Celebration!

So Saturday I finally accomplished six weigh-ins without going more than 2 pounds over my "goal" weight (I put goal in quotation marks because I still plan on losing 15 more pounds)!  So I got my Lifetime number and as long as I don't gain...I'm free for life with Weight Watchers (of course, I will continue to pay $12.95 a month for the awesome online tools!).  Congrats to me!!  :)

To celebrate (BTW - Weight Watchers always says to reward yourself with a non-food treat...which means spend money) we went to Home Depot and bought a grill and new patio furniture.  Before you go all Holy Guacamole on me, my Mom and Dad were going to contribute to a deck we were going to build as Jay and I's b'day gift, but when we abandoned the deck idea, a grill was the next best thing to get!  So Mom and Dad are reimbursing us for the grill...which is AWESOME!  Here it is:

You likey?  Go pick yourself up one at Home Depot...check out the details on it here.

Also, we got new patio furniture with a table to eat outside on.  We wanted wrought iron so it was classic and would always be in style.  Plus, we wanted the great bouncy chairs like my mom and dad have!  We have already spent several hours in them and we just got it all set up late Saturday afternoon!!  That whole spring forward thing really got us in the mood to enjoy our outdoor living space.  We added an umbrella and lights, and once the lights are all set up and looking great, I'll get a real picture!  What's that?  You want to see the patio furniture now?  OK.  Check it out here and also the picture below...

But ours don't have cushions at all... no way I'm putting those ugly red striped things from that picture on my chairs!!  We will go sans-cushions...don't like that look.

Busy little weekend for the Webbs!!

FAIL! - UPDATED!

We failed...at not eating in a restaurant the month of March.  But in our defense, we were in Arab (Arab, AL for those who don't live in our neck of the woods and think that's a funny name for a town in AL) Sunday after church for a funeral and just couldn't pass up spending some QT with Jay's precious Grandma and his parents.  So it doesn't really count...

Saturday I did make, as promised, Pineapple Swiss Cheeseburgers and as always...they turned out wonderful!  So wonderful we both gobbled them right up before I even remembered to take a picture.  But I promise one will come next time I make them (which will be soon since they are cheap and delish!).  Here's how to make our yummy dinner:

Pineapple Swiss Burgers (makes 4 servings):
1 lb. Laura's Lean ground beef
1/4 c. Low Sodium Dale's sauce
Seasoning to taste (we use the Cheeburger Cheeburger seasoning)
4 slices Sargento Reduced Fat Natural Swiss cheese
4 pineapple rings (we use Dole canned ever since I almost sliced my finger off on the plastic container the fresh pineapple from Kroger was in...don't ask...)
Condiments...ice burg lettuce, ketchup (gross), mustard (super gross), mayo (ew...) (side note:  I don't like condiments)
4 Healthy Life Lite wheat buns

In a mixing bowl, combine the meat, sauce and seasoning together and mix with your hands (yes, I gag every time I do this, but it's so worth it to not buy pre-made patties).
Grill until done to your preference (I'm a well done kind of girl...)
About 5 minutes before the burgers are done, add the pineapple and grill evenly on both sides and add the cheese to the burgers.
Dress your burger how you like!

6 WW Points Plus

Rosemary Roasted Potatoes (makes 4 servings):
4 medium red potatoes
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 Tbsp Oregano
1 tsp Basil
1 Tbsp Rosemary
Ground sea salt and ground pepper to taste

Cup up your potatoes into cubes (mine are typically 1/4-1/2 inch)
In a large mixing bowl, combine the diced potatoes with the olive oil, oregano, basil, and rosemary.  Toss with your hands until everything is well coated.
Pour potatoes into a greased Pyrex dish and add salt and pepper.
Cover with aluminum foil and bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

5 WW Points Plus

Champagne Vinaigrette Salad (makes 2 servings):
3 cups of lettuce (any kind will do...we've done with lots of types and they are all good)
6 strawberries, sliced
2 Tbsp sliced or slivered almonds
2 Tbsp Brianna's Champagne Vinaigrette dressing (this is tricky to find but I always find it at Fresh Market)

Mix it all up and serve!
3 WW Points Plus (I had this wrong previously!  It went down - yea!)

I know 16 points for a meal sounds like a lot...but I get 29 each day and 49 bonus to use during the week.  So this is great for a Saturday or Sunday dinner (which are usually my splurge days since I weigh in on Saturdays).  And considering the average dinner out in a restaurant is 30-40 points for one meal, this is a great alternative to save money, points, and have arguments over who is not doing it right a great time cooking with the hubby!

Thou Shall Not Covet...

