Do It Youself Meal Plans Are Cheaper

As we move into the Spring people think about dropping a few winter pounds, and I understand why some of them turn to meal programs like Jenny Craig or Nutrisystem. (The latter is the least expensive of the two.) There's no guesswork. Every bite you eat is packaged for you. The cooking and cleanup are light. It's convenient and nutritionally balanced, and if you follow it, you'll drop the weight. Years ago (around 2009), I tried Nutrisystem for 30 days. I wasn't hungry on the diet and remember dropping down to 118 pounds. As a younger woman, my loftier standard of my ''ideal weight'' was much lower. I was a size 6 - 8 for many years (without starving!). Today I'd love to step on the scale at the weight that I started with before dropping down to 118 pounds. THAT number + 20 pounds would be my ideal weight today!:)

At the same time, we also don't want to gain 10 additional pounds each and every year so our weight becomes unhealthy. Unfortunately, even without stringently high (or should I say low?) standards, you can't let yourself go! No, no, never, never, uh, uh, uh.

Today I'm going to discuss the well-known Nutrisystem meal plans. If you were to buy similar food independently and are disciplined not to cheat, but follow the plan, including its portion sizes, you could reduce the cost of the diet significantly. Moreover, I remember not liking all of the Nutrisystem meals, yet ate them because of the expense and my commitment to losing weight.

Breakfasts were a combination of protein shakes, dehydrated scrambled eggs (add water and microwave), protein muffins, and protein bars.

Here's what I think you could substitute:

* 1 dozen fresh eggs

* You're favorite high protein, low sugar meal bars - Clean and Pure Protein bars are examples. Look for at least 15 grams - 20 grams of protein with low sugar per bar.

* Protein shakes - Look for 25 grams - 30 grams per serving with low sugar and minerals. Consider buying protein powder (over liquid shakes) and adding it to skim milk for savings. Also try different brands like Premier Protein, Aldi or Trader Joe's house brands for greater savings.

Lunches consisted of canned soups and you could eat fruit or vegetable sticks that you furnish.

THE SAVVY SHOPPER has recipes for a variety of homemade soups, but this post is about convenience.

So you could buy the healthy choice varieties of any number of soups at your supermarket. Read the labels carefully focusing on low calories, salt, and at least 20 grams (30 grams if you can find it!) of protein. I will give Nutrisystem credit for sending chunky protein-rich soup, trickier to find with supermarket canned soup.

Dinners were frozen meals: meat (beef, chicken, or pork), carbohydrates (potatoes, rice, or pasta), and a vegetable, such as broccoli or peas and carrots).

Look for the many wholesome options of supermarket-carried frozen dinners. They'll likely cost less than what's on Amazon, but I'll link those for educational purposes. At the supermarket, most are half the price of a Nutrisystem frozen meal. I happen to like a brand called Healthy Choice, but there are other options also at the supermarket. Aim to find 17 grams - 30 grams per frozen dinner with 250 - 500 calories per serving. You may have to supplement some meals with a glass of milk to bump up the protein.

Snacks I liked the Nutrisystem protein chips and protein bars. The cookies and cake were good too. I was allowed 2 snacks per day. Protein chips are expensive everywhere. What's more, you don't get much in the costly bag. Consider skipping them as snacks for an ounce of cheddar (or your favorite cheese) on a saltine cracker to lower the price. Still, I'm not against expensive protein chips if they help on a diet. Spend the bucks as needed to succeed. 

I disliked Nutrisystem's dehydrated eggs. The pizza crust was as dry and flat as a cracker (which subsequently may have improved to taste like most frozen pizzas). Nutrisystem's vegetable patty on a bun was not good in taste or texture, and I thought their frozen pasta dinner entrèes were insufficient and expensive. I'll take a lean real hamburger over a Nutrisystem patty any day. It's easy to grill a raw beef burger on a stovetop. Add a slice of onion, tomato, and lettuce with ketchup, and thank me later.

Supermarkets offer all of the above meals for less than $5 - $10 each of the Nutrisystem entrèes. You'll spend far less money plus only have to eat the dishes you like!

When you buy Nutrisystem you still must buy extra fresh fruit and vegetables as they aren't packaged and mailed to you.

Nutrisystem is great at teaching people what they should eat in a day; selecting food with adequate protein, vitamins, minerals, and fiber; eating a variety of food; learning portion control; and eating when you're hungry. Also, you should and do consume 1/3 of your daily protein requirements with each meal.

Helpful tip: If you desire to follow the Nutrisystem/Jenny Craig diet on the cheap: Go to the supermarket and buy a full month's supply of alike meals + snacks to follow the plan faithfully. Do not stray from the plan. When you subscribe to the more pricey trademarks, the companies send you a box of food you eat for the month. This will put you in the same mindset for less.

Savings versus Convenience: Finally, if you don't mind paying 3+ times the money, you avoid the work of picking Nutrisystem meal equivalents at the supermarket. The food is shipped directly to your home. Nice! I enjoyed the convenience for a short time. But. After 30 days I decided I didn't need a meal plan, as I had good eating habits and didn't mind shopping or cooking. Sometimes cleaning up seems like a repetitive chore though.

Good luck! Losing weight is hard. The older you are, the tougher it is. Cutting calories is never fun. From time to time, we all go through it. "It's a marathon, not a sprint!"

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Rita Fox’s Bourbon Fruitcake

With permission, I published this recipe 4 years ago. It's the best fruitcake you will ever eat. Rita also sells them (including by mail order) as they are a lot of work to make. Gladly will I put readers in touch with the baker upon request for next year. This year, her fruitcakes are all sold. Moreover, Rita has published an awesome family cookbook. She is also an author of romance books that you can check out under her pen name Kallypso Masters.

