19th Aug 2010
As I wrote earlier today, Seth and I (from our radio show Seth and Kitty Weighing In on WONA in Winona, MS) are trying something. I’m going to list a menu for a week along with the Grocery List and the list of ingredients that I have On-Hand for that menu. So take a look at the On-Hand List first and see what you do have and what you don’t have and then add that to the Grocery List which is also posted below.
And then I’ll post the First Week of meals tomorrow and how to prepare them. I have people ask me all the time what they should be eating and I send them to my site to get recipes all the time, but this will make it even one step easier. This is everything for the week - all meals.
So here are the lists. You can copy and paste them into a Word Doc and print them out and take them with you to the store. The meals, which I’ll post tomorrow, will have all the calories, fat, fiber and carbs listed so you don’t have to figure that out either!
Week #1
GROCERY LIST
CANNED GOODS
2 14-Ounce cans artichoke hearts packed in water
3 6-Ounce cans tomato paste
3 14.5-Ounce cans crushed tomatoes
1 20-Ounce can pineapple chunks (packed in pineapple juice with no added sugar)
1 13-Ounce can fat free refried beans
1 Jar sugar free jam or jelly (your favorite flavor)
WHOLE GRAINS
1 Loaf whole wheat bread (50 calories or less per slice)
1 Package whole wheat lasagna noodles (you’ll need at least 12 noodles)
1 Box 100% bran cereal (with NO added sugar)
1 Container of oatmeal (Old Fashioned or Steel Cut ONLY)
1 16-Ounce package brown rice
1 Bag low fat whole-wheat tortillas (130 calories each or less)
MISCELLANEOUS
1 16-Ounce package dried red kidney beans
1 Bag reduced fat tortilla chips (there are many choices so read your labels)
1 Smuckers sugar free pancake syrup (optional – see French Toast)
FRESH PRODUCE
2 Apples
1 Head Romaine lettuce (or your favorite lettuce. I buy what’s on sale)
3 Onions (I get what’s on sale, but if you love Vidalia or purple, that’s your choice)
1 Bunch asparagus (if the price is sky high then get broccoli)
1 Pint strawberries
4 Large tomatoes
2 Red bell peppers
2 Green bell peppers
1 Pint fresh salsa (the kind that’s refrigerated)
1 Yam or sweet potato (Keep this in the fridge so it will last till the end of the week.)
DAIRY
1 Tub Smart Balance margarine (the only non-hydrogenated margarine I can find)
1 2-Cup package fat free shredded cheddar cheese (If you can’t find fat free, get 2%
and adjust your calories.)
1 2-Cup package reduced fat mozzarella cheese
1 Package reduced fat Swiss cheese (80 calories per slice)
1 2-Pound container reduced fat ricotta cheese
1 Pint egg substitute (or 1 pint pure egg whites)
½ Dozen eggs (a dozen if it’s cheaper)
1 Half gallon skim milk (or SILK, Almond or Whole Grain non-dairy drink if you’re lactose intolerant)
1 Sour cream, fat free (optional – see Taco Chicken Salad)
MEAT – POULTRY – FISH
1 Package boneless skinless chicken breasts (usually a package has 5-6 breasts)
1 20-Ounce package Jennie-O Italian Flavored ground turkey
1 Package Jennie-O turkey bacon
1 14-Ounce package low fat turkey sausage
6 Ounces your favorite fish to grill (mine is salmon) (See NOTE below)
(NOTE: I like to cook fresh fish the day I buy it. For Saturday I’ve scheduled Grilled Fish. If you don’t plan to shop again and buy your fish today, be sure to freeze it!)
Week #1
HAVE ON HAND LIST
(NOTE: If these items are not already in your fridge or pantry, don’t forget to add them to your grocery shopping list!)
CONDIMENTS, DRESSINGS & RELISHES
Balsamic vinegar (my “go to” for a quick side salad)
Dill pickles (or your favorite low calorie pickles)
Hidden Valley Original ranch dressing mix (I always buy the double envelope)
Horseradish (small jar)
Ketchup (sugar free or regular is okay here, unless you plan to drink the bottle!)
Mayonnaise, fat free
Mustard, brown
Mustard, yellow
Zesty Italian Dressing, fat free
KITCHEN AIDS & UTENSILS
1 10 x 14 x 2 Pyrex (or equivalent) casserole dish
Aluminum foil (whatever is on sale)
Baggies (sandwich, quart and gallon size)
Food storage containers (Invest in small, medium and large microwave safe food containers to freeze leftovers in. Containers with ounce markings on the side are helpful.)
