My HCG Cooking Blog - Favorite recipes and discoveries on my HCG weightloss journey (2024)

Meals like this remind me that I don't have to have a tortilla to enjoy Mexican food. It's delicious and satisfying, and best of all low-carb! Plus if the rest of your family insists on the traditional meal, they can use the same filling in a tortilla, so you can stay on your low-carb diet without having to make two different meals. Score!

Chicken Fajita

Cooked Chicken - I just boil some chicken breast until done, then shred or chop. You can also use leftover chicken if you happen to have cooked extra.

Tomatoes or salsa
Cheese, optional
Sour Cream, optional

Veggies of choice:
Onion, sliced or chopped
Bell Pepper, sliced or chopped

You can also use zucchini or squash if you like. Anything goes!

Mix cooked chicken with fajita seasoning of your choice, or just some garlic powder, cumin, and chili powder.

Saute veggies in butter or olive oil until done, about 15 minutes.

Top shredded chicken with sauteed veggies, chopped tomatoes or salsa, and cheese if desired. Serve!


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This is another version of the P3 Taco Pizza, with chia instead of flax. I also flattened it more and baked it longer, so it made a nice crispy base for my taco toppings. Delicious!

Crispy Low Carb Tostada

1 Tbsp Coconut Flour
1 Tbsp Chia Seeds
1 Tbsp Water
1 Egg
1 cup Colby/Jack, Cheddar or Monterrey Jack Cheese, shredded
1 clove Garlic, minced
1/4 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
Taco toppings

Preheat oven to 350*. If you use a pizza stone, preheat it in the oven as well.

Mix all ingredients well and press onto parchment paper into a circle about 1/8 inch thick.

Bake for 20 minutes. If you didn't use the pizza stone method, bake about 10 minutes, then flip crust and bake another 10 minutes on the other side, or until crispy and done on both sides.

Top with desired taco toppings and serve! I used seasoned ground beef, shredded cheese, lettuce, salsa, sour cream and guacamole.

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Chicken Parmesan

~1 lb Chicken Breast tenders (I used nine)
1/2 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 cup Almond Meal
1/2 Tbsp Oregano
1/2 Tbsp Basil
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/2 tsp Onion Powder
1 Egg, beaten
3 Tbsp Olive Oil

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all dry ingredients in one bowl, and beat egg in a separate bowl. Dip chicken pieces in egg, and then into breading. Set onto baking sheet while oil heats. Heat olive oil to about medium high. Brown breaded chicken on both sides in hot oil, then place in a baking dish. Bake until chicken is cooked through, about 20-25 minutes.

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This recipe and photo are from my friend Melissa who has been part of my HCG support group since I started. Yum! Thanks so much, Melissa, for this super simple and delicious idea!

Cheesy Salsa Chicken

Grill chicken breast. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella cheese until melted. Cover with salsa and serve.

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I made this for a pot luck and it got rave reviews! I love when people can't believe they're eating my "diet" food.

Bruschetta Chicken

2 lbs Tomatoes, diced (4-6 medium tomatoes)
2 Tbsp Olive Oil
2 Tbsp Balsamic Vinegar
2 cloves Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp Basil
2 lbs Chicken Breast, diced
salt and pepper
1 cup Mozzarella cheese, grated

Preheat oven to 350*. Mix olive oil, balsamic vinegar, garlic and basil. Add diced tomatoes and stir to coat. Set aside.

Cut up chicken breast and spread in the bottom of a deep baking dish. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and mix around. Pour tomato mixture over chicken. Cover and bake for about 40 minutes or until chicken in the center is done. Pour off some of the liquid if desired. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and bake additional 5 minutes to melt cheese.

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Today's recipe attempts to up the nutrition factor by adding spinach to the coconut flax recipe. Thanks to Stuff I Make My Husband for the idea! It was delicious! The texture is softer with this one, since some of the cheese is replaced with spinach, but the flavor is great and I think it's worth giving up a little crispiness to get some spinach in.

2 cups Spinach Leaves
Olive Oil
1/2 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Flax Meal
1 Tbsp Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 350*. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well.

