Category Archives: Tasty Tuesday

Because you have to feed them too

Recipe Trial and Error: Rockin’ Roll Cake

Tasty Tuesday

On Friday I tried the Rockin’ Roll Cake for Valentine’s Day dessert. I wanted to keep it a fuel pull (FP) because we had Sourdough Pizza from Around the Family Table Cookbook for dinner, which is an E (healthy carb) meal. I wanted to be able to eat dessert without thought for the carbs or adding fats.

It would have turned out perfectly except that I overcooked the cake. I don’t know what I was thinking except that part of the cake seemed to be uncooked when the timer went off, but truth be told, I think it would have been fine. Then because I knew that this was basically egg whites, I hand meringues on my mind and meringues are supposed to be dry. Yep! That was my problem!!!

So I will remake this cake and share how I deliciously kept if fuel pull at that time.

The important thing is that Michael really likes the cake. :)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Delicious Tender Simple Ribs

Main Dishes, Tasty Tuesday

These ribs are delicious, tender, relatively quick, and simple to make.

Glenda Goff of Around the Family Table blog talked about how much she loves her Ninja Foodi. Then she shared that the model she loves was on sale, direct from the company. I happened to have some money left over from my Christmas budget, so I was tempted to purchase it.

We had a Cruisinart Toaster Oven/Air Fryer and I was never pleased with how it air fried things. Things either didn’t get crispy enough or got burnt. I was not impressed with air frying. Then several months ago it died. We’d had it about a year and a half–not good.

So I’ve been wanting an air fryer. This Ninja Foodi is an air fryer but I have an 8 quart Instant Pot. Thus I didn’t think that I needed another pressure cooker, which the Foodi is also. BUT it is also a dehydrator and I’d love a dehydrator. I have a very old one but the lid is cracked and parts are broken and melted. (Hey, it was a great deal MANY years ago, at only $3 at a garage sale . . . awesome stocking stuffer from my sister and hubby.)

The foodi is a 6.5 quart machine, which is something I’ve been wanting too. As I mentioned, my IP is an 8 quart and I didn’t realize when I got it that things would take longer to cook in it than a 6 quart machine. I’ll keep my 8qt IP but I think this Foodi is going to be used a lot more.

So . . . I’d gotten a decent deal on the ribs and did a quick internet search to see how best to make them. Foodi to the stage!

So according to the recipe I found, the first step was to remove the membrane on the one side of the ribs. This proved to take longer expected. Also, my ribs were about 5 pounds and the recipe used about 3 pounds, if I remember correctly.

I’d gotten it off of all the meat on the right and was working on this part when I asked Tiffany to get some pictures for me.

She made up the rub for me to put on it. I decided to use a rub instead of a lot of barbecue sauce, which I didn’t have at the time.

I used this recipe for the spice rub. I’ve used it before and liked it, so it was Tried and True. :)

Once I got off the membrane and rubbed the spice mix on it I realized mine was bigger and it wasn’t going to stand in the foodi the way they did on the recipe I was following. I decided to just let it fall over on itself.

Now, I am not one for sour things and usually reduce vinegar when called for but I knew that without the barbecue sauce for liquid in the pressure cooker (Foodi), I would NEED the the whole amount of vinegar. I hoped I’d just make up for it later in the sauce I was going to create. So I added the 1/2 cup of ACV (apple cider vinegar).

The recipe called for pressure cooking it for 30 minutes for 3-4 pounds of ribs, so I set mine for 40 minutes. They were super tender.

While it was cooking I whipped up a barbecue sauce with some tomato sauce I had–it turned out pretty good. I’ll share it after I make it again, so I can get the measurements right. I just put a bit of this and a bit of that and a bit more of this and mixed them all together. ;)

When they were done, I did as the recipe stated and poured out the juices from the pot and cleaned it out. Added the rack, placed some of the ribs on it with some bbq sauce and let the air crisper do its thing!

Here’s the recipe I followed: https://temeculablogs.com/ninja-foodi-ribs/ She has a ton of other Ninja Foodi recipes there. I’m looking forward to trying them out. :)

Tiffany and I had leftovers for lunch the next day and I had the little bit that was left on Tuesday. Yummo!

If you’ve thought about getting the Ninja Foodi, go ahead–I’m loving mine. It’s earned its place on the counter. I heated up my bit of ribs with the fryer function and added some seasoned cauliflower. Tasty in a fraction of the time it takes to make in the oven and quite a bit cooler too.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Super Bowl LIV Dinner

Tasty Tuesday

Michael likes to watch football, although the kids dislike it. I don’t care either way. I learned to at least understand the game shortly after we were first married. We used to get together with my parents and sister and her family for the big game and Mom would make homemade pizza. We did this for a number of years.

