Wahoo! I am on the losing side again! I lost 1 lb yesterday. I will take it.
Did pretty good yesterday. No peanuts and no chocolate, but I still had that very low fat cheese stick. I just can't help it. I am exercising a lot and am soooo very hungry in the afternoon. It is my worst time. I try to stay busy and drink my water and teas, but I am still very hungry. The cheese stick and my apple really tie me over. I will try today not to have one. I will be away from the house in the afternoon so I stand a better chance.
I realized recently that I have been more successful at weight loss with HCG than I have ever been with any other program. My only other big success was with Weight Watchers when I was in graduate school. I lost 29 lbs and reached a weight that is about 7 lbs less than I am right now. It was a lot of hard work. The most bizarre thing that came out of it was that I developed a wicked sweet tooth. Seriously, I was never a sweets craver until I did that fat and fiber for points plan. Obviously, there was no resetting of my metabolism or my hypothalamus hormones. I have more hope this time.
Another fantastic recipe last night. I thoroughly enjoyed it. The hubby wasn't home for dinner last night so I made this just for myself. I broke my sous chef rule and made the kids some raviolis for their entree last night. I can do that without temptation because, well, I can't eat the raviolis because I am allergic to wheat and can't eat gluten. Lucky me. ;)
I made a number of changes to the recipe to make it even "more Thai." By that I mean that I made sure all the Thai tastes were in there: spicy, sweet, salty, sour and savory. If you look up Thai cooking methods that is usually listed as one of the fundamentals. I wish I could have made this with fish sauce, but I can't find one that is sugar free. Of course, the bottle I have at home lists sugar as the last ingredient and for the 1 Tbs serving it only has 10 cals and 1 g of sugar. Sigh. I used soy sauce instead.
This would also be more authentic with lime juice. If you want to be brave and go off protocol a tiny bit, you could sub lime juice for part or all of the lemon juice. Your call. I did it last night and still lost today.
---------------------------
Amy's Thai Beef Salad
1 Tbs chopped cilantro, or to your taste
1 Tbs chopped mint, or to your taste
lemon juice from about 1/2 a lemon, I needed more
1 tsp soy sauce or liquid aminos
stevia, to taste
cucumber (allowed amount)
3.5 oz (100g) lean steak, sliced thinly.
1 tsp sambal oelek
1-2 tsp minced garlic
ground pepper
water
In a medium dish combine the herbs, lemon juice, stevia and soy sauce. Peel, seed and chop (or slice, whatever you prefer) the cucumber and add to the lemon juice mixture and stir well. Allow the cucumbers to marinate in the lemon mixture for at least 30 mins, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, it a small bowl combine the sambal oelek, garlic, pepper and 1 Tbs water. Add the steak and stir well to coat the steak with the seasonings. Saute the coated steak in a pan with 1 Tbs water (add more, if needed) over med-hi heat until done to your liking. My steak slices were so thin this only took a couple of minutes.
Serve over the cucumbers. Makes one HCG protein serving and one veg.
--------------------------
Boy, oh boy was this delicious! It was spicy too, so adjust the sambal oelek if you want a milder dish. I am certain my hubby would have liked it and I plan to make it for a friend when we go away this weekend for a scrap retreat.
Enjoy,
Amy
Showing posts with label vegetable/side dish recipes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vegetable/side dish recipes. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
P2D29
Yay! I am on the losing side again! I have officially lost all the "HCG tragedy" weight and a little more (.4 lbs). I am sooo glad that things are back on track.
But things are getting a little rough. I am SOOOO hungry! Not just empty stomach hungry, but woozy, queasy, light-headed hungry. I think my HCG has lost its potency. I called my doc and they are drawing up some new injections for me. Hopefully some fresh HCG will do the trick.
I ate something new yesterday. It was great. I made a frittata. I based the recipe on one that I found at another great website. I will put a link in my sidebar so you can easily find it.
You could make this frittata with most of the allowed veggies and you could change up the herbs and spices. This one was good, but I am thinking I will try one with tomatoes and basil....
-------------------------------------
HCG Frittata
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
asparagus (allowed amount)
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs water
1 tsp parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
HCG friendly hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Snap off woody ends of asparagus and discard. Break each spear into 2 inch pieces. Over medium heat saute garlic in a small amount of water or broth, just until fragrant. Add asparagus pieces and saute until tender, but not soft. Transfer to a non-stick, over-proof pan (if you didn't saute in one) or a parchment lined baking dish (this is what I did because I don't use Teflon coated pans). In a bowl mix egg whites, egg and water. Add onion powder, herbs, salt and pepper; mix well. Pour egg mixture over asparagus in baking dish. Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes until done.
I topped mine with lots of hot sauce and it was delish! I didn't try this on the family....
Makes one serving (1 protein and 1 veg)
---------------------------------
For you non-HCGers out there, I think this would be divine if it were topped with a little crumbled feta. I will try that once I get to phase 3.
Enjoy
But things are getting a little rough. I am SOOOO hungry! Not just empty stomach hungry, but woozy, queasy, light-headed hungry. I think my HCG has lost its potency. I called my doc and they are drawing up some new injections for me. Hopefully some fresh HCG will do the trick.
