Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label review. Show all posts
Friday, June 12, 2009
day 2- 30 day shred
Yesterday I did day 2 of the 30 day shred. I felt like I was going to die. A lot of my msucle hurt from the previous day, but I am going to follow the plan to see how it goes. I really want to know if this is worth sticking with or not. I am hoping to get a chance to do day 3 today but am not sure how today or the rest of the weekend will go. But If I can lose 20 lbs in 30 days, I will accept it and try my hardest to finish the program. I am sore today, and not sure if my body will hold up for day 3. My arms and legs were shaking after the workout. I also had to stop during push ups because my arms couldn't take anymore!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
30 DAY SHRED REVIEW
So my review on the 30 days shred.
Yesterday I did the 30 day shred. I have tried it once before and it really kicks your butt. I really plan to stick with this for 30 days. Life happens, so we will see if that will come true.
The 30 day shred is 20 minutes of a combination of cardio, abs, and strength. It says that if you follow this program you can lose up to 20 lbs in 30 days. It is really tempting. I worked out yesterday and ate around 1200 calories, which I think is ok and I have lost a lbs. I think within the next few days I will see if this is water weight or in fact real weight loss.
My arms are a little sore, my hurts a little. When I first finished the workout my arms and legs were shaking. When you are doing the workout, if you aren't fit or just have no upper body strength like me, you feel like you can't take it anymore. I was so happy to be done yesterday and looking back, feel like a wimp that I gave in a few times and stopped working out.
It made me think as I was doing the workout, once I lose the weight I am going to do everything in my power to keep it off. I think Jillian is a good motivator, and is pretty accurate when she counts down. I hate working out when a person says 3 more, then 10 reps later, they are like ok 3 more. WTH?
I recommend trying this. I am going to keep updating you on results. Part one is to be done for 10 days. Every lb I lose, you will know, when I switch to 2nd or 3rd level, you will know. Please, if you try this, let me know your opinion or any success you have. I love hearing positive stories.
Yesterday I did the 30 day shred. I have tried it once before and it really kicks your butt. I really plan to stick with this for 30 days. Life happens, so we will see if that will come true.
The 30 day shred is 20 minutes of a combination of cardio, abs, and strength. It says that if you follow this program you can lose up to 20 lbs in 30 days. It is really tempting. I worked out yesterday and ate around 1200 calories, which I think is ok and I have lost a lbs. I think within the next few days I will see if this is water weight or in fact real weight loss.
My arms are a little sore, my hurts a little. When I first finished the workout my arms and legs were shaking. When you are doing the workout, if you aren't fit or just have no upper body strength like me, you feel like you can't take it anymore. I was so happy to be done yesterday and looking back, feel like a wimp that I gave in a few times and stopped working out.
It made me think as I was doing the workout, once I lose the weight I am going to do everything in my power to keep it off. I think Jillian is a good motivator, and is pretty accurate when she counts down. I hate working out when a person says 3 more, then 10 reps later, they are like ok 3 more. WTH?
I recommend trying this. I am going to keep updating you on results. Part one is to be done for 10 days. Every lb I lose, you will know, when I switch to 2nd or 3rd level, you will know. Please, if you try this, let me know your opinion or any success you have. I love hearing positive stories.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Spaghetti Carbonara
Ok, here are the results of the spaghetti carbonara. I made it yesterday, probably because I didn't really plan for it. When I plan to cook, it doesn't pan out!
I made the same size and everything suggested by the recipe. I had a problem with putting a raw egg in my meal and serving it, so I did cook the egg a little big once it was mixed in with the milk. I was not happy with the overall taste of the meal. It was creamy but really without any flavor. I added a lot of salt and pepper to make it edible but couldn't finish my portion size. My husband struggled to finish his portion as well, but unlike me, he was a trooper.
You cook the sauce in the same as the bacon to give it flavor, but because you take out all the oil, you lost most of the best flavor. Also, it really could have used more Parmesan cheese. The little pieces of bacon in the meal were the only things that I was eating for. By the end of the meal I was just picking out bacon pieces. The only way I could have made this better, is by actually making the Alfredo sauce and pouring it over the noodles.
I didn't make the bread, I don't need the extra calories. I imagine if I did, it would have helped me get through the meal. I just don't think rubbing garlic on a piece of bread is going to make decent garlic bread. I think it is going to lack a lot of the flavor that garlic bread has. One day I will try it and report back.
Ratings:
overall: 1/5
bacon: 5/5 it really helped me survive the meal. It tastes great
peas: 2/5 I am not a fan of peas but the peas tasted better then the meal did
would I make it again: NO WAY!
