Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies- Phase 3

Almond Flour Shortbread Cookies
Phase 3
Makes 6 standard servings of healthy fat


1 cup blanched almond flour 
2.5 T xylitol or stevia/monk fruit equivalent
2 T virgin coconut oil, melted
1 T water
1/8 tsp fine sea salt

1/4 tsp alcohol free vanilla or almond extract OR 1/2 tsp lemon/orange/lime zest

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a bowl, combine all of the ingredients, and stir to combine well.
Shape dough into twelve 1-inch (2.5 cm) balls. Space the cookie balls 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheet. Flatten to about 1/2 inch thickness with a fork or bottom of a glass.

Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes until golden. Cookies will seem soft while they are hot but will firm up as they cool.
Remove from oven and cool on the baking sheet for 10 minutes. 

Transfer to a wire cooling rack and allow to cool completely

Store in the fridge

2 cookies are a standard serving of healthy fat in p3

Stuffed Bell Peppers - Phases 1 & 3 (can be made vegan)

Stuffed Bell Peppers
Phases 1 & 3
Makes 4 standard servings of protein and a serving of grain each

If your peppers are large enough, you can cut the top off, core and stand them up in your baking dish. They will need to be big enough to hold 1 cups of rice, plus the protein and veggies in the filling. Dice up the tops, and add to the onion and carrots to cook. 

For Phase 3 breakfast or dinner, use quinoa and use half the amount. Top with compliant vegan cheese, if you want, for a healthy fat. 

For another variation, use half homemade sausage and half ground beef

1 lb lean ground beef or turkey or ground chicken OR 2 cups cooked black beans
Sea salt
4 large red, yellow, or orange bell peppers, cut in half from the stem to the bottom and cored
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup shredded carrot
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning (more if you like)

1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sea salt
1 cup tomato sauce
1 cup finely diced tomatoes, canned or fresh
4 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa

Preheat oven to 425F

Line a 9x13-inch baking dish with parchment (8x8 pan if you are not cutting the peppers). Place the peppers, cut side up, in the baking dish. Sprinkle with sea salt and some black pepper, if you like. Roast the peppers for about 10 minutes, until slightly browned and starting to get tender-crisp. A bit of liquid will accumulate in the bottom of the peppers; that's okay

Cook onion and carrot in a non stick skillet, adding a splash of water and pinch of salt, until onions are  transluscent. Add the garlic and cook 1 minute more; do not brown. Add the protein you are using, spices, and a healthy pinch of salt and black pepper. Increase the heat to medium high. Cook, breaking the meat up, until the meat is browned and almost cooked through, 4 to 5 minutes. If using black beans, just stir to mix in spices and warm the beans. Add the tomato sauce, diced tomatoes, and nutritional yeast and bring to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, until the meat is cooked through, 2 to 3 minutes. Add the cooked rice. Remove the skillet from the heat. Taste the filling and adjust any seasoning.

Spoon the filling evenly into the peppers. Roast for 10 to 15 minutes, until the filling is hot and the peppers are the softness you want.

Serving is 2 halves or 1 whole pepper. Add more veggies on the side.

Fruit Compote- Phases 1 & 3 (v)

 

Fruit Compote is super easy and quick to make, and a great addition to pancakes, waffles, toast, biscuits, oatmeal. Very versatile.

You can use peaches, blackberries, strawberries, blueberries, cherries, apples, raspberries, mango, pear. Keep in mind that apples will take a bit longer to cook to get soft. They key with staying compliant on FMD is not cook the fruit so much that it goes down in volume. For most soft fruits, you only need to heat them enough to release some of their natural juices, and so the arrowroot slurry will take effect and thicken the mixture. 

This does not freeze well, as the arrowroot will not keep it thick, and the fruit will get super mushy.

Fruit Compote

Phases 1 & 3

Makes 1 standard serving of fruit

1 serving of phase appropriate fruit, chopped or pureed, your choice

Splash of spring water

Sweetener to taste, if needed (pure stevia, pure monk fruit or xylitol)

Spices as you desire- cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, etc (I personally only use these for apples, but use as you like)

Tiny pinch of sea salt

Vanilla extract or paste, optional

Slurry

1 T arrowroot powder

1 T COLD water

Mix together

Place your fruit and water and sweetener and salt in a saucepan or skillet. Heat over high heat until it bubbles. Stir frequently. Add more water if you need- this depends on the fruit, how much juice they release and how much "syrup" you want in the finished product. If you are using water, simmer just until the apples are as soft as you want them. 

Add the spices, if you are using any

Stir in the slurry to the bubbly mixture. Add half, stir and see how thick it gets. Only add more slurry if you want it thicker. Arrowroot does take a minute or so to activate, so gently simmer over medium heat for a minute or two before adding more. 
Once it is where you want it, remove from heat. Stir in vanilla if you are using and serve immediately. 

Avocado Salsa- Phase 3

 

This is great on tacos, or to dip veggies in, or try your hand at some garlicky crackers and dip away! In maintenance, this is great on Mexican Rice. 

Avocado Salsa

Phase 3

Makes 2 standard servings of healthy fat

1 ripe avocado

Half a juicy lime

Pinch of salt

1/2 serano pepper

A few fresh cilantro stems and leaves

Spring water

If you want it to be spicy, use the end closest to the stem. If you want less heat, use the end away from the stem end.

Put everything in your blender and blend until smooth. Start with a splash of water, and add more to blend until smooth. This will not be a thin sauce. Taste and add more salt or cilantro if you need. 

Chai Spiced Apples- Phase 1 and Maintenance

 

This compote is good on toast, pancakes, biscuits, oats. Or just to eat with a spoon. In maintenance, add a spoon full of my Coconut Cashew Butter under the warm apples on you pancakes and enjoy the best breakfast ever!

Be sure to use a cooking apple and not a snacking apple. Granny Smith, Honeycrisp, Gala are good choices, among others, to cook. Red Delicious are not a good cooking/baking apple- save those to eat fresh. 
I like to use 2 kinds of apples- my favorite blend in Granny Smith and Honeycrisp. 

Chai Spiced Apples
Phase 1 and 4

Makes 2 standard servings of fruit

2 cups of diced apples
1-2 tsp Chai Spice Blend (recipe on the blog)
1-2 whole star anise
1 tsp vanilla paste or extract
Pinch of sea salt
Stevia or pure monk fruit
2T Vegan Butter (phase 4 only)

Heat a non stick skillet over medium heat until very warm. Add the spice blend and whole star anise. Stir with rubber spatula for 15020 seconds, to toast, then scrape into small bowl. 

Add the diced apples and return the pan to the heat. If you are in maintenance, add the vegan butter. Add the pinch of salt. Let the apples sit for a minute or so- you want the apple to start to caramelize but not burn. Stir or toss the apples in the pan and allow to lighly brown some more. Add the spices, stir to coat. Then add a splash of water. Stir and cook the apples just until soft. Do not cook to reduce the size/amount of apples. Add vanilla and stir. If you want to sweeten the apples, add as much sweetener as you like. Remove star anise before serving.