Ranch Dip

Now in the book there is a recipe for Spicy Veggie Dip. Its great! But it's no ranch dressing. Now in Australia you can't buy ranch season packets. So I have created my own, and its pretty darn delicious! Mind you I haven't had "real" ranch dressing in quite a while. I cut up celery and carrot sticks and save them in the refrigerator. Its another great go to snack.

1 cup Greek yogurt cheese
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2tsp parsley
1/2tsp dill
1/4 tsp onion flakes
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp salt

Make the yogurt cheese. This is made by draining off the extra liquid from the greek yogurt by using cheesecloth and allowing it to sit over an empty bowl overnight in the refrigerator. (see picture below) Mix all the spices together. Don't add them all at once. You might like more or less seasoning than me.

MmmmmMeatloaf!

I made this last night. James said he'll eat this three times a week. It really is delicious! Also pictured are cauliflower mash,and the best broccoli in the world.

Meatloaf
Turkey mince
1 tbl worchstshire sauce
1 tsp onion flakes
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4cup crumbled low fat feta
1small onion grated
1 small carrot grated
3/4 cup frozen spinach
1 egg yolk
1/2 tsp tomato paste
seasonall
low carb BBQ sauce

After I grated the onion and carrot, I squeezed them like crazy, to get rid of the excess moisture. Do the same with the defrosted spinach. Combine all ingredients together except BBQ sauce, tomato paste, and seasonall (mix this in a small bowl). Form into a loaf, and place in a loaf pan. You could make a free standing loaf, but I feel like the pan allows moisture to be retained until the end. I was able to drain off all the surrounding liquid and fat. Cook the loaf at 350F/175C for 40 minutes. (You can be sneaky and check the loaf is cooked because you are going to cover that spot up with topping). At this point drain off the extra fat, add the BBQ sauce topping and return to the oven for another 10 minutes.

Cauliflower Mash
1/2 head of Cauliflower (I used 1 and it was way too much)
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tbl greek yogurt
1/2 tsp of sour cream
pinch of grated parmesean
garlic poweder

Steam cauliflower and garlic for about 20-25 minutes, you dont want it to be falling apart, you want it to have some bite left. That way the mash is more like mashed potatoes. Drain off excess water, get it as dry as possible! Use an immersion blender and blend, get some air into it! Add the other ingredients and whip some more. You can add more cheese and seasoning to taste.

Best Broccoli EVER,but seriously it is.
1-2 heads of broccoli cut into florets
lemon juice
cooking spray
salt
pepper
parmesean

Spread broccoli onto a cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray and season lightly with salt and pepper. Roast in oven at 170C for about 20 minutes, you want the broccoli to get golden in spots, its fine, don't worry! Remove from oven, sprinkle with lemon juice, and fat free parmesean. Return to oven for 5 minutes, or until parmesean is golden. Serve up!

Heavenly Tomato Basil Soup

So we live on a farm, he works outside all day and when he comes in he wants a snack. Or at lunch time James thinks he needs more than just a salad. So this is one of my solutions, he gets a coffee cup full of soup. It's probably an actual cup total, not much more. The recipe is beyond easy and sticks to the 17 Day Diet.

1 can of tomato puree
2 cans of whole tomatoes
2 cans of stock (low sodium)
2 tbl dried basil
1 tbl dried onion flakes
2-3 tbl of fat free sour cream

Combine all ingredients, except sour cream, in a large stock pot. Simmer on low for an hour (covered). Then use an immersion blender, or regular blemder to combine untilsmooth. Simmer uncovered for another hour and a half, allow it to reduce. Stir in sour cream. Cook another 20 minutes. Season with salt/ pepper if needed.

I am not afan of adding extra stuff to things, and every soup recipe had heaps of other vegetables in it. Thisone is so delicious, and easy to make. I've been keeping it in the refrigerator for those sudden hunger pains!

Cycle 1- Accelerate

I bought the book, I read it, and you should too. It explains the science/theories behind the diet. However, James did not read it. This is the "James" version of the diet. Its basic, it can be read in 5 minutes, and its no nonsense.

Lean Proteins- Fish (salmon, sole, flounder, catfish, tilapia, canned light tuna in water), chicken breast, turkey breast, turkey mince, eggs (2 eggs= 1 serving, or 4 egg whites= 1 serving)

Cleansing Vegetables- artichoke, asparagus, bell peppers (all colors), broccoli, brussel sprouts,cabbage, carrots, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplant, garlic, green beans, green leafy vegetables, kale, leeks, lettuce, mushrooms, okra, onions, parsley, scallions, spinach, tomatoes, watercress

Low Sugar Fruits- 2 servings daily: apples, any type of berry, grapefruit, oranges, peaches, pears, plums, prickly pear cactus, punes, grapes. Try to eat fresh fruit, not canned or dried. Don't eat your fruit after 2 pm.

