Our Official Second Attack

First of all, we're happy to report our the official start of our second time around on the Dukan Diet is off to a good start.  Last July, we both went on the Dukan Diet - the male half really just setting out to manage his cholesterol, lose a couple of pounds and support the female half by not complaining about what we eat ha ha!  The female half set out to lose 20 pounds and by October of 2011, almost reached the 20 pound goal.  We were able to maintain the weight loss for several months, then slowly buy surely gained several pounds back.

Summer was busy with out of town guests, illnesses and traveling.  We are back on track now and are restarting the Dukan Diet.  It really has been the only diet that's work for us.  The South Beach Diet and others we've managed to lose a few pounds, but never over 5 pounds.  This past summer we were still making low fat choices - as in lower fat meats, fish, no mayo, we rarely cook with butter, etc.  The desserts is what killed us.  The other week we both got on the scale...it was no surprise the female half had gained weight but the male half gained 3 pounds!  

We've completed our 4 day Attack (well, the female half did, the male half decided he would eat the same low fat items, but he is going to be in Consolidation so he can have his one serving of red or brown rice with his meal).  The female half is right on target...the Dukan Chart said 4 pounds would be lost if we stuck to the plan and we did!  Yay!  The first two days were difficult with sugar and carb cravings.  By day three, the cravings went away and it was easier to serve the male half his serving of rice!

Here's a run down of the differences between our first and second try.

2011 Attack: Almost reached our first goal (we were about 2 pounds shy of our first goal).  Followed the Dukan rules exactly as laid out.  We planned our meals out, but our mistake was having the same thing for our meals and snacks...meaning we had chicken for breakfast, morning snack, lunch, afternoon snack and dinner.  By the third day, we were sick of eating the same thing.  We did the required 20 minutes of walking each day.  

2012 Attack: Reached our first goal a day ahead of schedule.  Followed the Dukan rules with a few small exceptions - but did not compromise on the refined sugar rule.  We planned our meals again, but changed it up this time - except for breakfast, we can eat yogurt with oat bran every morning.  Here's what we consumed:

Day 1

Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran

Morning Snack - low fat turkey and ham slices

Lunch - ahi and salmon poke

Afternoon Snack - none, bought too much poke

Dinner - Dukan Cuban Style Burgers (recipe will be posted soon)
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 44 minutes of Zumba, low impact

Day 2
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - salmon sashimi, shrimp, ahi poke (from a different place)
Afternoon Snack - none
Dinner - 3 pieces Korean BBQ grilled chicken, no skin, etc.
Drinks - water, diet coke and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - none :-(

Day 3
Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - 5 grilled chicken pieces
Lunch - Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake (recipe will be posted soon)
Afternoon Snack - low fat ham pieces
Dinner - Dukan Thyme Pork Chops with Shallots (recipe will be posted soon)
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 46 minutes Zumba, medium impact

Day 4

Breakfast - 1 container nonfat vanilla yogurt with 1 1/2 T. oat bran
Morning Snack - low fat turkey pieces
Lunch - Dukan Orange Chicken
Afternoon Snack - leftover Dukan Turkey and Ham Bake
Dinner - Salmon and ahi poke
Drinks - water and zero calorie sparkling water
Exercise - 20 minutes Zumba, low impact

We're really looking forward to the bag of broccoli florets in our fridge!

Dukan Cheesy Broccoli Frittata

Cheesy Broccoli Frittata

We loved this recipe!

We've never made a frittata before...it's so easy and yummy, we're looking forward to making many variations soon!  Frittata's can be made with either whole eggs or egg whites for those watching their cholesterol.

We were given a recipe book recently and came across a recipe for a Sicilian Frittata.  It sounded great, but ultimately we ended up changing it quite a bit to fit the Dukan diet.  Nix the potatoes, nix the Italian blend of cheese...etc.  After we get back from our business trip we're hoping to make a Chinese Frittata.

Oh, we made a mistake and mixed in the fat free cheddar cheese into the egg, but it really was supposed to be sprinkled only on the top.  It ended up being great with the cheese mixed in and we'll probably continue to mix the cheese into the egg mixture and nix the cheese on top.

