Monday Weigh In #2 Plus a Passover Recipe
I put my starting weight as 161 for Weight Watchers, so for them I've lost 5.5 pounds. On this ticker though, it's 6!
Either way, I am thrilled to see this happening, and still amazed at how little I am having to struggle so far. At the buffet we had Saturday at our annual library Open House, I had the thing I really wanted--the CHEESES, and some raw veggies and that was enough. I was able to look at the cookies and not want more than the bite JR offered me from hers!
And yesterday, when the Man and I had our usual Greek Salads for lunch, I found I was full after the first serving. I would've loved to have had more, but I didn't need to--and I didn't.
I've been playing with my regular recipes and looking for new things that are tasty AND low in Weight Watchers points, especially in terms of sweet stuff. And I found a recipe in the April 2008 Cooking Light for chocolate macaroons that fits the bill.
This week is Passover, the Jewish holiday that celebrates the events told in the Biblical book Exodus. Because the Jews fled Egypt and slavery so quickly, they didn't have time to bake leavened bread for the journey and only carried flatbread. As a result, observant Jews clear all products with leavening from their homes for the 8 day Passover observance, and do not use any sort of flour product during the period. Therefore, lots of recipes for flourless cakes and for macaroons, which are built on nothing more than sugar and egg whites.
I'm not an observant Jew, but I love to make the foods that go with the holidays--there's a recipe for a Sephardic style macaroon in the recipe file to the right. And this one is another winner, something I'll make even when it isn't Passover.
This recipe had pecans on it, but I used walnuts, which were ready at hand and the girls loved them. And I can eat 1 or 2 of them and still not blow my daily Weight Watcher points.
Chocolate AND weight loss?
Life is good--even on a Monday!
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
2 tablespoons matzo meal (I'm non-observant, so I just used flour)
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 large egg whites (I use the powdered version)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup chopped walnuts
Add vanilla, and beat well.
Fold in walnuts.
Drop batter by level tablespoons 2 inches apart onto baking sheets coated with cooking spray--you can also use parchment paper or a Silpat mat. The cookies will be pretty gooey--batter looks sort of like frosting.
Bake at 325° for 15 minutes. The surfaces will be dry and the centers will be soft.
Remove from oven; cool on wire racks for 15 minutes or until cookies can be easily removed with a spatula.Cool completely on wire racks.
This makes about 24 cookies.
