Stuffed Poblano Peppers Phase 3 approved

Stuffed Poblano Peppers (or stuffed anything!)

1/2 lb 99% fat free ground turkey
1/2 lb Hot Turkey Sausage
1/2 cup stock (any kind...veg, chicken or beef)
3 cloves roasted garlic (smashed up a bit so it can blend into sauce)
4 Wedges of the  Laughing Cow Cheese (any flavor is yummy)
1/3 cup grated low fat cheddar cheese
1/4 cup salsa
3 Poblano Peppers
*2 zucchini (I had left over filling so I stuffed 2 zucchini also, you could also stuff tomato or bell peppers-optional)

Pre-heat oven at 350, grease a 13X9 pan with cooking spray

Start by placing the Poblanos into a pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil and let boil about 3-5 min until they start to get soft then remove from water.

In a non-stick pan lightly spray with cooking spray and brown the ground turkey and sausage.  Once cooked through, add the roasted garlic, salsa and stock...let this all simmer together on med-low heat until some of the liquid is reduced. Once reduced reduce heat as low as it can go and add the cheese wedges.  They add a rich creaminess and cheese flavor with only a few calories!  once all incorporated remove from heat and get ready to stuff

Stuffing the Peppers
Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and any ribbing's of the peppers. (these can be stuffed whole if you want, but I like to make it feel like I am getting more this way)  Place the pepper halves in the dish with the open part facing up and spoon the meat mixture into each pepper.  I had extra filling so I cut open a zucchini, removed the seeds and stuffed them like a canoe as well.... a bell pepper or a tomato would also work.

Stuffed Poblanos- this picture doesn't give it justice!

I covered the dish with foil and baked for 30 minutes.  Then I removed the foil, increased the heat to 425 (or broil if you want it faster).  Then I topped each pepper with a bit of the low fat cheddar cheese and put back in the oven to let them get a brown cheesy crust!


 I made these on the last day of phase 2 for the upcoming week and it was torture to smelly that cheesy yet healthy goodness and know I couldn't eat until the next day, so beware :)

garlic buffalo shrimp recipe (HCG and regular)

Garlic Buffalo Shrimp (HCG phase 2)
3.5 oz shelled, de-veined shrimp (I used Med 31-40 per lb, which was 11-12 shrimp for 3.5 oz)
1 melba toast (2 snackers) crushed into crumbs
4 tablespoon hot sauce
seasoning of your choice (I use a no-salt herb seasoning)
3 gloves roasted garlic
2-3 tablespoons water to taste

preheat oven at 425
get cookie sheet with a cooling rack on top ready to go

Garlic Buffalo Shrimp with Brussel Chips

put the shrimp and 1 tablespoon hot sauce in a ziploc for a few minutes, this is to marinade and flavor shrimp as well as serve as moisture to help the Melba Toast crumbs stick.

Place the Melba Toast crumbs and seasoning of your choice into a different ziploc.  I use a salt free herb mix that has garlic, onions, lemon zest and herbs.  It is pretty course and helps add crunch, flavor and texture to the Melba crumbs.

remove the shrimp from the ziploc with hot sauce and add to the crumbs to full coat.  Once coated place on your cooling rack on top of cookie sheet,  if shrimp are small and fall through cracks, you can put them on a few wood skewers (soaked in water first so they don't burn) and place those on the rack.  The rack helps heat get on both sides of the shrimp and allows both sides to get crisp without flipping and I find it gives you more of a fried taste without the oil!  they only take 5-7 minutes max depending on their size (maybe less if smaller)

Garlic Buffalo Sauce for Shrimp
in tuperware or bowl add remaining hot sauce and the roasted garlic.  smash the garlic a bit with a fork or spoon and stir into hot sauce.  I like tupperware for this so I can put lid on and shake to mix...my only exercise :)  The garlic will thicken the sauce so I added water to cut the heat and thin out a bit.  This sauce can be drizzled over the shrimp when done or you can add shrimp to tupperware and coat them if you like it really hot!

