SPICED MINCED BEEF (Keema)

1/4 cup ghee or unsalted butter
1 large onion, sliced, about 9-10 ounces peeled
2 cloves garlic, sliced
1 teaspoon turmeric
2 teaspoons chili powder
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 pound lean ground beef

Melt the ghee or butter in a large skillet or wok; add the onions and garlic and fry until soft and golden brown. Add the spices and seasonings; fry 3 minutes over medium-low heat, stirring constantly. Add the beef and cook until browned. Drain off any excess grease.

Makes 4 servings

Per Serving: 342 Calories; 27g Fat; 19g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

I found this in the Indian section of my husband's Asian Cooking book. It sounded easy to make and didn't call for any unusual ingredients other than the ghee. I just used unsalted butter instead. This is not a hot curry and the flavor is very subtle. It's almost too boring for my taste although it does taste good. The recipe didn't say to drain off any of the grease but I didn't want to leave it all in so I did drain it. The only other change that I made was using one large onion instead of two. I would have loved a lot of onions in it but I had to watch the carbs. One onion ended up being plenty in any case. Be very careful not to get this on your clothes. The turmeric stains everything yellow. Click the photo to see a close-up.

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

 

 

HOW TO GET TO THE CHATROOM:

If you are on AOL, click here:  lowcarbcooksnook or IM FOOD Magic (those are capital o's in FOOD) or F00D Angel (those are zero's in F00D).

If you are on AIM, send yourself a Chat Invitation, to go to the room "lowcarbcooksnook" (without the quotation marks).  If you have any difficulty with that, IM Kasparcat or WildAngel6, we will lasso you into the room.

$$$$$$$$
The Low-carb Cook's Nook Presents...
The Frugal Low-carber

Dear Low-carbers.

Uh oh, we don't have rice and beans and
macaroni-and-cheese to stretch the budget anymore.
What is a low-carber to DO?
We know it's not all steak and shrimp and bacon...
But there's a limit to what you can do with hamburger meat, canned tuna, and chicken quarters.
Or is there??

Join us this week for tips and shopping ideas,
as well as recipes for low-carbing on a shoestring!  Angel is on the West Coast and Magic is on the East Coast and we have chatters everywhere between and more...  the more people who come to this chat, the better we will be able to help each other with tips on where to find the best bargains.

When: Thursday, June 12th, 2008, 9-11 pm EDT

Where:  lowcarbcooksnook 

Who: FOOD Magic, F00D Angel, and YOU!

HOW TO GET TO THE CHATROOM:

If you are on AOL, click here:  lowcarbcooksnook or IM FOOD Magic (those are capital o's in FOOD) or F00D Angel (those are zero's in F00D).

If you are on AIM, send yourself a Chat Invitation, to go to the room "lowcarbcooksnook" (without the quotation marks).  If you have any difficulty with that, IM Kasparcat or WildAngel6, we will lasso you into the room.

 

Looking for the recipes from this and prior
Low-carb Cook's Nook Chats?
You can find them at

Low-Carb Cook's Nook - AOL Message Boards

http://messageboards.aol.com/aol/en_us/articles.php?boardId=495619&func=3&channel=US+Food

 

Grandma's Hot Dogs and Peppers

Ingredients
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 green peppers
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1/2 cup salsa
3 turkey hot dogs (no fat)

Instructions
Heat oil in a frying pan. Chop onion and peppers, and saute in the oil. Cover and let simmer until peppers and onions are soft. Slice hot dogs into small round pieces and add to the pan. Add salsa and stir. Cover pan and let simmer until hot dogs are cooked. Remove from heat and place on plate. Add fruit for dessert.

http://bestofweightloss.com/recipes/2006/05/hot-dogs-and-peppers-for-memorial-day.html

 

 

 

Parmesan Zucchini Spears – Low Carb
Makes 4 servings

Shopping List:

• 6 small zucchinis
• 10 ml or 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 2 gram or 1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
• 2 gram or ¼ teaspoon salt
• 0.5 gram or ¼ teaspoon pepper
• 10 gram or 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan cheese

TO MAKE:

1. Cut zucchini lengthwise into quarters, then cut in half crosswise.
2. In a large nonstick skillet, cook and stir zucchini in oil over medium heat for 4 minutes.
3. Sprinkle with lemon peel, salt and pepper.
4. Cook and stir 4-5 minutes longer or until zucchini is crisp-tender.
5. Remove from the heat; sprinkle with Parmesan cheese.
6. Serve immediately.

