Please, NO PICTURES!!!!!

Over the last few days there have been several instances where I have had my picture taken or viewed pictures of myself and I will tell you I have been LESS THAN PLEASED with what I have seen. So, at this time when I am grumbling and fretting over this I get an Invitation to go for a "Girl's Weekend" at Myrtle Beach. Oh yeah ...Not to mention that BIG 4-0 is lurking right around the corner ...CAN THINGS GET WORSE??? I am not someone who has that one downfall food. I don't particularly like fried food. I don't eat tons of sweets. Not a huge junk food eater. I just LOVE FOOD!!! My love of food and cooking is definitely getting the best of me. I have contemplated the plans where you get the prepackaged meals but then, not only would I be miserable because I can't EAT what I want, I would be doubly miserable because I could not COOK.
OK,OK I have done this before.I am a weight-loss EXPERT! Really, I have lost TONS of weight....It just keeps finding me and bringing friends back from where ever I lost it too. A few years ago I lost about 40lbs. I did it by eating TONS of veggies in a rainbow of colors. Fish at least a couple of times a week and practicing good portion control in everything else. I did not cut OUT a single thing and I let myself have at least a small portion of anything I wanted. OH YEAH ..And I exercised my butt off. So, my first goal is too lose 10lbs by my beach trip next month. I figure I have a little over 3 weeks(26 days to be exact). Not a cake walk (ohhh cake) but definitely doable!
So, hopefully my posts will reflect my goals and give me incentive to come up with interesting meals that are healthy. It's so easy to slip into that rut of eating salad all the time because it's easy. I know from experience that doing that is a surefire way to bore me off track and right into a dish of Stuffed shells with 4 cheeses. (Forgive me Rachel it was SOOO YUMMY).
So, I am going to eeeeease into this. For Sunday dinner today I am made a really colorful and flavorful Spinach salad. BUT.... I still made dessert(can you say PORTION CONTROL??)It is a favorite of mine called Blueberry Delight. I got this recipe from a friend in PA many years ago. I love to make it for picnics and it is my 4th of July dessert because to me it looks so so so ...I don't know, Patriotic I guess. I have made some changes to try to cut the calories a little. The taste was still great but it made it a little unstable and did not set up as well so the look when it is cut, suffers a little. The original recipe calls for an entire box of Powdered sugar which I cut to 1 cup. I substituted fat free cream cheese and light Whipped topping for the full fat versions. All in All I would call it a success! Like I have said before I am not a baker so I use store bought angel food cake. If you are feeling froggy you can bake your own, but why?
Here are the recipes. I hope you enjoy and please make comments. I need all the encouragement I can get.
Spinach Salad
2Tbs Sesame oil
1/4 cup Veg Oil
1/4 orange juice
1 Tbs dijon Mustard
2Tbs Red wine vinegar

Chicken breast (1 small per person) chopped into bite size pieces
Fresh Spinach washed and dried (use the bag its easy)
Mandrin oranges, drained
Fresh strawberries, quartered
Hard boiled Egg
Red Onion Finely chopped
slivered almonds
poppy seeds

Whisk first 5 ingredients together until emulsified. Place Chicken Breasts and about 1/4 cup of dressing into a ziplock bag and let marinate for about an hour. Drain Chicken. Place chicken in a skillet with a drizzle of oil(or non-stick spray) and cook through.
Arrange spinach, fruit,onion and eggs on plate and top with chicken. Drizzle with desired amount of remaining dressing. Sprinkle on Almonds and Poppy seeds.
For a quick version I also love the store bought Raspberry Vinegrette Dressing (fat free of course) and the store bought roasted chicken.

Blueberry Delight (slimmed down version)
1 pkg fat free Cream Cheese,room temp
16oz container Light whipped topping thawed
1 cup powdered sugar
2 (Bar type) Angelfood Cakes
1 10z can Blueberry Pie filling

For ease of cutting place the angel food cake in the freezer for a couple of hours (not required but you will thank me). With electric mixer mix Cream Cheese and powdered Sugar. Fold in Whipped topping and mix just until incorporated (don't over beat). Slice cake into 1inch slices and place half in a 9x13 inch pan. Spread 1/2 of the mixture over cake, place another layer of cake on top. Spread remaining mixture on top. Spoon on thepie filling evenly then carefully spread trying not to disturb cream cheese mixture below. Chill for 1 hr.

Note: This would make a beautiful trifle bowl. I would add a layer of pie filling in the middle, if you wanted red white and blue you could even use strawberry for one layer.