Great Southwest Favourites!

I've always thought that Nutrisystem did a great job with their Southwest style entrees, which is why I was so disappointed when I heard that they were discontinuing their Southwest Style Wrap as well.

Fortunately, with the help of Garlic Gold's new Southwest Style nuggets, I can still recreate one of my favourite dinners.


Mexican Pizza (Take Two) (Dinner):



1 pkg Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken breast (or 4oz boneless skinless chicken)
1 whole wheat pita or tortilla
1 tbsp Roasted Red Pepper hummus
1 tbsp taco sauce
1 oz shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp Garlic Gold oil
diced onions, green peppers, tomatoes
2 tsp Garlic Gold Southwest Style nuggets

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice up your chicken and fry it in the Garlic Gold oil until fully cooked. Add vegetables and taco sauce and cook until soft. Spread the hummus on your "crust" and add the chicken/veggie mix. Top with cheese and bake in the oven until crust is crispy and cheese is melted. Sprinkle Garlic Gold Southwest Style nuggets on top and enjoy while it's hot!

The nuggets give this a great zesty flavour and I really enjoyed my dinner. This counts as a dinner entree plus dairy/protein, fat, veggies (depends how much you use), and a free food.


I was chatting with a friend about the food served in a particular restaurant, and she told me how amazing their nachos are. That gave me such a craving so I decided to try and make my own.

Beefy Nachos (Dinner):



1 pkg Nutrisystem Beef Taco or Chili with Beans or Vegetarian Chili
1 pita or tortilla, cut into "chips"
Garlic Gold Sea Salt nuggets
PAM spray (or Garlic Gold oil in a mister)
sour cream, diced green onion (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the chips with PAM olive oil spray or else mist them with Garlic Gold oil. Sprinkle the Sea Salt nuggets on top. Bake for 5-7 minutes or until crispy and golden.

These are delicious and taste exactly like tortilla chips! They have that slight salty flavour, a great crisp, and a nice garlicky touch. Top the chips with your dinner entree of choice and use salsa or sour cream for dipping if desired.

The reason I like to use the (discontinued) Beef Taco for this is that I can simply throw away the taco shells and use this as my carb serving; for the other entrees you do need to add a carb to enjoy this. However, it's easy to eat a lunch like the tuna or chicken salad with a salad and skip the included carb to look forward to a decadent dinner like this one!

I really enjoy cooking with Garlic Gold. When I received an email asking me if I wanted to review their two newest seasoning nuggets (watch for a recipe soon using their new Herbs de Provence nuggets!) I said yes definitely, and asked if they could please send me some more oil as we've gone through the whole bottle already! My husband loves it- one of his favourite quick fixes is to add 1 tsp to his tomato soup and he says it tastes fantastic like that. I find their products add so much flavour.

Disclosure: I received this product mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. (And I really, really love Garlic Gold and plan to continue writing about their products!)

Non Scale Victory!

I was planning to share some more recipes with you today, but first I need you to help me celebrate a very exciting moment today.

I had a pair of jeans sitting in my closet from 2006- haven't worn them since. They're low rise and the smallest pants I own. Last night I threw in a load of laundry but somehow my usual black jeans failed to get in the washer and I couldn't wear them again without washing them because they were covered with my son's dinner from last night. We had plans to go out to dinner for a mystery shop, so I had to find something to wear!

I now weigh less than I have in longer than I remember, however my body has changed after having a baby, so I've been afraid to try on these pants. I didn't really have any other options today, though! So I decided to pull them out- I told myself the worst that could happen would be that I'd need to exercise harder.

And you know what's coming- THEY FIT! And comfortably so- it's not like I was struggling to zip them up. I am just over the moon. I can't wait until these "skinny" jeans become my fat jeans!

I've got some more great appetizers for your Super Bowl party- enjoy (in moderation)!

