HCG & Me (My Summer Diet Plan)

After a lot of careful research I decided to try the HCG diet plan. I chose to go through an actual clinic rather than just completing the diet online; this way professionals can monitor me & I (hopefully) cannot screw it up.

The program consists of HCG spray, B-12 drops, and an appetite suppressant/energy pill. For the money, it's not a horrible deal. The problem is that it's an insanely strict diet! I'm limited to 500-800 calories a day and of those calories, I can only have certain food items. I feel like a rabbit! :D

I technically started the diet on Friday, June 25, 2010.

The first 2 days of the plan are "binge" days; I was told to eat twice as much as I normally do - OK! I can totally do that! I had some yummy-licious, totally bad for me meals (chili fries and nachos for dinner - SCORE!) and then on Saturday night, as my poor hunny had a horrific headache, I said good-bye to "normal" food for the next 6 weeks with a round of chicken taquitos :D (Like I said, horribly bad for me!)

On Sunday morning, I woke up & weighed in 3 pounds heavier than my starting weight on Friday morning. *gasp* That's a lot (but normal according to the documentation I was given). The meals for Sunday were simple; fruit, veggies, protein. I must confess that it was difficult. Not impossible, but extremely difficult. Went to bed Sunday night feeling a tad hungry, but nothing too uncomfortable.

Monday morning, weigh-in: down 3.2 pounds. Not too shabby! This could be awesome. Day 2 was difficult. Sooooo difficult. I felt like I was starving ALL day! I tried grilling whitefish - that sucked. Had more rabbit food for dinner & definitely went to bed hungry.

Tuesday morning - day 3. Weigh-in: down 3.9 pounds. Holy smokes, seriously?!?! This, I can definitely get used to. Granted, I know the first 10 pounds is "water weight" but still, with the amount of water I have to drink daily, I feel like I may float away. This is fantastic. Had breakfast on the run as I went out to do errands; by lunchtime, I'm staaaaarving! Made some yummy shrimp stir-fry with cabbage, celery & onions. Again, rabbit food, but it "looks" normal. Hoping today I can fill up a little better & not be so damn hungry by 10PM.

My biggest problem, I think, is that I am an afternoon/evening eater. I can go pretty much 6-8 hours after waking without eating, but by 3PM I am starving & ready to eat everything in site. Luckily, HCG doesn't allow me to do this. It's going to be a challenge, but I welcome it. Goodbye fat me! :D

I will definitely be tracking what's up over the next 6-9 weeks!

Sister Dinner Night = massive amounts of Chicken Enchiladas!

Tonight is our weekly "sister" dinner night. Once a week, we get together and have dinner as families (my family, Tori's family, & Becky's family). It's pretty freaking awesome. We had to skip a couple of weeks because of the stomach bug that was going around, but now we are back on track! We'll be going on vacation together in two weeks as well - that blog will be fun!


For my triumphant return to family dinner night, I chose to make chicken enchiladas. I cooked the chicken last night, letting it get super tender & making it much easier to shred. I then stewed the shredded chicken with green chilies and diced tomatoes. Add enchilada sauce and stew for about 30 minutes longer & viola! the stuffing. Elli helped me by shredding the cheese and setting the table. She's an AWESOME helper! :D

Magnifique, no? :D

To go along with this yummy-licious dinner, I made traditional black beans & rice, and we had chips, salsa & bean dip. It was an extremely successful meal. <3>

Easy-Peasy Chili Pie

Greetings and salutations! After some encouragement from Patrick, I am back to blogging. Tonight, I took a recipe straight out of the Bisquick recipe book to create their Easy Chili Pie. The prep time was about 20 minutes and cooking time was approximately 35 minutes. Pretty tasty dinner, less than an hour. Not too shabby.

Tomorrow night I am hosting "the sisters'" weekly dinner. Stay tuned for chicken enchiladas! Yummage!

Adios!

Day 14: Breakfast, smreckfast!

Two blogs today; one to make up for missing yesterday, starring yesterday's lunch & today's starring breakfast! I have been craving hash browns and eggs all week, so I figured I might as well satisfy my need to eat those. I also cooked up some bacon for the family, as bacon hasn't been around much the last few months.