I ate something new yesterday. It was great. I made a frittata. I based the recipe on one that I found at another great website. I will put a link in my sidebar so you can easily find it.
You could make this frittata with most of the allowed veggies and you could change up the herbs and spices. This one was good, but I am thinking I will try one with tomatoes and basil....
-------------------------------------
HCG Frittata
3 egg whites
1 whole egg
asparagus (allowed amount)
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 Tbs onion powder
1 Tbs water
1 tsp parsley
salt and pepper, to taste
HCG friendly hot sauce (I use Cholula)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Snap off woody ends of asparagus and discard. Break each spear into 2 inch pieces. Over medium heat saute garlic in a small amount of water or broth, just until fragrant. Add asparagus pieces and saute until tender, but not soft. Transfer to a non-stick, over-proof pan (if you didn't saute in one) or a parchment lined baking dish (this is what I did because I don't use Teflon coated pans). In a bowl mix egg whites, egg and water. Add onion powder, herbs, salt and pepper; mix well. Pour egg mixture over asparagus in baking dish. Cook in oven for 10-15 minutes until done.
I topped mine with lots of hot sauce and it was delish! I didn't try this on the family....
Makes one serving (1 protein and 1 veg)
---------------------------------
For you non-HCGers out there, I think this would be divine if it were topped with a little crumbled feta. I will try that once I get to phase 3.
Enjoy
Thursday, May 13, 2010
P2D25
Down another 1 lb today! Wahoo! Wa! and Hoo!
I was hungry most of the day yesterday, but held it together and stuck with the program. I didn't even overeat my burgers. I am quite proud of myself. I do wonder if my hunger yesterday was due to the increased exercise on Tuesday. Perhaps my body was trying to compensate with more calories (which I denied it). Or, perhaps, this batch of HCG isn't as good. I will bring it up to my doc when I see him tomorrow.
I am facing some challenges today. I am going out to lunch with a friend. She knows I am on the HCG protocol, so that won't be the issue. I just have to make sure I communicate my needs to my server. I am pretty confident I can do this as I have done it before while on HCG. I also have to do it when I am not on HCG because I have Celiac Disease. It takes a lot of questions and communication each time I order in a restaurant just to be certain I won't eat a trace of wheat or gluten.
The biggest challenge today is when I go to the movies with my friend Kim. We need this night out as we haven't and won't get a chance to see each other for quite a while. The challenge will be that I will be out late and won't be able to fill up on tea or water. If I do that, I will be going to the bathroom every 10 minutes and will miss most of the movie. So, my plan is to save my apple until the movie. I will cut it up and put it in a baggie so I won't be crunching in the theater. That should help. Any other suggestions??
I do have a recipe to post today. I actually made it over the weekend, but forgot about posting it. Better late than never. Once again, I have adapted this from my favorite HCG recipe base (link in side bar).
HCG French Onion Soup
2 C fat free beef broth or stock (I used Health Valley No Salt, Fat Free Beef Broth)
1 whole sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onions in 1-2 Tbs broth in a medium sauce pan over low heat. And I do mean low. Stir them onions slowly and saute until they become slightly caramelized (browned). Add splashes of broth as necessary. This will take some time, but it is totally worth it. As Chef Tyler Florence said, "brown taste good." Once the onions are good and caramelized, add the remaining beef broth and thyme. Bring soup to a boil then allow to simmer for about an hour. Add salt and pepper before serving, to taste. The result is a rich tasting treat.
Enjoy,
Amy
I was hungry most of the day yesterday, but held it together and stuck with the program. I didn't even overeat my burgers. I am quite proud of myself. I do wonder if my hunger yesterday was due to the increased exercise on Tuesday. Perhaps my body was trying to compensate with more calories (which I denied it). Or, perhaps, this batch of HCG isn't as good. I will bring it up to my doc when I see him tomorrow.
I am facing some challenges today. I am going out to lunch with a friend. She knows I am on the HCG protocol, so that won't be the issue. I just have to make sure I communicate my needs to my server. I am pretty confident I can do this as I have done it before while on HCG. I also have to do it when I am not on HCG because I have Celiac Disease. It takes a lot of questions and communication each time I order in a restaurant just to be certain I won't eat a trace of wheat or gluten.
The biggest challenge today is when I go to the movies with my friend Kim. We need this night out as we haven't and won't get a chance to see each other for quite a while. The challenge will be that I will be out late and won't be able to fill up on tea or water. If I do that, I will be going to the bathroom every 10 minutes and will miss most of the movie. So, my plan is to save my apple until the movie. I will cut it up and put it in a baggie so I won't be crunching in the theater. That should help. Any other suggestions??
I do have a recipe to post today. I actually made it over the weekend, but forgot about posting it. Better late than never. Once again, I have adapted this from my favorite HCG recipe base (link in side bar).
