Recipe Review - HGs In-N-Outrageous Animal-Style Salad

Wow!!! Let me tell you this will be a staple in my recipe rotation!! I love this salad and it's huge!!! The best part?!?! It's only 6pts+!!! Found this again in the Hungry Girl cookbook by Lisa Lillien - 300 under 300!!


As promised here is the recipe!

HG's In-N-Outrageous Animal-Style Salad

What you'll need: large bowl or plate, skillet, nonstick spray, small bowl

Prep: 5 min
Cook: 15 min
Makes 1 serving
Points per serving: 6pts+

Ingredients

4 cups chopped romaine lettuce
1 large tomato, chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped dill pickle
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 frozen meatless hamburger style patty with about 100 calories
1 teaspoon yellow mustard
2 tablespoons shredded fat free cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons fat free thousand island dressing.

Directions

Place lettuce on a large plate or in a large bowl and top with chopped tomato and pickle. Set aside.

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to high heat on the stove. Add onion and cook until slightly browned and softened about three min. Transfer to the large plate/bowl and set aside.

Remove skillet from heat, re-spray, and bring to medium heat. Add patty and cook for about 4 min per side, until cooked through.

Once cool enough to handle, crumble or chop patty and place in a small bowl. Add mustard and toss to coat.

Transfer the mustard-y burger bites to the salad. Evenly top salad with cheese and dressing. Now EAT!!



Per serving (entire recipe)
270 cals
4.25 fat
1,032 sodium
39.5 carbs
11.75 fiber
17.5 sugars
21 protein

On a Roll with Healthy Eating!

I've really been loving this Hungry Girl Cookbook. I'm sorta working my way from the front to the back. I'm going to post the ones I try - and give a mini review of sorts. Here is one that I tried the other day and it came out great! I made it with ground chicken (because that's what I had thawed at the time) but it calls for lean ground beef. While it was still super yummy with the ground chicken, I'm thinking that this would be even BETTER with the lean ground beef.

Pizza Burgers a La HG!! Loved them - these did take longer to prep - the book says 10 min - but it seemed like for me it was longer. It was worth it all. They were great and will probably be thrown in my rotation of usual dinners! This recipe was also found in the Hungry Girl 300 under 300 cookbook.

What you'll need:
Large skillet
Nonstick Spray
Large bowl
blender or food processor (Optional)

Prep: 10 min
Cook: 20 min

Pizza Burgers A LA HG

Ingredients

1 cup chopped mushrooms

1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper

1/2 cup chopped onion

2 sticks light string cheese

1 pound raw extra-lean ground beef

2 tablespoons ketchup

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

Dash each salt and pepper

1/2 cup pizza sauce

12 slices turkey pepperoni

Optional: lettuce leaves, for wrapping

Directions

Bring a large skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add veggies and stirring occasionally, cook until softened, about 5 min. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.

Break each string cheese stick into thirds and place in a blender or food processor - blend at high speed until cheese take on a shredded or grated consistency. (or just tear string cheese into pieces and roughly chop.) set aside

Add beef, ketchup, and spices to the bowl with the cooked veggies. Use your hands to mix thoroughly. Evenly divide and form mixture into four 1/2-inch-thick patties.

Remove skillet from heat, re-spray, and bring to medium-high heat on the stove. Place patties in the skillet and cook to your liking, at least 3 min per side.

Reduce heat to medium low. Carefully top each patty in the skillet with 2 tablespoons of sauce, 1/4 of the shredded/grated cheese, and 3 slices peperoni. Continue to cook until sauce is hot and cheese has melted, about 2 min.

Plate your patties, maybe wrap them up in some lettuce and dig in!

Makes 4 servings

Per serving (1/4 of the recipe, 1 patty with cheese and sauce)

223 calories

7g fat

559mg sodium

9g carbs

1.5g fiber

5g sugars

31g protein

Getting Back To Basics

I've been struggling with my weight over the last few years. Up and down the same 10lbs or so. I feel that it's finally time to get back to basics and get back on track! I've been planing out my meals now for the last week or so, and I wanted to share some recipes that I tried out that are really good and maybe some of my readers will like!

