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.

Salmon Glaze

Here is another recipe I found from the Andover Diet Center's website - Lime Maple Salmon

I almost didn't try this because of the sriracha sauce. I have heard that is WAY spicy and the little taste I took from the bottle I bought did not disappoint.  But since I'd bought it I was committed.  

If you know me you know I'm not good with too much spiciness   It has bothered my stomach for years.  But I've found as I've gotten my diet under control with the IP protocol, I haven't had the troubles that I've had in the past.  So I thought - what the heck.  It sounds tasty.  I can always adjust the spiciness if its too much.

Let me tell you it was amazing!!  The other ingredients in the glaze neutralized the heat while still leaving a lot of the flavor of the sriracha sauce.  I sauteed asparagus with it and since I didn't want to have the opened packet of syrup lying around I dumped that in the pan with some salt and pepper.  It turned out really good too.

Here is the glaze recipe


INGREDIENTS

• Juice and zest of 1/2 lime (I used 1 TB of lime juice and no zest)
• 1 tablespoon Walden Farms Pancake Syrup
• 1 1/2 teaspoons tsp sriracha sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon coarse sea salt (I used fine sea salt)
• 1 1/4 lbs pounds salmon fillet, skin removed
• 2 tablespoons coarsely chopped cilantro (I used dried cilantro)

PREPARATION
Heat oven to 425°. In a bowl, whisk together juice, zest, syrup, sriracha and salt. Place salmon in a baking dish lined with parchment paper; pour lime-maple mixture over top. Roast salmon until cooked through and flaky, 15 minutes. Sprinkle with cilantro; serve.


Enjoy!

Midweek Dinner: Make it easy!

OK so I love my crock pot.  It makes life so much less stressful.  Especially when I can throw dinner in the crock pot on a Tuesday (or Wednesday or any day) and come home from work to dinner mostly (or completely) done.

This week I made ribs in the crock pot for the first time (lets face it I made ribs for the first time - crock pot or no)  I talked to my great friend Ruth and she gave me a few tips and I figured the worst that could happen was I thaw out some chicken if they didn't turn out.

No chicken for dinner I can tell you that :)

They turned out fabulous!  I used Walden Farms Smoky and Spicy BBQ sauce (1 whole jar plus a little extra), a pound of pork back ribs, and half an onion.

I quartered the onion half and laid it in the bottom of the crock pot, poured a little sauce one it and then layered the ribs on top.  I had to cut the rack down to fit but that was easy.  I poured some sauce on each layer of ribs then dumped the rest of the bottle on the top once I had them all in the crock pot.

I let them cook on low all day, added a little extra sauce when I got home then let them settle while I made turnip fries.  .  I used the rutabaga fry recipe form Novice Housewife again and just used julienned turnips instead.  These tuned out just as good as the rutabaga ones.  And they aren't restricted so um, yeah, turnip fries is on the menu to stay!

Spices I tried this time were sea salt, fresh ground pepper, Essence of Emeril, and garlic powder. I didn't measure I just sprinkled it in, but I'd start with 2 turnips and about 1/4 to 1/2 tsp of each spice.

Here is the dinner plate:

Here is the dinner plate approximately 7 minutes later.  I felt like such a carnivore, but mmm mmmmmmm was this good.

and on plan.  So on plan.

So enjoy yourselves an easy midweek dinner.  Just make sure you have plenty of napkins on hand :)

So long for now!!

Chicken Crust Pizza

I think I've mentioned my love of pizza a few times before.  I've found the cauli-crust makes me pretty happy but someone mentioned a chicken crust to me and then Innovative Aesthetics had it on their Facebook page and I decided I needed to try it.

Besides one of my goals this week is to try a new recipe.  Goal accomplished!!

What better than pizza!!!

Here is the crust getting ready to be baked.

And here it is fresh from the oven and ready for toppings.

I decide to make it a BBQ chicken pizza since the chicken part was built in to the crust.   I used WF Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce, and a bunch of pre-cut fajita veg (red and green peppers and red onions).  I got it all prepped at the grocery store so that made this even easier to make!

Here it is in all its faux flat bread awesomeness

And I truly mean that.  The taste of course was chicken-y but the look and texture reminded me of a flat bread pizza.  How ground chicken, eggs, and cheese turns into that I do not know.  But I will accept my lack of understanding in exchange for another slice!

