Healthy Meatballs

My daughters LOVE meatballs like nobody's business.  They will order spaghetti and meatballs when ever they can (at least my youngest does.)  I found this recipe on a Ideal Protein Facebook group (Janeva Eickhoff's Ideal Protein recipes).  I want to make them for my youngest but not tell her that they are healthy and see what she thinks.  Only after  she goes for seconds will I inform her of the cauliflower content.  Bahahahahah - its a mother's dream come true!! 

Janeva's original recipe was for Buffalo Chicken Meatballs and they were fantastic. These are the larger size meatball.   I used the largest size Pampered Chef scoop to make these.  It made 14 meatballs.  On IP that's 7 per serving.  I could only eat 4-5 before I was stuffed!  I used Greek yogurt to cool them down a little.  The buffalo sauce was at the top end of my heat tolerance index.  To make these, just replace the marinara in the recipe below with Franks Buffalo wing sauce and you're good to go.

I also made them for spaghetti so I am putting that recipe out here.  For these, I used the smallest Pampered Chef scoop.  It made a whopping 32 meatballs 

I served them with a homemade marinara and whole wheat pasta.  You could easily use zoodles with this for a Phase 1 friendly dish.

Healthy Meatballs (adapted from Janeva Eickhoff)
Ingredients:
Meatballs
1 lb. ground chicken or turkey
2 C. cauliflower florets
½ C. grated zucchini
½ C. chopped green onion
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1 ¼  tsp. sea salt
1/3 C. egg whites ( I used 1 whole egg in place of the egg whites)
Olive oil cooking spray

Homemade marinara
1 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
1 T parsley
1 T stevia
1 tsp basil
1 tsp marjoram
1 tsp oregano

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2.  Mix all marinara ingredients in a sauce pan and bring to a boil.  Reduce heat to low and simmer until needed for meatballs
3.  Place cauliflower, green onions and zucchini in a food processor and pulse to a riced consistency.
4.  In a large bowl combine chicken, riced veggie mixture, garlic powder, onion powder, sea salt and egg whites.  Mix together gently.  Do not over mix.
5.  Spray a baking sheet with olive oil cooking spray.  Scoop meat mixture (about 2 T. for large  meatballs, or 1 T for smaller ones) and gently roll portions between palms to form a smooth ball.  Place on olive oil sprayed baking sheet.
6.  Bake meatballs for 20 minutes.  Remove meatballs from oven.
7.  Pour some of the marinara sauce in a bowl and transfer meatballs to the bowl; toss to coat. Let the meatballs sit in the sauce while you raise the oven temperature to 450 degrees.
8.  Drain the moisture and wipe the grease from the baking sheet.  Apply a fresh coat of olive oil cooking spray.
9.  When oven has reached 450 degrees, give meatballs another toss in the bowl, transfer meatballs and sauce to the baking sheet and bake on the top rack of the oven for 15 - 20 minutes.

10.  When finished cooking, toss in the remaining marinara and serve over pasta or zoodles

Wildtree: Cauliflower Scampi

I'm always looking for side dishes. And for me if they use vegetables that's even better..  While I find that I like veg a whole way lot more than I ever used to, I still get stuck in a rut more often with them than anything else.

I had a head of cauliflower that I needed to use up and I didn't really know what to do with it.  We were having garlic something for dinner that night so i thought instead of doing the standard Cauliflower mash, I try something different.  Something new.  :)  And that's how Cauliflower Scampi was born

Yummmm

Cauliflower Scampi
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower, chopped
2 T Wildtree roasted garlic grapeseed oil
2 T Wildtree Scampi blend

Directions
Toss all ingredients together.  Put in a roasting pan and roast at 375 degrees for about 45 minutes.

That's it.  That's all there is too it.  I like tasty.  I like easy.  Tasty and easy together is a Win-Win in the kitchen as far as I'm concerned

Enjoy!

Mini Pepper Chicken Nachos

I love nachos, especially all dripping with cheese.  Since I really trying to watch my carbs, the chips are not so good but the internet to the rescue!!!   I found this recipe for mini bell pepper chicken nachos  - it uses mini bell peppers instead of chips.  They are fantastic!!

