Ideal Protein Recipes – My life (2024)

Another flavourful recipe, thank you Pinterest. I must admit that this was my first time using ground chicken for everything, so I was a bit hesitant. Once you try these little meatballs, you’ll want more!

Greek Chicken Meatballs

IP phase 1 friendly

You will need:
1 pkg of ground chicken
1 spoon of oregano
1/2 squeezed lemon
1 egg
1/2 c minced onion
2 garlic minced garlic cloves
Salt/pepper to taste
Pinch of dried mint
2 Tbs of flour alternative (coconut or almond flour)

1. Pre-heat oven to 350 F.
2. Mix all ingredients above. When everything has been thoroughly mixed, make 1 inch meat balls by hand.
3. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper and place all meat balls, keeping some space between each.
4. Bake for 15 min, then rotate all meatballs and return to oven for 15 min. The meatballs should be thoroughly cooked (you want an internal temperature to reach at least 165f).
5. Enjoy!

As an added bonus, I used taziki sauce (recipe below) for dipping. If your on the strict ip approved only food, I would recommend using a creamy walden farm dressing, such as the blue chees, for dipping.

Taziki Sauce

An noted above, this is not IP phase 1 friendly. Personally, I’ve always maintained some dairy is my IP eating, even in the strict phase 1, without much consequence.

You will need:
1 container of Greek yogurt or sour cream (I much prefer greek yogurt)
1/4 c of crumbled feta
1 tbs of oregano
1-2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 lemon
1/2 a cucumber minced (the best method that I’ve found, is to use the fine side of a cheese grater. You just grate 1/2 the cucumber and get rid of the excess cucumber juice)
Salt/pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients above, and voila, you have some fabulous easy taziki sauce.

Smokey chipotle mole chilli

With fall around the corner (or in the middle of it, if you live in the arctic) chilli seemed like the perfect pairing for the cooler damp weather.

You will need:
Ground beef, ground pork- both extra lean
1 large onion- chopped
1 green pepper- chopped
1 red pepper- chopped
2 bunches of celery- chopped
6-8 Roma tomatoes – chopped
1 jalapeño pepper -chopped
3 cans of tomato sauce
1 can of smoked chipotle peppers
1/2 cup of pure cocoa
Seasonings: garlic powder, smoked paprika, onion powder, salt and pepper.

Step 1: Brown the pork and beef together with chopped onions.

Step 2: add all chopped; peppers, celery, tomatoes. Add all three cans of tomato sauce, cocoa powder, around 6 chopped chipotle peppers, and a spoonful of each seasoning. Cook everything until a low simmer is reached.

Step 3: simmer chilli on low, for 40 min or until all the vegetables are fully cooked.

Step 4: Enjoy! As a little something extra, I add some chopped green onions and a small dollop of sour cream on top.

Craving chocolate!

I made these little chocolate gems last night and they hit he spot!

You need:
1 chocolate drink IP pack (or 1 heaping scoop of chocolate whey isolate)
1 egg
1 Tbs pure coco
1 tbs olive oil or coconut oil
1/2 tsp of baking powder and baking soda
1 Tbs of walden farms chocolate syrup or davinci Sugar free chocolate cake syrup
1 Tbs of vanilla extract
Pinch of salt

Preheat oven to 400f, mix all ingredients to make a smooth mixture. Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper and place spoonfuls of mixture on the sheet.

Bake for 15-17 minutes.

Voila, you have cookies. Pease keep in mind that the texture is lighter then a regular cookie. As an additional benefit, I used the walden farms marshmallow spread as an icing. Some alternatives I’ve seen to this recipe includes adding shredded zucchini to the cookie mixture- I haven’t tried it yet, but it’s on one of my must try Pinterest boards.

One of my recent favourites!

Phase 1 friendly.

You will need:
1 head of cauliflower
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil (I prefer the olive oil spray)
1 oz of milk (use your daily milk allowance for coffee)
1 oz of water
1 oz of cheese (skip a restricted item and use some cheese)
Your favourite seasoning (I use some form of BBQ seasoning or roasted garlic with chives)
A hand blender/food processor or magic bullet

Preheat oven to 400f. Chop cauliflower into small pieces and lightly coat pieces with seasoning and olive oil. Spread cauliflower over a cookie sheet that’s lined with parchment paper. Bake cauliflower for 15 minutes (or until the bottom of each piece starts to look roasted), then turn everything and bake for another 10-15 minutes.

When cauliflower is fully roasted, place contents in a bowl and add milk and water. Use blender and mix everything until you have a smooth consistency. Mix cheese into the blend and voila, you have super yummy smashed cauliflower.

Note: I’ve tried this with steamed cauliflower and it doesn’t turn out quite as good as using rotated cauliflower.

Yum, careful…this recipe is super easy and makes great IP friendly chips!

You need:
3 zucchini
Olive oil
Your favourite seasoning (I used smokey chipotle- I put that sh*t on everything). This would also work well with dill, lemon pepper, or just salt and pepper.
Mandolin
2-3 cookie sheets

Steps:
1 – With a mandolin or a sharp knife, cut zucchini into very thin chips. Layout the “chips” on tea towel and pat dry. Preheat your oven to 225.
2 – Spray/coat a cookie sheet with the olive oil. Lay “chips” out on the cookie sheet and cover with your favourite seasoning.
3 – Bake for 2- 2 1/2 hours. You may need to adjust your cook time depending on your oven, so check on them after 1 1/2 hrs. The trick is to cook them, slow and low. When the “chips” look dry and brown/crispy ( not black) they are ready.
4 – Enjoy!

