Wow, Larry, as usual, you're doing excellent!!! Normally I am not a fan of fish in soups but yours sound so delicious!

For lunch, I had a huge salad with about 2/3 cups of black beans and corn mixed together with some light homemade ranch dressing along with 2 skewers of mushroom stuffed bacon and sliced bell pepper kabobs and 8 stalks of pencil thin asparagus, wrapped in about 1/3 slice of bacon. I'd say less than 2 slices of bacon altogether with the kabobs and bacon wrapped asparagus. Very filling!

Dinner will be- 1 oz pasta in somewhat light homemade macaroni cheese sauce with puréed carrots in it and will be bulked up with a ton of roasted broccoli and cauliflower and some turkey sausage.

Sorry, I don't have the calorie counts on either one.

In case anyone is curious on how I make my macaroni and cheese sauce-

1 tbsp butter
1 cup milk
1/2 cup chicken broth or whatever you prefer
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1/2 cup cheese, shredded
1-2 tbsp spicy brown mustard
Some sprinkling of roasted garlic and onion powder

Melt butter in medium sauce pan, mix all of cornstarch in with milk and broth until smooth/no lumps then add to pan with butter. Simmer until thicken, be sure to keep whisking so it doesn't burn on the bottom. When it's starting to simmer, add all spices including mustard and whisk until smooth. When sauce is thickened to your preference, turn off and remove from heat then add cheese and whisk until creamy and smooth.

Even after adding 6oz rotelle pasta, 7oz turkey sausage, a ton of broccoli and cauliflower to the sauce, everything was covered and still "saucy", not dry, which I dislike about homemade macaroni & cheese sometimes. Ooh, so filling!!!

amandie Your meals always sound delicious. At the Golden Corral today I was really tempted by the Mac & Cheese but I resisted and passed it up.

Since pasta was on my mind today I threw this together tonight at home :

Dreamfields - Elbow Pasta, 6 oz
Delmonte - California Petite Diced Tomatoes (No Salt Added), 1 3/4 cup
Chicken by the Sea - Pink Salmon Skinless and Boneless, 4 oz drained
Giorgio - Pieces and Stems Mushrooms- No Salt Added, 1 cup
Added garlic powder, AlsoSalt, Black Pepper, Old Bay low sodium and Sriracha Chili sauce.

It was a mistake to eat it all as it was way too much. Calories for it were only 800 Bringing my daily total to up to 1,595 calories, My goal is 1,700

Amandie, I like your idea of using bacon to add flavor to an awesome salad. I am going to have to remember that in the summer, which is salad season for me.

Larry, your meal sounds great too. Canned salmon is a good source of calcium and omega-3s. I am also going to eat salmon tonight.

Today I'm having some home-made turkey soup for starters. I will mostly fill up on that. Then a spinach/onion sautee with a little brown rice and a piece of salmon with red pepper sauce. Since the salmon will provide some healthy fats, I might skip my usual serving of almonds. But I'll have 2 squares of dark chocolate for dessert.

I'm finding that I am eating less than I expected, and I've been buying too much produce. Some of the fresh produce goes funky before I have a chance to eat it. I currently have some grape tomatoes, red peppers, half an avocado, half an acorn squash, a few Asian pears, some Korean vegetables, and more all left over from last week. I just went shopping today and I was a lot more cautious about getting more fresh produce (only bought a pack of raspberries).

Oh, yoyoma- I'm sorry, I meant to say I had the asparagus and veggie skewers with bacon on the side, not on my salad. That is a good idea though!

Can I ask what is your red pepper sauce?

Tonight's dinner is 50/50 scalloped potatoes and cauliflower with onions, huge serving of green beans and pork loin chops with panko breadcrumbs.

Hi everyone - for many years, eating very low carb worked for me, but I've found over the last few years that it just doesn't anymore. I've been re-gaining control of my portions by using some of the less creepy pre-packaged foods (like the healthy choice steamer bowls), but adding lots of veggies to bulk it up. I was also eating a lot of Progresso Light soups with extra veggies as well to make them more filling. It's been working when I've stuck to it.

I'm starting to branch out more now by making my own volumetric types of dishes like you all describe here. I'm hoping to make it work, as I still have quite a lot to lose, and experienced some regain over the last two years.

