LowCarbKaye

Since I’ve been cooking every day for almost two weeks, I’ve gotten to where I’m having trouble coming up with a new recipe to make every day—because I have all these leftovers I need to eat, even though most of these recipes only make 1–2 servings.

Today’s “recipe” is taking one of the meals from earlier this week, The Most Delicious Meatballs in the World. As I mentioned in that post, I adapted a recipe from another blog, and on the other blog, it recommended finishing off the meatballs by stewing them in marinara/spaghetti sauce. That sounded really good to me, but on the day I made the meatballs, I didn’t have any tomato sauce in the house.

Today for lunch, I decided to try them the way the original recipe suggested—and I’m so glad I did!

Super-Easy Italian Tomato Sauce

• 1 can no-salt-added tomato sauce
• 1/2 to 1 Tablespoon dried basil*
• 1 to 2 teaspoons dried oregano*
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon garlic powder*
• 1/8 to 1/4 teaspoon onion powder*
• 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Splenda*
• 1/2 to 1 teaspoon red pepper flake

*Italian tomato sauce is something that’s very subjective—you may like yours with more basil and less oregano, or just the opposite. You may not like yours spicy at all, thus you’d leave out the red pepper flake. You may like it heavy on the garlic. My suggestion is to add the lowest amount listed, let the sauce cook for fifteen minutes, taste, and if it’s not exactly how you like it, add more of the desired ingredients.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, add all ingredients (starting with the smallest measurements of the herbs/spices). Stir until well combined. Bring to a “bubble.” Cover and reduce heat to low. Let simmer 10–15 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. If you add more herbs/spices, let simmer another 10 minutes before serving.

8g net carbs per 1/2 cup serving

To eat with leftover meatballs:
If you plan to use all four servings of meatballs, you’ll need to cook the sauce in a large saucepan instead of medium. Once the sauce is seasoned to taste, add meatballs, cover, and simmer 20 minutes. Serve piping hot dressed with fresh basil or Parmesan (just be sure to count in any extra carbs garnishes might add).

Just in time for the Super Bowl, here are two Jalapeno Popper recipes that make great snack food/appetizers.

The recipes are calculated for single-serving sizes if you want to make a main-dish for a meal from them. If you want to make a trayful for a party, just multiply the ingredients by the number of servings you want. Each recipe makes six poppers. (These are really more about what fits into the pepper and less about precise measurements.)

Cream Cheese & Bacon Poppers
These are the kind that most people are familiar with. But I take a shortcut that’s quicker and less messy than wrapping the stuffed peppers in bacon.

• 3 medium-large fresh jalapenos (1.5g net carbs)
• 4–6 Tbsp. cream cheese, softened (2.5g carbs)
• 1/4–1/2 cup real bacon bits (0 carbs)

Preheat oven to 400–425°F (toaster oven: 450°F) and line a baking sheet with foil.

Wash and dry jalapenos. Cut lengthwise in half, retaining the stem end, and remove seeds and membranes. If you feel the need to rinse them again, be sure to dry them well before continuing. Stuff each half with up to 1 tablespoon cream cheese (depending on how much you like cream cheese, you can fill it to the “rim” so that it’s smooth across the top, or you can leave a slight well down the center). Press stuffed pepper, cream-cheese side down, into bacon bits. Knock off loose bits and press remaining bacon into the cream cheese. Arrange poppers in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake 25-45 minutes—until bacon is sizzling crisp and jalapenos are softening (the skin will appear wrinkled) but not mushy. Serve hot or cold.

Makes 6 poppers
4g net carbs

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Taco Poppers
This was an experiment and, much to my delight, turned out pretty well.

• 3 medium-large fresh jalapenos (1.5g net carbs)
• 2–3 Tbsp taco meat (I used store-bought prepared meat, 1.5g carbs)
• 2–3 Tbsp shredded cheese (1g carbs)
• 1/4 avocado (1g net carbs)
• 1/2 Tbsp salsa (0.5g net carbs)
• 1 Tbsp Sour Cream (0.5g carb)

Preheat oven to 400–425°F (toaster oven: 450°F) and line a baking sheet with foil.

Wash and dry jalapenos. Cut lengthwise in half, retaining the stem end, and remove seeds and membranes. If you feel the need to rinse them again, be sure to dry them well before continuing. Fill each pepper with taco meat, about 1 to 1.5 teaspoons, depending on how much will fit. Sprinkle with a pinch of shredded cheese of your choice (Cheddar, Monterey Jack, Colby-Jack, Pepper Jack, etc.).*** Arrange poppers in a single layer on baking sheet. Bake 25-45 minutes—until meat is sizzling and jalapenos are softening (the skin will appear wrinkled) but not mushy. In a small bowl, mash the avocado and stir in salsa to make guacamole. Top each popper with sour cream and guacamole. Serve hot.

