Pumpkin time !!!

October 24th, 2010

I love pumpkin time.  Pumpkin lattes, pumpkin bread (muffins), pumpkin pie & pumpkin soup… YUMMMMMM

I tested a pumpkin bread (muffin) recipe yesterday and took it to a party. Everyone loved it, they said it was very moist and tasty.

Here it is..

PUMPKIN Cake (muffins)

  • ¾ cup Steel cut oats ~ process in your blender till turns into a flour (measure then grind)
  • ¾ cup almond flour (almond meal)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 2 eggs
  • ¾  cup of splenda
  • 1 ½ cup pumpkin puree
  • 2 tablespoons SF Vanilla coffee syrup (or increase splenda by two tablespoons and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract)
  • ¼ cup of golden raisins or walnut pieces

In your blender grind the steel cut oats into flour, pour into a bowl. To the bowl add Almond flour, baking soda, spices and salt ~ stir to combine. In a separate bowl mix the splenda, pumpkin, eggs and coffee syrup.  Pour wet over the dry ingredients, add raisins or walnuts and stir just till combined.

Use an ice-cream scooper to place batter in 12 muffin tins that have been lined with paper cups or spray a 9 inch round cake pan with non stick spray and pour in batter.

Bake at 350 degrees for 25 mins or till toothpick comes out clean.

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Brownies, yes I said it brownies!!!

August 12th, 2010

I was given a recipe for brownies made with black beans and spinach. I took the recipe apart and made it something I could eat. Yes, they are still a treat and have to be treated as such. Lets be real we all like treats so why not make one that is almost healthy and tastes pretty darn good if I do say so myself…

Black Bean Brownies

  • 1 cup of black beans (rinsed and drained)
  • 2 Tablespoons olive oil
  • ½ cup chopped frozen spinach (defrosted and squeezed dry)
  • 3 tablespoons Dutch Processed Unsweetened Coco
  • ¼ cup Cottage Cheese
  • 2 large eggs plus one yolk
  • 1 ¼ cup splenda
  • 1 ½ teaspoons espresso powder
  • 2 Tablespoons SF Vanilla Coffee syrup
  • 2 tablespoons sf chocolate syrup
  • 2 Tablespoons Butter
  • 3 Ounces unsweetened chocolate (chopped)
  • ½ cup almond meal
  • ½ cup chopped walnuts

Mix/blend everything in a blender or food processor except the last four items, till smooth and beans are no longer visible. In a small glass bowl melt the butter and the chocolate till melted, stopping every 15 seconds to stir ~ let it cool for 5 minutes before adding to the mixture along with the almond meal. Blend just till combined. Pour batter in a 9×9 baking dish that has been sprayed with no-stick spray then top with the chopped walnuts. Bake for 25 minutes at 350. Let cool before serving, please be sure to cover and refrigerate or store in a sealed container in the fridge.

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Pasta-less Lasagna

August 11th, 2010

Pasta-less Lasagna

For the noodles

  • 1 small eggplant
  • 1 medium zucchini
  • 1 medium yellow squash

Wash and trim ends off, slice into long noodle like shapes. It would work best if you used a mandolin, if you don’t have one just do your best to slice them thin and all the same thickness. Place on a baking sheet lined with a silpat pad and bake at 350 for 5 minutes, flip and bake for 5 more minutes.  Remove from baking sheet and let cool.

  • 1 lb ground beef
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 small onion chopped
  • 1 bell pepper chopped
  • 3 cloves of garlic minced
  • 1 can of your favorite pre made pasta sauce
  • 1 lb low moisture mozzarella cheese – not grated ~ sliced into medallions

Heat the olive oil in a medium sauté pan; add the onion, ground beef, bell pepper and garlic. Sauté till the juices on the beef run clear. Drain and add the pasta sauce, heat till warm.

In a 9×9 baking dish start layering, first some sauce mixture, next vegetables then cheese. Repeat till the dish is full. Top with any remaining cheese.  Bake at 350 for 25 minutes. Let it rest for about 5 or 10 minutes before serving.

