These 2 Will Change the Industry!!!

What are you reading?
Among other things I am continually referring to these two books during this season. I can't tell you how thankful I am that they have both come out recently. I truly believe both will change mainstream nutrition and dietary guidelines with in the next 5 years. If you have not picked them up I highly recommend you do. Get ahead of the wave. The information you will learn has ALWAYS been true. It is simply finally being published by credible authors with the scientific data that the common consumer can understand and implement.
I wish we had this information years ago before my mother was overcome by dementia. I believe we could have had many more amazing years of the love and wisdom that we miss as she is living out the rest of her days in a care facility.

Bagels with Crab Salad

Well hello, where have you all been?  Oh, that's right.... you weren't  gone, I was gone.  Well it has been a whirlwind this last year but hoping to get back to healthy eating & great recipes.

The age old quest... the best bread to make a sandwich out of is a never ending hunt for the gluten free low carber.  I was browsing some of the archives over at Maria's blog to get back in the swing of things and decided to try her bagel.  What a great find. I even ordered this nifty little bagel pan from Amazon.
I have now made these bagels several times using them for breakfast sandwiches and lunches regularly.  So great to have something so easy to make a quick meal from.  I find that is 3/4 of the battle when eating gluten free, low carb.... just plain healthy.
These are so simple seriously between 5 to 10 minutes prep.

Ingredients:
whisk together to sift
1/4 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup unflavored whey protein
1 tsp aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum (I use xanthan, both gives chewy texture)
add desired herbs: I use 1/2 tsp dried parsley & onion powder, 1/4 tsp garlic powder, 2 TBS parmesan cheese
½ tsp Celtic sea salt
in a separate bowl whisk together
1/4 cup coconut oil or butter, melted
5 eggs

Process:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
After whisking each combine wet with dry ingredients, whisk to blend.  Grease a donut pan with coconut oil spray.  Add batter to pan.  Bake for 15 minutes. Makes 6 bagels.
Maria has some other options and combinations on her site go check it out...



Here's a great crab salad that was perfect with my new bagel.


Ingredients:
8 ounces crab meat
1/4 mayo-(or more to taste)
1TBS lemon juice
½ leek-sliced thin
1 large celery rib-sliced thin
2 tsp dill
1 tsp fennel seed
Pinch red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste

Process:
Mix all ingredients together. Refrigerate for a bit. Spread on your bagel. Add any other condiments: Lettuce, tomato, onion, mustard etc...
                                  You can use this same recipe for chicken salad as well.
                              omit lemon juice and add a few toasted slivered almonds...yum

Swerve Sale

Swerve is having a great Sale... Gotta stock up now!!

Ham, Smoked Gouda, Cucumber Panini's

 Any of us on a low carb, gluten free lifestyle have struggled to find a bread recipe that will not taste like ground cardboard. I recently tried one that I thought was a great find. Most of you are familiar with Carolyn from All Day I Dream About Food. I find many of her recipes an inspiration to me and of course as most of us will tweak and twist. This one is one of those I can see using in so many different ways.
I will post this recipe as is and in the future as I tweak and twist I will add updates.
My family loves to go to high tea through the years at the Impress Hotel in Victoria, BC. We love those little tea sandwiches with the cucumbers. I had been lamenting not having them for sometime. Sooooo....cucumber found it's way into this Panini and it is a winner. The cucumber gave it just the refreshing touch I was looking for.

