Losin' it with PINK

Low Calorie/Low Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

2012-10-29T23:03:00.001-07:00

Halloween is a few days away and I knew I needed to make something that would help me avoid cheating by sneaking candy out of the kiddos dreaded candy bag. I knew I wanted something that would feel seasonal so I chose to make a treat with pumpkin. After doing a little Googling I came across this recipe for a pumpkin cookies that are made with steel cut oats and Truvia. I changed it slightly because I didn't have steel cut oats, only old fashioned and the PINK suggests we don't use the powdered form of stevia only the liquid form. Other than that I remained true to the recipe and I must say they are delicious. My kids even loved them which let me tell you is great on one hand because I feel good about giving these cookies to them, how often do you get to say that you feel good about giving my kids a cookie? But bad on the other hand because as they are eating them, I am wanting them to stop because they are going to eat all of my special treats...how selfish am I?

Remember these are a treat and should only be eaten as such. Also if you are on reset, they should be avoided. This recipe made about 60 cookies that were about 2 1/2 inches in circumference.

Ingredients

1 15 ounce can pumpkin puree

1 cup applesauce

3 scoops of Vanilla Whey Protein Powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 egg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon cloves

2 cups old fashioned oats ground in a blender to form a flour

20 drops liquid vanilla stevia

1 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Start by grinding your oats in a blender until a flour like consistence is reached. I used my magic bullet to do this.

Add the protein powder, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, cloves and salt to the ground oats

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, this would include the pumpkin, applesauce, stevia and egg.

Stir until it is combined

Using a tablespoon drop cookie dough onto a greased cookie sheet or use a Silicone baking mat. The mat I used is called a Sil-pat.

Bake at 350 degrees for 12 to 15 minutes.

Enjoy and feel free to freeze these cookies so you won't be tempted to eat them all at once.

Back in the Saddle

2012-10-07T19:51:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone! Where do I begin? First by admitting that I disappeared for a bit. I took the summer off from blogging. I tried to maintain eating PINK but will fully admit that I strayed some, it certainly is hard to stay PINK while out vacationing and camping but I didn't do awful. I was pretty darn good until August and then a couple of silly things happened that sent my emotions into a tail spin. I am an emotional eater, always have been. The result of the poor eating and exercising choices made due to my emotional termoil was a weight gain of 6 pounds. I was surprised to find out just how powerful emotions can be in determining the food and exercise choices I make.

First, right around the beginning of August I had to go to the DMV to get my license replaced because I lost it while running in the Spartan Race. (Boy was that a fun experience, and yes that is me.) While waiting for 2+ hours at the DMV another gentleman there hit on me. Long story short he handed me a piece of paper with his phone number on it and said he thought I was nice and cute and that he would like to see me again. Yes, it was flattering. I had not been hit on in a very very long time. While it was flattering and did wonders for my self esteem, it made me feel uncomfortable. How is that for an oxymoron? I hate getting attention from men due to previous experiences in life. Subconsciously, I believe I ate myself fat as a way of protecting myself from all the bad things that "could" happen to me if people found me attractive. My fat is/was my shield of protection. So to get this unwanted attention made me feel uncomfortable and fear that I could be in danger of getting hurt again which I believe attributed to me making bad food and exercise choices this summer. (Does that make sense to anyone else? If not that is okay, it makes sense to me.)

Secondly, in the middle of August, my husband and I celebrated our anniversary with a few days away in Las Vegas. This was a much anticipated trip because we hardly ever get away without our 3 children. When we arrived in Vegas, we went to pick up a rental car and as we stepped up to the counter, the woman who worked there said to me, "How far along are you?" I knew that I must have heard her wrong because I had just spend the last six months working hard to lose 50 pounds, surely she wasn't asking me if I was pregnant, was she? I replied, "Excuse me?" and she said, "When are you due?" I told her, "Oh, no, I am not pregnant" and maintained my composure. The woman was mortified and wasn't trying to be mean, but man oh, man did those words hurt. We got to our rental car and I burst into tears. I thought to myself why in the world am I working so hard to lose weight if I am still going to look pregnant. Let's just say the eating went down hill right with my emotions. Wow, do words have a ton of power if you allow them to.

I allowed those words to have more power than they ever deserved. I dwelt on that one comment for weeks to come. That comment took my self esteem from sky high to right back where it was before I started PINK which was rock bottom. Now, looking back I can see this, but in that moment all of my old habits and thought processes flood back and slapped me in the face.

So here I am today...I started reset again this past Monday and lost the 6 pounds I gained back this summer. I have another week to go on reset and then I plan to start phase 1 all over again. I am not going to allow the fear of being hurt by words or actions have power over my weight and ultimately my health anymore. So if you gave up on yourself this summer for some silly reasons like I did, I have one question for you, will you join me again in trying to find your healthy self?

Thai Peanut Coleslaw

2012-05-31T15:03:00.000-07:00

I debated on whether to put this recipe up or not because it has an ingredient that I am not sure is PINK approved. That ingredient is a product called PB2.

Essentially it is a peanut powder made from dehydrated peanuts that have had 85% of the fat removed. I know that nut butters are not recommended on PINK and though I am not certain as to why I can guess it is because they tend to have a ton of fat and a lot of sugar added to them thus making it high in calories. The PB2 product has 45 calories for 2 tbsp only 1 gram of sugar and 1.5 grams of fat. While I like this product, I wouldn't recommend this product as a straight up peanut butter replacement for thing such as a peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, I have enjoyed adding it to things such as my protein shakes or in the dressing for this coleslaw. I however must emphasize that I am not sure that this coleslaw would be PINK approved because of this product so make it or eat it at your own discretion. I have chosen to use the product but I also completed the entire PINK program and am trying to find a balance to eating healthful everyday while still losing weight. I will be putting up a new tab called "Healthy Recipes" on the blog for recipes such as this one that I enjoy but that I cannot claim are 100% PINK possibly for use by those who are in preservation or trying to maintain their weight loss. Sorry for being so long winded, I just didn't want to get hundreds of emails from people saying peanuts aren't an approved food on PINK, I know this.

Thai Peanut Coleslaw (serves 2 as a main course or 4 as a side dish)

Dressing
3 tbsp PB2
1/2 tsp minced garlic
2 tbsp Bragg's Aminos or low sodium soy sauce
2 tbsp rice wine vinegar
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp hot sauce
Salad
2 cups coleslaw
1 1/2 cup broccoli slaw
2 green onions sliced
2 tbsp cilantro diced
2 radishes sliced
Grilled Chicken (optional, I add it when I am eating it for a meal but often will serve it as a side dish when we BBQ)

Method

This is what PB2 looks like straight from the package.

Place all the dressing ingredients into a bowl and whisk together, let sit while you assemble the salad portion so that the flavors merry.

While the dressing sits, add all the salad ingredients to the bowl.