Pot (large enough to boil lasagna noodles)
Sauce pan (4-quart size is a minimum)
MISCELLANEOUS
Garlic, fresh cloves or pre-chopped in a jar (I use whichever I have at the time.)
Vanilla extract
OIL & COOKING SPRAY
Butter flavor cooking spray
Olive oil cooking spray
Olive oil (small bottle of whatever is on sale or your favorite)
SEASONINGS
Basil, dried (Fresh is great, but have this, too.)
Black pepper, ground
Creole seasoning (I use Tony Chachere’s brand.)
Chicken bouillon, powered (I use Maggi brand.)
Cinnamon, ground
Garlic salt (The cheapest store brand is fine.)
Oregano, dried (Fresh is great but have this around, too.)
Parsley, dried (Again, fresh is great but have this, too.)
Thyme, ground (I rarely use fresh Thyme, but you can make that choice.)
Salt (Table, Kosher or Sea Salt all work for me.)
Salt Substitute (for people who have a salt issue)
Seasoned salt (I ONLY use Lawry’s brand)
STAPLES
Equal packets (or your favorite artificial sweetener for coffee and tea)
Splenda for baking
Whole Wheat flour, 5 pound bag
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8th Jul 2010
I just found this out and I’m freaked out. I’ve been cooking and eating Splenda and NOT counting any of the calories! It meets the FDA standard for a ZERO calorie product because it has less than 5 calories per serving - but their serving is 1 teaspoon which has 2 calories - so you do the math. 2 cal per tsp = 6 cal per T X 16 T in one cup = 96 Gee whiz - we can’t win…. We in the overweight community are taken in once more. I’m still going to use Splenda. I mean it’s the best for baking and cooking that I’ve found so far - but HEY GUYS in the food industry - tell us the truth! We can take it. Like I say- knowledge is POWER. And this is knowledge we needed to know!
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14th Jul 2009
The Food Network called this morning to tell me that my air date is AUGUST 9TH! at 10:30am..
GGGEEEE!
So glad they called when they did - I have an article coming out in the Clarion Ledger tomorrow and Sherry (the very sweet reporter) was able to change the air date in the article before it went to print! YEY!
I’ll post a link for the article tomorrow!
And I’m gonna watch both air dates (July 19th at 10:30 and August 9th at 10:30) just to be sure. This has been pretty confusing, so who knows when I’ll be on! HA!
Thanks for all the patience..
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10th Jul 2009
I saw last night that my cable provider AT&T Uverse has me listed as appearing July 19th when I did a search for my DVR to record it. The Food Network web site has me as August 9th, so I don’t know what to say about that. I have calls into the production company Embassy Row and also emailed everyone that I was contacted by but no return.
The director of Grill It, Lauren Thompson, originally told me July 19th so I think that is correct, but I will watch both. The show airs ONCE on Sunday morning and then repeats ONE more time on the following Monday.
So sorry about the confusion.. I hope they will return my calls, but I started this Monday and so far they haven’t, so I can only tell you what I know. I intend to watch both. And I do think the final correct date is Sunday, July 19th. To repeat on Monday the 20th.
Love,
Kitty
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11th May 2009
I’ve been on vacation for two weeks. Neil and I went to the Grand Canyon and guess what? Turns out my stomach is the other Grand Canyon! I’m sorry to say I left no biscuit unturned (or unbuttered) YIKES! So yes, I did gain a few pounds. The good news is yesterday I decided I needed to create my own diet plan - so made lists of my favorites and got a ball park idea of what to have everyday for the next seven days (I want it to be nutritionally sound as well as delicious - and EASY!), made a grocery list, shopped, came home and cooked and I’m off to the races.
This morning I had brand cereal and skim milk for breakfast. I made carrot and artichoke soup yesterday (topped with fat free shredded cheddar cheese and crispy chunks of turkey bacon) for lunch today and I brought an apple (with Laughing Cow Garlic and Herb cream cheese) and 100 calorie popcorn for a snack. Tonight I will have a shrimp, broccoli and cheese burrito and I should have enough calories left over for another snack - probably my new favorite milk shake which is half pineapple and half strawberry! This sounds great and I feel VERY motivated. I love all my recipes and some of them I have not eaten in a while. I also made 8 servings of my Chicken Creole Pie yesterday. I froze them all because I don’t know which night I’ll want that.