  

Ingredients:
3 1/4 cps almond flour
6 Tbs coconut flour
1/3 cp unflavored whey protein powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
4 lg eggs
1/4 cup oil (grape seed or olive)
1/4 cup water



Process:

1. Preheat oven to 325F.
2. Whisk together all dry ingredients. Add and whisk in wet ingredients until well combined. Dough should be quite sticky.
3. Turn out onto a large piece of parchment paper and pat into a rough rectangle. Top with another piece of parchment.
4. Roll out into a large, rough rectangle about ½ inch to ¾ inch thick. Place on a large baking sheet and remove top layer of parchment.
5. Bake 20 minutes or until firm to the touch.
6. Remove from oven and let cool completely before cutting.
7. Use a pizza cutter or bread knife, cut into 10 sections. Cut each section carefully through the bready center into two halves.
8. Fill with your favorite sandwich fillings.
9. Brush both sides with butter or olive oil
10. Toast in Panini press or grill on stove

Black Forrest Ham

Smokey Gouda Cheese

Sliced Cucumber

Mayo/Mustard mixed together

Crab Cocktail

Living in the desert most of the time motivates me to run not walk to get my hands on the fresh crab when I get back to the northwest. Fresh crab is all but non existant in the desert.



Of course there are no fishing boats cruising past the pool.

The first thing I do when I land in Seattle is grab my cloth bags and head to Pike Place Market. It is literally 1 block from our condo. My favorite things I trek back up that hill home with are fresh crab, brie and other wonderful cheeses from DeLaunrenti's, wonderful meats from their deli, and an array of seasonal vegetables from the huge selection of organic growers that line the streets.
Our dinner that night will always begin with an amazing "Crab Cocktail". This is where the heavens open and the angels sing.....

I know many people use other greens ect... in their cocktails but we love just very thin sliced celery. Feel free to use whatever greens you like for this.
I simply used clear coffee mugs that work great for us however if you have guests just use your fancy stemwear.
Easy and elegant.

Crab Cocktail
3 large celery ribs-sliced very thin
1/4 lb fresh bulk crab

Cocktail Sauce
1/2 cp ketchup SF-GF
1 Tbs Horseradish-or to taste
2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp worcestershire-SF 
salt & pepper to taste

Start with a bit of cocktail sauce in the bottom then layer the celery, crab and cocktail sauce.
Make ahead and refridgerate until time for appitizers.

Look up, the angels are singing!!!!

Sour Cream Chicken Enchilada (Eggplant)

I found a wonderful multi colored bag of eggplant a couple of days ago and I have been wanting to try an enchilada dish. Sometimes I just get that overwhelming craving for my Mom's amazing enchilada's. Had to try it casserole style. Same great flavor. This really turned out fabulous with that creamy enchilada flavor it's all about and of course... no pasta.
Really guys, we've so proved we can make amazing dishes without all the gluten and carbs. Why are we so surprised when it really does taste great. This is one of the keepers.
Of course as with most all great casseroles, this is great made the day before and then baked. Flavors just seem to kick it up a notch.

Ingredients:
1 lb chicken-(I like thighs)
2 med eggplants-1/2" slices
1 cp sour cream
1 cp SF enchilada sauce1 med onion
2 cps jack cheese or mexican blend-divided
2 4oz can chopped green chilies
1 lg can whole black olives-optional


(what's great about the whole olives is if you don't like them or do not want the extra carbs you can just pick them out and give them to the olive lover in the family)


Process:

• Bring chicken and just enough water to cover to boil on stove top. Turn heat to low and simmer for 30 min. Take chicken out of pot and set aside to cool a bit. When cooled to enough to handle, shred or dice.
• Slice eggplant lengthwise 1/2" thick. Brush both sides with olive oil, sprinkle with salt & pepper.
• Broil on low until soft, turning over mid way. about 15 minutes on each side depending on your broiler. Watch carefully.
• In a medium sized bowl, mix all other ingredients except 1/2 of cheese. Stir together until mixed well.
• In a casserole dish or dutch oven layer beginning with eggplant, chicken, sauce. Repeat.
• Bake covered for 40 minutes. Uncover and add cheese to top continue cooking 15 minutes.  Let rest for 15-20 minutes to firm up.

