I am starting this at 7:30 in the morning while waiting on the hubby to finish his workout this morning. Yes, that means my back is not fully healed yet. I know when I can either sleep through the night without waking up to roll over from pain, or get out of the bed with no issues that I am almost ready to step up on the workouts. With that, it's been a frustrating week. I've missed my workouts, and I can't stand to sit downstairs and watch my husband do the workout. It makes me want to get up and do it, even if it hurts.
Instead I am starting a walking only workout this morning until I can get into the entire intense workout again. I am hoping that the walking workout will not be too strenuous on my back. I figure if it's not too bad, I can get a 2-3 mile walk in this morning before my weight in.
But after the weekend I decided that I would share some of my tips, secrets and tricks we use in this house to up the flavor, feel like we are getting a treat, or to keep those point values lower when we are cooking. Some of these are no point adds, so if you are a weight watcher, this is a great thing for you.
Brown Rice: I'll be the first to admit that I highly dislike the instant brown rice. I don't give a crap if it's a power food, or how good it is for me, the regular white instant rice I can do so much more with. So, instead I went an purchased a bag of long grain (long cook as I call it) brown rice. Now, don't try to make this if you don't have time to cook it. The bag it comes in says it take 35-45 minutes. Personally after that amount of time the rice still had a TON of "crunch" left in it, and it wasn't very good. So, I did a little trick that seemed to work much better. I made my brown rice kind of like risotto. First I increased the amount of liquid from 1 cup for 2 servings to 3 cups. And I say liquid because I use about 1 1/2 - 2 cups of chicken broth and the remaining is water. Why? If you use 3 cups of broth your rice is very salty. And salt retains water. And, it just doesn't taste all that good. So what I do is get my broth nice and hot. In a separate pan I warm it up and add a little oil. (I use my EVOO as Rachel would say) I then "toast" the rice for a few minutes in the oil. Once the rice is toast I start adding my liquid a little at a time. And when I say a little I mean I add just enough to cover the brown rice. I stir it up for a minute or so. Once I am done stirring I make sure it comes up to a bowl, and cover the pan. I let the brown rice simmer on a low heat for about 20 minutes or so. I then repeat with the liquid, as many times as it take for all the liquid to be absorbed. Please note, that sometimes it takes longer on the last few additions of liquid. The best part, the rice still has a slight crunch on some pieces, but it's consistency is more like white rice, and the flavor is out of this world. If you have the extra points, add some parmesan cheese at the end and stir it in. If you get the powdered Kraft it adds 2 points to the 4 point brown rice. It all depends on how many points you have, and how much dairy you have had for the day.
Chicken or Pork: In our house we do a lot of BLSL (BoneLess, SkinLess) Chicken Breast, and Pork chops. Let's be honest, it can get a bit old having it the same way, so I like to try and find ways to change it up some nights. Last night we had some pork chops that we seasoned about 15 minutes before cooking with salt, pepper, and Old Bay seasoning. I then just cooked them in the pan for 2-3 minutes per side (they were thinner pieces) and then took off the pan. I then added some water to the pan (to bring up the drippings, and to flavor). To the water I added some chicken base, pepper, Old Bay and Creole seasoning. I stirred it up until the chicken base dissolved, and keeping that heat high I waited for the water to reduce in size intensifying the flavor. Then when it was good and reduced I added the pork chops to the boiling liquid. This warmed up the pork chop without drying it out. And the remaining sauce could be poured over some potatoes or couscous (since it seems to be dry and sticky). Other "sauces" I've created was a soy sauce based pan sauce (soy sauce, water, pepper and garlic) and a "plain" which is just stock and no added seasonings.
Carrots: I am not a big fan of carrots, but my husband loves it, so I thought I would share. Last night he took about 3 carrots, peeled them and cut them into slices. He then put them in a pan on the stove with a little water added, and cooked them up. Once they were cooked he took a zero point brown mustard and added it to the pan, stirred them up and was done. He ate about a cup of this carrots mixture, and was happy.
Corn, peas, green beans etc: Especially this time of year I get lots of frozen veggies. And even though corn has points I love it so I want it. What I do to cook it instead of just steaming the frozen veggies is yummy. I put the corn in a small saute pan and add 1 serving of light butter to it. That adds a point, once you add some salt and pepper at the end the flavor of the corn is different then steamed. It's a great treat. Plus you could add small pieces of bell pepper and onion to it if you want.
Flavor enhancers: When I am cooking I know that when there is flavor I eat slower to savor it, and I have a chance to feel that I am full. In order to do that I flavor my food as much as I can. When I make a salad I add a touch of salt, and some pepper to the lettuce. These seasons my lettuce, plus I find that I don't use as much dressing. You don't need the flavor from the dressing if your lettuce has flavor already. My favorite seasoning blends are Old Bay and Creole Seasoning. Both of these give a "kick" to my food, and have great seasonings in them. I have no clue what they are but the Creole is also great in trying to create a "blackened" food. Your food may not turn black but use enough of it, and it will have the kick you are looking for. While making a casserole (yes I found one that is 6-9 points per serving depending on the size of your serving), I use a touch of salt, more pepper, garlic powder, oregano seasoning, and cayenne pepper. Oh yes, that flavor makes you slow down. It's not enough to make me feel that I am having a spicy food, but gives it an extra kick.
Now, I am not saying these are for everyone but these are my tricks to having a small treat with my dinner. More tips to come.
Oh, and it worked. I just got back from my meeting this week. Only 2 workouts all week and I have lost 4 pounds. That's 23.8 total, and I am aiming for 2.4 next week.
Love, Peace, and Still Fat
S
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