Well I survived my first big test today. My husband said that we should just go by In-N-Out and get lunch today. Then my daughter said we should go out to eat for dinner. Both had the idea of making it easier on me so that I wouldn't have to cook. I told them both they were sweet for the thought, but that I needed to stick to this!
I can tell you the lunch I made was awesome. No it wasn't In-N-Out and it is hard to compete with that, but I did pretty darn good. I made Oven Baked Chicken Tenders with Coleslaw. Now I have done the oven baked chicken plenty of times - and all have used the corn flakes and a buttermilk marinade, but what I liked about the Cook Yourself Thin version is that to the buttermilk they added a bay leaf, dried thyme, garlic, and red pepper flakes. Great flavor! http://www.mylifetime.com/shows/cook-yourself-thin/recipes/oven-baked-crispy-chicken-tenders-with-coleslaw Give them a try - they are delicious. I didn't make the tartar sauce as I just didn't want to bother and wasn't up for the extra calories. I will say that, for me, the sauce on the coleslaw was a little dry, so I added a little more of the vinegar and little more buttermilk.
Dinner was super easy. I had taken out a serving of the Mini-Meatloaves that were in freezer and made those. I didn't have the veggies to go with it, but steamed up some broccoli instead. Hence the extra calories I have leftover for a small dessert. Not enough for the pie that I made yesterday though, bummer.
Oh I didn't tell you that yesterday did I, sorry! I spent about 3 hours in the kitchen, but from it I made a Banana Cream Pie from Ellie Krieger (218 calories a slice), Mocha Chip Meringues from Everyday Food Light Magazine (28 calories), and Homemade Granola from Cook Yourself Thin (270 calories in 1/2 cup). Not too shabby use of my time!
Saturday, January 29, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Posted Recipes
I added some links to recipes that I made this week - one's we really liked and were a big hit with the family. Hope you give them a try!
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
A day behind
So yesterday's meals were really good too. Leftovers for breakfast of the French Toast Bread Pudding and lunch was leftover Creamy Corn Chowder - so that made some room in the fridge! Ha Ha!
Dinner was really good, the only complaint I have was the length of time on them. I didn't read all the way through the recipe - which I usually try to be really good about. The sauce for the Spring Rolls has to sit 30 minutes and the Noodles an hour! So that kind of back-fired on me. Other than that they were both really awesome. The sauce for the Spring rolls is delicious!! I didn't bother with the Lemongrass it called for, and honestly I doubt we really missed it. I am sure it wouldn't have added to the taste, but it wasn't worth the extra effort trying to find them. As it was I went to 4 stores just to find the rice wrappers (must find an Asian Market).
For dessert I made Tiramisu. You make them in small individual ramekins - and they were just right to meet the sweet tooth. Did I mention they are only 145 calories!!
So for today we had the remainder of the Overnight Oatmeal for breakfast. But lunch I made Hubby's and Little Miss's favorite Chili Chicken Wraps from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Those are so awesome! My daughter ate 4 rolls - so that should tell you something. They are light and fresh. I will put the recipe on my recipe page.
Dinner was just okay. I made the Cook Yourself Thin Sweet and Sour Pork Chops. You cut the pork up though in 1" cubes like normal sweet and sour pork. But it was lacking in real flavor. I was concerned when the sauce that you make up for it was only about 1/4 cup, but I tried it. My husband said it was okay, but that it just needed more flavor. To be honest, I probably won't bother with that one again. I will poke around in Ellie Krieger's book and see if she has a recipe for it.
Tomorrow is more leftovers (gotta clear out that fridge - seriously people it is stuffed full). Sesame noodles with Edamame for lunch and the rest of the Enchiladas for dinner. But Friday .......... oh yeah baby! Now that will be Chicken Burritos with Pineapple Salsa, but I am going to just use the Mango salsa I made and canned. I can't wait!! I will let you know how they turn out.
Oh, did I mention that I weighed myself this morning? 129 pounds! 2 pounds down!! Pretty cool huh!
Dinner was really good, the only complaint I have was the length of time on them. I didn't read all the way through the recipe - which I usually try to be really good about. The sauce for the Spring Rolls has to sit 30 minutes and the Noodles an hour! So that kind of back-fired on me. Other than that they were both really awesome. The sauce for the Spring rolls is delicious!! I didn't bother with the Lemongrass it called for, and honestly I doubt we really missed it. I am sure it wouldn't have added to the taste, but it wasn't worth the extra effort trying to find them. As it was I went to 4 stores just to find the rice wrappers (must find an Asian Market).
