Some Good #Lowcarb Eatin' This Week! #recipes

Just a few Cheap'n'Easy Low Carb meal ideas, in case you're interested :).

Pork dinner: I love pork with something sweet! Saturday I made a very pretty and delicious roast pork rib (country style) dinner that was easy prep and easy cook! Got some brussels sprouts out of the freezer, and tossed them in a bowl with a little olive oil and sea salt. Washed 3 small sweet potatoes and put them in the oven to roast, right on the rack. Seasoned my pork (this time very simply - S&P, garlic and onion powders) and put it into the oven. Then I sat with my feet up for about 30 minutes while I checked my facebook and email accounts. Poured the brussels sprouts onto a small baking sheet and added it to my oven for the last 30 minutes or so. Fiddled around for another half hour, then dinner was ready. Beautiful plates of color and nutrition! Served my sweet potato with a lot of butter and cinnamon, and a little brown Sugar Twin. Everything else was perfect as it was. Served 3 of us for about $7.

Fish dinner: While I really love crunchy coated fried fish, I've never managed to get it right. The coating either slides off or sticks to the pan, and I'm not sure why. (Christmas gift idea - a deep fryer that doesn't have a nonstick coating!) So I usually just season and bake my fish. On Monday it was pollock, which is so easy! I coat both sides with butter/olive oil mixture, very lightly sprinkle some coconut flour and seafood seasoning on top, and that's it. I had a couple of small potatoes (most low carbers don't eat potatoes at all; I eat 1-2 small ones/week) so I cut those into chunks, tossed with olive oil and sea salt, and roasted them at 375. Then I put a couple of Tbsp of butter in a saucepan with a couple cupfuls of frozen chopped spinach, covered, and set it on the "vent burner." After the potatoes had a 20-minute head start I put the fish in the oven and let them get acquainted in there for 25 minutes. When it was time to serve I turned the vent burner on and added a splash of lemon juice to the spinach while I pulled the fish and potatoes out of the oven, poured drinks, and so forth; since the spinach was already thawed and warm it only took a minute and a quick stir before it was good and hot. $4 for the meal for 2 of us.

Steak dinner: As I've mentioned, I buy chuck - it is my favorite cut, and it is cheap. And I buy the roasts, which I slice across into 2 "steaks" when I get home. I have grilled these, broiled them, fried them, you name it, and they act and taste like the chuck steaks that cost more. Anyway...I fried a chopped-up onion in plenty of bacon fat, then moved it to the side and added a "steak" that I had cut into big (about 2 oz.) chunks. Seasoned with sea salt and granulated garlic. I turned them until they were nice and brown on each side, but rare in the middle (how we like it). With a salad on the side, this was a great meal for about $4.50.

Chicken and bacon: I put my chicken thighs and bacon into the oven in separate pans (because I save my bacon fat) and just cook them together. I think chicken and bacon go well together, and with a big heaping side of my saucy green beans it makes a great meal. Plus, the next day we get another meal out of a big plateful of greens or lettuce (this week lettuce because I'd gotten it on sale), piled with leftover chicken and bacon plus a handful of shredded cheese and some chopped veggies - whatever is in the fridge at the time. Lots of food, very filling, about $3 for both plates of salad fixed the way we had them this week.

Saucy green beans: Everybody loves these, but they're so simple! I melt some bacon fat in a saute pan, and add the powdered onion (not granulated, it's fine powder, like flour), and it makes like a roux - maybe 3 Tbsp of bacon fat and 1 tsp of onion powder will do it. Once it thickens I add my frozen whole baby green beans, some sea salt, and some granulated garlic and cover. As soon as the beans are softened, I stir it all together and return the cover to let the beans cook well (but not mushy). The liquid comes out of the beans and mixes with the "roux" and makes a lovely light but tasty sauce. So easy but really REALLY great! And cheap - about a buck for the whole panful which serves 4 - or 2 when my husband and I have them :). Add some bacon and it's a light meal!

Simple Stir-Fry: Only it's not really a stir-fry because I don't make it like the Chinese do, in a hot wok, quickly. But I don't know what else to call it. I use an electric skillet, and fry my meat chunks and chopped onion in fat. Then I throw in a package of frozen stir-fry vegetables and a package of cole slaw mix, season with soy sauce, ginger, and sesame oil, toss it all together, lower the heat, and that's it. Ready to eat in about 10 minutes. Depending on what I have on hand I also have been known to add a can of baby corn, water chestnuts, mushrooms...whatever. Sometimes I chop up shirataki noodles and add those too (at the beginning, with the meat and onion). But it is filling, inexpensive (under $5 for 4 portions - and the 2 or 3 of us usually eat it all), fast, and easy.

