Pesto Salad Pizza

***Updated 5/3/13 to reflect NS approved cauliflower crust recipe changes***

My love affair with salad on pizza started in elementary school. Every Friday was "Pizza Day". For two bucks, you'd get two slices of pizza and a pile of salad with ranch dressing. I'd ignore the confused/disgusted stares as I piled the salad onto the slice and devoured it. Man, I loved Fridays when I was a kid....

Fast forward many, many years. I'd forgotten all about the salad pizza stuff until my husband and I went out to eat at California Pizza Kitchen. They had two pizzas that had salad on them. Instantly I was transported back to gradeschool. I HAD to have them. The first was a pear and Gorgonzola pizza with hazelnuts, topped with spring mix tossed with a blue cheese ranch dressing. The second was a "California Cobb" pizza with chicken, bacon and topped with shredded iceberg tossed with mayonnaise and topped with a fan of avocado slices. 

They were my favorite treat for a long time. Then they discontinued the first, then the second. While this was good news for my waistband and wallet, it made my heart sad. 

I figured out how to copy the Pear and Gorgonzola pizza, but can't have it on the Medifast plan. I do plan on doing a healthy version once I'm on maintenance, but for now we'll just focus on what I CAN have on-plan.

I decided to make a pesto pizza, and realized that I didn't have any other veggies to top my pizza but lettuce. So I decided to make it into a salad pizza so that I meet my Lean and Green guidelines. And it turned out spectacular!

Pesto Salad Pizza

Ingredients:

Crust:
1 cup grated cauliflower (2 green)
1/4 cup egg beaters (1/8 lean)
3/8 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella (6g fat/oz) (3/8 lean)


Pesto:
1/2 cup basil (1/2 condiment)
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese (1 condiment)
1 clove of garlic (1 condiment)

1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella (1/2 lean)

Salad:
1 cup shredded Iceberg lettuce (1 green)
1 tbsp Walden Farms Ranch Dressing (1/2 condiment)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a 1/4 sheet cake pan with parchment paper.

Grate 1 cup of cauliflower and place in a medium-sized bowl. Add 1/4 cup egg beaters, 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese. Mix with a spoon and spread on the parchment. Spread it as thin as possible, avoiding holes in the mixture. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes. The crust will be browned and look a bit like a quiche looks on the top.

Meanwhile, pulse the basil, garlic and parmesan in food processor. With the lack of olive oil, the resulting pesto will be a bit grainy rather than smooth like true pesto, but I'm okay with that. I actually prefer it! Remove the baked crust from the oven, spread pesto over the crust and sprinkle 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella on top. 

Return the pizza to the oven under the broiler (500 degrees) until the cheese melts and is bubbly (this happens FAST so watch it carefully!!!)

While the cheese is melting, in a small bowl toss the shredded lettuce with the Walden Farms Ranch dressing. Set aside. 

Remove from the pizza from the oven, cut into six slices, top with the salad and enjoy!

Recipe makes 1 serving.


L&G Calculations:
1 Lean
3 Green
3 Condiments

Laughing Cow Cheese and Other Yummy Stuff

I'm constantly trying to find the Medifast Nutrition Support answer for where Laughing Cow Cheese and other yummy extras fit in to the Medifast plan. And, of course, I never write it down. Then I have to go googling again the next time I want to use it. So here's the info that Nutrition Support has posted on the Medifast boards about Laughing Cow and other things they don't have on the quick start guide but are okay on the Medifast plan. I will be updating this post periodically and adding to the list when I come across things I want a quick reference to.

Laughing Cow:

1 wedge Laughing Cow Cream Cheese = 1 fat serving
1 wedge Original Laughing Cow cheese = 1 fat serving
2 wedges Laughing Cow Light varieties = 1 fat serving
1 wedge Laughing Cow Light (a flavor with 1 g carb/wedge) = 1 condiment
1 piece Mini Babybel, Light (Original) = 1 fat serving.
10 pieces (approximately 47 grams) Laughing Cow Light Gourmet Cheese Bites = 1 fat serving

Kraft Free Singles:

1 slice = 2 condiments (The sodium content is quite high, be careful using them)

Majestic Garlic - Cilantro:

1 tsp = 1 condiment
Link to post

Celery Pasta:

Can use the 3 ribs as your optional snack in addition to the 3 green servings!

Lean Serving Calculations:

(Copied/Pasted straight from Nutrition Support Message boards, Posting by Meredith, MS, CPT)
For any item to qualify as a Lean portion, the calculated serving size should be between 250 – 300 calories, <15 grams of carbohydrates, and >25 grams of protein. For the day, you want to stay between 10 – 34 grams of fat, and as recommended by the American Heart Association (AHA): under 2,300 mg of sodium (unless other health issues such as hypertension, etc. are present). If this calculated serving size provides between 0 – 4 grams of fat, you may add 2 healthy fat servings to your item. If it provides 5 – 9 grams of fat, you may add 1 healthy fat serving, and >10 you add no healthy fat servings.

Condiment vs. Healthy Fat Calculations:

(Copied and pasted straight from Nutrition Support Message boards, Posting by Meredith, MS, CPT)
To sum up, the serving of an item that is equal to 1 gram of carbohydrate can count as 1 condiment option. The serving of an item that is ~5 grams of fat and <6 grams of carbohydrates can count as one healthy fat option.

