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Sunday, June 26, 2011

BBQ Chicken Crusted Pizza


I've used chicken as the crust with pizza before.  You can take a look at my chicken crusted mexican pizza.  But in this one I did not use egg or Parmesan cheese in the crust and I like it better without.  This one is topped with BBQ sauce, mozzerella cheese, bacon pieces, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, black olives and queso fresco, but you can actually use any veggies you have on hand.  I sort of did this spur of the moment.  In the mexican pizza I baked the chicken crust first and then added toppings and baked some more.  This time, as you'll see in the video, I forgot!  I just added the toppings to the raw crust and baked for 30 minutes and it turned out great.  So do it whichever way you like.  As long as the chicken gets done.  The advantage of baking the chicken crust first is that any juices you can pour off before adding the toppings, but in spite of it being juicy, it was really good.  

Hope you enjoy it.


                      


BBQ Chicken Crusted Pizza


Serving Size  : 8    

1           pound  skinless boneless chicken breast -- (about 3 breasts raw)
1           teaspoon  smokey paprika
1           teaspoon  salt
1           teaspoon  onion powder
1           teaspoon  garlic powder
1/3        bottle  Walden Farms Thick and Spicey BBQ Sauce
2           cups  shredded mozzarella cheese -- (or cheese of your choice)
1/4        cup  bacon pieces, reduced fat -- (I used Hormel Bacon Pieces)
2           ounces  chopped mushrooms
2           ounces  chopped green chiles
3           small  artichoke hearts -- chopped
2           tablespoons  sliced black olives
1/2        cup  queso fresco

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F.  Chop the raw chicken breast in chunks and then put in the food processor.  Process until ground well.  Add the paprika, salt, onion and garlic powder and process until well mixed in.

Spread onto a greased pizza pan using saran wrap laid over it to press it down to all sides, making a ridge around the edge.

Spread the BBQ sauce, add the rest of the toppings in order.  Top with crumbled queso fresco cheese (a mexican cheese usually found near the cream cheese in the grocery store).

Line the oven rack with aluminum foil to catch juices, or put a pan at the bottom.  Bake for 30 minutes.  

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Per Serving: 202 Calories; 9g Fat (42.0% calories from fat); 23g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 63mg Cholesterol; 604mg Sodium. 

NOTES : 2 pieces is very filling!  



Saturday, June 25, 2011

Revolution Rolls and a Bit More



I couldn't quite get too thrilled over the revolution rolls recipe because, to me it was too eggy, and not enough substance.  It was ok but just ok.  In a pinch, it was bread.  It was something to hold my sandwich together--sort of.  But I liked the concept and figured I could work with it a bit. I know many on the Low Carb Friends forum worked on it also.  There's probably a kazillion tweaks out there!  Well, here's another.  This one I did today.  I may still tweak away with this some more yet.  But this was pretty good.  It held together, and it tasted more bread-like and less eggy.  I like that it's light and not a heavy bread, like so often low carb breads turn out to be. It's soft, like bread should be.


                     
* Exported from MasterCook *

                     Revolution Rolls With a Bit More

Recipe By     :Ginny
Serving Size  : 6    
Categories    : Bread


  3         eggs -- separated
  1/4      tsp  Cream of Tartar
  3         oz  Cream Cheese
             Salt -- dash
  1/4      cup  flax meal, Golden
  2         tablespoons  whey protein, Jarrow Formulas -- unflavored (use whatever brand you have)
 1/4      teaspoon  baking powder

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until it forms stiff peaks. Set aside.  Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

Place remaining ingredients in a medium mixing bowl and mix with an electric mixer until well incorporated and smooth.

Gradually fold in the egg whites, 1/4 of it at a time until it is all folded in well, but not broken down.

Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper or use silicone pads, lightly spray with non-stick cooking spray.  Plop on spoonfuls of the mixture until you have 6 blobs.

Bake for 35-55 minutes depending on altitudes, or until done and lightly browned on top.  Mine took 47 minutes.  After 30 minutes check them often.  Every oven is different.


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Per Serving: 115 Calories; 9g Fat (71.4% calories from fat); 6g Protein; 2g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 94mg sodium

NOTES : zero net carbs per roll!

Friday, June 24, 2011

Mexican Fried Chicken Breast and "Rice"


This was dinner last night. I have not figured out the carb count yet.  But I can't imagine it can be too high.  

Take 3 boneless, skinless chicken breast halves and slice them in half and pound thin.  Take 2 shallow bowls and in one mix 1/2 cup coconut flour, 1/2 cup parmesan cheese, 1 TBS. ea. of cumin and chili powder, about a tsp. (or more) of garlic and onion powder, salt (I just shook it in, about a tsp.), and a couple shakes of cajun seasoning.  In the other bowl add 3 eggs and beat well.

