Low-carb Thanksgiving

Trying to plan a meal that is traditionally high in carbs (cranberry sauce, bread, pie, potatoes, etc) for a low-carb family is a bit of a challenge. It seems less challenging this year than last year.  This year's menu is:

Roasted turkey with cranberry-orange sauce
Cranberry-almond quinoa
Twice-baked cauliflower
Whole berry cranberry sauce
Tossed salad

Cranberry-almond quinoa (from 30 minute meals for Diabetes):

1 cup uncooked red quinoa
1 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup chopped red onion
1/3 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup coarsely chopped baking apple
1.5 cups veggie or chicken stock
1/2 cup OJ
almonds (or pine nuts or whatever your favorite is)
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/4 c shredded Parmesan cheese
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp finely chopped parsley

1. Rinse quinoa thoroughly by placing in a fine-mesh strainer and holding under cold running water until water runs clear, about 2 minutes; drain well

2. In 2-quart saucepan, melt butter over medium heat. Add onion, celery, apple, and quinoa. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

3. Stir in veggie stock and OJ. Heat to boiling. Reduce heat; cover and simmer 15-20 minutes (I find it actually takes longer) or until all liquid is absorbed and quinoa is tender.

4. Meanwhile, toast nuts if desired.

5.  Fluff quinoa with fork. Stir in cranberries, nuts, cheese and salt. Sprinkle with parsley.

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Whole Berry Cranberry Sauce

I essentially follow the usual directions on the bag of cranberries, but this year I used Splenda in place of the sugar, and I always add some orange zest.

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Twice-Baked Cauliflower

I chop up the cauliflower and put it in a microwave-safe casserole dish with 1/4 cup water. Microwave for 12-14 minutes.  Drain the cauliflower.  Use a potato-masher to mash the cauliflower.  Add in 2 Tbsp butter, 1/4 cup cream cheese, 1/4 cup sour cream and mix well. Stir in bacon bits and a handful of shredded cheese.  Return to the microwave-safe casserole dish. Top with more cheese, and bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until bubbly and hot.

More freezer meals ready to go in the slow cooker

Today's trip to Sam's Club meant that I came home with 5 pounds of ground turkey, and large packages of boneless chicken breasts and chicken thighs. Before packaging them to freeze, I found some more recipes for meals that I could freeze and then just dump into the slow cooker. Today's stash? Two bags of "beef" vegetable soup, two bags of garlic lime chicken, and one bag of chicken fajitas.  Here are the recipes:

From http://www.savingyoudinero.com/2012/09/17/part-3-1-hour-1-mess-5-crock-pot-meals/:

Garlic Lime Chicken
serves 6

• 1 ½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• ¼ cup fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 cup water
• 1 Tablespoon chicken bouillon
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• ½  teaspoon dried thyme leaves
• ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons butter or margarine

Instructions

1. Add all the ingredients into your ziploc bag.

Write on the bag

1. Cook on low for 7-8 hours or high for 5-6 hours.

From http://www.savingyoudinero.com/2012/06/12/1-hour-1-mess-5-crock-pot-meals/:

Chicken Fajitas
( 5-6 servings)

• 2 peppers (your favorite)
• 1 onion
• 1 1/2 pound chicken breast
• 1/2 cup chicken broth
• taco seasoning packet
• 1 tsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. salt

You will also need tortillas, cheese, cream, etc.

Directions

1. Put all the ingredients in a large freezer bag. (Make sure you label the bag with instructions.)
2. When it’s time to cook it, dump it all in your slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5-6 hours.
3. When it’s cooked, shred the meat and add it back to the pepper mixture and serve on warm tortillas and your favorite toppings.

From http://melissafallistestkitchen.blogspot.com/2011/09/freezer-cooking-slow-cooker-meals.html:

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)

• Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
• (2) whole carrots chopped per bag
• (2) celery stalks chopped per bag
• (3) Red Potatoes chopped per bag
• (1) can v8 split between bags
• (1) 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
• (1) cup frozen green beans in each bag
• (1/2)TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
• (1) TBSP Parsley per bag
• (1) tsp Basil per bag
• 1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
• (1/2) tsp salt per bag
• (1/2) tsp pepper per bag
• (1) TBSP Sugar per bag

*Place in Crockpot with 1.5 cups of water and 15 oz Beef Broth. Cook on LOW 8 Hours.

