It’s late. You just got home from a workout, and the family wants to know what is for dinner. Last night you finished up some leftovers, so you’ve got nothing. The less-health-conscious parent would call for pizza delivery and hit the shower. But not you! This one-skillet, quick-and-easy dish will have everyone eating and happy in under a half hour without exhausting you further.

Smoky Chicken and Rice Skillet http://www.readyseteat.com/recipes-Smoky-Chicken-and-Rice-Skillet-5197.html

• 1 lb chicken, diced
• 4-6 oz turkey smoked sausage, ½” slices
• ½ cup frozen chopped onion – big time saver!
• ½ cup frozen chopped bell pepper – I chopped ½ fresh pepper
• 2 cups instant brown rice, uncooked
• 5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes w/ garlic
• 14 oz low-sodium chicken broth

Spray 12” skillet and heat over med-high. Add chicken, sausage, onion, and pepper. Cook until chicken is no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients. Bring to boil, cover, reduce heat to low and cook 5-7 min or until mixture is of desired consistency. Makes 6 protein/carb servings. While this simmers, toss a baggie of frozen veggies in the microwave to steam for a simple, healthful veggie side.

I didn’t have fire roasted tomatoes with garlic so I just used a standard can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes and added some minced garlic from a jar. It’s easy to add extra spices and seasonings to a dish if you don’t have the exact canned ingredients – and likely save your family a lot of sodium. Feel free to halve the rice and broth too, to decrease the carbs.

Tips to get this and other recipes done even faster:

• Pre chop veggies like onions, carrots, celery, and bell pepper once a week so you have everything ready to go when needed.
• When you buy chicken breasts in bulk, trim the fat and immediately divvy them into smaller Ziploc baggies. Some can have one breast for times you may just cook for yourself or three-four breasts to feed a whole family or have lots of leftovers. I always make at least 2 small baggies of diced chicken for stir-fry and recipes like this. Freeze them until needed and pull out whichever type of baggie you need the night before or morning of.

Remember that we want to limit the use of turkey and chicken “products”. Be mindful of how much turkey smoked sausage you use and think of it as a flavor enhancer, not the bulk of a dish. The smaller you cut pieces of sausage, the more the smoky flavor can be disseminated without using as much. Feast smoky, feast fast, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Next Tuesday is my birthday, and NO birthday is complete without a chocolate cake. I have a cake or two already blogged but sought out another. I have a few chocolate cake recipes I’ve found and in time may try them all. Here’s how the first, and very simple, one is made and how it turned out:

Low Carb Chocolate Cake Recipe http://www.bestlowcarbs.com/article1048.html

• 2 eggs
• ¼ cup Splenda
• ½ cup coarsely chopped almonds
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 Tbsp almond flour
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 4 Tbsp cocoa powder
• Recommended: 3-4 Tbsp sugar-free syrup
• Recommended 1-2 Tbsp water or almond milk

Separate eggs. In blender, blend whites with Splenda. Then blend in nuts, then vanilla, then flour, then soda, then yolks, then cocoa. Blend 2 more min. Bake at 350 for 20 min. Makes 2 fat servings, each with ½ protein (works well on L4 for that reason); however, I would probably only eat ¼ of this at a time which would only have a ½ fat and a ¼ protein serving.

How easy is that? Everything goes into a food processor then into the baking dish! I was curious about using coarsely chopped almonds. It definitely gives this a nutty texture. If you don’t care nuts in brownies and cookies, I’d recommend just using almond flour. It was a little dry – more bread-like in texture. This means it holds up well to cutting a piece and eating it without plate and fork. For a softer cake, next time I’ll add 2-4 Tbsp sugar-free syrup which will add moisture and sweetness. I also doubled the original recipe’s cocoa powder, which may have meant I should’ve added extra liquid – even a little water or almond milk.

Feast for your birthday, feast for your many unbirthdays, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Are you familiar with the Shewman Burger served at Scotty’s Brewhouse? Every burger joint has a bacon cheeseburger (generally my pick!), and jalapenos aren’t totally out of the norm, but what makes the Shewman unique is the smear of peanut butter oozing out just above the bottom bun. To someone ambivalent at best to peanut butter, I was admittedly a bit put off by this concept initially; however, I tried it years ago and can’t help loving it. Recently it occurred to me – why couldn’t I make a meltdown-friendly version?!

I’m posting this between bootcamps because, while it is fitting for the Level 1 plan, I’d venture to say the ability to treat oneself to a slice of Go Veggie! vegan cheddar cheese helps push this mock-burger over the top.