What to do if you run out of Medifast meals before your next shipment:

(Copied and pasted straight from Nutrition Support Message boards, posting by Meredith, MS, CPT)
However, if you are completely out of food, a 'temporary' (up to 1 week) solution to best try and keep your body in fat burning would be to consume 3, 4-ounce Lean & Green meals along with 1, low-fat dairy option. Either a 5 & 1 or a 4 & 2 may be appropriate options to follow while you still have access to food.

My Week In Review: Week 8

Total pounds lost: 35.5
Total inches lost: 18.5

Pounds lost this week: 0.6

Inches lost this week: 1.5

Weight Loss Stall

I went into a stall this week. From Friday of last week on, I didn't lose an ounce. In fact, I gained a pound! I racked my brain trying to figure out where I'd screwed up. Yeah, we'd eaten out a couple times, but I'd tried my hardest to select items on-plan (salads with grilled chicken, no cheese, sauce on the side). Other than that, I know I was on plan 100%. 

The big difference was that I'd increased my exercise routine. I'd been doing 15-20 minutes of walking, every day since week 3, increasing the mph I was walking. This week I'd bumped it up to 30 minutes per day.

After searching the Medifast discussion boards, it appeared that the exercise might be the culprit. The Medifast Nutrition Support/Personal Trainers said that you can over-exercise and send yourself into conservation/starvation mode. Symptoms include being hungry, tired, irritable. 

Ding ding ding! We have a winner. I decided to cut back on the exercise (doing it every other day vs every day) and bumped up my water intake from 64 oz to 128 oz/day to try and help break the stall. Thursday morning, a two pound loss on the scale.

*Queue angels singing*

I still find it hard to believe that I was over-exercising. I felt great, in fact, working out daily. I was just depressed with the scale not budging/going in the wrong direction. But when you think about it, Medifast keeps you at about 800 calories. My workout was burning 200, leaving my body just 600 calories to work with. Thinking about it that way, it makes total sense that my body was in starvation mode.

Going forward, I'll be working out just every other day until the weight loss tapers down, then I'll bump it up slowly.

(I worked out Thursday evening, apparently still too much, because I was up this morning a bit. ) :(

Making Mistakes

I learned something this week: don't ever, EVER, EVER trust that something on a menu is healthy unless you check the nutrition guidelines. Yeah, this seems like common sense. This hit home for me when I ate out with my kids for lunch yesterday. I ordered my usual, steamed veggies with a double order of teriyaki chicken, sauce on the side (my kids love the sauce, so I give it to them to put on their rice), and pick out the carrots from the veggies (for some reason my kids won't eat these... o.O) 

I have ordered this meal from Panda Express probably once or twice a month since starting Medifast. I was tentative the first time I ordered it, but my scale moved in the right direction the next day, so I figured it was fine. I weighed out the chicken the first time to see how much it was - nearly 9 oz of chicken! I gave 3 oz to the kids. Never once did I think to check the nutrition facts. I knew the sauce they marinated it in probably was a little off-plan, but how bad could it possibly be? it's not like it's swimming in sauce.

So yesterday after devouring my lunch, I decided to check the nutrition facts. *Queue horrified scream here*

The veggies were 70 calories, with over half of that from fat. The chicken? 250 calories a portion (and I had a double portion - 3oz)! Granted, I'm guessing that was including the sauce they drench the chicken in, but still. Holy. Moly. 

I totally screwed myself. I was in a stall as it was, and now I had completely blown it. After breathing into a paper bag for a while, I jumped on the Medifast message boards and posted my screw up. Within minutes I had a bunch of people just like me telling me not to skip my meals and that I would be okay. Forgive myself for making the mistake, chalk it up to a learning experience and move on.  If you're doing Medifast and haven't found the boards yet, DO. They are AMAZING!

I had already vowed not to let it derail me from my plan (although PE is dead to me now. lol). But it was so reassuring to know I wasn't alone and that I'd survive and it was okay to make mistakes as long as we learn from it. 

My big lesson? ALWAYS check the nutrition facts for restaurants before eating there.

Doctor's Like To See You Succeed Too! 

I had my 3 month follow up last night. As a diabetic, you have to see your doctor every 3 months to ensure that your treatment plan is working and your diabetes is in check. I knew when my doctor nearly bulldozed my nurse to get into the room that he'd just looked at my test results. 

He literally was dancing in the office, he was so happy about my progress. When I first went to see him, in January of 2012, I wasn't taking care of my diabetes. I was in denial that I had it, and my A1C of 8.0 showed that. My A1C this time around was 5.7. When I informed him that I'd stopped taking ALL of my medications 2 weeks into the program, which was 6 weeks prior to the blood test, he literally fell out of his chair. My blood pressure is normal. My A1C was at non-diabetic levels. 

We parted ways with a plan to follow up in 3 months, and if my progress continues to improve (which it will - I'm not stopping until I'm at my goal weight, and even then I'm in this for life!), we can extend the frequency in which I see him. 

*Happy dance*

Wrap Up and Recipes

So that's it. Sorry about the long post, but I had a lot to say this week! ;)

I've developed some new recipes, including a Broccoli and Cheese Grilled Cheese and a Breakfast Sandwich . I also developed some recipes but didn't take pictures of them. They include a Cobb Salad, Shrimp with Garlic sauce, and a Greek Salad. I'll post those recipes next time I make the dish (and I'll take pictures too! Hehe!) 

