I'm on a roll with recipes, as I continue being determined to have a large recipe file for all of us to access when and where we need them. This bread-less sandwich reminds me of the two years I lived in Providence in the early 80's. My friend managed Baby Watson's and they were famous for their wrap-around veggie sandwiches, which they called "strollers." If you could imagine it in a sandwich, they could put it in a "stroller" for you. They spread a special sauce (mayo, soy, and garlic) on the wrap and then added your choice of protein and all veggies you wanted, they rolled everything up, wrapped it in paper, which you peeled off like a banana. You find these everywhere today, but they're called wraps. This recipe is the same concept, minus the (tortilla or pita) wrap, and this recipe is key friendly.
Italian Sub Roll-Up (recipe below)
I make this kind of sandwich on a regular basis. I often add mustard to slices of bologna, olive loaf, turkey, roast beef, or salami, then I roll it up, and wrap it with lettuce or arugula. I never thought to add veggies and herbs inside - great idea!

This type of wrap goes great with a veggie soup, to help keep the ratio of meat to veggie equal. One of these days I'll make the tomato soup my friend made for me when I was in Holland last spring. She used all fresh ingredients and it was divine. I asked her for the recipe and I wrote it all down, but I haven't made it yet. That soup would be a perfect match for this sandwich. Wow, my list of recipes to make is getting longer and longer.

BTW, I used to roll cold cuts with cheese inside, but today I know better than to do this if I want to reach my goal size. Cheese is a condiment and the way I was eating these roll-ups, I was having far too much cheese.

Italian Sub Roll-Up


Ingredients
  • ham slices
  • capicola ham or prosciutto slices
  • salami slices
  • tomato, sliced thin
  • banana peppers
  • spinach or other lettuce
  • dried oregano
  • olive oil
  • mayo & mustard
  • olives (optional)
  • vinegar (optional)
  • cucumbers (optional)
  • onions (optional)
Directions
  1. Use the ham (or the largest cold-cut) for the outside layer.
  2. Overlap that cold-cut about 1.5 inches, making 2 rows of 4 (as shown in the image below).
  3. Make sure it’s overlapping, then layer your other meats on top.
  4. Squeeze on the mustard and mayo on one half, as this half will be the middle of your roll.
  5. Layer thinly sliced tomato, banana peppers, and spinach over the mayo/mustard.
  6. Add your other favorite "sub" fillers, such as olives, vinegar, cucumbers, onions, etc.
  7. Roll as tight as you can from the filling side first.
  8. Wrap in parchment or wax paper, like a burrito, and off you go. Peel the parchment paper off as if you're peeling a banana.
The making of an Italian Roll-Up
Original recipe and photo source: Health Bent

Wait - I have one more sandwich recipe ...

Red Bell Pepper Sandwich


Another version of this type of sandwich is the red bell pepper sandwich. Take one look at this photo and it's easy enough to figure out how to make it. It would be delicious to roast the peppers first, although they would be messier to eat. Add sliced turkey or any cold cut, hold the cheese, and add splash of olive and vinegar or mayonnaise, perhaps even a few slices of onion or banana peppers.
Red bell pepper sandwich
 Original recipe and photo source: Primal Parent

 
January 09, 2014
During my weight loss journey, I've experience many non-scale victories. Sitting in the movie theater one day and suddenly realizing: I can cross my legs. Boarding an airplane and discovering: I no longer need a seatbelt extension. No longer having to arrive early to a meeting so I can quickly scan the room for the largest chair. My latest  non-scale victory discovery: my body temperature is now in line with the average person. The consequence of being average: I'm cold all the time. Being cold is new to me. I was the one who was alway hot - even in the winter. So, what's an average girl to do when temperatures are in the single digits? Add more layers of clothing and then head for the kitchen to make soup.
Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Being average, it turns out, isn't so bad. In fact, it feels great to be average. I consider myself an average size. Hush little mean girl, I know I'm currently the size others started at, it's still average, so hush. I'm an average procrastinator. I'm an average cook with an average desire to learn to cook even better. I've always been average height. Being average works for me.

Now, what about that soup? I have a couple soups I favor, but hands down-my favorite is pumpkin and sausage soup and a pretty close second is my chicken soup. I made chicken soup this week and it was incredible because I added a new secret ingredient: fresh ginger. When I make it next week, I promise to take notes and photos so I can add it to the blog recipes.

