Salisbury Steak and Mashed Cauliflower

I had never had Salisbury steak before making this. I know it's known as a old-person dish, but that's about it. Basically it's a meatloaf-type patty with mushroom gravy. I really liked it, but it needed some oomph, so I added a few things.

Salisbury Steak w/ Mushroom Gravy*

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground beef
1/4 c. parmesan cheese (1 oz)
1/4 c. ground pork rinds (1 ounce)
1 egg
2 Tbs. heavy cream
1/4 c. onion, chopped (1 oz)
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 tsp. dried sage
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper

1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, sliced or diced finely, whatever you prefer
1/4 c. onion, chopped (1 ounce)

Gravy:
2 c. beef broth
3 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic, minced, or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
2 tsp. tomato paste
1 tsp. salt
4 Tbs. heavy cream
1 tsp. xanthan gum

In a large bowl, mix the first 11 ingredients. Shape in 5 or 6 oval patties. In a large skillet, brown the patties on both sides and place in an 8x11" baking dish.

In the same skillet, saute the mushrooms and 1/4 cup onion until tender. Add the gravy ingredients and bring to a simmer. Pour the mushrooms, onion, and gravy over the patties. Bake, uncovered, at 300º F for 1 hour.

*Recipe via Linda's Low Carb

Per Serving (1/5)
469 Calories; 31g Fat; 40g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2.4g Dietary Fiber; 4.6g Net Carbs

Per Serving (1/6)
391 Calories; 26g Fat; 33g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

The mashed cauliflower is a big hit in my house, and I make it to go with anything I'd normally eat mashed potatoes with.

Mashed Cauliflower:

1 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets
4 slices cheese (either colby jack, cheddar, pepper jack, or gouda)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste
2 Tbs. butter
dash of paprika
dash of onion powder
dash of garlic powder

Combine florets, cheese, whipping cream, butter, salt, and pepper in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for about 18 minutes, stopping to stir halfway through. Place cooked cauliflower into a food processor or Ninja and process until smooth.

Bourbon Chicken and Broccoli

This recipe can be found on Healthy Indulgences.net, it is not mine.

This tastes just like what you would get in the mall food court- sweet, soft, and addicting. The recipe calls for chicken thighs due to their high fat content. I doubled the sauce so I could add stir-fried veggies to make it a complete meal, but if you're just making the chicken, you can keep it as is.

Bourbon Chicken

Serves 5

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken thighs, cubed
Sauce:
2 Tbs. oil (Not EVOO)
1/4 c. soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 Tbs. bourbon whiskey (I used Jack Daniel's)
1/3 c. stevia
1/2 tsp. blackstrap molasses
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 teaspoon ginger
2 cloves of garlic, finely minced (or 1/2 tsp. garlic powder)
salt, to taste

Bake in a casserole pan/glass baking dish at 350 F for 45 minutes. I'd recommend taking it out halfway through to stir it up.

about 2-3g net carbs per serving

Make another batch of the sauce separately if you want to do a veggie stir fry. I'd recommend broccoli or snow peas/sugar snap peas (in their pods).  Stir-fry the veggies in the sauce.

This was delicious. The original recipe says to marinate the chicken in this sauce overnight, but I didn't do that. It came out deliciously. I think it would have been even more tender if I had marinated it.

Mardi Gras Recipe: Gumbo w/ Cauliflower Grits!

This is rouxless gumbo. I cobbled this recipe together from 4 other ones-some low carb, others not. The only big sources of carbs in the original dish are the flour to create the roux, and the rice it is served over. I have substitutes for both-xanthan gum for thickening and cauliflower grits. It turned out delicious, everyone loved it. It was slightly spicy and had a great, warm-you-up flavor.

Gumbo
3 chicken thighs, cooked and chopped or shredded
4 small andouille sausages (~4 in. each) or 2 big ones (~8in. each), cooked and chopped into 1/2 in. rounds
1 medium onion, chopped finely (I used the Ninja)
1 bell pepper, diced
1 Tbs. butter
2 stalks celery, chopped (if you like it; if you don't add 2 tsp. celery seed instead)
6 c. chicken broth
5 cooked slices of bacon, chopped and their grease
1 tsp. thyme
2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. white pepper
1/2 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 Tbsp. Cajun seasoning (McCormick makes one)
2 tsp. guar gum

In a large soup pot, combine broth, celery (or seeds), and all spices and herbs. While stirring, sprinkle in guar gum little by little to prevent it from lumping. Saute onions and peppers in a nonstick skillet with the butter until peppers are soft and onions are translucent. Add into pot. Add in chicken, sausage, and bacon. Simmer until everything is hot and flavors come together, about 30 minutes. Serve over cauliflower rice.

