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!