Makes 6 poppers
6g net carbs

***If I make these again, I will put the cheese in first. The length of time it took these to cook until the peppers were done made the cheese crusty rather than melty.

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Some days, cooking just isn’t in the cards. But staying low-carb is. So I need to have quick-fix options which can be prepared ahead of time and available at a moment’s notice with very little thought or prep work.

This is another option that can be considered a sandwich-substitute for lunch . . . or it would even be great for breakfast or a midnight snack.

Easy Egg Salad

• 6 hard-boiled eggs, shelled
• 2 tablespoons mayonnaise
• 1 to 1.5 teaspoons dijon mustard
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice
• salt (about 1/2 a tsp) and pepper to taste

Chop cold hard boiled eggs to the consistency you like—pieces of about 1/4-inch or less are good—and make sure the yolks are broken up as well. In a medium bowl, combine mayo, mustard, lemon juice, salt, and pepper and stir until well combined. Fold in chopped eggs and stir gently until completely mixed. Refrigerate 15–20 minutes to let flavors meld.

Serving size: 1/3 cup
1g net carb per serving

Parmesan Crisps

• 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese

On a regular paper plate, make several small piles around the perimeter or one large pile in the center with the cheese. Microwave for 30-60 seconds, watching carefully to ensure they don’t overcook. You want them golden, not brown and not burned.

Remove and let cool (and finish crisping up) completely.
Serving size: 1/4 cup of cheese (pre-cooked measurement)
1g net carb

Top small crisps with a tablespoon of egg salad for hors d’oeuvres or top large crisp with 1/3 cup of egg salad for a sandwich substitute.

London Broil is one of those old-fashioned cuts of meat that sound intimidating but are, in actuality, very simple if you know the basics. It can also, occasionally, be up to $2 cheaper per pound than top sirloin or other cuts that are more popular.

While London Broil is great to eat hot and sizzling straight from the oven, it’s also a cut that’s great eaten cold on a salad or as a snack. So it’s well worth it to add this to a low-carb cooking repertoire.

Cajun-Spiced London Broil

• ~2 lb. London Broil (mine was 1.73 lbs.)
• Tony Chachere’s More Spice seasoning
• Tools: Heavy-bottom skillet and baking pan or cast-iron or other skillet that can go from stove top to oven. Before heating the skillet, make sure it’s large enough to hold your London Broil slab.

Preheat oven to 325°F (toaster oven 350°F).

Remove meat from packaging and pat dry. Coat meat with Tony’s. Heat skillet over medium-high heat for five minutes. Let meat sit five minutes while skillet heats. Once skillet is preheated, sear meat on each side for 3 minutes.

If not using an oven-safe skillet, transfer meat to a foil-lined baking pan. Roast in oven approximately 15 minutes (for medium-rare)—or until meat reaches desired temperature for the doneness you desire. However, because it is relatively lean, anything over a medium doneness is going to turn this meat into shoe leather, so medium-rare (130-135°F) to medium (~140°F) is recommended. If you plan to reheat the leftovers at a later time, medium-rare is your best option so that when it’s reheated, it doesn’t overcook.

For immediate consumption: Slice thinly across the grain and serve immediately.

To eat later: Let cool completely. Slice thinly across the grain and package into 4 to 6-ounce serving sizes in zip-top bags.

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I used Tony’s because it’s one of my favorite season-alls (I dressed the salad in the bottom photo with homemade guacamole—1/2 avocado + 1 tbsp. salsa—and all the spices worked really well together). Use whatever seasonings/spices you like with your beef. A simple mixture of salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and onion powder (just a tiny touch of this), would be great if you’re going to use the meat in other dishes that already have specific flavorings. Other spices, such as curry powder or dry Zesty Italian dressing mix, can make this a great addition to a meal with a specific ethnic focus. That’s the greatest thing about London Broil—it’s so easily adaptable.

As I posted a few days ago, I opted for the Parmesan wings at Pizza Hut to save on carbs over the more traditional buffalo wings. I couldn’t get that flavor out of my mind (this is what happens when you’re a food addict), so I decided to try them at home and see if I could get the carb count down even lower. Guess what—I did!

Parmesan-Crusted Chicken Wings
 

• ~2 pounds chicken wings (mine was 1.81 lbs. had 6 full wings in it which, once trimmed, made 12 drumettes)
• 1/2 cup grated (dried/powdered) Parmesan
• 1 tbsp dried parsley (I didn’t have this, so I left it out)
• 1/2 tbsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• dash pepper
• 1/2 stick butter
• Though the original recipe doesn’t call for it, I added about 1/2 a tsp of garlic powder to this, too.