Sometimes it's not about what the scale says, but the test results and the tape measure that really makes your day. If you're going through a stall on the scale, see what other ways you can measure your success. Don't let it get you down! 

Until next week, Onward and Downward! ;)

The Tools to My Success

I cringe at the title of this post, because I am not at my goal weight yet. But, I *have* lost 36 lbs and am off all my obesity-related medications, so I would consider my journey already a success.

I wanted to show you the tools/tricks I use on a daily basis that I just can't live without.

Bag Your Day

I saw this idea on Pinterest long before I tried Medifast. I'd considered doing it, but wasn't sure I'd like the food/it was too expensive/etc. You know, the standard excuses. 

Basically as soon as I get my Medifast order for the month, I sit down with a bunch of zip-lock baggies and put my day worth of food in each bag. I used to use a spreadsheet to make sure I wasn't repeating the same variety on every day. Now I just sit with the boxes, decide what looks good and go for it. The trick is 5 Medifast Meals per bag, per day. I love the Medifast optional snacks, so I put one of those in there per day too. This way I don't have to count how many meals I have. There's no guesswork. It's just there, and as I go I grab my meals. Sometimes I don't feel like what's in the bag and will exchange it for a meal from another bag. Which is fine. I love this method and it's nice to take ALL the work out of deciding what I'll eat for that day. I just grab a bag and go!

Fill Your Jugs

 Another way I take ALL the thinking out of doing Medifast is my trusty Rubbermaid 64 oz jug. I fill it up in the morning and make sure it's gone by lunch. Then I refill it and make sure the second is gone by the time I finish my workout at 9pm.

Medifast recommends you drink 64 oz of water. So, you could just fill it up once and make sure it's gone by the end of the day. That's what I was doing when I first started. But if you read my Week 8 update, I had a stall and bumped up my water intake to 128 oz and broke the stall.

But whatever you chose, this is a great way to ensure you're getting in all your water!

Weigh More Now, Weigh Less Later

By far, my favorite, and most used, gadget for Medifast is my kitchen food scale. I've had it for years

and have no clue where I bought it (I'm guessing Bed Bath and Beyond or Walmart). It sat in a drawer for a number of years, and came out the day I got my Medifast order. I make sure to weigh every lean item I have, and now that I found a spreadsheet with all of the weights in grams for vegetables, I'll be weighing those too (instead of my "how much can I cram into a level half cup method. ha!)

I didn't post a picture of my measuring cups and spoons, but those get a workout too :)

Go for a Spin

 This is one of my favorite gadgets for making Medifast interesting. It's the Hamilton Beach personal drink blender. It's like 15 bucks at Walmart and worth every penny. In fact, it kind-of makes me want to splurge the 60-ish bucks for one of those Magic Bullets.

This thing is great for making up smoothies with the shakes, mixing up the soft-serve, even making my Wendy's Style frosty with the Medifast Chocolate pudding. (I'll post that recipe at some point. A similar recipe is on my Pinterest board :) )

Grill It Up!

Oh, how I love this Rival Sandwich Maker. It was about ten bucks at Walmart, and again, worth every penny. I bought it after finding a Medifast Grilled Cheese recipe on Pinterest. After failing miserably the first time (tip: spray PAM on the grates, even on first use!!!), I scraped up the mess, threw the cheese on it, and ate the first heavenly grilled cheese (however ugly) on-plan.

Then I thought, well, if I can make THAT with this little appliance, what else can I make? I've developed a couple recipes I'll be posting in the future (think Stuffed French Toast and Grilled PB&J sandwiches and a few other things ;) )

If you're doing Medifast and getting a little tired of the standard fare, consider buying one of these babies and expanding your meal options. I love mine!

Medifast Broccoli and Cheese Grilled Cheese

Here's another recipe I found on Cody's New Beautiful Me blog that I adapted to fit with what I had on hand. I would never in a million years order the cream of tomato soup (I can't STAND tomato soup). But I did have some cream of broccoli soup, and I really, really wanted to try the grilled cheese sandwich.

Like with the breakfast sandwich, I chose to use the Kraft Free Single as my cheese option. Rather than being part of my lean, it counts as two condiments for one slice. Again, I'm okay with this. Use your own discretion regarding the cheese choice for this recipe, though. If you chose a cheese with fat, make sure to deduct it from your lean.

Again, other recipes I've found do not count the egg beaters as part of your lean. I didn't either. Again, use your own discretion with this recipe. (If you're making more than one of these per day, or in combination with other recipes using 2 tbsp egg beaters (such as the breakfast sandwich) be sure to deduct the Egg beaters from your lean.)

Medifast Broccoli and Cheese Grilled Cheese

Ingredients:

1 Medifast Cream of Broccoli Soup
1/4 cup Egg Beaters (1/8 lean)
2 Tbsp water
1 slice Kraft Free Single

Spray non-stick spray into the wells of a sandwich maker and pre-heat. In a small bowl, mix together the egg beaters and water. Pour the mix into a pre-heated sandwich maker. It should fill all four little triangles. Close the maker and cook for three (3) minutes.

Once the "bread" has cooked, remove from the sandwich maker and place half a slice of cheese between two squares.