I found the recipe on Facebook but am linking to the original poster of it.

Here is my pan of them hot from the oven

and my plateful.  You get about a quarter of the pan.  

To cut down on fat (or make it Phase 1 friendly) use GO Veggie soy cheese - cheddar or cheddar - pepper jack shreds.

Or use a mix of cheddar and Monterrey jack if you dare

Snacking just got a while lot better!

Maple Dijon Chicken

I went in for my monthly check in with my coach last week.  Lindsay was running behind (or I was earlier than usual) and I heard Dusty, another coach, talking about some recipes.  This is one that she mentioned and I grabbed a copy and made it that night for dinner.  It was really good.  Pair it up with some roasted asparagus (and roasted potatoes on phase 4) and you've got a winner of a chicken dinner.

Dijon Chicken

½ c Dijon mustard

¼ c maple syrup (Phase 4, or use 1/4 c WF pancake syrup for Phase 1)

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

4 chicken breasts

Salt, pepper, garlic powder to taste

Pat chicken dry.  Lay in a baking dish and season with salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste.

Mix mustard, syrup and vinegar together and pour over chicken

Top with more pepper, fresh rosemary and thyme if desired

Bake at 425 for 35-40 minutes.

Super Simple Chicken and Zoodles with a lemon pepper vinaigrette

Sometimes you just want dinner to be easy.  But easy and on plan don't always go together, unless you plan ahead a little bit.

My planning for tonight was two step.

First, our grocery store had rotisserie chickens on special, buy 2 for a special price.  SO I bought 2.  We had one for dinner over the weekend and the other I picked the meat off to have for lunches or whatever through out the week.

Step 2, when I make zoodles I make a lot  ... I mean like 3 or 4 zucchinis worth.  That way I get my veg and can save some for lunches later in the week.

So 2 of the elements of tonight's dinner were already well in hand.  All I needed was some sauce/spice to go with it and I would be set.  I made up a batch of a lemon vinaigrette I learned how to make in my first cooking class and drizzled it over the chicken and zoodles after I'd warmed them in the microwave (make sure to drain/pat dry the zoodles after you warm them because they will still release a bit of water when they are rewarmed)

Here's the recipe from Against all grain I use for zoodles.

Here is the vinaigrette recipe.  This is the same one I used for this sauteed asparagus and pasta dish from a while back.  I included the original (balsamic) version since I'm going to be back in Maintenance in a week or so (after my January reset).  The balsamic version is for Phase 4 only.  The Apple cider vinegar version is Phase 1 friendly

Lemon Pepper Vinaigrette
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest (optional)
1/4 shallot, diced

To make the Phase 4 version: use 2 tsp aged balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp red wine vinegar
To make the Phase 1 version : use 2 tsp apple cider vinegar

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients.  Drizzle about 1  to 1.5 TBSP over chicken and zoodles.

Stuffed Pepper Soup from SkinnyTaste

In the winter I'm very into soups.  I love the warmness that you get from them.  They just feel like a comfort food when its so cold outside.

I've also been thinking about trying stuffed peppers, because I've never made them (although my hubs says I have so maybe its better to say I don't remember ever making them :) )

And lo and behold but this stuffed pepper soup recipe popped up in my Facebook news feed from SkinnyTaste.  I've tried several of Gina's recipes, from both her website and cookbook and I've been extremely happy with both how easy most of them were, the taste and the healthy aspects.  You really can eat healthy and enjoy it - especially with others out there first leading the way and sharing what they know!!

The only change I made was to replace the brown rice with cauliflower rice and to use diced tomatoes with chilies to give it a little bit of zip.   The brown rice is fine for Phase 4, but the cauli-rice makes this friendly for all phases.

Stuffed Pepper Soup adapted from www.SkinnyTaste.com

Ingredients:

• 3 cauliflower rice  (or 3 c cooked brown rice for Phase 4)
• 1 lb 95% lean ground beef or turkey
• 1/2 cup chopped green bell pepper
• 1/2 cup chopped red bell pepper
• 1 cup finely diced onion
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 2 cans (14.5 oz each) cans petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 3/4 cups tomato sauce
• 2 cups reduced sodium, fat-free chicken broth
• 1/2 tsp dried marjoram
• salt and fresh pepper to taste

Directions:

In a large pot or dutch oven, brown ground meat on high heat and season with salt.Drain fat if any, reduce heat to medium-low, then add peppers, onions and garlic.Cook about 5 minutes on low heat.

Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, chicken broth, marjoram and season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover and simmer on low heat for 30 minutes. Serve about 1 1/3 cups of soup in each bowl and top with 1/2 cup cooked cauliflower rice.

Makes about 9 1/2 cups.

Nutrition Facts from MyFitnessPal.com

Servings 6.0

Amount Per Serving

calories 218

Total Fat 6 g           

Saturated Fat 3 g     

Monounsaturated Fat 2 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 0 g

Trans Fat 0 g

Cholesterol 67 mg  

Sodium 1114 mg     

Potassium 940 mg  

Total Carbohydrate 15 g     

Dietary Fiber 2 g    

Sugars 9 g               

Protein 24 g

Crock Pot Cabbage Rolls

I'm not a chef.  I'm an engineer.  And a recipe hound.  I don't make up very many recipes - only about 3 of the ones on the blog are ones I've created myself.  I'm OK with that.  Because I find the search for new recipes just as exciting as making them up myself.   And the heavy lifting has already been done.  It just comes down to is it something I want to make versus how do I combine flavors and textures to make an appealing dish.  I like being a recipe hound ... its a catchy name.  Maybe I'll rename my blog someday if I can figure out how without blowing links up all across the internet.

Enough about me.  On to the food.
I've been hearing about cabbage rolls for a long time.  Now that I'm much more experimental in the food department I thought it was high time I tried them.  I found this crock pot recipe (that is also paleo and totally Phase 1 friendly - mind the restricted tomatoes) and thought I'd give it a whirl.
Oh my head, am I glad I did!!!
While the directions (listed below) took a little time (especially boiling the cabbage to start with) these really are pretty easy to make.  And with both crockpot and oven directions, you have options
These smelled fabulous while they cooked and the taste did not disappoint! Now since I've never had cabbage rolls of any kind before I really don't have a basis for comparison, but these were really good (even the hubs thought so :) )And it makes 12 rolls (a serving is 2) so there is plenty to feed an army (or be lunch for a few days to make a busy week go a little easier).
From a Phase 1 standpoint each serving is about 5-6 oz of protein and only about 1/8 c vegetable.

Ingredients for Paleo Cabbage Rolls from www.StupidEasyPaleo.com

serves 6
1 large head of green cabbage
1 pound (454 g) grassfed ground beef
1 pound (454 g) lean ground pork1 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 white onion, diced finely
1-1/2 cups of riced or grated cauliflower
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
8 oz (235 mL) crushed tomatoes
4 oz (118 mL) tomato sauce

Directions for Paleo Cabbage Rolls

1. Rice or grate the cauliflower using box grater or food processor.  Save 1-1/2 cups for this recipe and the rest for something else. It’s tasty fried up in this side dish.

2. In a large bowl, mix the beef, pork, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

3. Put a large pot of water on the stove over high heat. To prepare the cabbage for rolling, you’ll lightly boil it whole and peel the leaves off a few at a time. Cut the core out of the cabbage and place in the pot. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to a simmer. As the leaves soften, you can peel them off with a spoon. Take care not to rip them in half. The whole process usually takes about 15 minutes. Alternatively, you can throw the whole cabbage in and let it simmer for about 15 minutes. The outermost leaves will become very soft but still usable. In either case, peel as many of the leaves off as you can and let cool a bit.

4. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, add a tablespoon of coconut oil or your fat of choice. Add the onion and grated cauliflower and sauté for 3 to 5 minutes until the onion is translucent and the cauliflower is softened. Turn off the heat and allow to cool for 5 minutes.

5. Combine the onion and cauliflower with the meat, and mix by hand to incorporate all the ingredients.

6. Roll the golumbki by holding a cabbage leaf, concave side up with the stem toward you, and placing a large spoonful of the meat mixture at the stem end. Then roll forward, fold the sides in and end with the seam down.