*Note* You can use a variety of meats: oysters, fish, shrimp, chicken, brisket, sausage, etc.

Cauliflower Grits

1/2 to 3/4 head of cauliflower, chopped into florets (~4 cups)
1 c. shredded cheese (cheddar, mozzarella, colby jack, etc)
1/2 c. heavy whipping cream
salt and pepper to taste
1 or 2 slices gouda cheese (optional)

Combine florets, shredded cheese, whipping cream, salt, and pepper in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for about 18 minutes, stopping to stir halfway through. Place cooked cauliflower into a food processor or Ninja and process until smooth. Place gouda on top of cauliflower and microwave until gouda is melted. (<-- optional) Serve with the gumbo.

This is a simplified version of the mashed cauliflower. I didn't add much flavoring besides the cheese because it's meant to be served with gumbo on top.

Lunch: Chicken Quesadilla

Chicken Quesadilla

I found these tortillas that have 4g net carbs each. They are thinner and smaller than the Mission ones, but the mission ones have 6g each. I threw some butter in a pan, and when it was melted I added in the tortilla. I flipped it to cover both sides with the butter so it would crisp up. I covered the tortilla in shredded cheddar cheese, and cut up some of my defrosted already cooked grilled chicken strips and put those on top of the cheese. I sprinkled paprika, cumin, and a bit of cayenne pepper on it, then folded it over. I usually use American cheese (I know, it's bad, I just like the way it melts) in my quesadillas but this was really good. If you have green chilies, cooked onions or peppers, or other mexican-friendly veggie, throw that in too. I used about a breast worth of chicken, so I was full for a long time.

Dessert Failures: Peanut Butter Cookies and King Cake

Desserts are arguably the most difficult part when cooking low-carb. Baking is all about chemistry, and if you do something wrong, even something small, it can ruin your baked item. Cooking with sugar and flour substitutes takes a lot of time and patience to get right. Two days ago my dad said he wanted peanut butter cookies, so I found a recipe and gave it a go.

They cooked for a long time, and didn't really taste sweet, despite using a lot of stevia. They look odd, and really puffed up, yet they are very filling. They're quite eggy, like most low carb cookies. I have yet to have a low carb cookie come out well. But experimentation is the name of the game.

Secondly, I made king cake on Friday. I noticed that the batter was very thin, even though I followed the recipe (for the cake part) exactly. It called for pecans, but I had none (and don't really like them) so I used 2 chopped up Atkin's bars: peanut butter granola and cranberry yogurt. Bad idea. Weird clash of flavors. Plus they burnt too, as they were sitting on top of the cake while it was cooking. The cake didn't want to come out of the bundt pan, and no amount of banging, tapping, or soaking the pan in ice water would make it come out. I hate that pan. The mixer bowl was in the dishwasher, so I hand mixed the cream cheese icing, so it was lumpy. I tried to color some stevia, but it all just clumped together in a sad, sorry, messy mess. I added some cream and mixed until it mostly dissolved. So after a ton of hard work, all the bowls and spoons in my kitchen dirty, I assembled this cake that had been pried out of its pan and was now in pieces. It was hideous. And then I took a bite. Disgusting. Revolting. Blech. It was essentially a sweet omlette. It even had a cream cheese filling, but that was no where to be found after it was cooked. Subbing the bars for the nuts was a dumb idea, I know, but it would have been terrible anyway if I had wasted expensive pecans on that atrocity of a "cake".

This is why we can't have nice things. This little piece of crap cake. Screw you, cake.

The only good thing about this damn cake was that I took some frozen blackberries and raspberries, added some sugar free simple syrup, and some guar gum. It thickened up to create a pie filling like consistency, and I ate that. I had made it as a topping for the cake, but I ended up eating the berries and chucking the cake.

