Meat Muffins

I know we all like a good meat loaf and this is a rocking, easy way to do it and have something on the go afterwards. It's also portion friendly :)
This is going to be a quick post because one of my readers requested it and I have a feeling it's what's for dinner tonight for them :)

Meat Muffins
2 lbs lean ground beef (now if you are going extra lean you will need to lube the tins)
1 medium size sweet onion
a handful of chopped chives
1/3-1/2 cup of crushed up melba toast
2-3 eggs
Sauce
2 small cans of tomato paste
2 TBSP Chicken Broth
2 TBSP of Liquid Aminos (it's like soy sauce)
2 TBSP Italian Seasoning mix (I have a homemade one; mostly oregano, basil, majoram, & parsley)
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (I like a little spice to mine)
1TBSP of Salt
1 tsp pepper
1 tsp parsley
1 1/2 tsp of Spicy Mustard
splash of red wine vinegar

Mix all the ingredients for the sauce together until it is thoroughly combined.Reserve just enough for the tops of each muffin about 1/4 cup worth, just enough to lightly coat each one.

Mix all other ingredients with your meat. once thoroughly combined add remaining sauce, saving the reserved for later.

In a muffin tin* almost fill each tin with the meat mixture, coat with the reserved sauce. 10 minutes before pulling them out of the oven, place just a sprinkle of shredded Parmesan cheese on top and place back in oven to finish cooking.

*Again if you are using meat that is about 96/4 or leaner you will need to spray or thinly coat the pan with oil or the meat will stick.

Cook in a 350 oven for about 30-45 mins.

These are perfect with faux mashed potatoes or even better my spaghetti sqaush-n-cheese. I'll have to post that one later :)
Alright, hope I didn't forget anything, doing one this one straight from memory. If so, I updated it later :)

Spaghetti Squash Alla Vodka

Now if you know me, you know I love cooking with alcohol. I know, I know, but it gives such great flavor to foods! This was not the dish that I had intended to spend my weekend experimenting with, actually didn't even get to work on that dish. I only found a few of the ingredients but I will be working on it soon. So yesterday as I was getting ready to go to church I had the tv going and of course it was the Food Network. The Pioneer Woman came on, never seen it, but she was talking about this Penne pasta recipe that she was working on and I thought to myself, "I can easily transform this dish and cut over half the calories down." I also thought that I could spice it up because hers seemed rather bland and you may know that just won't cut it for me. So without further delay, I present to you Spaghetti Squash Alla Vodka, yum :)

Spaghetti Squash
Cooking instructions as follows
http://hcgfoodrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/spaghetti-squash-with-ancho-pepper.html

After cooking let it rest for about 20 mins and begin the making the sauce.

Vodka Sauce
Ingredients:
1 large shallot or small sweet onion
2 cloves garlic
2 pads of butter, divided
Olive Oil
1/3 cup of Vodka*
Half a large can of Tomato Puree
1 Cup plus splash of Heavy Cream
1/2 tsp Sugar Sub
1 tsp Italian Herb blend
1TBSP Ancho Chili Pepper Flakes
1TBSP Fresh Chopped Basil, plus some for plating
1/3 cup Grated Percino Romano or Parm, plus some for topping
Salt/Pepper to taste

*Now if you are not one to add a little booze to your dish you can do the same thing with a low sodium 99% fat free Chicken Stock, it won't be quick the same but it will still be good. My true suggestion is to run down to the local liquor store and grab a 1/2 pint of a cheap vodka :)

Cooking:
In a large sauce pan with one melted pad of butter and olive oil set to medium heat, add your diced onion. Cook until it is transparent, then add your minced garlic. Let that cook for about 2 mins, the name of the game is low and slow, you get the best flavors that way. While this is cooking and you are moving those onions around often, slice your spaghetti squash lengthwise making sure you cut off both ends first and let it cool for a few mins. before attempting to scoop out the guts. It's okay if it gets a little cold, we are going to toss the "noodles" in the sauce later and that will warm them back up.