Dairy/Protein Ideas:



Cheesy Mozzerella Sticks:

2 light mozzerella string cheese sticks (50 calories each), cut in half
1 tbsp Egg Beaters
1 tbsp seasoned breadcrumbs

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Dip the cheese stick pieces into the Egg Beaters and then into the breadcrumbs. Bake for ten minutes or until they are cheesy and gooey. Serve immediately with salsa or your favourite FF dipping sauce.

These are AWESOME and taste exactly like the real thing! I highly recommend trying them for an afternoon snack. Count them as a dairy/protein and a free food.


Here's an appetizer platter I made at a recent party- it's not all Nutrisystem friendly but it's definitely lower calorie than the "original" versions.



You can see my Jalapeno Poppers at the bottom of the platter... next look at two of my favourites: Breaded Chicken Fingers and Faux Fried Shrimp.

Breaded Chicken Fingers & Faux Fried Shrimp:

1 pkg Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breast (or your own chicken breast, cut into strips)
large cocktail shrimp, tails on
Egg Beaters
seasoned bread crumbs

The Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breast really isn't a great choice for this recipe because the chicken flakes easily with a fork and is difficult to cut into strips- I'd recommend using your own. I didn't specify quantities otherwise because it depends how many people you want to serve.

Just like with the cheese sticks, dip the chicken strips and shrimp into the Egg Beaters and then into the breadcrumbs. Bake the chicken strips in the oven at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. I like the shrimp best either fried in 1 tsp olive oil per serving, or in PAM Olive Oil spray.

If you want to count this as a dairy/protein serving, you can use up to 100 calories of chicken or shrimp, and count the Egg Beaters and breadcrumbs as a free food. You can also choose to make this a dinner entree by using 3 lean protein servings (that would be 3oz of chicken or 6oz of shrimp), ~80 calories of breadcrumbs (so a thicker breading) as your low GI carb, and 2 tsp of olive oil to fry them in. You still need to add your 3 veggie servings to make it a complete dinner.

The last item really isn't great for Nutrisystem but your guests will probably enjoy it!

Pizza Rolls:

wonton wrappers
turkey pepperoni
shredded mozzerella cheese
pizza sauce
your favourite veggies, diced small

Squirt a little pizza sauce into each wrapper and add pepperoni, veggies, and cheese. Fold the wrappers tightly and tuck in the edges to make an egg roll shape. Heat olive oil in a pan- enough to cover the bottom of the pan. When the oil is hot, place the pizza rolls in a single layer in the pan. Turn when the wrapper starts to crisp up. When they are cooked on all sides, serve immediately.

Unfortunately, these really don't do well when baked or faux fried- they just don't have the same flavour and the wonton wrappers don't crisp up properly. As a result, these use too much oil to be eaten on Nutrisystem. I recommend serving these to your guests and sticking to the on plan snacks like chicken fingers and mozzerella sticks! And of course don't forget to put out a platter of fresh veggies and dip!

Spice & Everything Nice

I've heard a few people mention that while Nutrisystem is great, they do miss the taste of a good home cooked meal. Well, there is nothing stopping you from occasionally incorporating some homemade meals into your program; just follow Nutrisystem's Flex Guide.

Here are a few great meals that I've tried and my family has really enjoyed.


Flex Meals (Dinner):



Pineapple Chicken:

12oz chicken breast, diced (or 4 Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breasts)
2 2/3 cups pineapple tidbits in juice
1/2 Spanish onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
1 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 garlic clove, minced
1 1/3 cups brown rice, cooked
black pepper, paprika to taste

Put veggies in crock pot. Drain pineapple and reserve juice, putting tidbits in the pot. Add chicken to pot. Mix pineapple juice, mustard, soy sauce, garlic, pepper, and paprika, and pour over chicken. Stir well.

Cook on low for 7 to 9 hours, thicken with cornstarch/water mixture just prior to serving. Serves four.

This counts as a dinner entree + fruit, so you still need to have your vegetables and fat serving. One portion has 293 calories, 47g of carbs, 2g of fat, and 23g of protein.


