Yeah, day 19 and a full 20 pounds lost.  If I had not cheated two times I would be in the 130 range by now.  I am expecting a larger weight loss tomorrow or Tuesday as the water from my increased fat intake should be dumping out of my system by then.  Yeah, I know next week I will hit my 130 pound range.  I don’t know how much I will lose between now and December 21, this is the day I will go off of round one so that I can eat Christmas dinner.  It was just too hard not being able to eat Thanksgiving meal with everyone.

The menu with recipes I am following today are located here:

Anyhow, the Christmas tree went up last night, the final touches around the house will be finished today and you guess it, a few more home made mixes are in store either today or tomorrow.  Not really sure how much time I will have after the Christmas decorations go up.   I tried to put on a pair of jeans I have hung onto since my first child was born 23 years ago.  At least I could get them up to my hips, that is progress. 

My daughter is still fretting about her weight gain of 10 pounds all eating junk foods and rich and fatty foods in front of me.  Her goal was to try to get me to break my diet.  She has said fewer than a dozen words to me since the night she realized she had gained her 10 pounds.  Today is looking like she will stew yet another day over it. 

It snowed here last night, just enough to give a light frosting on the grass, but it will be gone in about an hour.  It was a little teaser storm, the real one is due to hit in about 24 hours.  All in all, it has been a warm climate Christmas season, where we normally are under several feet of snow, all we have seen is a few feet here or there, with long periods of cold weather in between.  To be honest, I think I could mow the lawn (which is still green) if it were not wet from the snowfall last night.  I have to laugh at our grass.  We planted a grass that was designed for Southern California.  It was banned from this state shortly after we purchased it as the AG University determined that it just would not grow here.  Well, all I have to say is that my grass is the first to go emerald green in the spring and the last to go brown in the winter.  When I say that it is still green, it is, it just isn’t deep emerald green.

Time to get to cooking for the family.  I prepare all of their meals on sunday, place some in the freezer and others I leave in the refrigerator.  This way I don’t have to cook a full meal for them every day during the week.  It cuts down my temptations to break my own diet this way.  You can even make waffles and pancakes ahead of time.  Simply cook them up as usual, place them on waxed paper until they have fully cooled.  Once they are cool, put them in zip type bags and place them in the freezer.  To eat them, simply pop into the toaster and you are good to go.  I do the same with hash browns.  I cook them almost fully, remove them from the heat, allow them to cool, place in zip type bags and place in the freezer.

This recipe is medium-mild  Meaning if you like it hot, you will need to make it hotter.  If you like it really mild, use a little less.  I normally don’t warn others because it is a medium mild flavor which works well for those I give it to.  Except in our house where fire alarms are welcomed at the supper table.

Chile Powder Spice Mix

• 1¼ cups flour
• ½ cup dried onion (flakes or minced)
• 2/3 cup chili powder
• 3 tbsp beef bouillon powder
• 1½ tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp pepper
• 2 tsp sugar

Mix all ingredients thoroughly, package up in 1/3 cup increments (will make six) and include the following note:

Brown 1 pound of lean beef, chop up one onion, sprinkle chile seasoning mix over beef and stir well.  Add 1 15 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, 2 15 ounce cans undrained kidney beans, simmer for about 20 minutes and enjoy.  To make hotter, roast 2 of your favorite chile until chard, dice up and garnish on top of your chile at serving.

I don’t know if it is the season, or if I am just sick and tired of shrimp and chicken.  Lobster was on sale at the market for $12.99 per pound, not really that great of a price, but I got some for today none the less.  Lets face it, with only eating 100 grams, that tail will last me three meals.

Breakfast:

Start out with your coffee or tea, make 1/2 gallon pitcher of iced green tea and 1/2 gallon of water.  Try spicing up your water with a few fresh sprigs of mint and a slice or two of fresh lemon.

Lunch:

Fennel with Apple Salad and Lobster

• 3 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed anise seed
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 saffron pistils
• 1 serving thinly sliced fennel
• 1 medium apple thinly sliced (you can peel if you like, but I enjoy the color)
• 2 tablespoons fresh parsley, rough chopped
• 100 grams lobster

Wisk together all ingredients except the fennel, apple, lobster and parsley.  Once mixed, add your fennel and apple slices.  Cook your lobster in a heated pan with enough water to reach half way up your lobster.  When it is cooked, drain liquid and place on top of your fennel salad.  Sprinkle in your parsley. 

Eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

Well, we already ate our apple, and you know that after dinner you will be wanting a snack, so just eat your breadstick or 2 melba toast squares, have an extra glass of iced tea and call it good.

Dinner:

Glazed Chicken and Roasted Tomatoes

• 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced in half
• 100 grams chicken, cubed
• 2 tablespoons whole-grain mustard
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• dash celery salt
• dash onion powder
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 teaspoon fresh sage
• 1 teaspoon fresh tarragon
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup water

Turn on your broiler, place your tomatoes, sliced side down and broil until you have char marks.  Remove from oven and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine all your ingredients, except the roasted tomatoes.  Place in sauce pan, bring to a rolling boil, reduce heat and simmer until your chicken is cooked.  Remove from heat, allow to cool.  Place on your dinner plate over your roasted tomatoes. 

Eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• 1 orange
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

Thats it for today, see all you losers tomorrow.

Now that I am getting back on track, a slight loss, nothing to write home about.  But the inches are coming off fast right now.  This is a good thing.  Some days I have to remind myself that this diet isn’t just about the weight loss, it is also about the inches you lose.  So here I am, day 18 and 19 pounds have been shet.  I have gone from a size 12 to a size 6, and my husband states that my clothes are all looking baggy.  I will not be purchasing any size 5 clothing.  I will just wait till I fit into a size 3.  I did however purchase some new work out clothes.  Again, if you are looking for a great work out plan that doesn’t rob you of what little extra energy you have on this VLCD (Very Low Calorie Diet), I highly suggest Tai Chi. 

As mentioned in the blog last night, I went down to the day spa to speak with the owner.  He acted “surprised” that his items were not really approved by the hCG diet requirements.  Big shocker there that he is in denial.  Anyhow, a word of caution to all of you on the hCG diet, when you ask the contents of items, they will ask you “why you want to know”, in the end, chances are you will be given a blanket comment that “Yes, we have a full line of hCG diet approved items”.  Don’t believe it unless they allow you to read the containers for their ingredient list.

Again today we will be busy preparing for Christmas.  Making and packaging more home made mixes.  I will load all those recipes up shortly.  I am excited for todays fennel and apple salad.  Getting rather tired of shrimp and chicken, so today will be trying some lobster and a nice white fish.  Hope you enjoy them.

Today is another change, one thing about the hCG diet is you can get tired of the same old things, so this week I have been stretching the menu a bit, adding a snack item to the dishes and skipping one snack time.  At first I was worried I would be hungry, but so far have had no problems.

Breakfast:

Start with the usual coffee or tea.  Make your 1/2 gallon pitcher of fruity green tea and 1/2 gallon pitcher of water.

Lunch:

Celery Shrimp Salad

• 100 grams shrimp
• 2 tablespoons organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
• 1 teaspoon grated ginger
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• 4 stalks of celery, diced
• one medium apple diced
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon fresh basil, minced
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced or rough chopped

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl except for the shrimp.  Mix thoroughly and set aside. 

Cook your shrimp until pink, toss on top of your salad, eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

Dinner:

Chicken Rolls

Normally I made these with mushrooms, but they are not on the approved list, so out they go. 

• 100 grams chicken, diced after cooked
• 1 teaspoon minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1 medium egg white (yes, only the egg white, no yolk allowed)
• 1tablespoon fresh basil, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced
• 1 tablespoon fresh parsley, minced
• 1 large head napa cabbage

In a large bowl combine all ingredients except the cabbage.  Mix thoroughly and set aside.  Pull your daily serving off of your napa cabbage head, leave them whole, rinse them well.  In one leaf, place a heaping tablespoon or so of filling mixture in the center of each leaf, roll it up to enclose the filling and place on a plate, seam side down. 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, line a cookie sheet with waxed paper, place each chicken roll, again seam side down on the waxed paper.  Cook until the cabbage is showing charred marks.  Remove from oven, cool slightly.

Place on your dinner plate, eat slowly and enjoy. 