For dessert I made Tiramisu. You make them in small individual ramekins - and they were just right to meet the sweet tooth. Did I mention they are only 145 calories!!
So for today we had the remainder of the Overnight Oatmeal for breakfast. But lunch I made Hubby's and Little Miss's favorite Chili Chicken Wraps from Martha Stewart's Everyday Food. Those are so awesome! My daughter ate 4 rolls - so that should tell you something. They are light and fresh. I will put the recipe on my recipe page.
Dinner was just okay. I made the Cook Yourself Thin Sweet and Sour Pork Chops. You cut the pork up though in 1" cubes like normal sweet and sour pork. But it was lacking in real flavor. I was concerned when the sauce that you make up for it was only about 1/4 cup, but I tried it. My husband said it was okay, but that it just needed more flavor. To be honest, I probably won't bother with that one again. I will poke around in Ellie Krieger's book and see if she has a recipe for it.
Tomorrow is more leftovers (gotta clear out that fridge - seriously people it is stuffed full). Sesame noodles with Edamame for lunch and the rest of the Enchiladas for dinner. But Friday .......... oh yeah baby! Now that will be Chicken Burritos with Pineapple Salsa, but I am going to just use the Mango salsa I made and canned. I can't wait!! I will let you know how they turn out.
Oh, did I mention that I weighed myself this morning? 129 pounds! 2 pounds down!! Pretty cool huh!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Surprising good
So yesterday I made two recipes that I have admit I was rather skeptical about. The Tuna Rolls and the Baked Enchiladas. Well I happy to report that I loved them both!!
The Tuna Rolls had you mix tuna just with olive oil and salt and pepper. Which was okay, but rather bland and super "fishy" tasting - where the old method of a ton of mayo calmed that down. But when you layered the tuna on the Boston lettuce along with the sprouts, red pepper and scallions and then dipped them in the sauce - they were awesome. Not to mention how crisp and light they were and frankly the plate was very beautiful.
The same with the Enchiladas. Now Poblanos tend to be rather mild so I also added a jalapeno to the sauce for flavor. And let me tell you there was some off stuff in that sauce - I mean a salsa verde with chicken stock? But it was really good. The only bummer was by adding the jalapeno it made it too spicy for my daughter. She gave it her best effort, but it was too "zippy" as she calls it. So next time I will have to calm it back down (darn it). Seriously though these are delicious and very filling. I didn't miss the 10 gallons of cheese either. The recipe only calls for 12 corn tortillias and they are layered in like a lasagna - killing off tons of calories.
I highly recommend both recipes! They are both in the Cook Yourself Thin book. If you follow the Lifetime link on my links page there are episodes where they make both recipes too.
The Tuna Rolls had you mix tuna just with olive oil and salt and pepper. Which was okay, but rather bland and super "fishy" tasting - where the old method of a ton of mayo calmed that down. But when you layered the tuna on the Boston lettuce along with the sprouts, red pepper and scallions and then dipped them in the sauce - they were awesome. Not to mention how crisp and light they were and frankly the plate was very beautiful.
The same with the Enchiladas. Now Poblanos tend to be rather mild so I also added a jalapeno to the sauce for flavor. And let me tell you there was some off stuff in that sauce - I mean a salsa verde with chicken stock? But it was really good. The only bummer was by adding the jalapeno it made it too spicy for my daughter. She gave it her best effort, but it was too "zippy" as she calls it. So next time I will have to calm it back down (darn it). Seriously though these are delicious and very filling. I didn't miss the 10 gallons of cheese either. The recipe only calls for 12 corn tortillias and they are layered in like a lasagna - killing off tons of calories.
I highly recommend both recipes! They are both in the Cook Yourself Thin book. If you follow the Lifetime link on my links page there are episodes where they make both recipes too.
Sunday, January 23, 2011
Tomorrow
So for tomorrow we have planned: Overnight oatmeal for breakfast, Tuna Salad Rolls with dipping sauce, Cucumber Salad and Edamame for lunch, and for dinner will be Green Chile Chicken Enchiladas. All 3 for a total calorie count of 1041! I will probably make the Tiramasu for dessert too since I have extra calories available - and I don't want the Lady Fingers to go bad.
Tonight I put the Irish oats on to soak overnight, then in the morning it will only take about 5 minutes to finish off. Add in 2 Tablespoons of dried blueberries and cherries and some light brown sugar and call it YUM!