And here's the recipe that I shared earlier from the book Alpine Weight Loss- I tried it for myself and it was delicious! I modified it slightly to fit into the Nutrisystem plan. If you enjoy Indian food I definitely recommend giving it a try.


Flex Meals (Dinner):



Chicken with Butternut Squash in Ginger-Curry Sauce:

3oz chicken breast (or Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breast) cut into chunks
3/4 cup butternut squash, cubed
2 tablespoons Indian curry
1 medium piece fresh ginger root
1 tsp olive oil
1/3 cup basmati rice, cooked

Sauté chicken in olive oil in a pan on medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add the squash, curry, and ginger, and cover. Cook for another 2 minutes, and then add 2 cups of water to the pan. Cook for another 3 minutes, and then lower the flame and let simmer until the squash gets soft and the water turns into its own ginger curry sauce. This takes quite a while so keep checking on it and stirring! Serve over the rice and enjoy!

I was thinking next time of adding some plain Greek yogurt to the curry and seeing how that turned out. It was not super spicy so if you want it hotter, make sure you add more curry powder to the entree. As the recipe is posted, it counts as a dinner entree + 2 veggie servings with 314 calories, 40g of carbs, 8g of fat, and 24g of protein.

Alpine Weight Loss has lots of great recipes like this one for you to try, so don't forget to enter the giveaway for a free copy of the book! The giveaway closes tomorrow at 10pm EST.

New Ideas

I haven't tried any more new entrees yet but I do have some neat takes on meals I've already had that I wanted to share!


Italian Herb Flatbread Pizza (Dinner):



One of the things I used to love about Italian meals was having garlic breadsticks. I wasn't a big Olive Garden fan but I loved their breadsticks! Then I got a great idea- I made myself "pasta" with a spaghetti squash and topped it with green peppers, onions, tomatoes, and mushrooms, and saved a dairy for 1oz of cheese. Then I took an Italian Herb Flatbread pizza and brushed it with 1 tsp olive oil and fresh crushed garlic before warming it up. It was SO good and really kicked that craving! Maybe next time I will make dipping sauce with the oil and balsamic vinegar, or perhaps pesto. It's nice to have something a little different.

Keep in mind that the dieticians told me that the sauce and cheese are about 45 calories each. If you do track calories and choose to skip them, note that the entree will be 90 calories short. You could also use the cheese on the breadsticks if you wanted to, or on top of the pasta.


BBQ Sauce with Pork Wrap (Dinner):



This was just a quick fix- I used to make slow cooker BBQ pork with an Asian twist using hoisin sauce and ginger, among other items. I added a little diced ginger to the pork sauce while I was cooking it with peppers and onions, and then I put it on the wrap with a handful of broccoli slaw sprinkled with Asian Rice Wine Vinegar. It gave it a really great flavour and I loved the crunch- definitely more filling.


Grilled Chicken Breast (Dinner):



I'd written before about my Chicken Pizziola sandwich, and now I finally have a somewhat squished (since I toasted it in my Redi Set Go) photo to share with you. It is really good and definitely hits that craving.


Pancake Mix (Breakfast):



I really love my puff pan! On a suggestion from a commenter here, I tried my Cheesy Egg and Bacon biscuits with sausage instead of bacon, and I decided to make them puffs instead. As usual, the recipe made twice as many as are pictured but I get hungry so I usually eat the first batch! I really enjoyed this and it gave me an idea for another breakfast that I'm going to have to try soon. Just be careful not to overfill the wells since you still need to put the Egg Beaters on top and they'll spill out when the puffs rise if the puff well is too full- you can see mine were overfull.


Cinnamon Bun (Breakfast):



This looks really messy- I am probably not going to bother taking photos when I use Greek yogurt as a base because it's just not appealing looking.