After you have cooked the garlic and onions down some, add the vodka. I turned down the heat to medium low for this part. You will want to let the vodka reduce down to about half it's size, this will take about 2-4 mins. but keep an eye on it and stir frequently That's when I started to scoop out the guts of my spaghetti squash. *(Now if you are using chicken stock, it will likely take longer for it to reduce and there is no need to reduce to heat.)

Once your vodka has reduced, add half the large can of tomato puree and stir well making sure everything is thoroughly incorporated. Turn up the heat back to medium and add the one cup plus a splash of heavy cream. Now I know what you all are thinking, "that's not healthy"! I never said that it was fat free, I believe that fat is okay in moderation and you can cut back in some areas to give way to others. Also because we don't have a true starch our bodies are able to dispose of the fat a lot quicker.

After adding the cream, add the spices, pepper flakes, sugar sub, 1 pad of butter, salt/pepper** and let cook for about 5 mins, again stirring often. When this is happening begin to scrape down the sides of your spaghetti squash to get your "noodles". After the 5 mins, add the "noodles" and cheese and let cook on low for about another 5 mins. Before the last minute, add the chopped basil, reserving a few pinches for plating.

Top with some more grated cheese and a pinch of basil. It's so good!!!!

**TASTE, TASTE, TASTE! I always taste my sauces while cooking, it's the only way you will know if it is seasoned right. For me that meant about 1 1/2 TSP of Salt and 1 TSP of pepper.

Now if you have to have a meat with this, which to be honest I didn't miss it, you can cook some boneless chicken breast in the oven in chicken broth and slice them up and toss them in.

Well I truly hope you enjoy this dish and don't be afraid to lick the plate, I sure did :) Til next time.

Oh and depending on the size of your spaghetti squash you can get about 4-6 portions out of this and for a cup of this dish, less then 250 calories.

 Next up, Chocolate Brownies!!!!

I'm BACK!! Berries & Lemon Whipped Cream

Well I am so sorry for extended silence. My life got pretty crazy there for a few months. As I said in my last blog, I have recently moved to Texas to start a new job. I am really enjoying my job but it has definitely changed my former routine. As a person who lives her life based on routine, it's really easy to get off course when life happens and interrupts our daily patterns. I have really had to pull myself back to living a healthy lifestyle. It's real easy to get out of cooking healthy foods because we had a long day and Chickfila is so much easier and a salad is healthy, right? Well those stops add up and prevents a healthy variety of good foods. I realized that I was getting sick of being on this "diet" and wanted real food. STOP, there was my problem. I was having so many salads that it felt like I was on a diet. The key to living a healthy lifestyle is to not eat so many salads, yes they are good and the dressing in moderation is okay, but we will find ourselves bored of the plain salad day after day. We NEED that variety of veggies, lean meats, and fruits. It's what makes this easy. So here I am going back to the basics with myself. It happens folks, we are not all perfect. The key is to see it, stop it, and fix it. That being said, I have started to experiment in the kitchen again and I am excited about it. This weekend I will really be setting time aside to focus on this and make it a priority in my life again. That being said, I have this great recipe idea floating around in my head that I am dying to try out!!!

Until then I will leave you with this one.

Berries and Lemon Whipped Cream

So I first had this dessert dish when I was in Italy a few years back and it was full of sugar and all that goodness, but with today's sugar substitutes it's so easy to transform this dish to a healthy yummy dessert for the whole family. It's one of my go to recipes. With 4th of July right around the corner, this dish will most certainly impress your guest! It has beautiful colors and very patriotic!

Berries:
5lbs of washed, hulled, slices Strawberries
2 pints of washed Blueberries
1 Pint Raspberries
(Add 1 pint of blackberries if you like them.)
1/4 Cup Xylitol or Erythitol
Lemon
*Orange, optional

Mix all of theses together in a large bowl with the juice of 1 small lemon along with 1TBSP of the lemons zest. Some times I like to throw in a little fresh squeezed orange juice. Mix all of this together with about 1/4 cup of Xylitol or Erythitol. I prefer the Erythitol because it doesn't bother my stomach as much but I understand that it's kind of hard to find. Let all of this sit and soak up those juices for about an hour in the frig. While that is all going on, time to make the Lemon Whipped Cream.