Then I was very committed to a diet I was on and pizza was off plan for several years but I managed to make something to go along. ;) Then for a couple years someone was on vacation or sick or we just were not interested in the game that year. It’s been a couple years now that we haven’t gotten together to watch the game.

Since the game comes on at 5:30 central, it is right around dinner time. So I made dinner food that was like game watching food. ;) I made garlic parmesan wings for Michael’s main meat.

Then Tiffany made the Eggplant “Queso”, which I had with pork rinds while the rest had some baked Tostitos chips.

It doesn’t look the best but it is pretty good for a queso made without cheese.

When I originally made this meal plan, this was it. But I’d planned ribs for dinner on Saturday but I wasn’t up to making them that night. Since I’d already thawed them, I needed to go ahead and cook them. Thus we had some amazing ribs. :) Fall off the bone tender with some good spice rub and homemade barbeque sauce.

I’ll share that recipe soon. I decided to share what we had even though the big game is over because it was just some good food that can be eaten any time. :)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

How to Find Meat Deals

Tasty Tuesday, Tips

The last couple of weeks I have been really getting some great meat deals! I thought I’d share with you how I found them.

So first up was a deal on chicken breasts at Aldi. The cheapest I’ve seen them is $1.49 a pound but then that was only like once or twice ever. $1.69 is the low I usually see. Well two weeks ago I saw that there were two $1 off stickers on some of the large packages of chicken breasts AND they were already at $1.49 a pound pricing.

Now the way you get the best deal per pound on the meat like that is to find the smallest packages because the $2 will be taken off the total. So if there were 5 pounds of chicken you’d be saving forty cents a pound but if there were only 4 pounds of meat then you are saving fifty cents a pound.

When I shop in our stores, I do a quick walk through the meat department looking for any sales or price reductions. I have found that Walmart has miscalculated the price per unit before, so if it doesn’t seem right, do the math yourself. ;)

Two weeks ago at Sprouts they had BOGO rump roasts and they were $4.99 a pound. So that meant that if I found two roasts the same weight (or very close to the same weight) they’d be $2.49 a pound but since Michael cannot eat beef right now and he didn’t have any work for nearly a month, that I should not spend that much money on meat he couldn’t eat. (Sorry for the incredibly long sentence!) Anyway, I checked it out again last week when we went and they’d raised the price per pound to $7.99! Uh yeah, that’s no bueno. :o Glad I didn’t want to buy any. :D

Last week I was on the Flipp app and clicked the grocery tab. I looked at my Sprouts, Aldi, and Walmart ads and saw Cash Saver. Now Cash Saver is a tricky store because they say they sell everything at cost + 10% added at the register. I personally don’t believe that is the case with every item in the store but believe that is the case with their sale items because each one of those has it listed on the price signs.

At any rate, they had chicken breast at 97¢ a pound, so that makes it $1.06 a pound which is the cheapest I can get it. We got 4 of their largest packages and had about twenty pounds of meat. Now those were frozen but frozen touching each other, so I had to put the in my refrigerator for them to thaw a bit so that I could separate them into individual breasts. (I place one in either a freezer or storage quart baggie and then put several of those into a gallon size bag so they don’t get lost in the freezer.

They also had whole pork butts on sale for $1.05 so that made it $1.15, which is also the cheapest I can get those. My low price has been $1.49 a pound so far. Now these were not frozen and came two to a package. So I individually wrapped them and froze them. I like to use freezer baggies. However, the one was too big, so I had to cut it and put it into two baggies but labeled them part a and b because one part had the bone and wouldn’t be a lot of meat all by itself. When I cook these up, we will have some for dinner but then I will bag the rest up for several more meals that will only require reheating/crisping. :)

Oh, to finish about Cash Saver, it is not a store I’ve ever gone to before. I did send Michael one time to a different one before because we get a flyer from a store in our county, but we don’t ever go to it. Since the store listed in the Flipp app ad was on the side of town and only a couple miles from Gardners (our used book store), I decided it would be good to check it out.

While at Cash Saver, I saw they had sausage for 89¢ pound, so it was only 97¢ a pound. Now here is where impulse buying is not good. This was meat and I didn’t even think to read the ingredient label. :p When I was filming a video for my meat bargains I saw that it had some things added for preserving flavor and later saw it also has MSG. SO…I probably won’t be buying that again but it did taste good. ;)

When I found turkeys at Walmart a few weeks ago at only 50¢ a pound, it was from just wandering through the meat department and actually looking at the turkey tags. I did this because I remembered one year overhearing a lady asking about turkey breasts that were just 30¢ or so a pound. So now I check around and after holidays for clearances. :)

So those are my tips:

  • check the local sale papers
  • check Flipp app and other such apps
  • walk through the meat department  looking for sales and reduced prices but be aware that when an item is marked down, the price per unit may not be accurate

I hope this post helps you find some meat bargains. I find meat is one of the most expensive things in my grocery budget, so finding bargains can really help lower the grocery bill.

