Five Minute Ice Cream

Fun for kids and moms (yes, even dads).
It's a good way to get those wiggles out and then have a treat.

Let each kid make their own and put whatever flavors they want into it. It would be a great way to keep the kids busy at a summer play date or barbecue, and the adults are likely to have just as much fun with it too.

 
Five Minute Ice Cream
makes 1 serving

1/2 cup whole milk or cream
1 tbsp sweetener
1 tsp vanilla extract
6 tbsp Kosher salt
2 cups ice

1 sandwich size ziplock bag AND 1 quart size ziplock bag

In the sandwich size bag combine the milk, sweetener, and vanilla extract and seal the bag tightly. In the quart size bag add the ice and Kosher salt. Place the smaller bag into the larger bag and seal the larger bag tightly.

Are you ready?  Now shake the bag as hard as you can (without popping it open) until it becomes the consistency of ice cream. Having a dish towel on hand to hold around the bags made it easier as the ice does make your hands very cold quickly.

It should take about five minutes before the ice cream begins to form, but may take a little longer if you have some slower shakers. 

Serve and enjoy. You can also add other fixings into your ice cream such as fruit or candy. You can add them at the end, but they would be just as good in the mixture.

The above recipe makes one serving, to double the recipe, add double the ingredients in the smaller bag and put 3 cups ice and 9 tbsp salt in the bigger bag)

Polenta

Hey Kelley - remember when I made Parmesan Chicken Breasts and promised to show you how to make polenta?  Sorry it's taken me so long!

Many are intimated by polenta because you’ve heard rumors about how hard it is to make, that you have to stir and stir and don’t step away and you are forbidden to evacuate in case of fire or else you’ll have lumps (in the polenta, that is, I’m not commenting on your personal appearance).

Well, it does take little while to make polenta and you will need to stick around while it’s cooking but there is an easy peasy trick that really does work and your polenta will come out lovely!

The trick is starting out with a ‘slurry’, a mushy mixture of cornmeal and water that you whisk together before cooking. You then put the mixture over medium high heat, bring it to a boil, reduce it to a simmer and gradually add more liquid as needed to keep the mixture smooth and loose.

And what would you top this lovely mixture with?  How about marinara sauce with sautéed vegetables and slices of grilled chicken?  This is a great side dish for any 'saucy' dinner you might whip up.

If you are currently on Stage 1, this is the point where you stop reading, get very sad and come back in a few weeks to try this out - sorry!  (maybe I should have put this part first?  Sorry again!)

Polenta

makes 4 servings

1 cup medium-to-coarse cornmeal

1 cup water (can use broth for more flavor) + 3 more cups

salt

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese (goat cheese is also great in this)

2 tablespoons butter

freshly ground black pepper

Add cornmeal in a medium saucepan along with 1 cup water and whisk well to make a slushy mushy mix; continue whisking to remove any lumps. Then - put pan over medium-high heat, sprinkle with salt and bring to a boil.

Reduce heat to medium and continue to cook, whisking frequently and adding water/broth as needed to keep mixture loose and free of lumps, about 3 more cups. If mixture becomes too thick, simply add a bit more water; consistency should be similar to sour cream.

Polenta will be done in 15 to 30 minutes, depending on grind. Add cheese and butter. Taste and season with salt and pepper.

Friday Flashback-Mashed Cauliflower

Remember, we're pretending that the Friday Flashbacks are more due to cleverness than because of laziness...so please play along at home.

There are a lot of new arrivals to the blog and I'm not sure how far back they are looking so I'd like to spend some Fridays highlighting former posts that I think people would really love to try.  And yes, to give myself a break over the summer. 
So let's continue our Friday Flashback with an easy standby:  Mashed Cauliflower 

Run out to get the ingredients, make it for dinner tonight and impress your family! 

Creamy Salsa Skillet Chicken

In the pan, waiting to be served to my man....

For some reason I am always blown away by myself whenever I accidentally kinda sorta create a dish and it's wonderful!  I'm one of those people that needs a recipe or else I can't function!  I don't know why though, because both my Damma (Gramma) and my niece have that 'throw it all together and it's a winner dinner' gene.  I think it all stems from a childhood trauma in which I forgot to drain the macaroni before I added the glow in the dark orange powder to it and made mac & cheese soup instead....(stop laughing).

Anywho - I was following a recipe when suddenly I was seized by the spirit of adventure and this is what I ended up with.  The family loved it.  And of course, my dear friends, you can spice it up and down as much as you'd like to please your palates.