Lemon Whipped Cream
I have to confess, this I could, (and have), eat this all by it's self. IT IS SO GOOD!!!

2 1/2 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream
1/4 cup of Xylitol or Erythitol
1tsp Vanilla Extract (make sure it's sugar free)
Zest of a Lemon
The juice of 1/2 a lemon (if you like it tart, add the whole thing)

Begin by making a simple whipped cream. Grab your mixer and go to town on the Cream, Sugar Sub, and Vanilla. Once you are just about to get stiff peaks toss in your lemon juice and zest. Mix until you get stiff peaks. refrigerate for about 30 mins.

DISPLAY
This dish screams for a beautiful clear bowl!!! I have a cool cake stand that you can flip the lid over and it fits perfectly into the base and makes a beautiful parfait bowl.
This a great layered dish. You can add a layer of mixed berries and spread some of the lemon whipped cream, then repeat, oh man my mouth is salivating for this already :)
 Prefect for your 4th of July party!
Or if you are having a dinner party these are beautiful to serve in martini glasses with a dollop of the cream on top.


*Now I know some of you want an even easier way to do this dish. I do have one quick shortcut. If you find Sugar-Free ready made whipped cream, you can just stir in the zest and juice and it works just as good.

Well I hope you and your family enjoys this dish like I do! Next time I am hoping to have my secret dish ready to share, I am really pumped about it!

Broiled Squash- Phase 3

Well I know it has been a while since my last post, but so much has happened since then. I ended up in the hospital to have an unexpected surgery, then Thanksgiving hit, then I started interviewing for a couple of job, then landed one of the jobs, and finally I moved to Texas for the job.

 Even though all of the chaotic things we going on in my life I still made healthy food a priority, I didn't cave in because of the stressed of life.

3.5 oz Squash: 35 calories

Well this recipe is for all of those squash lovers, I am not one of them. My parents love squash and really enjoy this dish.

1lb Summer Squash, sliced 1/2" thick
1tbsp of Olive Oil
1tbsp chopped fresh Rosemary
1/2tsp freshly ground Nutmeg
1tsp Kosher Salt
1/4tsp Ground Pepper

Add all ingredients and toss to combine.
Place squash on top of a metal cooling rack on top of a baking sheet.
Place in oven that is set to broil for 8-10 mins or until golden brown.

Phase 2 revision, just substitute the oil with chicken stock.

Faux S'mores-Phase 3 or 4

I created this dish because we were having a women's event that was having s'mores and I thought it was a tragedy to not be able to enjoy a sweet treat with everyone else. There were so many women there that was on the diet that we just had to come up with something for them. Well it was a hit, not only did all the women that were on the diet love them, a ton of women not on the diet wanted one! Well if your family is having a bonfire try making these instead of the other versions.

75 calories for a large one.

Graham Cracker Cookie:
1/4 cup Grapeseed Oil
1/2 cup Kroger Brand Brown Sugar Substitute
1 tsp Vanilla Extract (check for sugar)
3 cups of Almond Meal
1 tsp ground Cinnamon
1/2 TBSP Baking Powder
1/4 cup Water
1/8 tsp Maple Syrup Flavoring

-Mix all wet ingredients on medium speed.

-Slowly add dry ingredients to wet mixture.

-Add water

-Place dough in refrigerator for at least 1 hour.

-Cut 2 pieces of parchment paper the size of your cookie sheet.

-Spray with vegetable spray.

-Place one piece of parchment paper on the bottom and one on top.

-Roll out dough to evenly flatten.

-Place tray in refrigerator for 30 mins.

-Once dough is flat take a pizza cutter and cut dough into 2" squares.

