8/31/2010 - Pictures...Pictures...Pictures

This is what brunch with friends looks like when you are on Nutrisystem and it is a Buffet!!!

Driving with the baby (Samuel, 14)

8/30/2010 - Week 6 Complete! Yay!

Week 6, down 1 more pound for a total of 19 pounds lost! Completed: 4 1 hour workouts this week

My favorite new foods this week were:
Breakfast: Has several scones prepared as french toast and several pancakes
Lunch: Rediscovered Pasta w/beef, added a Light String Cheese in it and it is 100x better, Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes as Potatoe Salad!
Dinner: BBQ Beef over beans and rice, Cheese and Spinach Ravioli w/Meat Sauce, Rotini and Meatballs, Beef Taco, Mac and Cheese (served as crab casserole), Sweet and Sour Chicken
Dessert: Peppermint Cookie Patty, Chocolate Caramel Bar, Chocolate Chip Cookie, Golden Pound Cake

8/29/2010 - Weekend Food Fun

I am very excited about this week's weigh-in. I am feeling absolutely fantastic! Went to a spin class on Saturday, hadn't been since before I started Nutrisystem, and I could tell a huge difference! I was able to push harder and I felt so STRONG!! Will weigh-in in the morning and hope that I report a 2 pound loss for the week.

I have been playing with my food this weekend. I know, I know, Mom always said not to play with food...but she would appreciate these kind of experiments!

Crabby Mac and Cheese
Adapted from http://www.nutrisystem.com/ recipe pages.

Ingredients:

Nutrisystem Macaroni and Cheese

2oz. drained, canned white crabmeat

1T. Shredded Parmesan Cheese

1T. 2% Sharp Cheddar Cheese

Cook Nutrisystem entree by the instructions

Mix with crab and cheddar cheese

Top with Parmesan Cheese

Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees (in toaster oven)

Prior to baking

Baked...ready to eat! It was absolutely CRABULOUS! 

Beef Tacos

I was very lucky to find this box of Beef Tacos! A girl on Craigslist was selling it for a dollar. And I was CRAVING Mexican food. I didn't really do too much creative with this...I followed the instructions, adding in some onions.

Made as many tacos as I could with the crumbled taco shells, topping each with fresh tomatoes, lettuce, and jalapeno slices.

Used the rest of the Taco Mixture as a topping for salad. Delicious! Not sure why this amazing meal was discontinued! The only thing I can think of was the crumbled shells. But those are totally workable!

Spinach Obsession

Have you tried blanched spinach?

Here is what you do....

1. boil a pot of water

2. once it is boiling, add about 8 oz of spinach

3. let it boil for 30 seconds to 1 minute, it should be BRIGHT GREEN

4. remove from heat and place spinach in a bowl of ice cold water

(I usually put it in ice water in the sink and run cold water over it.)

Now you have a huge blanched spinach ball (about 1/2 cup) 

5. Bust spinach ball in half, bust each half in half and continue until you have nicely-sized spinach balls. As you bust them in half make sure you squeeze them to remove excess water.

6. Now that you have blanched spinach, top with 1/2 T. of Peanut Sauce (I use Kikkoman, which is 20 calories for 1/2 T.)

OBSESSED WITH THIS!

DESSERT!! 

Okay, this isn't an experiment...but I found it kinda strange...

 The Wrapper

 The cookie isn't quite as pretty as the wrapper

 My dog thinks that this cookie is for him... he was seriously determined to get it from me.

Flatbread Pizza

I had to bite into it because it seemed a bit hard. . . I made it into my Mustard Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza and it was pretty good. The crust was a bit hard though. Prefer the Sourdough Pizza Crust...but I think this is an old, discontinued version.

Dessert!!! Er, uh, PROTEIN?!?!?!?!?

 The stats of this delectible treat make it a protein replacement and, yep, it is between 130 and 150 calories per pint! I tried 2T. of each flavor and rank them as such:
1. Coffee (by far)
2.Mint Chocolate Cookie
3. Chocolate Peanut Butter (#2 and #3 are very close)
4. Strawberry Banana (had a banana laffy taffy taste/texture) but still good!

So excited about this product and really hope that it is LEGIT on my plan. I think it is because it meets the protein allowance if you eat 1 cup.

That's all I got, will update with my weight tomorrow!

8/29/2010 - More Breaksfasts!

Cranberry Orange Pastry w/Cherries and 3oz chicken

Pastry....revealed....

Apple Strudel Scone is used as bread for a sandwich.

The protein is the 2 egg whites, 1 slice of fat free cheese and 1 slice ham.

Cherries for the fruit! Yummy!

Huge breakfast! Egg whites + 1T. green onions,

1 peach.

1 Chewy Chocolate Chip NS Granola Bar

Breakfast Experiment! Pumpkin Hot Cakes!

1 package of NS Pancake Mix

1/2 c. canned pumpkin (borrowed veggie serving from lunch)

1/4 c. milk

water until moist enough

Looking gross......

Made 9 pancakes of 2 Tablespoons each...

used spray butter and a bit of Maple Syrup

Analysis: Will make these again, but will use 1/4 c. of pumpkin next time.

They were really good, but stayed a little soggy with a pumpkin pie texture, was going for more of a pancake that was flavored with pumpkin.

However, my son LOVED them.

8/27/2010 - I LOVE Breakfast!!!!

Have I mentioned that I love breakfast? I do! It is my favorite meal each day.  I love it and Nutrisystem has such a good variety of food that really make a great meal with all the fresh add-ins. Here are a few I have eaten this week.