HCG French Onion Soup
2 C fat free beef broth or stock (I used Health Valley No Salt, Fat Free Beef Broth)
1 whole sweet onion, thinly sliced
1/4 tsp dried thyme
salt and pepper to taste
Saute onions in 1-2 Tbs broth in a medium sauce pan over low heat. And I do mean low. Stir them onions slowly and saute until they become slightly caramelized (browned). Add splashes of broth as necessary. This will take some time, but it is totally worth it. As Chef Tyler Florence said, "brown taste good." Once the onions are good and caramelized, add the remaining beef broth and thyme. Bring soup to a boil then allow to simmer for about an hour. Add salt and pepper before serving, to taste. The result is a rich tasting treat.
Enjoy,
Amy
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
P2D10
Another pound lost! Woot! I am loving this protocol.
While I am still a bit off from the bacterial invader and the antibiotics, I am doing really well. I cannot believe my energy level (and I don't think it is only from the copious amounts of green tea I am drinking). I am alert, aware and motivated to...do. I am not sitting on the couch watching TV (or if I am, I am sorting through boxes of junk that we have continued to put off sorting). I am loving this feeling of purpose and well being that I am experiencing. Loving it!
Okay, are you sitting down? I have changed up my daily menus a bit. What?!? Are you ready for the big change? Here it is: I am just having my MR shake in the morning and saving my fruit for a mid-morning snack to have with my protein supplement. Wow! Okay, small changes in the diet are a big deal to me. The main reason I did this is because I ran out of my favorite vanilla flavor that I like to blend with frozen fruit. Vanilla goes with everything. Now I just have my chocolate shake and I don't like to blend chocolate and fruit. That's me. I know most of the world thinks chocolate mixed with raspberries, orange or strawberries is heavenly. For me, I want my chocolate straight. Well, that's not true, I do like it blended with peanut butter, nuts, mint, coffee, oh, and bananas. So, I am mot a purest, just don't like it with most fruits.
Whoa, sorry for the chocolate tangent. That is just not nice. I am not craving it or anything, just wanted to explain the shake up in my diet. LOL
So here is today's menu:
B: MR shake
S: protein supplement and apple
L: leftover chicken with tangy tomato soup (I revised this recipe this time, see below)
D: very lean hamburgers and ??? (probably those minted cukes I love sooo much)
-----------------------
Tangy Tomato Soup II
2 C fat free, sugar free chicken broth/stock (I make my own, but there is a recipe in the list)
1 C strained tomatoes (you must use one that is JUST tomatoes, no other ingredients)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp onion salt
1/2-1 packet stevia
1 tsp dried basil (I used 1 Tbs chopped, fresh basil)
ground black pepper
Saute garlic in 1 Tbs of the chicken stock, set aside. Add strained tomatoes, cook over medium-high heat until it boils, stirring frequently. Turn heat to low and add remaining stock, garlic, onion salt and stevia to the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the pepper and basil. Serve.
counts as 1 vegetable
This had a much richer and deeper taste than the way I made it last week. This may be a different story when tomatoes are in season.
Cheers,
Amy
While I am still a bit off from the bacterial invader and the antibiotics, I am doing really well. I cannot believe my energy level (and I don't think it is only from the copious amounts of green tea I am drinking). I am alert, aware and motivated to...do. I am not sitting on the couch watching TV (or if I am, I am sorting through boxes of junk that we have continued to put off sorting). I am loving this feeling of purpose and well being that I am experiencing. Loving it!
Okay, are you sitting down? I have changed up my daily menus a bit. What?!? Are you ready for the big change? Here it is: I am just having my MR shake in the morning and saving my fruit for a mid-morning snack to have with my protein supplement. Wow! Okay, small changes in the diet are a big deal to me. The main reason I did this is because I ran out of my favorite vanilla flavor that I like to blend with frozen fruit. Vanilla goes with everything. Now I just have my chocolate shake and I don't like to blend chocolate and fruit. That's me. I know most of the world thinks chocolate mixed with raspberries, orange or strawberries is heavenly. For me, I want my chocolate straight. Well, that's not true, I do like it blended with peanut butter, nuts, mint, coffee, oh, and bananas. So, I am mot a purest, just don't like it with most fruits.
Whoa, sorry for the chocolate tangent. That is just not nice. I am not craving it or anything, just wanted to explain the shake up in my diet. LOL
So here is today's menu:
B: MR shake
S: protein supplement and apple
L: leftover chicken with tangy tomato soup (I revised this recipe this time, see below)
D: very lean hamburgers and ??? (probably those minted cukes I love sooo much)
-----------------------
Tangy Tomato Soup II
2 C fat free, sugar free chicken broth/stock (I make my own, but there is a recipe in the list)
1 C strained tomatoes (you must use one that is JUST tomatoes, no other ingredients)
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp onion salt
1/2-1 packet stevia
1 tsp dried basil (I used 1 Tbs chopped, fresh basil)
ground black pepper
Saute garlic in 1 Tbs of the chicken stock, set aside. Add strained tomatoes, cook over medium-high heat until it boils, stirring frequently. Turn heat to low and add remaining stock, garlic, onion salt and stevia to the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the pepper and basil. Serve.
counts as 1 vegetable
This had a much richer and deeper taste than the way I made it last week. This may be a different story when tomatoes are in season.
