Ham and Broccoli Frittata

Sunday morning breakfast


This is not a difficult breakfast, but it does require a little prep time - the potatoes need to be thawed and the broccoli needs to be cooked. I used frozen potatoes, but put them in some cold water to thaw when we first got up, and frozen broccoli (ditto). So then it really doesn't take very long to put together.

From Diabetes and Heart Healthy Cookbook:

Ham and Broccoli Frittata


vegetable oil spray
2 cups frozen fat-free potatoes O'Brien, thawed
3/4 cups broccoli florets
3/4 cup egg substitute (or whites of 5 large eggs plus one egg)
6 oz lower-sodium, low-fat ham, cut into 1/4 inch cubes (or diced deli ham)
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Heat 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Remove from the heat and lightly spray with vegetable oil spray (being careful not to spray near a gas flame). Put the potatoes in the skillet. Lightly spray with vegetable oil spray. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

3.  Meanwhile, rinse the broccoli in cold water; drain but do not dry (some water droplets will cling to the broccoli). (If using frozen - thaw in some cold water, drain, and then continue).  Cook, covered on high power for 3-4 minutes (for fresh) or 2-3 minutes (for frozen) or until tender-crisp. Stir the broccoli into the potatoes.

4.  In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg substitute, ham, milk, and pepper. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and broccoli. Stir well.

5.  Bake uncovered for 15-18 minutes, or until the eggs are set (they don't jiggle when gently shaken).

6. To serve, but the frittata into wedges.

This morning, I topped the frittata with swiss cheese for the last 10 minutes of baking. I also baked some turkey bacon for that same amount of time, and served with toast.  I like the kick of the swiss cheese, and it made the whole dish more like a meal.

Tilapia with Mustard Sauce

This is a really low carb meal. The recipe called for catfish, but I prefer tilapia.  We actually ate this two nights in a row - once with catfish and the next with tilapia. But this made a lot of sauce, and so we got two dinners out of it.

From Idiot's Guide to Low Carb Meals

Grilled Catfish (or tilapia) with Mustard Sauce


1/4 cup chopped onion
2 Tbsp butter
1 Tbsp wheat flour
1/4 tsp dry mustard
1.5 cups milk
1.25 cups shredded mild cheddar cheese
.75 cup white wine
1 Tbsp green onion tops
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp white pepper
10 (5-oz) catfish (or tilapia) fillets

Meanwhile heat oven to 400 degrees.

In a large skillet, saute onion in butter until translucent.  Stir in flour and dry mustard. Cook for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Continue constant stirring as you add milk and cook until thickened.  Add cheese and cook until cheese melts.  Add wine, green onion tops, salt, and white pepper; mix well.

Meanwhile, bake fish for 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily. Serve with sauce.

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Colorful Broccoli


1.5 lb broccoli, cut into florets
2 carrots sliced
1 Tbsp butter
1 small onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp minced garlic
1/2 cup water
1 tsp dried basil
1/8 tsp cayenne (or to taste)
2 Tbsp grated parmesan cheese

Steam broccoli and carrots until tender (frozen broccoli works fine here).

In a heavy skillet, heat butter. Saute onion and garlic. Add 2 Tbsp water and cook until onion is soft, about 2 minuets. Add basil, cayenne, and remaining water and cook about 2 minutes.  Add steamed broccoli and carrots.  Heat thoroughly.  Remove to a serving dish. Sprinkle with parmesan and serve immediately.

Breakfast for Dinner

Monday night we had breakfast for dinner - and it helped us get rid of some of the veggies that were in the fridge!  Ham and broccoli frittata, canadian bacon, bagel flats, and green salad.  An easy meal and the frittata makes me realize that we can have quiche-like food (which I love) just without the crust.  Frittata has become one of my favorite ways to get protein and have something different for breakfast (or dinner).

This is also from DH:

Ham and Broccoli Frittata


Vegetable oil spray
2 cups frozen fat-free potatoes O'Brien, thawed (you can thaw these in cold water quickly)
4 ounces small broccoli florets (about 3/4 cup)
1/2 cup egg substitute
3 eggs (of course, you can use the equivalent egg white substitute)
6-oz lower sodium, low-fat ham, cubed (I buy this already cubed)
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1/4 tsp pepper

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

2. Heat a 10-inch nonstick ovenproof skillet over medium heat. Remove from the heat and lightly spray with the vegetable oil spray. Put the potatoes in the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes or until golden brown, stirring occasionally.

3. Meanwhile, rinse the broccoli in cold water; drain but do not dry. Put the broccoli in a microwave-safe bowl. Cook, covered, on 100 percent power for 2-4 minutes or until tender-crisp. Drain. (Or you can use  a steamer for this and steam for about 5 minutes). Stir the broccoli into the potatoes.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and egg substitute. Whisk in the ham, milk, and pepper. Pour the mixture over the potatoes and broccoli. Stir well.

5. Bake, uncovered, for 15-18 minutes, or until the eggs are set (they don't jiggle when gently shaken).

6. To serve, cut the frittata into wedges.

Serve with a green salad and this is a great light meal!

