CHEESE please!

I don't drink milk. I've always hated the way it tastes. I won't even use it with cereal (actually, I don't eat cereal anyway, who am I kidding?). I don't mind cooking with it but straight milk? Ugh. So for calcium, cheese has always been my go-to. Unfortunately good cheese = fat. I miss it! I still try to eat cheese daily but nothing like it used to be.

Here are two of my favourite cheesy ways to enjoy your vegetables!

Vegetable Ideas:



I used to love jalapeno cheese poppers- mmm, deep fried cheese with a little spice! Jalapenos are vegetables though, and there are still ways to enjoy them on plan!

Note: Before you start making these, I highly recommend wearing gloves. The first time I made them, I didn't, and I couldn't get the spice off my hands no matter how many times I washed them- it took days. And it hurt any time I touched my eyes! Not to mention I could taste the spice on anything I touched. It's definitely not worth the hassle so now I always wear gloves.

Jalapeno Cheese Poppers:

4 jalapeno peppers
2 tbsp Philadelphia Ultra Low Fat cream cheese
1 tbsp Egg Beaters
1 tbsp breadcrumbs

Cut the tops off the jalapeno peppers and make a slit down one side. Scoop out the seeds and veins as best you can. Put 1/2 tbsp of cream cheese inside each pepper. Dip the peppers in the Egg Beaters and then in the breadcrumbs. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes or until the cheese is leaking out all over your pan. Serve with salsa as a dipping sauce if desired. I count this as a veggie and free foods since you use so little of the egg and breadcrumbs, but if you use mozzerella I'd count it as a veggie and a dairy serving.

These are really yummy! If you have extra dairy remaining you can mix a little shredded mozzerella in with the cream cheese but you really don't need it. Personally, I'd rather save mine for the next recipe!


Cheese Sauce:



If you're like me, one of your favourite ways to eat veggies with dinner was smothered in cheese sauce. I had to come up with an NS friendly way to recreate this! It doesn't have the same rich flavour or heavy texture but it certainly livens up steamed veggies a little.

1/4 cup milk
1 tsp flour
1 tsp butter or olive oil
3/4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
garlic
Italian spices

Melt the butter in a saucepan and stir in the flour and garlic. Slowly add in the milk and Italian spices. When the mixture is thick and smooth, add in the cheese and stir until well blended. Serve hot over your favourite steamed veggies- I like it especially with broccoli, cauliflower, or green beans. Counts as a fat, dairy, and free foods.

Just a quick note that this is one of my favourite meals. I made the Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes as indicated on the package, and fried a salmon burger in PAM spray (protein serving). I saved a carb serving to eat it on a bun and used a wedge of Laughing Cow Light as a free food, sprinkled with dill and topped with green onions. Then I have my vegetables with cheese sauce. This looks exactly like a meal I would have had pre-NS and it's so filling and delicious!

Another Old Favourite

When I was at the farmer's market, I found some beautiful shiitake mushrooms and I had to buy them. I just had to find a good way to prepare them! If you haven't had shiitake mushrooms before, they have a very strong, distinctive flavour that might be a bit startling if you're only used to the plain white mushrooms that are normally sold in bulk at the grocery store. I find their flavour to be rich and delicious.

I was talking to a friend about all the produce I bought and he suggested that I make mushroom soup. I love, love, love Campbell's Cream of Mushroom soup. So rich and yummy! However, I don't love all the fat and sodium in each serving! I couldn't even imagine it would be possible to make a good mushroom soup Nutrisystem friendly, but I laughed and said I'd look for a recipe. Much to my surprise, I found one that is going to make me regret that it's so difficult to find shiitake mushrooms! (Fortunately you can substitute with cremini mushrooms if you can't find anything else). Believe it or not, this soup meets the stats for a dairy/protein serving and still helps you get those veggies in!

Dairy/Protein Ideas:



Lightened-Up Cream of Mushroom Soup:

1/2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/4 onion, chopped
1 1/2 cups shiitake mushrooms or cremini mushrooms, coarsely chopped
1 1/2 cloves, minced
1/8 tsp dried thyme
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp pepper
2 tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups chicken broth or vegetable broth
2 tsp lemon juice
1/4 cup milk
diced chopped green onions


Heat the olive oil in a pan and saute the spices, garlic, onion, and mushroom until the liquid has disappeared (about 7 minutes). Sprinkle the flour in and stir well, and then pour in the broth and lemon juice. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for about ten minutes. Add the milk and stir until well blended. Serve hot and garnish with green onions. Makes 2 servings.