Pour the dressing over the salad, toss to coat the salad with the dressing. Top with grilled chicken if you desire and serve.

Enjoy!

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

2012-05-22T10:03:00.000-07:00

Hello....Hello...Anybody out there? Does anyone read this blog anymore? No? That's okay because I have neglected it something awful! I have been so busy with my children and their sports/end of the school year activities that this blog has become the last thing I think about.

So an update, yes I am staying true to PINK...I have messed up/cheated a few time but that is okay everyone does once in a while. The important thing is to get back on track and not let the cheating/messing up spiral out of control. To date I am down 45 pounds. I will post updated pictures in the near future though there isn't much change in my body, I don't think. I signed up for the Spartan race yesterday which will be on June 16th, the day after my birthday. That should be a fun challenge for myself. If you don't know what that is, it is similar to the Warrior Dash just a little longer and supposedly a little tougher, we will see. I am excited because it is not something I would have even thought about 6 months ago.

Hopefully when life calms a little bit I will be more inspired and come up with some more recipes but I wanted to share/pass along a link to a recipe I found on Pinterest yesterday for an overnight refrigerator oatmeal. I am not posting the recipe on this blog because I didn't create the recipe and don't have permission to post it but go to the link above and you will see 6 different flavors you can try or get the general idea and come up with your own flavor combinations. I assembled the chocolate banana versions before I went to bed last night and ate it for breakfast this morning...it was really good. I know it sounds odd especially because you don't cook the oatmeal but trust me it was really good and satisfying. It was rich and yummy and a perfect blend of protein and slow carbs for those of you who are in the primary phases of PINK and are following the blueprint for your meals. I can see this being a really good breakfast on those hot summer mornings where eating something warm just doesn't sound good. It is also a really good breakfast to take along with you when you are in a hurry in the morning. I made a raspberry version this morning for breakfast tomorrow, can't wait to try it. Give it a try and let me know if you come up with any good flavor combinations.

Arroz Con Pollo Pink Style

2012-05-06T11:07:00.000-07:00

It was Cinco de Mayo yesterday which meant we had to have some form of Mexican food for dinner. One of my favorite Mexican foods is arroz con pollo. Prior to following PINK method, it is what I would order when we would go out to a Mexican restaurant. One day when eating some cauliflower fried rice, it hit me...I should try to make arroz con pollo using cauliflower rice, this is what I came up with. Not to toot my own horn but it was really good.

"Arroz" Con Pollo (serves 4)
1 head of cauliflower
1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breast
1/2 onion
1 red pepper
1 tomato chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp cumin
3 cloves of garlic minced
1/4 cup water
salt and pepper
olive oil

Method

Start by cutting up your chicken into bite size pieces and sprinkle with the tumeric, paprika, cumin and salt and pepper

Cook the chicken on medium heat with a mist of olive oil

While the chicken is cooking chop your onion and peppers either by hand or if you are lazy like me in the blender or food processor. Also mince your cloves of garlic.

Next create your cauliflower rice by adding your cauliflower florets to the food processor/blender and pulsing until the cauliflower resembles rice.

When the chicken is cooked through, add in the chopped onion, peppers and minced garlic and cook until it softens.

Add in the cauliflower rice and stir to combine the chicken and rice. Pour in the 1/4 cup of water and cover pan with a lid so that the "rice" can steam.

While the rice is cooking, chop your tomato and cilantro.

Add the chopped tomato to the pan and stir to combine.

Let cook a few more minutes and just before serving stir in the chopped cilantro.

Enjoy!

A great side would be some lightened up guacamole served with some chopped vegetables.

My go to Breakfast and sometimes Lunch

2012-05-04T09:32:00.001-07:00

Just wanted to pop in and share what has been my go to breakfast and sometimes lunch (when I am in a hurry) lately. I know I am not reinventing the wheel and that this is something that a lot of people probably eat but one morning I found myself bored with the same old oatmeal I was eating for breakfast and began to look for something else that I could eat that would be a good balance of both protein and carbs. I decided on a yogurt parfait. I used Greek yogurt as my base which I have heard from a lot of you is not your favorite. Yes it is sour I agree with you and plain it is not something I can eat but I always sweeten mine with a little bit of stevia and some vanilla which makes it great in my opinion. Before you say yuck to Greek yogurt, have you tried to sweeten it up and add a little flavor? Try it you might like it.

Yogurt Parfait
3/4 cup non fat Greek yogurt
1/4 cup high fiber cereal (I used a grape-nut type cereal)
2 strawberries
1/4 banana
stevia (to taste)
vanilla (to taste)

Method

Start by sweetening and flavoring your yogurt with vanilla and stevia. I don't put an amount because everyone likes things at a different sweetness level. If I want to change the flavor, say if I am using raspberries instead of the strawberries, I will sometimes add a little lemon juice and lemon zest instead of the vanilla to make a lemon flavored yogurt.

Cut up your berries and banana

You will then start layering your yogurt, high fiber cereal, berries and banana.

When you have used all of your ingredients, your parfait is done. Enjoy!

Note: I am aware that the blueprint for breakfast is 1 protein and 1 slow carb or slow fruit. 1 serving of a high fiber cereal is 1 cup and I only used 1/4 cup along with what ends up being about 1/2 cup of fruit which is only 1/2 of a serving. So all together I am getting about what is allowed in the blueprint but if you don't feel comfortable with that, go with one or the other. Use all fruit and leave out the cereal or use all cereal and leave out the fruit.

Nachos, I want nachos!

2012-04-24T09:33:00.000-07:00

I must admit it, I have a block right now when it comes to creating new recipes. I can't seem to find inspiration or maybe it is that I can't seem to find the time. Either way, I am bored with food and I have found myself really wanting to stray from the PINK eating plan. (Note, I said wanting to. I have remained, yeah for me and will power.) Let's hope that changes soon or else it is going to be very difficult to get this last 40 pounds off my body.

This isn't a recipe per say, more of an idea on how you could switch up a typical taco meal if you don't want to have taco salad yet again. Last night's dinner was "nachos" if you want to call it that. I was wanting nachos all day so I started to think about what I could use for the base of my nachos that would give me the crunch that the chips give you when you are eating nachos. I decided to cut some mini bell peppers in half and use those as my "chips." Yes, I know that they don't taste like chips but they do have that crunch factor so it was a decent swap. I topped my "chips" with a couple of tablespoons of re-fried beans and some ground turkey taco meat. I also added a little homemade pico de gallo to the top. A dollop of lightened up guacamole dip would also have been great on these but of course my avocados were not rip yet so I had to go with out. Yes, I shed a tear over that one. I do love some guacamole.

Help me out, I need some inspiration, if you have a great recipe, send it my way.

Coconut Cauliflower "Rice"

2012-04-19T14:41:00.000-07:00

I just have to share a funny story before we get to the coconut cauliflower "rice" because it is too funny. I apologize if you are friends with me on Facebook because you probably already heard about it but who cares laugh at me again, it is okay.

