A family member makes the BEST chicken noodle soup that I was craving however, it has some big "no-no" ingredients in it for the HCG diet such as butter, flour, etc. I embarked on an attempt to make a similar but HCG friendly version.
Chicken Noodle(less) Soup - (1 serving)
3.5oz chicken cubed and trimmed
1/2 cup Chicken Broth (no sugar added)
1 1/2 cup water
1 cup chopped Celery
1/4 cup chopped Red Onion
1/4 tsp ground / regular Thyme
1/4 tsp Parsley Flakes
Salt & Pepper to taste
1/2 - 1 clove minced Garlic
I'm a huge flavor fan so I actually added a little more thyme to the soup. Since chicken broth is a questionable food for the HCG diet phase 2, you can omit it and still get a great tasting soup.
I put all the ingredients in the crock pot on low and let it go all day. When I got home , it was ready and oh so delicious! The Chicken and Celery were very tender and provided a lot of "bulk" to the soup so I finished it feeling full and satisfied. Another one I'll do again!
Monday, September 12, 2011
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Day 2 - Beef Chili
To start, I'm not a huge soup fan. I've never found it really that filling so when I saw a Chili recipe, I got all excited.
Beef Chili (1 serving)
3.5 oz ground sirloin or 96% ground beef
1 large tomato chopped into small pieces (vidalia onion slicer amazing for this!)
1/8 onion chopped into small pieces
1 clove garlic minced
2 cups water
Season to taste with:
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
No-Sugar Taco Seasoning
Now, I'm the kind of person who needs exact quantifiable measurements so "season to taste" didn't mean a whole lot to me. If you're like me and need exact measurements to go off of, the measurements I used are:
1/8 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp taco seasoning - 2 for broth, 2 mixed into meat
After mixing the taco seasoning into ground beef, I browned it and crumbled it. I have a little crock pot that makes individual servings perfectly (or even enough for 2 servings) so it came in handy for this. I combined all the ingredients into the crock pot this morning and left on low all day.
I have to admit, I was worried about the consistency because it was quite watery all day but alas, it was time to eat. This chili with the full 2 cups of water from the recipe had a lot of broth so I was worried about it being watery but I was pleasantly surprised with the spicy full flavor. In addition to the flavor, this recipe made enough that I was too full to finish it AND still stayed in the calorie/serving requirements of phase 2. YUM!
Beef Chili (1 serving)
3.5 oz ground sirloin or 96% ground beef
1 large tomato chopped into small pieces (vidalia onion slicer amazing for this!)
1/8 onion chopped into small pieces
1 clove garlic minced
2 cups water
Season to taste with:
Chili Powder
Garlic Powder
Black Pepper
Cayenne Pepper
Salt
No-Sugar Taco Seasoning
Now, I'm the kind of person who needs exact quantifiable measurements so "season to taste" didn't mean a whole lot to me. If you're like me and need exact measurements to go off of, the measurements I used are:
1/8 tsp Chili Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Black Pepper
1/8 tsp Cayenne Pepper
1/2 tsp salt
4 tsp taco seasoning - 2 for broth, 2 mixed into meat
After mixing the taco seasoning into ground beef, I browned it and crumbled it. I have a little crock pot that makes individual servings perfectly (or even enough for 2 servings) so it came in handy for this. I combined all the ingredients into the crock pot this morning and left on low all day.
Friday, September 9, 2011
Day 1 - Chicken Fajitas for phase 2
I'm a mexican and fast food junkie so you can imagine how excited I was when I ran across a recipe for HCG phase 2 salsa. After playing with the recipe a bit last night, I was satisfied with my creation so I left the flavors to marry all day in anticipation of what I would make with it today.
Salsa Recipe (makes 2 servings):
2 tomatoes
3 tbsp no-sugar added lime juice (or 1/2 lime)
1/4 onion chopped up
1 fresh jalapeno chopped up
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup cillantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
After looking in my fridge with that "what to make" conundrum, I noticed the lonely chicken breast sitting on the shelf along with the green leaf lettuce I picked up at farmers market last night. Perfect!
Fajita Chicken (makes 1 serving)
3.5 oz boneless skinless chicken breast (trimmed of all fat)
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning to taste
Sugar Free Fajita seasoning (I used Kroger) to taste
After seasoning the chicken to my taste preference, I put it in some Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil and sealed it into a pouch to keep the moisture in. I had my trusty and beloved George Foreman heating up so I just put it on there and went to preparing the lettuce leaves. I took 4 lettuce leaves from my new head of green leaf lettuce, washed, and dried them...that's all! The chicken was smelling great by the time I was done with the lettuce so once it was done, I sliced it and divided the slices between the lettuce leaves and garnished it with a tablespoon of the fresh salsa I made last night.
This made a delicious meal that I would definitely eat even if I wasn't on the HCG diet. Delicious and filling!
Salsa Recipe (makes 2 servings):
2 tomatoes
3 tbsp no-sugar added lime juice (or 1/2 lime)
1/4 onion chopped up
1 fresh jalapeno chopped up
1 clove minced garlic
1/4 cup cillantro chopped
Salt and pepper to taste
After looking in my fridge with that "what to make" conundrum, I noticed the lonely chicken breast sitting on the shelf along with the green leaf lettuce I picked up at farmers market last night. Perfect!
Fajita Chicken (makes 1 serving)
3.5 oz boneless skinless chicken breast (trimmed of all fat)
Mrs. Dash Fiesta Lime seasoning to taste
Sugar Free Fajita seasoning (I used Kroger) to taste
After seasoning the chicken to my taste preference, I put it in some Reynolds non-stick aluminum foil and sealed it into a pouch to keep the moisture in. I had my trusty and beloved George Foreman heating up so I just put it on there and went to preparing the lettuce leaves. I took 4 lettuce leaves from my new head of green leaf lettuce, washed, and dried them...that's all! The chicken was smelling great by the time I was done with the lettuce so once it was done, I sliced it and divided the slices between the lettuce leaves and garnished it with a tablespoon of the fresh salsa I made last night.
The beginning of the journey
I started the HCG diet thinking, "How am I going to feel satisfied on ONLY 500 calories per day with such a limited number of approved foods?". To top the already limited list of approved foods off, I'm a chicken and beef kind of person which further reduced what I could eat. I knew I if I couldn't find ways to switch up the taste of the same...old....foods...., I would quickly bore and the diet wouldn't succeed. After doing lots of research, I realized there are quite a few recipes out there but not many all in the same place and even fewer with pointers/comments/pictures for the recipes so here goes. It would be pretty stingy of me to go through all the trial and error of trying all these new found recipes without sharing them so hopefully the recipes and this blog helps make your HCG diet journey as enjoyable as I hope it makes mine. :o)
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