Hi, LowDown! Thanks for the response and the good thoughts.

Waaaaay back, I took a cooking class and our instructor had a wonderful recipe for Filipino Pancit and we made it in class, and it was delicious. Let me know how yours turns out!

I love taco salad--so much "volume" for very little calories! I think my stomach is NOT the size of my fist!!! ha ha

Jo

I would love to "hear" some of your volumizing recipes, Jo. I'm thinking of buying the book "Cook This Not That" off of Amazon. I'm in my early 60's and lived in CA too when I was younger. Have lived in MN most of my life - DH all of his life. They say Minnesotans have a reputation for liking hotdishes. It's true!

Today so far I have had higher carbs but am controlling calories well:

B: sugar free/fat free blueberry cake and coffee
L: potatoe/onion/mixed vegetable pureed soup made with almond milk as a base. topped with green onion, T cheese, T sour cream, T bacon bits
S: orange
D: low fat hamburger, with slice of cheese on bed of mixed greens, T ranch drsng. apple
S: apple, orange

Welcome JoSoCal!

I actually gained weight on my average of just about 900 calories per day last week - that's my normal eating pattern, so I don't know if my hormones are out of whack or what...

Anyway, today's meals

Sept 22, 2014
B: Hot tea w/lemon and agave (30), 2 eggs over-easy (140) = 170
S: Grapes (60) = 60
L: 1 cup buffalo chicken soup (203) = 203
S: Baby carrots/cherry tomato (50) w/ light ranch (80) = 130
D: Mushroom stroganoff (268) = 268
S: Snapea crisps (120) = 120
TOTAL: 951

Hi, LowDown--I have been sticking pretty much to the basics for Volumetrics because this is going to be a looooong road (with a slow metabolism) for me to take it from morbidly obese, to tubby wubby, to fluffy. At my age, "normal" isn't a word I'd use for what I'd consider my best weight. lol I also have Type 2 Diabetes, totally controlled by diet for the past 11 years, so I avoid most of the "white foods."

Munchy, thanks for the welcome! Wow, you gain on your average of about 900 calories a day! That makes me wonder about myself, and I've been thinking about maybe getting one of those resting metabolic rate tests--but I'll have to research it more before I drop that chunk of change on the test.

Meanwhile, here is the pancit recipe I made in cooking class, many years ago. If you have a non-stick pan, you really don't have to add the oil.

Pancit

3 eggs, hard boiled
1 pkg pancit noodles (or pre-cooked noodles – see note below*)
1 – 2 green onions or scallions, sliced into rounds, including the green tope
1 – 2 lemons, sliced into wedges
1 med carrot, sliced in "coins" or on the diagonal or whatever you want
1/2 small Napa cabbage, finely shredded
1 small onion, finely chopped
fresh ginger to taste, finely minced or grated (I used about 2 - 3 teaspoons)
garlic to taste, minced or pressed (I used one smallish clove)
soy sauce to taste -- a couple of dashes to start with, then taste
white pepper to taste
1/2 C chicen stock
variety of meats in long, thin slices like pork, beef, chicken, or leftovers too, and a nice addition is fresh cleaned shrimp
<cooking oil>

Blanch noodles to soften. Rinse in cold water and drain. *OMIT this if using pre-cooked noodles like pancit canton/kanton or Orchid brand of pre-cooked noodles.

Heat a small amount of cooking oil in a pan and lightly toast the drained noodles. They should not be too dry. Place them in a serving platter and keep warm.

Add a little more oil to the pan, if necessary. Fry the onion, ginger and garlic for about 2 or 3 minutes.

Cook meats in the order of cooking time, i.e. pork needs the longest time so cook it first. Remove the longest cook-time meat with the onions, garlic and ginger, before adding the next meat to the pan. Always remove one item from pan before adding the next. This assures nothing is overcooked. For leftovers that are already cooked, just heat them through.

Add more oil if necessary, then cook carrots until heated, then add shredded Napa cabbage and cook until just wilted. Add seasonings and broth. Return meats to pan. Stir lightly to blend well.

Remove from heat and pour over the fried noodles on the serving platter. Garnish with the sliced green onions and hard boiled eggs and lemon.

I know very well that my metabolism doesn't work the way that it should and it's my own doing. I started skipping most meals at 11 years old and continued until at 25 yrs old I was pregnant and officially diagnosed with an ED-NOS. They blind weighed me throughout my pregnancy so I wouldn't try to diet, and I ate "normally" during my pregnancy. I gained a whopping 80lbs.

Years later I saw a nutritionist who put me on 1600 calories/day and I was stuffed all day/night. She allowed me to cut down to 1400 and I gained 15lbs within just a few months. The re-feeding program ended after 9 months when another doctor of mine said I was obese. My BMI was 26.