Creamed Spinach

Ingredients:
2 1/2 lbs spinach-  a BIG bag
1/4 cream-warmed
4 ounces cream cheese-room temp
1/8 tsp nutmeg or to taste
2 TBL butter
1/2 white onion-minced
4 cloves garlic
salt, pepper to taste
1 cp parmesan cheese-
(good stuff, not the green can)


Sauce: Heat cream and cream cheese (small pieces) on stove to melt cream cheese, mix in nutmeg .
Saute: Melt butter in deep skillet or pan on medium, add onions, garlic salt & pepper. Cook until onions are slightly soft. Add spinach and saute til tender. Add sauce.

A really great side dish. We served this along side the yummy oven fried chicken. Here's a peek into my kitchen conversation. Mark: NOOOOOOO, I don't like creamed spinach. Me: I have a separate salad if you don't like it but at least try it. Dinner time..... Me: want the salad? Mark: NOOOOOOO, this is amazing I want more creamed spinach.
We scooped a piece of oven fried chicken into the creamed spinach. All I heard was ooooh's and ahhhhhhh's. So gotta say, if I made a believer out of my hubby, it has to be fabulous.

inspired by several recipes including Martha Stewarts

Oven Fried Chicken

I am the "fried chicken queen". Not that I have cooked much of it through the years .... I just love to EAT IT!!!!
I have to say that fried chicken has been my one single downfall from time to time while traveling or for that matter the famous Murph's Gaslight in Bermuda Dunes, CA near where we live. I have liked this style as it does not have a heavy coating.
My mother and grandmother were famous for their fried chicken so growing up we consumed our fair share. I'm sure it, among other southern cooking is why I must do my best now to recreate some of our family favorites into a healtier version.
I have played around with several variations and combinations for fried chicken, nuggets and strips. I am always partial to bone in although I have landed on this one and it works fabulously for all of them.

Ingredients:
4 chicken breast halves
   or 1 whole chicken cut up
3 eggs, beaten
2 cups almond flour- fine
3/4 cp Parmesan cheese-fine
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp Celtic salt
1/2 tsp pepper
olive oil spray

Preperation:
Preheat oven 350.

• Spray a foil lined baking sheet with olive oil spray.
• Mix eggs in medium bowl. Mix almond flour with the rest of the dry ingredients in another medium bowl.
• Cut chicken breast halves into 3 pieces each.
• Dip the pieces into egg mixture then coat with almond coating. (I will often divide almond mixture into two batches as it helps keep it from getting wet clumps into the mixture which enables it to cling to the chicken better)
• Place chicken onto baking sheet
• Spray tops of breded chicken with more olive oil spray.
• Bake 20-25 minutes. For a crispy outside, turn broiler on low and broil each side for 5 minutes. Keep a close eye on it.

In my freezer

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I like to double this recipe and freeze it on a pan right after breading the chicken. When it is frozen I put it in a Ziploc to bake at a later date. Couldn't be easier.

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 I served this with a creamed spinach that was fabulous to dip the bites of fried chicken into.

Recipe to follow

Twice Baked Cauliflower



Ok, I know these are not actually baked twice but you or any of your guests will never know it when you get done this fabulous concoction. This is actually the same recipe that we have done for years for our potatoes at Christmas and Thanksgiving. It as well is my husbands 1st choice with a nice big roast featured in my previous post. So I recreated it a couple of years ago with cauliflower and he is one happy guy. He has never even asked to go back to the actual potatoes.
We usually make a big batch of this dish because we love the left overs as much or more than the 1st night.

Ingredients:
1 head cauliflower
1/2 Bacon Ends and Pieces-medium chunks
4 oz cream cheese
4 TBS butter
2 green onions-sliced1 cp sharp cheddar cheese-shredded
Salt, Pepper to taste

I have seen many different variations of this dish in the LC world. We all seem to have our own version of it and each one as yummy as the other.

Preparation:
Preheat oven 350
Steam cauliflower on stove top until well tender. Thoroughly drain.
Cut and brown bacon on stove top. Do not over cook as it will still be baked further in the oven.
Whip cauliflower well with mixer, add butter, cream cheese and 1/2 cp cheddar cheese and mix until smooth. If needed add a bit of cream. Add bacon and green onion and blend in.

