Luna Returns

Congratulations to not-ES on having lost 9 pounds already! Wow! I'm glad to hear you are having a tough time keeping your pants on at work - and I mean that in the nicest way. You'll be flashing your students soon if you don't spend time with the sewing machine. You are my inspiration to get back to the plan.

I haven't been blogging in a while. Time for me to get back on the straight and narrow. Straight from what I eat to narrow(er) in the hips, belly, butt, torso, thighs, bust, face, fingers, upper arms, all my "jiggly bits", as Briget Jones would say.
Fell off the wagon at Cotter, have had a tough time climbing back on. Amazing how quickly a few sweet, fat grams of delicious taste and texture can ruin a perfectly good plan! I must say though, that SSS has me beat for one day off the wagon. I laughed out loud at your list of transgressions.
I climbed out of the muck in the road and back onto the tried and true wagon yesterday. I still have muck all over my body, but I'm working to slough it off. I'm weighing naked in the mornings. Recording on the Healthy Day Checklist. Searching for recipes high in fiber, low in fat, and reasonable in calories. Tonight I am making a new dish - Black Bean and Corn Pie - one kind of pie that will fit in the plan. I found the recipe at www.inmamaskitchen.com, recipe follows. The site did not provide nutrition information, not even portion size. I've calculated Weight Watchers points and best-guess servings for HDChecklist and re-arranged recipe into "my" recipe style. I'll report tomorrow on how it is received by three guinea pigs - wait, don't use the word pigs - we can be experimental subjects.

Black Bean and Corn Pie
Preheat oven to 350 F. (I will use my toaster-oven with convection heat)
In a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat
1 T. olive oil
Add finely chopped
1 medium onion
1 medium red bell pepper
1 jalapeno pepper
4 garlic cloves (I am using minced garlic from a jar)
Cook until softened, 6-8 minutes.
Remove from heat and stir in
1 (16oz) can unsweetened tomato sauce
1 (16oz) can black beans (I will drain and rinse well)
1 (16oz) can corn (I will use whole kernel)
2 t. chili powder
2 t. cumin
1/2 t. fine sea salt
1/2 t. cayenne pepper
Stir and mash the beans some to make a thicker consistency.
Pour into an 8x8 inch glass baking dish.
Sprinkle on top of mixture a layer of
mozzarella cheese (I will use about 1 cup)
In a large saucepan, boil
1 cup yellow cornmeal
1 T. lemon juice
1 t. dijon mustard
1/2 t. fine sea salt
Stir until mixed. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Immediately reduce heat to low and simmer, stirring often, until thickened, 3-5 minutes.
Spread the cooked cornmeal over the bean mixture.
Bake for 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
(I will cut into 9 squares because it is an 8x8 baking dish, but I think two squares should be a serving.)

Here's what I "reckon" the numbers to be.
WeightWatchers points 4 per square, so 8 per serving.
veggie servings, 3 per square, so 6 per serving.
protein, 4g per square, so 8 per serving.
I did not try to calculate calories, but reasonable for a meal I think.

I am totally guessing on how to calculate protein from a combination of beans and grains. I took the protein amount from the beans and from the corn, added that together and used that to figure out amount per square, then added the protein from the cheese per square to get 4g. Do either of you know how to actually calculate protein created by combining beans and grains?
I hope this is one we can add to a list of good meal choices. Tomorrow I hope not-ES will comment. (By the way, did not-ES choose another moniker yet?)