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

THM Bouillon

Tasty Tuesday

We love this bouillon! It’s sooo good. It is fuel pull and can be used in either carb or fats meals. It really makes brown rice pasta taste great!

It’s also very simple to make.

First gather all the ingredients.

I do make a substitution though; it calls for thyme, which we don’t like, and so I substitute basil and oregano.

All ingredients get dumped into a blender.

Blend away.

Then pour it into a container. All it takes is 1 tablespoon of this mix to flavor a cup of water.

You can find the recipe on page 491 of the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook. Have you made it yet? Do you like it? How do you use it?

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Bake It, Make It Day

Bread, Tasty Tuesday,

Last Friday was my first bake/make day this year. I’m out of so many things that my list of things to bake and make was too long for me to handle. I did only spend about few hours making things but I just couldn’t do any more and function the rest of the day/night. ;)

I thought I’d share the few things I made with you today.

I started by making my sourdough pizza dough so that it would be ready for dinner time. From here it went into a slightly greased bowl with a lid on it and put inside my gas oven which keeps at about 90º, so it is nice and warm for it to rise. :)

I wish I’d have taken a picture of the finished pizza because it was soooo delicious!!! I use the recipe from Glenda Goff’s cookbook, Around the Family Table, for the dough and then add toppings as per THM’s Sprouted Pizza Crust directions from  the February 2015 ezine. I use finely shredded part-skim mozzarella, some fat-free cottage cheese, some turkey pepperoni, and veggies (on mine and hubby’s). I also serve it with a side salad to ensure we are not hungry again in 5 minutes. ;)

Here is a version of Glenda’s recipe on her blog, which I may just have to do for Super Bowl Sunday with my extended family . . . love cheese stuffed crust pizza, but it’s not for weekly pizza night and losing weight. ;)

I then fed my sourdough starter in preparation for bread baking day. :) Bread baking didn’t actually happen until yesterday when Tiffany made it. :)

Then I made a batch of Briana’s thick pancake syrup from her second cookbook.

I like thick syrup but this one was a bit too thick for me. I think I’ll decrease the amount of gluccie next time. :)

Next up was the FP Trimmy Thousand Island. I made a double batch, as I usually do.

I wrote about how I make this here. For a simple recipe, it sure does take me a while to make this. :( But I love having it though.

My onion has been very strong the last several times I’ve made this. So I may cut back on the onion next time. At least I like Vidalia onion dressing too. ;)

The final thing I made at that time was a loaf of Swiss bread from the Trim Healthy Mama Cookbook.

It’s a really easy recipe where the hardest thing to do was separate the eggs. Although I think I may beat the whites in my KitchenAid mixer next time instead of the food processor and then just fold in the remaining ingredients in an effort to get a higher loaf next time.

I used this for a grilled cheese and pepperoni sandwich for lunch the next day.

I also processed into crumbs for a chicken cordon bleu casserole and will use some in a meatloaf skillet tonight. :)

Well, that was my baking day. What do you prep bake/make?

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Homemade Low Carb “Bisquick” Biscuits

Bread, Breakfasts, Tasty Tuesday, ,

This makes a delightful “buttermilk” “biscuit” that is low carb. There is even a version that is also low fat, which I will be trying very soon.

I have to say, I wasn’t sure about trying this recipe from Nana’s Little Kitchen because I had to mix up a batch of the “Bisquick” and I wasn’t sure I’d like it. But it can be used for waffles and biscuits and several other things she had directions for on her site.

So, follow along as I show you how simple and quick these are to make.

Start by melting some butter in a ramekin, in the microwave for about 30 seconds.

I seldom use my microwave but have kept it for quick things like this from time to time. A quick 30 seconds and the butter is melted.

Swirl the butter around the ramekin and the pour into the other one to coat, pouring the last of the butter into a small mixing bowl.

Add the baking mix

Add egg and Greek yogurt

And remaining ingredients (baking soda, almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and cream–I used coconut cream because I had some that needed to be used) and stir to combine.

Divide between the two ramekins and bake individually. I let mine go for a minute or just a tad less. I stand there and watch as it cooks and remove when I think it is done.