Cheers,
Amy
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
P2D9
Oh, man, this strep is kicking my butt. I wonder if my body is taking longer to get its strength back due to my special diet??? Hmmm. Not giving up on it though. I am starting to feel better, just not all the way there yet.
Mentally I am doing great. I am determined to succeed at this for the next 30 days or so.
Another pound today! Woot! I am starting to get addicted to these results. LOL
Not much energy to cook, but last night I did manage to make shrimp cocktails for the family along with their allowed sides. I made myself some zero/low cal cocktail sauce by doctoring up some Walden Farms ketchup. I had Brussels sprouts for dinner (see below for the yummy way I prepared them). They are little cabbages, right?
--------------------
HCG Cocktail Sauce
1/4 C Walden Farms Ketchup
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish (or to taste, I think I added more)
Mix together and adjust to taste. Allow to sit for at least 15 min for best results. Use a small amount on seafood. The smallest amount you can get away with is best.
-----------------------
Garlic Lemon Brussels Sprouts
1 lb Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and outer leaves removed
1-2 Tbsp fat free chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 T lemon juice
Steam the sprouts until just done (barely fork tender). Now I used to do this with olive oil, but for HCG, I sauteed the garlic in the chicken broth until it was fragrant, but not browned. Add in the sprouts and toss to coat and warm up. Finish by sprinkling with lemon juice just before serving.
If saving some for leftovers, separate them before adding the lemon juice and pack them with a wedge of lemon to be added once reheated.
-----------------------
That pound of sprouts made two, 1.5 C veggies servings for me and they REALLY filled me up.
Cheers,
Amy
Mentally I am doing great. I am determined to succeed at this for the next 30 days or so.
Another pound today! Woot! I am starting to get addicted to these results. LOL
Not much energy to cook, but last night I did manage to make shrimp cocktails for the family along with their allowed sides. I made myself some zero/low cal cocktail sauce by doctoring up some Walden Farms ketchup. I had Brussels sprouts for dinner (see below for the yummy way I prepared them). They are little cabbages, right?
--------------------
HCG Cocktail Sauce
1/4 C Walden Farms Ketchup
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp prepared horseradish (or to taste, I think I added more)
Mix together and adjust to taste. Allow to sit for at least 15 min for best results. Use a small amount on seafood. The smallest amount you can get away with is best.
-----------------------
Garlic Lemon Brussels Sprouts
1 lb Brussels sprouts, ends trimmed and outer leaves removed
1-2 Tbsp fat free chicken broth
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 T lemon juice
Steam the sprouts until just done (barely fork tender). Now I used to do this with olive oil, but for HCG, I sauteed the garlic in the chicken broth until it was fragrant, but not browned. Add in the sprouts and toss to coat and warm up. Finish by sprinkling with lemon juice just before serving.
If saving some for leftovers, separate them before adding the lemon juice and pack them with a wedge of lemon to be added once reheated.
-----------------------
That pound of sprouts made two, 1.5 C veggies servings for me and they REALLY filled me up.
Cheers,
Amy
Monday, April 26, 2010
P2D8
What a weekend I had!
Friday evening started the weekend off on a great foot when my friend Kim came over for Scrap Friday. I know I was physically hungry, but there was an emotional/habitual eating pattern to overcome as well. We normally snack (sometime healthy, sometimes not) at these little scrap fests, but this night we abstained. We were both hungry, but we fought off those hunger pangs with lots of Rooibos Carmel Apple tea from Republic of Tea. Yummy! Lots of creativity and plenty of laughter got us through.
Saturday when I weighed in on my home scale I was down, but I don't recall the exact numbers. We got up and did our usual Saturday morning routines. Just before lunch time we headed over to our friends' house to split wood then moved to our house for more of the same. We shared a power splitter and some trees that we cut from our property. While the power splitter helped a lot, it was still hours of hard work. We split, lifted heavy logs, and hauled and stacked wood for the better part of 8 hours. We were all exhausted after that. We enjoyed a dinner together, which I will elaborate upon, before we parted.
Despite a soak in the hot tub before bed, I woke many times in the night with a lot of muscle pain. Ibuprofen barely touched it. I wonder if my muscles were more painful than usual due to the HCG. Perhaps my body broke down muscle to compensate for the huge amount of extra calories it required with the strenuous labor of the day. Not sure. I know that I still saw weight loss when I weighed in on Sunday morning.
I tried to rest up on Sunday. Being a mom of 2 young children means resting is a relative thing. We still had to get chores and errands done and spending quality time as a family is not optional. All in all, it was a great and productive (not quite restful) day. I'll go over the fab food below.
So, today is Monday. I am showing a little more weight loss. Overall, just a couple of pounds over the weekend. There may be some residual inflammation from the weekend's exertions.
I am getting rest today. I have to. My regular physician called and told me that the strep test she took on Friday was positive. I have to take penicillin for the next 10 days. Goody. My HCG doc says it shouldn't interfere with my program. I am nervous though, doesn't antibiotic therapy usually mess with hormones? Guess we will wait and see. All I know is that I am looking forward to feeling better. While I have been less hungry, not getting dizzy anymore and have plenty of energy, I have felt off. I have been sweating at the slightest exertion, and getting shaky after small tasks. I wrote it off to overdoing it this weekend, but now I know. I can't wait to see how good I feel once the penicillin starts winning the battle in my body.