Here's the recipe if you want to recreate awesome for yourselves...

Chicken Crust Pizza
Serves 2
INGREDIENTS

• 3 chicken breasts, roughly chopped (about 9-10 ounces)
• coarse salt and pepper to taste
• 1/2 tsp oregano
• 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup shredded veggie cheese (I love Go Veggie)
• pizza toppings of choice

I used 
Toppings 

• Walden Farms Hickory Smoked BBQ sauce
• Sliced/diced onions
• Sliced/diced red and green pepper
• Go Veggie mozzarella shreds
• Go Veggie Cheddar and Pepper Jack shreds

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
2. In a food processor or a blender, combine the chicken and spices. Blend until finely minced.
3. Add the cheese, and eggs. Process until well combined into a sticky-gluey batter.
4. Spread the chicken mixture onto the prepared baking sheet. Use your fingers or a spatula to smooth the batter into an even layer across the sheet. Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
5. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake for an additional 15 minutes until the cheese is melted, golden, and bubbly and the crust is cooked through.

Breakfast Time: Breadless French Toast

So I am a big breakfast eater.  It sets the tone for my whole day so if I don't make good choices I'm hungry all day.  I've got a good rotation of IP waffles, IP Crispy cereal pancakes and my smoothie, but I heard about a bread less french toast recipe and wanted to give it a try.   

When I googled "bread less french toast" I found a lot of sites, most using the same recipe that called for light soy milk. When I looked at the recipes, I wasn't sure how it would cook up and also wasn't sure how it would fit in the Phase 1 program since it didn't use an IP food, so that didn't seem like a good fit.  

I found one recipe that you bake in the oven that used the IP omelette mix, but that didn't have the best review.   I found the following recipe out on the Wellness Choice clinic website.  

This one looked like it might be a good fit with Phase 1 so I decided to give it a try.

My only change was to use the whole packet of the vanilla drink mix instead of measuring it.  I need 1 IP food for breakfast anyway :) 

Breadless French Toast  

Ingredients:3/4 C. Egg Substitute 
1 pkt  Ideal Protein Vanilla Drink   
dash of salt 
2 dashes of cinnamon  
2 dashes nutmeg  1/2 tsp of vanilla extract 

Directions:
Mix all ingredients.  Cook up in a pan like a pancake.

While I'm not sure I would call this french toast it made a mighty fine fluffy couple of pancakes.  I was really impressed with the texture.  And the cinnamon and nutmeg made for a nice combination with the WF syrup. 

 This is definitely a keeper recipe!!!

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I love pizza.  A good thick bready crust, nice sauce, loads of cheese.  Its like a slice of heaven.  And a slice that I thought was out of reach right now until I found some really good cauliflower crust pizza recipes.

I love this calzone recipe from The Iron You.  Its delicious and Mike has great tips for making the crust perfect.  He also has a cauliflower bread sticks recipe that I want to try sometime.

See look at that - right from the oven ...

Here are the calzones baking:

The recipe I got from Innovative Aesthetics is good too.  There isn't a serving size on this recipe so I am guessing it serves 1-2 (although you may have trouble eating it all.)  This is the one I am sharing with you today.  That way you have a couple of options if you want to try them both out. I tend to blend the recipes together a little bit (some of the spices from one, cooking times from the other) so it never comes out the same way twice.  But its always delish, and filling and really does satisfy my pizza urge while getting in my vegetables.

Couple of things to remember:  (1) Do not use any restricted IP products on the day you eat this.  (2) Only have it once per week (because of the soy cheese).  (3)  If you make calzones only broil for like a minute to get the cheese all melt-y.  And if you make pizza, watch the broiling close (yes I over broiled it once.  It still tasted OK but was a little off putting to look at :) )

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

CRUST:

1/2 LARGE head cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded GO Veggie mozzarella shreds (Play with it - I have also mixed the mozz and cheddar shreds and also used a little of the new Go Veggie Pepper Jack with the mozz and cheddar)

1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon dried minced garlic (or fresh garlic)
1/2 teaspoon onion salt

1. Shred/grate the cauliflower into small crumbles. You can use the food processor if you'd like, but you just want crumbles, not puree. You'll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles (which is about half a large head of cauliflower). Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them (dry) for 8 minutes. Give the cauliflower a chance to cool. Put the cauliflower in a tea towel and squeeze the water out of it,

2. Prepare the crust: Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray (or use a nonstick surface). In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles (about 1 1/2 cups since they shrink after cooking) with the remaining crust ingredients. Pat the "crust"
into a 9 to 12-inch round on the prepared pan. Spray the crust lightly with  nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

3. Prepare the pizza: Spread the sauce on top of the baked crust, leaving a 1/2-inch border around the edge. I use WF Tomato Basil and WF Alfredo mixed in equal portions.  Use about 2 T of each, depending on how big you spread your crust out.  Sprinkle 1/4 cup cheese on top. Add any other toppings you might like. Broil the pizza 2-3 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Serve immediately.


