Stuffing If You Please...

I have been on the Paleolithic Diet now for two months.  Do I cheat? Every once in a while...sure. My book says it's okay to do so.  Do I see me going back to the way I was eating before? NO!  I am feeling too good, have my energy back and not missing anything that I can think of.  My blood sugar has been wonderful.  As I loose more weight it is coming down even more.  I can't complain about it being in the high 90's or the very low 100's at this point.  My doctor is jumping for joy!  Another benefit has been that my Gerd has almost disappeared. Where I was having to take medication, I only take it if I am eating really spicy pizza with the crust. Most of the time I get a huge salad and scrape the fixins off the pizza crust and have no problems. 

I will not lie, switching to honey for my sweetener was tough for me for the first cup of coffee but after that I look forward to my coffee now and I find that most restaurants have honey on hand. 1 Tablespoon does it.  There has only been one that did not, however the coffee was just as good as ever without it.  It's interesting how one gets accustomed to sweets but how we can do without it if necessary.  I really am loosing my taste for sweets. One of the ladies brought red velvet fudge for everyone to have. I have yet to have a piece and it does not bother me. 2 months ago I would have been gloming it down. 

Since Thanksgiving is almost upon us I would like to share a dressing recipe that my daughter came across with a few revisions made to it. We had a luncheon in our office and I brought this to share.  We have several people who have dietary restrictions so instead of using sausage and bacon for the recipe I used
Godshalls Turkey Bacon and Jennie-O's ground turkey sausage.  For our family  dinner I will use the sausage and thick sliced bacon as recommended. Don't get me wrong I just want to see how it tastes.  What I fixed was wonderful and it reheats well. I even had it for breakfast today with a gently fried egg.

Paleo Thanksgiving Stuffing Gluten-Free by Juli of PaleOMG.com

Photo Courtesy  Juli of PaleOMG.com

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground pork sausage
• 5 pieces of bacon, diced
• 5 stalks of celery, diced
• 1 med. to large sweet potato/yam, diced
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 small container of mushrooms, diced
• 2 apples, diced  I used Fuji apples
• 2 Tablespoons white wine vinegar
• 1 cup dried cranberries
• 1 cup pecan, chopped.  I ground mine up to a finer consistency
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/3 cup chicken broth, mine had no soy or corn starch in it.

Instructions

     1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, Cover a baking sheet with foil,  throw diced sweet potatoes/yams on it, sprinkle with olive oil and salt and pepper. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender, then set aside.

    2. While those cook, pull out a large skillet, place it on medium-high heat and place  chopped bacon in it to begin to cook down. When some of the fat has seeped out and bacon has begun to cook, add chopped apples, celery and onions.

    3. When onions begin to become translucent, add ground pork and mushrooms and white wine vinegar. Let that cook down until pork is almost completely cooked through.  You will be placing it in the oven so you want it pretty close to done. Add salt and pepper to taste.

   4. Once the sausage is all done, add mixture to a bowl to cool.  Now beat eggs, add to sausage mixture, add chicken broth, along with the sweet potatoes, pecans and dried cranberries. Mix well.  Note here...I mixed my eggs and chicken broth together before beating.  Also, I hand chopped my pecans and in my estimation they were too big so you might want to  pulse them down a bit in a food processor

   5. Place stuffing in a 9 x 13 greased baking dish

   6. Bake at 375 degrees for about 15-20 minutes or until everything is a bit browned.

   7. Eat up!  Yum!

Thanksgiving is time for the three F's.  Family, friends and food.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone and may you be blessed with many blessings.

Drive Safe!

Peace, Love and Happy Eating…

Going Paleo...

My daughter, the athlete, announced to us last month that she had purchased a book for her iPad from Amazon.com called ”The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Eating Paleo”.  For those like me, not in the know, the Paleolithic diet is also known as the caveman diet.  “That’s nice” I replied.  What she said next gave me pause to think.  “Mom, this is not just for me but for the whole family. I truly think that if you start eating this way, you and dad will see a dramatic difference in how you feel and for you mom, you should see your blood sugar readings come down”.

I will admit I had been having trouble with my blood sugar levels since last Christmas.  They kept creeping up and after three cortisone shots in August they went through the roof.  I was all but ready to throw in the towel as I had been feeling horrible, lethargic and was thinking about getting the Dr. to put me on Metformin which I had been fighting against going on for the past two years. I was the one that wanted to be in control with diet and exercise. 

After listening to my daughter tell us about the different chapters in the book, I decided to take her advice and purchased my Kindle copy from Amazon.com for $4.99, however prices on Amazon can fluctuate so I would check first, it could be higher.