7. Mix the crushed tomatoes and tomato sauce in a bowl. Put ~1 cup in the bottom of the crockpot (or casserole dish). Lay the golumbki in with the seam side down. Cover with the remaining tomato mixture once the crock is full.

8. For a crockpot, cook on low for 5 hours. If using the oven, cover the top of the dish with foil and bake for 90 minutes at 350°F (175°C).

Nutrition Information via MyFitnessPal.com

calories 312

Total Fat 12 g   

Saturated Fat 6 g

Monounsaturated Fat 0 g

Polyunsaturated Fat 1 g

Trans Fat 0 g

Total Carbohydrate 7 g

  Dietary Fiber 2 g

Protein 30 g      

Mashed Cauliflower

I like having things that feel "normal".  It keeps me aware that I'm not "on a diet", I'm living a healthy lifestyle.  That being said, I love mashed potatoes.  I could eat pounds of them.  And now that I've found a fantastic meatloaf recipe, I want meatloaf and mash for dinner.  A lot !  :)

So how do I get a good substitute for mashed potatoes and still stay Phase 1 friendly?  Mashed Cauliflower (or turnips, or a combination of the two - I'll have to try that and report back)

I've tried making mashed cauliflower before and the results were less than appetizing, but this mashed cauliflower recipe from Andover Diet Center is amazing!   Its creamy and fluffy like regular mashed potatoes, but its so much better for you.  I think there are 2 keys to its success - the milk (remember you get 1 oz of milk a day) and using the food processor to whip the snot out of them,

I made it with garlic powder and Butter Buds in addition to sea salt and pepper, and let me tell ya I could have eaten a lot more than my 2 c. :)  I don't say that very often about cauliflower, but I am learning the error of my ways with respect to this veg.  It has a lot of potential!

Roasted Chicken Galantine

So its January and I haven't blogged for a while.  Trip to Italy, holidays all that stuff kinda got in the way.  I will say that this is the first year in a great many that I haven't had "Lose Weight" or "Get Healthy" as a New Years Resolution.  "Stay Healthy" maybe, but not "Get".    Its kind of a nice feeling.

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

Pizza Bites (Stuffed Mushrooms)

Let me start off with I am not a mushroom fan.  But If they get masked by what ever they are with I can handle them.  These pizza bites use a baby portabella mushrooms as the base for a sausage meatball, pizza sauce and cheese.  They are in a word - phenomenal

Here is a link to the super simple recipe:  Baby Pizza Bites

The only change I made was the cooking method.  I am not much of a griller and the hubs was otherwise occupied (setting up the RPG game area for the company we were having that evening).  So I decided to bake them.

I cooked them at 400 for about 20 minutes.  Sacrifice one and cut it in half to make sure the sausage is cooked all the way through before you top it with the sauce (OH and I found a no sugar added pizza sauce too - Great Value brand at Wal-Mart - it was great on these and I used the left over sauce in a pasta bake the next night).

I topped with mozzarella (since they were for company and I was out of the soy cheese) and then returned them to the oven to broil for about a minute - just to get the cheese melty and gooey.

They are also super cute on a plate and look all fancy for the little bit of work they take.

Here is the recipe for reference:

Baby Pizza Bites (great for all phases)

Ingredients

12 button mushrooms, wiped of any dirt and stems removed

½ lb Italian chicken sausage

1 egg ehite

¼ to ½ c no sugar added marinara sauce

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400.

Wipe down your mushrooms and remove stems. Then place them stem side up on a plate.

Throw your Italian chicken sausage in a bowl along with your egg white. Use your hands to combine it all together.

Then make tablespoon size balls of the meat mixture and plop them into the cap of the mushrooms.

Place on a sheet pan (with sides) and bake for 20-25 minutes or until sausage is cooked through.

Remove pan from oven and turn on the broiler.  Top each mushroom and sausage cap with either pizza/marinara sauce and a little mozz. Pop back in the oven for a minute or so until cheese is melted and bubbly!

Stick a toothpick in it and EAT IT.

Baked Rutabaga Slices

So while we were in Italy, we had some of the most amazing food I've ever eaten.  A lot of it was basic, comfort food, like the potatoes Stephania made.  They were little potato slabs, cross cut, and baked.  Amazingly simple.  Amazingly tasty.

