Less of Me

I am a long way away from my goal of 145 lbs but I am on my way the photo below was taken at a winery about 2 years ago at my heaviest. My heaviest was 306 lbs! I couldn't believe that I had let myself get this out of shape. I was doing all the wrong things...fast food everyday and no exercise. I had to do something. I tried p90x for about a year and reduced portion sizes in my food and I lost about 40 lbs. I started putting the weight back on though so...I started Medifast at the end of January of this year. I have managed to get my weight down to 216 lbs. I have had some medical issues that have derailed my weight loss...but I have been watching what I have been eating and havent gained any of the weight back. Me and the husband have recently decided to take the nutritional information from medifast and do it ourselves with Special K bars and such. The medifast worked it was just about $300 a person before our lean and green meals that we had to buy and cook. Way too expensive. So far so good on our own. My next task....the elliptical machine. I need to get my mind set that I have to exercise no matter what even if its a little every day. I just wanted to post this picture to let everyone know the hard work is worth it and that I can make it to my goal..I just can't give up no matter what. I might get side lined but I have to get back in the game time after time. I hope everyone enjoys the updated picture.....I know I feel better and look better than I have in years and that means the world to me!!!!! :)

Carne Guisada

So...This was wonderful. I have a favorite local Mexican restaurant that serves chunked beef that tastes just like this in their chimichangas. I haven't been able to have my favorite meal because of the the carb and calorie count, because I cant just eat the meat. They serve rice and beans with the meal which i gotta have if i go...I dont have to have it but I will...LOL I was starting to be so sad i was missing my yummy spicy food . LOL But I found this...Wonderful Recipe. Now I can have the taste of my Mexican restaurant but in a healthier capacity. My husband just throws all this in a crock pot and adds a little extra water to cover the meat. It turned out so tender and juicy.I do not put anything on top of it but a little reduced fat Mexican cheese. If you want to use low carb tortillas to make a wrap or make into a taco salad...there are many options to change this up.  I have paired this up with garlic green beans, broccoli, mashed cauliflower and just a simple salad. I hope everyone loves this as much as I did. The original recipe follows below try either the crockpot or the way they did it below I am sure that this recipe will not disappoint. Enjoy!

DOTTIE'S CARNE GUISADA 

2 pound chuck roast, trimmed and cubed
2 tablespoons oil
1 small onion, diced, 2 1/2 ounces
4 ounces canned chopped green chiles
14 ounces beef broth
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. I used my 8-quart Dutch oven which was much larger than necessary to hold all of the ingredients. Using a larger pot gave me more surface area so I was able to brown the meat in a single layer. Brown the beef on all sides. Add all of the remaining ingredients; bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 2 hours or until the beef is very tender. Remove the lid and raise the heat.* Simmer until the liquid has thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve in low carb tortillas or over chopped lettuce, if desired. Top with whatever you like from cheese and sour cream to guacamole, etc. The counts below do not include the tortillas, lettuce or toppings.

Makes 4-6 servings
Can be frozen

* I skipped this last step and drained the meat in a large colander, saving the liquid. I put the meat back in the pot and shredded it with two forks. Then, I sprinkled 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum over the meat and stirred it in well. I poured in 1/2 to 1 cup of the reserved liquid and simmered it just until the sauce thickened. If you want to serve this like chili in a bowl, do not drain the liquid like I did. If you want to serve it in tortillas, it would be too soupy without draining off most of it. I used just enough to make the meat moist but not soupy. There is enough sauce that it could easily accomodate a 3 or 4 pound roast to stretch the servings and the carbs. By draining off most of the liquid, you'll save a few carbs as well but it was too hard to calculate the carb savings so I didn't.

Grilled Smothered Chicken

GRILLED "SMOTHERED" CHICKEN 

6 boneless chicken breasts
Salt, pepper, and desired seasonings to taste
Butter 

8 ounces fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 green pepper, chopped, about 6 ounces
1/2 cup onion, chopped, 2 1/2 ounces
1 clove garlic, minced
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Flatten the chicken, if desired; sprinkle with desired seasonings. Grill until done to your taste. Meanwhile, sauté the mushrooms, green pepper, onion and garlic in butter until tender. Place the grilled chicken on a baking sheet, cover with the vegetables, then smother with cheese. Bake at 350º about 5 minutes, until the cheese is melted.

Makes 6 servings
Do not freeze

Per Serving: 332 Calories; 18g Fat; 38g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

I got the original recipe from this website: 

http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/smothered_chicken.html

Love....Love....Love this recipe. We mostly grill the chicken but we have also baked the chicken in a glass casserole dish the oven until fully cooked then added all the sauteed veggies and a little cheddar cheese and bake until cheese melts and is ooey and gooey. We are having this tonight for dinner we are paring this with a small salad. I hope everyone enjoys this recipe. 