Chicken Cordon-Bleu with Green Beans in Mustard Cream Sauce

This Chicken Cordon Bleu recipe was very yummy and very quick to assemble. I did think it needed more swiss cheese, so if you want to top the whole dish with more swiss I think it'd be good. The cream cheese mixture that was on top sort of curdled up in the heat of the oven, but still tasted good. I think that knocked a few presentation points off. If you care about presentation, I'd recommend topping the chicken with the ham and then another slice of swiss, and then when the chicken is done, spoon over the cream cheese mixture that has been warmed in a saucepan.

Lazy Chicken Cordon Bleu

1 lb. chicken thighs

8 slices ham

8 slices swiss cheese

8 oz cream cheese, softened

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

1 clove garlic, minced

dash of black pepper

1/2 tsp dill

2 tsp. chives

1 tsp. parsley

Open up chicken thigh, fold slice of swiss in half, and lay swiss to one side of the thigh. Fold the thigh over. cover thigh with a slice of ham. Lay in a greased baking dish. Mix last 7 ingredients and spread on top of thighs. Bake at 350 F for about 35 minutes. Thighs are great because their higher fat content means that you can over-cook them a bit and not even notice.

Green Beans in Mustard Cream Sauce

~12 oz steamable bag of green beans or 3/4 lb. fresh green beans

2 Tbs. stone ground mustard

1 Tbs. spicy brown mustard

1/2 c. heavy whipping cream

Microwave green beans if you bought the bagged ones. If you bought fresh, snap the ends off and discard, and boil for about 7 minutes. Mix 2 types of mustard and cream, and pour over prepared green beans. Toss to coat if you wish.

Traditional Style Pizza (They like the pizza, ok?)

 The pizza I make is a big hit with everyone in the house, so I've made it a 3rd time!

Pizza Crust:
1 8 oz. package cream cheese (remember to use full fat)
2 eggs
1/4 c. Parmesan cheese from the canister

Optional:
couple of twists of freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
Bit of rosemary or basil/other Italian seasoning

This has a batter-like consistency. 

Directions:

Soften cream cheese in the microwave, about 30-45 seconds. Beat cheese, eggs, and parmesan in a mixer or by hand until creamy. Add spices. Line a lipped baking sheet with parchment paper and let the paper hang over the edges just a bit. Pour mixture into baking sheet and bake at 350 F for 25 minutes. Add your sauce, cheese, and toppings and bake 5-10 minutes more, or until cheese is melted.

Alex (bf) and I each like different things on our pizza, so I did half and half. My side was pepperoni, onions, spinach, basil, and bell pepper; his was pepperoni, basil, spinach, mushrooms, olives, and banana peppers. And a bit of fresh minced garlic too. I ended up doing a double layer of cheese, one before toppings (just mozzarella), and a lighter layer on top of the toppings (mix of shredded romano, parmesan, and mozzarella)

Cheese was late to the class picture...

It was delicious as always, and Alex stared at me until I told him he could go get 2nds! 

Projected recipes for the rest of the week:

Thursday: Chicken Cordon-Blu w/ Green Beans in a mustard cream sauce

Friday: The "I was snowed-in for Mardi Gras" feast: Gumbo and maybe king cake

Sausages and Veggie of Choice (15 minute meal template)

I love sausages because they come in a variety of different shapes, sizes, flavors, and textures. They're also very quick to prepare. The other night I paired a thick sausage with some steamed green beans tossed with butter and salt and pepper. You can pair sausages with broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, salad, cabbage, you name it. They're super versatile. I didn't even have to boil water to steam the beans. I got them in a bag that you pop in the microwave (with a few punctures to the bag) and steam that way. It's super fast and all you have to do is watch your dinner cook itself basically. I always pan fry my sausages on the stove, turning when one side is brown.

I've grown to love green beans. When steamed (or boiled and quickly blanched in ice water), they retain their beautiful bright green color and their skin retains its snap. They are slightly sweet, and either a stone ground mustard-cream sauce or a simple lemon-butter-pepper sauce really bring out the flavors of the often overcooked bean. If you have a bit more time, you can saute the beans with a bit of butter, parmesan, and chopped garlic. Top with slivered almonds if you're feeling fancy.

Quick Snack: Toasted Sunflower Seeds

Toasted Sunflower Seeds

 

On the left: raw hulled sunflower seeds. On the right: roasted and salted.

Hulled sunflower seeds are only 4g of carbs per 1/4 of a cup. And believe me, 1/4 is a lot more than you expect. These little suckers are satisfying. Mine came raw, but you can buy already roasted and salted. Here's what I did with my raw ones. I took a small baking sheet (one small enough to fit into my toaster oven), lined it with foil, and poured on 1/4 c. raw hulled sunflower seeds, coated them with about 1 Tbsp. oil (anything but EVOO) and a dash of salt, spread them evenly, and toasted them for a few minutes. I put my toaster on about 5. That was a tad too much, as you can see here mine burned a bit. I'd say go for about a 3 or 4 setting. You may need to experiment with your toaster. You'll know they're done when they turn a medium to light brown color. You can even add a bit of garlic powder or black pepper if you so incline. These were very yummy. I couldn't even finish the whole 1/4 cup, that's how satisfying they are. Sometimes you need something crunchy and salty. They're great on salad too.

Tom Tom Chicken (Spicy!)

It's been a busy week. Friday I had no idea what to do, we didn't really have a lot of ingredients sitting around the house. We had a jar of tom tom sauce in the pantry, and my mom was just going to pour it over some chicken thighs and call it a night. Then I remembered that I had some miracle noodles left, the fettuccine variety. I had a bell pepper and a bit of broccoli too. Here's what I came up with:

Tom Tom Chicken Stir-Fry

1 lb.chicken thighs
14 oz. Shirataki noodles, fettuccine, drained and rinsed, patted dry
1 head of broccoli
1 bell pepper, any color
1 jar of tom tom sauce

 In a cast iron skillet, brown chicken in some butter and about 3 Tbsp. tom tom sauce. Finish cooking in the oven at  350 F for about 20 minutes.

While the chicken is cooking, dice a bell pepper and cut broccoli into bite sized florets. Place the drained and dried noodles into a nonstick pan and add most of the rest of the sauce, reserving a little of it for the finished dish. Add the pepper and broccoli and stir fry until the noodles have soaked up the sauce and the broccoli is tender.

Place stir fry on a plate, top with a piece of chicken, and pour a little of the sauce on. Enjoy!

Chicken Enchiladas

After finding the low carb tortillas, I had to make some enchiladas. The great thing about enchiladas is that the filling is already low carb. Here's my mom's recipe that she's been making for years:

Chicken Enchiladas

1 medium onion, chopped finely (I use my ninja)
2 bell peppers, diced
1 lb cooked chicken breast, cut into ~1 cm size cubes
1 4 oz. can chopped green chilies, drained
1 c. heavy whipping cream
1/2 c. chicken broth
12 oz (by weight) shredded cheese (colby jack, cheddar, or an authentic soft mexican cheese)
8 Mission Carb Balance Tortillas (You can use another brand if you'd like)
1 can or package prepared red or green enchilada sauce
butter for sauteing
dash of cumin and oregano

In a medium skillet, saute onion, peppers, and green chilies in butter until onion is translucent. Sprinkle in a little oregano and cumin. If you like it hot, add a bit of cayenne pepper. Combine veggie mixture with 8 oz of the cheese and the chicken and mix until evenly combined. Lay out a tortilla and place about a cup of filling on 1/3 of the tortilla on one side like this:

Roll up and place seam side down in a greased casserole dish wide enough to accommodate the tortillas. Repeat with all 8 tortillas. Cover with enchilada sauce. Sprinkle remaining 4 oz of cheese on top. Mix chicken broth and cream together and pour evenly over top of enchiladas. Grease one side of a sheet of foil and place foil grease side down over casserole dish. If you don't grease it the cheese will stick to the foil. Bake at 350 F for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake another 7ish minutes.

They were super delicious and pretty filling. I always look forward to these. They look labor intensive, but trust me, they're easy peasy compared to that garlic soup last night- phew. Also, a one dish meal is always nice.

Here is the enchilada sauce I used. I used red but you can use green if you want.

Hot Cocoa (Under 100 calories!)

I was experimenting in the kitchen with almond milk, which to me tastes like cardboard and almonds, and I was wondering what could be done to cover up the terrible taste. The almond milk does have a really nice, silky, creamy texture though, so I thought I'd make hot chocolate. It was amazing. Super thick, creamy, chocolate-y, steamy, and frothy on top.

Hot Cocoa

1 c. unsweetened vanilla almond milk

2 Tbs. Hershey's sugar free chocolate syrup

1 Tbs. Sugar free vanilla or caramel beverage syrup

1 Tbs. heavy whipping cream

Mix first three ingredients in a microwave-safe mug and microwave for 1-2 minutes. Stir well. Stir in cream and enjoy. You could dress this up even more with some sugar free whipped cream on top, and maybe a sprinkle of cocoa or instant coffee for show.

