Traveling through life with a timer and sneakers

Archive for January, 2017

Bulked up Beef Stroganoff an #HMRDiet Healthy Solutions recipe

This is an easy way to get three servings of vegetables into the day while enjoying a delicious and satisfying meal.

  • HMR Program Beef Stroganoff entree
  • 1/2 cup diced onion
  • 1 sliced garlic clove
  • 1 & 1/2 cups sliced Baby Bella mushrooms
  • 3 cups fresh spinach
  • Chicken broth
  • Smoked paprika
  • Truffle salt (or your favorite salt)
  • Fresh ground pepper 
  • 1 tbsp sour cream (whose nutritional data falls within HMR condiment guidelines)

Sauté onion and garlic in a splash of chicken broth (I use the broth in lieu of cooking spray in the dish so you will want to keep it nearby to pour a splash in if things get dry). 

Once onions start to soften, add mushrooms as well as paprika, salt, and pepper (those will all be too taste – I tend to pour a little heavy!). Sauté for one to two minutes. Once mushrooms start to soften, add spinach.

Once spinach starts to wilt, add HMR entree. Toss everything together and cook for several minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Remove from heat and fold in sour cream. Serve and enjoy!

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Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate – the HMR Diet hot shakes continue!

It’s cold and rainy here in California which means I am continuing to experiment with hot shakes. I tried to make something a little less sweet this time around while still being rich and filling.

Using unsweetened cocoa and PB2 gave the shake a deep mouthfeel while keeping the overall sweet level down. Perfect to sip while grading research assignments or enjoying a good book.

I used a travel Aerolatte milk frother for my hot shakes. It’s easy to carry, clean, and make clump-free shakes. But this could easily be done with a whisk or a blender (just be careful with pressure that can build making hot beverages in a blender!).

Peanut Butter Hot Chocolate

  • 1/2 tbsp PB2
  • 1/2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
  • 1 HMR chocolate shake
  • 14 oz hot water

Pour hot water in a large mug. Slowly pour in shake powder while frothing/whisking. Do the same with PB2 and cocoa. Make sure to pour powders in slowly to reduce possibility of clumping. Enjoy!


HMR Diet Hack: Starbucks Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate

Let’s start with a confession. Outside of making lattes with my HMR Program shakes, I have had very few hot shakes. I would occasionally try a hot chocolate, but that was about it. However, as I have made it a goal to focus on losing my marathon weight gain, this means incorporating more shakes and entrees to off-set outside foods and one of the ways I was successful in Phase One, was playing with my HMR food to try new things, often trying to hack a food I might have eaten pre-HMR, in order to keep it interesting (while still staying safely “in the box”). So I am trying out a variety of hot shakes in an attempt to stay warm and full this winter.

During the holiday season, I had a chance to try a kid size Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate at Starbucks. It was super sweet and a fun treat, but the calories were insane! Even for the tiny thimble they call kid size. Well I loved the flavors so much, I asked if it could possibly be turned into a latte to amp up the volume. But I was told it was just made with milk, white chocolate syrup, and cinnamon dolce syrup, and that it wouldn’t translate well into a latte.

However this week I decided it would translate very well into an HMR shake! And while I haven’t had a Starbucks version to compare it to (nor do I plan on it) — this is a sweet and filling beverage that only has the calories from the shake. It’s in the box for both Decision Free and Healthy Solution folks while being the perfect cold weather pre-portioned meal for Phase Two folks too!

HMR Snickerdoodle Hot Chocolate

  • 1 HMR Vanilla Shake (I used the 120)
  • 1 tbsp Torani Sugar-free White Chocolate syrup
  • 1 tbsp Torani Sugar-free Belgian Cookie syrup
  • 10 oz. hot water

Mix hot water and syrup together. Slowly whisk shake powder into the liquid. I use an Aerolatte travel milk frother (it’s inexpensive, comes in a travel case, and prevents clumping!). Enjoy! You could even shake a little cinnamon on top for a pretty garnish.