Weekly Weigh In: Week 22

Here it is.  Starting the last week of Phase 1.  This last week has been a roller coaster.

My first grandchild was born (at 430 in the morning ... he doesn't understand yet that Grammlee does NOT like all nighters!).  He was 5 weeks early so they are unfortunately still in the hospital.  He is doing well and adjusting to life outside the womb, but his lungs are still a tad bit underdeveloped so he is on oxygen and staying in the pediatrics ward until he can hold his O2 levels up better.

What that turned into was a lot of running back and forth to the hospital to help my daughter through the emotional roller coaster of still being at the hospital now a week later and with no ETA for going home.  Lots of take out and hospital food.  Lots of protein,  Not a lot of vegetables.  I could feel it too in not feeling quite right.  I didn't eat bad.  I avoided the pizza, pasta and ice cream bars in the freezer completely.  But the lack of veg did have an impact.  Right now I'm still feeling tired and I can only assume its from the lack of veg and the lack of fluids.  I didn't get a lot of water down either.

So this week is settling a little more.  No more melt downs means I can eat at home then go see the little boobah.  Which I enjoyed tonight.  I made my all time fave ratatouille.  That's all I had for dinner.  A big plate of roasted veg in a lovely tomato sauce.  And my oh my was it delish :)

Looking forward to being in a routine this week and then starting the new Phase 2 routine next week.

Until then ...

Week 22: -1.8
Total: -57.6

Weekly weigh-in: Week 21

5 months and almost 60 pounds later it comes to this:  the last two weeks...the last 3ish pounds.  I'll be on Phase 2 August 11 no matter what.  I want to be into maintenance when John and I go to Italy in September.  I'd really love to be at my goal, but since I figure I'll be back on Phase 1 after Italy (if the wine doesn't do me in the pasta will!) I'm OK with not being all the way there.

One of the videos I got from IP was about how to think about maintenance.  Its like tiny corrections and bigger corrections.  They compared it to driving a car and staying in the lane.  You naturally make small adjustments while driving to stay in the middle of your lane due to wheel alignment, road conditions etc.  If you doze off and hit the rumble strips you make a larger correction.

The same goes for weight loss maintenance.  The suggestion was to pick a weight that would signal the need for small and large corrections.

My correction weights are 3 and 5 pounds.  If I go up 3 pounds I'll make mall adjustments, watch the carbs closer, eat more green veg than higher carb veg etc.  If I'm up by 5 pounds, larger corrections are in order and I  go back on Phase 1 until I'm back at goal.  This makes so much sense to me and makes maintaining this loss so much less concerning.

Lindsay and I were just talking today about the structure of Phase 1 versus the potential free for all on maintenance.    Lindsay said she thinks I already have the right mindset for maintaining :)  This helps bound the problem quite a lot.  I don't feel as intimidated now as I did even thinking about it a few weeks ago.

Week 21 -1.2
Total -55.8

Another Chicken crust pizza recipe

If you feel better using cooked chicken in the crust give this recipe a try from  A Nation of Moms.  I have not tried it yet but it looks just as good (maybe a little easier too since the chicken is already cooked).  If you try it let me know how it is in the comments!!

Crust Ingredients:
1 c. finely chopped cooked chicken breast (chopped in food processor)
1/2 c GO Veggie mozzarella shreds
1 egg white
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano

Toppings:
Walden Farms Smoky BBQ Sauce
sliced/diced onions
sliced/diced peppers
Go Veggie mozzarella shreds
Go Veggie Cheddar and Peter Jack shreds

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all crust ingredients with your hands in a large bowl. Press onto baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with EVOO spray. Form a flat circular “crust” shape about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick. 

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Let cool for 5 minutes before adding sauce, add toppings (the more veggies the better!) and lightly sprinkle with more soy cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

  

Enjoy!

Chicken Salsa Verde

I stumbled upon a couple of great pork tacos recipes a few weeks back.  I bought ingredients for both and have been wanting to try the second recipe for a bit now.  I didn't have pork in the freezer this week but had a big ol' bag of chicken breasts so I figured chicken tacos would be a good crock pot dinner to try out.

The original recipe is from Four Marrs ... One Venus ... great name for a blog!!  The Marrs family of all boys and the mom (the one Venus).  I love the throw back reference to Men are from Mars Women are From Venus.