Dip each piece of meat first in the egg mix, then in the flour mix and place on a cookie sheet until you are finished, meanwhile heating a large skillet (I used stainless steel) with the bottom covered with oil.  When you're ready, drop the chicken (carefully) into the pan and fry about 3 minutes on each side.  Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.


 Place in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick spray.  When all of them are fried, top each one with salsa.  Mine was Market-Fresh with 1 g. carb per TBS. Then top with shredded Mexican cheese or cheddar.



Bake in the 350 degree F. oven, covered with aluminum foil for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile shred some cauliflower to make cauli-rice in your food processor.  In a frying pan melt some butter, place 1/2 cup cauli-rice per serving and 1 TBS. salsa per serving, onion powder and garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste, some sliced black olives, and stir and fry, just until hot.  Serve together.

Another top rated meal for my family.  They had real spanish rice though and I had the cauli-rice.  Today I had a cold left over breast chopped on top of cold cauli-rice salad.  It was great!  Hope you try it and enjoy it.


MEXICAN FRIED CHICKEN BREAST
6 SERVINGS

24      ounces  skinless boneless chicken breast halves -- (4 oz. each, or 3 -8 oz. chicken breast halves sliced horizontally in half)
1/2      cup  coconut flour
1/2      cup  parmesan cheese
 1        tablespoon  cumin
 1        tablespoon  chili powder
 1        teaspoon  garlic powder
 1        teaspoon  onion powder
 1/2     teaspoon  cajun seasoning
 1/2     teaspoon  salt
 3        eggs -- beaten
 6        tablespoons  salsa
 1 1/2  cups  shredded colby jack, (Happy Farms brand)
oil for frying

In a shallow bowl add coconut flour, Parmesan cheese, cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, cajun seasoning and salt. Mix together well.

In another shallow bowl add beaten eggs. 

Preheat oven to 350F. Dip each piece of meat first in the egg mix, then in the flour mix, and place on a cookie sheet until you finish the rest.  Meanwhile heat a large skillet covered with oil (stainless steel if you have one.) Drop chicken carefully into the pan and fry about 3 minutes on each side. 

Place in a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Top each breast with about 1 tbsp each of salsa. (I used a 1g carb per tbsp brand)

Sprinkle 1/4 cup of shredded cheese on top of each piece. 

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake about 10 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

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Per Serving: (Oil for frying not included) 358 Calories; 17g Fat (42.5% calories from fat); 41g Protein; 10g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 207mg Cholesterol; 713mg Sodium.  

Wednesday, June 22, 2011

Stuffed Kielbasa

It's a cold rainy day here in Minnesota's June.  Doesn't feel much like summer yet, though we did reach 103 one day.   I felt like some good comfort food for supper.  Everyone has their own idea of what constitutes comfort food.  I guess for me, this hit the spot tonight and on a scale of 1 to 10 my husband and son both said it was tops.  Theirs had garlic mashed potatoes and mine had garlic mashed cauliflower.  It was wonderful.  The recipe was from allrecipes.com, which is one of my favorite recipe sites.  I find a lot of recipes there that I can easily low carb.

In mine the changes were the mashed cauliflower, which was made from a lb. of frozen cauliflower microwaved for 10 minutes, pureed in my food processor, then a glob of butter (about 1 TBS.) and a glob of sour cream (about 2 TBS), salt to taste, a gob of garlic powder (to your taste--mine is heavy on the garlic), and mixed in well.  I used about 1/2 cup of that probably... didn't measure.

I also took one viewers advice and simmered the saurkraut in 3 TBS. of Brown Sugar Twin and a little water to keep it from burning.  I started that first and let it simmer all the while preparing the rest.

I used sharp cheddar cheese instead of mozzarella, but you could use any cheese you like.  In my opinion the sharp cheddar was wonderful.  I'm thinking next time of trying smoked cheddar.

Make sure to look for a polish kielbasa sausage that is gluten free and low carb.  Read the label.  Look in your health food store.  Unfortunately, I didn't until after I ate it!  It had corn syrup and monosodium glutamate and 4 oz. had 8 g. carbs.  So that was my blunder!  I usually am pretty good at checking labels.  This time I wasn't, for some reason, on the ball.  But I like this recipe so much that I'm going to have to find some that is healthier for me and lower carb.  But so far, hey... no side affects.  I'm still alive.  I'm feeling good.  :)

If anyone finds a good kielbasa, please let me know!

