Oriental Flare

Broccoli Beef

3.5 oz lean cut of beef, cut into strips
1 C broccoli, chopped
1 C mushrooms, sliced
1 clove garlic
1 T soy sauce
dash of red pepper flakes
fruit of choice

Saute the beef, mushrooms, red pepper and garlic. Set aside. Steam the broccoli for about 5-7 min. Add to the beef and mushrooms. Drizzle soy sauce over top. Serve with fruit.

Oriental Chicken Wraps

3.5 oz chicken breast, diced
2 slalks celery, chopped
1 clove garlic
1 T soy sauce
Iceburg lettuce leaves
Fruit of choice

Saute chicken, celery, garlic, and soy sauce, until chicken is cooked. Serve in a lettuce leaf with fruit of your choice.

Thai Lime and Ginger Soup

1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes

2 cups fat free chicken broth (try to avoid bullion, it's full of MSG, and hydrolyzed proteins)

1/4 tsp ginger

8 oz chicken breast

2 cups chopped fresh spinach

1 lime

Combine the broth, tomatoes, ginger and chicken breast in a small pot. Simmer until the chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken and shred it. Return to pot. Add the spinach and squeeze the lime into the soup. (2 servings for the HCG diet. Add a fruit to make it a meal)

Pork: The Other White Meat

Pork isn't on the HCG list, but I added the pork roasts that are found at Costco (98% fat free and only 100 cal for 4oz serving!). They are so delicious and shred nicely when cooked in a Crock Pot. They come in a package of three individually wrapped roasts.

Kalua Pork

1 pork roast

1 T liquid smoke

1 T sea salt

1 C water

Place the roast in a Crock Pot. Mix the water, liquid smoke, and salt together. Pour over top of the roast. Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high. Shred and serve. (4 oz of pork is about 1/2 C).

This is also a great base for BBQ pulled pork (non HCG). Just add your favorite BBQ sauce to it!

Greek Pork Roast w/ Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

1 pork roast

2-4 garlic cloves

1 T oregano

1 T dill

salt and pepper

1 C water

Place roast in a Crock Pot. Rub seasonings into roast. Place the water at the base of the Crock Pot (try not to wash off the seasonings). Slow cook for 8-10 hours on low or 5-6 hours on high. Shred and serve with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce.

Cucumber Yogurt Sauce

1 small onion

2 cloves garlic

1 tsp cumin

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper

2 T lemon juice

3/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 C fat- free plain yogurt

Place all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Refrigerate for several hours. (Make it at the same time as you put your roast in the Crock Pot).

For HCG, a 1/2 C serving of Yogurt Sauce takes the place of your fruit serving.

Serve with 1 cucumber and 1 tomato sliced.

For weight management, eat in a pita bread.

Pork Roast with Mushrooms and Rot Kohl

1 pork roast

1 C water

Rosemary

Garlic

Thyme

1 C mushrooms, sliced per serving

1/2 C Rot Kohl (red cabbage) per serving

1/2 C natural applesauce

Place roast in a Crock Pot and rub the seasonings into it. Pour the water on the base of the pan. Cook on low 8-10 hours or on high for 5-6 hours. Shred. Saute mushrooms (no oil) and add to the roast. Serve with Rot Kohl and applesauce.

Sweet Pork

1 pork roast

1 can diet caffeine-free cola

1 cup salsa

Stevia (opt.)

This mock "Cafe Rio" recipe is not my own, but I've adapted it to work with an HCG diet. Combine all ingredients in a Crock Pot and cook on low 8-10 hours or 5-6 hours on high. Shred and serve over a bed of lettuce.

Normally this recipe has 1/2 C brown sugar in it, but I omitted it. If it needs a little more sweet, add some Stevia to taste.

Salads

Salads were not really my favorite on the HCG diet, because you couldn't add much too it. No dressings and so it made it a little tricky. But here are some that I came up with that satisfied me.

