Down Days recipes ONLY

[gharkness]

OK, I have been asked to post this gluten-free quick bread. I have adapted it to my standards from the recipe on this website (Ginny's Low Carb Kitchen). Click on the link to see the differences between versions.

http://ginnyslowcarbkitchen.blogspot...-variation.htm

My go-to "bread"

1 T. coconut flour
2 T. parmesan cheese
1/8 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp. onion powder
1/3 tsp. caraway seeds (entirely optional)
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. xanthan gum (optional, but improves texture)

Stir these together to get rid of any lumps. Then, add

1 egg or 1/3 C egg beaters
1 tsp. your favorite kind of oil

Stir this in and allow to thicken for a minute. You will need to add a little more water, but not too much. You want it to be thick enough so that when you put it in the cooking container you will have to whack the container on the counter a couple of times to flatten it out.

Scrape into a round, flattish bowl, or one of those bread-shaped containers, and nuke on high for about 1 minute 20. Upend onto clean paper towel to cool a couple minutes and slice in half to make two pieces.

This is the ONLY bread sub I have ever really liked (except for my chocolate bread that I use to make pb and jelly sandwiches with). You can toast it, use it for grilled cheese, make a sausage-egg-cheese-biscuit with it, and once you have the ingredients, it's less than 5 minutes from "I wish I had a sandwich" to "yummy"!

[gharkness]

And now, here is the Chocolate Bread I use (on my UP Days...again, it's gluten free and makes a "mean" peanut-butter and jelly sandwich). This is also from Ginny's Low Carb Kitchen, at this link:

Ginny's Low Carb Kitchen: Chocolate Peanut Butter and Caramel Sandwich, LC, GF

I don't use the caramel variation because I really do not like the Walden Farms products....but you might!

Chocolate Bread for a Chocolate-Peanut Butter (and jelly) Sandwich

1 tablespoon coconut flour
2 tablespoons cocoa powder

1/8 teaspoon xanthan gum
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
sweetener equal to 1/4 cup sugar - I always use liquid sweetener

1 large egg or 1/3 cup eggbeaters

2 tablespoons kefir, sour cream or greek yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract (or use almond extract or coconut, or your favorite flavor extract)

1 teaspoon your favorite oil
2T (approx) DaVinci syrup (I use French Vanilla or Caramel)


Stir all together and allow to sit long enough to soak up the dry coconut flour. Add a little more DaVinci as needed to keep from being too dry. Be sure to taste to make sure it's the right sweetness level for you.

You want it to be thick enough so that when you put it in the cooking container you will have to whack the container on the counter a couple of times to flatten it out.

Scrape into a round, flattish bowl, or one of those bread-shaped containers, and nuke on high for about 1 minute 20. Upend onto clean paper towel to cool a couple minutes and slice in half to make two pieces.

You know what to do with it next!

[Wine2]

Originally Posted by Dottie

I love chicken cooked with capers and sun dried tomatoes, I bet that would work, too

Good one! The sausage will trap those little capers and pieces of sundried tomatoes so they are in every bite, too! Can you tell it's a DD day for me? I'm saving my calories until dinner, which is still a few hours away being in California! Hmmmm...maybe some broth with a dash of Frank's sauce will hold me til then!

[piratejenny]

I couldn't figure out what you meant by "bread shaped container"...do you mean a sandwich container, like the Wonder Bread one? What a cute idea!

[gharkness]

Originally Posted by piratejenny

I couldn't figure out what you meant by "bread shaped container"...do you mean a sandwich container, like the Wonder Bread one? What a cute idea!

Yes, exactly!

[KeirasMom]

I have seen those and thought that would be cute for minute breads. Are they nuke-able?

[gharkness]

I have nuked them....some people are concerned about nuking plastics....but that's up to you...

[Wine2]

This is good REALLY lowcal dressing:

Basil Vinaigrette Dressing

1/3 cup fresh basil
1/3 cup white wine vinegar
1 tblsp olive oil
1 tblsp Dijon mustard
1 clove garlic
½ tsp. black pepper
In a small jar, mix all the ingredients of the basil vinaigrette. Shake well.

[piratejenny]

Oh, that reminds me of a super-simple low-cal dressing I haven't used/made in a while, because of the carbs:

orange juice
balsamic vinegar
rosemary


Sorry, I do not remember the proportions but I would guess 2 parts OJ to 1 part BV, or to taste. You can just squeeze a half or quarter orange over your greens, too!
It's so yummy--especially on arugula, IMO.

You could add slices of garlic & some of the orange zest and let it sit for a while, to infuse the vinegar with more flavor.

