A Saucy Post

As a low-carber is hard to find good Sauces. Most of them are loaded with high-fructose-GM-poison ahem I'm mean corn-syrup. But thanks to the internet we do not have to live sauce-less any more.
Here are two recipes I found that are easy-peasy and help spice-up meats and fish. You can replace the Palm sugar with your sweetener of choice but remember to taste your sauce so you add enough sweetener without it getting too sweet.


Teriyaki Sauce
5 cloves of Garlic
2 tbsp. Sesame Oil
¼ cup Soya Sauce
¼ cup Vinegar
½ cup Palm Sugar
1 tbsp. Cornstarch (or thickener)
1 tbsp. Water

Grate garlic into a sauce pot, add in Sesame Oil and fry on medium.
Add in Soya Sauce, Vinegar and Sugar. Taste to make sure the sweet and sour is balanced.
Bring to a boil then simmer.
Mix cornstarch and water together, add to the sauce and simmer until thick.

This Sauce is can be used to make stir fry, is great on baked chicken or duck. But my favorite recipe is on Salmon, wrapped in tin foil and baked at 350F for an hour.

Refrigerator Magic BBQ Sauce
1 ½ cup Tomato paste (13 oz)
1/3 cup Vinegar
2 tbsp. Palm Sugar
¾ tbsp. Salt
3 tbsp. Worcestershire Sauce
¾ tbsp. Hot Sauce
3 tsp. Lemon Juice
1 ½ tsp. of Liquid Smoke
1 Dash of Cayenne Pepper
1 ½ tsp. Mustard

Mix all of the ingredients, except mustard, in a sauce pot. It should taste a little bit sweet and spicy.
Heat on Medium. Mix a spoonful of sauce and the mustard, then add to the sauce.

Bring to a boil and then let it simmer for a minute or two.
Put in a clean container and let it cool down in the fridge, overnight is best but the longer you leave it the better it tastes. This is where the magic happens; it goes from not-bad to I’m-never-eating-store-bought-again.

You can use this sauce on ribs, steak, burgers, for marinating or anything else you can think of. We mix it with ground meat to make our own burgers.

Now you can be a bit more Saucy this summer!

Chicken Fried Rice...Without rice? (And Lent with Meat)

I decided to take a different approach to Lent this year. Traditionally, during Lent you give up meat and dairy products but if I did that I would be eating nothing but vegetables and I don't think I could last 40 day's. I believe lent is time for reducing the excess and focusing on what is important, kind of like spring cleaning for the Soul. Occasionally I "treat" myself to things outside of my diet. I try to limit it as much as possible and make it special, like chocolate covered strawberries on Valentines day, so that a little goes a long way. So, I've given up all my indulgences: sugar/sugar substitutes, grain's and alcohol completely, no treats/cheats. This lent I want be healthy in spirit as well as body.

With that in mind here's a treat without the cheat:

Chicken Fried Rice(d cauliflower)

You will Need:

• Cooking oil
• Boneless Chicken or Pork
• 1 Cauliflower
• 2 Carrots
• Pea's
• Soya sauce
• Worcestershire sauce (optional)
• salt to taste

Finding a healthy frying fat that is easy to cook with is difficult; most vegetable oils are bad for you, olive oil can go rancid and butter burns. So, my new favourite ingredient is Clarified butter, it's perfect for frying. You can make your own but I found this at a local grocery store in the "international food" isle:

Start buy adding just enough oil to the bottom of a fry pan or wok, sesame oil is another good choice for this recipe. Cut meat in to bite size pieces and at to the pan and cook on medium.

While meat is cooking finely chop the cauliflower into rice size pieces. Peal the carrots and grate them.

When the meat is cooked add in the cauliflower and carrots and stir fry (stir while frying) for about 5 minutes.

Add pea's.

Then add a splash of worcestershire sauce and soya sauce. You want to add the soya sauce a little at a time; too much and your dish will become salty, wet and soggy.

Cook until the cauliflower is tender but firm. Add salt to taste.

You can also add other veggies like corn, onion, peppers but make sure to chop them finely.

Enjoy!

Shepherds Pie (Sans the Shepherd)

Here's a great meal I was able to make for under $10 in 30 minutes

You Need:
1 Cauliflower
4 oz cream cheese
1 lbs of Ground Cheap (pork has the best flavour)
1 Broccoli (and other veggies)
Splash of Broth (about 1 cup)
Spices (Garlic & onion powder, salt etc.)
Pinch of Cornstarch

Coarsely chop the cauliflower and put in a pot with a enough water to cover the bottom.
Cover and steam.

