Smothered Porkchops

This one really hit the spot for the mustard lover in me (when I was kid I used to eat the mustard packs in the school lunch room, I know, gross, but still good:)
Season and brown your pork chops
Saute mushrooms & onions, add mustard powder, flour and then stock. Lastly add your spicy mustard (or Dijon, whatever floats your boat)
Add the pork chops to your simmering sauce, cover and cook till fully done

Check some other meals out at Foodie Friday and

Rachel Ray's "Moo Shu Noodles"

Another one of Rachel's (recipe here) and it was a big family hit. I cut some corners to save some pennies on this one. All the veggies were bought from produce junction and I used button mushrooms instead of shiitake and thin cut pork chops with the bone in instead of boneless (they were cheaper and I got them on manager's special).

The fettuccine was Shoprite's brand, I didn't use egg ones because I couldn't find them.

shredded ginger and scallions

Instead of using hoisin and soy sauce I just used up the rest of my Soyaki from Trader Joes and added a little bit of soy sauce (I don't like things too sweet).

After I browned the meat I sauteed the ginger and scallions and then added the mushrooms, finally the nappa cabbage.

Another note - I've started using bouillon or "better than bouillion" instead of the stock in the box to save money. I've also been looking for the low sodium ones.

The vegetables made a lot of juice so I took some out and whisked in flour to thicken the sauce.

The finished product.

This fed my family of five and had three individual meals leftover for lunches. I find that when I put them away in individual meals the leftover actually get eaten and I can also freeze them for later (who needs Lean Cuisine on Stoufer's:).

Flat Belly Diet 4 Day anti-bloat meals and drink

So, my hubby and I, along with my parents have been trying the Flat Belly Diet. Basically it incorporates proper portions of healthy foods (whole grains, lots of fruits and veggies) with a MUFA (monunsaturated fatty acid).

You have four meals a day and a snack that is the same amount of calories as a meal. The meals are filling and to incorporate the MUFAs they have something like oils, olives, nuts, seeds, avocados and dark chocolate in every meal and snack! Can't loose with that, I mean you can loose weight but it's a winner on flavor:)

It starts off with a four day anti-bloat jump start, which I'll admit I didn't love, but mainly because a lot of the flavors I crave (salt and spice) can cause bloating so they were off the list, but only for four days, wait till you see my pics from the other meals. The meals were really filling, though I will admit to cheating a bit on an extra snack at night, which I know is the worst time:)

Still, for the four days I dropped a few pounds and 2 inches. Keep in mind this is mainly excess water weight. I have kept the pounds off (been three weeks on the diet) and am getting a bit smaller inch wise, though the scale stays the same so I'll chalk that up to weight training. Hubby keeps loosing and looks great, he is also working out.

This is "Sassy Water" not sure what exactly it does, although it had me drinking my water which is good. You had to drink 2 liters a day for the first four days. It had cucumber, lemon, ginger and mint. Any guesses on the benefits of these? It was actually quite good and refreshing.

One of the anti-bloat dinners - tilapia, red potatoes in olive oil (your MUFA) and green beans, the nice part of this diet is that it encourages healthy eating and it's something I can feed my kids as well.

This one I loved! Chicken (I seasoned with Trader Joe's no salt seasoning), mushrooms sauteed in extra virgin olive oil, and brown rice.

Another thing, this isn't so bad on the budget. Been to Produce Junction for the fruits and veggies and I looked through the meals and bought things I knew we would eat and I could save on. I did not however, buy all of the name brands that the book endorses because they were just not in my budget.