Nutrition:

Calories: 94

Fat: 8.5g

Net Carbs: 1g

Protein: 2.3g

For a more decadent version, up the chocolate to 3 Tbsp, and add another Tbsp of whipping cream

(154 calories, 14.5g fat, 2g net carbs, 3g protein)

Roasted Garlic Soup and Coffee Panna Cotta with Ganache

I had made garlic soup before with the recipe out of Southern Living Cookbook, and it was absolutely amazing. It had potato in it though, so that's a no-go for me now. After sifting through recipes, I found that either potato or onion was used to give the soup body. I chose one with onion, and it turned out delicious. I don't think I cooked the onion long enough because when I pureed it with the other ingredients, it didn't get all the way smooth. There were teeny-tiny bits of onion left in my soup. So I'd knock a few points off of optimum texture. However, taste wise it was amazing- creamy, garlic-y, and onion-y. I think, to remedy the texture issue, next time I'll puree the roasted garlic and caramelized onion together by themselves, without the broth. That way I can get a super-smooth puree before adding the broth.

Roasted Garlic Soup

Ingredients:

3 heads of garlic, peeled + 1 head of garlic, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil or grapeseed oil (any oil that can withstand high heat is fine. No EVOO)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 1/4 cups sliced onions, sliced (about 1 large onion)
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme (or 1 1/2 teaspoons fresh thyme)
3 cups vegetable broth
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. lemon juice

My directions:

Preheat oven to 400 F. Peel about 3 heads worth of garlic and separate into cloves. Cover a lipped baking sheet with foil and spread cloves fairly evenly. Pour over the oil and coat garlic. Sprinkle some salt and pepper over garlic. Cover the garlic with more foil and bake about 20 minutes, or until cloves are slightly browned and aromatic.

In a skillet, cook onion in the butter and thyme until onions are translucent and soft. 

In a blender/food processor (I used the largest container that came with my ninja) puree roasted garlic, the rest of the fresh garlic (that has been peeled as well), and the onion until smooth. Add in the veggie broth and pulse until incorporated. Transfer soup to a pot and add lemon juice, cream, and Parmesan. Simmer about 20 minutes. Serve with shredded Parmesan on top.

Original Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Cut the top(s) off of your head(s) of garlic and separate out 25 cloves, making sure each clove has an end chopped off (this will help with squeezing out the roasted garlic later on).
Place the 25 cloves in a small glass baking dish, pour the 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the top, and sprinkle with a little salt and pepper. Toss to coat. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for about 45 minutes, until cloves are light golden brown and very tender. Remove from oven and cool.
Squeeze the roasted garlic between your fingertips to release the garlic and discard the peel. Set roasted garlic aside.
In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the onions and thyme; cook until onions are soft and translucent, about 5 minutes. Add both the roasted garlic and the 15 peeled raw garlic cloves and cook, stirring, for about 3 minutes.
Add vegetable stock and, continuing over medium heat, bring the soup just to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for about 20 minutes, or until garlic is very tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
Using an immersion blender or working in batches with a blender, puree soup until smooth.
Return soup to pan and stir in heavy whipping cream. Season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Sprinkle Parmesan cheese into each bowl and ladle the soup over the top. Squeeze one lemon wedge over each bowl and sprinkle with additional Parmesan if desired. Serve.

*recipe from kitchentreaty.com 

You can try it both ways and see which way you like best, but I feel that my way is quicker. It takes longer to peel all the garlic, but you can buy already peeled fresh garlic cloves-which would save you about an hour of agonizing peeling. Don't use jarred garlic, it doesn't have enough flavor.

Coffee Panna Cotta with Ganache

Ingredients:
1/2 cup vanilla or caramel Da Vinci sugar free syrup
1 1/2 teaspoons unflavored gelatin
1 1/2 cups heavy cream, divided
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda, or to taste
2 tablespoons instant espresso powder or instant coffee granules
Pinch salt
Chocolate Glaze, optional (not suitable for induction)

Chocolate Glaze:
5-6 oz. of sugar free chocolate (I used a mix of Russel Stovers' chocolate truffles and their solid dark chocolate)
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream

*recipe from Linda's Low Carb

Put the syrup in a shallow bowl. Sprinkle the gelatin over the surface and let stand 5 minutes to soften. Microwave the gelatin for 30 seconds on HIGH or just until it comes to a light boil. Stir until the gelatin is completely dissolved.

