Buffalo Chicken Dip Lettuce Wraps

After a week of eating entrees as-is (too busy to get creative, my evenings go too fast these days), I felt like having something that usually is a decadent party treat. Buffalo chicken anything is usually pretty damn good. I didn't really start out as a buffalo wing fan, but it has grown on me as it's popularity has grown. I think it is a grown-up love of vinegar.

It took me a bit of thinking and shopping around to find a way to fit buffalo chicken dip into the HMR box, but damned if I won't find a way for anything! I needed something to replace the chips or crackers that it is usually scooped up with, but I really hated all of the crackers I have tried to make with HMR foods. So I settled on a lettuce wrap, though celery sticks would probably be good too, and more traditional.

Ingredients (makes 2 portions):
Chicken from 2 Savory Chicken entrees, finely chopped
2 Tbsp Low Fat/Skim Milk Cream Cheese
2 Tbsp Nonfat Sour Cream
1-3 Tbsp Frank's Red Hot sauce (depending on level of heat preferred)
1/2 - 1 Tsp Ranch Dressing Seasoning (depending on ranchiness preferred)
5-8 Large Leaves of Lettuce

Pull the chicken pieces out of the entrees, rinse and chop it up. Rinse the rice in a strainer and save it for another dish (like my next entry, Vegetable Rice Pilaf!). I went pretty fine on the chop, but bigger chunks might make it a little less dip-like and a little more chicken salad sandwich-like.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Put all of the ingredients in a bowl and then mix until the cream cheese is fully incorporated. I suggest adding the hot sauce slowly, because it can be deceptively spicy. In fact, the science says (I believe I read somewhere) that spices are less detectable in cold food than in hot food, so once this is heated up it will be even spicier. The 3 tablespoons of hot sauce I put in was pretty spicy. Also, I think eating it on chips or crackers would help temper the heat, where the lettuce really doesn't.

I split the mixture into 2 separate tiny baking dishes so I could cook the two portions individually. Put in the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes.

When bubbly, remove from oven and scoop into the lettuce leaves. Don't overfill, a little of the chicken packs big flavor in the leaves. The below was made with just one portion, so it goes a long way.

I really, really enjoyed this, and it managed to taste pretty much like the real, full fat and calorie filled thing! I think you could probably even trick a non-HMRer into thinking this wasn't diet food. I think there may have been a bit too much creamy stuff, so I might cut down the cream cheese and sour cream to 1.5 tbsp each on the next go around.

I just had an awesome idea... buffalo chicken dip stuffed mini bell peppers! How awesome does that sound? I might do that with the other half of this... mmmmmm...

HMR Blueberry Muffins

Slowly, but surely, I am trying to create the perfect HMR muffin. It has been a bit difficult getting the moistness correct because I keep changing the fruit that I include, but I think I am figuring it out. This is my take on this recipe from an HMR site. It includes fake sugar which I did enjoy, but the sugar can be skipped and the recipe is still good.

Ingredients (makes 6 full size muffins):
1 packet HMR 500 Vanilla Shake Mix

1 packet HMR 500 Chocolate Shake Mix
2 packets HMR Multigrain Cereal
3 packets artificial sweetener
½ Tablespoon Baking Powder
½ Tablespoon Vanilla extract
¾ Cup of water

1/2 Cup fresh blueberries
Non-stick cooking spray

1 packet of artificial sweetener to sprinkle on top

Preheat the oven to 350. Combine all of the dry ingredients well, and then add the vanilla and water. Mix until fully combined and then fold in the blueberries.

Spray the muffin tin to coat, and then scoop the batter into the tin. Muffin cups would probably work great, but I hate them so I don't use them. I put a couple of extra blueberries on the top of each, and then sprinkled the extra packet of sweetener on top. I used aspartame and it worked out well.

Place in the oven. For me it pretty consistently takes 25 minutes with a gas oven, but your mileage may vary.

Looks pretty much like a normal, human muffin, right? And it totally tastes like one as well! The blueberries were so incredibly good in this! The muffins came out a little too moist (like I had to let them fully cool before coming out of the tin and then I let them sit upside-down to dry for a while) so I might cut the water by an 1/8th cup or more, but otherwise, they were amazing.

I prefer not to frost them, but I don't enjoy any frosting recipes that I have found with the shakes. I also prefer to do one chocolate shake and one vanilla in the recipe, as opposed to 2 of either kind. It seems to make a milder flavor that tastes less like something being forced into a muffin because it is good for you.