I can say with all honesty, I’m glad I did.  I starting reading about the eating plan and you really can’t call it a diet but a lifestyle change in how you eat things. 

Dave and I instantly noticed a difference in our energy levels.  I lost 12 lbs in my first two weeks eating Paleo. My blood sugar came down in a big way within a few days to my utter delight and has stayed down.  My heartburn has all but disappeared, I have only had 2 heartburn pills in the last month because of pizza (I slipped, but the book says it's OK to cheat once in a while) and I am not craving foods like I once was.

The next big challenge for us will be to clean out our cupboards and refrigerator of all processed foods, processed cooking oils, refined sugar, grains and legumes (this includes pinto and black beans, lentils, soy and peanuts, which I love). I’m holding on to my dairy for now, but I really don’t use that much milk any more except for cooking.  I do drink unsweetened Almond milk and I have to say that I like it. We can have cheese in moderate amounts.

I have already switched over to honey for my coffee, I must say, I like it. We can have yams, sweet potatoes. Lots of fresh vegetables, fruits, grass feed beef, free range chicken, eggs, fish, lamb and pork.  We can also have green beans, snow peas as they are not considered a legume. I have given up corn as I’m pretty sure I have some sensitivity to it as I swell like a toad, not pretty!

I like to bake so baking Paleo will defiantly be a new adventure for me. The big test will come when I try to convert main stream highly processed recipes to Paleo. As with anything there will be a lot of trial and error but I am always up for the challenge.

All in all I’m quite happy with where I have come in the last month. I still have a long ways to go, but I look forward to the adventure.  Dave on the other hand still eats his oatmeal and blueberries for breakfast. 

One of our first meals was a vegetable medley on the grill. I cut up onions, red peppers, zucchini, yellow squash, olive oil, garlic powder, low salt and pepper. We also had Spicy Parmesan Chicken Sausage from our local Sprouts Store.  

Grilled Spicy Parmesan Chicken Sausage

Grilled Veggies...So good!

The next meal was one I prepared out of the latest Paula Deen Magazine. All I can say is that it was mouth-watering and wonderful.  While fixing it I discovered that with a few minor adjustments to one of the recipes it was a total Paleo meal. It included a center cut pork chop with a slit in the middle for stuffing.  The stuffing consisted of spinach, portabella mushrooms, garlic, salt and pepper. The Brussels sprouts were roasted with bacon and the yams were cooked with honey, orange juice, orange zest with salt and pepper. 

Company's coming...so good!

I really think I’m going to like eating Paleo. Come join me on this adventure.  Get the book and read all about eating Paleo and you be the judge. Let me know what you think...

Peace, Love and Happy Eating…

Stick to the Ribs Taco Soup

Ok...I have had several requests now for Taco soup. It is one of the mainstays at our house and since we are at the cusp of getting into the soup season I thought I would go ahead a give you out there in blogger land, the recipe that my son-in-law gave me. It's one of those recipes that doesn't require you to do a lot, except for grocery shopping. Keeping that in mind, I buy as cheaply as possible and will find great bargains at Big Lots and purchase certain things in bulk at Sam's Club, such as Williams Chili Seasoning and Hidden Valley buttermilk mix in large containers. On my food scales, I will measure out 1 oz. of the powder, actually you can eyeball it. I keep these two items on hand as I'm always using them plus it's cheaper to buy them in bulk.

Taco Soup 

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil

2 lbs. Ground Meat (If you are a vegetarian you can get the Morning Star veggie crumbles) I use  a 95/5% meat to fat ratio.

1- large Yellow Onion chopped

2- Cloves Garlic crushed

1- Package of Williams Chili Seasoning

1- Package (1 oz.) Hidden Valley Buttermilk Dressing Mix

1- Can Pinto and or Ranch Style Beans

1- Can Black Beans

1- Can Kidney Beans

1- Can Corn or Golden Hominy (This can be left out)

1- Can Rotel Mild

1- 6 oz. can Tomato Sauce

2- Cans of Mexican Diced Tomatoes



Tortilla Strips

1- Package of Yellow Corn Tortillas

1- Cup Coconut oil

California Garlic Salt or Zing (found at Golden Chick restaurants)


Condiments

1- 8 oz. container Sour Cream

1- Package of Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1/2- Red Onion finely diced

In a soup pot combine and cook the first four ingredients until meat is cooked through.

Add in Williams Chili Seasoning and Buttermilk dressing mix, mixing well.

Open all the cans and start dumping them in.

