Latest obsessions...

What have I been eating lately, you might ask?

Lox: Portlock has a retail store in Seattle and the owner/operator is SO NICE, it's an absolute pleasure to go in. Not to mention, 1 lb packages of "trim" are, like, $8. If you're in Seattle, I'd highly recommend stopping in! I eat it on either Triscuits or Wasa crackers with a smear of whipped cream cheese.

Yogurt: by now, we all know about Fage Greek yogurt. It's by far the best plain Greek yogurt (but if you like the pre-flavored kind, totally try Chobani - it's great!) I go in and out of yogurt phases and I'm definitely IN one now! Sweeten it with a few drops of ez-sweetz (or sweetzfree, whichever you prefer - sweetzfree is more expensive, but about twice as sweet), put in some frozen cherries/berries (hey, it's January - I refuse to purchase fresh berries in January on principle!) and top with a sprinkle of Kashi Go Lean Crunch (yummy like granola, but much healthier).

TJ's whole wheat premade pizza dough (it's possible that this isn't on your plan, if so, just skip this part. I've discovered that it's just not realistic for me to try to eat no/low carb. I just try to make as many of my carbs whole grain as possible): this is so good rolled out into a thin-crust pizza, with a smear of pesto, a bunch of part-skim mozzarella and a sprinkle of parm, and a chopped tomato.

TJ's frozen brown rice (see above disclaimer, low-carbers!): I love to cook a chicken dish on the weekend and warm it up all week. This rice is the perfect accompaniment. And the great thing about TJs is that it's so cheap - I normally hate premade stuff like this because the markup is just horrific, but this is totally affordable!

As always: no one ever gives me free shit in exchange for shoutouts, so you know that this is my real unbiased opinion :) I like to share things I've found that work well for me because I found similar posts so helpful when I was a sleeve newbie.

Meatloaf and mashed potatoes

I felt like some comfort food today. Given that my new year's resolution was to build meals around what I have in the fridge/freezer/pantry, I looked in the freezer and found some grass-fed beef and happy Italian sausage (I love Whole Foods - their meat standards program is amazing). So, I decided to make meatloaf and cheesy mashed potatoes. The potato recipe is really nothing special - the only thing that makes it amazing is the Cabot 75% reduced-fat cheddar. God, this post is reading like a freaking ad, but I'm serious - this stuff is amazing. It quite literally melts like full-fat cheese. SO WORTH the extra $$. Every time I buy a different reduced fat cheese I regret it heartily.

Anyway, here's the meatloaf recipe:

Sleevey's Seriously Yummy Meatloaf
1 T olive oil
~ 1 t crushed garlic
a few shakes of dehydrated onion
1 lb 7% fat grass-fed beef
2/3 lb mild Italian sausage
salt and pepper
2 T Worcestershire sauce
1/3 + 1/4 cup ketchup
3/4 cup breadcrumbs (I made them for the first time from some stale bread I'd frozen - so easy!)
2 eggs, beaten

Heat oven to 350. Saute the garlic and onion in olive oil and cool until touch-able. Knead together all of the ingredients (except the last 1/4 c ketchup) in a large bowl. Spray a small baking dish with cooking spray. Press meat mixture into dish, spread the last 1/4 c ketchup on top. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Makes about 12 servings.

Artichokes and Green Beans AuGratin

This is also adapted from a Kalyn's Kitchen recipe. Kalyn is my current fave food blogger - she follows South Beach (which I don't know much about) and her recipes are *fab*! This is great for reluctant veggie eaters (which we all know I am), especially those who need to focus on protein (and we all know that I do).

Artichokes and Green Beans Au Gratin
2 cans artichoke hearts, drained and chopped (rinsed if not sodium-free)
1 can green beans, drained (rinsed if not sodium-free
3/4 cup mayo (approx)
1 T lemon juice (approx)
generous sprinkle of garlic powder
sprinkle of dried herbs of your choice (I like Italian seasoning, and bet it would also be good with dill)
black pepper (to taste)
a little chicken broth (if needed)
2 cups shredded parm (approx), plus more for topping (optional)

Towel-dry veggies, and make sure there's no water lurking inside your artichoke hearts. Mix mayo, lemon juice, garlic powder, herbs, and black pepper. Gently fold in veggies, then cheese. Add a little chicken broth to stretch the mayo mixture if needed. Sprinkle parm on top if desired. Place in a small casserole dish and bake at 350 for 20 min. Turn up to broil for ~3 minutes to brown the cheese on top.

I've also made this with 1/2 shredded part skim mozzarella and 1/2 parm. I didn't like it as well, but it was acceptable and does save some calories.

In case you're wondering...

