Recipe Review #3 Robust BBQ Chicken Pizza

The comfort food of all time - Pizza. Just thinking of the gooey cheese makes me want to make another. Last night I made p.107 Robust BBQ Chicken Pizza.   This is an interesting recipe for those of you that like the "alternative" types of pizzas we are seeing on menus everywhere.   This pizza had an unusual choice of cheese, Gouda along with a little Mozzarella.   I really liked the addition of the Cilantro on top and the pitas really make a great crust without going overboard on the S/C value.   I find these little pita pizzas quite easy to whip together on an eat and run night. I can make other flavors for my kids, i.e. cheese and pepperoni and they are happy not eating mom and dad's "weird" food.

Overall impression:  I like the pita pizzas, this one was a little strange, but I think it was mostly the BBQ sauce flavor mixed with the Gouda.   I will try again with another flavor of BBQ.

Some notes on the ingredients:  I did not have the Scott's Barbecue Sauce as in the recipe so instead I used the Nature's Hollow Sugar Free BBQ Sauce which has a very smoky flavor.   I really want to try the Scott's brand as it is highly recommended by Jorge but it is nowhere to be found in my area.   Upon inquiring with Scott's, they promptly responded and kindly offered to ship me whatever I wanted to buy, so I will be placing an order.   I really don't like having to order food but I am finding that there are a few things that just aren't sold in the Midwest that seem to fit the BFC bill.   So far:  Jams, Syrup,and BBQ sauce!

Recipe Review #2 First-Class French Toast

Oh, French Toast, how do I love thee!   LOL   Yes, I have to say that I'm a Carbohydrate breakfast lover.   When I realized that I would have to stop eating so many Carbs, I knew that French Toast was certainly going to have to go.   But then I found Jorge, and he showed me the way to indulgence!   French Toast as we traditionally know it, is usually made with Carbohydrate/Sugar rich bread and milk, eggs, and to my surprise, SUGAR in the ingredients.  Add to that, Sugar loaded Syrup and you have an insulin boosting special.   From what I can tell this recipe in the book, p.51 First-Class French Toast only differs in that it uses half-and-half and NO sugar.   Add some sugar-free syrup and you have Heaven.   I used Trader Joes Sprouted Wheat Bread and Nature's Hollow Sugar Free Syrup made with Xylitol.

Yes, I loved this recipe and my husband said that it was the best breakfast he'd had in months.  Of course, I actually made bacon and an egg to go along with that which I would normally never do, usually it would just be the French Toast.   The kids each ate 3 pieces so I don't think the lack of sugar really mattered to them!  I did not sprinkle with Stevia as the recipe called because I didn't think it needed it. You can't go wrong with this recipe!

You might ask, what in the world is that funny thing on the lower right side, why that's my egg!   After frying the bacon, I decided to plop the egg into the pan and make a true fried over-easy egg, thus the brown edges.

Recipe Review #1 Chicken Sesame Stir-Fry

Jorge made the Chicken Sesame Stir Fry (p.215 in BFC) in his week 12 online meeting and I thought it looked so good, I'd try it. I have to say I was not disappointed. Typically I'm not a big stir-fry maker. For some reason when I make stir-fry all the flavors of my ingredients blend together and my veggies never taste crispy. But I realized something that I was maybe missing before:  Don't put the sauce on until serving it!   This is what the recipe recommended and it was correct. I didn't have black sesame seeds nor could I find them at my local grocery store so I used regular white ones, I really don't think it mattered.

I made the Stir Fry for both my husband and me (he loves stir fry).   My impression:  Very tasty but too salty (there was a lot of soy sauce here) I just needed a lot of water during the meal.  My veggies were crisp and I had plenty of rice with the serving size in the recipe.   I love red peppers so I might add more next time.   The bamboo shoots were a nice addition that I probably wouldn't have added on my own. The portion was very satisfying but not too large.   My husband:   Again, too salty, wanted more broccoli and I should have cut them into smaller pieces so that he didn't need a knife!  lol.   This was a make again for sure.  