Meanwhile, I found this carrot-parsnip soup that looks perfect for those days when the temperature is a mere single-digit. I'll update this page with my own photos when I make this. I'm thinking I'll spice it up and add shrimp. It definitely needs some protein added or on the side. If you make this soup, please share your feedback for the rest of us!

Carrot-Parsnip Soup with Parsnip Chips


Ingredients
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
  • 2 1/2 cups chopped yellow onion
  • 3 cups coarsely chopped parsnip (about 1 pound)
  • 1/2 cup (1/8-inch-thick) slices parsnip
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 1/2 cups coarsely chopped carrot (about 1 pound)
  • 2 (14-ounce) cans chicken broth 
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt (to me, salt is always optional)
  • 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
Instructions
  1. Heat 1 teaspoon oil in a Dutch oven (or pan) over medium heat. 
  2. Add the onion and cook 10 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. 
  3. Add chopped parsnip, water, carrot, and broth; bring to a boil. 
  4. Reduce heat, and simmer 50 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 
  5. Remove from heat; let stand 5 minutes. 
  6. Place half of carrot mixture in a blender; process until smooth. 
  7. Pour pureed carrot mixture in a large bowl.
  8. Repeat procedure with remaining carrot mixture. 
  9. Stir in salt and pepper. 
  10. Heat remaining 5 teaspoons oil in a small saucepan over medium-high heat. 
  11. Add parsnip slices; cook 5 minutes or until lightly browned, turning occasionally. 
  12. Drain on paper towels. 
  13. Sprinkle parsnip chips and chives over soup. 
Note: Stir in more water or broth if you prefer a thinner consistency.
Recipe and photo source: MyRecipes.com


January 08, 2014
Thank you Lynn for sharing this Jambalaya recipe with us - it looks like a great one to try in this new year!
Jambalaya
Ingredients
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1 large onion, diced
  • 2 andouille sausage, halved lengthwise and cut into 1/4-inch half-moons
  • 6 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 (14 ounce) can crushed tomatoes
  • 3 green bell peppers, seeded and diced
  • 2 zucchinis, diced
  • 2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
  • 1 teaspoon hot sauce, or to taste
  • 1 cup chicken broth
  • 1 pound chicken breast, cooked, cooled, and chopped
  • 1 pound cooked, peeled, and deveined shrimp
Directions
  1. Heat olive oil and butter in a large saucepan over medium heat.
  2. Add the onion and andouille sausage and cook and stir until the onion starts to brown, about 10 minutes.
  3. Stir in garlic and cook until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
  4. Mix in crushed tomatoes, green bell peppers, zucchinis, Cajun seasoning, hot sauce, and chicken broth.
  5. Bring mixture to a boil, reduce to a simmer, and cook uncovered until the liquid cooks off and the mixture is thick, about 15 minutes.
  6. Stir in chicken and shrimp and simmer until heated through, 1 to 2 minutes.
Recipe and photo source: Allrecipes.com
January 01, 2014
Last month I made a delicious new dish for dinner: sirloin beef tips with steamed celeriac. I just ran across the photos I took, so I want to add this recipe here before I forget about it.
Sirloin beef tips with steamed celeriac. Photo by Theresa
Instructions:

Cut the skin off the celeriac, chop the celeriac into cubes, and then cook in a pan of water (like you would potatoes).

While the celeriac cooks, coat the bottom of a pan with olive oil, toss in some fresh minced garlic, then add the beef tips.

After a few minutes of cooking, pull the tips from the pan, slice then into long narrow pieces, and then return them to the pan.

Add a splash of balsamic vinegar and let the tips finish cooking.
Raw celeriac. Photo by Theresa
BTW, did you notice my army guy sitting in the plant next to the cutting board? I have a few others in my kitchen as a reminder of my journey.

Can't remember the army men metaphor? Here is my recollection, which is sort of the middle of the explanation about various military men used as metaphors to explain how food is processed in our bodies...
When you eat something, the Air Force yells - INCOMING and the Army men come running out.
If you eat too many carbs, or fake food, more Army men come out.
When there are too many army men they don't know what to do, so they turn that food into insulin/fat -- you don't want this.
The goal is to feed the marines (with protein) and to keep the army men working hard, but not fooling them into thinking there is more work to do.
January 01, 2014
This morning, as I sipped my first cup of coffee, I heard this statistic on the news: 92% of people dieting fail. Wow! What a bummer way to start the new year, knowing you have an 8% chance of successfully losing weight. For those of us following Julie's program, we're not worried, because we are an anomaly to this equation. We're not dieting -- we're changing our lifestyles. We're eating in such a way that once we reach our goal size and we'll learn how to stay that size. We'  re not buying into the New Year's resolutions to lose weight this year--we resolve to live healthy lives.
 