I simply used my Vidalia chopper to cut the potatoes, fried them up using non-stick Pam spray (no butter or anything extra) with just a hint of onion for flavor. Those cooked for about 15 minutes while I cooked the bacon (this is extra thick cut bacon cooked extra crispy and blotted with paper towels). Patrick & Elli opted for egg & cheese omelets while I opted for a "yolky" egg style egg. It's especially yummy to break the yolk over the potatoes. Don't knock it til ya try it! Tomorrow night we are back on schedule for dinner. I'll be discussing some delicious kahlua pork with cabbage.

Ta-ta-for-now!

Disney Day! Lunch at Pizza Planet?!??! Well, as close as we could get!

Houston, we have a problem! Tucked away in the back of Tomorrowland at Disneyland (which is actually near the front of Disneyland if you are looking at it from above - it's complicated...moving on!) is a deliciously decadent hidden secret called the Pizza Port. Fashioned to be similar to Pizza Planet from Toy Story, this adorably colorful pizza joint caters to the basics in Italian cuisine: pasta, salad, breadsticks, and GIANT slices of pizza. You also have the option to buy the entire pizza, but check out the pic! There's no way a family of less than 6 could finish off these giant pies!

As this was our first official meal at Disneyland yesterday, I let Elli get breadsticks and a banana. She had a good breakfast and a churro at snack break time, but lunch need to "stick." This pizza was seriously OUT OF THIS WORLD! The giant pieces of pepperoni were a bit scary at first, but the taste was just enough marinara sauce for the amount of cheese on the slice. Disney had a huge basket of parmesan cheese packets which we generously added to our pizza as well.

The average meal is supposed to cost about $10 per person, and that's about what I spent. Not too shabby. This eatery is located next to Space Mountain, which, if you have a sensitive-to-being-thrust-around-in-the-dark stomach like mine, isn't really the smartest place for a pizzeria.

If you are meandering through Tomorrowland and decide that you too are bummed that they have closed Tomorrowland Terrace eatery for "rehab," stop in to Pizza Port and give them a try! Make sure you go thru the futuristic automatic doors at the back of the restaurant tho! They are super awesome!

Until next time Space Rangers!

Hong-Kong Fooey!!!!! It's a Chinese kinda night!

Tonight, we went Chinese. Orange chicken from Contessa with brown rice and veggies, and Potstickers with Potsticker dipping sauce. Yummage!!!

Contessa does "pre-made" dinners that you simply have to cook. It literally took 15 minutes to make the orange chicken dish (that Patrick ate like it was candy!). The potstickers take a little more time to cook and they require a bit more attention. You're not supposed to use a non-stick pan to cook potstickers, so if you do, they will stick. It makes ABSOLUTELY no sense, but that's been my experience every time I've made these delicious little treats! I had some low-sodium Kikoman soy sauce on hand as well, just in case. This is truly a fantastic dinner. Elli got to use her chop sticks, so she was stoked, and Patrick loved it so much he went back for seconds. All in all, a very successful meal!

Tomorrow we will be *attempting* to blog from Disneyland! Saturday night I'll be back to the kitchen! Have a fantastic Friday & don't work too hard!

Zai jian(再见) (That's good-bye in Chinese!)

Plans Thwarted - Emergency McMeasures Taken! Plus, the average lunch of a 7 year old

>Patrick and I originally had an early Valentine's date night planned. Unfortunately, the plans fell through, leaving me at 5:30PM with no plan for dinner.

Thank goodness for McD's! In a pinch, they're always awesome. Elli & I had some delish chicken nuggets (she had apple dippers, such a good girl!). Patrick elected to eat his usual Quarter Pounder with cheese, plain. While it's not the most "romantic" dinner in the world, it worked for tonight.