Shewman Burger à la Scotty’s

• 1 lb ground turkey, chicken, bison (makes 3-4 patties)
• 1 egg
• 2 slices turkey bacon, per burger
• 2 slices Ezekiel bread or Ezekiel English muffin, per burger
• Sliced jalapenos (fresh or pickled)
• 2 Tbsp natural peanut butter, per burger
• Slice Go Veggie vegan cheese, optional

Using your hands, incorporate the egg into the meat as a binder. If you’d like to add spices, or finely diced veggies (carrots, onions, bell pepper, etc. easily sneak veggies into the burger), do so as well. Divide and form into 3-4 patties. Grill or cook in a skillet (love my Cuisinart indoor grill!) with the turkey bacon. The turkey bacon will cook faster so keep your eye on it.

While the meat cooks, get Ezekiel bread toasting (always better toasted) and prep jalapenos as needed. I used a fresh jalapeno so I sliced it and sautéed it in a pan. Remove seeds to minimize heat – I like spicy but my fresh pepper was hot so I’m glad I omitted seeds! Ensure your peanut butter is smooth and spreadable (may need to microwave it if you keep it in the fridge). Vegan cheese doesn’t melt as easily so I like to put it on the nearly cooked burger and let it continue to grill or cover a skillet to speed up the process. (I had pepper jack slices on hand.)

Once everything is cooked, simply assemble. Smear the pb on your bottom bread/bun. If it seems like it’ll be too messy, divide the pb onto each slice of bread. Add the burger with optional cheese, turkey bacon, and jalapenos.

Certainly not as greasy or indulgent as the real thing, but an impressive at-home and healthier version of this incredible burger! Feast like Scotty’s at home, feast on the Shewman, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Ok, last week’s blog was beyond simple, so this week I thought I’d do something a bit more involved and see if I could pull off a meltdown-friendly coq au vin without too much trouble. This classic French dish is basically chicken in a wine sauce. I substituted more chicken broth for the wine and did not dredge the chicken in flour, otherwise the recipe remains intact. If you’re looking for something nice to serve the family or company, give this a try – it really wasn’t difficult at all, just takes some cooking time.

Coq au Vin http://shewearsmanyhats.com/coq-au-vin-recipe/

• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• salt and pepper
• 3-4 pound chicken breasts (you may get added flavor from bone-in but remove the skin!)
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• 1 pound mushrooms, sliced
• 3 cups chopped onion
• ½ pound carrots cut into 1” pieces (I made thick coins from baby carrots)
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• ½ tsp dried thyme
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp ground black pepper
• 2 cups chicken broth
• ¼ cup minced fresh parsley
• 1 bay leaf

Preheat oven to 325-degrees F. In a dutch oven or heavy bottomed oven proof pan/baking dish, heat oil over medium-high heat. Salt and pepper chicken on both sides. When oil is heated, add chicken to pan; brown each piece for ~1-2 min each side. Remove chicken and set aside. Add additional oil to pan, scraping up any bits from bottom of pan. Add mushroom and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 min. Add onions, carrots, garlic, thyme salt, and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 min. Stir in chicken stock, parsley and bay leaf. Add chicken, tucking into sauce. Cover and transfer to oven. Cook at 325-degrees F for 2½ hours. If sauce is not thick enough, remove chicken and cook sauce on stovetop over medium-high heat until slightly reduced and desired thickness.

I did a much smaller batch of this, just for myself, in a deep oven-safe skillet. I’m curious if you could just leave the covered skillet simmering on the stovetop for a couple hours – I’m sure it’d be “fine” but perhaps the chicken would dry out or not get the same depth of flavor. I also wonder how it would turn out if you just throw everything into the crockpot for a few hours after searing the chicken and sautéing the veggies (which adds flavor behind just putting raw ingredients in the crockpot).

Back to this depth of flavor – this was delicious! The carrots had softened up, which I like, and absorbed the chicken and broth flavor. It really reminded me of the pork or beef roasts my mom or grandma would make with potatoes and carrots. Magically the carrots were always somehow my favorite part.

Don’t be afraid to get out of your cooking comfort zone – try new things and be willing to expend a little more energy or time when you can. You might just find something amazing! Feast classic, feast French, and as always…FEAST ON!!!
~Coach Lauren

I know this may shock some of you, but this week, I put together a random recipe and it turned out quite well! What’s easier than a quick, few-ingredient recipe using things you find in your pantry and fridge?