I know I am called not to covet earthly possessions.  I know this and yet I am doing it over these:

So...if anyone wants to just GIVE them to me...a size 7.5 should fit swimmingly!  Or, you know, you could just give me the $198 required to purchase them.  No?  Think about it...maybe you'll change your mind when you know I would wear them every day.  They would literally go with about 75% of my Spring, Summer, AND Fall wardrobe. 

I can't stop thinking about them since I first saw them about six months ago.  I never have and never will spend that much on a pair of shoes, so unless they go on sale, you will not see them gracing my tootsies.  Too bad we're like only Americans who AREN'T getting some fabulous tax refund.  Oh, no.  We OWE money.  Seriously...how does that happen??

Talk about a "Slim Picking"...as in, "Slim chance you'll ever see these in person..."

...collective sigh...

I Don't Want to Lose Your Love...

...TONIIIIIIGHT!  Who doesn't love that song from the awesome band that was The Outfield?  I mean, every time I hear that intro and "Josie's on a vacation far away..." I think of Tuscaloosa, the lake, and just living that awesome, care-free college lifestyle with my bestie Lindsay Ann.  Amazing memories!!!

So I'm back in the blog world after a brief hiatus that was due to just an all-around busy lifestyle with the holidays and such.  But I'll be honest...not much has happened!  Unless you count being up 9 pounds from the week before Christmas in which case THAT happened.  But I'm back in the groove and going to make things right again.  It still amazes me how hard I work to get weight off and then how easy it is to put it back on. 

All that being said, I'm back with a renewed energy for this little fun thing I do.  Jay and I have decided we are not eating out in a restaurant for the ENTIRE MONTH OF MARCH.  What??  Yup...we're doing a little experiment for two reasons:  1) to see how much weight the two of us lose together by not eating in one. single. restaurant.  2) to see how much money we save by not eating in one. single. restaurant.  For the entire month of March.  So I should have some GREAT Points Plus value meals to show you this month and be back in the swing of things big time!  What I will probably do is put 2-3 in each post so it's not an overload.  And hopefully I can throw some other fun things in there as well!

By the way...was home terribly sick Monday and watched Kitchen Boss (with Buddy Valastro from Cake Boss) on TLC and he made this Mozzarella en Carozza.  Wish they had a photo of it.  Looked amazing...and didn't help with motivation getting back on track this week!

First off on Monday I made Mexican Layered Chicken Lasagna.  It is an "official" Weight Watchers recipe and I found it by accident on the website.  Decided to try it.  In a word?  AMAZING!  The recipe makes 12 servings and each serving is only 7 Points Plus!  On the new system, I get 29 per day (plus 49 bonus per week) so 7 is good.  Paired with 15 Baked Scoops Tortilla Chips and it's a 10 Points Plus meal that is delicious and filling.  Here's the recipe:

14 small corn tortillas, cut in half
2 pounds of chicken breasts
2 cans of black beans, rinsed and drained
3 cups of fat free sour cream
2 cups of shredded, reduced fat Mexican cheese
8 oz canned chopped green chilis (I only used one 4 oz can because I'm not gung-ho about chilis)

Preheat the oven to 350 and coat a Pyrex dish with Pam.
Boil your chicken breasts until they are completely done and cut into bite size chunks
With 10 tortilla halves, cover the bottom of your Pyrex
In a large bowl, combine the chicken, beans, chilis, sour cream, and one cup of the cheese. 
Mix it up really good and divide it into three equal portions
Evenly spread one portion of the mixture over the tortillas
Top with 8 tortilla halves, another portion of the chicken mixture, then the remaining tortillas then the remaining mixture.  You get the point...it is layers and each layer should be even.
Top with the remaining cup of shredded cheese and bake for 30 minutes
Service with salsa for dipping

That's IT!  Can you believe how easy??  I'm all about easy and this has been great.  Plus, with 12 servings, we've been eating on it since Monday.

I actually didn't take a picture of it because I forgot, but here is the photo from the Weight Watchers site and honestly, it looks just like it:

If you try it, let me know how you like it!!

Okie-dokie, artichokie...that's all I have for now...but stay tuned this week and next for:
Greek Grilled Chicken with Lemon Basmati Rice & Asparagus
Pineapple Swiss Cheeseburgers with Rosemary Potatoes & Champagne Salad

Change is good...

Change is good every once in a while.  Such as the case with this blog.  It seems dear readers (all two of you - shout out to Katie and Colleen!) that keeping this somewhat as a journal and having support along the way has really helped me out.  I'm three weigh-ins away from LifeTime Member Status, but still want to lose 10-15 more pounds.  But in the meantime, other things may strike me that I want to talk about on here.  Things like the funny things that "only happen to us" and my wonderful family and exciting things that happen with them.  Or home decorating and major home projects we want to show off.  Even eventually (NOT YET so don't get your hopes up people) talking about a little Webblett being on the way!

