Shrink Yourself

Shrink Yourself : Break free from emotional eating forever! by Roger Gould MD is very enlightening.  Gould uses his years of working with overweight patients to discover why we overeat and how to put the brakes on.  I think it can be summed up as we overeat when feeling powerless.  Maybe we feel powerless over finances or work or a relationship.  But guess what? The overeating trance is not a fix for our feelings.  If we can create a pause between the feelings and the overeating we can choose to do something different.  We can instead do something to increase our power. Allow yourself to feel the feelings. I highly recommend this book.

Sausage Bean and Rice Soup

This is delicious!  But don't dump the rice in at the beginning if you detest mushy rice.

Sausage, Bean and Rice Soup


9 oz. chicken asiagno spinach sausage
¼ c. diced onion
2/3 c. sliced celery
½ c. green pepper chopped
15 oz canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
14.5 oz canned, diced tomatoes, undrained
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp black pepper
2 (14 oz) cans FF chicken broth
3 c. water
6 oz Uncle Ben’s wild rice

Slice sausage and brown in skillet with onion. In 5 quart slow cooker, add cooked sausage and onion, celery, green pepper, beans, tomatoes, thyme, pepper, broth and water. For best results (less mushy rice) add rice 30 minutes to 1 hour before end of cooking time. Cook on high 4 hours.

Yield: 6 servings. Per serving (about 1 ½ cups)= 239 Calories; 3g Fat (9.4% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 38g Carbohydrate; 6g Dietary Fiber; 30mg Cholesterol; 1323mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 Lean Meat; 1 Vegetable; 1/2 Fat.

Egg and Sausage Puff

A delicious weekend breakfast that cooks while you're exercising and showering.

Egg and Sausage Puff


8 oz. reduced fat pork sausage
2 eggs
2 egg whites
1 c. reduced fat Bisquick
½ c. reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese
¾ c. skim milk
¼ tsp dry mustard
Black pepper

Brown sausage in nonstick skillet; drain well. Spray 2 quart slow cooker with cooking spray. In medium bowl, combine eggs, egg whites, Bisquick, cheese, milk, mustard powder, black pepper and cooked sausage. Pour into slow cooker. Cook on high 1 hour then turn to low and cook 1 to 1 ½ more hours, until center is set.

Yield: 5 servings. Per serving (2/3 cup)= 279 Calories; 14g Fat (46.0% calories from fat); 17g Protein; 20g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 116mg Cholesterol; 738mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 0 Non-Fat Milk; 1/2 Fat.

spanish rice

This is a tasty mexican dinner.  I served it with avocado.  Yum!  It was handy to have something cooking at home while i was running errands.  No need to buy fast food, I had food ready at home!

Spanish Rice

12 oz. ground beef, 96/4
2 TB diced onion
1 c. instant brown rice
2 TB taco seasoning
14.5 oz canned roasted tomatoes, diced
½ c. diced bell pepper
½ c. water


Brown ground beef and diced onion. Add ground beef to 2 quart slow cooker. Add brown rice and taco seasoning. Add tomatoes, undrained and add bell pepper and water. Cook on low 2-3 hours.

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving (about 1 ¼ c.)= 249 Calories; 3g Fat (11.4% calories from fat); 22g Protein; 35g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 49mg Cholesterol; 296mg Sodium. Exchanges: 2 Grain(Starch); 1 Vegetable; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

Mexican Pot Roast

Tasty!  I think it would be good alone, in tortillas or on a salad.

Mexican Pot Roast

3 lb chuck roast
1 ½ c. chunky salsa
1 TB taco seasoning
1 c. water

Place roast in 3 quart slow cooker. Top with salsa and taco seasoning. Pour water into bottom of crock. Cook on low 8-10 hours.

Yield: 10 servings. Per serving= 199 Calories; 7g Fat (31.6% calories from fat); 30g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 79mg Cholesterol; 247mg Sodium. Exchanges: 4 Lean Meat; 1/2 Vegetable.

Buffalo chicken Sandwiches

This was yummy!  I love wing sauce!  I have many recipes containing wing sauce.  It just has such a fun kick! You could certainly use chicken breasts instead of thighs, but I got thighs really cheap at Sam's Club and I like thighs best.

Buffalo Chicken Sandwiches

1 lb chicken thighs, boneless, skinless
1/3 c. wing sauce
1/3 cup fat free blue cheese salad dressing
1/3 cup cream cheese, WW whipped RF

Place chicken in 2 quart slow cooker. Top with cream cheese. Pour wing sauce and dressing over chicken. Cook on high 2 hours. Shred chicken and serve on buns.

Yield: 4 servings. Per serving(not including buns)= 204 Calories; 9g Fat (39.8% calories from fat); 21g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 91mg Cholesterol; 960mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1/2 Other Carbohydrates.

3 Hour Diet review

I recently read The 3-Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise.  I think he's basically saying the same thing as most other diet books out right now--eat a balanced diet with few processed carbs. BUT he added "eat something every three hours." Why do these books always contain recipes that don't look like anything I would ever cook?