My IP update: I had my first weigh in this past Saturday, and am up 5 lbs from my last weigh in (prior to my pregnancy). Overall, I gained an inch here and an inch there, but nothing to get discouraged about. It’s a starting point, so it’s ok. Getting back on track is hard, but the benefits of loosing the weight keep me motivated.

I am back on the IP plan, 6 days in following my brief pregnancy. i did forget how famished you can get in the first week of IP eating, so I whipped these little suckers up. This is also a good “make ahead” recipe in case you want a quick protein snack aside from the packets.

You will need:
Whatever number of eggs you think you may eat
Chipotle dry spice
Smoked paprika
1-2 green onions
Salt and pepper to taste
1-2 tbs of miracle whip or walden farm mayonnaise
Pastry bag

Hard boil your eggs:

When the eggs are fully cooked (I usually wait until one or two of the shells have cracked), let them cool. Keep in mind that hot eggs will loose form so it is important that you wait for cooling. When ready, peel your eggs and carefully slice them in half. When sliced, remove the yolk and place in a separate bowl.

In the bowl with you egg yolks, add the chipotle, a sprinkle of smoked paprika, salt and pepper, finely chopped green onion and mayonnaise. Mash everything together and add more or less seasoning to taste. When done, add everything to a pastry bag and pipe ingredients into the egg white half’s. Top the evil eggs with some paprika and enjoy!

Phase 1 friendly

This recipe tastes like an actual Big Mac- very yummy

You will need:
1 small package of ground beef
3-4 dill pickles
Walden farm- thousand island dressing
I head of lettuce
2 green onions
1 tbs IP friendly soy sauce
1 tbs onion powder
1 tbs garlic powder
Salt and pepper
1 tbs celery salt

Brown beef and drain excess fat/gross meat juice. Add onion powder, garlic powder, soy sauce, celery salt and salt and pepper ( easy on the salt)- cook on low for 2 min. Chop pickles and add to beef mixture.

Cop head of lettuce, green onions and place is salad bowls. Top lettuce with beef mixture and thousand island dressing.

Voila, Big Mac in a bowl.

My husband made these lovely chips for dinner, so i had to share.

Phase 1 friendly

Nacho chips:
3 small turnips
Olive oil
Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 400

Peel turnips and thinly slice (a Mandolin would be perfect to use). Lightly coat chips with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Lay out sliced turnip on cookie sheet and bake for 15 min.
Remove from oven and put turnip chips inside of a muffin tin (this will give the chips some shape). Bake for 30 minutest and you have some great faux nachos.

Salsa:
1 each- red and green pepper
1 jalapeño
Salt and pepper
3 tbs Rice vinegar
1 tsp Cayman pepper
1tsp Chili powder

Chop all peppers finely and cook on low in rice vinegar. Add salt and pepper, chili powder and cayenne. Cook until all peppers are soft.

Faux nachos:
Line bottom of pan with some turnip chips, layer with salsa and any other toppings you like (we add chicken), add another layer of turnip chips and repeat steps. Bake nachos on 350 for 10 minute.

Voila, faux nachos – yum

Phase 1 friendly

I really miss my heavy cream based soups, so I decided to make an IP friendly alternative.

You will need:
1 head of cauliflower
1 medium sized broccoli bunch
1 cup chopped celery (I save my celery hearts for soups)
1/2 chopped red onion
1 tbs curry powder
1 tbs turmeric
1/2 tbs coriander
1 tbs paprika
1 tbs chopped fresh ginger
2 cloves of chopped garlic
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil
1pkg of vegetable broth (always check the ingredients to make sure everything is IP friendly or better yet, make your own)

Steam the broccoli and cauliflower.

Sauté onions in olive oil. When onions are soft, add seasonings and stir to roast the seasonings for a couple minutes. This will enhance the flavours.

Add chopped celery to onions and half the broth with a cup of water. Bring the a low simmer until celery is soft.

Purée the steamed cauliflower with some of the broth. Chop the steamed broccoli. Add both ingredients to the celery and onions.

Add remaining broth to the soup mixture and bring to a low simmer for 10 minutes.

Voila, nice and creamy IP friendly curry soup. Garnish with green onions, cilantro, or anything else that you please.

This soup has a high yield, so put some in containers and freeze for a rainy or lazy day.

Phase 1 friendly

You will need:
1 tbs Celery seasoning
1 tbs onion powder
2 tbs basil
1 tbs marjoram
Salt and pepper to taste
1 can chopped Roma Tomato’s
4 peppers- any colour
1 jalapeño pepper
1/2 large red onion
2 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of spinach (fresh or frozen)
Small package of ground meat- I use half lean pork and half extra lean beef
1 zucchini

Begin with roasting peppers and peeling off the burnt skin:

When you have finished roasting and peeling the peppers, chop off the tops and deseed the peppers. Place all peppers upright in a suitable baking dish:

Chop onions, jalapeño, zucchini, and garlic:

Start browning the meat and add zucchini, jalapeño and garlic:

When meat has browned, add chopped Tomato’s and all seasonings. Bring to a simmer until zucchini is soft:

Later bottom of peppers with spinach. Then spoon the meat sauce into the peppers. With the extra sauce, I just add it to the baking dish:

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes.