Make Ordinary Tap Water More Exciting

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Over at Roni's Weigh, some great ideas to add flavor to your water without the added sugar or artificial crap! Photo courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Over at Roni’s Weigh, some great ideas to add flavor to your water without the added sugar or artificial crap! Photo courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

I love my SodaStream! It’s the best way to get me to drink high quality H2O everyday. Don’t get me wrong, I do drink from the tap, but despite all the lemon and lime wedges, I just can’t make regular old tap water very exciting. That’s where the fizz comes in, but I do worry about only drinking fizzy water. Yes, the worry is silly, but nonetheless…

Well this little post over at Roni’s Weigh caught my eye. She has 5 ways that she dresses up her water to make it more exciting. I love the combos she lists, especially the cucumber-mint and blueberry-mint ideas.

Time to dust off my water pitcher.

 Fresh Basil Pesto – Low Carb And Delish!

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Thanks to the rain, it's time to start picking basil leaves and make some tasty pesto.

Thanks to the rain, it’s time to start picking basil leaves and make some tasty pesto.

Guess what I made today. I love pesto and thanks to all the rain we’ve had lately, my basil plants are growing like gang-busters. I had enough basil leaves for two cups of delicious pesto!

Pesto is a great low-carb topper for chicken breasts and fish. I’ve even used it in place of salad dressing too. For lunch I’m using on fresh mozzarella and tomatoes. Yum!

Unlike most pesto recipes, I use walnuts instead of pine nuts. Pine nuts are way too expensive and frankly, I prefer the walnut flavor. The wonderful thing about pesto is you can experiment with the types of nuts (and sometimes seeds). For this batch, I used both walnuts and macadamias.  When it’s time for the 2nd basil picking, I plan to use pistachios (that should make the green color pop!). Read More

Great Low Carb BBQ Sauce

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This low carb BBQ sauce not only taste amazing and easy to make, but it's only 2g of net carbs per serving.

This low carb BBQ sauce not only taste amazing and easy to make, but it’s only 2g of net carbs per serving.

Yesterday we fired up the grill and tossed on some country-style pork ribs. We love ribs, but I can never find a tasty, low carb BBQ sauce for basting. Most brands have more than  7g of carbs. Too rich for me.

I do make a great BBQ sauce, but it calls for gobs of brown sugar. Needless to say I haven’t made the sauce in more than 2 years. So I took to the web and hunted down a recipe that would fit my low-carb lifestyle.

I stumbled upon Kent Altena’s YouTube page of low-carb cooking and decided to give his simple BBQ sauce recipe a try. Boy, and I’m glad I did.

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Amazingly, Awesome Scrambled Eggs

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Eggs are one of the most healthiest foods you can eat and a staple on this low carb gal’s breakfast table. Whether over-easy, sunny-side up, or as an omelet, eggs are just awesome. But there is one style of egg cookery that I have yet to master – scrambled.

Confession time: I’m ashamed to admit that my husband makes a superior scrambled egg than me. I couldn’t understand how that was possible and assumed he sold his soul in exchange for mastering this culinary delight.

But yesterday I discovered the true source of his scrambled egg power….a video.

I too can master the perfect scrambled egg. But I don’t dare tell the hubby I discovered his secret…otherwise he’ll expect me to start cooking them all the time.

 

Simple Start Lentil & Black Bean Chili Recipe

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Yum! I love chili and this easy to make Simple Start recipe hit the spot this week.

Yum! I love chili and this easy to make Simple Start recipe hit the spot this week.

I picked up this Simple Start chili recipe at my Weight Watchers meeting. I’ve stayed away from lentils and beans because of the higher carb count, but I do love them.  Since I’m doing Simple Start this week, I decided to give this Lentil and Black Bean Chili recipe a try.

It is easy to make, delicious, filling and very high in carbs – 47g per serving.  The recipe calls for 1-½ cups of dry French lentils. I used the lentils I had in my pantry and that ended up making 6 cups of cooked lentils. That seemed like a lot to me so I used 2 cups of cooked lentils, and the carb count dropped to 37g. The ingredients below still call for the 1-1/2 cups of dry french lentils. I’m not sure how many cups of cooked lentils that makes.  If you are watching your carb intake, I recommend adjusting accordingly.

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Tasty Pepper-Lime Chicken

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The pepper lime chicken was very tasty. Serve with a lime wedge and salsa to make the flavor burst in your mouth!

The pepper lime chicken was very tasty. Serve with a lime wedge and salsa to make the flavor burst in your mouth!

