How about snacks and dessert for Phase 3?

In Phase 1 you gorged yourself and ate more food than any person should eat in 2 days and took your hCG.

In Phase 2 you ate only 500 calories per day and took your hCG.  At the end of Phase 2 you stopped taking the drops but continued eating 500 calories for 3 days or 72 hours.

Now you have made it to Phase 3 where you can add back everything but starches and sugars.  Starches include corn and potatoes and some beans, so be careful.  Even though you can eat all kinds of different vegetables now, not all are non-starch foods.  Other starches include of course breads and pasta and sugars include cookies and cakes, etc.  However, on Phase 3 you can have almond flour and coconut flour (make sure it is just almonds and just coconut that are the ingredients though and not additional flours).  I found these two flours for a fairly decent price at http://www.amazon.com/Lets-Do-Organic-Coconut-16-OuncePouches/dp/B002O1IEII/ref=sr_1_2?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1319673077&sr=1-2 and http://www.amazon.com/Natural-Almond-Meal-Flour-Pound/dp/B0007NC0T4/ref=sr_1_11?s=grocery&ie=UTF8&qid=1319672757&sr=1-11.  I also searched out the internet and found some different recipes that include these flours such as muffins and pizza crust and strawberry shortcake (links down toward the bottom of this blog).
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On Phase 3, we ate a lot of omelets.  Below is the link for the microwavable omelet makers we used as it is so convenient to make them even for Jared (my husband) at work.  We had one for Jared to take to work and 2 that we left here at the house.  They came in really handy when we got to phase 3… the link is…

http://www.simplysmartliving.com/MiracleWare-Microwave-Omelet-Maker_p_129-390.html

The omelets that we made were:

- Ham, peppers, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, black olives, cheddar and Monterey jack cheese

- spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes and swiss cheese

- prime rib or sirloin, asparagus, mushrooms, bacon and sharp cheddar cheese

- ham and sharp cheddar cheese or Colby jack cheese and black olives

- sausage, bacon and swiss and cheddar cheese and black olives and sometimes mushrooms

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One thing that I majorly missed on the 500 calorie portion was dessert.  I found that we could have Fat Free Sugar Free pudding mix on Phase 3 as well as nuts and all varieties of fruits, so I came up with the following dessert recipe, a sort of cheesecake that is okay to eat during Phase 3 - Yum!

Crust:  Mixed nuts ground very fine mixed with 1-2 packets of stevia and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Filling:  Jello sugar free fat free white chocolate (or cheesecake) pudding with 2 cups milk.

Topping:  Thawed frozen blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries

This recipe is absolutely delicious, especially when you have a sweet tooth like I do – you get to eat ¼ of the pie or 2 slices of the 8-slice pie per serving – ½ cup.  You can do fresh berries on top too…

There are lots of different kinds of puddings that you can use – we tried the chocolate or butterscotch with whipped topping of heavy whipping cream.  You can have whipped cream from the container in small quantities, but using heavy whipping cream and liquid stevia is very yummy!  I would imagine banana or lemon pudding pie and vanilla pudding with bananas sliced on the bottom as part of your base before putting the pudding in the square glass pan and then put the pudding in and add bananas on top of the pudding would be good this way too J!!   I would imagine if you can find a recipe for homemade pudding and used stevia and other non-starch/non-sugar ingredients you could make a yummy homemade pudding as well!

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For breakfast I found a recipe for coconut flour pancakes (link is down toward the bottom of this blog), but also this banana pancake recipe.  Either one is very yummy!

*Banana pancakes are another recipe that we used during phase 3… This recipe is good whether on the diet or not and this recipe is for one serving, so to make more just double, triple, etc…

·  1/2 banana

·  1 egg

·  1/4 t vanilla

·  1/8 t cinnamon

1. Preheat non-stick pan over LO-MED heat.
2. Combine all ingredients in food processor.
3. Pulse 2-3 times.
4. Pour into non-stick pan to make 2-3 pancakes.
5. Flip as needed.
6. When cooked through, top with butter, Stevia, & cinnamon or Very Berry Syrup (just thawed frozen blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries with a little bit of water added before thawing in the microwave – you can mix these berries or have them individually).

TIP: The key to these is cooking them slowly over the lower heat. If you cook them too quickly, they will brown and the middle will not cook. So be patient. :)

Also, these are wonderful to cook up quite a few in advance and then freeze for even easier eating in the future.

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As a snack or quick protein we found meat roll-ups to be another great recipe for Phase 3…

Ingredients: 

One entire 2-oz package of lunch meat

2 tbsp Cream cheese

You will want to warm your cream cheese for 5-10 seconds in the microwave or let it sit out on the counter for 10-15 minutes so as to soften for smearing.  To make your meat roll-ups take one or two slices of lunch meat and smear cream cheese on the one side and rolled up into a tube shape – 4-6 per serving depending on the meats used – I like to do two different meats stacked one on top of the other like one slice of roast beef and one slice of chicken and smear the cream cheese on the top of the chicken slice and roll it all up together – you can do all variations of ham, turkey, chicken, roast beef, beef, etc.

