Mrs. Jim
 

I have a question for you. I make a salad dressing and use about 2 T. when I use it. I would like to know if you think it is authorized???? You use 2 c. of 2% cottage cheese, or FF, 3/4 c. 1% buttermilk, and 1 pkg. of Hidden Valley Salad dressing mix. It is very good, and tastes just like the real stuff. I think 2 T. has about 50 calories in it. What do you think????? Thanks.
Lori S.

Hmmm...

Personally I'd stay away from it strictly because of the sodium in the dressing mix (don't know what else is in the mix - the Hidden Valley website's nutritional/ingredient info must also be 'hidden' somewhere :lol:

Anyway - let's look at it this way - just did a search on the net and found the following recipe for ranch dressing from scratch - you'd probably be better off modifying this one - I'll put my suggested modifications in italics:

Ingredients
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk I'd substitute the first three ingredients with 1 cup cottage cheese, 2 Tbs fat-free mayo, 2 Tbs fat-free sour cream and 1/4 c buttermilk creamed together with a blender
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried dill weed
1 tablespoon dried chives
1 tablespoon dried parsley
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese Since the 2 tablespoons of cheese is being divvied out into 12 servings, I don't see a problem keeping it in the recipe
1 dash hot pepper sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon ground white pepper


Directions
Combine the mayonnaise, sourcream, buttermilk, garlic powder, oregano, dill weed, chives, parsley, parmesan cheese, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, pepper and refrigerate for at least 1/2 an hour. If the dressing is too thick, add a little extra buttermilk to thin.

Now remember, I haven't actually tried this yet...but it certainly looks doable to me!

You could also use fat-free plain yogurt in place of the ff sour cream...

BFL Recipes
 

Hey y'all! Thought it would be a good idea to turn this MrsJim thread into a BFL recipe thread...feel free to add stuff. What's your favorite recipe? (BTW, tossing a frozen chicken breast on a George Foreman grill doesn't count here!) :lol:

Also if you have any recipes that you want to modify, post 'em and we can all try and clean them up a bit, like the ranch dressing recipe (let us know how that worked out, as well!)

I was inspired to do this after Friday night. Jim is getting tired of the old chicken breast and veggies for dinner, and he's getting chubbly-wubbly lately, so I went to the L&S cooking library and pulled up a recipe for turkey jambalaya. Looked at it and thought...hmmm...I can improve this...here's my version!

I thought I was going to have leftovers...no way...Jim gobbled it up! The shrimp and tomatoes weren't in the original recipe - he said the shrimp added a kind of 'buttery' taste. It was a tad spicy, but not too spicy.

YUM!

When mixing yogurt and cottage cheese together...do you add anything?
I bought the 4oz cups of yougurt and a big thing of cot cheese..i put the 4 oz of yogurt in the blender, then put the cot. cheese in the same container to measure 4 oz and blend it.
The flavor from the yogurt was gone...it was kind of bland and really thick...
can I add anything to improve the flavor?
Thanks
trish

Hi girls,

Hi Trish, Hi Mel, we're on line at the same time, if you read this go to chat...I've logged in there it would be fun to chat...

I think Trish you added too much CC to the yogurt... and IMO, if find yogurt isn't much of a good filling carb. Here is my fav recipe for a meal 2, 4, or 6 as snack in the middle of the morning, afternoon, or evening:

- 1C cottage cheese
- 1C of your favorite fruit (I use frozen berries sometimes, but when the strawberries were in season, I used a cup of fresh strawberries...)
- 1/4 tsp or more to taste of Jello light I use strawberry ... (I've discovered Jello light, since being on BFL it will add great flavour to just about anything, I put it in my oatmeal in the morning too, delish....)
- Put everything in the blender till smooth, or use a hand blender.....

