Grilled Ham, Cheddar & Egg Breakfast Sandwich with Fresh Strawberries

---

This is a protein packed simple breakfast sandwich that my daughter really enjoys.

Ingredients:

1 wheat sandwich round
2 medium or small eggs
1 slice medium cheddar cheese
5 very thin slices of honey ham (deli thin)
4 fresh strawberries
A little unsalted butter
Salt & Pepper (for eggs)

Directions:

1. Use a griddle or large non-stick frying pan.
2. Heat the griddle
3. Rub a little bit of butter over entire surface just to coat.
4. Add the bread and thin slices of ham to the griddle to start heating.
5. Place cheese slice on one of the sandwich rounds.
6. Begin to cook eggs, do not break the yolks, add salt and pepper to eggs and cook until middle is almost hard, flipping once or twice.
7. Add ham slices to the other half of the bread (by this time both sandwich rounds should be a little crispy.
8. When eggs are finished cooking, add the eggs to the sandwich.
9. Dice the strawberries in quarters and serve!

Nutrition Information for entire meal:

• Calories:  383
• Sodium:   1,075
• Carbs:     32 net grams
• Fiber:      3
• Fat:          13
• Protein:    20

Sodium is a little high, you can substitute ham for turkey if you are concerned about salt intake.

Baby Bok Choy Stir Fry with Lean Pork

---

I normally do not cook with pork this often, but we were low on items in the fridge.  I had just enough to make an awesome stir-fry, which is actually very healthy on a per serving basis.  The entire meal takes approximately 30 minutes to prepare.  I suggest first chopping the vegetables (my mother taught me a way to cut bok choy so it looks neat - slice at a downward diagonal direction, it make a V shape on the white area, when you get to the green tips, chop downward in thin slices), start the rice, while the vegetables are cooking, cut and prepare the pork.  By the time you are finished adding everything and letting it simmer to thicken, the rice will be finishing.  It takes some practice to get a good flow, but once you know all your cook times, you will be a stir fry master!

Rice: (for low-carb diets, substitute rice for cauliflower rice)
3 Cups water
1 1/2 cup rice
2 tablespoons unsalted butter

Ingredients:

2-6 oz. thin sliced lean pork

3 cups baby bok choy

1 cup carrots (sliced)

1 can water chestnuts

1 can straw mushrooms

2 cloves of garlic (finely chopped)

Saute pork in:

1 teaspoon ginger spice (pictured below)

1 tablespoon Hoisin

1 teaspoon dried minced garlic/salt mix (grated)

2 tablespoons olive oil

Sauce:

2 cups chicken broth (save 1/2 cup for thickener)

2 tablespoons corn starch

2 teaspoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon hoisin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/4 teaspoon Sriracha

Variations:  omit the pork, or use chicken, tofu, beef, or shrimp.

Directions:

Saute'd bok choy, garlic, carrots, and water chestnuts

1. Prepare rice while you are preparing the other ingredients.  Add rice to water, add butter, bring to a boil on medium heat.  Cover, reduce heat and simmer until rice is tender.  Remove from heat, leave covered and set aside (usually about 15-20 minutes)
2. Saute water chestnuts, garlic, carrots, and a little garlic/sea salt mix in olive oil for approximately four minutes. *tip, dense vegetables (carrots, water chestnuts) take longer to cook, so these are cooked first.
3. Add bok Choy and stir fry another 2 minutes.  Turn off heat and set aside.
4. Sautee thin sliced pork in olive oil, hoisin, ginger, a little garlic/sea salt mix until thoroughly cooked (I am always apprehensive cooking meat so I tend to cook it longer than recommended) about 5 minutes.
5. Add the pork to the vegetables.
6. Add the mushrooms.
7. Add the 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth.
8. On a medium heat bring to a simmer.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Stirring often.   Reduce heat.
9. Mix the corn starch with 1/2 cup of chicken broth.
10. Add the remaining hoisin, soy sauce, sirachi sauce, and sea salt to the corn starch mixture and stir until the corn starch is dissolved.  Add this  mix to the stir fry and simmer stirring constantly until sauce thickens.   Simmer for another 2 minutes on very low heat - ready to serve!

Use very lean cuts, and remove extra fat, cut in half lengthwise, then into thin 2-inch strips.

Olive oil, Ginger Mix, Minced Garlic & Sea Salt Grated, & Hoisin 

Add Pork and Saute'

Add Pork to Vegetables - Do not drain

Finished.  This is after adding the chicken broth, corn starch mixture and simmering until thickened.

Here is a picture of the spicy Sriracha sauce and Hoisin if you are unfamiliar with these ingredients.  They can be purchased at your local grocery store in most cities.