Pour mixture into a casserole dish.  Bake for 25-30 min. Sprinkle with rest of cheddar cheese 1/2 way through.

The Perfect Roast

A roast really is one of the least labor intensive items to cook. I often get a call from one of my girls..... "Mom, tell me exactly how to cook this particular roast again". So our family loves meat....and goes crazy over a good roast.
If you have read very many of my posts you may have come across the fact that we lived on a farm and raised our own meats. So when we sent our beef out to the butcher to hang for 21 days and cutting and wrapping we made sure to have lots of roasts cut. I was taught early on how to roast a perfect big prime rib or one of our favorite growing up was the rump roast. It is often referred now as a bottom round these days. We always prefer the bone in. It may be trickier to slice but gives much more flavor while cooking. Of course to get bone in these days, you often will need to special order.

Click for a larger view

The flavor of the "Rump Roast" is amazing although it is more economical as it is a bit tougher than the rib roast due to much less fat running through it because it is from the area of the beef that gets exercise more while walking and running. However growing up my father knew that cutting against the grain and slicing very thin resulted in fabulous servings of great taste.We didn't have time to special order a "standing rump roast" (often referred to today as a botton roast) today so grabbed a nice rib roast. We try to find one that has a nice fat cap on top that will baste the roast as it cooks. This is not a roast for you if you are on a calorie restricted diet (go for the Rump) but for those of us adhering to low carb, either is perfect. 

The Perfect Roast
Rib, Rump, Bottom Round, Sirloin Roast
Olive Oil
Garlic puree
Preferred Seasoning-(I use Jocko's)
or kosher salt, pepper, garlic powder
Rosemary-to taste (optional)
If you have time, season the night before or a few hours before, cover and place in fridge. Not critical however will allow seasoning to penetrate. Then bring out to room temp 60 min before roasting.

• Preheat oven 400 then turn down to 325 (after 20 min of cooking turn down to 325)
• Smear olive oil over roast then smear garlic puree all over. Season with your seasonings. Sprinkle with rosemary if using it.
• Insert a "leave in meat thermometer" into center of roast, not near a bone where you will be able to see it through oven glass while roasting. (Do not use an instant read so you do not have to keep opening the oven door to check temp).
• Place in roaster with low sides on a wire rack to provide even airflow. Do not cover.

Rule of thumb

5lb Rib Roast

20 minutes pr pound for med rare (however since ovens cook differently check meat thermometer).

130-very rare

140-med rare

150-med

160-med well

170-very well
 

Take roast out 7-10 degrees from your desired temp as it will continue to cook after it comes out of the oven.

Let roast rest for 20 min before slicing as the meat molecules will reabsorb the juices that they have let go of during cooking. This will result in much juicier slices of meat instead of loosing all the juices onto the cutting board. 

Another Rule of thumb

Bone in Roasts

  1lb pr person

Boneless Roasts

  1/2 lb pr person

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We used to serve this fabulous meal with twice baked potatoes and a nice green slaw or salad. Since we are cutting the carbs we now serve it with twice cooked baked cauliflower. It truly tastes almost exactly the same. Not one person misses the potatoes. I will post the twice cooked cauliflower next my next post.

 

Fall Gingerbread Scones

Yesterday my daughter came over and we did some baking experiments for the fall. She has a blog as well, featuring Organic, Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Clean eating. Check it out here The Girl Cooks Clean. Similar to The LC Kitchen although not quite as low carb.  Amber has some great recipes as well as research information that is very useful with this lifestyle of eating.

Since we created and baked together, and then I took the photos while Amber helped style and prop we thought it fitting to share on both blogs.