While cauliflower is steaming brown the meat in a large pan. Chop broccoli.
When meat is cooked add spices: garlic & onion powder work well and salt.
Add broth, broccoli and any other veggies. Carrots and pea's work well.
Cover and let veggies cook.

Cauliflower should be tender by now. Drain and let it still to evaporate the excess water. Mash by hand or blend with a hand blender or food processor until smooth. Add cream cheese and salt.
This Cauliflower is great as a substitute for mashed potatoes. It's great with Chicken dinner or sausages and it counts as a vegetable. *FPR<I don't care what McCain's or the USDA say's, potatoes are all starch, they do not count as a vegetable.>

Once the meat/veggie's are cooked (and they should be, it doesn't take long) add a pinch of cornstarch to thicken up the liquid to a gravy texture. I know cornstarch is not low-carb but I have yet to find a low-carb thickener.

Put the meat/veggie's into a square 9x9 pan, spread the mashed cauliflower on top and bake at 350F until it starts to brown on top (about 15 min)
And Voilà:

*Food Policy Rant (you've been warned)

A Fresh Start with Mushroom Soup

I'm making a fresh start and I want this blog to be a part of it.
I decided to start this blog for two reasons:
1. When I started eating "low carb" (paleo/atkins) I noticed that there is a misconception that if you cut the carbs out of your diet that your food is boring, all you eat is steak and pork rinds. Well, I personaly have never eaten pork rinds in my whole life. I do love a nicely seard steak but I eat it with buttered mushrooms, green beans or salad.
2. The second is that I’ve enjoyed following some my friends blogs: The Keezer’s couch blog, The Gourmet Mommy, & Tim & Katherine’s blog. Each is very real look into there lives and is encouraging to hear about there struggles and successes. I realized that my experience is relevant (and if you don’t think so, tough banana’s, don’t read on.)
And I wanted to share my journey so far.

So here goes:
About four years ago I started gaining weight. It started out slowly, a few pounds a month, then it started to speed up. The Doctors I went to weren’t much help; “Eat Less- Exercise More” “Your not eating white bread & whole milk, are you?”
No, I was eating whole grain bread & pasta, lean meat, skim milk and protein shakes.
I don’t know exactly how much I gained because after 100lbs I stopped weighing myself.

I felt fat, lazy, stupid, and I felt other people were thinking the same of me. But worst of all I felt helpless because I could control my own body.

Back in the spring I watched this fantastic documentery “Fat Head” and it changed my view of health and nutrition. If you’ve never seen this movie I highly recommend it, it’s on Netflicks, iTunes, and I will even let you borrow my copy. But the two big things I learn for it where:
1. Eating fat is not bad for you, including natural saturated fat.
2. Fat storage is controlled by one thing - insulin
When insulin is up you are storing fat and you cannot burn it.
And what raises insulin? Carbohydrates - pasta, bread, rice, potato’s, cereal & the big offender: Sugar. And if you’ve read the ingredients of any processed food you know that sugar is in everything (including whole wheat bread)!

I cut all the carbs out of my diet (except vegetables) and after a couple months I lost 40 lbs.
As most of you know I hate having my picture taken and it has only been worst the past couple years but for the sake of comparison and for any of you who are struggling, this is what I look like today:

 I know that 40lbs is nothing to sneeze at but I've still got a way's to go. This fall and winter it's been difficult to stick with it especially over the holidays, I've been stalled at my current weight and was feeling discouraged. But I recently saw a before/after picture of a fellow low-carber and was inspired. I hope that I can that inspirational story to someone someday soon.

I also wanted to share one of my favourite recopies with you. My husband who hates mushrooms love this:

Mushroom Soup

(You’ll never eat it from a can again)

You need:
2 packages of Mushrooms
1 Onion
4 tbsp butter divided
2 cups beef broth (1/2 Carton)
2 Cups cream

Just a note about the ingredients:
For more flavorful soup; Mushrooms should be just starting to brown, I try to get mine off the almost-gone-bad fruit/vegetable cart. If you substitute beef broth for homemade it might need some added salt.


Slice onion & mushrooms.
Melt 2 tbsp of butter in a sauce pan over medium/low heat. Add onion and fry until golden brown.
Add the other 2tbsp of butter.

Once it’s melted add mushrooms. Stirring the mushrooms, fry until they start giving off there juices.

Add the broth and simmer covered for 10-20 min.
Using a blender or food processor (don’t use a hand blender, it doesn’t work) pureay the mushrooms & broth to your taste. A few quick pulses for chunky or longer for smooth. Careful, it’s really hot!

Pour back in the pot and add cream. Heat until simmering but don’t let it boil.

Enjoy!