Snack:

• 1/2 ruby red grapefruit
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

Yeah, weight gain and I am so excited, can you tell?  Worst part is when it comes to food, I didn’t even cheat.  So why the weight gain?  Easy I was lied to!  Each month we have a girls night out and last night we went to a local day spa for a mani/pedi, massage and hair cuts.  I told them I was on the hCG diet they said “No problem, we have hCG diet approved items, it is a very popular diet and we cater to all of our clients”.  So, being the silly fool I am, I believed them. 

It was a great six hours spent with my girlfriends, until I stepped upon the scale this morning.  Here I expected to be in the 130 range but found I had actually gained weight.  I called the spa to launch a complaint but as soon as I asked to speak with a manager, I was put on hold, then hung up on.  Not once mind you, I tried to call five times and each time the same thing.  I will go down in person tomorrow and if they don’t come clean with their lies, I will release their name and give them a nice write up here on the blog. 😦

Otherwise the diet is moving right along.  I am totally digging cooking with fresh ingredients each day.  As is all of my family, including my nay sayer daughter who did nothing but tease me and tell me how everyone she knows that tried the hCG diet failed and gave up.  To bug me, she has been cooking all my favorite foods.  Taco, pizza, cabanara, manicotti, lamb shank, ham and on the list goes.  She purchases the bread because she never really mastered the art of breads, but each night she makes a cake, brownies or cupcakes and decorates them up all pretty.  Then goes out of her way to eat them in front of me, bringing an extra plate filled for me just in case she manages to talk me into breaking my diet. 

Her plans backfired last night and you should have seen the look on her face.  The scale gave her all the pay back I ever could and then some.  We were watching T.V.  The Chevy Chase Christmas movies, right as his father blew up the christmas tree lighting his cigar, there was a screech from the bathroom.  She came running into the family room yelling, I gained 10 pounds, OMG, I gained 10 pounds, can you believe I gained 10 pounds, how could I have gained 10 pounds.  It was so funny:-)  You see, in her quest to get me to drop my diet, she was eating tons of processed foods.  Foods that while I cherish, I always limited myself on, yet she was eating them on a daily basis.

I pulled out my spare bottle of hCG and said, “well dear, I know this great diet, and it works wonders’.

It does, I am loving not just the weight loss, but the way the hCG is taking off the inches and getting rid of my fat stores.  To tell you the truth, I am unsure which pleases me more, the two sizes I have dropped or the 19 pounds.  It doesn’t really matter to me, I have tons of energy, I am losing weight and inches and I am starting to feel like a million bucks.  The Tai Chi workouts are amazing.  If you have yet to try Tai Chi, you really should, it is an amazing way to exercise and so perfect for this diet.  There are several DVDs out there for Tai Chi, I even noticed an introduction kit with ball at the bookstore last week. 

Anyhow, see you all tomorrow.  Stick to your diet and happy losing.

I had so much fun trying to get some really robust flavors for today.  I hope you enjoy the menu.

Breakfast:

coffee, tea, make your 1/2 gallon of fruity green tea and 1/2 gallon pitcher of water.

Lunch:

Roasted Garlic Chicken

• 4 cloves garlic, roasted in an upturned ceramic bowl in the oven. 
• 1/2 cup organic apple cider vinegar
• 2 tablespoons roughly chopped fresh oregano
• 2 dried red chile peppers, crushed
• 100 grams chicken.
• One serving cucumber

Add all the ingredients except the chicken in a bowl.  Mix thoroughly, add the chicken, cover and refrigerate a minimum of 2 hours, overnight is best.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees, place chicken with marinade in foil, cover and bake until done.  15-20 minutes.

Slice your cucumber into cubes, arrange on plate, when chicken is done, pour over your cucumbers.  The vinegar in the marinade go beautifully with the cucumbers.

Snack: 

• One medium sized apple
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

Dinner:

Roasted Red Pepper with Veal

• 100 grams Veal
• 2 bell peppers, halved, stem and seeded.  I like one yellow and one red, but can be any color.
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon basil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• few anise seeds
• dash celery salt
• dash onion powder
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 teaspoon chopped cilantro
• 1/4 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced

Broil your bell peppers, cut-side down until blackened, about 5 minutes.  Place them in a bowl, cover and allow to cool.

Peel and cut your bell peppers into pieces, set aside.

In a hot fry pan, prepare you veal, use just enough water in the pan to keep the veal from sticking.

While veal is cooking and your bell peppers are cooling, mix all of the remaining ingredients.  When veal is cooked, pour mixture over veal, toss in your roasted bell peppers and saute.