Paprika Chicken with Green Chilies

• 2 small chicken breasts
• Paprika
• Onion powder
• Pepper
• Salt
• 1-2 tsp minced garlic, per preference
• 4 oz can of diced green chilies

Heat a tsp of olive oil in a nonstick skillet. Heavily sprinkle paprika on both sides of chicken breasts (I just put them in the skillet and seasoned one side then flipped to do the other.) Add pepper and onion powder, as well as a little salt. Sear on both sides. Add a 2-3 tablespoons of water (this was to avoid sticking and help the chicken cook faster with a little steam but created a nice bit of thick sauce as well). Add minced garlic and chilies, stir them around with the water and any browned bits, and cover. Let chicken cook until it is cooked through – the lid helps speed up the process. (For those sensitive to spice, canned green chilies add flavor with little to no heat. If you like it spicy, add or use a hotter pepper.)

For a heartier, full meal in a single pan, you could add about 2/3 cup uncooked instant brown rice, 2/3 cup water, and maybe a half can of no-salt-added diced tomatoes. In this case, be sure to bring the mixture to a full boil before turning down the heat and covering to ensure the rice cooks. I planned to make smoky quinoa and (turkey) bacon as a side so I just made the chicken to test my recipe idea.

I hope you try this super simple recipe or get creative and just look to your fridge for items that you could throw together to make a delish dinner for the family. Cooking for others doesn’t have to be fancy or time consuming, and staying on plan doesn’t have to be dull and bland. Feed everyone with wholesome ingredients that taste great! Feast smoky, feast garlicy, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Monday was the Chinese New Year. Welcome to the Year of the Monkey! So how about a Chinese dish on the blog? You know when you hit a Chinese buffet (on a cheat meal of course), and they have those crisp-tender string beans that almost make you feel like you’ve found something healthy? Yeah, I’m a fan of those. I also had never actually cooked raw green beans before – unbelievable, I know! I grew up with beans coming from a can, and in recent years have purchased frozen green beans to decrease sodium. So, when string beans were on sale, I bought a bunch and decided to attempt this recipe on my own. They were delicious! I make chicken stir fry all the time so it was nice to come up with a complementary side dish, not that this wouldn’t be great with grilled chicken or any other main dish.

Chinese String Beans

• 1 lb string beans, ends trimmed off
• 6-8 oz sliced button mushrooms
• Chopped onion
• Minced garlic
• Low-sodium soy sauce, or better, Bragg’s liquid aminos
• Olive oil
• Garlic chili sauce or other spicy component, optional

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan, less if you’re doing less beans. Add onion and garlic and let cook until onion is translucent. Add soy/Braggs and garlic chili sauce. (I like to start with a little then add more as the beans get closer to being done. Be mindful of sodium, particularly before weigh ins.) Add beans and toss to coat them in sauce. Cook beans until almost crisp-tender (cover with a lid to speed up the process). Meanwhile, slice mushrooms. Feel free to saute these in their own pan to brown nicely or just add them to the beans 5-10 min before the beans are fully cooked. Taste and season with additional sauce ingredients, as needed. Unless you have a large saucepan, you may need to do this process 2-3 times, or simply make fewer at once. I just like cooking in bulk to have leftovers!

Feast Chinese, feast for the New Year, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Today’s recipe stems from one I really enjoyed making for my family before I joined Next Gen. A friend gave me a recipe for Polynesian Pork Chops that included soy sauce, pineapple, and – the most difficult to replicate – cream of mushroom soup. I decided to attempt my own version, meltdown-friendly style:

Polynesian Chicken

• 4 small chicken breasts
• 1 1/2 cups almond milk – try coconut milk or coconut almond milk!
• 6-8 oz sliced button mushrooms
• 1 cup crushed pineapple
• 1-2 Tbsp lite soy sauce or Bragg’s amino acids
• Optional red curry paste
• Optional arrowroot powder

The easiest one-skillet way to make this dish:

Brown chicken in a skillet with nonstick spray or olive oil. Season breasts as you like with pepper, garlic powder, etc. (salt not needed due to soy/Bragg’s) Once seared, add mushrooms and saute (may require another tsp or two of oil). Add almond milk, optional curry paste, and soy/Bragg’s, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to simmer and add optional 1 Tbsp or so of arrowroot powder to assist in thickening. Allow to simmer and thicken at least 15 min or as long as you can. Stir in the pineapple and adjust to taste – you may need a little more soy/Bragg’s or pineapple for balance.

Last time I made this, I went all out with my process:

I started the milk right away with curry paste and Bragg’s to get the sauce up to a boil. In another pan I sautéed the mushrooms alone so they could really saute well before adding them to the sauce as well as the arrowroot powder, then set the sauce to simmer. In the former mushroom pan, I browned the two large chicken breasts, each cut in half to make four thinner pieces. To speed up the cooking, I put a lid on the chicken and also had a bit of nice sauce created in the pan with the chicken. By now the sauce was starting to thicken, so I stirred in the pineapple and tested the flavor. I added the browned chicken and its juices into the sauce pan, covered it, and let it continue to simmer until the chicken was cooked through. I should’ve taken pics this time - it looked even better too!

