some delicious recipes

yesterday i managed to return the bike to the original store (for store credit only) and then go across town to another canadian tire to buy the same bike (this second store wouldn't accept the return on the first bike). it was a big hassle and very annoying but it worked out for the best because the new bike is put together much better than the first bike. you never know about these canadian tire bike mechanics. they never seem to be in the store, and who knows who they are or what kind of bike-putting-together certificate they have.

on to happier things. yesterday i made altered banana oatmeal bread. i found the recipe on weight watchers online but it was 4 points per slice (and 10 to the loaf) so i made some adjustments and my slices are only 2 points each (with 10 to a loaf as well).

banana oatmeal bread

Ingredients:
* 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
* 1/2 tsp table salt
* 1/2 tsp baking soda
* 1/4 tsp baking powder
* 3 tsp Manischewitz (Canada) Apple sauce, unsweetened
* 1 egg
* 2 items egg white(s)
* 3 medium banana(s)
* 1 cup Quaker Oats (U.S.) Old-Fashioned Oats
* 1/2 cup unpacked light brown sugar

Directions:
* Preheat oven to 350°F. In a large bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Add oil and eggs; mix thoroughly.

* In a smaller bowl, mash bananas with a potato masher or fork. Add bananas and oatmeal to batter.

* Spray a loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter into pan and bake until top of loaf is firm to touch, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for 5 minutes. Flip out and cool on a wire rack for another 10 minutes.

i had a warm piece out of the oven (obviously) and one for breakfast this morning. delicious. and then, for dinner i had pasta with meat sauce. i combined one package ground turkey (450g) with one jar of healthy choice garlic lovers pasta sauce, and onions, red pepper, orange pepper, yellow pepper, basil, 1/2 zucchini... 1/4 of the recipe is 5 points and a pretty generous portion considering there is meat in there. first i sauteed the onions, added the meat, when that was done added the chopped veggies, and then finally the sauce. it was weird only eating 1 cup (3 oz.) of pasta but i guess it's the bigger portions that caused me to gain a bit of weight back in the first place. it's hard to remember that pasta should be thought of as a side dish instead of the main part of the meal.

i'd also like to add that the recipe builder on weight watchers online is totally worth the monthly fee. it's so easy to input anything and much less time consuming than doing everything yourself. and now, when you input an ingredient, you can just input the stats on the nutrition label and then indicate how many servings of that product are going into the recipe. for example, the nutrition info for the pasta sauce was only for 1/2 cup, but i used the whole jar, which was 5.6 servings. interesting, no?

today i am going for a walk by the lake, then working on my job hunt, then some reading, perhaps a swim. is anything good on tv tonight?