Fish

I love seafood- it's always been one of my favourite things to eat. The best part is that seafood is generally pretty healthy- it's just the things we do to it that make it awful! Unfortunately Nutrisystem doesn't offer much in the way of seafood, I expect because it just doesn't do well in a shelf stable format. But, the good news is that we can incorporate it into our meal plan as a dairy/protein serving, so you can eat it as frequently as you like! Recently I tried experimenting with a new salmon dish and I loved it, hopefully you will enjoy it too.

Creamy Dill Salmon Pasta:




Fettuccine Alfredo (Lunch):

1 pkg Nutrisystem Fettuccine Alfredo
1 light wedge of Laughing Cow cheese
1 dairy/protein serving worth of salmon (I use Compliments Balance Wild Pacific Salmon Burgers)
chopped tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, and asparagus
dill paste

Prepare the Fettuccine Alfredo as directed and set aside. In a pan sprayed with PAM, cook the salmon until it turns pink and cut it into small pieces. Add the vegetables to the pan and cook for 5 minutes over medium heat with the Laughing Cow cheese wedge. Pour the fettuccine noodles into the pan and add the dill paste, and cook until the flavours blend. Enjoy! This counts as a complete lunch plus a free food.

For my spices, I often use Gourmet Garden. It comes in a paste form in a little squeezy tube. I find that this format blends much better into a dish than dried herbs, and the flavour is stronger. I would definitely recommend giving these a try to add a little more taste to your meals. I like the Italian blend on the Thick Crust Pizza, and I'll share some more recipes with these soon.

Disclosure: This post was written by me and was not edited by anyone. The opinions expressed in this post are entirely my own and have not been influenced in any way. Nutrisystem Canada is providing their food and program to me free of charge for my weekly updates. I was not compensated for writing this post.

If you're hungry and you know it...

Occasionally I've been having trouble with being hungry again. I know it's not helping that I'm not getting enough sleep, because when I'm tired, my body has stronger urges to eat so I have enough energy to make it through the day. I also saw an article in Men's Health that said people gained 55% more weight in their abdomen when they got fewer than six hours of sleep at night. I'll really be happy when my son starts to sleep through the night! He'll do it when he's ready but I hope it will be soon.

So, to alleviate my hunger pangs, I started thinking of more creative ways to use my dairy/protein servings. I miss soups, which are usually very high in fat and sodium, so I found a way to make one of my favourites NS friendly. Nutrisystem has several Asian inspired entrees, and this would be a perfect appetizer to go along with one or just as a yummy snack during the day.


Egg Drop Soup (Powerfuel):


2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 egg
1 chopped green onion
1 tsp cornstarch blended with cold water until smooth
1 drop dark soy sauce (optional)

Heat the chicken broth until boiling on the stove, then stir in the cornstarch and allow soup to thicken. Crack your egg in a bowl and stir gently with a fork but no need to blend. Pour the egg into the broth and stir. Turn down the heat and let the soup simmer for a few minutes before pouring it into a bowl and topping with green onions. If desired, add a tiny bit of dark soy sauce- that stuff is powerful so you really don't need much! This counts as a Powerfuel plus free foods. It is packed with protein and low calorie so it will definitely curb those hunger pangs, not to mention being so quick and easy to make.

Orange Chicken Breast with Vegetables & Rice (Dinner):


The soup was delicious as an appetizer for this meal, but I wasn't really a big fan of the orange chicken. Unlike most NS rice entrees, though, there was lots of it in this meal which was nice. I just didn't really care for the sauce. It was filling and edible but not one of my favourite meals.


Fettuccine Alfredo (Lunch):


With all the other yummy lunches out there, I've been kind of avoiding the 9 fettuccine alfredos I have sitting in my cupboard. I really liked this at first but I've found so many meals I like better that this one had kind of fallen by the wayside. Today I tried a recipe I found on the NS boards to jazz it up a bit and I think I'll be eating it a little more often again! It's not very photogenic but it sure tastes good!