We wanted to bake something that launched fall for us here in the desert. Even though we have bright sunny days here right now, it has just turned to a crisp nip in the evening and mornings. I SMELL FALL!!!!
We landed on trying a gingerbread scone that we have seen several different recipes for. We made a couple of batches that were just not great when finally we landed on the tweaks we thought were amazing. The final combination was moist and had that wonderful gingerbread aroma and flavor. Not sure if a scone is supposed to be considered moist, but I gotta tell you, these are fabulous. You could of course make them round and turn them into cookies if you like. Either way, they make you envision "golden maple leaves floating in the air while you walk down the street wearing your favorite fall boots". I think there's a song in there somewhere.....
Cinnamon Coffee and Gingerbread. What could be better to launch the fresh fall season.

Ingredients

2 -1/8 cups almond flour/meal*
1/4 cup Swerve (or your choice of sweetener)
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/4 cup vanilla protein powder
1 large egg
1/4 cup butter, melted
3 TBS heavy cream
1 TBS Just Like Brown Sugar (or 2 tsp molasses)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

 

*if dough is too wet then add 2 or 3 more TBS of almond meal/flour

 

Frosting:

2 TBS butter, soften

1/4 cup powdered swerve (OR your choice of sweetener)

1/4 tsp vanilla

4 oz cream cheese

 

 Preheat 325 / Servings 8

• Whisk together almond flour, swerve, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, salt, and cloves in a large bowl.
• Add eggs, butter, cream, brown sugar, vanilla, and stir until dough comes together
• Form a ball out of the dough and turn out onto parchment-lined baking sheet and shape by hand into a rough circle (7-8 inch diameter).
• Using a pizza cuter or knife, slice 8 even wedges and seperate carefully, then space evenly around the baking sheet.
• Bake 18-20 minutes, or until scones are firm and lightly browned. (keep eye on the bottoms to make sure they don't burn)
• Remove from oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool.

Frosting:

• For the frosting, mix butter, powder swerve, vanilla, and cream cheese.
  Spread over COOLED scone.



Jimmie Jan's Jalapeno Poppers



Cream Cheese Bacon Poppers

Mark and I had a sleepover at my sister's house a few days ago. She and her husband Rich live in Yelm, WA where you may remember we relocated my mother to a care facility a few months ago. I am able to go visit her and often stay at my sister's beautiful home. She is quite the Martha Stewart and is a LC'er as well, so we hang great together. 
When we got up in the morning she was in full swing cutting up Jalapeno peppers for a little breakfast snack. Jalapeno popper with cream cheese wrapped in bacon. Then while they were in the oven cooking she whipped together some homemade jam sweetened with our beloved Swerve. 
See, I told you....Martha Stewart.
These were a great morning treat and made the house smell fabulous. Could hardly wait for them to come out of the oven. I just had to do a little photo shoot, her kitchen has amazing light.

Ingredients:
12 fresh Jalapenos-halved & seeded
8 oz cream cheese-softened
1 pkg bacon-slightly thick




Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350°.
Cut and seed Jalapenos. It's a good idea to wear kitchen gloves for this.
Fill halved Jalapenos with cream cheese. Wrap with bacon.
Bake 45-60 minutes to desired crispness.

 Jimmie Jan will be launching her own blog soon showcasing her dishes made from an amazing all natural freeze dried product line she represents and uses to develop recipes. I'll keep you posted.

Eggplant Lasagna

As a low carber one of the types of foods we may lament over is pasta dishes. Our very favorite place to spend time away from home is Italy. I've told you already about Mark's favorite meal of all being meatloaf, well neck and neck with that is LASAGNA.... so I had to join the ranks of coming up with a great noodleless make over. I have made several versions of lasagna that were good but when we sat down to this one..... heaven opened, a great light shown, and angels sang!!! ok, ok I'm back.
 I love it when recreating a dish comes out with nothing lacking from the original version. This recipe I developed from merging several others together.
 I think what made a big difference here is I found a great marinara sauce at Wholefoods that is SF, GF, and very LC.
 Rao's Homemade Vodka Sauce. It is kind of like a pink sauce instead of the dark red. I'm sure you can add a little cream or sour cream to another jarred sauce to get the same effect. It simply softened the flavor a bit which added to that velvety feel.
The best thing about lasagna is not just the flavor but those layers that meld together and give that luscious feel in your mouth. I can feel it even now.
You will get every bit of that and seriously, if you did not know there was not a noodle in this dish, it would simply be the best lasagna recipe without question all on it's own. You will never have to apologize with this dish that it does not have the beloved noodle in it. You will only get oooooz and ahhhzzz!!
As with almost any casserole dishe, the leftovers the next day are actually the best, so make extra. Mark and I actually had the leftovers for breakfast. Did I say we are also kinda weird. Now you have it.