Medifast calcs: 1 Medifast meal, 1/8 lean, 2 condiments

Medifast Breakfast Sandwich

So like many other people on Medifast, after a while on the program, you just need some variety. So I went searching for recipes to "tweak" my Medifast meals. 

I came across Cody's New Beautiful Me Blog, and her recipe for a breakfast sandwich using the pancake mix. While it looked delicious, I really didn't want to use up that much of my lean on one of my medifast meals.

I searched the Medifast Nutrition Support forums and discovered that you could use 2 Tbsp of Egg Beaters on one of your Medifast meals and not count it towards your lean. Because really, one lean serving of Egg Beaters is TWO CUPS. So two tablespoons is like, 1/18th of your lean or something. 

Anyway...

I also discovered Kraft Free singles at the grocery store. On the Nutrition Support boards, they said one slice of Kraft Free singles would count as two condiments. There's a lot of sodium in one slice, so use them sparingly if you chose them as the cheese portion of this breakfast sandwich. If you use low or moderate fat cheese for this recipe, remember to deduct it from your lean for the day. I have been using the Kraft Free singles for a few weeks now and haven't seen it impact my weight loss at all, so I'm happy to count them as two condiments. I also only use one slice per week (either as a grilled cheese sandwich or this breakfast sandwich) and need to use up my package! :)

For a McGriddles-type sandwich, add one tbsp of sugar free maple syrup (1/2 condiment). Remember to deduct it from your condiments for the day.

Medifast Breakfast Sandwich

Ingredients:

1 package Medifast Spiced Pancakes
1/4 cup water (2 oz)
2 Tbsp Egg Beaters
1 slice Kraft Free Single

In the shaker bottle, mix 1 package of Spiced Pancake mix with 2 oz water. Shake 6 times. Set aside.

Spray a small ramekin with cooking spray. Pour 2 Tbsp Egg Beaters into ramekin and microwave for 1 minute or until set. Tip out onto plate.

Pour the pancake mix into the ramekin. Microwave for 1 minute and 30 seconds. Tip out onto another plate. Slice the pancake in half.

Place the cooked egg and a Kraft Free Single onto one half of the pancake. Top with the other half of the pancake.

I like to dip the sandwich in 1 Tbsp sugar free maple syrup. (Add 1/2 condiment to the totals below if you choose to do this, however).

Medifast calcs: 1 Medifast meal, 2 condiments (2.5 if using syrup).

My Week in Review: Week 7

Total pounds lost: 34.9
Total inches lost: 17

Pounds lost this week: 4.5

Inches lost this week: 4

I've been glued to the news and wondering what the world has come to, that so much bad can happen in one week.  So with that, I'm not going to talk about my week, because in perspective, it really doesn't matter. My heart goes out to the people in Boston, MA and West, TX. I hope that you can begin to heal. 

Medifast Product Review: Blueberry Oatmeal

This was another scary purchase. All the reviews I'd found about the Medifast oatmeal(s) compared them to tasting like paste. I'm not really a fan of oatmeal in general (unless it's the uncooked, granola type), but I figured I needed variety in my lunches, considering soup every day for lunch gets really old after seven weeks. :) 

I was pleasantly surprised. I had tried the maple & brown sugar oatmeal in my first box, and while it wasn't bad, it wasn't spectacular either. But a tsp of sugar free maple syrup on top made it one of my favorite lunches. I also tried the cookie recipe, which turned out gummy and gross. I'll stick with the straight-up oatmeal with a bit of syrup on it! :) With that said, next time I make this, I think I'm going to add a tsp of sugar free blueberry jelly on top to brighten the blueberry flavor!

I did find a recipe for waffles using the Medifast oatmeal. When I'm feeling adventurous, I'll give it a shot and let you know how it is! :)

Tip: I like my oatmeal thick, so I only used four ounces and cooked it for two minutes, then let it sit to thicken. The texture turned out perfect. This works for both flavors.

Medifast Blueberry Oatmeal

http://www.medifast1.com/Products/Site/Medifast_Direct_Products/MedifastMeals/Oatmeal/prd~58010.jsp

Flavor: Of the flavors of oatmeal I've tried, this is my favorite. Honestly, it kind-of reminds me of the blueberry Jiffy muffin mix, which I loved when I was a kid. It tastes like oatmeal with dehydrated blueberries in it. Like all the oatmeals, it's pretty sweet. 

Texture: When cooked with 4 oz of water and microwaved for 2 minutes and let sit to thicken, it reminded me of the texture of the regular instant oatmeal packets. There are little dehydrated blueberries, which give you a little pop of flavor and texture every so often.

Portion size:  Good size, one of the most filling options on the Medifast plan, in my opinion.

Would I order it again: Yes. It's nice to have some variety besides soup every day! I liked the flavor, and I'll definitely turn to this one when I'm having a hungry day AND craving something sweet. 

My Week In Review: Week 6

Total pounds lost: 30.3
Total inches lost: 13

Pounds lost this week: 2.8

Inches lost this week: 0 :(

This was a great week, weight-loss wise. Definitely not my biggest weight loss week, but as you ladies know, some weeks you even expect a gain, if you know what I mean. ;)

My fitness level has increased, and I'm walking a full mph faster for the duration of my work-out! This mph would have been "jogging" at my heaviest, and I'd only sustain it for a few minutes. Pretty proud about that. And somehow I've started LIKING exercise. I'm actually looking forward to my workout tonight, because I feel my body changing as a result. It's an amazing motivator.