Here is one of the first ones:

It's Hungry Girl's Cheesy Pigs in Bacon Blankies - found in the Hungry Girl 300 under 300 cookbook. I have all of the HG cookbooks and I love them!! I would recommend them to EVERYONE I know. Great to have all the recipes in one place. You can find the books on Amazon.com or another places that sells books usually! Totally worth the money! Check it out!

I made this recipe last night after a LONG Zumba class. I have to say, one of the reasons I love this recipe is that its simple, easy to prepare and cooks fast! Let's not forget that it's SUPER yummy!!

What you'll need for this recipe is:
Baking Sheet
Nonstick Spray
Rolling pin (optional)

Prep: 10 min
Cook time: 15 min
WW PTs+ : 4pts+ per dog

Ok..now on to the recipe!

Cheesy Pigs in Bacon Blankies

Ingredients

1 package Pillsbury Reduced Fat Crescent rolls refrigerated dough
4 wedges The Laughing Cow Light Creamy Swiss cheese
8 dashes garlic powder, or more to taste
8 hot dogs with about 40 calories and 1g fat or less each
1/4 cup precooked real crumbled bacon
Optional dips: Hellmann's/Best Foods Dijonnaise, Ketchup, Salsa



Directions

Preheat oven to 375

Spray a baking sheet with nonstick spray and set aside

Slightly stretch or roll out 1 of the 8 triangle-shaped pieces of dough to make a larger triangle. Evenly spread with half a wedge of cheese, and then sprinkle with a dash of garlic powder. Place hot dog along the base and gently but firmly roll it up. Squeeze the dough gently to ensure it is secure around the hot dog.

Sprinkle 1/2 tablespoon bacon on you work surface and roll the dough-wrapped dog in it, so the bacon sticks to the outside. Press any remaining bacon into the dough. Place on the baking sheet.

Repeat with remaining ingredients, so that you have 8 evenly spaced pigs in a blanket on the sheet.

Bake in the oven until dough is lightly browned, 12-14 min.


Let cool slightly. If you like, dip your dog into one or more of the optional ingredients. Enjoy!



Per Serving (1/8 of recipe, 1 pig in blanket)

164 calories
6.75g fat
877mg sodium
16g carbs
0g fiber
3.5g sugars
10.5g protein

Wow...where has the time gone?!

It's been awhile since I've posted - and I've been doing really well lately on WW - and wanting to share some recipes and things that I'm doing ....I thought..HEY I have a blog don't I??? AND YES!! I do...so I'm back to hopefully update more often and keep you posted on things I'm doing and tips and tricks of WW!! I hope the people that follow me are still interested!

Here's to tons of exciting things going on in my world!

Lo

Detroit Zoo 5K - Run Wild at the Zoo and other things!

I signed up for my first 5K in a LONG time. I'm going to be running it at the Detroit Zoo in September - anyone wanna join me?! It should be good and cool! WOO I cannot wait for the cooler weather - I can honestly say I love Fall/Winter - I even love snow - so long as I don't really have to drive in it - then it gets a little scary.

Training/Running has been going good - it's kinda to a halt as of the last couple days - got myself totally sunburned again - and CANNOT stand to have things rub across the burn at the moment - so I'm just going to have to get my exercise by walking Maddie - another day or so and I should be back out there.

Just when I think things are winding down - I find myself super busy again! I guess it's better to be busy than to just sit home with nothing to do. Sometimes though I'd like to just escape with my book and spend the day lounging and reading!

End of the month we'll be taking Karen on her mystery Bachelorette trip! It's going to be so much fun - she still has no clue where we're going - just what to pack! I'll be sure to post some pix when we're back.

Working on trying to cross some things off my bucket list - stay tuned for those. I know I keep saying this but I really should try to keep this more up to date instead of checking in just once a month.

All in all my life seems to be going along smoothly. Church class is going excellent. Learning a lot - and I actually am getting baptised this Wednesday, so that's pretty exciting! I lost another 2lbs this week... so yeah good things all around!

More later - it's time to get to work!

Lo

Things are FINALLY starting to slow down

Well no doubt I've had a busy few months since probably the end of May. I've had my parents in town for a visit - babies being born - Friends losing a loved one - Wedding showers and just catching up with good friends. I've been B~U~S~Y~!