Enjoy

Weekend Recipe Project: Breakfast is Served Part 1

I love brunch!  I love breakfast for dinner!  I just love breakfast.  I wanted to come up with a few things that I could have on the IP protocol to change things up every once in a while.  I mean I love my morning smoothie, but I still don't want to have the same thing every day.

I used this waffle recipe as the jumping off point for today's recipe project.  It is from www.MyIdealProtein.com ( I checked to make sure I could repost the recipe and was told it was OK.)

Ami's Waffle Recipe
Ingredients:
• 1 packet IP Pudding mix (any flavor)
• 1 egg or 2 egg whites, beaten
• 2 oz. of water (Additional water may be used to thin batter for pancakes)
• 1/4 tsp Baking Powder
• small pinch of sea salt
• (optional) add a few drops of flavored Stevia
• (optional) Spices of your choice: cinnamon, vanilla, pumpkin pie spice, etc.
• (optional) Walden Farms topping: Maple Syrup, Chocolate Syrup etc., I Can 't Believe It's Not Butter spray.
Directions:
Beat egg and water until mixed. Add spices, salt and baking power. Finally stir in one IP pudding packet. Mix will be thick. Pour into greased waffle iron or make three small pancakes. Finally top with your favorite WF product. I like vanilla pudding with cinnamon and 4 drops of vanilla crème Stevia. Then top with WF Maple Syrup!

Makes 1 IP serving. If using the whole egg, subtract 1.5-2 ounces of protein from your daily 8oz. or consult your coach.

So I like to add a little vanilla and cinnamon to mine.  And yes any flavor of IP pudding will do.  Here are my chocolate waffles.  I had them with WF Caramel Sauce.  They were extremely decadent :)

But I wondered what else I could do with this "basic dough" so I after I had waffles this morning with WF pancake syrup (its pretty amazing for all its sugar free.  I don't get the aftertaste I've had with other sugar free syrups.  This just tastes like Mrs. Butterworth)

I made muffins

I made 2 batches of the basic dough: one with milk chocolate pudding and one with the vanilla.  Each batch makes 3 of this size muffin and that would be 1 serving

The first row of muffins I tried a "cinnamon struessel".  The dough already had cinnamon in it, so I put one scoop in (using the small Pampered Chef scoop) and sprinkled a little Splenda brown sugar on it.  One more scoop, flatten it down a wee bit, sprinkle some more splenda brown sugar and row 1 was ready to go.

The middle row I made a "marble" muffin.  I used 1 scoop of the vanilla dough and 1 scoop of the chocolate dough and swirled it a little with a wooden skewer.

The last row was straight up chocolate muffins.

Bake 'em at 350° for about 15 minutes and voila

Muffins!!!

I couldn't wait to try them so this was my snack today :)  Happy snack !!  The struessel ones were amazing, by far the best of the bunch although the other two were good (I had 1 of each so I could taste test and report back ;)

So there you go ... breakfast is served.  Tomorrow I am going to remake a great Weight Watchers quiche recipe to be IP friendly with very few actual changes  But it will be breakfast for dinner.  I'm all for that!!

So long for now!

Me 1, Rutabaga 0

So I attempted to make rutabaga fries for lunch today.  Its legal (I triple checked after the spaghetti squash scandal) and I found several Pinterest recipes for them.  Some of the comments said -Ewww blech, and some said - Couldn't tell the difference.  SO I went with a recipe that said "Couldn't tell the diff" and prayed all through church that this was the truth.

The recipe I used was from Novice Housewife.

