heard about called "Blue Potatoes" or sometimes also referred to as "Purple Potatoes".  He said that they claimed these strange colored potatoes made "the absolute best, most phenomenal mashed potatoes, ever!" So of course it became a mission for him to find these great little spuds. But it wasn't exactly easy!

We don't exactly live in a large city where "different" and adventurous fruits and veggies can be easy to find. If it's not pretty "main stream" it can be quite difficult to find here in Erie, PA.  Lucky for us we have a WONDERFUL grocery store called Wegmans, that is so customer service oriented that it's rare they will tell you "sorry we don't carry that and can't get it for you" unless it's pretty obscure or nearly impossible to buy it and re-sell enough to at least pay for what they purchased. Seriously, it is THE ONLY place we shop for our groceries and for many reasons... customer service being first and foremost. (No, I don't work for them, nor does anyone in my family.... so honestly just because I mention them ALL the time doesn't mean I get a paycheck... but I'll take one if they'd like to! LOL) Here's a link directly to the product itself at the Wegman's site that gives all the nutritional information also! Note that your local grocer may not have the item but ask!!!! That's how we got the store we visit regularly to start ordering them and then by word of mouth and just putting them out there, they've become an intriguingly new addition to a lot of tables in the Erie area!

So I began investigating the "Blue Potato" aka "Purple Potato" and contacted the produce manager at Wegman's (on West 23rd) who quickly did his own investigating and came back with an email that said basically... "Sure, we can get them and should have them in store within 2 weeks!".   And so the love affair began.

They aren't exactly the "prettiest" potato you will ever see. The taste is what I would call somewhat "earthy" and if there is such a thing a little more "hearty" potato flavor. They are definitely odd looking, both on the inside and out. I expected that only the skin would be purple/blue but nay, nay... the inside is just as purple and quite interesting looking. The first batch Wegman's had ordered for us seemed to be very small, almost the size of a "new red potato".  I wasn't too sure about mashing these as my first thought was "to mash them you generally peel and boil" and these little babies weren't exactly large enough to truly peel but then after thinking about it I realized DUH, when you make mashed new reds you generally wash the potato, boil it and mash, pulling the skins out a bit while mashing while leaving a few in the finished dish. So I decided to do just that. I do need to add that you have to be careful to NOT overcook these beauties because they tend to get super mushy if you do. They don't hold their shape well and are what are considered a "medium starch" content, compared to other potato varieties. The second batch we bought were much larger (I kind of liked the bigger version because you could bake them better) and close to the size of a small, average white russet potato.

We also baked them and they were quite delicious this way also. So after doing the "basics" with these little beauties I decided to find a few other recipes. Here are a few I've found, but haven't tried yet. We tend to buy them in small quantities as they are around $1.69 I believe per pound (which can add up quick with potatoes). We generally end up with between 3 and 4 pounds each purchase and if we're making mashed it takes about 1/2 of that or a little more, leaving 2 or 4 for baking.  Since we've tried our 2 favorite and typical ways to enjoy these spuds, it's now time to try a few other recipes.

• Fork Crushed Purple Potatoes - a simple, yet interesting combination of purple potatoes, shallots, lemon, olive oil, parsley and sea salt.
  
• Herby Purple Potatoes - while the pictures on this site don't really make me want to run out and make them, the ingredients sound delicious enough to definitely give them a try!
  
• Purple Spanish Tortilla - this is more of a frittata to me but WOW does it look amazingly good. THIS is my NEXT recipe to try for sure! Can't wait! (See the picture to the right of this one!)
  
• Marinated Purple Potatoes - this is more of a "potato salad" style recipe but looks very delicious. My guy won't go for the "heat" but I'm thinking I can tone it down and bit and I think in place of ricotta cheese I may do a fat free feta.
  

Why purple potatoes, you may ask? Well, I wondered the same thing. Our original reason for purchasing them was simply based upon the words "best mashed potatoes you will ever eat".  I'm not sure I'd go with that completely, but they are definitely the most interesting mashed potato you will ever try. If the color alone doesn't start a great conversation nothing will. But what are the real reasons for these strange creatures to dress your table, other than great color & a conversation piece? 

Purple potatoes were "created" so to speak in 2006, according to NYMag.Com, in Colorado. They were a natural cross breed, created for the main reason of making a high antioxidant potato. They wanted an almost "Super Spud" so to speak that was blessed with the normal great vitamins and health benefits of the potato along with super high antioxidant levels. They were brought mainstream by chef Alex Paffenroth of The Greenmarket and seemed to kind of take hold with a lot of different chefs after that.