Rita Fox’s Bourbon Fruitcake 

Modified 12/12/23 

 

Yield: three bread-loaf pans-sized cakes or 7 mini loaves. 

 

NOTE: Allow at least 4 weeks for mini cakes and 6 weeks for bread-loaf-sized cakes to be ready, so don't wait too long to start each year! I start as soon as candied fruit is available in my store, usually in late October. 

 

You can substitute spiced rum anywhere it mentions bourbon below. 

 

Ingredients 

 

4 cups sifted all-purpose flour 

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 tablespoon ground nutmeg 

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened 

2 cups granulated sugar 

6 large whole eggs 

1/2 cup bourbon (this is just for the cake recipe, not the soaking) 

4 cups pecan pieces, soaked in bourbon

8 oz. Craisins (OR yellow or dark raisins), soaked overnight in bourbon 

1 lb. candied cherries (I use 8 oz each of red and green cherries) 

8 oz. candied pineapple 

1/2 cup orange marmalade (I don’t like citron and this is not bitter) 

pecan halves and red/green whole cherries to decorate the top of cakes, optional 

 

cheesecloth (each piece needs to be at least 27 inches long for a mini cake or up to 2 yards for bread-loaf-sized cakes) 

 

1.75 liter bottle of fine Kentucky bourbon

 

Method 

At least the night before mixing and baking the cakes (can also be a week before), soak Craisins/raisins and pecans in bourbon in separate containers. (I put the pecans into a quart Mason/Ball jar and the Craisins/raisins into a pint jar.) Cover and then some with bourbon, cover with foil or plastic, and put them in the fridge until ready to mix and bake. They will plump up with the liquor, so don’t overfill the jars, but try to keep the fruit and nuts covered in bourbon. 

 

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and another rack below it on the lowest spot. Put a pan full of water on the lowest rack. This will add moisture to the oven when baking. Heavily butter pans. Set aside. (I don’t use spray because the butter adds richness to the cakes.) 

 

Sift the flour, baking powder, and nutmeg into a medium bowl. (Even if the flour says it’s presifted, I would sift.) 

 

In a separate, large bowl, cream the butter and sugar, beating with a mixer until the mixture is light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. (If you have a stand mixer, use it here because it will help later in the process.) Add the eggs, one at a time, blending completely after each addition. 

 

Drain 1/2 cup of bourbon from the Craisins then pour the rest into a small or medium bowl. Drain the bourbon from the pecans into the same bowl. Add the strips of cheesecloth to soak up the liquor. Add more bourbon as needed to fully soak the strips. Set aside. (NEVER waste good Kentucky bourbon! Or spice rum if you’re using that!)

Preheat oven to 325 F. 

Add the flour mixture to the eggs in two additions, alternating with the 1/2 cup bourbon. Stir in the pecans, marmalade, Craisins/raisins, pineapple, and cherries. The batter will be very stiff, so this is why you’ll want a stand mixer at this point. But I remember my mom mixing it by hand when I was young.

Transfer the batter to the prepared pans. OPTIONAL: Decorate the top with bourbon-soaked pecan halves and red/green whole cherries.  

 

Bake until a cake tester or toothpick inserted into the cake comes out clean. APPROXIMATE baking times (ovens vary; also consider altitude adjustments--be sure the tester or toothpick comes out clean in several spots not just the center): 

* bread loaf pan: 75-90 minutes 

* mini pans: 60-75 minutes 

 

If the top of the cake begins to brown substantially before the cake is set, cover it loosely with a piece of aluminum foil. When done, remove the cakes from the oven and let cool for 15-30 minutes on a wire rack. Run a knife down the sides to help loosen the cakes from the pans. If the bottoms of the cakes are still pale, you might want to return them to the oven for a little longer. 

When completely cool (can sit overnight), wrap each cake in a strip of bourbon-soaked cheesecloth until completely covered. 

 

Place the cakes in airtight, leak-free containers. I use a large Rubbermaid or Tupperware containers big enough to fit multiple cakes. 

 

Liberally, but slowly over the first two or three days (unless they’re already sitting in a lot of liquid), pour additional bourbon over the cheesecloth-wrapped cakes. Store the containers in a cool, dark place throughout the process and after they’re done. I don’t have a pantry big enough for all the cakes I bake anymore, so I cover them with beach towels and just leave them on the table or shelf space I have available. 

 

Once a day over the next two weeks, flip the cakes over so that the bourbon will run back through the cake slowly. After two weeks, be sure you don’t have any standing bourbon at the bottom of the containers any longer. You can redistribute excess liquor to another container that might need it—or use it to cook or bake something else.
When no liquid bourbon is visible any longer, you will begin to mellow the cakes. Usually at least one day during this stage, I will remove the lids to evaporate excess liquor, flipping the cakes again after 12 hours

Continue to let cakes mellow for 2-4 weeks. A week or so before you plan to serve or gift the cakes, remove the cheesecloth. (I handwash and reuse cheesecloth, or you can discard it.)

The cakes will keep for months (even a year if stored properly in a cool, dark place)! Continue to store in a cool, dry place. I wouldn’t freeze them, but you could put them in the refrigerator. I just store mine in a dark pantry inside a Rubbermaid container. 

To avoid crumbling when cutting: use a serrated knife and a sawing motion.  Avoid pushing the knife down and cut all the way to the base of the cake. Wipe the knife clean between cuts.

Enjoy!

🎄🐑🐪🔔🎄 From Rita's family cookbook 🎄🐑🐪🔔🎄 

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