Atkins and Paleo Challenge Box Set (10 in 1): Over 400 Atkins and Paleo Recipes With Pressure, Slow Cooker and Cast Iron for Busy People (Atkins Diet & Paleo Recipes) (26 page)

The Atkins Diet is built upon a low-carb, three phase system first developed by Dr. Robert Atkins. Making changes to your physical body doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor or settle for a less than filling meal.

1.             
   Detailed recipes for Atkins Diet compliant breakfast, lunch and dinner
   

Please note that the below recipes are all single servings.

2 large eggs

2 Tablespoons sour cream

1/2 cup chopped zucchini or yellow squash

1/4 cup shredded cheese

Cook beat eggs and combine with sour cream. Julienne zucchini or yellow squash  and sauté in oil for approximately two minutes. Once tender add egg and sour cream mixture and cook. Top with cheese.

2 large eggs

1/2 Hass avocado

1/2 small tomato, chopped

Cut avocado in half and remove pit. Wrap half avocado in tin foil and place on broiler sheet. Break whole egg into center of avocado. Top with chopped tomato and broil for three to five minutes at 350 degrees. Sprinkle paprika for added flavor.

1 Low carb tortilla

2 slices turkey bacon

1/4 onion

1/2 small tomato

1/2 red bell pepper

Cook turkey bacon till crisp over low heat in oil. Add chopped tomato, and Julienned onion and red bell pepper. Cook until tender. Layer in warmed low carb tortilla and fold for wrap.

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

3 ounces fresh pineapple

20 whole almonds, bland

shredded coconut

Combine all ingredients in blender and puree until smooth. Top with shredded coconut.

Bonus: blend ingredients to create a smooth creamy mixture and freeze for fresh frozen yogurt.

1/2 cup cottage cheese

Fresh blueberries

1/2 chopped banana

Top your cottage cheese with fresh blue berries and chopped banana. Add chopped almonds for an extra boost.

Please note that all the recipes below are single servings.

Light Caesar dressing

1 cup kale

1 cups cooked quinoa

grape seed oil

1 avocado

sun-dried tomatoes

Romaine lettuce leaves

Separate leaves of Romaine lettuce into stacks of two leaves. Julien kale and sauté lightly in grape seed oil and coo. In bowl toss cooked kale, cooked quinoa, diced avocado, sun-dried tomatoes and Caesar dressing.  Spread on Romaine lettuce leaves and roll into wraps. Serve cold.

1/2 cup cooked chickpeas

Feta cheese

chopped shallots

sliced cucumber

lemon juice

olive oil

pita chips

In a bowl combine the chickpeas, cucumbers and feta. In a separate bowl combine olive oil, lemon juice and shallots. Let sit for flavors to mix. Pour over salad and mix. Top with fresh dill. Serve with pita chips.

1 medium eggplant

2 eggs

finely graded parmesan

coconut oil

2 cloves of garlic

1 small tomato

1/2 small red onion

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1/2 avocado

olive oil

Slice eggplant lengthwise. Whisk eggs and garlic together. Dip sliced parmesan in mixture and then in graded parmesan to coat and fry over medium heat in warmed coconut oil for a few minutes each side or until browned. In separate bowl combine chopped small tomato, chopped red onion, lemon juice, chopped avocado and olive oil. Top fried eggplant with salsa mixture.

1/2 avocado

2 tablespoons coconut milk

lime juice

1/3 cup cooked quinoa

2 tablespoons chopped cilantro

3 asparagus stalks

1/4 cup green peas

1 medium zucchini

1/2 cubed feta

In food processor combine avocado, coconut milk and lime juice to create salad dressing. Julienne the zucchini. Boil asparagus and peas until tender and cool. Toss zucchini, asparagus, peas, quinoa, cilantro and cubed feta and top with salad dressing.

1 can tuna in water

1/4 cup chopped lettuce

3 tablespoons diced onion

1/4 cup peas cooked

chopped cauliflower

olive oil

1/2 cup Alfredo sauce

1/4 cup grated cheddar cheese

Boil peas and cauliflower until tender, drain and cool. Sauté onion in olive oil. In the pan over low heat combine cauliflower, peas, onions, tuna and Alfredo sauce.  Let sauté over low heat. Top with cheese.

1 1/2 pound skinless chicken

1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth

2 tablespoons soy sauce (reduced-sodium)

1 tablespoon grape seed oil

1 bunch asparagus

6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh ginger

3 tablespoons lemon juice

Season chopped chicken with salt. In a small bowl combine soy sauce and chicken broth.  Cook asparagus in a non-stick pan over medium heat in oil for three to five minutes or until tender. Remove and set aside. In same pan add chicken and cook thoroughly. Remove and set aside. Pour in soy sauce and chicken broth mixture, lemon juice, garlic, and ginger. Bring to a boil. Place chicken and asparagus back in bowl and mix into mixture. Services two to three.

