Step Two: Season the Beef-I would say a tablespoon of each.  I really like my beef heavily seasoned so I go very heavy on the spices




Step Three:  Add the veggies and salsa-I like chunky veggies but I know for those trying to sneak in veggies if you chop them small-kids might not notice them and pick them out like mine.





Step Five-Bake the Zucchini for 5-10 minutes just to speed up the cooking of the boat itself. I find that if you don't precook a bigger zucchini sometimes it takes forever to get it cooked



Step Six-Take the cooked mix and stuff the boats and then cover it with cheese of your choice (for me its cheddar)

Where I am at-surviving!  It is a crazy time of year and I am attempting to try and get my eating back on track and actually tracking with weight watchers online again.  I know that I really can't be doing meeting-time and sometimes as helpful as meetings can be I am not in the mental place to have a public weight in.  Plus, let me be honest I need to be sure that if I am paying that kind of money I need to be "in it to win it".  I have also been working out with my t25 tapes and trying to keep up with the Mamavation 2 week challenge.  I am not loosing weight but I haven't been gaining any so I will take what I can!  

Other than that things at school have calmed down a bit (or maybe I have) either way I will take it!  Sadly my little lady is sick-I can hear her coughing while she is sleeping so sad.  Other than that, I am trying to keep my head above water in my grading and I have a graduate class that is due by the first week of January and my goal is to have it done by Dec 22 so I can have my Christmas vacation dedicated to fun with the family!

Upon entering the event we were greeted by these beauties fresh native organic strawberries (on sale for 1.99) paired with some amazing local chocolate in three different flavors.  The most interesting one was by far the chocolate with the corn flakes

Next up was this amazing fresh local corn.  The Whole Foods chef prepared it by grilling it and glazing it with a mix of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar.  I would never have thought to put these items together on corn but it was amazing.  There was a lovely little bit of caramelization on the corn-I even sampled the ones without butter.

One of my favorite dishes was a fresh vegetable salad.  It contained various types of beans, red onion, tomatoes, and some Chinese noodles on top.  Then for on top of the salad was an amazing vinaigrette that had local fresh raspberries and blackberries.  I can say that it was a little bit odd with the crunch noodles, crisp veggies, and sweet dressing, but it was delicious nevertheless.   Although I might not make the salad (I liked it not loved it) the dressing is a must make again.

This was the item that I needed to control myself with a bit.  Since I am lactose intolerant I really wanted to sample  all the flavors but I knew my stomach would not go for that.  This ice cream company is based in norwalk where my BFF lives and they are tea inspired flavors.  AMAZING.  I tried the Masala Chai, Ginger Matcha, and Chamomile Honey.  Check them out here

For drink samples there was yummy frozen hot cocoa from www.cissetrading.com  and these tasty treats.  These are both yummy drinks or drink starters if you like a cocktails.  I LOVED THESE!!! In fact I looked around Whole Foods for them to buy some.  I love anything sour so these were right up my alley.  My favorite were the first two which I would so drink over crushed ice or mixed with seltzer.  For me this was a perfect beverage for the super hot 100 degree CT weather.  Check them out here.

Lastly on the tour was delicious homemade sauce.  Now considering that my date and myself are Italian girls who learned from a Nona how to make sauce, we can officially be called a sauce snobs!  So we were skeptical of a jarred sauce.  We were pleasantly surprised.  This sauce is made lovingly in small batches the same way that both of us make sauce at home.  It was sampled with a great bread to dip in, but you know it was good when I was drinking it out of the little cup it was served in. Now nothing beats homemade, but this is a great sauce to have in the pantry for those times where there is no time to go homemade.  Check out the website here

Now as I went to go write this post I realized that I had no pictures of my absolute favorite sample of the entire night.  It was a lazy man's blueberry crisp.  Let me start by saying that I have been dying to go blueberry picking because I love fresh blueberries.  This was an super easy recipe and delicious.  I asked and am allowed to share the recipe so here it is.....as zoo as I get blueberries I will be making this!

As I said in my weekly update post-my birthday was Monday.  I am sure like many of you I think back on this year and there is much I am proud of and some that I am not.  I am not proud that I have let my weight creep back up to almost 230 pounds (yikes I hate writing that but its the truth and this blog is my safe space and even those people in my real life who read this would never judge me on that number, I am the only one who judges me on that number).  This has made me sad, number one because I have let 15 pounds creep on in the last 8months and that I let that number rule my life.  I hate the my clothes are tight, I hate that I don't feel as good as I used to.  A friend at work recently had weightloss surgery and she offered to take me to her support group meeting to check it out.  To be honest I was ready to get that shit done the moment she offered because I want to not worry about that f-ing number.  I want to be free of hating everything about the god damn scale.  Yet, the truth is I haven't been trying-not really.  I have been busting my ass with the Mamavation program which I am so lucky to be a part of-but my eating is still not any where near what it needs to be.  I am eating a lot of crap.

I have been bouncing around between 35-40 pounds lost for the last few months and have really been thinking about why I am not loosing weight.  In the spirit of honestly, half assing it would be the reason.  I have been doing weight watchers for so long that I get lazy with my points.  In this I mean there are days where I don't record my food, where I eat within my points but don't make good food choices, or in general just don't follow the plan.  I think the only reason I haven't gained weight the last two or three month has been that in the last month I have had to stop eating diary (which rules out a lot of food I would love to eat) and that I have to walk the dog for 25min every day.  So I took the advice of some of my work friends and picked up a book called "Eating Clean Recharged" by Tosca Reno.  Now let me be clear this is not me looking for a quick fix (I know they don't exist) but looking for something more to suit my life.  Although I will still record my food (I took the suggestion of Jen over at Prior fat girl) about a great journal.  I think that right now the whole finding time to record my points, even if I get an iphone, is just not something with two young kids I can do.  Also, with this Eating Clean program you are eliminating white flour, white sugar, and white rice..basically its anti-white!  Then you eat well rounded meals and three snacks a day all which contain protein and complex carbs.  I have noticed that in the past few months I have been needing a cup of coffee in the afternoon, according to some of the info presented in the book that is most likely due to not eating well.  The reason I am drawn to this plan is that is very easy to do all the time, you follow the plan and eat well and enjoy yourself on special occasions.  This to me is how I should be eating....good healthy food, working out, and enjoying life.  Not figuring out how I can manipulate my points.  Now don't get me wrong, I love me some WW!  That is how I lost 70 pounds pre wedding and how I have lost 35 pounds plus about another 15 of post baby weight.  I just think that it is time for a change.  For me and my family, especially the hubby who has been experiencing some major health issues (that is for another post).  So for me to accept that what I am doing isn't working is a huge step usually I hate to admit I am failing but what I am doing isn't working so I am moving on. I will update everyone on how it works out on Monday with my new weekly weigh in day.  Wish me luck!