This ain't gone be no fun.

Ugh. Traci and I made a pact to start Weight Watchers Online today. We decided today because we had planned to have lunch yesterday after my haircut (oh my goodness it is SO cute!!!), and we wanted to be able to have a last indulgent meal before our time of self-denial began. So of course we ordered cheese fries and entrees and cheesecake--not to share--as our last hurrah.

I started out this morning not having signed up yet, but keeping points in mind anyway. I have no idea what points values are for anything; however, I know it's probably a better idea to have mango salsa for breakfast than a huge bowl of vanilla-almond granola. So I went for the salsa, super proud of myself for having something healthy in the fridge and for choosing it over something else. For lunch...I had leftover pizza. Here's my rationale: I have leftover pizza in the fridge. I do not like to waste food. I only had two pieces instead of the usual three. I can be vigilant the rest of the day. I drink skim milk all the time anyway.

I went to the website and signed up, then started adding in my foods for the points tracker system thing (if you aren't familiar with the system, each food has points assigned to it according to its nutritive value, and you only get so many points per day). Mango salsa? Approximately 2. Skim milk? 3.5 for my serving size. [Wait, 3.5 points?! I know it has calories and sugar and stuff, but it's SKIM MILK!] The Meats pizza? 8 points. FOR ONE PIECE. So here I am, trying to figure out what I can eat for dinner that will not use more than about 5 points. Clearly I will not be eating the ballpark food at the baseball game tonight.

If you're interested, though, I had a super-awesome and rather low-points (if I'd been counting then) dinner the other night. I made tuna steaks and mango salsa, and that's it. No rice or anything, even though that was originally the plan. It just so happened that I started making dinner around 9pm, so I didn't think rice would be time-wise.

Anyway, here's how to make that favoloso dinner:

Tuna Steaks: Wash your tuna steaks, sashimi grade if you want it to be really awesome (that just means you don't have to cook it through and it will keep the fish more tender). Heat up a little bit of olive oil in a pan, just enough to make things not stick. Salt one side of your tuna with sea salt and place that side down in the pan. Press your fingers into the fish, making the meat pull apart a tiny bit (please, not too hard--don't make your fish cry). Pour Pinot Grigio white wine over the tops of the fish, being sure that it collects a little in the crevasses you created. Salt the top with sea salt again, but not too much--remember you've already salted the other side. Cook uncovered on medium heat until the fish is cooked about halfway through. You can look on the sides of the fish or peek down into the middle to gauge when you're at this point. Flip and cook, adding more Pinot Grigio if it starts to dry up. Do not overcook this; it will lose tenderness and dry out after it is cooked through, so pay attention and keep adding more wine if it needs it.

Mango Salsa: Other than the chopping, this is SUPER easy. Dice two mangoes being careful not to slice your thumb as I did. Dice one happily firm cucumber (I like each piece to be an eighth of a slice) and dump it in with the mangoes. Dice half of a medium sweet onion, or a whole small one, and add it in. Chop up a good amount of cilantro (I LOOOOOOVE cilantro, so I probably added a little more than most would choose) and add in along with a little bit of sugar. Star it up real good (which really means stir it up until well mixed, but I've been affected by where I live) and serve on top of the tuna or as a side dish of sorts.

The Pinot Grigio from the tuna recipe is also a nice pairing with the meal. It isn't too dry or too sweet, but has a nice crisp fruitiness that goes well with most types of seafood (though you shouldn't cook many of them in the wine because it changes their flavor too much) and pairs extremely well with the fruit salsa. The salsa is a welcome companion to many light meats as well, including seafood, chicken and sometimes pork.

Happy eating (unless you're also on a diet)!!