Thanksgiving Done Healthy: Apricot Brussels Sprouts

A bushel of Brussels Sprouts

I've talked about Brussels sprouts before.  I bring them up again, because they are something we have at Thanksgiving, even though they're normally the slimy fish head ones and nobody really eats them.  It reminds me of my Thanksgiving as a kid.

I was, surprise, a picky eater.  We went to my aunt's house for Thanksgiving every year, and I loved it. She lived on a "farm" with turkeys, chickens and goats.  I think she had a cow at one point.  I loved playing with the chickens and the turkeys.   One year, some of my out of state family came a few weeks before Thanksgiving.  We went to visit my aunt early so we could see them.  I chased the turkeys around and played with their softball (they thought it was an egg, I remember my aunt remarking how incredibly stupid they were for sitting on it like it was an egg).  Then we went home.

A few weeks later, on Thanksgiving, I noticed that one of the turkeys was missing.  I normally only played with the animals on Thanksgiving, so I never remembered from year to year how many turkeys there were. I asked and was told, in a nice way, that he was in the oven.  Once I realized what this meant, I cried.  My aunt apologized and said that was just the way things were on a farm.  Where did I think turkey came from?  To be honest, I had never really thought about it.  We got ours from Kroger.  They weren't fun to chase at Kroger.

That Thanksgiving, and for a long time after, I would barely eat anything my aunt cooked.  I didn't care if it was a vegetable tray.  I assumed my aunt had murdered whatever it was on the plate.  I never liked to play with her animals again.  I assumed they were just there to be lunch.  I remember asking, "Did this come from a store or from your yard?" before I ate anything (for some reason, I still thought food from a store was different than food from her lawn). 

We started bringing a dish to Thanksgiving and I'd eat that.  My mom was no murderer.  That's a tradition I carry out today whenever I go to someone's house for a big dinner party.  Even though I'm no longer a strict vegetarian or a vegan, I know I'm still picky.  I always mention my diet to people, but they normally make something I don't like anyway.  It's not their fault.  Besides, I don't expect non-vegetarians to think of things like beans, broth or gelatin being non-vegetarian.  They just don't.  It's not being hateful to serve me pan gravy or mashed potatoes cooked with chicken stock, because they didn't think about it being non-vegetarian. So, I always ask if I can bring a dish (if appropriate), or just shut up eat what I can.  I can always eat something else later.  There's no sense in making a scene and ruining their dinner.  My diet is not really their problem.  Especially on Thanksgiving.  People have Thanksgiving traditions that are bigger than my dietary constraints.

If I were bringing a dish to Thanksgiving dinner this year, I think I'd bring these Brussels sprouts.  We sometimes make a dish with green beans and apricot sauce for Thanksgiving.  It's divine, but I love green beans.  I decided to try the sauce on Brussels sprouts, something most that people don't give a fair shot.  It's delicious and I think the apricot bits would be tempting to even Brussels sprouts haters.

The crunchy roasted Brussels sprouts and the bits of apricot are divine.

Apricot Brussels Sprouts
4 ounces dried apricots
1 cup orange juice
1 bushel of Brussels sprouts

1. Roast Brussels sprouts (here is how).
2. While they are roasting, place the apricots and orange juice in a sauce pan and simmer until the apricots are tender.
3. Puree the orange juice and apricots until smooth.  If you want chunky sauce, as pictured, remove 3-4 apricots and chop them.
4. Remove the Brussels sprouts to a serving bowl and toss with the apricot sauce. 

Easy! Great tasting too.  These would be a much bigger hit than those slimy ones.  Since I roasted them first, they still have that roasted flavor, with a hint of sweetness from the apricots/orange juice.

I think I'm kind of obsessed with Brussels sprouts.  I found a stalk of Brussels sprouts at the store the other day for just $3.79.  The stalk keeps the sprouts fresher, so they store longer.  They're easy to remove from the stalk.  You just twist them and pop them off. 

Another recipe for Brussel sprouts that I've tried recently is cheesy Brussels sprouts.  I subbed them in a green bean dish my mom makes for Thanksgiving.  She puts a can or two of french cut green beans in a casserole dish and pours heavy cream in the casserole dish until it covers the bottom.  She sprinkles it with a generous amount of Parmesan cheese, mixes it all together and bakes until it's brown.  I used Brussels sprouts instead of green beans, and it was heavenly. It would be a Thanksgiving hit for sure.

Yup, I'm having Brussels sprouts this year.

You've Got Peanut Butter in My Chocolate: Low Carb, Gluten Free Reese's Brownies

Peanut butter and chocolate? Yes!

I used to love marble peanut butter brownies when I was a kid.  Peanut butter and chocolate just go together.  When I started thinking about what kind of healthy holiday treat I wanted to make for Simply Sugar and Gluten Free's holiday recipe sharing session, I thought about brownies.

I attempted this recipe with a cool product that was recommended by a friend who is on Weight Watchers, Bell Plantation's PB2 Powdered Peanut Butter.  It's a pretty good find, but it didn't work well with this recipe.  I've been using it in smoothies and it's awesome for that.  The brownies in the photos were made using the PB2.  The recipe uses normal peanut butter, since I normally use regular peanut butter for these brownies. The PB2 didn't bake quite as well as regular peanut butter, so it's not as pretty.  Still tasty!

It comes in chocolate peanut butter too.  That's my fave.

The reason PB2 is so cool is that it's only 45 calories a serving with just 5 grams carbs.  Regular peanut butter is 188 calories and 6 grams of carbs.  That's a big difference in calories.  That being said, sandwiches with it are not quite the same.  I have a problem with weird textures, and this is weird.  You're supposed to mix it with water and turn it into "peanut butter," but I can't stand it.  For the same reason,  it's not good on celery.  It was ok in some cupcakes I tried it in, but not stellar.  I thought it would work well in this prep, but it was just so-so.  If you're really looking to shave calories, it might be worth trying.  For me, I think I'll reserve it for smoothies.  It tastes great in those, especially the chocolate and peanut butter variety.