I knew I wanted to try them when we got home, but I'm back in Phase 1 since the vacation until I lose the rest of what I gained.  So, back to the trusty rutabaga.

Don't those look amazing!   They were too, trust me. And super simple.

Enjoy!!

Baked Rutabagas
1 small rutabaga, peeled and sliced into 1/4" slices
EVOO
Sea Salt,  garlic powder to taste

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400.  
2. Cross cut the rutabaga slices on each side.  Just make a little tic tac toe board on each side but be careful not to slice all the way through.
3. Place rutabaga slices on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil.  Sprinkle with sea salt.
4. Flip the slices over, brush with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt and garlic powder.v(you can use what ever spices you think sound interesting.  For the first time out I stuck with simple)
5. Bake at 400 for 25 min
6. Remove from oven, flip over and put back in oven for 10 minutes.

Serves 1

Enjoy

Rutabaga Hash Browns

I've tried a couple of different ways to make hash browns.  I tried jicama (blech) and turnip (OK) and rutabaga (OK).  The rutabaga hash browns last time were just OK and I thought to myself maybe they need to be cooked a little before they get grated and fried.  You see last time they were crispy on the outside and the inside.  I want crispy on the outside and soft and lovely on the inside.

So this time around I peeled the rutabaga that was about the size of a softball, cut it in half and then microwaved it for a bit (5 min I think)  Our microwave has a "potato" setting so I cooked it like 1 potato.  After it had cooled enough to handle I grated it on a mandolin and then heated oil in the ole saute pan.  I added the grated rutabaga to the pan, salted and peppered it, and then let it fry up over medium heat before flipping it and letting the other side crispify.

These turned out perfect.  They had the texture of regular hash browns with a little of the rutabaga flavor which I have come to adore.  Add a little 1 carb ketchup on top - hash brown heaven!

I didn't snap pictures this time around (too hungry, couldn't wait).  I'll add a picture next time I make them because I will be making them again (and again and again)

Oven Baked Omelette

I love breakfast.  especially breakfast for dinner.  I think I've uttered those words before on the blog.  Its still true to this day.  I found a recipe on the Six Sister's site for this oven baked omelette.  I've made it a couple of times and its delish!!  Its not quite on plan though so I did make a few minor tweaks.  The original recipe is available through the link and it serves 5.  I cut it down to serving 1 and made it phase 1 friendly.

Enjoy

Ingredients

3 eggs
1 oz milk plus enough water to make 3/8 c
Sea salt, garlic powder and black pepper to taste
1 oz cooked ham, diced (or turkey bacon fried up crisp and diced)
1/2 c.  bell peppers , diced (pick your favorite combination. I used green and red)
2 tablespoons finely diced onion
1 oz  Go Veggie cheddar cheese shreds

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a casserole dish with non-stick cooking spray.

If using bacon fry it up crispy.  

In the same pan add a T of oil and the diced peppers.  Cook until just tender.

In a large bowl, beat eggs and  milk.  Add in remaining ingredients and pour into baking dish.

Bake (uncovered) for 45 minutes or until eggs are fully cooked (you will want to make sure that the middle of the dish is done).

Another Chicken crust pizza recipe

If you feel better using cooked chicken in the crust give this recipe a try from  A Nation of Moms.  I have not tried it yet but it looks just as good (maybe a little easier too since the chicken is already cooked).  If you try it let me know how it is in the comments!!

Crust Ingredients:
1 c. finely chopped cooked chicken breast (chopped in food processor)
1/2 c GO Veggie mozzarella shreds
1 egg white
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp oregano

Toppings:
Walden Farms Smoky BBQ Sauce
sliced/diced onions
sliced/diced peppers
Go Veggie mozzarella shreds
Go Veggie Cheddar and Peter Jack shreds

Directions: 

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Combine all crust ingredients with your hands in a large bowl. Press onto baking sheet that has been lightly sprayed with EVOO spray. Form a flat circular “crust” shape about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick. 

Bake for 12 minutes. 

Let cool for 5 minutes before adding sauce, add toppings (the more veggies the better!) and lightly sprinkle with more soy cheese. Bake for an additional 5 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

  

Enjoy!

