Quick and Easy Fish Tacos

I'm the kind of person that's always on the hunt for new recipes. Specifically, recipes that are delicious, easy and Weight Watcher friendly. Well, last night on a whim I decided to do something different with the Tilapia fillets I defrosted. After some debate, I decided to try my hand at making fish tacos. Here's the result...

Best fish tacos ever. Weight Watchers Points Plus value: 6 points for 2 tacos

Here's the ultra simple recipe. Enjoy!

• 1/4 of a ripe Avocado (2 pts)
• Salsa to taste (I used medium for a little spice, but this is totally up to you) (0 pts)
• Diced onion (0 pts)
• 4 Tilapia Fillets (I like Tilapia because it's super light and fresh. It's also very points plus friendly 2 pts for 4 oz.). I suggest using 2 oz. per taco.
• 2 Corn tortillas (small, soft taco size) (1 point each)
• Blackening seasoning (store bought) (0 pts)
• Fresh cilantro (0 pts)
• 5 sprays of olive oil cooking spray (Pam makes a nice one) (0 pts)
• 1 lime (0 pts)

Directions:

Wash and dry Tilapia. Sprinkle blackening seasoning on both sides of each filet. Add 5 sprays of the Olive oil cooking spray to a pan and heat on medium temperature.

Place Tilapia in pan and cook for about 3-4 min per side (or to desired degree of doneness). Remove from pan and let cool. When cool, cut fish into smaller pieces. It will flake and break apart as you work with it. 

Dice onion in small pieces. Wash and chop cilantro. Slice avocado into quarters. Cut lime into 4 wedges.

Heat corn tortillas in microwave (approx. 5-15 sec). 

Take each tortilla and top with 2 oz. of Tilapia. Add generous amounts of onion, salsa, and cilantro. Top tacos with avocado and the juice from the lime wedge. Serve immediately and enjoy!

Easy, light and delicious. I gave this 6 points plus for 2 tacos. Not bad.

Try this and let me know what you think!

Setting eating goals for Thanksgiving

Today's Weight Watchers meeting left me with a lot to think about. With Thanksgiving just a day away, it's definitely time for me to reevaluate my plans for holiday eating.

One thing that my leader mentioned was making trade-offs between what you have to have, and what you can do without. Basically she stressed the importance of focusing the balance of our points on those foods that we love and can only have once or twice a year versus eating everything in sight, just because it's there. Great idea right?

So my new plan is to 1) include a green salad with my meal (to help cut my appetite), 2) to eat the foods I really love (Mac & cheese, yams, carrot cake) until I'm full (being STUFFED is not allowed) and 3) measure out small portions of those foods I can have anytime of the year (mashed potatoes, bread, ice cream, etc).

My goal for Thanksgiving is to enjoy the special foods that I really like, but not overstuff myself just because food is all around me. Anyone else out there have food related goals for the holiday?
Wish me luck :)

Focusing on family (not food) this Thanksgiving

I'm so excited about Thanksgiving that I can hardly contain myself! This is the first holiday that my family will spend together since my mother retired and moved to Georgia. Even though she and I talk (and text) daily, there's nothing like being able to spend some good 'ole quality time together and I'm really looking forward to it!

This will also be the first Thanksgiving where she and I are both on Weight Watchers together. As a matter of fact, she has lost 31 lbs thanks to eating right and counting points at every meal. I'm so proud and excited for her. At 63, she continues to prove that age is no match for hard work, will and determination...she's truly an inspiration.

I also think that because we're both on the plan, we will be much more mindful of how much we eat. Food has always played a major role in how we spend time together. Whether we were enjoying an afternoon out shopping, or at home watching football, food was ALWAYS in the mix. This holiday, I hope that the combination of us both being on Weight Watchers, along with not seeing each other (for a while), will shift our focus away from the lure of overeating, and on to enjoying the holiday together as a family. I'll keep you guys posted =)

Weekend recap

So Friday night I made a few food related goals that I wanted to accomplish this weekend. The goals were to:

1) Stay within my allotted Weight Watchers points the entire weekend, and

2) To track/journal everything I eat this weekend.

Sadly, I didn't follow through with either goals. I'm not entirely sure why I didn't follow though with what I set out to do, but I guess the bottom line is that I didn't put forth 100% effort into either of them. Fortunately, the weekend wasn't a total wash, but my trip to Souplantation and having pizza for dinner (plus dessert), really set me back. Luckily, tomorrow is a new day, and I'm feeling motivated enough to keep trying and moving forward.