Everyone has a low carb brownie recipe, but to keep this within the theme of the gluten free holiday, I made them low carb and gluten free using almond flour. It gives the brownies a nutty flavor.

Freshly ground almond flour.

Let's talk about making almond flour.  It's one of my favorite flours, because it's so easy and I always have almonds in the freezer.  If you have a fancy blender, it only takes a few seconds to make a batch of it.  If you have a food processor or coffee grinder, it might take a little longer, but you'll get something useable.

Making almond flour really is as easy as putting some almonds in the blender and blending until they become flour.  You have to keep an eye on it.  If you blend too long, they'll become almond butter (also delicious).  I use a Vitamix.  Since it gets hot, I use frozen almonds to make my flour.  I find the results are better, and they don't go as easily to almond butter.  After grinding the flour, I always push it through a strainer to be sure I have any big pieces or butter out.  After straining, it comes out almost as fine as processed almond flour.  You'll notice you still get some nut pieces (you can see them in the brownie photos).  You wouldn't get those with commercial flours.  You could process your flour twice, or in smaller batches, and eliminate those, or just enjoy the nut pieces.  I'm lazy.  I enjoy them.

Because of the almond flour, peanut butter and eggs, these things are protein packed!  It's like eating a delicious protein shake.  Each 2 by 1.5 brownie is about 5 grams of protein (a normal 2 by 1.5 brownie has 2.7 grams).  A person of my size requires 44 grams of protein a day, and I don't get even half that on most days.. That means I should an entire pan of these, right? No?  Oh well, worth a shot.

Low Carb, Gluten Free, Reeses Brownies
1 stick of butter, melted
1 cup of stevia mix for baking (Fructevia)
3 eggs
2 teaspoons of vanilla
1/2 cup dutch cocoa powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/4 cup almond flour
1/2 teaspoon of baking powder (optional)


Peanut Butter Topping*:
1/3 cup peanut butter
2 tablespoons butter, softened
1 tablespoons stevia mix for baking (Fructevia)
1 tablespoon almond flour
1 egg

The consistency of the batter.

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line 8 by 8 pan with parchment.
2. Mix butter with cocoa powder, vanilla, almond flour and salt.  If you're using baking powder, add it now.  If you add baking powder, your brownies will be more cake-like.  They'll be denser and moister if you don't. Please note that baking powder is not always gluten free.
3. Beat eggs with stevia until doubled.
4. Mix chocolate mixture with eggs until just combined.
5. Pour into prepared pan.  Spread out evenly.
6. To make peanut butter mixture, combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until smooth.  *Please note, when I used powdered peanut butter, I used 4 tablespoons.  You also need to add water to get the right consistency (it should be the consistency of brownie batter).   
7. You have two options.  You can spread the peanut butter mixture evenly on top of the brownie mixture (pictured). If you want them to look marbled, drop the peanut butter mixture by spoonful about 2-3 inches apart.  Use the back of a spoon or knife to "swirl" the peanut butter mixture into the chocolate.  *I couldn't get the powdered peanut butter to marble like regular peanut butter (it doesn't get as creamy) so you may be stuck with layering if you use it.
8. Bake for 25-30 minutes.  
9. Cut into pieces.  I cut mine into 20 small pieces, but I like a bite sized brownie.
   

These use powdered peanut butter.  Low calorie, but not quite like real peanut butter.

Nutrition Facts for Peanut Butter Brownies

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Amount Per Serving (makes 20)

Calories:  140

Total fat: 12 g

Protein: 4.5 g

Total carbohydrate:  2.5 g

• Dietary Fiber: 1.7 g
• Sugar: 0 g

If you use the powdered peanut butter, one serving is 119 calories, with only 2.2 grams of carbs.  If you're eating a small serving, it doesn't really cut that much out, so I saw go for the gusto and use the real stuff.  If you're eating Panera Bread sized brownies, it might make a difference.

It's probably worth pointing out that a regular brownie of similar size (a small one, not Panera Bread size) is 243 calories, 39 carbs and 10 grams of fat.  That's not even for a peanut butter covered brownie.  We have more fat here, but I bet it's mostly because of the peanut butter (2 tablespoons of peanut butter has 15 grams of fat).

Once you Pop, You Can't Stop: Pumpkin Popovers

Delicious and halfway healthy

It's still fall so I'm still all about the pumpkin and squash. Popovers are an eggy bread, similar to Yorkshire pudding.    They've been around since the 1800s. Yorkshire pudding was one of the first breads developed when wheat became popular.  To me, they taste highly reminiscent of French toast. They're called popovers because the steam from the eggy bread causes the crust to rise over the pan, hence they "pop over" the pan.

French toast has 36 carbs.  Popovers have the same amount of carbs as a dinner roll (both have 14 grams of carbs).  It's still not low carb, but it's a decadent treat that would pair well with a low carb meal.  To me, a popover is a lot more filling than a roll, and it has more protein.

I have made them with Atkins flour mix (you could probably use CarbQuick too, but I have no experience).  I think they turned out better than some breads.  Atkins mix tends to make really dry breads, but popovers are already moist because of all the eggs.  My Atkins popovers didn't pop as much as ones using regular flour, but they did pop a little and tasted great.  Just sub the flour in the recipe below for equal parts of Atkins mix.

For my recipe, I ground my own wheatberries in my Vitamix.  I feel like I get the consistency of white flour that way, but the fiber of wheat (less net carbs).  I'm probably deluding myself.  You can use wheat flour, but they will pop less.  They will probably pop more with conventional flour.


