Questions:Not on MRC, but making xmas dinner for family who are.
My brother and his fiance recently joined MRC and I want to make sure I have something tasty, but allowable for them to eat at Christmas dinner. I've been looking at his menu sheet and the recipe threads and the rules seem arbitrary and varied from center to center. Garlic powder, but no garlic, onion powder, but not onions,Melba Toast in every recipe under the sun. Low fat cottage cheese is practically a deity, but fat free sour cream and fat free half and half are verboten? Green onions are fine, leeks (giant green onions) are not allowed. His center told him that stevia was not allowed for some reason, even though it has the same calories as artificial sweeteners. Can anyone explain the MRC logic to me?
eta: I think that I'm going to make the old Southbeach diet standby cauliflower "mashed potatoes", mushroom caps(with a little cheese), and pork loin. Does MRC allow you to double up on veggies or is that not allowed? I know everything needs to be weighed, and I'm using the chicken bullion supplement for the cauliflower. Does anyone have any other suggestions, or see any possible problems with my menu? I'm trying very hard to be supportive and not to be a "feeder".
He loaned me his MRC cook book and
I'm trying to decide whether to fix "Banana Pudding" (pg37)or "Cinnamon Bread Pudding"(pg34) for their dessert, can someone who's tasted these give me a review? Which one is less heinous?
Pretty please, with plan approved non-caloric sweetener on top?
First of all, to you for being so thoughtful! It's so great to see a family member who is supportive!
I, for one, was not a big fan of the cookbook. I would just try to make sure there is meat (not cooked with a ton of extra fat), veggies and fruit available. The cauliflower dish is great. I rice it and saute it with olive oil and spices. I also roast up a batch of asparagus and fresh green beans with some olive oil and sea salt for my veggie - so tasty and nothing "weird" in it. For dessert this year, I am cooking pears, apples, cranberries, spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc) in the crock pot. I will serve warm over low fat ice cream for those who want it, or the cottage cheese for those who don't. Those weird desserts with protein and melba did NOT do it for me. I would rather have fruit! All of the spices you mentioned...I wouldn't worry about. A couple of cooked onions and leeks are not what made us heavy to begin with. One meal with them is probably fine if you really want to use them. Some of the choice needs to lie with the "dieters" as well - we have to say no to the things that don't work for us.
So, all of this to say that you can cook a regular dinner if you watch the fat added and provide lots of veggies. I couldn't cook strange things b/c I have a big family. And no, I can't explain the MRC logic except to say that I lost 70lbs and have been maintaining it. I feel better than I have in a decade. So, you are wonderful to be so supportive! You are truly giving your family a gift!
First of all, to you for being so thoughtful! It's so great to see a family member who is supportive!
I, for one, was not a big fan of the cookbook. I would just try to make sure there is meat (not cooked with a ton of extra fat), veggies and fruit available. The cauliflower dish is great. I rice it and saute it with olive oil and spices. I also roast up a batch of asparagus and fresh green beans with some olive oil and sea salt for my veggie - so tasty and nothing "weird" in it. For dessert this year, I am cooking pears, apples, cranberries, spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc) in the crock pot. I will serve warm over low fat ice cream for those who want it, or the cottage cheese for those who don't. Those weird desserts with protein and melba did NOT do it for me. I would rather have fruit! All of the spices you mentioned...I wouldn't worry about. A couple of cooked onions and leeks are not what made us heavy to begin with. One meal with them is probably fine if you really want to use them. Some of the choice needs to lie with the "dieters" as well - we have to say no to the things that don't work for us.
So, all of this to say that you can cook a regular dinner if you watch the fat added and provide lots of veggies. I couldn't cook strange things b/c I have a big family. And no, I can't explain the MRC logic except to say that I lost 70lbs and have been maintaining it. I feel better than I have in a decade. So, you are wonderful to be so supportive! You are truly giving your family a gift!
From they way it was explained to me from my center is that every food that is "approved" was medically calculated on how a body metabolizes it. Your body metabolizes green onions differently than leeks. Which is also why we can only have certain meats only three times a week.
You are such a great person for doing this for your family. I am super jealous. I am bringing my own plate of food to our christmas celebrations.
Whatever you do, keep it simple. For lunch, I beleive, their menu only includes a protein, vegetable, and fruit. For dinner only a protein, vegetable, and starch. Don't go overboard. Just three simple things.
First of all, to you for being so thoughtful! It's so great to see a family member who is supportive!
I, for one, was not a big fan of the cookbook. I would just try to make sure there is meat (not cooked with a ton of extra fat), veggies and fruit available. The cauliflower dish is great. I rice it and saute it with olive oil and spices. I also roast up a batch of asparagus and fresh green beans with some olive oil and sea salt for my veggie - so tasty and nothing "weird" in it. For dessert this year, I am cooking pears, apples, cranberries, spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, etc) in the crock pot. I will serve warm over low fat ice cream for those who want it, or the cottage cheese for those who don't. Those weird desserts with protein and melba did NOT do it for me. I would rather have fruit! All of the spices you mentioned...I wouldn't worry about. A couple of cooked onions and leeks are not what made us heavy to begin with. One meal with them is probably fine if you really want to use them. Some of the choice needs to lie with the "dieters" as well - we have to say no to the things that don't work for us.
So, all of this to say that you can cook a regular dinner if you watch the fat added and provide lots of veggies. I couldn't cook strange things b/c I have a big family. And no, I can't explain the MRC logic except to say that I lost 70lbs and have been maintaining it. I feel better than I have in a decade. So, you are wonderful to be so supportive! You are truly giving your family a gift!
Thank you so much for your suggestions, they sound delicious, but they both started less than two weeks ago so they're in that stage where they follow things to the letter and are very against eating anything outside of plan. I gave him a whole list of things to ask about to see if they were ok and his center told him no to every single one of them, they aren't even allowed extra veggies. I don't know if he told them he was asking about Christmas dinner or not (or if that matters to MRC).
I wouldn't be making a completely normal meal in any case because my father is a diabetic who believes both carbs and artificial sweeteners are the devil. And the rest of my family and I are weeks away from starting back on the Southbeach diet, so I'm trying to get back into the old habits.
Are the desserts I mentioned as bad as they sound, they won't do fruit at dinner, so I'm not sure what else to do?
I ended up making the Cauliflower "Mashed Potatoes" with ICBINBS, a touch of olive oil, garlic, green onion, MRC Bullion Soup mix, and a little Parmesan. The pork loin I seasoned with Onion and Herb Mrs. Dash. For dessert, after a test run of the bread pudding, which was so unappealing that I decided I just couldn't foist it off on anyone, I instead made Mock Eggnog with the vanilla pudding creamy supplement mixed with a little extra water,about a third of a pack of Splenda, a touch of vanilla and rum extracts and nutmeg, pulsed until frothy with my new immersion blender. It was a hit! Thanks for all the suggestions!
Questions:Not on MRC, but making xmas dinner for family who are.
to you for being so thoughtful! It's so great to see a family member who is supportive!
