As many of my regular readers know by now, I’m a food blogger on a diet. Specifically the Cohen Lifestyle diet.
I’m almost halfway through and I’ve lost a substantial amount of weight through healthy eating. The hardest part of this diet when I started was breakfast. Before this diet my favorite breakfast was a hard roll from Chef Philippe slathered with marmalade or peanut butter or both. Or I would a have one of Bread Talk’s yummy bread like pork floss or the ham and cheese roll. Once in a blue moon I swipe some left over garlic rice and tapa from my store’s production line. If I felt like eating healthy I’d make some muesli or have some yogurt with cereal and dried fruit.
What I never ever ate was eggs because I simply hate eggs. In a normal year eating 3 eggs was about average. With the Cohen diet one of the breakfast options was 1 egg with your choice of allowed vegetables. Thus I tried to get creative and forced myself to eat eggs.
So here are some of my breakfast meals. The first picture is scrambled eggs with shimeji mushrooms. Most of my breakfast involved eggs and mushroom just because I don’t like many of the other allowed vegetables on the diet. If you will make these recipes just follow your food allowance.
Poached egg with baby bella mushrooms sautéed in a little olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
poached egg and mushroom
I use a small George Foreman grill to grill the mushroom. I found this griller to be invaluable in cooking most of my meals from beef, burgers, chicken breast to seafood. Everything comes out perfectly done and very moist.
Poached egg and grilled baby bella mushroom
A very hot pan with a spray of oil makes gives the egg a toasted bottom while the yolk remains soft. It’s just the way I like it.
Diced mushrooms with a fried egg
Boil the water, drop in the egg and cover the pot and let the egg sit in for 4 minutes with the fire off. That’s how I did the soft boiled egg.
4 minute egg w/ mushroom
Mince mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and some fresh herbs and sauté. Break the top of the egg and fill with the duxelle.
soft boiled egg and duxelle
One of my readers, Andrea, suggested this mushroom frittata. Sauté sliced mushrooms then add in a beaten egg. When the egg has set flip over to cook until the egg has set.
mushroom frittata
Add a little water to the egg for creamier and fluffier scrambled eggs. If you’re not on a diet add some milk or even cream or half and half.
scrambled egg with mushroom
I needed a break from eggs and came up with this. Low fat ricotta or cottage cheese mixed with homemade pesto (fresh basil with a little olive oil, garlic, salt & pepper) and stuffed into baby bella mushrooms and baked in the toaster oven for a few minutes. These were really, really yummy. I got this idea from this forum. These would also make good appetizers for a dinner party.
ricotta and pesto stuffed baby bella mushroom
With my tomato allowance I made some chunky tomato sauce with fresh basil garlic and topped it on a poached egg. It’s my take on huevos rancheros.
tomato sauce on a egg
One meal I used to make was sautéed spinach with mushroom and topped with grated mozzarella cheese. I let it cook in the pan until the cheese melted and some crust formed on the pan. The best part of this was the crunchy cheese that I scraped from the bottom of the pan which you can see in the picture. It was very indulgent and tasted just like pizza without the crust.
spinach, mushroom and mozzarella cheese
Mash some steamed cauliflower and top with grated mozzarella cheese. Microwave until cheese melts. I really don’t like cauliflower so I never made this again.
mashed cauliflower with mozzarella cheese
I had to stop eating eggs. I couldn’t stand to eat another egg. So I made some egg free breakfast food. These were good alternatives but I’d rather eat them for lunch or dinner.
Tuna burger made with canned tuna in water mixed with 1 tsp. low fat mayonnaise, 1 or 2 crackers crushed and seasoned salt and pepper. Form all ingredients into a patty and pan fry in a little oil. I added some bok choy to complete it. This is a very filling breakfast.
tuna burger
Fresh crab meat sautéed with bok choy and mushroom.
crab and bok choy sauté
Shrimp sautéed with tomatoes and mushroom and seasoned with some paprika or chili powder.
shrimp sauté
After several months of egg and non-egg breakfast I now eat my favorite 98% fat free plain yogurt with either a mango, a fresh peach which is in season now or orange segments. I’m so happy that super sweet peaches from China are now available locally. Eating this everyday makes me happy and full until lunch 5 hours later.
I also have an espresso or a tall brewed coffee from Starbucks everyday. Thanks to my HSBC receipts I just discovered how delicious Starbucks’ Kenya and Sumatra coffees are.
I hope these meals help those who are in the Cohen diet. If you’re not on this diet then eating breakfast this way may help you lose a few pounds. Portion control is a big key factor. I still miss eating bread though.
For those doing the same diet what are your favorite breakfast meals? Give me your suggestions to get me out of this rut.
Cohen Lifestyle Philippines
Suite 1006 Medical Plaza Makati (Across Makati Medical Center)
Amorsolo cor Dela Rosa Sts. Legazpi Village, Makati City
Manila, Philippines 1223
telephone: +63(2) 502.1090
mobile: +63 (917) 89.COHEN
(0917) 892.6436
Office Hours
M – W, F 8:30am -5:30pm
Thur 1:00pm – 7:30pm
Sat 8:30am -12:00pm
Shoot First Eat Later 
Hi Les! Thanks for sharing your Cohen breakfast. Your suggestions came at a time i was beginning to feel bored with my breakfast. Now i have something new to look forward to. 🙂
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Kate on Friday I will post lunch and dinner meals naman. We should see each other soon!!!
