Seafood Tonight!

I LOVE seafood!!! We used to rarely have any kind of fish, even though I love it. I thought that when you wanted fish, you would go to Red Lobster. The thought of fixing it at home kinda scared me. When I started Weight Watchers and realized how much healthier seafood was, it inspired me to try.

This is one of my favorites:

Seafood Pasta Delight

8 oz uncooked vermicelli
2 T cornstarch
1 t sugar
3/4 t salt
Dash pepper
1/2 c chicken broth
1/2 c dry white wine (or additional chicken broth)
1/4 c soy sauce
1 medium red bell pepper, sliced thin
1 medium yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1 medium green bell pepper, sliced thin
2-3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 t ground ginger
1 T olive or canola oil
1# uncooked sea scallops, halved
1# uncooked medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 t sesame oil

Cook pasta according to pkg instructions. In a bowl, combine cornstarch, sugar, salt and pepper; stir in the broth and wine (or additional broth) and soy sauce until smooth; set aside.

In a large nonstick skillet or wok, stir-fry the peppers, garlic and ginger in oil 2-4 minutes or until crisp-tender. Add scallops and shrimp; stir-fry 2 minutes longer. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Drain pasta; add to skillet. Heat until scallops are firm and opaque and shrimp turn pink. Sprinkle with sesame oil.

Yield: 8 servings at 7 PointsPlus each.

Note: The original recipe used 1/2 c chicken broth and 1/2 c dry white wine. We don't drink much white wine so I usually don't have it onhand and just use 1 c chicken broth. Also, it called for 1 c fresh or frozen sugar snap peas. I noticed my family would pick those out (I was the only one who liked them) so I added the green bell pepper in place of that.

Cream Cheese Streusel Bars

1 1/4 c powdered sugar
1 c all-purpose flour
1/3 c baking cocoa
1/4 t salt
1/2 c cold butter
8 oz reduced fat cream cheese
14 oz fat-free sweetened condensed milk
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 t vanilla

In a large bowl, combine powdered sugar, flour, cocoa and salt; cut in butter until crumbly. Set aside 1/2 c for topping; press remaining crumb mixture into 7x11 pan sprayed with Pam. Bake at 325 for 8-12 minutes.

In a small bowl, beat cream cheese, milk, egg and vanilla until blended. Pour over crust. Bake at 325 for 15 minutes. Top with reserved crumbs; bake 5-10 minutes longer (filling will be set). Cool on a wire rack. Store leftovers in refrigerator.

Yield: 15 squares at 7 PointsPlus each.

Yes, it is kinda high for a dessert, but absolutely worth it and dinner itself is very low in points so I can fit it in.

I haven't exercised since Wednesday and ate fastfood all day Friday and Saturday so I wasn't surprised this morning when I weighed and found I had gained a half pound. Even though I wasn't surprised, I'm still not happy about it and will make a more concentrated effort to PLAN my exercise time so I don't feel like I can't squeeze it in.