Category Archives: Recipes

Beef, Main Dish, Recipes

Chicken Fried Comfort Food

Just because you’re trying to keep your carbs in check doesn’t mean you can’t enjoy one of the classic comfort foods of the south, Chicken Fried Steak.  For those not in the know, this is not chicken prepared to taste like steak, but cubed steak prepared as you would make fried chicken.

I have tried several versions over the years from the simple crust version, which is what this recipe is like, to the complete batter-fried version that uses a thick egg and flour mix to make a thick crust around it. This is my preferred version, using just a light flour coating so you don’t have a lot of carbs in the coating.  Both a low carb flour like CarbQuick or LC Foods Flour and Coconut Flour work well with this recipe.

This recipe is inspired by Alton Brown’s recipe with only a few substitutions to make it low carb. If you want those carbs, then go to Alton’s version.

Chicken Fried Steak

1 pound Cubed Steaks (4)
1 teaspoons Salt
1/2 teaspoon Ground Black Pepper
3/4 cup Low Carb Flour
1 whole Egg, beaten
1/4 cup Coconut Oil

Gravy:
1 cup Chicken Broth
1/4 cup heavy Cream
1/2 teaspoon Thyme
Dash Cayenne Pepper

Preheat oven to 250 degrees F. You’re going to use it to keep your steaks warm while you’re preparing them and making the gravy.

Season each piece of steak on both sides with the salt and pepper. Prepare two shallow pans, one with the flour and one with the beaten egg, Lightly dredge the steaks in the flour, then pound them with a meat tenderizer to work the flour into the meat and get it to about 1/4 inch thick.

Dredge the meat again in the flour, then dip in the egg and back in the flour again. Repeat the process with each steak.

Place the meat onto a plate and allow it to rest for about 15 minutes before cooking.

Place enough of the oil to cover the bottom of a 10 inch skillet (cast iron works well) and set over medium-high heat. Once the oil begins to shimmer, add the meat two at a time. being careful not to overcrowd the pan. Cook each piece on both sides until golden brown, approximately 4 minutes per side. Remove the steaks to a wire rack set in a small sheet cake pan and place into the oven. Repeat with the remaing steaks.

Add the rest of the oil, or at least 1 tablespoon, to the pan. Whisk in 3 tablespoons of the leftover flour. Add the chicken broth and deglaze the pan with the whisk.  Continue to whisk until the gravy comes to a boil and begins to thicken. Add the milk and thyme and whisk until the gravy thickens enough to coat the spoon, approximately  10 minutes.  (Low carb flour will not thicken as quickly or possibly as thick as you would like.) Season to taste, with more salt and pepper, if needed. Serve the gravy over the steaks.

Nutrition Info per steak
Calories: 325 Fat: 20.2 g Net Carbs: 2.4 g Protein: 31.7 g

Product Review, Recipes

Light and Delicious Blueberry Muffins or Bread From New Hope Mills

Product Review

I have not received any promotional items to review and no one from any of the companies whose products I review have asked me to do so. I have purchased the product and am giving my honest opinion about it. Should any company send me a product to try, I will state it up front and will still give my honest opinion.

New Hope Mills Blueberry Muffins, sugar-free and low carb.

I’ve made a couple of these breads from New Hope Mills as loaves and they are delicious.  When you consider that a slice of this or a single muffin is 3 net carbs, they are amazingly tasty.  Some pre-made low carb breads just don’t deliver on the flavor, but that isn’t the case here.  I made the mix into a dozen muffins today and they came out beautifully.  They rise nicely, brown evenly and taste as good as they look.

Do they taste like a muffin from a bakery? Not really, especially if the bakery is making those giant, super moist cake-like muffins.  This is a bread muffin and it is really good.  You can cut it in half and add butter and a tablespoon of low carb jam if you like.   It is like a typical mix muffin that you might buy at the grocery store.  And the mix is very similar to other store mixes.  You add eggs, water and oil and mix it until it is completely moistened, then spoon it into the pan and bake it.  Couldn’t be easier.