Trish - I agree with Lanaii - yogurt isn't the most filling carb in the world - in addition, 4 oz is about 1/2 of what you should have if you're going to have it (same with the cottage cheese). You should really use the 8 oz containers. Tall Jen recommends a brand called "Blue Bunny Light" but they don't have it here. I buy yogurt only occasionally - usually I get Yoplait Light or Safeway's Light brand.

This is now one of my favorites:

If you don't want to use Jello, you can simply blend the cottage cheese with some vanilla extract and Splenda. VERY GOOD!

For a FILLING PROTEIN AND CARB that's sweet, try the following:

Ok...can this be modified to taste better?

Actually it doesn't taste bad, just bland.
I got the recipe off lean and strong.
Oatmeal/egg white muffins.

I modified it for the portions I need:

4 egg whites
1/2 c oatmeal
1 T low fat jam ( I tried applesauce in the second batch)

bake 20-25 min at 350 degrees.

taste like what's in them...except no flavor? does that make sense?
Plus it makes more than what I can eat. I am sitting here trying to get the last 5 down..I made them in a mini muffin pan.

any suggestions?
Thanks
trish:dizzy:

Have you tried Robb's Pumpkin Muffins recipe?

Actually four eggwhites doesn't sound like enough for you. That's only 14 grams of protein total. Remember for protein grams on stuff that's too 'fluffy' to measure palm/fist (i.e. eggwhites and cottage cheese) go by 1 gram per pound of bodyweight, then divide that number by 6 for the amount of protein per meal. For example: if you weigh 150 pounds, that's 150 grams of protein per day - 25 grams of protein per meal. So you should be having at least six-seven eggwhites as a serving (I do five eggwhites and one whole egg) in that instance.

Here's Robb's recipe: Pumpkin is GREAT in recipes, even when it's not Thanksgiving - just make sure that when you buy the can, you buy PUMPKIN, not "Pumpkin Pie Filling" which has sugar in it.

Mrs. Jim..
could you email me please?
thanks
trish

[email protected]

I'm at work - so I'll PM you...

I tried that recipe w/ cottage cheese and fruit and jello powder...
tasted like cottage cheese ALOT....
I may just have to ditch the cottage cheese...LOL

Trish

No problem Trish...even though you might want to try other brands - I've found that different brands taste different...

but there are a LOT of other protein choices out there - don't stress about it - you'll do fine :)

Jello/Cottagecheese Recipe
 

I know the BFL'ers do a cottage cheese thing(sf jello with a container of cc in the blender,mmmm....the key lime was awesome!!!)

But here's a tip-

It takes a minute longer, but you'll get a better consistency if you activate the gelatin in 1 cup hot water first, then mix in the blender with the cottage cheese and instant pudding mix. Gelatin needs to dissolve-

If you don't, it taste fine, too. But you get a really creamy, not grainy cheesecake consistency if you put the jello into hot water.

So:

1 package jello dissolved in 1 cup hot water
1 lb cottage cheese
2 T. vanilla sf instant pudding
Blend away, and chill.

Every Sunday I cook up "take along" meals for the week. I cook 3 large boneless chicken breasts (and cut in half). I either marinate with no sugar/no fat marinade and do in the Forman or bake in a pan sprinkled with salt, garlic and pepper. While that is cooking, I throw rice (brown or basmati) in the cooker. Some weeks I cook up small potatoes instead of the rice.

Then I start my "spaghetti sauce". I brown ground turkey, onion, and garlic together. Then I add a low sugar/low fat spaghetti sauce (Classico Tomato and Basil is good...read those labels!!!) but keep it chunky to keep the protein content high. I add some more basil, oregano and italian spices. while that is simmering, I cook up a pot of whole wheat pasta (get at Trader Joes).

