Coleslaw

3 cup of shredded coleslaw mix
½ cup of Splenda
1 tsp olive oil
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
Mix ingredients in bowl. *Super easy, right?*

I get my coleslaw mix at Sam’s Club. A big bag is only about $2.00. My preference for the vinegar is Bragg Apple Cider Vinegar. As a rule I eat this right after I make it. It gets kinda soggy if you leave it in the fridge for too long. It is pretty filling and I usually eat about one serving of this each day.

Nutrients…these are approximate

90 calories
10 grams of carbohydrates but with 4 grams of fiber
~5 grams of fat

Coconut Meringue Pillows

6 egg whites*
¾ Splenda
1 tsp vanilla
2 tbls unsweetened dried shredded coconut

Preheat oven to 275⁰

Beat the egg whites in mixer until they are well combined. Slowly add in Splenda and vanilla. I use Mexican vanilla that I get from Penzey’s Spice Shop. Continue beating until stiff peaks form. Scoop about ¼ cup of mixture into each section of mini muffin pan. (I use the ‘non-stick’ kind). Sprinkle with coconut and bake for about 20 minutes until the coconut is toasted and the pillows look like the light, soft color that a perfectly roasted marshmallow has.

There are a lot of variations to this recipe. Sometimes I add cocoa powder and use sugar free chocolate syrup rather than Splenda. You can certainly omit the coconut. My husband detests coconut so I only sprinkle coconut on my pillows. If you have any other ideas, I would love to know how they worked out.

*It is important that absolutely no fat or yolk gets mixed in with the eggs. If that happens then they won’t whip up correctly. I crack the eggs, one at a time, and then empty each egg white into my mixing bowl. I hate it when like the sixth egg cracks wrong and I end up with yolk in the whites and have to start over. In case you are wondering…I give the yolks to the dogs.

Dieting Down

To be honest, I am not even sure what that means. I have spent the last several weeks trying to put on muscle. Now, I am going to spend some time trying to lose fat. It becomes a cycle. I am not starving myself and I am not giving up my cheat meals (more about that later). I am however, cutting back. I am not sure exactly what this will look like for the next six weeks. I haven't 'dieted' in a couple of years. I simply changed how and what I eat. I have maintained the same weight for about 16 months now following my initial weight loss. I am just a little nervous about actually dieting. I do know that it is for a short time and then after that I will just go back to how I normally eat.

This morning, I woke up and my stomach was growling. This is a good thing, I think. Today, is my deplete day. It is a recovery day for my muscles and I will focus on lean protein and eating lots of healthy, lower carb veggies. I am also trying something new today. I am not going to eat right away. I usually eat breakfast at around 8:00 a.m., an hour or so after I get up. This morning I am going to wait til around 11:00 or so. It is something that I heard my trainer mention in one of his seminars.

Tomorrow I will have my cheat meal. Now, my trainer prefers the word 'refeed' because one 'normal' meal a week is part of the program. I do not do a body builder type of refeed though. I have heard all kinds of stories about how body builders eat this 'meal' of high carb processed crap once a week. Okay, I have tried it. But I hated it. I would rather eat one wonderful meal a week that nourishes my soul and just really makes me happy. My favorite place to go for this is Carrabba's Italian Grill. When I go, I eat. I have the bread and an appetizer and dessert although I usually only eat half my entree. I think I will call it a splurge meal. This week I think I will splurge at a wonderful little hamburger place here in town called Crave.

So, 46 more days of working towards fat loss. I'll let you know how it goes.

Stuffed Peppers

5 – 7 green, red, yellow or orange peppers
2 c shredded carrots
1 large onion minced
3 c finely chopped mushroom
3 c finely chopped broccoli
2 eggs
1 ½ c of red pasta sauce
1 tsp thyme
1 tsp powdered garlic
1 tbls onion flakes
2 tsp of Italian seasoning
Salt and pepper to your taste
2 ½ pounds of ground turkey

Heat oven to 350˚.

Clean and cut peppers lengthwise. Remove seeds. Lay out on baking sheet, cup side up.

Mix up everything but the turkey in a very large bowl. Add the turkey and then mix thoroughly being careful not to over handle the turkey. Stuff mixture into peppers and bake for 50 – 60 minutes. If you have extra meat mixture leftover, form into patties and fry in nonstick skillet.