In a 4-cup glass measure or bowl, bring 1/2 cup of the heavy cream to a boil in the microwave. Stir in the Splenda, coffee powder and salt. Add the gelatin and stir well. Add the remaining 1 cup cream and stir well. Pour into 4 dessert dishes; chill at least 2-3 hours or until set. Once it has set up, make the chocolate glaze.

To make the chocolate glaze, put the chocolate, butter and cream in a small bowl. Microwave on 40% power about 30 seconds trying not to let it boil. Stir until completely smooth, microwaving a few more seconds if needed. Divide the glaze among the dessert dishes and smooth it to cover the top of each one. Eat at once or chill to let the glaze set up.

This was so good my mother didn't believe it was sugar free. The panna cotta is fluffy yet rich, and the ganache is simply decadent. Make it. Make a double freakin' batch cause you're gonna want more, trust me. I think there's a lot of potential to change this up. You could leave out the coffee and instead add any sort of fruit extract, or simply not have any other flavor other than vanilla and chocolate. All up to you. If you can find sugar free caramel sauce, or if you get the caramel-flavored syrup instead of the vanilla, you could do banana-caramel chocolate, or raspberry-chocolate, or strawberry-chocolate. The possibilities are endless.

BBQ Sauce!

So it's been a while. I went out to dinner Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of this week. Today I was at my grandparents for a birthday celebration. We had BBQ so I brought the Gouda Bacon Cauliflower Mash and homemade BBQ sauce. The cauliflower was inhaled in a matter of minutes, so that was good. This time, I cooked it the 18 minutes it was supposed to be cooked and Ninja'd the hell out of it. It was smoother than before and fabulous. It had the texture of dense mashed potatoes. They couldn't believe that was cauliflower (and neither could I!)

BBQ Sauce:

6 ounce can tomato paste
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 cup white vinegar
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
2 teaspoons molasses
2 tablespoons liquid smoke (if you have it)
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon chili powder
1/2 teaspoon celery seed
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum, optional

*Recipe from Linda's Low Carb

Mix the dry ingredients, then combine with the wet. Stir or whisk until incorporated and there are no lumps. Refrigerate the leftovers.

This was yummy. It was sweet enough, but still tangy from the vinegar. Next time I do something BBQ, I'll see if I can make a mustard BBQ sauce, because that's one of my favorites.

You can put this sauce on ribs, pulled pork, chicken, burgers, pizza, whatever you like. It'd be great served up with some cole slaw, peppered green beans, and maybe a low carb muffin with some butter. 

Tomorrow: Creamy Garlic Soup (probably with chicken) and for dessert, Panna Cotta with Chocolate Sauce 

Cauliflower Never Tasted So Good! (Cauliflower, Bacon, and Gouda Mash) EDITED

As in hide-the bowl-to-have-the-rest-later-as-a-midnight-snack good. I mean delicious. I mean this tastes like grits! Who doesn't love bacon and cheese and cream and chives and oh my god yum. I was going to take the cheesy cauliflower with me to my grandparents this weekend, but now... I've got to take this stuff. It would be a crime not to. We had the meatloaf with it- recipe is posted under January 30th. It was so yummy together. The recipe is from IBreatheI'mHungry's website. Mine didn't turn out silky smooth like hers, but that's probably because I didn't cook my cauliflower as long.

Ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
1/2 c. to 3/4 c. heavy cream
2 Tbsp butter (if only using 1/2 cup cream)
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/2 Tbsp. dried parsley
1/2 Tbsp. dried basil
1/2 tsp. paprika
4 slices of cooked bacon
4-5 slices Smoked Gouda cheese
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions:
Place the cauliflower, heavy cream, butter, salt, pepper, garlic powder, parsley, basil, and pap in a microwave safe dish. Microwave on high for 20 minutes. When 6 minutes remain, pause the microwave and put the gouda slices evenly over the cauliflower. Finish heating. Transfer the cauliflower and liquid to a magic bullet or food processor. Add the bacon. Blend until smooth and creamy. Season with additional salt and pepper as desired.

If you want it more coarse, like grits, microwave the cauliflower for less time.