I also wanted to share with you the make-up of Elli's typical lunch. We make her lunch every day, either in the morning before school, or the night before depending on how strapped I will be for time in the AM. Her average lunch consists of a sandwich (usually peanut butter & jelly or honey on wheat, but occasionally she'll want ham & cheese), a bag of chips (Fritos, Doritos, SunChips, Veggie Straws, BBQ & Sour Cream & Onion are her favs), fruit (sugar free applesauce, sugar free peaches, oranges, apples, bananas, prunes), some sort of "bar" (Special K bars are favored, but she likes Rice Krispie treats and frozen Go-Gurts as well), and a juice! You might think, wow, that's a lot for a little girl, but it's not ALL for lunch. Unfortunately, Elli starts school at 9AM & eats lunch at 11AM, then has to go until 3:15 before she gets a snack. That's a long time for a little person. So I make sure she has snacks for after school, so she's not starving by the time she gets home.

Hidden Surprise! Chicken Cordon Bleu!

I don't really understand my obsession with food hidden in other foods. I love to mix my food together. The blending of tastes and textures is just.......awesome.

Chicken cordon bleu is truly a "gift." After you unwrap the yummy fried chicken, you find swiss cheese and ham tucked away just hiding inside. These particular chicken breasts were so well cooked that the cheese literally fell out of its little pocket oozing! Fantastic!

To compliment this delicious treat, I made julienne cheddar potatoes and mixed veggies. (Elli loves the mixed veggies, and I'm not going to fight her enjoying vegetables!)

Prep & cook time varies, depending on how you choose to prepare the chicken. Overall, approximately 20-40 minutes from start to finish. Not too bad. Nice warm meal on a freezing freaking night in Las Vegas! Til tomorrow, enjoy!

Chocolate Chunk Cookies - YUM!

Tonight was dinner with my gorgeous sisters (spaghetti ala Becky - total delish!) I decided, simply because I am exhausted today, to do a "dessert" instead of my normal cooking blog.

Most people LOVE chocolate chip cookies. Especially when they are fresh right out of the oven; some don't even wait for the cooking process & eat the heavenly dough right out of the bowl! Whichever you prefer, nothing beats a warm chocolate chip cookie and a cool glass of milk. Well, almost nothing. Warm chocolate chip cookie, vanilla ice cream, warm hot fudge is pretty darn good too! This delectable diverse little treat is absolutely fabulous no matter how you enjoy them!

Lumpia + Superbowl = Super Yum!

One of my "signature" dishes that Patrick particularly loves is lumpia. Simple "Filipino eggrolls." It's a labor of love to make these delicious little rolls of fun!

Prep time is approximately 2 hours (more if you make a ton more). First, you make the filling: pork, bean sprouts, veggies, soy sauce, water, etc. I let the filling steam for about 30 minutes, then drain it in a strainer. Goodbye to all the yummy juice that's collected & steamed your filling for the last 30 minutes!

Next, prep the work area with springroll wrappers, wax paper, flour, and 1-2 eggs, whipped into a fervor! Next, get a large frying pan or electric skillet & prep your oil. You can use canola, vegetable, or blended (I've never tried olive, I confess) I use spring roll wrappers for two different reasons: #1-my mom taught me with springroll wrappers, #2-they are a heckuva lot easier to find and use than actual lumpia wrappers, which I have only found in the Asian supermarket on Spring Mountain. Once the workstation is set up, bring your filling over and start wrapping! The spring roll wrapper explains how to roll these yummy little treats. Once you've rolled your first 5 or so, turn on the oil. By the time you finish your first 12-15 lumpia, your oil should be ready. CAREFULLY drop the lumpia into the oil and brown on both sides. You're really only cooking the springroll wrapper, because the insides are cooked already. After this phase is complete, I like to drain the lumpia on a rack, carefully placed on a cookie sheet in the oven. I usually have the oven on "warm" just to keep the lumpia warm as the oil is draining off them.

I like to serve these with rice & soy sauce, "Chinese mix" frozen veggies (steamed), as well as sweet & sour sauce for Patrick. The time it takes to make them is worth it. These are great at parties & EVERYONE always loves them. You can substitute the pork for turkey if you choose. I've done this and added a dash of worcestershire sauce to balance the flavor. Turned out fairly decently. If you have the time and desire to learn something new, lumpia is a great dish!

Snacks, snacks & Lip smackin' BBQ ribs! Too good to be true!

