Biggest Loser discussion: Amy gets sacked

NBC photo

Jillian vows to help Michelle and Renee by beating the weight off of them. Aww, how generous of her. Poor naive Amy thinks all is well with Icky Vicky but she's still out to get her.

Then Ali trots out Jerry Rice and Steve Young who demonstrate an NFL-inspired combine workout, which Icky Vicky game-played to win. Boo. But she did win $10,000 to donate to a school to fight childhood obesity.

The challenge: More football. They have to catch footballs dressed in their cute little football uniforms. The blue team works in unison to wipe out the black team. Then Icky, nay, EVIL VICKY starts working to pick off Amy. Poor naive Amy. And Vicky wins again. Vicky exults "I'm goin' to the Pro Bowl!"

Oh, shut up.

Rocco DiSpirito stopped by and showed the crew how to make a lighter Thanksgiving. His poached turkey looked really interesting as did the awesome stuffing. (Don't worry, I found Rocco's Biggest Loser Thanksgiving recipes). I may also give the quinoa pasta a try since it's higher in protein than the regular stuff.

After the Thanksgiving meal, they got to watch videos of their family give inspiring holiday messages. Spoiler alert: This stuff was filmed during the summer so the Thanksgiving messages were kinda weird. Since the finale is less than a month away (Dec. 16) all the contestants are home right now for Thanksgiving.

To read more, go to tinyurl.com/biggestloserdiscussion.

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Looking for Rocco's Biggest Loser recipes?

Here's a link to the recipes chef Rocco diSpirito featured Tuesday night on The Biggest Loser, including the winning recipe for Tiny Turkey Meatball and Chickpea Soup.

For the link, click HERE.

There are also links to the recipes from last season.

(I am going right out to buy ground turkey!)

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Produce of the Week: Jicama

Thanks to the suggestion of Shrinking Sisters reader Molly Brockwell, the Produce of the Week this week is Jicama, otherwise known as the Mexican potato. I've only ever eaten jicama as a garnish in my Japanese take-out, and I've always liked the taste and texture.

So I set out to find a recipe that is both healthy and would showcase this food on its own. I came across this recipe on cooking.com.

Please to enjoy, Jicama and Blood Orange Salad

1 jicama, about 3/4 lb
3 blood oranges

1 papaya or mango or 1/4 pineapple
1 small red (Spanish) onion, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 dried habanero chili pepper, seeded and finely chopped or ground to a powder, or cayenne pepper to taste (optional)
3 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of 1 lime
1 bunch fresh cilantro (fresh coriander), about 3 oz, stemmed
1 bunch fresh mint, about 3 oz, stemmed

Using a paring knife, peel the jicama, including the fibrous layer just beneath the skin. Thinly slice the flesh and then cut into thin strips 2 inches long and 1/4 inch thick. Place in a large bowl.

Working with 1 orange at a time and using a sharp knife, cut a slice off the top and bottom of the oranges to reveal the fruit. Place each orange upright on a cutting board and cut away the peel and any white membrane. Then, holding the orange over the bowl with the jicama, cut along either side of each segment to free it, letting the segments and any juices fall into the bowl. If using a papaya, halve lengthwise, scoop out and discard the seeds and peel the halves. If using a mango, peel it and cut the flesh from the pit. If using pineapple, cut away the peel and the tough core area. Cut the papaya, mango or pineapple into 1/2-inch dice; you should have about 1 1/2 cups. Add to the bowl.

Add the onion, salt, habanero chili or cayenne pepper, olive oil, lime juice, cilantro and mint to the bowl. Toss gently to mix. Cover and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

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Produce of the Week: Beets

When I started my own personal produce of the week, beets were the first selection I made. So when I was at Publix the other day, these lovely root vegetables spoke to me...

Beets are a root vegetable with both the root portion and the leaves being used for food. Beets can be boiled, steamed or roasted or pickled or used in soups such as borscht. The young tender greens can be steamed, boiled or sauteed.

Jamie Oliver has a great show on the Food Network called, "At Home with Jamie". Last week's episode was about beets & carrots. He roasted them with some great herbs (pronounce the "H"... you're British) and marinades and then threw them in his smoking hot outdoor oven and served them with pork chops... Click HERE for the link to the recipe. It is AWESOME!

Also came across a great (and very simple) recipe for the greens. A two-fer out of one veggie! Click HERE for a link to this recipe.

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Good morning, sunshine! Have a smoothie

Here's what I'm having for breakfast this morning: My Pina Colada Sunshine Smoothie. I created it to make use of the monounsaturated fats (MUFAs) in flaxseed oil.

Pina Colada Sunshine Smoothie
1/2 cup fresh, canned or frozen pineapple (frozen is best)
1 cup fat-free milk (or your favorite vanilla-flavored milk)
1 scoop vanilla whey protein powder
2 teaspoons Barlean's lemon-flavored flaxseed oil
1 tablespoon DaVinci sugar-free coconut syrup (I get mine at Netrition.com)
Place all ingredients into blender and blend thoroughly.

Makes 1 2-cup serving.

Nutritional info:
Calories: 403
Fat: 10 grams
Carbs: 51 grams
Protein: 25 grams
Fiber: 2 grams

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