Never Surrender, Never Say Die

And so it goes,

Been a long while since I posted on here. It partially accounts for the limited success I have had over the past several months. I finally hit a low point and have decided to quit going to the doctors and health educators and classes. There's only so much a man can take of the incessant whining and bitching. I've heard it all before and I'm tired of hearing it. I'm striking out on my own and this is the only form of accountability I'll have. This blog will be my record keeper. Starting today, I'm losing weight.

HMR Recipes - Oatmeal Cookie Dough

I heard some mention of this in a couple of classes but never got specific recipes. I made this one up.

1 packet HMR cereal
2 packets HMR 70+
1/2 Tbsp cinnamon (apple pie spice)
1 tsp Splenda brown sugar
1/4 - 3/4 cups water

Combine dry ingredients with whisk. Add water and mix. Add more water to achieve desired consistency.

This recipe is REALLY good. I have had it every night for the past week. Great way to get 3 meal replacements. I have not tried this yet with any other HMR shakes. the HMR 70+ makes it a true cookie dough like consistency. I'm considering actually making cookies out of this.

HMR Recipes - Chicken Soup Sauce

I think I've discovered one of the best things ever. HMR Chicken Soup Sauce!

1 packet HMR chicken soup
hot water

Mix chicken soup and only a small amount of water (if I had to guess, maybe a quarter of cup or less). Use just enough water to make the 'soup' a sauce like consistency. The sauce will thicken as it cools.

You can add it to ANYTHING where you are looking for a creamy sauce like texture. Be sure to taste the sauce before you add it to anything to get a feel for the salt level, chickeny flavor. Think of it as gravy.

I added to a chicken pasta parmigiana entree and it was just like macaroni and cheese! It was utterly amazing. I'm going to try this with other entrees (lasagna, savory chicken, five bean, risotto) and when I can start eating vegetables I will use it regularly. I wonder how this will affect my salt intake?

HMR Recipes - Coffee and Shake

I have heard this one related in class often, just never tried it. Didn't need to, I'm not a coffee drinker. When I do drink coffe, I load it up with sugar, milk, cream, coffee mate hazel-machada-frenchy-rasp-irish cream. But yesterday I was really dragging my feet after having spent the night NOT sleeping. By 2pm I was a zombie (mmm brains). So I poured some coffee and added a shake. It wasn't bad at all. In fact I like it so much, I decided to do it again today. So even though it is simple, it is being added to the recipes.

Coffee and Cream
HMR 100 shake (vanilla (latte?))
brewed Coffee

mix the shake, add to coffee to taste. enjoy

I found that using less water to make a thicker shake intensifies the shake (vanilla) flavor and acts more like a creamer.

Mocha
Another Coffee + Shake recipe is the mocha!

HMR 100 Shake (chocolate)
Instant Coffee (for shame!)

combine the shake and 1-2 tbsp of instant coffee (to taste).
add water, mix throughly. heat or enjoy cold

I hate instant coffee, but the intense coffee flavor helps the shake taste better. It works best with chocolate shakes, not so good with vanilla. I think the chocolate does a better job of masking the instant in instant coffee. Likewise, I don't think the chocolate shake goes well with the first recipe.

HMR Recipes - Chicken Soup

There are many ways to dress up the otherwise bland HMR chicken soup. My favorites are as follows:

Chicken Soup
1 cube chicken bullion
1 packet HMR chicken soup
hot water

that's it... melt the bullion cube in the hot water (typically 1.5 - 2 cups, depending on your taste and how salty and thick you like your soup). The Chicken bllion adds a wonderful salty chicken soupy flavor that the hmr chicken soup alone can't match.

If you want something a little spicy or you can't have salt, try using Salsa. Again, add as much or as little as you want and depending on the Salsa and your tolerance for spicy.

I have started experimenting with different spices and flavoring packets. I tried taco seasoning once, not so good. I'm going to try chicken taco seasoning next time to see if it works any better. I have also tried it with ranch dressing (powder only). It was ok, but nothing special. It did thicken it up a bit though which was nice. The packet spices tend to add about 10 - 15 calories but be sure to read labels carefully. Some packet spices have as much as 80 calories per serving (1tsp) DRY!

HMR Recipes - HMR Muffins

I will be posting my favorite HMR recipes. The recipes will be for shakes, soups, and cereal for now. When I transition to entrees and vegetables, I will start posting recipes for those items. HMR recipes can be found all over the internet. The HMR site has a great section for recipes. I picked up this recipe in class last week. I tried it out and modified it some. it is great if you are looking for something you can chew when you get tired of drinking all your meal replacements:

HMR muffins: total calories: ~930 (8 muffins = 116.25/muffin, 6 muffins = 155/muffin)
3 packets HMR cereal
3 packets HMR 70 vanilla shakes
1 cup splenda (the splenda used for baking)
1 tbsp cinnamon (sub. pumpkin pie spice or apple pie spice)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup water

Mix dry ingredients gently. Mix in liquids, combine until you have a thick 'batter.' Spray cupcake pan with Pam or other non-calorie, non-stick cooking spray. fill eight cups in the pan, 2/3's full. Bake at 375 for 15-30 minutes or until you can run a knife through and it comes out clean.

The muffins are quite dense and chewy, though may not have that filling feeling you get from shakes. When eaten with shakes it makes a great way to get a double meal replacement.

The original recipe calls for the baking to be done in a loaf pan for 45-60 minutes. I tried this and it produces a flat dense loafy thing. The cupcake pan did a better job giving it a more bready texture and it cooked faster. I'm going to try adding a pinch of baking powder to see if I can get it to rise more, giving it even more bready texture. I miss bread.