21 Day Keto - Day 5

Happy Sunday All!  After church, we met up with our Life Group at Buffalo Wild Wings--a place we all love, and that is easy to eat on keto (traditional wings with a lower-carb sauce, or dry rub)--and bonus--kids eat free at BWW on Sundays.  

Breakfast: 2-egg ham & cheese omelets (w/ onion, red pepper, mushrooms, kale, cheddar, & pepperjack)  

Also, I made some homemade keto friendly creamer to use in my coffee this week:

1 cup heavy cream, 1 Tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, 4-5 drops coconut extract. 1 net carb per 2 Tbsp serving.

Lunch: DK & I shared a small traditional order of wings, half with Chipotle dry rub and half with Thai Curry sauce, which has 3 net carbs.  Ranch & celery on the side.

Dinner: Leftover Egg Roll in a Bowl-- Even the kiddo likes this.  When I was cutting up all the cabbage, he walked in and told me "I don't like salad". But at mealtime, he asked for a bite...and then ended up eating about half of mine.  He announced "I like dat salad, cuz it got meat in it."

Totals: 1414 kcal, 20g net carb, 106g fat, 89g protein

Thoughts: Another good day, no complaints....well, aside from an attempt to make muffins with coconut flour. But we'll save that for tomorrow.

DK's Day 5 (Last day of out of town for work)
Note: from this point forward, The Hubs & I will be eating mostly the same things, so I'll shift back to just listing one set of meals, but still share both of our thoughts.

Breakfast at the Hotel: 9 pieces of bacon, hard boiled egg, 1/4 cup sausage gravy (for dipping the bacon), black coffee, 1/2 packet of Splenda
Lunch: Powerade, 2 deli roll ups, 3 oz ham
Dinner: Sesame Chicken Salad, 5 almonds, 1 Michelob Ultra

Total: 1106 kcal, 17g net carbs

Thoughts: This is the best day I've had so far.

A Day of Pickling: Homemade Dills, Pickled Radishes, and Sauerkraut

Every once in a while, I get hit with this wave of "DO ALL THE THINGS!"  On this particular day, I had tiny cucumbers--so when I started the day, my only plan was to make pickles. I've made my garlic dill pickles plenty of times--pretty easy peasy.

Maybe too easy.  Because then I was like, "hrm...I still have more free time, and the kid is still asleep....what else can I make???"

We had some red cabbage that needed to be used up, so I thought, "how hard is it to make sauerskraut?"

The answer?  Not hard at all.  Pretty ridiculously easy, actually.

Step 1: Chop up cabbage & add some salt.
Step 2: Give it a massage.

Step 3: Put it all into a sterilized jar, cover it with a full cabbage leaf, press it down, and put it in a dark place for 3 days. Vent once a day so the jar doesn't explode.  

Step 4: Stick it in your fridge and enjoy!

Step 5: Nom on various things, but mostly brats.  Or, just eat it with your hands, like our kid does.

Lil' Man decided to help himself while I was doing my photo shoot.

Then, once I had my jar o' cabbage tucked away in the pantry, I still had some time left (and some random jelly jars), so I thought "well...those radishes in the crisper really need to get used up too."

Turns out, pickling radishes is also stupid-easy.

And they're amazing.  Especially with something that's fatty or sweet (or both) to add a nice contrast of bite.  I made some garlic beef & broccoli lo mein earlier this week and served these on the side. A perfect compliment.

So now we have a fridge full of pickled things.  It's a pretty tasty place to be.

Roasted Cabbage Wedges.

I typically steer clear of all Martha Stewart projects & recipes, because…well, I’m not Martha frickin’ Stewart.  I don’t have 5 types of flour, 12 types of rice, or 16 flavors of olive oil in my pantry.  I don’t have a ceramic Le Creuset cassoulet dish (though I wish I did) or a double boiler, or 48 hours in my day.  Heaven help me, I don’t have any pink sea salt or smoked salt or any salts other than salt-flavored salt.

I like my recipes to have as few ingredients as possible, and as few steps as possible.  If I can go from prep-to-meal in under 30 minutes, my life is a happy place.

So, imagine my surprise when I discovered a Martha Stewart recipe that meets my requirements.

A cookie sheet?  An oven?  Some leftover cabbage?  I have all these things, Martha!

 

Ingredients:

1 small head of cabbage, cleaned & outer leaves discarded, cut into 8 wedges (I had half a head leftover, so I made 4 wedges)

olive oil (I used garlic flavored olive oil…because that’s the ONE flavored olive oil I DO have…in yo FACE, Martha.)

sea salt

cracked black pepper

lemon juice (1/2 lemon)

 

Directions:

Heat the oven to 450F.

