Next morning, we’re walking..its still there & by the next morning, its a joke already..oh there’s the ball!

Sometime the following week, I finally notice the ball isn’t there!?

Oh well, my bad. But I guess I didn’t really want it bad enough.

& I recall how I actually have a deflated excercise ball at home somewhere.

This made me stop & think…and reflect..

I have a ball at home but its deflated. I passed by A full one, but never stopped to pick it up.

Made me think, We are attracted to new shiny objects. Sometimes we pick it up & sometimes we don’t, & may regret it. So once we do..then what?

I made a realization, I did have a ball. I just needed to inflate it. I needed to fill it with air. I have it. I have it within. I have one already. I have the capacity, the power the potential to fulfull this..but never bothered to. Theres soo much we can do, we have the potential to do it. & Maybe all I needed was to see a inflated ball to push me to realize I have the power within to do so many other things..all I need to do is find what it is I want, & do the work- inflate the ball-take action steps & make it happen.

What do you have within that you know or maybe you arent aware- you are capable of?
I never thought I was capable of losing 50lbs, & get to a size smaller than I was on my wedding day? Its hard to imagine that this is possible. Yet I did it! I was capable! I did have it within!!! & I realized that potential. & Guess what.

IT FEELS SOOO GOOD..

Not only that, but you can use this dough to make calzones & other concoctions (like the Shakshuka Pizza, shown below).

On top of it, this recipe is super EASY! Which I love the most.

1 3/4 c low fat shredded cheese (I used mozzarella here)
1/2 c blanched almond flour
2 tbsp cream cheese (I like whipped)
1/2 tsp optional seasonings for crust, like oregano, rosemary or garlic powder
3 egg whites or 3 tbsp egg whites from the carton (I prefer egg whites as it tastes lighter and less “eggy”)

This dough makes 6 servings with 1/3 a lean each and 3 condiments.

Mix the shredded cheese, almond flour and cream cheese together in a microwave safe bowl. Zap for 1 min. It should all melt and you should be able to use a flexible spatula to blend it into a ball. Add the egg or egg whites in. Use your hands if you need to incorporate everything together.

Once it’s in a ball, you’re ready to “roll.” For pizza, roll out to the desired shape. Bake at 400 degrees for approx. 10-12 mins until golden brown. Add toppings and bake until cheese fully melts.

Stromboli

I woke up to a picture of a Stromboli on Instagram, and I said “oh I can do that!” Appearing again here is a modified Fathead dough on plan. Flatten it like a long oval pizza crust with your hands, fill in with fillings, and fold over the sides. Pinch together in the middle. If the dough gets holey, just pinch the dough back together. I baked this for about 20 mins at 375 degrees. Keep an eye on it! Inside here, I sautéed multicolored peppers in olive oil with garlic, and sprinkled some extra cheese inside the crust. I used 2 servings of the modified recipe for a whole Stromboli, and ate half a Stromboli for one serving.

Make the fillings the other fraction of your lean, or have just 1/3 a lean inside and have a spare lean for a Greek yogurt later, it’s up to you. I mention this for those of you who haven’t had to deal with fractions since elementary school !

The recipe will therefore make 3 Strombolis which are 6 servings (split in half – You can eat the whole thing but you’d be over on condiments… unless you go ahead and count them as your optional snack As always, follow your own health plan with your health coach.)

The possibilities are endless with what you can fill these babies with. I also adored my creamed spinach recipe in here! Just sauté a can of spinach or fresh spinach with some leeks; be sure to drain out excess water. Turn off the heat and add in 2 tbsp. whipped cream cheese (count as a condiment or healthy fat) and permit it to melt. Instant creamed spinach.

Add the spinach as a calzone or as a topping to your pizza.

8 cups riced cauliflower (I typically use frozen, but you can also use fresh)
1/2 c oil (I used olive oil)
1/2 c water (I usually put a drop more)
5 eggs
2 t onion powder
2t salt
1 t pepper

Mix all, pour in 9 by 13 pan (or 2 square pans), bake on 450 for one hour and then lower to 350 for another hour.

*I halved the recipe and baked it in a square pan. I used green giant frozen cauliflower, made as per package directions. I used 3 eggs (because I didn’t halve the egg )

I paired it with chicken on the bone made with Walden farms BBQ sauce and it was amazing !