So I went to the gym today to run and as I start my run, I realize that I am going to have an issue with my panties. They just don't fit anymore due to the weight loss and with every step, they are rolling down my booty. So annoying but what is a girl to do? I decided to just let them do what they are going to do. Eventually they settle around my hips just under my booty. So I continue to run. Yes it was uncomfortable but I pressed on. At around the 1 mile mark I decide to pull them up so I reach down to grab said panties around my hips only to discover that not only have my panties rolled down around my hips but that they have taken my pants right along with them thus revealing my back side to the gentleman behind me on the elliptical. Yes, go ahead and laugh. I showed my full moon to a stranger. Well, you'd think I must have run screaming from the gym right? No I simply pulled up my pants, walked to the bathroom took off those granny panties and returned to finish my run commando. My old self would have been mortified but the new more confident me, thinks it is funny. That man behind me got a pretty good show if you ask me, my booty is looking pretty good these days thanks to the PINK workouts.

Coconut Cauliflower"Rice"
1 head of cauliflower
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. minced ginger
1/2 cup chopped yellow onion
1 tbsp. coconut oil
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup coconut milk
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method
Start by taking the cauliflower florets off the head.

Take the florets and put them in the blender or food processor.

Pulse the florets until they are chopped and resemble rice.

Add the coconut oil, onion, garlic and ginger to a large pan and saute until the onion has softened.

Add in the cauliflower "rice" and Stir to combine.

Add in the coconut milk.

Cover and let simmer/steam for about 5-10 minutes.

Uncover and let simmer for a few more minutes just to let any standing liquid evaporate.

Taste the "rice" and add salt and pepper if you feel it is necessary.

Stir in the unsweetened coconut.

Serve with the Sticky Chicken I posted yesterday and enjoy!

Sticky Chicken

2012-04-18T23:06:00.000-07:00

I had a great weekend, I went with my daughter on a mother daughter camping trip and had a blast! For the first time in a very long time, I felt comfortable in my own skin. I wasn't ashamed of how I looked, I had more energy than I think I have ever had. I even participated in a relay race on the beach which included doing crab crawls for about 100 feet and thanks to Jenna I kicked booty at those crab crawls. Boy was my back and shoulders sore the next day though. We had a blast and the weather was great but not much cooking happened other than things I have previously posted so I apologize for my absence here. I am back though and today's recipe is worth the wait, it is so yummy!

Today's recipe is inspired by traditional sticky chicken which is usually made by marinating chicken in soy sauce, garlic, ginger and lots of sugar. I decided to make a version that is much more healthful by using Medjool dates in place of the sweetener and subbing in Bragg's Amino's for part of the soy sauce to limit the amount of sodium in the dish. While the chicken wasn't technically sticky, the flavor was out of this world good and would make for some great shish-kabobs on the barbeque this summer. I just baked mine in the oven and served along side some coconut cauliflower "rice" and stir-fried vegetables. I will share how to make the coconut cauliflower "rice" tomorrow.

Sticky Chicken (Serves 4-5)
4-5 boneless skinless chicken breasts totaling about 20 ounces
2 tbsp. minced garlic
2 tbsp. minced ginger
2 tbsp. tomato paste
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar
2 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tbsp. Bragg's Amino Acid
3 Medjool Dates

Method

Start by putting your dates in a little warm water to help soften and re-hydrate. Set aside for about 15 minutes while you cut your chicken.

Next, clean your chicken and cut it into strips, or leave it whole, it doesn't really matter. I cut mine in strips intending to put it on skewers for kabobs but then got lazy and just threw them in the oven.

After the chicken is cut, you are going to make the marinade. Take the dates that have been softening and remove the pit, then add them to your blender along with a couple tablespoons of the water they were soaking in and blend them up until a paste is formed.

To a bowl, add the garlic, ginger, tomato paste, date paste, soy sauce, Bragg's and balsamic vinegar. Stir to combine.

Add in your chicken and stir to coat, making sure all pieces and all sides are covered in marinade.

Marinate in your refrigerator any where from 2 to 8 hours. I let mine sit for about 3 hours and it was super flavorful and yummy.

Ideally these would be grilled but if you are lazy like me, go a head and bake them in the oven at 375 degrees for about 20 minutes or until they are cooked through. If your chicken is thicker than mine it will take more time, if it is thinner it will take less.

Serve with your favorite sides and Enjoy!

BBQ Green Chili Chicken

2012-04-12T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here is Oregon, we were treated to some pretty good weather over the weekend which gave me the itch for BBQ. I love BBQ, I love the sweet tangy sauce and the act of cooking outdoors. However, BBQ sauce in the traditional sense is full of sugar and salt which is a big no, no on the PINK method. When I got around to it this week, I decided to try to create my own BBQ sauce that is PINK friendly. Unfortunately, by the time I got around to making a BBQ sauce, it was raining again here in Oregon so I had to cook indoors and come up with a Tex-Mex BBQ fusion which turned out great.

PINK Friendly BBQ Sauce (makes about 2 cups)
1/2 sweet onion chopped
3-4 medjool dates
3-4 garlic cloves chopped
1/2 cup water
1 6 ounce can tomato paste
3 tbsp yellow mustard
1/3 cup apple cider vinegar
2-3 tbsp liquid smoke (I use the Stubb's brand, mesquite flavor)
Salt and Pepper to taste
water to thin the sauce if needed, I ended up adding about 3/4 cup

Method

Add the chopped onions, Medjool dates, garlic and 1/2 cup water to a bowl and microwave for about 3 minutes until the onions and dates soften.

Add the onion and date mixture to the blender and blend until a smooth puree is formed

Add the onion puree, tomato paste, mustard, liquid smoke, apple cider vinegar, salt and pepper to a sauce pan

Stir to combine, at this point if the sauce is super thick, add more water to it until you get a BBQ sauce consistency, like I said above I added about 3/4 cup of water but only add 1/4 cup at a time because you don't want it to get to soupy. At this point if you like a super sweet BBQ sauce, you could add a few stevia drops, I like mine more tangy so the sweetness from the dates was a perfect sweetness level for me.

Turn heat on medium and cook the sauce until it has thickened slightly and all the flavors have married. Turn off the heat and let cool. At this point you can put it in the refrigerator and save for about a week, using it whenever you BBQ.

BBQ Green Chili Chicken (Serves 5)
5 boneless skinless chicken breasts weighing about 4 ounces each (truth be told mine were about 5 1/2 ounces)
1/2 sweet onion sliced
1 can roasted green chilis
1/2 cup PINK Friendly BBQ sauce

Method

Trim your chicken breasts of any fat and using a knife you are going to cut into the chicken breast as if you were filleting it but do not cut all the way through, you just want to create a pocket to hold the onion and green chili mixture.