Then I start my cup of steel cut oats. While the steel cut oats are cooking, I pour a tall container of Egg Beaters into a pyrex baking dish with 2 whole eggs and beat. I add splenda (I like lots of splenda and cinnamon) and put in the oven to start a custard (keep stirring it, don't let it get solid). When the steel oats are done, I add some more splenda and cinnamon to them and fold into the half-baked egg custard and bake for another 45 minutes.

the oatmeal can be stored in the pyrex dish (which is why I cook it in that). For the other meals, I line up gladware. I measure the rice (or potato) and chicken, add vegetables and sometimes a hint of Boston Chicken gravy (it is the only gravy with low fat and balanced protein/carbs...and I only use a smidgen (1/2 teaspoon in each container) sometimes if it's in the house...hubby loves it). I put 3 in the refrigerator and 3 in the freezer. Same with the pasta. I usually have left over pasta and I just store that in a big tupperware bowl.

Those are my 3 takealong meals each week. I do others, but these 3 are my staples. I usually spend about 2 hours cooking this all up on Sunday and I have food for the week. In fact, I made all of this just today and am looking forward to eating it all week!!!

-Susan

Soup recipes...
 

Liz had a question on the main thread regarding soups...of course canned soups such as Campbell's are unauthorized (if anyone knows of a suitable canned soup - let's see the stats!).

I did a bit of a search on the L&S cooking library and found this VERY SIMPLE recipe for "Instant" chicken soup...

Here's a recipe for Hot & Sour Soup that I tried awhile back and enjoyed (I'm not really a soup person though):

Chicken Tortilla Soup

1/2 c. chopped onion
1 [28 oz.] can of whole tomatoes, undrained
1 [15 oz.] can of kidney beans
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. worcestershire sauce
1 can of fat free tomato soup
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1 can corn, drained and rinsed (you can use frozen too)
1 tsp. dried cilantro
1 tsp. chili powder
1 [14 oz.] can of fat free/low sodium beef broth
2 c. cooked chicken breasts, cut into thin strips (about three chicken breasts)


I start out by using a hand blender to blend up the whole tomatoes (you can do it right in the can, makes for a much thicker broth). In a stock pot combine the onion, tomatoes, kidney beans, cumin, worcestershire sauce, tomato soup, garlic, corn, cilantro, chili powder, beef broth, and chicken strips. Bring all to a boil then reduce heat cover and simmer for about 30 minutes.

In the winter, I double this recipe and put into Gladware containers and freeze, take them to work with me and microwave them for my meals.

Makes 8 servings.
Nutritional stats per serving:
Calories:225
Proteins:25g.
Carbs:27g.
Fats:2g.


Protein Pancakes

1/3 cup cottage cheese
3 egg whites
1/3 cup oatmeal
a little vanilla
a little cinnamon

Blend together and pour into hot non-stick pan sprayed with Pam. You can make one big pancake or several smaller pancakes. I have also found that if you let the batter sit for a few minutes (like while the pan is heating up), the pancakes don't run together.

Sometimes I will microwave a few little blueberries and then pour on top. I use a little sugar-free maple syrup too.


Egg White/Oatmeal scramble

a portion of egg whites
a portion of cooked oatmeal
one-two packets of Splenda
a little vanilla

Stir together and pour into a hot non-stick pan sprayed with Pam. Keep stirring until the egg whites are cooked completely. Sometimes I add a couple of teaspoons of peanut butter or a handful of raisins. This falls under the category of "it tastes way way better than it sounds". Very filling and satisfying.

More to come ;)
Maggie

Hey everyone!! I notice no recipes in awhile...

thought I'd add a stir fry sauce...

Here's what I do...

Combine together:

1/4 cup low-sodium fat free chicken broth
about 1 tablespoon of lite soy sauce
1/2 teaspoon or so cornstarch
1 packet Splenda

And stir until lumps are gone.

My favorite stir fry veggies are frozen veggies by C&W called "The Ultimate Stir Fry" http://www.c-wvegetables.com/products/279op.html (website). I don't know if you can only get them in California or what, but they are TASTY.

Here's what I do: Cut up a chicken breast into bite-size pieces, and sprinkle with a bit of soy sauce and rice vinegar. Let them marinate for a few minutes.

