Cooking for Skinny

So I put my guinea pig chubbles into a photo contest and I am asking all of you to please vote for him! he is an adult guinea pig but is abnormally small due to the fact that he was not raised in the right way by the breeder or given what he needed to grow. We rescued him and are nursng him back to health, and took this picture to be cute of him. Please click on the link and vote for him, he is photo number 71!

http://wilx.upickem.net/engine/Details.aspx?p=V&c=50421&s=16660683&i=1

My fiance and I recently moved into our first apartment and this has really messed with my eating schedule. Since getting my new job in August I have really abanadoned my diet high and dry. I am unsure of why other then all the greatly appreciated hours, but i think I want to revamp my site, and revamp my mission. I want to start at the begnning again, and gear it towards the working, going to school, and on a tight budget busy woman. its been so hard, so this needs to be my new goal so I dont get bored of this again. I have been able to maintain my weigh loss, and have not gained anything back, perhaps living on the third floor of an elevatorless apartment building helps, but i want more. i bought my wedding dress, and am hoping to make it not fit!

      I love peanut butter, and I love chocolate. I saw this recipe this morning on Hungry girl and really wnated to try it out for all of you. No offense to Hungry girl, but she is missing out on one of the best brownie in a box kits out there for dieters. She uses the regular mix, but there is one called No Pudge! Fudge brownie. It is in a bright pink box, and all you have to add in is your favorite fat free yanilla yogurt. I highly suggest it if brownies are what your hankering for. This reicpe was sooooooo easy and it jsut smells and tastes good. There is nothing it is missing, I really enjoyed it!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/edible-idols-bacon-and-peanut-butter-dreamy-chocolate-peanut-butter-fudge-recipe

Heres The Numbers!

65 calories

1g fat

57mg sodium

13.5g carbs

0.5g fiber

9g sugars

0.5g protein

An optimist is a person who starts a new diet on Thanksgiving Day.

  So I love breakfast food, so much that I may or may not have considered serving it at my wedding. I really enjoy all things breakfast, and I think that Lisa Lillien was brilliant with this recipe.

    She created a sandwich that combines multiple breakfast ingredients and sandwiched them in frozen waffles. I never considered frozen waffles as a diet Item but thanks to ego, they nto only exist as a diet item, but are extrememly low in fat, calories, and high in fiber! Here is the link to this recipe, please try it soon!!!!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/big-sandwiches-morning-waffle-dip-recipe

   So heres my review, I loved it!!! I really really loved it. The only things I added that were not in the recipe is I love thyme and parsley in my egg whites/egg beaters. I mix in 1/2 tablespoon of thyme ( gives it a fresh flavor) and 1/2 tablespoon of parsley. They really infuse flavor into the eggs and pack a powerful punch. I also used ready made bacon strips, which I love. This was so fillign and super yummy, very worth trying, and perfect for kids. I enjoyed the syrup dip also it just added alot to it!

Heres The Numbers!

299 calories

5g fat

1,075mg sodium

43.5g carbs

 3g fiber

 5g sugars

23.5g protein

A friend doesn’t go on a diet because you are fat.

   Here is my progress photos so far, as you can see i have lost 4 pant sizes and considerable inches around my midsection. These are size large shorts, I was  2X/3X. a

The shirt I am wearing in the photo of my and one of my best friends Amanda is one of my old shirts that barely fit, it was way too tight. as you can see it is so lose on the arms now, and also in the stomach and I can actually no longer wear it, this picture was taken 2 weeks ago

    This is one of me and my fiance Trevor taken on August 9th, I still have along way to do but I am also wearing significantly smaller clothes that actually fit me, versus before there was no way they would, awesome!

    So I started a new job and school at the same time and wow has it taken me away fromthis blog! I am so sorry, i promise we will be up and running again very soon. Just as an update, I am now 231 pounds, making my grand total for weight loss at 34 pounds in 4 months. My weight loss has slowed down a bit, and I have also picked up some bad habbits.

      Because of my schedule I had stopped counting calories and also started to every once in awhile treat myself to the not good stuff, which became every other day. I am happpy to report that after 2 weeks of that phase, I am back on the wagon and doing much better and back to eating healthy. I don’t know why i did it, perhaps disapointment with my progress, but that was not a reason to do what I did. The thing is, and this might be TMI, my body let me know it  wasn’t right.

     You see at the start of this journey, I got diagnosed with IBS (inflammatory Bowel Syndrome). It is a fancy way of saying that my body cannot process or handle grease. As my fiance likes to put it, god made me lactose in tolerant to keep me away from ice cream and now he made me have earth shattering stomach pain to keep me away from grease, lol. I believe this is completely true, only before it never stopped me. I was able to work, drive, play, and shop with these earth shattering stomach pains. They hurt so bad that they actually induce vomit at times and sometimes make my vision go slightly blurry. I used to be able to function completely normal with these, well not anymore.

