Thursday, March 26, 2009

Roasted Asparagus

I know its not a NS meal but I wanted to share it becuase it was a yummy way to get my veggies in. I took 10 spears of Asparagus and layed them out in a toaster oven pan that had a wire rack I could lay them on... I didn't cook them with any thing on them so as to make less of a mess of the toaster oven pan lol. But I let them cook on a little over 400 degrees for about 10 minutes kept watching for them to get brown then let them go even longer to get a little blackish tinge mmm then I layed them out on a plate and spray with ICBINB (I can't believe its not butter) and sprinkled some adobo, Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb and some grated parm. Had that along side my NS Lasagna and some strawberries afterwards and O what a meal I am stuffed!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cut up some:
celery
cucumbers
cherry tomatoes
onion
green onion
sweet peppers

Boil up:
Approx 100 calories worth of whole wheat pasta (i know its more than your supposed to have with the NS chicken salad but I was willing to sacrifice lol)

Then let the pasta cool in the fridge for a bit I gave mine approx 30 min then I added all the veggies and took the NS chicken salad out of the pouch and plopped it on top and stirred I gave it a little taste test and wasn't impressed yet so I took approx 2 tbsp of ff italian dressing and added it to the top and mixed it all up and tasted again mmm mmm good then I let it sit in the fridge for about 3 hours to get cold... Def satisfied my craving... its kind of a variation of an old fave my mom used to make with tuna...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

UPDATE

 !CHECK IT OUT! I updated the Lemon Pepper Tilapia with a picture

Friday, March 13, 2009

Teryaki Sauce with Beef, Rice and Vegetables


I made Teryaki sauce with beef, rice and vegetables tonight all I added was a little bit of frozen bell peppers and onions and some diced garlic... I sauteed the onions peppers and garlic in a skillet then once they were pretty well cooked I added the NS meal and let it get warm and THATS IT very easy and pretty filling...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Strawberry Shortcake Twinkie Style



This was an idea I got from the NS forumn. I took a NS Golden Pound cake and cut it in half length wise and spread 2 tbsp of FF cool whip in the middle. Very similar to a Twinkie. And the strawberries are frozen sliced strawberries that I put in a bowl topped with Splenda and defrosted in the microwave for approx 4 minutes. 

This was yummier than I thought lol. My husband wanted to take a pic of me licking my plate! HAHAHA he got a good laugh out of it...   

Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettuccini

I have decided to do a few short reviews of the NS foods, as is, with no add-ins. My first review is of the Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettuccini;  It was very saucy, kinda felt like saying 'Hey can I get a little Chicken Fettuccini with my Florentine Sauce' ha ha. First thing I noticed was that it doesn't look at all like the picture on the package but then again they never do.  The flavor of the sauce was surprisingly good, but could have used a little salt. Not sure how to describe it though because I have nothing to compare it to; I have never actually had REAL Florentine Sauce.  It didn't really meet my high expectations. I can't say I would order it again or even eat it again without dressing it up a bit. I think it needs some more veggies if I was a fan of mushrooms I think that would be a delightful addition but since I am not a fan I will have to stick with Broccoli or Zucchini. Once I try the add ins I will let you know how it comes out and post up the recipe! So keep checking back! 

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fruit Crisp

I call it fruit crisp because you can do it with just about any fruit

All you need is:

Fruit (Pears are my fave)
NS Lowfat Granola
Splenda
Cinnamon

Cut the fruit up in little cubes, fill a toaster oven safe dish halfway put some cinnamon and splenda on top and then top that with the remaining fruit and repeat the cinnamon and splenda. Then top it with a NS Bag of granola. Put it in the toaster oven on 200 for about 10 to 15 minutes. To make it a complete breakfast have it with 120 calorie fat free yogurt. Picture should be up in the next 2 days.

NS White Pizza

NS Thick Crust Pizza (minus the sauce)
FF Ricotta 
FF Mozzerella 
Parm Cheese
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning

Simply spread the FF Ricotta on the dough top with FF mozzerella and the cheese that came with the Pizza then top that with Italian Seasoning Garlic Powder and Parm Cheese put in the toaster oven for a bit and watch for it to brown it won't take long... then ENJOY! 

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Strawberry Cream Cheese


1 Tbsp Strawberry Extract
2 Tbsp Light Cream Cheese
1 Packet splenda

Add the cream cheese, strawberry extract and the splenda into a blender (I use the magic bullet) and blend well.

Tastes just like Dunkin Donuts Strawberry Cream Cheese

*UPDATED* Lemon Pepper Tilapia (Flex Day Dinner)


This can also be made with Flounder or Chicken

1 oz Fillet of Tilapia
2 Tbsp of Mayo
Lemon Pepper

You'll notice that many of my recipes are not very involved. I love to make things that are easy to put together and throw in the oven so I can relax while it cooks. 

With this recipe all you have to do is rinse the Tilapia and put it on a baking sheet. Then spread the mayo on it and on top of that sprinkle it with the lemon pepper to taste. That's it! Then pop it into the preheated oven at 350 degrees and your done. Let it cook untill it looks a little brown on top. Thats how I prefer it anyway you may take it out before then. 

