We are all on the drawing board...

In spite of the inferior vanilla wafers (something my daughter's girls did not confirm), the pudding was delicious, but my pigging out was the last straw.  So, I joined WeightWatchers online, and the program is fantastic.  With the point program, you don't have to count calories, and you can track you foods, your activity, your terminal depression, and your moments of ravenous hunger that make you bite your spouse.

There are two fabulous pluses: the recipes are to die for, and you can swap the points gained in your exercise program for food.  This is day two, and I've already earned enough exercise points to eat an entire meal.  I'm not going to do it, however, since I'm saving up for a vanilla ice cream cone.  The cone "costs" about five points--what I've earned so far, in fact--but I don't want to sidetrack healthy eating right out of the gate.  A Coke is three points.  I can see that WeightWatchers has modernized its information and its stance on junk food, too.  The site has the latest scientific info on weight and healthy eating, and I'm thrilled to see that eggs are now on the "you gotta have 'em" list, because I love eggs.

The recipe I am trying today for lunch is Mediterranean-spiced quinoa in red peppers, baked with a topping of feta cheese.  I've made the filling and stuffed the peppers, and I can say that the filling is delicious.  Quinoa seems to be the next miracle food if one is to judge by how often it is popping up in recipes from CooksIllustrated and Bon Appetit.  It contains all eight amino acids, is easy to cook, has a nice nutty flavor, and can be made into pudding just like tapioca. 

By the way, for those of you who some day may have leftover chile cascabel, you slice the chiles down the side, remove the seeds (don't remove the stem end) , hydrate in hot water, stuff with panela or farm cheese, or if you want to really go for broke, with Monterrey jack; place chiles in an oil-sprayed baking pan.

In the blender, blend some cream, onion, tomato, garlic, and season with chicken consome powder or crumbled consome cube, and pour over chiles.  Bake at 350 until hot, bubbly, and brown. 

Stay tuned for more compensatory recipes to satisfy my foodie cravings.  I've got one for ravioli stuffed with sweet potato that will give you a heart attack, but oh, you will die happy!