When the chicken is prepped, add the onion and green chilies to a saute misted with a little olive oil.

Cook until the onions have softened and browned slightly.

Take the onion/chili mixture and stuff it into the pockets you created in the chicken breasts.

Brown the stuffed chicken breasts in the pan you sauteed the onions in.

Top the chicken breasts with a smear of BBQ sauce

Bake in a 350 degree oven until the chicken has cooked all the way through, about 15 minutes or so depending on how thick your chicken breasts are.

I served mine along side some mashed baked sweet potato, steamed broccoli and carrots.

Enjoy!

Finished with Phase 3, Now What?

2012-04-10T09:28:00.000-07:00

I officially finished Phase 3 of the PINK Method on Saturday but the busy weekend got in the way and I didn't get around to taking pictures until yesterday which marks officially following the plan for 90 days. Over all I did very well the last 90 days, in total I have lost 36 pounds and 25 inches. I really wanted to hit that 40 pound mark but Phase 3 proved to be a difficult time for me. No, not because of the eating plan or the workout routines, but because of life. Yes, life got to be very stressful the last few weeks, not to throw a pity party for myself but my son got very ill and we spend days upon days going from hospital to hospital and doctor's appointment to doctor's appointment. In the mix of it all I also injured myself which really limited the amount of exercising I could do. We also are in the process of buying an investment property and let's just say it has been a process which equals stress.

	Before Reset	After Reset	After Phase 1	After Phase 2	After Phase 3	Total loss
Waist	48 inches	45 inches	41.5 inches	40 inches	38 inches	10 inches
Bust	47 inches	45 inches	42 inches	41 inches	40 inches	7 inches
Hips	45 inches	44 inches	41.5 inches	41 inches	41 inches	4 inches
Thigh	27 inches	26 inches	25 inches	23 inches	23 inches	4 inches
Totals	167 inches	160 inches	150 inches	145 inches	142 inches	25 inches

While I was quite disappointed that I didn't hit that goal of losing 40 pounds I came to the realization that not meeting that goal should not be something I beat myself up about. Why? I realized that my old self, my prior to PINK self would have buried the stress of the last 3 weeks with food. Instead I dealt with the stress, asked for help when I needed it and stuck to the plan. While my weight loss wasn't what I had hoped for, it was still a loss. So while I may not be able to celebrate losing a full 40 pounds in 90 days, I got darn close so not only am I going to celebrate that, I am going to celebrate that I have turned a corner and no longer need to turn to food to cope with life's ups and downs.

My husband took this picture a few weeks ago without me knowing, I look at it and am amazed at the transformation, I look forward to what I will look like when I finish the next 90 days on PINK.

So what's next? I am not done with PINK...I am still considered obese. When I started I set an ultimate goal of getting back to my weight prior to having kids so I still have about 24 pounds to go but even then I will still be considered overweight. In order to get into a healthy weight range and have my BMI considered normal or "healthy" I need to lose approximately 43 more pounds. I will get there eventually but first I will strive to reach my first goal which was to lose 60 pounds. I am going to continue the eating plan, going through the phases again but I plan on upping the weights I use when I workout. I went through the first 90 days using 5 lb. weights I plan to go up to 8 pound weights and do the whole workout cycle again. I hopefully will be subbing in some running instead of some of the Kardio workouts because I am supposed to run a 12K race in May if I can get my injury to heal enough to start running the distances and hills required for training but that is the only change I may make to the program.

The PINK program has allowed me to find myself again and for that I will be eternally thankful.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

2012-04-09T09:59:00.001-07:00

This meal was a treat for most of my family. Why? You ask, well we don't generally eat beef in our house. My husband's body just doesn't process it very well so he doesn't eat it. I am not a fan of making several different meals so we have just gotten use to not having beef. I however love beef so once or twice a year when I find it on sale I will make something with beef which is a treat for myself and my kiddos. This beef and broccoli was a hit with my family and much to my dismay there wasn't a morsel leftover for my lunch the next day because my kids all had seconds. I know I shouldn't complain that it was all gone because that means my kids ate a really healthy meal full of vegetables but man was I looking forward to having some for lunch the next day. For the kids, I served this over Yakisoba noodles, for myself since I was on reset, I served it over cauliflower "rice" but you could also serve over brown rice if you are in the primary phase. Give it a try, it was really good.

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry (serves 5)
20 ounces beef (I used a London Broil cut)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp minced ginger
1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
2 tsp Bragg's aminos
7 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup stir-fry sauce

Stir-Fry Sauce
I found this recipe in Rocco Despirito's book Now Eat This and modified it to make it PINK appropriate.
1 tbsp. Seasame oil
2 tbsp minced ginger
2 tbsp minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped green onions, white and green parts
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
2-3 tbsp Bragg's aminos
3/4 cup low sodium chicken broth
3 tbsp rice wine vinegar
3 ounces of tomato paste
8 drops stevia or sweetener or your choice
Salt and pepper to taste

Method

Slice the beef into thin strips

Add the garlic, ginger, vinegar and Bragg's to the slice beef and stir to coat the beef. You will want to marinate your beef for at least a few hours in the garlic, ginger, vinegar and Bragg's mixture.

After the beef has marinated for a few hours you will want to make your stir-fry sauce.

Add your chopped garlic, ginger and green onions to a pan that has been misted with olive oil. Saute until you can smell the garlic and ginger and the onions have softened.

While the the garlic and ginger are cooking add the remaining ingredients for the stir-fry sauce to a bowl and whisk to incorporate any lumps from the arrowroot powder and incorporate the tomato paste.

Add in the liquid mixture you just created to the saute pan with the garlic, ginger and green onions. Cook until the entire mixture has thickened. Take the sauce off the heat and set aside. This will make about 2 cups of sauce, you will not use it all in this recipe so use what you need and save the rest for another meal. It will last in the refrigerator for about a week or you can freeze it to use later.

When the sauce is done, you will saute your marinated beef in a mist of olive oil. If there is a lot of marinade or juice in the beef, be sure to pour it off.

When the beef is browned, add in your broccoli and let cook until the broccoli has softened to your likeness.

When the broccoli is soft, add in about 1/2 cup of the stir fry sauce and stir to combine.

If you like your stir-fry a little more saucy, add in a little more. The 1/2 cup will not make a super saucy stir-fry but the sauce is pretty strong so start with a little and add more if you want.

Serve over brown rice or cauliflower rice and Enjoy!

What to do with all those egg shells?

2012-04-06T23:01:00.000-07:00

Easter is the day after tomorrow so I thought I would pop on here and share one of our families Easter traditions. Through out the year when I make things with eggs (like my Sweet Potato Frittata, which would be an "egg"celent Easter breakfast meal, hint hint,) I save the egg shells to make what is known as Cascarones or confetti filled eggs for my kids, they love them and look forward to them every year. I know it is short notice but if you find yourself making something with a lot of eggs tomorrow, save the shells and make some cascarones for your kids or better yet, with your kids. Even if you are not making something with eggs, they are cheap right now so give it a try. Note: I posted these on a craft blog I have about a year ago hence the different web address on the pictures.