Cucumber salad: Did I already write about this? I take 4 cukes, peeled and seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...4 tomatoes, de-seeded and cut into bite-sized chunks...1 onion (red is pretty, sweet yellow ones are tastiest, sometimes I use both!) sliced into thin slivers...toss with balsamic vinaigrette and a little sea salt. The longer it sits in the fridge the better it tastes - next-day is excellent! We paid 49c each for the big cukes, the tomatoes were from our own plant, and the onion was about 50c ($1.29/lb, less than 1/2#). The balsamic vinaigrette was $1.79 for the bottle, I used 1/4 of the bottle. So the salad, which feeds both of us for several meals/snacks (8 servings?) cost $3 with the free tomatoes. I've taken this to church potluck and gotten rave reviews, and it is colorful and beautiful as well!

This is what we've been eating the last few days. Of course we've also had breakfasts and other things, but we've had some great suppertime meals using the bounty of groceries I purchased on Saturday morning!

Mmmm...Chocolate Cookies! ( #lowcarb )

Today my 21-month-old grandson and I made cookies. I don't measure anything but I'm fairly certain that the amounts given will be very close.

1 stick butter
1/3c xylitol
2/3c granulated splenda
2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
3T baking cocoa
1/4c polydextrose
2 scoops vanilla protein powder
1/2c whole oats
1/2c unsweetened coconut
1c almond flour
1/2 pkg. sugar-free chocolate chips

Beat the first 3 ingredients together until smooth and fluffy. Add next 2 ingredients and beat to blend. Add remaining ingredients and mix thoroughly. Dough will be quite stiff; if it isn't, add a little more almond flour.

Drop by walnut-sized portions onto greased baking sheet, dipping spoon into water between each portion, then flatten with a fork, dipping fork into water between each portion. These will not spread, so you can put them fairly close together. Bake @ 350F until done. I used a baking stone, and they took 16 minutes. You will have to adjust your time if you are using a baking sheet.

These are a very heavy dense cookie that go really well with coffee or milk, and they are very filling. I got 52 cookies in my batch.

Strange Food Day #lowcarb

I didn't want much lunch so I took a handful of frozen cauliflower florets and partially thawed them, just so I could chop them with my chopping blade. Then I chopped some leftover ham and sprinkled cheese on top, then heated it up right in the bowl. It was maybe a cupful if that...and very very good.

For supper I'd gotten out a couple of NY strips for grilling for Pete and I, and planned to maybe heat up some green beans in olive oil...but suddenly got a taste for some great Koegel franks in the casings. So we went to the local market and picked a few out of the meat case, and grilled them with our steaks. And had a salad on the side, with my own salad dressing (about 1/3c mayo, 1/4c SF ketchup, 2T Ideal sweetener, and 1Tbsp vinegar). What a delicious supper! A little unconventional maybe, but totally delicious!

Drawing Your Attention To A Comment #lowcarb

I just approved a comment on one of my blog entries here. At first glance it seemed to be kind of spammy when I checked out the site, and certainly she's trying to promote a (free) ebook here. But that's ok, because the bread recipes on the page, though they don't show the actual carb counts, look good. And the website looks good - be sure to watch the video on how to not have to peel a hard-boiled egg! So, to make sure you see it, I'm putting her comment here:

Great Recipes for Low Carb Bread. Easy to make and really tastes great!! http://bestlowcarbcooking.info/you-can-have-your-bread-eat-it-too.html

Bessie Cook
Download your FREE Low Carb Recipe Ebook! http://bestlowcarbcooking.info

I will also add the URL to my blog roll.

CHEAP'n'EASY #Lowcarb Picnic Ideas!

Lots of picnic food is already low-carb - think grilled meats - but when you're with a large group of family and friends it just don't seem right not to have a table groaning with food! And since this blog is about "Cheap'n'Easy" lowcarbing, I have some suggestions for that crowd-pleasing, groaning table that people can be enjoyed by ALL - lowcarbers or not!

First, the meats. Grill several different kinds. You can get chicken drumsticks for <$1/lb any day of the week just about, hamburgers made from scratch or already-formed patties for about 25¢ each, brats for about 50¢ each, and hot dogs for as little as a dime each! (Note that the cheapest hot dogs have all kinds of fillers, even HFCS, so read that packaging carefully! Ditto your brats!) Once you put out a few platters of different grilled meats, you've got a great start on your groaning table!

Next, vegetables. Even vegetables haters can enjoy sliced eggplant, zucchini or yellow squash, or halved bell peppers, tomatoes, or onions once they've been grilled! Brush with olive oil and season liberally (try garlic and onion powders, chili powder, sea salt, etc...open your spice cupboard and use your imagination!) before grilling. All of the colors on the platters, with the lovely grill marks criss-crossing your veggies, some fresh herbs tucked in, and this creates quite an impressive showing!