This sauce is great over the baked chicken nuggets recipe as well!  add some vinegar and other herbs and it is a kicked up dressing!

Covert this to a Phase 3 recipe....
I would have used an egg wash for the Melba crumbs to get a better coating
I would have added a teaspoon of butter to the garlic buffalo sauce

I find that unless you are really frying these in oil and with a  Panko crust the baking still works best to get them crusty without going to far into the carb world!

apple spice crumble

I have been making a version of this for a while, but this is a much lower calorie, HCG friendly version

This is for 1 individual serving which was pretty hearty, it could have been split into 2 if needed.  I bake mine in a small casserole dish that I have, but I think they would work in muffin tins as well, or in a big casserole dish for a larger serving.

Apple Spice Crumble

Ingredients:
main filling
1 apple, cored and sliced thin or in chunks (I leave the peel on and I use Gala since I had them, but can be any apple you like,and cut how you like, but cooking time will vary)
1 individual  package Stevia
1 tablespoon cinnamon (or more or less depending or your taste)
1 tsp of cayenne (i like the cinnamon and cayenne combination, you can leave out if you don't like spice, but I think it kills the after taste of the Stevia that I am not a fan of)
1-2 tablespoons water
dash of salt (brings out the sweetness in the apples)
(dried cranberries would be a yummy addition to this as well)

Crumb Topping
1 Melba toast (or 2 Melba snackers)
1 Ziploc bag
dash of cinnamon
dash of Stevia (if you want it sweet, I didn't do this since my apples were sweet and I am not a huge fan of Stevia)

How to Prepare:
Toss the apples with all of the filling ingredients except the water so they get coated completely.
Place the coated apples in the baking dish (sprayed lightly with cooking spray).
Add the couple tablespoons of water
place in open at 375 and bake for about 5-7 minutes or until apples are almost tender

(if using muffin tins, may take less time...if apples are cut in chunks and not thin slices, it will take more time)
Remove from open and add the Topping as listed below.


For the Topping:
Start by increasing temp on oven to 425
Place all of the topping ingredients into the bag.
Use a tenderizer or can to crush the Melba toast into crumbs
Add the crumb topping on top of the apples
Spray top lightly with cooking spray to help the crumbs brown.

How to Finish
place the dish with the topping back in the oven at the new 425 degree temperature for another 3-5 minutes
this is to help the topping brown a bit.

Few notes:
the water and the apples natural juices make a yummy caramel-like sweet sauce. I usually start with it covered for when it is the apples only since my dish has a lid and it gets really juicy then I remove the top when I add the crumb topping so that it browns a little.  If you notice there isn't much sauce when you remove the apples (before you add the topping) you can add a bit of water and stir it up a little to create a little more sauce before you finish with the crumb topping.

Regular Full Fat Version
the Regular version of this would have been with brown sugar instead of Stevia and a small pat of un-salted putter, which really does create a true caramel sauce as it bakes!  my topping would have been more like a streusel for a coffee cake (Bisquick, cold butter, brown sugar, cinnamon...mixed together into crumbs and placed on top of apple mixture, maybe even some crush pecans as well) and I would have added it on top of the apples from the start so it had time to cook through.  If you want to stick the a crumb topping more than streusel you can use crushed graham crackers, brown sugar and butter and add after the apples are almost cooked, just like the low fat version.

big hurdle leaped over!

without giving too many details I hit a big accomplishment for weight today I am official under 1_0 LBS!!!! .... for the first time in about 5 years!  (you can fill in the blank as you wish :) )  I am so excited and I seem to have lots of energy.  This diet isn't hard to stick to if you like to cook and plan, which are pretty much 2 of my best traits... and talking of course :)

it is all about planning!!  I work long days sometimes and I grab my lunch bag and I have lunch, dinner and my fruit already sliced up.