Place on your plate and enjoy.

Snack:

• handful of strawberries (4-6)
• Dash cinnamon
• dash clove
• dash nutmeg
• Stevia packet

Slice your strawberries very small, mix carefully all the other ingredients into a bowl with your strawberries.  Eat slowly and enjoy your sweet desert.

Sorry to all my subscribers for multiple posts today.  But I am taking so many hits from search engines wanting to know if flavored melba toast is okay on the hCG diet.  The answer is, NO, you can’t.  They almost always include fats and sugar.  BUT…………..you can make your own.

If you have a dehydrator, they dry really well there, or you can place in a 175 degree oven for about 15 minutes.

Home Made Flavored Melba Toast

• 1 package of melba toast squares or rounds
• 1 teaspoon celery salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon poultry seasoning

Combine all ingredients in a small bag except for the melba toast.  Shake until mixed well.  On a cookie sheet line up all of your melba toast and mist very slightly with water.  Don’t soak it, you just want a little bit of water on them.  Flip all your melba toast over and mist the other side.  Two at a time, place two melba toasts into your plastic bag and shake a time or two, remove from bag and continue this process until you have all of your melba toast coated.  Place into your food dehydrator and or oven and only cook or dry until the water is all gone. 

Now you have an allowed flavored melba toast.

Sue my next door neighbor knows I am on the hCG diet, but she came by today for a cup of tea and to visit.  She asked if I was going to make my mint brownies this year.  “Of course I am not, I will want to eat them!”  I replied.  She frowned and asked if I could give her the recipe.  So I did.  I will also give it to you along with some ways to package them up as gifts.

Home Made Brownie Mix

• 8 cups unbleached flour
• 8 cups sugar
• 3 cups cocoa powder
• 8 teaspoons salt
• 8 teaspoons baking powder

Mix well in a large bowl. 

To give as a gift, I include mint patties, rough chopped, crushed candy canes or any peppermint candy stick.  1/4 cup of chocolate chips or chocolate sprinkles.  Put these into their own bags.  Along with 2 cups of the brownie mix and the following note.

Add 2 eggs, 1 teaspoon real vanilla, mix thoroughly, will be lumpy.  Pour into your brownie pan, bake at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes.  Decorate when it is warm with the included toppings and enjoy.

Eating on the light side, for some reason I am really craving salads as of late, so today we are going to have a nice Endive Salad.

Breakfast:

Coffee and or Tea.  Make 1/2 gallon pitcher of iced green tea and 1/2 gallon water. 

Lunch:

Endive Orange Shrimp Salad

Keep in mind, the draw back to having this orange salad is that you are eating your fruit, so you will be losing one snack today.

• 1 orange, peeled, divided and each wedge sliced in half
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tablespoon organic apple cider vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, pan fry for roasted flavor, mince after roasted
• 1 serving endive
• 100 grams shrimp
• 1 tablespoon cilantro, minced
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme, minced

In a ramikin (or shot glass), Mix vinegar, garlic and lemon juice, set aside.

Cook up your shrimp until pink, cut each one in half.  Rinse, and tear endive into bite sized pieces.  Toss shrimp, orange and endive together in a bowl.  Add all remaining ingredients and toss until evenly coated with the vinegar dressing.  Eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• Enjoy your one breadstick or 2 melba toast squares because you ate your fruit serving with lunch.

Dinner:

Spicy Tomato Chicken Soup

• Dash crushed red pepper
• Dash celery salt
• 2 cloves garlic, minced or run through press
• 2 roma tomatoes, puree
• 4 tablespoons cilantro
• dash onion powder
• dash cayenne powder
• dash ancho chile powder
• juice 1/2 lemon
• 1 cup water
• 100 grams chicken

In a saucepan, mix all ingredients except your chicken, bring to a boil and reduce heat to a simmer. 

In a hot fry pan, cook your chicken until fully cooked.  I prefer mine diced for this dish.  Once your chicken is cooked, place it into your tomato mixture and simmer for another 5 minutes.

Remove from heat, garnish with a few sprigs of cilantro, eat slowly and enjoy.

Snack:

• one medium apple
• 1 breadstick or 2 melba toast squares

Thats it for the menu today.   I hope you enjoy it.  See you tomorrow.