Wow. I was floored by how rich and flavourful this soup was! I was expecting it to be rather bland but it was amazing. My husband is a big mushroom fan and he really enjoyed it- it doesn't taste like "diet" soup at all. Actually, it tasted like a fine soup from a nice restaurant. I will definitely be making this again and again!

The nutritional stats for this recipe per serving are 111 calories, 7g of protein, 2g of fat, and 572mg of sodium. Of course, your choice of ingredients may vary the stats a little so keep that in mind! Chicken broth tends to make the protein higher than veggie broth.


Vegetable Ideas:



One thing I do miss is French fries. Unfortunately, potatoes are not a low glycemic index carb, so they do tend to be limited on the Nutrisystem program. However, there are ways to try and kick the craving!

Zucchini Fries:

1 zucchini, chopped into French fry-like pieces
1 tbsp Egg Beaters
1 tbsp breadcrumbs

Dip the zucchini spears into the Egg Beaters and then toss them in a Tupperware container with the breadcrumbs and shake until they are well coated. Bake for 20-30 min (depending how crispy you like them!) and enjoy them plain or with sauce. I like to dip them in my Big Mac sauce recipe- 2 tbsp light mayo, 1 tbsp FF 1000 Island dressing, 1 tbsp relish. Yum! These are really good on the side with the Flame Broiled Beef Patty or the Grilled Chicken Breast.

Since the amount of Egg Beaters and breadcrumbs used are negligible, just count them as a free food and enjoy your veggies!

A New Take On An Old Favourite

There are some meals which just feel like comfort food. My family background is Hungarian, and a meal I can remember having at my grandmother's from before I can see over the table was stuffed peppers. My grandmother was a wonderful cook who made everything from scratch and just the memory of her cooking is enough to make me hungry! She passed away in 1991 and I still miss her very much.

Today, I thought I'd set out to recreate her meal as best I could in a way that was Nutrisystem friendly and salad free!

Sloppy Joe Mix (Dinner):


Stuffed Pepper:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Sloppy Joe Mix
8oz water
diced onions
Aylmer Diced Chili Tomatoes, to taste
1 large green bell pepper, hollowed out
1 oz shredded cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a pan with PAM cooking spray (or use your favourite fat serving) and sautee the onions and chili tomatoes until fragrant. Add the water and sloppy joe mix and stir. Continue stirring occasionally until mixture is thick. Pour meat mixture into the bell pepper and top with cheese. Bake until it is gooey and melty, about ten minutes.

You're supposed to add a carb with this entree but I decided to have it earlier in the day and have the meal without. I was so full when I finished that I was glad I didn't save it. My grandmother used to put rice in her stuffed peppers so next time I may try putting in 1/3 cup brown rice in the mixture to see how that is but I am sure I'll need two peppers since the meat mixture was overflowing into the pan! If you use cooking spray, don't forget to have your fat serving at another point in the day. Between the onions and the peppers, you won't need salad with this meal!


Pancake Mix (Breakfast):


It's nice that breakfasts and desserts are interchangeable because I wanted to use some of the fresh mangos that I bought at the farmer's market and this cake really seems to be more of a dessert item than a breakfast item. Either way- it's a decadent treat!

Mango Almond Cake:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Pancake Mix
1/4 cup milk
2 tbsp plain Greek yogurt
1/2 cup chopped mango
6 sliced almonds, toasted
2 tsp Splenda Brown Sugar
2 tsp Splenda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tbsp almond extract
1 tsp butter extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. If you have to toast your own almonds, just put them in a saucepan over medium heat (they don't need spray or anything) and cook them until they're fragrant and turn them over.

Mix everything but the almonds together in a bowl (reserve 6 long thin strips of mango for garnish). Spray a baking dish with cooking spray and pour the batter into the dish. It will be very thick. Arrange the six pieces of mango on top like a tropical flower and hope they don't fall into the cake like some of mine did! Decorate with the toasted almonds and bake for 20-25 minutes.

I know this doesn't have anything to do with vegetables but I made it tonight for dessert and it's so yummy that I'm making one for tomorrow, too! It counts as breakfast or dessert plus a fruit serving and a fat serving.

Salad Free Week at Stomach Rumblings Continues!

I'm really enjoying trying as many new ways as possible to fix my veggies so that I can avoid salads. As you have probably seen if you've read my back posts, I try to cook my veggies with the entree as often as possible. It makes a bigger meal, plus the entree and the veggies both taste better as a result!

Here's a dinner recipe that I got from the Nutrisystem Recipe Club. I had some doubt about it at first- I've never been crazy about eggplant and the Meatloaf & Mashed Potatoes but I figured in the spirit of Salad Free Week I would give them a try! I did make a couple of modifications- here is the recipe the way I prepared it. It's fairly labour intensive but worth trying!