It amazed me the first time I baked a popover.  It seems like they don't have any leavening ingredients.  How the heck do they rise?   Unlike quick breads or yeasted breads, it's the steam that makes them rise. When you make this batter, you'll notice that the batter is thinner and runnier than most breads.  The liquid content of the batter produces lots of steam.  Eggs act as part of the liquid, but that's not the only reason there are so many eggs.  The egg protein also acts an emulsifier, protecting the batter from tearing when it stretches.  The egg protein and the gluten in the dough act like a balloon, stretching and filling with the air from the steam.  The middle of a popover is air, so it's mostly hollow.    Eggs help create a nice brown crust on top too. 

Knowing that, you can see that gluten is important in making the pop of a popover.  That is why low carb or gluten free popovers taste ok, but don't pop as high.  The gluten helps create the "balloon."

This is what a popover pan looks like

Heat is also important, as it develops the steam.  I use a specialized popover pan.  It looks like an elongated muffin pan separated with rods.  Those rods allow lots of space between the popovers so heat can move freely around them.  You can also use ramekins or regular muffin pans.  Just be sure not to fill whatever pan you use more than 1/2 to 2/3rds full of mix.  These things will make a mess in your oven.  I put a cookie sheet under my popover pan just in case.

Pumpkin Popovers
3 eggs
3/4 cup milk
1/4 cup pumpkin
2 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup milk
1/4 teaspoon salt

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  Grease your popover pan, ramekin or muffin pan.  Use whatever kitchen oil or spray you like best.
2. I always put my pan on top of the oven while it's preheating.  They pop better if the pan is warm, but I haven't really found much of a different between setting my pan on top of the oven and "preheating" the pan as some recipes suggest.
3. Put all of the ingredients in a food processor, mixer or blender (I use a blender) and mix until smooth (easy).
4. The pumpkin popovers don't pop as much as plain popovers, so fill your cups 2/3 full of mix (should make 6 if you're using a popover pan).
5. Bake in the oven for 50 minutes. Remove the popovers and pierce each in the top with a knife to allow the steam to escape. 
6. They should be easy to remove from the pan, and they are best served warm.

Want plain popovers?  Alton Brown has the recipe I always use as a base. These can made sweet, savory or whatever.  A little cinnamon in them makes them taste almost exactly like French Toast.  I bet cinnamon  would be good in these pumpkin ones too.

Plain popovers pop even more than this.

Nutrition Facts for Pumpkin Popovers

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Amount Per Serving (makes 6)

Calories:  150

Total fat: 8 g

Protein: 6 g

Total carbohydrate:  14 g

• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Sugar: 2 g

Broken Glass and Chocolate Pumpkin Cupcakes

Bloody glass cupcakes

One of my guilty pleasures is Martha Stewart's living.  I don't think I've ever done one of her arts and crafts or even made a recipe straight out of there, but I love to look at it anyway.  Her Halloween edition has always been one of my faves.  This year, I saw her broken glass cupcakes and had to emulate it.

Similar to Martha's

I can't find them on her website.  Her website is notoriously hard to navigate.  The article in the magazine (the Halloween edition with "Mothra" on the cover) just had a photo of the cupcakes, and not even a how-to.  I went to the website to find out how she made her sugar glass, but no such luck.  I swear, you can search for the exact recipe title on her website and not find something.  She is pimping a new book on holiday crafts and baking, so maybe it's in there.  Who knows.  This is why I rarely visit the website or make anything she has in her books.  I did a Google image search for Martha Stewart broken glass cupcakes, and the ones pictured to the right look the most like them.  The shards of glass were clear and the "blood" was coming out of the cupcakes.  They're ok, but they don't look gruesome enough for me.

Sugar glass is easy to make, and lots of fun (but it can be dangerous), so I went to town.  Sugar glass is basically just a hard candy, spread out.  Since it's supposed to look jagged and broken for this, it's super easy. I have a low-cal version of a cupcake recipe too, but we'll do to the sugar glass first.   You can make sugar glass just as many ways as you can make sugar candy, so no recipe is incorrect.

Sugar Glass 
3 cups sugar
1 cup water
1 cup clear corn syrup
Red food coloring

You can tell my sugar wasn't heated smoothly,
but dirty glass works for this.

1. Before you start, get everything together.  Sugar glass comes together pretty quickly and once you start pouring, it's over in a second.  If you're making broken glass, get a baking sheet ready (either spray it with some cooking spray or rub it down with some oil or butter).  If you're going to do something more elaborate like a mold or form, get the materials you need ready.  For my prep, I also got the food coloring and a paint brush.  You'll need to spray a spatula and some spoons with some cooking spray too, to help you smooth out the glass.
2. Combine all the ingredients except food coloring (unless you want solid red glass) in a sauce pan and cook on medium heat until the mixture reaches 300 degrees on a candy thermometer.  If you heat the liquid too fast, the sugar won't be as clear but it's not that big of a deal in this prep.
3. Poor the liquid on the prepared surface and quickly spread out. This is the dangerous part.  Remember this sugar is 300 degrees! Don't touch it.  Use your tools to spread it out, but work quickly.
4. While the sugar is still a little wet, splash or paint the red coloring on to resemble blood drops. You should have the "glass" spread out and painted within a few minutes.
5. Let cool.
6. Crack into shards (this is the fun part).
7. Decorate as you wish.

Easy Vegan Cupcakes
Let's talk about doctoring up a cake mix.  For these, I used a whole can of pumpkin in a chocolate cake mix instead of the oil, water and eggs. So, you just take the dry cake mix, mix in the pumpkin and bake.  People love it, and it's an easy way to make a cake mix vegan.  Just make sure your cake mix is vegan.  Most are. Store bought icings are mostly vegan too, but read the label.  Let's be honest, these mixes and icings aren't animal or vegetable foodstuffs.  They're mostly fakey fakey processed ingredients and oils. But enjoying them every now and again won't kill you, just don't eat the whole dozen yourself.  

