I'm hungry... and I need something to eat.  Now you wouldn't know that I did if you saw the number on the scale this morning... yikes!  I need something filling and healthy.  You'd think for as long as I've done this weight loss shtick that I'd have a ton of ideas, but I'm feeling a mental block, especially when it comes to breakfasts and snacks.

I've been eating old-fashioned oatmeal with flax and 1 Tbsp of brown sugar for breakfast constantly, and while I love it, I don't want to burn myself out on it.  For snacks I am clueless... I have been eating Hershey kisses, hot cocoa, chips, breads... fill in the blank with your favorite carb or sweet here.  Its my constant downfall.

So... could I get a little help.  I desperately need new snack/breakfast (or even lunch) ideas.  Please post a comment helping me out and I'll do a compilation post later this week with all of the ideas that everyone has shared, and a link to your blog if you have one (please leave in the comments, if your comment won't link through).

Thanks and Happy Monday!

Another week... I guess you could call it the last official week of summer, although, I know many of you have been "back to school" already for a few weeks.  In Minnesota, school doesn't start until the Tuesday after Labor Day... and I don't have a child in school yet anyways, so it really doesn't effect our family.  We are definitely savoring the last few bits of summer, although secretly I'm looking forward to fall, as it's my favorite season!  I just wish it didn't lead to months and months of winter!
Savoring the season this week for us means using lots and lots of tomatoes out of our garden.  We have 3 regular tomato plants and 1 cherry tomato, and we've been swapping tomatoes with our neighbor who grew purple tomatoes, green tomatoes (yep they are ripe), and peach tomatoes.

I made a gorgeous marinated tomato salad last night, courtesy of the airing of Pioneer Woman's new cooking show

So on to this week's menu:
Grilled Hamburgers, Marinated Tomato Salad
Pesto Mozzarella Grilled Cheese, Pasta Salad
Blueberry Pancakes
Chicken Nachos with homemade salsa
Chicken Sausage, Peppers and Pasta

Last week Annie left a comment asking me: "As the new school year approaches, I wonder, what do you do for lunches and breakfast?"

Well... I don't have any kids in school, and my son gets fed breakfast and lunch at daycare, but I can definitely share what I do for breakfast/lunches normally. 

For breakfast I often have either an English muffin or a bagel thin with peanut butter or light cream cheese, and some sort of fruit (most of the time bananas - although I have hated them throughout my pregnancy).  I also mix this up sometimes with Greek Yogurt/Granola/Berries or oatmeal in the fall/winter.

Lunches are usually some sort of leftovers, as there are only really 3 of us (and one of us is 4, and doesn't eat that much), and most recipes make a minimum of 4 servings.  Sometimes we adapt leftovers, for instance last week on the weekend we made steak, so on Monday I made a steak quesadilla with leftover steak, shredded cheese, tortillas, and salsa for my lunch.  Or, I might make meatloaf on the weekend and do a meatloaf sandwich for lunch (one of my favorites). 

I also make sure there is plenty of fruit in our house.  I usually always have bananas, grapes, and apples on hand for lunches/snacks as those are the fruits "L" will eat right now.  I personally love melons in the summer, so I have been buying either a cantaloupe, watermelon, or honeydew each week, cutting into chunks, and taking with me for part of my lunch or a snack.

I also buy Havarti (pre-sliced) and cheddar cheese at Costco about once a month to have on hand for lunches/snacks.  One of my 4 year old's favorite lunches is what we call a "lunchable" - it consists of cheese cut up into slices/chunks, turkey pepperoni, pita chips or crackers, and a fruit (usually grapes these days).  I think this would be a great idea for those that need to pack a lunch. 

Good luck and happy back to school!

Its snack time… you’re hungry and you want a good nutritional bang for your PointsPlus values. You barely have any left for the day either, so it has to be low on the PointsPlus scale

What do you eat?
For 0 PointsPlus:
Of course the easy answer here is fruit! EAT UP!
Also I like Cucumbers and/or baby carrots with salsa

For 1 PointsPlus:
Celery (as much as you want) with 1 laughing cow wedge = 1
Apple w/ a 1 Tbsp of fat-free caramel sauce – I also like to bake this and then drizzle the caramel and a couple of Tbsp of Fat-free Redi-whip (still 1 pt)
Cut up Red Pepper and ½ an ounce of Sharp White Cheddar Cheese


For 2 PointsPlus:
Veggies (as much as you want) I like cucumbers with 2 Tbsp Hummus
Celery with 1 Tbsp Reduced-Fat Jif Peanut Butter
½ cup reduced fat cottage cheese with cut up fruit of your choice
Hard Boiled Egg

Its snack time, you want a decadent treat, without all the PointsPlus values
What do you eat?
It seems like these treats (on the new PointsPlus plan) will cost you a few more PointsPlus values
For 3 PointsPlus:
VitaTop – and you have to heat it up just a little

For 4 PointsPlus:
McDonald's Cone – 4 PointsPlus – This is one of my all-time favorite treats!
Skinny Cow Ice Cream Sandwich

Its snack time… you want food and lots of it… NOW!
What do you eat for a big quantity?
For 0 PointsPlus:
Fruit Smoothie made with water/fruit – I use frozen fruit + water + Splenda packet

For 2 PointsPlus:
Fruit Smoothie made with yogurt – same as above except omit the Splenda/water and add a 2 point container of vanilla yogurt

For 3 PointsPlus
Light String Cheese + 17 pieces of Turkey Pepperoni
Rold Gold Pretzel Sticks – 48 sticks!!!


For 4 PointsPlus
Chocolate Banana Smoothie – This fills me up BIG TIME!

I hope this gave you a lot of good ideas for when snack time hits! 
If you have any ideas to add I’d love to know, please comment and tell me, what’s your favorite snack??