Thai Basil Chicken Fried Rice

I found this recipe in Tosca Reno's, "The Eat-Clean Diet, Recharged." It's an especially easy meal when you have leftover brown rice or chicken from another meal. It really was SO good. Full of flavor and it made the house smell amazing! I can't wait to have it for lunch tomorrow!

INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsps. coconut butter (if that's unavailable, use olive oil)

2 shallots, peeled and finely chopped

2 scallions, whites and greens, sliced

4 cloves of garlic, passed through a garlic press

2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into 1/4-inch strips

2 Thai red peppers, cut into ribbons (Or you could buy a bag of frozen mixed Asian veggies.)

2 tbsps. fish sauce

3 tbsps. oyster sauce

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1/2 cup chopped fresh Thai basil

2 cups cooked brown rice

1 handful fresh cilantro, coarsely chopped

A pinch of red pepper flakes

DIRECTIONS:

Heat the coconut butter in a large wok over medium-high heat. Add the shallots and scallions and stir-fry for a few minutes until fragrant.

Add the garlic, chicken and red peppers, and stir-fry for four or five minutes.

Add fish and oyster sauces and sea salt, and stir fry it into the mixture. If it's too hot, reduce the heat under the mixture slightly.

Add the basil and rice, and stir-fry until it's heated through.

Serve hot, garnished with cilantro and a pinch of red pepper flakes.

NOTE: You can mix it up with beef strips or shrimp instead of chicken.

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Cabbage Ramen Salad

For me, this salad was originally served as a meal at our sister Michelle's house. (She got the recipe from her friend, Erin Griffitts.) It's been one of my favorites ever sense! Every time I serve it or take it to a pot luck, everyone raves about it. Simple, easy, fast, and delicious. You can't beat that!

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 pound Tri Color Cole Slaw Mix
• 1 bunch Green Onions, chopped
• 1 cup Slivered Almonds, toasted if you like
• 1 cup Salted Sunflower Seeds
• 2 pkgs Ramen Noodles (Chicken) broken and toasted. (It's easiest if you break it up before you open the bag.) Reserve the seasoning packet

Dressing:

• ¾ cup Oil
• ½ cup Sugar
• ½ cup Cider Vinegar
• 2 Seasoning Packets From Ramen

DIRECTIONS:
Mix all the salad ingredients together in a bowl. Make dressing
separately. Pour dressing over salad up to 1 hour before serving,
chill.

NOTES: If I want to make this a meal you can add shredded chicken.

Lemon Ricotta Pie

I found this recipe HERE. I couldn't pin it in Pinterest so I decided to put it on this blog so I can use it later.

This is a low-carb, low-calorie version of a lemon ricotta Italian Easter pie. This is a crustless "pie", but is very similar in flavor and texture (minus the crust). Whole milk ricotta is preferred for this recipe. Part-skim can be used, but the pie comes out grainier and more crumbly.

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Total Time: 35 minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 lb whole milk ricotta cheese (a 15-oz container works fine)
• 3 eggs
• Juice and grated zest of one medium lemon
• Sugar substitute to equal 2/3 cup of sugar - liquid preferred (see link below)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Dash of salt

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

1. Separate the eggs, and beat the whites until soft peaks form.

2. Combine the egg yolks and the rest of the ingredients. Taste to see if it's lemony enough, as some lemons are "dryer" and have less juice (average is about 3 tablespoons of juice for a medium lemon). You can add half a teaspoon of lemon extract, or more lemon juice to taste.

3. Fold egg whites into the mixture and spread in a well-buttered pie pan.

Bake until barely set in the middle (a toothpick will come out clean or almost so) about 25 minutes. Chill completely before serving; about 90 minutes.

Serve plain, or with a berry topping such as this strawberry topping or this berry syrup. Sugar-Free Lemon Curd also makes a good topping.

Nutritional Information: Each of 8 servings has 2 grams effective carbohydrate plus 8 grams protein, and 123 calories.