I was planning on serving this with a Mexican style Cauliflower Rice but ended up serving it over quinoa (Stages 2/3 only please).  After I cooked the quinoa I mixed it with butter and minced garlic and it was a nice accompaniment to this dish.


Creamy Salsa Skillet Chicken
makes 4 servings

2 chicken breasts
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup salsa
1/4 cup Greek yogurt (can sub sour cream) 
4 ounces (1/2 cup) of shredded cheese, Mexican blend
dried oregano

 

Pound each chicken breast until they are evenly thinned out and then cut each breast in half.  Heat oil in skillet over medium high heat and saute the chicken for about 5 minutes on each side.

On the plate, waiting to get ate...

Remove the chicken from the pan, (add more oil if needed) and saute the onions until soft.  Turn down the heat, then stir in the salsa and the yogurt and warm through, then add the chicken back in and make sure the chicken gets all that nice creamy salsa sauce all over it.



Sprinkle the cheese over the chicken and cover until cheese is melted.

Top with a dash of oregano for flavor and a touch of color.

Italian Salad

REVISED - thanks everyone for your input!!
I updated the name; added avocado and suggested some extra add-ins.

Another recipe courtesy of a P10 peep, Karen K. out in Arizona.  Let me tell you, getting to know y’all here on Facebook, even though it’s long distance, its really helpful!  It’s great to know what’s going on with each other and how we’re working the P10 and also, how it may not be working…but with friends like this it's easy to hang out and share ideas.

Karen K. says this salad is “easy, easy, easy.”   She didn't specify amounts so I'm going to guesstimate how much of each ingredient you should use and feel free to alter it to your tastes.

Also, some comments from people who were adding beans to this and/or chicken to make a complete meal - great ideas!!



photo courtesy of Karen K.



Italian Salad

3 tomatoes, diced

1 large cucumber, diced

4 oz mozzarella, diced

1/2 red onion, diced

Greek olives, diced (optional)

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 avocado, diced

1/2 tsp each of salt, pepper, oregano, basil and parsley

Mix everything together in a large Ziploc bag and shake, shake, shake!

Put in bowl, looks beautiful and tastes delicious!

Yummy!

Orange Cake

Look at me trying to be all fancy n stuff!

I was teasing y'all about this the other day on Facebook and let me tell you, it was really good and your family will like it too!  I ended up making a cream cheese vanilla frosting to top it off (recipe later).  Other suggested whipped cream or an orange glaze.  You could even do a chocolate drizzle if that's your thang.

Please make sure you use medium sized oranges, I used large ones and the cake was very orangey....Bubba saw me putting the entire oranges in the blender and he was like....'ummmm hon...the peel's still on there....'

This recipe is courtesy of Elana's Pantry, which like I mentioned before, is a great blog and has a lot of dessert recipes, many of which are P10 compatible.

Print Elana's recipe for Orange Cake.

Orange Cake

courtesy of Elana's Pantry

makes 6-8 servings

2 medium oranges

4 eggs

3/4 cup agave nectar

2 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 teaspoon Celtic sea salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

Wash the oranges and boil them whole (peel and all) for 1 ½ hours, or until soft.

Place whole oranges (peel and all) in a food processor and blend until smooth.

Process in eggs, agave, almond flour, salt and baking soda until well blended.

Pour batter into a greased 9-inch round cake pan.

Bake at 375° for 45-50 minutes, until a toothpick stuck in the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 2 hours

Serve.

Shrimp and Mango Stir Fry

This sweet and pungent combination of mango, shrimp, chilies and cumin is quick to put together as a stir-fry, alongside Cauliflower Rice or as a topping to a fresh plate of salad greens.  You could also put it on corn tortillas and use it for tacos (Stages 2-3 and complaining family members only).

Once again, feel free to adjust the spiciness according to your tastes and what you have on hand.

Shrimp and Mango Stir Fry

makes 4 servings


2 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound medium or small shrimp, peeled and deveined
2 garlic cloves, sliced
2 teaspoons cumin seeds, lightly toasted and ground
2 Serrano or bird chilies, or 1 large jalapeño, minced
1 large mango, peeled, seeded and finely chopped
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
4 to 5 tablespoons lime juice

Heat a large, heavy skillet or wok over medium-high heat, and add the oil. When the oil is hot, add the shrimp, salt to taste and the garlic. Sauté, stirring or shaking the pan, until the shrimp begins to color, about two minutes. Add the cumin, and continue to cook until the shrimp is pink and opaque, about three minutes. Add the chilies, mango and cilantro, and stir together for one minute. Stir in the lime juice, and remove from the heat. Taste and adjust seasonings.