So, the food. By now you know my typical daily menu. Breakfast is a constant and lunch is usually leftovers. I will just go over the highlights of the weekends recipes.
Finally made the minted cucumber recipe:
---------------
Minted Cucumbers
1 cucumber, peeled (optional), seeded and chopped
1 minced garlic clove
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. chopped fresh mint or 1/2 t. crushed dried mint leaves
onion salt
black pepper
dash of stevia powder
Mix cucumber with garlic, lemon juice and mint. Season with onion salt and pepper. Add a sprinkle of stevia, mix and taste. Adjust as needed. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or longer. Toss before serving.
Servings: 1 vegetable
Oh...my...gravy. This was good. It was crunchy and fresh. I loved it and will be making it over and over again. The first time I made it, it sat for over 4 hours and it was delish! The second time it only sat for about 20 minutes. Still good, but I think it really needs the time for all the flavors to penetrate the cucumbers.
----------------
Not Rocket Science Grilled Chicken
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skin removed
onion salt
pepper
Sprinkle both sides of chicken breast with onion salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Grill over medium heat until thickest part of breast reaches 165 degrees. If you do this on a Foreman Grill I would suggest about 8 minutes. Allow the breast to stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve 3 oz to HCGers.
3 oz=1 protein serving
I know, I know this one was not rocket science. I was worried how they would turn out, but I had to come up with something on the fly after splitting wood all day. I couldn't believe how good they turned out. My whole family, and the guests, gave it enthusiastic thumbs up. You would have thought I slaved over it or marinated it all day.
----------------------
Not Rocket Science Fish
Another, duh, that was simple recipe that turned out to be incredibly tasty.
halibut or other white fish
lemon pepper (find one that is HCG okay)
onion salt
Sprinkle both sides of fish with onion salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Grill over medium heat until fish is opaque, but still moist. Flaky is usually too dry, but cook it to your taste. My very thick (about 2") halibut took 25 minutes total.
3 oz=1 protein.
Again, delicious and a whole family hit.
Wahoo! I can cook HCG okay food and feed my entire family. They just have larger servings and more sides. I was so afraid that I would have to become a short order cook while on this phase. I am so glad I don't have to.
Here's to me feeling better in about 24 hours. I am really hating it now so I am heading to my bed for a nap.
Cheers,
Amy
Friday evening started the weekend off on a great foot when my friend Kim came over for Scrap Friday. I know I was physically hungry, but there was an emotional/habitual eating pattern to overcome as well. We normally snack (sometime healthy, sometimes not) at these little scrap fests, but this night we abstained. We were both hungry, but we fought off those hunger pangs with lots of Rooibos Carmel Apple tea from Republic of Tea. Yummy! Lots of creativity and plenty of laughter got us through.
Saturday when I weighed in on my home scale I was down, but I don't recall the exact numbers. We got up and did our usual Saturday morning routines. Just before lunch time we headed over to our friends' house to split wood then moved to our house for more of the same. We shared a power splitter and some trees that we cut from our property. While the power splitter helped a lot, it was still hours of hard work. We split, lifted heavy logs, and hauled and stacked wood for the better part of 8 hours. We were all exhausted after that. We enjoyed a dinner together, which I will elaborate upon, before we parted.
Despite a soak in the hot tub before bed, I woke many times in the night with a lot of muscle pain. Ibuprofen barely touched it. I wonder if my muscles were more painful than usual due to the HCG. Perhaps my body broke down muscle to compensate for the huge amount of extra calories it required with the strenuous labor of the day. Not sure. I know that I still saw weight loss when I weighed in on Sunday morning.
I tried to rest up on Sunday. Being a mom of 2 young children means resting is a relative thing. We still had to get chores and errands done and spending quality time as a family is not optional. All in all, it was a great and productive (not quite restful) day. I'll go over the fab food below.
So, today is Monday. I am showing a little more weight loss. Overall, just a couple of pounds over the weekend. There may be some residual inflammation from the weekend's exertions.
I am getting rest today. I have to. My regular physician called and told me that the strep test she took on Friday was positive. I have to take penicillin for the next 10 days. Goody. My HCG doc says it shouldn't interfere with my program. I am nervous though, doesn't antibiotic therapy usually mess with hormones? Guess we will wait and see. All I know is that I am looking forward to feeling better. While I have been less hungry, not getting dizzy anymore and have plenty of energy, I have felt off. I have been sweating at the slightest exertion, and getting shaky after small tasks. I wrote it off to overdoing it this weekend, but now I know. I can't wait to see how good I feel once the penicillin starts winning the battle in my body.
So, the food. By now you know my typical daily menu. Breakfast is a constant and lunch is usually leftovers. I will just go over the highlights of the weekends recipes.
