Hi, this is my 6th week (weigh in on Friday)on ideal protein, I have never posted but decided to try it today I have lost 23 pounds and 18 inches. It is working but I am having a hard time this week. I need some recipes to mix it up a bit. I saw someone had posted they were having a taco salad....what did you season your taco meat with? Any other great ideas to mix up different ways to eat veggies would be so helpful. I have been sticking to stir fries with olive oil and soy sauce...getting tired of them.

Congrats on the great losses so far!

If you click on the stickies at the top of the IP forum, you'll find links to some great P1 recipe threads. Also, if you google 'Andover Diet Center' you'll find a ton of IP friendly recipes with pictures.

As soon as you mix it up a little it becomes so much easier to follow the plan! I was in your exact same spot at week 6 and then found the recipes!

This sticky is the one with the recipe threads. Rainbows and FinnStevens are my favorites. There is plenty in there to get you going.

http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/idea...t-threads.html


For the question about Taco seasoning, make sure you read the labels. Most have sugar in them. I make my own using a recipe I found online. Just google taco seasoning recipe.

Hi Amy
Congrats on your success so far!
When I started I did mostly raw veggies but got sick of that quickly!
I season my taco meat with cumin, pepper, garlic, chili powder.
I cook the meat first and then drain any fat. I add a tiny bit of water so the spices will absorb well.

My go-to recipes are the muffins with zucchini (recipe thread #4).
I eat a LOT of stir fried veggies (celery, mushrooms, bell peppers, leeks, bean sprouts) - but it sounds like you're tired of that.
I use cauliflower for EVERYTHING (grated = caulirice, cooked & mashed for mock mashed 'taters') The rice can be made mexican flavor, "fried rice" flavor, or however else you wish to make it!

Also, there is a veggie puree thread. Adding them to soups helped me immensely at first.
I add spinach to my morning chocolate smoothies, too

I LOVE Kale chips & zucchini chips (when zucchini goes back in season!). Some people are making radish & turnip chips. Also you can roast veggies for a different flavor. Search "cauliflower popcorn" and roast cabbage for ideas.

Hope this helps!

Here is the Taco Seasoning Recipe I like:

Taco Seasoning Ingredients:

1 Tbsp chili powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (if you don’t like it spicy add a little less, want more, add more!)
1/4 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp paprika
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp black pepper
Taco Seasoning Directions: Mix everything together, store in air tight container.

Thank you all so much for the recipes and encouraging words. Yesterday was a good day and today is going well, also. I am definitely doing a taco salad tonight! I also tried cinnamon in my vanilla pudding today for lunch and it was fantastic, exactly what I needed for some change. Will try changing things up with the chocolate shake tonight. I do miss fruit and wish we could have that...I keep telling myself soon!

Things seemed a little brighter for me when I discovered that I could cook up jicama to something close to fried apples. It was someone else's thought/recipe, but I will reiterate here how I do it to save you search time:

I slice the jicama as thin as I can without obsessing (I'm guessing 1/4 - 1/8 inch) and make into little rectangles about 1/2 inch or so -- the smaller they are the easier it is to get them to soften. I boil in enough water to cover them for about 20 minutes. Drain, return to pan and add a bit of oil and sautee just until you get a bit of color on them (sometimes I skip this step if I'm not after optimal). Put them into a bowl and mix with 1 (or 2) Splenda packets, cinnamon, and nutmeg (if desired). If you still need to use your olive oil for the day, pour on top. Yum. This is good hot or cold, imo.

Hang in there!

Cook rhubarb to get your fruit fix - making a rhubarb cobbler with the maple oatmeal or just add it to your raspberry jelly. Both delish. Check out all the recipes on 3FC, also there are two facebook pages I really like - an Arizona IP page and FinnStevens - both have lots of recipes with pictures. Check out Pinterest, search for Ideal Protein. More ideas than I have time to try.

I've been doing this almost from the start (I am in week 12). Without variety and great food - I'll never stick with it. Plus, many of the things I am cooking will probably be things I'll need to stick with forever - not just when I get to goal.

As an example, for lunch today I am having the IP mushroom soup which is ok. This morning I sautéed 1 c. celery and 1 c. mixed mushrooms in 1 t. olive oil. Then added rosemary and fresh garlic. Mix up the mushroom soup and stir it into the veggies. Cook for 10 min to blend flavors, stick in a sealable bowl and haul it off to work. Eating it right now with some fresh pepper grated on top and it is DELISH.