Loaded Burgers

We can't have buns on this diet, so it's tough to want to put a lot of fixings on top of a burger when you know you're going to end up eating it with a fork, it just gets to be a hassle. So I decided to start putting my fixings IN my burgers.

I use a pound of ground turkey and it is just right to feed all 4 of us, but depending on your family, you may need more or less...
About a teaspoon and a half of Worcestershire sauce
Seasonings to taste
Diced jalapeno (About a half of a pepper)
Minced garlic (About a tablespoon)
If you like sautee'd onions, go ahead and cook some up and then dice them to add to your ground turkey. I don't, so, I don't.

Mix it all together, form your burgers and cook em up! I've also though about adding mustard to the meat before cooking it, but I'm not a big mustard fan like the rest of my family, so I haven't gone there just yet. It still goes on top of their burger...it's not like it's hard to cut...

Spicy Chicken Soup

The kiddos weren't home for this one, but the hubby loved it, and so did I! I think the kids would have liked it, but they are used to spicy...

2 chicken breasts (Boiled and shredded or finely diced)
1 box of chicken broth (I go organic low sodium)
2 cups of water
7 oz can of diced green chilis
10 oz can of Rotel (tomatoes with diced green chilis, but it really pays to go brand name on this, the store brands are too Italian-y(?)
1/3 - 1/2 of each type of onion diced, white, yellow and red
Jalapeno to taste
Cumin
Johnny's Seasoning
White Pepper
Touch of Cayenne Pepper and/or Chili Powder

If you can eat corn and aren't worried about the carbs, by all means, add corn.
We also thought that some pinto beans would be super tasty in this and may allow you to use less chicken (cost savings) but they're too high in carbs for our diet, so I didn't go there either.
It does have a good kick to it, but of course you control how hot it gets. I think this would be perfect for a really cold winter day after playing in the snow, or when you're sick and need to clear out your sinuses.

17 Day Diet Recipes

Ok here goes, the 17 day diet is fairly restrictive in phase 1, but here are some of the things we've been enjoying:


Breakfast
Real Eggs - It's an egg substitute made with 99% egg whiles that actually tastes like scrabled eggs. A little more expensive, but worth it for the hubby's cholesterol, and my egg yolk intolerance. Sold at Costco, you get 6 little cartons of the stuff, but it goes pretty quick when you're feeding 2 people. We use them to make omlets, add leftover taco meat to make it a crazy scramble, or just make good old fashioned scrambled eggs. Sometimes my hubby eat real, whole eggs, which you are allowed on the diet, but he has borderline high cholesterol, so I've told him no more than 4 yolks a week to try and get his numbers down.

Yogurt - I only buy Lucerne Plain Fat Free Yogurt because EVERY other bottle I've looked at contains High Fructose Corn Syrup (aka, double sided sticky tape for fat) and if I'm dieting, I refuse to eat the stuff. No point in sabotaging myself from the get go. So anyways, Lucerne Yogurt, between a half cup and a whole cup (you'll figure out how much you need), mixed with an equal part of frozen berries. I defrost and then slightly heat the berries just to take the bite off the cold yogurt. If the berries are tart, I'll add some stevia to take the edge off.

Lunches and Dinners
These really are interchangable...I try and make lunch the bigger meal, but it doesn't always happen. The three things I've made so far that have been really big hits, I'll post the recipes to separately so you don't have to go through all this rambling every time you need to find them. But so far they are:

1. Chicken and veggie soup
2. Spicy Chicken soup
3. Taco meat (for it's versatility)
and 4. Loaded Burgers