Spicy Spinach, Tomato, and Tuna Salad

1 c fresh spinach, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 1/2 oz albacore tuna
1/2 jalapeno pepper, chopped
1 T red onion, chopped
1/2 lime
1 clove garlic
1 T cilantro
Fruit of Choice

Just toss it all together and squeeze the lime juice over top. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Kalua Pork Salad

4 oz Kalua Pork (See post "Pork: the Other White Meat" for the recipe)

2 C Romaine lettuce, shredded

1 C strawberries. sliced

1 C cucumbers, sliced

1 T red wine vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Toss together and drizzle vinegar over top. Salt and pepper to taste.

Taco Salad

4 oz ground turkey breast or extra lean ground beef, seasoned with taco seasoning

2 C Romaine lettuce

1/2 C pico de gallo (fresh salsa)

1/2 lime

fruit of choice

Toss together and sqweeze the lime over top. Season with salt and pepper.

For maintainance, add a few olives and kidney beans.

Chicken Fajita Salad

4 oz chicken breast, grilled

2 C lettuce, shredded

1 C mini bell peppers (or regular peppers sliced)

1 small onion

1/2 lime

fruit of choice

Grill the chicken, peppers and onion. Top over a bed of lettuce and sqweeze a lime over top. Season with salt and pepper.

For maintanance, add 1/2 c pico de gallo, and avacoado.

Chef Salad

1 hard boiled egg, sliced

2 oz deli meat (look for brands without sugar)

2 C lettuce

1 tomato, sliced

1 apple, diced

1 T apple cider vinegar

salt and pepper to taste

Although technically you aren't supposed to combine meats, I did and still had good results. Toss together and drizzle vinegar over top. Season with salt and pepper.

For maintainance add peas and double the meat.

Fish and Shellfish

Mahi Mahi w/ Asparagus
(HCG)

4 oz Mahi Mahi
1/2 lemon
lemon pepper
Orange Slices
1 C Asparagus, steamed
1 tomato, diced

Place the Mahi Mahi in a piece of tinfoil. Squeeze 1/2 of the lemon over the fish. Sprinkle with lemon pepper seasoning (no sugar). Fold foil over the fish making a little packet. Place on a preheated grill and cook for about 10 minutes (if frozen, it may take longer).

Serve with steamed asparagus and tomato and orange slices.

Krab Salad

4 oz krab (or the real stuff!)

1 stalk celery, finely chopped

Jane's Crazy Mixed-up Salt or Mrs. Dash

1 C cucumber rounds

1 tomato, sliced

2 melba toasts

apple slices

Mix the krab and celery and season with salt. Serve over cucumber and tomato rounds ant the two melba toasts as an extra treat.

Not too much of a shrimp fan, and lobster is pretty expensive, so I don't have any recipes for those. Let me know if you have any ideas!

Roast and "Potato" Dinner

(HCG)

pot roast, lean (4 oz per serving)
1 head of cauliflower (1 C per serving)
green beans (1 C per serving)
fruit of choice

Cook your pot roast however you like to (my favorite way is in the Crock-Pot with rosemary, garlic, and crushed pepper). There is a Western Family Horseradish Brown Mustard that is so good with roast!

For the "potatoes", steam the cauliflower for ten minutes. Place the cauliflower in a blender with about 1/2 c of the vegetable broth. Blend until smooth (the consistency of mashed potatoes). Season with Jane's Crazy Mixed-Up Salt or Garlic Salt.

Steam the green beans for about 10 minutes.

Serve with a fruit of your choice. (calories for the fruit are not included in the count below)

Calories 202.1
Total Fat 4.8 g
Saturated Fat 1.6 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g
Monounsaturated Fat 1.6 g
Cholesterol 68.0 mg
Sodium 101.2 mg
Potassium 827.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 13.0 g
Dietary Fiber 7.1 g
Sugars 1.7 g
Protein 28.4 g

Sweet Tooth Cures

When ever Adam and I had a sweet tooth we would treat ourselves to either an "all natural" fruit Popsicle made by Dryers with no added sugar, or a lemon-strawberry smoothie. We also found that Dannon's Fit and Low Diabetic Yogurt topped with a couple strawberries was a nice treat. Crysta loves to double spike her water bottles with two Crystal Light packets to wash away the sweet tooth! I'm not much of a soda fan (It's bad for you), but I've never tasted anything as good as Fresca when you are sugar deprived : ).