I got this idea off the Nutrisystem boards. I cut up the Cinnamon Bun into little pieces and mixed them into a dairy serving of vanilla Greek yogurt and added a fruit serving of raisins, cinnamon, and Splenda Brown Sugar. It was really filling and I enjoyed it.


Chocolate Chip Scone (Breakfast):

No photo since it lacked visual appeal, but it was good enough to share! I cut the scone into little cubes and mixed it into vanilla Greek yogurt with a fruit serving of strawberries. There was so much breakfast and I loved the way it was creamy with chocolate and strawberry- a winning combination. And it seemed like so much!

It's made of WHAT?

OK, I saw this recipe kicking around on the NS boards for quite some time, but I honestly didn't believe it. How can you make cauliflower taste like pizza or bread sticks? I'm a carb addict myself and I really like my bread!

Finally, I decided to buy a head of cauliflower, with the intention of giving it a try. It's been sitting in my fridge for about a week and I've been giving it the side eye. It was starting to go a bit brown so I figured it was now or never, so without further ado...

Flex Meals (Dinner):



1 cup riced cauliflower
3 tbsp + 2 tsp Egg Beaters (or 1 egg)
1/2 cup shredded fat free mozzerella cheese
oregano, basil, garlic to taste

I tried to save time and ran my (raw) cauliflower through the food processor instead of grating it. Well, it got awfully small and looked more like large powder bits than rice, so I may do it the hard way for recipes where you actually substitute it for real rice, but it was fine for this one. I put the riced cauliflower into my silicone steamer for 2 minutes and then poured it into a mixing bowl. Add all the other ingredients and blend well. Note that this stuff sticks like crazy to whatever you put it in- I put a sheet of tinfoil over my baking tray but the edges still stuck to the foil so make sure to use cooking spray on your foil as well! Spread the crust thinly (the thinner it is, the crisper it will be) onto the foil and bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.



When it comes out, let it cool for a minute and then top with pizza sauce, turkey pepperoni, and your favourite pizza toppings plus a little cheese of course. Broil the pizza just until cheese is melted or it will get soggy.

I was really surprised at how bread-y this tasted! I gave my husband a bite and we're going to make a double sized one for dinner tomorrow. It wasn't quite as satisfying as a bread-based pizza but it was still really good, and a very large serving! Don't forget to add a low GI carb to your day elsewhere and skip an extra dairy serving.


Grilled Chicken Breast (Dinner):


I love chicken parmigiana- one of my favourite meals! This is easy to flex if you don't have any Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken- just use 3oz of your own chicken.

1 pkg NS Grilled Chicken
1 tbsp breadcrumbs
1 tbsp Eggbeaters
1/4 cup low sodium tomato sauce
shredded cheese, mozzerella or Parmesan (free food)

Dip the chicken in the Eggbeaters and breadcrumbs, and fry in a skillet sprayed with PAM until crispy. Put it into a glass baking dish and top with tomato sauce and cheese, and bake until cheese melts. You use so little breadcrumbs that it can count as a free food, same for the Eggbeaters. You only need a little cheese, but if you have a whole dairy serving to use, save some for this side dish!

Italian Vegetable Bake:

1 large can whole tomatoes (no sodium added)
1 medium onion, chopped
1/2 lb fresh green beans, chopped
3/4 cup chopped green pepper
3 medium zucchini, chopped
1 medium eggplant, chopped
3 tbsp lemon juice
fresh basil and oregano, chopped (better than dried by far)

All vegetables should be chopped coarsely into chunks, rather than small for pasta sauce or whatever else. Drain the tomatoes (reserving juice) and chop them into chunks as well. Mix everything together well in a bowl and pour into a baking dish. Bake for 60 minutes at 350 degrees and top with a little Parmesan cheese just before serving if desired.

This makes a huge pan full of vegetables but it is very flavourful so they will go fast! If you like spice you can add a little chili pepper but I didn't think it was really needed.


Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes (Lunch):


When I was a kid, I used to complain that clam chowder never had enough clams in it. My mom used to tell me that clam chowder was basically cream of potato soup with clams added, so that's what we'd do- buy potato soup and add our own clams. I was just thinking today about how I missed Campbell's clam chowder and then I happened to glance at a cup of Nutrisystem's Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes. Then the wheels started turning, since we already have a great recipe for potato soup!

1 pkg NS Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes
1/2 cup milk
1/2 cup chopped baby clams
steamed chunked cauliflower or onions, if desired

Prepare the potatoes by adding 1 cup of hot boiling water (more than you usually add) and let stand until they set. Pour into a pot and add the milk and stir, simmering for a few minutes. Add in the clams and any vegetables you want to use (the cauliflower chunks are a good sub for potato pieces) and let it warm on the stove until the flavours are well mixed.

This isn't as creamy as the Campbells' version, but it's very flavourful. I added a little of the riced cauliflower I used for the pizza to thicken it up a bit and that helped. It also had more clams than you'd get with Campbells', just like my Mama said it would!

Flex away!

I weighed in this morning and I was down another 2lbs! I didn't make it to 60lbs this week but I knew it was a very ambitious goal so I would likely fall short. I'm always happy when I lose two pounds a week! Hopefully I'll be earning my new Nutribear next week.

I've been doing a lot of flexing lately- not only is it good "practice" for when I finish the program and go into maintenance, but it's cheaper since your food lasts longer! Yes, I pay for my Nutrisystem food just like any customer does- unlike other bloggers, I am sharing my journey because I want to, not because I am being paid to do so.

It also really helps me to be accountable to all my readers- the last thing I want to do is pig out and have to come here and confess it to you all! So thank you for reading and your comments- you help me and hopefully I am helping you. One day I do hope to be selected to be one of the weight loss models for Nutrisystem and tell my story. I would love to be able to help inspire people to lose weight and get healthy.

Here are some flex meals I've tried lately and really enjoyed!


Flex Meals:


Chicken Quesadilla:


1 or 2 whole wheat tortillas
3oz grilled chicken breast (or 1 pkg Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breast)
1/4 cup red enchilada sauce
1 oz shredded tex mex cheese
diced tomatoes, onions, green pepper
sour cream & salsa to garnish

Cook the chicken in a frying pan sprayed with PAM until done, then cut into strips. Add the vegetables and enchilada sauce and cook until sauce has reduced and veggies are tender. In a clean sprayed pan, place tortilla shell and fill with chicken and veggies, top with cheese. If using one shell, fold over- if using two, place second tortilla on top. Cook until bottom shell is crunchy and carefully flip over. Serve hot with salsa and sour cream.

Yum! I was trying to figure out how to give this a zesty Mexican kick and then I found the leftover enchilada sauce from my last Mexican lasagna. I'm glad I tried it- it was delicious.

I said one or two tortillas because it depends how many calories they have and if you have an extra carb serving available. I have seen tortillas as low as 50 calories- in that case, you can use 2 to count as one carb serving. The ones I get are 90 calories so I'm only entitled to one for a flex dinner, so I eat a lunch like the chicken salad and save the carb for later so I can have two. You can definitely enjoy it with just one, you'll just have gooey filling leaking out which isn't all that bad!


Apple Pork Chops:


I made these for my husband- he had no idea they were NS friendly (well, if he ate less rice anyway)! This would be a great meal when you have to cook for company.

4 3oz pork loin chops
4 tsp butter or olive oil
4 tsp flour
1 tbsp Splenda brown sugar
1 cup unsweetened apple juice
4 large apple rings
cinnamon to taste

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a hot pan, then add pork chops and cook both sides until chops are lightly brown and juicy. Set aside in a baking dish. Add flour and brown sugar to the pan with the pork juices and stir to mix. Slowly pour in the apple juice and simmer to create a thick sauce. Place one apple ring on each pork chop and spoon the sauce over top. Sprinkle lightly with cinnamon. Bake chops for 45 minutes and enjoy with a low GI carb serving and veggies.