Sriracha

Hoisin

Gourmet Garden Ginger Mix

White Northern Bean & Bacon Soup

---

I usually walk into the kitchen with a blank slate or a recipe I know I will modify, but this one is inspired by seeing a jar of soup at our local veggie shop Easy Way. As we were shopping, a jar of soup caught my eye, and the label read, Bean & Bacon. So instead of spending $5.99 on the jar of soup, I decided to buy a bag of northern beans, two cans of chicken stock, and a package of bacon and throw it together on my own. I love making soup from scratch, and bottling it, so this was perfect.

I must say this is the best soup from scratch I have ever thrown together. It has a very strong spice aspect though, and although it tastes amazing, if you have gas problems, this is not the recipe for you! I have a hard time translating the "throwing together" aspect into a detailed recipe...so I will provide an approximation of ingredients and their quantities. If a measurement is listed, it means the quantity or amount is accurate to the amount I used in my batch.  The ingredients without measurements or quantities are ones I kind of threw in, let simmer, taste tested and modified to my liking.  It is fun to experiment.  Adding the dashes of hot sauce and fresh ground black pepper seemed to really add a kick to it that is subtle and creeps up on your taste buds.

Ingredients:

1 package Northern Beans
4 slices of Bacon (cook in a skillet and cut with kitchen shears)
2 Cans chicken stock
3 cups water
2 tablespoons flour (added to 2 tablespoons of water as a thickener)
3 dashes Louisiana hot sauce (or any other type of hot sauce you like)
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

Ingredients that are flexible to taste, I used the measurements in parentheses, but I tend to add ingredients that I feel will balance the taste after it simmers a few minutes. Sugar counteracts high acidity, and butter adds a fullness, if it tastes to sugary, I will add a dash of hot and spicy seasoning along with a dash of vinegar to reduce the sweetness.  Also, I ran into a race of sweet and sour balance for this one, adding too much honey, so I added vinegar to counteract it, but added too much.  Then I added a little bit of white sugar, black pepper, and dashes of hot sauce, and it made it perfect.  Trial and error!

Butter (unsalted, sweet cream - 3 tablespoons)
Olive oil (1 tablespoon)
Marsala cooking wine (1 tablespoon)
Parsley (2 teaspoons)
Basil (2 teaspoons)
Cumin (1 teaspoon)
Black pepper (1 teaspoon)
Apple cider vinegar (listed above)
Honey (listed above)
Sea Salt (2 teaspoons)
Won ton soup mix (1 tablespoon - this can be omitted, it has MSG, which I happen to love, but others do not)
Dried onion (1 tablespoon)
Chicken poultry seasoning (1 teaspoon) this can be omitted as well because I did not use enough to make a significant difference in the taste.

Directions:

1. Modified quick rinse for beans.  Fill pot with water to sit about an inch above beans.  Heat until boiling, then boil for approximately 20 minutes.  Strain, rinse with cold water and return to pot.  (I manually removed the skin of some of the beans that did not naturally shed).
2. Cook Bacon while beans are boiling.
3. Add water to pot with beans
4. Add chicken stock
5. Add bacon pieces
6. On medium to high heat begin heating the soup.
7. Add butter, and seasonings.

Here is where you can use my recommended amounts, or modify the soup to your liking.  Have fun!

1. Boil uncovered on a medium heat for 30 minutes.
2. Check the bean hardness, water levels, and strength of the seasoning.
3. If the beans are still fairly hard, add another cup of water, and adjust seasoning to taste.
4. Continue step 10 until you feel it's ready.
5. Add 2 tablespoons of flour to a small bowl, mix with two tablespoons of water until smooth.
6. Add to soup, stir, and let simmer another 10 minutes.
7. Finished!

Unfortunately, this is not a pretty soup, so a final picture is not available.  Remember the bean-o, breath mints, and nose plugs (just kidding), except about the bean-o...  I may not be able to duplicate this one again, but it was awesome while it lasted, and hopefully this will recipe page will help me and lil T remember  ;).

Simple Taco Salad

---

My mother is an inspiration to me.  She raised me to eat healthy foods, and as she and I grow older, her habits carry over.  She managed to reverse her diabetes through a low carb diet.  I lost weight on low carb too, but I think there can be modifications made to the diet to create a low carb, low fat and low calorie, but still very flavorful and filling.

This simple taco salad is just that.  It is simple, tasty, low carb, low fat, and low calories.

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (this is for the whole recipe, each serving is about 1/4 to 1/2 a cup of the cooked mixture)
1 1/2 packages of low sodium taco seasoning
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup shredded iceberg
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons sour cream (low fat, reduced fat, whichever you choose)
3 tablespoons salsa (of your choice)
1 tablespoon taco sauce

Variations:  add black beans, fresh diced tomatoes, or jalapenos.