Add some hot water (half a can) to a can and swill it around and dump into next can getting all the leftovers out of all the cans and dump into soup.  Stir and turn fire down to simmer, cover and let soup come up to temperature, stirring occasionally.



Tortilla Strips 

Take a pizza cutter and cut tortillas into thin strips. Fry up in hot oil until golden, drain on paper towels and add garlic salt or Zing and enjoy with the Taco soup. Serve with a salad.

I like to use Wild Roots Sprouted Tortilla Chips, NON GMO , Gluten-Free, found at Sam's Club. 

Add, if you desire, sour cream and or shredded cheese and chopped onion.

Makes 10 to 12 servings Total cost to make, about $14.00, which comes to about $1.17 per serving.
Peace, Love and Happy Eating…

Comfort Food...German Chicken Barley Soup

Years ago while singing in our church choir we would put on fundraisers that included wonderful food from around the world and music from that particular evenings country. One year the host country was Germany. This wonderful soup that we presented that long ago evening has become a main stay in our family, and is requested a lot.  It's a hearty German Chicken Barley soup. The original recipe calls for chicken gizzards ground up but since I don't like gizzards I use a whole chicken instead. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do.

German Chicken Barley Soup

1 Whole Stewing Chicken

2 Large Yellow Onions chopped

4 Cloves Garlic Crushed

1 lb Carrots ground (I use my Kitchen Miracle Chopper)

1 Bunch Celery ground

1-1/2 Cup Pearled Barley (Quaker Oats) or
 2 Cups Job's Tears Gluten-Free

4 whole Peppercorns

4 whole Cloves

3 Tbs. Osem Chicken Consume Crystals (Found in the Kosher Section of your grocery store)

Sea Salt

2 Bay Leaves

1 Loaf French Bread

Butter

Instructions:

In a large pot place chicken and cover with water. Add 2Tbs. of Sea Salt and 2 Bay Leaves. Place on simmer and let cook until done and bones start to remove easily. During the cooking process skim foam from top of water and discard.

Remove chicken from water when done and let cool. Once cooled remove skin and bones from chicken. Shred chicken and set aside. Remove Bay Leaves and discard.

In separate skillet add 2 cups of stock, onions and garlic. Let cook and start to to turn golden. Add more stock to pan and de-glaze, add all of mixture to the stock in the large pot. Add celery, carrots, peppercorns, whole cloves,barley and shredded chicken to stock pot. Cook on simmer, taste, add salt if necessary(This is personal choice). If you need more chicken flavor add in another Tbs. of chicken crystals. You can put the cloves and peppercorns in a Garni Bag and put that in the broth for easy removal.

Soup is done when barley is swollen and tender. This soup will become thick after you put it in the refrigerator over night.  

Serve with buttered slices of french bread and a side salad.

Makes 15 servings.

PS. This soup is great if you have a cold and want something to soothe you.

Nutrition: Amount Per Serving 1 Cup
Calories 90
Total Fat 2.5g
Saturated Fat 0.7g
Total Cholesterol 13mg
Sodium 13mg
Total Carbs 10.7
Dietary Fiber 1.8g
Sugars 3.3g
Protein 6.9g

Peace, Love and Happy Eating…

It's a Baking Kind of Sunday...

I love the weekends where I can kick back and relax, read a good book...that is until I get the bug to bake something.

Recently my friend Bobbie Chapman sent around on her Facebook site, a recipe for Oatmeal Cookies. It looked rather interesting and very simple.  I'm all for simple.  Problem was that I didn't have all the right ingredients, so I substituted.  Here is the original recipe from Bobbie whom she got from Nicki Marie's Facebook page. Who knows where Nicki Marie got it from...

I changed a few of the ingredients so here are the changes.

2 mashed Bananas

2/3 Cup Applesauce

Craisins instead of raisins

1 tsp. of Splenda 

I would have used Monk Fruit sugar instead but didn't have any here at the house.

Mix well

Small Cookie Scoop

I scooped out the mixture with a cookie scoop that looks like a small ice cream scoop. The measurement comes to               1 heaping Tablespoon. 

 

Put on parchment paper and flatten down with a fork.  These will not spread as there isn't any butter in them. I baked them for 20 minutes.  I let them sit for about 10 minutes before moving to a cooling rack. Makes 24 cookies.

They are quiet different, but good.

This is a moist cookie so refrigerate after sealing in a Ziploc bag. Can warm in microwave for 5 seconds if you don't want a cold cookie.

Here's the finished product!