Saute spinach in a little olive oil until wilted. Cool and drain very well. I used a papertowel lined tea towel like she did on the blog.

Mix spinach with the other ingredients until well combined.

Press out on a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Pick up parchment and stick it in the oven on the hot stone. If you don't use the stone method, put the parchment on a baking sheet and into the oven.

On the stone, 20 minutes should be enough to cook both sides of the crust. On a baking sheet, bake about 15 minutes, then flip the crust over to bake the other side for another 15 minutes or until it's crispy around the edges and looks done. The spinach makes it look pretty dark so it won't appear golden brown.

Remove from oven, top with sauce, cheese and toppings (meats should be precooked) and return the pizza to the oven to melt the cheese and warm up the toppings.

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Ohhh, this pizza crust was even better than the last! Same basic instructions, but slightly different ingredients. I also added some garlic and basil to the crust and loved it. With just coconut flour, you get the essence of coconut when you eat it, which is not so good for those who don't like coconut (like my husband). The garlic and basil in this crust, plus using only half the coconut flour, completely masked the coconut taste and smell and my husband gave it a thumbs-up. This crust is also a thick and easy to pick up and eat by hand, and the flax makes it feel more hearty.

Coconut Flax Cheesy Pizza Crust (personal pizza size)

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 Egg
1 Tbsp Coconut Flour
1 Tbsp Flax Meal (grind flax seeds in coffee grinder or vitamix)
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/8 tsp Garlic Powder
1/8 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 350*. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well.

Mix cheese, egg, coconut flour, baking powder and spices until well combined.

Press out on a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Pick up parchment and stick it in the oven on the hot stone. If you don't use the stone method, put the parchment on a baking sheet and into the oven.

On the stone, 15-20 minutes should be enough to cook both sides of the crust. On a baking sheet, bake about 15 minutes, then flip the crust over to bake the other side for another 15 minutes or until it's golden brown.

Remove from oven, top with sauce, cheese and toppings (meats should be precooked) and return the pizza to the oven to melt the cheese and warm up the toppings.

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Wow, this is my favorite HCG protocol friendly pizza crust recipe yet! This is a variation on the recipe from Tropical Traditions. I'm going to try it as written, too, but varied it to skip the flax seed grinding since I was in a rush.

Coconut Flour cheesy Pizza Crust (personal pizza size)

1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1 Egg
2 Tbsp Coconut Flour
1/4 tsp Baking Powder
1/4-1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4-1/2 tsp Basil

Preheat oven to 350*. If you have a baking stone, put it in the oven to preheat as well and you can cut your baking time in half.

Mix cheese, egg, coconut flour and baking powder and spices until well combined. You'll have to use your hands so just go ahead and get them messy.

Press out on a piece of parchment paper to about 1/4 inch thick. Pick up parchment and stick it in the oven on the hot stone. If you don't use the stone method, put the parchment on a baking sheet and into the oven.

On the stone, 15 minutes should be enough to cook both sides of the crust. On a baking sheet, bake about 15 minutes, then flip the crust over to bake the other side for another 15 minutes or until it's golden brown.

Remove from oven, top with sauce, cheese and toppings (meats should be precooked) and return the pizza to the oven to melt the cheese and warm up the toppings.

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This recipe comes from the blog Stuff I Make My Husband. I'm planning to make several of her pizza crust recipes, so I'll give my own reviews as I do.

This one is really good. I thought the garlic was a bit much, but it could have been because there was fresh garlic in my sauce. Next time I'll cut the garlic in the crust by half. I'm a big garlic-lover, too. The crust was very soft, and had a nice chewy texture. Both of my kids loved it.

4 oz Cream Cheese
2 Eggs
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese, grated
1/4 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded (not fat-free)
Pizza Sauce, Cheese and Toppings

Preheat oven to 375*. Beat cream cheese until smooth and creamy. Add eggs and beat until well blended. Beat in the parmesan and seasonings. Stir in mozzarella. Spread mixture evenly on greased or parchment-lined 9x13 baking dish (I used the Pampered Chef Medium Bar Pan). I recommend using the parchment, as my crust still stuck to my greased pan.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until evenly browned but not burnt.