Cheating:  I have cheated a couple times, to be honest, I risked being removed from my grandma's will if I didn't have a slice of her homemade Angle Food Cake.  I was good, I ate 1 slice and brought the other 4 to work to share and normally I would have made those 5 slices in one serving!!!  I also have had a few alcoholic drinks, I am a night-cap person so that is hard for me to give up and a couple days after work it was hard to resist, but I stuck with straight whiskey on the rocks, so no added sugars... but still added calories unfortunately so I exceed my 500 plan on those days :(  I noticed that 2 days later my weight loss was reduced to only 1/2 a lb and not the normal 1- 1 1/2 lbs, so I paid the price!  I also noticed the same with those miracle noodles.  They are filling and taste good when with a sauce but it did effect my weight loss, so I think I will add them along with whole wheat pasta later on, but for now I am staying clear.

I do wish this diet had a free day which is always my saving grace to get rid of a bunch of cravings I have.  Although my couple cheats helped a little I sure would love some BACON or CRUSTY BREAD AND BUTTER!!!!

but today I celebrate my milestone as I look forward to the rest of this week and maybe dropping another 3-5 lbs before I end my run this weekend!  and who knows after a free weekend and maybe a steak.... maybe I will go another week or 2 starting Monday and lose a few more in my last stretch before Hawaii, it isn't as hard as I thought!  Countdown to Hawaii is less than 3 weeks!

roasted brussel sprout chips and centers

this is so yummy and so easy!

I buy the microwave in the bag brussel sprouts because depending on the time of the year I can find them at the 99 cent store for a great deal!  I do find that raw works a bit better then frozen, but frozen did work just didn't yield as much, so it is still an option if fresh are hard to find.

I start by cooking them about 1/2 way, so if you got a microwave bag of them, follow the directions and cook about half way then let them cool.  If you got raw ones, steam until almost fork tender but not done and let them cool.

Buffalo shrimp and Brussel Chips

Making the chips:
Heat oven to 425 and get a baking sheet ready.  Cut the ends of the sprouts to loosen the leaves.  Slowly separate the outer leaves of the sprouts and place on the baking sheet.  you should be able to get a few off each sprout depending on the size and eventually you will get to a center part where it is harder to separate the leaves.  These are what I call the centers, put them to the side for another yummy snack or side dish which is detailed below.

Once you have all the leaves pulled off, lay them on a single layer on cookie sheets, top with salt and pepper or seasoning of your choice (I like chili powder and cayenne for a kick!) and spray very lightly with non-fat cooking spray to make them brown.  They will take about 10-15 minutes depending on the oven heat and how wet the leaves are.  Keep an eye on them so they don't burn.  They will get nice and crispy like chips.  They go great with the chicken nugget recipe I posted earlier...

Making the centers:
take the center portion of the sprout and cut it in half.  season with whatever you like and slightly spray with cooking spray to help them brown.  you can place them on the same sheet as the chips if you want and just remove the chips when they are done and leave the center for another few minutes.  they take about 15-20 minutes depending on your oven and how crispy you like them.  They make a great snack or added topping to a salad to give you a bit of extra texture and crunch!

If not on HCG diet:
My recipe for this is the same except normally I drizzle with olive oil or even fry the chips.  If you reduce some balsamic vinegar to thicken it and drizzle that and some Parmesan cheese over the chips it is amazing!

yummy shrimp salad

Cooking the Shrimp

I placed 3.5 oz of shrimp, without the shell or tail on a skewer.  I placed on the grill and almost cooked it completely.  I knew I was going to freeze them for later in the phase so I knew they would be re-heated in some way and didn't want them to be over-cooked, so under-cooking them a bit helped.

to add some flavor to them I coated them in a salt free seasoning mix which is mostly dried herbs and dried lemon zest.  I then lightly sprayed my cast iron pan, turned on very high and through the herb crusted shrimp in there for about 1 minute to crisp them up and warm them up.