Yesterday I decided to have a little fun in the kitchen. I had 10 chicken thighs and a lot of limes. While I whipped up my pepper-lime marinade I started thinking about mixing a bunch of spices together instead.  So I split my batch of chicken — half went into the lime marinade and the rest tossed in a spice concoction.  The result was a tasty dinner with steamed broccoli and cauliflower.

Below you’ll find the two recipes.  While I really enjoyed the rub I made, I think I’ll use garlic salt and not real garlic next time. I ran out of garlic salt last week and forgot to pick some up over the weekend.  The garlic added flavor, but burned in the oven. Also, I think I want to double up on the red pepper flakes to add a bit more heat.

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Lettuce Tacos with Chicken & Salsa

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Easy and tasty. I call them cups, but really it's more of a wrap. I just tend to over stuff the wrap with goodness and it becomes more of a cup.

Easy and tasty. I call them cups, but really it’s more of a wrap. I just tend to over stuff the wrap with goodness and it becomes more of a cup.

There are days where I don’t have a meal planned for lunch and I just have to wing it. Today was one of those days. Looking in my fridge I had grilled chicken breasts (with this BBQ rub), bibb lettuce and salsa.  Presto — Chicken Tacos!!

A simple, healthy small meal that I can whip together. Plus it’s very paleo, Weight Watchers and low carb friendly! The “tacos” really hit the spot after today’s workout. I used 4 large bibb lettuce leaves (great for crunch) and a 6-ounce chicken breast. What really made it was the fresh salsa! Delish!

Fresh salsa makes most dishes taste amazing and is a good substitute for salad dressings.  I always keep some in my fridge. Now, I make a pretty mean salsa, but I had to try this recipe by the Food Network’s Alton Brown. I’m not sure, but I think the ancho chilies and the roasted jalapeños that add to its awesomeness.

Perhaps I’ll work on my salsa over the weekend. If I can perfect it, I’ll share. In the meantime, try making Alton Brown’s amazing salsa.

Dot’s Chicken Lettuce Tacos with Fresh Salsa
Net Carbs: 6g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 8
Servings: 1

Ingredients

  • 4 bibb lettuce leaves
  • 6-ounces cooked chicken breast, boneless, skinless
  • 4 tbsp Alton Brown Salsa
  • hot sauce (optional)
  • 1-ounce avocado (optional — this will change the carb and point value)

Directions

  • Dice chicken breast into 1/2″ cubes (I heated mine up)
  • Layer the lettuce leaves on top of each other so you have 2 “shells” or wraps, each made up of 2 lettuce leaves
  • Mix the chicken and salsa in a bowl; add in avocado and/or hot sauce if you want more heat. Split the chicken mixture between the two “shells.”

Alton Brown’s Salsa Recipe
Net Carbs: 3g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 1
Servings: Up to 12

Ingredients

  • 6 Roma tomatoes, chopped
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 jalapeños, seeded and minced, plus 2 roasted, skinned and chopped jalapeños
  • 1 red bell pepper, finely diced
  • ½ red onion, finely chopped
  • 2 dry ancho chilies, seeded, cut into short strips and snipped into pieces
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 lime, juiced
  • chili powder, salt and pepper to taste
  • fresh cilantro, chopped, to taste

Directions

  • Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix. Chill in refrigerator for 12 hours to fuse the flavors.

Kitchen Adventure With The Husband: Malay Curry Paste (From Scratch)

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Spices and herbs needed for the Malay Curry Paste. Clockwise: garlic, shallots, galangal, salt, black peppercorns, turmeric, mace; Center: cut lemon grass.

Spices and herbs needed for the Malay Curry Paste. Clockwise: garlic, shallots, galangal, salt, black peppercorns, turmeric, mace; Center: cut lemon grass. The red chili peppers were already in the food processor.

My husband is focusing his limited culinary skills on making awesome chicken curry. Inspired by my eagerness to learn about spices, he decided to make a curry paste from scratch.

He started looking at the Thai curries in my spice book and got excited when he eyed a recipe for a green curry paste. Unfortunately, all the Thai curries in my book include kapi (shrimp paste) and my husband is allergic to shellfish.  Not deterred, he thumbed through the India section and zeroed in on Malay Curry Paste.

While I had most of the dried spices, we took a trip to our local Asian market for the key fresh ingredients for his curry paste. The Asian market was an eye opener. There was a ton of roots and herbs we’d never heard of before.  An idea for a food challenge started percolating in my mind…more on that in a later post.

We found fresh lemongrass and galangal, but ended up visiting three other stores hunting for ground mace (found at our local grocery store).

