Time Out

OK, I have rebuilt my computer after having to acquire a couple of parts. So, all is well on that front. 

However, my posting will not be back up to normal for a few more weeks.  I am scheduled for back surgery and I’ll be out of commission for a little while.  Once that’s over I’ll be back with more recipes. 

 

In the meantime, wander around the site and enjoy the recipes.

GRRRRRR!

Just when I’m working hard to get back in the swing of things, my computer takes a nose dive.  I am a remote worker and that was my main work computer.  Well, everything is on hold and I have all hands on deck trying to recover/rebuild my computer.  Had to waste a vacation day to do this.  Thank God I use Carbonite.  But, it’s still going to take awhile to get a computer that was perfectly configured for me.  I hate starting over.  Pfffttt!

So, I’ll be back as soon as I get things squared away.  Just pray I don’t have to buy a new system.

Crockpot Chicken with Veggies

Here’s a recipe I was planning on cooking but have postponed until next weekend.  I’m taking this week to eat leftovers and clean out some stuff in the ‘fridge.

Besides, I’m pretty disgusted since my weight went right back up to my starting point.  Why? I have no idea.  Should I call it a week of bloat and keep going?  I don’t know.  But, I will keep going. If I don’t I will only make matters worse.

Anyway, here’s the recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 pound Cabbage, cut in wedges 
1 medium onion, sliced 
8 oz sliced mushrooms 
2 pounds chicken breasts (skinless) 
2 pounds of chicken thighs (skinless)
   NOTE: it’s cheaper to buy the chicken with the skin on and when it’s about half defrosted you can skin it yourself. 
2 cups of no-sugar added spaghetti sauce (Hunt’s makes a good one) 
Guar of Xanthan Gum (this is used for thickening and is optional. I use Glucomannan powder) 
Grated Parmesan Cheese (used for topping just before serving)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Put the cabbage, onion, and mushrooms in the crockpot.
2. Put the chicken on top of the vegetables
3. Pour the spaghetti sauce over the top
4. Cover the crockpot and set to LOW
5. Cook for 6 hours
6. Thicken the sauce and serve with grated parmesan cheese

NUTRITIONAL INFO:

6 servings
254 calories
5g fat
46g protein
4g carbs
1g fiber
3g net carbs

Egg Salad

Here’s a recipe from a book I am reading (The Potluck Club). I think it sounds great.  Of course, omit the bread ( or use super low carb bread) and use some Splenda sweetened Mount Olive pickle product.  I like their sweet gherkins.  I would probably chop them up and use a bit of the juice.

Thin & Crispy Pizza Crust

This is easy and delicous!

Click here to see the original recipe Thank you NancyElle

Thin and Crispy Pizza Crust

Heat oven to 450 degrees
In a bowl thoroughly combine
3 eggs
3 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp basil
press evenly into Pam sprayed pizza pan or cookie sheet (I sprayed the pizza pan pretty heavily)
(this makes one 16 inch pizza crust)
Bake at 450 degrees until golden brown (about 10 to 15 minutes) NOTE: I cooked mine for 13 minutes

Add the toppings of your choice

I used 1/3 cup pasta sauce with mushrooms (you can use marinara or whatever.  Just read the labels)
1 cup mozzarella cheese
a handful of precooked sausage crumbles
a handful of fresh white mushrooms

Run under the broiler until the cheese is melted and bubbling.  NOTE: Watch it closely because I kind of burned the edges of the crust.  Good news is that the burned edges were good and did not taste burned. 

Below are the pictures I took as I went through the process of making this pizza.

Here’s the crust ready to go in to the oven

Here’s my toppings

The crust is all done and you can see how it does not stick.

 

Here it is ready to go under the broiler

Time to eat!  It turned out delicious!

 

Chicken Chili

Last week’s recipe stunk so I did not post it.  I wouldn’t subject my friends to its nastiness.

Anyway, I am posting this one ahead of time since I can’t imagine that it would be bad.  I’m planning on making this over the weekend.  It makes 6 servings and has 4 net carbs per serving.

INGREDIENTS:

2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
16 oz salsa (read the labels and pick the lowest carb count)
1 tbs. chili powder
1 tsp. chicken bouillon concentrate
3 oz Monterey Jack cheese, shredded (not needed until cooking is completed)
6 tbs. sour cream (not needed until cooking is completed)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place chicken in crock pot

2. In a bowl, add the salsa, chili powder, and bouillon

3. Stir together making sure the bouillon is dissolved.

4. Pour mixture over the chicken

5. Cover and set crock pot to cook on LOW

6. Cook time is about 7 to 8 hours

7. Once the cooking is done, shred the chicken ( just pull it apart with a fork)

8. To serve –  top with cheese and sour cream

I think this sounds pretty tasty.  Way better than the mess I cooked up last week. 

2010 in review

Thought this would be fun to post.  It’s the last look at 2010 and now let’s get on with 2011

 

The stats helper monkeys at WordPress.com mulled over how this blog did in 2010, and here’s a high level summary of its overall blog health:

The Blog-Health-o-Meter™ reads Fresher than ever.

