Ideal Protein Phase 1 Low Carb Breakfast Casserole

Low carb doesn't have to = no happiness!

This weekend we had company staying with us.  One of my favorite go-to breakfast options for larger groups is breakfast casserole.  Prepared the night before, I love that the only work I have to do in the morning is pop it in the oven!  I wanted to be able to enjoy a similar warm breakfast too so I decided to attempt a breakfast casserole that would be Idea Protein phase 1 friendly.  Low and behold it worked!  It looks and tastes just like the real deal, you'd never guess it wasn't filled with cheese.

I am terrible about just making things up so I rarely follow instructions to a T and don't always write down what I did but I tried to keep pretty close track this time for the sake of being able to share the awesomeness with my fellow breakfast lovers on the IP plan.

IP Breakfast Casserole:
2 small Rutabagas or Turnips (baseball size... or one large)
1 Ideal Protein Broccoli Cheese Soup packet
2 Whole Eggs
2 Egg Whites
5 oz Turkey Breakfast Sausage (lean)
Suggested seasonings (amounts based on personal preference):
Garlic
Onion Powder
Salt
Pepper

Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees. Grate rutabaga/turnip with largest size on grater.  Spray a loaf pan/muffin pan/tart tins (6), with Pam spray.  Press grated veggie into the bottom of your pan(s), this will form the crust. Once in the pans, spray the top of the crust with Pam spray and put in the oven.  Bake at 400 for approximately 7 minutes til slightly crisp or until as crispy as desired.  Watch closely so it doesn't burn.
Cook your turkey sausage in a pan on the stove top draining off all grease.  Once cooked, top the cooked turnip crust with the sausage.  In your shaker mix your broccoli soup packet with 4.5oz of water or low sodium chicken broth for added flavor.  It should be a bit thick!  Add desired seasonings to soup mix and shake again.  In a separate bowl beat together the 2 eggs with the 2 egg whites until well mixed.  Add the soup mix to the bowl with the eggs.  Whisk until combined.  Pour mixture over the crust.  You can cook immediately if needed, otherwise cover and refrigerate overnight.  When ready, cook uncovered at 350 degrees for roughly 30 minutes.  Serves 2


I did a half batch and it filled 3 tart tins perfectly.  That seemed like a huge serving for one person yet it only has half a packet an 1.5 eggs plus 1c of veggies! Awesome.

Here is a photo comparing mine with the one I made for the non-dieters that had cheese and hash browns and all that.  Mine is in the tart pan but other than the flecks of broccoli, you can hardly tell a difference!

The really exciting thing about this is that it is full of potential.  Try it with ham, or leave out the meat and pack it with veggies. You could add peppers, sun dried tomatoes, leeks, spinach, whatever you like.  I am thinking next time I'll try it with peppers, sun dried tomatoes, spinach and a little WF Alfredo sauce for a different taste.  Enjoy, get creative and feel free to share what you tried that you enjoyed!

My hubby is thinking he may want to do the IP diet when I finish and I am pretty sure if he had any doubts, this casserole sealed the deal for him.  I had him sample mine to compare to the regular one.  He like it so much he actually suggested that I just make it that way for both of us from now on!  I consider that a successful meal.

Enjoy!

IP friendly Homemade Salad Dressings

One thing we all know (and may sometimes want to roll our eyes about) when it comes to the IP diet is that there is a lot of lettuce involved!  I quickly discovered I do NOT enjoy the Walden Farms salad dressings on their own... I find them beneficial for adding small does to make sauces but find them lacking otherwise.

Needless to say after 11 days and 22 salads I found myself desperate for a change.  I tried making my own vinaigrette which was fine for a while.  (My favorite is to combine the WF Orange spread, diced garlic, cider vinegar, a little salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon plus a bit of water or grape seed oil.)   That got a bit to monotonous so I moved on to using hard boiled eggs and making curried egg salad with the WF mayo to serve over the lettuce.  (1 HB egg + 1 white, garlic salt, lemon juice, curry powder, splenda and a little salt... very yummy.)  After that I started making things into lettuce wraps to get my lettuce that way. :)  That worked for a while but I find myself needing a larger amount of lettuce than the wraps provided.