Serve immediately.

Friday Flashback-Wheat Free Pizza

I'm going to pretend that the Friday Flashbacks are more due to cleverness than because of laziness, so please play along with me. 

There are a lot of new arrivals to the blog and I'm not sure how far back they are looking so I'd like to spend some Fridays highlighting former posts that I think people would really love to try.  And yes, to give myself a break.  For a while there I was cooking something new every night to keep up with y'all and since P10 has given me all this lovely energy and health, I'd like to spend some of that outside or having fun (did that just come from MY mouth? P10 does work miracles!).

So let's start our Friday Flashback with Wheat Free Pizza, a favorite Wheat Belly recipe. 

Run out to get the ingredients, make it for dinner tonight and impress your family! 

Lemon and Garlic Spinach

Confession time - My name is Joley and I am a spinach-aholic.  Especially creamed spinach and spring green saag.  My coworkers know all they have to say is 'saag' (pronounced 'sog') and we're out the door to Indian food.    I've even been caught mixing the creamed spinach into my eggs the next morning....

My spinach either has to be cooked or completely blended into a smoothie - eating the raw leaves just doesn't do it for me.  Is anyone else like that?  It's not the taste, it's a texture thing.

So here's a quick and easy way to heat it up and enjoy a quick side dish.


Lemon and Garlic Spinach
makes 4 servings

4 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
1 lb fresh spinach, torn or shredded
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat.  Add the garlic and spinach and cook, stirring constantly, until the spinach is softened.  Take care not to let the spinach burn.

Remove from heat, turn into a serving bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice (don't overdo it, you may not want it all) and season with salt and pepper.  Mix well and serve hot or at room temperature.

This is what it looks like vertically, in case you're curious....

Cheesy Zucchini

Almost every other day we get 'health tips' from the Admin on the Perfect 10 Facebook page; most of these aren't 'tips' so much as advertisements to use the P10 diet and to stay away from other diets; which is a little like preaching to the choir, but whatever works, you know. 

So, I do stay away from those other eating plans - BUT - I do take a look at their recipes, because let's face it, we can use all the ideas we can get.  And like a donkey, we spit out the sticks and eat the hay (old country saying).   So I'll confess that I cruise the low carb and vegetarian recipe sites for inspiration and ideas and so should you!   I like the challenge of saying 'how can I make this the P10 way?' 

So, off the soapbox and onto the recipe, which would be great as either a main course or a side dish.  Especially for those of you who are hip deep in zucchini right now (send me some!).


Cheesy Zucchini
makes 4 servings

4 medium zucchini, washed
2 tablespoons olive oil
4 oz mozzarella cheese, sliced or shredded
2 large tomatoes, seeded and diced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil or oregano

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Slice each zucchini lengthwise into four strips each.  Brush with oil and place in a baking dish. 

Bake the zucchini in the oven for 10 minutes without letting them get too limp.

Remove the zucchini and top with cheese, tomato and herbs.  Return to oven for 5 minutes or until the cheese melts.  Serve warm.

Shrimp Scampi

Shrimp Scampi is another one of those dishes that I think sounds so elegant but is really easy and quick to take from stovetop to table.  And nowadays you can get the shrimp already shelled and deveined and ready to go.  I cheat and buy it in bulk from Costco so I always have some on hand.

I'd probably put this on top of greens myself, but your family might appreciate it served over quinoa or Cauliflower Rice. 

Shrimp Scampi
makes 2 servings

3/4 lb RAW medium sized shrimp, shelled and deveined
6 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon minced green onion
1 tablespoon olive oil
4-5 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons minced parsley
1/4 teaspoon grated lemon peel
optional - dash of liquid pepper seasoning

Pat shrimp dry with paper towels; set aside.  Melt butter in a wide frying pan over medium heat.  Stir in green onion, oil, garlic, lemon juice and salt; cook until bubbly.

Add shrimp to pan and cook, stirring occasionally, until shrimp turn pink (4 to 5 minutes).

Stir in parsley, lemon peel and seasoning.  Serve warm.