-Bake at 325 for 15-17 mins.

-Let cool for 30 mins., Break apart, and place on cooling rack.

(This dough also makes a great crust for cheesecakes or any graham cracker crust.)

For the Chocolate and Marshmallow filling purchase Walden Farms Chocolate and Marshmallow Dip. Place a spoonful on a cookie and place together.

Store cookies in a dry container.

Dijon Dressing or Marinade-Phase 2

My mom likes mustard based dressings and this one I created for her.

2 tsp of Sugar-Free Dijon Mustard
1/2 cup of Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 cup of Chicken Stock
1/4 cup freshly chopped Parsley
1 tsp freshly chopped Thyme
1 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper

For a sweet variation add 1 tsp of Stevia or other Sugar Substitute.

Add to a bowl of spaghetti squash with some chopped bacon and chicken and wilted spinach for a delicious dinner while on phase 3 or 4.

Italian Vinaigrette Dressing- Phase 2

It's really hard to have a salad without having salad dressing. I love Italian dressing and decided to create my own.

Ingredients:
1/8 cup of Red Wine Vinegar
1/4 Cup of Chicken Stock
1 tsp Stevia
1/8 tsp Marjoram
1/8 tsp Basil
1/8 tsp Oregano
salt & pepper to taste

Add all ingredients to a bottle with lid, shake and pour.

Keep in refrigerator.

Chocolate Muffins-Phase 3

Oh man did I fall in love with these, they are so good! I LOVE chocolate and boy did these hit the spot. It was hard not to snack on them all day :)

Dry Ingredients

2 Cups of Almond Flour/Meal

1/2 Cup Cocoa Powder

3 TBSP Stevia

1 TBSP Cinnamon

1 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Sea Salt

Wet Ingredients
1/4 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce
3 Eggs
1/4 Cup Grapeseed Oil or Liquid Coconut Oil
1/2 Cup Liquid Stevia
1 Cup Chopped Nuts, I used Almonds

Cream Cheese filling
1/2 lb Softened Cream Cheese
1/4 Cup Stevia, Raw
1/4 tsp Cinnamon
1/8 tsp Ground Ginger

Set oven to 350
-In separate bowls mix all dry ingredients together making sure to get all the clumps out.
-In another bowl mix all wet ingredients together.
-Using the Muffin Method, slowly add dry ingredients to the mixed wet ingredients.
-Spray muffin cups with a light coat of cooking spray to prevent the muffins from sticking.
-Evenly distribute batter between muffins cups
-Bake for 22-24 mins.

-While muffins are baking prepare filling.
Mix all ingredients together and place in piping bag.
If you do not have a piping bag, grab a sandwich bag and scoop filling inside, cut off one corner before using.

Once Muffins have cooled cut a small circle out of the center of the muffin, fill with filling.

Again, I like to make these in miniature form to prevent from eating too much because they truly are addictive!

They are great for breakfast, a snack, or even for dessert with a little ice cream. Enjoy!!

Taco Shell- Phase 3

Okay so I have to admit I did not come up with this one, I found it online and just had to share it. I did make some additions to it.

1 shell is about 69 calories

Ingredients
-shredded cheese of any kind that melts well.
-oregano

On a thin piece of parchment paper place about 1 oz of Shredded Cheese in the center of the paper kind of spread out, sprinkle a little oregano on cheese.

Microwave for 1 min until cheese bubbles and is slightly brown.

While cheese is still flexible bend into a taco shape and place between two objects that will help it keep it's shape until it cools.

Roll a medicine bottle in parchment paper and place in the center of the cheese to help hold shape.

Once cool, peel and stuff with your favorite taco ingredients.

Pistou Sauce-Phase 2

I love sauces and honestly it's hard to have sauces on phase 2 because most of them have oil. I also love pesto and in doing some research I found a french version of pesto called Pistou (sounds like Pea-stew, kind of looks like it too). If you know how to make pesto you know it has pine nuts and cheese but Pistou is pretty much the same but with out the nuts and cheese.

