P3, T-8 Days: Thousand Island, 200 posts!

"T minus 8 days and counting!"

After last night's revelries, I'm ready for some real food again. Hot dogs, even if they are National Hebrew brand, just DON'T hit the spot for me. I ate foods I'm allowed, or rather, I didn't eat foods I'm not allowed, and it was just sort of a hit and miss. It was not satisfying at all.

Today, I'm planning a chef salad with home-made Thousand Island dressing. We already made this from scratch at home, but I modified the original recipe so there's not sweet 'n sour cucumber chips, sugar or ketchup. It still tastes like "normal" and is very satisfying.

Thousand Island Dresssing

Makes 1 cup (or so)

1/4c tomato paste

3/4c mayo (or so)

2 dill pickles

1t lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Chop up your pickles so they're little bitty (I use one of those Pampered Chef chopper thingies). In a measuring cup, add tomato paste and mayo so you can see how much of each you're using. Add pickles, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Stir. Taste, add more salt and pepper if you'd like, then top your salad with it! Yummy!

And, for something a little different (or on the go), try out the dip:

Thousand Island Dip

Makes 1 cup (or so)

1/4c tomato paste

1/4c mayo (or so)

1/2c sour cream

2 dill pickles

1t lemon juice or apple cider vinegar

salt & pepper to taste

Follow the same directions as for the dressing. You can also add 1/4c cottage cheese to this and it's darn good, too. I add a little more pickle when I do that, though.

*******

Today, right at 2 months, my blog has 200 posts. That's a lot of recipes, tips, funny things, research results and STUFF in just 2 months. Two months ago, I was 332 pounds and gaining. Today, I'm 278 pounds and stable. I can't hardly wait for the time to arrive for the next round to start! It sounds cliche' but I'm starting the loading days the first part of January. By my birthday, the end of February, I hope to report that I'm another 50 pounds lighter.

How awesome to know that I do have control over the weight and I can lose it. Especially after a whole lifetime of steadily gaining it and just packing it around. Part of that was because I had emotional ties to it - it was a "shield" for me to keep other people away. It really didn't work all that well, though, and I've since worked through that emotional ...um... inaccurate thinking and replaced it with well-feelings instead.

What's the plan after February? I'm going to go through three weeks of P3, then a month or so of P4 and hit it one more time. It would be sooooo cool to be at my goal weight of 180 by summer. I like that weight - it still leaves feminine curves on me, but not so much that I'm flabby. Hehehe.

As for the "T minus 8 days and counting," thing, I'm not really sure what I'm counting for. I could live in P3 for the rest of my days and be ok. It's very similar to the Atkins' Diet and I lost 30# on that inside a month. The difference between that one and this one? I'm able to hold a STABLE weight!

Honestly, I'm concerned about reintroducing the sugars and starches back into my body. The only thing that gives me confidence about it is reading all the testimonials of others who've done it successfully.

P3, Day 11: Tahini Salad Dressing recipe

Tahini* Salad Dressing

3T mayo

2t Tahini

1t soy sauce

1/2t apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper

Mix together completely and set aside. It should be *really* thick.

*Note: Tahini is a sesame butter. We use raw tahini, but you could use roasted tahini, too. You might find it in the Oriental section of your Safeway. But we've seen it more often in the natural foods section.

Now, make your salad:

Salad mix

onion

tomato

avacado

chicken

mushrooms

GOOD cheese (ex. romano, sharp chedder, parmasean)

almonds

Toss together salad mix, onion, tomatoes, & avacado. Put the salad mix on your plate. Fry up your chicken and cook completely then add a few mushrooms, but don't cook the mushrooms - just warm them up. Transfer your chicken/mushroom to the top of your salad, sprinkle a little grated cheese on top and sprinkle with almonds. Top with the Tahini dressing and enjoy!

Lunch Repeater, Shrimp Cocktail

I was busy working on making kids' rooms cleaner (since they don't do it). My Mom and I decided that anything that wasn't in it's proper place while they were at school today would go into a storage place until they could prove that they could keep their rooms clean.

Needless to say, lunch was selected from the ones we've already done. I know, I know. Lunch Repeater! Hahaha! Lunch today was the Chili Chicken from the other day. It's a tasty and quick make.