Sausage with Spicy Broccoli Pepper Stir-Fry: 15 minute dinner

Sausage! I didn't want chicken yet again so I went to the store and picked up some sausage. I've got a Wegman's near me and they've got all sorts of high quality pre-packaged foods. This was the sausage I used:

But you can use any Italian chicken sausage.

The stir-fry was just broccoli and an orange bell pepper with this sauce:

It was delicious! I am not a big fan of bell pepper, but this sauce made them really good.

I also had some raw broccoli with Hidden Valley ranch.

Since fruit and fruit juices are a no go with my carb count (~20g/day), it's been hard to satisfy my fruity sweet tooth. Sometimes you don't want chocolate, you want fruit. Well I found out that Ocean Spray has some new products: diet cranberry juice with other flavors.

I got some of this and it's delicious! Only 2g carbs/8 oz. They also have grape flavor.

So for a quick dinner, here's a "recipe" that's not really a recipe:

1 pkg pre-cooked chicken sausage (6 links)
1-2 Tbs. Kerrygold butter
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning

In a skillet, melt butter and fry sausages in the seasoning and butter until browned and warmed through.

1 large head of broccoli
1 bell pepper (any color)
1/4 c. Tom Tom sauce

Cut broccoli into medium sized florets and pepper into strips. Stir fry in a non-stick skillet with the sauce until the broccoli is bright green and tender. Serve with some of this diet cran-mango juice on ice and enjoy your 15 minute dinner!

SuperBowl Yummies!

Not pictured: mozzarella sticks with marinara

So I'll admit... I had a sip of beer. But I was good and only had one sip. (It was Crispin Blackberry Pear Cider if anyone was wondering...) But the food I made was really yummy and all low carb! You CAN celebrate and not ruin your diet! Here was the menu:

Chicken wings and drumsticks
Buffalo Chicken Dip
Spinach Dip
Sour Cream and Chive Crackers
Fried Mozzarella Sticks with Marinara Sauce
Hot and Spicy (or plain) pork rinds for dipping
Chocolate Chip Cookies (turned out like scones/biscuits)

Phew! Okay, the spinach dip and the sour cream crackers can be made ahead. The spinach dip can be made 1-2 days ahead, but I would make the crackers that morning/afternoon.

Spinach Dip

Ingredients:
1 10 oz pkg frozen chopped spinach, thawed and well drained
1.5 c. full fat sour cream
1 c. full fat mayo
1/2 pouch onion soup mix
1 tsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. garlic powder or 1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
pinch of cayenne pepper

Combine everything in a medium bowl. Mix well. Serve or refrigerate for up to 3 days. I recommend refrigerating it for at least 2-3 hours.

Sour Cream and Chive Crackers

Ingredients:
2 cups almond flour
small bunch (~20 g or 0.7 oz.) fresh chives or 1 Tbs. freeze dried chives
2.5 oz full fat sour cream
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder

Chop chives finely if using fresh. Mix all ingredients well. Kneading with your hands works well. Place dough between two sheets of parchment paper (not wax paper) and flatten a bit with your hands till it's a rough oval/rectangle shape. Then use a rolling pin to flatten it out even more. Try to make them about 1/8 of an inch thick, or about the thickness of a dime. Slide onto a baking sheet, remove top layer of parchment only, and cut, but don't move, the dough into squares/rectangles. Bake at 250 F for 50-60 minutes. If your dough wasn't uniformly even, which mine wasn't, remove the thinner pieces earlier. Check on them every 10 minutes or so. If they're browning, they're done. Let cool. They are really good with the spinach dip.


You could even make the Buffalo dip ahead too, or wait and do the final cooking right before serving, which I think is the best idea. If you have it in the fridge overnight, it will take longer to bake though. Maybe 30-40 minutes. I like it best with the ranch and the cheddar or colby jack cheese.

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients:
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese, softened
1/2 c. Franks RedHot sauce or your favorite Buffalo sauce (Sweet Baby Ray's buffalo wing sauce worked well)
1/2 c. ranch or blue cheese dressing
1/2 c. shredded cheese or blue cheese crumbles
2 cups well shredded chicken (I used 2 small breasts)
1/2 c. more cheese for topping (optional)

Combine all ingredients except chicken in a casserole dish (mine was ~5 x 9 x 1.5). Mix well, then add in chicken. Top with the 1/2 cup extra cheese if you wish, and bake at 350 F for 20 minutes. If you make this ahead, and refrigerate it overnight, bake for 30-40 minutes or until hot and bubbly.