Count this as your vegetable per 1/2 cup, some healthy fat, and if you’re really strict a fraction of your lean (for the egg).

What makes this recipe possible is buying FRESH cauliflower crumbles from the produce section of the supermarket. Green Giant makes a fresh version of its cauliflower crumble that works great with this recipe. Their package is 16 oz by weight, which yields a little less than 6 green servings per package.  If you add a tomato sauce serving of green as your topping plus a few vegetables, you have a perfect lean & green.

Serves 3

You NEED:

A cookie tray or deep dish with a rim to bake  your pizza crust.

Tin foil

Ingredients for the Crust

One package fresh cauliflower crumbles (Green Giant has one that is 16 ounces or 1 1/2 cups raw)

1/2 c Egg beaters from the carton (1/4 a lean)

1/2 cup shredded low fat cheese (1/2 a lean)

1/4 tsp garlic powder (2 condiments)

4 tbsp reduced fat powdered Parmesean cheese (2 condiments)

Topping

2 Tomato sauce servings that are 5g of carbs or less

Shredded low fat cheese

Directions

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line the cookie pan or tray with parchment paper. Mix the crust ingredients all together, and simply pour them into your pan. No need to pat everything down… just let it bake like a very thin casserole. Bake for about 45 minutes until the crust appears slightly charred on the edges. Top with sauce, cheese and vegetable toppings,  and bake again for 5 minutes or enough to melt the cheese.

I’m so excited to share with you an on-plan, low sugar recipe that lets you enjoy “sweet” chicken!

Two Servings
One lean, one healthy fat, 3 condiments

Ingredients
14 oz chicken breast raw, cut into cubes
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp fresh ginger, ground
1 tsp minced garlic
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 c Da Vinci Sugar Free mango syrup

Add garlic and olive oil to pan, sauté 3 minutes to brown. Add remaining sauce ingredients to heated pan, stir to combine and cook on a medium flame until it reduces and gets thicker. When I did it for the first time, I thought I might have burned it, but it was actually delicious! Don’t worry, if you don’t cook so much it still tastes great, just looks more golden yellow than brown, like in the picture.

Add cubed chicken and stir to coat and cook the chicken. Sautée chicken in sauce until cooked through. Depending on cube size, 5-7 minutes. Sample the thickest piece by slicing it in half to see if it’s no longer pink. Do not overcook.

Add shirataki rice, noodles or any combination of vegetables for a full lean & green. I like to sauté my vegetables separately in just Pam and add them together afterward. By flavoring only the meat, you’re maximizing the mileage of your sauce on your tongue, and also learning to appreciate the full clean flavors of your produce.

My family has been demanding that I make this several times this month! Please share if you like it!

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you.

Delicious! Serve with 3.5 oz of a white fish like tilapia or flounder for a full lean & green.

1.5 cups cooked cauliflower rice (the green)
1/2 c shredded cheese (1/2 lean)
2 tbsp low fat cream cheese (one healthy fat)
1 tbsp Parmesan cheese (1 condiment-optional for topping)

Melt cream cheese in a skillet or microwave. Add a dash of salt & pepper. Pour over the cauliflower in a microwave safe dish. Top with the cheese. Melt in the microwave on high for about 1 min. Yum! Comfort food in the cold!

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you..

Really easy and so delicious! Delicata squash is a sweet squash that is on-plan!

Ingredients per serving:

1/2 c Delicata Squash or other on-plan low carb squash, such as kabocha or sweet dumpling

1 tbsp. Walden Farms Apple Butter per 1/2 cup squash

1/8 c.  Eggbeaters

Cinnamon on top

Directions: you can cook the squash by either zapping it in the microwave until mushy inside, or by baking in the oven until the skin looks browned on the outside. Slice it in half, remove the seeds, then scoop out the pulp. Measure the pulp out. Per 1/2 cup of mashed squash, add: 1/8 c egg beaters and 1 tbsp. Walden Farms apple butter. Mash everything together and sprinkle some cinnamon on top (optional).

To make each serving more portion-controlled, bake them each in mini-ramekins.

Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until golden brown on top. How long really depends on the size of your dish. Be sure to check after 30 minutes to see where you are at. A large pan can take up to 1.5 hours.

This version was sweet dumpling squash without cinnamon. Mmmmm….

Per serving: one green, one condiment, and the egg beaters is negligible and need not be counted per one serving.