Directions:

1. Add olive oil to non stick skillet.
2. Add ground turkey and brown.
3. Follow directions on taco seasoning package (usually adds 3/4 cups water and seasoning, then heat until thick).
4. Prepare lettuce with mandolin slicer, or chop on cutting board.

I usually buy shredded cheddar, but if you prefer to shred your own, have at it!  

Plate 1 cup of shredded lettuce, top with ground turkey mixture, top with taco sauce, salsa, sour cream, then shredded cheese.  If you choose to add variations like black beans, or other variations, add those before topping with sour cream and cheddar.

You are finished!  Enjoy this easy healthy meal.

Low Carb Bread

---

I tried baking bread from scratch tonight for the first time, and I must say I am pleased with the results.  Although I was hoping for a lighter bread, one to make grilled cheese sandwiches with, this bread will be good for cold sandwiches, topped with butter, preserves, or even for garlic bread.

Once again, I modified the recipe because although I try to eat low carb, low fat, this bread is very low in carbs regardless of the slight modification of using real sugar instead of sugar substitute.

This recipe is great because it does not require the lengthy process of kneading and letting the bread rise.

Ingredients:

Original Recipe:

2 cups Atkins Cuisine All Purpose Baking Mix
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 packet sugar substitute ~ I used 2 tablespoons of sugar instead
1 1/8 cups water (1/8 cup water = 2 tablespoons)
3 tablespoons canola oil ~ substitute with olive oil, or other flavored oil.

My additions:

1/4 cup flax seed meal
2 tablespoons sesame seeds
1 tablespoon unsalted butter (for after it bakes, melted on top and sides)

Directions:

Heat over to 350, and prepare a bread pan with non-stick cooking spray, set aside.  Spray a plastic cutting board with cooking spray and set aside.

1. Mix dry ingredients together in a bowl with a spatula.
2. Add oil and water, and mix slowly
3. Coat hands with cooking spray (lightly), and transfer to plastic cutting board.
4. Form dough into a loaf.
5. Add to bread pan.
6. Bake for 60 minutes.
7. Allow to cool before slicing.

If you have an hour, you will enjoy this easy to make bread!  I will try this bread with other variations and let you know how it turns out.  Perhaps adding more seasoning and nuts.  

Enjoy!

Spinach, Kalamata~Spanish Olive & Red Bell Pepper Dip

---

Yuuuuum

I modified a recipe I found online for this one. The original recipe can be found here. I did not have any artichokes, so I replaced them with seedless kalamata olives, and pimento stuffed green olives, and I must say, it turned out amazing.

Ingredients:

2 cups fresh baby spinach ~ substitute with frozen if you'd like
10 small pimento stuffed green olives (Spanish olives), diced
6 kalamata olives, seedless, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 clove garlic, grated

1/4 cup grated parmigiano reggiano (parmesan)
1/4 cup mozzarella, shredded
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon minced garlic

I prefer to use fresh spinach, and usually if a recipe calls for spinach, I throw the fresh spinach into a pan with two tablespoons of olive oil and a tablespoon of garlic, lightly salt it, and saute it. Then I chop it to medium or fine, depending on the recipe.

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350.
2. While oven is heating, saute spinach, garlic, and olive oil.
3. Dice olives (kalamata and green), and red pepper.
4. Shred mozzarella.
5. Mix all ingredients together in mixing bowl.
6. Transfer to a baking dish.
7. Bake at 350 for approximately 30 minutes.  Longer if you want a dark topping.

I serve this with flax seed crackers, and it is amazing!  

I also managed to use the left overs in a fried tomato brunch sandwich recipe I will post soon.  They melt in your mouth...literally.

saute spinach

ingredients

combined

Enjoy!

Shrimp Vermicelli

---

Shrimp Vermicelli ~ pictured version is with fried shrimp
this recipe is for saute shrimp.  I vary the recipe often and
took this picture when I happened to be using a fried shrimp
version

I love Vietnamese food, especially this dish from a restaurant that is now closed. The only way to enjoy this awesomeness is to make it at home. The ingredients are all fresh except for the rice noodles.  A mandolin comes in handy for this recipe.  If you do not already own one, I recommend buying one!

This is for serving one. Adjust accordingly to serve more.

