A New Experience

FINALLY got started

So I had planned to cook Wed., Thurs and Friday. But you know that saying about best laid plans ;/. I had some stuff goin on Wednesday and was too tired and stressed after having worked all night anyway.

Thursday we were about to go out the door and my DH's mom needed our help getting a car battery....then wanted to go with us shopping. This was a huge trip so I didn't really want to drag her along plus where would we put our stuff? After she was squared away my husband wanted to take her to lunch and then she wanted to go home and it was like 5pm. So I said lets just wait till really late, like 11pm to shop when everyone's at home. Well my husband went to his friends house so that didn't happen.

Friday we slept in and I just didn't feel like it but here I had all this chicken thawed out. So we went late and by the time we got home from Walmart we'd spent $300 bucks and it was hours later and I hurt from head to toe.

So what ended up happening is I got home at 8pm from work Saturday and started cooking till 3am. It went pretty good except for one incident. My kitchen was trashed so I figured I'd do it the next day. Next day I'm at work telling a co-worker about all I cooked and realized with all the recipes goin I'd left a whole roaster pan of tarragon chicken out ;/. I was so mad.

Anyway I cooked up: Sweet & sour chicken, herbed chicken, pork roast & gravy, tarragon chicken (that got dumped), parsley parmesan chicken, and chicken alfredo. There's about 25 meals in the freezer atm.

I have almost everything for my next cooking session and my husband is grabbing a few things today. So over the next couple days I'll be cooking the tarragon chicken over plus 4 other meals.

I also have all the stuff to make the breakfast biscuits, breakfast burritos, breakfast casserole, and frenchtoast.

While at the store I got fruit, salad, veggies, etc. I also got some 100 calorie snack packs and some other stuff to spice up the whole thing. I love lasagna and I'm not up for that yet to make it so I bought about 5 stouffers ones. They're decent on calories and taste way better than the "diet" ones.

The other good thing is as I use some of this stuff up and add to it the variety is just going to get better. I'm eating the chicken alfredo right now for lunch and it's awesome :)
 
Oh I also forgot to mention that even though I haven't been watching my calories yet like I should be, I have been taking my metformin and stuff again like I'm supposed to. I've lost 5lbs without even trying so will be great to start losing again when I'm keepin my portions down. Can't wait for the holidays to be over and there to stop bein tons of crap at work to snack on.
 
So my dog tried to get into my 100 calorie snackpacks. I wonder if she realizes that 100 calories for her, at 10 pounds, is a total binge.
 
omg hahaha thats soo funny! and it totally would. Wonder when somebody comes out with the 'cat food diet' or the 'dog food diet'

Look at those cats and dogs! they are tiny! you too could be tiny by following the cat food diet! High in protein and vitamins, and never go hungry with the constant grazing throughout the day!
Side Affects may include, scratching fleas, purring, chasing string, and meowing at odd times of the night!
 
wishes said:
omg hahaha thats soo funny! and it totally would. Wonder when somebody comes out with the 'cat food diet' or the 'dog food diet'

Look at those cats and dogs! they are tiny! you too could be tiny by following the cat food diet! High in protein and vitamins, and never go hungry with the constant grazing throughout the day!
Side Affects may include, scratching fleas, purring, chasing string, and meowing at odd times of the night!
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yer so funny! lol course I keep hearing about people eating dog food...maybe they're onto something :X
 
ecky said:
If you've lost 5lbs without trying then it will drop off you once you start to count calories :)
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I hope so! It has in the past so no reason why it shouldn't. I started this week watchin it but ran into some ....issues. Rough week to start when people are bringing tons of xmas cookies and snacks into work and then my boss brought me breakfast lol. I have the next 3 days off though and bit more cooking to do and I'll be set.
 
Chicken Alfredo Recipe

Ok this is SOOO good I'm gonna have to make more...I swear I could eat it evey day, lol. Thought I'd share it because even if none of you want to do a ton of freezer cooking, these make great lunches for work or when you're starving at the last minute. I'll take this over McDonald's anyday.



Ingredients:
* 1 ¼ lb chicken breast, skinless and boneless
* 1 can cream of chicken soup
* 2 packages mixed vegetables with asparagus
* 2 x 8 oz package penne pasta (or whatever shape you like)
* 4 oz grated parmesan or parmesan/Romano blend
* Pepper

Recipe:
Cut 1 ¼ lbs chicken breast into ¾ inch chunks. Spray large skillet or wok with non-stick spray or add 1 tablespoon olive or canola oil. Brown chicken for about 5 minutes, until golden.
Add 1 can non-fat cream of chicken soup and cover. Cook over low heat until chicken is tender, 45 minutes to 1 hour. Remove from heat.
In the meantime, cook pasta according to package directions in a large pot. Drain.
Add cooked chicken and sauce to the pasta pan, and add:
2 packages frozen mixed vegetables with asparagus
4 oz parmesan or parmesan/Romano blend.
Add pepper to taste. Mix thoroughly and divide between 6 containers.
Mixture will look strange because the cheese has not melted. Vegetables will cook and cheese will melt when the meals are heated in microwave.
Place containers in freezer.
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I plugged all the ingredients into fitday, a really easy to figure out calories in recipes. I did the calories for 2lbs of frozen vegetables and when I made it I couldn't find any asparagus in a mixed veggie bag. So I just got frozen asparagus spears, chopped them up and mixed that in the pasta. Then I put the other vegetables on the side, NOT MIXED IN. I got a normandy mix that had broccoli, carrots, cauliflower and squash..and zuchini too I think. After I microwaved it I just used a bit of "i can't believe its not butter spray" on the veggies.