I love hearing about everyone's meals and success! Awesome!

Amandie, I think we talked about this before on the site, but I make cauliflower cheese sauce for my little one by simmering one head of chopped cauliflower until soft, pureeing, seasoning with adobo, then adding in about a cup of shredded sharp cheese. I freeze it into ice cube trays and melt maybe 3-4 cubes to mix with cooked pasta. The entire recipe makes about 2.5 trays of cubes.

Today's meals are carrot/peanut soup, split pea soup, baby carrots and cherry tomatoes with light ranch, and yesterday I made a layered chicken/black bean lasagna with plenty of onions and peppers layered with corn tortillas. It's almost like a Mexican lasagna and my daughter and I love it. I've been making it since she was introduced to solids. When I get home from the gym, all I have to do is pop it in the oven until it's hot!

Yesterday I also made pulled BBQ chicken. I ate mine in lettuce with a bit of blue cheese.

That chicken/black bean lasagna sounds really good! I will have to try that.

I have to admit, I kinda made a face when I saw carrot/peanut soup? I've never had anything like that before, lol... Taste? What else do you put in it? I'm willing to try since I LOVE carrots.

P.S. Yes, I remember the cheesy cauliflower sauce in ice trays. Thanks for the reminder!

My fave thing to do with cauliflower aside from roasting it is to make it into faux potato soup with chicken broth, sauteed onions and garlic, chives, bit of greek yogurt or sour cream. I usually add broccoli, corn and cheese. Sometimes bacon or ham. So good and filling!!! It gets better the next day, for sure! It will be perfect for this week's weather here, the cold is coming back. BOO!

yoyoma - I also over buy and throw away too many fresh foods. Another person, I apologize because I forgot who, suggested blanching and freezing fresh vegetables in portion sizes as soon as you bring them home to prevent spoilage. Obviously this cannot be done with all fresh vegetables, lettuce comes to mind, but I am going to try that with those that can be frozen.
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amandie - 50/50 scalloped potatoes and cauliflower with onions, huge serving of green beans and pork loin chops with panko breadcrumbs. Sounds like a great way to bulk up using vegetables.

puhlease1 - I had a similar experience with low carb. It worked great for me until I got tired of the limited food selections. My favorites were a no no. Then I regained all my loss plus some more. Now I eat anything I want while an eye toward the Volumetrics principles. I can take my favorite high calorie comfort foods and by adding water and/or low calorie dense foods I end up with a much lower calorie count for the same size or larger serving.

Munchy - How much Adobo do you put in your cheese sauce recipe? I bet that would taste good on spaghetti squash. It would be like a low cal mac and cheese. I continue to be amazed at the good sounding meals you have. I am going to start a "Munchy" collection of ideas like your "layered chicken/black bean lasagna" If you don't mind me asking, what nationality are you. Your meals are always like a Cajun, South American, Carribean mix. They really appeal to my taste in food.

amandie - That "faux potato soup" sounds great, I am a soup lover and I am always looking for new great tasting low calorie soup ideas.


Yesterday I cut up two large jalapeno pepper's and cooked them lightly leaving them crunchy and added them to a kidney bean, green bean, okra and tomato dish. Quite a lot of spice. I love the taste of Jalapeno peppers but I like more heat. As a result I have gotten into a habit of leaving the pepper seeds in to increase the heat. Does any one else do this?

Larry- I absolutely love spicy food. I think that is why I was able to start eating more vegetables since I could spice it up with my favorite hot sauce. When I used to eat jalapeños, I always left the seeds in. If that wasn't spicy enough, a few dashes of habanero sauce did the trick.

I've never had okra, do you use fresh/frozen or canned/jarred? What does it taste like?

As for the faux potato soup, I actually got the idea from a WW thread here from other members who tried the recipe and preferred it as a soup. It was originally a recipe for alfredo sauce. It was pretty good as alfredo sauce, actually but I had to add some cream cheese or sour cream to give it that sort of alfredo flavor plus pecorino and/or Romano instead of regular Parmesan.

Oops, I forgot to post dinner... I had grilled chicken with BBQ sauce, small helping of homemade dill red potato salad, some baked beans (from a can), and 3 grilled huge cabbage wedges brushed with a bit of butter/olive oil, roasted garlic, onion powder and lemon pepper.

