Creamy Balsamic Salad with Feta Cheese

Wanted to share with everyone my favorite salad to make at home, I eat it as a side a lot, and when I'm not as hungry I eat it as a meal.

Creamy Balsamic Salad with Feta Cheese - 6 points

Ingredients
2 tbsp Kraft creamy balsamic dressing 
2 tsp Honey roasted pecan pieces
1/4 cup Texas toast butter & garlic croutons 
2 tbsp crumbled feta cheese
2 cups Lettuce or salad mix

Fill a bowl with about 2 cups of your favorite salad mix or lettuce. Add croutons, pecan pieces, feta cheese and drizzle with dressing. You don't have to get too crazy about measuring everything, it's all very light and a little more or less isn't going to affect points values. 

Dinner Salads

Ok, so I'm not a raw food junkie, I'm not a health nut. I can stand the occasional plain, raw, stalk of celery, but I much prefer it with some dip. Vegetables can be very boring if you don't dress them up, so it follows that a salad could result in a boring dinner. These three are not.

Check the links out for more nutritional info and more varieties. 

1. Lean Cuisine Asian Style Chicken Salad - you can buy this in the freezer aisle, it's a little pricey, but the chicken is really very good (and not just for microwave chicken). It's quick and perfect for a quick lunch or light dinner or side at home or work. It also comes in 3 other flavors, but the points are for this specific one. 7 points

2. Wendy's Apple Pecan Chicken Salad - I love this salad! It comes in a half or full size. The chicken is really good, and I love the addition of roasted pecans, bleu cheese, and apples. If you eat everything the full portion comes with, it comes out to a hearty 13 points

3. Famous Dave's Sassy BBQ Chicken Salad - This salad is probably the best salad I've ever had. It's like eating BBQ chicken, but the salad stretches it so you get full, without all the extra calories. It's a little bit high in points for a salad, but it is a huge, substantial, stick-to-your-ribs salad, andFamous Dave's is like Hardees, there's not a whole lot of lighter options. The points value is a little iffy since Famous Dave's doesn't offer nutritional information for any of their food on their website, I went with Livestrong's estimation for 12 points.

Have more salad ideas? Let me know!

In the oven tonight: Baked macaroni & cheese

My version of this delicious baked macaroni & cheese with broccoli. 

As many of you know, I'm a Weight Watchers member. One of the many benefits of a WW membership is a wealth of really good low-fat recipes. I have tried 30 or more, and only 1 has truly tasted like diet food so far, this is not one of them.

Don't be intimidated by this cooking, I'm not an expert chef, and in the kitchen I am above all LAZY! I don't like having extra dishes to wash, I don't like lots of steps, and I don't have a lot of time (after all Dominos will deliver in 30 minutes or less).

Before the recipe looks like the mouthwatering picture, I'll admit there are more steps than I am usually likely to tolerate, but this is worth the time and effort. Please check out the original recipe on Weight Watchers (you will need to be a WW subscriber). Look for lots more cooking suggestions here, links to recipes, and my own original recipes. I won't publish material that does not belong to me, but I will always post links to share with you!

Low calorie sweet treats

One of my favorite things about Weight Watchers is its real-life application. It's not the type of diet that you can only stick to until you lose the weight and get to your goal. It's not a "diet" per say, it's a lifestyle.

That said, it's not practical to expect yourself to never have a cookie, or cake, or candy. Those things are delicious and you have to enjoy them once in a while. But if you have a sweet tooth that makes you crave those things all the time, these are my top ten favorite treat foods that are low calorie. Calories shown are for 1 serving, may vary by flavor.

10. Thin Mints, yes the Girl Scout kind, I like them frozen, 4 cookies - 160 calories

9. Quaker oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, 1 package (4 cookies) - 170 calories

8. A glass of chocolate milk, try it with 1% or skim milk and reduced fat Hershey's chocolate syrup, 1 cup - around 150 calories

7. Hershey's milk chocolate minis, 5 pieces for around 200 calories

6. Zone Bar, I like the double dark chocolate, and they aren't just delicious, they pack 12 grams of protein! 1 bar - 190 calories

5. Nature Valley granola thins - 80 calories

4. Edy's 1/2 the fat ice cream, most flavors are 100 calories for 1/2 cup, they have some really good flavors, I love the Reeses cup flavor - 130 calories

3. Popcorn Indiana chocolate drizzled kettlecorn, 1 1/2 cups  - 140 calories

2. Popcorn Indiana kettlecorn, one of my few favorite sweet treats without chocolate, but it makes #2 because of the quantity,  2 cups - 130 calories

1. Chips Ahoy Reeses Cups Cookies, 1 cookie - 80 calories

Nursing Bras Buy 3 Get 1 Free

It's hard to find a nursing bra (or any bra for that matter) that's comfortable and yet actually looks sexy. I love this one, and right now you can get one free. Check out Motherhood Maternity's wireless full coverage nursing bra. 

Losing Weight with Weight Watchers

I just had my second child six months ago. I'm the proud mom of a three-year-old boy and you guessed it, a six-month-old baby girl. I'm also the proud owner of 50 pounds I never used to have.

There's no shame in gaining weight during a pregnancy, and you won't ever hear me say there is. There's no shame in not losing the weight right away, there's no shame in gaining it in the first place. The women who tell you pregnancy is not an excuse to let yourself go may be half right, but they are coming off wrong.

Yes, in theory we should all take care of ourselves, in practice we're not perfect and beating yourself up for every fast-food extravaganza you have won't help anything. We are not all supermodels, and that's good. For me the skinny mini thing doesn't work. Not only because I actually like food, but because I find myself more attractive with curves, particularly the ones up top, which brings me to the point.

Those milk makers I have are sort of the keys to my superpowers right now. I am breastfeeding my second child and I love it. So much so that I want to share it with anyone who is reading this now. Not only have they provided two children with all the nutrition they need to grow healthy and strong, they saved us money, helped me lose weight, and despite what some say, cup sizes.

I gained 50 pounds with my second pregnancy, 45 with the first. The first time around I lost all 45 pounds within a week of having my son. The second time...30 of those pounds stuck around. The first time I did Weight Watchers (because I didn't start off perfect before the pregnancy) and the second time I'm doing Weight Watchers again. If you're on WW too, you can follow my blog called Second Time Around!

If you are looking to lose weight, breastfeeding or not, try Weight Watchers. There's a reason it's so popular, because it works. If you don't believe that every time Jennifer Hudson says so, then I'm here to back that up. I lost 40 pounds the fist time around, and I've lost 20 pounds so far this time.

It works because it's practical, you don't have to eat the same things everyday, you don't have to order pre-packaged foods, you can go out to eat with your friends, heck you can go out drinking with your friends. And it's the only formal weight-loss program I know of that specifically takes into account the needs of a breastfeeding mom and baby.

The points are adjusted for nursing moms to get the extra calories they need. By its nature, Weight Watchers gets you to eat healthier, and honestly, it just happens. I never put effort into eating better, it's just an added benefit of the program.

If you're ready to lose the baby weight, Weight Watchers is what I swear by.

23 weeks with my second

38 weeks with my second.