Get your nonstick skillet or wok smoking hot (spray with Pam). Toss the chicken in and stirfry until brown. Now a lot of folks like to take the chicken out at this point and toss it back in later, but I don't - I just toss the veggies in and stir, stir, stir...when the veggies have been cooking for, oh, maybe 3 minutes, make a sort of 'well' in the center of the wok or skillet and pour in the stir fry sauce (you might need to give it a quick stir to blend it right before). let bubble, then combine with the veggies and chicken. The cornstarch is important - it gives you a thick sauce.

When it looks done (veggies tender-crisp) remove from heat. I always like to add just a smidgen of sesame oil - it tastes great and it IS a healthy fat. Maybe a few drops.

Yummy way to get those veggies in!

Rich's Mom's Plump Juicy Chicken Breasts
 

Great recipe from Rich's mom...

I was looking for this for an hour yesterday over at L&S!

Thanks chicky!!

JC

That one sounds really good, I don't use anything but cottage cheese blended with spices for my dressings.

Susan asked me to post my version of the CC/jello recipe so here it is. This is the lemon flavour.

a portion of low fat CC (no FF in Australia)
3 teaspoons of WW lemon jello dissolved in hot water
some splenda
a little fresh lemon juice
2 teaspoons of vanilla SF/FF pudding (I get someone to send it to me from the US.

I blended it up in the blender all together and then put it in the fridge for a few hours. It was INCREDIBLE!!! Even hubby loves it!

JC

Mrs. Jim, I just wanted to thank you for the recipe for the chicken breasts. They truly are to die for! My whole family was LOVING them! And they were still juicy the next day, when I took one to work with me. Delicious!

:D
Tiffany

TIFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!

So great to see ya post here!

I know you're busy at your other thread but please don't be a stranger - you are ALWAYS welcome, chick! :)

BTW I took a cooler of chicken breasts with me on our road trip to San Diego this weekend and they were GREAT road food - at meal time I just grabbed one with a napkin and chowed down.

I'm making another batch this evening for the week - yesterday I was a tired gal and snoozed most of the day after we came back.

You know, I LOVE cold chicken too...and what a great idea for road trip food! We always take grapes and pretzels, etc...but then still have to stop for something...this way, you eliminate that!

Thanks for the welcome...I'm glad you had a great trip, it sounded wonderful!

Tiff

Here is my recipie for vegetable soup:


In a large pot with FF and low sodium chicken broth add: 2 lbs of carrots, a small cabage, a small turnip, a bunch of green beans, onions, 10 peeled and seeded fresh tomatoes, add any veggie you like more or less to your liking...cover it all with water, bring to a boil and let it simmer for a while till veggies are soft....oh and a bay leaf too... let it all simmer till done. .... I cut all the veggies in cubes...

I then added fresh garlic, basil, oregano, hot pepper flakes... I also added some chicken flavouring but not too much of that because its high in sodium.... simmer a bit more...then if you want a creamy kind of soup take a hand mixer and make it to your favorite consistency...

It IS a great way to add veggies to your meal... When I reheat it I will sometimes add brown rice to it or chicken or beans.... Whatever you like really.... At lunch I had ground turkey leftover and kidney beans and added it to the soup it was a great meal in a bowl.....

Moxie your soup looks delicious too.... I will have to try that soon...

Later all...

Thanks Lana!

JC

My printer is getting a nice workout this morning, thanks for the recipe ideas!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am not sure if anyone is interested but I was thinking of putting up some of Pam's food ideas and recipes from my new menu.

Would anyone be interested in that? Also I would love to see that Waldorf salad recipe Mel I think it was???

JC :D

One of my favorite recipes for chicken:

Pineapple Chicken Salad
portion of cooked, diced chicken
portion of drained, diced pineapple (canned or fresh)
a little diced onion (i like sweet onions)
a little diced celery (optional--I hate celery, so I leave it out)
1-2 Tbsp low-fat mayo
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all up, eat by itself or over lettuce and tomato or in a ww pita (if you're looking for extra carbs). Definitely one of my favorite lunches.

