I like to keep it pretty simple, usually have a chocolate drink every afternoon, a "juice" drink in the morning (orange, pineapple banana, pina colada, blue-cran-pomegranate) and a bar or soy puffs in the middle. Chicken noodle soup was good when I was sick, tried to puree leek soup with real sauteed leeks this weekend and it was horrendous. The pudding texture makes me gag (literally). I find the vanilla pre-mades too sweet but doctor them by mixing with double-strength decaf coffee to make a coffee frappe. I made a chocolate muffin but wouldn't repeat. I like the cheese crunchies when I want a salty snack.

I really really like the chocolate shakes and those southwest cheese curls. The fine herb and cheese omelet, its ok but I don't think I'll buy that one again.

I feel like the odd one out - I have only found three things I will NEVER get again. I'm lucky in that my clinic sells them individually, not 7 of the same in a box. I try to not do any repeats during a week (well, except for chocolate drink, which I'll get two of!!)

The things I don't like - blueberry-cran-granata (which is interesting because I see a lot of you like it) the blueberry pudding (I guess I just don't like fake blueberry) and the chocolate muffin.

I almost always add stuff to my soup - green beans, cauliflower to the cream of chix soup, mushrooms or cauliflower to the mushroom - yum!

I also add veg to my omelettes (and my coach said I could have 1 oz of real cheese in lieu of 1 oz skim in coffee/tea so sometimes I'll do that in an omelette.

I have a packet of maple oatmeal waiting for me to get some rhubarb and WF strawberry to add to it to make a crumble. I'm hoping it turns out as good - I've been fantasizing about it!! LOL.

It's interesting to read what everyone likes and dislikes.

My usuals: cappuccino drink, chocolate drink, banana pudding, chocolate pudding, vanilla pudding, chili, plain omelet, and herb omelet.

Originally Posted by Thurge:
I would suggest playing with the Plain Crepe mix. I have made pizza crust out of it. (My coach allows me to use veggie cheese) I have made hamburger buns out of it. I've made noodles out of it (they were good but I don't have a noodle making machine so they were a little too thick) I have used it for a breading for making chicken piccata. I plan to make dumplings out of it this weekend. I even was a little bad once or twice and made fried chicken breast strips and fried okra using the crepe mix (this is a no-no but it didn't effect my weight loss and was sooo very good!) for me it has become a staple!

Could you share some of your recipes for the noodles and the hamburger buns? Sounds great!

This has been so interesting! It's funny to see how many different tastes everyone has. I didn't like the fruit drinks at all, but I love the chocolate shake mixes - and have just discovered making it and then heating it up for a "hot chocolate" - perfect ending for the evening. I also love the crispy cereal pancakes and often get the fine herb eggs - I have to use lots of veggies with them. I like all things peanut butter and the soy puffs - I'd love to see some of the recipes people have used with the puddings and other things - I'll have to search for them! Thanks all - you are terrific!

Originally Posted by Thurge:
I would suggest playing with the Plain Crepe mix. I have made pizza crust out of it. (My coach allows me to use veggie cheese) I have made hamburger buns out of it. I've made noodles out of it (they were good but I don't have a noodle making machine so they were a little too thick) I have used it for a breading for making chicken piccata. I plan to make dumplings out of it this weekend. I even was a little bad once or twice and made fried chicken breast strips and fried okra using the crepe mix (this is a no-no but it didn't effect my weight loss and was sooo very good!) for me it has become a staple!

I would have never thought to make things out of the mixes. I have not started yet (I go in tomorrow for everything and will start on Wednesday) Glad I am getting this info now, not later!

I liked the oatmeal, but it's restricted. So I tried the proti diet oatmeal. Not restricted and delicious.

Originally Posted by Sewmam:
I used alot of the same things, soups and bars, some puddings, but every week I tried to make a new recipe, or try one new packet. I didn't like the crispy cereal on it's own, but made into a crepe, it was incredible. Same with the oatmeal. So then, I started ordering even more different things and experimenting with combining them, just to keep it interesting. The soy patty is not bad if you make it into a chili, and it is non-restricted, unlike the IP chili.