Making the Dressing:

• Orange Zest
• juice of a lime/lemon or orange (your choice)
• amino drops
• couple cloves of roasted garlic
• water to get to consistency you want
• seasonings based on your likes (I love fresh herbs)

The roasted garlic cloves are a natural thickener so smash those with a fork and place the rest in a storage container and shake to combine and you will get a surprisingly tasty and naturally thick dressing.  Depending on your version of HCG you may be okay to add some greek yogurt to make it a creamy texture.  Pureed roasted garlic and onions are natural thickeners and can be used in regular recipes like soups and pasta sauces instead of a cornstarch or butter/flour process.  They are great to thicken mac n cheese recipes!

Making the Salad:

now it is time to assemble.  Start with a bed of greens, I like the mixed herb greens so you get lots of flavor.  I topped with the cooked shrimp, chunks of orange and some left over roasted brussel spouts centers (see recipe).  Drizzle the top with the dressing and you have a yummy meal with tons of flavor!

basic tomato sauce for many uses

This is an easy tomato sauce recipe that can be used for many things and for many tastes

Start by eating your oven at 350 degrees.

on  a cookie sheet place 1-2 pints of cherry or grape tomatoes.  This sauce will freeze well so you can make extra for the future.  cook the tomatoes until they pop, about 10-20 minutes depending on their size.

Now that you have roasted tomatoes you can make them what you want!

puree the roasted tomatoes in a food processor or use a stick blender in a pot to breakdown the tomatoes.  At this point you can add what you want to make it what you like and then simmer for all of the flavors to meld together.  I usually thin it out with some water or tea to get more bang for my buck.

Italian version of the tomato sauce

Suggestions to add to the sauce for Italian flavors:

add chopped garlic
add roasted garlic
add fresh chopped basil or oregeno
add chopped spinach or sauteed onions
add dried herbs or granulated garlic powder

Suggestions to add to the sauce for Mexican flavors:
add chopped raw onoins
add cilantro
add chopped peppers
add dried herbs

Suggestions to add to the sauce for Asian flavors:
add peppers
add garlic
add mint or cilantro

both versions are good as a warm sauce over meat, or even used to simmer with the meat for a great way to infuse flavor and moisture to chicken.  Chilled it is a great sauce for dipping chicken nuggets (see recipe on this blog) or with veggies or your melba toast! If you thin it out a bit more with water or tea, served hot or cold it is a great soup!

HCG Italian Chicken Nuggets

yesterday I made some great  Italian Chicken Nuggets that are HCG approved.

Italian Chicken Nuggets with dipping sauce and apples

Italian Chicken Nuggets

Ingredients:
3.5 oz chicken tenders (usually about 2 tenders) cut into 6 total pieces
2 tablespoons Liquid Aminos
2 Melba Toasts (crushed into crumbs)
seasonings of your choice (I choose salt, pepper, cayenne, garlic powder and Italian seasoning)
Pre-heat oven 375

Marinating and breading the chicken:
I marinated the chopped chicken pieces in the liquid amino drops to add more flavor to the meat.  Longer you let it marinade the more flavor you get, I only let it sit for 30 minutes and it was still effective.    Once the chicken has marinated place the crushed Melba toast crumbs in a baggie along with the seasonings of your choice and add the marinated chicken.  keeping some of the toast crumbs in larger chunks gave it even more crunch!  In this version I found that the marinade provided enough moisture to allow the toast crumbs to stick to the chicken just fine without the normal egg and flour wash process.

Cooking the nuggets: 
Place the Melba breaded chicken nuggets on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet and very lightly sprayed them with some non-fat cooking spray (very lightly is key here!).  The cooling rack allows the heat to get on both sides of the chicken which allows both sides to get crispy evenly without having to flip them.  The cooking spray also helps the bread crumbs brown giving you a fried effect.  Cook for about 12-15 minutes until chicken is cooked through.