That being said here is the recipe:

1 cup roughly chopped fresh Basil
2 Cloves chopped Garlic
1/4 cup Chicken Stock
1/4 tsp Lemon Pepper
1/8 tsp Pepper
Salt to taste
a Pinch or two of Guar Gum

In a food processor at everything except the chicken stock and puree. Once everything is finely chopped add the chicken stock a little at a time and pulse. Once you reach the desire consistency your down.

I love this sauce, I put it on chicken, cod, beef, and in my marinara or tomato soup.

Cucumber Kanikama- Phase 2

MMMMMM.... Now my one of my favorite types of food is Japanese sushi and I have a favorite Sushi spot on the northside if town. I like sushi but my biggest draw to this particular sushi place is their Cucumber Kanikama salad. I love it! When I go that is pretty much all I get...okay I lie I get a Spicy Chicken Roll too :)

So I decided that it couldn't be that hard to figure out their recipe for the dish, Cucumber and Crab were a given but what else. I figured that they probably used some soy sauce and maybe rice vinegar but what else. Well a little call to the restaurant and I found out what that other ingredient was, sesame seed oil! Well most of those components are not allowed but luckily they are easily substituted.

3 oz Crab Meat: 61 calories, Cucumber: 45 calories

Onto the components:
-1 Large Cucumber, sliced or diced
-3oz of Crab meat (if you are not using fresh crab find some that is not vacuum sealed in sugar)
-Prepared Kanikama Sauce (see kanikama sauce page: http://hcgfoodrecipes.blogspot.com/2011/08/kanikama-sauce.html)

Mix all together and wallah!
Up next: Pistou Sauce

Lemon Tilapia-Phase 2

I'm not a real tilapia fan but it happens to be my mom's favorite fish. She eats this about 3 nights a week :) It's a great quick and easy dish to make on the fly.

Set your oven to 375 

Grab a baking sheet

I know that during phase 2 the hardest part it food not sticking to your baking pan. There are two way around this challenge, 

1st- squeeze a lemon over your pan and slice a lemon and place fish on top

2nd- Pour about 1/4cup of chicken or fish broth on baking sheet.

For this recipe I am going with the second method.

3oz Tilapia: 82 calories

After placing the fish over the broth season with:

-Dried lemon peel

-Cracked pepper

-Sea Salt

-Oregano

-Marjoram

-Basil

Cook for 15-20mins

I like to squeeze a lemon wedge over the fish once it's done cooking.

Enjoy! Up next Cucumber Kanikama

Beef & Broccoli Stir fry-Phase 2

I know many people love Chinese food, here is another great Chinese dish!

Hope it hits the spot!

3oz Beef: 175 calorie, 3.5oz Broccoli: 33 calories

Here ya go...
-2 cups Broccoli florets
-1/2lb Beef Sirloin steaks, thinly sliced
-2TBSP Liquid Aminos
-2 Cloves Garlic, minced
-1tsp Onion Powder
-1TBSP fresh chopped Parsley
-a few tablespoons of Chicken Broth

>In a large skillet, or wok, put a few tablespoons of chicken stock and saute beef until brown.

> Add garlic, onion powder, broccoli, parsley, and liquid aminos

> Saute until well done

And presto, your dinner is complete :)

If you are not a beef fan, substitute the beef with chicken.

Up next Lemon Tilapia

Romaine Tacos- Phase 2

This just came to me one day. I actually was having it as a cold dish and thought, it would probably be good hot.