Break down per meal: Cals 528 Fat (g)9 Carbs (g) 85.5 Prot (g)30
 
Sounds nice! I might have to give that a go. Could you use a little brown rice instead of the pasta?
My Dad was anti McDonalds, he always used to say he would rather eat the cardboard it's packaged in! I never tried it until I was 17 (I grew up in a little hippy town in the bush and the closest Maccas was 4 hours drive away), and never really liked it. It's just so fake!
Love your new ticker, it's cute!
 
healthyjess said:
Sounds nice! I might have to give that a go. Could you use a little brown rice instead of the pasta?
My Dad was anti McDonalds, he always used to say he would rather eat the cardboard it's packaged in! I never tried it until I was 17 (I grew up in a little hippy town in the bush and the closest Maccas was 4 hours drive away), and never really liked it. It's just so fake!
Love your new ticker, it's cute!
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Oh yea you totally can use brown rice. In fact for one of the other recipes from that book, Beef Stroganoff, she uses brown rice instead of pasta. That recipe is also 6 meals and it says use 3 cups, uncooked, of brown rice so I bet it'd be the same for this recipe. And thanks :) I redid my ticker to go with the rest the page...and my profile page I finally got around to doing.
 
I haven't eaten it alot but I liked what I had the other day. The cookbook I got offline had a recipe for sweet & sour chicken with brown rice. Although I forgot some of the stuff for it so it'll prolly be better next time :X I didn't have the snowpeas for it, lol. And also I wish I'd bought a package of the asian/stir fry veggies for with it. I was making a ton of food at once so it was just regular mixed veggies in everything. But the sauce turned out great.
 
BTW, I thought I'd mention the outcome of one of my previous posts. I bought some of that Stevia and used it....it doesn't make me gag but I don't like it. It actually takes over the ice tea and changes the taste entirely to where I didn't want to drink the tea. And there's someting about ice tea that's helped me stop drinking soda. I haven't had any for over a year but snagged one of my husbands during the time I was using the Stevia. So its not gonna work. Thankfully I bought a small box and maybe can use the last of it for baking....not sure. So guess for now I'm gonna risk using some splenda at times and also the Sweet & Low. Just gonna try to use less.
 
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I'm so bad, prolly ya'll noticing I've been on this forum all day either working on my profile or posting. Its my day off and I'm avoiding the cooking :X lmao.

But I gotta make the pork tonight so its not in the fridge another day. Tonight I'm making : Honey Glazed Pork and Creamy Onion Porkchops. One of them goes in the crockpot.

Then I also tomorrow need to make the breakfasts...no I still haven't done that yet :X. And my husband ran out and is getting me more containers cuz I ran out so tomorrow I can make the tarragon chicken again (that got left out last time by accident) and Salisbury Steak and Beef Stroganoff. After that I think I'm pretty much done for a while and can just make stuff here ad there as I free up containers from eating up the meals.

Incidently I had a heck of a time getting the 3 1/8 cup glad/ziplock entree containers. Everywhere I went only had a few. I finally found some generic ones for cheaper at the dollar store and guess what? They're holding up better too! The Glad ones I got are a bit harder plastic so when I dropped one out of the freezer the corner busted. So yay for cheaper bein better.
 
I'm really frustrated tonight. I hate wasting food and one of the recipes really didn't turn out.

Honey Glazed Pork
With roasted potatoes and broccoli
Recipe makes six frozen meals.
1 lb pork chops, boneless
2 lbs baby red potatoes
2 1-lb packages frozen broccoli ¼ cup honey
¼ cup soy sauce
1 teaspoon prepared mustard

Recipe:
Cut 3 lbs of baby red potatoes into halves or quarters, making all pieces approximately the same size.
Spray large skillet with non-stick spray or coat with olive or canola oil. Add pork chops and brown. Add baby potatoes and honey mustard sauce, and cover over low heat.
Allow chops and potatoes to cook until pork is tender, approximately 45 minutes to 1 hour, depending on thickness of meat. Stir potatoes occasionally to coat with sauce.
When meat is tender, remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. Divide meat and potatoes evenly between six entrée sized containers. Add frozen broccoli (do not cook broccoli before placing in containers. The vegetable will cook when the lunch is heated in the microwave. Place containers in freezer
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Anyway I did all that but used my electric skillet. I checked part way through and was fine. When timer went off I checked and the mustard/honey sauce had gone to the bottom and become blackened goo. It's not horrible but its not great either....I can't waste that much food so yea...I finished it up and froze it.

