Leaning Tower of Pancakes

This is, I believe, one of HMRs classic recipes, so don't think I came up with this one, because I didn't.  I just thought that maybe, if you're crazy and haven't tried this recipe yet, you'd like to see some pictures of the pancakes before you give it a shot.  So.  Here's some pictures.  Go give it a shot.

As far as how I use the pancake recipe, I respect it.  I mean, I know it's another one of those dreaded low volume recipes, but on Sunday morning, when my family is having pancakes (that I cooked and couldn't eat), well, now I can join them.  And that is very very important to me.

Also!  Tuesday is weigh in day for me, and I lost 1.5 pounds.  68 more to go!  I refuse to say that I only lost 1.5 pounds, because any loss is precious and to be celebrated.  You hear that, folks?  As long as that scale went negative, you smile and pat yourself on the back, because you deserve it. 

Smoky Enchilada Bake



I was assigned a blast day this week.  So, I had to eat more than my minimum, which meant I had to fit an extra entree in somewhere.  Now, don't get me wrong, I sometimes do this voluntarily when I am ravenous, but this time it was an assignment, and I do my best to fulfill all of them.  So I needed a new double entree for supper, something different, something that I could make with what I had at home with me.  Something like this.

Looks huge, doesn't it?!

 This requires a little decontruction of an entree, but it really wasn't that difficult.  It's an enchilada entree and a BBQ chicken entree (BBQ chicken is my favorite entree...can you tell?)  You have to unroll the enchiladas to use for a top and bottom, spoon out the stuffing, mix it with the BBQ chicken, and spread the left over enchilada sauce across the top, with some hot sauce if you'd like.


Spices, meat, tomato sauce, little crunchy bits on the edges...  Heaven in a casserole dish.

 You'll need a little time for this one, because you simply must bake it. 


Looking at it again now is making my mouth water.



Chai Tea Latte

Before I began the HMR diet, I bought some lovely, beautiful, gorgeous tea from a foo-foo place in a big city mall.  I went way overboard on the purchase, but now I do have some pretty tea that smells and tastes incredible.  I haven't prepared any of it in the last six months, because I was disgusted that I couldn't put real sugar or real honey in it to sweeten it.  Zero-calorie sweeteners were absolutely not an option for me.  I didn't like the way they tasted and thought they cheapened and drowned out the taste of the tea.  Okay, so I have to admit that with this single purchase of tea, I may have turned into a tea snob.

But I miss this tea.  And the weather has turned chilly just for a few days, and I am absolutely craving it at night, which is when I used to drink it before.  So I had to figure out how to get it back into my life.  And out of this figuring came this simple recipe, and an odd revelation which I'll get to later.

So, my favorite tea is a chai/oolong mix.  But it's the chai flavor that I love, and that's the one that comes through the strongest.

Like I said, pretty.

So I steeped a batch of tea.  I have a small pot.  It makes 22 ounces of tea.

Then I put the tea into my blender, closed my eyes, threw in a shake, and prayed that I hadn't just ruined it.  I didn't ruin it.  It was frothy and lovely and tasted like it had milk and sugar in it.  And I was full afterwards. 

See the line between the tea and the foam?  That, my friends, is beautiful.

For those of you that don't have a chai tea mix, I've included an alternate recipe using regular tea and spices to give you a similar effect.  Simple.  Filling.  Warm.  It feels like fall.

Gourmand tip:  Then there was the revelation.  I tried the tea straight before mixing in the shake.  And it was truly good.  The lack of sweeteners didn't affect my enjoyment of the hot tea at all.  Conclusion?  My taste buds have well and truly changed.  Now that I am no longer consuming mountains of sugar, my palette is finding joy and interest in tastes I would have missed before.  I plan on drinking tea regularly, with or without a shake.  On those days when you don't want to eat anymore meal replacements but find yourself hungry, or bored, or wanting something in your hands, try a pot of hot tea.  It just may get you through.

Dream Vanilla Cupcakes with Chocolate Fudge Frosting

Gourmand wisdom:  When you have the time, and as often as you can, eat slooooooowly.  Chew your food mindfully and think about the taste, the texture, the spices and flavor.  Don't eat in front of the tv.  Sit down at your table, put your food on a plate instead of eating it out of the plastic tray, and enjoy it with deliberately small bites.  Make it last.  I cannot stress how much more enjoyment you will get out of the same food if you actually pay attention and give time to what you're eating.  Plus, you're giving your stomach more time to realize that there's food in there.  Give that food a little respect!

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There is nothing better than the smell of baking in a house.  There is something about the molecules that are released during cooking that just feed the soul when they fly up your nose (now that's a romantic image, yeah?)

So these are vanilla cupcakes with chocolate frosting.  I'll tell you right now that I cooked them too long.  I've put a reduced time in the recipe to reflect that.  In spite of their dark color, they weren't burnt, just not as moist and soft as I would have liked.

