Award Winning Weight Watcher?

The rumors are true: the award winning eater has joined Weight Watchers online version (Trademarked, hereinafter referred to as "WW").  For the next three months, I will be trying to follow what WW refers to as its Points Plus plan.

(Because I know that Award Winning Eater is such an influential brand in the blogosphere, I want to make clear from the get-go that I am not receiving any compensation from WW (yet) for blogging about my experience.  More importantly, I don't even know if WW works (day 4) or by what standard I will ultimately judge its success.)

A lot of people have been surprised when I tell them I joined WW, responding jokingly that I don't look "that fat." Point taken.  Thus, my goals for the plan are modest--shed ten to fifteen pounds and keep it off.

Those are the ten to fifteen pounds that threaten the waistline of suits that I really like and can't really afford to replace.  Those are the ten to fifteen pounds at the top of the slippery slope.  Most importantly, those are the ten to fifteen pounds that make my aging knees ache from extra pressure after a long run or a day of mogul skiing.

Those ten to fifteen pounds come from trying hard to embody one of the credos of this blog: gluttony is the best sin, and it is best committed with food (examples include, but definitely are not limited to, past posts as "Tis the Season to Eat Cookies," "Pizza! Pizza!," "White Ingredients Party," and of course "Dessert Pot Luck Parts 1 + 2")

I stand by the indisputable truth of this credo.  The problem is that I was raised to believe that sins must be atoned for (would they be as fun to commit if they didn't?).  And those aforementioned knee pains are telling me to repent.

Enough preaching, let's talk about how I will try to maintaining Award Winning Eater standards with guidance from WW PointsPlus. The system is pretty easy. As you might imagine from the name, the idea of WW revolves around counting point values assigned to the food you eat, liquids you drink, and the exercise you do.  You get so many points a day to use on whatever food you want and you can earn extra points by exercising.  Veggies, even cooked, are zero points so that's key.  But the fat you cook them in, breading, or sauces rack up the points.

My last name starts and ends with a vowel; there is pretty much no way in hell that I would give up pasta. So before I got too invested in WW, I wanted to see if I could create a pasta dish that actually had flavor, that could fill me up, and that did not break the bank on points.  Tuesday night was my second WW night (Halloween was my first, and yes I did eat candy but only two pieces) and we were having friends over too so I could have some objective second opinions on my orecchiette in brodo con fungi, ravizzone, e porri (mushrooms, kale, and leeks).  As you read the recipe, keep in mind that veggies = 0 points.

1 lb. orecchiette pasta (literally translated as "little ears," but I think they look more like little caps)
6 cups leeks, halved lengthwise, sliced every 1/2 inch, green ends trimmed
5 cups brussel sprouts, tough stem ends trimmed, sliced thinly every 1/8 inch
3 cups cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
3 cloves garlic
juice of one lemon
4 cups kale, tough stems removed, coarsely chopped
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
4 cups vegetable broth
romano cheese

Boil well-salted water for pasta

In a separate sauce pan, bring the broth to a simmer then lower heat and add the kale.

While that is happening, bring a large, deep skillet with a cover--preferably cast iron--to a hair past medium heat and add oil.

Steam saute well-seasoned leeks and brussel sprouts in the skillet uncovering to stir occasionally.

When the veggies in the skillet start to brown and reduce in volume (3-4 minutes) add the mushrooms and continue cooking as before.

Add the pasta to the boiling water after the mushrooms go in the skillet.

A couple minutes before the pasta is done, lower the heat a bit and press the garlic into the skillet, stirring frequently to combine and prevent the garlic from burning.

Add the lemon juice to the skillet.

Because WW focuses a lot on portion control, I measured out each of our bowls with 1/2 cup of cooked pasta at a time (1 cup = 5 points), added veggies from the skillet and broth with kale from the sauce pan, and topped with a 1/2 oz. of romano cheese (=2 points). Two servings left me feeling very satisfied (and two meals worth of leftovers to boot thanks to smaller portion consumption on my part).

The best part is that I had enough points left over to eat 1/2 cup of Cobb Hill Vanilla Frozen Yogurt for dessert. 1/2 cup doesn't sound like much, but you'd be surprised. WW notwithstanding, this is the first but certainly not the last time that I will save some of my points for frozen treats from Cobb Hill.

Update Sunday 1:48 a.m.
Day 6 on WW.  We had a dinner party last night with prosecco, wine, duckfat, fried chicken livers in a tart with eggs and cheese, risotto, and more Cobb Hill fro-yo among other delights.  I also ate 4 late-night slices at PP2 and drank a touch of tequila.  In short, I very likely racked up a WW points deficit that even the Greek government would be proud of. It was worth it.  Stay tuned for more details...