Spread wedges on a cookie sheet, lightly drizzle (or spritz, in my case) both sides of each wedge with olive oil:

Then sprinkle each side of each wedge w/ some S&P.

 

Stick in the oven & roast for 12 minutes, then flip, and roast for 12 more minutes or until the edges are brown.

Remove from the oven, and squeeze the lemon juice over the wedges.

WOW.  Just….WOW.  Simple, and delicious.  The sweetness of the cooked cabbage + the tart from the lemon, all enhanced by the tinge of salt?  Just perfect simplicity.  And the calories are essentially neglible.  An awesome quick side dish.

 

I served it with grilled corn on the cob & some leftover pulled BBQ chicken.

 

NutriFacts: (2 wedges per serving)

Calories 54.9

  Total Fat 1.6 g

  Saturated Fat 0.2 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.3 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 0.9 g

  Cholesterol 0.0 mg

  Sodium 70.9 mg

  Potassium 440.9 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 9.8 g

  Dietary Fiber 4.1 g

  Sugars 0.0 g

  Protein 2.6 g

Southwestern Style Baked Eggrolls

Do you love Chilis?  Because I love Chilis.  I’m not sure why…there’s very little there that could constitute a “healthy” meal…but it’s all so friggin’ DELICIOUS!

And Chili’s Southwest Egg Rolls are my Achille’s heel. My Pandora’s box.  My Kryptonite.  My Vader.

However, an entire plate of these bad boys (3 whole egg rolls) will set you back about 800 calories.  Which is a little more than half of the calories I normally try to eat in a day…that’s a bit much for one meal.

And since the Irish egg rolls I made a while back went over so well, I figured I could try my hand at this treat too.  The result?  Completely delicious, crispy, Chili’s-wishes-they-were-this-awesome eggrolls with HALF the calories of the original.

Ingredients: (makes 12 egg rolls)

1 cup sweet corn

1/2 can (about a cup) canned black beans, rinsed & drained

1 link spicy smoked turkey sausage (optional—you could also use grilled chicken; we added meat so it would be a more complete item to eat as a meal)

5 oz chopped spinach, thawed & squeezed dry (we actually didn’t have this in the house, so I improvised with some chopped cabbage.  Definitely not the same, but it works in a pinch.)

2/3 cup light shredded cheese, mexican blend if you can find it

2 oz (about 1/4 cup) diced green chiles, or diced pickled jalapenos

1 tsp dried green onion or chives

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1/2 package of egg roll wrappers (12 wrappers)

light cooking spray (like Pam)

 

Directions:

Heat your oven to 425F.

In a large skillet, combine the chopped cabbage and sausage (if you’re choosing to include these items…if you have frozen spinach and/or are not including meat, you can skip this step).

 

Once the cabbage is softened & the meat is warmed through, remove from heat & add the remaining ingredients, minus the egg rolls.  Toss to combine.

Lay an egg roll wrapper on a clean, dry plate, and place a small cup of water off to the side, to use when sealing the edges.   Spoon about 1/4 cup of filling into the center of the wrapper. 

Fold the bottom triangle up, then roll the two sides in, and then roll up toward the top triangle.  Wet the edges of the top triangle to seal. (see the photos in my Irish Egg Rolls entry if you’re having trouble getting the rolling down.)

Grab a metal cookie sheet and lightly spritz with cooking spray.  Place your egg rolls on the tray, and then lightly spritz those as well (it helps them get nice & golden while baking).

Bake for 10 minutes on one side, then flip, and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until golden brown & crispy.

 

And of course, you’re going to want to dunk these in something, right?

Try this out:

1/2 pack Ranch seasoning

1 cup fat free sour cream

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

Or, if creamy sauces aren’t up your aisle, go with your favorite salsa.

Makes 4 servings, 3 egg rolls per serving.

Let’s see how it compares, shall we? (Bear in mind that the Chili’s version doesn’t have meat in it.)

 

NutriFacts: (per serving)

Calories 368.0

  Total Fat 7.0 g

  Saturated Fat 2.9 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 1.2 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.2 g

  Cholesterol 38.4 mg

  Sodium 1,198.2 mg

  Potassium 438.6 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 57.2 g

  Dietary Fiber 7.4 g

  Sugars 3.2 g

  Protein 22.6 g

 

Calories in the ranch dip (2 tbsp): 30 (0.4g fat)

Grilled Brussels Sprouts

 Once upon a time, I was a child.  I spoke like a child, thought like a child, and hated brussels sprouts like a child.  But when I became an adult…

…I realized that bacon and char make things DELICIOUS. :D

So, when brussels sprouts were on sale last week, and the “best brussels sprouts” recipe appeared on Pinterest,  I took it as a sign from the Almighty, bit the bullet, and bought a package of the tiny, fear-inducing cabbages.