China worthy

Ingredients:
2 lg eggplants, 1/2 slices
  olive oil spray
2 cps mozzarella cheese-shredded-(to top it off at end)

Sauce
1 lb ground chicken thighs
2 tsp dried fennel
1/2 lg white onion-diced
12 oz crimini mushrooms
2 24oz jars marinara sauce
1/4 cp red wine
1 TBS garlic powder
1TBS onion powder
1 TBS Italian seasoning
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tsp crushed red pepper




Ricotta Mixture:
1 15oz ricotta cheese
1/2 cp Parmesan/Romano cheese
1 cp mozzarella cheese
3 lg eggs
3 TBS fresh basil-chopped
 salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven 400

• Add fennel to ground chicken. Squish with hands to blend well. In a sauce pan brown meat, 1/2 way through add onion. Add the marinara sauce and all of the rest of the sauce ingredients. Simmer while making the rest of the dish.
• Slice eggplant in 1/2" slices. Easiest with a mandolin slicer. Sprinkle eggplant with salt & pepper. Spray both sides with olive oil spray. Place in 2 large baking sheets and bake until soft 10-15 min. Turn slices halfway through.
• In bowl combine all ricotta mixture ingredients.



Pike Place Market Eggplant

• Lower oven temp to 350.
• In 9x13 baking dish spread pasta sauce on bottom. Layer eggplant, ricotta mixture. Repeat. Finish with a layer of eggplant & sauce and top with a layer of mozzarella cheese.
• Cover with foil. Bake for 20 minutes. Take off foil. Bake another 20-30 minutes. Let rest 15 minutes or more to set up.  

Adapted from: A Pinch of Salt and verious other recipes over the years

Corn Dogs-Firstborn, Firstborn

We went to the Puyallup Fair a couple of weeks ago. I grew up going to this fair and my kids grew up going also. I have probably bought every gadget they have hocked there over my 38 yrs of marriage.

Firstborn, Firstborn
(my firstborn with his firstborn)

A few years ago I even took Peoples Choice 1st place in the international photography competition. I wasn't even able to go that year but sent in my entry.  I hadn't told anyone outside Mark and the kids that I had entered the competition. You send the entry in so long before the judging that I had actually forgot about it. All of a sudden one day I started getting phone calls from friends telling me  "You have a great big 1st place ribbon on your photo"...they actually recognized my son in this photo. (I did not intend on sharing about this photo, however the memory came flooding back as I wrote about the fair....nice memory). Now that we are in the desert more I often miss getting to go.

I digress.....Back to the fair...
Of course every year we ate our way across the fair. One of the treats I looked forward to, of all things, THE CORN DOG!!! I shutter now, although I must say seeing them walking  by got my mouth salivating.
My husband is in Honduras right now, so I am home for a few days on my own. Since the corn dog would not be his treat, I decided to ravage the Internet to see if I could find something that would come close and still be LC, SF, GF.
Many of the online interpretations for LC didn't come close to something I would recommend. Then doing a search on one of my favorite sites....Score!!! Maria always has great recipes she has developed. The  reason she would have a corn dog is because.....she has kids. My kind of house. We always have one, two, three or all four grand kids here so I refer to her site often.
I see that there is a corn dog gadget made specifically for corn dogs. Didn't have one of them lying around BUT...I do have a little Baby Cakes gadget that I got around Christmas last year. Bought them for all the women in our family during one of those blow out sales at Kohl's.                   
Voila!!! Let's try it...