ENJOY!

Servings Per Recipe: 4
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 64
Total Fat: 3 g
Cholesterol: 2 mg
Sodium: 201 mg
Total Carbs: 7 g
  Dietary Fiber: 3 g
Protein: 4 g

Diabetic Exchanges:
1 vegetable
½ fat.

Parmesan Zucchini Spears « TIPPIN’ THE SCALES

 

 

Low Carb Bread

Ingredients:

* 3 cups warm water
* 1 tablespoon active dry yeast
* 4 cups Vital Wheat Gluten Flour
* 1 whole egg, beaten
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 2 tablespoons Splenda (sucralose)

Preparation:

1. Combine warm water and yeast.

2. After yeast dissolves (3 to 5 minutes), beat in 2 cups gluten flour.

3. Let mixture rise in a warm place until light and foamy (about 60-90 minutes).

4. In a large mixing bowl, combine egg, olive oil, salt, and Splenda.

5. Beat in about 2 cups gluten flour. Use ONLY enough flour to make a dough that will knead well.

6. Mix in yeast/flour mixture.

7. Preheat oven to 350°F (180°C).

8. Knead bread for approximately 10 minutes.

9. Let rise until doubled (about 1 hour) in bulk.

10. Shape into 2 loaves.

11. Place in loaf pan or on baking sheet.

12. Bake in preheated 350°F (180°C) oven about 1 hour.

Low Carb Food - Low carb recipes sutiable for all low carb diets.

 

6 hard boiled eggs, coarsely chopped
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
4 1/2 ounces roasted red pepper, chopped, 2 peppers *
2 ounces sugar free bread and butter pickles, chopped, 12 chips

Dressing:
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon mustard
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoong granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda

Whisk the dressing ingredients well in a medium bowl. Add the remining ingredients; chill well before serving.

Makes 4 servings
Do not freeze

* I used the kind that come in a jar. I drained them and patted them dry before chopping them. You could roast, peel and seed your own peppers for this as well.

Per Serving: 325 Calories; 30g Fat; 10g Protein; 4g Carbohydrate; 1g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

This ended up a little soupy so I would cut the dressing ingredients by half next time. This is pretty good but I like my Egg Salad Deluxe better.

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For those who are interested in purchasing the Liquid Splenda from Kathy, she does have about a dozen bottles left at last count, so please don't delay or you might miss out.

 

For more information, here is the original message:  Liquid Splenda

 

 

 

 

 

Chilled Tomato Soup

 

Serves 4

3/4 cup finely diced, seeded, unpeeled cucumber
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
3 pounds tomatoes, chopped
3 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Combine 1/4 cup cucumber, 2 tablespoons basil, 2 tablespoons onion and 2
teaspoons oil in a small bowl. Working in batches, puree tomatoes, vinegar, salt, pepper and remaining cucumber, basil and onion in a food processor or blender. Serve immediately or refrigerate. Garnish with diced cucumber-onion mixture. Drizzle each serving with 1 teaspoon olive oil (optional).

Cals: 143 Protein: 3g Fat: 8g Carbs: 19g

 

 

Real Pancakes

Low-Carb, (gluten-free) Crullers (of the oopsie variety)

3 eggs, separated
3 ounces cream cheese
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp cream of tartar
1 packet Splenda
2 Tbsp Davincis Vanilla Syrup (Sugar Free)

Preheat oven to 300 degrees F.

In a bowl, whip egg whites with cream of tartar until peaks are stiff (about 5 minutes).

In separate bowl, blend cream cheese, yolks, cream of tartar and davincis sugar free syrup. Adding half of the yolk batter at a time to the whites and using a tall spoon (I use an iced tea spoon), make a lazy sine wave through the batter once. Turn the bowl 90 degrees and repeat. Add second half of the yolk mix and repeat sine wave two more times.

