Low Carbies

One of my favorite childhood dinners was porcupine meatballs and I have been itching to make them since Matthew and Tassie bought me a pressure cooker!  This is my low carb version.  I have added the original recipe link below but I made some changes. . . and made it work with my pressure cooker. For the meatballs: 1 pound ground beef 1/2 brown rice (I wonder if quinoa would work) 1 large egg 2 tablespoons parsley 1/4 cup onion 1 clove garlic 1 teaspoon chili powder 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper For the sauce: 1/2 cup yellow onion 1 clove garlic 1 15 ounce can of tomato sauce 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce 1/2 teaspoon oregano 1/2 teaspoon basil  1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes 1/2 teaspoon sea salt 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 1/2 cup water 1 tablespoon parsley 1/2 cup brown rice Instructions: 1. Mix ground beef, rice, egg, parsley, onion, garlic, chili pow...

My sister-in-law Tassie started bringing this salad to family parties and it quickly became a requested favorite. She adapted the dressing to fit the needs of the “no-sugar sisters.” I like to keep a bottle of this dressing mixed and ready to go in my refrigerator. It is so delicious! 1 cup honey 1 teaspoon paprika 1 teaspoon mustard 1 teaspoon finely grated onion 1/2 cup lemon juice 1 cup vegetable oil 1/2 teaspoon celery seed Mix all ingredients except oil and celery seed in a blender. Gradually add oil and celery seed and continue blending. Toss with salad. Refrigerate remaining dressing for later use. Keeps 3 weeks. Drizzle on lettuce and top with sliced strawberries, slivered almonds (roasted) and blue cheese.

  This one comes from my sister Melanie. She makes it for us all the time for family functions. They eat their cake or whatever, we eat this. It's good!!! Makes 3 loafs 1/3 Oil 1/2 C. Puree (carrots or butternut squash) 1 C. Honey 2 Tablespoons Vanilla 4 Eggs 6-7 Bananas 3 1/2 Whole Wheat Flour 1 teaspoon Salt 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon 2 teaspoons Baking Soda 1/2 C. Hot Water 1/2 - 1 C. Walnuts Beat Oil, Puree, and honey. Add eggs and mix well. Stir in mashed bananas and vanilla. Stir in flour, salt and spices. In separate bowl add baking soda and  hot water together, then add to mix. Mix well. Add into 3 greased loaf pans bake at 325° for 55-60 minutes. ENJOY!!!

I made an awesome discovery at Winco yesterday. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour! No joke! On the back of the package is a recipe for pie crust! I will be baking a pie crust soon, but to tide us over I tried out this little gem of a recipe with all those pears we got from Bountiful Baskets. I got the base recipe from a Weight Watchers cook book. I halved the recipe to match the number of pears I had. I substituted honey for the sugar. I didn’t measure, it, I just drizzled honey when sugar was called for. I used the whole wheat pastry flour in place of the white flour. For those of you counting calories, I have calculated the nutrition information using the changes I made. The recipe makes 8 servings. Calories: 140, Fat: 4.5g, Carbs: 26.7 Pear Crisp 3 pounds of pears, pealed and sliced ½ Cup + 2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour ½ Cup quick-oats or old-fashioned rolled oats ½ Cup sugar 1 Teaspoon cinnamon ½ Teaspoon ground ginger 1/8 Teaspoon salt 3 Tablespoons unsalted butter, diced 1 Te...

I found this recipe in a weight watcher cookbook. It was delicious! I have listed the recipe exactly as it appears in the book, but I made a few modifications when I made it. I did not brush oil on the pineapple and I did not measure the spices. I just sprinkled a little bit on each side of the pineapple. I also didn’t have any lime juice so I skipped that part. The pineapple still turned out beautifully! Enjoy! 1 peeled and cored pineapple 1 ½ teaspoons canola oil ¼ teaspoon ground allspice 1/8 teaspoon cayenne 1 tablespoon fresh lime juice 1. Preheat the oven to 500 F. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray. 2. Cut the pineapple lengthwise into16thin wedges. Lightly brush both sides of each wedge with the oil, sprinkle with the allspice and cayenne. 3. Place the pineapple, curved side down, on the baking sheet. Roasted until tender, about 12 minutes. Remove the pineapple from the oven, increase the oven temperature to broil. Brush the pineapple with the lime j...

Sorry about not posting for a while, my sister and I both go to school, and it has been one CRAZY semester! So here is one of my favorite recipes courtesy of Kris. TEXAS CAVIAR 3 avocados (diced) 3-5 tomatoes (diced) 1 small bag frozen corn (defrosted) 2 can's of black beans 1 onion (chopped) 1 bunch cilantro (chopped) 1 bottle Zesty Italian Dressing 1 tsp Garlic Salt 1 tsp Garlic Powder 1 tsp Season Salt Mix all ingredients together and serve with tortilla chips. I personally love these, available at your local Target or Costco.

Chicken Salad 12.5 oz Canned Chicken 4 TBSP Mayo 1 Small Pickle 1/2 Tomato 2 TBSP Green Onion 1/4 C Grated Cheese 2 TBSP Italian Dressing Mix ingredients together and add more mayo if needed. I eat this both plan, or on a piece of Great Harvest whole wheat bread with juicy fresh tomato's on top. MMMM!!!

This recipe comes from the cook book, “15 Minute Low Carb Recipes". I loved it. The combination of the tart apples and the sharp cheese was delicious. I used turkey bacon and feta cheese in stead of blue cheese because it was what I had on hand. 3 slices bacon (I used two and it was plenty) ¼ Granny Smith or other crisp tart apple, thinly sliced 2 teaspoons butter, divided 2 eggs, beaten 1 ounce crumbled blue cheese Start the bacon cooking in the microwave-if you don’t own a microwave bacon rack, a glass pie plate will work just fine. While the bacon’s cooking, melt 1 teaspoon of butter in your omelet pan over medium-high heat. Add the apples, and fry for 2 to 3 minutes per side, or until they’re slightly golden. Remove the apple slices and keep them on hand. Melt the remaining butter in the skillet, slosh it about. Add the eggs and cook until the eggs are no longer shinny (pull up the edges of the eggs letting them run underneath until the egg is cooked through). Arrange the fri...

Sorry. . . again. . . I don’t measure! Put into the Magic Bullet: Sugar free, low fat vanilla yogurt Milk Frozen mixed berries 5-10 whole blanched unsalted almonds Blend until smooth

Matt and Tassie found this recipe and I have to say it has become one of my favorites! I eat it for breakfast almost everyday (and sometimes dinner). My favorite dessert is yogurt with a little granola sprinkled on top. Who needs chocolate cake!!! 4 Cups old fashioned oats 1 Cup coconut ¼ Cup slivered almonds ¼ Cup oil ½ Cup honey 2 tsp cinnamon 2 tsp vanilla Dash of salt 1 Cup raisins In a large bowl, combine oats, coconut and nuts. Set aside. In a sauce pan, combine oil, honey, cinnamon and salt and bring to a boil. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla (careful, it splatters). Poor sauce over oats and stir to coat. Spread onto a shallow cookie sheet and back at 350 degrees. Bake for 15 minutes and then stir, bake for another 5 minutes or until the granola is golden brown. Cool. Add raisins. Store in an airtight container.