Mug Cake

I got this recipe HERE. This is "user friendly" for phase 3.

Ingredients:

• 2 T almond meal/flour
• 1 T cocoa
• 3 pks of stevia
• 3 T half & half or cream
• 1 T coconut oil - melted
• 1 Egg

Directions:

1. Mix dry ingredients in a mug.
2. add wet ingredient & stir thoroughly.
3. Put in microwave for 90 secs or longer depending on strength of microwave.
   

Number of Servings: 1

Maria's Popeye Cake

This recipe was published on the HCG Difference Facebook page. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm excited to give it a go!

Ingredients:

• 1 Box Chopped Spinach ~ squeezed dry
• 8 eggs (can substitute more egg whites if egg yolks cause stall)
• 3 Tbls Fat Free Cocoa
• 2/3 cup Almond Flour or ~ Coconut or Quinoa Flour for Phase 2 (VLCD)
• Stevia to taste
• Peppermint oil/extract, or other flavoring (optional)

Instructions:

1. Mix spinach and eggs in bowl.
2. Mix Cocoa powder and Flour in separate bowl.
3. Combine dry ingredients with spinach and eggs mixture.
4. Add Stevia and Peppermint oil/extract (or other flavoring)
5. Bake in a 9x13 non-stick baking dish. (Lightly greased if Phase 3- Maintenance)
6. Bake at 300 degrees until firm to touch.
7. Cool and cut into small squares and refrigerate.

Phase 2 ~Approx 1/4th of a 9x13 pan is equivalent to 1 protein and a vegetable.
Phase 3 ~ can be used as breakfast bars or snacks. Great for traveling!

The Worlds BEST Chocolate Chip Cookies

INGREDIENTS:
4 1⁄2 cups All-Purpose Flour
2 tsp Baking Soda
2 cups Butter, softened
1 1⁄2 cups Packed Brown Sugar
1⁄2 cup White Sugar
2 (3.4 ounce) Packages Instant Vanilla Pudding Mix
4 Eggs
2 tsp Vanilla Extract
4 cups Semisweet Chocolate Chips (Butterscotch Chips are good too!)
2 cups Chopped Walnuts (Optional)


DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. Sift together the flour and baking soda, set aside.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, and white sugar.
4. Beat in the instant pudding mix until blended.
5. Stir in the eggs and vanilla.
6. Blend in the flour mixture.
7. Finally, stir in the chocolate chips and nuts.
8. Drop cookies by rounded spoonfuls onto ungreased cookie sheets.
9. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes in the preheated oven. Edges

Clean Crunchy Apple and Cabbage Salad with Sweet Curry Dressing

I originally got this recipe from THIS site. We've eaten it enough and I've made a few changes so I thought I would add it to our own little blog. The version I am posting is double the original recipe because (I think) it's easier. This salad is perfect for picnics and potlucks. *People won't even know it's super healthy because they'll be distracted by how YUMMY it tastes!* Because this version of the salad is so large I like to make and eat it all week long. I also send it with my husband for lunches. (He loves it!)

Salad:

1 bag of Tri-Color Slaw

2 medium apples, julienned (a tart and crunchy apple like Braeburn or Granny Smith works best)

2 handfuls (1-2 cups) dried unsweetened cherries (I used dried cranberries because it's what I already had.)

8 oz bag of chopped pecans, toasted

1 bunch of green onions, chopped

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

2-3 cups shredded chicken (Cubed would work too.)

Pile all the ingredients into a bowl and hand toss it to mix.

Dressing:

1/2 cup cider vinegar

6 tablespoons olive oil

8 tbsp honey or agave nectar (depending on the sweetness you prefer)

6 tsp Dijon mustard

3 tsp curry powder

1/2 tsp sea salt

Mix the dressing and reserve. (You may or may not want to add ALL the dressing. You decide.) Pour dressing over the salad just before serving. Clean and absolutely DELICIOUS!