Anyway, I'm still keeping at it. I don't really fluctuate much in weight, but I want so badly to be 10-15 lbs less than I am, which is where I was in college (by VERY unhealthy means). Onward and downward!!

The recipe you shared looks fantastic! We had mushroom stroganoff last night, today I'm making a fish stir fry, and I'm making a crockpot carne guisada for tomorrow.

Thank you, Jo and Munchy for sharing the fantastic recipes. Both look like recipes I will make more than once for sure. Today was a total "wash" as far as food is concerned. I work 12 hour night shifts 3 nights a week - and am always extremely hungry at the end of my shift even though I bring 500 calories worth of food and space it out throughout the night. It's my most vulnerable time to binge - and overtook me this morning. There is actual medical research explaining the hormones involved in the hunger night workers often experience - so I know it's not just "poor discipline". I also have slow metabolism. My thyroid medicine helps a great deal so long as I stay on my plan of 1400 calories.

What cookbooks would you recommend for getting some good volumizing recipies?

oh yum!
 

Oh, Munchy, that mushroom stroganoff looks so good! I love mushrooms! I'd probably use spiral-cut zucchini as noodles so as not to have a huge rise in my blood sugar! As far as ruining our own metabolism, yeah, I had many yeas, on and off, where I tried a bunch of different horrible-for-my-body diets. Thankfully, I think I've become wiser in this area--took me long enough!!! :D

LowDown, that's a really difficult schedule you have with work and such! As for volumizing recipes, the only book I have (so far) for that is The Ultimate Volumetrics Diet book by Rolls.

I did follow a link on this thread (3fatchicks/volumizing) for Thai Chicken Zucchini Noodle Salad, and I made it earlier today. The noodles were supposed to be raw, I guess, but I cooked them a bit in chicken broth. It's all ready to put together for lunch tomorrow, minus cilantro, which I didn't have. The dressing is in a separate container in the fridge, but I did taste it and I like it!

One recipe I want to try from the Volumetrics book is Cilantro-Lime Ranch Dip.

Here are the details, with my comments, too:

4 tomatillos (those are the funny looking things with a brown papery "outer" covering, and an apple-green color slick-y kind of skin
1 C fat free milk (I wonder how it would be with Almond milk?)
Juice of 1 lime
1 C reduced fat sour cream
1 C fat free mayo
1 packet of buttermilks ranch dressing mix (I'd use Hidden Valley, the only one I know)
1/4 tsp garlic powder (I would just throw in a dash instead of measuring)
pinch of cayenne (which you can omit if you're sensitive to the heat of it)
1C chopped fresh cilantro (more or less, according to taste--some people like cilantro, others just hate it)

Remove the papery "skin" from the tomatillos and broil until browned, turning every couple of minutes until they are soft. (I am not turning on my broiler, so I may just use them raw, as I have done in some salsa recipes--it gets all blended anyway).

Put milk in blender, add lime juice--the milk might begin to curdle once you add the lime juice
Add tomatillos to the blender with the milk and lime juice, along with any juice the tomatillos have given up.
Add in the sour cream, mayo, dry buttermilk ranch dressing mix, dash of garlic, dash of cayenne, and cilantro.

Blend until smooth.

Put in fridge for an hour--it's supposed to thicken upon standing.

Use with a whole bunch of different veggies and dip away! I may not make this until next week, but will report back.

Jo

Keep us posted on how that dip turns out, Jo - Looks good. I made the Pancit today. I used some shortcuts: cole slaw mix, can of mixed vegetables, and a packet of pancit seasoning. I also used one large boneless pork chop. The recipe turned out very delicious. I used both rice and canton flour stick noodles. There was enough to make 3 large meals - under 500 calories per l/3 recipe.

I purchased and downloaded the "Make This Not That" E-Book. Some good ideas for adding volume. But I could see lots of opportunities to save calories by subbing almond milk and Truvia; and maybe some pureed vegetables instead of flour. I have used pureed pumpkin instead of flour for gravy - and It is delicious.

LowDown, I use shortcuts all the time! So glad to hear the recipe turned out delicious! I'd love to be able to have rice and stick noodles, but it's just not something I will risk as I'm very sensitive to how they raise my blood glucose. In fact, having rice (white, brown) is just like having straight table sugar!

Here's the report on the dip. It turned out okay. We couldn't find tomatillos as the market (they don't always carry them) so I made it without them.

The dip tasted nice, very flavorful, but I think because I was using the reduced fat and fat free options, it "looked" different. It just kinda looked *rubbery* to me, rather than creamy. I put everything except the lime juice in a blender--why ask for trouble with the milk curdling?--and added the lime juice at the end with no problem.

I never even considered using pureed pumpkin for gravy! Great idea, and thanks for sharing!