The fried mozzarella sticks didn't work too well. They were still delicious, but the pork rind breading didn't stick to the cheese well enough when frying, even with the egg coating. Oh well.

The pork rinds make wonderful chips for my dips though! They are big and pretty sturdy, which is great for heavier dips. If you use the plain, you just end up tasting the dip, which is great. The hot and spicy ones taste good on their own though.


The chicken wings and drumsticks were delicious. I did a rub, baked them in the oven with plenty of oil, and then added Buffalo sauce (for me) to 1/2 and BBQ sauce (for the family) to the other half. BBQ has too much sugar for me, but if you have a low carb one, go for it!

Rub for Wings and Drumsticks (or any other part of the chicken you please)

Ingredients:
2 Tbs. salt
2 Tbs. chili powder
2 Tbs. paprika
1 Tbs. garlic powder
1 Tbs. onion powder
2 tsp. cumin
2 tsp, oregano
1 tsp. allspice

Mix well in a wide mouth bowl. Cover the bottom of a lipped baking pan with high heat safe oil. Rub chicken in oil, then coat with rub, then place on baking sheet. After all the chicken is coated, drizzle more oil over the chicken. The oil makes the skin crisp up nicely. Bake at 375 F for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and brush on either BBQ sauce or Buffalo wing sauce, or both. Bake for another 15 or so minutes. Always check your chicken when you think it's done.


The cookies... *sigh*...well, they didn't turn out as planned. See, the recipe was fine. Fine and dandy. The texture was more like biscuits or scones. But that's perfectly ok. I don't mind. The chocolate however... I made the (horrible, horrible) mistake of thinking that I could just buy bakers chocolate and add my own sugar substitute. Nope. Wrong. Never been more wrong in my whole life. Don't do it. Please don't. I beg you. It's awful. If you just go buy chocolate chips with Splenda, it will be fine. Even breaking up a stevia sweetened bar is good. Just don't do what I did unless you love to eat plain baking chocolate. Not that I've ever met anyone who does. Even my mother, who usually eats 85% chocolate bars, said it was rough.

Chocolate Chip Scones/Biscuits

Ingredients:
2/3 c. almond flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xantham or guar gum
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 Tbs. coconut flour

1 c. sweetener of choice
3 eggs
8 oz. cream cheese, softened
1/4 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. nut butter (I used peanut butter)

1 1/2 c. chocolate chips (stevia or splenda sweetened)
1/4 c. shredded unsweetened coconut (optional)

Beat butter, cream cheese, nut butter, and sweetener together until smooth. Add eggs one at a time, beat in between for 1/2 a minute. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl, and add in dry mixture to wet ingredients little by little while mixing. Add in chocolate chips and coconut if you want it. Spoon onto baking sheet and bake at 350 F for about 15 minutes or until the tops start to turn brown. Remove to baking rack to cool.

Friday Night Italian

Tonight I'm posting for Friday night and then I'll make a post for all my SuperBowl recipes.

Friday I made a delicious impromptu dish with whatever I had on hand.

Spinach Marinara Chicken

1.5 lbs chicken, either breasts or thighs (or a mixture)

1 package creamed spinach, prepared as directed

1 c. lower carb tomato sauce ( I used Classico Tomato and Basil)

8 oz. fresh mozzarella cheese

1-2 Tbs. (opt. Kerrygold) butter

Italian seasoning or make your own: oregano, basil, salt, freshly ground black pepper, little bit of red pepper flakes

Shredded Romano or Parmesan for topping

In an oven safe skillet, pan fry the chicken in the butter and Italian seasoning. You may need a dusting of flour on the chicken to keep it from sticking, especially if you're using cast iron. Sear in 2-3 batches so chicken isn't crowded. Add all chicken back into pan once browned and top with tomato sauce. Spread it around well so it covers all of the chicken. Top with creamed spinach and spread well. Slice up mozzarella and place fairly evenly over the chicken. Top with a bit of Romano, Parmesan, or other hard Italian cheese and bake at 350 F for about 30 minutes. 

It's freaking amazing, and everyone went back for seconds. You can serve this over mashed cauliflower or spaghetti squash, or just on its own.

Pictured: the chicken served with Cheesy Cauliflower and the Marinated Green Bean Salad