Cut the ends off theeggs, drain out the egg and use in your recipe or just throw away. Then, rinse out the eggs and set them aside to dry.

Color all the eggs with your favorite egg dye.

Once colored, I take them out of the dye and allow to dry over night.

Then fill them with paper confetti which you can buy in any party supply store.

To cover the hole and keep the confetti inside, cut a small square of tissue or crepe paper and glue it over the hole using a little bit of watered down Elmer's glue.

Let dry and then hide them as you would an Easter egg.

Then let the fun begin as you watch your children find and crack the eggs on each other's heads. In our house, the whole family joins in when it comes to the cracking of the eggs. It really is a lot of fun and a good way to get everyone involved in the Easter fun. I don't know about you but as my oldest has matured, I have found it harder and harder to find things to hide in eggs other than money and candy and these eggs have given me yet another thing to keep him entertained and engaged on Easter.

Vanilla Raspberry Tart

2012-04-05T15:12:00.001-07:00

Oh boy, Easter snuck up on me this year. ,This little dessert is divine and will be making an appearance on our Easter table this year in one form or another. I must stress that while on the PINK method, desserts should be an occasional treat, while everything is an allowed food (I think gelatin is allowed, it is almost pure protein and only 30 calories for the whole packet,) it is hard to fit it into the meal plan so I save desserts for special occasions like Easter! I am going to break it up into three parts, the crust, the filling and the raspberry sauce, I hope you all can follow along, feel free to email me if you have any questions.

Almond Coconut Crust
1 cup almond flour (How I make mine can be found here)
1/3 cup unsweetened coconut (also known as desiccated coconut, f you can't find go ahead and leave it out it will still taste great)
3 medjool dates
2 tbsp coconut oil

Method

Start by soaking your dates in warm water for about 20 minutes, this really helps to moisten/soften them up. I started by only using 2 but ended up needing 3 to the crust to stick together.

Add your pitted dates, almond flour, coconut, and coconut oil to your blender.

Blend until the dates are broken up and everything is combined to a consistency of sand.

Pour your crust mixture into the bottom of a pan, I used individual tart pans, you could use a spring-form pan or even a pie plate.

Press the crust mixture down so that it compacts and forms a crust.

Put the crust into the refrigerator so that the coconut oil will firm up and cause the crust to harden.

Start making your filling.

Vanilla Cream Filling
1 packet of plain gelatin powder
1 2/3 plain unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp arrowroot powder
1 vanilla bean
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp greek yogurt
Stevia to taste

Method
Full disclosure: I came up with this recipe by modifying a recipe for Creme Brulee found in Rocco Dispirito's cookbook: Now Eat This

Start by adding 2 tbsp of almond milk to the gelatin to let it soften

While the gelatin is softening, remove the seeds from your vanilla bean and add to the remaining almond milk along with the vanilla bean you just scraped the seeds out of. Vanilla beans are expensive so if you don't have any or don't want to buy any, you could also use the zest of a lemon here and get a lemon custard which would taste wonderful also.

Heat up the almond milk, vanilla bean/seeds, salt, arrowroot powder and stevia (everyone's taste with stevia is different so use the amount you like, I used about 8-10 drops) on the stove until boiling. When it boils remove from the heat and fish out the vanilla bean pod.

Add about 1/3 cup of the hot milk into your gelatin which by now is pretty firm. The hot milk will help to melt the gelatin.

When you have a smooth gelatin paste, add the paste back into the rest of the almond milk along with 2 tbsp of Greek yogurt. and stir until you have a smooth custard mixture. Do you see all the little vanilla seeds? I love vanilla!

Pull your crusts out of the refrigerator and pour your custard into the crust.

Put the crust/custard back into the refrigerator to firm up while you make your raspberry sauce.

Raspberry Sauce
1/2 cup raspberries (really you could use any berry here, strawberry would be great and are easy to find right now)
Water (if using fresh berries)

Method

If you are using frozen berries like me, put them in your microwave for about a minute so that they unfreeze.

Once they are unfrozen or if you are using fresh berries, add the berries to your blender. If you are using fresh berries you may want to add a few tbsp of water to your berries to get a thinner sauce. If you used frozen berries, they should have enough liquid in them once they are defrosted.

Puree your berries in the blender until smooth. If they are really sour, add some stevia to sweeten.

If your berries have seeds like raspberries, strain them through a fine mesh strainer.

Pour your sauce into a bottle to drizzle over the top of the custard, feel free to skip this step and just drizzle it right over your tart.

Remove your tart from the refrigerator once the custard has set and drizzle with your raspberry sauce.

When I figured out the calorie count of this tart, each tart was about 230 calories. You could lower that by omitting the coconut in the crust and serving 8 rather than 6 if you made one big tart rather than individual tarts.

Enjoy!

Turkey Burgers and Zucchini Chips

2012-04-03T22:24:00.000-07:00

Turkey burgers are a staple meal in our house. They are quick and easy, perfect for a night that is full of baseball and softball practice. The zucchini chips are easy to make but do take quite a while to achieve the crispy texture, what is nice is you can make them stick them on a low temperature and step away and do something else while they cook.

Zucchini Chips

1 whole zucchini

olive oil

Mrs. Dash original

nutritional yeast

Method

Slice zucchini thinly using a mandolin or a knife, you want your slices to be about 1/8 of an inch thick.

Mist the slice with olive oil and sprinkle with Mrs. Dash and nutritional yeast, stir so that all the slices are coated.

Lay the zucchini slices out on a cookie and bake at 200 degrees until they are crispy, mine took about 1 hour 25 minutes but you will want to check yours every so often. I also turned mine over about half way through.

Turkey Burgers

1 package lean ground turkey

1/2 cup vegetable puree

1 egg

2-3 tbsp water

1 tsp Mrs. Dash

Dash of salt and pepper

Lettuce (used to wrap your burgers)

Method

Start by making your vegetable puree, to do this add any variety of vegetable to your blenders, I used carrots, mushrooms, colored peppers, spinach and onion along with a little water, just enough to help blend the vegetables, you don't want to make a soup.

Add your vegetable puree to your ground turkey along with you choice of spices and 1 egg. They egg helps to bind everything together, yes it is more protein than 4 ounces but I ended up getting 7 burgers out of the recipe so in the end I think you are not over on your protein portion.

Form patties and grill. These are fairly loose burgers, I think they would fall apart on a BBQ but they were great on an indoor grill pan, just be careful when flipping so they don't break apart.

To serve, wrap lettuce around your turkey burger and serve any toppings you desire, I used tomato, onion and avocado.