I think I stole the pumpkin idea from Hungry Girl (I saw it on a talk show), but it tastes better to me than a regular cake mix anyway.  It only works well with chocolate cake mixes.  You can barely taste the pumpkin in a chocolate cake mix.  Pumpkin and chocolate go well together anyway.  If you use pumpkin in a white cake mix, you'll have pumpkin cake.  It's good too, but people can tell it's pumpkin.  In chocolate, I normally get, "This tastes like something, but what is it?" 

According to Hungry Girl one cupcake made this way has 181 calories, 3.5g fat, 37g carbs (eep), 2g fiber and 2g protein.  I just think they taste better that way (they seem to be richer).  

You can make a homemade cake and icing and decorate it too, but I'm going to be honest again here.  If I'm going to make a cupcake for kids or people who I know will care more about the decoration and icing than the cake, I'm not going to go to all the effort of making the cake taste like the best cake ever.  It's like the time I slaved over a stove for hours making homemade pasta sauce one week, got rave reviews.  A few weeks later, I didn't have time so I brought in Prego ... also got the rave reviews.  Seriously, most people don't care, and if the cake is a box cake, I'm less likely to eat it all.

I'll have some healthy food next week, and maybe some unhealthy ones too. I'm thinking about making more Halloween treats.  I have several Halloween events to go to, and sometimes I like to bring snacks.  We'll see.

Oopsie Veggie Burgers: Low Carbing on Work Days

Low Carb Veggie Cheeseburger

It's hard to pack a healthy, robust vegetarian lunch. It needs to hold up to packing, fill you up and be low carb. I work long hours (12-13 hour shifts). It's too easy to run by the vending machine for a bag of chips halfway through my shirt, and sometimes even grab some trail mix or crackers later. I work at a hospital, so there's always free bagels, nutri-grain bars, candy, trail mix, crackers and everything else. If I'm hungry, I go for those quick snacks, so I try to pack a filling lunch.

One of my go to meals has always been either a cheese sandwich or a veggie burger. Now that I'm cutting back on carbs and eliminating grains, those are not an option. Or are they?

I tried Oopsie rolls for the second time and they turned out great. The first time I followed Cleochatra's recipe exactly and I thought they were a bit too creamy and soft for me. This time, I doubled the eggs and used less cream cheese.

My recipe:

6 large eggs
dash of apple cider vinegar (or cream of tartar. I don't keep that on hand)
4 ounces of cream cheese (the original recipe would use 6 ounces).

This makes about 12 "rolls" of induction friendly, gluten free, carb friendly "bread." These things are 74 calories, 4.3 grams of protein. 6.2 grams of fat and only 0.3 grams of carb each. It does take two to build a sandwich, but even then it's an amazingly healthy snack.

Oopsie rolls don't taste exactly like bread, but they are durable enough to make a sandwich, and the cream cheese makes it moist and delicious. Check Cleochatra's site to find the exact proccess. They are super easy. The hardest part is beating your eggs until they are stiff. They have to be super stiff, like you're making meringue. It took me less than 10 minutes to make them.

Oopsie rolls are perfect for lunch

I've found these hold up pretty well to packing. I store these on the counter. I tried the first batch in the fridge and they got a little moist (setting them in a warm oven for a bit helped).   You can freeze them and then heat them up in a warm oven once they're thawed.  If you're not going to eat a whole batch within a day or two, freeze them or refrigerate them.  You risk making yourself really sick otherwise.

The first day I made them, I used them as a meal side dish. When I had to work the next day, I tossed 2 into a plastic bag for lunch, and packed a cooked veggie patty and some cheese. I didn't refrigerate or microwave the oopsie buns, but I did stick the patty and cheese in the fridge. When lunch time rolled around, I heated the patty and assembled my burger.

These things are delicious with veggie burger and it held up well. I could have probably eaten two or three.  They do get a little smushy as you eat them, but so does bread.  In some ways, the little pockets of cream cheese really compliment the burger and make it even better than dry bread. Veggie burgers tend to be dry anyway.  

They hold up surprisingly well

These rolls are very versatile.  You can slather these with some garlic butter and cheese and pop them under the broiler for garlic bread.  You can flatten them out and make pizza.  They take well to molding. If you wanted them to look more bun like, you could use a small cake pan.  You could probably even fashion some sort of hoagie roll out of them.

Here's the breakdown for the whole veggie burger. Cutting out the cheese or using a lower carb cheese (I used American) would really cut the carbs.

Burger:
6.0 grams of fat
15 grams of protein
5.0 grams of carbohydrates

Cheese:
8.8 fat
0.5 grams of protein
6.3 grams of carbohydrates

Oopsie Rolls (2):
12.4 grams of fat
8.6 grams of protein
0.6 grams of carbohydrates

Total:
27.2 grams of fat
24.1 grams of protein
6.1 grams of carbohydrates

Mocking Macaroni: It's not a Laughing Matter

The real thing, it's not healthy.

My favorite meal of all time is probably macaroni and cheese.  I like mine best crispy on top, creamy in the middle and made from scratch.  I love it so much that even the Kraft blue box will do. I've been known to consume an entire box in one sitting.  I used to get those Easy Mac bowls and I would eat 2-3 of them before I felt like it was enough macaroni and cheese.

The USDA would probably consider macaroni and cheese a healthy food.  The box proclaims it to be a good source of calcium.  They even make whole grain mac and cheese.  If it's whole grain, it must be healthy, right?