I developed a few new recipes this week, including Medifast Peanut Butter Cups/Buckeyes, Crab stuffed mushrooms, etc. Check out all the new yumminess here.

I also tried a few recipes, including Medifast broccoli soup grilled cheese and the Medifast breakfast sandwich, of course tweaked to make them my own. Both were delicious and a nice change from the usual fare. I'll post those recipes soon.

I also tried Pure Silk Almond Milk (Unsweetened Vanilla) on my Medifast cereal this morning. It was SOOO good. I've come to the conclusion that the best thing Medifast has done for me is how it has changed how I look at food. The smallest things are amazing, and completely filling now. It would have been two bites before. I'm learning to savor the food instead of wolfing it down just because I could.

I'm not letting the lack of inches lost get me down. I had an amazing total lost last week, so I figure my body is just trying to catch up. :)

My new motto is "Drink till you slosh". It's absolutely true. I have this Rubbermaid 64 oz jug that I fill up in the morning and it's my new sidekick. If I go somewhere, so does my jug. :) I definitely see my water-intake efforts reflected in the scale the next day. If I don't get my water in, no loss!

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:
3.5 oz lump crab meat (1/2 leanest)
2 oz part-skim mozzarella (1/2 lean)
1 clove garlic, minced (1 condiment)
1 Tbsp green onions, finely diced (1/4 green)
1 Tbsp red bell pepper, finely diced (1/4 green)
1 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese (1 condiment)
1/4 tsp ground black pepper (1/2 condiment)
1/4 tsp dried dill weed (1/2 condiment)
1 1/4 cups mushroom caps (2 1/2 green)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Remove stems from mushrooms and wash and dry the caps. Place stem-side up in a rectangular glass dish that has been sprayed with PAM.

In a small bowl, combine crab meat, mozzarella, garlic, green onions, bell pepper, black pepper and dill weed in a small bowl. Stir gently to combine, trying to avoid breaking up the lumps of crab as much as possible. Fill the mushroom caps with the mixture, pressing it firmly into the caps, and mounding it on top. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over the stuffed mushrooms. Bake for 20-25 minutes in the preheated oven until the tops are lightly browned and the cheese has melted.

Servings: 1
Medifast calcs: 1/2 leanest, 1/2 lean, 3 green, 3 condiments

Medifast Buckeyes

Yep, that's right. Buckeyes!

I've got a thing for Reese's peanut butter cups, and my husband recently asked me to make him peanut butter balls. Which just increased my desire to have something, ANYTHING with peanut butter in it.

I did some searching of the Medifast forums and found that most people use and like the PB2. I was sad to discover that I could only obtain it by ordering it online (and paying shipping). I headed off to my local Whole Foods to see if they had any sort of peanut butter powder similar to PB2.

And as I stared at all the nut butters they had to offer, Just Great Stuff's organic peanut butter powder lit up on the shelf, like angels had shone a spotlight on it. It must have blinded me, because even with its $8.99 price tag, I still put it in my cart. Somewhere in the back of my brain, I figured that the price of the PB2 plus shipping would probably still be more expensive. (Although now that I'm writing the post, I remember that netrition.com has free shipping...)

Also, JGS's peanut butter powder contains coconut sugar, which has a lower glycemic index than cane sugar (PB2's ingredient), which, while it has 1 more gram of sugar than PB2, it has the same amount of carbs. Did I mention it's organic? ;)

Anyway, I came home, ripped open the jar and inhaled the peanut-y goodness, and decided that right then and there I HAD to come up with a recipe to incorporate it.

I make daily baggies with all my meals for the day as soon as I get my Medifast order, and I just so happened to have hot cocoa as my evening snack in the bag. I'm not sure if this recipe will work with the pudding, but believe me, I intend to try it!

**UPDATE** I tried it with the pudding, and while it works, it requires more water (I used two extra tablespoons). It had a bit of a funky gelatinous texture, but after freezing, it was pretty good. I still prefer the hot cocoa version.

Medifast Buckeyes

Ingredients:
Chocolate layer:
1 packet Medifast Hot Cocoa
3 Tbsp cold water

Peanut butter Layer:
2 Tbsp Just Great Stuff Peanut Butter Powder
1 Tbsp cold water

In two separate bowls, combine the powders and water. Whisk with a fork until completely smooth. Using four small cups (I use the Dixie 2 oz salad dressing cups), spread a layer of chocolate on the bottom of each cup. Follow it by 1/4 of the peanut butter. Top with the remaining chocolate.

Freeze until set, approx 1-2 hours. If using the Dixie cups, they should pop right out. If not, warm the sides with your hands for a few seconds and they will come out.

4 cups=1 serving

Medifast calcs: 1 Medifast Meal, 1 Snack

Veggie Quesadilla

Veggie Quesadilla

Tortilla:
1 cup cooked spaghetti squash (2 green)
1/4 cup egg beaters (1/8 lean)
3/8 cup reduced-fat shredded Mexican cheese (6g fat/oz) (3/8 lean)

1/8 tsp garlic powder (1/4 condiment)

1/8 tsp onion powder (1/4 condiment)

1/8 tsp ground black pepper (1/8 condiment)

1/4 tsp whole oregano leaves, crushed in your palm (1/4 condiment)

Filling: 

1/2 cup reduced-fat shredded Mexican cheese (6g fat/oz) (1/2 lean category)

1/4 cup canned green chiles (1/2 green - I'm assuming they fit under the "peppers" category?)