So, I decided it was time to make my own dressing.  This is a creamy dressing with a rich flavor that tastes very similar to the salads they serve at Olive Garden (just avoid thinking about the bread sticks!)

IP Friendly Olive Garden-Style Dressing

1/4 C. Walden Farms Mayo

2 1/2 or 3 Tbsp White Vinegar - depending on preference

1 tsp Grape seed Oil

1/8 tsp garlic salt 

1/4 tsp oregano

1/4 tsp basil

dash of onion powder

Squeeze of fresh lemon juice

Salt and Fresh Ground pepper to taste

1/2 Parsley flakes (if desired, I omitted)

***I used a dash (less than an 1/8 tsp I would guess) of white cheddar popcorn salt. (0 Carb, 0 Sugar) ***

Blend or shake together until well combined.

This should provide you with enough dressing for at least 4 bowls of salad.  It is simple to double the recipe.  Play around with the spices and amounts to find what you like best and get the added bonus of it being a little different every time.  You can make extra and store in the fridge for up to 10 days, just shake well before using.

*** I do not know if this is considered "on plan" or not.  Mine has zero carbs, and zero sugar for a serving of 1/4 tsp and I figured that when divided out over 4 salads it wouldn't be an issue.  It is technically made with cheese but I don't use the 1 oz of skim milk the plan allows each day so I figure it's probably ok.  I have a message in to my coach to verify and I'll update when I find out for sure!!!

If you like a less of the bold flavor, just add some water or another tsp of oil for a lighter more vinaigrette style which would be great too.

Another possible modification would be to use a bit of the broccoli cheese soup packet (dry not prepared) to add a different cheesy flavor.  I haven't tried that yet because for me this came out perfect.  

The bold flavor of this is perfect for me.  I served it over a large bed of romaine lettuce with chicken, a few bits of sundried tomatoes and some banana pepper rings (the pickled kind in a jar) and it was awesome.  Felt like a total splurge.  This salad is a GREAT option for taking to a gathering or potluck because there is nothing about it that seems like diet food, it is easily enjoyed by all.  

Hope you enjoy!

Now for a quick progress report for myself... My week one weigh in didn't go as I expected.  I seem to be the only one who didn't drop crazy amounts of weight the first week.  But then today I checked back and the scale had budged much better!  I have lost 5lbs in my first 10 days!!!  I love this plan, have been enjoying the foods, feel better and don't feel deprived.  I was able to cook enough food for an army this past week to serve some out of town company and I didn't have a single taste test!  I even took my niece and nephew out for ice cream without caving!  Feeling proud and successful and excited to see how things are looking by the end of the month!

That's all for now, have a joyful day.

Taking it Beyond the Packet

Greetings!

I am a true-blue FOODIE that adores cooking and eating.  Making food for people is a way for me to express love and is my type of Art.  So it's kind of a big deal to be making a drastic change to my diet and therefor to the meals I'll be preparing.  However, that is exactly what I am doing.  I have started the Ideal Protein diet as a way to jump start weight loss to get healthier before expanding our family!

I am nervous, excited and of course a little apprehensive about this journey!  I probably could have described it better last week since today is actually Day 11 on the IP plan for me.  It didn't take me long to settle in and find myself enjoying the plan.  I have been very pleasantly surprised about how much I enjoy some of the foods, but of course I feel the needs to play around and style some things up!

As I embark upon the adventure of the Ideal Protein diet, I will be testing out a lot of recipes.  This will serve as a place for me to share some of those recipes, track my progress and possibly even to help others who are struggling for motivation to shake up their meals a little.

I begin not having a clue where this will lead but knowing that not enough fun stuff exists (that I and my good friends Google and Pinterest could find anyway) for those of us foodies that are on Ideal Protein!  The official Ideal Protein cookbook will clearly be a great resource but that really only covers Dinner... I need MORE.

So here goes... join me for the journey Beyond the Packet!

***By the way for those of you wondering, the blog title stemmed from a long time dream of having a funky soup, sandwich, coffee type of shop called De Jour that would focus on its specials of the day.  Allegria means Joy in Italian (one of my favorite types of cuisine!)  So there you have it, Joy of the Day.

Here's hoping you find Joy in some of my IP recipes De Jour!