Keftedes Greek Meatballs

Makes 16 one ounce Greek meatballs.  Serves 4-6 people

I used to get these awesome Greek Meatballs at one of my favorite restaurants.  They call them Keftedes.  That restaurant was always such a pain though.  Many days they were closed due to another fire or they were remodeling again and they pretty much always had the worst service.  Sometimes these tiny morsels weren't even available and I would find myself dreaming about them.  This tastes very close to their version if not actually even better.  These are healthy on any diet and at the same time they don't make you feel like you are on a diet.

Ingredients:  

Greek Meatballs:

• 1 lb. Ground Beef
• 1 egg
• 2 thin slices old sourdough bread soaked in 1/4 cup milk put bread in bowl and soak in milk
• 1 clove minced or pasted garlic
• 1/4 of medium sized red onion shredded
• Juice and Zest of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons fresh Mint
• 1 tablespoon fresh Oregano
• Dash of Cinnamon
• Dash of Nutmeg

Tzatziki Sauce:

Mini Crustless Quiche

Mini-Crustless Quiche:

Who needs crust or fancy grocery stores with these easy to make mini-crustless quiche perfections?  I just happened to see some pre-made quiche while out shopping at Frazier's today so I thought I would give it a try for breakfast.  Their version was pretty awful so bad in fact I thought it had spoiled but the sell date still had at least a week on it so thats a little disturbing.  The bacon had a funny taste to it as if it had soured which pretty much ruined the entire thing not to mention the pieces of bacon that were just too big so even if they hadn't gone bad it wouldn't have been good.  I don't like the big ham like pieces of bacon in my quiche.  I would prefer it to be thin and crispy but, after the huge turn off this morning my husband felt it was his mission to make a healthier tastier version that didn't include meat.  He started out his mission like most, searching the internet for multiple recipes to finally settle on one that we both believe will obtain the best results and also a version that can be used for the maintenance portion of the HCG Diet.  This was our first try,  It was a joint effort and it turned out completely amazing.  I am a quiche connoisseur and will often try it any way that I can get it...frozen, fresh, in a restaurant, made at the grocery store, etc. and this was one of the best I have ever tried.  Give it a try yourself and add your favorite ingredients.  This does not have to be something that is hard.  A healthy lifestyle can also be an enjoyable tasty lifestyle.  Beware, this will make your house smell like a french bakery.

Makes 5-6 1.5 inch diameter bowls (small souffle' bowls)

Ingredients:

• 10 oz Spinach
• 4 eggs
• 1/4 cup finely diced white onion
• 3 green onions, finely diced
• Optional:  add half of a sliced Zucchini sliced thin with vegetable peeler
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3/4 cup swiss
• 1/4 cup cheddar
• teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon white pepper
• Olive oil to saute' vegetables
• 1 cup heavy cream
• sprinkle of parmesan for top
• Sprinkle of Nutmeg on each individual quiche

Directions:

Zucchini Ribbons with Arugala Basil Pesto

When I am looking for the best HCG diet recipes I am looking for recipes that include clean foods.  Meaning no preservatives, no hormones, no additives, and nothing that comes from a box.  

 

I want whole real foods in their most natural state.  P3 is the same as any low carbohydrate, eat clean, heart healthy, diabetic friendly diet.  To make it even easier to understand you can break it down to no sugar and no starch.  Pretty simple.

HCG P3 Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

This tomato basil mozzarella salad is an easy low carb/HCG P3 Maintenance dish the whole family will love

 

Chicken Cabbage Wrap with Spicy Peanut Sauce

 This easy to do HCG Diet P2 & P3 friendly, low carb, eat clean recipe will keep you out of the restaurants and cooking at home where you belong.

 

After taking the first bite both my husband and I looked at each other and said OMG and then WHO NEEDS A RESTAURANT?!  We couldnt stop saying OMG!  Just now he said seriously I cant stop thinking about it.

