Quick update.

Had to go to urgent care today for sinusitis. Of course the first thing they do is weigh you. I was wearing heavy jeans, thermal underwear, and two sweaters. At first it was in kilograms so I asked the nurse to convert it. I weighed the same as the last time I went to my center with all this extra clothing. It made me feel like all the skiing and exercise is paying off. BTW it's been about a month since I weighed in. We left just after Christmas and I didn't weigh in a week before we left since I had so much to do.

GMA I can't wait for you to post those recipes from your cooking classes (especially the sushi).

Eggplant Parmesan with Spicy Bolognese Sauce
Sauce
2 cans tomato sauce (low sodium – under 12%)
1 lb. ground beef, extra lean
1 tsp. fennel seed
1 tsp. Italian seasoning
½ tsp. rosemary
Dash of sea salt
Dash of pepper
4 tsp. Tobasco sauce
1 cup mushrooms, diced
1 cup green pepper, diced
½ cup water
2 garlic cloves, minced
Cracked red pepper, optional for more spice

Lightly brown ground beef in skillet. Add tomato sauce. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Add seasonings, vegetables and Tabasco sauce. Cover and lower heat to simmer for additional 5 minutes. Serve hot over cooked eggplant (below).

Eggplant
8 oz. thinly sliced mozzarella cheese
2 medium-size eggplant, peeled and sliced

Spray I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter on both sides of the cut eggplant slices and lightly brown on both sides in a hot pan or on a grill until eggplant softens. Set aside and keep warm until sauce is ready.

Place thinly sliced cheese on top of eggplant slices and cook until softened. Turn eggplant over and add cheese on top again. (Cook until cheese is crisp.)

NOTE: Can also serve sauce over whole wheat pasta.

Mexican-style Stuffed Peppers

Use same sauce recipe and add 1 small can diced green chilies, 1/4 cup chopped cilantro and 1-1/2 cups of cooked brown rice. Slice tops off of whole green peppers and remove seeds. Fill peppers with sauce/rice mixture and place in baking pan. Top with slice of pepper jack or colby cheese. Bake at 350 degrees until peppers become soft and bubbly.

This first one could be used on the regular MRC program by omitting the carrot and red onion. The second one should work as is. I'm going to also post these on the recipe thread.

Cilantro Lime Coleslaw

1 bag of pre-shredded cabbage
1 bunch cilantro
1 diced green bell pepper
1 diced large carrot
½ cup diced red onion
1 cup diced tomatoes - optional
1 Tbsp. lime juice
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 tsp. garlic powder
Sea salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients together and chill before serving.

Cajun Chicken & Zucchini 'fries'

1 chicken breast, cut in cubes
1 or 2 zucchini – cut in long strips
Butter buds
Cajun seasoning (see recipe below)
¼ cup water

Cajun Seasoning Mix – combine in ziplock bag or bowl:
2-1/2 Tbsp. paprika
2 Tbsp. sea salt
2 Tbsp garlic powder
1 Tbsp. black pepper
1 Tbsp. onion powder
1 Tbsp. cayenne pepper
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
1 Tbsp dried thyme

Spray grill or frying pan with Pam or ICBINB. Preheat grill or frying pan to medium/high. Lightly season zucchini with Butter Buds and place on preheated grill or pan. Cook until lightly browned but still crunchy. Remove from pan.

Place Cajun seasonings in a ziplock bag or bowl with water. Add chicken pieces and shake bag or stir in bowl until well seasoned. Place on grill or in pan and cook until browned.

I went to my last stabilization WI this morning and I had lost that last pesky lb so was able to sign the 100 lb board
I am now OFFICIALLY on maintenance.
I had them change my goal weight to 156. I'm 151 now and would like to stay as close to that as possible. That puts me 5lbs under my goal weight and 11 lbs before I would have to rejoin.

AND my photo & testimonial are up on one of the walls which was kind of cool--Meemo, check it out next time you go!

Thanks for the recipes, Judy. I hope that our center will have a maintenance class as well---I certainly need all of the support that I can get.

Meemo, where did you find the powdered peanut butter in the commissary? I can get my mother to take a look for it there.