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Shrimp

July 28th, 2010

Hello, I am finally getting over my cooking block.. I think what happens is you cook something and eat it for a few days then get burnt out and have a hard time thinking of a new item to eat.

I took the shrimp scampi idea and twisted it a bit, hope you like it.

Shrimp Scampi

  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • ½ teaspoon butter
  • 1 small onion diced
  • 3 or 4 garlic cloves crushed
  • 24 medium shrimp, washed, peeled and de-veined
  • 1 package of spinach (the kind sold by the bagged salad) – rinsed and drained
  • 1 can of small white beans- drained and rinsed
  • 1 package of Shirataki noodles ~ rinsed, drained and snipped into small pieces
  • ½ to 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • Salt ~ to taste

In a large skillet cook onion in olive oil butter mixture (if you used all butter it would burn, the olive oil raises the smoke point of the butter) till softened and almost translucent, add garlic, salt, shrimp and spinach sauté till shrimp is no longer translucent and turns a pink orange color. You will know the shrimp are cooked when they turn into C’s if they are O’s they are overcooked. Remove from shrimp and spinach from the pan leaving the juice in behind, add the beans and with a potato masher some of the beans (this will thicken the liquid into a nice sauce without using any of the standard thickeners and adding carbs) but only some of the beans, add the red pepper flakes and noodles heat till warm then pour over the shrimp mixture and mix with a spoon before serving.

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Curry Fish

July 21st, 2010

I have a jar of red curry paste that I purchased to make Curry Chicken so I can’t waste it… I also needed a fish dish to put in my cookbook so I came up with a red curry fish, I hate fish!!! but I made it anyway and tasted it ~ my husband ate it. Not sure if it will make it into the book but here it is anyway….

Red curry tilapia

  • 4 tilapia filets~ cut into cubes
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion ~ sliced thin
  • 1 medium bell pepper ~ sliced thin
  • 1/2 a medium head of cauliflower cut into florets
  • 1 cup of cooked – drained and rinsed garbanzo beans
  • 3 tablespoons red curry paste
  • 1 teaspoon fish sauce
  • 1 can of light coconut milk
  • 2 teaspoons splenda brown sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup fresh basil ~ cut into strips (rinse, stack, roll and slice)

In a large saute pan, sweat the onion and bell pepper in the olive oil till the onion starts to get soft, add the cauliflower, coconut milk, fish sauce, chili paste, splenda brown sugar, red pepper flakes and beans. Cook over medium heat till the cauliflower is fork tender then add the fish and basil and continue to cook till the fish is no longer translucent.

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Curry Chicken

July 5th, 2010

Happy belated 4th of July, I hope it was fun and safe for everyone..

Happy Birthday Ellen!  Ellen is the best editor in the world, she is working on my cookbook forwarded me one of her favorite family recipes. I tweaked it a little bit and this is what we had for dinner tonight and Jeff LOVED IT!! It was a good change from BBQ food after the long holiday weekend

Her original had green curry but I could only find red in my grocery store, so that is what I used. She said red is not as hot as green, she also used peas and not garbanzo beans but I liked the opportunity to add some fiber..

Curry Chicken

Curry Chicken

¾ to 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breast (I use cutlets for a shortcut)

2 teaspoons peanut oil

1 medium to large onion, halved and sliced thin

1 very large red bell pepper, sliced thin

1 can (14 oz.) reduced fat coconut milk

1 can chickpeas/garbanzo beans~ drained and rinsed

1 medium zucchini cut in half then sliced into ½ moons

2 to 3 tablespoons red or green curry

2 tablespoons brown splenda

1 tablespoon fish sauce (in the ethnic foods section of many large grocery chains, or any Asian market

1 or 2 teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes (to taste)