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you.

The inspiration for this recipe was when three clients in the same week  confessed to me that they just COULDN’T resist the potato kugel that they were exposed to sometime that day. I thought to myself, this is an epidemic. A crisis. It MUST be addressed!

After many experiments and focus groups with eager friends and my very picky husband, I am proud to present to you the “I Can’t Believe it’s not Potato Kugel.” This was made with simplicity in mind, so I encourage you to dig in and get cooking!

Each serving is one green, 1/2 ounce protein, 1.75 condiments

For a full-sized kugel in a round 8 inch pan (Serves 10), I used:

4 1/2 cups turnip
1/2 cup scallions
1 1/4 c egg beaters
5 teaspoons beef consommé

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Shred turnips in a food processor. I like a large shred. Soak turnips in bowl with enough water to cover them with 3 packets of Splenda for 45 mins. The Splenda is necessary to remove the slight sharp bitterness that the turnips naturally have.

Chop 1/2 cup scallions (approximately 3 stalks). Drain the turnips from the Splenda water and add the scallions, egg beaters, and beef consommé powder to the turnips. Pour into a metal pan that is sprayed with Pam.

Bake on lowest rack in the oven for 2 hours or more, until it looks nice and brown and crusty. Mine took 2 hours at 350 degrees on the bottom rack and it could have stood to be in there longer to get even darker.

My husband prefers the crispy crunchiness of the kugel from the sides on the pan, so we prefer to make this as muffin cups at home. An additional benefit to muffin cups are that it’s perfect portion control and it takes about 15 minutes quicker to cook them to get nice and golden brown. Use lots of Pam to prevent sticking.

Each portion contains:

• 1/2 c soaked and drained turnips with some scallions to top off the 1/2 cup (it puffs up in the oven and then will shrink again after cooked a while)
• 1/8 c egg beaters
• 1/2 tsp. beef consomme powder

You can use these proportions to make any size kugel that fits your favorite pan.

It tastes even better with some protein, so I can’t wait to see who makes this into a yapchick (add in some beef for a full lean and green)! Please let me know if you were daring enough to try this recipe in a crockpot!

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you.

One Serving – makes one 1/2 cup all for YOU!

One green, and either 2.5 condiments or one healthy fat (your choice!)

Take 2 Asian eggplants. Bake in the oven at 350 degrees until wrinkly, about 20 mins.

Cut in half, use spoon to scoop out the mushy insides.

The insides measure 1/2 cup. (1 green)

Put into food processor. Place 1 tsp minced garlic (one condiment), 1 tsp lemon juice (.5 condiment), and 1 tablespoon Walden Farms tangy mayonnaise (one condiment) —

OR 1.5 tbsp light mayo (1 healthy fat). Salt & pepper to taste.

I created this recipe because I just LOVE babaganush and didn’t understand why it had to be so fattening when bought in a container. I just love to dip my chicken into this. I also love making mini cauliflower wraps or spaghetti squash wraps and eating my chicken with the babaganush inside them like soft tacos.  Mmmmm!

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you.

Makes 2 servings per recipe and per serving you receive:

**Photo credit: a fan who made the recipe after I posted it online! She swapped out more egg for egg white.

Switch it all to egg beaters (each egg is 1/4 c so use 1 cup egg beaters) to allow for yet another healthy fat. For that side salad!

Preheat oven to 400°

In a skillet over medium-high heat, toss mushrooms with about 1 tsp olive oil for about 5 minutes or until cooked. Turn off the heat and add the spinach, stirring constantly to mix for 1 minute. Pour into a bowl.

Crack the eggs into the bowl with the spinach and mushrooms and whisk ingredients together. Add some fresh ground black pepper to suit your personal tastes and whisk again.

Use 2 mini muffin trays and spray with cooking spray or olive oil. Fill each cup 3/4 full of egg mixture.

Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a minute before removing from pans. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve hot, or chill in the fridge until cold and serve.

Optional: add shredded parmesan cheese on the top of each quiche for some extra flavor. Count it as a condiment.

Inspired by the recipe posted here at the Pescaterian and the Pig 

**I created these recipes as a compliment to my comprehensive healthy weight loss & maintenance plan. Please contact me at gininthekitchen@gmail.com if you’re interested in health coaching! I’m happy to give you a free Health Assessment and explore whether my program might be right for you.