I love my puffer!

I'm feeling very much more like myself again now. I've been 100% since my little mishap, and I sneaked on the scale today and it made me very happy. I won't share yet since it's not official until Sunday, but it looks like I may cross that milestone this week after all! We'll have to wait and see!

I FINALLY got my Xpress Redi-Set-Go and I love it! It's so useful. I especially love the puff pan that comes with it!

I've found that one of the biggest psychological hurdles to successful weight loss is that when you try to practice portion control, a "normal" portion looks SO SMALL. Those of you who are already on Nutrisystem, do you remember when you opened your first package and saw the size of the entree? It looked pathetically small- how could it possibly be intended as a meal? When you bulk up an entree with veggies or use other tricks to make the meal look larger (cutting the pizza crusts in half to make two thin ones, anyone?), it is psychologically more fulfilling.

The pancake puff pan lets you make LOTS of little tiny pancakes that you can stuff with almost anything you can imagine. Instead of having two medium size pancakes, you can have nine or ten little ones that fill your entire plate! Much more satisfying, in my opinion. I am sure this pan is going to be getting a lot of use to stay tuned for lots of recipes using the NS pancake mix!

Pancake Mix (Breakfast):



Sorry, there were more of them but I started eating them before I thought to cut one open so you could see what was inside! The recipe made eight large stuffed puffs.

Ham and Cheese Stuffed Puffs:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Pancake Mix
2 tbsp Egg Beaters
1/4 cup water (plus a little extra)
1/2 tsp baking powder
pepper to taste
1 oz fat free ham
1 low fat marble string cheese

Spray and preheat your puff pan. Cut the ham and cheese into 8 pieces and wrap the ham around the cheese. In a small bowl, mix together the other ingredients, adding water slowly until the batter is the right consistency (not too runny but you definitely don't want thick). Spoon a small amount of batter into each puff well and place a ham/cheese wrap inside each one. Top with more batter to cover. If you're using the Redi Set Go, you really don't have to flip them if you don't want to (although one side is a little deformed), they can just bake until they are done (about ten minutes). If you are using a stovetop puff pan, you'll need to flip them over with a stick or small spoon when the bottom is set and the top is still gooey. This can take some practice! Enjoy them hot right out of the pan while the cheese is hot and melty (it had already started to cool in the photo).

This was a delicious and filling breakfast! Note that you still need to add a half dairy serving to compensate for not putting the milk in the pancake mix.


Flex Meals (Lunch):



These puffs were a delicious treat! I made some for my husband afterwards (although with a "real" hot dog.

Corn Dog Puffs:

2 tbsp yellow corn meal (not muffin mix or anything like that)
4 tbsp whole wheat flour (if you have soy flour use 2 tbsp of that plus 2 tbsp flour)
1/2 tbsp Splenda
1/2 tsp baking powder
2 fat free veggie hot dogs (up to 100 calories)
butter extract
salt, pepper to taste
1/4 cup water

Cut up the hot dogs into 9 small pieces- if you have extra, eat the rest while you're making them. Preheat and spray your puff pan. Mix together all the other ingredients, adding the water slowly. Fill the puff pan, putting one piece of hot dog in each well and topping with more batter. Serve hot with your favourite hot dog toppings- I like ketchup and relish, my husband had his with mustard.