3.5oz Salsa: 35 cal, 3oz Beef: 115 cal, 3oz Chicken: 141 cal, 3.5oz Romaine: 17 cal
(Meal does not include guacamole like the picture shows)

Food:
1 Lb Extremely Lean Beef Prepared (See Spaghetti Squash Recipe) or 1 Lb Prepared Chicken (See Chicken Recipe)
3.5 oz Romaine Lettuce (If it is the small heads of lettuce it should be about 5-6 pieces, if it is the large type the 3 outer pieces. Just cut the large ones in half)
1 small tomato or sugar-free salsa (optional, remember it counts as a fruit)

Ingredients for Meat:
3TBSP Tomato Paste (sugar-free)
1TBSP of Chili Powder
2tsp Onion Powder
1tsp Cumin
1tsp powdered Oregano (if you don't have powdered oregano use Ground Sage, works just as good)
1tsp Paprika
1tsp Garlic Powder
1tsp Stevia
3/4tsp salt
1/4tsp Red Pepper
Splash Lemon Juice
Splash of Chicken Broth
3/4 cups of Water

BEEF:
Here is a refresher on how to prepare the beef.
4% Fat Ground Beef Round
In a deep skillet at 1lb of beef. Brown unseasoned. When the meat is thoroughly browned and you don't see anymore grease producing strain and rinse with hot water. Wipe out skillet until all oil is gone. Put meat back into the skillet and follow cooking instructions listed below the chicken prep instructions.

CHICKEN:
A refresher on how to cook the chicken. The one thing that we will be doing differently is we will only be using the chicken broth, no spices or other seasonings.
In a deep skillet fill up to a third with chicken stock. Place chicken in skillet and boil on medium for 20-25 minutes. I like to flip them once within the 20 minutes.
Once you are done cooking the chicken, shred with fork.
Empty skillet of chicken stock (I would save it in another bowl or baggy), and place shredded chicken back in the skillet and follow the cooking instructions below.


Add all spices, mix well
Add Lemon Juice, Chicken Broth, Tomato Pasta, and Water. Mix well.
Let the meat soak in the seasons and sauce for 10-15mins on medium to low heat.

Measure out your allotted portion and evenly distribute between your Romaine pieces.
Optional: Top with a spoonful of salsa and it's ready to go.

This would as be good with Precooked Shrimp that is tailless and shell-free
Just think, in phase 3 you can add some cheese :)
Enjoy!!

Next up, Beef & Broccoli Stir-fry

Frozen Lemonade- Phase 2

This is such an easy, delicious treat to make! I love it!!!

0 Calorie Treat! (Unless you add the Strawberry)

You need to have a blender for this one

1/2 cup of lemon juice (I use lemon juice because it has no calories and is tangier)
12-16oz or 1.5 cups of Ice
1/2 cup of water
1/4 Cup of Stevia ( I know that sounds like a lot but the lemon juice needs a lot of sweetener)

Add all ingredients and blend until the ice is more like and icy texture

To jazz it up, if you are having strawberries that day through in one to the blender and blend with the lemon mixture.

If you want it a little more solid, stick in freezer for an hour or two.

This also makes great and faster Popsicles, just pour mixture into your popsicle holders and stick in the freezer for about 4 hours and your are good to go!

Enjoy!

Next time on the Food Blog: Romaine Tacos

Apple Crisp- Phase 2

Oh this is such a great sweet treat! It will be especially great in the winter with a cup of tea, yum!

It's an updated version of baked apples!

With a medium apple, everything include = 111 Calories

Preheat your oven for 400F
Ingredients
1 Apple-Cubed (This recipe is great for those apples that are on their last leg)
1/2 lemon (if you are using lemon juice, 1/4cup)
1TBSP Water
2tsp  Stevia or Truvia
1tsp Cinnamon

In a oven safe bowl place all ingredients in bowl and evenly coat with the mixture. Bake for 20 minutes.

While the apple is baking start making the topping.

Topping:
1 Melba Toast (Sea Salt or Whole Grain works best for this)
1tsp Milk
1tsp Cinnamon
1tsp Stevia
1/4tsp nutmeg
1/4tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice

In a food processor crush up your Melba Toast. Now if you don't have a food processor or just don't want to clean another dish, place toast in a small Zip-lock baggy and take a rolling pin to crush it up, works just as good. It should be kind of a dust consistency. Add spices to you crushed Melba Toast and thoroughly mix. Slowly add your Teaspoon of milk. It will start to make little pellets which is what we are looking for.