Orange Beef:


This recipe is pretty labour intensive but I thought it was worth it- colourful, low calorie, and flavourful.

6oz inside round steak, fat trimmed and cut into cubes
1 1/2 large oranges
3 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp fresh ginger, peeled and chopped
diced red and green bell peppers (I also added purple, yellow, and orange for colour)
diced Spanish onion
diced green onions
shredded bok choy
4 tsp olive oil

Place the beef cubes in a bowl with the soy sauce and allow to marinade- set aside. Somehow, hopefully without swearing or throwing your meal at the wall, manage to grate 1 tsp of orange zest and set it into a small dish. Take the half orange and squeeze it to make at least 2 tbsp of fresh juice. Add it to the bowl with the zest and add the chopped ginger. Remove all the white bits of peel from the remaining orange and cut the sections into little half moons and set them aside. Try to prevent other people in the house from eating them until you need them! Heat a pan and warm the olive oil. Spoon the chunks of beef (pour the soy sauce into the orange juice mixture) into the pan and cook until they are browning. Add the soy/orange sauce to the pan and cook until the liquid is reduced. Add the bell peppers and Spanish onion to the pan and cover until the veggies are tender. Add the bok choy, green onions, and orange segments and cover for just a minute or two until the new additions are tender but not soggy. Serve with a low GI carb and enjoy!

Need a Chinese food fix?

I gotta be honest- the Nutrisystem Asian meals tend to suck pretty badly if you liked those foods before. They just don't have the same taste. Maybe that taste is fat and salt and all the other bad stuff, but NS has done a good job of making reasonable facsimiles of those, so why can't they make a decent Asian sauce?

So that led me to consider an old recipe I used to make that was a hit with everyone who tried it, and find a way to make it NS friendly.

Grilled Chicken Breast (Dinner):


Chicken Lo Mein

1 NS Grilled Chicken Breast
1 carb serving whole wheat spaghettini (80 calories, 15g carbs)
1/2 cup beef broth
green onion, diced
2 cups of your favourite stir fry veggies
1 tsp peanut butter
garlic (to taste)
1 tsp soy sauce (optional)
1 tsp cornstarch blended with cold water
1 tsp sesame oil (optional)
2 tbsp Kraft light Asian Sesame dressing (optional)


Modifications:
If you have an extra carb serving, you might want to add either more pasta or baby corn to this recipe.

I know this recipe has 3 fat servings listed... you can drop the dressing or the oil if you want to, but the whole recipe only has 15g of fat total. Personally, I just choose other meals that day which are very low in fat and call it a day. For example- the lunch Peanut Butter Bar has 10g of fat while the Vegetable Beef Soup only has 1.5g, so I don't think this recipe makes the day out of line if you are smart about your other choices. However, please keep in mind that strictly speaking, to keep this meal within the planner, you must use cooking spray instead of sesame oil and skip the dressing (unless you get a second fat serving in which case you can have two of the three).

Directions:
Prepare pasta as directed and set aside. Heat sesame oil or PAM spray in a pan and saute garlic and green onions. Add diced chicken and top with Asian Sesame dressing. Add chopped vegetables, beef broth, and peanut butter and stir well. Pour pasta into pan and stir in cornstarch if needed. Add the soy sauce and stir, then cover to allow flavour to blend. Serve with a cup of Egg Drop soup as an appetizer if desired.

This has all the flavour of Asian takeout and it's healthy; plus you get an enormous serving that you probably won't be able to finish! It's good enough to serve to company and they'll have no idea that it's "diet food"! It's also an easy meal to flex if you don't want to use the NS Grilled Chicken Breast- just substitute 100 calories' worth of your own chicken.

What was your favourite meal?