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Uhhm.. Is ricotta stuffed with peso in ports Ella mushroom allowed for breakfast? Isn’t pesto disallowed coZ of the nuts?
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I didn’t put nuts or cheese. I used ingredients that are allowed like basil, oil, garlic, salt & pepper in the allowed quantities.
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Oh that’s great! I can’t wait to see what’s new for lunch and dinner. I have a feeling our cohen meal plan is somehow similar. Yes, let’s meet up one of these days. It’ll be nice to share our cohen experiences.
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Kate everyone on the Cohen diet eats the same food and combinations. The only difference is the weight of the food. That differs based on one’s blood test.
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Hmm…but i met someone on the diet too but she can eat broccolli and i can’t. 😦
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hmm I can’t eat broccoli too! I think she’s mistaken. ;P
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That’s another diet that’s similar to Cohen that allows broccoli.
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Thanks for the clarification! I wish I could eat broccoli instead of cauliflower.
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Hi! Thanks for the recipe ideas. I just started with the Cohen program and though I love eggs, I’m kinda getting sick of it too. Just wondering… what brand yogurt do you use and where do you buy it? I’m having a hard time looking for Cohen-approved brands in the supermarket. TIA!
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I know! Yoplait 98% fat free plain is always out of stock. You can call Rizaldy Farms and order their 2 kilo pack of fat free yogurt and pick it up at Market Market. I just found out about this from my consultant. It’s the cheapest at P380 for 2 kilos and it’s less sour and very creamy. And the best thing is it’s always available.
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are you buying the fat free and sugar free yogurt?
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Yes Yoplait and Rizal Farms. 98% fat free and no sugar or flavor.
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hi! im also on the cohen diet. its just my first week though. your recipes on the blog are really a big help. sorry for my ignorance, but what is amp? you mention this quite a lot as a seasoning. thanks in advance!
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oops sorry it’s an error with Blogger when I type “&” amp is short for ampersand. I’ll correct the misspellings now.
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thank you and looking forward to more Cohen recipes 🙂
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Thanks for all the recipes, tomorrow will be my day 1, I am about to go to the store for my stuff and it’s a good thing i came across your website. They all look good!
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Good luck Tess! You can do it!
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hi leslie what do you eat during AM/PM snacks? thanks
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i don’t eat am/pm snacks but when I get hungry late in the afternoon I eat one or two crackers that are allowed on the Cohen diet. I save my fruit for breakfast and after dinner. But I could eat that as snacks too.
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I love your blog!!! I’m in US and doing the internet program. Good thing I found your blog before I get tired of my recipes =)
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Hi! I still haven’t tried Cohen but would love to. Drawback is i’m living in the province and not sure if the diet requirements or ingredients will be readily available. But seeing your blog and post makes me realize that itis doable. Btw, did you go to cohen lifestyle phil? Bec im seeing the phil internet online version and thinking of giving it a try. Please advice.
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I think you won’t have any problems with the ingredients and food requirements except for the specific yogurt brands. I went to the clinic. They sometimes go to Cebu too. If you have enough motivation and willpower then you can do the online version too.
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Hi, how much oil do you use when you stirfry?
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You have great recipes! Will use some of your egg and mushroom breakfast ombinations. I make chicken patties with lettuce and tomato on the side. It’s flexible for breakfast lunch and dinner.
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how much do i pay at the cohen clinic to avail this cohen diet?thanks and i love your recipes, can’t wait to try them myself 🙂
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Last year it was P55k.
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Hi there, I did Cohen in Australia a few years back and lost 44kgs in 9 months….it’s a great program once you decide to stck to it and look at it as life changing experience….I’m sure you’ll agree….ok here’s the thing I’ve been teaching in china for almost to years now and have gained about 5-7kgs and would love to lose that weight again….I really liked the fact that Cohen LS told you exactly what, when, and how much to eat everyday…made my life easier and avoided the temptation…do u know if there is a Cohen clinic in Guangzhou, Macau or Hong Kong. I’ve searched it and can’t seem to get any firm answers…can u help please….cheers
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Wow great job!!! Sorry I don’t have any information on that.
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Hi, i just received the news that i cant do cohen because of my sugar level and other stuff. Sad.. Do you have an advice on food/recipes i can eat to lower down my sugar level?
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I’m not familiar with that since I love sugar but I think you have to watch your intake of carbohydrates specially from processed sources like white flour, sugar, etc. Stick to real food and clean eating.
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can I do this at home without subscribing to cohen diet? coz its so mahal. pwede po ba kahit ilang beses kumain basta stick to this recipes? breakfast lunch dinner thanksss!
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Hi, i have the hard time buying crispbread.. where can i get that im from zamboanga city.
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