1/4 cup chopped mushrooms (1/2 green)

Topping:

2 Tbsp Salsa (2 condiments)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

In a medium bowl, mix together spaghetti squash, egg beaters, cheese, garlic powder, onion powder, black pepper and oregano. Press into a parchment-lined baking sheet as thin as you can make it. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes.

Spread 1/4 cup of cheese over half of the baked tortilla. Spread chiles and mushrooms over the cheese. Top with the remaining 1/4 cup of cheese. Fold the tortilla onto the filling and return to the oven for 5-7 minutes until the cheese has melted.

Remove from oven, allow to set for 5 minutes before slicing into triangles. Serve with 2 Tbsp salsa.

Medifast calcs: 1 lean, 3 green, just shy of 3 condiments

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

There is a certain chain Chinese restaurant that makes amazing chicken lettuce wraps. They don't have the nutritional information on their menu, but from the oil dripping from the chicken, I'm going to guess it's one of the more unhealthy things on their menu, even with the guise that it's chicken and lettuce and thus good for you.

But, I do love them, so of course I had to figure a way to make a healthy version that fits on my Medifast plan. I love the crunch of the lettuce and the warm chicken and veggies. Like most of my healthier adaptations, I'm discovering I love the healthy version more than the original, and my scale is loving them too! :)

Asian Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

6 oz cooked chicken breast, minced (1 leaner)
1/2 cup celery, diced (1 green)
1/2 cup shitake mushrooms, thinly sliced (1 green)
1 garlic clove, minced (1 condiment)
1 tsp soy sauce (1 condiment)
1/2 tsp oyster sauce (1/2 condiment)
1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped (1/2 condiment)
1 tsp olive oil (1 healthy fat)
2 drops sesame oil (I put this into the olive oil when I'm measuring)
1 cup Iceberg lettuce leaves (1 green)

Soak the shitake mushrooms for around 30 minutes. Drain, but reserve the soaking liquid. Thinly slice the mushrooms.

In a large skillet, saute the celery, mushrooms and garlic in the olive and sesame oil until the celery is almost aldente. Add the chicken, soy sauce, oyster sauce and cilantro. saute for 2-3 minutes until everything is warmed through. Add 1/4 cup of the mushroom soaking liquid to thin the sauce.

Serve the chicken mixture in Iceberg lettuce "cups".

Tip: The mushroom soaking liquid is essentially mushroom broth. You can use this to make soup, etc. It's great stuff!

Medifast Calcs: 1 leaner serving, 3 green, 3 condiments, 1 healthy fat

Spaghetti with Meat Sauce

This was my first attempt at using Spaghetti squash, and I have to say, I'm hooked. The flavor of the sauce on the squash is absolutely amazing, and I really enjoyed the crunch that the squash has. I'm not a big pasta person, and I definitely didn't miss it at ALL in this dish. In fact, I prefer this to regular spaghetti! This is one of my favorite dishes now!

"Spaghetti" with Meat Sauce

Ingredients:

Sauce:
7 oz ground 93% lean turkey (should cook down to 5 oz) (1 lean)
1/2 cup diced celery (1 green)
1/2 cup diced italian tomatoes (with 5g carbs or less per 1/2 cup serving) (1 green)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (1/2 condiment)
1/4 tsp onion powder (1/2 condiment)
1/4 tsp dried basil (1/4 condiment)
2 tsp fresh grated parmesan (1/2 condiment)

"Spaghetti":
1/2 cup cooked spaghetti squash (1 green)
1/8 tsp garlic powder (1/4 condiment)
1/8 tsp onion powder (1/4 condiment)
pinch of fresh ground black pepper

Dice and saute the celery with the garlic and onion powder for a minute or so. Add in the ground turkey and the basil. Cook until the turkey is almost cooked through. Add in the tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.

Wash the squash and pierce the skin all over with a metal skewer. Microwave for 6 minutes, turn over and microwave for another six minutes. When done, let cool a bit then cut open, scrape out the seeds and discard. For the remaining flesh, scrape with a fork to separate the threads. My one small spaghetti squash will yielded around 2 cups of squash.

Place 1/2 cup of squash into a bowl. Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, ground black pepper and a bit of salt.

Top with the meat sauce and stir to combine. Grate fresh Parmesan on top.

Note: This recipe makes a LOT of meat sauce for a relatively small amount of squash. I'd eat the sauce plain, so this is not a problem. You could always cut out the celery and increase the squash to 1 cup, but I love celery in my spaghetti sauce. :) You also could substitute Walden Farms marinara for the 1/2 cup Italian tomatoes and increase the squash serving further (remember to count the marinara as a condiment!)

Medifast calcs: 1 lean, 3 green, 2 1/4 condiments, no healthy fat required

Medifast Product Review: Beef Vegetable Stew

I have to admit, I was a bit scared ordering this soup. The reviews I'd found said it tasted/smelled like dog food, or that it was a slimy consistency. Then I came across a review of the stew who raved about how good it was, and how it tasted like the canned Dinty Moore Stew.

I decided to give it a shot, and I'm SO glad I did. I LOVED it. As usual, soaking the soup really helps the texture and flavor, but even prepared as the instructions state on the package, the soup is still really, really good.