Dill potato salad- olive oil mayo, mix of 3 mustards- yellow, spicy brown and stoneground, roasted garlic powder, celery, onions (green, scallions or chives), and dill weed.

The cabbage was the best part of this meal, seriously. I was so stuffed afterwards.

Amandie, I'm not much of a chef/cook. So, the red pepper sauce is really this: http://www.traderjoes.com/fearless-f...rticle_id=1433 I have several jars because I used to have some on GG Crispbreads as a snack when I used to eat several meals a day. Now that I only eat one meal, I needed to find new ways to use it since I had already stocked up. Turns out, it's fantastic on fish (well, I think so anyway).

Munchy, you should start a healthy eats restaurant! Your carrot/peanut soup sounds really interesting to me... would you describe what's in it?

Larry, we have to part ways on the spice, but my husband would take you on. He can eat a vindaloo that has my eyes tearing up just from sitting across the table. But I'm not a total spice wimp. I order "medium" spicy in Asian restaurants.

puhlease1, come on and join us! Being able to feel truly full at times while losing weight makes the process a lot less stressful for me. For that reason, I make use of volumetrics, and on top of that, I pile all my calories into one meal. I know that I will be truly sated after dinner.

Last night I had some grape tomatoes with a little (bottled) FF toasted sesame teriyaki dressing, a bowl of the homemade turkey soup, a veggie and egg scramble, a few mini rice cakes, and two squares of dark chocolate.

Larry - thank you! I love to cook. I actually had a healthy catering business almost 10 years ago fresh out of college, but that was when I was young and crazy with 5 part time jobs. As soon as I got one full time, I couldn't handle it much anymore. By request, I do offer lunch service at work to coworkers for a small fee.

I don't use that much adobo - it's more of seasoning to taste. You can always use garlic powder, pepper, and salt if you want to cut the salt down but still impart the same flavor.

As for nationality, I'm black/white but I have a taste for strongly flavored foods. Most of my friends are 1st generation Americans, and I've been blessed to have exposure to all of their home cooking from the time I was really young. My best friends are Vietnamese and Guyanese, and between the two of them, I definitely got to try a lot of things I wouldn't have otherwise had and very young. I also LOVE spicy foods, so naturally Indian and Mexican dishes appeal to me.

Amandie the skinnytaste baked potato soup is so good and definitely sounds like what you're making. I love cutting potatoes with cauliflower! Even my dad (meat and potatoes) and my daughter (picky) have complimented it. The carrot peanut soup is seriously good. It is a very North African flavor with savory root vegetable and peanut. And the recipe:

YoyomaI always contemplate opening a restaurant. My mom is retiring and wants it to be her next big project. I just don't think I can find the time or energy, but having a food truck really appeals to me because of the reduced overhead costs. Maybe one of these days!

Carrot peanut soup is soooo good. If you don't like it, you can always toss it because it's cheap enough!

Sauté one chopped onion, 2lbs chopped and peeled carrots (I use a 2lb bag of baby carrots and don't chop at all) until slightly browned. Add in 4 cloves minced garlic, 1/4t cayenne and sauté for a min. Mix 1/4 cup natural (creamy or chunky – your preference) peanut butter into the veggies until all are coated, then add in 1 quart stock. Simmer until carrots are soft and puree. Season (salt and pepper) as needed.
Freezes BEAUTIFULLY!

The layered enchilada is in a privately published family cookbook, but I can never remember what I wrote! I found an email I wrote to myself, so let me see if it seems right. I plan to make it again and probably replace the beans with zucchini (boyfriend has IBS and can't eat them, so he was sad yesterday)!

MEXICAN LASAGNA/LAYERED ENCHILADA

Saute 1 large chopped onion, 1 chopped pepper, 3-4 cloves minced garlic. Add in 2 cups of shredded chicken, 1 can of rinsed black beans, 1 cup of corn, 1 can of diced tomato, 1 can of mild green chiles, one packet of sazon con culantro y achiote, 1/4 cup or so of sofrito, (optional hot sauce or jalapenos).
-Mix and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally

Spray the bottom of an 8x8 dish. Line the bottom with 3 small corn tortillas. May need to cut to fit in a single layer.
Spread half of the bean/chicken mixture over the tortillas, top with cheese of choice.
Repeat with another layer of corn tortilla, bean/chicken mixture, cheese
Add last layer of tortillas, cover with remaining 1/3 cheese,
Bake at 350 until hot. Before serving, top with chopped cilantro and scallions.

