Tuesday 26th National Pistachio Day and Tell A Fairy Tale Day!!

Apparently today is National Pistachio Day!!  I should buy my hubby a bag in honour of this day.  He loves them!  I like the fact that they are a “fantastic source of antioxidants”!!!  However at 2-3 calories per nut they can pack on the calories pretty fast!

• Are you a pistachio nut nut? Then we don’t need to tell you that this small tree nut comes from places like Greece, Turkey and Afghanistan. And we sure don’t need to tell you that they are a fantastic source of antioxidants. Now, can you tell us how to eat the ones with the shells that aren’t cracked enough to open without getting ow-ies on our thumbs?

Today is also Tell A Fairy Tale Day ….

• Stuck for something to do today? Grab a piece of paper and start with the words “Once upon a time…” Then add some fairies, a gnome and a dragon or two. When you are done, you’ll know what to do!

So here goes …. Once upon a time there was a wonderful person called Princess Yvonne, she longed to be slim like all the other princesses ….

Okay back to reality I don’t think my Fairy Godmother is going to make me slim again, I think I may need to work on that one myself!!!

 

BREAKFAST

Banana Protein Pancakes (5 Points Plus)

Blueberries (0 PP)

Fruit Juice (2 Points Plus)

Breakfast was so easy this morning, opened my tupperware container with the remainder of the Banana Protein Pancakes I made on Saturday.  Popped them in microwave for 30 seconds, topped with some blackberries and blueberries and a little E D Smith Sugar Free Syrup.  Super easy breakfast!

LUNCH

Sausage & Peppers  (5 Points Plus)

Flatbread Fold It Flatbread (2 Points Plus)

2 Tbsp Mozzarella Cheese ( 1 Points Plus)

Celery Sticks ( 0 Points Plus)

1/8 Cup Salsa Cream Cheese Ball (1 Points Plus)

Well, busy today and didn’t actually get lunch break until 2pm.  But do you know my breakfast kept me going with my banana around noon.

This morning I took out the portion of Sausage & Peppers that I put aside on Sunday and sprinkled with 2 Tbsp Mozzarella Cheese.  At lunchtime I microwaved for about 2 mins, the mozzarella melted all through the sausages.  Then I piled into my Flatout Fold It.  Nice big sandwich.  Because I used Turkey Italian Sausages, the sandwich had a really great flavour to it.  Definitely a yummy lunch.

DINNER

Chicken with Jalopeno Cream (8 Points Plus)

Steamed Broccoli & Cauliflower ( 0 PP)

I really do need to perfect my presentation skills.  This was really delicious.  I was a little concerned that the Jalopeno Pepper might be a little bit on the hot side, so I just used 1/2 of the Pepper.  They had both green and red jalopenos to choose from.  I’m glad I went with the red, the little bits show up much better.  This is most definitely more of a cream, than a sauce.  Even though the recipe uses the word “thicken” it most definitely is not a thick sauce.  I drizzled over the veggies too which gave them a nice flavour also.  Nice part here was that I cooked up an extra chicken breast and popped that in the fridge for lunch tomorrow.  Four days in and I am really enjoying the menu for this week.

Chicken with Jalopeno Cream ( 8 Points Plus)

Serves 2

• 3 – 6oz boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• Salt and pepper
• 2/3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
• 2/3 Tbsp Butter
• 1 Jalopeno, seeded and minced
• 1 Tbsp Onioon, minced
• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tbsp flour
• 1/8 Cup Non Fat Milk
• 6oz Evaporated Milk
• 1 Tbsp finely grated Parmesan Cheese
• Juice of 1/2 lemon

Preheat oven to 350 Degrees.  Season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper.

Heat an ovenproof pan over medium heat.  Add the vegetable oil.  One it is hot, sear the chicken breasts on both sides and then place in the oven to cook for 20-25 mins.  Set one chicken breast aside for lunch tomorrow.

Using a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat.  Add the onions, jalopeno and garlic.  Cook for about 3 mins.  Whisk in the flour to create a roux.

Turn the heat down to medium low and add the skimmed milk and evaporated mik.  Cook for about 7 mins until it begins to thicken.  Turn off the heat and stir in the cheese.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Right before serving, squeeze the lemon over the chicken and spoon the sauce over.

Extra chicken breast without sauce will be used for lunch tomorrow.

EXTRAS

Banana ( 0 Points Plus)

Sweet & Salty Popcorn (4 Points Plus)

DAILY STATS

26 Daily Points plus

2 Weekly Points Allowance Used (42 WPA remaining)

12 Activity Points Earned (60 minute Zumba class)