Of course me being me I had to tweak Maria's recipe just a bit.

The Process

Ingredients
2 TBS coconut flour

2 TBS almond flour

2 eggs

4 TBS beef broth

1/2 tsp gelatin

2 beef dogs-(all natural, no nitrites or nitrates)

Preparation:
Heat beef broth & add gelatin, stir to dissolve. Mix all other ingredients except hot dogs. All broth/gelatin mixture, mix well. Set aside to thicken up a minute or two. Cut hot dogs into 1" lengths or however long your procedure accommodates.
Turn on what ever cooking gadget you are using .
When your unit is hot, fill 3/4 full of batter, push corn dog down into middle. Close lid, cook for 4 to 5 minutes depending on the darkness you like.
You can try cooking these in simply oil in a skillet as well. I have not used this method, however I'm  sure it would work with practice
Take out serve with ketchup & mustard or toppings of your choice.

Results: The Baby Cakes gadget worked beautifully. There are many other little gadgets along the same line that would work as well. Experiment with whatever you may have. Of course the "ol skillet with a bit of oil" will work I'm sure.

FYI: Swerve is having a BIG SALE!!!

Swerve has now become what those of us cooking LC,SF and GF are using in much of our recipes.
It measures like sugar, does not have that cooling after effect as some other erythritols or that licorice after flavor of many stevias.  Where we used to blend etythritols with stevia or stevia glicerite in most recipes it is not necessary with Swerve. It is my 1st "go to" for a sweetener now.

Sale through 9/30                                    

2 Canisters for $10 (reg. $6.99 ea)

6 Canisters for $30 

Buy 2 Confectioners Swerve, Get 1 Free

Sale prices will be reflected on final checkout page before you complete purchases as "Promotions Applied"

Learn more about Swerve: Click Here         
Thanks for the heads up Maria         

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If it were Green it would be......

So, I have been craving that flavor you get when you cook beans and ham hocks or split pea soup with ham hocks. If you've been following posts you know  I grew up on southern home style cooking. There is just something about that flavor of the smoked pork cooked in the juices of these southern style dishes that if you have a "hankerin" for it, nothing else will do... it just will not go away. Thinking, thinking..... I got it. Tweak the cauliflower soup, it morph's into just about anything.
Did it.... and I am sooooo amazed at how close this was. If it were green, I would have thought I was eating split pea with ham hocks. Close my eyes, I'm there.

I shared a recipe a while back for the Cauliflower Cheese Soup. Here's is a take off, that tastes competely different with the extra flavor of the bacon ends & pieces. This was so rich in flavor and creamy that it did not need the cream added that my orginal recipe used. The Trader Joes Uncured Bacon Ends and Pieces are actually like chunks of ham not sliced bacon so it is perfect for that chunky ham hock effect.
    -A little Trivia: growing up we had our own smoke house and smoked our own ham and bacon from the pigs we raised-

Southern Ham Hock Cauliflower Cheddar Soup
Ham chunks really are in here at the bottom 

Ingredients
2 cps chicken broth
1 lg head cauliflower-cut in large pieces
1pkg Trader Joe's Uncured Bacon Ends -large chunks
2 stalk celery, chunks
1 carrot-chunks (optional)
1 lg onion-chunks
1 cp water-or more to desired thickness
1 cp or more shredded cheddar (I like sharp)
Salt & pepper to taste
garnishes: finishing oils/salts of your choice,  thin sliced leek...the options are limitless 
Praparation:

Add all ingredients except cheese and water to a large pan. Bring to a boil and turn down to a low simmer for 90 mins. Ladle mixture and remaining water into blender and process until very smooth and desired consistency. (May need to do this in 2 batches). Mixture expands so be very careful not to over fill 1/2 way especially if it is hot. Return pureed mixture into saucepan. When hot stir in cheese to taste.