PCOS

I have had some issues in the last couple months with my Poly Cystic Ovarian Syndrome. I have been away from my blog because of depression and doctor appointments. I have stalled out with my weight loss. I started at  306 and I am down to about 222. I have remained at that weight for the last couple of months. I have to get back into eating better even on the weekends and commit to exercising on a regular basis. I have had severe migraines, my hair has starting falling out. I have to really get back into being my own doctor at times and find information on my own. Sometimes when I say PCOS...I get a blank stare. Then I think here I go again. I am going to start posting not only healthy recipes but my vent and informational progress with my PCOS. I need an outlet other than my poor husband lol. I hope everyone out there is doing good and keep checking back for new posts.  :)

Quick and Fast

I think me and the husband is going off medifast. I have lost over 50 lbs with it but it is expensive. We have scoped out Special K and Fiber One Bars along with Snackwells cakes for dessert. We are both trying a complete whey protien shake mix as well. We just cant see paying this much for food each month. We will see how our stint off of Medifast goes. I do know that I can stay on Medifast the rest of my life and need to eat healthy day by day whether supplemented by Medifast meals or not. I started at 273 lbs and I now weigh in at 219 lbs. I still have a long journey ahead of me since I want my end weight to be about 145 to 135 lbs, but I know I can do it. I hope everyone is having continued success of weight loss on their own individual journey!!!

Sandy's Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake

This has become a regular and a favorite recipe in our house. The chicken bake with the buffalo sauce is creamy, hot and spicy. I have had tons of people ask me for the recipe. I usually serve it on a bed of broccoli. The sauce is really a good compliment to the broccoli and gives the old veggies a little kick. I hope everyone enjoys this recipe as much as me and I encourage you go to over to www.lighterrecipes.com and check out the rest of Sandy's wonderful recipes!!! Thanks Sandy for another wonderful mainstay recipe in my house!!!

Creamy Buffalo Chicken Bake

(Aka Buffalo Chicken Dip)

www.lighterrecipes.blogspot.com

Slightly adapted from Melissa Aka Want2BeThin789

Ingredients:

13-14 oz raw, boneless, skinless chicken breasts - yields 9 oz cooked (1 1/2 Lean)

2 oz or 1/2 cup 2% reduced fat cheddar cheese (1/2 Lean)

1/4 cup Frank's Hot Wings Sauce (4 Condiments)

1/4 cup Light Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing  (2 Healthy Fats)

2 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese (2 Condiments)

6 Servings of Veggies (6 Greens)

Directions:

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken breasts for 30-35 minutes or until cooked. Remove chicken breasts from pan and chop the chicken into small pieces. Place chicken inside of a baking dish. Set aside.

In a small sauce pan, combine Frank's Hot Wings Sauce, ranch dressing and cream cheese. Heat over medium high heat, stirring until cream cheese is completely melted. Once melted, pour the sauce mixture over chicken. Then sprinkle with cheddar cheese. Bake for an additional 10 minutes or until the cheese is melted. Serve with 1 1/2 cups of celery or your favorite veggies for a complete lean and green meal.

2 Servings with 1 Complete Lean and Green, 3 Condiments and 1 Healthy Fat per serving

*Note: You can use 1/4 cup fat free ranch dressing and treat it as 2 condiments. Then use 2 tbsp of regular cream cheese as your two healthy fats.

Italian Stuffed Peppers

I love stuffed peppers!!! With this recipe I didn't even miss the rice that is normally stuffed into the green pepper mixture. This is one that I will be happy to cook again and again!! This is a FAVE!!!  The original recipe is below for the Italian Stuffed Peppers from the time savor gourmet cookbook.  I changed a lot on this recipe. First, after cleaning up the bell peppers I boiled them for 5 minutes. Second, I  cooked and browned my ground beef and mixed all of the remaining ingredients in the pan letting them simmer before inserting it into the bell peppers. This recipe only allows you to have 2 green so to make it 3, I added 1C of tomato puree! YUMMY!!!!!

4 Small bell peppers, about 1/2 C equivalent each
1 1/2 lb Lean ground beef
1C Mushrooms, diced
1C Zucchini, diced
1T Time Savor Gourmet Tuscan Fantasy
1T Time Savor Gourmet Viva Italiano

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Wash and dry the peppers. Cut the top 1/2" off the pepper horizontally to crate a cup. Remove the seeds and rinse. Set peppers in a 9 X 9 baking dish.

In a large bowl, combine remaining ingredients. Divide the mixture equally into four parts and stuff into the peppers. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until meat in thoroughly cooked.

Serving: 1/4 of this dish is 1 lean and 2 green. I added 1C of tomatoes to make it 3 green.