Category Archives: Pork

Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Pork, Poultry, Recipes

Easy and Quick Skillet Casserole for a Hot Night

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skillet casserole

In my part of the world, it is hotter than normal this summer and we’re getting enough thunder storms to add humidity. Typically, in dry climates, evaporative coolers work really well, but with humidity, they tend to not cool as effectively. So, when I went into the kitchen to fix dinner, I wanted something that didn’t need much cooking, could use the stove, and was ready fast.

This throw-it-together recipe ticks all those boxes. Often we buy roasted chicken from the grocery store, eat one meal off it, then strip the rest of the meat and freeze it in one-cup packets. I had a jar of Classico Alfredo sauce in the pantry, so I thought perfect match. Instead of pasta, I chose to use a spaghetti squash I’d purchased a couple of months ago. Eight minutes in the microwave, wrapped in plastic, and it was ready to go. I always have a bag of bacon pieces in my refrigerator ’cause I use them for lots of dishes. The real kicker was we had a small bag of spinach from a salad we didn’t eat and it had about 1 tablespoon of craisins in it. Granted, these weren’t the sugar-reduced, bur when I calculated the recipe for this post, I used the stats for the lower sugar ones.

This quick skillet-casserole dish turned out to be super-tasty and took less than 20 minutes to make once all the ingredients were prepped. For a side dish, I added Brussels sprouts, but any green vegetable would compliment it. I also added a small tomato spiced tortilla with butter to help get the sauce off the plate. I used 0 carb mini-tortillas that are available from Wal-Mart, Sam’s Club, Win-Co and several other grocery stores. Perfect for snacks! (Sometimes I sprinkle cheese on one, pop it in the microwave for about 20 seconds, then fold over to make a mini-quesadilla snack.)

Serving of chicken and spaghetti dish

Chicken and Spaghetti Squash Skillet Casserole

1 cup Chicken, cooked and shredded
1 cup Alfredo Sauce
1 to 2 cups raw Spinach
1/4 cup Bacon pieces, cooked
2 cups Spaghetti Squash, cooked
1 tablespoon Craisins (optional)
1/4 cup Italian 4 Cheese mix

Prepare your ingredients before you start. Shred the cooked chicken, tears the spinach into smaller pieces, cook and crumbled the bacon (unless you use premade ones) and cook, cool, and separate your spaghetti squash, removing the seeds.

In a large skillet, add Alfredo sauce and chicken. Stir together and heat until sauce is slightly bubbly.

Add the spinach and bacon and stir the mixture again. When the spinach wilts, add the spaghetti squash and craisins (if using) and heat over low heat a few minutes.

Sprinkle the cheese over the top and let it melt.

Serve with a vegetable, side salad, and/ or low carb slice of bread or tortilla.

Makes four servings.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 233 , Total Fat 11g , Cholesterol 83mg, Sodium 974mg, Potassium 340mg, Carbohydrates 11g, Fiber 2.2g, Sugars 4.2g, Protein 22g, Net Carbs 9g

Without the craisins, the calories are 224, and the net carbs are 7.2g

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Breads, Breakfast & Brunch, Main Dish, Pork, Recipes, Vegetarian

A Delicious & Trendy Breakfast

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Guacamole Toast

My gosh, May slipped right past without a post, although I got the Cinco de Mayo one up before the end of April! My life has been super busy, but I want to publish at least one new recipe this month. This one is simple but big on flavor and in demand right now.

Avocado toast is one of those quick breakfast items that people are finding popular in the past couple of years. You can even order it at IHOP and other restaurants. It’s simple to make at home, where you can use low carb bread and other ingredients to create a filling breakfast treat.

I use premade guacamole on my toast to add extra spice, but you can start with avocado slices. Avocados turn brown quickly once they’re cut open or the guac container is unsealed. A little lemon juice and plastic wrap can slow the process in any unused avocado.

Guacamole and cream cheese toast.

Guacamole Breakfast (or Snack) Toast

Ingredients:
1 slice Keto Wheat Bread (or Keto bread of choice)
2 tablespoons Philadelphia Jalapeno Cream Cheese Spread
2 tablespoons Guacamole or Mashed Avocado
1 or 2 slices of cooked Bacon, broken into 2 pieces

Instructions:
Toast the Keto bread. Spread the cream cheese over the top and smooth. Spread the mashed avocado for the next layer and top with the cooked bacon.

Makes one serving.

Nutrition Information Per Serving:
Calories 199 , Total Fat 15 g , Cholesterol 30 mg, Sodium 332 mg, Potassium 210 mg, Carbohydrates 16 g, Fiber 12 g, Sugars 2 g, Protein 10 g, Net Carbs 4 g

Add-ins: You can easily add an egg to your toast and it won’t add another carbohydrate to it, but it will raise the calories to 342. You can also add a little cheese, either white cheddar or mozzarella and it won’t add carbs, but it will increase the calories. For a variation, replace the bacon with thin sliced ham. If you don’t want to put cream cheese on your toast, feel free to substitute mayonnaise. If you don’t like Jalapeno cream cheese, use plain cream cheese.