     On all 3 incidents where there this returned when I sinned, I was in so much pain I couldnt even bear it. The pain took over my whole body and put it all into perspective. That burger was most definitly NOT worth the 10 mnutes of pleasure for this 4 hours of pain. I could not believe that for 2 years I let this not only happen, but became ADJUSTED to it? what? how on earth?? It would be the equivalent of a man getting accustomed to getting kicked in the junk every day, and then working while it happened, thats how bad this pain is. For some people its  not that severe but for me it has been.

   Now in my defense, I did not know until April that grease was the cause of my pain, it wasn’t until I started a food journal for my doctor that we pinpointed coffee and grease. This was my reality check and everytime I consider greasy foods now, I will remember those moments. I remember the pain, the guilt, and after everything was said and done, the triumph of realizing that I was fortunate enough to have built in stop lights in my body that let me know its limitations. I at first did not want to report my dissapointing month, but then I realized we all fall off the wagon a time or two, and it doesn’t matter. What matters is the fact that we get back up and the lesson we take away from it.

   So I am on a Peanut butter kick, and I fell in LOVE with peanut butter & co peanut butter,that is also a restauraunt! They have redone the peanut butter and jelly, and done some new takes on everyones favorite sandwich. Their peanut butter is lower in calories then most, completely all natural, and only has a hint of salt. With my favorite flavors like white chocolate peanut butter, and dark chocolate peanut butter, they give even the classis peanut butter a new taste. Here is a link to all their other delightful flavors  http://ilovepeanutbutter.com/peanut-butter-1.html

(I buy mine at walmart).

    One of their sandwiches speaks to one of my favorite flavors in the world, its called Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Suprise. I looked at whats in it, and realized how easy it would be to make a diet version for me to try! I did it, and it definitly worked!

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon fat free cream cheese 

1 Tablespoon white chocolate wonderland peanut butter (you can do 2 tablespoons if you prefer)

2 slices of Aunt Millies light whole wheat bread (40 calories a slice)

1 Tablespoon of Toll House Mini morsels chocolate chips

   So this is my reinvented cookie dough suprise sandwich. its nto full of nutrition, but its low in calories and sodium and gives you a good dose of healthy fat and lets face it, its jsut good to eat somthing yummy here and there thats a filling calorie bargain.  get a pan on medium heat, and then on one slice of bread smear on the cream cheese, and on the other slice smear on the peanut butter, and on one of those slices evenly sprinkle the chocolate chips. put the sandwich together and put it on the pan for about 2 minutes each side, until it looks lightly browned and toasted, and the filligns seem to melt together. Then eat! When these ingredients get squished together, they make a delightlful cookie dough taste, and the white chocolate peanut butter really adds some sweet to it and it is just to die for. Try this out and let me know how it goes!

Heres The Numbers!

255 Calories (yay!)

34g Carbs

10g Protein (awesome!)

12g fat

4.2g Saturated fat

1.5 mg Cholesterol

323 mg Sodium

6.5 g Fiber ( awesome!)

       So these looks messy, and gooey, and cheesy, and amazing! I saw these on an epidose of hungry girl, they are called Canolli french toast nuggests. I made up 3 servings in a matter of 15 minutes before work for Trevor and I  (we split the 3rd servings but both regretted it. note to self: 4 pieces is enough!) This was so easy, so delicious, and I loved it. They were bursting with chocolate, and very canolli like. I have no real advice except stick to one hot dog bun per serving, this is sooo filling. And please, use sugar free syrup and only put 4 in a pan at a time, easier to manage. These are just the best little french toast nuggests ever and completely worth waking up for!

Heres the link for the recipe!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/rise-and-dine-cannoli-stuffed-french-toast-nuggets-recipe

Heres the Numbers!

228 calories

6.5g fat

395mg sodium

31g carbs

3g fiber

10.5g sugars

12.5g protein

GOOD NEWS: CHEESECAKE IS NOT FATTENING (provided you get sufficient physical exercise)….LIKE RUNNING A MARATHON!

         So I made up this one, I am proud so say. I wanted to create somthing very filling (this fills me up for hours), low calorie, nutrtional, and tasty. Yes, I am sure others have before me, however  I have played with portions of it, different ingredients and brands, and have made up the best version of it all on my own! This shake is soooooooo good, and it busted my super long plateau because it slightly increased my good fats, and also my fiber. I snack all day but this shake makes me so full and yet it is such a decadent treat. If you like no bake cookies, youll love this shake! Heres how to make it.

Ingredients

*1-2 scoops of whatever your favorite chocolate meal replacement shake powder or protein shake mix ( I use Right Size Smoothie Lean Mean Cocoa Bean-110 calories and full of vitamins and the most intense chocolate flavor of all of the rest)

*9 oz of Silk Light Plain

*1/4 cup of dry oatmeal ( I use whole wheat flakes)

*1 TBS No salt added Tree of Life Creamy Peanut Butter (I tried this recipe out with 5 brands, thats the one with the best flavor in this shake, Jif reduced fat makes it so you cant taste the oatmeal) a semi good back up is Dark Chocolate Dreams Natural peanut butter, this can be found at Wal-Mart.

* 2 tsp jello sugar free fat free chocolate pudding mix (the best stuff ot add to make any smoothie thick and creamy for barely any calories)

* Hand full of ice, your choice of how much you like.