I confess, I do fiddle a bit with the mix though and I add two tablespoons of Vanilla Protein Powder and and extra egg white.  I use liquid egg whites.  This may have helped with the rising of the muffins a little, but it it totally an optional thing to do.    The muffin or muffin bread is equally as good without adding anything to the mix other than the eggs, oil and water.  This bread also makes a great base for French Toast.  If you make it as a loaf, just slice it and make the French toast from the slice.  For a muffin, you can tear the muffin into pieces and make Baked French Toast .

New Hope Mills Cranberry Orange Bread made from their mix.

 

New Hope Mills also makes an Orange Cranberry Muffin Mix that is equally as tasty and can be baked in the same way and makes wonderful French toast.  The  mix makes one loaf or a dozen muffins and each muffin or slice is 3 net carbs.  It is reasonably priced, as low carb mixes go, and can be purchases from NHM’s web site or for a little less at Netrition.com.

Breakfast & Brunch, Pork, Recipes

Make A Low Carb Breakfast Casserole

About this time of year, I see several recipes for breakfast casseroles to serve for the holidays and with New Year’s Day coming up, you might be looking for one you can make ahead and just put in the oven the morning after.  For a low carb lifestyle, the main problem  with most egg casseroles is that they include bread.  This spicy dish doesn’t have any bread in it, but it is loaded with sausage, cheese and Pico de Gallo for a bit of bite.  It goes together quickly.  It can be partially cooked so you can put it in the refrigerator then finish cooking it in the morning or just prepare the filling,  put it in the ‘fridge in a bowl, then mix up the eggs and finish it the next day.  What could be easier?

Spicy Egg Casserole

8 large Eggs
1/2 pound Country Seasoned Pork Sausage
1/2 cup Sweet Bell Peppers , diced
1/2 cup Pico de Gallo
1 cup Cheddar Jack Cheese
1/4 cup Queso Fresco, crumbled
1 teaspoon Dried Mexican Oregano
2 teaspoons Italian Seasoning
4 tablespoons Sour Cream
2 tablespoons Green Onions, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees (F.) Prepare a deep dish pie tin or an 8’x8″x2″ cake pan by buttering the bottom and sides or spraying with cooking spray.

In a skillet, add 1 tablespoon butter and saute the bell peppers until just tender, stir in the Pico de Gallo and cook a minute longer. Remove from pan. Add the sausage, crumbling with a spatula until lightly browned. Sausage should be in small pieces. Remove from heat. Spread mixture over the bottom of the prepared pan. Crumble the Queso Fresco on top, then add 1/3 cup of cheddar jack cheese over the top.

In a bowl, mix eggs and seasonings together along with 2 tablespoons of water. Beat by hand until completely mixed together. Add salt and pepper to your preference. Pour over the sausage mixture, then top with 1/3 cup of cheese.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the eggs are set and the top is golden brown. Add the remaining cheese and cook until it is just melted.

Cut into pieces and serve with sour cream and chopped green onions.

Makes 4 to 6 servings

Nutrition Info: 1/4 of recipe
Calories: 519 Fat: 40.5 g Net Carbs: 5 g Protein: 34.5 g

Nutrition Info: 1/6 of recipe
Calories: 346 Fat: 27g Net Carbs: 3.3 g Protein: 23 g

Tip: To prepare ahead, go right to step two and make the peppers, pico and sausage mixture, then put into a plastic container or bowl and cover with plastic wrap, then put it in the ‘fridge until the next morning. Then simply warm it up in a microwave for a minute, then spread it into your baking dish. Mix the eggs and bake.

Alternately, you can prepare the casserole and bake it for 20 minutes. Then pull out, cover with plastic wrap, put it in the ‘fridge. Pull the casserole out the next morning, put it back into a 350 degree oven and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes to finish cooking, then add the top layer of cheese and bake 5 more minutes to melt it.

 

Desserts, Recipes

Brownie Rum Balls Made Easily

This was an experiment inspired by a recipe I saw to make chocolate covered rum balls from stale brownies.  Well, I had some stale Atkins Brownies in my pantry. By stale, I mean over two years old and usually these things get pretty hard by that point.  As it turned out, they weren’t as hard as I thought they might be, but just a little dry.