One of the dishes that contributed to my weight gain was the delicious spinach dip appetizers that are served at a variety of restaurants. Mmm... gobs of melted cheese with just enough spinach for flavour, served with nachos or deep fried pita points or some other calorie-laden concoction. I'm definitely a carb and cheese addict so this was right up my alley. I decided to try and find a way to make something similar but NS friendly. At first, it seemed almost impossible!

Cream of Broccoli Soup (Lunch):


I started by adding 2 squares of Laughing Cow Cheese light to the soup mix, and then pouring slightly less than the usual amount of hot water into the cup and covering it and letting it stand. In the meantime, I thawed 3 cubes of frozen diced spinach and microwaved them with a little garlic. When the soup was ready (it's much thicker than usual with the LC cheese and the reduced water), I stirred in the spinach and put it in the microwave. If you have a carb serving, now's the time to grab some Guiltless Gourmet Garlic & Herb pita chips and enjoy the dip with them. If not, pick up a Nutrisystem Grilled Chicken Breast and spoon some dip on top (sprinkle with a tiny bit of shredded cheese) and then heat. The rest of the dip is delicious over steamed asparagus, green beans, or broccoli. Just like the Flame Broiled Beef Patty, the Grilled Chicken Breast can be used as a protein serving in conjunction with another entree if you don't add the carb. Of course, you can always use your own serving of grilled chicken breast as long as it meets the dairy/protein requirements of 100 calories or less, 3g of fat or less, 7g of protein or more.

I really enjoyed this dip- it definitely satiated my craving for something fatty and cheesy. And believe me, when you're coming off a zero loss week, sometimes all you want to do is stuff your face, stupid as that is.


Chicken A La King (Lunch):


Sorry about the terrible picture- I must have moved the camera while I was taking it. This is a discontinued Nutrisystem lunch item that I thought was pretty good. It is chicken and noodles in a creamy sauce. It wasn't anything special but I enjoyed it and would eat it again. I have 4 left I think but I probably won't be seeking it out like other discontinued items such as the Beef Tacos and Microwave Chocolate Cake.


Mushroom Risotto (Dinner):


For the past week, I've been switching up my lunches and dinners to try and get my metabolism moving again. So this gave me a protein to use with my dinner, so I decided to have the risotto with extra cremini mushrooms as a side dish instead of an entree. I ate one of the salmon burgers I mentioned in my previous post with my dinner carb serving along with it. Boy, was I stuffed after lunch! This meal had 44 grams of protein and you really noticed it. I had a hard time coming up with words to describe the risotto. It is zesty but not spicy, and very yummy. My husband tasted it and he described it as rich, flavourful, and very satisfying. I'll be ordering it again. I think you'll have to try this one for yourself to see if you like it- it's very unique. I know what you're thinking; usually unique means bad, tactfully. But that really isn't the case here!

Flex Meals

I've been trying to avoid making flex meals because I was nervous about my ability to make food compliant with the program until I've lost more weight and gotten more confidence. Tonight, however, my inlaws were visiting, and I wanted to be able to make a tasty dinner that I'd be able to eat, too.

Here are the guidelines for making a flex dinner:

Dinner
2 Fat Serving
3 Lean Protein Serving
1 Vegetable Serving or Fruit Serving 2 Tbsp. Fat Free Dressing (if desired)
1 Low Glycemic Carbohydrate Serving
2 Vegetable Serving

I decided to make one of my favourite meals- Chicken Cordon Bleu. The name conjures up a fatty chicken breast dripping with cheese and ham, breaded and fried until it's greasy, maybe with a cream sauce on top. This substitute is delicious and has a fraction of the calories. It's also very high in protein (make sure to save one serving from earlier in the day!).



4 3oz chicken breasts, pounded thin
2 oz shaved fat free ham
2 oz fat free Swiss cheese
0.5 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs (Italian spiced if you can get them)
0.5 cup eggbeaters
4 tsp olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Take the thin chicken breasts and place 1/2 oz each of the ham and cheese in the middle and fold into a roll; secure with toothpicks. Dip the rolls in the eggbeaters and then into the breadcrumbs. Take a glass baking dish and pour the oil into it. Place the chicken rolls into the pan and bake for 35 minutes. Makes four servings.