If you are on the HCG Diet, p2, or losing phase you may enjoy this recipe by using the peanut sauce sparingly.  When I am on P2 I like to add more lime to the sauce to stretch it.

P2 P3 Tacos in a Hurry!

 This is a quick and easy lunch or dinner and truthfully I use it for both P2 and P3 and it works for both.  I just get to eat more in P3 if I need to. 

HCG P2 P3 Taco Salad

I love taco salads but you cant have one in a restaurant because they load it up with unhealthy oils and then usually a deep fried flour tortilla that is 1000 calories all by itself.  This is my HCG, low carb, eat clean version of the unhealthy restaurant version that tastes amazing and will keep you in your own kitchen instead of out in those unhealthy restaurants.

What you will need:

HCG P3 Pizza Pita's

This is another amazing spur of the moment hubby creation and of course its all HCG P3 style.  He has really changed his eating habits right along with me which has been such a huge help.  When you get to eat things that are healthy for you and taste amazing at the same time it sure does make it easy to make the change.

This recipe takes a couple seconds to put together and you are so lucky that I am sharing!!

whole wheat pita pockets
pepper jack cheese
salami
fresh basil
onions
garlic
tomatoes
spinach

to make quick and easy tomato sauce blend on low
3 tomatoes and two peeled garlic cloves and set aside

arrange pita pockets on a bake pan spoon a couple tablespoons of sauce onto pita  add chopped onion, fresh chopped basil, spinach, cheese, and salami

bake on 400 - 450 for 15 - 20 minutes
baking time will depend on your oven and how much cheese etc you put on pizza.  I like mine cooked at 450 for 20 minutes cuz I like it crunchy and brown on the bottom.  This tastes so good you wont order another greasy take out!

HCG P3 Tomato Basil Mozzarella Salad

This is an easy favorite of mine.  Just combine bite size ingredients in a bowl toss with a good Olive Oil and serve.


fresh mozzarella
cherry tomatoes
fresh chopped basil
red onion
olive oil 
cracked black pepper

HCG P3 Sausage with Grapes

This sounds weird and looks weird but, my husband put this concoction together after reading several low carb cook books and it actually turned out pretty amazing and something we have added to our menu at least once or twice a month.

mild Italian sausage
green grapes
garlic

Just get the sausage of your choice and brown in a pan with a couple cloves of garlic diced up finely.  When sausage is brown on all sides add grapes to pan reduce heat cover and let the grapes caramelize stirring occasionally till it ends up looking something like this.  You can also experiment a bit with this recipe.  On this occasion below I added a little bit of red wine while it cooked.  It turned out great.

Cheesy Mushroom Chicken Bake

I woke up this am in the mood for something like Beef Stew or something with a cheesy sauce so I took a look in the pantry and found Campbells Cream of Mushroom the healthy one.  After I grilled a couple chicken breasts I cut that up into cubes and placed the meat at the bottom of an oven safe dish.  Then I spooned in a few tablespoons of the Cream of Mushroom till it was juicy looking, pour in a little bit of half and half to blend and make creamy, mix in onion powder, garlic powder, and a little salt, grate in cheddar cheese mix it up, grate more cheddar on top and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese.  I put this in the oven for 15 minutes on 350 degrees just till it was hot and bubbly with a little bit of brown on the top.  This just came out of my head and I thought it wouldn't turn out well but, I was amazed at my Gordon Ramsey skills.  This recipe is very low in carbs.  The can of soup was the only thing I was worried about carb wise and per serving it had 7 but, sugars were 2.

What you will need:

I used approximately

2 chicken breasts
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 can of Cream of Mushroom Soup
2 splashes of half and half
2-3 oz of cheddar cheese
1 Tablespoon of Parmesan Cheese

Cook Chicken Breasts, mix all ingredients together, top with cheeses and bake for 15 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Next time I will try this with Wheat Germ on top.