Weight Watchers Wednesday

I finally have a few minutes to post this. It has been hectic around here lately for some reason.

Let me get right to it. This past week I did not gain or lose. I am okay with that for two reasons. One, hello, I said I did not gain! And two, my husband said I feel different. I thought so too, but now I have third party confirmation. No, wait. I guess that would be second party confirmation. Whatever. Anyway, good things are happening, it just didn’t show up on the scale. I’m okay with that.

I do have a couple of things I want to focus on – goals, if you will – for the week.

First, my menu plan next Monday is going to be all Weight Watchers recipes. I need to completely break away from my old dinner menus and focus on the plan. Fortunately, my husband loves to eat healthy and enjoys it when I cook WW recipes.

The second is exercise. I know. We all hate it. If we didn’t, we would not be fat.

In my case though, I have the added problem of a bad knee, so even when I do want to exercise, I have to take it s-l-o-w. More like, s—l—o—w. And it drives me c—r—a—z—y!

But I am resolving here and now to start that process with more commitment. My goal is to work up to walking for one hour per day and doing strength training twice per week. (Eventually, which is a long way off, probably, I want to do a 1.5 hour walk and 3 days of strength training, but let’s not get too crazy here.)

I am fortunate in that I can take a walk any time I please because I am home with the kids all day. However, walking with a curious 4-year-old is not exactly the kind of exercise I am looking for.

In order to keep my knee healthy (and not be unable to walk the following day) I am going to start small, maybe a 15 minute walk in the morning before my husband goes to work. If it feels okay for the rest of the day, I’ll do another one that evening.

I want so badly to just jump right in, but I know I will regret it. A few months ago, I bought this really cheesy George Foreman workout DVD on clearance and the kids and I started doing it every day. My knee was killing me, but I pushed through and kept at it. Big mistake! It only got worse. Then I ended up quitting completely.

The exercise component is key for me, and the hardest. My eating habits are not that bad. (I’m not just saying that.) And the small changes that I do need to make, I can live with. But exercise I just hate. Add knee pain and forget it!

Okay, so here is my recipe. Actually, there are two.

First, the don’t-eat-this-ever recipe. Whole-wheat macaroni and cheese. When I was doing core, I made this. It was so disgusting, we could not even finish eating it. The worst part: if you are not on core, it is 6 points! (My personal rule is to not waste points on food that tastes like dirty socks.)

Second, the good macaroni and cheese recipe. This is from the Weight Watchers website, too, but I can’t find a link. (I have a printed copy.) I am pretty sure this is the one I made that we both liked.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese

12 oz uncooked elbow macaroni
1/2 cup fat-free sour cream
12 oz fat-free evaporated milk
8 oz low-fat cheddar or colby cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp Dijon mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp dried bread crumbs
2 Tbsp Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.

Cook pasta according to directions. Drain and transfer to a large bowl. While pasta is still hot, stir in sour cream; set aside.

Heat milk in a small sauce pan over medium heat until tiny bubbles appear just around the edges (known as scalding). Reduce heat to low, add cheese and simmer until cheese melts, stirring constantly with wire whisk, about 2 minutes; remove from heat and stir in mustard, salt, pepper, and nutmeg.

Add cheese mixture to the pasta; mix well. Transfer to a 4-quart casserole dish.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese; sprinkle over pasta.

Bake until top is golden, about 30 minutes. Yields 1 cup per serving.

Servings: 8
Points: 5