I plugged all the ingredients into a Livestrong “recipe” and, assuming that the 2 lbs of ground pork would make 8 links of a size equivalent to the ones I used in my pizza soup recipe (which contained two links in the crock pot that ultimately served four people) the sodium per link would go from over 1000 to about 380.  I think most of that is contained in the parmesan cheese that goes into the making of the italian sausage.  Now if I could only find a low sodium parmesan cheese!

In any case, it is much better!  It sounds yummy.

10 ounces of canned tuna packed in water

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup egg substitute (or two eggs)

Mix all ingredients and then form into patties.  Spray a medium heat griddle or frying pan with non-stick spray and then cook on both sides until lightly browned.

This makes about six patties, each with less than 100 calories.  They are roughly 9g carb, 11g protein and 1g fat.

All I did was mix two tablespoons of the salsa with a cup of water and cooked vegetables in the boiling water until done.  It was truly very yummy!

• 1 lb ground beef
• 2 sausage patties
• 1 can chili beans
• 15 oz tomato puree
• 2 small cans of V8 juice
• 1 packet of chili seasoning mix
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 onion
• 2 cups whole wheat rotini

The sausage, V8 juice and cinnamon were the ingredients in this recipe that I do not ordinarily put in my chili.  I think the next time I make it I might try 1/4 tsp cinnamon rather than 1/2, because during the simmering process, I think it gets a tad too cinnamon-y for the tastes of those in my family.  Otherwise, it turned out pretty good.  Putting pasta in chili is not a universal thing.  I used to think it was a Wisconsin thing since my Dad always prepared it that way, but the older I get and with as infrequent as I see others putting pasta in their chili, it might be a Kentucky or Indiana thing (which is where he grew up).

My grandparents have a home in Florida, but for health reasons have not been given doctor’s approval to leave their winter home (Indiana) for an extended absence. But, my Dad called last night and in our conversation he mentioned he was going to be taking them to Florida for a very short visit early next month. In addition to the verbalized “Oh, that’s nice” my mind was racing with thoughts of Lake Okeechobee, sunshine, warmth and some quality time with the older fam.

What would the hubby and kids do without me? I’m not working now so I don’t have to ask for “vacation”. I could take Sarah with me (the two year old) and then it would be easier for John to manage the two older kids alone. I’m not sure I could afford it right now, but there are some good deals on airfare and I think Sarah might fly for free if she sits on my lap. (Hey — now that I’ve lost over 100 pounds, I have a lap for her to sit on!)

Anyway, I wonder if it was a coincidence that I had a dream last night where I was fishing? Before you get all “happy” for me and think too many pleasant thoughts, I’ll also have to admit that in my dream I was crying out for help because the fish I had landed was so big that I felt like it was going to pull me into the water and I couldn’t maintain balance. In my dream I was scared out of my wits!

My Dad said he’d let me know the exact details once he had them. Maybe I will be going to Florida for a few days next month, and maybe I won’t.

In the mean time, today is Monday, and that means a weigh-in. I weigh 156, so that means a loss of one pound this week. I was very careful with what I ate and even tried a few new things, including Katie’s baked seitan recipe. I also completed the “Intensive” setting on the Just Sweat challenge portion of the Wii Just Dance 2 game. Accumulating 14000 sweat points in one week was difficult, but fun!

All you do is mix 1/2 cup light mayo with 1 tablespoon of taco seasoning (about half a packet) and after those ingredients are stirred, dice the leftover chicken breast (I had about 1.5 pounds left from a big meal I planned) with about one cup of celery.  When everything is combined, plop it on some toast and enjoy!  My kids also added a bit of shredded cheddar to theirs, but I left mine without.

Using the amounts I listed above, I calculated five 211 calorie portions, but it would be a bit more or less depending on how high you pile your sandwich or your tortilla wrap.  It was pretty yummy!

Anyway, the recipe did not include nutritional information and I was curious about that. After making it today and seeing how great it turned out, I was even more curious about what I had just consumed.

I found a website where you can plug in all the ingredients you used in a recipe and how many servings it made and then a full list of nutrients and values is output. (I was happy to discover that there were only 217 calories per serving in that yummy soup!)

Check it out here: http://recipes.sparkpeople.com/recipe-calculator.asp

Now, the funny thing about this particular recipe is that although the nutritional information wasn’t printed with the recipe in the paper, there was a mention of it on the paper’s website that I didn’t notice until after I had already prepared the meal and used the calculator at the link above. If you’re interested in the minestrone recipe (there are seasonal vegetable variations and I actually combined portions of the summer and fall versions because I had broccoli and zucchini on hand in addition to the carrots, celery and onion that the recipe called for) check it out here: http://www.usaweekend.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2010100224005

The flavor is a bit lacking and any salt or seasonings you add don’t stick well because the popped corn is not moist enough. But, a few suggestions I’ve heard include using a spray to moisten the popcorn and then sprinkling the season on it. I tried spray butter and it allowed the seasoning to stick better.

Here are the basic instructions: put about a third of a cup of popcorn kernels in a brown paper lunch bag and fold the top over a couple of times to seal it. Put it in your microwave with the bag standing up (not laying on its side like you would with packaged microwave popcorn) and then set the microwave to three minutes. (Depending on your wattage, it may take less time than that.) Stop the microwave when the popping slows to about two seconds in between pops. You don’t want the popped corn to burn!

If you’d like, use spray butter to flavor and moisten the popped corn. After that, if you choose, sprinkle salt or a popcorn seasoning. I’ve tried the caramel and kettle corn seasonings from Kernel Seasons but I bought them at my local grocer rather than online so I cannot attest to the online service you might get if you tried ordering from their website. That company also makes a spritzer (which would replace the spray butter in the instructions above) but my grocery store did not carry it hence my need to use spray butter.

These items were next to the bagged and microwave popcorn at the grocery store, but another area you might want to check is in the spice aisle. There, you would find lots of neat things to sprinkle on popcorn — seasoned salt, chili powder, powdered chese, etc. And, don’t forget the parmesan in the aisle with the spaghetti sauces!

Enjoy! Popcorn (especially if you don’t pop it in oil) has very few calories and neither the spray butter or the sprinkled seasonings have any calories, so a great and tasty treat for calorie counters!

• one box of pre-cooked chicken breast cubes
• one can of pre-cooked shredded chicken breast
• one large can of chicken broth
• one small can of tomato sauce
• one can of black beans, drained
• one can of corn, drained
• five carrots, diced
• five celery sticks, chopped
• one yellow onion, diced
• one red onion, diced
• one half small jar of Tostitos salsa
• one can tomato soup
• one can of fat free refried beans
• 10 corn tortillas right from the package, cut into strips
• two packages of taco seasoning
• about four cups of water (just enough to rinse out the other cans)

I put everything in a big soup pot and let it simmer for about two hours. It was delicious! I have no idea of the number of calories. (I guess I could add everything from the cans and packages.) But, this made about 16 servings so in addition to the two small bowls my husband and I each had for dinner, there was lots left over to freeze for other cold snowy days!