If you are brave enough and want to try the recipe, here you go:
Serves 4
Calories per serving: 412
Calories per serving garlic bread: 78
For the spaghetti
3 slices bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/3 cup low-fat (1-percent) milk
1 large egg
8 ounces spaghetti
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated (6 tablespoons)
1/4 cup sliced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
For garlic bread
1 whole-grain baguette, sliced
1/2 garlic clove
Olive oil
Chopped basil
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Drain pan and dry bacon on paper towels; keep the skillet on the heat. Add the oil and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk together the milk and egg in a large serving bowl until well combined. Stir in the onion.
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook according to the directions on the package.
4. While pasta is cooking, slice baguette thinly on bias. Place slices on sheet pan. Lightly rub with flat side of garlic clove, and brush on a little olive oil and sprinkle basil. Place into oven on top rack for 5 to 7 minutes, until golden.
5. Two minutes before the spaghetti is done, stir in the peas. Drain and immediately transfer to the milk mixture. Toss until the pasta is well-coated. Add the cheese, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and toss well. Crumble the bacon into small pieces over the spaghetti, and toss. Serve immediately.
I made the same size and everything suggested by the recipe. I had a problem with putting a raw egg in my meal and serving it, so I did cook the egg a little big once it was mixed in with the milk. I was not happy with the overall taste of the meal. It was creamy but really without any flavor. I added a lot of salt and pepper to make it edible but couldn't finish my portion size. My husband struggled to finish his portion as well, but unlike me, he was a trooper.
You cook the sauce in the same as the bacon to give it flavor, but because you take out all the oil, you lost most of the best flavor. Also, it really could have used more Parmesan cheese. The little pieces of bacon in the meal were the only things that I was eating for. By the end of the meal I was just picking out bacon pieces. The only way I could have made this better, is by actually making the Alfredo sauce and pouring it over the noodles.
I didn't make the bread, I don't need the extra calories. I imagine if I did, it would have helped me get through the meal. I just don't think rubbing garlic on a piece of bread is going to make decent garlic bread. I think it is going to lack a lot of the flavor that garlic bread has. One day I will try it and report back.
Ratings:
overall: 1/5
bacon: 5/5 it really helped me survive the meal. It tastes great
peas: 2/5 I am not a fan of peas but the peas tasted better then the meal did
would I make it again: NO WAY!
If you are brave enough and want to try the recipe, here you go:
Spaghetti Carbonara
Calories per serving: 412
Calories per serving garlic bread: 78
For the spaghetti
3 slices bacon
1 teaspoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1/3 cup low-fat (1-percent) milk
1 large egg
8 ounces spaghetti
1 cup frozen peas
1 1/2 ounces Parmesan cheese, finely grated (6 tablespoons)
1/4 cup sliced fresh flat-leaf parsley
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
For garlic bread
1 whole-grain baguette, sliced
1/2 garlic clove
Olive oil
Chopped basil
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook the bacon in a large skillet over medium heat, turning occasionally until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes. Drain pan and dry bacon on paper towels; keep the skillet on the heat. Add the oil and onion, and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened and translucent, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat. Whisk together the milk and egg in a large serving bowl until well combined. Stir in the onion.
3. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to a boil. Add spaghetti, and cook according to the directions on the package.
4. While pasta is cooking, slice baguette thinly on bias. Place slices on sheet pan. Lightly rub with flat side of garlic clove, and brush on a little olive oil and sprinkle basil. Place into oven on top rack for 5 to 7 minutes, until golden.
5. Two minutes before the spaghetti is done, stir in the peas. Drain and immediately transfer to the milk mixture. Toss until the pasta is well-coated. Add the cheese, parsley, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and toss well. Crumble the bacon into small pieces over the spaghetti, and toss. Serve immediately.
Thursday, May 14, 2009
Ultimate Sausage Cheese Pizza
Last night I figured I would make the ultimate sausage cheese pizza. My brother who had walked by a few times while I was watching the episode with the pizza in it thought it looked so good that he would be willing to try it. Here is my results.
Now, when you make your personal pan of the pizza, it doesn't look as big as this is made out to be. The calorie in take is for the whole pizza. The recipe calls for regular pizza dough. When I stopped by my local grocery store, I didn't find anything but wheat pizza dough. I prefer using wheat pizza dough anyway. I didn't use any scallions because personally, I don't care for scallions. I didn't have any chicken sausage so instead I did use regular beef pepperoni. I used 3 thin slices of pepperoni per pizza. Since watching the show I learned a neat trick. When you want to use something that is high in fat, trick your eye. The way to do that is to cut it up in to thin slices, when you start to pile it one whatever you will think you put a lot more then if u had left it as one whole piece. So that is what I did with the peperoni. 3 looked like so much for one small personal pan pizza. Of course my pizza needed a lot more veggies. Here is what I added:
-peperoni
- yellow peppers
- red jarred roasted peppers
- mushrooms
- black olives
- red onion
-fresh cut basil
I added the same amount of Parmesan cheese recommended. I did however feel it maybe too little when I made it so I added just a hair of low fat mozzarella cheese. After tasting it, I don't think you need it but, I don't think that little bit of cheese makes that much of a difference in the calories. I left all the veggies raw. I didn't cook the pepperoni either, it cooks itself in the oven.