Bowl Tacos

This is an accidental recipe.  You know, the kind where you get home and you just throw a bunch of stuff together because maybe you're just a bit tired of putting things on greens and calling that dinner.  Sorry I don't have a picture - we were tired and hungry and ate it much too fast!

I had made a Crockpot Roast Chicken the day before so there was still plenty of that to go around and needed to be used up before we went on vacation.  So I just looked in the fridge and pantry and threw this together.  You can adjust it any way you want, depending on what other taco fixins you like.

Bowl Tacos
serves 2

1 can refried beans (I like Rosarita's vegetarian)
taco seasoning
large handful (about a cup) of cooked shredded chicken
cheddar cheese
salsa
sour cream

You'll need two microwave safe bowls.  Scoop about 1 cup of beans into each bowl, cover with a paper towel and heat in microwave until warm.  Remove from microwave and stir in taco seasoning to taste and mix in the chicken.  Return to micro for about another minute or two to warm up, remove and top with cheese.  I put a lid over the bowl to make the cheese melt.  Top with salsa and sour cream and serve.

Now that I'm typing this I realize I could have added any or all of the following:
olives, shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, or avocado.  So maybe you could think of that ahead of time and learn from me.

PS:  I really wouldn't have put olives in them though 'cause we all hate them....

PPS:  I just now figured out that this recipe is essentially a bowl of taco dip....but what the heck - it's still good for dinner!

Muffin in a Minute - MIM

Okay, I suppose I've had enough time to recover from my vacation.

This is my last day of repeats (for now, I reserve the right to do this again in the future!)

I plan to be back on Monday and hopefully with some new recipes!

This is a quick easy and VERY versatile breakfast - or lunch - or dinner, depending on what you do with it.

Give it a try - Muffin in a Minute - MIM

Shepherd's Pie (aka Superman Pie)

Here's a repeat of a recipe I posted about an old childhood favorite of mine - but revamped to be healthy and P10 compatible.  Hope you enjoy it!

Fly to this link to try Shepherd's Pie (aka Superman Pie)

Cashew Crusted Chicken

Almost done wrapping up my time away from the blog and recovering from my travels.

If you haven't tried this, I bet you'll really like it!  Easy and delicious!

Click here to try this recipe - Cashew Crusted Chicken

Zucchini Tots

Still trying to recover from vacation and hoping you'll really enjoy this repeat of a recipe that I know your family will love - even the kids!

Click here for crunchy goodness - Zucchini Tots

Unstuffed Cabbage

Today is my last day of vacation - so I'm on most likely on a plane today on my way back from Iowa. 

I hope you're still with me!  Have you missed me?

Another repeat of one of my favorites today and the rest of this week, 'cause I'm gonna be swamped trying to get back into gear. 

My family and I love this one:  Unstuffed Cabbage

Almond Flour Banana Nut Bread

Yes, I'm still out of town and I hope that I'm still on track - here is a great breakfast recipe that I want you to make this weekend and freeze the extras for quick breakfasts throughout the week.  Because it doesn't contain grain, it's great for Stage 1.

Click on the yumminess - Almond Flour Banana Nut Bread

Butternut Squash Soup

I'm on vacation out of state for about a week and it'll take me another week to recover, so the next few weeks will be oldies but goodies - repeats of some of my favorite recipes!

Wander out to the Farmer's Market soon and pick up a butternut squash to make this soup.  Remember you freeze the leftovers.

Click on this link:  Butternut Squash Soup

Grain Free Burger Bun

I'm on vacation out of state for about a week and it'll take me another week to recover, so the next few weeks will be oldies but goodies - repeats of some of my favorite recipes!

Happy Fourth of July! 

We are celebrating our independence from feeling yucky and heavy by working the Perfect 10 Diet.  So, for those of you who might want a burger today - try this bun!  It's perfect for Stage 1 AND it tasty.

Check it out - Grain Free Single Burger Bun

Roasted Veggies

I'm on vacation out of state for about a week and it'll take me another week to recover, so the next few weeks will be oldies but goodies - repeats of some of my favorite recipes!

Let's revisit the most popular post on this page:  Roasted Veggies

This would be great with your BBQ tomorrow!

No Noodle Vegetable Lasagna

Yes, you heard that right!  You are experiencing deja vu -

I'm on vacation out of state for about a week and it'll take me another week to recover, so the next few weeks will be oldies but goodies - repeats of some of my favorite recipes!

Let's start off with the very first recipe I ever posted:  No Noodle Vegetable Lasagna