Chicken Salsa Verde

I stumbled upon a couple of great pork tacos recipes a few weeks back.  I bought ingredients for both and have been wanting to try the second recipe for a bit now.  I didn't have pork in the freezer this week but had a big ol' bag of chicken breasts so I figured chicken tacos would be a good crock pot dinner to try out.

The original recipe is from Four Marrs ... One Venus ... great name for a blog!!  The Marrs family of all boys and the mom (the one Venus).  I love the throw back reference to Men are from Mars Women are From Venus.

This was super simple, even for a crock pot meal.  And as I shredded the chicken I couldn't help but sample it.  I had to make my self stop eating!  It was that good.  The salsa verde has a distinctive flavor and is pretty unique.  Much different from your normal taco taste, in my opinion any way.

Here is the recipe if you want to try it out for yourselves

Salsa Verde Tacos
2 lb pork (roast or picnic cut) or chicken breasts (skinless/boneless)
Kosher salt
1 jar salsa verde (I used HyVee select roasted salsa verde)
1 small can diced green chilies (also used a store brand here)
1 tsp. cumin

Place your meat in a crock pot.  Sprinkle with kosher salt.  Pour salsa verde over the top and then your diced chilies.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp of cumin.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours

Remove from crock pot and shred (its easier on a plate or cutting board than in the crock pot).  Put shredded meat back in the crock pot to keep it warm (I turned crock off but let the meat hang out in the juice that had accumulated)

Serve with your favorite taco toppings.

Meat wrap - Philly steak "sandwiches"

Any one remember these?

I remember the commercials from years ago.  I didn't' know what a Philly cheese steak sandwich was at the time and I thought these were kinda silly.  I've since learned the error of my ways, the divine nature of a good philly and Steak-umms are still on the market (in the freezer section)

Thought I'd give it a try!  Sure am glad I did.  I used a bag of PictSweet frozen diced onions and peppers and warmed them up (no caramelizing of the onions, just soft) in a saute pan with a little oil.

I cooked up the steak-umms per the package directions and piled stuff on a hoagie bun with cheese ... for my husband,  Of course I couldn't eat that.  

I think these would make awesome lettuce wraps but unfortunately I didn't have lettuce so I made ...ummm ... meat wraps

I used the steak-umm as the wrap, piled it with the peppers and onions and folded it up and ate it like that.  Kinda messy with meat and onion juice dripping everywhere, but I was in heaven.  The taste was cheesesteak sandwich.  Peppers and onions and total taste bud ecstasy.  I honestly didn't miss the bread at all (except maybe to soak up some of the drippings).

And since everything was from the freezer this really took just minutes to make.  You don't even have to plan it because the meat is to be cooked frozen!

So next time you are in the mood for a philly, try a meat wrap. 

Weekly weigh in: Week 20

This was an extremely good week.  I tried a casserole ... pasta (IP pasta but still) {soy} cheese, and a thick rich tomato sauce.  It was divine!! 

 I made super fantastic chicken salsa verde tacos (the recipe will be posted later in the week) ... with enough left over meat to freeze so I can have it while the hubs is on a business trip. Although I'm not thrilled for John to be going on the trip, I will take the opportunity to play around with shell fish.  He is allergic so we don't eat it.  I'm OK with that although I do miss crab sometimes and I developed an affinity for scallops when I had my business trips to Seattle earlier in the year.  So I'll make it a positive and make some things that I can't normally make when he's here  

And last but not least, I lost a whopping 3.6 pounds.  Whaaaa .... Shut the front door!!  That's one of the best weeks I've had in months!!!

I've been pretty steady at 2 to 2.5 pounds for the last 2 months.  That's nothing to sneeze at and I've been pleased that the downward trend continued without a plateau.  I was taken aback a little by this week's loss.  I didn't think I was doing things much differently but boy howdy was the result better!
So all in all a great week!  

Total: -54.6

Weekly weigh in: Heading for the home stretch

This was a good week!  Down another 2 lbs and about 6 lbs more to go to be at my goal.  6 or 8.  I still am not 100% sure where I'll stop.  I do know I'll be done by 8/11 because I'm going on Phase 2 then regardless of my weight,  I want to be in maintenance when we go on our honeymoon in September.  The longer I have to work on good eating habits the better that trip will be I think.

