Eat This, Not That - Louvre Chocolate Cake, Shepherd's Pie and Eggnog

Today I found out that my two Eat This, Not That books that were ordered for me by my hubby were supposedly delivered last week. They are not here. So we've been bugging USPS about it, and while being all stressed out I started looking up recipes and treats for the holidays. NOT A GOOD IDEA. I've been pretty good about my portions recently (lost 8 lbs so far) so I tried to figure out what I could do to curb the cravings I'm having for holiday yummies. First is the Louvre chocolate cake, http://www.payard.com/louvre-cake.aspx which I found out about when my sister showed me the link to their Pain Surprise, a French appetizer that we've been looking for in New York for sometime now. This cake was featured on Sex and the City I believe....

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Posted in: eat this not that,low calorie

I Can Eat Indian Food Without Feeling Guilty Now!!

My hubby was craving Indian food today and asked me if I wanted to order some for dinner. I groaned inwardly since I knew I would not be able to resist, and I ALWAYS end up bingeing and going into a food coma after. He suggested I get the small portion and just eat that. I thought about it a little and went even further. I researched the calorie content for basmati rice and lamb rogan josh, and portioned them with the help of my always helpful kitchen scale. Here are the numbers: Basmati Rice, Cooked - 1 cup - 205 calories Lamb Rogan Josh - 150 grams - 250 calories That was a total of 455 calories, which was well under my calorie budget since I had a light breakfast and lunch.  For the first time ever, I ate Indian food at home without overeating and taking a nap 5 minutes after the...

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Posted in: low calorie,workouts

AARrrggHHH

I maintained today. Despite the fact that I went to the gym yesterday and ate well (calorie-wise). I'm a little pissed about that. The only thing worse is if I had gained. I added The Biggest Loser to my DVR show list. Maybe if I constantly watch Jillian Michaels yelling at overweight people I'll subconsciously think I'm one of them and stay true to my di...

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Posted in: low calorie,why i hate dieting

Calories, Calories, Calories

I've lost about 4 lbs so far since I started dieting again. I know. Some of this is probably water weight since it hasn't even been a week. But I'm definitely deep into a calorie-counting frenzy. Due to a recent aversion to cooking vegetables (my hubby doesn't eat them anyway), I've been taking multivitamins everyday. My desserts have mostly been 100-calorie packs from Hostess and other such brands (ala Mark Haub's Twinkie diet).  I toss in some 100-calorie Sun Chips once in awhile as well. Main meals have been from Smart Ones, Lean Cuisine and Healthy Choice. Some of the meals have vegetables, so I can force them down and feel a little less guilty about not buying and cooking them separately.. I especially love the Smart...

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Posted in: goals,low calorie

Panic Dieting

After about a month and a half of trying to count calories I am now 4 pounds heavier than when I originally started this blog, which was around 4 months ago. If you think about it, I guess gaining 4 lbs in 4 months is not that terrible. I seriously feel better about it, coz I've actually been feeling out of control most of the time. Especially regarding those post-dinner chocolate binges (Damn you Twix!). But now it's time to PANIC. It's about 5 weeks until my best friend's wedding, and a much needed tropical beach weekend. That's right. Be jealous. I have about 25 pounds to lose. I know. That sounds insane. Considering Thanksgiving and Christmas are both in those five weeks... So maybe my goal will be 15 pounds. Although I will keep in...

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Posted in: goals,low calorie,why i hate dieting

LoseIt!

I've been so exhausted recently that I've barely had anytime to prepare food for myself. I've been cooking once in awhile but I don't have the energy to do the dishes. It's either all my energy is being sapped by work, or it's because I haven't worked out in so long. Which makes me think I should start counting calories again, and say goodbye to Low-carbing for awhile. :( I thought I would have the time and energy to do it once the wedding was over, but it doesn't seem like it. And I don't want to look the part TOO much when I'm the Matron of Honor at my best friend's wedding (I did my measurements last weekend, and the numbers were quite horrifying). So I'm going back to frozen entrees, which really aren't that bad especially when I get a...

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Posted in: low calorie,technology,why i hate dieting

Menu for the Week - 9/23/2010

I forgot to post my menu for last week coz I've been so busy with work. It's not a big deal though, it was pretty boring because I still had a lot of the ingredients from the week before, so there weren't a lot of new dishes. I'm moving on to Phase 2 now, and if you see anything that's made with flour it's probably made with whole wheat or 10 grain flour (anything with a decent amount of fiber). Phase 2 also allows for brown rice and fruits, although at this time I'm not including a lot of fruits in the menu. I'm limiting myself to 1 carb-heavy meal per day (such as pancakes or rice). https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0AuZCIl3H85D3dHRFZHBTUm9LUWt0dVZHMlR1X2I1ZUE&hl=en&authkey=CJLx4cEL I'm very excited to try the boeuf bourguignonne (and my new Le Creuset dutch ove...