Let's look at the facts:


Nutrition Facts for Kraft

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 4) of Kraft Whole Grain Mac and Cheese (prepared as directed)

Calories:  390

Total fat: 17 g

Protein: 8 g

Total carbohydrate:  49 g

• Dietary Fiber: 5 g
• Sugar: 6 g

Amount Per Serving (makes 4) of Kraft Deluxe Blue Box Mac and Cheese (prepared as directed)

Calories:  320

Total fat: 10 g

Protein: 12 g

Total carbohydrate:  45 g

• Dietary Fiber: 1 g
• Sugar: 3 g

Both of these "healthy" meals are almost your entire carbohydrate intake for the day (or over it if you're doing Atkins style induction).  One cup of macaroni as my entire daily ration doesn't sound great.  When I eat a whole box, I'm getting 180 grams of carbohydrate.  I can hear my pancreas cursing me for torturing it.

To give my poor pancreas a break, I decided to try mockaroni and cheese.  I admit, it doesn't look as tasty as the real stuff, but it's partially because I was too hungry to photograph it well.  It is a good way to cut those carbs down and still get a similar flavor and mouth feel as real macaroni and cheese.

It doesn't look like macaroni and cheese, but it tastes reminiscent of it.

Mockaroni and Cheese
(Serves Four)

• 1 head of cauliflower, steamed and chopped
• 4 ounces cottage cheese
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream
• 4 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
• 1 ounce of mozzarella cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper to taste

Optional:

• Some people like to add things like onion, cayenne, oregano, tomatoes and whatever else to their mac and cheese.  You can add those, but I prefer mine plain.
• You can really use whatever cheeses you want
• You can use frozen, chopped cauliflower instead of fresh if you want to
• I've seen some recipes that use cream cheese instead of cottage cheese.

1. Combine all of these ingredients, except a handful of cheddar, into an oven safe bowl. Make sure they are mixed well.  
2. Sprinkle the handful of cheddar on top.  
3. Place the bowl into an oven that's been preheated to 350 degrees and cook it for about 30 minutes, until it's your level of brown.  The top will get crispy just like traditional mac and cheese.

This is what it looks like before baking.  It tastes better than it looks.

It really makes a convincing substitute.  None of these substitutes have the gluteny goodness of real pasta, but I don't really miss it in this dish.  The mouth feel of the cauliflower is very similar to the mouth feel of pasta.  With mac and cheese, the pasta is just a sauce delivery system anyway.

I served mine here with a feta and tomato salad and some roasted kale.

Nutrition Facts for Mockaroni

---

Amount Per Serving (makes 4)

Calories:  166

Total fat: 10 g

Protein: 12 g

Total carbohydrate:  9 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.6 g
• Sugar: 0.2 g

You see a lot of the values we like (fat and protein) stayed the same.  That's because they came  from the cheese.  We didn't cut that.  However, the values we hate (carbs and calories) came way down.  Calories are more than halved and carbohydrates decreased by 80%.  Eight-percent makes a big difference to your pancreas. It's still yummy too.

Transformers, Pasta in Disguise: Spaghetti Squash

Low Carb Spaghetti? For real? Heck, yeah!

I don't like most fake pastas.  I've tried those shirataki noodles that Hungry Girl raves about and they made me sick.  I just can't take the weird mouth feel of them.  I'm not even a big fan of wheat pasta.  I like Dreamfields, but my blood sugar reacts to that almost like it does normal pasta so why pay the extra for it?  I often make my own pasta, but it's really not much healthier than the store bought stuff.  It just tastes better.

I hadn't tried spaghetti squash until my mom decided to go low carb.  I've always seen them in the grocery store and thought, "What kind of demon vegetable claims to transform into spaghetti?  That thing has to be the results of some kind of dark magic."  That and I thought it would taste like eating pasta sauce over yellow squash.  Yuck.

Since I'm challenging my perceptions of vegetables, I bought one and I can't believe I've lived all these years without them.  I've eaten it every week since then, because pasta is my weakness.  To me, spaghetti squash are just as easy to prepare as regular spaghetti, and almost as tasty.  The squash has a little bit of a crunch that pasta doesn't, but other than that, I find it quite nice.

I'm not going to give you a recipe for sauce in this post.  I've found this squash takes just about any type of sauce you can throw at it.  I've made it with regular marinara, chunky marinara, pesto, tossed it with vegetables and olive oil, tossed it with olive oil and herbs ... the only thing I've found it didn't taste great with is Alfredo sauce and other cream sauces (some people like it with Alfredo too).  That is awesome for low carb dieters, because you have almost all the variety of meals that pasta can give you, but it's low carb and low calorie.  Woo!

Squastimus Prime: Ready to transform.

When buying a spaghetti squash, choose one that is heavy for its size.  The smaller ones generally taste better, but even a small spaghetti squash should be large, compared to most squashes (except pumpkin).  They are generally about 8 inches by 5 inches.  They should be uniform in color without too many blemishes and no soft spots.  You want to feel it to make sure the flesh is firm all around.  The one picture is a little ugly, but it's still a good squash.  The flesh is firm, and a few blemishes are ok.

This thing is so amazing.  It lasts forever.  If you store it in a root cellar, it can last up to 6 months before it goes bad.  Even at room temperature, you have a few weeks before it starts going bad.  It also freezes well.  I can't eat a whole spaghetti squash.  It makes about 4-5 servings.  It tastes fine reheated too, but I don't like to eat the same thing every day.  I cook it and shred it (see below) and then put the spaghetti in a freezer bag.  It reheats and tastes about the same.  I've never frozen it with sauce, but I guess that would be ok too.  I use the sauce to heat the frozen squash up for 4-5 minutes.

I always give you the nutritional information, but the fact is that the spaghetti squash isn't really that nutritious.  It's mostly water.  Other winter squashes are better for you.  It's what it's lacking that makes it a great substitute for regular spaghetti.    According to the USDA, 1 cup of spaghetti squash has 42 calories, 0.4 gram of fat, 10 g of carbs (4 grams of sugar) and 2.2 g of fiber.  Compare that to regular spaghetti.  One cup of spaghetti gives you 220 calories, 1.3 grams of fat, 43 grams of carbs (0.8 grams of sugar) and 2.5 grams of fiber.   I can have a whole spaghetti squash for one serving of spaghetti.