Today was a lot of work, a lot of fun, and a LOT of food! I hosted a Cookie Lee party for the girls today; jewelry, good friends, good fun, and rain...seriously, couldn't ask for anything more!

The snacks for the party were deliciously yummy. Holy Guacamole from Hungry Girl, Pace salsa, Mission tortilla chips (both strips and rounds, oh yeah!), petite quiches, and a delicious carrot/celery/sugar snap peas/grape tomato veggie tray. It was absolutely just enough and perfect!

The party was lovely, big thanks to Cheryl for doing a fantastic job! We had a wonderful girl day just sitting around gossiping, drinking Diet Cokes, and hanging out. Sometimes, you just need a day with the girls!
was BBQ baby back ribs, mashed potatoes & sweet peas. Elli made the potatoes AND peas! She is becoming quite the little chef! BBQ ribs were tender and the meat fell off the bones. The potatoes were sooooo delicious! Peas...are peas. They always taste the same!

Tomorrow night we head to the Philippines to sample some lumpia! Happy cooking!

Day 7: Taaaaaaaacoooooooooos & Burrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrritoooooooos! Yum!

I am so lucky that I have Patrick and Elli. In reality, when I don't want to make "dinner" they are soooooooooo good about easy-peasy dinner night. Tonight, I came home and crashed. After a stress-filled long week of hearing how ineffective my profession is and how we should accept our salary cuts, larger classrooms, and lay-offs with grace, because at the end of the day, at least "you'll still have a job." Today was the tip of the negative iceberg...that's right haters - you can try all you want, but I am PROMISING you that the negativity is all washing away with the drizzling rain that is currently tapping at my window. As of tonight at 11:59PM I am done listening to it. I love my job, I don't do my job for the money (the money is a necessity and it's nice, but it's not why I go to work every day). I go to work because I truly do LOVE teaching. It's my passion and, not to be vain, I don't think I suck at it.

Ok, off the soapbox and back to my awesome family. Tonight, tacos and burritos were good enough for them. So simple, so easy, and so quick. From start to finish, 20 minutes total. Corn and flour tortillas. Soooo yum! I wasn't kidding about the "we love Mexican" food vibe in mi casa ;)

Happy cooking!

Taking it E-Z ; What to do when plans change at the last minute...

Tonight we had plans to go out to dinner with my gorgeous sisters and their families. Unfortunately, Elli got sick and wasn't able to go; which put a stumble into my plans. I wasn't planning on "cooking" dinner; dessert maybe, for blog purposes, but not really worrying about dinner tonight.

Enter Kraft Easy Mac and Cheese. First off, thank goodness someone got the brains to make single serving mac n' cheese. I seriously could eat the whole box when we made it the "old fashioned" way, so these single serving cups are brilliant for the sheer fact that you only get a minimal amount. Enough for the flavor, not so much that you find yourself completely stuffed by the processed cheese noodles.

Elli decided that this would be an appropriate dinner so we whipped it up quickly before I had to leave to meet my sisters for dinner. Quick, easy, to the point, and she absolutely LOVES being able to stir the cheese packet in herself. Definite MUST HAVE for those last minute changes that life throws at us. Thank you to Elli for being so easy going in the dinner department (and to Patrick for just wanting take-out!) Ciao for now!

Easy Chicken Pot Pie from Bisquick

Tonight's cuisine du jour is courtesy of the adorable Bisquick cookbook purchased on a whim. This is another quick fix and turned out to be incredibly yummy!

Bisquick crust, cream of chicken soup, cooked chicken, frozen mixed veggies. Bing, bang, done! The crust was a tad thick, but next time I think cutting the Bisquick portion in half will fix that problem.

Overall a decent, warm dinner for a chilly winter night. Serve with salad or extra veggies to give a little more substance. It's supposed to serve 6, I cut it into 8 pieces and half was leftover.

The picture tonight is courtesy of Patrick's new Nexus android phone. Thanks honey!!!