I've been away on vacation for a few days and I thought I'd throw in a video of our trip.  It was beautiful!!  Ashland, WI and Copper Falls State Park NE of Mellen, WI.  If you live near and have a chance to go there, do so!  It's one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited.  Of course that isn't saying much.  I haven't been to many places in the world.  Haven't had a chance to do a lot of travelling.  But with something like this so close to home, who needs to go far?




Thursday, June 9, 2011

Sally Fallon on butter and more...

Oh happy day when I found out Butter is good for me.  It was sort of like finding coffee and chocolate were good for me.  When I think of the foods I'm "deprived of" being on this WOE, the rich foods I can have so far outweigh them! I remember starving on a low fat, low calorie diet, longing for real food that tasted good, instead of diet margarine, skim milk, egg beaters etc.  Take the fat out, take the taste out!  I remember how scared I was at first eating real fat when I went on a low carb way of eating.  I remember also how surprised I was when I began to rapidly lose weight and all the while doing that feeling full and satisfied, and no longer craving sweets.  Don't get me wrong, I do love my sweets and occassionally bake myself a treat.  But I don't HAVE to have them.  I don't CRAVE them in a way that I cannot resist them, thinking about them all day until I finally just have to give in.  That was what it was like for me before going low carb.  I was ALWAYS hungry, always craving, and always feeling bloated and fat besides.  And while on that low fat, low calorie diet I also gained weight actually.  I remember how out of control I felt starving and gaining weight.  I thought I was destined to just get fatter and fatter and more miserable feeling besides.

I found this video by Sally Fallon, "The Queen of Butter".  She is the author of Nourishing Traditions.  Also take a look at some of her other videos on YouTube.
http://www.youtube.com/user/lowcarbkitchen#grid/user/694041C0E9911ED8

Wednesday, June 8, 2011

French Vanilla Low Carb Ice Cream

It's been HOT here lately.  Yesterday it was 103.  Heat like that makes me think of one thing--ICE-CREAM!!  Yes, I was screaming for ice cream.  Unfortunately I didn't have my ice cream freezer ready.  But today I did.

So I made ice cream.  I really did not want all the calories of heavy whipping cream right now, and I also wanted something lower in carbs than I get with heavy whipping cream.  But I wanted it smooth and creamy.

This was an experiment, and one that turned out pretty good actually although it is not going to be scoopable after sitting in the freezer all day.  It was great soft serve right out of the ice cream maker, and it was wonderful a couple hours later also.  But I can tell now when I checked it 6 hrs. later, that it is not going to be scoopable and will have to sit out a bit before eating it. I think tonight it will be part of a root beer float.  Another thing that screams at me on hot days!!  Reminds me of my childhood I guess, and begging my dad to stop at the A&W Root Beer Stand.  What a treat!!

So here's the video I did.  It was rather spur of the moment, as most of my videos tend to be.




  NOTES : Only 105 calories and 2 net carbs per serving!!!
                   
* Exported from MasterCook *

            Low Carb French Vanilla Ice Cream

Recipe By     :Ginny Larsen
Serving Size  : 8  
Categories    : Dessert

  Amount  Measure       Ingredient -- Preparation Method
--------  ------------  --------------------------------
  2          cups  almond milk, unsweetened -- Vanilla flavored is best
  1          cup  thai Kitchen Coconut Milk
  3/4       cup  kefir
  12        packets  truvia -- or equivilant of 1/2 cup sugar
  1/4       cup  Torani vanilla flavored SF syrup
  1/4       cup  splenda -- granulated or equivilant in drops
  4          egg yolks
  1          teaspoon  vanilla extract

In a sauce pan, bring the almond milk and the coconut milk along with all the sweeteners, just to a low boil.  Don't let it boil hard, but when it just starts to bubble take it off the heat.

Temper the egg yolks by slowly drizzling about 1/2 cup of the hot milk into the yolks while whisking vigorously.  Then pour the mixture slowly into the rest of the milk while again whisking. At this point add the vanilla extract.

Stir constantly over a medium low heat until the mixture begins to thicken.  For me it took around 15 to 16 minutes.  When you are done it should coat the spoon.

Remove from the heat and set in a bowl of ice for about 10 minutes stirring all the while.  When it is cool, stir in the kefir and chill another 5 to 10 minutes in the bowl of ice or put in the refrigerator until completely chilled.

Process in your ice cream maker according to directions.


Yield:
  "4 cups"
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Per Serving (1/2 cup each): 105 Calories; 9g Fat (67.0% calories from fat); 3g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 5g Dietary Fiber; 108mg Cholesterol; 60mg Sodium.  Exchanges: 0 Lean Meat; 1/2 Fat.