There comes a time in everyone’s life, where a simple
solution to an infuriating problem comes along. For some, it was the wheel,
others, the internet, and, for a select few, penicillin. For me, it was HCG. I
heard about this method for weight loss through my best friend. She had used it
and was successful. I was sceptical myself, and a bit worried. With my health
issues, I wasn’t sure how I would react to it, or if it was even safe. And the
internet, being what it was, was vague and unhelpful. I finally had an
appointment with a gynaecologist who happened to have a clinic for HCG. After
several months and cancelled appointments, I was finally in. I learned later
that this was one of the best gynaecologists in the province, maybe even the
country. He told me many things that stuck with me, like, if you have poly
cystic ovary syndrome, which I do, carbs are your worst enemy. Like, Batman vs
Joker AND Lex Luthor (series cross referencing is serious business). He also
agreed with me on a point that I was happy to hear a medical professional say.
Like, if this clinic I was in could have people lose weight without surgery,
why wouldn’t they do it? I was so relieved, there was another option. And I
already had the tools to carry my healthy life style forward so I (hopefully)
wouldn’t gain all the weight back. He told me I needed to talk to someone at an
HCG clinic. He didn’t care which one, ‘just go’, he said. I was walking on air
AND sunshine when I left that clinic. Things continued to look up, and I was
happy.
I went to the clinic he ran and got the run down, it was the
same as all the stuff I read online. This time it was coming from a real person
who had a medical license, not a faceless whozit hiding behind the internet. I
could trust this person to tell me how my sugars would react, and my blood
pressure, and my ovaries. She explained how the hormone works. Essentially, you
eat 500 calories a day, and instead of your body burning muscle for nutrients,
it burns stored fat. That ugly stored fat on your hips, thighs, and back that
is so hard to get rid of. They warned me about buying on the internet, as some
had no hcg hormone in it at all, then I saw their prices. They recommended
several treatments at 6 weeks each, due to the amount of weight I had to lose. $1300
per treatment. I nearly lost my shit. I already planned on getting the brand my
friend was on, as she had done a ton of research and found this one had the
actual hormone in it. But I didn’t expect it to be that much. I was floored and
really glad I had a back up supply plan. This may be affordable for some, but
certainly not for me. I collected the information and trundled off home with my
new confidence and swagger (yes, when you lose weight and don’t waddle anymore,
you swagger, it’s hot), and hit the interweb.
The package showed up in a few days and I nearly had a
meltdown. The box had a disclaimer in it claiming it was no longer authorized
to put the actual hormone in the drops, but was full of a ‘carefully formulated
and tested synthetic.’ I lost it. I thought this was my last chance and now it
won’t work. I double checked the website and emailed the company. Nowhere did
it say it was synthetic. I was angry and near tears. But, as I usually do a
crisis situation, I texted my bestie (best bestie ever!) and she helped calm me
down. She knew some other people who used the new, synthetic, drops and they
lost weight. All I needed was a reality check and some calming words of reason
(I tend to overact, my head blows up and spins around while I blow steam out my
nose my brain turns to lava and runs out my ears, no biggie). Almost instantly,
things were good again. If my best friend had a slogan, it would be ‘instant calming
effect, just add hysterical Erica’.
Chicken stew
Chicken stew is one of my all time favourites. I love beef stew,
but I can never get it right, so I leave that to my mom. It’s hearty, warm, and
low fat and low carb if you omit dumplings and oil. I discovered a trick about
cooking onions (or any vegetable for that matter). You don’t need oil or butter
to brown them, just a little water occasionally to keep them from sticking to
the pan. Seriously, try it, what’s the worst that will happen? You will be out
an onion, it costs 15 cents. This will serve about 4 people.
2 chicken
breasts
1 med onion,
chopped into ½” pieces
3 med
carrots, chopped into ½” pieces
4 stalks of
celery, chopped into ½” pieces
3 med
potatoes, chopped into ½” pieces
1 cup frozen
peas
Seriously,
any other vegetable you like with chicken can go in here
2 litres
chicken stock
Seasoning –
this is all about preference, this is what I use, start with about a teaspoon
of each and add more if you need it. If using the poultry seasoning, start with
2 teaspoons
Salt and
pepper to taste
Mrs dash,
table blend (seriously, I love this stuff)
Poultry
seasoning
OR
Rosemary
Thyme
Basil
Sage
Cut the
chicken into 1 inch pieces and season with salt and mrs dash. Brown in a non
stick pan until mostly cooked, it should still be pink inside. Put it in a bowl
and put aside. I like to use the large, non stick wok I have to cook the whole
thing, then, you don’t lose any chickeny goodness from the pan.
The important part of keeping the chicken juicy is to not cook it for
too long. If you leave it with the other ingredients to ‘stew’ it will get dry.
No, cooking lean meat in liquid does not keep it juicy, it’s still hot and it
dries out, especially when there is no fat in the meat. We will add this to
back to the stew at the end to finish cooking. Trust me.
Add the
onions, celery, carrot and potato to the pot. This is where the flavour
building starts. Stir them and add a touch of water or chicken stock to keep
them from sticking if needed. You want to have a mostly dry pan for the next
part.
Add the
spices and toss them around in your pan with the veggies. This will help toast them
and bring that next level of flavour. Once your veggies have got a bit of
colour, add 1 ½ litres of chicken stock, and let it come to the boil. Then,
turn the heat to a low simmer and cover. Stir occasionally.
You need to
cook this down until it gets thick and the veggies are cooked, usually about 30
min to an hour. But keep an eye on it, stir occasionally, taste it, and adjust the
seasonings as necessary. You may also need to add more chicken stock if it
cooks down too much. The potatoes help thicken the broth, but, if the veggies
are almost done and it’s not thick yet you can add a bit of cornstarch and
water at the end. When you reach the desired, stewy, thickness of broth, add
your chicken back in and the peas, with about half a cup of broth. Cook for another
5 minutes or so until the chicken is cooked through and the peas are done.
Variations –
crock pot chicken stew.
Bwahahahaha!
Crock pots and I are not friends. My mom can make a mean beef stew in a crock
pot (among other things), and my friends are good with them as well. My mom had
this crock pot that had a chip in the glass lid that she ‘fixed’ with piece of
tinfoil to help it seal. When the damn thing wasn’t cutting me when I tried to
wash it, it was leaking out steam and burning the underside of my arm while I
tried to get things out of the cupboard. I hated that thing. I tried a crock pot again in my adult life. I got
it from a friend of mine and it sat for a while until we tried to make soup
with it. The soup boiled over and made a burny mess all over the element and we
threw it out rather than attempting to clean it. If you want to cook this in a
crock pot, call your mother.
