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Tuesday, November 29, 2011

It's like Pisa but in Wisconsin!

Last week I was on vacation all week which was great.  Dan had to work on Monday and Tuesday and then we left to go to Wisconsin right after my meeting last week.  Between the previous weekend and Tuesday it felt like we'd spent about 3 days in the car.  The first weekend we drove up we didn't take the dogs because we were only there over night so our dining options on the road were pretty easy.  By easy I mean we could actually stop somewhere and have a meal instead of trying to eat while driving or (gasp) stopping for fast food. So before we left on Tuesday I packed some sandwiches, string cheese and crackers.  This was a tremendously satisfying and tasty meal.

I'd really planned ahead when it came to snacks and eating the weekend before (last Saturday really) so that I would have plenty of healthy options to choose from.  Lots of apples and clementines to snack were easy to grab for snacking.  I'd gotten a few bags of those steamer vegetables with cheese sauce.  On Wednesday I took my niece and youngest nephew to town to buy hats and mittens to donate at the Credit Union for little kids who have no hats and mittens.  Seriously, how great is that?  Way to go CU!!  Anyway, then I took the kids to Burger King for lunch.  They ate and I had an iced tea.  When I got home I made one of those bags of steamed vegetables.  They were so good I ate the whole bag but it was only 3 Points+ so I figured it was alright.

Now you don't have to go to Italy.
Just head to Wisconsin!
Thanksgiving was great - I got to cook with my Mom most of Thursday.  We made turkey, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, beets, roasted squash, cranberry sauce (she made that ahead actually), and two different kinds of dressing (one WW friendly, one was my Grandmother's recipe).  We also had pumpkin pie and Points+ friendly Pumpkin Spice Muffins.  Yes, this may sound like a lot of food and it was but luckily it was pretty much gone by the end of the weekend.  The best part was that I got to have a little bit of some of the more indulgent things but really kept to the Points+ friendly items for the bulk of my meals.

I also braved the weather (and the traffic) by walking a lot last week, including past this funny silo.  It occurred to me, as I was walking, that people in the country don't really walk, nor do they walk their dogs.  This didn't stop me though the hills nearly did!!  I even spent some time in the woods with the hunters (though I was only walking along) on one of the drives they did.  I racked up 33 Activity Points, used 8 of them but I didn't use any of my Weekly Points Allowance.  I thought this was really good.  The scale might have disagreed because it stayed exactly the same as last week.

How was your Thanksgiving?  Did you follow traditional recipes?  Find new favorites?

3 comments:

  1. OMG, that photo is awesome! Do you know who's farm that was?!!? Glad to see you had a good thanksgiving :) Now I debated heavily whether or not to post this next comment, as I will never EVER claim to be the perfect mother, but I wanted to say something with regards to the trip to Burger King. Now I have a daughter who thinks McDonalds cheeseburgers are the best treat ever (it's even more cute to hear her say the word "cheeseburger"!). In any case, just remember as an auntie that you are constantly setting an example for them. If they don't see you eating Burger King, should THEY really be eating it too? Not that I claim a McDonalds cheeseburger is even close to healthy, but Lillian knows this is not a food that exists in her "standard" diet. It exists on a special road trip or such (or when grandma takes her out and gives her chocolate milk...oh god, don't get me started on that!). While I don't endorse fast food as a main part of anyone's diet, if YOU aren't able to find something healthy for your new eating habits on a fast food menu, do you really want your nieces and nephews eating off that menu too? They look up to you more than you may realize...and that INCLUDES your eating habits!!! You are now free to respond as necessary! You won't hurt my feelings :)

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  2. That's an interesting perspective Michelle and one that I honestly hadn't even thought of. When we were growing up we rarely, and I mean RARELY, ate out (including fast food) so it was always kind of a treat when we did. In my mind that is what I was doing, treating them, but understand what you're saying and will try to think of an alternative to the fast food next time.

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  3. I know! I could probably count the number of times I ate fast food as a child growing up on one hand! You know my mother...I don't think you would see her corpse in a McDonalds! (interesting visual). I did assume you were treating them...but kids love to cook! Get 'em in the kitchen with you and show them how to make all the cool stuff you're posting on your awesome blog. I read somewhere that kids are more likely to eat ANY food if they helped make it themselves (my weird child eats raw leeks and I think I told you about the green olives...wait until she turns 21 and finds out how tasty they are in a martini!). And that is an activity you can do with them forever :) Bon appetite!

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