2 packages of shiratiki noodles~ drained, rinsed and snipped into pieces

½ teaspoon salt

1 or 2 cups fresh basil leaves, torn

  • Heat the oil in a large, deep skillet over medium heat, then sear the chicken pieces until the edges are uniformly pale
  • Remove chicken from skillet and set aside (leave the remaining oil and juices in the pan)
  • Coat the same pan with cooking spray, then sauté the onion and red pepper at medium-low heat until they begin to soften, about 5 to 7 minutes
  • Stir in the coconut milk, chickpeas, zucchini, curry paste, brown splenda, fish sauce, red pepper flakes, shriatiki noodles and salt
  • Simmer uncovered for 2 or 3 minutes, then add the seared chicken. Turn heat to low and continue to simmer, 7 to 10 minutes
  • Remove from heat and stir in the basil until it wilts

Ellen said to serve it with cashews or peanuts and extra red pepper flakes, she serves it over jasmine rice but I added the Shirataki noodles in place of rice or traditional noodle

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Zucchini anyone??

June 21st, 2010

I had a request for zucchini muffins, so I thought what the heck I could do them. I made them for Jeff for Father’s day for breakfast (I made pancakes for Kassie).. They turned out very moist and tasted great !! Ellen, I hope you like them when you make them. I would ship you some but they would get squished and they dry out with time so I thought the two days in transit would be bad… sorry…. I took a few to work today and they were gone almost instantly !

Zucchini Muffins

  • ½ cup Steel cut oats ~ process in your blender till turns into a flour
  • ¼ cup unsweetened grated coconut (this is the dry coconut that is in the health food/nut isle not the sweetened stuff)
  • ¼ cup wheat bran
  • ¾ cup almond flour (almond meal)
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • ½  teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon ground cloves
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 3 eggs
  • ½ cup of splenda
  • 1 small zucchini grated (about a cup and a half)
  • ½ cup sour cream or cottage cheese
  • 2 tablespoons SF Vanilla coffee syrup (or increase splenda to ¾ cup and add a teaspoon of vanilla extract)

Measure oats and place in a blender and process till it turns into a flour, add coconut, wheat bran, almond flour, baking soda, cinnamon, cloves, salt and splenda to blender and pulse till combined.

In a medium mixing bowl whisk together eggs, coffee syrup, cottage cheese and zucchini till well combined. Add dry items to bowl and stir with a spoon till just combined, do not over mix. Use an ice-cream scooper to divide into 12 muffins. I prefer to use a silicone muffin pan since the muffins will pop out easily. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 mins, they will be a little soft inside till they cool completely and you want them that way since they contain oats and the oats absorb the moisture.

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Steak… yum, beef!!

June 14th, 2010

I never thought I would post about how to cook a steak but this steak is sooooo good !!!! I am going to make a second dish with the leftovers tomorrow so I thought aahhh just post it… When I went to the pre-op classes they said that steak would be hard to eat for a while but I lived on steak for like months 3 to 8 since I couldn’t eat chicken (I can eat chicken now, YEA!) I found that a fillet is the best piece of beef for me, it is moist not too chewy and not too fatty.. I like to buy them when they go on-sale and freeze them in small packages.

Steak with mushrooms and onions

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 ½ small onions sliced or one large to medium sliced

8 oz sliced mushrooms (I take a short cut and buy pre sliced)

1 tablespoon crushed garlic or 3 cloves minced

Kosher salt

Fresh ground black pepper

4 fillet minions’

Liberally salt and pepper your steak on both sides and drizzle with olive oil. Let the steaks sit out while your onions and mushrooms are cooking. If they are almost room temperature before you place them in your pan they will cook more evenly and have a nicer crust.

While the mushrooms and onions are cooking pre-heat your oven to 475.

In a large oven safe skillet (I love anodized aluminum for cooking steaks) sauté the onion and mushrooms in the olive oil, when they are starting to take on some caramel color add the garlic and a pinch of salt. Remove the mushrooms and onions to a bowl.

