Cream Puff Tree

I hope your thanksgiving was all things wonderful. My day was full of happiness and family. I spent it with my two sisters Olga and Eva, along with my brother Jerry. The food was delicious and in abundance. Olga's daughter, Erika, was there with her kids and that was really nice. After we ate we hiked Thunderbird Mountain at the Tapatio Cliffs (We hiked to burn the calories so that we could eat dessert. Wink).

Here is a a picture of the cream puff tree that I made. The flower is a true turquoise color although in the picture it looks almost royal blue. With the second picture you can see how it looks when it is being built. It's fun and everyone stopped talking and went on about the tree with all the "Ooh" and "Aah". I knew it was a real hit went someone said they want these at their anniversary dinner.

Oh! Every cream puff was so light and tasted so good I couldn't believe how many I ate in such a short time. Where did I put that cabbage diet recipe? I think I need to do something about losing these pounds, again.

Have fun and enjoy the winter holidays.

XOX

Blessings,

"Sweet" Brown Rice

Day Seven on the Cabbage Soup Diet

(Oops. Hey, what is going on with my camera phone? It is blurry.)

I cannot believe it, this week has flown by so fast. I made it! This diet calls for a lot of eating. It feels as if I am stuffing myself each day but I am losing weight and I am losing inches. A total of seven pounds lost  and thinner by 2 1/4 inches on my waist.

Brown rice and real juice is on today's menu. If I am going to have brown rice for breakfast I want it to be sweetened and I want it to taste good. I searched for a sugar replacement and found that I could add coconut milk. It is slightly sweet and because it is made from coconut then it is milk and fruit juice at the same time, (I can have as much as I want). I was surprised that it taste so good and sweet; it does not leave me with that milkish-coated feeling in my stomach. I can also add vanilla and cinnamon to my sweet rice because both are spices or flavors and not really considered food.

Well, we are down to final day. Folks, I will post the weight and inches lost in this post so you won't have to wait any longer to know if this really works.

Breakfast: A glass of coconut milk.

Cooked brown rice, add coconut milk, vanilla and a pinch of cinnamon. Now, here is a little something I am going to add as a treat, almond butter. But just very little of the butter is all I need. (No, the diet does not mention nuts, but I always eat almonds.)

Lunch: I had a bowl of soup and added the brown rice.
And a glass of coconut milk.

Dinner: Bowl of soup with Tapatio sauce.

We made it through the whole week and I found the skinnier side of  me!

But, the best part of it all was sharing my journey with you.

Thank you for visiting me each day.
Mmwah!
And that, my friend, came from a "I lost seven pounds" woman.

XOX

Blessings,

There's Something Fishy Going On Around Here

Day Six on the Cabbage SoupDiet

Now, the diet says you can eat, "two or three steaks", Uh, no thank you. I will be having salmon for dinner tonight. (I am glad switching items is okay) So, fish it is! Oh, and Kristen makes the best salmon. I will share the recipe with you. (And all because I love you, dear.) I can eat a salad with dinner, too.

Breakfast: Hot cup of broth.

Lunch: 1 C. soup and crushed chilies.

Dinner: Salmon with ginger root, cilantro, lemon slice and cooked in orange juice.

Tossed salad.

This is Kristen's salmon recipe.

She places the salmon on top of sliced lemons, then adds grated ginger, garlic, adds a sprig of cilantro on each filet,and cooks it in orange juice for around ten minutes. Doesn't it look great? She knows how much I enjoy this dish. Yumm!

Maestro, Drumm roll please.
I lost 2 pounds but I have lost 1 1/4 inches on my waist! Woohoo!

Oh, things are looking so much better, since, you stopped by for a visit.

XOX

Blessings,

Beefy Tomato Stroganof

Day Five on the Cabbage Soup Diet

This is when I can add ten-twenty ounces of meat into my diet, it's a good thing I set aside the meat from day one when I made the soup. I should eat six tomatoes (That is a lot of tomatoes for one person!)
I also need to drink a lot of water on this day. There is a whole lot of eating in this diet. I did not eat the tomatoes and very little bit of meat. I cannot do more without feeling stuffed.

I prepared my day the night before. I cleaned out four medium size tomato for the bowls and placed them in the fridge. I made the tomato juice for the morning. (Christopher helped me with the picture)

Breakfast: 1 C. hot broth and

1 glass of fresh tomato juice:
I used the inside of the tomatoes for my juice, bottled water, and freshly squeezed lemon.

Lunch: Bowl C.S., diced tomato and Tapatio sauce.

Dinner: Beef Stroganof  with Tomato Bowl. (I should have taken a picture after I cut into the tomato and let the creamy sauce run over the spinach leaves.)

Saute meat with onions add some of the broth from the soup. Lower the heat and add plain Greek yogurt (Just cook it long enough to heat up the yogurt and still look creamy. Otherwise it will look curdled). No flour can be used to thicken the sauce but that's okay, because the broth is what I am using for the dressing on the spinach once I cut into the tomato.

Fill the tomato bowl with the stroganof.  Serve on a bed of spinach.

Snack: None. I was too full to eat a snack.

My sons and I enjoyed the Tomato and Beef Stroganof for dinner. (Kristen is vegetarian). I was not able to eat all the tomatoes called for but I had plenty.

I weighed myself this morning lost one pound. But I am not discouraged, I am going to finish the seven days through because I have lost another 1/4 inch. Yay!!

Your visit made my day!