Thank you again to everyone that reads my blog. You all mean more to me than you'll ever know =)

Success and planning go hand in hand

I have officially adopted a new mantra:

Proper planning puts us in a better position to make healthier food choices.

So what do I mean by this? Well, using myself as an example, I work full time. In addition to working, I'm also in school and attend classes 2 nights a week. Because I know that I don't have time to stop for dinner on my school nights, it's important that I pack a meal that I can eat on the way to class.

Well, that's a great idea, and it works beautifully when I actually do it. But, today was one of those days where I just didn't have time to do anything extra. I had no dinner, nor did I have any snacks to tide me over. By the time I left work and got to my car, I was officially starving.

On my way to class, the only thing I could think about was food. I let myself get SO hungry, that I just wanted something quick, filling, and delicious. In times like these, fast food always gets the job done, right?

Well today I'm happy to report that I fought the urge to stop at the drive thru, and won. Even though I had to stop for dinner before class (which made me late by the way), I was strong and opted to have a Japanese beef and veggie bowl. Now, I'm not saying this was the absolute healthiest food I could have eaten, but it was a much better choice than a burger and fries.

Planning has been a recurring theme in my life lately. Tonight I realized that my lack of planning put additional stress on my body that it really didn't need. Not packing a meal made me wait entirely too long to eat. Waiting too long to eat made me too hungry. Being too hungry made me vulnerable to eating fattening foods because they're quick, easy and available. AND on top of all that, my lack of planning made me late to class, which is never a good thing.

The moral of the story is this: even though I made a relatively decent food choice, my lack of planning created a snowball effect that made making this decision much more difficult than it needed to be. What are some ways you can plan better to ensure your weight loss success?

Weekend Eats

I’m pretty disappointed with my eating this weekend. Not only did I eat WAY too much candy, but I don’t think I ate anything green the entire weekend. I did have a few decent meals here and there, but I definitely went overboard with my snacking which was no bueno.

The issue comes down to poor planning on my part. I know from past experience that having an idea of what I’m going to eat generally keeps me on track. Unfortunately, I failed to think the majority of my meals through (beforehand), which was problematic for me.

So with that, I’m headed into this week with a plan. I’ll be cooking on Monday and Tuesday of this week, and using those leftovers for lunch and dinner for Wednesday and Thursday. I’m looking forward to getting back on track. I’ll keep y’all posted =)

Lower calorie candy options (for chocolate lovers only)

I’m always on the lookout for a healthy and delicious snack…well because…I love snacks. I love chips, candy and fruit juice, so whenever I can find "healthier" options, I’m a happy camper.

When I crave chocolate (which is all the time) my go to choices are the Skinny Cow Dreamy Clusters, and the Milk chocolate Heavenly Crisps. Both are solid choices if you’re looking for candy that tastes like the real thing (aka-doesn’t have that artificial sweetner/diet aftertaste).

The Heavenly crisp bars are 3 Weight Watchers points per bar, and the Dreamy Clusters are 4 points per bag. Give them a try, and let me know what you think. And oh yeah, good luck trying to eat just one, lol.

http://www.skinnycow.com/products/detail.aspx?id=30

*Note: I am not affiliated with the Skinny Cow brand, nor have I received any compensation from Nestlé USA for this review. This post was written with the sole purpose of helping my health conscious readers find a healthier candy option.

Eating healthy at Chipotle

Chipotle is one of those places where the food is hella good but super fattening. Whenever I eat there, I  prepare for the “feast” by telling myself “OK, I’m having this burrito today, but tomorrow I’ll be on it”. Even though there’s nothing wrong with treating yourself (every now and then), I wanted to find a go-to item that was calorie friendly but didn’t make me feel deprived.

Introducing the Chipotle Salad

The Chipotle salad is a tasty and filling alternative to your standard burrito. BUT, what sets it off is the dressing served with it. I’m not sure what they put in that vinaigrette, but it’s incredible. Unfortunately, the dressing has a TON of calories, which can blow your entire calorie (or points) count for the day. Below is my lower calorie version of the salad. I get it everytime I go to Chipotle and I love it…I consider it my “healthier” splurge for the day.

Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Build your salad with the following:
Lettuce
Black beans
Fajita Veggies
Barbacoa
2 scoops of mild salsa
Extra lettuce
Guacamole
(No cheese, or sour cream.-the 2 scoops of salsa add extra flavor and kick so you really don’t miss them anyway )

Enjoy!

Watchers points: 12 (8 points without the guacamole).

Check out Chipotle's nutrition calculator http://www.chipotle.com/en-us/menu/nutrition_calculator/nutrition_calculator.aspx for specific info.