Ingredients:

6 jumbo tiger shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon garlic
1 tablespoon grill mates barbecue seasoning
1 bunch thin Vietnamese vermicelli noodles
1/4 cup matchstick carrots or julienne style
1/4 cup bean sprouts
2 tablespoons chopped peanuts
1 table spoon fresh chopped mint leaves, thin slices or diced.
1/8 cup julienne style cucumber
Fish sauce mixed with spring roll sauce (1 part fish sauce, 2 parts spring roll sauce)

Directions:

1. Boil water in a sauce pan for vermicelli noodles.  Add noodles and cook for 3 minutes, strain and rinse with cold water.  Fill sauce pan with cold water and noodles and set aside (this is so the noodles do not stick together until ready to serve.
2. Chop and prepare cucumber, peanuts, and mint.
3. Shrimp ~ I tend to modify this often.  Using raw tiger shrimp, peel, and remove veins.  Saute on a low heat with garlic, olive oil, and grill mate seasoning.  Approximately 3-5 minutes.
4. Mix the dressing, fish sauce and spring roll sauce (sweet chili sauce).
5. Drain noodles and add to bowl, top with all the ingredients.   

I usually pour the sauce over the entire bowl, but for serving, it may be wise to serve it on the side because it tends to be on the spicy side.

You're done!

Here are visuals for the fish sauce and vermicelli noodles:

Rice Vermicelli Noodles

Fish Sauce

Spinach, Bacon, Tomato Breakfast Casserole

---

This is low carb, but a little high in fat. I try to keep eggs and bacon to a minimum on the low carb living diet, but sometimes, I break my own rules!

Ingredients:

8 eggs
1/4 cup milk ~substitutions: soy milk, almond milk, half and half
2 tablespoons bacon bits
1 cup fresh baby spinach leaves
2 slices american cheese ~substitutions: shredded parmesan, sliced munster, colby jack, or monterey jack
4 slices cooked bacon
6 cherry tomatoes
Olive oil cooking spray
Season to taste

Directions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 375.
2. In a bowl, mix eggs and milk with a whisk.
3. Spray dish with a thin coat of cooking spray.
4. Add 1/2 the eggs.
5. Cover with the cooked bacon.
6. Add the remainder of the egg over the bacon.
7. Top with fresh spinach, bacon bits, cheese, then cherry tomatoes.

Bake for approximately 25-35 minutes (test eggs by spring back method).  Cheese will be brown, but if you would like a crispier top, turn on the broiler and broil for about 30 seconds to a minute.

Enjoy!

Caribbean Jerk Boneless Pork Chops

---

Low carb delight

This sounds fattening right?  Not if you buy lean boneless thin sliced pork chops and trim the fat.  This is an extremely easy recipe, low in carbs.

Ingredients:

6 thin sliced boneless pork chops
1 package Williams Spicy Wings Caribbean Jerk seasoning (the total package has 6 carbs, 25 calories)
1 cup cauliflower rice
1/2 cup mixed greens (iceberg, salad greens)
2 cherry tomatoes
3 tablespoons grilled bell pepper sauce
2 tablespoons balsamic vinaigrette

Directions:

1. Prepare cauliflower rice according to recipe
2. Rinse and coat pork chops in Caribbean jerk seasoning.
3. Use a non-stick griddle (I used the Cuisinart Gridller open faced @ 350 degrees)
4. Cook until internal temp reaches about 160 degrees for 8 to 10 minutes.
5. Place chops on top of cauliflower rice, add salad, and pepper sauce and you are done.

Prep time is about 10-15 minutes, but drops to about 8 minutes if you already have chopped lettuce and cauliflower rice prepared.


This is a twenty to thirty minute meal!  Low in carbs.

Grilled Bell Pepper Sauce

---

This is a sauce I created to coincide with the low-carb tortilla pizzas I love to make.  I will add pictures soon, but because I used this another recipe, I am going to post the basics.
Ingredients:

Core peppers, slice lengthwise, and remove white portions. I saved and dried the seeds in ziploc bags to plant in my garden this spring.

1 yellow bell pepper
1 red bell pepper
1 orange bell pepper
1/4 cup sour cream
1/4 cup olive oil

Seasoning: I usually season to taste depending on my mood.  For this batch I added salt, pepper, sugar substitute, paprika (lots), chili powder, garlic powder, garlic salt, and a little bit of mayo.

Directions:

1. Use a stove top grill, the grill outside, or what I used is the Cuisinart Griddler, which I highly recommend.  It is easier than a George Forman grill, and you can basically cook anything on it.  Easy to clean.
2. Toss peppers in olive oil and seasoning.  Place on grill.
3. Grill until dark marks are present and fully cooked (about 6-8 minutes).
4. Add peppers to food processor.
5. Add remaining ingredients.
6. Pulse, puree.
7. Taste test, and add seasoning to taste.
8. Refrigerate for one hour.

That's it!  It is delicious, and can be used in the low carb tortilla pizzas, as a sauce for fish, chicken, seafood, or pork.  The bell peppers have a natural sweetness which really adds great flavor to any meal.