Low Carb Lasagna Roll Ups - Today's Recipe - January 29, 2013

Hey! Sorry it's been super long. I know I said I'd post soon, but the kids got sick (yet again - eldest with strep and the youngest just had his month post op follow up from ear tube insertion). But you don't want to hear about our problems, you came for the tasty recipe, right?

I would! Cause these lasagna roll ups are awesome...at least Aaron thinks they are!

Heather's Low Carb Lasagna Rolls Ups


Serves 4-6 (depends on the # of rolls you make)

1/2 box of Dreamfields Lasagna Noodles (these are really good, and only 5 digestible carbs!)
1 lb extra lean ground beef (you can sub ground turkey, or even make it vegetarian with cheese and spinach)
1 bottle of spaghetti sauce (your choice, or homemade, which I sometimes make if I have time)
mozzarella cheese (I usually use about a tablespoon per roll, and I make about 8-10 rolls)

Brown and drain the beef, adding salt and pepper to taste. I also add some garlic powder and onion powder if I use bottled pasta sauce. If I make homemade, I usually put in a few cloves of garlic. No vampires welcome here....especially if they sparkle.

Add in the sauce and any spices you want to add (the amount of calories they add are pretty negligible in my opinion). Heat through and set aside.

Boil salted water and add the lasagna noodles. Boil until al dente (or softer if you prefer). Drain and let cool until they are easily handled. When they are cool enough, lay one noodle out on a clean plate. I use my cutting board. Spoon sauce into the center of the roll and top with cheese. Take one end and roll up. Place in a 9x13 pan (I have a heavy Pyrex casserole dish for this). Top with the sauce that oozes out when you roll the noodle up - because it WILL ooze out. I just spoon it up and place the sauce on the top of the rolled noodle. Do this for all the noodles, making room as best you can. I end up cramming them in pretty good. Put any leftover sauce on the top of the noodles and sprinkle some cheese on top. How much is entirely up to you. I usually end up with about an ounce or two on top, as well as what's in the rolls.

Bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees until the cheese is all melty and yummy. Let cool slightly, and serve hot.

According to the nutritional database I use most frequently, the recipe (without the added cheese on top, mind you) has the following nutritional content per serving (calculated using lean beef, for 4 people):

Calories: 472
Fat: 17
Protein: 40
Fiber: 5
Carbs: 11

Yes, 11!!! A pasta dish with only 11 carbs! And LASAGNA!!! I love Dreamfields! They also make elbows, penne, angel hair, and spaghetti! SO delicious :)

In fact, I was unable to take any pics because I wasn't planning on doing this post tonight, and the leftovers are packed away, lest they get nibbled on all evening. Aaron is taking some for lunch tomorrow, and I have mine set aside for lunch tomorrow.

I may take a leftovers pic tomorrow and add it on here. What do you all say?

Brief Hiatus is Over!

Greetings everyone! Sorry for the unexplained disappearance, but things have been pretty wild here.

Despite that, we are still committed to posting up recipes, and talking about our progress.

I have been trying to get my skin removal surgery dealt with, and I have an appointment at my surgeon's office on the 15th to discuss whether or not I'm ready for that. I'd like to lose another 12 pounds, but I don't know if I can. My body seems to be pretty stable right now (I've pretty much plateaued between 160 to 165). I've had things get stuck a lot lately, too, but that's my fault, not the band or the fill. I may get another fill to keep me from being able to eat more because I think my stomach pouch has stretched somewhat. It gets on my nerves. Plus there has been more junk food than usual here.

But those are just excuses.

I've ALSO....stopped...doing Zumba. My instructor had to stop teaching, and while I have my certification, I don't have the insurance yet. That's something that I'm also saving for. Once I get my insurance, I can start teaching, which will make me feel a lot better, because I feel like an idiot doing it at home...unless I'm totally alone, and then I prefer to do things that I can't do with the kids home...like nap!

But, again - just excuses.

They say that you're ready to make a change when you run out of excuses. We've both seen how stupid our excuses have been and are ready to put 110% back into this. Otherwise, why should we have gone through all the pain, work, and sweat to get where we are now?

So be expecting a weekly post from us from now on.

I have a couple of new smoothie recipes to toss out there, and Aaron has several updated recipes, including an experimental cookie!

Product Review - WonderSlim Spicy Cheese and Pasta and Isopure Zero Carb Protein Drink

Good morning, everyone! We here at the Thompson household have gone through most of the box that we received from Bariatric Choice and there really hasn't been anything that we didn't really like, so far. We also received a package from Nature's Best (Isopure). Aaron LOVES their Zero Carb drinks. I haven't been super impressed with them.

Until now.

This is Isopure's Pineapple Orange Banana Zero Carb Protein Drink. I can honestly say, this is one that I really liked. I think the Grape one tastes like medicine, but that's just me. Grape Frost is Aaron's favorite flavor. I didn't care for (and still don't care for) the dry mouth that follows the drink, but for 160 calories, ZERO carbs, and FORTY grams of protein in one bottle...well, I think I'll take a little dry mouth for that! I still have my second one to drink - they sent a Mango Peach bottle as well (Aaron claimed the Alpine Punch and the Blue Raspberry for himself, mainly because he hates Peach!), so I may drink that one tonight.