About Bread: Many tasty Keto breads are now available in your local markets. They are not created equal. Inked Timberwolf Keto bread is 1 net carb per slice, Hero bread is 0 net carbs, Sola bread is 1 net carb, Franz and Oro Wheat are 2 nc, Carbonaut is 2 net carbs, and Alvarado St. Wheat Sourdough is 4 nc, I will be doing a post soon comparing some of the low carb breads I’ve tried. I used Timberwolf for this recipe and also tried the sourdough with it. Both are very good.

If you try this recipe and/or come up with a different variation, please comment on it and tell me what you added or changed.

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Beef, Main Dish, Mexican/Spanish Recipes, Pork, Poultry, Recipes

Something Special for Cinco de Mayo

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Sopes with chicken and green sauce.

Mexican Sopes are the bomb!

I didn’t try Mexican Sopes until recently. Sure, I had the corn cakes at Cheesecake Factory and those are so delicious! They are more of a tamale mix than sopes are although the both use masa. But they are equally high in carbohydrate’s. So, I decided to try to make a similar-tasting one from low carb ingredients. I tried a couple of different recipes I found from other Keto sites, but they didn’t quite do it.

Ultimately, I came up with my own recipe for sopes using a combination of flours and Mozzarella cheese. Yes, cheese. The Mozzarella melts well, has a very mild flavor, and helps the flour ingredients hold together. For this, I used CarbQuik, a biscuit combination flour that works well. I added a little corn meal to get the corn flavor into it, but if you want to lower the carbs a little more, you can leave it out and add 2 more tablespoons of flax meal or almond flour. The flax helps with the texture and adds a golden color. Adding in taco seasoning brings more flavor to the mix. If you prefer, just add a little salt and a bit of garlic powder.

Although the ingredients are low carb, a sope still comes out to 8 grams of carbs, but if you have a low threshold, plan for your higher carb dinner by eating really low carb the rest of the day. I find two sopes are a good dinner meal, but if you add a side salad, you can get by with one.

The fillings also affect the carbs, so use cheese and meat, chicken, or fish with a salsa or low carb sauce. Feel free to top with a bit of sour cream or chopped lettuce and sliced radishes.

Give it a try for Cinco de Mayo!

Mexican-style Sopes

1/3 cup Almond Flour
2 tablespoons Corn Meal
1/3 cup Low Carb Flour
1/3 cup Golden Flax Meal
1 tablespoon Lard
1/3 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon Taco Seasoning
1/4 to 1/3 cup water

Mix the ingredients, except the water together and cut with your clean fingers until it forms crumbles. Add 1/4 cup water and mx together with your hands. The dough will begin to pull together to form a ball. If the mix isn’t adhering together well, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it forms a smooth, but not wet ball. Roll into a log about 4 inches long. Cut in half.

Form the 1st half into a 3″ circle about 1 thick. Smooth the top and sides and make it as even as possible. Repeat with the second piece of dough.

Two balls, flattened and cooked on both sides long enough to lightly brown, but not cook through.

Heat a griddle or heavy skillet over medium high heat until it is hot. Place each rounded ball into the griddle and cook for about 1-1/2 to 2 minutes until it is lightly browned. Flip and repeat on the other side. Remove dough patties to a work surface. Carefully cut each one across the middle of the 1″ side, like you would split an English muffin. The dough in the center will be raw, so cut carefully.

Press down the bottom and pinch the sides to form a ring around the top.

With the doughy side up, push down the middle of the sope and use your fingers to pinch the edges to a 1/2 inch wall around the middle. It’s easier to use the pointer finger on each hand to shape this. If it cracks, pinch it closed. This is like forming the top edge with pie dough. Push the center down more if needed, then use a finger to push the bottom of the edging to be even with the base.

If you are not cooking right away, cover the sopes with plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.

You can cook the sopes in hot oil and it will take about 4 minutes to get them completely done. Or you can cook them in a hot oven or air fryer. If you do that, spray with oil or cooking spray and cook until they are browned and cooked through. This will take about 10 to 15 minutes at 375 degrees.

Fill with your favorite fillings and serve with salsa if you like.

Makes 4 sopes.

Nutrition Information per Sope:
Calories 390 , Total Fat 32 g , Cholesterol 12 mg, Sodium 45 mg, Potassium 312 mg, Carbohydrates 18 g, Fiber 10 g, Sugars 1.3 g, Protein 14 g, Net Carbs 8 g

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Ham it up!

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Ham, leeks, and spinach skillet with hearts of palm riced

Here we are in 2024 and it feels a lot like 2023, but maybe it will get better!  I haven’t done a lot of cooking for the past few weeks, but I did work this great recipe you can use with leftover ham.

 ***Pat and I often go to a local casino restaurant that serves a ham steak breakfast. The ham is the size of a platter, no joking. We usually eat a third of it and bring the rest home to get at least two more meals out of it. As a bonus, each steak had one of the round ham bones in it, so Ruadhan (for those who don’t know Irish, it’s pronounced Rowan), the toy poodle, gets that and she loves it.