For my side dishes, I made wild rice (1/3 cup is a low GI carb serving), steamed asparagus with a little lemon juice and garlic margarine for flavour (2nd fat serving), and a big salad with spinach, romaine, red green and yellow bell pepper, baby bella mushrooms, shallots, and tomatoes with fat free dressing. The eggbeaters and breadcrumbs are such a small serving that they could probably be counted as free foods.

It was fabulous- everyone enjoyed it, even the people who aren't watching their weight. It has a fraction of the fat and calories but all the flavour.


I've also tried to jazz up a few of the other Nutrisystem meals as well. I find the chili pretty boring, and it's disappointing that it is not one of the meals where you get to add a carb. Who doesn't love chili with rice or crackers? However, if you're one of the lucky fortunates who does get a carb with dinner, you might like this modification.

Chili with Beans (Dinner):


I chopped up onions, tomatoes, and green peppers and sauteed them in olive oil for my fat serving, and then poured the chili over top and let it simmer until the sauce had thickened. In the meantime, I took some Garden Fresh Gourmet Pita Chips and arranged them on the outside of a plate. Seven chips is a carb serving and they're very filling. I split mine in half so that it would look like more, and then poured the chili in the middle, topping with cheddar cheese (saved snack protein) and fat free sour cream. It was delicious- like eating nachos with chili sauce. Suddenly those little cups of chili have become more appetizing!

Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettuccine (Dinner):


I know this is a discontinued item but apparently they are still available at Big Lots stores in the United States with long expiry dates- I just bought 23 from another Nutrisystem client and they're good until July 2011. If you can't get them, the modifications can be used on any of the NS pasta dishes, lunch or dinner. I just love this meal!

I chopped up onions, bella mushrooms, tomatoes, and green peppers and sauteed them in olive oil, and then dumped the pasta entree in the pan. I added 2oz of chicken (saved protein serving) and 1/2 tbsp bacon bits for a little extra flavour, and cooked it until everything was well mixed. It was a huge bowl and absolutely delicious. You have to eat your veggies anyway, and salad gets boring after a while!


Grilled Chicken Breast (Dinner):


I had a lot of fun with this entree. I've been missing my Subway Chicken Pizziola sub, so I decided to try and duplicate it at home. The above picture is the chicken breast cut into strips and seasoned with basil, garlic, and oregano. Then I took a whole wheat roll (to be added with the chicken) and split it in half, and placed the chicken on top. I topped it with half a serving of turkey pepperoni, pizza sauce (free food) and 1/2 oz mozzarella cheese (saved protein). I baked it for ten minutes and it was fabulous. I didn't take a picture of it because it's really hard to see much beyond a bun and the cheese but it definitely satiated my Italian sandwich craving.

I served it with an Italian style side dish- roasted tomatoes and onions. I chopped up the tomatoes and onions, drizzled with olive oil and seasoned with basil and oregano. Yum!


Cinnamon Bun Bar (Breakfast):


As soon as I took this out of the package, it was reminiscent of the Apple Strudel Bar. I bit into it and again it was sickeningly sweet. I love sweet things but I couldn't handle this. The frosting did taste like that used on a cinnamon bun though and there was a nice cinnamon flavour, but the heavy sweetness just overwhelmed it for me. I like the regular Cinnamon Bun better- it's dense, cinnamony, but not as sweet.

Mint Chocolate Crunch Bar (Dessert):


Yum! This tastes just like a Nestle Crunch Bar but with mint flavouring! This is going to be increased on my next auto delivery for sure. It definitely kicked my chocolate craving.


I'm feeling more positive again. I know I can do this... I just have to want to. My biggest obstacle is myself.