And why shouldn’t I?  I mean, I’m a big girl now…I can face the horrors and disdain that are so synonymous with these miniature sprouts, which are packed full of vitamins and fiber and all sorts of goodness.  Plus…they’re so cute!  Right?

…but they need improvement.  *looks at pic* *Gulp*  SERIOUS improvement.

 

Ingredients:

12 sprouts

1 tablespoon bacon grease (you can use olive oil if you’re morally opposed to bacon grease, but there’s SO much more flavor in the grease, and it’s the same # of calories)

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/2 tsp cracked black pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp celery salt

1 tsp lemon juice

1 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese

 

Directions:

1. Rinse the sprouts well, trim back the cut ends, and peel away any withered leaves.  Score the bottoms—one cut across is fine.

2. Place sprouts into boiling, salted water for 5 minutes, tops.  We’re just blanching these bad boys.  Any more than 5 minutes & they’ll get mushy & gross.

3. Drain, then place the sprouts in a small bowl with the bacon grease, lemon juice, and seasonings.  Toss to coat.

4. Place the sprouts on the top rack of your grill (pre-heated), and turn them every 4 minutes, for a total of 12 minutes.

(Note: You’ll get the recipe for the chicken down on that bottom rack later this week.) 

5. Remove from the grill, and sprinkle with the Parm.

6. DEVOUR. Even kids might delve into these, if you hide them amongst other grilled items (we had grilled chicken and corn on the cob accompanying.)

NutriFacts: (Makes 2 servings of 6 sprouts each—divide as appropriate if you only eat 3-4 as part of a more diverse meal)

Calories 105.2

  Total Fat 5.4 g

  Saturated Fat 2.2 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.7 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 2.2 g

  Cholesterol 6.1 mg

  Sodium 663.6 mg

  Potassium 469.2 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 11.8 g

  Dietary Fiber 4.6 g

  Sugars 2.9 g

  Protein 5.1 g

St. Paddy’s Day Recipe: Irish Egg Rolls!

At my office, I’m the head of our Potluck Planning Committee (I know, it’s SO “The Office”, right?)

(Angela: “I'm just trying to figure out why you're trying to sabotage things.”)

 

Although our meetings are much more succinct and less catty.  It’s more like, “there’s a holiday coming up, let’s do a potluck.” “Okay!”

Anyway…our potluck is today, and we did an Irish food theme (or green food, since every office has at least one person who’s going to bring a veggie tray because, “hey, it’s green”).  I asked the hubs what I should make, he did some research, and threw down the gauntlet: Irish Egg Rolls.

Irish Egg Rolls?

…okay, sure, why not?

Apparently he saw it as an appetizer at an Irish pub, and hey, I like egg rolls (Chili’s Southwest Eggrolls?  Hex yeah!), and I like a challenge, so that’s what we did.

The original recipe (shown here) calls for frying them, but we didn’t want all that extra grease, so we baked them instead, and they still turned out crisp and delicious.

Since I have a big office, we also doubled the size of the recipe to use up the full package of egg roll wrappers (15).

Ingredients:

8 ounces chopped corned beef (I recommend getting it freshly sliced from your grocer’s Deli)

1 tbsp bacon grease (aside from a little Pam and whatever’s in the corned beef, this is your only fat, so like I always say—might as well get as much flavor from your fat as you can.  If you’re anti- bacon grease, you can totally just use a pat of butter or a tbsp of olive oil)

2 cups shredded cabbage

2 cups diced cooked potatoes (about two large russet potatoes, diced, seasoned w/salt & pepper), peeled & boiled)

2 cups shredded carrot (took about 5-6 whole carrots, washed, peeled, & then shredded)

1/2 cup thinly sliced onion

1/2 cup sliced green onion

salt and pepper (or Cajun seasoning—it’s my go-to season-all), to taste

15 (7 inch square) egg roll wrappers

 

Directions:

Boil the potatoes, then drain. Set aside for the moment.

Heat the bacon grease in a large skillet (we used a wok, ironically) and add the cabbage, onions, carrot, and seasoning, and sauté over medium-low heat for about 5 minutes.

(I do so love colorful food!)

Then add in the corned beef & potatoes and toss, sautéing for another 5 minutes until the cabbage starts to wilt a bit.  Check for flavor & season again if needed.

Next, set up an “egg roll wrapping station”.  I did my rolling on a plate, with a small condiment bowl of water next to it. 

