Air Fryer
My husband and I are on a new diet that is really working for both of us. So far, after 11 weeks, we are down a total of 68 lbs. I’m down 26 and he’s down 42! We are hoping that the weight loss will lead to less medications. We’ll find out about that on Thursday. One of the things that we are doing is using an air fryer to cook our lean and green meals. I love this air fryer because it’s SOOOO easy to cook great food with it. I cooked this salmon in 10 minutes. All I did was get Salmon, sprinkle some Ms. Dash on it, and turn it on for 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Bam! The Lean part of my meal is complete!! I highly recommend this air fryer. It’s really easy to use and cleans up easily too!
**Average weight loss for Clients on the Optimal Weight 5&1 Plan with support is 20 pounds. Clients are in weight loss, on average, for 12 weeks.**
Cajun Chicken and Sausage
I’m doing the Transformation Challenge at Orange Theory, so currently really pushing myself to eat healthy. I’m tracking what I eat and trying to make good choices. First week down and I did pretty good. The key is all about being prepared. This week, I was prepared for lunch with this delicious meal!
Ingredients:
- 1 container (28 spears ea.), Asparagus Spears
- 1 container (16 oz ea.), Smoked Sausage
- 1 tablespoon, Oil – Olive
- 24 oz, Chicken
- 2 squash, Cooked
- 2 tsp, Cajun Seasoning
I used a wok, since it holds the most food of all my pans. I put a little olive oil, then threw in the squash and zucchini.
Then I threw in the asparagus and sprinkled the cajun seasoning all over it.
Then I added the (precooked frozen) chicken and Ekrich Sausage. 
This is SOOO delicious!!! Definitely going to be a staple for my meal prep.
Instant Pot Crack Chicken
Yes, I’ve jumped on the Instant Pot bandwagon! I’ve been searching for easy recipes that scream, “Cook ME!” The one I kept seeing was “Crack Chicken”. Well, with a name like that, you have to expect the results to be phenomenal!! Guess what!? It is!! Here is the recipe I used:
Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast
1 packet of ranch seasoning
8 oz cream cheese
1 cup water
8 – 10 slices cooked bacon
4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
Directions: Throw the chicken, water, ranch seasoning and cream cheese into the Instant Pot (IP). Set the timer on manual high for 25 minutes.
Remove the Chicken and shred it.
Pour out a little of the juice left by the chicken. Add cheese and bacon, then stir. Then add the shredded chicken back into the juice and let it cook for a little longer to get it all mixed up good.
Serve on bread, tortillas, etc. I used a low carb pita one time, but ate it with no bread too. This is a really easy good go-to recipe when you’re in a hurry to come up with something everyone will enjoy!
Low Carb Taco Bake
CRUST
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1⁄3 cup heavy cream
1⁄2 teaspoon taco seasoning
8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese
TOPPING
1 lb ground beef
3 teaspoons taco seasoning
1⁄4 cup low carb tomato sauce
4 ounces chopped green chilies
8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
Crust: beat the cream cheese and eggs until smooth, then add in cream and seasoning.
Spread cheese over a 9 X 13 pan with parchment paper on it, then pour in the egg mixture as evenly as possible. Bake at 375ºF, 25-30 minutes or more. Let stand 5 minutes before adding the topping.
Topping: brown the hamburger; drain fat. Stir in the seasoning, tomato sauce and chiles. Spread over the crust. Top with cheese. Reduce oven to 350ºF and bake another 20 minutes or so until hot and bubbly. Serve with the toppings of your choice. I used guacamole. I think sour cream would be good too!
Click link to see original recipe!
Chicken Spaghetti
Whole wheat pasta broken in half
Can of mushroom soup
Big block of Velveeta 2%
Can of petite diced tomatoes
Can of Ro-Tel
Garlic to taste
4 Baked Shredded Chicken Breast
About a cup of shredded Mozzarella
Bake some chicken. I baked the chicken breast covered with some lemon pepper, woo, and some other spices I found in my cabinet. I put it on 450 for about 50 minutes. After I pulled it out of the oven, I shredded while it was still hot.
Boil some spaghetti. I like the whole wheat pasta, myself. Drain. Put back in the pot.
Add in cut up Velveeta, a can of cream of mushroom soup, chicken, can of Rotel, and a can of diced tomatoes. If you like additional spices, you can add garlic and pepper, too. Stir this up until the Velveeta is melty. I had to keep the burner on low to help with the melting.
Put all of this in a big pyrex pan. Add Mozzarella cheese on top.
Put in the oven and cook at 375 for about 35 minutes, or until your cheese gets a little burnt looking.
Serve and enjoy!!
Mock Dreamland Chicken
Going out to eat can be a little difficult when you are doing low carb! Luckily, I’ve found a restaurant that seems to “get” that!! We stumbled upon Becks as a low carb option when my dad wanted to go there for his birthday. When we went, we all got burgers, but we noticed someone eating chicken and vegetables. At the time, we weren’t doing low carb, but it stuck in the back of our minds. Fast forward a couple of months and we remembered Becks for a low carb meal. I got the Dreamland, which turned out to be delicious. I thought I would attempt to create the recipe at home:
Ingredients:
1 Sliced onion
Sliced mushrooms (I bought them pre-cut)
Olive Oil
Butter
Chicken
Worcestershire sauce
Lemon Pepper
Swiss Cheese
Hickory BBQ sauce
Directions:
Caramelize the onions and mushrooms in a pan. I put a teaspoon of olive oil and a tiny pat of butter in the pan to help caramelize it.