2 large boneless chicken breasts

1 tablespoon olive oil

1/4 cupped chopped onions

2 slices prosciutto chopped

1 whole fresh pear peeled and chopped

2 ounces brie cheese

cooking twine or tooth picks

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Prepare you chicken to be stuffed by cutting along the side lengthwise with an incision deep enough to separate the two sides. In a skillet heat oil and cook pears (season with salt if you wish) until tender. Add onions and prosciutto until crisp and tender. Remove from heat and set aside. Divide stuff and place in chicken with slices of brie cheese. Secure with cooking twine or tooth picks and place on baking sheet. Cover with tin foil and bake for 30 to 35 minutes with stuffed side up. Serves about 4.

3 cups cooked shredded chicken or 2 cans tuna in water

6 ounces cream cheese

1/2 cup salsa (use the salsa recipe included in the Fiesta Eggplant lunch selection)

1/2 cup shredded cheddar

1/2 cup chopped baby spinach

Low carb tortillas

vegetable oil for frying

In large bowl mix chicken or tuna, cream cheese, salsa, cheddar and spinach. Fill in tortilla with generous amounts of mixture and roll. Set aside on platter.

In large skillet heat enough oil to fry. Add stuffed tortillas and brown on each side. Serve cooled.

1 white onion

1 butternut squash, seeded and peeled

1 pound baby carrots

1 sweet potato, chopped and peeled

2 celery stalks chopped

3 cups vegetable broth

1 bay leaf

2 cups chopped kale

Add all chopped ingredients (except kale) and bay leaf into slow cooker and cook on low for six hours or until vegetables are tender. Remove bay leaf and stir in kale. Cook until kale is wilted. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

3 bell peppers halved and seeded

1/2 cup chopped mushrooms

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 pound ground turkey

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook turkey in skillet over low heat until browned. Add mushrooms and cook till tender. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stuff halved bell peppers with turkey and mushrooms. Top with cheese. Cover with tinfoil. Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until bell pepper is firm yet tender.

So far in this book you’ve learned some time-saving tips and tricks and how to build a schedule to allow you to get a better handle on where you time is spent. You’ve also picked up some tasty recipes for breakfast, lunch and dinner which hopefully you’ve prepared by using some of those food prep tricks you learned in chapter 1.

And through it all you’ve been learning about how to incorporate your own personal likes and strengths into this exercise. But keeping yourself goal oriented is about more than just making sure you are making the most of the tools available to you. It’s also about personalizing the experience so that you feel fulfilled and happy as you work towards a healthier lifestyle.

Change doesn’t come overnight. And often it doesn’t come in the form we expect or plan for. The biggest secret to success with the Atkins Diet is to be flexible in your expectations and determined in your goals.

The next sections will walk you through some important things to consider when setting not only weight loss goals but time-saving goals, and how to take the time you are devoting to cooking healthy and satisfying recipes and convert it into time well spent on “inspired” meals.

American author Henry David Thoreau wrote: “What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.”

You’ve set an end goal to become a healthier, more physically fit individual. What you achieve as you move toward that person you wish to become are great success. But to get to the end goal you need a plan. This is where short term, realistic goal setting comes in.

Don’t let yourself become discouraged if your weight loss goals aren’t moving at the pace you expected. Instead, take a step back and reevaluate what you’ve accomplished so far and how you can capitalize on that accomplishment to keep the momentum going.

The same goes for your time-saving goals. Remember that incorporating time-saving practices into your already existing schedule is the best practice. Experiment with what works for your own personal routine and discard what doesn’t. Keep yourself motivated by trying new things and tweaking those that don’t work well to better suite your needs. Take a moment to write three short term goals in your time-saving journey. This will work as your guide to assess how well you are adapting and incorporating new habits into your lifestyle.

This endeavor is also a financial investment on your part. Make sure you’ve covered all your basis when it comes to investing financially in your weight loss goals. Set a budget and stick to it. Make your goals fit into your budget and be flexible. 

My aunt Ida always smelled of oregano and gave the sloppiest kisses as greetings when I was a child. Since then I’ve had a hard time stomaching the smell and taste of oregano in anything I prepare or consume.

We all have our own pet peeves when it comes to food. What’s great about the Atkins Diet is our ability to make as flexible as we need to create flavorful and individual meals.

Finding your Zen means you become focused on the task at hand, find fulfillment in completing it and do it with confidence and skill. Not everyone finds their Zen quickly. But when they do, what they create is “inspired.”

So how do you find your Zen in the kitchen as you cook Atkin Diet approved recipes? Easy. Add your own personal touch. If you prefer cilantro to paprika, make the switch. If avocado isn’t your thing, try butternut squash.

Experiment with the flavors that are available to you. You never know if what you discover is the next big thing at your family’s dinner table. And take risks. Not every meal you prepare is going to come out five star perfect. But taking risks and learning when something goes right or wrong is part of landing in your Zen zone.

Have confidence in yourself and what you can accomplish. You’ve come this far in your journey — it’s time to take a step further.

Zen author Eihei Dogan wrote about finding Enlightenment in the simplicity of a kitchen. Use your time inside your home kitchen to refocus on your goals and think about what the change in lifestyle has meant to you. Use that time to refresh yourself and let it provide motivation to continue.