XOX

Blessings,

Fruit and Cottage Cheese Lettuce Wrap

Day Four on the Cabbage Soup Diet

Okay, I weighed myself and lost two pounds, I lost 1/2 inch on my waist and my shoes fit loosely. I was worried since I did not see much progress on the scale earlier (I had only lost one pound before) although my clothes started fitting more comfortably. I am encouraged to continue this journey of finding the lighter side of me.

This is a "High Potassium" day. Yay! I have waited for this day to eat all the fruit I want to eat, Yay!!!

The program says I can eat up to eight bananas but I used other fruits instead and I replaced the skim milk with cottage cheese, cheese and yogurt. To view which other fruits are high in potassium go to Moms Who Think.

Breakfast: 1 Lettuce wrap.

Green leaf lettuce, low fat cottage cheese, cubed orange, sliced strawberries, with shredded cheese.
(It was very good but I should have used iceberg lettuce)
One cup of coffee broth.

Lunch: 1 1/2 C. of mixed fruit mixed with low fat plain Greek yogurt.

Kiwi, blueberries, strawberries, apple, and orange.

Dinner: Cabbage soup topped with shredded cheese and crushed red chilies.

Snack: 2 string cheese packages.

The potassium content in one banana has 422 mg. Times that by the allowed number of bananas, it comes to 3376 mg. As I stated above, I used other fruit instead: 1 C/ blueberries, two large oranges cubed, eight strawberries sliced, two kiwi sliced, 1/2 medium size Gala apple, and one lettuce leaf. Even with all this, I only achieved a potassium intake of 1285 mg. But it was very filling and satisfying.

I was pleased to see I lost two pounds. I am really enjoying the morning cup of the heated broth and am thinking of taking extra to work with me.

This was such a good day. Thank you for stopping by for a visit.

XOX

Blessings,

Steamy Potatoes

Day Two

I know I will have to be creative to enjoy my meals. So, I will try a few things differently than what might be on the diet. I might replace one item for another or prepare it differently for the sake of something more appealing. For instance, The recipe says you can eat one baked potato, but how about mashing the potato or broth and potato, instead. On the first day I cooked the soup with potatoes and meat, I will eat the cooked potatoes tonight instead of a baked potato.

Breakfast: Cabbage soup smoothie.

I read on the Cabbage Soup Diet site for breakfast you can blend the soup as a juice/smoothie type drink.

I added raw celery and I am counting this as my first bowl of soup of the day. (All I will say is that it was different. Not bad, but different.)

Lunch: Cabbage soup.

Dinner: Cubed potato from the soup with real butter, pepper, and a little bit of the broth. This is flavorful because it was cooked with seasonings and with the butter, Mmm, so good!!

Snack: 7 Almonds

I have been exercising with weights and tummy crunches. I know many people say not to use weights in dieting because it builds muscle, but I always use weights because I want to build muscle; I am getting older and need stronger bones and muscle. If I lose inches then I know it is working. I am looking for a thinner me.

Thank you for sharing my journey on the Cabbage Diet.

XOX

Blessings,

Asian Roasted Cabbage

Day Three of the Cabbage Soup Diet

Today, I can eat all fruits or vegetables. Since, I am eating cabbage anyway, why not roasted cabbage with lemon and ginger? 哈利路亞 (That means "Hallelujah" in Mandarin) 

Breakfast: (1) Apple slices with shredded carrot.

One coffee mug of hot broth ( I count this as one cup of soup).

(Pretend it is a cup of coffee. Hmm, this is good).

Lunch: Cabbage soup with Tapatio sauce

Dinner: Broiled cabbage

Serves two.

Ingredients:
Half a cabbage
2 T. Lemon juice
1 tsp. minced ginger
Sea salt and pepper (to taste)
Black roasted sesame seeds

Cut cut into strips. Set aside.
Mix the lemon, ginger, salt, pepper together. Add the cabbage and mix well. Pour into a roasting dish then sprinkle the top with black roasted sesame seeds (I did a light sprinkle but I should have used more).

Broil in oven for 12 minutes. Take out of the oven, turn cabbage over in the dish, and roast for another eight minutes.


Serve with sweet chili sauce.


Snack: I did not have any; I was not hungry.

I lost 1/4 inch on my waist and lost one pound! Hallelujah!! I am on this journey to find the skinny me. ;)

That was so good! So glad I can share the recipe with you. Enjoy!

XOX

Blessings,

My Journey on the Cabbage Soup Diet

My Version of the Cabbage Soup Diet.

I have been wanting to go on the Cabbage Soup diet for quite some time and as we are entering cooler weather, what a perfect time to begin. You can find the recipe at www.cabbage-soup-diet.com.

I added meat and potatoes to the soup for the rest of my family, I do not think that will affect the diet as long as I am not eating it today. Before putting the soup away, I separated the meat and the potatoes from the soup in separate containers and will save them for later in the diet. The program says to eat 2-3 bowls of soup a day. On this diet I will need to drink plenty of water. Well, here goes.

Day One

I decided I would start my day with a detox juice and have the soup for dinner.

Breakfast: Juice

I used 1 bunch of cilantro, lemon with peel, a 1/2 tsp. Brewer's yeast, 1 bottled water, and ten almonds in a blender. It made plenty that I had the rest for lunch.

Lunch:

Cilantro juice

I am not supposed to have meat nor dairy on this day but I ate two paper-thin slices of elk sausage (Bro. Smith's elk sausage, it really is the best elk sausage I have ever tasted!) with 1/2 C. low fat cottage cheese.

Okay, now I am going to start.

Dinner: Cabbage soup with  crushed dried chilies for flavor.
(The picture of the soup was taken on day four; that is why it had cheese)

Enjoy the cooler weather with a bowl of soup and stay warm.

XOX

Blessings,