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

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

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.

____________________________

 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.

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.

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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Basic Grilled Romaine

Ok, so I know I already posted a Crabby Grilled Romain but it was not show cased, it was kinda tucked beneath the amazing rib BBQ. Grilled Romain is such a main event in our home now that it must have a top billing. The basic salad is phenomenal all by itself but you can get so creative with whatever you can come up with to top it off with.
Fire up the BBQ or an indoor grill and voila!!! Plain salad into ohhhhh ahhhhh salad.


Grilled Romaine

Basic Grilled Romaine

4 Romaine heads
  Vinaigrette
1/2 cup Olive Oil
1/4 cup Red wine vinegar
2tsp Fresh herbs (rosemary, thyme or oregano) or
1tsp mixed dried herbs
3/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
    _________
Finishing Salt of choice (I love smoked salts)
Shaved Parmesan or Romano to finish
Lemon wedge

Preperation: Combine vinaigrette ingredients. I like to whip up my dressing in my little bullet blender.
Anything you have will work great.
Take off the loose outside leaves of the romaine heads. Rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut length wise keeping end core intact to hold leaves together.
Flat side down drizzle a bit of the vinaigrette over romaine, rub it over outside of leaves. Turn over to flat side up and drizzle just a bit again to get a little down into leaves.
Grill on BBQ or indoor grill on all sides until charred. Watch this close only takes a couple of minutes.
Drizzle more dressing to taste, sprinkle on finishing salt and shaved Parmesan. Serve with a lemon wedge or two.
We usually love to eat 2 halfs each however if you have guests and a large menu for the meal then 1 half would do.
Serves 4- 2 halfs / Serves 8-1 half

In honor of Mom and Great BBQ

     I have been away from blogging for a bit as we recently had to drive my mother up here to the northwest to place her in a care facility due to progressed dementia. I have flown back and forth for a couple of months now and of course not on the computer much at all during this very difficult transition. My father has now sold their home by us in the Coachella Valley and is in the process of moving up here to be by my mom. We are very blessed that I have a sister who is the director of a wonderful care facility (Rosemont) in Yelm, WA where I grew up. I am so glad my Mom is able to be in such a place where she is being taken such good care of. Although we live in the desert in CA, we work here in the Seattle/Tacoma area so I am able to come up regularly and go visit her and my family that still live in Yelm. I am so very grateful that they are there to see her daily. My mother has been my inspiration in the kitchen in many ways. She was considered the most fabulous cook in our town. We would often have huge crowds of 50 or more people and my mom and dad would have amazing BBQ's with my mom cooking all the fixings to go with. Her pies would go for several hundred dollars at the pie auctions for our church fund raisers. Far more than anyone else's. She was FAMOUS for her cooking and baking.

Now saying all that, she did not know what all the carbs and sugars can do to our bodies. She just knew good old fashioned southern cooking. Then came diabetes. She learned from the doctor to cut out the sugars etc.... and did so, but frankly through mainstream medicine was never told anything about how carbohydrates convert to sugar in our bloodstream. The outcome has been many diabetes complications including the extreme dementia she now lives with.

Seeing what diabetes has done to my mother and knowing it is strongly inherited is what motivated me to go beyond the mainstream philosophies of what causes this disease (and so many more) and brought me to the research of what the wrong carbohydrates will do to our bodies long term. After a few years of Mark and I living a healthier lifestyle and so many of our friends wanting recipes of our way of eating,  "TheLCKitchen" was launched.

MOM...IN HONOR OF YOU...

THANK YOU FOR MY LOVE OF FOOD, FAMILY, FRIENDS AND MOST OF ALL...GOD!!!!

Spare Ribs

Mark and I live in the desert however we work in the Northwest. We build apartment communities in the Seattle/Tacoma area so we as well have a condo downtown Seattle. Since I am used to the 115-120 degree weather at our home in the desert this time of year, it was the best time to be up here in Seattle with a new project starting and to visit my mother.

Between trips down from Seattle to Yelm to visit my mom I broke out the BBQ at the condo in Seattle. The Blue Angels were practicing for Sea Fair while I was out on my 21st floor patio . What a show....I am about eye level with them as they roar by. Wanted to cook outside to watch the show and just enjoy the absolutely wonderful sunny day up here.

Slow Cooked Spare Ribs

2-lg racks spare ribs

Seasoning-I use Jocko's Seasoning

1/4 cp olive oil

1-TB SF Liquid Smoke

1 can light Beer

Seasoning or salt & pepper

Preheat oven 200. Brown spare rib racks on both sides on BBQ'er. Just browned good, not to cook. On the stove add all other ingredients and simmer just a couple of minutes. Place Rib racks in a dutch oven or heavy roasting pan with a tight lid. I cut mine in half. I like to place a small rack in the bottom to raise it just a little out of the juice.( I am wanting it to braise but not boil in the liquid). If you don't have that it is not imperative.
Bast each slab with basting and pour the rest of the basting over the top. Place on lid tight or foil tight. Cook in oven at least 3-4 hours. The longer the better.


Grilled Crabby Salad

3 TB olive oil (I use lemon or lime infused olive oil)
1 TB vinegar choice
1 tsp rosemary
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 lb crab of choice (we love fresh)
toasted almond slices

Cut romaine in half & take off loose leaves. Combine ooil, vinegar, rosemary, salt & pepper. Brush all over romaine half's. Grill on BBQ grill (med/high) on both sides for 1 to 2 minutes each side. Just till it gets grill marks. Place serving plates top with crab, almonds and drizzle desired amount of dressing.