Overall:  I will make again, but with less soy sauce or low sodium soy sauce and more veggies.

BTW, my hubby says I should have turned the broccoli pieces so that they looked nicer in the photo and moved that one front red pepper piece to the left in the hole by the broccoli!  He's a hoot!

Blogging the Belly Fat Cure Book

I was thinking it would be fun and get me on track to blog about the book.   But then I came up with this hair brained idea, that I would blog about the actual recipes in the book.  My goal is to try ALL of the recipes in the Belly Fat Cure book, over 100 of them and review them here.   My husband loves trying new recipes, because quite honestly, he is difficult (lol) and likes variety in his diet.  Go figure!  I, on the other hand could eat the same thing for days as long as it's something I like.  Because of that, I try new recipes often ( I love him).  Since Jorge gave us a lot of these recipes along the way, I have tried a bunch of them, but I'll probably go back and make them again and then post my review, otherwise I'd have some serious catchup work to do!

So stay tuned!

A New Year!

It's hard to believe that I've been following the program for 10 weeks and now I am into 2010.  How time flies.

So far on the program, I have lost 12 pounds.   Could it be more, certainly, but I am quite happy with my progress.  For example, I have cut out the Diet Coke.   For that one simple reason, I am pleased with my success.  It had been over 15 years of drinking that stuff and in large quantities, like 5-6 a day. 

My eating habits have changed as well.  Now I won't say I'm perfect, but I've certainly been more conscious of the sugar in my diet.   The last few weeks have been really hard for me and I did go back to my old habits a bunch but I didn't gain anything which made me happy.

Today, is the start of a new year and a new promise to myself to simply track everything, good or bad and be good to myself.  Here's to a great new year!

Week 7 Menu Posted

As just a trial, I've decided to post my menu for the week.   I use Google Calendar for our household to keep track of events and we created a menu calendar awhile back that I've now decided to share with anyone interested.   Below the calendar on the right are links to download html version along with all the recipes.  I've also included the entire grocery list for the week.

Note that my recipes are for 1 person unless otherwise noted so grocery lists may need to be adjusted a little (not much) for the rest of the family.  Most of the items are staples.

Let me know what you think or where I might be going terribly wrong.

OK, I'm Back

Wow, I just realized that it's been 2 weeks since my last blog post, man, time does fly.   What the heck have I been doing?

At the end of Week 6, I am officially down 10-11 pounds, not too bad.  I sure had wished for more but I can see that I've had some set backs and I'm finally learning how to deal with them.

We had a great immediate family Thanksgiving, complete with all the fixings.   I decided to make a little cranberry-orange relish, but with Stevia instead of sugar.  It was good, but I think I'd add more Stevia next time.  Talk about pucker!    I did have my piece of pumpkin pie with my meal, but then I did offer my second piece leftover to my daughter that weekend.  Sure didn't need 2. (Family of 4, 8 slices, 2 each, we love pumpkin pie)    Once thing funny is that this year, we actually ate ALL of the leftover turkey, we had no leftover potatoes, gravy or stuffing because I made only a little (purposely), so we had sandwiches for the last few days for lunch, it was nice not having to think about what was for lunch.

My kids are telling people we are on a Meat diet and no sugar.  I've certainly had to correct them.   My son who is 8 thinks it's so fun to watch Jorge's videos especially the ones about the products, and he asks about how much sugar we are eating and analyzes everything.  Keeps me on my toes.   They also think that it's great that I've stopped drinking Diet Coke.   No one I know can believe it, but they are supportive.   I found that one of my favorite restaurants, Chipotle has fresh lemons by the beverage counter that you can squeeze into your water.  I never noticed them before!

So while I think I haven't lost the weight I should lately, I am down 10, and 3" on my waist which really is noticeable in my jeans.   I have to keep pulling them up!