This is where the rubber meets the rode. I saw Kirsty Ally on Oprah last week and she had gained all her weight back. I do not want to go there and this is how I’ll find out if I have what it takes to keep from doing just that. Stay tuned. I’ll write more often and let you know how I’m doing.
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19th Mar 2009
I could hardly sleep the night before I was so excited. But I managed to get some sleep and felt very pumped when I got up and got dressed.
I work just north of Hollywood and Highland (which is where the Kodak Theatre and the Oscars are held) and since the address for the shoot was in West Hollywood, I asked to be picked up at my work address.
The driver assigned to me (Chris) got to my office early and since you never know about the traffic in LA I decided we should go. I guess we got to the absolutely beautiful home in the Hollywood Hills overlooking the LA basin (you could see the ocean and it was a spectacular view) about 11:00am PT. The Grill It show is shooting two shows a day there and I was to be the second person of this particular day. When I got there Rae, the producer in charge of me, met me at the driveway and escorted me up to the house. We couldn’t go in because the guy grilling pork chops ahead of me - his show with Bobby was running overtime. So Rae and I chatted and hung out for a while. I’m not sure of the time when they wrapped that episode but it was an hour or so easy and then the crew broke for lunch. They had every kind of food you can imagine set up buffet style for everyone to eat. I saw no really low cal stuff so I got an egg roll and a water and sat and ate. (I don’t like to eat much before I do anything that has to do with performance anyway. It makes me sleepy.)
I think I had been there for two hours when the makeup gal and the wardrobe gal and I squared away my look. I had arrived with my makeup done and I was wearing the top I wanted to wear but when the wardrobe gal asked me about my pants I told her that I really wanted to wear the black ones that I brought. I couldn’t believe it but she let me - so I felt very good about my look. I thought about how just a few short years ago I would be stressing out about how fat I was going to look on TV. But not this time.
First we shot me saying how glad I was to be there and how excited I was to meet Bobby. I think I must have been too excited because the director told me to bring it down a notch or two. HA! Hey I get excited!
They took me to the set and Juliet, the “on set” producer in charge of me took me to the kitchen where they had a question about my grilled biscuit. Morgan, I think was her name, had prepared all of my recipes based on the recipes I had submitted and the biscuit for the grilled strawberry shortcake was very loose. She really wanted it to be right and so I took the dough and threw some flour on the table and then plopped the dough down on it and was able to make it work. Morgan was a real peach the whole day by the way. She was behind me at every turn making sure things were right. In the middle of me kneading the biscuit dough I heard someone say “Would you like to meet Kitty?” so I looked up and two feet in front of me was Bobby Flay. I know my mouth dropped open - and I said “Oh my gosh - Bobby Flay!” He thanked me for coming and we talked a minute or two (about what I can’t remember - too excited!) and then he said he’d see me soon and he left. How exciting to meet him before things got underway. And I had been working with the biscuit dough explaining how I make it so I was glad he saw me in action - cooking.
So then the crew broke for lunch. I had already eaten my egg roll so took a few pictures and soaked everything in.
Then we began the Grill It Show.
I want to begin by saying that Bobby Flay is a complete and total gentlemen. My food didn’t always turn out like I cook it when I’m at my condo but he smiled and winked and gave it a thumbs up. If you are a fan of him in any way - just know that as much as you like him on screen - he is even nicer off screen. You know when you are in the presence of a star. Bobby Flay is a star - and I still can’t believe I am a part of his series “Grill It”.
So Rae, turned me over to Juliet, the producer in charge of me on the set. She took me to my cooking station and showed me what’s what. And I used to think I had some sense but March 17th at exactly 1:30 my good sense left me. HA! I have been on TV shoots and have even been the focus of a shoot, but this was pretty overwhelming. The person ahead of me had run so far over that I think there was a tad of anxiety that the day was about to get really long. I was told a certain camera to look at but there were many cameras and they all looked the same once the shoot got underway so I’m not sure if I ever looked at the right one. A suggestion to the crew would be to put a yellow (or some loud color) flag or marker on the top of the lens the guest is supposed to look at. But I think they are probably used to that, so I think it will be all right.
Bobby was getting his mic on and he looked at me and said, “How are your grilling skills?” I said, “Not nearly as good as yours”. He said, “Are you good?” and I said, “I think I’m pretty good.” I think he winked at me but that might be wishful thinking. HA!
So Bobby got behind his station and he introduced me. I ran on set and we were off to the races.