Picture will be posted tonight I had it last night for dinner but I believe we will have it again tonight. =-) BTW My husband tried it with Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb last night also and he said that was even better! So feel free to season it with your favorite Mrs. Dash.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

1 serving Frozen Strawberries (whatever the package calls a serving)
1 packet Splenda
4 oz Vanilla Fat Free Yogurt

Put the frozen strawberries in a microwave safe bowl and top with Splenda set your microwave to defrost checking often. (It took my micro about 5 minutes to get them good and soft) Let them sit to develope juices. After about a 1/2 an hour you should have some juicey strawberry syrup. I used 2 seperate dishes so I would pace myself and not eat it all at once. Divide the strawberries into the two bowls and chop them up as best you can with a spoon then spoon in the yogurt and mix until it is well blended. Put them in the freezer and wait. I couldn't wait more than 2 hours to try the first one it was frozen on the top and creamy yogurt on the bottom. It was perfect what made it even better was the creamy FF cool whip topping... MMM MMM GOOD!

Hope you like!

Joining Nutrisystem

I decided to join Nutrisystem in February, I was thinking about summer. More specifically I was daydreaming about vacation and how I'd love to not have to worry about what I wear and if I looked fat in it. Life would be so much easier... =-)

I want to be able to throw on a shirt and a pair of shorts and not wonder if I look good; I wanna KNOW I look good.

May sound a bit big headed but its been a battle that I have fought and lost summer after summer. There is only one summer I can remember when I was 125 pounds and I was completely comfortable with my weight and that was the summer before I got married. After I married Ed I slowly gained the newlywed wieght and ended up 5 years later at 167 pounds. Its hard to admit how much I weigh but now that I am loosing I am okay with it...

Today being day 23 of my Nutrisystem journey I have lost 9 pounds... NINE POUNDS IN 23 DAYS! Just imagine what I will loose by April when it starts to get warm then by July I should be closer to my goal...

What I intend to do here on the blog is to track my progress but most of all share my ideas for doctoring up the already yummy food NS provides... And I am on what they call the Flex Plan (it gives you 2 days a week where you still follow a plan but you do not use any of the NS Entrees you just put things together yourself) so I will be sharing my recipes for non-program days as well. I have a few to catch up on so I will post them soon but do keep coming back for more! I will also be snapping pictures of the food that I make so keep checking back...

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Roasted Asparagus

I know its not a NS meal but I wanted to share it becuase it was a yummy way to get my veggies in. I took 10 spears of Asparagus and layed them out in a toaster oven pan that had a wire rack I could lay them on... I didn't cook them with any thing on them so as to make less of a mess of the toaster oven pan lol. But I let them cook on a little over 400 degrees for about 10 minutes kept watching for them to get brown then let them go even longer to get a little blackish tinge mmm then I layed them out on a plate and spray with ICBINB (I can't believe its not butter) and sprinkled some adobo, Mrs. Dash Garlic & Herb and some grated parm. Had that along side my NS Lasagna and some strawberries afterwards and O what a meal I am stuffed!

Sunday, March 22, 2009

Cut up some:
celery
cucumbers
cherry tomatoes
onion
green onion
sweet peppers

Boil up:
Approx 100 calories worth of whole wheat pasta (i know its more than your supposed to have with the NS chicken salad but I was willing to sacrifice lol)

Then let the pasta cool in the fridge for a bit I gave mine approx 30 min then I added all the veggies and took the NS chicken salad out of the pouch and plopped it on top and stirred I gave it a little taste test and wasn't impressed yet so I took approx 2 tbsp of ff italian dressing and added it to the top and mixed it all up and tasted again mmm mmm good then I let it sit in the fridge for about 3 hours to get cold... Def satisfied my craving... its kind of a variation of an old fave my mom used to make with tuna...

Saturday, March 14, 2009

UPDATE

 !CHECK IT OUT! I updated the Lemon Pepper Tilapia with a picture

Friday, March 13, 2009

Teryaki Sauce with Beef, Rice and Vegetables


I made Teryaki sauce with beef, rice and vegetables tonight all I added was a little bit of frozen bell peppers and onions and some diced garlic... I sauteed the onions peppers and garlic in a skillet then once they were pretty well cooked I added the NS meal and let it get warm and THATS IT very easy and pretty filling...

Thursday, March 12, 2009

Strawberry Shortcake Twinkie Style



This was an idea I got from the NS forumn. I took a NS Golden Pound cake and cut it in half length wise and spread 2 tbsp of FF cool whip in the middle. Very similar to a Twinkie. And the strawberries are frozen sliced strawberries that I put in a bowl topped with Splenda and defrosted in the microwave for approx 4 minutes. 

This was yummier than I thought lol. My husband wanted to take a pic of me licking my plate! HAHAHA he got a good laugh out of it...   

Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettuccini

I have decided to do a few short reviews of the NS foods, as is, with no add-ins. My first review is of the Florentine Sauce with Chicken Fettuccini;  It was very saucy, kinda felt like saying 'Hey can I get a little Chicken Fettuccini with my Florentine Sauce' ha ha. First thing I noticed was that it doesn't look at all like the picture on the package but then again they never do.  The flavor of the sauce was surprisingly good, but could have used a little salt. Not sure how to describe it though because I have nothing to compare it to; I have never actually had REAL Florentine Sauce.  It didn't really meet my high expectations. I can't say I would order it again or even eat it again without dressing it up a bit. I think it needs some more veggies if I was a fan of mushrooms I think that would be a delightful addition but since I am not a fan I will have to stick with Broccoli or Zucchini. Once I try the add ins I will let you know how it comes out and post up the recipe! So keep checking back! 

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Fruit Crisp

I call it fruit crisp because you can do it with just about any fruit

All you need is:

Fruit (Pears are my fave)
NS Lowfat Granola
Splenda
Cinnamon

Cut the fruit up in little cubes, fill a toaster oven safe dish halfway put some cinnamon and splenda on top and then top that with the remaining fruit and repeat the cinnamon and splenda. Then top it with a NS Bag of granola. Put it in the toaster oven on 200 for about 10 to 15 minutes. To make it a complete breakfast have it with 120 calorie fat free yogurt. Picture should be up in the next 2 days.

NS White Pizza

NS Thick Crust Pizza (minus the sauce)
FF Ricotta 
FF Mozzerella 
Parm Cheese
Garlic Powder
Italian Seasoning

Simply spread the FF Ricotta on the dough top with FF mozzerella and the cheese that came with the Pizza then top that with Italian Seasoning Garlic Powder and Parm Cheese put in the toaster oven for a bit and watch for it to brown it won't take long... then ENJOY! 

Sunday, March 8, 2009

Strawberry Cream Cheese


1 Tbsp Strawberry Extract
2 Tbsp Light Cream Cheese
1 Packet splenda

Add the cream cheese, strawberry extract and the splenda into a blender (I use the magic bullet) and blend well.

Tastes just like Dunkin Donuts Strawberry Cream Cheese

*UPDATED* Lemon Pepper Tilapia (Flex Day Dinner)


This can also be made with Flounder or Chicken

1 oz Fillet of Tilapia
2 Tbsp of Mayo
Lemon Pepper

You'll notice that many of my recipes are not very involved. I love to make things that are easy to put together and throw in the oven so I can relax while it cooks. 

With this recipe all you have to do is rinse the Tilapia and put it on a baking sheet. Then spread the mayo on it and on top of that sprinkle it with the lemon pepper to taste. That's it! Then pop it into the preheated oven at 350 degrees and your done. Let it cook untill it looks a little brown on top. Thats how I prefer it anyway you may take it out before then. 

Picture will be posted tonight I had it last night for dinner but I believe we will have it again tonight. =-) BTW My husband tried it with Mrs. Dash Garlic and Herb last night also and he said that was even better! So feel free to season it with your favorite Mrs. Dash.

Saturday, March 7, 2009

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

1 serving Frozen Strawberries (whatever the package calls a serving)
1 packet Splenda
4 oz Vanilla Fat Free Yogurt

Put the frozen strawberries in a microwave safe bowl and top with Splenda set your microwave to defrost checking often. (It took my micro about 5 minutes to get them good and soft) Let them sit to develope juices. After about a 1/2 an hour you should have some juicey strawberry syrup. I used 2 seperate dishes so I would pace myself and not eat it all at once. Divide the strawberries into the two bowls and chop them up as best you can with a spoon then spoon in the yogurt and mix until it is well blended. Put them in the freezer and wait. I couldn't wait more than 2 hours to try the first one it was frozen on the top and creamy yogurt on the bottom. It was perfect what made it even better was the creamy FF cool whip topping... MMM MMM GOOD!

Hope you like!

Joining Nutrisystem

I decided to join Nutrisystem in February, I was thinking about summer. More specifically I was daydreaming about vacation and how I'd love to not have to worry about what I wear and if I looked fat in it. Life would be so much easier... =-)

I want to be able to throw on a shirt and a pair of shorts and not wonder if I look good; I wanna KNOW I look good.

May sound a bit big headed but its been a battle that I have fought and lost summer after summer. There is only one summer I can remember when I was 125 pounds and I was completely comfortable with my weight and that was the summer before I got married. After I married Ed I slowly gained the newlywed wieght and ended up 5 years later at 167 pounds. Its hard to admit how much I weigh but now that I am loosing I am okay with it...

Today being day 23 of my Nutrisystem journey I have lost 9 pounds... NINE POUNDS IN 23 DAYS! Just imagine what I will loose by April when it starts to get warm then by July I should be closer to my goal...

What I intend to do here on the blog is to track my progress but most of all share my ideas for doctoring up the already yummy food NS provides... And I am on what they call the Flex Plan (it gives you 2 days a week where you still follow a plan but you do not use any of the NS Entrees you just put things together yourself) so I will be sharing my recipes for non-program days as well. I have a few to catch up on so I will post them soon but do keep coming back for more! I will also be snapping pictures of the food that I make so keep checking back...