Wish me luck on my journey to "eating clean" and  healthy! 
And please feel free to comment and share ideas for trying to live and eat "clean"!
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEED TO GET FIT BUT DON'T WANT THE GYM MEMBERSHIP?

THINK ABOUT A TRAMPOLINE!

Check out The Trampolines King Website for tons of FREE information & guidance in purchasing this wonderful piece of equipment that is affordable and helps burn TONS of calories (not to mention tons 'o fun)!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AssistU has been the whole reason I've had
the best results following the
Weight Watchers® program...
changing 1 lb or less losses to
an average of 3 lbs most weeks!
Check out this ALL NATURAL HERBAL SUPPLEMENT!
Mention Beverly's Blog "One Day At A Time"  when you order 
to get the best price available!

Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!



Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me along with AssistU....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties - tons of ideas, comic relief & great give-aways!

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



3.

4. BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.

Some Sweet Desserts

One of my biggest loves is ice cream and of course ice cream in the summer is even better. I will confess though, I do not need hot sweltering days to make me crave that smooth and creamy treat!

Today's find was a bit of a surprise for me and just a spoonful of heaven with my first bite. Haagen-Dazs Mango All Natural Fat Free Sorbet is really quite an amazing dessert! The ingredients remain simple (part of my attempt to 'eat clean' as often as possible) and the nutritional values are amazingly good too! There's 120 calories in 1/2 cup serving, with 0g fat and 0g fiber. It would be better if we could sneak fiber in somehow but oh well! Of course it IS Haagen-Dazs so what did I expect but great flavor? The downfall is that it IS Haagen-Dazs, so it tends to be a little pricier than a store brand or other brand but that is also why it's filled with great ingredients AND tastes so delish! Luckily, many stores locally have been putting Haagen-Dazs brand on sale a lot over the summer so I've managed to sneak a few extras in the basement freezer!

Here's a list of the ingredients: WATER, SUGAR, MANGO PUREE, LEMON JUICE CONCENTRATE, PUMPKIN JUICE CONCENTRATE, CARROT JUICE CONCENTRATE, NATURAL FLAVOR, PECTIN.

Pretty simple and "real". Yes, purists will argue there are sugars and pectins, etc. but my issue is "chemical content" more than natural things like sugars and pectins. Sugars and pectins were used by my grandma and her mom so I'm pretty sure they're not one of the biggest issues of cancer and such that I'm battling. I personally feel good about these ingredients.

I think my favorite is the Mango flavor but they offer a few others. I loved the raspberry sorbet too! (note, the bowl they show on their site is definitely NOT 1/2 cup serving! LOL) I saw a strawberry and one other listed on their website, along with some great looking other fat free or lower fat options in frozen dessert products! Check out the Haagen-Dazs site to see all they offer. I have noticed the flavors locally change in each store and even sometimes aren't available numerous times so if you find one you love, grab it up now and put it in the freezer for later!

Of course the hardest part is portion control with this delicious treat, but that tends to be my issue with any "ice cream" type food!

Wish me luck on my journey to "eating clean" and  healthy! 
And please feel free to comment and share ideas for trying to live and eat "clean"!
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEED TO GET FIT BUT DON'T WANT THE GYM MEMBERSHIP?

THINK ABOUT A TRAMPOLINE!

Check out The Trampolines King Website for tons of FREE information & guidance in purchasing this wonderful piece of equipment that is affordable and helps burn TONS of calories (not to mention tons 'o fun)!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AssistU has been the whole reason I've had
the best results following the
Weight Watchers® program...
changing 1 lb or less losses to
an average of 3 lbs most weeks!
Check out this ALL NATURAL HERBAL SUPPLEMENT!
Mention Beverly's Blog "One Day At A Time"  when you order 
to get the best price available!

Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!



Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me along with AssistU....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties - tons of ideas, comic relief & great give-aways!

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



3.

4. BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.

Orange Cream and Sausage Pancake Wrap

I have really been enjoying the glories of summer and creating smooth, creamy, cold drinks almost daily!