See?  They still look yummy, no?

I feel compelled to let you know that this is a low volume recipe, and intended as a once-in-a-while treat.  I got a cool dozen out of this batch, and that means you can eat four of these at a time, and it will count as one meal replacement.  I know what I'm having for breakfast the next three days.  Mmmm.

Chicken Curry

One thing I have really missed is the flavor of exotic food.  I'm not so much a meat and potatoes type of girl.  I like unfamiliar spices and crazy flavor combinations.  I'll try anything once, just out of sheer joy of finding a flavor that I've never experienced before.

I was not really a fan of the Savory Chicken entree as it came out of the package.  I mean, it had potential.  I liked the mushroomy flavor, and the occasionally crunchiness of the brown rice pieces.  But the more bites of it I took, the less of the delicate flavor I seemed to taste, until it was just like chewing ricey paste.

Let me assure you, this does not taste like ricey paste.  To the contrary, what I thought was a weakness of the Savory Chicken is a strength.  You can, quite literally, completely change the flavor of this entree dish with spices.  I have so many ideas for how to do this, and I'm excited to see which ones work.  This, I think, is one of them.  Curry chicken has some heat to it, so if you don't like a little spice, skip this dish.  If you do though, try it.  I don't think you'll be disappointed.

BBQ Chicken Stack

For those of you interested in my personal weight loss stats, I've recorded my week by week weight loss for you to peruse, along with a terrifying/interesting before and current picture of yours truly.  It is available after the recipe. 

So...enough about me!  On with the important stuff:  the food!

I know you won't believe it, but I occasionally screw up.  Like when I was trying to microwave chips for the recipe yesterday.  I initially added too much water to the chip batter, and it wouldn't firm all the way up and dry out, like a chip should.  So I ended up with a plate-sized crust of chicken soup, and I refused to throw it out.  This stuff is expensive, you know!  So I gave my favorite standby recipe, BBQ Chicken Pizza, a visual makeover.

Geez, I have missed cooking for myself.  I mean, I still have to cook for my husband and daughter.  (Yes, I'm a masochist.)  But it's nowhere near as fun cooking what you can't eat.  In fact, it stinks.

But this doesn't.  It's visually different, a feast for the eyes, and not too bad for the tongue, either.  Sweet and smoky.  Go eat a stack.

Spicy Chips and Bean Dip

This one takes some time, so don't make it when you're starving and ravenous and in oh-my-Lord-I would-eat-my-shoe-right-now-if-it-tasted-like-chocolate mode.  Also, supposedly it's a low volume recipe, so don't eat it often.  But man oh man, did I almost feel normal eating this.

The chips were crispy, the dip creamy.  The spices were familiar and comforting.

I totally plan to use this recipe on Christmas Eve, when my family has an all-you-can-stuff-yourself-with  hors d'oeuvres.  I'll have my own, and if I take some brownies or cupcakes with me, I'll be golden.  Those recipes coming soon!

Greetings, from a drought-stricken region on the US, dusty Missouri!  I thought I'd use this first post to let you know just a tad about me, why I'm doing this, and what you can expect from me.

My name is Becky (Hi, Becky) and my passion, and I'm sure a lot of you can empathize with this, is food.  I like the way it tastes, I like the way it looks, I like the way it smells.  Food is necessary and lovely.  However, I like it a little too much, and I have a hard time stopping putting it in my mouth once I start.

I joined the HMR program at my local hospital on March 15, 2012, the ides of March (et tu, food?)  I decided to jump right in and go with the uber-restrictive Decision Free option.  My immediate reason for this is because my husband, daughter, and I are going to Disneyworld in January of 2013.  I will be darned if I spend my week at Disneyworld depressed because I can't fit on the rides, so I am going to make well sure and good that I am going to fit.  And I'm going to feel better and look better while getting there.

I started the program at 301 pounds.  Yikes.  Highest I've ever been.  Now, six months later, I'm down to 214.5 pounds and very thankful for that.  Only 69.5 pounds more to go!

So, what is this blog for?  After six months of pretty much eating the food as is and not adding anything or trying anything different, I'm BORED.  I need something different.  I need to feel excited about meal time again.  I started looking up HMR recipes online, and was incredibly frustrated by the ones that I found.  Yes, they work.  Yes, some of them are really good.  But no one treats this food with respect.  (Where are the pictures?)  It seems that it is just a transitory thing, just something to lose weight, not really a pretty food, and I realize that.  But this is my life right now, and as such, I think this food is rather important.  Maybe I've watched Julie and Julia one too many times, but let's give this a try and see if we can't enjoy this food while we're eating it.

This blog is for recipes.  It's also going to have lots of pictures of what the cooking of these recipes looks like, and the finished product.  And I'm rather opinionated, so I'm sure you'll get to hear what I think of these recipes also.  I'm looking forward to this, and I hope that even if it's a recipe you've already heard of, you will get to see it in a new way.  Let's do this.