How do you make the crepe? Do you use baking powered & water, what about egg whites?

Originally Posted by ProteinGal:
I really really like the chocolate shakes and those southwest cheese curls. The fine herb and cheese omelet, its ok but I don't think I'll buy that one again.

Based on your recommendation I tried southwest cheese curls - holy YUM!!!

Originally Posted by momof2greatcats:
I have a packet of maple oatmeal waiting for me to get some rhubarb and WF strawberry to add to it to make a crumble. I'm hoping it turns out as good - I've been fantasizing about it!! LOL.

Thank you for that great idea- am going to get an oatmeal tomorrow to have with my rhubarb!!!!

Originally Posted by drakegirl:
Could you share some of your recipes for the noodles and the hamburger buns? Sounds great!

Sure, an entire package of crepe mix is roughly a half cup. I use English muffin rings and start this on top of the stove and will usually finish it in the oven (unless I'm impatient then I'll flip it over and make it more like an English muffin.)

Ingredients:
1 IP Crepe Mix
1/4 Tsp Baking powder
1/2 Tbsp Oil (I use Olive Oil)
1 dash salt (to taste)
1 oz skim milk (from morning allowance)
Water (just enough to make it a thick but pour-able batter)

Whisk together dry ingredients.
Add oil and mix in until it starts to form crumbles.
Add milk and mix well (it will become a doughy batter at this point)
add enough water so that it is thick but able to be poured.

Spray a nonstick pan with Pam and spray inside your English muffin rings also.
(Note: If you don't have English Muffin rings a small empty tuna can with the label, top and bottom removed can be used also, this recipe can make one big bun that you can slice into two smaller buns or you can make two smaller buns. I find it easier to make one big one usually because making sure I split the batter evenly is a pain.)

Put your pan with the muffin rings on the stove and get it nice and hot then pour your batter into the rings. You really don't have to fill them much more than half way. This will make the bottoms nice and crisp. once it has cooked and gotten a nice crispy bottom you can either transfer them to a cookie sheet and bake them the rest of the way or you can flip them over and finish them in the pan. The oven method tends to make them fluffier but when I am hungry enough after work I just flip them and keep it moving. You can add any seasonings you see fit (I am partial to rosemary) but you may want to up the amount of baking powder if you do.

The noodle recipe is a bit easier. I took a noodle recipe I found online and replaced the flour with the crepe mix and adjusted the amounts of each ingredient to match up with 1/2 cup of flour. I ended up having to use 2 packs of crepe mix and ate half of the noodles one day and half the another day. (Note: most noodle recipes require whole eggs but I just found one that uses egg whites. After switching the flour for crepe mix it would be - 4 egg whites, 3 packs IP crepe mix, .5 tsp baking powder. Mix it all together and then make noodles as normal. This would count as 3 restricted meals so you'd want to split your noodles into 3 parts.)

Last night I made Jamaican style dumplings out of the crepe mix. They were good but a little too small (Jamaican style dumplings are usually about the size of a flat cupcake. I made five tiny ones and then made a chicken and vegetable soup to cook them in.)

I have omlette mixes and I don't like them. i followed Finn Steven's recipe for "french toast" and I was really surprised at how tasty it turned out. He adds grated zucchini, vanilla, cinnamon, salt and egg whites. I ate mine with pancake syrup. he says to use a plain omlette mix, I only have cheese ones and I used those. delicious! Try it.

My clinic sells the products individually, so for the first 2 weeks I tried a wide variety. I learned quickly that I do not like any of the soups, even doctored up a bit with veggies and spices. I do like the chili, but not enough to "waste" a restricted on.

The past couple of weeks, I've been totally happy just eating the crispy cereal (weekday breakfast), plain crepes (weekend breakfast), RTD mango or white choco cinnamon bar (lunch), and banana, vanilla, or butterscotch pudding (snack).

As opposed to the first two weeks, I now find myself looking forward to eating each product.

I love the savory stuff more than the sweet stuff. My staples are the broccoli cheese soup, the omelette aux fines herbes and cheese, and specially the dill zippers which I am crazy about! I also like the wild berry yogurt seink and the,lemon pudding.