Since my last rant I'm happy to report that I've lost -3.5lbs which is a good start. I seem to have my eating under control somewhat and now going to keep adding exercise back in. Before I know it I'll be on a roll and hard to stop me! I still want to try to lose 16.5lbs before the end of August. I don't know if I'll be able to do it but I'm sure going to try!

Went to the Doc to find out why I've been so tired lately. All blood tests came back normal except for the white count again which was slightly elevated - which shows I'm fighting something off yet I feel completely normal. She suggests that perhaps I'm depressed or have some anxiety - yet when I question myself I don't really think I have any of those. Her diagnosis is to keep eating well - "get my ass in gear" and exercise and as far as the white count goes - we'll just do follow up testing later if I still feel this "tired" feeling. She did say one good thing was my weight was pretty constant - and usually depression has you go one way or the other. I hate my constant weight - though I want it to go down not up!

I'm reading this really good book given to me by my friend Deb. It's called Dancing Naked at the Edge of Dawn - by Kris Radish. I really love this book - I'm only about 80 pages in and it's really talking to me. It’s about how sometimes it takes the shock of a lifetime to get you to really start living. One part of it that really sticks out to me is this:

"It is perhaps remarkable to remember the moment when you wake up. It is perhaps remarkable to be able to step outside of your mind and body and see your flaws and missteps and yearnings. It is remarkable to be able to put your finger on your own pulse and to say that you suddenly understand that unhappiness is a choice and that everyone, even you, can change directions, or better yet, find direction at any moment in your life."

This great book follows Meg and her amazing friends in her search after something major happens in her life. If anyone is looking for a book to read, I'd say give this one a shot!

So yeah - my life seems to be slowing down a little for me to take a deep breath and sit back and relax a little. Plans for Karen's Bachelorette party are coming along GREAT.... I've been working on some knitting and some cross stitching and just keeping busy with my spare time at home. Let's not forget also that I recently purchased an iPhone. I'm really loving it and so far my experience with AT&T "service" hasn't been that bad - their customer service however...they need to learn a thing or two!

My plan for the coming weeks - relax and exercise and see what a difference it can make. I'll try to remember to blog on this more often - it really helps and I'm delighted that I actually have people that comment!

Moving on and upward!
Lo

Enough with the Bullshit!

I've had it - I keep making excuses on why I haven't been exercising - Because my family is here... or because I have a party... or whatever.... IT DOESN'T MATTER! I don't know why I can't get that through my head and understand, no matter what's going on in my life I can be in control of my choices. I'm going to be honest. Trying to lose weight is damn hard. I should know, I've been trying to get to my goal weight since 2000. I've come a long way..once was 312lbs and have now lost over 100lbs of that.....but I'm not finished, and there is no reason why I can't finish. I need to figure out whatever is keeping me here hovering around the same 10lbs for the last couple years.... but honestly ...I just need to DO THIS! Get my butt in gear, follow the program and exercise. It's not hard. I now have no more distractions in my life...it's just me and I need to put myself first for once!

No more being LAZY Lauren...just get out there and do it. I have many goals for this summer - I want to look so amazingly beautiful and thin in Karen and Jared's wedding....and I want to be running a fit 5k before my training starts for the Disney 1/2 marathon. Both of these goals have something in common.... LOSING WEIGHT! Yes...I'm sure I will still struggle - but I know if I can lose over 100lbs I can lose this last 50. So, I'm starting today - and I'm going to continue to use the blog to post/rant/cry over successes or failures - but either way I'm going to keep pushing. My mini goal is to lose 20lbs in 2 months - that's 10 per month (I'll take more if I can get it) I'm going to commit to doing some sort of exercise EVERY DAY - as well as stay on plan.

This whole thing starts with me - I know in my heart that I can do it, and I hope along the way I can figure out whatever it is that's been holding me back around this same 10lbs - maybe I'm scared? Scared of failing? I don’t know - I've inspired so many people to do this and lose weight...and people to start a running program... now it's time to inspire myself... Get out there Lauren and give it your all...and Shine for everyone to see.

It's your life...whatcha gonna do....the world is watching you.....

Here's to seeing you at the finish line

Lo