RECIPE:
Serves 2 - we didn't have any starch with this, but we were still full
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15-20 minutes

6 eggs or 3/4 c. egg whites plus 1/3 c. egg whites
1/3 c. water
1 1/2 c. broccoli, chopped into small pieces
1/2 c. turkey, chopped into small pieces
1/2 c. shallots, chopped into small pieces
2 cloves garlic
1/4 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. pepper
1/2 t. dried thyme
1/2 c. fat free cheddar cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan cheese

In a skillet, add a small amount of olive oil over medium-high heat.  When oil is hot, add shallots and garlic, saute for a couple minutes until shallots are soft.  Add broccoli, cover and let steam for a couple minutes until broccoli is tender.  In the meantime, mix egg whites, salt, pepper, thyme and cheeses well.  Add turkey to broccoli, mix, then pour egg mixture evenly over broccoli mixture.  We used a spatula to even everything out.  Cover and cook for 10-15 minutes or until eggs are done.  Cut and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Grilled Balsamic Chicken

Grilled Balsamic Chicken

We didn't care for this recipe...but we're posting it in case others may want to try it and hopefully improve it!

It wasn't bad, it just wasn't for us.  We love balsamic vinegar...especially when we're dipping our bread into the vinegar/olive oil mix at an Italian restaurant so we thought we'd love this recipe.   First of all, ours didn't look as good as 'For The Love of Cooking's' chicken did.  Ours started to char a lot.  The chicken ended up juicy and tasty, but perhaps we should have used less balsamic vinegar or something.

We followed the recipe with the exception of the flour and butter...oh and of course, we cooked ours in our grill pan.  The sauce was a bit too strong for us.

If you try this recipe and it comes out better for you or you tweak it in some way, please do share!  The nice thing about this recipe is we ate it during Attack.

Good luck!

Dukan Pork Tofu

Pork Tofu

This is a scheduled post...we are away on a business trip. We'll be back shortly!

We loved this recipe and it's so easy to make!

Pork Tofu is another local Hawaii favorite.  We believe it's actually an Okinawan dish.  Next time we make this, we'll definitely add vegetables like bean sprouts, Chinese cabbage, bamboo shoots, etc.

We've had this at several restaurants here in Hawaii, most cut their tofu into larger pieces than we did...we cut ours smaller since the male half had his dental surgery the other month.  The size of your tofu is up to you...but try not to cut it too small or it'll fall apart while cooking.

On another note, the male half of this couple bought us a Prime Lens which is great for taking portrait shots...which also takes great food pics!  These pics were taken with this lens.  It's a bit tricky to use, but after some practice we hope to be better at it!

RECIPE:
Serves 2 (he had red rice with his and I had mine plain)
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 minutes or so

1 lb. lean pork, thinly sliced (you can use less pork if you are using a lot of veggies)
1/2 medium onion, sliced (you can use the whole thing)
8 to 10 stalks of green onions, cut into 1 1/2" lengths (ours were pre chopped)
1 pound tofu, drained and cubed (we used the extra firm one)

Sauce:
1/3 c. low sodium soy sauce (we filled our 1/3 c. measuring cup about 2/3's full, then filled the rest of the cup with water...it was perfect for high blood pressure people like us)
2 1/2 T. natural sweetener or to taste (we used Xylitol, if you use Truvia, you may want to start off with less)
1 t. grated ginger

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside.  Stir-fry pork and onions in a small amount of olive oil until pork is almost cooked through.  Pour sauce over pork mixture and simmer for 5 minutes.  Gently stir in tofu cubes until they are well coated and warmed up.  Serve as is during Cruise or over quinoa, brown rice or red rice during Consolidation and Stabilization.

Add a cup of veggies like watercress, mushrooms, bamboo shoots, green beans, etc and no additional liquid.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Mongolian Beef

Mongolian Beef

This is a schedule post...we are on the road again!  It may take us a while to respond to comments...thank you!

We loved this recipe!

We'll probably try it with chicken since the beef was a bit dry and we're trying not to eat beef.  This is another recipe from our archives...just didn't have the energy to post it.

We love cooking Chinese stir fry type of dishes...they are flavorful and cook up pretty quickly.   We had this during Cruise even though it has a small amount of oyster sauce and sesame oil....it's up to you.  We didn't experience any weight gain from eating it.