For this last recipe, I skipped the red potatoes (because we do low-carb) and replaced the sugar with Splenda.  I also didn't have any V8, so I just used tomato sauce. I'm hoping that substitution doesn't alter the taste in a bad way.  I guess it would be better to say that my version is:

Savory Vegetable Beef Soup (2 Bags)

• Chop (1) Onion and Chop (2) Cloves of Garlic- Brown in Pan with the Ground Beef- once cool divide mixture between bags
• (2) whole carrots chopped per bag
• (1) celery stalks chopped per bag
• (1) small can of tomato sauce per bag
• (1) 28oz can diced tomatoes SPLIT between bags
• (1/2) pound green beans, trimmed and cut in half, in each bag
• (1/2)TBSP Worcestershire per bag
• (1/2) cup Beef Broth per bag
• (1) TBSP Parsley per bag
• (1) tsp Basil per bag
• 1/2 tsp Thyme per bag
• (1/2) tsp salt per bag
• (1/2) tsp pepper per bag
• (1) TBSP Splenda per bag

Weeknight chicken dinner

Tonight we had oven-fried chicken (nice and crispy and a little sweet), green salad, and antipasto.  Yummy and easy.  I made some modifications to the recipe and am including my version. In particular, we always use wheat flour in place of all-purpose flour.

Oven-Fried Chicken


4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
3 Tbsp whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp poultry seasoning (we use Montreal Chicken, 25% less sodium)
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1.5 cups cornflakes, crushed
1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
1 egg white
1 Tbsp water

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Rinse chicken. Pat dry with paper towels, trim off any fat. (I was using full breasts, and so I actually fileted them into tenders before starting).

2. Combine flour, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, salt, and pepper in large resealable food storage bag.

3. Combine cornflake crumbs and parsley in shallow bowl.

4. Whisk together egg white and water in a small bowl.

5.  Add chicken to the flour mixture, one or two pieces at a time. Seal bag; shake until chicken is well coated. Remove chicken from bag, shaking off excess flour. Dip into egg white mixture, coating all sides. Roll in crumb mixture. Place in greased shallow baking pan. Repeat with remaining  pieces of chicken.

6.  Lightly spray chicken pieces with cooking spray. Bake breast pieces 18-20 minutes or until no longer pink in center.

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Antipasto salad


14-oz can of quartered artichoke hearts, rinsed, drained, and coarsely chopped
14 slices turkey pepperoni, halved
1 medium green bell pepper, finely chopped (or any other color you have on hand)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup chopped roasted red bell peppers, rinsed and drained if bottled
1/2 cup chickpeas

Combine all ingredients and mix with 2 Tbsp low-sugar Italian dressing or mix with the dressing below:

Dressing


1/2 Tbsp dried basil, crumbled
1 Tbsp cider vinegar
1 Tbsp olive oil

You can also add olives, feta, or blue cheese for a tasty salad. If you want to make this a meal, mix with cooked chicken (you can buy the precooked chicken breast, which works really well in this salad) and serve over salad greens, maybe with a couple of slices of pita).

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This may be a good time to mention that we are changing how we handle carbs, but not cutting them out entirely. We had quesadillas with salad the other night, for instance, but we use low-carb tortillas and have *one* quesadilla, not two or three (our old habits).  Pita or pita chips are also on that list - buy the whole wheat and have a few. One of the big challenges in our diet is portion control - we actually count the chips that we eat and then put the bag away. Leaving the bag on the table is just too much temptation. As is heating too many tortillas or making too much toast with breakfast. We have learned what amounts are reasonable for us, and we measure everything - especially high carb items like couscous, quinoa, rice, bulgur, and potatoes. And we leave any extra on the counter on the other side of the room instead of on the table. It works!