Crunchy numbers

A helper monkey made this abstract painting, inspired by your stats.

The average container ship can carry about 4,500 containers. This blog was viewed about 21,000 times in 2010. If each view were a shipping container, your blog would have filled about 5 fully loaded ships.

 

In 2010, there was 1 new post, growing the total archive of this blog to 1099 posts.

The busiest day of the year was May 6th with 181 views. The most popular post that day was Flax Meal Pizza Crust.

Where did they come from?

The top referring sites in 2010 were kalynskitchen.blogspot.com, search.aol.com, lowcarbconfidential.com, grace2882.wordpress.com, and google.com.

Some visitors came searching, mostly for microwave bread, tandoori chicken, cream of zucchini soup recipe, pork medallions with mushroom sauce, and cream of zucchini soup.

Attractions in 2010

These are the posts and pages that got the most views in 2010.

1

Flax Meal Pizza Crust May 2006

2

Italian Cream of Zucchini Soup July 2007
1 comment

3

3 Minute Microwave Bread August 2007
2 comments

4

Pork Medallions with Mushroom Sauce January 2007

5

Outback Steakhouse Steak Seasoning March 2008

Crock Pot Eggs Florentine

I haven’t tried this but it’s on my list of things to cook for the New Year. 

Eggs Florentine in the Crock Pot. 

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, divided
• 10 ounces frozen,chopped spinach (make sure it is thawed and drained.
• 1/4 cup chopped onion (I will probably use way less.  I don’t like a lot of onion taste in egg dishes)
• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I will probably omit this. I think it might overpower the dish)
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

Directions:

1. Spray the crock pot with nonstick cooking spray
2. Spread 1 cup of the cheese on the bottom of the crock pot
3. Then layer the spinach, mushrooms and onions
4. In a bowl, combine the eggs, cream, and seasonings (mix well)
5. Pour the mixture in to the crock pot (Pour slowly)
6. Top with the remaining 1 cup of cheese
7. Set Crock Pot to High and cook for 2 hours or until the center is set.

The original recipe says there are 10 CHO – 4G Fiber = 6 Net Carbs per serving.  The recipe makes 4 servings.

If this turns out good I will probably make a double batch and use it for breakfast the entire week. I don’t think I will cook a doubled recipe. Might not come out so well.  Since it only takes two hours to cook I can cook two separate batches.

Revival

I’m getting ready to make a come back.  I’ve been off track for so long I’m disgusted and I’m ready for a change.  I can’t promise the revival will happen before the holidays.  But, I promise that by the first of the year I will be on my plan and well on my way to sharing more recipes.

It’s amazing what carbs do to a body.  I’m hear to say it’s not a good thing.  I’m on cholesterol meds and blood pressure meds for the first time in my life.  I have added way to many pounds while not eating very much.  But, what I was eating was carbs.

So, the proof that carbs are bad are right in my mirror.  I’m done and it’s time to get serious.  Stay tuned for more recipes and what not.

Cheers!

deb

Spiral Sliced Stuffed Pork Loin

This recipe came from Big Oven via an email.  Looks very tasty.

Spiral Sliced Stuffed Pork Loin
Posted by: swibirun

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Pork loin
• 1/2 cup Marinara sauce
• 4 ounce Mozzarella
• 10 ea Basil leaves halved
• 2 cups Chicken stock
• 1 cup Heavy cream
• 4 tablespoon Marinara sauce

Preparation

To spiral slice the pork loin, the first two tips are 1) partially freeze your loin for about 30 minutes to get it a bit firm and 2) use the sharpest knife that you have. If you don’t have a sharp knife, don’t try this.

Start slicing along one of the longer sides about 3/4" deep, lifting the rest of the meat as you slice. As you near the edge, start turning the blade and rolling the meat open or butterflied to keep the cut at about 3/4" thick. Continue across and repeat back at the other edge. You will end up with a flat piece of 3/4" pork.

Now top the butterflied pork with the marinara sauce, then the mozzarella, and basil leaves. (Frankly at this point, layer it with whatever you want. Partially cooked chorizo and queso. Pepperoni and provolone. You name it. )

Roll the pork back up from one edge to the other, jelly roll style and tie with kitchen twine. Place the roast into a grill on indirect heat at 350f (or an oven, if you must) for about an hour. Just make sure to place something under the roast because it’s gonna drip some cheese.

Meanwhile make a simple tomato cream sauce. Reduce the 2 cups chicken stock to 1/2 half cup and remove from heat. Reduce the 1 cup cream to 1/2 cup and remove from heat. Whisk the two together. Then whisk in the 4 T of marinara sauce.

When the roast hits 140f internal (that’s just my personal preference), remove and let rest for 10-15 minutes. The roast should keep cooking by the carry-over heat and end up about 150f, which is plenty done for today’s pork.

Remove the cooking twine and slice into 1/2 inch thick medallions. Top with the tomato cream sauce.