Crockpot Pulled Pork 
(recipe below)

I started this weight loss journey at the end of January 2011. In 2011, I did not resolve to lose weight. In 2011, I did not know that in just a few weeks I would begin a journey that would change the way I look and feel about my life. This year, I resolve to have more joy in my life and to share that joy with others.
Of of the ways to bring more joy into my life in 2014 is to explore my creative side. I signed up for a 6 week writing workshop, which starts next week. Another one of my creative goals is to make videos, something I've been talking about doing since 2001.

This morning I made a video! It's short. It's not finished. It's a start!

As I type, crockpot pulled pork is cooking in my kitchen. I took photos as I made the pulled pork and then I made this video. It took more time to make the video than it did to make the dish.

In fact, this makes 2 goals I've already met in the new year:
  1. make videos (check)
  2. make new dishes (check)
2014 is already looking like an incredible year!

What about you? What fun goals do you have for 2014? Is there something you've wanted to do and have put off for years? What non-scale goals are you making happen this year? The year is still young, so if you don't have a plan for 2014, there's no time like the present to make one!

Wishing all of you good health and lots of joy in 2014!

Crockpot Pulled Pork

Ingredients
  • pork shoulder roast, about 4 pounds
  • 2 medium onions, thinly sliced
  • 1 1/2 cups water
  • 1 bottle barbecue sauce (16 ounces)
  • 1 cup chopped onion
 Preparation
  1. Place half of the thinly sliced onions in bottom of slow cooker; add pork and water, along with remaining onion slices. 
  2. Cover and cook on LOW for 8 to 10 hours or 4 to 5 hours on HIGH heat setting. 
  3. Drain liquid from slow cooker; chop the meat coarsely and discard excess fat. 
  4. Put the pork back in the slow cooker. 
  5. Add barbecue sauce and chopped onion. 
  6. Cover and cook on LOW for 4 to 6 hours longer. 
  7. Stir occasionally. 

Recipe source: About.com

01/02/14 Update 7:15am
I finished making this dish and went back and added more photos to the video.
January 01, 2014
What are your New Year's Eve and New Year's Day plans? My plans include having this shrimp with lemon butter. My plans do not include resolving to lose weight, as that plan is already in motion and all I need to do is keep doing what I'm doing. This year, I resolve to do other things, such as having more joy in my life. What about you? Since you too have this program down, what resolutions are you making?
Shrimp with Lemon Butter
Whatever your plans are, I wish you all a happy new year. May your new year be full of many new experiences and may your heart be full of joy like you've never know before.

Shrimp with Lemon Butter

When I saw this recipe, I knew this would be the perfect dish to bring in the new year. It promises to be an easy and quick dinner, full of wonderful.

Ingredients
  • 1 stick of butter (I used a 2 tablespoons of butter and 2 tablespoons of olive oil)
  • 1 lemon, sliced
  • 1 packet Italian seasoning* (I used jarred herbs instead: red pepper flakes, chives, dill, and black pepper)
  • 4 cloves of garlic, minced
  • fresh parsley or basil (optional)
*One of my key friends suggested packets of Italian seasoning may not be allowed, so you may want to use jarred or fresh Italian herbs instead. I thought that taco seasonings are okay, so it seemed logical that Italian seasoning packets should be okay too. I'm not always right. Remember, I'm just one person sharing my weight loss journey and I refine my journey along the way.
Instructions
  1. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil. I used a glass baking dish.
  2. Melt a stick of butter and pour into the foil. I added the butter and oil to the baking dish and melted it in the dish in the oven. Be careful not to burn the butter.
  3. Add lemon slices and minced garlic on top of the butter.
  4. Place fresh shrimp on top of butter mixture. I added the olive oil on top of the shrimp.
  5. Sprinkle one pack of dried Italian seasoning (or jarred herbs of your choice) on top of shrimp. 
  6. Bake in the oven at 350 for 15 min. 
  7. Optional: top with fresh parsley or basil when the shrimp first comes out of the oven.
01/05/14 Update
I made this recipe yesterday and it was so delicious that I didn't stop to take a photo. I tasted a piece of shrimp, to make sure it was cooked enough, and immediately plated up my dish and ate every bite.

I served it on top of spaghetti squash.