Beef Stroganoff:

1 pkg Fettuccine Alfredo
1 pkg Flame Broiled Beef Patty
low sodium beef broth (to fill line)
2 tbsp fat free sour cream
cremini mushrooms, chopped
onions, chopped
garlic to taste
chives to taste
Parmesan cheese (optional)

Boil the beef broth and use it instead of water to make the Fettuccine Alfredo; cover and set aside. Rehydrate the Flame Broiled Beef Patty (I used the remaining broth for this as well) and set aside. Spray a pan with PAM and fry the mushrooms, onions, and garlic until tender. Dice the Beef Patty into little pieces and add to the vegetable pan. Pour in the sour cream and stir in the chives (I use freeze dried). Add the Fettuccine Alfredo and stir until blended; allow to thicken. If desired, top with a little Parmesan cheese and enjoy.

I'll admit that I used to really love Hamburger Helper Beef Stroganoff. Salty, fatty, but quick and delicious. This meal doesn't have quite the same flavour as the boxed one, but it has a delicious flavour all its own. I really enjoyed it.

Looking forward to the weekend!

I'm excited for the weekend, not only because I get away, but because I can prove to myself that I can still lose weight even in the "real world". I was inspired by last night's episode of the Biggest Loser, where the contestants went home for a week and some still posted record weight losses (I can't believe Sam lost 14lbs!), even with all the temptations of their favourite foods and friends. If they can do it, I can do it, too!

Here are some new meals that I have tried:

Italian Herb Flatbread Pizza (Dinner):


I think of the three pizzas, this is my favourite. It feels bigger than the Thick Crust Pizza, and I love the herbs and spices on the flatbread. I topped it with turkey pepperoni and my favourite veggies.


Chicken & Pasta in Cacciatore Sauce (Lunch):


I don't think I've ever had this before even prior to trying NS, so I am not really sure what it's supposed to taste like. I took a bite and it tasted like pasta in diced tomatoes with a little kick. I prefer my pasta dishes to be a little more sauce-y and less tomato-y so I wasn't really a fan of it but I think this may be personal preference because NS's pasta dishes tend to be quite good.


Red Beans and Rice with Sausage (Lunch):


Oh my goodness where has this dish been hiding and why haven't I tried it before??? It was absolutely amazing! There was actually a decent size serving of rice and several chunks of sausage. This was a nice, spicy dish that was loaded with flavour. As soon as I tried it, I immediately rearranged my auto delivery to get lots of these with my next order!


Chicken Tortilla Soup (Dinner):


This came as a freebie with my last box. If it hadn't, I would never have ordered it. With all the delicious things I can choose from for dinner, I can't imagine what would possess me to choose soup of all things. I decided to give it a try, since I like the lunch Black Bean Tortilla soup. I was disappointed with the bland flavour- it just didn't taste right to me. If it was a little zestier, I might have considered it again, but as it is, I really didn't care for it.


Creamy Caesar Salad Dressing with Diced Chicken (Lunch):


I figured this meal would be easy for days where I am having lunch at a restaurant so I could just order a plain garden salad and add my chicken and salad dressing to it and still be eating a NS lunch. I opened the chicken pouch and about six sad little pieces of chicken were inside. The dressing was definitely not creamy- it was more of a vinaigrette based Caesar. Again, I have nothing against that type of dressing, but why on earth would they label it creamy? I wish some of the descriptions were more accurate. Would I eat it again? Yes, because I do like the convenience and it's easier to eat out with it instead of a lunch bar. The dressing had a bit of zip to it and I like that. I did use my lunch protein to add some more chicken though and found myself surprisingly full afterwards. This won't be one of my favourites but I'm sure it will make an appearance from time to time.


Fettuccine Alfredo (Lunch):


I like this meal as is, but I decided to jazz it up a little. I added diced tomatoes, red onion, green pepper, and mushrooms and fried them in a pan with a little Pam spray while the fettuccine was being made. I chopped up a serving of chicken and added that as well. The result was a delicious, filling pasta dish that I really enjoyed.


I'll be doing my weekly weigh in post on Monday next week since I am not bringing my computer to Niagara Falls (the hotel charges a whopping $14.95 a day for internet access, ouch!), and hopefully I'll have more good news!