Low Carb Cheeseburger

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Jambalaya

The main ingredients that I used to make this low carb jambalaya were: 

• 1 pound of mussels
• 1/2 pound shrimp
• 1/2 pound scallops
• 1/2 pound crawfish
• 4 oz sliced smoked sausage
• 1/2 lime sliced thin
• 1 sweet red pepper diced
• two dashes of cooking wine
• 1/4 stick butter
• Spices: Cajun, cayenne pepper, black pepper, red curry paste, basil, chili powder

I sauteed the red pepper with the sausage before adding them to the pot to cook with the rest of the ingredients. After adding the sausage and peppers, I let the whole thing simmer for about 30 minutes and it was ready to serve!

MeatLoaf

My wife made me an excellent low carb meatloaf using Parmesan, Romano, and Asiago cheese along with ground cauliflower, onion flakes, eggs, and hot sauce. She mixed everything together by hand, placed it in a baking dish, and topped it lightly with low carb ketchup. I ate almost a pound of it about an hour later! I can't wait to enjoy the left overs...

Low Carb Donuts

My wife made me some low carb donuts today with less than 3 net carbs each!


www.DivagatingLife.com>

Raw Milk

My wife found a local source for raw milk! If you look closely, you can see the 1/2" layer of cream separating from the first gallon. So far it looks like I will be able to get at least 11 ounces of heavy cream from each gallon if needed. The good news is that I have had severe milk allergies for the past 10 years, but so far I have consumed a gallon in the past 48 hours and have yet to suffer any of my normal allergic reactions! I am getting pretty psyched! It’s been 10 years since I have been able to drink milk without pounding antihistamines! I will post some links on the benefits of raw milk soon.


Fage Total Greek Yogurt, (500g) 17.6oz

Finger Food

Pictured above are the ingredients that I used to make a little low carb snack to eat while watching football. I had one Hormel smoked pork chop left over from breakfast this morning, so I decided to make finger sandwiches with it, but instead of using bread (avoid that evil wheat!), I used a new jalapeno raw cheese from Meadow Valley Farm. Here is the recipe to make great low carb football snacks:

1. Slice the cheese just under 1/4 inch thick - not too thin or it won't support the fixin's
2. Thinly slice one Hormel Smoked Pork Chop
3. Take a traditional tomato slice and follow the natural "pie shape" cutting it into 6 triangles.
4. Spread a thin layer of mayo on each slice of cheese
5. Squeeze unsweetened pickle relish on the bottom slice of each of your mini wedge sandwiches
6. Layer strips of the thinly cut pork chop onto the bottom wedge
7. Top the bottom wedge with three triangle tomato slices and place the remaining jalapeno cheese wedge on top to finish the mini finger sandwich


I served it up with a sliced Granny Smith Apple which provided the perfect cooling contrast to the super delicious hot cheese!

Smokin' Joe Jones BBQ

I made a Rotisserie pork roast a few days ago and had to use up the leftovers today. I sliced it up and simmered the pieces in Smokin Joe Jones low carb BBQ sauce (from www.Netrition.com). Nothing like BBQ pork, Miracle Whip, and pickle slices on a low carb bun during Sunday night football!

BBQ Ribs

Another great meal using Smokin Joe Jones low carb BBQ sauce.

Bologna and Cheese Sammies

Bologna and pepper jack cheese snackers.

Hospital Food

I know it’s hard to believe, but you are actually looking at “hospital food” in the above picture. Hospitals are notorious lacking in originality when it comes to cafeteria food. But the food at SJRMC is anything but ordinary. I ordered the above omelette made to order in the cafeteria today.

So far they have not disappointed me. I am always able to find a low carb option any time of day.

Fish in a box...

Sometimes there isn’t enough time to cook up that perfect dish. It’s times like these that I like to have some instant low carb entrées ready to go from freezer to oven. My latest fast and easy dish is Gorton’s Grilled Lemon Butter Salmon.