Lemon-Strawberry Smoothie

1 lemon
1 C strawberries, frozen
1 C water
2 packets Stevia

Squeeze the lemon juice into a blender. Add remaining ingredients. Blend until smooth. Yummy and easy!

Cookin' w/ Chicken Sausage

Chicken Sausages are found in most stores, but I love the ones at Costco! You can find brands that are very lean and have no hormones or MSG. Here are a couple recipes that we love. (All HCG portioned for a 250 calorie meal. Double for normal weight loss/ management.)

Chicken Sausage w/ Italian Sauce

1 link Chicken Sausage w/ sun dried tomatoes
1 C diced canned tomatoes
Italian Seasoning
Zucchini, diced
Fruit of choice

Saute the sausage. Add the tomatoes and seasonings to taste. Top over sauteed zucchini. (For low carb diets you could serve over spaghetti squash and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.

Chicken Sausage Kabobs

1 link Chicken & Apple Sausage, sliced
1 C whole mushrooms
1 small zucchini, diced
1/2 small onion, sliced
Fruit of choice

Thread the sausage and vegetables onto a kabob skewer. Grill until vegetables are tender. (The chicken sausages usually come fully cooked).

Pineapple is so good with this meal! It's not for the HCGers though : (

Kraut Dog

1 link Chicken & Apple Sausage
1/2 C Sauerkraut
1 tsp brown mustard
Veggie slices (cucumber, celery, cauliflower, broccoli, etc.)
1 Apple

Roast the sausage over an open fire, or grill. Serve with the Sauerkraut and mustard. So yummy especially when you are camping or at a BBQ when it's so hard to stick to your diet.

Lunch Wraps

Here are some quick lunch ideas that are great for toting to work too.

Turkey Asparagus Wraps

Turkey slices* wrapped around pickles asparagus (found at Costco)

Cucumber slices

Fruit of choice

*I've used low fat ham slices as well. Just get brands with little or no sugar!

Chicken Tender Wraps

4 oz grilled chicken* cut into slices

Wrap in Romaine lettuce leaves with tomato slices and pickles

Fruit of choice

Hamburgers

4 0z of extra lean ground turkey or 3 oz extra lean ground beef

pickles

splash of ketchup

mustard

tomato slices

lettuce

choice of fruit

Form the meat into a pattie and grill until well done. Top with pickles, ketchup, mustard, and tomatoes. Wrap in lettuce leaves. Serve with fruit, and cucumbers or celery.

Broccoli, Tuna, & Tomato with Balsalmic Vinegar

(HCG)

2 c broccoli florets, steamed
4 oz albacore tuna
1 tomato, chopped
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 T chopped red onion
garlic salt
1 med. apple

Mix the broccoli, tuna, tomato, and onion. Drizzle vinegar over mixture and season with garlic salt. Serve with an apple. (You can crush a couple Melba toasts over the top if you'd like).

Nutrition Facts
Calories 238.3
Total Fat 3.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.6 g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.1 g
Cholesterol 25.0 mg
Sodium 257.9 mg
Potassium 1,019.5 mg
Total Carbohydrate 38.8 g
Dietary Fiber 10.5 g
Sugars 0.0 g
Protein 19.7 g

Spinach Omelet

(HCG)

2 eggs
1 cup chopped fresh spinach
1 other vegetable of choice (mushrooms, tomatoes, or bell peppers work well)
2 T fresh salsa
1 C strawberries

Mix the eggs and the spinach together in a microwave safe bowl. (I like to use my Pampered Chef Micorowave Rice Cooker Plus). Cook in the microwave for 2 minutes. Flip the omelet over and cook 30 sec. more. Flip out onto a plate and serve with salsa. Serve with 1 cup of strawberries for a lovely HCG meal.

Nutrition Facts
User Entered Recipe
Calories 226.7

Total Fat 11.0 g
Saturated Fat 3.2 g
Polyunsaturated Fat 1.8 g
Monounsaturated Fat 3.9 g
Cholesterol 425.0 mg
Sodium 291.5 mg

Potassium 739.8 mg
Total Carbohydrate 18.7 g

Dietary Fiber 5.9 g
Sugars 2.7 g
Protein 15.3 g

*Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.