I give it 4 stars - it would have been 3 for the dry mouth, but I just can't get over how much protein is in there!

My second review is for:

I made this for lunch one afternoon with a veggie wrap (with a low carb veggie wrap that I'll post up soon - along with a recipe for one of my favorite wraps). It had good flavor, and cooked very quickly. The only downside to this product is most likely an error on my part - anytime you make anything like this in your microwave, you have to be like a vulture, watching it constantly to make sure that there is still enough water in there, and it's not boiling over. I did not do that. So when I got it out, it was a little drier than I thought it should be. Other than that, it makes about a 1/2 cup and that's a good serving size for a side, not necessarily an entree, though. It tasted pretty good, and I would recommend it if you like stuff like Hamburger Helper. 

3 out of 4 stars (rather small portion size, but good for a side instead of the entree)

Calories: 130, protein: 12g, carbs: 17g.  Pretty good on the stats, in my opinion.

So that's the review for the day. Next review will most likely be WonderSlim's Vegetable Cheese Omelet (Loved it!)

Product Review - Wonderslim Cookies and Snack Bars!

I always wondered how blogs got people to send them things for review. I thought that companies found the blogs themselves and offered the products for review. Perhaps a lot of them do that, I don't know. What I did was bite the bullet (and the embarrassment I felt with it) and ASKED.

Aaron and I receive a catalog from a company called Bariatric Choice (click their name to go to their website - cause it's awesome!) They offer 12 week plans, 8 week plans 4 week plans, and 2 week plans for dieters, kind of like Nutrisystem or MediFast. Now I've never tried anything from NS or MF, so I don't know about price comparisons. Perhaps I'll do some poking around on their respective sites and put in a comparison later.

Anyway, I saw in their catalog (I love getting catalogs in the mail *lol*) that they have a live chat customer service option. I said, "what the hell" and popped in for a chat with a very nice lady, whom I will refer to as "M." I told her about Aaron and I, our story, and that we run a blog. I asked if the company would consider sending samples to us for review to be posted on the blog. I was totally expecting a "no" because we're not a super big blog.

She said yes.

YES?

YES!!!!!

Well, that made me feel like a kid at Christmas time. I always love getting packages in the mail. It cheers me up, even if it's not a package with fun stuff (I'm even happy when I get samples of detergent, even though I don't use it! I'm a simple gal, I guess.)

Yesterday, I was very nervous. Auditioning for a musical will do that to you every time. We stopped at the post office to get the mail, and we had a HUGE package. I mean HUGE. I took it out to the van, and Aaron and I opened it...and it was STUFFED full of lots of goodies!

Yeah, that's the stuff they sent! They are totally awesome!

So, of course, we couldn't WAIT to dig into the cornucopia of deliciousness, so Aaron pulled out a cookie, and I snagged a snack bar:

Aaron's Selection

Aaron LOVES cookies. His mom makes some really good ones, but we can't eat them anymore. Unfortunately for us, they are way too sugary (but excellent to share and for special occasions. I'm sure we'll be splitting one for the holidays, and we plan on doing a blog post of the recipe and our lower sugar version eventually.) So when he bit into this cookie, it was soft, chewy, and very yummy. He said that they taste like the cookies you get in a two pack at the front of the grocery store (you know, when you're in line to check out and you get bombarded with the impulse buys). He loves those and thought he had to give them up. In fact, he hadn't had one in several months, I think since before his surgery. He was driving when he started eating the cookie, and he just smiled and his eyes got really wide. He told me flatly, "We are SO buying a few boxes of those! They are SO good! These cookies he gives 4 out of 4 stars :) They have 165 calories, 15 g of protein, 6 g of fat, and 14 net carbs. He highly recommends them! 

My Selection

I adore cinnamon raisin oatmeal cookies. I used to hate them as a kid. I always felt like if it didn't have chocolate that it wasn't worth my time.  As I grew older, my tastes changed, and I now LOVE anything cinnamon, raisin, or oatmeal (with the exception of cinnamon liquor - I made myself really REALLY sick on that stuff when I turned 21). Anyway, this bar was the thing I wanted to try first. At first bite, it was SO creamy and sweet, it could have easily been a frosted cookie. It was chewy, and satisfying. I honestly felt like I could have given this bar to ANYONE and they would have never known it was a protein snack bar. It was THAT good! I give it 4 out of 4 stars, and I have already added a box of these to my shopping list for our next payday. They have 150 calories, 10 g protein, 4.5 g of fat, and 16 net carbs. It's definitely a buy for me!

Well, that's it for the day! We've eaten more things than this (I had a shake last night, another bar this morning, and one more last night). I'm going to pack some to take with us, and I'll try to put in a review or two tomorrow!

Today's Tip - 9/12/12

Greetings, everyone!