You also have to factor in your sauce.  It can be low carb, high carb, low calorie, high calorie, nutritious or not.  The choice is between you and your pancreas.

You can cook spaghetti squash in a variety of ways from crock pots to pressure cookers, but the easiest and quickest way is to stick the whole thing in the microwave.  I was once told by a professional chef that a true food lover would never have a microwave in their house.  How pretentious. Microwaves are perfect for certain tasks, and cooking spaghetti squash is one.

To microwave the squash, you just poke a few holes in it with a knife (so it won't explode) and pop it in a microwave whole for about 12 minutes.  Let it cool for another 5-10 minutes before you split it open.  Baking and boiling a whole squash takes about an hour.  Sticking one in the crock pot takes all day.  A pressure cooker takes about 12 minutes too.  Alternatively, you can speed up the cooking by cutting the squash into cubes before you cook it, but these guys are hard to cut when raw.  The cubes makes shredding it a lot less fun.

After it's cooked and cooled, the next step is to cut it in a half and remove the seeds and the pulp, the slimy stuff that holds the seeds in.  You're going to think you've been gypped.  It doesn't look much like spaghetti at all.   It looks like a pumpkin.  Like pumpkin, that slimy stuff is not tasty, so even if you have to remove a bit of the flesh, get it all.  The seeds can be saved and roasted.  They taste a little like pumpkin seeds. 

What the...That doesn't look like spaghetti.

The next step is the most fun part.  You get to make spaghetti.  Invite your friends over and show them how awesome you are.  Just take a fork and rake up and down the cleaned flesh and you'll get "noodles."  I generally prop mine up in a bowl and shred the spaghetti squash over it.

That's more like it.

 I find that spaghetti squash taste best cooked with the sauce.  It's ok if you just pour the sauce over it, but cooking them together makes it really shine.  Most recipes serve the sauce over the squash, so I may be in the minority. You should try it with a variety of sauces and techniques and see what you like best.  You can pretty much do anything with it you can do with normal spaghetti, including baking it in a casserole. I've even seen a recipe for a mock lasagna with it.  The spaghetti squash was layered with lasagna ingredients.  My favorite way to eat it is sauteed with some fresh vegetables, olive oil, garlic and herbs.  I get the vegetables going first and add the squash in the last few minutes.  Yum!

"Noodles" close up.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (1 cup of spaghetti squash, cooked with no sauce)

Calories: 42
Total fat: 0.4 g
Protein: 1 g
Total carbohydrate: 10 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.2 g
• Sugar: 4 g

Kohlrabi : Bake me to Your Leader

I think most grocery store produce departments have what I call the "wtf section."  I just imagine that the poor produce manager hits a key and accidentally orders something like lycee fruit or nopales.  When then these things show up to the store, they exclaim, "WTF is this stuff?"  The people at the cash registers exclaim similar when you decide to buy the item.

This is the section of the store where I saw these guys, kohlrabi.  I knew nothing about it, except it reminded me of an alien spaceship.  Aliens spaceships and delicious food don't really go together, but I decided to try it anyway.


Turns out kohlrabi is a cultivar of cabbage, but is known as the German turnip (because it kind of looks like a turnip).  It was created from the wild cabbage plant, like broccoli, cauliflower, kale, collard greens and Brussels sprouts.  Coincidentally, it has a cabbage-like taste.  It comes in green or purple, but both are said to taste similar.  The purple variety is said to be sweeter.

It can be eaten raw, roasted, stir-fried, braised or any number of cooking preparations.  Some people slice the kohlrabi thin like carrot sticks and use them raw for dipping.  Some people eat them like an apple.  I've heard the best way to eat them raw is sliced with a little salt.  I tasted it that way.  It reminded me of a raw potato, but with a slight cabbage taste.  It also reminded me of a slightly less spicy radish.  Some say it tastes like broccoli stems, but I tasted more cabbage than broccoli.  


The greens are also edible.  They can be eaten raw or cooked like any other greens.  Raw, they taste a little bitter, reminiscent of raw kale.  They need to be cooked like turnip or collard greens (low and slow) to get rid of that taste.  I tried my greens at 5 minutes in and at 30 minutes in.  The 30 minute cook time was primo!


According to the University of Illinois, kohlrabi has the mildest and best flavor when small.  The greens are also not as bitter when they are young.  Larger ones tend to be woody.  I saw an episode of "Chopped" recently featuring kohlrabi (the day I cooked the stuff.  I'm surrounded by kohlrabi now).  The judges' complaint to all the contestants was that the kohlrabi was woody because it wasn't cooked long enough.  I think mine are a little larger, but they did not taste woody.  The University of Illinois says 2-3 inches across is ideal. 

The greens are edible, but taste better cooked than raw.

One cup of raw kohlrabi has about 84 mg of vitamin C and it also supplies some of the B vitamins.  It's also high in potassium and low in calories.  It's pretty high in protein for a vegetable too.  The downside for low-carb dieters is that a cup contains 11 grams of carbs.  That's pretty high, especially since 5 grams are from sugar.  It only has 2 grams of fiber.

Since I only had three (and there weren't more at the market when I went back), I decided to saute the body of the plant and prep them like I would turnip greens.  They tasted almost exactly like turnips and greens to me.  The kohlrabi was a little sweeter and not as strongly flavored as a turnip, but really reminiscent of it. 

I'm not crazy about turnips, but if you are these would be a great addition to your diet.