Enjoy!

Almond Flour

2012-04-03T00:23:00.000-07:00

Let me first start off by saying thank you to everyone who has been reading the blog...I hear from people everyday who say how helpful it has been to them on their PINK journey. It truly means the world to me that it has reached so many people. Hearing from all of you makes me want to continue to create new recipes for everyone and I am trying but my life has been a little hectic lately. Without going into to many details I have been dealing with a lot of illness at our house which seems to be taking a lot of my time, imagine that...a mom whose children are taking all of their time, can you relate? So I guess what I am saying is please forgive me for the slow down in posts, I promise it will pick up when life slows down. (Or when my children are grown, I am not sure which will come first)

The last few recipes I posted called for almond flour and several people have written to ask me how to make it. I feel kind of silly posting about how to make almond flour because it is so easy and essentially it is just ground up almonds but their are a few tricks I do that give it a much finer texture than just ground up almonds or what is sometimes referred to as almond meal. Almond flour can be used in baking such as in my apple crisp but I have also used it to make muffins. I also love that I make it with the pulp that if left over from making almond milk so I don't feel like I am wasting anything.

Almond Flour
Pulp left over from making almond milk

Method

Remove the pulp from your cheese cloth or nut milk bag and spread across your cookie sheet.

Break up any large clumps but you don't have to be to through.

Put the pulp into the oven at 170 degrees so that the almond pulp dries out. You could also use a food dehydrator for this step if you have one.

After a few hours remove the pulp from the oven, it should be really dry and crumbly, any clumps that you left should hold together well but crumble if smooshed.

Take the dry pulp and put it into a blender, I find that my little personal blender or fake magic bullet gets the pulp to the finest consistency.

Blend until it is smooth and powdery.

Store in the freezer until you are ready to use.

Note: you will see to different color variations in my flour, this is because I have been adding chia seeds to my almonds when I make almond milk, it helps to thicken the milk slightly and in a more natural way unlike the store bought brands that often have added thickeners. So the darker flour is from the ground chia seeds, the lighter stuff if almond flour made without chia seeds.

Enjoy!

Chicken Divan

2012-03-31T10:58:00.000-07:00

Spring is here which means the craziness of baseball and softball season. Specifically it means that this mom is running kids around from practice to practice. All this running around means I need some quick make ahead meals that I can stick into the oven to bake while we are at practice. A lot of times that means some type of casserole but casseroles are hard to make PINK friendly. One of my favorite casseroles to make is Chicken Divan which is a chicken and broccoli casserole covered in a creamy sauce. I know not healthy, especially the sauce made of cream of mushroom soup and a ton of mayonnaise. I set out to recreate this casserole and PINKify it. As far as the results, my husband came home late and heated up some dinner and without being told what it was, knew what I was trying to recreate and said it was really good. While not as creamy and decadent as the original, it is something we will be eating again.

Chicken Divan
8 ounces cubed chicken
3-4 chopped mushrooms
4 cups chopped broccoli
1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup plain almond milk
1 tsp curry powder
1/2 tbsp arrowroot powder
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/4 cup Greek yogurt
dash of salt and pepper
2 tbsp. Almonds (optional, I like to use slivered almonds but I didn't have any so I ended up using some almond meal)

Method

Brown the chicken in a pan misted with olive oil.

While the chicken is browning, chop your mushrooms and broccoli.

When the chicken is brown, remove the chicken from the pan and add in the chopped mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms start to release their liquid then add in the chicken broth and continue to cook the mushrooms until the liquid reduces slightly.

Mix the almond milk, arrowroot powder, garlic and curry in a bowl, stir until combined.

Add in the milk/curry mixture to the mushroom mixture, cook until it thickens slightly.

When thickened, turn off the heat and add in the Greek Yogurt. Stir until the yogurt melts into the sauce. Taste sauce and season with salt and pepper if you feel it needs it.

Add your chicken and broccoli into a baking dish, pour over sauce over the broccoli/chicken and stir to combine.

Sprinkle almonds over the broccoli and bake at 375 degrees until the broccoli is tender. I baked mine for about 35 minutes, the broccoli was soft but not mushy, just how I like it but if you like softer broccoli, cook for longer.

This would be really good served over brown rice or quinoa!

Enjoy!

Apple Crisp

2012-03-29T10:10:00.001-07:00

I'll be honest, I was craving something sweet all day long...I knew in the back of my mind that I had frozen sugar cookie in my freezer along with some birthday cake and they were calling my name. I resisted all day long and knew that I wouldn't be able to resist much longer if I didn't do something to crave my desire for something sugary. This apple crisp did the trick and I ate it guilt free. As a rule, I try to avoid posting to many dessert recipes on this blog because it is so hard to make them fit into the PINK blue print, this is how I fit it into the PINK blue print today. I choose to have a dinner free of slow carbs and instead have a slow fruit (apple) and dessertify it. (Yep, I made that word up.) Sugar cookies and cake in the freezer, you have no power over me!

Apple Crisp (serve 4-6 depending on serving size)
2 large apples
2 medjool dates
1/4 cup water
1 tsp arrowroot powder
2 tsp cinnamon (or more if you really like spice)
Juice of half a lemon

Topping
1/2 cup almond flour
1 medjool date
1 tsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut

Method

Start by soaking 2 medjool dates in a little warm water, set aside

Peel, core and cut up your apples, pour the juice of half a lemon over the apples to keep from browning

Pour the water off of the dates and pit the dates, then you are going to add the dates to your blender or food processor along with 1/4 cup of water and puree until a paste is formed. This is going to act as our sweetener for the apples.

Pour the date puree, arrowroot powder and cinnamon on top of your apples and mix to combine. The arrowroot powder will act as a thickener for any juices your apples give off.

Set the apples aside and make your crumble topping.

In your blender add 1 pitted date, the almond flour, coconut oil and cinnamon. Blend until a crumble type topping is formed. Note: You can get almond flour or almond meal at many health food stores. I make my own using the left over almond pulp when I make my own almond milk. If their is any interest in how I make my almond flour, I would be happy to post how I do that. I have already posted how to make your own almond milk, you can find that recipe here.

Pour the date/almond mixture into a bowl and and in your unsweetened coconut, stir to combine.

Sprinkle the crumble topping over your apples.

Cover and bake at 375 degrees between 30 and 45 minutes depending on how soft you like your apples. To get your topping crispy, uncover your apples about 10 minutes before they are done and the topping should crisp up nicely.

Enjoy

Creamy Broccoli Soup

2012-03-27T15:42:00.000-07:00

Who doesn't love a big bowl of cheesy broccoli soup? My family loves it but with all that cream and cheese it isn't very healthy. But with a few minor tweaks this soup can easily be made PINK friendly. It makes for a great quick lunch or great side for dinner.

Creamy Broccoli Soup (makes 2 servings)

2 cups broccoli florets

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 cup unsweetened plain almond milk

1 tsp Bragg's Aminos

1 tsp Dijon mustard

1/2 tsp minced garlic

2 tsp arrowroot powder

Dash of Salt and Pepper

Dash of Mrs. Dash original or other spice blend

Nutritional yeast, to taste

Method

Start by steaming the broccoli in the chicken broth and dash of seasoning mix, either Mrs. Dash or whatever your favorite is, until softened.

When the broccoli has softened, put half into your blender (I am using my fake magic bullet but any blender will work)

Blend the broccoli to create a puree

Add the puree back into the pot with the other half of the steamed broccoli and stir to combine

Add in your arrowroot powder, Dijon mustard, Bragg's and garlic, to the almond milk and stir to combine

Add your almond milk mixture to your broccoli and heat until the soup has thickened

When the soup has thickened, you can season with salt and pepper and serve as is or if you want a little bit of a cheesy flavor, add in some nutritional yeast and stir to combine. I used about 2 tbsp. but again this is to taste.

Enjoy!

Burrito Bowls

2012-03-22T15:07:00.000-07:00

love to try and recreate foods you can get in your favorite restaurants. This recipe is my take on the burrito bowls from Chipotle's Mexican restaurant. If you haven't had a burrito bowl, essentially it is just a burrito turned inside out or a taco salad. While these items look like a healthy choice at restaurants, they can be high in calories and fat but you can make them at home without all the calories and fat by adjusting and tweaking the ingredients a little.

One of my favorite ways to lighten up the meal is by making changes to the guacamole. My favorite way to do this is by adding zucchini to the guacamole. I promise you won't taste it, it will add more vegetables to your daily intake and it will bulk up the amount of guacamole you get to eat. Remember on PINK you should only get 1/4 of avocado and it counts as your fat. This is not only good as a dressing but also great as a dip, serve with strips of colorful bell peppers, carrots and cucumber chips to dip with.

Burrito Bowls (makes 2 servings)

6-8 ounces of Shredded pork

1/2 cup quinoa

1/2 cup diced onions

1/2 cup diced peppers

1/2 cup chopped tomatoes

1/3 cup cilantro

2 tsp. cumin

dash salt and pepper

Juice of half a lime

Lettuce

3-4 radishes sliced

Guacamole Dressing/Dip

1 avacado

1/2 zucchini

1/3 red onion

1/2 tomato

1/3 cup cilantro

dash of garlic powder

Juice of 1 lime

Dash salt and pepper

Method

You will need to start in the morning to make your pork. This is so easy to do and depending on the size of your pork roast will make a bunch that you can freeze for future meals.

You will need a lean pork-loin roast. Then you are going to put the roast into your crock-pot, season with a liberal smear of garlic, pepper, and any type of seasoning you want. I used the original Mrs. Dash. Add in about 1 cup of water around your roast. Put your lid on and set it on low. Walk away and forget for 6 to 8 hours.

When the roast is done cooking, pull it out of the crock-pot and shred with 2 two forks. You don't want to let it cool to much or it will not shred as easily. After it is shredded, set aside and finish the rest of the meal.

Next we will make the Spanish style quinoa. Start by cooking the quinoa in 1 1/2 cups of water until the quinoa has softened and the water has been absorbed/evaporated. Set aside and let cool.

While the quinoa is cooking, chop your onion, peppers, tomatos and cilantro.

Saute your onions and peppers in a mist of olive oil.

When they have softened, add in your tomato and cook for a little bit.

Add in your cooked quinoa, cilantro, cumin and salt and pepper. Stir to combine and set aside while you make your avocado dressing/dip.

To make your avocado dressing, add in the onion, tomato, zucchini and cilantro to you food processor or blender. Pulse until a fine dice is reached.

Add in your avocado, lime, dash of salt and pepper and pulse again until everything is combined into a creamy dip consistency.

To assemble the burrito bowls, lay down a bed of lettuce

Top with quinoa

Top with shredded pork

Top with 1/4 of the avocado dip

Sprinkle with sliced radishes.

Enjoy!

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Harvest Salad

2012-03-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

When I told my hubby about salad week here at "Losin' it" he said you must post your harvest salad recipe. It is his absolute favorite salad, yes I had to modify a little bit because the original recipe calls for feta cheese which PINK asks you to avoid. Even without the feta it is spectacular. Most people when told about the salad crinkle their nose slightly due to the long list of items in the salad but every time I bring it to a potluck or party I am inevitably asked for the recipe. What is so great about it is you eat it and feel satisfied like you ate a meal instead of just a salad. Try it and let me know what you think.

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Harvest Salad (makes 2 large salads)
4 ounces chopped cooked chicken
1 hard boiled egg
4-5 cups lettuce (I used romaine but use what you like best)
1 chopped tomato
1 chopped apple
4 mushrooms sliced
1/4 of a red onion chopped
2-3 tbsp raisins or dried cranberries (choose if you want to use, I know dried fruit can be high in sugar. I chose to use because I was only having half of an apple when we are allowed a whole apple and I used so little but it is your choice)
2-3 tbsp chopped raw almonds (again choose to use if you want, almonds are a protein and with 2 ounces of chicken and 1/2 of an egg, you are technically getting your allotment of protein for the meal, but I often add an ounce or two more protein in a day which the PINK method book says is okay to do if you feel you need it.)

Balsamic Dijon Dressing
2 tbsp. Dijon Mustard
2 tbsp. Balsamic Vinegar
1 tbsp. Olive oil

Method

Chop and cook your chicken, be sure to include enough seasoning to flavor your chicken, I used pepper and an herb and garlic flavored Mrs. Dash

Chop and wash your lettuce

Chop your apples, tomato, onion, mushrooms and egg

Make your dressing by adding your oil, balsamic vinegar and mustard to a bowl and whisking together until it is combined and in consistency.

To serve make a bed of lettuce on two plates and top with the apples, onions, mushrooms, tomato, chicken and egg. Sprinkle the almonds and raisins or cranberries over the salad and drizzle with your dressing.

Enjoy!

Zucchini Asparagus Salad

2012-03-19T17:57:00.000-07:00

I have received several emails asking about salads and salad dressing recipes which has inspired me to devote a whole week to salads here at Losin' it with P.I.N.K. First up is a salad inspired by what is in season right now which is asparagus. It screams with the flavors of spring and is light and refreshing. Serve it with some chicken and you have a salad that is a perfect meal or serve it along side another dish and you have a perfect side salad that is full of flavor.

Asparagus Zucchini Salad
1 zucchini sliced thinly using a vegetable peeler or your Saladacco if you have one
1/2 lb. of asparagus cut into 2-3 inch pieces
1/2 red onion sliced
Lettuce of your choice, I used romaine and spinach

Lemon Dijon Vinaigrette
2 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp red wine vinegar
2 tbsp lemon juice
salt and peper

Method

Make your dressing by whisking the Dijon mustard, red wine vinegar, lemon juice and salt and pepper. The mustard will act as a binding agent for the vinegar and mustard and should help to create a creamy type vinaigrette.