But they wouldn’t work for recipe I originally saw, so I transformed them into these delicious Brownie Rum Balls that are wonderful and the next best thing to the real version.  Plus, they are easy to make.

Brownie Rum Balls

… or Bourbon Balls or Brandy Balls

5 Atkins Brownie Bars, stale are fine (1 pkg)
5 tablespoons Almond Flour
3 tablespoons rum, bourbon or brandy (to taste)
3 tablespoons sugar substitute
3 to 4 tablespoons Powdered Sugar Substitute

Break or cut the brownies into five or six pieces each and put in a microwavable bowl. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir and microwave another 20 seconds, then stir again, until the brownies are all melted and can be blended together.

Add almond flour and granulated sugar substitute and stir together, then add rum (bourbon or brandy) and mix together until it all holds together in a dough. The dough will be moist but able to shape. If it is too moist add a little more almond flour.

Put wax paper or parchment paper down on a baking sheet. Use a teaspoon to get about 1/2 teaspoon of the dough and roll into a ball. Place on the paper. Repeat with the rest of the dough. The balls should be about 1/2 inch in size and you should get about 35 to 36 balls from the dough.

Let sit and dry a little, then put powdered sugar substitute on a saucer and roll each ball in the powdered sugar, then put back on the paper to dry.

Once dry the balls can be put in a wax paper lined box or a tin until ready to eat.  Makes  35 or 36 balls.

Nutrition Info: per ball (35 per recipe)
     Calories: 30.2 Fat: 1.5 g Net Carbs: 0.4 g Protein: 1.9 g

Tip: If you don’t have powdered sugar substitute, you can make it by putting 1/4 cup sugar substitute in a blender and blending until it is powdered. OR you can simply roll the balls in granulated sugar substitute.

Italian Inspired Recipes, Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Italian Seasonings Make This Chicken Awesome

A couple of weeks ago, I happened to catch Rachel Ray’s afternoon talk show and she was making this chicken dish that is seasoned like sausage.  It sounded delicious and it also included butternut squash and Brussels sprouts, so I had to try it.  As near as I could jot down while drooling over the picture on mt TV, this is Rachel’s basic recipe.  All I’ve done is adjust the proportions a little and calculate the carbs in it.

I actually made this dish with four chicken quarters — thigh and leg – which were pretty large.   You can also use four whole chicken breasts or 8 half breasts.

Italian Seasoned Chicken Bake

Based on Rachel Ray’s recipe

2 cups Butternut Squash, cubed
1 Red Onion, sliced
2 cups Brussels Sprouts, halved
8 chicken thighs
1/2 teaspoon grated Nutmeg
3 tablespoons Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Fennel
1/2 teaspoon powdered Onions
1/2 teaspoon Chile Flakes
1/2 teaspoon powdered Garlic
1/2 teaspoon ground Sage
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1/2 teaspoon Pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees (F.)

Spray a baking pan with cooking spray.

Arrange the Brussels sprouts face down on the pan. Add the diced butternut squash and onions and sprinkle nutmeg over the top. Drizzle one tablespoon of the oil over the top.

Clean, dry and oil the chicken thighs in a pan or large bowl. In a small bowl, mix together all the remaining seasonings. Sprinkle over the chicken thighs., then use your hands to turn and coat the chicken until the seasonings are distributed over the thighs. Place the thighs on top of the vegetables in the pan.

Bake for about 30 minutes until the chicken is done and the vegetables are tender.

Makes 4 to 8 servings depending on your appetite. I usually only eat one chicken thigh, but two per serving is okay.

Nutrition Info: 1/4 of recipe
Calories: 274.3 Fat:9.3 g Net Carbs: 13.2 g Protein: 30.2 g

Nutrition Info: 1/8 of recipe
Calories: 137.2 Fat:4.6 g Net Carbs: 6.6 g Protein: 15.1 g

Tip: To get down to the lower carb count and still eat 2 chicken thighs, cut the vegetable amounts in half. They are adding double the serving so using less still gives you about 1/3 cup of vegetables with the thighs. Using only half will bring the carbs down to 7 g.