They are completely white inside

Here's a tip about peeling them.  They are white under all that green.  You want to peel past the green.  I took a photo of these before I realized it was white underneath.  I should have peeled these a little bit more.  The green skin is tough.  Use a good peeler or, preferably, a knife.  


Sauteed Kohlrabi and Greens

• 3 kohlrabi (with greens)
• 1 teaspoon of red pepper flakes (or to taste)
• 1/2 teaspoon of mustard seed (or to taste)
• 1/2 tablespoon of garlic
• 1/2-1 cup of water
• Olive oil

1. Remove the greens from the kohlrabi and set aside.  Peel the kohlrabi and remove all stems.  Dice into cubes.
2. Chop the kohlrabi greens into bite sized pieces, removing any tough stems.  Wash them well (I always do at least 2 soaks with greens, most of the time three), and drain them well.
3. Add a few tablespoons of olive oil to your pan, put on medium heat and get it hot.  Saute the garlic, red pepper and mustard seen in olive oil for a few seconds before adding the kohlrabi.
4. Get some nice brown on your kohlrabi (maybe 3-5 minutes).
5. Add 1/2 cup of water and greens.  Cover and cook for 20-30 minutes, stirring and checking occasionally to make sure you have enough liquid.  These should have the consistency of turnips and turnip greens.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (1 cup of kohlrabi)

Calories: 48
Total fat: 0 g
Protein: 5g g
Total carbohydrate: 11 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2 g
• Sugar: 5 g

Peanut Butter & Pumpkin Dog Snacks: Tootie's Birthday

Tootie is not low carb, vegetarian or gluten free. She goes for the gusto.

Even though this blog is about human food, I'm going to take a little space here to show you something for your furry friends. They deserve whole, healthy living too.  My dog's birthday was a few weeks ago and I like to make her "cookies" occasionally. I don't really like to buy those store bought biscuits.  Who knows what's in those or where they've been stored.  I do sometimes go to a local canine bakery and buy her some.  I think she likes it better when I make them. 

Just a little icing is enough.

You have to be really careful when baking or cooking for your dog.  Lots of things can kill or hurt them that are just fine for us.  Some artificial sweeteners, avocado, chocolate, grapes or raisins, milk, mushrooms, onions, too much salt or sugar can be bad for your pet.  When in doubt, leave it out.

Pumpkin is good for constipation and diarrhea in dogs.  It's good for their urinary tracts too.  It can prevent coprophagi (or eating of feces) if you have a problem with that.  Peanut butter is just yummy for all species. I modified a recipe I found here for these.


Peanut Butter & Pumpkin Dog Cookies
2 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 eggs
1 can canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons peanut butter
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
Water


Peanut Butter Frosting  (optional)
1.2 of an 8 ounce package cream cheese, softened (4 oz total)
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1 tablespoons of canola oil
Food coloring

The consistency of the dough.

1. Mix all the ingredients, except water, together.  It's really easy with a stand mixer, it takes some muscle with your hands.  Add water to get a pie crust like consistency (not wet like human cookie dough, see the photo). I normally have to add a tablespoon.
2. Roll the dough to 1/2 inch thick, like most cut cookies.  You may have to work it a little to get it to the right consistency, since you're using whole wheat flour.
3. Cut into shapes or squares.  I always use animal shaped cookie cutters or a bone shaped cookie cutter I have.
4. Bake for about 40 minutes, until they are hard and starting to brown.  Allow to cool.
5. Mix together icing ingredients and ice the cookies.

If the cookies are iced, they should be eaten right away or refrigerated.  They should last a week or so in a ziptop bag if they're uniced.  I normally don't ice cookies I make for her, but it was a special occasion.  She does love the peanut butter icing.

Tootie approves this recipe.

Parsnips Attacked: The Scared Carrot

Looks like a carrot with its blood removed.

Before my mom started her low carb diet, I had no idea how many potato substitutes there were.  It seems like everything in the grocery store wants to masquerade as a potato for a day.  There's celery root, cauliflower and jicama to name a few.  Low carb dieters must crave french fries and bacon more than anything.

Today's masquerader is parsnip.  Someone told me that parsnip was the best potato substitute.  I consider myself pretty educated in food, but I thought parsnip was something green.  I had no idea it was a root vegetable related to the carrot. When I went to find one for myself, I was reminded of a book I read when I was a kid: Bunnicula.  It's about a vampire rabbit that, instead of blood, sucks the juice of vegetables leaving a path of white carrots in his wake. This guy looks like he's seen a vampire bunny.

Parnsips are slightly sweeter than carrots, and also slightly more nutritious.   A half cup of parsnip has 50 calories, 11 grams of carbs and 3.2 grams of fiber.  It's a good source of fiber and potassium.

Choosing a parsnip is very similar to choosing a carrot.  The one difference is that you want a parsnips to be free from color.  The whiter the flesh, the sweeter the parsnip.  Much like carrots, you want parsnips to be firm, heavy for their size and free from blemishes.  The smaller ones are sweeter. 

I decided to really test the parsnip's ability to imitate the potato and make parsnip fries.

Sliced parsnips

 Parsnip Fries
2-3 parsnips
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1-2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

Salt and pepper to taste

1. Peel the parsnip like you would a carrot.  Julienne it to french fry size.  I used a mandolin. 
2. Toss the parsnip with minced garlic and olive oil.
3. Spread out on a baking sheet and cook for about 20 minutes at 425 degrees.  You should flip the fries a few times during cooking.
4. Toss with Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper before serving.

They almost look like real fries.

These I would definitely eat again.   They taste like a sweet french fry, but not too sweet.  I find sweet potato fries a little too sweet.  These are just perfect. With something like a cajun spice blend, they'd be to die for.  I tried adding rosemary my second attempt at these and it was great.  I think I'll be making these instead of sweet potato fries from now on.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 4)

Calories: 175
Total fat: 10.7 g
Protein: 6.3 g
Total carbohydrate: 14.3 g

• Dietary Fiber: 2.9 g
• Sugar: 3.8 g

The Muscles from Brussels: Getting to know the Belgium Sprout

Fish heads?  They do look more like baby cabbages I guess.