I serve it with sour cream and jalapenos

If I don't eat leftovers tonight, I'll probably make a zucchini noodle "alfredo." It's basically sauteed chopped pepper, mushrooms, garlic, neufchatel cheese, skim milk, adobo, cracked black pepper. Add lightly sauteed zucchini noodles, chopped tomato, and scallion, for a few minutes more and serve. Fresh basil and/or capers also work on top, but aren't necessary.

I just saw this Skinny Chicken Scarpariello by a guest blogger and thought it looked great! Just wanted to share

amandie - Okra is a little hard to describe. Picture a green bean that is stuffed with cream style corn. That would be fairly close. It is commonly boiled or fried. When boiled it is kinda slick on the tongue, some might say slimy but I would not go that far. It is none of that when it is fried. It is a regular in Southern eating and I like it. I too love hot spices and I also use habanero pepper, both as a sauce and in a dry powder.

yoyoma - Sounds like your husband. amandie, Munchy and I are kindred spirits when it comes to hot sauce. Ask him if he knows how many scoville units are in his favorite hot sauce.

Munchy - I knew there had to be some Caribbean influence in your cooking. Your Guyanese friend from the Co-operative Republic of Guyana which is considered one of the few non island Caribbean countries.
I do some catering but it is strictly not for profit to benefit the Shriner's and Shriner's Hospitals. Nothing really big. I have served a full buffet style to about 125 people. I love cooking also, Growing up my mother had severe heart disease. So as a young preteen I became the family cook for My parents and my grandfather who lived with us. This was all under the guidance and teaching from my mother who was an excellent cook. I have had a jar of GOYA Adobo seasoning in my cupboard for about four months. I have not tried it on anything but you have inspired me to experiment with it.

After no weight loss yesterday I checked my ankles and found I had pitting edema. In other words I was retaining water. My cardiologist took me off my daily water pills instructed me to take them only as needed if I noticed swelling. So I took one. Every hour on the hour all evening and all during the night I wore out the carpet leading to the bathroom. I dropped most of my edema.

I lost 4 pounds and my ankles are normal this morning.

I ate leftovers bulked up tonight. I took leftover Vegetable soup with leftover diced tomatoes and leftover black beans. I added a full can of green beans and on a whim I added 1/2 cup homemade spaghetti meat sauce from lunch. Then I added a generous amount of Sriracha Hot Chili sauce to it (I did not measure, just added) Ended up tasting great. It was a huge serving and only 347 calories for all of it.

Progresso - Light Vegetable Soup 1/2 cup
Delmonte - California Petite Diced Tomatoes (No Salt Added), 1/2 cup
Great Value - Black Beans (Reduced Sodium)*, 1/2 cup7
Home Made - Meat Spaghetti Sauce, 1/2 cup
Winn Dixie - Cut Green Beans - No Salt Added, 1 3/4 cup

My final calorie count for today was 1,090

Larry - thanks for the reply, and yes, volumetrics actually helps to eat what I want and not get bored, but have the volume that's satisfying without adding calories. I'm digging it. I'm a foodie, too, and love to cook (also have a taste for the spicy and strong flavors), and low carb was just too limiting.

Yoyoma - sounds like it's working for you. I tried the one meal a day thing, and it just doesn't work with my schedule right now - or my desire to eat! LOL


Meals yesterday:
Lunch: Homemade crock pot chicken soup - tons of veggies and brothy.
Dinner: Deviated from Volumetrics for King crab, just cracked and lemon buttered and yum, but did eat asparagus, too.
Later - was hungry again (really didn't eat a lot of king crab, as it's expensive), so got a progresso soup and added two cups green beans. I couldn't finish, but it hit the spot.

Today's plan:
Lunch: Healthy choice steamer bowl with 1 to 2 cups added broccoli
Dinner: My own take on hamburger helper, bulked up with lots of veggies. If I'm tired from class (I'm back in grad school in my middle age), I'll have Progresso soup with added veggies instead.

I don't often do breakfast, but I'm going to make an effort to do so.