Malay Curry Paste taking shape in our food processor.

Malay Curry Paste taking shape in our food processor.

With all the ingredients gathered, it was time to start working in the kitchen together. I did have to show the hubby how to clean, trim and chop the ingredients.  It went surprisingly well, except when he tried to cut a chili pepper while still holding the pepper in his hand.  Thankfully I stopped him in time and he finished seeding the peppers with all of his fingers intact.

Once the ingredients were all chopped and measured it was time to breakout the food processor and blend the ingredients into a paste.

The paste can last for a week in the fridge.

Since I made a turkey yesterday, the hubby is saving the chicken curry for Saturday. He plans on serving the curry over cauliflower rice. That means he’ll need to use my grater to make the rice. I shouldn’t worry about that, right?

Malay Curry Paste
Net Carbs: 12g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 3
Servings: 6-8

Ingredients

  • 2 lemon grass stalks, lower third only
  • galangal, thumb-sized piece, peeled and chopped
  • 6 garlic cloves, chopped
  • 2 shallots, chopped
  • 6 hot chili peppers, seeded and chopped
  • 1 tsp ground mace
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
  • 1 tbsp olive oil*
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 tbsp ground turmeric

Directions

  • Blend all the ingredients in a food processor, adding a little more oil or water if necessary to make a smooth paste. Store in a closed jar in the refrigerator for up to a week.

*The recipe calls for sunflower oil.

Kale Chips Recipes: BBQ, Spicy, Salt & Vinegar

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Kale chips satisfy the salty and crunchy cravings for potato chips. I enjoyed a batch as I watched the Seahawks pummeled the Broncos.

Kale chips satisfy the salty and crunchy cravings for potato chips. I enjoyed a batch as I watched the Seahawks pummeled the Broncos.

If I could pick just one junk food that I could eat without consequences, I’d pick potato chips. Sure chocolate is tasty, but my taste buds prefer the salt to the sweet, the crunch more than the smooth.

Thanks to kale (of all things!), I can enjoy that salty, crunchy taste again. I know there are some of you out there who believe kale chips taste better than regular potato chips. Well you are crazy and should be shunned by polite society. Seriously, have you tried these?

Kale isn’t better, but it’s a good substitute when you need a fix.

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Apple Blackberry Crumble

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This dish starts with layering sliced apples and blackberries. I used Granny Smith apples, the best baking apples.

This dish starts with layering sliced apples and blackberries. I used Granny Smith apples, the best baking apples.

With the recipe, “crumble” is the key word. This little Paleo dessert turned out tasty but very messy. The top layer of ground almonds, coconut shavings and walnuts completely fell apart when it was time to take it out of the bread pan.

If I make this again, I think I’ll use a pie pan for ease of getting the dessert out of the pan without a lot of mess.

Like many of the Paleo recipes I’m encountering, this one has a whole lotta carbs and Points thanks to the ground almonds, coconut flakes, butter and walnuts.  I’d recommend for those on Weight Watchers to skip the crumble and bake the apples, blackberries, honey and cinnamon and splurge with a dollop of whipped heavy cream for a 2-point dessert.

Here's what the crumble looks like before going into the oven.

Here’s what the crumble looks like before going into the oven.

Apple Blackberry Crumble
Net Carbs: 17g
Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 12
Servings: 6

Ingredients

  • 4 apples
  • 1 pint blackberries
  • 1 c ground almonds
  • 2 tbsp grass-fed butter
  • 1 c coconut flakes
  • 1 tbsp raw honey
  • 1 tbsp cinnamon
  • ¾ c walnuts, chopped
  • Whipped heavy cream (optional)
Yes, it's messy but tasty. I whipped the cream my self and added a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. The crumble can be a bit dry but the cream adds some needed moisture.

Yes, it’s messy but tasty. I whipped the cream my self and added a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. The crumble is a little on the dry side, but the cream adds some needed moisture.

Directions

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
  • Slice the apples, leaving skins on and remove the cores.
  • Layer the apples and blackberries in a non-stick loaf pan or a pie pan.
  • Place the ground almonds and coconut in a bowl with the butter, honey and cinnamon.
  • Using clean hands, rub the butter into the ground almonds and coconut until the mixture has consistency of breadcrumbs. Add the walnuts and mix together with a spoon.
  • Place the crumble mixture on top of the fruit, about a 1/2-inch layer.
  • Bake for 30-40 minutes until the topping is golden brown and the fruit is soft. Baking time might vary if you use a pie pan.

This recipe is from The Paleo Primer.