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Posted in: low-carb,menu for the week,south beach

Creamy Chili Short Ribs

olive oil salt and pepper 1 cup of cooked cut up short ribs (or any other leftover meat) 2 cups cauliflower and broccoli heavy cream oil chili (found in Asian stores) Saute the cauliflower and broccoli in olive oil (if not yet cooked). Add salt and pepper to taste (if needed).  Add the short ribs and chili and saute until heated. Add some heavy cream and saute, saute, saute. Give it a taste and add more salt if needed. I've found that making a meal out of leftovers is more enjoyable for me than cooking regular meals. I never really look up recipes for them online, and always end up improvising. I guess it brings out my creative side, which really doesn't come out that often. I usually saute a bunch of vegetables for the week when I'm...

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Posted in: leftover fun,low-carb recipes,recipes

My Office Neighborhood is AWESOME... When I'm Not Dieting

The area around my office is overflowing with amazing restaurants. St Marks (japanese, mediterranean, etc.) is in our backyard, Veselka (eastern european) is a couple of avenues away,  so is Butter Lane cupcakes (one of their cupcakes is the best thing he ever ate according to Ted Allen), Otafuku (japanese street food) is near us as well,  and there are so many other choices if you want to eat great food. Except if you're low-carbing. I have one go-to cart for when I have to buy a low-carb lunch near the office. It's one of those middle-eastern carts that sell the heavenly "chicken on rice". I usually order the chicken on salad, which isn't as popular but tastes almost as good. I didn't cook last night for today's lunch because I realized I'm going to be in CT all weekend therefore...

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Posted in: low-carb,south beach,why i hate dieting

Low-Carbing for the Nth Time

It's been about a month since my wedding. Around that time I was more or less 113 lbs. After post-wedding binging and a 7-day cruise, I am currently at 120.8 lbs. *sigh* I figured it was time to either go back to Jenny Craig, or time to take out my South Beach Diet cookbooks yet again. After consulting with my husband and a bit of persuasion from my low-carbing and karaoke buddy Katie, I went with the South Beach cookbooks. Michael convinced me it was better to be more in charge of my food options. So, here I am starting South Beach Phase 1. Phase 1 is basically a very low-carb, low-fat diet. I cheat a little bit with bacon or mayo sometimes, but it's better to add those every once in awhile rather than eating white bread or things full of sugar. It's the strictest phase of the diet and lasts...

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Posted in: low-carb,south beach

Chocolate Peanut Butter Energy Blast

1 tablespoon Hershey's unsweetened cocoa powder 1 tablespoon Smart Balance peanut butter 1 cup low-sugar vanilla soymilk 2 packets of Splenda or any other artificial sweetener Put everything in a blender. Blend on a low setting for about a minute. Enjoy! There's a breakfast drink in one of the South Beach cookbooks I have called 'Almond Energy Blast'. I was sooo excited to make it last week, since we finally have a blender again. Of course, Peapod didn't deliver either the tofu or almonds (because nothing ever goes my way). After pouting for a couple of minutes, I decided to put peanut butter in instead (Smart Balance supposedly has Omega-3s in there, but you can use any low-sugar variety of peanut butter). I put in some unsweetened cocoa powder as well, just coz it seems right to have...

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Posted in: breakfast recipes,low-carb,low-carb recipes,south beach

Low-Carb Italian Meatloaf

2 lbs ground turkey1/2 cup pesto (I used the bottled kind)1/2 cup of crushed almonds1/2 cup of parmesan cheese2/3 cup oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes1 eggsaltPreheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Have ready a shallow 11-by-7-inch baking dish (if you don't have this, use whatever you have and just form the meatloaf so that it fits). In a large bowl, combine all the ingredients. Mix gently and thoroughly with your hands. Form the mixture into a rough loaf in the baking dish.Bake until the loaf is firm, the top is richly brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center registers 160 degrees F (it was about an hour when I did it, but you'd have to keep checking the first time). Let the loaf stand in the pan for 5-10 minutes before slicing.I recently had a very bad craving for meatloaf,...

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Posted in: low-carb,low-carb recipes,meat recipes,recipes,south beach,turkey recipes

Why I'm Not 400 Pounds

I love food. There is rarely an hour that passes in my life when I'm not craving food or thinking about food. If I didn't care about what society thinks, or about living a full, happy and healthy life, I would probably weigh about 400 pounds. Fortunately (or unfortunately, however way you see it), I do care about these things. So I turn to diet and exercise whenever I realize I've gone overboard with my food addiction.I've been on several diets in my lifetime. Some of these include: The 6 o' clock diet - Eating whatever you want before 6:00 pm and not eating anything after 6:00 pm.South Beach - Too complex for me to summarize hereNo-carb diet - This is basically the version of South Beach Phase 1 in which I delude myself that I can eat all the bacon and butter that I want.Nutrisystem - Pre-packaged,...

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Posted in: jenny craig,low-carb,nutrisystem,south beach