Once the time goes off on your baked apples, take them out of the oven and change the temperature to low broil.

Add the Crumble Topping on top of your baked apples and sprinkle a little Stevia and just a touch of cracked Sea Salt or Fleur De Sel, which is a flaky french salt that is great for sweets! Place back in oven for about 2-3 minutes or until the topping looks crispy.

Let it cool for about 2 to 3 mins and then enjoy!

Up next Frozen Lemonade!

Dijon Herb Sauce-Phase 2

This is such a great sauce. It is perfect for putting over a mild fish or chicken and baking it in the oven. Or you can use it as a dipping sauce for your chicken. I also love to make lettuce wraps, next up, and spreading some on it. You could also add more broth to make a Dijon Dressing for you salads. The uses for this sauces a limitless!

.5Cup Chicken Stock: 10cal, 1TSP Dijon Mustard: 5cal.

What you need:

1/2 cup* of Chicken Stock (if you have been reading all the recipes you will know that I am very particular about the Stock that I use.)
1/2 cup of Publix Greenwise Tangy Dijon Mustard (LOVE THIS STUFF)
2TBSP Minced, Fresh Herbs (Parsley, Basil, Chives, or Oregano are some great options. I Like the Basil and Chives)
1TSP of Minced Garlic

*If you want it for a Salad Dressing, add 1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar and 1TSP of Lemon Juice, and additional Chicken Stock until you reach the consistency you like.

Now you have two options on how to do this, you can stick all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse a few times or if you don't want another dish to clean just stir it all up in a bowl.

Presto, your done. Spread over your favorite meat, dip your chicken in it, put on a wrap, whatever your heart desires. Its a great sauce to jazz up any dish!

Coming Soon... Lettuce Wraps. Yum, great Lunchtime meal that will fill you up guilt-free!
But first my all time favorite, Spaghetti Squash With Ancho Pepper Marinara and low fat Beef

Spicy Buffalo Chicken Tenderloins- Phase 2

This is the family's favorite lunch, Spicy buffalo chicken with some celery. The best part about this is it's not too spicy that you feel the need to have ranch or blue cheese dipping sauce. Paring it with the celery is a great way to relieve your mouth from some of that spice. This is also great over a salad and when you get into Phase 3 you can add some milk dressing and cheese, yum!!!

3oz Chicken: 141 Cal, 3.5oz Celery: 4 cal

Materials:
1 Gallon Size Zip-lock bag (option b)
or
1 Pint Size Zip-lock bag (option A)

Now there are 2 ways to make this dish. The first, a smaller portion; and second, if you are like me and cooking a whole bag for the week. Lets start with Option A first.
 Option A Recipe:
5 Cooked Tenderloins
2TBSP Hot Sauce (Now be aware that when picking out a hot sauce that you look at the ingredients, most don't have sugar or oil but a select few do. I prefer Texas Pete, no sugar, no oil, and milder in heat.)
2TSP Chicken Stock (Yes that says TEASPOON, not tablespoon.) (In the previous blog I mentioned the type that I use that is low sodium, low fat, no MSG, Free Range, Organic. I get it from Kroger and it taste amazing.)
1TSP of Lemon Juice

Now if you are preparing a whole bag I just Multiply all the ingredients by 4. So you would have 8TBSP Hot Sauce, 8TSP of Chicken Stock, and 4TSP of Lemon Juice.
Even if you are going for Option B, listed just above, I still don't like to put more that 5-7 Tenderloins in the bag at a time. This will help them to be evenly coated by the sauce.

HOW:
In your Zip-lock bag add your measured Hot Sauce, Chicken Stock, and Lemon Juice. Then add 5-7 Chicken Tenderloins, let it set in the marinade for about 20 mins for maximum flavor. What I like to do is while I am cooking my chicken in the chicken stock recipe that I mentioned before, every time I am done with a batch of chicken I put it in the buffalo marinade and when another batch is done, I take out my buffalo chicken and place in a pan waiting to be cooked, then repeat.