Nutritional Breakout: Serving Size 2 cookies for 98 calories, Total Fat 1.1g, Saturated Fat 0.2g, Sodium 6mg, Total Carb. 19.5g, Dietary Fiber 2.6g, Sugar 7g, Protein 1.9g

Note:  Nutrition is based on the ingredients I used.  You could use dried blueberries or dried cherries instead of raisins. You might even try chocolate chips or M&M's  Sky is the limit.

Oats are suppose to be Gluten-Free but you have to make sure they have not been processed a facility that has processed other grains. I would try Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Oats. 

Peace, Love and Happy Eating...

Sprouts Farmers Market

We have a new grocery store opening here in Norman this Wednesday, Sprouts Farmers Market. We are excited to have a new natural food market going in. 

"Courtesy: Sprouts Farmers Market."

"Courtesy: Sprouts Farmers Market."

We get to have a preview tomorrow evening from 4-7pm.  I plan to go after work and take a walk-through.  Wednesday the store opens in earnest.

I notice that Sprouts is located in the western states, places we travel to.   It will be nice to be able to shop a familiar store. 

"Courtesy: Sprouts Farmers Market."

Dave and I have changed over to eating grass feed organic beef.  It tastes so good.  It's how beef use to be years and years ago.  I have switched from drinking milk to Almond Milk.  Yes it is an acquired taste but I rather like it.  I love the fact that Sprouts has a huge vegetable section  and you can see that the layout looks wonderful and colorful.

"Courtesy: Sprouts Farmers Market."



If you have a Sprouts in your are let me know how you like it.  Have you had your Sprouts for the day?

Peace, Love & Happy Eating!

A Tale of Lasagna...

Our daughter Christie lived in Georgia for a year and before she left home I wanted to fix a nice dinner for her.  I let her make the decision as to what she wanted. After mulling it around for a day she decided on her grandmother's lasagna. My dad loved lasagna but didn't like the texture of cottage cheese or ricotta cheese, therefore my mom decided to try it with cream cheese instead, and it became an instant hit with the family. Here's the recipe that my mom would fix the family.
Teena’s Lasagna (Full recipe)
2 Lbs ground beef (we prefer lean meat)
2 Tbs. Olive Oil
4 Large cloves garlic mashed
1 Large Onion diced
1 large Green Pepper diced
2 bricks of cream cheese sliced short side (you may want to put in freezer for a few minutes before slicing)
1 package of lasagna noodles Regular Noodles can be used if you do not have a gluten allergy. (cooked al-dente) 
Tankyada Lasagna noodles Gluten-Free
1 small can tomato paste 6 oz.
can of water (use tomato paste can)
1 Bag of Mozzarella Cheese
salt
pepper
1-2 Tbs. Basil
Spaghetti sauce mix. Nothing that has cumin or chili spice in it.
1 Large Jar of favorite Spaghetti sauce. I like Prego and or Bertolli Onion, Basil, Garlic sauce

In a large HOT skillet add oil, onion, bell pepper and garlic let sear for 1-2 minutes while stirring, turn fire to low cover and let cook stirring occasionally until onions are opaque. Remove from skillet into a large bowl.

Get skillet hot again and add a quarter of a pound of meat and brown, remove to bowl and repeat process until the whole two pounds are cooked.

Pour all of mixture back in skillet. Add tomato paste, half a can of water, spaghetti sauce mix, Basil, salt and pepper to taste. Don’t use too much salt, save the salt shaker for the table. Mix all together. If too stiff add more water or about a 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce. Don’t get it soupy.

Cook noodles according to package. Warm your spaghetti sauce in a pan.

Assembling the lasagna

In a large 3 qt. rectangular baking dish spray bottom with cooking spray. Put a drizzle of spaghetti sauce in bottom of baking dish, put in three strips of lasagna noodles. Cover with a layer of meat mixture, lay in a piece of cream cheese into every spot you want a serving to be. Large casserole I figure 1 brick per layer, cover with spaghetti sauce and a light dusting of Mozzarella cheese. Repeat the same with next layer. Last layer leave off cream cheese and top out with rest of bag of Mozzarella cheese covering whole casserole.

Bake in 350 oven for 30 minutes or until Mozzarella cheese is bubbly and has a nice light brown crust. Let rest for 10 minutes before serving. I suggest putting dish on a heavy duty baking tray to catch any drips. Also this will make it easier to remove from the oven. Makes 9 servings.

Serve with a tossed salad and Italian Garlic Bread Sticks.
Dinner is served.

Peace, Love and Happy Eating...

