Cauliflower Crust Pizza

This pizza crust is thicker and more substantial and didn't hold together well enough to just pick up and eat. I'll be working on perfecting it but it tasted really good.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1 cup cauliflower, steamed and grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 450*. Mix ingredients well, pat with paper towel to remove as much moisture as possible and spread thin on parchment paper. Bake on cookie sheet for 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Top with sauce and toppings of your choice, then broil for a few minutes to heat toppings and melt cheese.

Sugar Free Peanut Butter Cookies

Phase 3 Friendly

Ingredients

1 cup creamy peanut butter(I use natural peanut butter w/no added sugar) 1 cup Splenda, plus a little extra for dusting 1 egg 1 tsp vanilla (or almond)extract.

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Put all 4 ingredients into a medium size bowl. Mix thoroughly until well blended. Scoop dough out with spoon to walnut sized pieces, and place on a greased cookie sheet. Dip a long-tined fork into a small bit of splenda, and press into the balls making cross hatched design.

Cook for 10-12 minutes & move to cooling rack. Dust with splenda & cool. Store in an air-tight container.

Number of Servings: 16

Grilled Onions

I have loved using my Foreman Grill to make these delicious onions. Simply thinly slice onion, layer on grill sprinkle with Sea Salt and grill @ 400 degrees for 6-8 minutes and turn with spatula if needed, and cook 4 more minutes. Great with chicken or beef!

Slow Cooked Beef

I have enjoyed using my slow cooker to make Slow Cooked Beef Tips. I used lean cut stew meat, liquid aminos, beef broth and seasonings of choice (usually garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper) with a little water. I cooked on low for 10-12 hours and divided it into appropriate portions in ziploc snack bags. This made it easy to be ready to pack for lunch or have ready for dinner when I didn't feel like cooking.

For an all in one meal you can also add canned crushed tomatoes half way through cooking.

Breaded Baked Okra

I have discovered a new favorite...Breaded Baked Okra! I bought frozen sliced okra and jazzed it up with a breading made from crushed Melba Toast. I used Old London Spicy 3 Pepper as well as Roasted Garlic flavor. Crush 6-8 crackers to a fine bread crumb consistency. Shake okra and crumbs together (add additional seasoning if desired) in ziploc bag. Bake 10-12 minutes at 450 degrees or to desired crispiness.
Enjoy!

Update

I have been out of the loop for awhile but I am back! After great success on 2 cycles of the diet I took the summer off while I had surgery. I went a little off track and let myself get those sugars and carbs back in my system thus adding 10 lbs to my mid region. ) =

So I sucked it up and started round 3. I am ending phase 2 on a short cycle of 26 days and have shed 20 lbs, yea! I would have liked to do 40 days but have a teacher conference to attend that I will not allow me to be able to prepare my meals as normal. So I will have to make good choices and count calories to keep my progress heading in the right direction. The holidays are coming and I will focus on making good choices. Allowing myself to eat some holiday favs but eat smart and not allow myself to fall off the wagon. Then back to it at the beginning of the new year with another round of drops.

The next few posts will be some yummy discoveries I made during my 3rd time through phase 2.

More Choices

My earlier posts was following the most strict diet plan for phase 2. The following is an update which includes more food choices which I am excited about. It was easy to get in a rut and feel discouraged with the limited choices on the strict diet. Enjoy!

Phase 2 allowed foods:

Protein
Veal
Beef
Chicken Breasts
Turkey
Lobster
Crab
Canned Tuna
Shrimp
Flounder
Chilean Sea Bass
Sole
Grouper
Halibet
Perch
Cod
Haddock
Trout
Protrin Shakes

Vegetables
Tomato
Celery
Cabbage
Asparagus
Chard
Lettuce
Spinach
Cucumbers
Onion
Radish
Beet Greens
Turnips
Turnip Greens
Bamboo Shoots
Cauliflower
Green Beans
Broccoli
Brussel Sprouts
Chard Swiss
Eggplant
Okra
Green and Red Peppers
Kale
Mushrooms
Yellow & Summer Squash
Watercress
Zucchini

Fruits
Apple
Orange
Grapefruit
Strawberries
Honeydew Melon
Canteloupe
Blackberries
Blueberries
Apricots
Boysenberries