I got to thinking...does that mean I need to change the title of my blog?  A blog that I have tried to brand for almost a year now as being weight-loss centered?  The answer is no.  Because life itself is all about those Slim Pickings we have in front of us that we use to create these amazing environments for ourselves.  We don't always have the world at our fingertips, whether it's because of money, or time, or problems we're dealing with, but our picks for how we get through this adventure are what make it so amazing and fun!  And sometimes those choices are slim and we have to pick the best possible optoin...but that's what makes us grow as people, as husbands or wives, mothers or fathers, strong single women, whoever we are!

I sincerely hope I don't lose any followers...and I promise this will be still majorly about food and recipes I find.  With other fun things thrown in that I hope you will enjoy reading!

It's still the Christmas season and I wish you all a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!  January 3rd starts fresh posts (yes, and weight updates) and fresh ideas!  Hope to see you all back here then!

Enjoy a photo of our home and looking down our street on Christmas morning!  It was breathtaking and beautiful.  What a wonderful treat God blessed us with as we woke up on the day that is meant to celebrate the coming of His Son!  For unto us a child is born...

It's Never Too Late...

...To tell you I hit a MAJOR Weight Watcher milestone...I hit my "Lifetime" weight number!!  My grand total lost is 31 pounds, which when I think about it, is a lot of weight for me!  This means, as long as I don't go over 2 pounds from this number, I get to weigh in and stuff for free for life!!  How exciting!!  I would still LOVE to lose 10-15 more pounds, but at least I feel normal now.  I actually weigh 5 pounds less than I did on my wedding day.  However, I have not weighed in the past week because of Thanksgiving and Iron Bowl craziness and just not having time Saturday.  So I will weigh Friday this week and I'm a little nervous of the results...because of Thanksgiving and also because Weight Watchers has thrown us all for a loop and COMPLETELY changed the Points system.  I mean, turned it upside down.  Every. Single. Thing. Is. Different.  Not sure I'm too happy about that to be honest...but we'll see how it all turns out!  More later from me including recipes once I figure out this new system...

Come into our Webb...

I know, I know...don't tell me.  I haven't posted in ages.  And I'm sorry about that.  But work has gotten so much more busy than it had been over the summer (in a good way - I LOVE being busy at work).  So I apologize, but that's my excuse...  By the way...I'm writing this post on Monday evening and having it post Tuesday morning.  If you are that curious as to why my posts are pre-written and then scheduled, you can email me...there's a method to it (it helps my blog be more "searchable" on places like Google).

So I know the title of my post references what the name of this blog USED to be.  But Halloween is one of my favorite holidays and October is by far my favorite month of the whole year, so I had to give the blog a little temporary face lift for Halloween and October!  You like?

Speaking of liking...how about my Alabama Crimson Tide?  If you're reading this and don't know me, I am a HUGE Alabama fan...have been my whole life.  I'm a fourth generation Bama graduate, my parents met there and were married there and I was (almost) born there.  In fact, my first words were "Shooey Shooey Auburn" and for YEARS I honestly thought Auburn fans smelled bad.  Probably until I was 12 or something.  So it's fitting I married an Auburn fan, right?  Yeah, that's what I thought...  So I'm THRILLED with how well they are doing!  ROLL TIDE!  :)

So now onto the whole point of this blog...
I have had a hard time the past few weeks and have gone up and down, up and down.  Hopefully we're on a more permanent down slide now...
I'm still sitting at 28 pounds lost total, which I am so proud of!  It's been a lot of hard work, especially with tailgating and such, but I'm trying to make it last for a lifetime this time.  Speaking of Lifetime on Weight Watchers...I'm 3 pounds away!  3!!!!!!  I need all the motivation I can get for a big push these next few weeks.  I want to hit that Lifetime weight by my Great-Grandmother's 100th Birthday Party on October 30th and am determined to hit it!

Look for coming up posts this week including:
Tailgate food options that are still DELISH!
My favorite Fall TV Shows and the healthy snacks that go great with watching them!
Pictures of my Halloween decorations since I LOVE Halloween! (I'll make this post relevant by talking about trades you can make and still enjoy a little bit of Halloween candy)

I leave you with a joke...
Why are witches so unsatisfied with their husbands?

Because they have "Hallow-Weenies"!!!!!!!!
Dirty, yes, but I get tickled every...single...time...