This morning I decided to create something sort of reminiscent of my childhood days called a Tangerine Freeze. There was a little candy & soda store downtown when I was very small that my mom used to take me to. We'd sit at the counter and order "Tangerine Freezes" for a treat on a hot summer day. They were much like today's Orange Julius type of drink but so much more tasty with a lot of flavor. I think the secret was definitely the "tangerine" instead of orange juice but sometimes you just don't have "tangerine juice" handy! Of course I needed to create it with what I had around (which was organic orange juice & not tangerine juice) but I decided to once again use some of my luscious Oikos Fat Free Vanilla Greek Yogurt to give it a creamy touch. As always, a few ingredients & a blender and I have created a yummy cold morning drink that's filling & delicious!

Orange Cream (2pts)

Serves 1

Ingredients:

1/2 cup organic orange juice (1pt.)

zest of 1 orange (this just sort of gave it a little more kick & "orangey" flavor)*not a must if you don't have an orange around or the time to zest it! 

3 oz. (1/2 container) Oikos Vanilla Greek Yogurt (1pt.)

1/2 cup crushed ice


Simply blend together in a blender until smooth and serve!

I drank my yummy orange cream with a buckwheat pancake (1pt.)  wrapped around a Jones light all natural sausage link (1pt.) & 1/2 slice organic cheddar (1pt.). It's a lot like those pancake/sausage wraps you can get to just nuke, only all natural and a lot lower in calories/fat & points!  For a total of 3 points® I had my breakfast. Another 2 points® for my drink and there was a delightful 5 points® worth of breakfast to take me well into the late morning!

One of the things I love to do is make a batch of 50 cent piece sized buckwheat pancakes (maybe a little larger) and freeze them for the week. My guy gets up in the morning (4 a.m.) and nukes them himself for breakfast & thinks he's in heaven with his homemade pancakes. It's a lot cheaper than purchasing the pre-made/frozen versions of regular pancakes, not to mention none of the chemicals & extra fats! When I get up, a single one usually makes a "wrap" or I will sometimes use 2 pancakes to make a breakfast "sandwich" with a Jones Dairy Farm all natural sausage patty & 1/2 slice of organic cheddar.  As always, I sprinkle my pancakes with the maple brown sugar sprinkles from GFS (Gordon Food Service) and you'd almost swear you were eating one of those "horrible for you" Griddle Sandwiches you can get at a drive thru fast food restaurant in the morning. Literally in about the same amount of time because everything just needs to be nuked and slapped together!

Wish me luck on my journey to "eating clean" and  healthy! 
And please feel free to comment and share ideas for trying to live and eat "clean"!
 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

NEED TO GET FIT BUT DON'T WANT THE GYM MEMBERSHIP?

THINK ABOUT A TRAMPOLINE!

Check out The Trampolines King Website for tons of FREE information & guidance in purchasing this wonderful piece of equipment that is affordable and helps burn TONS of calories (not to mention tons 'o fun)!

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

AssistU has been the whole reason I've had
the best results following the
Weight Watchers® program...
changing 1 lb or less losses to
an average of 3 lbs most weeks!
Check out this ALL NATURAL HERBAL SUPPLEMENT!
Mention Beverly's Blog "One Day At A Time"  when you order 
to get the best price available!

Don't forget to check out my newest Book Blog, where I give book reviews on recent books I've read. If you're a reader you'll want to check this out!

WE CAN DO THIS, TOGETHER
ONE DAY AT A TIME!

Like this article? Twit it to your followers!



Who Else Helps me get healthy?
These are just a few of the people online that inspire me along with AssistU....

1.
Check out the Fab Fatties - tons of ideas, comic relief & great give-aways!

2. Joe Gigantino - Fitness Trainer
This is the guy that really set me on the path to physical fitness - Sign up for his FREE newsletter!



3.

4. BWJEN - Another WW Buddy & A 'bookworm' too!?



5.

5.

6.Sean Anderson the formerly 500lb man!
Diary of A Winning Loser - Sean is an inspiration to anyone trying to get healthy!


*Note I am not affiliated nor endorsed by Weight Watchers® at all, in any way. I highly recommend their program and cannot say enough GOOD about it, but I also have decided that they were my "stepping stone" to making a change in my lifestyle. Any mention of Weight Watchers®, their program or their term of "points®" does not mean they have approved, seen, or endorsed anything on my blogs.

Also, if at any time Points® are mentioned it is always with the assumption that you will analyze the recipes, foods, ingredients and figure the points out specifically for your consumption of any product, as ingredients may vary by brand, size, etc. and Points® is a registered trademark of the Weight Watchers® company.