Weighty Topics

Sooo, you know how people commonly gain weight after getting married despite swearing it would never happen to them?  HAAAA.  I am appalled by the state of my ass these days.  APPALLED.  Like, I stepped on the scale the other day and died.  DIED.  (Yes, I am repeating myself in caps; these are desperate times.)  I stepped off the scale and hauled my (suddenly ENORMOUS) ass downstairs where I promptly registered for Weight Watchers Online.  It has been about a week so far, and I'm down about 4 lbs. (WOOT.)  However, with the new PointsPlus system, it has kind of required a whole new (low fat and carb) lifestyle.  My carb heavy breakfasts of yore had to be kicked to the curb.  It was time to bring back an old friend from the South Beach days:  the Egg Muffin (Hold the Mc).

Egg Muffins
(Sure, they're a little work intensive at first, but super easy as you're running out the door in the morning.)

6 cups egg substitute
1 tbsp dill (dried)
3-4 bell peppers, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, diced
6 slices of canadian bacon, diced
1 1/2 cups 2% milk sharp cheddar, shredded
1/2 cup scallions, chopped
olive oil cooking spray

1. Preheat oven to 375.
2. Saute the peppers over med-hi heat in a pan coated with cooking spray, tossing regularly.  Season with salt and pepper.  Once peppers have softened somewhat, add in the mushrooms and canadian bacon and continue cooking.
3. In the meantime, measure out the egg substitute and season liberally with salt and pepper.  Add the dill and whisk to combine.  
4. Prepare muffin pan by spraying each cup with cooking spray.  Fill each cup half way with the meat and veggie mixture, then sprinkle with a pinch of cheese.  Pour the eggs over the veggie mixture to just under the top of the cup.  Sprinkle each with green onions and use a fork to mix slightly.
5. Place the muffin pan on a sheet pan (in case of spillover) and bake at 375 for 30-35 minutes.  The eggs will puff up a LOT while baking, but will settle back down as they cool.

This is enough for 24 little muffins.  You can either bake them all at once, or else only mix up 3 cups of the eggs and freeze the rest of the veggie mix for later.  That's it!  I store them in ziploc baggies, two to a bag.  One goes in the fridge and I freeze the rest.  As I use the one in the fridge, I pull another out of the freezer to defrost.  Pop them in the microwave for a minute or two and you've got yourself a hot and tasty 3 point breakfast.

Other little tricks:

• Rachael Ray style post-grocery shopping prep work:  All fruit gets washed, and grapes even get plucked from the vines.  Veggies get peeled and sliced as necessary and popped into storage containers in the fridge.  Easily accessible zero point foods make actually eating them for snacks and meals SO MUCH EASIER.
• Keeping wedges of lemon and lime ready to go in the fridge.  Helps even water haters like me keep up with drinking water, again for zero points.
• Menu planning:  Much as I hate it, I am much better at making logical meal choices if I don't have to think.  (I know, but it's TRUE.)  I used to this just for dinners, but I've started including breakfast, lunch, and snacks in there too.  This is great for making sure I have everything on hand that I need, but that I'm not wasting a ton of pricey produce by buying more than I need.  Sounds simple, yes, but it took me an embarrassingly long time to get there.  It's also great because I can plot out the number of points I'm using each day and make sure I'm sticking to my budget.  Hopefully this will become less involved over time as I get used to the system and begin acquiring meal lists.

More obvious observations (my specialty!) to come as they occur to me!