Baked Corn Tortilla chips
 

1 package corn tortillas (make sure the ingredients are corn and salt. nothing more)
Pam olive oil spray
salt

Preheat oven to 350. Using a pizza cutter, cut the tortillas into eight pieces and place on a non-stick cookie sheet. Spray the chips very lightly with the Pam and shake salt onto them. Place in oven for 4 1/2 mins. Remove, flip over the chips, and then switch the racks in the oven (if you're using two cookie sheets). Bake for 4 1/2 minutes or until just brown on the tips and crispy in the middle (break one in half to test). You may have to adjust the cooking time depending on what brand of tortilla you're using. Store in a ziploc bag.

Variations:
cumin and salt
Splenda and cinnamon (haven't tried this one yet)
lime and salt

Question
 

There is a recipe earlier in the thread posted by dottijon it was for jello, cottage cheese, sf van pudding.....
sounds yummy but how many servings would that be for?

Thanks

Well, here i thought I blew it again. I thought maybe stir frys were taboo, but I see it on the recipe site and it seems very much similar to the one I made last night. So I guess I am doing okay. Is there somewheres I can look to find the portion sizes. Things like how much rice or pasta is a serving, etc...
Virginia

Virginia,

To work out your portion size you can use your palm or fist. A way to test it is to fill a measuring jug with water and place you fist in it and see what the displacement is.

If you want to be more specific then look at the nutritional information on the packet and estimate what your portion size is and measure it from there. Normally depending on your size etc a portion for women is between 20-30 gms.

HTH

JC

a couple of my favorites
 

BFL Authorized Banana Bread/Muffins (I always double this recipe)

In medium bowl combine:
3 TBS protein powder
1/2 C 100% Stone Ground Whole Wheat Flour
1 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 Tsp Baking soday
1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a small bowl combine:
1 medium banan (starting to turn brown) mashed
1 egg white
1/4 c unsweetened apple sauce

Add wet ingredients to dry. Stir until moistened. Divide batter into 2 mini-loaf pans and bake in oven at 350 for 2 minutes

OR...Put all batter into 1 mini-loaf pan and bake at 350 for 25 minutes

OR...Use a regular muffin pan and make 4 muffins. Bake at 350 for approximately 15 minutes.

this recipe makes 2 servings, so 1/2 of the batter is a meal. Each serving has 38g Carbs and 25g protein.



Pam's Chicken Soup

6 chicken breast
2 tomatoes
2 zuchinnis
2 yellow squash
4 carrots
4 individual celery stalks
4 potatoes
1 chopped onion
1 TBS chicken broth crystals
garlic pwder
salt
pepper

boil chicken until cooked. Cut into cubes. cut up veggies. Put everything into a large pot or Crock Pot and fill with water to just a bout 2 inches above veggies. Let cook on medium for a few hours. When cooked, pull out about 1/3 of the soup mixture and blend it in the blender. Pour the mixture back into the soup. This makes the soup seem thicker.

I use only 2 potatoes and drop in a 1/4 C brown rice that I keep cooked up in the fridge in each individual serving before zapping it in the microwave.

Thanks Karen. I never intended to offer up any of the meals that were on my personal plan. I paid Pam for those and I would except someone else to do the same. ANYWAY the portions are customized for me personally and some don't comply with BFL principles of portion size because I am a MUSCULAR girl - thus I get to eat more. The ones I was offering was the public ones that are through leanandstrong or the ones that are common knowledge over there such as jello cheesecake.

By the way DNW you perhaps have a short term memory but I don't, and I don't help people who sledge my friends on other threads. I would be careful where you tread in future if you want to insult people before you ask for their help. Personally I think an apology to MrsJim is in order even if she is too sweet a person to ask for it. Even if the whole situation was a misunderstanding I think that clearing the air would help. Enough said.

