Surviving the Holiday

I thought Easter was going to be rough. Why? Because as a family - holidays mean - yummy food and LOTS of it! :) This year was a little different. We had yummy food but it was more healthy and less to pile onto your plate. I brought my trusty food scale along and dug out my mom's measuring cups and I did really well. Here is what I think helped me through it: 1. I planned ahead - pretty simple. I found out what we were going to be having, and helped plan the menu and then decided what I was going to eat before I got there. (it does help that my mom and sister are both on restricted diets and can't have sugar and such) 2. I took my food scale. I knew that I would have a hard time eye-balling what a 3 oz portion of ham or turkey was, so I took the guess-work out of it. Also - I did my research and knew what a 3 oz portion would be point wise (4 points for the glazed ham and 3 points for the turkey). 3. I ate less points for breakfast and lunch. I didn't eat less food really, just ate more filling, lower point foods so that I had a cushion just in case I needed it. We had HoneyBaked Ham (thanks to my sis-in-law), brined and roasted turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, salad (with pepper, onions, tomatoes, etc), and green beans. For dessert my sister made a lemon-strawberry cake (no sugar), and I made a Caramel Apple Salad (I believe this is a WW recipe).

The biggest challenge wasn't the actual Easter meal itself, it is the candy that is now sitting around in my house begging me to eat it - M&Ms, jelly beans, Reese's Pieces, chocolate. *SIGH* I have done OK so far. I will probably allow myself to eat some chocolate this week and hopefully that will help. And, then if it sits too long around the house i will probably just chuck it. No one really needs all that candy anyway - not me, not the kids, not my hubby!

Meanwhile...the Paci Fairy arrived and the girls are now paci-free - YAY! But now without the pacis in their mouths they just sit in their room and talk instead of sleeping - BOOOOO!

Caramel Apple Salad

2-4 Apples cubed (I like Jazz apples or Honey Crisp)

1 can of crushed pineapple with juice

1 box sugar-free/fat-free butterscotch pudding

1 container CoolWhip Free (fat-free)

1 small bag of mini marshmallows (optional - I left this out)

Add the butterscotch pudding to the can of pineapple and juice. Combine. Add diced apple CoolWhip and marshmallows. Mix together and chill. Yum!

The kids really like this "dessert" and it has lots of fruit in it too! This is 1-2 points per serving depending how large your serving size is! ;) I figured on 6 servings, so it was 2 points. Enjoy!