Eating the nuggets:
I served mine with a homemade marinara sauce for dipping.  I will post that recipe next.  Please note this recipe can be changed into many things and used in many ways depending on your tastes and needs. I made 12 nuggets total and used the other 6 for lunch the next day.  I diced them up and placed them over a bunch of mixed greens and topped with an easy dressing that I will also post!  they were great the next day, even cold!

back on round 2

I have managed to keep off 4 of the 6 lbs I lost when I started this in February.  I had to end it short due to a cold, but I am back now!

I startedmy load up days on Sunday and today started the restricted diet.  I have had my apple and had a great lunch with the special soy noodles, shrimp and spinach.  added some pepper flakes for a real kick, it was so filling I didn't finish all of the noodles!

I have a mixed greens salad with some grilled chicken for dinner.  I had already cooked shrimp and chicken and had it measured it out and put it in the freezer last time, so it was super easy to pull out of the freezer and have it all ready!  fingers crossed for round 2

funny pictures

If I get down, I can always check this post for some funny pics.... don't take offense to what I think is funny...if you don't think it is funny, then move on to the next page... this world wouldn't be unique if we all liked and disliked the same things, it is what makes us special, so don't judge!

the diet needs a break

Ok since this cold has taken a turn I need to stop my drops :(  I have had success already but I have been advised to get healthy and restart.  So sadly the diet stops today with a plan to restart after antibiotics are done, which should still give me time prior to my big vacation! 

DAY 5 and Day 6

OK yesterday was tough but mostly because of this horrible cold I have.  I don't have much of an appetite and had to force down an apple and some cooked chicken in broth.  today has been pretty much the same.  Apples seem to be fine but I don't have much of an appetite at all and the oranges just don't sit well.  I do say that I have some cravings for bread and tyring to use the Melba toast to fight those urges but just the typical cold feeling of just wanting soup and bread and rest!

I wish this cold would go away so I could really get an idea of how this diet is making me feel, right now I feel like crap thanks to this darn cold! 

stewed crockpot chicken

start by making the tomato sauce

on a cookie sheet place:
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
diced mushrooms
slices of onions
place in the oven at 350 until tomatoes start to pop.

place all of these items into a slow cooker on high.  I added a bit of chicken broth from my soup, water would work as well, some dry italian seasoning,  2 cloves diced garlic, and some basil. Let it simmer for a long as you can.  You can keep in chunky or you can use a stick blender and puree the sauce a bit which is what I did.

add the Chicken or meat of choice
Once the sauce is cooked I added 4 pre-measured pieces of 3.5 oz of chicken to the sauce and allowed it to cook through.  I am looking forward to trying it over my miracle angle hair noodles.  the chicken absorbed tons of flavor, and I plan to eat it with some noodles tonight and maybe with some spinach or cauliflower tomorrow.

you really can't overcook this in a slow cooker.  I let the sauce go on low for about 8 hours and added the chicken and let it go on high for another 4.  I think the longer the sauce cooks the better.  I like my tomatoes sauce with a bit of sugar normally so I added a tiny amount of stevia but that is up to your taste.

day 4

ok the cold is getting worse.  not much of an appetite today but I got down some more soup and an apple so far.  I plan to try some soup again tonight.  i have some yummy stewed chicken I had planned to eat, may have to throw that in the freezer for today.  I wish I didn't have a cold so I could really tell how hungry and how much energy I would normally have on day 4.  Right now hunger is not an issue, but energy is, however I think that is thanks so the cold.... wish me luck for tomorrow.

day 3 meals

this was a tough day as I woke up with a cold. The oranges didn't sit so well, probably all the acid, but the apple was fine.  So I had my morning fruit but didn't have much of an appetite at lunch.  I ate my 3.5 oz of chicken but not the salad and dressing.  I ate another apple later that day and some chicken soup that night.  The Chicken soup was easy.  Boiled my 3.5 oz of chicken in seasoned water with veggies.  added small amount of miracle noodles at the end.  Very tasty and with some melba toast was perfect for someone who is sick!

