Weight Watchers Borscht

Last week, I got an email from one of my beet-loving Twitter friends.  Jen and I bond over fabulous beet recipes and new ways to cook with our favorite root vegetable. (She blogs over at Such a Funny Fat… check her out!)

When she sent me this borcht recipe from the new Weight Watchers cookbook… I knew I wanted to try it.  My usual picky self, I was a little nervous about the dish… but I went ahead and made it.

I’ve honestly never made such a pretty soup.  Just gorgeous.

It also confirms something.  I do, in fact, have a beet-colored bathroom!!!

The base of the soup is made from every purple vegetable you can imagine:  Beets, Red Onion, and Purple Cabbage!

No wonder it has such a fantastic color!  The soup itself can be served cold or warm, but my preference was definitely warm.  Try it both ways and see what you think.

 Borscht with Sour Cream

From Weight Watchers

INGREDIENTS

2 cups raw, fresh shredded beets

1 (14-oz) can fat free beef broth

1 1/2 cup water

1/2 cup red onion, finely chopped

1/2 cup red cabbage, finely shredded

1/2 tsp. packed dark brown sugar

2 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced

2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice

1/4 tsp. salt

freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup reduced fat sour cream

2 Tbsp. fresh dill, minced

INSTRUCTIONS

1.  Prepare your veggies.  I used a mandoline slicer… and made a royal mess of my kitchen!

2.  In a large, non-reactive pan, combine beets, broth, onions, cabbage, brown sugar, and water.  Bring ingredients to a boil.

3.  Reduce heat, and simmer for 20 minutes covered (or until cabbage is tender.)

4.  Add dill, and simmer an additional 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.

5.  Stir in lemon juice, salt and pepper.  Optional:  Puree soup with an immersion blender.

6.  Remove to a 1 quart storage container, and refrigerate until chilled at least 2 hours and up to 3 days.

7.  Garnish each serving with 1 Tbsp. sour cream and dill, if using.

Per 1 Cup Serving:

CAL 68; CARB 13g; FAT 1g; PROT 4g; FIB 2g; WW Points Plus: 2

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What I Eat

One of the asks from my Blogtastic Blogiversary survey way back when was to share what I eat on a daily basis.

Yesterday, I REALLY tried to capture all my eats… but I suppose I’m just not disciplined enough to make it happen.  After I had my carrot sticks in the afternoon, I realized they were all gone and unavailable for a pic.  Here’s two pics that made the cut.  Yeah… I am terrible at the whole WIAW thing that so many bloggers do.

I managed to snap a pic of my Veggie Delite moments before I devoured it…

Last night’s dinner was 1/2 cup of Skinnytaste Crockpot Bolognese and 1/2 cup of cooked quinoa – - LOVE that Bolognese!

So, rather than giving you the play by play of what I ate yesterday, I thought I’d talk a little bit about how I grocery shop each week.  There’s two different goals I have when I go to the store:  1) To pick up ingredients for recipes  2) Buy the staples

Meal Planning

Meal planning is not my strength.  I’ve made plans before, and then… I decide I’m in the mood for something else and deviate.  It’s what I do.  I try to keep my plans pretty flexible as a result.  I’ve also learned from my sister-in-law Beth to plan for recipes that kind of complement one another and ones that have similar ingredients.

For example, I could make these three dishes on the same week because they contain common ingredients: tomatoes, avocados, onions….

I keep a list of items that I need to replenish on my smartphone because I always have that handy.  I use an app called Evernote, that also links to my iPad so that I can constantly add it to whatever device I’m using.  I use Evernote for to-do lists, Christmas gift shopping lists, etc… LOVE that App!

Staple Shopping

There are a few things I pick up every single week at the store.  I am a creature of habit, but moreso… I NEED SNACKS!  If I don’t have snacks ready to go, it can get REALLY scary at my house and my car can do crazy things like DRIVE THRU on the way home from work.  No one wants that to happen!

Here’s a breakdown of what ended up in the cart this week….

  • Cheese Sticks – I must have been craving cheese.  This is a rare purchase, and can take me months to eat… but they’re the cheddar mozzarella mix.  Pretty tasty snack!
  • Asparagus – It was on sale.  I ended up with both WHITE and GREEN.  After eating it at LaDawn and Dana’s on Easter, I have a taste for it and just want more!  Roasted, these make for GREAT sides.

Roasted White Asparagus… Yum-O!

  • Cucumbers - Quite possibly the most perfect veggie, I eat the heck out of these too… I prep them on the weekends so I have them ready to nosh on… I prefer English Cucumbers to the regular ones.
  • Bananas - I’ve been eating bananas for my mid-morning snack lately.  Love them.  Unfortunately, I like them on the greener side… so, again, a small bunch.
  • Apples and Pears – I take either an apple or a pear with me every day to work as a snack.  SO GOOD.  I bought four.  I usually only buy enough for the week, so they don’t go bad… Trying a new kind of apple my boss recommended this week:  Pacific Rose.  We’ll see how it stands up to my favorite Honeycrisp.  Note:  Does anyone remember when fruit was my nemesis when I first started Jenny??

I’ve started displaying my fruit in the kitchen to tempt myself to eat it! Using that new cake plate I bought for the Gooey Butter Cake

  • Grape Tomatoes - Another great snack, I literally eat these like grapes.  I fill a little bag and take them to work for snacks some days and toss them in salads on others.
  • Butter Lettuce – I truly believe it’s the most superior of all lettuces… I bought two BIG containers of butter lettuce.  Eating them this week with a favorite vinaigrette that I need to share with you guys at some point…
  • Lean Cuisine Lemon Chicken – I bought two of these… I just really liked it when I tried it last week.  Try it!

Note:  This list is missing one of my favorite weekly snacks… BEETS!  But, I went to the wrong store this week.  They’ll be back on the counter and in the snack bag next week!

Tell me about your grocery shopping.  What must-haves to do you pick up every week?

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