I'll tell ya tomorrow how it all goes.
Tonight I put the Irish oats on to soak overnight, then in the morning it will only take about 5 minutes to finish off. Add in 2 Tablespoons of dried blueberries and cherries and some light brown sugar and call it YUM!
I'll tell ya tomorrow how it all goes.
On Today's Menu We Have.....
So for our first day of our "Cook Yourself Thin" Challenge we started off with
Breakfast: French Toast Bread Pudding and Violet Morning Smoothies. For the smoothies I didn't have just blueberries, I have the berry mix combo from Costco that has blueberries, cherries, pomegranate seeds and blackberries and I also didn't have any Pomegranate juice, so I substituted orange juice. I segmented the orange I had jested for the French Toast custard and served that with breakfast too. It was delicious! The bananas in the custard were just great and gave it a sweetness that made it so you didn't mind that it was drenched in syrup.
Lunch: My daughter and I worked together on the Creamy Corn Chowder soup and we paired it with the Cheddar Melts that are made with low-fat cheddar and apples. Hubby got to have a whole sandwich since he can have more calories (256 in a whole sandwich), and my daughter and I split the other. Very good and the soup has great flavor and you don't even miss it not being made with cream!
Dinner: Tonight I will be making Pork with Apples. Now there is cream in this one, but only 2 tablespoons to give it some richness. Along with that we will have a nice green salad with a Ranch Dressing by Ellie Kreiger.
Total Calories: 1014 for all 3 meals!! Along with that I had 4oz of Orange Banana Pineapple juice for 60 calories and 2 Brown Sugar Kiss meringue cookies at 11 calories each.
So I am still under for the day and have some left for a snack, but right now I am not even hungry. I feel full and satisfied by lunch and feel great!
**All the recipes from today are in the Cook Yourself Thin Faster book - even the cookies!
Breakfast: French Toast Bread Pudding and Violet Morning Smoothies. For the smoothies I didn't have just blueberries, I have the berry mix combo from Costco that has blueberries, cherries, pomegranate seeds and blackberries and I also didn't have any Pomegranate juice, so I substituted orange juice. I segmented the orange I had jested for the French Toast custard and served that with breakfast too. It was delicious! The bananas in the custard were just great and gave it a sweetness that made it so you didn't mind that it was drenched in syrup.
Lunch: My daughter and I worked together on the Creamy Corn Chowder soup and we paired it with the Cheddar Melts that are made with low-fat cheddar and apples. Hubby got to have a whole sandwich since he can have more calories (256 in a whole sandwich), and my daughter and I split the other. Very good and the soup has great flavor and you don't even miss it not being made with cream!
Dinner: Tonight I will be making Pork with Apples. Now there is cream in this one, but only 2 tablespoons to give it some richness. Along with that we will have a nice green salad with a Ranch Dressing by Ellie Kreiger.
Total Calories: 1014 for all 3 meals!! Along with that I had 4oz of Orange Banana Pineapple juice for 60 calories and 2 Brown Sugar Kiss meringue cookies at 11 calories each.
So I am still under for the day and have some left for a snack, but right now I am not even hungry. I feel full and satisfied by lunch and feel great!
**All the recipes from today are in the Cook Yourself Thin Faster book - even the cookies!
Starting Today
So I decided to go ahead and start the challenge today instead of tomorrow. Yesterday I went out shopping for the weeks menu. It did not go well. I went to 2 stores and didn't find a lot of the stuff I need, so I get to go out again today! Ugh!
Any who, I added a new page called Stats. That is where I will post my weight and measurements each week. I weighed myself this morning and as usual I think my scale is off. When I go in for doctor visits I always weigh 4-5 pounds more than at home - so that should tell you that my home scale isn't real accurate. But I will make due with what I have.
As for my husband he gets to have 550 more calories than I do, but with him being laid up in bed and not up to eating a bunch, he is eating what I eat and then also adding in saltines and jello to soothe his stomach.
Any who, I added a new page called Stats. That is where I will post my weight and measurements each week. I weighed myself this morning and as usual I think my scale is off. When I go in for doctor visits I always weigh 4-5 pounds more than at home - so that should tell you that my home scale isn't real accurate. But I will make due with what I have.
As for my husband he gets to have 550 more calories than I do, but with him being laid up in bed and not up to eating a bunch, he is eating what I eat and then also adding in saltines and jello to soothe his stomach.
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