Finally made the minted cucumber recipe:
---------------
Minted Cucumbers
1 cucumber, peeled (optional), seeded and chopped
1 minced garlic clove
2 T. fresh lemon juice
2 T. chopped fresh mint or 1/2 t. crushed dried mint leaves
onion salt
black pepper
dash of stevia powder
Mix cucumber with garlic, lemon juice and mint. Season with onion salt and pepper. Add a sprinkle of stevia, mix and taste. Adjust as needed. Refrigerate for 45 minutes or longer. Toss before serving.
Servings: 1 vegetable
Oh...my...gravy. This was good. It was crunchy and fresh. I loved it and will be making it over and over again. The first time I made it, it sat for over 4 hours and it was delish! The second time it only sat for about 20 minutes. Still good, but I think it really needs the time for all the flavors to penetrate the cucumbers.
----------------
Not Rocket Science Grilled Chicken
2 chicken breasts, boneless and skin removed
onion salt
pepper
Sprinkle both sides of chicken breast with onion salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Grill over medium heat until thickest part of breast reaches 165 degrees. If you do this on a Foreman Grill I would suggest about 8 minutes. Allow the breast to stand for 10 minutes before slicing. Serve 3 oz to HCGers.
3 oz=1 protein serving
I know, I know this one was not rocket science. I was worried how they would turn out, but I had to come up with something on the fly after splitting wood all day. I couldn't believe how good they turned out. My whole family, and the guests, gave it enthusiastic thumbs up. You would have thought I slaved over it or marinated it all day.
----------------------
Not Rocket Science Fish
Another, duh, that was simple recipe that turned out to be incredibly tasty.
halibut or other white fish
lemon pepper (find one that is HCG okay)
onion salt
Sprinkle both sides of fish with onion salt and fresh cracked black pepper. Grill over medium heat until fish is opaque, but still moist. Flaky is usually too dry, but cook it to your taste. My very thick (about 2") halibut took 25 minutes total.
3 oz=1 protein.
Again, delicious and a whole family hit.
Wahoo! I can cook HCG okay food and feed my entire family. They just have larger servings and more sides. I was so afraid that I would have to become a short order cook while on this phase. I am so glad I don't have to.
Here's to me feeling better in about 24 hours. I am really hating it now so I am heading to my bed for a nap.
Cheers,
Amy
Friday, April 23, 2010
P2D5
Happy. My scale at home says I am down another 1.4 lbs. Woot!
Feeling pretty good these days. Sure there is hunger, but not crazy, low blood sugar hunger. Just hunger 1-2 hours before my next meal. Energy level is great. Loving that!
Had my weekly doc appointment today and got some great results. So, they weighed me a week ago, before my load days. I never figured out what my weight gain was for the load days, but from the doc's numbers I think I gained about 4 lbs. Yikes. That all came off because my total loss according to his scale was 7 lbs this week. 4 lbs of that was fat!!!! .5 lbs was lean muscle and the rest was water. Still, 4 lbs of fat!!! They gave me an amino acid supplement to take that is supposed to help me preserve my lean muscle mass. Still, .5 lbs is not much considering how damned little I eat.
So, eating. I'll give you today's menu and then tell you about last nights experiment and a recipe:
B: MR blended with blackberries
L: left over garlic chicken, Asian cabbage and shirataki noodles
D: fish and minted cukes
tea and water until I am swimming :)
So, last night I decided to try the shirataki noodles (I am convinced these are the same thing as the Miracle noodles, just different, and more honest, packaging) I used the ones with the tofu for extra protein and I rinsed them well, very well. Yes, they did have an odd scent, but it didn't translate to an odd flavor once I had prepared them.
----------------------
Cabbage and Shirataki noodle stir fry
1 T fat free chicken broth (I think I ended up using more as the pan dried up)
1 tsp fresh, chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 Cups sliced cabbage (I used Napa, but you could use any)
1 package tofu shirataki noodles
1 Tbs soy sauce (I am not on a pH balance program and I have to use gluten free soy sauce, Bragg's Aminos would also work here)
1 Tbs sugar free rice vinegar
Saute the ginger and garlic over medium heat in the chicken broth until fragrant. Add cabbage and stir fry until it begins to wilt. I found that covering the pan with a lid prevented a lot of liquid loss. Add shirataki noodles and toss to coat. I allowed this to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in soy sauce and vinegar, toss to coat.
Makes 2 servings; each has 1 vegetable and 1??? for the noodles (they have no net carbs and my package only had 20 cals/serving. With the noodles and the soy sauce I added a total of 35 extra calories to my day and I still had a loss this morning, wahoo!)
------------------
The garlic chicken I adapted from that wonderful list of HCG-friendly recipes.
Garlic Chicken
2 chicken breast (skinless and boneless)
fat free chicken broth
3 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
dash of salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poor a small amount of chicken broth in your baking dish and place the chicken breasts in the broth (my broth came about a 1/4 of the way up the breasts). Put the garlic and a little water into the microwave for 20 seconds. Add salt, pepper and herbs to form a paste, adding water if too dry. Spoon the paste over the chicken pieces. I tried to get a fairly even coating. Cook for approximately 30 mins. I watch my chicken with a thermometer so they don't get over cooked and dry.