JC

Ledom: hey it's cool I think that Karen is referring to the private recipes that Pam hands out. The chicken soup is fair game in my book as well.

JC

Here's the Pamcake recipe...first the basic:

1/2 cup old-fashioned oatmeal
4 eggwhites + one whole egg OR 6-7 eggwhites

(you can adjust these portions depending on your BFL portions - remember 1 eggwhite = 3 grams protein)

Splenda to taste
Vanilla extract (usually about 1/2 tsp)
Cinnamon

Combine all ingredients and blend well using a blender (I use my Braun hand blender).

Meanwhile, get your nonstick skillet nice and smoking hot (I heat it up on high, then turn the heat down to a touch over medium), spray with Pam Butter Spray, then pour in your 'batter'. It will be thin - not your typical pancake batter! Generally cooking time takes about 5 minutes for the first side, then flip and cook for another 2 minutes or so.

Variations:

Leave out a couple of the eggwhites and subsitute a spoonful of cottage cheese for a bit of extra creaminess.

Fold in a few blueberries into the batter, or drop them on top while the first side is still cooking.

Add some pumpkin puree or mashed cooked sweet potato into the batter.

Free Day Decadence: Add 1/2 a ripe banana to the mix!

Let's try and clean up this soup recipe...
 

Okay, here's the story - at Wednesday's lunch at Viongier, I tasted this FANTASTIC Pumpkin puree soup. IT WAS SO GOOD. I poked around on the internet a bit and found this one that SOUNDS similar, due to the main ingredients (pumpkin and autumn pears) Of course it's a pure carb, so it wouldn't be considered a meal in itself as is...anyway...

http://soup.allrecipes.com/az/tmnprndpmpkinsp.asp

Autumn Pear and Pumpkin Soup

1/2 cup chopped onion
1/2 cup water
2 teaspoons instant chicken
bouillon granules
1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin
2 1/2 cups half-and-half or
light cream
1 3/4 cups pear nectar
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon white pepper
pear slices (optional)

Now from what I see, the worst thing on the list is the half-and-half/cream and the pear nectar (which is pure sugar). I would also use fat-free low sodium chicken stock over the boullion as well. Hmmm...I wonder if puree'd cottage cheese, adding a little water for texture (you wouldn't need to add much water) or extra broth...and instead of pear nectar, how about some pear slices, pureed with a little Splenda? Any ideas?

pancakes..
 

Hey everyone.

I have finally given in to cottage cheese. I really hate the look, and smell..and feel of it..has ALWAYS grossed me out..but i have decided to try the pancakes with oatmeal, eggwhites and the dreaded cottage cheese...and it was really great...i did a little bit of low-fat, low-sugar jam...this is a great option...thanks everyone..

one_sweetchick

Here's a recipe I made up yesterday...probably not really original but Jim liked it for breakfast!

Skillet breakfast (no measurements - just use whatever portion sizes you generally use).

Nuke a potato (white or russet - not sweet) and then chop into 1/2 inch chunks (include the skin).

Spray nonstick skillet with Butter Pam and saute some chopped onions, perhaps some chopped bell pepper, sliced mushrooms. Add the potatoes and cook until brown (I seasoned them at this point with some Spike and freshly ground pepper).

Now get some eggwhites (throw in a whole egg if you do that normally) whip with a fork a bit, then spray the potato/veggie mix with some Pam again. Pour the eggwhites over all and let cook (you can either 'scramble' them or kind of lift the bottom up with your egg turner, letting the uncooked egg run under everything so it cooks up evenly). OPTIONAL - add a tablespoon or two of non-fat shredded cheddar cheese for flavoring on top, then cover, turn the heat down and let simmer until the cheese is melted.

Jim really enjoyed this! Here are some variations you can try adding:

Fresh baby spinach
Chopped water chestnuts (for crunchiness)
Chopped green chiles
Reduce the eggs and add browned ground turkey breast

Kind of a nice weekend breakfast, eh?