{Crock-Pot} BBQ Pulled Chicken/Pork Sandwiches WW Friendly

I'm hoping to have my wedding pictures in the next few days .. Then I'll post!

Until then: This is one of my FAVORITE crock pot recipes and Weight Watcher friendly! Like I said the other day, I'm trying to get back on track. Having healthy and easy recipes handy is key!

It's fast, easy and we always have the stuff in to make it. When we make it, we use chicken - but if you want to make it with pork you totally can. Obviously, I can't take credit for coming up with this recipe ... it's just one that's a favorite around here.

 

 Step 1 - get this packet ... yummmmm

Step 2 - Mix together:

1/2 c. ketchup
1/2 c. packed brown sugar

1/3 c. apple cider vinegar

1 c. water 

BBQ seasoning packet

Place 3 lbs of chicken into the crock pot ... (pictured is not the full amount of chicken)
Pour the mix above over the chicken and cook on low for 8 hours.

Remove the chicken breasts, thicken sauce with cornstarch.
Place chicken back into the crock pot and shred.

We eat them on Kroger slider buns ... 2 points each or just in a bowl by itself.

I count the sauce and chicken as about 1 point per ounce because it makes so much, when you divide it out it's hardly any points at all.

For more healthy / Weight Watcher friendly recipes click here

Let me know what you think! :)

Apple, Grape and Pudding Dessert

Hey!! I thought I'd take a break from all the wedding prep talk and get you a recipe. Whoever "you" are ;)

During the wedding planning, I was very busy and didn't have as much self control as normal. I actually gained 7 lbs and am exactly where I started in January. I've had a hard time struggling with this, but I'm here and I need to do something about it.

That being said ...

Here is one of my favorite zero point dessert / snacks!

 I didn't really know what the name of it is ...

First you make sugar free pudding - I use pistachio. I'm sure you could use vanilla, a fruit flavor or even chocolate. I make mine with fat free half and half because it is zero points and you can't taste the difference. We sub milk out for fat free half and half when it's mixed with things.

 Core an apple (mine is honey crisp), and then cut up into bite size pieces.

 I cut my grapes in half so they are closer to "bite size".

Mix all together!

It's really yummy like this and this is how I keep it in the fridge. Then if I have points left for the day, I can add a measured out miniature Snickers bar, or mini chocolate chips or caramel sauce into my own serving. {this way you can change it up!!}

Sound yummy? I think so! Do you have a favorite zero point snack / dessert?? Let me know!

For more healthy / Weight Watcher friendly recipes click here

Couple Shower Edition

Our weekend continued ... So our next shower was that same weekend! Sunday!

Friday was my *fabulous* birthday and I was surprised by my fiance coming home, you can read about that HERE. Saturday was our friends and family shower and Sunday was our couples shower with our church family! We have SO many people in our lives to be thankful for .. truly.

Sunday morning we woke up and got ready for another shower and headed over! It was a couples shower, like I said with all our church family couples .. and it was themed Beauty and The Beast! You can see the awesome invite HERE in this post.

We had such a wonderful time ... all the small details were VERY Beauty and the Beast .. I'll let the pictures do the talking!

Again ... he's just a stud.

Adorable ...

Friends and family digging in on brunch! YUM! Look close, you'll see Lumiere .. the candelabra!

That's the MAGIC ROSE from Beauty and the Beast of course ...

Chip and Mrs. Pot's cookies!

Tale as old as time ... All the couples brought their wedding pictures and albums!
They were SO much fun to look through!!

Me and my man .. digging into gifts!

We love our momma's!

Last but absolutely not least ... our amazing hosts! Rick & Martha

Next post ... San Diego honeymoon!!

Wedding Shower Edition

I'm a married lady!
Yes! You read that right! Jeff got approved to come home for the weekend of our wedding!!!!

The date was on ... 

Warning ahead of time: Just like a "Tara" post .. theres a lot of pics ahead!

We got married! That's why I've been "gone" for another month!

I married my best friend and planned a wedding for 245 people in 4 short weeks!

But let me start at the beginning. After finding out our wedding date would ACTUALLY HAPPEN ... Friday March 28th was my 27th birthday! I had a great day filled with flowers and babies and it was just a really nice day working at home. I even had a chiropractor appointment to get my back adjusted that morning.

Note: You're officially 27 years old when you ask for a back adjustment for your birthday .. are you serious?! :) Yep ...

My cousins, friends, aunts and uncle were coming over to the house for dinner to celebrate and to do the "wedding shower prep". Saturday the 29th was our wedding shower. Jeff was texting me all week saying that he was sick about it and couldn't believe that he wasn't going to be here for our showers and my birthday. 

On the evening of my birthday, before all my family got here ... he text me and asked if my present had gotten here yet and that he had sent it by overnight airmail. I told him that I didn't get anything and that I didn't know he sent me something! I asked him if he sent it by UPS and he said he "didn't know". Clearly I thought this was strange.

I was cleaning up the kitchen in the back of the house a little while later and my dad called me into the front. He said "Tara, your present is here!" and I heard talking at the front door. From across the house, I actually thought it was my cousin. I was wondering what he was doing, but it was my birthday and thought maybe he stopped by. Then as I walked through the house it hit me.

I said outloud "Oh my God, he's here." and brought my hands to my face and started crying before I could even see him in the front hall. It was the craziest surprise ever and I can't even believe he pulled it off. Apparently EVERYONE knew but me!! 

Best birthday surprise ever ... my fiance!

So after I stopped crying tears of joy .. literally ... everyone came over! We had dinner (THANKS MOM!!) and got to work on all the shower prep! Below, we are putting together water bottle labels that said "Tara and Jeff April 12th" that my cousin designed (adorable!)

We also had other things to do like tying silverware together, drinking wine and laughing a lot!

and HERE is one of the brunch masterminds .. my Uncle Steve! The poor guy flew into town (from Florida), hardly ate dinner and got to work in the kitchen making all the food for our shower! He and my mom were in the kitchen all night cooking and baking ... I wish smell-o-vision was real ... you should have been there.

 Saturday was our friends and family ladies shower ... I'll just share a few pics:

Decor by my cousin Sara!

Saying Grace and thanking everyone for coming!

My Aunt Terri made everyone a bookmark with a baseball poem of life on it! Beautiful .. and So "us" !

Oh .. my .. goodness ...!!

Seriously, my (then) fiance is a STUD!

Some of the beautiful ladies who threw us the shower!

 

As promised .. the final product!


More later! I have a whole other wedding shower to tell you about ... not to mention the wedding and our weekend honeymoon get away in California!