My score: 5/5
I absolutely loved it! It tasted great. One personal pan was more then enough. I bought one bag of pizza dough. When you make your own personal pan you feel like you are eating more then if you were to eat from a pizza. The sauce was great, and it did actually go a long way. I had plenty left over. It tasted great, and I let everyone put together their own pizza. It is a meal that can be prepared with children. When I buy a pizza from the grocery store usually I will eat 4 slices, but this actually filled me up. The dough was the equvilent of 2 slices of pizza. I think part of being able to eat better is to conivence your eyes that you have more then enough on your plate. A lot of people eat with their eyes, myself included and this did the trick. I recommend everyone try this. I didn't feel like I missed the cheese, because there were so many other items there and the taste was just great. There was cheese and I do agree that fresh shredded parmesean cheese has a strong enough taste that you don't need a lot.
Please let me know you experiences and reviews with this meal!
Serves 1
Calories per serving: 475
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 link precooked chicken basil sausage
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 red bell pepper or jarred roasted red pepper
4 ounces prepared pizza dough
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped scallion, white and green parts
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh basil
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. For the tomato sauce, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Preheat a gas grill or stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken basil sausage and bell pepper on the grill. Grill the sausage until cooked through, about 2 minutes each side; set aside. Continue grilling the pepper, turning, until the skin is blackened, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Place pepper in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel, stem and seed the pepper; cut or tear half the pepper into large dice, reserving the other half of the roasted pepper for another dish. When chicken sausage is done, slice thinly and set aside.
5. Spray an aluminum pizza pan with nonfat cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to stretch the pizza dough into a thin round, about 8 inches. Place it in the prepared pan. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Arrange the sliced chicken sausage on top, and scatter the pepper over. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake until the edges are crisp and lightly browned, and the cheese is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with scallions and basil, if using. Let pizza stand about 2 to 3 minutes before eating.
Now, when you make your personal pan of the pizza, it doesn't look as big as this is made out to be. The calorie in take is for the whole pizza. The recipe calls for regular pizza dough. When I stopped by my local grocery store, I didn't find anything but wheat pizza dough. I prefer using wheat pizza dough anyway. I didn't use any scallions because personally, I don't care for scallions. I didn't have any chicken sausage so instead I did use regular beef pepperoni. I used 3 thin slices of pepperoni per pizza. Since watching the show I learned a neat trick. When you want to use something that is high in fat, trick your eye. The way to do that is to cut it up in to thin slices, when you start to pile it one whatever you will think you put a lot more then if u had left it as one whole piece. So that is what I did with the peperoni. 3 looked like so much for one small personal pan pizza. Of course my pizza needed a lot more veggies. Here is what I added:
-peperoni
- yellow peppers
- red jarred roasted peppers
- mushrooms
- black olives
- red onion
-fresh cut basil
I added the same amount of Parmesan cheese recommended. I did however feel it maybe too little when I made it so I added just a hair of low fat mozzarella cheese. After tasting it, I don't think you need it but, I don't think that little bit of cheese makes that much of a difference in the calories. I left all the veggies raw. I didn't cook the pepperoni either, it cooks itself in the oven.
My score: 5/5
I absolutely loved it! It tasted great. One personal pan was more then enough. I bought one bag of pizza dough. When you make your own personal pan you feel like you are eating more then if you were to eat from a pizza. The sauce was great, and it did actually go a long way. I had plenty left over. It tasted great, and I let everyone put together their own pizza. It is a meal that can be prepared with children. When I buy a pizza from the grocery store usually I will eat 4 slices, but this actually filled me up. The dough was the equvilent of 2 slices of pizza. I think part of being able to eat better is to conivence your eyes that you have more then enough on your plate. A lot of people eat with their eyes, myself included and this did the trick. I recommend everyone try this. I didn't feel like I missed the cheese, because there were so many other items there and the taste was just great. There was cheese and I do agree that fresh shredded parmesean cheese has a strong enough taste that you don't need a lot.
Please let me know you experiences and reviews with this meal!
Ultimate Sausage Cheese Pizza
Calories per serving: 475
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 tablespoons minced garlic
1/4 cup organic tomato sauce
1/8 teaspoon salt
Pinch pepper
1 link precooked chicken basil sausage
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste
1/2 red bell pepper or jarred roasted red pepper
4 ounces prepared pizza dough
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon chopped scallion, white and green parts
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh basil
1. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
2. For the tomato sauce, heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat, add garlic and cook for 1 minute. Add tomato sauce, salt and pepper, and simmer for 4 to 5 minutes.