I chose to serve this over cooked brown rice. It was quite soupy but good. The remaining three servings each went into a container over ¼ cup cooked rice. The next day when I had more, the sauce had totally thickened and absorbed into the rice – I couldn’t believe it was even MORE delicious!

Whip up this delicious dinner the next time you have to please family and friends who won’t even realize the dish is healthy! Whole skillet makes 4 protein servings, each with a half carb. Serve over ¼ cup cooked rice to fill out the carb serving. For L2’s two-carb meal, you can use a large bed of rice or even top the finished plate with additional pineapple. Feast fruity, feast from the islands, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

For those who don’t already know, I LOVE cinnamon. I also love recipes from Elana’s Pantry because they’re pretty simple and almost always fit well with our nutrition plan. So this week, I have a twist on her blueberry coffee cake, already posted, for this option with CINNAMON!

Cinnamon Coffee Cake http://elanaspantry.com/cinnamon-coffee-cake/

• 1¼ cup almond flour
• 1/8 tsp sea salt
• ¼ tsp baking soda
• 2 Tbsp coconut oil
• ¼ cup sf syrup
• 1½ large eggs
• (add cinnamon to batter! I do!)

Topping

• 2 Tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 2 Tbsp Splenda
• 1 Tbsp cinnamon
• ¼ cup sliced almonds

Grease small pan (this is a halved recipe intended for a 9” round pan) with coconut oil and dust with almond flour. In food processor, combine flour, salt, baking soda. Pulse in oil, syrup, eggs. Spread into dish. Make topping by combining all in a small bowl. Sprinkle over cake batter. Bake at 350 for 25-35 min. Makes 6 fat servings without the topping, 8 with it. To save fat consider sprinkling with just a Splenda/cinnamon mix. Serve yourself a small piece with your morning coffee and a couple eggs cooked to order for a tasty protein/fat breakfast to power your day!

As we progress through bootcamp 29, feast on cinnamon, feast with coffee, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren

Pancakes!!!

Admittedly, before joining NGPT I was not big into sweet breakfasts. I would rather have had a doughnut for dessert than first thing in the morning. Eating a big plate of pancakes, French toast, or a waffle just wasn’t appealing to me. Ok, let’s be honest – I would’ve been thrilled to have a partial serving of one of these with biscuits and gravy, bacon, eggs, and home fries (yipes). However, after I joined NGPT a few mental shifts occurred in regard to sweet breakfasts: 1) I didn’t have many approved options to eat that were sweet, so this was definitely a welcome treat 2) I realized these breakfast items didn’t have to be sickeningly sweet!

One of the very first new and approved recipes I tried after joining NGPT was a pancake recipe I found via Dr. Oz. I looooove my cinnamon toast pancakes so much that I’m often hesitant to try new pancake recipes; however, I was pleasantly surprised with today’s recipe, which uses a carb base instead of the fat base used in the cinnamon toast pancakes recipe.

Swedish Pancakes http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2015/09/24/swedish-pancakes-recipe-healthy-vegan/

• ½ cup oat flour*, loosely packed (50g)
• ¼ tsp salt
• pinch uncut stevia OR 1 tbsp sf syrup
• ½ cup water (-1 Tbsp if using syrup)
• 2 tbsp natural, unsweetened applesauce

* You don’t need to buy oat flour – blend rolled or old-fashioned oats in a food processor until flour consistency is reached. Then measure the flour. I keep leftovers in a small plastic container in my pantry to use up the next time I need oat flour.

Stir together all dry ingredients, then whisk in liquid ingredients to form a thin pancake batter. Let the batter sit 10 min. Spray a pan with nonstick spray very well and turn to medium heat. As soon as the pan is hot, add a ladle of batter the size of your palm to the middle of the pan, and tilt the pan to spread the batter out a little. Turn to medium-low, and heat until the pancake is no longer runny. Then use a spatula to remove from the heat. Repeat with remaining batter, stopping to re-spray the pan as needed. The pancakes also freeze well. These light, flat flapjacks make 2 carb servings – share with a buddy or eat it all as your double-carb meal on Level 2, Day 1 with up to 4 egg whites (remember, no yolks on L2 D1 carb meals!)

So, sometimes our tastes or even the way we perceive certain foods change. Challenge yourself to try a new veggie, fruit, or recipe each week to keep things exciting. I’ve got plenty of Meltdown-Friendly options for you right here with Friendly Feasting! As you test new waters, feast sweet, but feast natural, and as always…FEAST ON!!!

~Coach Lauren