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*Smuckers makes a Natural peanut butter with just peanuts and salt (or you can get your own natural peanut butter from a natural food store but make sure that there is no sugar in the ingreditents list) and they also make a Simply Berry jam that you can have on phase 3 as well, if you want the jam on your banana pancakes or peanut butter on celery or the jam on the sesame melba toast – they make a nice treat… 

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*Easy Peanut Butter cookies – really good with jam on top (kind of like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich without the bread)

1 egg

1 cup creamy natural peanut butter

3-4 packets of Stevia (do this to taste - you may want less or more)
1/2 cup chopped PLANTERS COCKTAIL Peanuts

1 tsp. vanilla

PREHEAT oven to 350°F. Beat egg in large bowl with electric mixer on medium speed until foamy. Add remaining ingredients; beat until well blended.

SHAPE into 1-inch balls. Place, 2 inches apart, on ungreased baking sheets. Flatten each ball, in criss-cross pattern, with tines of fork.

BAKE 10 min. or until lightly browned. Cool 1 min. Remove from baking sheets to wire racks; cool completely.

prep time: 15 min

total time: 25 min

makes: 3 doz. cookies or 18 servings, 2 cookies each

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Below is a list of links to different coconut flour recipes that I have tried.  All of the ones I printed off that I have gotten to try have been excellent.  I have also added a couple of links that I printed but didn’t get a chance to try yet…

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2008/10/17/coconut-flour-pancakes/ - we use the Walden Farms pancake syrup in place of the rapadura/raw honey/maple syrup selection and on top of the pancakes…

http://healthyindulgences.blogspot.com/2009/05/coconut-flour-pound-cake.html - this was absolutely amazing with fresh strawberries and some whipped cream… have only tried it once because it takes a while to make, but very worth the wait…

http://www.freecoconutrecipes.com/recipe_Herbed_Gluten_Free_Coconut_Flour_Pizza_Crust.htm - I am not sure what their idea of small is, but this recipe made a 14” thin pizza crust… you don’t want it thick as the flavor will overpower the pizza (not in a good way), but it is a very good tasting pizza crust at the right thickness… a little extra milk will help thin it a little easier for spreading too…  you definitely want to use the parchment paper – didn’t use it one of the times we made it and it ended up being a mess of thick chunks of pizza crust…

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/breads/r/coconutrmuffins.htm - I never actually made these muffins with raspberries… always used blueberries… a little extra milk makes it a tad bit thinner and you can actually make 12 regular sized muffins… even though it seems like a lot of sugar substitute to use, it actually seems to be what is required for sweetness, but you can definitely play with that part to see if more or less would work… haven’t tried this recipe with just regular sugar when it is time for Phase 4… but I imagine it would be really good…

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2009/01/06/low-carb-bacon-egg-cheese-muffins/ - I have only tried these once and had burnt the bacon, but they were still pretty good with some cream cheese on top…  I imagine not burnt they would be scrumptious… J

http://www.simplycoconut.com/Coco%20Flour%20Recipes.pdf – there are a variety of different recipes in this .pdf file that look really good, I just haven’t taken the time to try them…

http://www.nourishingdays.com/2008/11/sugar-free-coconut-flour-cranberry-walnut-muffins/ - I actually haven’t gotten a chance to try these ones either, but they sound very yummy…

http://www.cheeseslave.com/2008/11/26/coconut-flour-bread/ - with the pound cake I linked to up above being so yummy, I didn’t actually try this bread as I knew the other one would be sweeter, but you can sure give it a try…

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You can have sugar free candy in moderation and sugar free ice cream in moderation during Phase 3 as well, but be very careful and limit yourself - make it a reward to yourself for exercising and choosing good foods for your body throughout the day.  By training yourself in the best ways to eat now, you will maintain your new weight for the long haul and not have to do this diet again.  Definitely exercise at least 15-30 minutes or more a day too as you go through Phase 3 and Phase 4 and continue maintenance exercise for life.  One article I read the other day said something to the effect of, "We think we have found the fountain of youth - exercise!"

Just as with anything, when coming off of this diet and gradually adding back everything, you want to eat everything in moderation.  It is hard not to want to eat everything just because you can, but limit yourself.  If you can gradually add back everything but starches and sugars for three weeks and then very gradually add back starches and sugars in Phase 4 for three weeks, you should maintain your new weight within 1-2 pounds.  You WILL have reset your metabolism at that point and you WILL maintain your new weight because you know how to eat right and exercise!

Best of Luck!

Melinda :)