Rutabagas are a little tough to peel.  We learned a technique in cooking class and I got that part done without too much trouble.  But when it came to cutting said (now peeled) rutabaga, we had a few issues

I won that round :)

The only difference between what I did and what the recipe said was the spices.  I didn't have what was listed and so used Tastefully Simple Seasoned Salt and some Essence of Emeril in about the same proportion as listed in the recipe.  Mixed it up and baked until crispy

These were in a word - phenomenal!!  The WF Ketchup on the other hand was not something I would recommend.  Too vinegary and too runny even though I keep it in the frig. But with the little bit of spice these fries really didn't need ketchup anyway (and this is coming from the girl who believes the ONLY purpose of a french fry is as a ketchup carrier).  My hubby almost lost the rest of his because I was going to steal them.  Lucky for him that he ate them all before I could nab any :)

So long for now!

Breakfast of Champions

What do you get when you mix an Ideal Protein Vanilla drink, a Walden's Farms individual serving chocolate syrup packet and 2 teaspoons of powdered espresso with a cup of ice and a Ninja super blender?

well lets just say it's like breakfast heaven

Mmmmmmmm ... pardon me while I indulge

Its whats for dinner

...Chicken medallions with tomato basil and garlic alfredo sauces (all 0 carb, 0 fat, 0 calorie but not 0 taste) paired with spaghetti squash .

** Edited a Second Time:  I now have the "official" program information.  It turns out Spaghetti Squash IS on the Phase one list but on the Restricted list so only once per week.  I'm OK with that.  This was so good I'd hate to wait until the maintenance phase to have it again

** Edited:  Turns out I read the list wrong.  That's what comes from trying to start before I officially have all the information.  Spaghetti squash is on the forbidden list for Phase 1 not the allowed list, so while this was delish, the veg is not Phase 1 friendly.

So I've never posted a recipe or step by step cooking instructions in my life.  But I've posted card "recipes" over on my paper crafting blog so how much different can it be ... except make sure to wash your wands thoroughly after handling raw meat.  You don't have to do that with raw paper, but here its important.

 First things first ... preheat your oven to 375° and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil (it keeps the mess down).

Now on to the spaghetti squash because it takes longer to cook.

First you cut it in half and clean out the cuts.  Its kind of like a pumpkin with strands and seeds and such.  Too gross for pictures in my opinion.  The nice thing is its smaller than a pumpkin so much easier to clean out.  OK - your squashes are all clean?  Yes?  Then on to the next step

Drizzle the insides of the squash with olive or grape seed oil then season with salt and pepper.  You can use any spices you like but I usually stick with just these two.  Put the squash on your foil lined baking sheet like so ...

I've been told that poking holes in the rind helps it cook more evenly and more quickly.  Since I have never gotten one cooked in less than an hour I thought I'd give that a try tonight (hint: it did work).  Let the hole poking commence.

Then pop it in the oven for about 40 minutes.  While the squash is cooking start working on your chicken.  I like to pan sear my chicken so I usually slice the breasts in half to make them thinner.  You can also pound them flatter to make a cutlet, but I find this to be faster for me.

Add some spice ... tonight I used salt pepper and some Penzy pasta sprinkles.  I was going for an Italian theme and I figured it wasn't just for pasta despite the name :) and Thanks again Aunt Judy for the Penzy Spice pack wedding present.   We are making great use of it here at the ranch

Next add a little oil to your saute pan and heat it over medium heat.  I tend to use the Rachel Ray method of measurement so 2 turns around the pan.  I think that's about 1-2 T, but try and keep it to a minimum.  You just want to keep the chicken from sticking.  You could also use a Misto and spray the oil on for a more even coverage

Chicken frying .... with this size of meat I let it go 4-5 minutes on 1 side them flip it for another 4-5 minutes.  I didn't start the chicken until the squash was almost done.

Once the squash was done you pull it out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes so you don't burn your fingerprints off and use a fork to scrape the squashy bits out.  

I tried these 2 Waldens Farms sauces together.  My hubs liked the Tomato Basil all by itself,.  The Alfredo is a bit garlicy but when paired with the tomato was really good, I thought.  

Ta Da!  

My husband had never had spaghetti squash before - didn't even know what I was buying at the grocery store when I got it.  He really liked it and was done with his plate when I still was working on mine (I was talking a lot about the  WF products I bought today, but still I'm usually a much faster eater.  That's usually my sign that he really likes something!)

So tonight's dinner was a total success.  Challenge friendly and mighty tasty.

So long for now!