Place your steaks in your heated pan (the same one you just used for the mushrooms) and sear on each side, place in oven and cook till they reach an internal temperature of 140 to 145 degrees for medium.  Remove from pan and let rest on a plate for a minimum of 5 minutes before serving.  You will need to re-heat your mushrooms and onions, so you can just add them back to the pan and they will absorb some of the juices from the steak.

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Baked Cauliflower with cheese

June 13th, 2010

I love cheese and pretty much anything covered in cheese…

Pre-op I made mac and cheese or baked cheese potatoes in the summer time as a dish to take to BBQ’s. Since I no-longer eat potatoes nor do I make it a habit to eat real pasta this is my substitute. I will say you could use this cheese sauce with dreamfield brand pasta but if you re-heat it the pasta manufacturer says it losses the low carb properties so unless the whole dish will be eaten at one shot I wouldn’t make it for myself with dreamfield brand pasta.

Baked Cauliflower with Cheese

  • 1 Head fresh or one bag frozen Cauliflower- Steamed
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • ½ small onion – diced
  • ½ teaspoon garlic or one clove minced
  • 1 teaspoon soy flour (could use all purpose, I choose to use soy since it is lower carb)
  • 1 ½ cups milk
  • 8 oz grated cheddar cheese ~ reserve ¼ cup to use as a topping
  • 1 egg
  • Salt and pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower and let it cool, if it is not cool or still wet the end result will weep and be watery.  Place cooled, steamed cauliflower in an 8 by 8 baking dish.

In a large sauce pan, sweat onion and garlic till onion becomes translucent. Sprinkle flower over onion mixture and continue to cook for one to two minutes ~ this cooks the flour so when you eat the dish it does not taste like raw flour. Slowly wisk in the milk, bring mixture up to almost a boil. The mixture will not be very thick since we have such a small amount of flour, that is why we are adding an egg at the end.  Turn off the heat and keep whisking so that the mixture cools some then slowly wisk in the cheese, keep a small amount aside to use as a topping. After all the cheese has melted, in a small bowl beat one egg, while continuing to beat the egg slowly pour in ½ to 2/3 a cup of the hot cheese mixture. Do not stop beating the egg or it will turn into a scrambled egg. Slowly wisk the egg mixture back into the large portion of the cheese mixture, add salt and pepper to taste then pour over cooled cauliflower. Top with remaining cheese. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or till cheese is golden and delicious.

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Granola ~ Peanut butter…

June 11th, 2010

My daughter love granola bars, but she didn’t like my plain granola so I thought she might eat a peanut butter version. She would eat a granola bar every day for breakfast if I let her, this might pass her sniff test since it is loaded with peanuts and peanut butter. I will also say it smells so wonderful baking, better than any candle you could ever buy.

I think it would be excellent smeared with peanut butter, it would be a mock version of one of those “naturally made” crunchy bars that are sold commercially but loaded with sugar and carbs. This is my low carb low sugar version.

Peanut Butter Granola

  • ¼ cup flax seeds
  • ¼ cup unsweetened coconut
  • ¼ cup wheat bran
  • ¾ cup almond meal
  • 1 cup peanuts
  • 3 tablespoons PB2
  • ½ cup rolled oats
  • ¼ cup Splenda®
  • 3 scoops vanilla protein powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ½ cup warm water
  • 2 tablespoons oil
  • 3 tablespoons peanut butter

In a blender or food processor, grind the flax seeds, coconut, and wheat bran to a coarse powder.
Transfer the powder to a bowl and mix in the remaining dry ingredients.
Pulse peanuts in blender or food processor till they are a medium chop
In a small bowl warm oil and peanut butter in microwave for 15 seconds
Add the oil/peanut butter mixture and water then mix until well combined.
On a baking sheet lined with a silicone pad or parchment paper (or coated with non-stick cooking spray), press the mixture flat to a thickness of approximately ¼ inch.
Bake at 350° for 20 to 25 minutes or until the mixture begins to turn golden brown on the edges.
Let the granola cool, and then break into chunks. Store in a zip-top bag or a sealed container.

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