Medifast Beef Vegetable Stew

Flavor: I absolutely agree that the flavor is reminiscent of Dinty Moore's Beef Stew. I did add a dash of salt to combat the sweetness from the veggies, and it made it taste exactly like the canned soup.

Texture: It's not as thick as Dinty Moore's Beef Stew, but it still had chunks of green beans, potatoes and beef.

Portion size:  Good size, filling.

Would I order it again: Yes. I really enjoyed this stew. And, while the picture makes it look thinner, on my last attempt at making the stew, it had a thicker texture like the Dinty Moore Beef Stew. I think I added too much water this time around.

Sashimi With Cucumber and Jicima Salad

I must start this recipe off with a disclaimer. I am NOT positive if this for sure meets the dietary guidelines for Medifast. I did my best with this one, but please use your discretion regarding this recipe. This recipe has NOT been run by Nutrition Support.

Medifast's guidelines provide COOKED weights for lean protiens. Because the yellow fin tuna sashimi is raw, I did an internet search to figure out about how much it cooks down. What I came up with as a consensus was that fish seems to cook down to about 70% its raw weight. With that assumption, I figured I could have ten ounces of raw tuna sashimi and still be in the acceptable range.

Oh, and in the picture, there is WAY more soy sauce in that little dish than the 1tsp soy sauce=1 condiment. Please know I did not use all of the soy sauce, but I also didn't measure it either. So I might have gone over in my condiments for this day.

I pay close attention to my scale the next morning after eating this meal, to see if it impacts my weight loss. So far (and I've had this meal about once a week since I started Medifast), I haven't seen any negative impact on my scale.

So, for me, this recipe works fine while on-plan. But again, please use your own discretion when using this meal in your Medifast plan.

Oh, and I LOVE this recipe. I'd eat it every day if I could. I found my sashimi grade tuna at my local AJ's with a sushi bar. Tuna is around 26.99/lb and Salmon is a bit less, I believe. I've also done this recipe with salmon, but only use 8 ounces for that. Be sure to keep it as cold as possible (but not frozen) until ready to serve. My AJ's provides courtesy ice and I always take advantage of that when I buy my sashimi.

And now I'm desperately craving this again... Off to AJ's! ;)

Tuna Sashimi with Cucumber, Palm Heart and Jicima Salad

Ingredients:

Sashimi:

10 oz sashimi grade Yellowfin Tuna (1 leanest serving, estimating that 10oz sashimi would cook down to 7 oz)

Salad:

1/2 cup hot house cucumber, cut into sticks (1 green)

1/2 cup jicima, cut into sticks (1 green)

1/2 cup palm hearts, sliced into rounds (1 green)

2 tsp olive oil (2 Healthy fats)

1 tsp soy sauce (1 condiment)

1 tsp red wine vinegar (1 condiment)

In a bowl, combine the veggies, olive oil, soy sauce and vinegar. I add a small dash of dried dill (less than 1/16th tsp). Refrigerate until ready to serve. 

Using a VERY sharp knife, slice the tuna against the grain into thin slices. The picture above is ten ounces of tuna sliced super thin. 

Serve with soy sauce for dipping, or to be extra sure you're sticking with Medifast's condiment guidelines, you could drizzle 1 tsp of soy sauce on the sashimi. Again, I'm a bit lax with the soy sauce measuring for this dish.

Medifast calcs: 1 leanest, 3 green, 2 healthy fats, 3 condiments (or more, depending on how you use the soy sauce). 

My Week In Review: Week 5

Total pounds lost: 27.5
Total inches lost: 13

Pounds lost this week: 6.7

Inches lost this week: 6

I wasn't thrilled with my 1.7 lb loss last week, but it was a loss so I was happy. I figured my weight loss had slowed to the "average loss of 1-2 lbs per week" Medifast advertises. So I was absolutely THRILLED when my weight loss kicked up this week! Looking at the pattern, I'm going to guess next week might be a slower loss week as my body tries to catch up. It seems to go big loss, small loss, big loss. Which, as long as the number on that scale is going in the right direction, I'm fine with :)

My big accomplishment this week was posting a "before and after" picture from my heaviest weight to current. No full-body pictures until I'm closer to my goal. But just looking at the side-by-side pictures of my face, I can't believe I was ever that big. I'm sure as I move forward, I'll look back on my picture from yesterday and go "I can't believe I was ever that big".

I developed some new recipes, including bunless burgers with green bean fries and Asian chicken lettuce wraps. You can find all my recipes here. The chicken lettuce wrap recipe has not been posted yet, but will be soon!

I got my new shipment of Medifast this week, and everything new I ordered is fantastic. I'll be posting reviews as I have time. A few new items this week were: Spiced Pancakes, Beef Vegetable Soup, Caramel Crunch Bar, Strawberry Crunch Bar, Fruit and Nut Crunch Bar, Apple Cinnamon Soy crisps. They were all delicious!

One aspect of my weight loss journey I really need to work on is getting in the habit of exercising. I have TONS of energy, and I've been using that to clean, garden, go on outings, etc. By the time it's time for me to exercise, I'm exhausted. But my goal for next week is to hit the treadmill at least every other day. Slow and steady wins the race.

