Comfort Food: Mini Beef Pies

I made these adorable and delicious little pies twice- once with zucchini and once with mirepoix. I really loved the mirepoix as it tastes like authentic English cooking to me, but you could add lots of different veggies if you want. My family loved this recipe. The pies are super cute, and quite filling. You could add zucchini or yellow squash to this recipe if you want.

Mini Beef Pies

Ingredients:
1 lb. ground beef
1 white or yellow onion
2 carrots
2 stalks of celery
3 Tbsp. butter
2 c. Carbquik
2/3 c. water (or enough to make the dough...doughy)
2 Tbsp. butter, melted
8 8oz. oven-safe ramekins
3/4 c. heavy cream
savory herb blend (sage, thyme, rosemary, parsley, black pepper, salt)
(1 Tbsp.) minced or fresh garlic (or 1 tsp. powder)

Preheat oven to 350 F.
1. Brown beef in a skillet. Add in some savory blend. Set aside. Do not drain pan.
2. Dice the veggies into small chunks or use a food processor. Melt the 3 tbsp. of butter in the pan. Add some more savory blend. Add veggies, saute until soft and onions are translucent.
3. While the veggies cook, mix up the biscuit mix (2 c. Carbquik + 2/3 c. water).
4. When the veggies are done, add the beef back in. Add the cream. Combine.
5. Place ramekins on a baking sheet. Grease with some spray. Spoon meat and veggie mixture into ramekins. Divide biscuit dough into 8 equal parts. Flatten into disks with your hands. Place dough over meat and veggies mixture.
6. Bake until biscuits are golden and fluffy. Remove from oven. Brush tops with 2 tbsp. butter. Serve.

Glorious Biscuits and Sausage Gravy

Dude. Duuuuuude. Dude. Holy crap dude. I just...I can't....I've missed my biscuits and gravy that my dad and I used to make on Sunday mornings so so so much. And now I can have them again! Okay, well, I don't have any days off this semester in which to leisurely make breakfast, but maybe you do! Alex bought this Carbquik stuff off of Amazon. It comes in a bright yellow 3 pound box for around $13. It's made of "carbalose" flour, which is basically the fibrous part of wheat flour. Because it is a wheat product, it's not gluten free, and not suitable for people with wheat allergies or Celiac's. If you make drop biscuits with them, each biscuit comes out to around 2 net grams of carbs. We attempted pancakes first, and found the middles didn't cook properly. We then thinned out the batter and ended up making these crispy crepe like pancakes. They were delicious. Then we made drop biscuits and gravy with it. It's delicious and has no funny aftertaste like soy, almond, or coconut flour. They have many recipes on the box, and many more on their website.

Sausage Gravy
1/2 lb.  breakfast sausage. I like Jimmy Dean All Natural

4 Tbsp. Carquik
3/4 c. heavy cream
3/4 c. water
salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and sage to taste

Brown and break up the sausage in a skillet. Add carbquik and coat the sausage with it. Add the cream, water, and spices and turn the heat down to medium. Use the back of your spatula to break up any lumps until the gravy is thick, bubbly, and smooth. Serve over biscuits.


Buttery Biscuits

2 cups Carbquik
2 ounces butter, cold (1/2 a stick)
1 pinch salt
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water

Instructions:

-Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.
-Cut the cold butter into the Carbquik with a fork, till the mixture resembles coarse meal.
-Add the salt and blend well.
-Mix the heavy cream with water to equal 1/2 cup of liquid, pour into dry mix.
-Mix till dough forms and comes together, but do not overwork the dough.
-Drop the dough onto a lightly greased cookie sheet approx 1 ounce size portions.
-Bake in hot oven 8-10 minutes till biscuits are golden brown.

IBIH's Ranch Chicken Nuggets

I recently tried this recipe and it's top notch. My mother immediately bought another packet of ranch mix so we could make it again. It's from I Breathe I'm Hungry's website, and I'm definitely a fan. The website is here.

Ranch Chicken Nuggets

INGREDIENTS
For the chicken:
2 lbs chicken tenderloins (or breast) cut into bite sized pieces
1 cup almond flour
¼ cup grated Parmesan or Romano cheese
1 packet Hidden Valley® Original Ranch® Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix
½ cup mayonnaise
1 tsp Dijon mustard

For the dipping sauce:
⅓ cup mayonnaise
¼ cup Dijon mustard
¼ cup sugar free maple flavored pancake syrup
INSTRUCTIONS
To make the chicken:
Combine the almond flour, cheese, and Hidden Valley® Original Ranch Salad Dressing & Seasoning Mix in a medium bowl.
Combine the mayonnaise, mustard, and chicken pieces in another medium bowl - stir well.
Dip the mayo coated chicken pieces in the seasoning mixture and place on a parchment lined cookie sheet.
Bake the chicken at 400 degrees (F) for 15 - 18 minutes (depending on size of pieces) until golden brown and cooked through.