A State Fair Visit...Walla, Fresh Tomato Salsa

Miracle Chopper

 Several years ago Dave and I went to the Oklahoma State Fair on Senior Day. Needless to say we did a lot of walking, as my feet were killing me when we left. Normally I never buy anything at the fair simply because I don’t want to have to cart it around with me, but that year I purchased a Miracle Chopper Salsa Maker, not only did I buy one but three. The other two went to my daughters. Best little gadget ever for making salsa without  electricity.

Garlic/Hard nut grater

Another handy little gadget that I like to use when making fresh salsa is a garlic grater dish.  It comes with a brush and a clove roller to remove the skin of the garlic.  Both of these items will be used a lot when we get out on the open road in our trailer. 

Best Ever Fresh Salsa

Ingredients:

3 Medium Roma Tomatoes quartered
2-3 Cloves of Garlic, skins removed
¼ Cup Cilantro, include some stems
½ Yellow Onion cut in half
½-1 De-seeded Jalapeno (or if you like it hot, leave them in) I find Jalapenos to be a personal taste thing.  If you like them, put more in.  I like just a bit of the spicy flavor and am not a big fan of really hot (spicy) salsa.
2 Tbs. Fresh Lime Juice
Pinch of Salt or Lo-Salt substitute

Directions:

Assemble Miracle Chopper according to directions.
Place all ingredients in chopper and turn crank until desired consistency.  Serve with your favorite chips. Mine just happen to be Black Bean Beanitos.  Gluten Free, Corn Free and no GMO’s  
Note: You may have to go counter-clockwise for half a turn before going clockwise to start the chopper. 

Serves 2     ½ cup serving size 

Nutrition Facts:  Per serving Cal 33,  Cals from Fat 3, Total Fat
0.3g, Sat. Fat 0.0g, Sodium 107mg(lo-salt), Total Carbs 7.9g, Dietary Fiber 1.8g, Sugar 4.9g, Protein 1.3g

Peace, Love and Happy Eating…

Let's Get Started...Pineapple Salsa

Once there was a little girl who stood at her grandmother and mother's elbows to learn how to cook. Oops, she also stood at her daddy's elbow as well. My whole family loved to cook even my brother. I recently found out that my Grandfather on my dad's side from Pennsylvania was a hotel chef at one time. My mother's family was from the South so you know what kind of cooking that entails. For us not so much fried, but wholesome and flavorful.

Summers were spent working in the garden and putting up corn in the freezer. We would have huge shucking parties and the whole family was involved. We would drive to Bixby, OK and purchase Merritt Sweet Corn from Conrad Farms, at least 3-4 bushels of it, shuck it, fire up the camp stoves outside, get big pots of water going till they boiled. In would go the corn for three minutes, plunge them into ice cold water to stop the cooking, rush them into the house and start up the electric knife, remove the corn from the cob and bag it up in the old Seal-a-Meal bags and put them in the freezer. We would fill the freezer with corn and it would be enough to last us until it was time to do it all over again the following year.

In the fall I would help my grandmother make jams and jellies. We would can tomatoes and green beans, then would plow the garden under and ready it for winter. It was a good time and there is nothing better than dirt therapy.

But I digress. Oh, did I say I love to cook? I do, I really do. So, I have decided to share with you some of the wonderful family dishes that I've learned how to make. I will be sure to share shortcuts to make it more diabetic friendly and I will try my darnedest to get the nutrition values in and let you know what a serving size is.

How did I come to choose the name Mia Foodies? I guess you could translate it to My Foods. Things I love to fix. So I guess now is the best time of any to get started.

Let's start with a simple crowd pleasing Salsa. My daughter gave me this recipe. Courtesy of Greg Waggoner.

Pineapple Cilantro Salsa

Serves 5

Ingredients:

20 oz. Can Crushed Pineapple in own juice drained, juice reserved

1/4 Cup Chopped Cilantro Leaves

4 Thinly sliced Green Onions

1 De-seeded Jalapeno finely chopped

Directions:

Mix all together, spoon some of the pineapple juice back into mixture, but not to where it is soupy. (Really your preference)

Can be served with Frito Lay scoops or served with pork, chicken or fish.

Serving size 1/2 Cup 

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 11 serving (126.2 g)

Amount Per Serving Calories from Fat 00

Calories 6969

% Daily Value*

Total Fat 0.0g0.0 0%0

Saturated Fat 0.0g0.0 0%0

Sodium 12mg12 0%0

Total Carbohydrates 16.7g16.7 6%6

Dietary Fiber 1.3g1.3 5%5

Sugars 14.2g14.2

Protein 1.2g1.2

Vitamin A 3%3 • Vitamin C 23%23 Calcium 1%1 • Iron 3%

Peace, Love and Happy eating...