For supper, though, I'm doing a new one. It's Shrimp Cocktail! Of course, mostly, it's the sauce that's the recipe. :) Yummy sauce, too. I served it up with yellow squash so the veggie wouldn't outshine the main course. Here's the sharesies:

Shrimp Cocktail (90 calories)

100g shrimp (90 calories)

1T tomato paste

1t worcestershire

1/2t onion powder

1/2t garlic powder

2 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1/4t celery seeds

salt & pepper to taste

1T water

Mix everything except the shrimp in a small bowl. In ramekin, set shrimp so they don't overlap, then spoon sauce onto shrimp. Pop in the (toaster) oven 15 minutes at 325* then broil another 5 minutes. Serve it up hot!

"Honey" Citrus Glazed Shrimp

This one, where it's a little late, I think needs some tweaking. I post it here as a jumping off point for other people who experiment. Luckily, we can make the "glaze" and taste it all by itself, as those things are all "free." What I found was that, even though it is tasty, it overpowered the shrimp. I think less tobasco, less fruit juice next time. And I'm sure it needs something to even out the juice tang, but I'm not sure what yet. I'll have to ponder this one a little longer, I think. Or, better yet, I'll just pass it around to some of my other recipe making friends and see what they come up with to balance it.

All in all, it didn't have honey's smoothness and I think, ultimately, that's what's missing. Anyway, here's the sharesies:

"Honey" Citrus Glazed Shrimp (90 calories)

100g shrimp (90 calories)

Juice of one lime, or lemon

6-10 drops orange stevia

2t Tobasco sauce

1t Ground Ginger

1/2t Celery Seed

1/4t Knox gelatin (if you want to thicken it)

Combine all ingredients except shrimp in small bowl. Add shrimp to the bowl and let marinade for an hour. Glaze will be soupy and won't look much like a glaze until it gets heated up. Center all ingredients on 8" square of foil and fold into a packet. Place in toaster oven at 350* for 10 minutes or until shrimp are done, then serve hot. I poured it all over the top of some broccoli!

Orange Steak

Today, I'm not feeling all that well, so I'm going to post a something I've been working on. So it's really a jumping off point still, but I hope it makes up for my lack of enthusiasm about anything food right now.

Orange BBQ Sauce

1/4t celery seed

1T orange juice

1/4t onion powder

1/4t garlic powder

1/4 tomato paste

1t ACV

3 drops stevia

2 drops liquid smoke

salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients and mix thoroghly.

Orange Steak (140 calories)

100g steak (140 calories)

Orange peel, in one piece if possible!

BBQ sauce (above)

salt & pepper to taste

In 8" square of foil, center orange rind and place steak inside it, cover meat with BBQ sauce and place in toaster oven at 350* for 1 hour to make sure the flavors are mingled in with the meat.

BBQ Steak & Coleslaw

Tonight, I'm having steak and coleslaw. It took a little adjusting to get this recipe right but it came out wonderfully in the end. I did use the optional milk for the first time ever and that was also a good choice.

The recipe makes just enough for two cups of cabbage, but you can certainly add some water to the coleslaw dressing and make it stretch if you're having more cabbage!

Coleslaw (35 calories)

2c cabbage (35 calories)

1/2t Plochman's Natural Stone Ground mustard

1/2t lemon juice

shake of celery seeds

2-3 drops stevia

shake of onion powder

salt

pepper

1T milk

Slice up cabbage real fine and set in a bowl to refrigerate. Mix all other ingredients in small bowl and drizzle over the cabbage. Stir the cabbage so the dressing coats it completely. Return to the frig for at least an hour before serving.

BBQ Sauce (You can get all ingredients from the Less of Me Store!)

1/4t celery seed

1/4t onion powder

1/4t garlic powder

1/4 cup tomato paste

1t ACV (apple cider vinegar - I use Braggs' ACV)

3 drops stevia

1 1/4t worcestershire

2 drops liquid smoke

salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients and mix thoroghly.

Home on the Range Steak (140 calories)

100g steak (140 calories)

BBQ sauce (above)

salt & pepper to taste

In 8" square of foil, center steak, cover with BBQ sauce and place in toaster oven at 350* for 1 hour to make sure the flavors are mingled in with the meat. Switch your oven to broil and leave for an additional 15 minutes, serve and enjoy!