 
Preheat oven to 350°F (toaster oven: 400–450°F). Line a shallow baking pan with foil (really—because otherwise you’re going to end up either scrubbing all night or throwing the pan away).
 
If using whole wings, cut and trim into drumettes and pat dry with paper towels. In a small bowl (I used standard-size paper bowls), combine cheese, parsley, oregano, paprika, salt, and pepper. Melt butter in a separate bowl.

Dip each drumette in butter, then roll in cheese seasoning mixture, and arrange drumettes in a single layer not touching each other or the sides on foil-lined pan. (Use “wet” hand to dip chicken in butter and drop into cheese-mix bowl. Use “dry” hand to rotate wing in mixture and transfer to baking pan. Don’t forget to wash your hands thoroughly after handling raw chicken!)

Bake 1 hour until outsides are crispy and beginning to brown well. Wings will stick to the foil, so you’ll have to carefully pry them off. In the toaster oven, I turned on the broiler for the last five minutes, just to ensure they were good and crispy on the outside.
 
Yield: about 12 pieces with trace carbs.

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The worst thing about this recipe is that about five minutes after I put the pan in the oven, it started smelling REALLY good. I had to smell that for an hour before I could finally get a taste. My stomach almost gnawed itself into pieces by the time these were ready to eat.

These are great on their own, or you can serve them with dipping sauces, such as marinara or hot wing sauce or ranch dressing. Just be sure to count the carbs the dips may add.

One of the dishes I absolutely love at P.F. Chang’s is the Chang’s Chicken Lettuce Wraps. And these would seem to be a healthy choice, right? Filled with chicken, mushrooms, green onions and water chestnuts.

According to the nutrition info on their website: 1 order of lettuce wraps contains 4 servings. Each serving is 160 calories, 7g fat, 15g net carbs, and 8g protein.

Not too terrible, right? Except, remember, this is for only 1/4th of the order. So, here’s a recipe that cuts that net-carb count in half, while still retaining the flavor and (most) of the texture. (Okay, bean sprouts aren’t a 1:1 texture replacement for the crunchy rice noodles—but they work.)

Lower-Carb Chicken Lettuce Wraps

• 2 Tbsp. light/low-sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 Tbsp. Splenda brown sugar blend, not packed (if you’d prefer to use real brown sugar, increase quantity to 1 Tbsp.)
• 2 tsp. chili garlic sauce
• 1/2 tsp. sesame oil
• 8–10 ounces boneless skinless chicken, cooked and cubed
• 1 cup canned water chestnuts, drained and chopped
• 1 cup bean sprouts (I use the fresh ones from the produce section rather than the canned because they have better texture)
• 3/4 cup chopped shiitake mushrooms (optional)
• 1/2 cup chopped scallions/green onions
• 8–12 leaves from lettuce such as iceburg, hearts of Romaine (not the dark-green, leafy exterior leaves), bibb, or escarole. You could also use green or red cabbage, if that’s more to your taste.

To prepare sauce, in a small bowl, combine soy sauce, brown sugar, chili-garlic sauce, and sesame oil. Stir well and set aside.

In a large skillet preheated over medium heat, combine chicken, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and mushrooms (if using). Sauté about 1 minute. Add the sauce and stir to combine well. Cook 2–3 minutes more, until sauce begins to thicken slightly. Add scallions, stir, and cook 1 additional minute.

Divide mixture evenly between the lettuce “cups” and wrap up to eat.

Serves 4

Nutritional Info (per serving):
Calories: 140
Fat: 2.75 g
Net Carbs: 7.5 g
Protein: 19g

The arctic weather we had here in Nashville earlier this week (highs and lows in the single digits Monday and Tuesday) put me in mind of curling up with a warm blanket and a hot drink. There’s the old stand-by sugar-free hot cocoa mix you can get at the grocery store, and even sugar-free cider mixes. But I’ve always associated cold weather with spiced tea, something my mom made a lot when I was a kid.

Sugar-Free Spiced Tea Mix

• Sugar-free “morning” orange drink (Tang, Crystal Light, etc.)–enough to make 6 quarts
• 2/3 cup unsweet instant tea mix
• 2 packages lemonade drink mix (each makes 2 qts.)
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves (I used a heaping 1/2 Tbsp.)
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon (again, I used a heaping 1/2 Tbsp)
• 2 cups granulated Splenda

Mix all ingredients and store in an air-tight container. (Makes approximately 4 cups of mix.)

