CN's New Book, Weight Watchers and Grape Salad

Hello! First, I’ve got to start off by apologizing for my absence.  For the past few months I’ve been completely thru with hair… my hair and come to think of it, mostly everything.   I didn’t want to wash it, condition it, twist it, twirl it…well you get the point. I just didn’t want to be bothered with LeLola. Well, I know now that I was experiencing the beginning of the “Terrible Twos”, as Curly Nikki calls it in her new book, Better Than Good Hair.  Thankfully, understanding where my indifference to LeLola was coming from helped me out of this rut.  

I say all of this to say: I am just now starting to get my New Year Buzz on : ).   As you know, for the last year and a half I have been very focused on Healthy Hair. Now I realize I need to broaden my focus to include Healthy Eating too (being Active will follow shortly).  Problem #1:  I don’t know how to pick a healthy balanced meal to save my life. And seriously, isn’t that my ultimate goal? So, I joined Weight Watchers a week ago.  I love how you can have as much fresh fruits and veggies as you want.  As I am writing this, I’m covertly chomping down on baby carrots in the Library. Do you think anyone will notice?

Problems #2 and #3:  I’m spending way too much money at the grocery store and mood swings. So today to improve my mood, I worked on revising a grape salad recipe (which I love…and I love reinventing existing recipes!) to be more healthy.  Happy to say--It actually came out pretty good.  So here goes - I hope you enjoy:

A.M. Grape Salad (3 PointsPlus©)

*A refreshingly sweet but healthy treat, that is very easy to make*

Makes 20 servings / 1 serving=¾ cup                              

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Chill Time: At least 30 minutes

Ingredients:

 ·         3 to 4 lbs. grapes, red, green or mixed (all red is my favorite)

·         8 oz. Neufchatel cheese, softened

·         8 oz. Nonfat Plain Yogurt

·         1/3 cup sugar

·         2 tsp. vanilla extract

Optional:

·         3 Tbsp. brown sugar

·         3 Tbsp. pecans (If you add nuts, it will make this recipe 4 PointsPlus)

Directions:

1.       Wash and remove stems from grapes

2.       In a bowl, beat or blend together yogurt, Neufchatel cheese, white sugar and vanilla extract

3.       Pour grapes into yogurt mixture and carefully mix

4.       Cover bowl and refrigerate until time to serve

5.       Optional: Before serving, sprinkle brown sugar and/or pecans on top of grape salad

6.       Enjoy!