And a grilled "salad" is an impressive and EXCELLENT offering! Halve a head of romaine, leaving the bottom intact to hold it together. Brush both sides with olive oil and grill the cut side first, just until it has grill marks and is starting to get limp. Turn it over and sprinkle the hot cut side with some chopped cooked bacon and a little shredded cheese to melt it all on as the other side grills, and serve your grilled salads across a platter with a variety of salad dressings, and little dishes of add-ons for your guests to top 'em off. Suggestions: more bacon pieces and shredded cheeses, halved cherry tomatoes, sliced 'shrooms, roasted/salted sunflower seeds, chopped hard-boiled eggs...even tuna, ham, or chicken! Guests will love these I promise!

For other side dish ideas, try slices of cucumbers with spoonfuls of chicken, tuna, or egg salad on top, garnished with smoky paprika and parsley. Or a standard faux-tato salad, using blanched cauli bites instead of potatoes...and you can add other veggies as well! Devilled eggs are an expected offering, and are already low carb! A fruit salad of berries and melons with unsweetened coconut is always lovely, and cheese chips and veggies with dips are great too! Nobody will even miss the potato chips but if you have the time, daikons sliced thinly on a mandoline, deep-fried until curly and brown, then immediately seasoned with garlic salt and parmesan cheese (from the green can) make a very reasonable substitute. These are best served warm, so bring them to the picnic in a big covered foil baking dish that you can toss on the grill for a few minutes before serving with your meal.

Since desserts are expected, meringue cookies, SF jello salads with REAL whipped cream, lowcarb no-bake cookies and/or fudge, or any of the many cake, muffin, or cupcake recipes made with almond and/or coconut flours and SF sweeteners that abound will definitely work, with dishes of nuts set among them.

There is no reason that we lowcarbers can't have just as great and plentiful of a family picnic as non-lowcarbers can, and do it just as simply and inexpensively!

A Lovely Dish! Sausage & Shrimp

I'd mentioned to my husband yesterday that for supper I was going to fix ground pork and shrimp together, seasoned with just chili powder, and "dressed" with maybe some sour cream and/or butter. By dinnertime however, I couldn't stand long enough to fix supper, so Pete took off on my idea and added some baby corn and some shiritake noodles, and seasonings of his own. I just put some butter on it in my bowl and it was fantastic! I had the rest for lunch today.

Supper was simple tonight. Just sliced about 4" of a pork tenderloin into 4 slices, seasoned them, and layed them in the bottom of an olive-oil-greased baking dish. They took up about 3/4 of the surface. In the remainder I put some brussels sprouts, frozen, that I'd tossed with olive oil, sea salt, and garlic and onion powders. Then I roasted them all together. It is wonderful how something so simple can taste so amazing! What helped, I'm sure, was the thick layer of fat on the pork...oh yeah, baby!
Oh yeah, and the sandwich I put in Pete's lunch for work today: A piece of FlatOut Light (6gN) bread, with mayo spread on it, then a layer of romaine leaves, a layer of thin-sliced SF ham, and a layer of swiss cheese. Rolled up it is lovely, huge, and filling! A 1/4c serving of roasted peanuts, 2 sticks of string cheese, and he had a very filling lunch that held him all day. Sometimes I also give him dill pickle spears, and I need to make a big pot of hard-boiled eggs also, he loves those - especially when I devil them!

Every meal I eat, I marvel at how anyone can believe that eating low carb is boring, or unhealthy - or expensive!

Versatile Cookie Dough Mix #lowcarb

This is the basic dry ingredient mix that I use for all of my cookie recipes. More at the end about how to use it:
3 parts almond flour
2 parts polydextrose
1 parts granulated low carb sugar substitute*
1 part each: vanilla protein powder, oat bran, coconut flour

To make about 6 dozen cookies I use 3 cups of the above mix, plus
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
4 eggs
2 sticks butter (not oleo)
2 tsp vanilla extract

Then I add whatever else to the dough: unsweetened coconut, SF chocolate chips, nuts, etc. In addition, I add a flavored extract to complement whatever I add to the mix.

Today I made some lovely cookies by adding a tsp. of almond extract and 1/2 tsp of cinnamon. They are delightful and go perfectly with coffee! Often I will add 2T of cocoa powder with 2T of instant coffee granules, and increase the sweetener slightly.

*As is the case with most people who have been low carbing for a while, a little sweetness goes a LONG way. If you want a sweeter cookie, adjust your sweetener upward. These taste lightly sweet to us - perfect with coffee - but to non-low-carbers I'm sure they'd taste really bland.