Successful Squashfest

  Well, finally! I stayed entirely within my allotted points for the day! Whoo hoo! Can I get a "wut wut"? Anyway, it was an incredibly successful day and I owe it all to that little task called P-L-A-N-N-I-N-G!! *Kendy raises roof in most out-of-date fashion*

  Just to briefly recap my day, I ate a cinnamon granola bar for breakfast with a bit of caffeinie juice (Read: coff-ay). I then ate some muy delicioso Santa Fe Rice and Beans (WW meal, if you will). For a mid-morning snack I had a serving of RF Triscuits. Late afternoon snack was some popcorn and my one Coke of the day. For dinner (and I'll go into dets about this below), I had a chicken breast and butternut squash fries (that I shared with Lainie and she munched like a rock star). For an appetizer I had some "fried" zucchini. Then, with my left over points, I enjoyed two Little Debbie 100-cal snack cakes (2pts each) and a cup of hot Blueberry-flavored tea. Mmmm mmmm good.

 Ok, so the butternut squash fries were fan-flippin'-tastic! Try them. Go right now and buy yourself a butternut squash and go home and make these delectable goodies immediately. Here's how it goes-

1. Buy beautiful butternut squash and take home. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Cut in half. If you are a large family, use both halves, otherwise, save the other half for another batch tomorrrow. (Trust me. You'll want more.)
3. Peel outside and deseed- BS has a small pocket with seeds and strings not unlike a pumpkin.
4. Cut into fry shapes. I used my fantastical Crinkle Cutter from Pampered Chef to make them look like fries. TIP: although you may be tempted to cut them small- DO NOT. Cut them larger because they shrink up alot. Using a Crinkle Cutter they look like little cheesy fries. So adorable.
5. Spray cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray- BE GENEROUS. These babies stick. You have to flip them half way through the baking process and if they stick they are near impossible to flip without destroying them.
6. Place gorgeous, butternut squash fries all over cookie sheet. Spray squash lightly with non-stick cooking spray and sprinkle with Kosher salt. NOTE: A little salt goes a long way. Be careful.
7. Bake for 40 minutes. Halfway through, flip them. EXTRA NOTE: If your fries are sticking when you go to flip and they are falling apart, just don't flip them. That's what I did and they still turned out awesome.
8. Remove from oven and remove from sheet. Eat. Enjoy.

  I dipped mine in ketchup per Hungry Girl's suggestion and I thought I was enjoying a real french fry. So yummy in my tummy. Plus, the plumper ones (Read: the ones I didn't cut too small) were soft and I gave those to Lainie. She absolutely loved them. She also ate chicken with me, but she actually signed for more  (yes, as in sign language- she knows how to sign "more"- genius baby) and I think she was wanting some butternut love!

 I have to tell you that it felt good. I mean, real good. Hey everyone! Come see how good I feel! (Silly parlay into an Anchorman: Legend of Ron Burgundy quote- my apologies) What I mean to say is- I'm back. Having such a kick rear-end day yesterday with following my points to a proverbial "t" is really motivating. I'm back on track and I'm ready for some weight loss next Wednesday!

 Silly internet is still down at home which means I'll probably be silent this weekend, unless I figure out how to post from my cell phone. The world of technology amazes me to no end. Anyway, have a wonderful weekend! Hoping you have a squashfest of your own soon. Let me know how you like the Butternut Squash fries! Oh, and I saved that other half for this weekend. Woo hoo! Happy Eating!

 (P.S. Robb did try one BS fry. Hated it. At least he tried one. C'est la vie.)