Place in ungreased, nonstick angel food miniature cake pans.

Bake for 30 minutes. Remove pans from oven and let cool on a cooling rack.Makes 4 crullers.

Chocolate Glaze

2 Lindt 80% dark chocolate squares (buy in candy bar)
1 Tbsp davincis vanilla sugar free syrup
2 small packets Splenda
2 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
2 Tbsp butter

In a microwavable bowl, combine ingredients. Microwave for 30 seconds. Stir well. Dip tops of crullers into mixture. Drizzle any remaining mixture to fill bare spots. Let crullers rest on cooling rack until glaze has set.

Will coat 6-8 crullers, and can be used for other purposes.
This does dry to a shiny glaze.

Keep unused portions and completes recipes in cooler temperatures.

Nutritional information for entire chocolate glaze recipe:

Calories: 349
Carbohydrates: 5
Fiber: 2
Net Carbohydrates: 3
Protein: 3
Fat: 36

Nutritional information without glaze/with glaze (glaze will easily coat 6-8 crullers):

Calories: 218/273
Carbohydrates: 2/1
Fiber: 0/1
Net Carbohydrates: 2/3
Protein: 7.5 grams/ 8 grams
Fat: 18 grams/ 24 grams

The Lighter Side of Low-Carb: Mind Your Doughnuts and Glaze into my Eyes...

Thank you, Cleo!

 

DOTTIE'S CARNE GUISADA

 

2 pound chuck roast, trimmed and cubed
2 tablespoons oil
1 small onion, diced, 2 1/2 ounces
4 ounces canned chopped green chiles
14 ounces beef broth
14.5 ounce can diced tomatoes, undrained
2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
2 tablespoons chili powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
Salt and pepper, to taste

In a large Dutch oven, heat the oil over medium-high heat. I used my 8-quart Dutch oven which was much larger than necessary to hold all of the ingredients. Using a larger pot gave me more surface area so I was able to brown the meat in a single layer. Brown the beef on all sides. Add all of the remaining ingredients; bring to a simmer. Cover and simmer 2 hours or until the beef is very tender. Remove the lid and raise the heat.* Simmer until the liquid has thickened, about 10 minutes. Serve in low carb tortillas or over chopped lettuce, if desired. Top with whatever you like from cheese and sour cream to guacamole, etc. The counts below do not include the tortillas, lettuce or toppings.

Makes 4-6 servings

* I skipped this last step and drained the meat in a large colander, saving the liquid. I put the meat back in the pot and shredded it with two forks. Then, I sprinkled 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum over the meat and stirred it in well. I poured in 1/2 to 1 cup of the reserved liquid and simmered it just until the sauce thickened. If you want to serve this like chili in a bowl, do not drain the liquid like I did. If you want to serve it in tortillas, it would be too soupy without draining off most of it. I used just enough to make the meat moist but not soupy. There is enough sauce that it could easily accomodate a 3 or 4 pound roast to stretch the servings and the carbs. By draining off most of the liquid, you'll save a few carbs as well but it was too hard to calculate the carb savings so I didn't.

Per 1/4 Recipe: 440 Calories; 22g Fat; 49g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 8g Net Carbs
Per 1/6 Recipe: 294 Calories; 14g Fat; 33g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

This is delicious. I was looking for a recipe for shredded beef similar to what they serve at Chipotle. Although theirs doesn't seem to have tomatoes in it, this was very similar. I had mine with cheddar cheese, guacamole and sour cream and it was almost like having a Burrito Bol. I sauteed the onions along with the meat but Dottie's instructions didn't say to do that. I figured it couldn't hurt and browning the onions gave them a nice flavor. Dottie also didn't say to shred the meat so that's up to you. Most of the meat will be falling apart anyway so it seems the logical thing to do unless you want a chunky chili-type dish. I used three large jalapeños in mine and they added almost no heat at all. Feel free to throw in a serrano chile or two if you want more of a kick. Click the photo to see a close-up.