Measure out 3 oz for the HCGers. Makes about 4 protein servings.
-------
This got thumbs up all around from my family. Moist and tasty. Mmmm.
So, one of these days I am going to discuss all of the great teas I have discovered and am enjoying daily.
But, for now, I say have a good weekend,
Amy
Feeling pretty good these days. Sure there is hunger, but not crazy, low blood sugar hunger. Just hunger 1-2 hours before my next meal. Energy level is great. Loving that!
Had my weekly doc appointment today and got some great results. So, they weighed me a week ago, before my load days. I never figured out what my weight gain was for the load days, but from the doc's numbers I think I gained about 4 lbs. Yikes. That all came off because my total loss according to his scale was 7 lbs this week. 4 lbs of that was fat!!!! .5 lbs was lean muscle and the rest was water. Still, 4 lbs of fat!!! They gave me an amino acid supplement to take that is supposed to help me preserve my lean muscle mass. Still, .5 lbs is not much considering how damned little I eat.
So, eating. I'll give you today's menu and then tell you about last nights experiment and a recipe:
B: MR blended with blackberries
L: left over garlic chicken, Asian cabbage and shirataki noodles
D: fish and minted cukes
tea and water until I am swimming :)
So, last night I decided to try the shirataki noodles (I am convinced these are the same thing as the Miracle noodles, just different, and more honest, packaging) I used the ones with the tofu for extra protein and I rinsed them well, very well. Yes, they did have an odd scent, but it didn't translate to an odd flavor once I had prepared them.
----------------------
Cabbage and Shirataki noodle stir fry
1 T fat free chicken broth (I think I ended up using more as the pan dried up)
1 tsp fresh, chopped ginger
1 tsp chopped garlic
2 Cups sliced cabbage (I used Napa, but you could use any)
1 package tofu shirataki noodles
1 Tbs soy sauce (I am not on a pH balance program and I have to use gluten free soy sauce, Bragg's Aminos would also work here)
1 Tbs sugar free rice vinegar
Saute the ginger and garlic over medium heat in the chicken broth until fragrant. Add cabbage and stir fry until it begins to wilt. I found that covering the pan with a lid prevented a lot of liquid loss. Add shirataki noodles and toss to coat. I allowed this to cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring frequently. Add in soy sauce and vinegar, toss to coat.
Makes 2 servings; each has 1 vegetable and 1??? for the noodles (they have no net carbs and my package only had 20 cals/serving. With the noodles and the soy sauce I added a total of 35 extra calories to my day and I still had a loss this morning, wahoo!)
------------------
The garlic chicken I adapted from that wonderful list of HCG-friendly recipes.
Garlic Chicken
2 chicken breast (skinless and boneless)
fat free chicken broth
3 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
dash of salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Poor a small amount of chicken broth in your baking dish and place the chicken breasts in the broth (my broth came about a 1/4 of the way up the breasts). Put the garlic and a little water into the microwave for 20 seconds. Add salt, pepper and herbs to form a paste, adding water if too dry. Spoon the paste over the chicken pieces. I tried to get a fairly even coating. Cook for approximately 30 mins. I watch my chicken with a thermometer so they don't get over cooked and dry.
Measure out 3 oz for the HCGers. Makes about 4 protein servings.
-------
This got thumbs up all around from my family. Moist and tasty. Mmmm.
So, one of these days I am going to discuss all of the great teas I have discovered and am enjoying daily.
But, for now, I say have a good weekend,
Amy
Thursday, April 22, 2010
P2D4
Zowee! Down another 1.4lbs! Woot!
Things are definitely getting better. I have less and less dizziness. I feel like I am functioning at close to 100% normal as far as energy goes. I am still hungry the last 1-2 hours before my next meal, but it is tolerable.
Pilates today was great. Had plenty of energy and strength, but sweat a lot again. Still wondering if it is because the studio is warmer than usual. Guess I will stop questioning it as long as my strength keeps steady.
So, I have to tell you about last night's dinner. I had marinated flank steak and tomato soup. It was amazing and yummy and I was actually full after I ate it and not hungry the rest of the night.
------------------------------
Marinated Flank steak and onions
1-1.5 lbs flank steak (I think any lean beef would work just as well)
1 C sweet onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 of an onion)
2-3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 C water
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
ground pepper, to taste
I took the flank steak and sliced it across the grain, holding my knife at a diagonal. I have always done this with cooked flank steak , but never raw. It worked well. I put the sliced steak into a large ziplock bag along with the remaining ingredients. I mixed it all up so that all the onions and all the steak were coated and the garlic was evenly distributed. I then let this marinate overnight in the fridge.
When it was time to cook I preheated my Foreman Grill and then put the steak and onions on in a thin layer. I cooked mine for 4 min and this made it well done. I did this to get as much fat out of the meat as possible. If you want it closer to medium, I would start checking it after 2 minutes. I had to do 3 rounds of cooking on my small grill. After it was all cooked I pulled out 3 oz for myself and put 2 additional 3oz servings in containers for future meals. The rest of the steak I seasoned with McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning (sorry HCGers, it has sunflower oil in it, so not for us) before serving to my family. Although they are not big steak eaters, this got the thumbs up all around.
counts as 1 protein (and 1 vegetable if you eat all the grilled onions)
I ended up not eating my onions because I wanted to eat soup. The onions did, however, provide excellent flavor to the overall dish. I put some with my leftovers for another day.
