Thirteen

As of Wednesday I am down a total of 13 pounds - sweet! So what has this week taught me... even though I have had a couple* (yes that means more than one... I will explain in a minute) of slip-ups the scale still showed a loss. Here inlies the challenge - I can not let myself believe that esting food that is outside of my diet guidelines on a regular basis will continue to result loss of weight... it will eventually catch up to me.

*After last Thursday's "baked good debacle" Monday was another challenge - a vendor lunch at Ruby Foo's in NYC. I indulged in a couple of pieces of sushi roll with rice - but my main course was a delicious tuna steak crusted with sesame seeds.

I tried a new recipe this week -Turkey Stuffed Zucchini. I found the recipe on www.Skinnytaste.com - a website of a woman named Gina who posts all sorts of Weight Watchers (WW) recipes - now I am not on WW, but sometimes I can alter the recipes to be low carb (as well as low in calorie and fat). Here is a link to the recipe and a picture - http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/01/turkey-stuffed-zucchini-4-pts.html - I like recipes with pictures.  I started making this dish on Wednesday, but actually ate it on Thursday - it took a bit of time to prepare the turkey and zucchini before I had to bake it for 35 minutes. This is not a good weeknight (preparation wise) dish, but it was very tasty. My husband enjoyed it, but also commented on the length of preparation (aka all the extra dishes he had to do Wednesday night). Well I ate it again today for lunch (heated some up in the microwave) and I have to say it was still delicious. So I am going to recommend it with the footnote that it is best made on a weekend.

Here is recipe - Turkey Stuffed Zucchini

Servings: 4 (2 halves) • Time: 50 minutes • Points: 4 ww points

• 4 medium zucchini
• 1 tsp butter
• 1/2 small onion, finely diced
• 1 shallot, minced
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp white wine
• 1.3 lb (20.8 oz) ground turkey (99% fat free)
• 1 large egg white
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
• 2 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp fresh chopped rosemary
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp marjoram
• 1 tsp dried basil
• Salt and fresh pepper

Preheat oven to 400°. Cut zucchini in half lengthwise and using a spoon or melon baller, scoop out flesh, leaving 1/4" thick. Arrange in a baking dish. Chop the scooped out flesh of the zucchini in small pieces.

In a large sauté pan, melt butter and add onion, shallot and garlic. Cook on a medium-low flame for about 2-3 minutes, until onions are translucent. Add chopped zucchini and season with a pinch of salt, cook about 2-3 minutes. Add wine and cook until it reduces. Add ground turkey and season with salt and pepper, cooking until turkey is white, breaking up in smaller pieces. Add paprika, garlic powder, marjoram and basil. Mix well and cook another minute.

Place turkey meat in a large mixing bowl and set aside to cool. When cooled, add parmesan cheese and egg white, mix well. Using a spoon, fill hollowed zucchinis with stuffing, pressing firmly and top with bread crumbs. Place chicken broth in bottom of the baking dish and cover tightly with foil. Bake 35 minutes. Preheat oven to 400°.
 
I made some modifications -

1. I used butter and olive oil to sauté the onions, shallots, garlic, chopped zucchini and turkey.
2. I did not have any wine so I used chicken stock
3. I did not have all of the spices called for - I ended up using paprika, garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning - I did not measure them, just sprinkled them into the pan over the turkey.
4. I used a whole egg instead of just an egg white.
5. I left off the breadcrumbs and just sprinkled on a little more parmesan cheese.
6. I served the stuffed zucchini topped with some marinara sauce.

So there you have it - that was the most exciting news of my week... I have to find something more exciting!