I was reading over my first few blog posts and I noticed it's full of pasta, fried okra and pizza.  I'm trying to live healthy and whole here.  It's easy to slip into old habits, I guess.  Today, this entry is 100% healthy.

I have a bad history with Brussels sprouts.  My mom says I liked them when I was little.  I don't remember that.  I do remember that my sister told me they were little, slimy fish heads at dinner one day.  I haven't really eaten them since then. I always see their little slimy lips and eyes just peering at me.  Yuck.  I know they're not really little, slimy fish heads, but it still grosses me out.

What Brussels sprouts are is cultivar of cabbage. They are named after Brussels, but the origin is unclear. They were believed to be first grown in Belgium in the late 1500s, though some believe they were enjoyed as early as the 13th century.  Brussels sprouts taste similar to cabbage, but are generally more nutritious than cabbage. 

Brussels sprouts have twice as much protein, vitamin C and folic acid than cabbage and more vitamin A, magnesium, phosphorus and potassium than cabbage.  They also have twice as many calories and 1/3 more carbs than the same serving size of cabbage, but neither has enough to really worry about (cabbage has 17 calories and 4 grams of carbs per 1/2 cup, Brussels sprouts have 28 calories and 6 grams of carbs).  Brussels sprouts and cabbage are both high in fiber.

Brussels sprouts contain sulforaphane and indole-3-carbinol, like broccoli and cabbage, if you eat them steamed or stir-fryed.  This is why people claim they have anti-cancer properties.  There is some real, randomized study data on the consumption of cruciferous vegetables and cancer risks.  The data seems to indicate that there is some decreased risk with daily servings of cruciferous vegetables like cauliflower, cabbage, bok choy, broccoli, kale and Brussels sprouts.   However, boiling or blanching the vegetables destroys the compounds. Raw is the best way to go, but a quick cooking method preserves many of these compounds.

To pick out fresh Brussels sprouts, look for the bright green ones.  The brightly colored ones with the fewest brown leaves are best.  They should be firm, compact and tightly packed.  It's best to choose sprouts that are similar in size. Avoid any with an odor.  I think the smaller ones are better because they require less prep, and taste sweeter.

This one really does look like a fish face.

I have a theory that most people don't like vegetables because they've never had them properly cooked or fresh.  It seems that whenever I try something I "hate" at a restaurant with a really good chef, I'm always shocked.  I actually like it.  People, including myself, don't like Brussels sprouts because we're used to the slimy, boiled and nasty type we were served as kids. 

Fresh Brussels sprouts taste fresh.  They don't have the bitter taste of the frozen, over-cooked variety.  Over-cooking releases the bitter, sulfur compounds, making them less healthy and less delicious.  Fresh Brussels sprouts have a sweet, almost buttery taste.

As always, the best way to try a vegetable out to see if you really like it is a plain preparation.  Here, I tried roasted Brussels sprouts.

Roasted Brussels Sprouts
About a dozen Brussels sprouts
2 tablespoons olive oil
Salt and pepper

The core.

1. Clean the Brussels sprouts well and remove any outer leaves that look brown or yellow.  Cut the bottoms off and you can remove the core, if they're bigger.  See the photo on the right.  The white part in the center is the core of the sprout.  Smaller ones have a softer core that is easier to eat.  It's tough on larger sprouts, in my experience.
2. I like to cut mine into halves or quarters so I get more browning, but you can roast them whole. 
3. Toss them with a few tablespoons of olive oil and salt and pepper.
4. Arrange the sprouts on a sheet pan and bake at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes until tender and barely brown.
5. Taste them, you can salt again if needed.

Even I like the simplicity of roasted Brussels sprouts, and they don't look anything like fish heads.  Well, maybe a little like a fish head.

Roasted and ready to eat.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 2)

Calories: 165
Total fat: 14.1 g
Protein: 3.2 g
Total carbohydrate: 8.9 g

• Dietary Fiber: 3.4 g
• Sugar: 2.2 g

Low Carb Peach Salsa

Salsa is a sneaky way to get some vegetables in your diet.

In my last post, I talked about growing okra.  Another vegetable I grow in abundance over the summer is tomatoes.  Salsa is dish that I like to make with them, because it's healthy, easily canned and helps punch up a low-carb diet.  I don't normally eat it with chips.  Most of the time I use it as a salad dressing, a topping or an ingredient.

Peach salsa makes a great, low-carb salad dressing.  If you leave out the peach, you'll have a really low carb salsa (3.7 grams per serving).   I use my Vita-mix to make salsa.  You can use a food processor or just chop the ingredients super fine.

This salsa has all sorts of fun colors and textures.

For 6 servings:

• 1 small peach
• 1 green pepper
• About 24 grape tomatoes, or about 6 oz of regular tomatoes
• 1 jalapeno pepper (I use the whole pepper, but I like it hot.  You can remove the seeds and the pith if you like.  With a whole jalepeno, it's too spicy for most people)
• A handful of fresh basil 
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1 tsp of lime juice

Optional:

• If you don't like basil, you can use cilantro

Just toss all of the ingredients in your blender or food processor and process to the chunkiness you desire.  If you don't have a blender or food processor, just chop all the ingredients to a fine consistency and mix them.

Before blending

Salsas taste best if you leave them in the fridge for at least an hour before serving.

Nutrition Facts

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Amount Per Serving (makes 6)

Calories:  21.7

Total fat: 0.1 g

Protein: 0.3 g

Total carbohydrate:  5.3 g

• Dietary Fiber: 0.6 g
• Sugar: 1.8 g