So when you get to the last batch marinating in the buffalo mixture, Preheat your oven for 400F. Place all the buffalo chicken tenderloins on a baking sheet and cover with the remaining buffalo mixture that's left in your Zip-lock bag.

Now if you are following along and cooking this at the same time you might be freaking out saying, "This is going to be too hot to eat!!" If you are using the Texas Pete, it won't be. If you are really concerned about the heat don't add the remaining mixture over the chicken.

Cook for 10 mins, weigh, bag, and you are ready to go!


Next up Dijon Herb Sauce, yum!!!

Kanikama Shrimp- Phase 2

Last time I talked about my family's love for chinese/Japanese food and my lack of fondness for it. So to create a happy family, and a happy me, we needed to find some common ground. Since rice is out of the picture and we are limited with our choice of veggies, I quickly narrowed in on the broccoli. So now that I decided my vegetable I needed to figure out my meat. The Kanikama sauce, in it's original form, really came from a sushi place in their crab and cucumber salad. So I knew it worked well with shellfish. I tried it with the shrimp and it was love at first taste.
So as promised I present to you my Kanikama Shrimp recipe...

5oz Shrimp: 137 Cal, 3.5oz Broccoli: 33 Cal.

Preheat your oven to 400
On a baking sheet spread out semi-thawed medium (or large) shrimp
(now I say semi-thawed because we want it thawed out enough that the shrimp are separated from each other but frozen enough because it's going to make a great broth, that I like to bag & freeze for later.)
Use a few large spoonfuls of chicken broth and drizzle over the shrimp.
Then spoon some of the prepared Kanikama Sauce, not a lot just a little over all the shrimp.
Now onto the spices for this dish:
-Rosemary
-Basil
-Sage (a good coating of Sage. The shrimp should look completely covered in spices by this point)
-Oregano
-Leafy Marjoram ( most people don't have this spice but it's a great one, good for all meats)
-Salt
-Pepper
For the spices I really don't measure it out, I just get what looks like 2tbsps of each in the palm of my hand and give a good dusting over all the shrimp.
At this point you should be looking at this shrimp and saying to yourself, "that's way too much spice!"
But I promise it's not!!

This is how it should look Before cooking

After your shrimp is seasoned, throw those babies in the oven for about 20-25 minutes. (I use the already cooked, deveined, no shell shrimp because it's faster.)
Once the shrimp is done I like to pair it with broccoli on my plate, spoon some more Kanikama sauce over both the broccoli and shrimp and you're done.

After it is cooked

Quick, easy, delicious, and most importantly healthy.

Enjoy and stay tuned for my Herby Chicken Tenderlions cooked in Broth recipe. It's really good!

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Kanikama Sauce- Phase 2

Good evening,

So I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food but my family is but I decided to come up with some Chinese/Japanese inspired dishes. To do this you need to have some good sauces. Now you might be saying to yourself, "How? Most sauces, like Soy, are not on the list!" Well, there are some great alternatives for Soy Sauce, in particular Liquid Aminos, taste just like Soy Sauce. Now I know what you're thinking, "that has to be expensive". It's not. For about $5-6 a half a liter size bottle. Now you're thinking that it's probably hard to kind. No again. I found it at two different places, my local Herb Shop and Publix (near the marinades). You can also find it on Amazon.com.

This sauce was inspired by my favorite Japanese salad, Cucumber Kanikama Salad. I looked up the ingredients and thought about how I could make it more HCG friendly.

Recipe:
1/4 cup Liquid Aminos
1/8 cup red wine vinegar (also good with garlic red wine vinegar)
1/8 cup chicken stock (be sure to make sure it's sugar-free & falls within the guidelines)
3 tsps of stevia or truvia

Some people prefer to stove top cook it but because I use it while cooking I don't. Make sure you refrigerate. Good for up to two weeks.

Stay tuned to my Shrimp Kanikama! This happens to be my family's favorite dish!

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