Another great option is to serve it on zucchini noodles.
Zucchini noodles made with a spirooli

December 30, 2013
Are you looking for an appetizer to bring with you to a holiday party? These mushrooms may be just what you're looking for - they're stuffed with sausage and spices - no bread! I'm thinking these mushrooms might be a good metaphor for Julie's reference to her sausage-sixes (while on maintenance, she know it's time to go back in the river when her size 6 clothes are tight). While at a party, I can eat these mushrooms and ask myself which do I want more: to reach my goal size or to eat that non-key food being offered? Easy choice. What about you - what do you plan to do to stay on program the rest of this holiday season?
Stuffed mushrooms

Stuffed Mushrooms


Ingredients
  • 8" sausage links
  • 12 2" Bella mushrooms
  • 4 cloves garlic
  • 2 green onions
  • 2 Tbsp Parmesan
  • 1/3 cup mozzarella (optional; you also may use less)
  • 1/8 tsp oregano
  • 1/8 tsp parsley
  • 2 fresh basil leaves, diced
Directions
  1. Chop the sausage finely. 
  2. Brown the outside of the sausage.
  3. Add a little water and steam sausage to cook it thoroughly while maintaining its moisture.
  4. Remove about 2/3 of the insides of the mushrooms.
  5. Discard the hard stem tips and then dice the rest and add it to the sausage. 
  6. Finely chop 2 large cloves of garlic and the bulb ends of 2 green onions and add the sausage.
  7. Remove from heat.
  8. Dice 2 more cloves of garlic and mix that in with sausages. 
  9. Dice the lower half of the green onions and add to mixture as well. 
  10. Add in the Parmesan, mozzarella, oregano, parsley, and basil. 
  11. Mix thoroughly
  12. Spoon mixture into the mushroom caps; the mixture should mound in each mushroom without falling out. 
  13. Cover a cookie sheet with tin foil and put the mushroom caps onto the foil with spacing between each. 
  14. Cook at 400F for about ten minutes. 
  15. Let cool before serving.
This how the mushrooms look before they go into the oven.
Recipe and photo source: Bella Online
December 27, 2013
With all the special holiday foods on our tables at home and in the office, it's easy to feel deprived of all those foods we see our friends and family eating. I haven't felt deprived for most of my weight loss journey, but this holiday season--all kinds of sweet things are calling my name. Recently one of my key friends asked another key friend: how do you deal with feeling deprived? Her reply: I go buy a pound of shucked lobster with real butter! How deprived can this program be if we can eat lobster with melted butter?
I had this shucked lobster appetizer at Masses Seafood, Chicopee, MA.
Every year I go to a handful of holiday parties, but this year, I bowed out of two big parties that I've always enjoyed, because I didn't feel like I could deal with all those foods. Later, I felt sorry for myself that I was deprived of the parties. Sigh. This is crazy talking.

I went to one party because the food seemed easy enough for me to handle. Upfront I knew most of the foods would not be key-friendly, so I resolved I would go to the party, but I wouldn't eat anything. The party started at 3:30, and since I don't normally eat at that time of day, I figured how hard could this be? At the party, I found a few key foods and I ate them, but I felt deprived, because everyone was enjoying gluten-free cookies. Wah, wah, wah...why can't I at least have gluten-free cookies...? This is crazy talking.

I survived that party, but yesterday I was offered one of Ben's homemade cookies. It was like a watching a slow motion movie scene: a long shot of the big smile on his face,  zoom in on his arm stretching out to me, holding the container. . . focus on the container. . . zoom. . . zoom. . . pause, stop camera on a close up of cookies. This is crazy talking.

That was one of those killer days with lots of pressure. Those cookies would relieve me of the pressure right? Just one right? Sigh. This is crazy talking.

No, no, no. Tap, tap, tap. Walk away from the cookie jar. Step away from the crazy talk.

I've decided to just face it: this holiday season is harder for me than the previous two years on this program. Done. Deal with it. Tap, tap, tap. Walk away from the pity pot. Stop with the oh, poor me drama and focus on what this holiday season has to offer me that the other two seasons did not: vitality, high energy, and a desire to live my life with as much joy as possible.

What brings me joy is being full of enough energy to run around with my niece and her children after Thanksgiving dinner. Running in the 2013 Hot Chocolate 5k in Northampton (just over 3 miles) was  joyful too!

Wishing joy to all of you, through this holiday season and into the new year!

My niece and her children.
Dec. 2013 Hot Chocolate 5k Run Northampton
December 18, 2013