Scoop 1/2 cup of filling onto the first wrapper:

And then wrap the egg rolls according the instructions on the package—it’s pretty easy.  Just fold the bottom corner up snugly:

 

Then fold in the sides, then wet the top bit of the triangle with the water:

 

(Please ignore the fact that I’m flipping off the camera—it was accidental, I promise.)

And then roll the rest of the way up, and place on a lightly sprayed cookie sheet.

P.S. Heat your oven to 400 degrees F.

Once all your rolls are wrapped, lightly spritz the rolls with cooking spray—this will help them brown & get crispy & brown like as if they were fried.

 

Then bake on the middle rack for 18-20 minutes, flipping them halfway through—(I forgot to do the flip, but they still look pretty good, although the bottom looks SO perfect):

(Tops, without flip halfway through baking)

 

Serve with a Dijon or spicy brown mustard for dipping (we’re using Tabasco spicy brown mustard, because hey, this is a “Cajun” food blog, so it’s gotta be in there somewhere!)

(This shows the bottom.  Look how gorgeous & perfect that is!  So please remember to flip them.)

 

NutriFacts: (1 serving = 1 egg roll)

(Please note that in the original recipe, calorie count for one of these fried was 278 calories)

Calories 158.2

  Total Fat 3.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.0 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.1 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.4 g

  Cholesterol 19.8 mg

  Sodium 516.1 mg

  Potassium 120.2 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 25.4 g

  Dietary Fiber 2.0 g

  Sugars 0.6 g

  Protein 6.5 g

 

Have a great St. Paddy’s weekend, everyone!!!

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesday

Creamy Cabbage Soup–Great for Winter!

Okay, is everyone else having as weird of a winter (weather-wise) as we are here in Missouri?  It’ll be in the 60s for three days, then a storm rolls in & we’re in the 30’s, then a few days later it’s back to 50’s & 60’s.  It’s nuts.

Well, during one of those cold days, the hubs & I were craving some warm comfort food, and we had some produce that needed to be used up.  So I called upon my backlog of “Recipes to Try” and found this delicious-looking soup. 

Unfortunately, we didn’t have everything fresh onhand that the original recipe calls for, so we improvised a wee bit with some canned goods—however, the result was still fantastic. 

This is an amazing dish—extremely healthy & low fat, but jam-packed with flavor.  Hope you enjoy as much as we did!

 

Ingredients:

1 can peas, partially drained

1 can diced potatoes, drained

2 tbsp bacon grease (this is the only fat in the whole dish, so might as well make it jam-packed with flavor)

1/2 sweet onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 oz mushrooms, sliced

4 cups low sodium chicken broth

salt & ground pepper

cajun seasoning

1/2 head cabbage, chopped into bite size pieces

 

Directions:

1. In a large skillet, heat the bacon grease over medium heat, then add the onions, celery, garlic, and mushrooms for about 10-15 minutes until the onions are translucent. Season to taste with salt, pepper, and cajun seasoning

2. In a blender (or a pot, if you have an immersion blender), combine the peas, potatoes, chicken broth, and the onion mixture. 

 

Pulse until blended.

 

 

Combine the cabbage & the blended mixture.

 

 

Stir until combined, and cook over medium heat for 15-20 minutes or until the cabbage is wilted. 

Serve sprinkled with shredded mozzarella & crumbled bacon, and a slice of toasted french bread.

 

NutriFacts: (Makes 6 servings)

Calories 127.3

  Total Fat 3.4 g

  Saturated Fat 1.2 g

  Polyunsaturated Fat 0.5 g

  Monounsaturated Fat 1.3 g

  Cholesterol 2.7 mg

  Sodium 1,043.1 mg

  Potassium 619.3 mg

  Total Carbohydrate 19.4 g

  Dietary Fiber 4.9 g

  Sugars 2.5 g

  Protein 6.5 g

Vitamin A 8.0 %

  Vitamin B-12 0.1 %

  Vitamin B-6 8.0 %

  Vitamin C 54.7 %

  Vitamin D 2.9 %

  Vitamin E 1.8 %

Calcium 8.3 %

  Copper 6.3 %

  Folate 15.9 %

Iron 8.5 %

  Magnesium 6.2 %

  Manganese 17.4 %

  Niacin 6.3 %

  Pantothenic Acid  4.4 %

  Phosphorus  7.4 %

  Riboflavin 8.4 %

  Selenium 4.6 %

  Thiamin 8.5 %

  Zinc 4.3 %

Shared on 33 Shades of Green's Tasty Tuesdays & The Sweet Spot's Mouth Watering Mondays.