Meatloaf & Tomato Sauce with Mashed Potatoes (Dinner):


Eggplant Rollatini:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Meatloaf & Tomato Sauce with Mashed Potatoes
7 thin slices of eggplant
4 tbsp ricotta cheese
1/2 cup Aylmer Accents Chili Tomatoes
diced onion
sprinkle of mozzarella cheese
Italian seasoning
chives

Take the eggplant, cut off the top and bottom, and attempt to cut it into thin slices. Realize that the first few chunks you've hacked off are way too thick. Set them aside and try again. Start cutting a slice and then notice it is so thin that it falls apart. Swear, hope you'll have enough eggplant, and try again. Eventually we hope you'll have seven reasonable slices of eggplant, although in my case they were definitely not uniform in size and some parts got crispy from being overcooked and some parts were really thick and mushy.

Anyway- take your eggplant slices and put them on a baking tray that's been sprayed with PAM. Arrange the slices in a single row on the tray and spray the tops and add Italian seasoning. Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425 depending on how thick your slices are, then set aside and allow to cool.

Open the Meatloaf entree and scoop out the meat and mashed potatoes and place in a bowl- try to leave as much of the sauce as possible in the tray. Add the ricotta cheese and chives and mash with a fork until smooth. Spoon the filling on top of the eggplant slices and roll them up.

Spoon a little tomato juice into a glass baking dish and arrange the eggplant rolls seam side down in the dish. Top with the remaining meatloaf sauce, onions, and tomatoes. Add the cheese and bake for 20 minutes or until the cheese is all gooey and melty.

I had to take the photo in the pan because I was sure I couldn't scoop them onto my plate and have them look as pretty! Believe it or not, that is ONE serving. It's an enormous amount of food- much more so than you get in the little tray! I was stuffed when I finished eating and surprisingly, I really enjoyed the meal.


Flex Meals (Lunch):

I've really been enjoying portabello mushrooms lately. They are so rich and hearty and you can stuff them with just about anything and they'll taste delicious. It's also refreshingly simple!


Lobster Stuffed Mushrooms:


3 large portabello mushrooms, insides scooped out
4oz chopped lobster meat (or crab if you prefer)
1 wedge light Laughing Cow Herb & Garlic cheese
2 tbsp Philadelphia Ultra Low Fat Herb & Garlic cream cheese
2 tbsp fat free sour cream
diced green onion
garlic
1oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Place the mushrooms on a baking tray. Combine remaining ingredients in a food processor and pulse until blended (but not liquid!). Spoon into the mushrooms and top with cheese. Bake until the cheese is gooey and enjoy!

This counts as lunch + veggies + dairy/protein + free food, minus the carb. I am betting you won't miss it though- I couldn't eat another bite after finishing the mushrooms. Enjoy that carb serving elsewhere in your day- I had it with my afternoon snack to make a sandwich with my sliced chicken. Yum!

Motivation

All along, I've been resisting exercise. I hate exercise. I get tired and sweaty and out of breath. Well, I don't really hate exercise. I always feel great after I do it but every single time I have to force myself to get started. What I've been doing since the weather is nice is taking my son for a 1-2 hour walk every day. That's a start, but it's not really what I should be doing. I have a perfectly good elliptical machine in my basement, after all!

Today I set a goal for myself- 5 days a week, I am going to go on the elliptical after I walk my son. The walk can be my warmup! I'm not sure how long I can keep it up but I am going to try. And true to form- I did feel great afterwards. This is good for me- I just have to keep doing it.

Another thing I wanted to share with you is, if you've been losing weight and your clothes don't fit- BUY NEW CLOTHES. I was wearing clothes that were practically falling off because I didn't want to spend the money on new things since I still have a lot more weight to lose.

Like I said in my weigh in post, I did buy myself two pairs of jeans on the weekend. For the first time, I don't feel like a fatty when I'm walking around. I feel like I look good. I feel like I can celebrate my accomplishments. It was such a positive experience for me to wear clothes that fit again that it was worth every penny I spent, even if I only wear them for a few months (I hope!). So do it- reward yourself. Buy something nice and flattering that makes you feel good about yourself- you've earned it.

Who else isn't a veggie lover?

Come on now, raise your hands! I can't be the only one. For me, salad is the thing I usually don't enjoy. Salad is diet food, right? Who wants to eat diet food? Every once in a while, a nice salad will hit the spot but it's definitely not something I want to eat every day. It can get frustrating when I read on the Nutrisystem boards and everyone just says, Oh, have a salad. Well, what if you don't WANT salad?

There are other ways to eat vegetables that taste surprisingly good- I promise! I'm going to try and devote some time over the next few weeks to sharing my favourite ways to prepare vegetables that are so yummy, you will actually want to eat them!