Amazing dinner.

Stuffed Peppers



My husband loves meatloaf. When I say "loves" meatloaf....he can have anything he wants for his birthday. He can go anywhere, order anything or I will make whatever he wishes....you guessed it, meatloaf at home with all the kids and grand kids is his request. So, now that he is eating low carb along with me (he's lost 20lbs, yeah Mark) he is willing to allow me to tweak my meatloaf a bit. Of course not for the big birthday dinner. Tonight I am taking my basic meatloaf to stuff peppers. Instead of the usual oatmeal I would normally put in my meatloaf, I am replacing it with Quinoa.

Quinoa-the Gold of the Inca's

Ingredients

4-5 peppers (I like red or orange)
1 lb ground chuck or beef
1 1/2 cp cooked Quinoa (I cook it with broth instead of water for more flavor)
1 TBS olive oil1 Lg rib celery-finely chopped
1/2 med onion-finely chopped2 garlic cloves-finely chopped

4 oz.crimini mushrooms-trimmed & chopped
1/4 cp fresh flat leaf parsley-chopped
2 TBS Worcestershire
2 Eggs-beat
½ tsp pepper, salt

1Tbs Better than Bullion (or similar)
1/2 cp vegetable or chicken stock (can use water)
¼ cp dehydrated onions
2 tsp granulated garlic
2 tsp granulated onion
Sugar Free Ketchup
Sesame Seeds


Preheat oven to 350°. Cook quinoa according to package. Let cool.
Saute celery, onion, garlic & mushrooms in olive oil just until tender. Let cool. Combine all ingredients except ketchup and sesame seeds and mix well (con, de-bling and use your hands). Cut tops & clean out seeds of peppers. Fill peppers with meat quinoa mixture. Arrange in baking dish. Pour 1 cp wat er or broth in bottom of dish. Bake fore 35-45 minutes depending on pepper size. Baste tops with ketchup and sprinkle with sesame seeds half way through.

Chicken Quinoa Tabouli

I have been using Quinoa (keen-wah) now for sometime in place of grains. Although, it is not a grain as most of us thought at one time, and actually says "grain" on many packages you buy. It is a seed closely related to the beet and spinach family. Quinoa substitutes nicely for many diverse recipes that call for grain.
   Quinoa-the Gold of the Inca's          Quinoa is 100% gluten-free. If you are allergic to wheat or if you’ve been diagnosed gluten-intolerant, then quinoa is an ideal substitute.

For those of us keeping tight control on our blood sugar, even though quinoa is not low in carbohydrates it is low on the glycemic index because it will not spike most Type 2 diabetics blood sugar. It assimilates at such a slower rate than grains that it causes sugar to be released at a lower rate into the blood thus keeping it level. Of course it is always prudent to test after eating it with your meter to see it's effect on you personally.

I have found that I can eat 1/2 cup as a hot breakfast cereal and not have any spikes.
There are so many reasons to incorporate quinoa into your diet. In ancient times it was referred to as "the gold of the Incas," Not only is quinoa high in protein, but the protein it supplies is complete protein, meaning that it includes all nine essential amino acids. It is a true Superfood. More on Quinoa here.

Leave chicken out for a side salad

Ingredients
2 cps cooked & chilled Quinoa
2 cps Chicken Breast-shredded*
1 cp Parsley-chopped
1/2 cup Leeks (or scallions)
2 TBS fresh Mint-chopped (or 1 tsp dried)
1 Garlic Clove, minced or pressed
1 TBS fresh Basil-minced  (or 1/2 tsp dried)
1/2 cp fresh Lemon Juice
1/4  cp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (I love to use Basil Olive Oil)
1/4 tsp Salt
1/8 tsp Pepper
1/2 cp slivered toasted Almonds
Toss all ingredients except almonds together. Chill for 1 hour. Toss in almonds when ready to serve.
Serves 6.
Adapted from: Bob's Red Mill Recipes
*Leave out Chicken for a fresh, lighter side salad.

Jalapeno Deviled Eggs

   

 

 

Bite you Back Deviled Eggs

Ingredients

6 Hard Boiled Eggs
1/4 cp mayo
2 TBS minced black olives
2 TBS minced leeks-white part
2 Tbs minced jalapeno
1 tsp mustard
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
Cayenne pepper for garnish

Hard Boil Eggs. Instructions here.....
Cut eggs in half, remove yolks into bowl. Mash with a fork and add all other ingredients. Mix well. Fill eggs with yolk mixture. Garnish with sprinkled cayenne pepper.

Nut, Flax Seed Granola

Easy to make and easy to travel with. We take this all over the world in a big Ziploc and never get caught without a great LC snack on the plane or breakfast on the run

Ingredients
1 cup pumpkin seeds
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup sliced almonds1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1 Tbs virgin coconut oil
1 cup flax seeds
3 tps cinnamon
2 TBS vanilla  or maple extract
2 Tbs Sugar Free Syrup (of your choice..maple, praline, vanilla)
1 Tbs equivalent sweeter of your choice (Truvia, Stevia or Splenda)

 Mix all ingredients together. (add flax seed at the end so it gets evenly distributed and does not end up all on the bottom. The liquids and oil will help to hold it). Pour into a shallow roasting pan or baking sheet. Toast in the oven at 325° for  20/30 minutes, stir every 5 or 10 minutes. This can brown quickly so check it often. 
Great with greek yogurt.
6 cups
I have been making this recipe for years, however I do not know where I originally adapted it from.