***
Looking for a new recipe to try with the ham, I found one and immediately revised it. The simple changes were to switch from pasta to Hearts of Palm rice, since it’s considerably lower in carbs than fettuccini; reduce the number of leeks to one instead of three; and add garlic herb and basil seasonings.
***
While this recipe is a little higher in carbs (between 10 and 11), it is delicious so plan for it. A green salad provides a complimentary side. I also made a low-carb biscuit to enjoy with it.
Skillet dish plated with a biscuit.

Ham, Leek, and Spinach with Riced Palm

Ingredients:
1 9 oz. package Hearts of Palm Rice
2 tablespoons Butter
1 cup chopped Ham Steak (6 to 8 ounces)
1-1/3 cup Leeks, thinly sliced – about one large one
1 cup Heavy Cream
Black pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon Garlic Herb Seasoning
1/2 tablespoon Garlic Paste or Minced Garlic
1/2 teaspoon dried Basil or slightly more fresh
1 10-ounce package Baby Spinach
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for topping
Preparation: 
  • Cube the ham steak into about 1/2-inch cubes to get one cup or a little more.
  • Clean the leek, stripping off any tough or dirty leaves. Trim the end and slice into about 1/4-inch thick slices. Work your way up into the green, rinsing off any dirt as you go. You should get a little over one cup when sliced.
In a deep skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the ham and stir-cook it for two minutes to get it lightly browned. Add the leeks and cook until they are tender, around six minutes.
* * *
Reduce the heat to low and add heavy cream. Add the seasonings and stir. Cook for a few minutes, then stir in the Parmesan Cheese. Add the spinach in two batches, stirring until wilted before adding the second one.
Add the pre-cooked palm rice (I use Natural Heaven Hearts of Palm that only needs to be heated.) You can also use cauliflower rice, but cook it before adding to the skillet. Mix together and cook for about four minutes to heat the rice. Top with sprinkles of Parmesan cheese.
Makes 4 servings.
Nutrition Information Per Serving: 
Calories 336, Total Fat 25 g , Cholesterol 120 mg, Sodium 1190 mg, Potassium 582 mg, Carbohydrates 13 g, Fiber 3.3 g, Sugars 2.9 g, Protein 18 g, Net Carbs 11.2 g

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. Although they are a close calculation, your results may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.

Breakfast & Brunch, Pork, Recipes

Breakfast or Brunch Strata

 I love stratas. I made my first one when I was a teenager and still living in El Paso, Texas. They’re a delightful combination of bread, eggs, meat, veggies, and spices that are baked to make a casserole. They’re not just for breakfast. They can make a hearty dinner as well. Of course, the problem with a low carb or Keto lifestyle is the bread. But it’s not an issue anymore. Several companies are now making Keto bread. In Reno, I can buy Orowheat Keto and Sola Bread at my local Wal-Mart store. Recently, Safeway resumed selling Inked Timber Wolf and Winter White bread, so I am a happy camper.

Not all Keto breads are created equal. Timber Wolf and Winter White are the lowest carbs I’ve found that actually taste like full-flour bread. And they are 1 net carb a slice.  Naturally, I used this bread for my strata and it came out excellently. If you can’t find them locally, you can order online, but beware the expensive charges on Amazon. Go to the company’s website to see if you can order direct. Still not as low priced as buying them from the market, but much lower than the prices on Amazon and Wal-Mart pages.

Ham and Broccoli Strata

1/2 cup Broccoli florets, broken into small pieces
3 slices Keto bread (1 net carb per slice)
1 cup Pico de Gallo *
1/4 teaspoon Garlic, minced
8 slices deli Honey Ham, shredded or diced ham
1/4 cup Bacon pieces
1/2 cup shredded Pepperjack Cheese or your favorite cheese
4 Eggs
¼ cup heavy Whipping Cream
Salt and ground Black Pepper to taste

Alternative to Pico,  make your own: Put 1 medium tomato diced, 1/4 cup onion, diced, and 1 small green pepper (Jalapeno optional), cut into small pieces. Add 1/4 teaspoon dried Basil, 1/4 teaspoon Garlic, minced, and 1/4 teaspoon Oregano. Stir together and let sit for about 15 minutes to allow the flavors to blend.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a 9-inch square casserole dish.

Steam the broccoli over hot water or for about 1 minute in the microwave.

In a large bowl, add steamed broccoli, bread cubes, tomato or Pico, ham, and pepper jack cheese together and mix together.

Use a separate bowl to beat eggs, cream, salt, and pepper together. Pour the egg mixture into the broccoli mixture and stir to combine. Pour the mixture into the casserole dish and spread the filling evenly.

Bake 35 to 40 minutes until the eggs are set in the middle. Let rest about 5 minutes before cutting.

Makes 6 servings.

Note: If you don’t have a bread with 1 net carb per slice, add 0.5 carbs to each serving for each additional carb in the slice of bread. I used Inked Timber Wolfe bread, which is 1 net carb per slice. Other low carb or Keto breads may be 2 or even 3 carbs per slice, so adjust accordingly.

Note: Nutrition information is based on the ingredients I used in this recipe and my measurements. They are a close calculation and may be slightly higher or lower. Ingredient substitutions may affect the carb count. Different brands may have other carb counts.