I have heard differing accounts as to whether muffins like this are supposed to be a part of the regular HMR program. Either they don't count as a shake or they are supposed to be an "every once in a while treat." Blah, blah, blah, the whole is better, and more edible, than the parts in this case.

Enchilada Beef Soup

I enjoy making soup. Sometimes I enjoy making it more than I enjoy eating it, but that is beside the point. And not the case with this soup, because it was great. I honestly can't remember what inspired this, but it was probably something like wishing for something beefy that wasn't a slimy mess.

Ingredients (makes 2 servings)

Enchilada filling scooped out of HMR Enchilada entree (could use 2)

3 cups of water

1 beef bouillon cube

Caramelized onions & bell peppers (I had leftovers from a previous meal)

Rice from a Savory Chicken or BBQ Chicken entree

Green onions

Scooping the filing out of the enchilada entree was a little gross, but easy enough. I saved the rest of the entree for another time (a less than stellar attempt at "chips" and salsa, not worth the work).

I brought the water to a boil with the bouillon cube, dissolving it, and then added the beef filling. Once that was simmering I added the veg, and then shortly after, the rice. It simmered for another 10 minutes or so for the flavors to do their thang, and then voila!

I would totally make this again. The bouillon cube added so much flavor for only 10 calories, and it tastes so different than what you start with, which is a welcome change.

Deconstructing the entrees into their component parts and then using them to make other recipes is quickly becoming a staple of my HMR plan. It is a survival technique for me because I can't keep eating the same things over and over. And I didn't even bust out the crazy spices on this one! Garam masala in everything!

Cucumber Hummus

Hummus is a delicious and filling dish, but chickpeas on their own can be pretty calorie and carb heavy. I found this recipe for a version with cucumber blended in, which turned out to be much lighter and still very good.

This recipe is super easy and quick (assuming you have a food processor/blender) and I was able to make it with stuff I already had in the house, no shopping required... Yes, I did have tahini lying around, I suppose everyone might not... but it is also a non-essential ingredient should you not want to buy a jar of it for this one thing.

You will find that I am not big on measuring my ingredients, so sometimes I will include amounts and sometimes not... you can always take a look at the inspiration recipe for exactitude.

-Ingredients-
Canned chickpeas, rinsed (about 2/3 of the can)
Roughly chopped cucumber (about 1/2 of a large one)
2 garlic cloves (I like garlic)
Dried dill, fresh would probably be better
Lemon juice (2 tbsp or so)
Tahini (1 tbsp or so)
Olive oil (a small drizzle, maybe 1/2 a tsp)
Salt & pepper
Paprika to garnish

Throw everything in the blender except the paprika, and blend! Scoop into your bowl and sprinkle with paprika (and a tiny bit extra olive oil if you are a freaking dare devil like me) and serve with vegetable crudites.

I brought this to a family gathering yesterday and it went over pretty well with the whole crowd, including my mother who had never had hummus before in any form.

I think this is a pretty successful snack or side dish. It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but it is pretty dern good. It should keep for a few days, and last for a few meals. Four out of five stars, would make again... maybe with lime juice or something!

HMR and cooking... actual cooking?

I started on the HMR diet about 4 weeks ago and I was gung ho about the "all shakes" diet. Sounds great, right? No food shopping, no food prep, no cooking... so much free time! But while it is working for some of my group mates, it made me really really unhappy and I felt like garbage the whole time. So I transitioned to the 3 shakes/2 entrees/5 fruit & veg plan after a week and have felt so much better and have still been successful in losing weight.

So what is my problem now? I am used to eating a varied and fun range of foods, which are no longer "part of the plan". I am also used to my meals being incredibly delicious, so I don't like to give into bland, boring food just because I am staying "on plan". I am trying to commit to following the plan, but I have to do something to make the plan more interesting because it is not holding my taste buds' interest or attention at the moment.

I am planning to use this blog as way to explore options in deconstructing, reinventing and expanding the variety of dishes that you can make within my HMR plan. Microwaving the meals just isn't as satisfying as cooking a real meal with them, and coming out with something that doesn't feel like a restriction.

There may be a couple of bumps in the road, but I have never been afraid of my mistakes, so I plan to post my dos, don'ts, and never agains.

It does appear that there are different versions of the HMR diet out there, and so these may not extend to everyone. But hey, I gotta do me. Hopefully it might give some ideas to other folks that are out there googling recipes like crazy, as I was for my first couple of weeks.

Disclaimer: the plan I am following does allow for 60 calories of whatever you want additional per day, and I expect to use those calories quite frequently. Pan lubricants and emulsifiers are essential to non-disappointing cooking!