Nutrisystem Maple oatmeal with fresh berries

Torani sugar-free syrup for my coffee

Blueberry pancake mix, prepared according to package with 1 teaspoon of sf syrup stirred in.

Ham, ff cheese slice, egg white.

Stacked onto pancake sandwich bread.

Nutrisystem scrambled eggs with 1T. of bacon bits, served with 6oz greek yogurt and raspberries.

8/25/2010 - Link + Crabcakes!

Nutrisystem recipes link: http://nutrisystem.wikia.com/
Tons of creative ways to create the Nutrisystem Entrees.

Recent delicious experiment....

Ingredients:

Old Bay, to taste

1 container of Cheesy Homestyle Potatoes

1T. each red and green onions

1 4 oz. can of crab meat, drained completely

Pam

Amazing crabcakes. Prepare Cheesy potatoes as instructed. Mix 1T. green onions and 1 T. red onions with 4 oz. crabmeat. Mix together, make 2 T. balls and fry in Pam. So yummy! Everyone in my office was jealous!

8/23/2010 - Week 5 complete

So, today was the weigh-in for my week 5 results! Down 2 pounds this week for a total of 18 pounds.

My favorites this week:

Breakfast: Lemon Poppyseed Muffin (discontinued)
Lunch: Cheesy Pototoes
Dinner: Pizza (prepared as Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza) and Flamebroiled Patty
Snack: Fudge Brownie and Chocolate Crunch Bar

I am going to show you a recipe I made, but I think I am going to have to trade my remaining packages of this because I get a little, uh, gassy from this food. I am very sensitive to soy. 

Package

View from the top

So, prepare as the package says, using only 2 oz of water and the remaining from the juice of a Rotel can. Then add about half a cup of rotel tomatoes, 1T. of chiles, 1t. cumin, shake of garlic powder, 1 green onion chopped. Cook until thickened. While that is bubbling, take 2 soft corn tortillas and slice them (I slice them like pizza wedges, making 8 triangles from each tortilla). Then layer the tortillas and the fajita mix until you have used all of both. Then top with 1T. cheese and bake for about 6 or 7 minutes at 400. Then top with 1 oz. of Greek Yogurt (tastes like sour cream) and some sliced green onions. Very good!

8/22/2010 - Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza

I love Nutrisystem! I am never hungry and rarely feel like I am on a diet.
Here is one of my favorite recipes. I have to admit that the first time I opened the pizza and the crust fell out of the box I was shocked. It is seriously only a little larger than a pop tart. I wondered how I would ever be full after eating it! My co-workers looked at me with sympathy as I pouted down to the breakroom to nuke it. It was not that great, but the crust itself is good and with a few modifications, this has become one of my favorite entrees. One way I eat it is as a Bacon Cheeseburger Pizza, a spin-off of one of my favorite "pre-healthy" foods from a local Pizza chain. You can also add 1T. ground cooked turkey.

Pizza!!!!

Toss the sauce and use MUSTARD!
Then top with red and green onions, 1 Tablespoon of bacon, use the cheese from the box,
bake for about 8 or 9 minutes in the toaster oven.

Top with pickles, cut and eat!

8/21/2010 - over 1 month into nutrisystem...thoughts, impressions, reviews, photos.

I started Nutrisystem on July 19th. It was not anything that I have ever even considered, but when my mother-in-law brought me a month's worth of food, I figured I would give it a try.

When she brought me the box and we were going through all the food as she explained the program to me, I laughed at how disgusting the pizza looked. Turns out, that is one of my favorite things to eat (so versatile).

Summary of the first month:

Week 1

July 19th-July 25th

Weight: 247

Workouts completed: 5 1 hour workouts

Favorites:

breakfast: lowfat granola, orange cranberry pastry, apple strudel scone, blueberry muffin

lunch: chocolate PB bar, cheese tortellini, chocolate raspberry bar

dinner: pizza, lasagna (cheese), cheese ravioli

Thoughts:

Surprised at how I am not hungry at all. Feeling very good that I can get all the veggies in I need to. Absolutely sick of carrots and celery.

Week 2

July 26th-August 1st

Weight: 240

Workouts completed: 4 1 hour workouts, 1 strength session

Favorites:

lunch: fudge graham bar, minestrone soup, split pea soup

Thoughts:

Veggie fajita was weird and kinda gross, not really sure about bean curd in my food. Also, did not like the rice Risotto (also very weird with a very strong and unidentifiable taste). Started traveling on 7/31 and remaining 100% committed to the plan. Wanna see where this takes me.

Week 3

August 2nd-August 8th

Weight: traveling, unable to weigh-in

Workouts completed: 6 1 hour workouts

Favorites:

breakfast: lemon poppyseed muffin, chocolate chip pancakes
lunch: chicken and barley
dinner: chili w/beans

Thoughts:
Found the diet pretty easy to stick to while traveling. The bars made it pretty convenient and then I would just find a clean salad or steamed veggie when with clients. Turned my pizza into a barbecue pizza one day and it was fantastic! Was working, but extended my trip and went to my mom's house in Washington. She had picked me up some food from a garage sale. I got to try some discontinue items. Here are some photos of the chocolate chip pancakes:

served with 1 T. of "free" cool whip and light Torani Caramel Sugar Free Syrup

Week 4

August 9th-August 15th

Weight: traveling, unable to weigh in

Workouts completed: 3 1 hour workouts

Favorites:

breakfast: blueberry pancakes

lunch: cajun chicken and rice w/sausage, black beans and rice

Thoughts:

found message boards on http://www.nutrisystem.com/ and other people's blogs.

Weight on August 15th: 231

Down 16 pounds in 4 weeks!