Someone posted a meme on my FB feed the other day, with an inspirational message that really struck me. "No matter how slow you go, you're still lapping everyone on the couch." There was no author listed, but I wish I could hug them. Even tiny steps are better than no steps at all.

Thank you all for coming with me on this journey!

What Fifty Pounds Looks Like

This entry is hard to write. I want to throw up when I look at the "before" picture. The only reason I'm posting is so whenever I'm feeling discouraged, or tempted to cheat, I can go back and see them side-by-side to see how far I've come. And I've still got a long way to go.

On that note, I think I lost all fifty pounds in my face (or chin(s)?)...  LOL The black and white photo was taken in 2006, at my heaviest. The color picture was taken today, April 4th, 2013, fifty-six pounds lighter. Did I mention I still have a long way to go? (Hence the face-shot only hehe)

Bunless Garden Burgers with Green Bean Fries

The family was having burgers. So this was my response to trying to eat the same meal as them. My son ended up devouring my green bean fries. I wasn't a fan, but he LOVED them. I ended up slicing up some cucumbers fry-style and dipping them in the Walden Farms' ranch. I figured I'd include the recipe for the green beans even though I wasn't a fan because my son loved them, which means other people might too. :)

Bunless Garden Burgers with Green Bean Fries

Green Bean fries:

1 cup green beans (2 green)

A few spritzes of PAM

Garlic powder 

Onion powder

Salt

Pepper

1 1/2 Tbsp Walden Farms Ranch (3/4 condiment)

Pre-heat oven to 425 degress. Spray a few spritzes of PAM on a foil-lined baking tray. Spread out green beans in a single layer. Lightly sprtiz the beans with PAM (a tiny covering). Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Personally I didn't count these as condiments since it was less than an 8th of a tsp each. But please use the spices at your discretion. Bake for 30 minutes or until aldente. I use this same method for roasting broccoli and asparagus, and they turn out wonderful!

Bunless Garden Burgers:

2 Garden Burger Patties (1 lean)

4 large iceberg lettuce leaves (1/2 green)

4 thin slices of roma tomato (1/2 green)

2 oz sliced dill pickles (optional snack)

2 tsp Walden Farms Chipotle Mayonaise (1/4 condiment)

Lay two lettuce leaves on top of each other in two piles. Cook the garden burgers as directed on the package. (I'm a sucker for the Morning Star Farms Gardenburger Grillers Original - but if you use the Boca, you still need to add 2 healthy fats, which you could use for your mayo or ranch for the fries. Your choice). Place a cooked garden burger patty on each lettuce "bun". Spread one teaspoon of the chipotle mayo on each burger and top with sliced tomato and pickles. Wrap the lettuce around the burger to form a pouch. 

Serve with green bean fries and ranch for dipping. (I used cucumber sticks as "fries". Yum)

You can use whatever lettuce you want, but I find I prefer the crunch that iceberg gives the bunless burgers. Butter lettuce is too limp for this purpose, IMO. I haven't tried it with romaine, but I imagine it would be good too! 

Note: the green calculations on this might be off depending on the size of your lettuce leaves. (If you know of a way to calculate cups with whole lettuce leaves, I'd love to know! I just estimated with mine!) 

Medifast calcs: 1 lean, 3 green, 1 condiment (or more, depending on if you choose to count your seasonings on the green beans), 1 optional snack (or less, depending on how much pickle you use). 

Medifast Product Review: Maryland Style Crab Soup

Today's Medifast product review is for their Maryland-style Crab Soup. I did my research before ordering this, and the reviews seemed pretty positive. Everyone said they loved it and would eat it even if they weren't on Medifast. So I was pretty excited when it came in my first shipment, since I LOVE crab!

I followed the directions on the box and got ready to dig in.

And was disappointed.

I've never had real Maryland-style crab soup, so maybe it is supposed to be sweet. But I wasn't a fan. The soup was very sweet, and the crab didn't have a crab-like texture, in my opinion. The veggies were super sweet. I also was expecting a clear broth-like soup with chunks of crab, but as you can see below, it's thicker.

I waited a week or so, then tried it again. Same too-sweet flavor. I waited another week, then tried it again, this time doctoring it in hopes that I could down-play too sweet flavor. And after finding a few reviews stating that everything from Medifast tastes better after soaking, I soaked the soup first. I added an extra half-cup of bullion, and a dash of salt.

The soaking and watering it down made a HUGE improvement on the palatability of the soup, but I'm still not a fan :(. I REALLY wanted to like it, since so many other people raved about it. It just wasn't my thing, I guess.

The picture below is the soup after cooking it (and yes, it was soaked first).

Maryland-Style Crab Soup from Medifast

Flavor: Too sweet for my tastes. Watering it down with a half cup of bullion helped, as did adding a pinch of salt to reduce the overpowering sweetness.

Texture: Lots of chunks of crab and little chunks of veggies. Mostly crab. Good chew when soaked before preparing.

Portion size:  Good size, filling, especially with the addition of a half-cup of bullion to reduce the sweetness.

Would I order it again: No. This is the first product in the Medifast line that I would say I'd definitely not order again.

What are your thoughts on the Maryland-style crab soup? Do you like it? Hate it? Did you find anything that made it more palatable (or now you love it?)? I still have a couple pouches left and would love to discover that it really is amazing when prepared a certain way! :)


Upcoming reviews: Cream of Broccoli Soup, Macaroni and Cheese, Pancakes