Cook the chicken any way you want, but I baked mine. I marinated mine with a little bit of lemon pepper and a little bit of Worcestershire sauce. Once the chicken is cooked through, put some swiss cheese on top of it and put it back in the oven for a minute or two or until the cheese starts to melt. 
Put the chicken on a plate and add the mushrooms/onion mix.
Cover the chicken, mushrooms, and onions with hickory BBQ sauce.
I thought my rendition of the Dreamland was just as good, if not better! Yea me!!
Black Eyed Peas with Hog Jowls
Happy New Years!! My mom always would make us Black Eyed Peas for the New Year. It’s about the only thing she cooks all year and it gets the year off to a good start!! My mom is the only person I know that puts lentils in her Black Eyed Peas. I looked it up and Lentils on New Years is an Italian custom and since she is Italian, that makes sense!! Both Black Eyed Peas and Lentils are eaten as a symbol for good luck and prosperity! I really want both, so this year I decided I was going to make my own Black Eyed Peas!
Recipe:
8 ounces Hog Jowls
2 cups of Black Eyed Peas
1/2 cup of Lentils
Pico De Gallo (I got this pre-made from Krogers)
1 can of Rotel
Pinch of salt and pepper
Tsp of sugar
1st step: Pick through the Black Eyed Peas and then soak them over night. 
2nd step: Boil the Hog Jowls for about an hour. 
Using the same water, add in the black eyed peas, lentils, and rest of the ingredients and simmer with the lid on for 2.5 hours or until the peas are tender
Italian chicken salad
One thing I will tell you about a cruise is that you WILL gain weight. I had so much fun on the cruise, but I gained about 6 lbs. YIKES! I’d already gained about 15 since I moved back to Dallas, so 6 more is totally not acceptable to me!! PLUS, my 30 year reunion is in 2 more weeks. So, what is one to do in this situation? Get back on track. Start eating healthy.
I went to the book store and got a couple of South Beach Diet books. I’m not going to do the full diet. I don’t want anything that is restrictive, but they have some really good recipes in those books. I’ve already done grocery shopping and plan to eat my own cooking for lunch and dinner rather than eat a lean cuisine at lunch and go to a restaurant for dinner.
This one I kind of made up on my own, but it was really good!!
Baked Italian Chicken:
1 chicken breast
1/4 bottle of Zesty Italian Dressing Lite
Lemon pepper to taste
Put the chicken breast in a pan and cover it with the italian dressing, it doesn’t have to be all the way full of the dressing, just enough so there is a little at the bottom. Shake as much lemon pepper on top of the chicken as you like. Put in the oven at 400 degrees for about an hour or until cooked thoroughly.
Salad:
50/50 Spring Mix
Zesty Italian Dressing, Lite
Mozzarella cheese
Baked italian dressing
(you can also add tomatoes, onions, etc on top)
Make a bed of lettuce. Put mozzarella cheese on top of the lettuce. Put chicken strips on top of the cheese. Cover with Italian Dressing.
You now have a healthy salad to eat that will fill you up!!
Moscow Mules on the Roof
The best thing about my loft is the roof. I feel like I have my own personal oasis to wonder over all the hopes and dreams in Downtown Dallas. What a view I have!!
What better way to enjoy my view than to have a Moscow Mule on the Roof. The Moscow Mule is the “IN” drink of the season! In fact, I’ve read that the copper cups are the most stolen cup at the restaurants and bars that have them. I didn’t steal mine, of course, I got mine from Sears. I chose to get the 20 ounce cups so I don’t have to make more than one.
Moscow Mule Recipe:
2 shots of vodka
Half of a ginger beer
Squeeze half a lime in the drink
It’s pretty important to serve the Moscow Mule in a copper cup. It makes all the difference in the world!!
Be careful though. This is a STRONG drink. Drink responsibly!
Dallas ISD Chess Pie
Dallas ISD had the best cafeteria food in the 80’s. Almost everything was made from scratch. Even with the good food, I used to get a chocolate bar from Mr. Lancaster’s class and get two $.10 rolls with butter for lunch. Some of my favorite school cafeteria food, (when I ventured off from my lunch of champions), were Fiesta Salad, Rectangular Pizza, and Chicken Fried Steak!!! I even liked those fried fish squares with tartar sauce.
I think DISD was most famous for Chess Pie, but when everyone started to worry about childhood obesity, pies were off the menu. My friend, Flo, has been trying to recreate the recipe, and he thinks he has it!! Since this is a little more than my skills will allow, someone has to try to make this and let me know how it turns out!!!
Photo by The Merry Gourmet!
DISD Chess Pie
1 1/2 Cups Sugar
1 1/2 Tablespoons Cornmeal
1/2 Cup Melted Margarine
3 Whole Eggs
1 Teaspoon Vinegar
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
1/4 Cup of Milk
Mix sugar and cornmeal. Add melted margarine and mix thoroughly. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing after each. Add liquids and mix well. Pour into unbaked pie shell. Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes or until done.
Fabulous after FIFTY 