With GF Tamari Roasted Pepita's

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As you know, I love to garnish with flavored oils and salts. I used just a drizzle of lemon oil.

This one I also added a few GF Tamari Roasted Pepita's I get from my health food store. They're a great little snak and adds a great crunch to an aray of dishes.

 

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Spring Rolls with Peanut Dipping Suace

 Mark and I recently took a french cooking class in Woodenville, WA. The chef that instructed the fun class was from the Seattle area as well. We of course asked "what is your favorite restaurant in downtown Seattle"? He said with no hesitation.... Long Provincial on 2nd and Stewart. Well, our condo is literally 1 block from Longs, a place that we have walked right past for 4 years and never walked into. The next night we went. A wonderful Vietnamese restaurant that has now become one of our very favorites. Very intriguing decor and live jellyfish, carved furniture with banana palms.

 One of the most amazing items we love on the menu is the Spring Rolls. Now it is a bit more carbs than I want to have so I decided to recreate it at home..... Drum Roll Please.....These were off the charts and so easy!!!

Spring Rolls
meat filling
1 1/2 lb gr turkey (gr chicken or pork)
1/2 med onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground pepper
1 TBL Thai basil, finely chopped
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Other Fillings
match stick size slices
crimini mushrooms
green onion or chives
cucumber
carrot-optional (I do not use carrots)
Thai basil leaves
mint leaves
cilantro
Kelp Noodles

Butter Lettuce leaves for rolling

Peanut Dipping Sauce

6 TBL organic natural peanut butter-sugar free1 TBL soy sauce
1/8 tsp red pepper flakes (or to taste)
hot water to desired thinness

 
Preparation:  Mix all ground meat filling ingredients in a bowl. The easiest way is to just squish it together with  your hands. Saute over medium heat. Place in a bowl and cool in frig. Cut your other fillings making them like match stick size as much as possible.
Boil water. Put peanut butter into small bowl. Add soy sauce to peanut butter, stir and add enough water to your desired thinness for dipping sauce. (I like to use Trader Joe's Valencia Peanut Butter with Roasted Flax seeds). Refrigerate.
Place a spoonful of the ground meat on 1 or 2 butter lettuce leaves. Add your other fillings. Do not over fill or it will not roll well.  Roll the leaves around the filling. You may want to secure with a bamboo pick or small shish kabob stick.

Serve with dipping sauce in individual small bowls.

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I do not use the rice paper that would be used on the commonly known Vietnamese spring rolls, however you won't miss it with the amazing flavors in these. As for the rice noodles inside, I have discovered the Kelp Noodle. It is exactly a duplicate of a rice noodle without the carbs and calories. It has a slight crunch that is perfect in a spring roll.

List Happy Hour Seattle

So we often find ourselves flying into Seattle after being home in CA for a few weeks to an empty frig and of course no fresh food of any kind. What to do, what to do. Well we have over the last few years discovered the happy hour scene these days is all about the food and less about the drinks like in the past. We have many favorites that I will slowly post about. Most will even custom their happy hour items to suit a low carb intended diet. I say intended because we are quite aware that there may be a bit of sugar or carb here and there slipped in that you are not intending on but for the most part you can do great.
Last night we stopped in at List just 3 blocks from our condo in Belltown. They have a nice small area for outside seating if your lucky enough to get one of the few tables. I am very good at hovering so we do often end up out there when they weather is nice. The food here is fabulous and is not difficult to tweak your order to a low carb fare.         

The sea bass and prawns come on a bed a wonderful garlic kale and white beans. We just ordered no beans, extra kale.
Now these are just small plates so you want to order several, but if you are there for happy hour the price is accommodating.
These were great small plates to share.  All in all it was a very good choice when we find ourselves needing to eat at a restaurant which we do often with as much as we travel. They key is be creative, most restaurants will work with you. So, happy hour at List is from 4 to 6:30/9pm-midnight and Sunday-Monday all day. A great find.