------------------------------
I also made this fabulous tomato soup from that list of recipes I posted earlier.
Tangy Tomato Soup
1 C fat free, sugar free chicken broth/stock (I make my own, but there is a recipe in the list)
1 large or 2 small tomatoes (I measure it as 1 C when chopped and I needed 2 small)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 packet stevia
1/2 tsp dried basil (I used 1/2 Tbs chopped, fresh basil, see below)
ground black pepper
Saute garlic in 1 Tbs of the chicken stock, set aside. Puree tomatoes in a blender (I used my Vitamix for the finest grind), then cook over medium heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Turn heat to low and add remaining stock, garlic, onion salt and stevia to the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the pepper and basil (I used fresh, but there is some who believe fresh herbs have more oils in them. I am not one of those people. Oils do not evaporate when something is dried, they usually stay with the dried item....so I am taking my chances. You will have to decide for yourself.) Serve.
counts as 1 vegetable
I doubled the recipe so that I could have leftovers for lunch.
--------------------------------
Here is today's menu:
B: MR blended with raspberries
L: leftovers of tomato soup and grilled flank steak (yum!)
D: chicken and either green salad or minted cucumbers
and lots of water and tea all day.
Not sure what I am doing to the chicken breasts, but rest assured, I will tell you the results tomorrow.
Cheers,
Amy
Things are definitely getting better. I have less and less dizziness. I feel like I am functioning at close to 100% normal as far as energy goes. I am still hungry the last 1-2 hours before my next meal, but it is tolerable.
Pilates today was great. Had plenty of energy and strength, but sweat a lot again. Still wondering if it is because the studio is warmer than usual. Guess I will stop questioning it as long as my strength keeps steady.
So, I have to tell you about last night's dinner. I had marinated flank steak and tomato soup. It was amazing and yummy and I was actually full after I ate it and not hungry the rest of the night.
------------------------------
Marinated Flank steak and onions
1-1.5 lbs flank steak (I think any lean beef would work just as well)
1 C sweet onion, thinly sliced (about 1/2 of an onion)
2-3 Tbs balsamic vinegar
1/4 C water
1-2 cloves crushed garlic
ground pepper, to taste
I took the flank steak and sliced it across the grain, holding my knife at a diagonal. I have always done this with cooked flank steak , but never raw. It worked well. I put the sliced steak into a large ziplock bag along with the remaining ingredients. I mixed it all up so that all the onions and all the steak were coated and the garlic was evenly distributed. I then let this marinate overnight in the fridge.
When it was time to cook I preheated my Foreman Grill and then put the steak and onions on in a thin layer. I cooked mine for 4 min and this made it well done. I did this to get as much fat out of the meat as possible. If you want it closer to medium, I would start checking it after 2 minutes. I had to do 3 rounds of cooking on my small grill. After it was all cooked I pulled out 3 oz for myself and put 2 additional 3oz servings in containers for future meals. The rest of the steak I seasoned with McCormick's Montreal Steak seasoning (sorry HCGers, it has sunflower oil in it, so not for us) before serving to my family. Although they are not big steak eaters, this got the thumbs up all around.
counts as 1 protein (and 1 vegetable if you eat all the grilled onions)
I ended up not eating my onions because I wanted to eat soup. The onions did, however, provide excellent flavor to the overall dish. I put some with my leftovers for another day.
------------------------------
I also made this fabulous tomato soup from that list of recipes I posted earlier.
Tangy Tomato Soup
1 C fat free, sugar free chicken broth/stock (I make my own, but there is a recipe in the list)
1 large or 2 small tomatoes (I measure it as 1 C when chopped and I needed 2 small)
1 clove minced garlic
1/2 tsp onion salt
1/2 packet stevia
1/2 tsp dried basil (I used 1/2 Tbs chopped, fresh basil, see below)
ground black pepper
Saute garlic in 1 Tbs of the chicken stock, set aside. Puree tomatoes in a blender (I used my Vitamix for the finest grind), then cook over medium heat to a boil, stirring frequently. Turn heat to low and add remaining stock, garlic, onion salt and stevia to the tomatoes. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in the pepper and basil (I used fresh, but there is some who believe fresh herbs have more oils in them. I am not one of those people. Oils do not evaporate when something is dried, they usually stay with the dried item....so I am taking my chances. You will have to decide for yourself.) Serve.
counts as 1 vegetable
I doubled the recipe so that I could have leftovers for lunch.
--------------------------------
Here is today's menu:
B: MR blended with raspberries
L: leftovers of tomato soup and grilled flank steak (yum!)
D: chicken and either green salad or minted cucumbers
and lots of water and tea all day.
Not sure what I am doing to the chicken breasts, but rest assured, I will tell you the results tomorrow.
Cheers,
Amy
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