Yeah, its’ a bit messy. I think I need ramekins that are just a tiny bit larger. :D

Turn out onto a rack to ensure they are not wet.

It has a nice crumb!!!

And here I used it in a breakfast sandwich.

So, head on over to Nana’s Little Kitchen and make this one. She has included a recipe for a single batch of her “bisquick” so that you can try it out (just scroll to the end of her post for FP pancakes).

Nana’s Little Kitchen Bisquick style low carb THM-S biscuits!

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

New Year’s Eve Eats

Tasty Tuesday

New Year’s Eve night is probably my favorite night of the year. When all goes according to plan, we get together with family, play games, and eat snacks. I love playing games with my family. But today I’m talking about the food. :)

I’m planning to make Taco Bites. I’ve done these in the past, before THM and Keto, so obviously I have to come up with something different. What I didn’t remember was that I did this last year too. ;) :D It’s funny because I searched again this year and happened upon the same recipe. :D But I did find this recipe as well, that looked good too; so you may want to consider this one. (There was also one more crust that looked interesting, here.)

undressed taco bites ~ Lifeofjoy.meI did read on another website that you should put the melted cheese around the outside of the muffin cup, rather than squish it inside of them. I will try that this year.

Muddy Buddies/Puppy Chow

We have made this before on Christmas Eve Eve and haven’t lately. Of course the original uses Chex cereal (rice is my preference) but that is NOT low carb, Keto, nor THM. :D We found this one over on Joy Filled Eats that we really love! The year I found it, we made it three or four times during that holiday season.

I don’t think we made it at all last year and I know we haven’t made it yet this year. But that will be corrected very soon. :)

While I was looking for the recipe above, I came across several other recipes using pork rinds. Problem with that is that Michael cannot eat those, so we don’t use that recipe. Then I also found a recipe where a lady makes her own low carb “cereal.” I may make a second batch trying out the “cereal” version.

I hope these recipes help you bring in the new year. :)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Breakfast Eggs and Caulirice

Breakfasts, Tasty Tuesday

When I’m really hungry or feeling the need to eat more veggies, this is one of my favorites. Of course, I never expected to like zucchini or cauliflower for breakfast but I’ve actually come to like it a lot. So I thought I’d share it with you today.

First cook the cauliflower. I let it go a bit too long today but it’s no big deal to me because I like my veggies very well done. ;)

I put as much as I want in my skillet and use my meat chopper to break the cauliflower up into rice size bits.

Add a bit of salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.

While the flavors meld and heat up (if it was pre-cooked), I cook up a couple of eggs, over easy.

Drizzle a bit of your favorite healthy oil over the caulirice and top with eggs.

If you need to get more veggies in your diet, I hope you’ll give this a try.

Print
Breakfast Eggs and Caulirice

Ingredients

  • Cauliflower, cooked
  • salt
  • pepper
  • nutritional yeast
  • eggs
  • healthy oil

Instructions

  1. Break the cauliflower into rice size pieces and season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast.
  2. Drizzle with healthy fat over the heated caulirice.
  3. Cook eggs as desired and serve over caulirice.
https://lifeofjoy.me/breakfast-eggs-and-caulirice/

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Chocolate Chip Cookies Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Gluten Free

Desserts, Tasty Tuesday, , ,

Lately Tiffany hasn’t done well with egg yolks or flax or peanut butter or chia and an abundance of cheese. It has made it difficult to make special treats but thanks to google search, we can generally find something we can work with.

I’m so thankful for this recipe, although it did need a few tweaks. We subbed cashew butter for sunflower or tahini butter, psyllium husk powder for flax seed meal, and gentle sweet for coconut sugar.

So let’s get to it.

We start by mixing together the coconut oil, cashew butter, and sweetener (we use THM Gentle Sweet).

I found that you can substitute powdered psyllium husk for the flaxmeal, thus making a psyllium egg instead of flax egg. This is important for us since Tiff is currently sensitive to egg yolk.

So next add the “egg”, vanilla and mix again. And then finally add the baking soda, salt, and coconut flour.

Now the recipe calls for chopped dark chocolate but Tiff usually just used chocolate chips. Looking at the pictures on the original webpage makes me want her to use some chopped chocolate instead of the chocolate chips.

Now Tiffany is usually in a hurry and doesn’t chill at all; she immediately drops them on the parchment cookie sheet and then bakes.

Then we bake, cool, and eat. :)

Of course, it only makes 12 cookies.

So follow the directions one bakerita.com and use 3/8 cup Gentle sweet in place of the 2/3 cup coconut sugar. Check out the recipe because they look amazing! I am going to have to push to have these made “the proper” way for similar results. ;)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº