Phase 2 Archives - Page 2 of 4 - My Eating Clean Journey

Bangkok Chicken Stir-Fry

April 4, 2014

One thing I can say about all of the food that we’ve been eating is that it’s so flavorful. If you don’t cook with spices, I really challenge you to start. Start with a small amount of spice, like a tsp and then work your way up to more. I almost never measure my spices, I just sprinkle them in. In the case of the chicken dish below, I sprinkled the chicken with the Bangkok Blend from Penzey’s Spice Company until it was well coated and then I even added additional spices after I added in the vegetables. It had a nice kick but wasn’t too spicy for my taste buds.

If you’ve never heard of Penzey’s Spice Company, I highly recommend them. Their prices are great and they offer a great variety of spices and spice blends, like the Bangkok Blend. This isn’t a sponsored post and I’m not getting anything from Penzey’s for this shout out – just a good place to do business with. They have some stores around the country, none here in Vermont though so I order online. Free shipping if you order $30 worth.

What spice could you not live without?

Bangkok Chicken Stir-Fry

4oz Chicken, sliced
2oz Celery, sliced
2oz Onions, sliced
1 garlic clove, minced
Penzey’s Bangkok Blend
1 tsp Fresh Cilantro
1 tsp Fresh Basil

Sprinkle Bangkok Blend on chicken. Cook chicken in a medium skillet until cooked. Splash water into the pan to keep it from sticking. Add in garlic, celery and onions. Add about 1/4 cup of water and saute in the pan for about 5 minutes. Vegetables should be softened. Sprinkle the mixture with additional Bangkok Blend, if you’d like. Mix in cilantro and basil. Remove from heat and serve.

Omni Drops Program – Phase 2 Recipe

Chicken Stuffed with Stuffing

April 2, 2014

Guess what happened today? I hit a BIG milestone in my weight loss journey – the big 4 – 0. Yup, I’ve lost 40 pounds so far since I started the Omni Drops Program. I am so excited. Yesterday I slipped on a pair of jeans that I bought 6 years ago and had high hopes on fitting in when I was trying to lose weight back then. You can imagine the feeling I got when I fit into them and then I wore them proudly with a big smile on my face, all day long.

Tonight I was looking for something different to eat to celebrate the big 40 and decided to try and make something to stuff inside my chicken. I went with a stuffing made out of Wasa crackers, celery, onions and spices. It was so delicious and just like an old-time homecooked meal.

If you make this recipe, I’d love for you to leave a comment. I’m hoping all of these recipes are helping some of you out and I love to hear from you. Leave me a comment below or drop by my facebook page and leave a comment there. Also, if you are looking for any particular recipe for Phase 2 of the Omni Drops Program, let me know and I might have one up my sleeve for you.

Stuffed Chicken
(recipe is only for one so double or tripe if you need to feed more)

4oz chicken breast
1/2oz celery, chopped
1/2 oz onion, chopped
1 Wasa cracker
dash of ground thyme
dash of salt and pepper
3 Tablespoons chicken broth

Pound the chicken breast so it’s thin and place on a cookie sheet. Grind your cracker in a mini food chopper/processor and place the cracker crumbs in a bowl. Add the celery, onion and spices. Mix well. Add the broth and Place the stuffing in the middle of the chicken breast and roll the chicken closed. Secure with a toothpick. Bake in a 375 oven for 20 minutes.

Caesar Dressing (Oil-Free)

March 27, 2014

One of the toughest things with following the Omni Drops Program has been enjoying salads without using oil based salad dressings. Yesterday I made a serving of Caesar Dressing to add to my Chicken Salad and was really amazed at how good it was. I’ve been using BBQ Sauce, Honey Mustard Dressing, Salsa and now my favorite – the Caesar Dressing.

The recipe only makes one serving size, so double or triple it if you’re making it for more than one person or meal.

Caesar Dressing
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
1 teaspoon lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 clove garlic, minced
Stevia to taste
Whisk together and enjoy!

Teriyaki Chicken with Marinated Cabbage

March 25, 2014

I finally did it. I made the move from blogger.com to my own hosted blog. Sorry that my blog was unavailable for the last few days. We’re back up and running now! Thanks Jenne for the great job on the redesign.

Today’s recipe was posted on Instagram last night when I made it and I received a few comments for the recipe. First, there is quite a bit of Bragg’s Liquid Aminos in this recipe and that has a high sodium content. If you’re sensitive to Bragg’s, be cautious. The recipe cooked four portions of phase 2 chicken and I had leftovers.

This is a phase 2 recipe but if you omitted the orange juice, it would be phase 3 friendly also.

Teriyaki Sauce

½ cup beef or chicken broth
¼ cup Bragg’s liquid aminos
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
Orange juice (Juice from 3 segments)
¼ cup lemon juice
1 tablespoon finely minced onion
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon powdered ginger or grated fresh ginger
1 clove finely minced garlic
Lemon and/or orange zest to taste
Stevia to taste
Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is reduced. The longer you simmer the richer the flavors. As the liquid reduces, deglaze the pan with a little water or broth to intensify the flavors. Enjoy as a glaze or sauce with chicken or beef.I used my Teriyaki Sauce to cook my chicken in. I didn’t have any time to marinate it so I cooked it in the sauce and kept adding it as it cooked down. I highly suggest cooking the chicken until the pan dries out and then use the sauce to scrape the bits off the bottom of the pan to make the sauce even richer.

I had additional sauce leftover and it’s in the refrigerator for another meal. My husband marinated the cabbage and I’m not exactly sure what he used. He said something about beef broth, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and dried onions on top. Our grill outside is snowed in so we couldn’t use it last night but I’m sure these cabbage wedges would be wonderful on the grill.

Homemade Salsa

February 9, 2014

Homemade Salsa

5-6 Tomatoes, cup in quarters

Handful of Cilantro

1/2 onion, cut in half

Squirt of lime juice

1 package of Stevia

Put everything but the Stevia in a blender and blend until it’s the consistency you enjoy. Add in the Stevia and mix. You can also spice it up with some jalapeno powder, red pepper flakes or chipotle powder.

Spicy Cabbage Salad

February 9, 2014

This was really good. I served it with the mini meatloaf. My husband compared it to a salsa. I’m not a fan of raw radishes but in this dish they worked really good and I actually enjoyed them.

Spicy Cabbage Salad

· 1oz cabbage, shredded

· 1oz tomatoes, chopped

· 1oz radishes, chopped

· 1oz green onions, chopped

· Apple cider vinegar

· Lime juice

· Dash of Salt

· Frank’s Red Hot Sauce

Mix the vegetables in a bowl. Whisk the vinegar, lime juice, salt and hot sauce together. Pour over the vegetables and mix well.

My lunch – packed in advance. Meatloaf and Spicy Cabbage Salad

Mini Meatloaf (Meatloaves)

February 9, 2014

I made these mini meatloaves using a pan I had originally bought to make brownies in. You can also use a cupcake pan or any other pan that has individual serving size slots.

Meatloaf

I used the recipe below but quadrupled it (x4) so I’d be making four servings at once.

4oz lean ground beef

1 serving Melba toast, Wasa cracker or Grissini breadstick crumbs

1 ketchup recipe

1 tablespoon chopped onion

1 clove minced garlic

Cayenne to taste

¼ teaspoon paprika

Crush cracker/toast into fine powder. Mix with the ground beef, chopped

onion and spices. Place in a baking dish, loaf pan or muffin tin for single

servings. Baste with ketchup recipe mixture and bake at 350 for 15-20

minutes. Cook longer for multiple servings using a loaf pan.

Put the broken up crackers/toast or breadstick into your blender.

Blend until it’s ground up like breadcrumbs

Add it to your hamburg mixture

These were very good and each serving was three mini loaves.

Chicken EggRolls and an Update on my Husband

February 9, 2014

My husband decided to join me on the weight loss train and almost two weeks ago he started the Omni-Drops. I’m happy to report that he’s on day 12 and he’s lost 17.8 pounds already. I love when we both are eating healthy together although it has been a challenge at times. He’s a bit lot more cranky when he’s not able to eat large amounts of food whenever he feels like it.
I’ve been perfectly happy with the amount of food I’ve been eating. I’m rarely hungry. I keep telling him that I think he’s not really hungry but it’s more of a habit to eat when he wants to. Remember the tv commercial they had for awhile where they showed people trying to quit smoking and they would talk about smoking a cigarette while eating breakfast, while driving
their car, etc? Well that’s my husband but with food. He’s a habitual eater and when taken out of his comfort zone, he gets cranky.

Two more days for me on the drops during Phase 2 and then I move onto Phase 3. I’m excited about being able to add in fats and dairy to my diet, along with all the additional vegetables and fruits I can have but there’s been something comforting about having a small list of foods I can eat. I have really enjoyed the dishes I have made and put up here on the blog. Everything has been really flavorful and made from scratch.

I have a few catch-up recipes to post here. I’ll do them individually so they are easier to find while searching my blog.

Here’s the one for Chicken Eggrolls.

Chicken “Eggrolls”

1-2 Cabbage leaves (I only used one)

shredded cabbage and diced onion – enough to equal 4oz with the whole cabbage leaves

1 Dash of Onion powder

1 Dash of chinese five spice

4oz Chicken breast diced

Steam cabbage for 2 minutes

Put shredded cabbage, onions and chicken in a pot and cook until cooked throughly

Wrap in leaves

Cinnamon Curry Chicken Soup and 108 Sticks of Butter

February 6, 2014

Here in Vermont we are getting pounded with another snow storm. I knew that I needed to make a soup to help warm my husband up after he was finished plowing and shoveling the driveway. He looked like a snowman walking in the house – covered from head to toe with snow.

Tonight we had Cinnamon Curry Chicken Soup with a side salad with homemade Honey Mustard Dressing. Both hit the spot.

Cinnamon Curry Chicken Soup

4oz chicken – cubed

diced onion (allowed amount)

2 c broth

3 cloves minced garlic

1/2 t curry powder

1/4 t cinnamon

1/4 t pumpkin pie spice

salt/black pepper to taste

Combine everything in one pot and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 45 minutes.

I was also thinking today about my journey with Omnitrition and their Omni-Drops and was

thinking about how much 27 pounds really is. I remember when I was attending a Weight Watchers

meeting years ago, she used to compare people’s weight loss to sticks of butter. So off I went

to find a graphic of butter to use – and I found one that was exactly 27 pounds. How perfect is that?

So….I’ve lost 108 sticks of butter over the last 33 days. Amazing.

Recipe: Omni Sliders with Tomato Pesto Salad

February 5, 2014

One of my favorite meals on this low-carb, Omni-Drops program are the lil sliders. Normally I serve these with finger foods like roasted asparagus but this time around I had made a Tomato Pesto Salad to enjoy with them. This will be a wonderful recipe to use this summer with tomatoes and basil from the garden.

Tomato Pesto Salad