3. Preheat a gas grill or stovetop grill pan over medium-high heat. Place chicken basil sausage and bell pepper on the grill. Grill the sausage until cooked through, about 2 minutes each side; set aside. Continue grilling the pepper, turning, until the skin is blackened, 10 to 15 minutes.
4. Place pepper in a bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and let stand until cool enough to handle. Peel, stem and seed the pepper; cut or tear half the pepper into large dice, reserving the other half of the roasted pepper for another dish. When chicken sausage is done, slice thinly and set aside.
5. Spray an aluminum pizza pan with nonfat cooking spray. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to stretch the pizza dough into a thin round, about 8 inches. Place it in the prepared pan. Spread the dough with the tomato sauce. Sprinkle with half of the cheese. Arrange the sliced chicken sausage on top, and scatter the pepper over. Sprinkle with the remaining cheese.
6. Bake until the edges are crisp and lightly browned, and the cheese is melted, about 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from oven, and sprinkle with scallions and basil, if using. Let pizza stand about 2 to 3 minutes before eating.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Chicken Caesar Salad
Yesterday I made the Chicken Caesar Salad. Here is my review. There was too little dressing and too much green ingredients. I used 1 1/2 heads of Romanian lettuce. And I thought it for 4 people not 2. But because there was too much lettuce there was barely any flavor on the pieces of lettuce. The dressing was not Caesar dressing. All I could only taste was vinegar and Dijon mustard. I put the Parmesan in at the end once the lettuce was in and then stirred it so I am not sure if that affected my thinking the dressing wasn't good. I didn't spin dry the ingredients, and am curious to see if that really affected the taste any. I couldn't find Mustard Cress in our local grocery store, but I did substitute water cress in it's place. The person did know if that there was something called mustard crss. I usually have soo much dressing on my salad so it was extremely difficult eating this. I think the amount of dressing that was on the salad was the normal amount that one would have, I just am not used to it. However, having the 1/2 an egg and the bread did help me get through eating the salad. Either the Argula or the water cress has a really strong taste, which just wasn't covered by the dressing, that I think that is why I tend to put more dressing then I should.
Rating: 3 out of 5The portion was more then enough for one person to get full. I will try it again but adding the paremesan with the dressing to see if that affects the taste. Also, I will only use 1 head of romanian lettuce next time which will make each bite have more of the dressing taste. I will spin dry the lettuce to see if that may have affected the taste as well. If you try this out, please let me know how it worked out for you. I would love to hear your experience good or bad. Don't take my experience as a reason not to try this.
Chicken Caesar Salad
Calories per serving: 445
For the salad
8 ounces chicken breast, skinless
Olive oil to brush onto the chicken and on the toast
4 thin (melba thin) slices baguette on the diagonal
1/2 medium garlic clove
2 heads baby romaine lettuce
1 large, free-range egg
One handful of arugula and mustard cress
2 tablespoons finely grated Parmesan
1 tablespoon sunflower seeds
For the dressing
2 tablespoons fat-free Greek yogurt
1/2 garlic clove
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon malt vinegar
1 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and black pepper
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brush the chicken with a little olive oil.
3. On a hot grill pan, sear the chicken breast for 4 to 5 minutes before flipping over and doing the same on the other side.
4. While the chicken is searing, prepare the baguette toasts. Slice the baguette on the diagonal and place on a baking sheet. Brush on a little olive oil. Toast the bread for about 10 minutes, until crisp. Rub with the garlic clove.
5. Once you have strong grill marks over the chicken breast on both sides, cover your pan with foil and place into the hot oven on the higher shelf for 15 minutes.
6. Meanwhile, wash the lettuce and spin dry.
7. Carefully drop the egg in boiling water and boil for 5 minutes exactly. Empty the boiling water out of the pan and replace it with cold water. Let the egg stand in the cold water while you finish the recipe.
8. To make the dressing, combine all the ingredients into a small mixing bowl and stir together with a whisk. Taste and season before setting aside.
9. Put the washed and dried salad leaves into a big bowl with the dressing. Toss for a couple of minutes to make sure that all the leaves are coated. Add the shaved/grated Parmesan and arugula. Toss once again.
10. Remove the chicken from the oven and let it cool down enough to handle before slicing on the diagonal.
11. Plate up the salad, making sure that the chicken is evenly distributed.
12. Tuck the crispy baguette toasts on the side of the salad and add half the soft-boiled egg. Finally, grind over some black pepper, scatter the sunflower seeds, and serve.
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