Pan-Asian Dinner

One of the things that we have eliminated from our diets is pasta and noodles.  Even whole wheat pasta seems to affect Robert's blood sugar strongly. I missed it for a while (ravioli and other pasta was a pretty common meal for us last spring, before Robert's heart attack). What I've realized is that I don't really miss having Italian food, but I do miss Asian noodle dishes (and I splurge on these when we are eating out).  We discovered a couple of weeks ago tofu noodles - they are low carb and not made from any wheat products, so are fine on our diet.  They are in the refrigerated section at the grocery store, and easy to prepare - you do want to rinse them well and then boil them for just a couple of minutes to "remove the odor," but then they are easy to use and maintain good texture. We have used them for Asian noodle salad, and, tonight, for veggie lo mein.

Tonight was an ambitious menu:  veggie lo mein, Asian broccoli with pecans, Asian slaw, Oven-fried chicken chunks with peanut sauce, and stir-fried shrimp.

The veggie lo mein was completely improvised and so I can't say much about it - get your favorite veggies (we used green beans, carrots, red onion, garlic, and snap peas) and chop them up.  Prep the tofu noodles as mentioned above. Cook the veggies until tender crisp, stir in the noodles, add your favorite sauce and there you go.

The following is from Betty Crocker 30 minute meals for diabetes (BC):

Oven-fried Chicken Chunks with Peanut Sauce


Chicken:
1.5 cups corn flakes cereal, crushed
1/2 cup wheat flour
1/2 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts or thighs, trimmed of fat and cut into 1 in pieces
Cooking spray

Sauce:
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/2 cup skim milk
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1/8 tsp cayenne or crushed red pepper

 (About the sauce - I used only 1/4 cup of milk, and the sauce was still too thin for my taste, and so I will skip the milk entirely next time.)

1.  Heat oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. In a 2 quart resealable food-storage plastic bag, mix cereal, flour, paprika, salt, and pepper. Shake about 6 chicken pieces at a time in a bag until coated. Shake off any extra crumbs; place chicken pieces on cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray.

2.  Bake uncovered 20-25 minutes or until coating is crisp and juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut.

3.  Meanwhile, in a 10 inch nonstick skillet, mix sauce ingredients. Cook over medium heat 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until mixture begins to thicken. Serve sauce with chicken.

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From the same cookbook:

Asian Tossed Salad


3 cups shredded Romaine lettuce
1.5 cups coleslaw mix (cabbage and carrots)
1 cup fresh sugar snap peas, trimmed
1/2 cup shredded carrots
1/4 cup very thinly sliced red onion
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup Chinese chicken salad dressing (or soy ginger dressing)
2 Tbsp slivered almonds

In large bowl, mix all salad ingredients. In a small bowl, combine the mayo and salad dressing.  Toss with the salad ingredients. Sprinkle with almonds.
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The following recipe are from Diabetes and Heart Healthy Cookbook (DH):

Asian Broccoli with Pecans


2 Tbsp pecan chips
10 oz fresh or frozen broccoli florets
1 Tbsp sugar (or sugar substitute)
1 Tbsp light soy sauce
1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp grated peeled gingerroot (or 1/4 tsp ground ginger)
1/8 tsp crushed red pepper flakes

1. Steam broccoli for 5 minutes or until tender crisp.

2. Meanwhile in a small bowl stir together the remaining ingredients.

3. To serve, arrange the broccoli on a platter. Spoon the sauce mixture over the broccoli. Sprinkle with pecans.

Easy Indian at Home

I've already mentioned that we have cut pasta and rice completely out of our diet.  Our most common replacement is bulgur wheat (cracked wheat) that you cook like rice.  It's easy in a rice cooker or steamer - 1 cup of bulgur wheat with 1.5 cups of water and cook for 30-35 minutes. Tonight we had that with Roasted Indian-Spiced Chicken and roasted broccoli and cauliflower (and salad from a bag).

The broccoli-cauliflower mixture is a twist on a recipe from another cookbook, but can be done with a variety of veggies (take out one of those, add carrots, etc.) and with a variety of spices. You'll see what I mean....

Roasted Indian-Spiced Chicken (from Betty Crocker 30 min meals for Diabetes)

1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp fennel seed, crushed
1/2 tsp dried thyme leaves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp ground ginger
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup mango chutney

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line cookie sheet with foil. In shallow dish, mix all spices.  Coat chicken with spice mixture.

Spray 10-inch skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 2-3 minutes, turning once, until browned. Place chicken on cookie sheet.

Bake 10-12 minutes or until juice of chicken is clear when center of thickest part is cut.

Serve chicken with chutney.

Roasted Indian-Spiced Cauliflower and Broccoli 

Chop up and wash broccoli and cauliflower. Toss with a small amount (about 1 Tbsp) olive or canola oil. Spread on a lined cookie sheet and bake at 425 degrees for about 10 minutes.  Meanwhile, combine 1 Tbsp butter or margarine with 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp cumin, and 1/4 tsp ground ginger.  When the veggies are cooked, place in a bowl and toss with the butter mixture.