That being said I am doing a reset and doing Phase 1 again for the month of January. The coaches at the clinic where I go have said its a good idea, especially if you got off track during the holidays. Which I did. I didn't' gain any weight (which is probably a first) but I did not lose the weight I gained in Italy or over Thanksgiving. So I think a reset is a good idea. Plus the fudge and Oreo ball diet says maybe its a good idea too. I'm really not sure how I didn't gain weight, but I'll take it!!!
To start it off I made a Chicken Galantine - that's a de-boned chicken stuffed with spinach and onion and mushrooms and garlic. Totally phase 1 friendly and not all that hard to pull off - it looks really impressive too!!
I will state up front that I went to a cooking class (2 actually) that showed us how to de-bone a chicken. In one of the classes we actually performed. Its not too difficult really and this is a great YouTube video that shows exactly what we learned in class. If you don't want to de-bone it just make the stuffing and stuff it. Cooking times will be different though.
So start with a 2.5-3 lb whole chicken, thawed and ready to go. De-bone or not, its up to you, although its super nice to just slice it up and have chicken meat surrounding the stuffing. Go ahead give it a whirl. No one will know how you did. (Maybe now is a good time to admit my first solo attempt at de-boning a chicken, I cut the wrong side for the first cut and so ended up with 2 halves of a deboned chicken. I just snuggled the pieces up real close then stuffed and trussed. It still tasted the same and next time I hope I'll remember which side goes first :)
The other cool thing is if you want to attempt your own chicken stock, just throw all the bones in a crock pot with water (8 cups), carrots (2-3, peeled and rough chopped), onion (quartered), celery (2 stalks, rough chopped), a couple of bay leaves and some salt and pepper. Cook for 6 hours on High and voila - chicken broth. Here's my broth, about 2 qts worth. It tastes pretty good too :)
For the stuffing you need an onion (diced), a couple cloves of garlic (also diced), a 16 oz bag of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed free of liquid, and a package of baby 'bello mushrooms, cleaned and stemmed and sliced. If you aren't in Phase 1, I'd add some fresh mozzarella or ricotta cheese to it as well :) And if you want to attempt to make your own cheese here is a simple ricotta recipe - its easier than you think. Go on, be adventurous!!
Saute the mushrooms for a few minutes over medium heat (add about 1 Tbsp olive oil to the pan too) then add the the onions and some salt and pepper and cook til everything looks pretty done (maybe 5-8 minutes). So long as the onions don't caramelize this is still Phase 1 friendly. Add the spinach and garlic and mix it around. Let it hang out another 5 minutes. If you are adding the cheese do it now stir around for a minute or two then remove from heat.
If you haven't de-boned the chicken yet do that now ... its OK I'll wait.
Now stuff your bird ... again the video shows exactly what we did to stuff and truss it up so do all those things.
Here is my little chicky all stuffed and ready to go in the oven
Bake at 375 for about an hour and a half. It should have an internal temp of 165 degrees.
This chicken is the finest I've ever tried. We even rewarmed it (in the oven, not once but twice) and it was still juicy and tender and delicious.
To rewarm it, preheat oven to 350 degrees and cook the chicken for about 30 minutes till its all warmed up again.
Enjoy
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