Layered Mexican Casserole Recipe with Chicken, Green Chiles, Pinto Beans, and Cheese

This Layered Mexican Casserole is Phase One and Gluten-Free!

(This Layered Mexican Casserole Recipe with Chicken, Green Chiles, Pinto Beans, and Cheese is a perfect family-friendly choice for our month of Daily Phase One Recipes.  To see all the other recipes from the month, just click on that link, and check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

I grew up eating casseroles, which in those days usually had white rice, noodles, pastry, tortillas, or potatoes, and some kind of canned cream soup.   Then I changed my eating habits and didn't want to use those ingredients any more, but I still craved the comfort-food appeal of a casserole, as well as the way they make such great leftovers.  To fill that casserole craving I've been experimenting for several years with updated casserole combinations, using low-glycemic ingredients for a healthier result.  I've come up with quite a few Casserole Recipes that have been winners, but I think this Layered Mexican Casserole with Chicken, Green Chiles, Pinto Beans, and Cheese might be one of my best creations so far! 

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Low Carb No Egg Breakfast Bake with Turkey Breakfast Sausage and Peppers

After many requests, I've finally created a South Beach Diet Phase One breakfast without eggs!

I'm pretty excited about this new recipe for our  month of Daily Phase One Recipes because for eight years now people have been asking for a Phase One Breakfast without eggs.  I've thought about it many times, but never came up with anything, and then a few days ago the idea for this Low Carb No Egg Breakfast Bake with Turkey Breakfast Sausage and Peppers popped into my mind.  This is definitely not the most photogenic breakfast ever, but I've eaten it for two days now, and it's very tasty.  Hope all the people who can't eat eggs or are just tired of them will enjoy the idea.  (And if you don't like peppers, have fun experimenting with other veggies.)

(You can see all the Daily Phase One Recipes recipes from the month by clicking that link.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

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Leafy Greens Salad with Roasted Chickpeas, Feta, and Mediterranean Sumac Dressing

This Leafy Greens Salad with Roasted Chickpeas and Feta is perfect for Mediterranean Dressing with Sumac, but if you don't want to make the dressing any lemony vinaigrette will work.

(It's the first Monday of a brand new year, so for Meatless Monday and our month of Daily Phase One Recipes, I'm featuring this Leafy Greens Salad with Roasted Chickpeas, Feta, and Mediterranean Sumac Dressing that I first posted in May last year.  This delicious idea will turn any combination of lettuce + leafy greens into a flavor buzz that will really make your mouth happy!  (To see all the recipes from the month of Daily Phase One Recipes, just click that link.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

Now that you've seen my new favorite salad dressing, I thought I'd show you a salad that's just perfect for the Shake-in-a-Jar Mediterranean Dressing with Red Wine Vinegar, Lemon Juice, and Sumac.  This is the type of salad I might make if I was having friends for dinner and wanted a side salad that was a bit of a wow, or I'd eat a double portion of it for a big lunch salad.  There are endless salad combinations that would taste good with the Mediterranean Sumac Dressing, but the leafy greens, roasted chickpeas (also called garbanzos), and Feta in this salad really complement the dressing.

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Chopped Chicken Salad with Cafe Rio Flavors

A delicious Chopped Chicken Salad with all the flavors that make Cafe Rio Salad so good! 

If there's anything I've learned about sticking to a healthy eating plan, it's that you better include a lot of your favorite flavors or the plan is doomed from the start.  I love the blend of flavors in Cafe Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Salad Dressing, and I make it all the time, not just when I'm doing Phase One.  I used this dressing on Leftover Chicken Chopped Chicken Salad with Cafe Rio Style Creamy Tomatillo Dressing, but I thought it would be fun to come up with a salad that recreates more of the flavors in the famous Cafe Rio Salad.  This new salad recipe has diced chicken that gets marinated in Cafe Rio Dressing, romaine lettuce, avocado, tomatoes, black beans, and cilantro.  If you don't live where there's a Cafe Rio, or you just want to make it at home, I promise this will re-create that Cafe Rio happy mouth feeling that people in Utah love to enjoy.  (This is a new recipe for our month of Daily Phase One Recipes; Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

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Egg-Crust Breakfast Pizza with Pepperoni, Olives, Mozzarella, and Tomatoes

If you're a fan of cold pizza for breakfast, you'll love this Egg-Crust Breakfast Pizza!

(This favorite breakfast "pizza" where a small amount of egg replaces the crust is today's pick for the month of Daily Phase One Recipes.  You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking that link.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

In college my idea of the perfect breakfast was cold pizza, and every pizza had to have pepperoni and olives.  So I guess it's not too surprising that when the idea of Breakfast Pizza popped into my mind, it had to be pepperoni and olive breakfast pizza.  If the idea of pepperoni and olives for breakfast doesn't appeal to you, please try this with your own favorite pizza toppings.  I love this egg-crust pizza, but it took me five attempts to get it just right.  In fact I was telling my friend Laura how I had made it over and over and she asked, "How will you know when it's just right?"  That's actually a pretty good question, but this version fits my vision of an egg-crust pizza for breakfast with not too much egg and a lot of pizza toppings.  Hope you enjoy!

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Recipe for Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Balsamic Vinegar, Rosemary, and Red Onions

An inexpensive pork sirloin tip roast gets tender and delicious when cooked in the slow cooker with balsamic vinegar, rosemary, and red onions.

(Here's this week's Phase One Friday and also the daily pick for our month of Daily Phase One Recipes.  You can see all the recipes from the month by clicking that link.  Cook this delicious pork roast over the weekend and then use leftovers over salad or inside lettuce wraps during the week.  Check after the recipe for Phase One Flashbacks from this day in 2012 and 2013.)

Food blogging can be pretty frustrating at times, but especially when you've made a recipe that tasted great, but the photos didn't really make the food look good.  I made this Slow Cooker Pork Sirloin Tip Roast with Balsamic Vinegar, Rosemary, and Red Onions for the second time and the final photos still weren't anything I was happy with, when I noticed this photo of the pork roast in the slow cooker.  I decided that although it's a pretty casual photo it did show how tasty the pork roast looked when it was done.  And since I still have a broken arm (two more weeks, fingers crossed) I decided to share this delicious slow cooker pork roast with the photo I had.  No worries, right?

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Italian Sausage Soup with Green Pepper, Chickpeas, and Pesto

This easy Italian Sausage Soup with Chickpeas, Green Pepper, and Pesto is a Phase One soup that cooks on top of the stove in less than an hour.

If  you saw the Phase One Recipes Round-Up from yesterday, you know I made the commitment to post Daily Phase One Recipes during January again this year.  I hope this is useful for anyone (like me!) who's getting back on track in the new year.  And since this is my third year of Daily Phase One Recipes for January, I'm going to share Phase One Flashbacks every day (after the recipe) to spotlight the Phase One Recipe I posted on that day in 2012 and 2013.  So healthy January, here we come!  (If you're not a South Beach Dieter, Phase One recipes are often low carb or Paleo, and they're always delicious, even if you're not trying to lose weight.)

This new phase one recipe for Italian Sausage Soup with Green Pepper, Chickpeas, and Pesto is something I came up with a few weeks ago when I found turkey Italian sausage on sale at the store and I wanted a hearty comforting soup that I could make and eat for dinner that same night.  I've made a few soup variations with similar flavors, but what made this soup especially enjoyable for me was an idea that popped into my head to mash some of the chickpeas so they kind of dissolved into the soup.  (I like chickpeas, but I don't always like biting into a whole chickpea in a bowl of soup or a salad.)  I shared some of this with Jake when he came to cook with me, and we both thought it was a keeper!

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