Probiotic Food- 2 servings daily: Yogurt (any type: greek, sugr free fuit flavored, plain, low fat 6oz=1 serving) Kefir (1 cup=1 serve) Low-fat acidophilus milk (1 cup=1serve)Yakult (50 cal bottle), Cottage Cheese (1/2 cup=1 serve), Tempeh, Suerkraut, Kimchi

Friendly Fats- 1 to 2 tbl daily: olive oil, flaxseed oil

Condiments- salsa, low carb marinara sauce, lite soy sauce,low carb ketchip, fat free sour cream, low fat/sodium broth, truvia (sweetener), sugar free jams, vegetablecooking spray, fat free cheese, fat free dressings, salt, pepper, mustards, vinegar, spices, herbs

Coffee and Tea are alllowed- dont cound towards your 8 glasses of water.

Drink your 8 glasses of water or else you will become constipated.

Breakfast: 1 Serving of Eggs (or Probiotic) and 1 serving of fruit and 1 cup of green tea

Lunch: Large serving of protein, unlimited cleansing vegetables (or Probiotic with unlimited veg) and greentea

Dinner: Large serving of protein, unlimited veg, green tea

Snacks: serving of fruit, serving of probiotic

Try to exercise 17 minutes a day.

So that is how it is done. I come from the school of thought that you should eat 6 times a day. So I don't always have my fruit with breakfast, I'll wait a couple of hours. I also have only been having yogurt once a day, and then a veggie dip made of yogurt. The book says to think of vegetables as freebies, so when James comes in wanting a snack, I make sure I have plenty of veg for that.

And it begins!

So today is Day 3 of the diet for my boyfriend and I. However, I am going to take you back in time to the week before we started.

We arrived back from a two week holiday in New Zealand, having gone on an eating tour of the country it definitely was time to lose some extra weight. Also the previous four months, I had been cooking like the world was on the verge of running out of butter, sugar, and flour (ironic since my boyfriend is a wheat farmer). I also had been eating like a man, surrounded by men that ate like an army, my body struggled to keep up.

I ordered the book before we left on our trip, and it arrived a few days after we got back. I excitedly read the 17 Day Diet. I am perfectly capable eating and exercising in a healthy way, I did it the entire time I was at university. However, I have never tried to do it while living with someone. I really didn't think he would go for a remodelling of our diet, unless there was a method to it. The 17 Day Diet was definitely something we could do.

I looked online at the 17 day diet recipe forum endorsed by "The Doctors" and started getting ideas. Now welive in a rural part of Western Australia, so some of the fancier things mentioned aren't accessible for me, whether they are American products, or just not in our tiny IGA. I do one grocery shop a week, and the rest of the time we just live off of what we have in the pantry. I find that meal planning is the best way for me to avoid distractions in the grocery store.

Now as you may know, the 17 day diet has 4 cycles. I will outline the criteria for the first cycle in my next blog. My menu for this week began like this:

Day 1: Breakfast- Vegetable Omelet, Lunch- Taco Salad, Dinner- PF Chang Style Lettuce Wraps with Sauteed bok choi.
(I was very happy with this meal plan... James was not, he felt like lettuce wraps were a lunchtime meal and not hearty enough for his dinner. This was great because he finally wanted participate in the menu planning... I had to change half of it).

Day 2: B-Same, L-Same, Dinner- Turkey Meatloaf with Cauliflower Mash and Roasted Broccoli
(He said we could it this dinner 3 times a week and he would be happy- but I'd be bored)

Day 3: B- Vegetable Omelet with last nights meatloaf leftovers, L-Same, Dinner- BBQ chicken, coleslaw, and green beans.

Day 4: B- Same, L- Mediterranean Salad, Dinner- Chicken and Vegetable Stir Fry

Day 5: B- Same, L- Mediterranean Salad, Dinner- Greek Chicken with Spinach and Tomatoes

Day 6: B- Same, L- Greek Salad, Dinner- Rasberry Chipotle Chicken with broccolini

Day 7: B- Same, L- Rasberry Chicken Salad, Swedish Meatballs with mixed vegetables.

So it all sounds pretty delicious and doable right? Did I mention you get snacks as well! I'll post recipes for those too. So stop salivating, start eating, and start losing wieght!