It is super easy to prepare. Just pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees and place your fillet in a metal baking dish. 16 minutes later you’ll be eating a savory piece of grilled salmon. I sprinkled some extra lemon pepper seasoning on mine for a little bit of added punch to the flavor.

It came out very flaky and juicy. Oh, and the best part is there is only 1 carb per fillet!

Rash Browns

Potatoes are not part of any low carb diet. For those in potato withdrawal there is a viable alternative when it comes to hash browns, little red radishes! Here’s how I make low carb hash browns or “rash-browns” as my wife calls them:

I started off by shredding a bag of small clean radishes using a a cheese grater. Radishes shrink way down so I grated until I had double the final amount that I wanted to end up with. Then I placed them in heated clean bacon grease on the stove top.


The next few pictures show the progression of the radishes as they went through the cooking process. As the bottom started to brown I added some butter to the top. The butter helped brown the top side when they were flipped and mixed nicely with the bacon grease.




When I took them out of the pan they were still a little soft and wet, but as they dried on the napkin they crisped up nicely, and they tasted like little potato crisps! I used these crispy rash-browns as part of a topping on a scrambled mess but they are also great by themselves. Until I find a perfect potato replacement that looks just like potatoes these little rash-browns will see a lot of action on my breakfast menu.

Rib Roast

You won’t even miss those starchy potatoes!

Garlic Chicken

This recipe is about as simple as they come:
1. Place chicken breast tenders in a pan with two table spoons of melted organic coconut oil.
2. Sprinkle generously with garlic and spices (I use a spicy-garlic-salt grinder)
3. Cook on medium heat until both sides are golden brown (tuning often). Coconut oil has a low smoke point so cooking on high heat will cause your kitchen to get all smoky and the chicken will cook up darker.
That’s all there is to it! I like to dip mine in buttermilk ranch dressing.

Ribeye Scramble

I had some ribeye steak left over, so I heated it up in some coconut oil and then mixed in three large eggs with a dash of rich organic cream. I added diced tomatoes about a minute before dishing it up. Then I sprinkled the scramble with fresh shredded parmesan cheese.

Here’s the nutritional value from my Lose It log: (421 Calories)

Low Carb Sandwich

Here are the ingredients that I used for my latest low carb sandwich made with leftovers:

• Three eggs
• Left over bacon slices
• One left over grilled burger patty
• Diced green pepper
• 1/2 tomato sliced
• Alouette Garlic Herb Cheese Spread
• Hot Sauce

I fried up the diced green peppers in some coconut oil then folded in the three whipped eggs.

I microwaved the burger patty after I cut it in half and spread the Alouette Garlic and Herb Creme de Brie on it. It started to melt nicely. Then I added the finished eggs and peppers that I had folded down to fit on the burger patty.

I placed the eggs and peppers on one side and topped it with microwaved bacon. I added the tomato slices to the other side. I sprinkled both sides with hot sauce and folded the two sides together and placed it in a basket. There’s something about that red checkered paper in a basket seems to make everything taste even better!

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Chicken Sausage

This a very easy and tasty low carb dinner:

I sauteed green pepper strips in coconut oil, added three of with these tasty Bistro Sensation’s stuffed chicken sausages, and topped it all off with melted spicy Velveeta cheese!
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Quite Possibly my best looking Omelet ever!

I made this omelet a little differently than usual. Instead of mixing all the ingredients together I cooked the fillings in one pan and made thin scrambled eggs in a different pan. I sauteed mushrooms, sausage, bacon, and melted cheese over it. Then I stuffed the egg and rolled it over the meat, cheese, and veggies.

Buffalo Chicken Salad

I came across John Soules Food in Walmart recently and decided to try their pre-cooked Skinny Chix roasted chicken.

