you might as well eat great food, right?

About three weeks ago we stayed at the JW Marriott at Starr Pass, and were knocked out by the food. It's not why we went -- we just wanted a few days' staycation -- but it's why we'd go back.

Breakfasts were varied, inventive and healthy.

Golf clubhouse had melt-in-your-mouth BBQ (the brisket was to die for) with a variety of housemade bbq sauces.

Drinks on the terrace tasted as good as they looked. Salsa and guac both housemade.

We didn't dine at the high-end spot (kids aboard) but the mid-range diningroom had wonderful service, a nice breadbasket, and well-executed salads and entrees.

Really, it wowed us.

And it's no farther out of town than any of the rest of the resorts here.

A lot of people like The Good Egg (River & Oracle) or the Tohono Chul diningroom (Ina & Oracle).

Thx for the tip on the site! Sounds good!

I have been, ahem, celebrating non-scale victories the past few weeks.

Both would work in an Asian slaw, no? Or chopped and sauteed with cinnamon? Or maybe sliced and dressed with cucumbers and yogurt? Or a lemony dressing, or a sesame-ginger...

Am I hungry, or what?

I made the Oven Fried Chicken from WW's "Best Darn Food Ever" cookbook last night. Not bad. Plenty of flavor.

Also found a new brand of yogurt -- pardon me, yoghurt -- called Noosa that is so good you'd swear it was bad for you. It has the mouth-feel of a rich, full-fat yogurt but it's only 4PP/serving. I had strawberry rhubarb -- yum!

I put roast peppers into a blender with light or FF mayo as a quick sauce for grilled fish. Trader Joe's has these Mahi Burgers...

Mmm, it sounds good! Lemon is practically my new best friend.

Ah yes, the delicate marital negotiations. Luckly my DH is very easy to please, food-wise. Last night I made so-called stuffed cabbage:
http://www.skinnytaste.com/2012/01/ka...
It was much easier to make than the stuffed cabbage rolls I had made last winter, but it tasted just as good. I simplified the recipe further by doing it all in one dutch-oven-type pan, and skipping the layering. I also skipped the cheese just to save a couple of points -- didn't seem authentic to the Polish origins of the dish anyway :)

Wow - major congrats on your major achievement! Hat's off to you!

We've been eating exceedingly well using all of your recipe suggestions lately! Had the raw corn/tomato salad (EVOO & lemon, S&P) -- DH gave it a big thumbs up!
Did the Bobby Flay-inspired mustard "glaze" (I'd have called it a marinade) for chicken tenders on the grill -- very good.
Made a version of the crunchy Asian salad -- liked it a lot tho it got watery next day.
The Sausage and Pumpkin pasta was good with Shirataki noodles -- no complaints (as usual) from DH about the noodles.
Also tried an old James McNair recipe for cold shrimp and orange sections with fresh mint -- the dressing is 3T orange juice, 2T lime juice, 2tsp fish sauce, 3 cloves garlic, and chili flakes to taste. Easy and yummy!
And I am down 25 lbs as of this morning's meeting -- thrilled to bits!

Okay -- I'll try it that way. Thx for tip!

I think I'm going to make this zucchini-ribbons salad tonight:
http://www.hungry-girl.com/weighin/pr...
Maybe I'll add some olives for extra zip.

I got Mahi burgers at Trader Joe's after tasting the sample in the store. Mmmm!

Glad you de-lurked! This is old hat, but my favorite do-ahead trick is "cook once, eat twice." Make double and use it for leftovers during the week, or freeze it for another week.

Either that, or just use the protein in multiple meals, like a big piece of salmon or a roast chicken that you can prepare different ways on different days. Sorry if this all sounds obvious.

I so do not have any ideas about how to motivate yourself to exercise -- major stumbling block for me and the summer heat just makes it worse :(

My WFD was in a rut this week, but I'm breaking out tonight with buffalo burgers and a sesame kale salad:
http://www.crazyauntpurl.com/archives...
Summer having arrived, I keep thinking about pesto. Does anyone have a good, points-friendly recipe? I'm trying a few from the WW website, but they use nontraditional herbs. I'm not using pine-nuts though -- might as well just hang them under my chin!

I seem to remember one of you posting that corn tortillas had only 1 PP (for a six-inch) so I bought some but when I calculate PP according to the package, it says they have 3 PP each. Wahh :(

Made scallops fra diavolo tonight for dinner. Baby zucchini for the veg.
The scallops are very points-friendly, if you use shirataki fettucine. I was inspired by last week's visit to Boston's North End :) Easy to make, too: EVOO, garlic, wine, shallots, tomato, pepper, herbs.
It brought me back to my question about what happens calorically/points-wise to wine when you cook it. Interesting debates and lack of clarity on the subject when I googled it. Apparently some alcohol remains in the sauce, unless you cook it for 2.5 hrs (I didn't.. hic!).

Is it bland or does it have pizzazz? What if I substituted brown rice? (not for extra taste; I just don't really use white rice anymore)

Hmmm, I'll have to try it this way. I'd never think to cut it like that!

I tried a new breakfast recipe from GretchenS called Summer Oatmeal.

It's 1/3 cup rolled oats (not instant, not steel cut), 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 2% Fage), 1/3 cup milk or soymilk, and 1/3 cup or more of berries (fresh or frozen). Stir together and refridgerate the night before. No cooking! Delish. I calculate it to be 5 PP.

Tried this two nights ago. Wow, was it good! My husband thought so, too! Thx! (I used your suggestion of an egg white; otherwise made it exactly per recipe, I think. We didn't use buns or condiments -- didn't need 'em.)

When I use Recipe Builder, I only enter the foods that have points I'm going to count (in your case, only the bacon fat). Of course it means the recipe is useless but that's not where I store recipes anyway.

yes, it totally changes decisions about cooking yummy pasta dishes! Warning: they are very filling for some reason and keep you full for a long time afterwards. I dunno why.

very motivating to work out in order to earn some vino, I'd say!

Speaking of "daily wine allocations," why oh why do they count a glass of red as 4PP and white as only 3?!? Makes no sense to me -- I've always heard red was better for you, and white has more sugar.

Also, they have no way to separately track wine that you cook with, where presumably the alcohol is gone. Or at least, I haven't found a way yet...

I won't soon forget "Sometimes you just have to step off that WW pedestal and eat like the regular people."! LOL

Hi I'm a newbie to this thread. {waving} I've been doing WW since just before Thgiving and am down 21. My hat's off to you on your wonderful results!

Made the soup today (sans chicken). Mmmm!

{waving hi} Shirataki noodles are actually zero points. That's a VERY points-friendly soup! :)

Had the lasagna last week at Little Italy and it was very homemade and yummy! We got in so late (9:30pm) that we got it to go and so I can't comment about the service or the rest of their food. We did like the bread that came with -- sort of a fluffy focaccia.

Our breakfast there last week was disappointing. Subpar huevos rancheros. Poached egg sitting in water. Biscuits and gravy did not seem homemade. Weak coffee.

According to their Facebook page, they have closed.