    So to make this, first put the ice in the blender, followed by the soymilk, oatmeal, peanut butter, powder, and pudding mix. Then blend until the oatmeal looks ground up and everything looks mixed and enjoy! easy right?

     I used a glass for the picture,only half the portion, but this usually gives me 11-12 oz of drink, so it is a giant portion! If all you can find is Jif, then use reduced fat,but only 1 tablespoon. my beef with it is that it covers up the ground up oatmeal taste which is one of the best parts.

Heres The Numbers!

379 Calories

15g fat (not the best, but its good fat so one a day gives yout he best energy)

0mg Cholesterol

323g Sodium

Total carbs 43g Carbohydrates

7g fiber

22g Protein (sweet!)

Avoid any diet that discourages the use of hot fudge.  -Don Kardong

Just in time to start my new job, my plateau is over, yay. It was a tough one, i tired everything to get past it, even Jillians method and sadly, I was stuck at a 29 ppund weight loss. Today, I officially hit 30 pounds! In a few hours I will post my very own protein shake recipe that will knock your socks off!

        So one of my all time favorite foods is macaroni and cheese! So good! I can’t resist it. But see, good news, I have resisted. It is the ultimate indulgent and rich comfort food and it just takes you back with every bite. Well Hungry Girl has done it again! I made for dinner her Too-EZ Mac ‘n Cheese recipe and its so good. Mommies, if you have kids out there, this ones for you and them to sneak in some good for you veggies into a meal! Another perk: cheap cheap dinner. I made 4 servings, but you could make up to 8 servings of this for just 10 dollars! Now today is a little different since i got the recipe offline, so i will post the link!

http://www.hungry-girl.com/show/comfortably-yum-too-ez-mac-n-cheese-recipe

    Now I used broccoli, but if you are making this for kids they also make a cauliflower and cheese steamer bag, and it looks more like the noodles so the kids wont know!

    When I made this I did do it a little different. I used an extra laughing cow cheese wedge, I added a tablespoon of celery salt, tablespoon of parmesan cheese, and a tablespoon of minced garlic to bring out the swiss cheese. After I combined the ingredients I also baked it in the oven at 350 degrees for 20 minutes ( just eyeball it and make sure it looks slightly golden and not burnt) I found that this thickened up the cheese! Enjoy everyone!

“You cannot love someone else until you learn to love yourself”

        This recipe is located in Hungry Girls 200 Under 200 book, in the last sections that is all about Vita Top (page 318), the official recipe title is called “Mile High Choco-Berry Vitatop Pie”. Now if you don’t know what vita tops are, let me enlighten you. They are a 100 calorie muffin/brownie/muffin top company thats products are vitamin filled, magical in taste, and lost in sugar, fat, calories, everything. They are also a great source of fiber and come in a variety of great flavors. I could not find Vita Tops like this recipe called for, but I found Vita muffins at kroger, I used the Deep Chocolate flavor. They are not to be missed, just an excellent way to get your chocolate fix and nutrtition that fills you up.

              Ingredients

1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons Cool Whip Free

2 Vitatops, any chocolate flavor

2 tablespoons sugar free strawberry preserves

1 teaspoon mini chocolate chips (I cant find mine so I used crushed pecans)

    Now this is a very tall pie so you have to be very careful during assembly, I inserted a toothpick into the center to help. To make this you mis 1/4 cup coolwhip with the preserves. This is so delicious you wont even believe it, I could have ate a gallon of just that mixture! Next, you slice the Vitatops in half lengthwise. place one slice on the bottom, preferably a top section, on the bottom of a plate and then spread half of the cool whip preserve mixture on top. Next careful place another slice on top and then 1 tablespoon coolwhip, top with third slice. Then cover with remaining coolwhip/preserves mixture and then top with a final vita top slice. Spread 1 tablespoon coolwhip on top and sprinkle with chocolate chips (or nuts) freeze until solid for 1 hour and then cut in the center to share with a friend!

     This pie is super tall, and messy, but soooo good. I had vitamuffins so mine is taller and also a little smaller, but its the same deal. I wonder what its like with actual vita tops haha. I actually loved it with the nuts, due to my lack of chocolate chips. Strawberries and chocolate are the best combination ever!I have no substitutions because its jsut all around good!

     Heres The Numbers!

         145 Calories

         2.25g fat

         155mg sodium

         33g carbs

         5.5g Fiber

         13g Sugars

         3g Protein

Clogged with yesterday’s excess, the body drags the mind down with it.  ~Horace

I read this in Fitness Magazine, they interviewed Jillian Michaels and she said and I quote:

“In the case of a plateau what you need to do is give yourself a couple of days of rest and bump up your calories by 10 percent. When you lose weight quickly, your body often responds by releasing hormones to increase your appetite and store more fat. Thats a survival instinct meant to help us conserve fuel during times of “famine”. You can outsmart it by eating a little more and resting. That usually helps jumpstart your metabolism again.”

I recently got stuck and my plateaus tend to last for 2 weeks, so i tried this, it completely works! I now eat 1,400 calories a day so I ate 140 more calories and rested and this morning the plateau was over! Try this out next time you get stuck.