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Thursday, February 06, 2014

My Favorite Phase 2 HCG Recipes

Phase 2 of the HCG diet can be really difficult because the food choices are so slim. You can have 100 grams of protein plus one vegetable and a fruit per meal. I usually split up my fruit through the day, unless I want to count my tomato as a fruit and add to it a meal. If you’re creative you can create so many different meals, and there are lots of recipe suggestions to be found, even on Pinterest. Here are a few of my go-to favorites.

HCGRecipe1

This pesto sauce is just amazing, and I can’t wait to add it to lots of different veggies in the future too. I mixed basil, garlic, apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, chicken broth and a little bit of stevia in a food processer and added salt and pepper to taste. Then I cooked up the chicken with some onion and once the meat was browned I added the pesto sauce and water to the chicken. Let it simmer a little and then pour all of this over a bed of spinach. So full of flavor!

HCGRecipeTacoSalad

This one is super easy, and one of the cases where I counted a tomato as my fruit for the meal. It helps to have more than just meat and lettuce on a salad sometimes. This is 100 grams of lean ground beef flavored with Mexican spices. I love to mix up my lettuce a lot and this time I used Iceburg. Its got a lot of crunch and the moisture picks up the flavors in the meat very well. Chris adds hot sauce to his, but I can’t handle that stuff. For me all that its missing is some olives! wink*wink.

HCGRecipeCabbageSteaks

This is one of my FAVORITE ways to eat cabbage. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spread some MCT oil over a cookie sheet. Slice a heal of cabbage into 3/4” slices. Lay it out on the sheet and brush on some oil on the tops. Add seasoning (salt, garlic, etc.). Flip and repeat on the second side. Cook for half an hour and then flip the steaks and bake for another half hour. The edges will get dark and crispy. That’s my favorite part because it tastes so sweet. We pair this veggie with lots of different things…steak and grilled chicken breast are my favorite.

HCGRecipeGarlicCoconutShrim

I love how easy this one is do at lunch time…quick and easy. I usually buy the tail off, precooked frozen shrimp and so you just need to run water over them and then give them a quick seer. I start my frying pan with the coconut oil and lost of garlic. I add the shrimp and it makes a bit of a sauce with the water from the shrimp. I throw this over a bed of spinach and I’m good to go. Super fast and super delicious.

So I’ve been on Phase 2 for 11 days and I’m down to 192.2 lbs, which is 17.8 lbs lost already! Feeling really good about my progress already. I drink a ton of water a day and triple-shot Americanos with cream are my jam! It feels so good to be the one cooking my food and making menu plans and shopping for real food. Not even 2 weeks in and I feel so much better. My energy is up and I’m sleeping better. I’m excited to keep watching the pounds drop and my smile get bigger.

GreyLine

What are some of your favorite healthy recipes?
I’m making a collection of them for our maintenance phase!

14 comments:

  1. Good job!! And I'm definitely trying that cabbage soon! :)

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  2. I buy frozen skinless/boneless chicken breasts, thaw a few at a time and then line a baking dish with aluminum foil, set the oven on broil to heat it up - making sure the rack is set to about 4 inches below the heat - and then use my Misto to spray olive oil in the bottom of the baking pan. I then sprinkle some Johnny's Seasoning Salt and crack some fresh pepper on the bottom of the pan, take 3 or 4 thawed chicken breasts and put it on top, spritz the top of the chicken with the Misto and season the top and stick it in the oven for 11 minutes. When the timer goes off, I take the pan out, turn the chicken breasts over and spritz a tiny bit more with the Misto to make the tops crispy and stick the pan back in for 11 more minutes. The chicken comes out moist in the center and crispy on the outside. My hubby and I have this with salad or green beans or whatever. We've lost weight and it tastes so good it feels like cheating. Quick for meeting night, too. And the leftover chicken is great with salad the next day. And clean up...what clean up? HAHA

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  3. My husband just finished The Whole 30 Diet yesterday and I did it loosely with him. We had to get pretty creative with that but it was also really great! :)

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  4. Replies
    1. It stands for MCT (medium chain triglyceride) oil. Many health benefits without the fat content. Virgin coconut oil is what we use. :)

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  5. Have you all heard of Wild Tree? Lots of organic herbs, spices, and marinades that I have found that fit in perfectly with this diet! Happy Losing :) www.angiesorganicgrocery.com

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  6. I have a head of cabbage I need to do something with, and I think I will try your recipe for cabbage steaks tonight. Thanks again for posting it! :) Now to figure out what to have with them....

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  7. I thought there was no oil what-so-ever allowed in phase 2 of the HGC diet?

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    Replies
    1. You're correct. At least--it's not allowed on the Omnitrition program during Phase 2. I've saved this recipe, though, for the maintenance phase.

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  8. im so glad someone else asked what MCT was, because i had no idea either.......mct oils......????

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  9. Thanks. for the Italian Chicken Pesto a must use for me.

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  10. Thanks for Italian Chicken Pesto , I needed something new to spice up my food. I'm
    On the NutriMost program and was running out of ideas for Chicken. My weight loss
    Is working I just want to stay motivated.

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  11. On the cabbage steaks what is the serving size? If I can only have 1 cup of veggies, not sure what the serving size is.




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