Zucchini Bread

Last weekend we went to the Regional Market like we do every weekend. We bought all of our fresh fruits and vegetables for the week. One stand also had huge italian zucchini for sale...so we bought several. I made Zucchini bread with 1 1/2 of them last weekend straight from a recipe I found on http://www.food.com/. Each of the 24 servings, which were about a 2 inch square, were 4 points. The bread tasted more like cake but was very tasty. But because of the oil I had to eat it in moderation since it was 4 points per piece.

This weekend I decided to make more zucchini bread but exchange the 1 cup of oil for 1 cup of no sugar added applesauce. I've done this before when I made banana bread. I also exchanged the 2 cups white flour for 1 cup whole wheat flour and 1 cup white flour. It doesn't change the point value much but it makes it much healthier. There are a lot of things you can exchange in a recipe to make it healthier but it isn't a good idea to exchange them all at once because it could make the bread bland or rubbery. You can exchange 3 whole eggs for 6 egg whites or sugar for splenda (which sometimes has a little bit of an after taste)...just as a few examples.

Well, we all just had a piece of the zucchini bread and it has just as much flavor as last weekend but seems denser using the apple sauce and a piece was a bigger serving, more filling, and half the points...only 2 points per serving!

This just shows how you can turn a regular recipe into a weight watchers recipe without it being called "Weight Watchers". I plan on bringing some to work tomorrow to let them have some and see what they think about it. They like my healthy banana bread when I bring it in.

Trying new things

I like to keep things interesting by trying new foods and new recipes. Food can get boring if you always eat the same things and don't switch it up every once in a while. Yesterday I tried two new things!

I made turkey burgers for dinner last night. I've had turkey burgers quite a few times since I started WW. I can actually say that I like Turkey burgers better than hamburgers now! Something that I learned in my Nutrition class is that Turkey burgers from a restaurant are a little healthier than a hamburger but not by much because they don't use the leanest turkey. Just something to think about if you find yourself eating out. I try to stick to Salads when I eat out.

So when I had my turkey burgers last night, I usually eat them on the WW rolls but the grocery store was out so we tried Whole Wheat Sandwich Thins. The where very tasty! I would definitely suggest trying them. Also, I couldn't decide what to eat with my turkey burger. I looked on weightwatchers.com and found a recipe for Spicy Potato Sticks (aka baked seasoned french fries). They were very good. I would suggest trying them!

For lunch yesterday I had Subway.I usually order whole wheat bread which is a very good choice but I decided I wanted to try something different yesterday so I tried the flat bread. I liked it and now have 2 options when I go to Subway. I do wish they still had wraps too.

I went to a drive in movie last night and brought my own snacks. Instead of getting the high calorie, high fat snacks from the snack bar there I brought light microwave popcorn and a drink. The difference in calories between light microwave popcorn and movie theater popcorn is amazing. Once you start eating healthier and eating less fat and oil you can start to taste the difference and the oil will kinda start grossing you out. Not to mention how your body will react to the high fat foods when you haven't eaten them in a while.

On a side note, its soo exciting when you put on clothes that you haven't worn in a while that have been tight since you bought them and they fit you well and are almost a little big. :) My little triumph for the weekend!

I hope I can get some exercise in today but it is raining out. Maybe I will turn on my Wii and dance for a while. A great aerobic workout!!