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 egg
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon heavy cream
2 tablespoons cocoa
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 teaspoon baking powder *
1 tablespoon butter, softened

Spray a 2-cup measuring cup or small bowl with cooking spray. I used a Grab-it bowl. Add the egg and beat it with a fork. Add the remaining ingredients and whisk until a smooth batter forms. Microwave on HIGH 30-60 seconds or until it puffs up and no longer looks wet in the center. Serve with whipped cream, if desired.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

* Carolyn has since cut it back to 1/2 teaspoon.

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 281 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 9g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 261 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs

I like this very much. It tastes a little like a brownie and is very moist. What I like the most about this cake is that it doesn't require anything that you wouldn't already have in your kitchen. The only thing I didn't care for was the saltiness from the baking powder. As you'll read below, I've sinced omitted the baking powder with good results.

I experimented with Carolyn's recipe and discovered that the baking powder doesn't contribute anything to the cake as far as how it turns out. It only adds carbs and saltiness. I also found that I can mix everything right in the bowl that I'm going to cook it in and the bowl doesn't really need to be greased. Every version that I made tasted nearly identical, with the exception of the saltiness from the baking powder in the original recipe, and the consistency was nearly identical as well. Using 1 tablespoon less liquid made no real difference but I wouldn't try using more than a total of 2 tablespoons liquid. Another thing I tried to do was reduce the carbs by using some Da Vinci syrup in place of some of the granular Splenda to help those who don't have liquid Splenda get the carb count down as much as possible. Here are the results of my three experiments:

3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE #2
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
Tiny pinch salt, optional
1 egg
1 tablespoon Da Vinci sugar free syrup, vanilla flavor
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
1 tablespoon heavy cream

In a small microwaveable bowl microwave the butter for about 15-20 seconds on HIGH until completely melted. Whisk in the cocoa and salt until smooth. Whisk in the egg until well blended then whisk in the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth batter. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 267 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 11g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 7g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 253 Calories; 23g Fat; 9g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

I think I ever so slightly preferred this version over the ones that follow. I think that the heavy cream mellowed the chocolate flavor a tiny bit. The difference was very slight though.

UPDATE: I remember reading on a forum a while back that someone had a problem when they tried this method for making the cake. Well, the same thing happened to me today but I found a solution. What happened was that the batter didn't come together properly. It looked like milk with chocolate bits floating in it no matter how much I whisked it. The solution is to microwave it on HIGH power for about 10 seconds. You don't want to cook the mixture, just heat it up slightly. Now it should whisk together and look like brownie batter. I think what happened was that the cold ingredients caused the butter and cocoa to harden up and separate. Briefly heating everything helped blend them together. I think that the trick to preventing this is to make sure to thoroughly melt the butter and mix everything right away while the butter is still hot.

3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE #3
1 tablespoon butter
2 tablespoons cocoa
Tiny pinch salt, optional
1 egg
2 tablespoons Da Vinci sugar free syrup, vanilla flavor
4 teaspoons granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda

In a small microwaveable bowl microwave the butter for about 15-20 seconds on HIGH until completely melted. Whisk in the cocoa and salt until smooth. Whisk in the egg until well blended then whisk in the remaining ingredients until you have a smooth batter. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 210 Calories; 18g Fat; 8g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 202 Calories; 18g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

I made this version for my friend, Nancy, who has to eat gluten and dairy free:

DAIRY-FREE 3-MINUTE FLOURLESS CHOCOLATE CAKE
1 egg
1 tablespoon mayonnaise
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon granular Splenda or equivalent liquid Splenda
Tiny pinch salt, optional
2 tablespoons cocoa

Whisk together all of the ingredients in a small microwaveable bowl until the batter is as smooth as possible. Microwave on HIGH 1 minute. Cool completely or serve slightly warm.

Makes 1 serving
Can be frozen

With granular Splenda:
Per Serving: 224 Calories; 17g Fat; 8g Protein; 12g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 8g Net Carbs

With liquid Splenda:
Per Serving: 204 Calories; 17g Fat; 8g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs

Here's how the cake looks when made in a 2-cup measuring cup:

Linda's Low Carb Menus & Recipes