Today's tip is pretty simple and self-explanatory:

Find an exercise or physical activity that you like and DO IT! No excuses, please.

For Aaron that means walking and lifting weights. He's starting to train with a friend of his from high school. I am glad because he needs to get away from the house for an hour or so every few days. Everyone needs some personal time! He gets his walking in during his lunch hour at work, and he usually walks 2 to 3 miles every day.

For me, it's Zumba. I love it so much that I will be taking the certification class in October (one month from tomorrow, actually!). I hope to have class in Delbarton, but I am willing to teach here in Williamson, over at Logan, or even at your own home - if you have room. I'm working out on how much to charge for personal sessions, but I promise it won't break the bank! Every time (or almost every time) that I get ready to go, I have to fight to get out the door. Once I'm there, I push myself as hard as I can for the majority of the class. I'm going to have to scale that back and do more moderate work so I don't burn through all my energy in the first 30 minutes!

If I don't get to go to class (which as of late has been the situation due to unfortunate circumstances), I try to do some work here at home. I don't always get to (because I feel awkward doing it at home by myself for some reason), but I try to do something. Yesterday it was strength training. Monday was a 2 mile run/jog/walk. I walked 2 miles in 30 minutes, which is my best so far (last time it was almost an hour). Sometimes, I dance through a Zumba song or two while I'm cooking dinner!

ANY movement is better than none! If you're just starting out, don't get discouraged. If you do Zumba and don't know the moves, just dance! If you're working the weights and can only use 1 lb ones, then use them! Don't feel bad because you aren't as skilled or as fit as the person beside you. They don't walk your path and you don't walk theirs. Do things to the best of your ability!

Well, that's Today's Tip! Be expecting some product reviews in the near future, as well as a few new recipes this week!

Today's Recipe: Pumpkin Spice Latte Protein Drink

I apologize for being absent for the last little bit. I have been having issues with weight regain (post vacation, slacking on exercise, etc). I was 159 lbs at the end of July, and I've gotten up to 166. I am not a happy WLS camper, and I called my doctor's office today to make an appointment for next week. I'm hoping that it's a muscle gain (because I've pushed myself quite a bit at Zumba the last few times I've been), but I can't count on that.

I came to a big realization today: I just love food. I love to eat. I honestly do. I can't apologize for that because we all NEED food to live. We don't eat, we don't live. What I need to learn to focus on again is making healthier choices than I had been making in the past, and if I gain back a little from that, I need to forgive myself and move on, making healthy choices, and engaging in good movement. A little gain (even a nearly 10 lb gain) is nothing to quit over, not when I've come so far.

Anyway, that's why I've not been here lately. On with the recipe!

Yesterday, I finally got to use the Keurig that my parents loaned me, and I was browsing through my k-cup choices. Nothing really appealed to me, and then I saw it:

Pumpkin Spice coffee

Yum!

So I popped it in the Keurig, and made a rather strong cup. I used half of the cup's contents, and added unsweetened vanilla almond milk, some liquid stevia, and a dash of pumpkin pie spice. I let it cool just a bit, and I put in some Syntrax Vanilla Bean Torte protein powder. I mixed it all in my shaker (but note that you get a better blend in an actual blender!). I then poured it back into my coffee cup, and enjoyed thoroughly!

When I make it again, I'll put up a pic.

Today's Recipe - Healthy Macaroni and Cheese

Yes, you read that correctly - healthy mac and cheese! Aaron tells me that it tastes JUST like Hamburger Helper, but it's homemade, and delicious. Now, granted, it uses Velveeta (or the cheap off label brand), but it's still delicious

As evidenced by the photo - it is awesome!

It's really simple to make, as well. 

Heather's Turkey Mac and Cheese

Serves 4-6

Calories: 379 (for 1/6th)

Carbs: 11

Fat: 11

Protein: 39

Fiber: 4

Ingredients: 

1/2 a box of Dreamfields Elbow Macaroni (has only 5 digestible carbs!)

1 lb ground turkey (you can omit this for a meatless version, we just like the turkey at the moment)

8 oz easy melt cheese (such as Velveeta)

1 cup skim milk (or unsweetened almond milk)

3 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes (adds a really good, cheesy flavor)

3 Tbsp Parmesan cheese (to top the whole delicious mess)

For the sauce:

Combine the milk, cheese, and nutritional flakes (as well as some salt and pepper to taste, and any other yummy herbs you want to add in), in a saucepan. Stir frequently until melted and well incorporated.

I could drink this whole pan full! It's that yummy!

While the sauce is cooking, boil water, and add elbow mac. Cook according to directions on package.

Brown the turkey in a pan, and drain. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Pour some of the sauce over the turkey, stir to coat, and add to the baking dish. When the pasta is done to your preferred degree, drain and rinse. Add the pasta to the baking dish, and pour the remaining sauce over. Stir gently, but well. Top with Parmesan cheese and bake until the Parmesan is melted (or until you can't wait any longer!)

I hope you try it and like it! I make it at least twice a month.

Enjoy!