...where all of my rambling crap went, here is the explanation: I had decided to delete this blog altogether, but changed my mind. I just deleted all of the super-personal stuff I posted over the past year but left the recipes.

So, I guess by default, I'm changing this to a (mostly) sleeve-friendly recipe blog. Woohoo!

Comfort food: chicken, mushroom, and rice casserole

This recipe is adapted from a recipe I found on Kalyn's Kitchen. Excellent comfort food - and it's really easy and  relatively healthy due to the brown rice.

a couple tablespoons olive oil
a couple tablespoons dehydrated onions (or you could surely use the real thing, I just don't like them)
16 oz button mushrooms, chopped
Italian seasoning
salt and pepper
3-4 cups cooked chicken (I used rotisserie, skin removed)
3 cups cooked rice
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayo
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese (I used lowfat mexican blend because that's what I had)

Heat olive oil in a large skillet. Brown dehydrated onions, add mushrooms, and saute until liquid evaporates. Add seasoning, salt and pepper to taste. Stir in chicken and remove from heat. Mix sour cream, mayo, and chicken broth in a large bowl. Add chicken mixture and rice, stir well. Add cheese and, again, stir well. Bake at 350 for about a half hour.

Next time, I'm going to add more veggies. Maybe green beans.

Just Tomatoes!

In addition to what my sister and I have christened "pumpnies," I discovered Just Tomatoes Just Strawberries 'N Bananas this week. They're a little pricey, but are possibly the best snack I've found yet. It's like eating fruit snacks or gummy bears but without the sugar (or diarrhea-inducing sugar alcohols)! It's freeze dried fruit with literally nothing added. The fruit isn't even treated with sulfur dioxide or the like, like dried fruit. I'm not sure how, but it's also not hypercaloric like dried fruit - a 5 oz tub, which they say is equal to an entire pound of fruit, is only 180 calories. If strawberries and bananas aren't your thing, they have pretty much every other fruit available (think blueberries, peaches, and pomegranate, among others), plus veggies - corn, peas, tomatoes...you get the idea.

I think this is especially good for sleevers - especially early out, when we have such a hard time even squeezing in the protein we need, let alone any extra food that may actually contain micronutrients! I haven't tried the veggies, but I suspect they may also be especially good for reluctant veggie eaters like myself. I bet the mixed veggies would be really good to snack on tossed with some garlic powder or maybe cayenne pepper and salt.

PS: No, nobody paid me or gave me free stuff to do this review. I just found these and think they're great, so I'm sharing them with all two of my faithful readers.

Un-Stuffed Pumpkin Recipe

Mmmmm....fall is here, and to me that means SQUASH! I love winter squash, but for some reason, I hadn't really tried cooking with pumpkin before now (other than, you know, pie).

I went out to dinner last night and had the best roasted veggies I've ever had - there were pumpkin and kale in them. And THEN, I went to whole foods and they were having a freaking amazing sale on sausage. And thus, this recipe was born. It has pretty much every color of the rainbow in it, so you know it's healthy - although it is definitely NOT high protein.

(You could definitely vary the amounts/quantities of veggies in this recipe if you wanted. The peppers were kind of a whim, because my neighborhood fruit stand was selling them for 59 cents and I couldn't resist. I also think this would be good with butternut squash or even yams instead of pumpkin.)

Un-Stuffed Pumpkin
(about) 1/2 cup olive oil
1/2 large sweet onion, chopped
2 red peppers, chopped
1 small sugar pie pumpkin
herbs and salt to taste - I used rosemary
1 bunch kale
2 large mild Italian sausages (about 2/3 lb raw)
2 eggs
1/2 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup shredded parm (optional)

- Heat oven to 350.
- Brown onions in a couple tbsp. olive oil (you could skip this - I just like my onions REALLY cooked).
- Mix the onions and peppers in a baking dish and put them in the oven.
- Gut the pumpkin (save the seeds and roast them - yum!) and cut it in quarters.
- Place the quarters face-down on a plate, add some water, and microwave for about 10 minutes.
- Allow to cool, remove skin, and cut into 1" cubes.
- Add to the onions and peppers and toss the whole mix with another couple tablespoons of olive oil, salt, and herbs. Return to oven.
- Remove sausage from casings and brown in a skillet. Set aside.
- Remove stems from kale and chop leaves. Wilt in the sausage drippings and add to the veggies in the oven. Turn down the oven to 300 and roast veggies for about 45 minutes.
- Beat eggs and mix with sausage and breadcrumbs. Toss meat mixture with veggies and top with parmesan. Bake for about 20 minutes.

Makes about 12 servings, with about 200 calories and 7 g. protein each.

By the way, a sweet tip I learned about pumpkin seeds: pull them out of the pumpkin guts as best you can, then put them in a bowl of water - guts sink, seeds float - viola!