For the dipping sauce:
Combine the ingredients and whisk until smooth. Adjust for your preference by adding a little more mustard or a little more syrup if necessary.
NOTES
Approximate nutrition information per serving:

1 serving (5 oz) chicken: 351 calories, 20g fat, 4g net carbs, 40g protein

2 Tbsp sauce: 110 calories, 12g fat, 0g net carbs, 0g protein

Mexican Cauliflower Rice

Mexican Cauliflower Rice

Recipe courtesy of SkinnyTaste; I have altered the recipe a little.

Ingredients:
4 cups cauliflower rice
1 Tablespoon olive oil or butter
1/2 medium onion, finely diced
2 medium plum tomatoes, small dice
1/2 jalapeno, seeds removed, minced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
½ teaspoon cumin
¼ smoked paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Heat the butter or oil in a skillet. Saute onions, plum tomatoes, and jalapeno until tender. Add the garlic and cauliflower rice, saute until rice is soft. Add the tomato paste, cumin, paprika, cayenne, salt, and pepper. Stir well and serve. Cilantro garnish is optional.

Pesto Zucchini Lasagna

I now have a wonderful new mandolin, and I decided to make lasagna "properly" with long, flat zucchini noodles. I decided to do a no tomato version, and sub in pesto instead.

Pesto Zucchini Lasagna

Ingredients:

2 zucchini, washed, ends chopped off

16 oz. ricotta cheese

6 oz. basil pesto

1 lb. ground beef (or pork)

8 oz. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

Directions:

Brown the ground beef. Mix ricotta, all but 2 Tbsp. pesto, and garlic. Using a mandolin, slice zucchini lengthwise about 1/4 in. thick. Spray the bottom of a baking dish. Lay in slices of zucchini neatly side by side. Spread 1/2 ricotta mixture over zucchini. Spread 1/2 of the ground beef over top. Sprinkle on enough mozzarella to cover beef. Layer again with zucchini, ricotta mixture, beef, and mozzarella. If you have leftover slices of zucchini, arrange them nicely on top and spread remaining pesto on slices. Optionally you can add any extra mozzarella on top. Bake at 350 F for 40 minutes or until cheese is golden brown. Serve with Italian or Caesar salad and sugar free shaved ice (or panna cotta) for dessert!

My Dad's Cream Cheese Pancakes

Cream Cheese Pancakes

This is my dad's favorite breakfast to make when he has time. It's a very simple recipe, you can modify it as you see fit.

Base recipe:
4 oz. cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1/4 c. golden ground flaxseed
1/4 tsp. baking powder
vanilla extract
2 packets splenda
2 Tbsp. flavored simple syrup (like vanilla or caramel)
1 tsp. cocoa (optional)

Topping Ideas:
-pats of butter
-sugar free syrup
-sugar free jelly/jam cooked with fresh/frozen fruit
-whipped cream
-melted sugar free chocolate

Caribbean Jerk Shrimp

For whatever reason, sugar and shrimp just go together. Honey, mango, brown sugar- they all make shrimp taste amazing. I had been craving a tropical tasting shrimp dish, and this recipe is what I threw together last night. Marinading the shrimp for at least 3 hours makes the flavor even richer.

Caribbean Jerk Shrimp

 

(photo is not mine)

In a bowl combine:

1 tsp. molasses

1/4 c. Jack Daniels Honey Whiskey (regular flavor works too)

2 Tbsp. McCormick Caribbean Jerk spice mix

2 tsp. lemon juice

1 Tbsp. minced garlic

1 tsp. paprika

4 packets Splenda

1 c. chicken broth (or 1 cup hot water with 1 bullion cube, dissolved)

Stir well.  Peel, devein, and take the tails off of 2 lbs. of cooked shrimp. Place shrimp in a gallon sized ziplock bag and pour in the marinade. Marinate for about 3 hours. 

Option 1:

Open the bag just slightly and pour the marinade into a pan large enough to hold your shrimp. Let the marinade by itself simmer until it reduces by 1/2. Add shrimp to pan and heat up. Serve immediately.

Option 2:

Remove shrimp from marinade and put on skewers. Grill until grill marks are visible. You can save the marinade and reduce it in a pot and serve it with the shrimp if you want.

A great serving idea is a salad with avocado, spicy creamy dressing (I like Habanero Ranch), small chunks of jicama, and red pepper and red onion slices.