Slice the onion, and zucchini and chop the aspargus into bite size pieces.

Pour half of the dressing over the onion, zucchini and asparagus and let the vegetable marinate.

While the vegetables are marinating, chop and wash your lettuce and spinach.

Grill the marinating vegetable on a grill pan or roast them in the oven, either will work.

As the vegetables cook, pull them off to a plate so that you don't end up with super mushy vegetables.

Once they are all cooked, let them cool a little bit so that their heat doesn't cause your lettuce to wilt.

When they are cooled slightly, add them to your lettuce along with the remaining vinaigrette.

Toss to dress the salad and Serve.

I served this as a side salad along side some Dijon Chicken

Enjoy!

Fried "rice"

2012-03-17T10:53:00.000-07:00

Have I told you all about my love of Chinese food? Yeah, it pretty much rocks my world. As a matter of fact my first "official" job at the ripe old age of 14 was as a waitress in a Chinese food restaurant. I know that was young to get a job as a waitress but my friend's parent owned the restaurant and I would hang out there all the time and just help out so as soon as I was old enough to legally be employed I had a job. I guess my love of Chinese food runs deep huh?

This recipe is special though because it doesn't actually have rice in it. How do you make fried rice without rice you ask? Well with the most versatile vegetable in the world, cauliflower. Yep cauliflower not only does it make a knock out replacement for potatoes but it also makes a great replacement for rice, let me show you how.

Fried "Rice" (makes 2 generous meal size servings or 4 side servings)
1/2 head of cauliflower
peas/snap peas (I used both)
carrots
1/4 of an onion
Canadian Bacon or cooked diced chicken (optional, I ate this as a meal so I added in Canadian bacon for my protein but if you are serving this as a side dish, just leave out the protein)
1 egg
dash of almond milk
1/2 tsp minced garlic
green onions or chives
1-2 tbsp of low sodium soy or Bragg's Aminos
Olive oil

Method

Start by making scrambled eggs by adding a little almond milk to an egg and whisking together.

Ignore my pan, I burnt the crud out of it the other day, it is ugly but still usable

Cook your egg until it is scrambled, then remove from the pan and set a side until later.

Remove the florets from the head of cauliflower and add the florets to the blender or food processor

Pulse until the cauliflower resembles rice

Chop your carrots, green onions, onion, garlic and snap peas if you are using them

Saute them in a mist of olive oil until they begin to soften

When they soften slightly add another mist of olive oil to your pan then add in your cauliflower "rice" and cooked chicken or Canadian bacon

Continue to cook until the cauliflower has softened and cooked through, then add in your scrambled egg and green onions

Stir to combine and then add in your Bragg's or low sodium soy sauce to the mixture. I actually used half and half, 1 tbsp Bragg's 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce.

Serve and Enjoy!

Finished with Phase 2 on to Phase 3

2012-03-13T11:36:00.000-07:00

I am finished with phase 2 and start phase 3 today, time to check in and report my progress. First I must say I am having to give myself and attitude adjustment today because I am disappointed in my progress on phase 2. Yes, I lost weight and inches during phase 2 ( 7 lbs. and 5 inches), just not as many as I wanted. I seem to have hit a plateau the last week or so and just can't get past this weight. I have dieted in the past and been successful but I stalled out last time at this exact weight got frustrated and gave up. I am determined that this time I will bust through this plateau and not give up. Hopefully the phase 3 exercises will help with that. I must admit that I also have gotten lacked with my water intake during phase 2 which I am sure contributed to my lower weight loss numbers. I will do this and hopefully I will have bigger numbers to report next time.

	Before Reset	After Reset	After Phase 1	After Phase 2	Total loss
Waist	48 inches	45 inches	41.5 inches	40 inches	8 inches
Bust	47 inches	45 inches	42 inches	41 inches	6 inches
Hips	45 inches	44 inches	41.5 inches	41 inches	4 inches
Thigh	27 inches	26 inches	25 inches	23 inches	4 inches
Totals	167 inches	160 inches	150 inches	145 inches	22 inches

Company Worthy Stuffed Chicken Breasts

2012-03-12T22:46:00.001-07:00

This is one of those meals that sort of came together with the last of the produce hanging out in my refrigerator. For it being bottom of the barrel, use what you got on hand, it was excellent, even company worthy if I do say so myself. I happen to have a few mushrooms, a few mini bell peppers and 1 yellow squash hanging out in the produce bin but use what you have. If you only have a zucchini use that, no bell pepper, try a carrot. I really would have loved onion in this also but I was all out. Do you get what I'm saying, use what you have.

Company Worthy Stuffed Chicken Breasts
1 boneless skinless chicken breast
3 white mushrooms
3-4 mini bell peppers or half of a large one
1/2 yellow squash
1/4 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp minced garlic
Dash of Balsamic Vinegar
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper

Method

Start by filleting your chicken breast but stop before you cut all the way through. You want to form a pocket of sorts.

Chop your vegetables in your food processor until fairly fine, it will hold together better if it is a fine chop but you certainly don't want a paste.

Saute your vegetables in a mist of olive oil

When they start to soften add in your thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, and balsamic vinegar and let cook a minute or so longer just so the flavors meld

Take your filling and stuff your chicken where you created your pocket

Fold over your chicken so that the stuffing is sandwiched between your chicken

Return the stuffed chicken breast to the pan and saute until both sides are lightly brown (I totally got busy helping with homework and burned the snot out of my pan but the chicken was saved, just a little more brown than most people like)

Then place in a oven safe dish and finish baking your chicken breast in the oven at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes. I also added some brussel sprouts to my pan with a dash of balsamic vinegar and allowed them to roast right along side my chicken.

Remove from the oven and enjoy!

Losin' it with PINK

Low Calorie/Low Sugar Pumpkin Cookies

Instructions

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Back in the Saddle

Thai Peanut Coleslaw

Overnight Refrigerator Oatmeal

Arroz Con Pollo Pink Style

My go to Breakfast and sometimes Lunch

Nachos, I want nachos!

Coconut Cauliflower "Rice"

Sticky Chicken

BBQ Green Chili Chicken

Finished with Phase 3, Now What?

Beef and Broccoli Stir-fry

What to do with all those egg shells?

Vanilla Raspberry Tart

Turkey Burgers and Zucchini Chips

Almond Flour

Chicken Divan

Apple Crisp

Creamy Broccoli Soup

Burrito Bowls

Everything but the Kitchen Sink Harvest Salad

Zucchini Asparagus Salad

Fried "rice"

Finished with Phase 2 on to Phase 3

Company Worthy Stuffed Chicken Breasts