Flip the crust over, spread with sauce, top with cheese and toppings, and make another 15 minutes or so until cheese is bubble. Let stand a few minutes before cutting.

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This crust was pretty good. Some HCGers I know say it's their favorite. I prefer the cheese-base crust personally but I enjoyed this. The texture was more like cornbread, which is something I'll be exploring in the near future because
I really like cornbread. Anyway, good pizza here and this crust is definitely worth trying.

1 cup Almond Flour
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated
1 tsp Oregano
1/4 tsp Black Pepper
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
2 Eggs, beaten
2/3 cup Whole Milk or Cream

Preheat oven to 400*. Combine dry ingredients together, breaking up lumps. Add milk and eggs and mix well. Pour into greased pan with edges (I used the Pampered Chef medium bar pan). Bake for 20-25 min. Top with sauce and desired toppings, then broil to melt cheese and heat toppings.

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This is one of my favorite breakfasts, since way before I started HCG. I'm including two versions - one for P2 and one for P3.

Scrambled Eggs Florentine

Phase 2 version

4 Egg Whites and 1 Yolk, beaten
1/4 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 tsp Onion Powder
1 cup Baby Spinach

Mix all together. Heat pan and cook as you would scrambled eggs, until cooked as desired.

Phase 3 version

1 Tbsp Butter
2 Tbsp Onion, chopped
1 clove Garlic, minced
3-4 Eggs, beaten
1 Tbsp Parmesan Cheese, grated
2 Tbsp Mozzarella Cheese, grated
1 cup Baby Spinach

Cook onion in butter until caramelized, adding garlic toward the end. Mix Eggs, cheeses and spinach together and cook in onions/butter until eggs are cooked as desired.

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This pizza crust is thicker and more substantial than the cheese-only version, but didn't hold together well enough to just pick up and eat. I'll be working on perfecting it but it tasted really good.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

1 cup cauliflower, steamed and grated
1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg

Preheat oven and pizza stone to 450*. Mix ingredients well and spread thin on parchment paper. Bake on hot pizza stone for 15 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly. Dab with paper towel if desired. Top with sauce and toppings of your choice, then broil for a few minutes to heat toppings and melt cheese.

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I'm sharing two pizza crust recipes today, since I tested them both out at the same time.

This one comes from my mom who met her weight loss goal in one round and is now stable. I'm going to be working on some variations of pizza until I come up with one I like best, but for now, these were pretty yummy!

Be sure any meat toppings are cooked before you add them, since the the pizza won't stay in the oven long enough to cook raw toppings.

Cheesy Pizza Crust

2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
2 eggs
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp baking powder

Mix well and spread on parchment paper. Place on a hot pizza stone preheated to 450*. Bake for 12 minutes until golden brown and bubbly.

Dab with paper towel if desired. Top with sauce and toppings, and broil to heat toppings and melt cheese.

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I fell in love with this recipe from Weelicious and was very happy when I realized I could eat it on Phase 3! Alexa is also a big fan of these bites. Check out Weelicious for some really great recipes whether you have kids or not. I actually get 24 bites from this recipe.

Spinach Ricotta Bites (Makes 20 Bites)

2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained WELL (I use my hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible)
1/4 Tsp Salt

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.

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This recipe was born from the need to use up a bunch of fresh broccoli, and the need for a quick dinner. It was ready in 10 minutes, and a hit with my husband and both kids. I actually had to whip up a second batch because the kids wanted more. Amazing.

Broccoli Cheese Soup

4 cups (or 1 carton) chicken broth
4 cups broccoli florets
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 cup shredded cheese

Pour broth into a large saucepan and add broccoli. Bring to a boil and cook about 5 minutes, until broccoli is tender but still a little on the crunchy side. Scoop out some of the smaller pieces and set them aside. Put the rest into the blender (or use an immersion blender) and puree. Add reserved broccoli, cream and cheese. Serve.

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