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This recipe is modified from Michelle Showalter’s Beef Barley Soup recipe that can be found in Fix-It and Forget-It Recipes for Entertaining by Phyllis Pellman Good & Dawn J. Ranck.

• 1 lb. stewing beef, cut into small pieces & browned
• 6 cups water
• 1 large can crushed tomatoes
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1 cup diced onion
• 3 cups sliced or shredded carrots
• 3/4 cup pearl barley, cooked (you can use quick cooking as well and add with all other ingredients)
• 3 tsp. low sodium beef bouillon
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 cloves garlic (I cooked the beef with the garlic and then added to the soup)
• string beans would be good in this as well!

Combine ingredient in slow cooker, except for barley. Cover. Cook on low 8-10 hours or high for 4-5 hours. Add barley halfway through cooking time. Serve with fresh bread. Might I suggest Colleen’s Wheat Bread.

The premise:

• No Snacks
• No Sweets
• No Seconds

Except on days beginning with S.

My thoughts:

I don’t think this would work for me. I would be starving by dinner for sure. I also don’t like the implications of the blood sugar rises and dips this would give you. There is no portion control either so if you wanted three cups of cereal for breakfast it technically counts, there’s an implied “eat heathly meals” but I think limiting calories makes you make better decisions about what to eat since you can eat more healthy foods than you can fatty food.

I do like the idea of cheat days, maybe not two in a week but I think its a good idea, it usually pulls your body out of starvation mode plus it keeps your motivation up.

Conclusion:

This diet isn’t for me but I can see it helping people out, especially if you’re just maintaining.

[tags]diet, food, no s diet, lifehacks, weightloss[/tags]

Hi all, checkout the Carnival of the Recipes #77? (chocolate themed). Also checkout my non-chocolate contribution, Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich.

? [tags]carnival, recipes, food[/tags]

This is a damn good sandwich, its loosely based on a Cooking Light recipe, adapted to what I had on hand. Peanut butter is great because its super filling, has two grams of fiber per serving plus its been found to lower LDL (bad cholesterol) and triglycerides.

Grilled Peanut Butter and Banana Sandwich

2 slices potato bread

2 medium banana (~7″ long)

1 tablespoon Polaner Strawberry All Fruit jam

1 tablespoon chunky peanut butter

1 teaspoon honey (just drizzle some on, close enough)

1 tablespoon Smart Balance butter replacement spread

1. In a non-stick skillet get a half tablespoon of the smart balance spread warming up over medium heat.
2. Put the peanut butter on one side of the bread, drizzle on the honey.
3. Cut banana in half then slice the halves length-wise into three pieces and place on peanut butter side.
4. Spread jam on the plain piece of bread and put on top of your sandwich.
5. Place in pan, while one side is cooking butter the piece of bread that’s facing up.
6. Grill both sides until browned and warmed through.

Nutrition (approximate):

• Calories: 470,
• Fat: 15.4g,
• Protein: 13.2g,
• Carbs: 74.7g,
• Fiber: 8.4g,
• Sodium: 329mg,
• Calcium: 13mg

Cathy over at Chief Family Officer was nice enough to post Colleen’s Wheat Bread recipe, I tried it this weekend and it turned out great. It was a perfect match for the Vegetable Beef Barley soup my wife made. The only change I made was to put a couple tablespoons of sugar in also, I wasn’t sure if the honey would be enough food for the yeast to chomp on.

Are you having trouble losing weight even though you’ve cut your calories? Watch out for hidden calories, I mean foods you wouldn’t normally think of when? you log your food for the day:

• Gum - Go for low sugar alcohols, manufacturers don’t have to list them under sugar but they are still converted into calories
• Altoids
• Barbeque sauce
• Half and half or creamer in coffee
• Diet drinks (they still have some calories)

Wow, I watched this episode of Giada’s Everyday Italian, I thought this looked painful:

?

Here’s the blow by blow coverage, this is great.

[tags]food network, food, funny, humor, giada[/tags]