HCG BRUCHETTA

Bruschetta recipe:
1 pint of cherry/grape tomatoes
1 bunch of basil
3-1 head of garlic (depending on your love of garlic)
splash of vinegar
S&P
Diced cucumber or chopped browned mushroms (optional)

let it sit for a few days and you won't even miss the olive oil. I added the cucumber to give it some substance, slightly browned chopped mushrooms would also be a good addition to add some volume. I have added browned portabellos to my regular recipe so this version would need to be baked or grilled mushrooms or if you like raw shrooms that would work too!  once I am back on dairy this same recipe with some crumbled low fat or fat free feta is a great summer salad.

It would be excellent on your melba toast.

Leftovers can be simmered and blended for a yummy tomato sauce which I plan to do this week with some miracle noodles and cooked chicken.

day 2 meals

I did notice last night I was a bit hungry after dinner, I ate while at work and probably didn't finish all my veggies so it is probably partially my fault. I had a cup of tea when I got home and a couple pieces of celery and that helped.

This morning I started with a coffee about 30 minutes after my drops.  I used only 1/2 a packet of stevia and it was much better.  At 10:30 I had some fruit, had my drops at 11:30 and ate my lunch at 12:00.  Lunch today was a mixed greens salad, that I topped with a diet friendly version of my Bruschetta.  I threw in my 3.5 oz of grilled veal and I was good to go, the Bruschetta was so juicy I didn't even need my homemade dressing.

I have meetings the rest of the day, so I am taking the rest of my fruit to the meetings to snack on have a big jug of my iced tea.  I am really excited to make some spicy shrimp pasta tonight with my miracle noodles so I will give you a review tomorrow.

Tip of the Day

My Trick of the day:
Grilling my meat: I cut up my 3.5 oz of meat in small sizes.  I marinade them in amino drops, S&P, garlic and herbs.  I put meat, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes on the kabob... 3 kabobs got me all my meat and some yummy veggies, plus the grill requires no oil and adds tons of flavor!

 I also made some Kabobs with all of the 3.5 ounces of meat on 1 kabob and froze them for later in the week.

day 1 meals

I started my day with a cup of coffee with Stevia.  I used to use Splenda so for those of you switching to Stevia know that it tastes alot like Sweet n Low and has a bit of an after taste.  So I used 1 packet but now that I am familiar with the taste I will use less tomorrow.

I made a big jug of iced tea that I pre-sweetened with the Stevia and added a bit of range zest for extra flavor.  I have it ready to go in my frig for a quick drink and brought a big jug to work.

I started with my drops and then had a snack as I drove to work.  I had pre-cut 1 apple and 1 orange and placed in baggies for the whole week so it is easy to grab and snack on.  I ate half around 10am and the 2nd half around 2:30.

around 11:45 I had my 2nd set of drops and ate lunch around 12:15.  Lunch was lettuce wraps.  I cooked my 3.5 oz of chicken in a non stick pan with some mushroom that I marinated in the Amino drops (similar to soy sauce but no calories and permitted on HCG diet).  They are bit salty (but I like that) but the mushrooms added alot to the chicken and made it very filling.  I finished lunch with 2 pieces of Melba snack toasts.

My dinner is faux mashed potatoes (cauliflower mash with roasted garlic, salt and pepper) with some grilled Veal and Chicken and Veggies.

Day 1 of my super diet

Today is day 1 of my diet!  Strict calories and HCG drops.  I am starting with the 18 day program and I will see what progress I make and may up it to a 25 day program.  My hope is to lose 15 lbs but I think it is a bit of a stretch, but I am dedicated.  I pre-made my lunch and dinner for the whole week, and plan to do the same for next week on Sunday.  I think having everything pre-made will be a big help in staying on track!