We are off tomorrow for a weekend in Biloxi at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino. Neither of us are gamblers but they have a fantastic spa that I plan on taking full advantage of I AM going to make good eating choices because I will be having a WI next week!

Finz: Welcome officially to maintenance. I sent congrats on the 3FC #31 thread, but want to repeat it here...WOO HOO!

Enjoy your time in Biloxi. You deserve it!

Judy
Gma to 4

Sorry about the sinusitis, but congrats on the "weigh-in" - skiing is hard work (well, it is if you're bad like I used to be!) I used to be famished after a day on the slopes - I really enjoyed my food when we were skiing!

I saw it Monday night, Finz - posted about it on the Take 31 thread. I was impressed & excited to see it! I agree - hope there'll be some maintenance classes - I'd suggest it now but should probably wait until I actually get to maintenance.

I found the powdered peanut butter in the peanut butter section. Top shelf, far left, I think. Can't wait to get back there & pick up some more. I'm loving having a taste of it on my apple for lunch.

Enjoy Biloxi - we've never gone there to stay & I'd love to do it some day - keep thinking I should check for shows & try to go there when there's a show we'd like to see. We aren't much for gambling either, aside for the slots, $20/day is my max. We've gone for day trips (taking our kids to concerts back in the day) but that's it. A spa day sounds lovely on a cold day like today - of course we're supposed to be back in the 70s tomorrow!

Both sound great, especially the slaw (I love cilantro!) Thanks for posting!

CONGRATULATIONS FINZ!!! Now you can officially tell people you lost 100lbs - very impressive!!

I'm still plugging along. Hit my first bounce up last wi. I was burning the candle at both ends and retaining water. Not a big deal, just keep on the plan and it will all even out. I am itching to start stabilization again. At this rate, I should be ready by Valentine's Day.

While looking at the 3FCforum today I noticed the side ad was about PB2 (fat free peanut butter). I clicked the link and it's $4.50 per jar and they even have a chocolate version of it too. I don't think there is a minimum order but here's the link:
http://www.freshapproachdietstore.co...nut_butter.php

Thanks for the peanut butter link Bonnie! Can hardly wait to try that. I had a good wi this morning - down 4.5 lbs. That was my 3 lb bounce up on Wednesday, plus my normal 1.5 lbs. The first time I haven't hit my 3 lb total for the week - but I've lost 15 lbs since the 26 of December, so I'm not complaining! Stabilization is now in sight!!

Gina - I just wanted to let you (and other Omaha/Bellevue folks) know that after Meemo first posted her amazing find, I googled it for Omaha grocery stores and found it at several of the Hy Vee's in the area. I work at the Med Center so I looked in the Hy Vee at 51st and Center and they had both the regular and the chocolate version there and I believe it was under $5. If you go to get some or check it out, it was in their Health Market section of the store (where they have a LOT of other good-for-you kind of stuff). Just thought I'd pass that along and perhaps save you some money on shipping.

Kelley

I just resurrected one of my old tricks as a maintenance snack and can't believe how good it is on a snowy day.

Mock Apple Crisp

1 granny smith apple, chopped
1/4 tsp. apple or pumpkin pie spice
1/4 c. granola
ICBIN spray

Place chopped up apple in microwaveable bowl. Sprinkle with spice and nuke for about 90 seconds. Sprinkle granola over the top and spritz with ICBINB. Nuke again for about 30 seconds. Enjoy!

It truly tastes like apple crisp.

Thank you Kelley, I will have to go look for that. I'm thinking I'll be back on stabilization in 2 weeks at my current rate.

Judy - that sounds amazing!! I think we get carbs back at lunch on week 2?? I'll have to check. I knew an apple crisp sounded good - I just didn't have a receipe that I thought would be MRC ok. Yummy!

Week one! I just had my first stabilization lunch - added 1/2 a bagel to my lunch of cuke & tomato salad and cottage cheese mixed with blackberries & a little splenda. The stabilization class was last Monday night, they told us to start the menu today. I'm really hoping to get through much faster this time around than I did last time (I should - last time I had Halloween, Thanksgiving & Christmas to deal with!).

Oh, and I picked up 2 more jars of the PB2 at the commissary yesterday - you never know whether it's a permanent item or not.