Checking in for the first time in quite a while. I got WAY off track with my eating but am doing well now -- I am using Volumetrics principles PLUS a partial fast two days a week PLUS I have rejoined Weight Watchers and tracking what i eat. Feeling much less out of control than I was for a while.

The Pancit recipe looks good. I've never had Pancit so I don't know how it's *supposed* to taste but as long as it goes in my mouth and I say "yum" I guess it doesn't matter. I'm wondering how it would be with zoodles instead of noodles? I finally got a zoodle-maker but haven't tried it yet. That's supposed to happen today.

Hi Ladynredd! Looks like you're covering many bases to get healthy - good for you. I used to do JUDD and actually lost 60 pounds, but couldn't stay on plan. I have a zoodle maker too. It makes the zucchini noodles look very beautiful!

Jo, I have tried the zucchini and spaghetti squash noodles. They make a great substitute for pasta. I try to cut back on carbs, but do not need to go completely low carb. I wonder how your dressing would have turned out if you had been able to add the tomalitoes? I would be so happy if I could find a low fat low calorie ranch or blue cheese dressing that didn't taste rubbery or gelled. I once tried using a chayote squash and I think yogurt, and packet of Hidden Valley Ranch seasoning. I blended everything. I remember it tasting very good - similar to a green goddess dressing.

Today I'm making hamburgers. I am going to add a bag of fresh spinach to the 96/4 lean hamburger with a fourth cup oatmeal, and seasoning. Served on toasted open faced Thomas light English Muffins. Topped with pepperjack cheese, sauteed onions and mushrooms. And we have some corn on the cob and watermelon. For work tonight I'll bring my usual 500 calorie lunch that I'll be spacing out during my 12 hour shift. I have tomorrow morning's meal planned when I get home - that way I'll be less tempted to stop anywhere on the way home and eat something I shouldn't. Next week when I have 3 days off work, I plan on making Munchy's mushroom pasta recipe.

Hi Lady, I'm waving to you from about an hour south of Hemet by way of the 15 and a bit East on the 8 ! It sounds like you're doing a lot of good stuff with Volumetrics, partial fasting and WW. My guess is that pancit with zoodles would taste just fine--but if you ever get a chance to sample pancit in its original form, that would be good for your taste buds "file" on your tongue's "hard drive."

LowDown, my guess would be that having the tomatillos in the recipe would have added a slight bit of tang, a bit of liquid, and maybe a bit more thickness (but not too much if they're broiled first and then processed!). I always like to make a recipe for the first time, following all the instructions and with all the ingredients, but sometimes, it just doesn't happen. I really admire you on your plan-ahead attitude--working a 12 hour shift, and having to space out food! Your hamburgers w/toppings and sides sound tasty!

Feeling like I'm doing well with my eating right now. Hope I can continue to stay on track the next week -- having my kids over for dinner tonight so I will face the temptation of my home-made bread and a real dessert -- pumpkin dump cake, which does have pumpkin (if it has veggies it must be healthy, right?) but also includes a cup of butter. I'm allowing myself a slice of the bread and a teensy tiny slice of the cake.

Then next week we are going for a "staycation" for 3 nights in a nearby town. Not really planning on doing much except going to a couple movies, it's mostly so my husband can feel like he's not "on duty" as far as his mom is concerned. It's always a challenge when we travel and I'm not in control of the kitchen -- it's hard for me to relax and enjoy when I'm fighting the temptation of unhealthy food in the restaurant. Our room does have a mini fridge and since it's a local town, I know where the supermarket is so I can pick up fresh fruit or maybe those premade salads, have lunch in our room one or two days. That would save $$ too, so I am pretty sure I can talk him into it.

Anyway, thought I'd post my menu from yesterday. Don't know if it will give anyone any ideas but here goes.
B: 1 apple, 1/2 C. Greek Gods salted caramel yogurt (LOVE that flavor!)
L: 1 turkey burger on WW sandwich thin, 1 zucchini made into zoodles sauteed with 1/2 onion, topped with 1 spoonful Prego spaghetti sauce & a sprinkle of parmesan (good! and hubby approved) 1 ear fresh corn, no need for butter or salt
D: 1.5 C. romaine lettuce, 1/2 juicy ripe tomato, 1/2 avocado, half package Boom Boom shrimp (found these at our local Sprouts Farmer's Market, basically popcorn shrimp with a very light coating. 200 calories per serving.)

Just wondering.....so where does everyone go when they stop posting here??? Over at one of the other boards?? I guess I'm looking for a bit more activity. :O)

Thanks!
Jo

I know! It gets active, then so quiet on this thread. I'm back on my game. Off of the champagne, onto the gym. I know that wedding dresses are just around the corner, so that's giving me some resolve to keep the exercise on. Food is the same, volumetric as always :)