Posted on 10/17/2016 3:49:54 PM PDT by Jamestown1630
The chicken breasts w/ spinach & cheese sounds delicious.
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Weekly Cooking Thread - Special Low Carb Edition
To be honest, yes I could lose some weight, but I won’t give up carbs. I have a friend like you, she can only keep her weight down on low carbs.
There are plenty of good substitutes and the rules can be broken from time to time.
Get lots of good exercise. Start by walking and then up the ante.
God bless you.
Your body is God's temple after all.
BTW, it is fun to use the carb substitutes to get around the high starch thing. Food is great and conscience free.
That’s amazing, good on you! After a long day at school I so enjoy taking our dog down to the lake & walking. Peaceful, clears the mind & tightens things up. And yeah, as it cools down I definitely need to up the ante. ; )
That’s amazing, good on you! After a long day at school I so enjoy taking our dog down to the lake & walking. Peaceful, clears the mind & tightens things up. And yeah, as it cools down I definitely need to up the ante. ; )
Ingredients
1 small or 1/2 of a large head of cauliflower
2 tbsp Extra Light Olive Oil
1/2 yellow or white onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt & ground pepper, to taste
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
zest of one large lime
Tips
You can add other seasonings to mix with other entrees. Great substitute for rice in any recipe, with the notation that if used in casseroles where the rice is used specifically to help absorb liquid, you will need to adjust the amount of liquid used in the recipe.
(To ‘rice’ the raw cauliflower, chop it coarsely and fill your blender about 1/2 with the cauliflower. Fill it up with water and pulse it until the cauliflower resembles rice. Dump it into a fine-mesh strainer.)
Cauliflower can be processed ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Directions
1. In two batches, pulse the cauliflower florets in a food processor until the pieces are about the size of rice grains.
2. Heat a large skillet and add the olive oil, garlic, red onion, salt, and pepper. Saute for a few minutes, until the onion is soft and translucent.
3. Add the riced cauliflower to the skillet, coating it evenly in oil and onions & garlic. Add the lime zest and saute for 5 or 6 minutes, until the cauliflower begins to soften (you, after all, don’t want mushy rice).
4. Add the cilantro and mix well. Squeeze the lime juice over the top and serve.
Serving Size: Makes enough for at least 6 servings
Oops, didn’t get the title in the first one:
Lime-Cilantro Cauliflower-Rice
Mini Meatballs (Low-Carb, Low-Fat & Low-Sodium)
Ingredients
1 pkg Herb Ox Sodium Free Beef Bouillon
1/4 cup water
1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 pound lean ground beef
1 pound lean ground pork
1 pound ground turkey
2 cups cauliflower (riced)
1 egg
1 tso sea salt (or to taste)
1/2 tsp Hot Shots-Red & Black Pepper Blend (to taste)
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
1/4 cup finely chopped fresh basil
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
Splash of red wine
Tips
This makes 12-13 dozen mini meatballs when using a .5 Tbs scoop. They can be easily stored, just freeze separately first, then seal in vacuum bags and enjoy at a later date.
(To ‘rice’ the raw cauliflower, chop it coarsely and fill your blender about 1/2 with the cauliflower. Fill it up with water and pulse it until the cauliflower resembles rice. Dump it into a fine-mesh strainer.)
Directions
1. Saute onion & garlic in beef bouillon & water until transparent. Remove from skillet with a slotted spoon, and put in a large mixing bowl. Leave the drippings in the skillet to use later to brown the meatballs.
2. If not using leftover cauliflower rice, take chopped raw cauliflower in batches and pulse in a food processor until the size of rice grains.
3. In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients. Just mix enough to distribute everything evenly. Don’t overwork it. You may want to cook a small amount of this mixture in the microwave to see if it is seasoned to your taste.
4. Use a .5 Tbs (.5 oz) spring-action scoop to form the meatballs. I find it easiest to put meat mixture in my palm and scoop directly into the frying pan or baking sheet, so I can be sure to press the mixtures into the scoop and scrape off the edges, so they all are the same size.
5. Take skillet from earlier and brown the meatballs in batches, using extra water and a splash of red wine as needed. Move to cookie sheet/baking dish and store in a low oven until all are finished. Or, you can place them in aluminum baking pans and cook in the oven at 350 for approx 30 minutes. I find that 6 dozen of the tiny meatballs will fit into each 1/2 sheet pan. Put a small amount of water and red wine in each pan.
I recently moved and met a neighbor who started low carbing due to blood sugar issues. She brought me a dish using cauliflower as rice, with chicken, cheese, mushrooms and carrots. It was pretty good. I returned her dish filled with Faux Tatoes (mashed cauliflower with cream cheese and butter). She absolutely loved it. I think it’s a fantastic comfort food substitute.