They are gluten free and low carb as long as you don’t use the sauces that come inside the package. I placed several frozen portions on a baking sheet and covered them with low carb buffalo sauce. Once they were up to temp I sliced them and placed them over a bed of lettuce, tomatoes, and banana peppers and served it up with a side of rich creamy ranch dressing. The chicken was very tender and I also deep fried the remainder (since the package said never fried) and it came out great. If you are staying low carb, be sure to discard their sauces and use your own mix, otherwise you might see the scale jump in the morning!

Burger and a Salad

Although there are times that I crave a burger on a regular old bun, once I put together that bun-less low carb burger and take the first bite, I realize nothing tastes better than a low carb burger! In this meal I added a big salad with some hot peppers, tomatoes, onions and cottage cheese. On the burger I had lettuce, tomato, onion, bacon, and shredded pepper jack cheese.

Homemade Low Carb Gyros

After looking everywhere for ground lamb recently with no success I finally asked the butcher at Meijer where I could get some and he was kind enough to order a shipment today. So I was able to make my wife her favorite low carb dish: Homemade Low Carb Gyros! I’ll post the recipe later but basically I mix together garlic and onion and some spices and then broil lamb burgers for 12 minutes.

Then I slice the lamb patties really thin and place them in a skillet with tons of white onions. Fifteen minutes in a hot cast iron skillet and you have the perfect gyros with sauteed onions! I made the cucumber sauce with Greek yogurt and spices and a twist of lemon this time.

Bedtime Snack

I mixed up what may just be the perfect bed time snack tonight. I had some left over Chobani yogurt that I needed to use up, so I mixed it up with a packet of Jay Robb’s Chocolate Whey Protein. It was delicious and it gave me nearly 50 grams of extra protein overall to end the day. I will have to have this again soon!

Winning Steak Dinner

Tonight, I made one of my favorite (winning-est) dinners. Ribeye steak, smothered in mushrooms, cream sauce, and cheese.

It all started with a one pound ribeye steak I seared it on a hot (seasoned) cast iron skillet. Then, I added a variety of freshly sliced mushrooms and let it all simmer on high covered heat.



After the steak was cooked medium well, I created a low carb cream gravy / sauce by deglazing the pan. Deglazing was simple: I just poured heavy cream into the drippings left in the pan. It quickly bubbled into a nice simmer. I stirred it rapidly with a fork until it reached the perfect thickness. Then I drizzled the thickened cream sauce over the mushrooms and steak.

I could have easily stopped here. The sauce all by itself is addicting because it’s so intensely flavored with the ribeye drippings, salt, and thickened cream! But, I didn’t stop... I took it one step further and sprinkled a generous layer of shredded cheese over the top. Then I melted everything under the broiler for a minute. My first bite drove my taste buds insane with excitement.

I slowly savored this delicious meaty, salty, and creamy low carb treat, complimenting it with a young chilled Shiraz. I enjoyed one of the most delicious dinners that I can remember in a long time. The best part was that it was entirely low carb and I look forward to seeing my weight drop again on the scale in the morning!

My new favorite Low Carb BBQ sauce

This past weekend I grilled up some chicken quarters to kick off the 2011 grilling season. They turned out very nice and I ended up eating delicious leftovers all week. I have sampled some decent low carb BBQ sauces, but on the grill they seem to cook too fast and burn easily. Nature's Hollow Sugar Free Hickory Maple BBQ Sauce is the closest I have come yet to having the same results as Open Pit BBQ. It didn’t scorch easily and became nice and sticky after a few minutes on the grill. I was able the brush on the sauce at the beginning instead of waiting until the last minute, allowing the flavor get deeper into the meat.
Check out those perfect grill marks!

Have You Seen Burger King's new Meat Monster?

Burger King is going to be offering this new ‘Meat Monster’ in Japan:

OMG! If only they would offer it over here! Take off the bun and it would be my new perfect (low carb) fast food sandwich! Internet sources say that it will consist of two hamburgers, a chicken breast, two slices of cheese, three pieces of bacon, and, of course, lettuce, tomatoes, and onion. Some say that there will be the option of a fried egg patty! I think I just drooled on my keyboard!