Flex Meals (Dinner):

Turkey Florentine Meatballs with Spaghetti:


I used to make these meatballs all the time, and the recipe only required a slight modification to make it an NS-friendly dinner swap.

4oz lean ground turkey
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp Egg Beaters
chopped green onion and spinach
mashed garlic
Italian seasonings

1 carb serving worth of pasta
1/2 cup tomato sauce

Mix all the meatball ingredients together and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Prepare the pasta as directed, drain, and put on plate. Heat up pasta sauce and add sauce and meatballs. Top with Parmesan cheese if desired.

This is a surprisingly large serving and I really enjoyed this meal. I also conquered my desire for seconds when I'm not actually hungry, which I'm sure added up to a lot of weight in the past! I only made one serving of pasta but a huge batch of meatballs and I did resist the urge to go back for more- I really didn't need them. It definitely hit the spot for a nice Italian pasta meal (and good as the NS sauce is- mine is better!)



Meatball Sub:


Oh, I used to love these before I started Nutrisystem, except I'd use the giant sub buns and serve it with French fries. I was a little nervous that I'd still be hungry after eating this since it's so much less than I was used to, but I was honestly stuffed afterwards, and very satisfied! It's so nice to be able to eat my old favourites.

1 small whole wheat hot dog bun
3 turkey meatballs (from recipe above- I made them all 1oz size for easy calculation- yes, I did weigh each one before cooking!)
2 tbsp tomato sauce
1/2 oz shredded cheese
chopped onions and green peppers

Warm the meatballs and tomato sauce, and pour them onto the split hot dog roll. Top with veggies and cheese, and bake in the oven until crispy. Yum!


On the side, I made one of my go-to Italian side dishes- baked tomatoes and onions. I chopped up a tomato and a few slices of onion into little pieces and poured 1 tbsp Italian dressing over top (you really don't need any more!). I also stirred in a little garlic powder and Italian herbs and baked them along with the sandwich. So yummy! I've also made this recipe with 1 tsp olive oil instead of the dressing for variety when I have a fat serving to spare.


Vegetable Ideas:

Portabello Mushroom Pizzas


If you like pizza, you have to run out and buy yourself some portabello mushroom caps because it is amazing. I still can't believe it's legal, but it is!

Scoop out the centres of the mushrooms and place them on a baking tray. Top with low sodium pizza sauce (or plain crushed tomatoes), turkey pepperoni, your favourite veggies (I wouldn't add more mushroom though!) and shredded cheese. Bake them for 10-15 minutes or until the cheese is all melty and gooey. Be careful when you scoop them up with a spatula because the mushrooms get very soft and the toppings will really slide around if you're not careful!

If you use 1/2 oz cheese and 1/2 serving of pepperoni, this counts as veggies and a Powerfuel serving. How can you beat pizza for a snack? If you do want it as a lunch entree though, remember to add a SmartCarb elsewhere to your day since this recipe does not have one.

Half a Year

I still have hopes of reaching my mini goal of 70lbs lost by October 2nd. This week certainly helped! I lost 3.4lbs to bring my total to 56.4! I just got my violet Nutribear in the mail and I'm more than halfway to my next one!

It's been 26 weeks since I started Nutrisystem- half a year. It really doesn't feel like it's been that long. I'm not sick of the food and I'm still enjoying coming up with new and creative ways to eat it. I thought that I'd get frustrated even ordering off the larger US menu, but I haven't (although I am still really hoping to find a way to try the Select frozen entrees and have emailed Nutrisystem about it).

I know I still have a lot of weight left to lose, but I finally feel like it's time to celebrate how far I've come. I've lost nearly 60lbs in half a year. If I had done nothing, I would be that much heavier (maybe more!). I think my son is heavy when I carry him around and he is only 21 lbs- how would I like to carry around three of him all the time???

I also had a Non Scale Victory on the weekend. My mom and I went to one of those little Japanese fast food places for lunch, and I was dying to have white rice with my meal. I love steamed sticky rice. I figured, eh, it's been 26 weeks, I can have white carbs just once. But then when I got there and ordered, I couldn't do it. I knew they had brown rice and I realized that I didn't want white rice enough to actually order it. I think the idea of it was better than actually having it. I ordered my meal with extra vegetables and a half serving of brown rice and I still left most of it. I felt really good after lunch!

Yesterday, I went to the store and bought myself new jeans that fit. You can't imagine how great it felt to put them on instead of wearing my old baggy ones!

Please lift your glass (of water- gotta get that in especially in the summer!) in a toast to how far we've all come- celebrate yourself, because you've earned it.