Week 4

Well, week 4 is done and we are both well on our way to our weightloss goals! Ryan is down 23 pounds, and im down 12! We are both feeling great, and have so much energy. Its amazing how much better you feel when you are putting the right stuff into your body, and living the habits of health!

I was sick this last week, so sadly I didn't get to creative with the cooking, but my favorite meal was "turkey dinner". I bought some yellow crookneck squash, and turkey cutlets.I also had some cubed butternut squash leftover from another meal. I baked the squash as follows

1 cup (roughly 2 small squash) yellow squash
1/2 cub cubed butternut squash
1 chicken bouillon cube
spray butter
pepper (or whichever seasoning you like)

Turkey Dinner

Cut squash in 1/2 lenghtwise. Place squash cut side down in a large shallow baking dish. Dissolve bouillon in hot water, pour over squash. Bake, uncovered at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Turn squash and spray with butter and season to taste. Bake uncovered for 15 minutes or until squash is tender.
As I said, I had leftover cubed butternut squash that I got from costco, it was super tasty in with the yellow squash! It really satisfies the carb craving :)

For the turkey, I placed the cutlets (14oz) in a pam sprayed frying pan on medium heat and cover for about 7 minutes on each side. Since lean poultry can dry out in a hurry, make sure to watch carefully and adjust time based on thickness. Season to taste and you've got a little taste of thanksgiving!

I did get a chance to make some super delish medifast cookies! They went perfectly with a cup of coffee for a late afternoon meal!

• 2 packets of MF vanilla shake (or shake of your choice)

• 1 packet of splenda ( gives a little sweet kick)

• 1 tsp of baking powder (more than most, but really helps “puff” them up)

• 1 – 2 tsp vanilla extract (or extract of your choice – amount depends on your taste)

• 2 – 4 ounces of water 



Mix dry ingredients with a wisk, then add the water slowly. Don’t pour in all the water at once, add it slowly at first and then add more as needed. You want to get a “dough” that is the consistency of paste.


Spoon the cookies by tablespoonful onto parchment paper covered baking sheet (or spray baking sheet with cooking spray). You should get about 4 good size cookies or 6 medium size cookies.


Bake the cookies at 350 degrees for 8 minutes. For an extra kick you can sprinkle the tops with splenda and cinnamon for a “snickerdoodle” effect.

I followed this recpie, and they came out great! I only had to add about 3 oz of water, and it made 8 small cookies, though.  Makes 2 MR's.



 And lastly, the favorite kid friendly recipe of the week! These are vegan too! (sorry, no picture!) But they looked divine.

Peanut Butter Cookies

Spelt flour bakes into a slightly darker cookie , whole wheat pastry flour is slightly blonder - more traditional in appearance in the end. Finish the cookies with chopped nuts or a sprinkling of flaky salt. I'd also recommend seeking out a peanut butter that is well combined, and not super-oily (extra slick) looking - to avoid problems with the cookie batter.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, spelt flour, or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1 cup organic, chunky natural peanut butter
1 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350F degrees. Place racks in the top third.
In a medium mixing bowl combine the flour, baking soda, and salt. in a separate larger bowl combine the peanut butter, maple syrup, olive oil, and vanilla. Stir until combined. Pour the flour mixture over the peanut butter mixture and stir until barely combined - still a bit dusty looking. Let sit for five minutes, give one more quick stir, just a stroke or two. Now drop by heaping tablespoonfuls onto parchment-lined baking sheets. Press down on each one gently with the back of a fork. It's a loose batter, so if you're set on doing criss-crosses, go ahead and chill the batter for an hour or so before this step. Bake for 10, maybe 11 minutes - but don't over bake or they will be dry. Let cool five minutes and transfer to a cooling rack.

Enjoy your week!

Ashley