So I have at most 4 weeks left.  Its kinda strange to be thinking about being done.  It doesn't seem like its been that long but it has been 4.5 months so far.  I'm down 54 pounds overall and 51 since I started IP.

And as I've said a hundred times before I feel great.  I'm so excited to see other friends and coworkers starting on the program and being successful.  They are working hard, but I'm helping them too with recipes and encouragement,  I like that.  We're a little community at work and we help encourage and motivate each other.

AND we got a treadmill and elliptical for our neighbor last week.  They are gym quality and in great shape.  It makes me want to get up in the morning and work out.  They will be great to have this winter, especially if its another cold one!  We'll still take the dog out but not for long rambly walks and still be able to get some exercise (when the mood strikes)

That's about all from here.

Have a great evening!

Week 19: 2.0
Total: -51

Big Mac In A Bowl

You know how some things are better together than separate.  Take Sauerkraut, and Thousand Island Dressing.  Maybe even Corned Beef ... not a huge fan.  But put them together panini style and voila - reuben sandwich.  I adore reuben sandwiches even though I am less than enthused about most of the items that make it up.  On their own, blech mostly.  Together ... heaven on marble rye.

So with this mindset I thought I'd try the big mac in a bowl recipe.  I've seen it around the interwebs an awful lot.  Using WF Thousand Island its Phase 1 friendly and its supposed to taste fabulous.   You see, as I've already said, not a Thousand Island fan (except on a reuben).  Not a dill pickle fan either really.  But I thought maybe all combined together it might just be something magical.

And the verdict is ... Yumm-o!!

Way lot better than I thought it would be.  This is definitely taking a turn on the dinner rotation!  I really thought I'd be saying "I think next time I'll go lighter on the pickles", but the 1000 Island dill pickle combo is really quite nice.

The only thing I did differently was to add the chopped pickles and the re-hydrated onions to the browned meat when I took it off the heat.  I let it hang out for about a minute or so to let those flavors meld together, then added it to my bowl of lettuce.

Oh and you will need a BIG bowl.  The portion on this is huge

I've seen lots of recipes on the web.  

I'm linking to the Andover site because I like its organization:

Big Mac in a Bowl (Great for all phases)

Ingredients: 

8oz ground beef

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 teaspoon minced dry onions

46 grams dill pickle slices or 2 dill spears, chopped, about 1 5/8 ounces

2 tablespoons Walden Farms Thousand Island Dressing

1 1/2 ounces iceberg lettuce, shredded

Directions:

Brown the ground beef, drain off any fat, season with salt and pepper.  Meanwhile, soak the dry onions in a little water to rehydrate them. Put the meat in a large salad bowl and add the remaining ingredients.  Toss and eat at once.

Lemon Roasted Turnips

Tried another recipe off the Andover Site.  Here is a link:  Lemon Roasted Turnips

These were really good.  The lemon sauce was super flavorful.  The only suggestion I have is to make sure they are done.  I checked 1 chunk and it was good but there were some others that weren't as well roasted.  I also broiled them on a Lo Broil for about 4-5 minutes to get them crispy on top.

This will definitely make a repeat appearance on the turnip rotation!

I paired it up with some pan seared pork cutlets (thin cut boneless pork chops).  I used a little Italian seasoning and sea salt on them and sauteed them in some grape seed oil.  The Italian flavor went really well with the lemon on the turnips.

The recipe is copied below for your convenience.

Lemon Roasted Turnips

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds turnips diced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/3 cup low sodium chicken broth
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• paprika powder
• 3 garlic cloves,grated
• 2 lemons, juiced and zested (I used 6 T lemon juice)
• pepper
• parsley

Directions:
Combine
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Olive oil, oregano, salt, pepper, grated garlic, lemon juice and zest, and chicken broth.
Toss with diced turnips. Sprinkle turnips with paprika, for color.

Put them in a preheated oven for 30 minutes, take them out, flip them over and put them back in for another 20 minutes.

Test for doneness.

When tender set oven to Broil on low temp and broil for 4-5 minutes to crisp up the tops.,