So I thinking I maybe shouldn't have put the sauce on that early, I searched online. All other recipes for honey glazed pork say same thing as this one. So all I can think is that my skillet was too hot...or more likely that maybe I should brown the pork then put the whole dang thing in the oven. Anyone else have any thoughts?

On an up note, I'm down another .8 pounds and not really staying on things like I should be. I can't believe my days off are over though and SOOOO don't want to go to work tomorrow
 
So today was a really long rough day. Got into it with a co-worker, who is often moody and brought her bad mood with her to work today. Won't get into details other than while I stayed professional she chose to stoop to name calling and called me ignorant. My boss was very supportive and understanding, since this co-worker is having this problem with everyone and did at the last house she worked at. Good news is I almost bought some cookies at McDonald's but thought no, this chick is not gonna cause me to eat.

Anyway food today:

No breakfast, slept in.
100 calorie ice cream sandwich on way out the door to work
Lunch: Honey Glazed Pork Meal w/ veggies and margarine 485
fruit smoothie from orange julius 300
Dinner: Stouffer Lasagna 650 & broccoli w/ cheese 150
Vanilla ice cream cup 100
total calories 1785

My goal is to stay around 2000 a day. Sunday is the hardest day normally so not bad. Oh and also I ended up walking one loop around the entire mall when I took one of the ladies I help there for her date. I only had to sit down once. My one leg that was injured in the car accident is sore but not too bad.

Anyway I was thinking....not as many people are on this forum at the moment as I'm used to. But it's the holidays.....bet this place is gonna blow up for new year resolutions, lol. Hope we see the return of some old friends and familiar faces.
 
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I've noticed it's really quiet recently! You're right though--we'll get the January crowd in soon enough!! I was a January joined! New Year resolutions and all that ;P


Sorry about your pork recipe :( It sounds delicious and I think your idea of freezing all your meals so they are pre-planned for the week (or longer!) is just awesome. Wish I had a big enough freezer to do that but I share one freeze/fridge with 4 boys who alllllll love huge frozen pizzas so no room for me!

Anyway, have a lovely day :D
 
Hey thanks Sunflower :) I actually ate one of the pork dinners yesterday and it didn't taste bad at all...not burnt. Just had a roasted flavor but next time I'll do it in the oven. And yea I've seen some people logging in that haven't been on in a while, but not posting yet. I think people are gearing themselves up, lol. But I'm in a non holiday mood this year so starting early.
 
I just pulled biscuits out of the oven to start making breakfast biscuits...turned out great but was supposed to be only 10 and came out 12. Some are perfect but some are bit thin, lol. Oh well I know for next time.

Anyway while I was cooking I've been tossing this whole thing around. I had started actually making a menu and matching up all the meals by calories and nailing it down. But the problem with this is I know me, and I'm gonna get up sometimes, look at the menu and be like I so don't want that today. Then what? Sooner or later I'll get bored/frustrated or just fed up and chuck this whole concept. And this is supposed to be about a life time of changes and flexibility right?

Here's my solution (for those who don't know what I'm talking about look at my first few posts and the lists of food). All my entrees are between 385 to 600 but none go over 600. And I've noticed the ones that are only 385 are not that satisfying and if there's a sauce, its dry. So what I'm going to do is tweek all the recipes to where they range in the 500 to 550 range, then just count them as 550. On my breakfasts all are somewhere in the 300 -350 something calorie range at 350.

So breakdown:
Breakfast: 350
Lunch: 550
Dinner: 550
Salad: 350
Fruit/Snack/Dessert: 300
Total cals per day 2000

My goal is to not go over 2100 calories so that leaves me 100 calorie cushion. And since I'm over estimating but I don't know how much I won't be able to factor that in to cheat and I'll actually have a bigger cushion if I unknowingly mess up on measuring stuff out. By the way I used my BMR, which is a few hundred calories higher than 2100, to choose my calorie max a day. Strangely I lose more weight eating around 2000 than I do at lower calorie levels. So this is a good start for me and I can always lower it when I stop losing :)

The great part of it is I'll just grab my breakfast, lunch, dinner etc. and it's all ready to go in the freezer and calorie counted out :) My snacks are purchased in 100 calorie packs and purchased in portions close to that as well. I'm super excited because this is all coming together and working like I thought and I think I can KEEP doing this because it works around all my problem issues that threw me off before.
 
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zomg my egg, sausage and cheese biscuits are SO CUTE! My camera batteries are dead or I'd post a pic, lol. 334 calories each :) I just made heartsmart biscuits, turkey sausage, american cheese and one egg. I had some problems at first cuz I used these little dishes and in glass they over cooked. Finally got smart and realized to use my muffin tin and they came out perfect.

Split baked biscuits. Top with your choice of topping combinations.

Example:
2 slices of bacon, 1 egg, 1 slice of cheese OR
1 sausage patty, 1 slice of cheese OR
1/4 C. scrambled eggs, 1 slice of cheese

Freezing Directions:
Wrap individually, label, and freeze.

Serving Directions:
To serve, place thawed, foil-wrapped biscuit in oven and warm at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or unwrap and re-wrap in damp paper towel and microwave a few minutes.
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