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!