RECIPE:
Serves 2 (he had red rice with his and I had mine plain)
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes, plus 30 minutes marinating time
Cook Time: Just a few minutes

1 lb. lean beef, sliced into small pieces
2 stalks of green onion, chopped (or sliced)
1 inch ginger, finely chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced

Marinade:
1 t. cornstarch
1 t. soy sauce
1 T. water
1 t. Chinese rice wine (Shaoxing)

Sauce:
2 t. oyster sauce
2 T. low sodium soy sauce (we used 1 1/2 T. plus 1/2 T. water)
2 dashes pepper
1/4 t. sesame oil
1 T. natural sweetener or to taste (we used Xylitol)

Marinate beef for 30 minutes.  Heat up wok with a small amount of olive oil.  Stir fry beef until halfway done.  Remove beef from wok and set aside.  Add more olive oil if needed, saute garlic and ginger until fragrant (a minute or two).  Add beef back to wok, then sauce and stir fry until beef is almost done, then add green onions.  Stir a couple more times and serve.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Low Fat Korean Quesadillas

Korean Quesadilla

We loved this!

From our archives...we made this during our first time going through Consolidation.  We just threw it together since we had tortillas and cheese leftover from our Low Fat Filipino Bistek Quesadillas.   It was tasty!

RECIPE:
Serves 2
Prep Time: 10-15 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes

2 fat free tortillas
1 cup shredded rotisserie chicken, fat removed
8 - 10 slices of cucumber, you can slice them thinner than we did
1-2 T. gochujang (Korean hot pepper paste, contains some sugar)
splash of sesame oil
1 c. fat free cheddar cheese, shredded
1/4 c. low fat Jarlsberg Swiss Cheese cut into small pieces (we got ours at Costco) - optional

Chicken mixture after stir frying

In a wok, stir fry cucumbers with a splash of sesame oil.  When cucumbers start to soften, add chicken and gochujang.  Stir fry until hot.  Remove from heat and cover.  In the meantime, heat a grill pan, spray with a little bit of non stick spray and place one tortilla on the pan.  Toast tortilla on both sides, approximately 2 minutes on each side.  Sprinkle some cheese on half the tortilla, spoon half your chicken mixture over the cheese.  Sprinkle more cheese on the chicken mixture, then fold tortilla in half.    Grill both sides of the quesadilla until cheese is melted.  Remove from pan, cut in half and serve.

We had ours plain...but you can serve this with salsa, hot sauce or more gochujang paste.

Enjoy...we sure did!

Dukan Shoyu Chicken

Shoyu Chicken

 This is a scheduled post.  If we do not respond to your comments right away, it's because we are on the road!  Thanks!

We loved this recipe...and our Pampered Chef Deep Covered Baker.

This is the first savory dish we've made in our Deep Covered Baker and we are definitely going to use it again.  Our boneless skinless chicken thighs came out moist!  This recipe can be made on the stove as well.

The Deep Covered Baker in the microwave

In Hawaii, the 'plate lunch' is a big thing.   It's something we grew up with as children...as a matter of fact, our parents did too.  We remember when plate lunches came in a box while others came wrapped neatly in butcher paper.  The plate lunch was always 2 scoops of rice (or as the local people say '2 scoop rice'), 1 scoop macaroni salad (no potatoes in the salad) and your main entree which many times would be covered in brown gravy or something not too healthy.  The plate lunch like many other restaurants across the U.S. and probably the world has evolved.  Most restaurants serve their plate lunches in styrofoam or 'green' containers and offer healthier selections along side their 'heart attack on a plate' selections.

Shoyu chicken is on most plate lunch menus and we don't really order it due to the amount of soy sauce and sugar used.  Plus, most restaurants will leave the skin and fat on the chicken thighs.  This is an easy, tasty dish to make and it really only takes 20 minutes in the microwave (Deep Covered Baker) or on the stove in a regular pot.

This recipe came from Rainbow Drive In in Kapahulu near Waikiki a very popular local style restaurant.

RECIPE:
Serves 3-4 people
Prep Time: 10-20 minutes (it took us longer since we removed all the fat from our chicken)
Cook Time: 20 minutes

2 1/2 lbs. boneless, skinless chicken thighs (fat removed)
1/2 c. natural sweetener (we used Xylitol)
3/4 c. low sodium soy sauce (we watered ours down)
1/4 c. white vinegar
1/8 t. kosher salt
1/8 t. pepper
1 clove garlic
1 inch ginger, crushed

Wash and drain chicken.  Place in Deep Covered Baker or pot.  Combine sauce ingredients.  Pour sauce over chicken.  If using a Deep Covered Baker, cover and cook on high in your microwave for 20 minutes.  If cooking on the stove, bring to a boil and cook for 20-30 minutes.

We didn't thicken our sauce, but if you would like to, use some cornstarch.

Enjoy...we sure did!