One of my family’s favorite recipes is Ranch Dressing-
1 C mayo
1/2-1 C buttermilk
1 tsp white vinegar
2 cloves of garlic
parsley and chives- 1 Tbs or so each
Mix in a blender and refrigerate for flavor to develop and to thicken- about an hour.
Recently I found a spirilizer on sale in T.J. Maxx so grabbed it to try it. Well worth it at full price. It’s gotten a lot of use on zucchini as a substitute for pasta. I mix it with cod pieces from Trader Joe’s, butter, garlic, sun dried tomatoes and parm. cheese, squeeze of lemon. Quick, easy and delicious. Also very good with spaghetti sauce. My daughter especially likes zucchini fritters- an egg mixed with zucchini to hold it together, then fried in butter.
I’ve been low carbing mostly for about a decade and a half. I cheat a bit around holidays, but don’t really miss most carbs now, and lost my sweet tooth. It’s good to see a recipe thread devoted to low carb.
Heroin Wings - original recipe by Dana Carpenter
This is a great recipe for Low-Carb eaters! They are highly addicting and so delicious! I am confident that this will be one of your favorite recipes. Only a trace of carbs in each one!
Ingredients
4 lb chicken wings
1 c grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp dried parsley
1 Tbsp dried oregano
2 tsp paprika
1 tsp salt (I omit this, cheese is salty enough)
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 c butter, melted
Directions Step-By-Step
1 - Preheat oven to 350°
2 - Cut the wings into drumsticks
3 - Combine the Parmesan cheese and the parsley, oregano, paprika, salt and pepper in a bowl
4 - Line a shallow baking pan with foil. (Do not skip this step or you will work forever to clean your pan!)
5 - Melt the butter in a shallow bowl or pan
6 - Dip each drumstick in butter, roll in the cheese and seasoning mixture and arrange in the foil-lined pan.
7 - Bake for 1 hour
8 - Yield: About 50 pieces, each with only a trace of carbohydrates, a trace of fiber and 4 grams of protein.
During the times when I’ve needed to lose weight, I’ve had equal success with low carb and low fat; and sometimes with simply restricting calories. It all depends on your personal ‘nature’, and maybe on your endocrine situation. Low carb is easier for me now, because it’s my meat-loving husband’s favorite way of eating - and low fat required extra exercise, which I don’t always have time for now.
But there is more than one good way to lose weight. You just have to figure out what works best for you.
-JT
I am in bed w/ my mouth watering for a plate of your wings!
You are so right, to go by your individual nature. You know when so.etching is right for you instinctively. Is low carb basically the Atkins diet?
Homemade ranch, sounds delicious! Would go well w/ the wing recipe below your post. I have seen the spiralizer & have come close to buying one. When I was young we ate spaghetti squash off & on. I never stopped being amazed at “spaghetti” coming out of that thing. It was like magic. A question, do you sautee the spiralized veggies BEFORE you put the sauce on or sauce them raw?
Atkins is one of the low-carb diets, and one of the earlier very popular ones. (There were also the Stillman diet, in the 1960s; and much earlier, the ‘Banting’ fad.)
Later, ‘South Beach. came along. Then came the ‘Paleo; variations.
If you do a web search on ‘low carb diet’ and ‘Paleo diet’, you’ll probably see the gamut.
These can be very useful, especially for people who have blood sugar issues; or whose health problems require rapid weight loss. (You should consult your doctor, before starting any weight-loss program.)
But I’ve got a problem with people who are fanatics, and think that ‘everyone’ should eat this way.
We definitely need to eat more whole and better quality carbs - all of the refined sugar that we are eating, for instance, is definitely helping to kill us.
But the whole world can’t give up carbs entirely. For one thing, we couldn’t feed all the people on the Earth, now, without grains and other starches.
I think some folks go overboard ‘ideological’, about this.
Just my opinion...
-JT
Well, it’s not ‘my’ recipe, but it’s titled “Heroin Wings” because they are SO addicting. Be warned, and DEFINITELY don’t forget the foil on the cookie sheet, or you will end up throwing it away. In fact, I use the non-stick foil.
My son makes his own sour cream, and it works great as a base for Ranch dressing:
Take a clean mason jar with a lid. Pour 1 cup of heavy cream into the jar, add 1/4 cup of plain yogurt. Put the lid on and shake throughly. Leave at room temperature (he puts it in the window) for 24 hours, giving it a shake whenever you wander by. After that, store in the refrigerator. Not quite as thick as store-bought, but much more tasty. Usually lasts 5-6 days or so.
Here’s a quote that helps me eat correctly.
“You Are What You Eat - So Don’t Be Fast, Cheap, Easy, or Fake”
I’m saving that sour cream recipe!
Very Good advice!
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