Thursday, February 26, 2009

Weight Watchers Soup Recipe...by popular demand

A few people have asked me for the recipe of this WW Cabbage soup I've been making for the last 4 weeks. It's so good I just decided to post on here instead of emailing. It's 0 or maybe 1 point on WW. (might be 1 only because I add red potatoes) Anyways, I've made a pot of this every week so far on WW for snacking/lunch/dinner or whatever, it's nice just to have in the fridge and re-heat. It's super filling and while it's not like eating a bacon jalapeno cheeseburger with a thick slice of Tillamook extra sharp cheddar, it usually fills me up and its super duper healthy...BTW that cheeseburger I just mentioned (you know the bacon one??) well that is my treat I'm going to make myself when I hit the 20 lb mark. Until then....
Oh, I also don't really know the amounts b/c I just throw whatever I have in this soup, I really don't think you could mess it up!

INGREDIENTS:
3 carrots sliced
3 celery stalks sliced
1 yellow onion chopped
lots of chopped garlic
2 jalapenos thinly sliced w/ seeds (this makes it HOT, omit if your a wuss)
4-5 C low sodium fat free beef broth (or chicken, but beef is waaaay better)
1/2 head green cabbage chopped
1/2 bag frozen green beans
1/2 bag frozen bell pepper strips (or fresh would be the same, I just had this)
4 red potatoes cut to big bite size pieces
1 big handful of chopped Bok Choy
1 handful pearl onions
1 large can whole tomatoes (crushed) & some juice
Parsley, Oregano, Basil, Garlic Powder

Spray a large pot with Pam, add carrots, celery, onion, garlic & jalapenos. Spray veggies w/ a little more Pam and saute over med. heat until onions are soft. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil, then simmer until potatoes are soft.

So easy, and healthy! I have to add though, the jalapenos give it really good spicy flavor, I'm not sure how flavorful it would be with out them, but I'm sure it would still be good. Let me know if you make it w/ out them!

oh, and AS I AM TYPING THIS, my neighbor just came over to drop off the 5 boxes of girl scout cookies I ordered a while back, pre-weight watchers. Great.

Wednesday, February 25, 2009

PROUD!

I don't know how this compares to other kids her age. (and I honestly don't care!!) But Ari is finally starting to learn to write all the letters! One month ago the ONLY letters she would even attempt were A R I. Today she did this (see pic below) from memory/looking at her flash cards! She always tends to do things this way, she's a little behind and then, BAM, she masters something quickly! I had to share her words she wrote today with the world!

If you can't read it it says "Grammy" "Pappy" "Yaya" "Georgia"

PS to Grampa: She realized about an hour later on her own that she didn't add your name to that paper so of course she had to write it out !!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

Happy Birthday Darren...and more!

I can't believe my baby is 3! Seems crazy...time has been flying by, I guess that means we're having fun! Yesterday was his "real" birthday, but since we aren't having his family party until Saturday he was a little confused! He did have a fun day though!

Jenni took him to the new bouncy house in Granite Falls (yes, there is one in Granite, random huh?) in the morning, and Grammy took him to see Thomas Live at the Everett Events Center. Best of all, he got to have ravioli for breakfast, it's all he ever wants so my mom gave him money to buy his own birthday breakfast! He was really really excited!


We went to a family dinner with Jon's fam. last weekend and Erika got some great pics of the kids! It was so fun to see all the cousins together, Maizey and Harper are too cute for words (see pics) I am in love with them! My kids are also a little obsessed with Maizey and they couldn't wait for her to get there. Ari kept telling me she was so happy to have a friend to play with there.


Lastly, and not least my sister finally got all her baby furniture in and set up! The room looks so cute! They still need some stuff for the walls, but the room looks amazing! I can't wait to see it in person! I also have a new "bump" picture from my sister, which I almost don't want to post because she is totally one of "those" women....who don't gain any weight and look like Rachel on Friends being pregnant. uuugh...lucky!!
This is one of my fav. new pics of Sissyana
D and Grampa
Playing with Maizey
Birthday Boy
We were trying to get them to look at the camera...turned out cute anyhoo!
Cousin Harper
Cousin Maizey
My nephew's adorable room!



My Sissy, about to pop...I should find a pic of me prego with Ari about to pop...a little bigger ;)