I did get a chance to ask Bobby a couple of good questions.
1. If you were on a desert island and you could only have one spice with you - what would it be? (You’ll have to watch for his answer)
2. What is your favorite meal to cook for your wife? (again you’ll have to watch)
3. What’s the difference between a yam and a sweet potato? (another interesting answer)
And I asked him to show me how he makes that garlic paste with fresh garlic. Which I did on set.
At one point I told him about how my brother Louie had first introduced me to his “Throwdown” show. I told him he could throw me down anytime and he laughed (and so did some of the crew so not sure they can use that. HA!)
He made a shrimp dish that knocked the socks off of my shrimp dish, but I think my grilled salad was very good. I told him about losing 60 pounds two years ago and I think that floored him. We talked about cooking light and I told him I created these recipes to help me keep my weight off. He tasted my grilled strawberry shortcake and I felt a good reaction from that (meaning I think he really liked it as opposed to my shrimp which I could see with my own eyes were overcooked) I made my Sangria and we toasted. I had written a parody to Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” titled, “Griller” and I sang it as part of my farewell to the camera - “Cause he’s the Griller - I’m here to say - no one fires up a grill like Bobby Flay - yes he’s the Griller - I want to learn, from the Master Chef himself creating perfect, perfect - burn!” . It was 4:50. And the day had flown by.
I brought the crew my laughing CD Laffy Laughing All the Way that I recorded a few years ago as a thank you gift and Louie’s good buddy Seth Kent from Winona, MS, who roasts and distributes Southern Aroma Coffee made me a “special Blend for Bobby Flay” so I wrapped it up in green paper and ribbon for St Patrick’s Day and asked Rae to give it to Bobby as a gift, so she did. I asked her if I could get a picture and I could see that she was a bit hesitant - it had been a long day for Bobby (and everyone - they were all SUPER nice but you can tell when people are tired) but Rae asked the director, Lauren (who was very encouraging) to see if I could take a photo. She went in and I could hear Bobby say “Of course!” So he came out and Rae took this great photo of us.
My driver (a different guy named Charles) was waiting for me at the end of the driveway and so I told Rae good-bye and off I went. I called Neil (my husband), my father L.V. Harrison in Winona, my boss Dave Bell in Australia and of course my brother Louie who is totally responsible for this entire day. I had not heard of Bobby Flay two years ago. Louie, who is a big fan told me that since I love to cook that I needed to check out his show “Throwdown”. The rest is history.
I hope you enjoyed reading about this day as much as I enjoyed living it. I love you all.
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16th Mar 2009
I still can hardly believe it myself! And I have just had the kind of day that you want to freeze in time because it has been so special! I went down to Ann Tayor and Banana Republic and found the CUTEST outfits ever for tomorrow and they all fit!!! YIKES! It’s such a special blessing to shop now and have clothes look so nice.
And I’ve been working with a producer on a comedy/drama that we hope to soon pitch and the star that is considering it just called the office and we had such a marvelous chat! If he attaches I’ll let you know but right now it’s just exciting to get to talk to him.
And my brother’s good buddy Seth Kent who owns and operates Southern Aroma Coffee in Winona, MS just sent me some coffee titled “Special Blend for Bobby Flay” that I will give to Bobby tomorrow for St Patrick’s Day! I wanted to have a gift for him and how perfect is THAT!
Stayed tuned and I’ll let you know how it goes! This is truly a blessed day…no two ways about it.
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11th Mar 2009
which happens to be St Patrick’s Day - and since I AM Irish (Great-great-grandfather Sylvester Farrell came over in the 1840’s) I fully expect good luck. And since Bobby Flay is also Irish (Fourth generation according to Wikipedia) I expect DOUBLE good luck! (At the suggestion of my sister in law, Patty, I’m going shopping this weekend for a Kelly green tailored shirt to wear!)
My menu will be Spicy Creole Shrimp on top of a Grilled Spinach Salad, Kick Butt Kabobs and something I’ve named She-a Sangria (which is a sangria made for guests with love by a woman - if a guy makes it then it is He-a Sangria. HA!). For dessert I’m making Grilled Strawberry Shortcake which is an adaptation of my good friend and fellow RFP (recovering fat person) Carol T.’s Accidental Shortcake recipe. Believe it or I actually WILL grill the cakes (biscuits)!
Wish me luck Tuesday! It’s supposed to be beautiful here in Los Angeles, and I CAN’T WAIT!!!
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