Weekly weigh-in and recipes

I lost 2.2 pounds this week. I'm prepared to not lose any this week because my scale was being weird. Earlier this morning it said I had lost .8 pounds, and then a few minutes ago I weighed again (multiple times) and it gave me the lower number, so naturally I went with that one. :) So that first one may have been right. I'll weigh again tomorrow and adjust accordingly I guess. Oh, and I almost forgot...my dear friend Sara is getting married in June, and she asked me to be a bridesmaid last week. If that's not motivation to lose the rest of the weight, I don't know what is!

Here are some recipes I made this week. The taco soup was good. The nutritional information for a serving (1 1/2 cups) is 281.5 calories, 10 grams of fat, and 8.5 grams of fiber, so 6 WW points per serving. The chicken recipe came about because I was looking through my Best Light Recipe cookbook for something that I had all the ingredients for, and this is what I found. It turned out really good and it was a little bit different than the typical chicken dish. I served it with sweet peas and spicy sweet potato fries. I originally had a recipe for the fries but now I just do my own thing, so I've improvised a recipe below. The SP fries are my go-to side dish and they are so good. We just eat them with ketchup.

Spicy Taco Soup

1 lb Ground Beef
1 Onion, chopped
2 14.5 oz cans Diced Tomatoes with Green Chiles
2 15 oz cans Pinto Beans (drained)
1 15 oz can Black Beans (drained)
1 15 oz can Cream-style corn
1 package ranch style dressing mix
1 package Taco Seasoning
1 Cup Water (or broth) Optional

Directions

Brown beef with onions in a medium soup pot. Drain excess grease. Add remaining ingredients, stir and simmer for 20 minutes. If it seems a little thick you can add some beef broth or water to it while it is simmering.
This is great with cilantro and a dab of sour cream!
8 servings of about 1 1/2 cups each
Number of Servings: 8
Changes: I substituted one can of diced tomatoes for a can of Rotel, and it was still spicy enough.

Spicy Orange Chicken skewers with apricot-orange dipping sauce

Chicken
2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breasts, trimmed
2 T minced fresh parsley leaves (I left this out from both the chicken and the dipping sauce because Chad's not a fan and also because we didn't have it. I think it was just fine without it.)
1.5 t salt
1/2 t grated zest from 1 orange
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1/2 t paprika
1/4 t garlic powder
1/4 t ground black pepper
1/4 C apricot preserves

Dipping sauce
1 C apricot preserves (I ran out, so I mixed what I had left with orange marmalade and it was good)
2 T red wine vinegar
1 T minced fresh parsley leaves
1/2 t grated zest from 1 orange
1/2 t salt
1/4 t red pepper flakes
1/8 t ground black pepper

1. For the chicken: Slice the chicken breasts across the grain into 1/2-inch-thick strips. In a large bowl, toss the chicken with the parsley, salt, orange zest, red pepper flakes, paprika, garlic powder, and pepper. Add the apricot preserves and toss to coat. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate until the flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
2. For the dipping sauce: Puree the apricot preserves and vinegar together in a blender or food processor until smooth, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small serving bowl and stir in the parsley, orange zest, salt, red pepper flakes, and pepper. Cover with plastic wrap and let stand at room temperature until the flavors meld, about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, adjust an over rack to the top position and heat the broiler. Line a broiler pan bottom with foil and top with a slotted broiler pan top; spray the broiler pan top with nonstick cooking spray. Weave each piece of chicken onto individual bamboo skewers; lay half of the skewers on the broiler pan top and cover the skewer ends with foil, making sure not to cover the chicken. Broil until the meat is lightly browned and cooked through, 5 to 8 minutes, flipping the skewers over halfway through. Transfer the skewers to a serving platter and serve immediately with half the apricot sauce. Repeat, broiling the remaining skewers and serving with the remaining dipping sauce. (Changes: I prepared the skewers by soaking them in water first so they wouldn't burn, and then Chad took them out and grilled them. I don't have a broiler pan so we improvised. The chicken was still really good, maybe even better grilled than it would have been broiled).

Spicy sweet potato fries
2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2 inch sticks
2 T olive oil
1 T kosher salt
1 t cracked black pepper
1 T cumin
1 T chili powder
1 T garlic powder

Preheat oven to 400. Place sweet potato sticks and all other ingredients in a large ziplock bag and shake until the fries are coated with all the spices. Place fries on a non-stick cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray (preferably one with sides) in one layer. If you have too many fries for one cookie sheet, use more than one (you don't want to have more than one layer). Bake for approximately 20 minutes, checking every once in a while to avoid burning.