My supermarket didn’t have the sugar-free Tang or the larger size of the Crystal Light orange morning drink (with 5-6 of the 2-quart tubs), so I ended up having to get two boxes of the individual (16.9 fluid ounce) packets, of which I used 14, because I like my spiced tea a little more on the orangey side. I also added closer to 3/4 cup of instant tea mix.

Depending on how strong you like your spiced tea, use 1-2 heaping tablespoons for a large mug (16-20 oz.) with hot water.

I met a couple of friends at a national-chain pizza place for dinner last night. Since I’ve only just started trying to cut out carbs this week . . . and since I’d had a major carb craving at work earlier in the day, I knew I couldn’t trust myself to eat pizza with moderation. So, instead, before I went, I checked out the nutritional page on the company’s website for the one item I knew I could probably get away with eating without adding a whole lot of carbs: WINGS.

I love Buffalo wings—I came to love and rely on them as a go-to when eating out the first time I lived the low-carb lifestyle. But you have to be careful when ordering these out and, if possible, check the restaurant’s nutritional info before going to make sure you aren’t unknowingly sabotaging yourself when ordering them.

If I hadn’t done this, I would have ended up ordering something that would have cost me 32 grams of carbs—almost my daily limit of 40 for one meal! But because I planned ahead, I got away with just 14 grams instead—and a very tasty meal!

Surviving Pizza Hut

1 order of 16 Garlic Parmesan Traditional Wings (bone-in, not breaded)
1/4 cup Texas Pete Buffalo Wing Sauce

Yes, I smuggled in a container of my own wing sauce. The wings cost me the same amount to purchase as those prepared with PH’s sauce, so they didn’t lose any money

Wings: 8g carbs
Sauce: 6g net carbs
Total: 14g net carbs

Obviously, if you add blue cheese or ranch dressing to this as a dipping sauce, it will add a few more carbs. You can also, apparently, order the wings “naked” and save yourself those additional carbs, as well. But the garlic-parm seasoning on the wings added a layer of flavor that the regular buffalo wings don’t have, so it was well worth fitting those 8 carbs into my meal plan for the day.

Lunch, for me, seems to be the hardest meal to do when sticking to a low-carb diet. Since I work full-time outside of the home, it’s not like I can cook something for my midday repast every day. I can only handle so many leftovers. And I definitely don’t want to be either going out or settling for just a salad every day. So another aspect of this 90-day challenge is to make sure I’m getting enough variety at lunchtime without taking up too much time in prep work. So I’ve sought out some sandwich/salad substitutes and will be sharing those along the journey, too. But it’s always good to start with the familiar and then stretch myself, so yesterday’s lunch was basically a sandwich and salad meal.

Today’s recipe is one that should be taken as a basic idea and adapted to individual tastes (and to what’s available). I’ll share how I put mine together after the official recipe.

Italian Sub Roll-Up

sweet/honey ham
capicola ham/proscuitto
salami
tomato, sliced thin
banana peppers
spinach or other lettuce
olive oil and dried oregano or
mayo & mustard

Use the largest coldcut (probably the honey ham) for the outside layer. Overlap two slices (like a Venn Diagram) to form your “wrap” layer:

Layer each additional meat on top. Dress one half with mustard and mayo or olive oil and oregano. This will be the inside or middle of your roll. Layer this half with tomato, banana peppers, and spinach over the mayo/mustard. (Additional items to consider: olives, red wine vinegar, cucumbers, onions). Roll from the filling side first as tightly as you can. To take it to eat later, wrap in parchment or waxed paper.

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My Cold Cut Roll-Up

• 2 large slices Black Forest ham
• 6 slices hard salami
• 1 package thinly sliced corned beef (the kind you can get in the plastic “bag” for about 50 cents in the lunch-meats area of the grocery store)
• Mayo & mustard
• Sliced peperoncini (I like these better than banana peppers)
• halved grape tomatoes
• 2 slices Provolone cheese

As described above, I used the two slices of ham as my wrap layer—after patting them dry with a paper towel, which I think helped them hold together much better than if they'd still had a lot of water on them. I topped this with two rows of salami and then a layer of the corned beef. On the left-hand side of this meat canvas, I added a line of mayo and a line of mustard (as if I were putting these on a hot-dog in a bun). I then put the peppers and tomatoes on. The two slices of cheese went on top of all that (still working on the left-hand side) and then I rolled it. I decided to do the cheese last because it kept me from having to put my fingers into the peppers/mayo/mustard to roll it up.

I didn't use spinach or lettuce inside of it because I fixed a salad (with a side of more sliced peperoncini and a dill pickle) to go with it:

Next time (which will be tomorrow), I will leave out the tomatoes (still halve them, but put them on the side sprinkled with salt) and slice this into more manageable “wheels” to make eating it cleaner and easier. But it turned out very yummy.