Monday, May 05, 2008

My Biggest Loser Weekend

So about a week ago I broke down and bought the Biggest Loser Cookbook - yes I did!  As many of you know I don’t cook.  I mean never.  I hate cooking.  Sure, I heat up, I pop in, and I occasionally “bake” but I never really cook.  So, for me to buy a cookbook takes a lot of prodding.  I had bought my Deceptively Delicious cookbook awhile back and I do use that one, just not as much as I would like.  So I decided to try this cookbook this weekend. 

First of all, the cookbook has a little more than just recipes.  There are actual sections to read and learn about how the Biggest Loser Diet actually works and how all the contestants lost the weight and so forth.  So, that was interesting.  But as I got into the recipes I realized how really easy they were.  I tried two things this weekend - the Napoleon Turkey Sandwich and the Spicy Meatballs with Fiery Chili Sauce.  I wish I had thought to take pictures because let me tell you, I made a big ole freaking mess.  Again, I stress that I am NOT a chef and barely know how to hard boil eggs if needed. 

Let me just say, after all was said and done, both recipes kicked ass.  I kid you not - I ENJOYED them!  Both were wicked easy to make and didn’t have an ingredients that was hard to find which is my complaint about most of the cookbooks out there that use crazy ingredients that cost a heck of a lot of money.  Most of these recipes, including the ones that I made had just things like red pepper flakes, chili sauce, parsley… you know, NORMAL things. 

The meatballs in particular were wicked good (I will post the recipe in the forum in a little bit), and you get a lot of them for the calories.  You are basically making 8 one inch meatballs per serving for only 206 calories - not bad!  You add a big salad on the side and you have a very filling meal for under 300 calories!  Yeah, I added crutons and shredded low-fat cheese to my salad.  But still 300 calories is not bad at all! 

My only complaint about the cookbook is that some of the things I simply will not try… more actually than I would try but I am super picky about what I eat.  I do not have a great palate and let me tell you, seafood, eggplant, and anything that says picante are not really foods that I would even try.  But there were about 30 recipes out of the 105 that I would… so that is pretty good!!  I have to say, I’m not a touter of any cookbook, but I would really recommend this one.  If you want to buy it yourself it is available through our Amazon store I believe, and if it isn’t then we’ll put it there for you Tonight on the agenda?  Cajun “squash your waistline” fries… LOL - oh boy, I can’t wait to see how this one turns out!