This was super simple, even for a crock pot meal.  And as I shredded the chicken I couldn't help but sample it.  I had to make my self stop eating!  It was that good.  The salsa verde has a distinctive flavor and is pretty unique.  Much different from your normal taco taste, in my opinion any way.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out for yourselves

Salsa Verde Tacos
2 lb pork (roast or picnic cut) or chicken breasts (skinless/boneless)
Kosher salt
1 jar salsa verde (I used HyVee select roasted salsa verde)
1 small can diced green chilies (also used a store brand here)
1 tsp. cumin

Place your meat in a crock pot.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Pour salsa verde over the top and then your diced chilies.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp of cumin.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours

Remove from crock pot and shred (its easier on a plate or cutting board than in the crock pot).  Put shredded meat back in the crock pot to keep it warm (I turned crock off but let the meat hang out in the juice that had accumulated)

Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

Meat wrap - Philly steak "sandwiches"

Any one remember these?

I remember the commercials from years ago.  I didn't' know what a Philly cheese steak sandwich was at the time and I thought these were kinda silly.  I've since learned the error of my ways, the divine nature of a good philly and Steak-umms are still on the market (in the freezer section)

Thought I'd give it a try!  Sure am glad I did.  I used a bag of PictSweet frozen diced onions and peppers and warmed them up (no caramelizing of the onions, just soft) in a saute pan with a little oil.

I cooked up the steak-umms per the package directions and piled stuff on a hoagie bun with cheese ... for my husband,  Of course I couldn't eat that.  

I think these would make awesome lettuce wraps but unfortunately I didn't have lettuce so I made ...ummm ... meat wraps

I used the steak-umm as the wrap, piled it with the peppers and onions and folded it up and ate it like that.  Kinda messy with meat and onion juice dripping everywhere, but I was in heaven.  The taste was cheesesteak sandwich.  Peppers and onions and total taste bud ecstasy.  I honestly didn't miss the bread at all (except maybe to soak up some of the drippings).

And since everything was from the freezer this really took just minutes to make.  You don't even have to plan it because the meat is to be cooked frozen!

So next time you are in the mood for a philly, try a meat wrap. 

Weekly weigh in: Week 20

This was an extremely good week.  I tried a casserole ... pasta (IP pasta but still) {soy} cheese, and a thick rich tomato sauce.  It was divine!! 

 I made super fantastic chicken salsa verde tacos (the recipe will be posted later in the week) ... with enough left over meat to freeze so I can have it while the hubs is on a business trip. Although I'm not thrilled for John to be going on the trip, I will take the opportunity to play around with shell fish.  He is allergic so we don't eat it.  I'm OK with that although I do miss crab sometimes and I developed an affinity for scallops when I had my business trips to Seattle earlier in the year.  So I'll make it a positive and make some things that I can't normally make when he's here  

And last but not least, I lost a whopping 3.6 pounds.  Whaaaa .... Shut the front door!!  That's one of the best weeks I've had in months!!!

I've been pretty steady at 2 to 2.5 pounds for the last 2 months.  That's nothing to sneeze at and I've been pleased that the downward trend continued without a plateau.  I was taken aback a little by this week's loss.  I didn't think I was doing things much differently but boy howdy was the result better!
So all in all a great week!  

Total: -54.6

Easy Italian Pasta Bake

I grew up on casseroles.  All kinds.  Some I liked (pizza casserole) some not so much (Johnny Mazzetti casserole- black olives ewwww).  And growing up Catholic there was the ever present tuna and noodle casserole on Fridays during Lent. 

Casseroles are one dish that has been decidedly absent since I started the IP program.  Not anymore.  This Easy Italian Pasta Bake from Innovative Aesthetics was very reminiscent of the pizza casserole I used to make, with just a few swaps.  

I used the IP Pasta and Go Veggie soy cheese.  I did not use WF sauce but instead  one in the health section  Sun Dry brand sun dried tomato pasta sauce as I look up the brand on the web, have brown sugar in it ... second to last ingredient on the list.  I missed it on the jar but hopefully it was so minimal that it wasn't a major factor).  

It tasted wonderful and was super thick (so much so that I added water to it to make it more "saucy")This dish felt like such a treat - pasta, meat, cheese.  3 of my favorite things!!  

It was so good I forgot to take pictures :)  

Here's the recipe 

Italian  Pasta Bake 
Ingredients: 
1 lb lean ground turkey 
4 packets of Ideal Protein Rotini Pasta 
1 Jar Walden Farms Marinara Sauce, or make your own in a food processor 
1/3 Cup Grated Parmesan Cheese, Divided ·         

Directions
Brown meat until down and drain off any fat.
Boil pasta till al dente 
Add pasta, sauce and half of the parmesan to meat and mix well. 
Spoon into 13x9 baking dish; top with remaining cheeses. 
Bake 20 min. or until heated through.