Cheesy Beefy Supreme Wrap - by Hungry Girl

Lately, the family has really been enjoying the "flavor" of Mexican food. We usually eat Mexican food at least twice a week. Tonight I decided to take a favorite of mine and "Hungry Girl" it. Taco Bell offers a really yummy grilled stuffed burrito with decadent gobs of cheese, sour cream, and taco sauce all melted together within a tortilla. YUMMAGE!!!!! But the caloric intake isn't probably super awesome for me & the fam.

Enter Hungry Girl, who designs fabulous recipes, some of which, are loosely based on yummy food out there in the "bad for us" realm. She has designed a variety of delicious recipes that are quick, easy, and good for us. The cheesy beefy supreme wrap is no exception. This is probably one of the easiest recipes she offers. It really has minimum prep and cook time (maybe 10 minutes from start to finish, and that includes "gathering" the ingredients and clean up!)

The ingredients are ridiculously simple: pre-made taco meat(leftover taco meat is PERFECT), FF cheese, FF sour cream, low-fat tortilla, taco sauce & 1/2 a wedge of Laughing Cow swiss cheese. Simple, to the point, and delicious. I serve this yummy wrap up with green salad and a tablespoon of salsa. Pretty darn tasty!

Cheeseburger Quesadilla - by Hungry Girl

Tonight was dinner at Tori's house. Once a week, we sisters get together and have dinner, rotating to different houses. Matt, my brother-in-law, made fantastic baby back ribs, corn on the cob, and rice. YUMMMMMY!

Of course, that left me with yet another night of not cooking dinner. So I opted to cook something to eat for lunch tomorrow. Hence, scouring the Hungry Girl 200 under 200 cookbook to find the cheeseburger quesadilla.

This is probably one of the quickest dishes Hungry Girl has to offer. Ingredients are simplistic: Boca burger, onion, quesadilla, cheese, pickles (optional - I did not add them), season to taste, and ketchup if you choose. Literally 5 minute prep time, 5-10 minute cook time. Ding, done. Wrap it up in tinfoil, serve it up for lunch the next day with a bag of BBQ Lays! Fries would be ideal, but reheated fries just don't do it for me.

Overall, this really does live up to it's name. A cheeseburger without the bun, but a little bit of that "bread-ish" flavor to get you through! I like to add a dollop of yellow mustard to the ketchup to give it some extra burger flavor. Low in calories, a quick fix, and a fun way to have burgers...definitely worth trying!

Veggie-Loaded Tangy Tuna Salad by Hungry Girl

Tonight we went out to dinner, so I didn't technically cook. Instead, I chose to make my lunch for tomorrow tonight. Enter Hungry Girl's Veggie-Loaded Tangy Tuna Salad. For all the prep work that this freakin' salad takes to make, it truly does end up being worth it (I also double chop the veggies - I love my Vidalia chopper!)

The salad includes tuna, red peppers, celery, carrots, mayo, honey mustard, & relish. It is extremely tangy and deeeeeee-licious! I like to eat this rolled up in iceberg lettuce leaves or with Wheat Thins. Super yum!

Prep time for this dish is approximately 20 minutes (30 if you are a super chopper like mwa!) It's perfect for lunch, but I don't think it'd make the best "dinner" dish (and as it's not meant to, so that's ohhhh-kay!)

Stuffed Pizza from Bisquick

On a whim, I picked up a cute little cookbook at the checkout counter. It's full of recipes that use Bisquick. Interestingly enough, I selected their Stuffed Pizza recipe to start this blog adventure.

This recipe calls for a Bisquick pizza dough, Italian ground sausage, ground hamburger, green peppers, mushrooms, pizza sauce and a TON of mozzarella cheese. The picture looked fairly good; thick, gooey looking pizza paired with a delicious looking salad. No sweat, right......

I followed each step of the recipe in order. Painstakingly trying to roll out dough on my ridiculously tiny kitchen counter tops was comedy, I assure you. Heck, at this point the fact that I actually own a rolling pin shocks me! The prep time for this dish was approximately 35 minutes. Cooking time 20-25 minutes depending on the "oven."

After 20 minutes the timer went off and the pizza was ready. It smells really awesome and looks pretty tasty. Patrick calls it "pizza lasagna". He really enjoyed it.

While the prep/cooking time hardly makes this a viable option for a "quick" dinner, I would definitely make it again!