Tasty hint: get an extra pepper grinder and put rosemary (dry leaves) in it instead.
I use this almost every day with soups, salads, eggplant/sausage/chicken/meatball parmigiana, pasta, pizza, garlic bread, etc!
It tastes & smells so good & fresh! Although I do like to roll rosemary in my hands, it's sort of prickly and the grinder breaks it into smaller pieces.

[Wine2]

Originally Posted by piratejenny

Oh, that reminds me of a super-simple low-cal dressing I haven't used/made in a while, because of the carbs:

orange juice
balsamic vinegar
rosemary

Yes, I forgot about OJ now!! This sounds really good!

[MintQ8]

I don't have cals - but thinking of low cal dressings I used to love this:

Yoghurt (ff - if you want lower cals)
some salt & pepper
some oregano
(garlic salt if you don't want normal salt)
splash of lemon juice
(could have a splash of hot sauce too)

Mix together - and pour over salad.

I haven't used the Gluc (?) powder - but adding some of that (small amount I imagine!!) it would make quite a thick creamy salad dressing.

[Chona]

Originally Posted by Dottie

If you can find it, there's a spice blend called Slap Ya Mama that you can get in mild or hot. The hot it actually hot! But it's not overly salty and has a lot of flavor with the heat. It's a dry blend, usually with the cajun blends, mrs dash and things like that. Cheri mentioned it and I found it and just love it!

OMG!! I love that name. Reminds me of what my son would like to do to me at times.

[MintQ8]

I bought my mum, Kissa, a wonderful bottle called (no offense I hope! - starred just in case!)

Slap your a*** and call me Cindy (her name!!)

Lol!!

[KeirasMom]

There's a place in Baker, CA (on the way to Las Vegas for me), called Alien Jerky. They have all kinds of jerkys as well as a ton of different hot sauces. I love browsing the hot sauces and laughing at all the crazy names they come up with!

[Alcestis]

Ingredients

1 whole garlic bulb
2 sprays of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
10 1/2 oz sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken broth
4 oz green beans
pepper
4 tbsp lowfat plain yogurt

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Pull the garlic bulb apart and put in small roasting pan. Roast in oven for 20 minutes or until soft. Remove and let cool before squeezing out the soft insides. Set aside.

Heat the oil in pan, add onion and sweet potato and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to boil. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and roasted garlic and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

Set aside 2 tbsp of green beans and puree soup. Add reserved beans with pepper to taste and heat through.

Divide between 4 bowls, swirl a spoonful of yogurt in each. Serve.

Number of Servings: 4
Calories per Serving: 97
__________________________________________________ _________
I changed this by just using minced garlic and throwing it in with the onion. I put in 1lb of sweet potato. I also think you could use sour cream instead of yoghurt and just adjust the calories.

[Wine2]

Originally Posted by Alcestis

Ingredients

1 whole garlic bulb
2 sprays of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
10 1/2 oz sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken broth
4 oz green beans
pepper
4 tbsp lowfat plain yogurt

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Pull the garlic bulb apart and put in small roasting pan. Roast in oven for 20 minutes or until soft. Remove and let cool before squeezing out the soft insides. Set aside.

Heat the oil in pan, add onion and sweet potato and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to boil. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and roasted garlic and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

Set aside 2 tbsp of green beans and puree soup. Add reserved beans with pepper to taste and heat through.

Divide between 4 bowls, swirl a spoonful of yogurt in each. Serve.

Number of Servings: 4
Calories per Serving: 97
__________________________________________________ _________
I changed this by just using minced garlic and throwing it in with the onion. I put in 1lb of sweet potato. I also think you could use sour cream instead of yoghurt and just adjust the calories.

[Beeb]

After Dottie's post about making chicken sausage I had to try my idea. All I can say is these turned about amazing and VERY filling!! I got 4 servings of 3oz each patties at 60 calories each! If you have the calories you can make 2 BIG patties for 120 calories each instead of the 4!

Buffalo Chicken Sausage Patties:

Ingredients:

1/4 cup chopped onions (may add less next time)
1 clove garlic
1 small stalk celery, chopped
1 large mushrooms, sliced
1 to 2 TBS psyllium husk, or 1/2 to 1 tsp gluc powder (add less and then add more if the meat mixture seems too wet to handle)
1/8 tsp fennel or caraway seeds
1/8 tsp allspice
1/8 to 1/4 tsp paprika
Salt and Pepper to taste
8 oz boneless, skinless chicken breast, partially frozen and cut into bit size pieces
Hot Sauce to taste (I also added Popcorn Buffalo Chicken spice to mine but it really didn't do much. Also, use a little more hot sauce than you think you should because it kinda gets lost in the meat mixture and I had to add some after it was cooked to get that "buffalo chicken" taste I love)
Optional: Add 1 wedge of Laughing Cow Blue Cheese to the mixture. This will add 9 calories per each 4 patties (69 cals) or 18 calories for each 2 patties (78 cals).

Making the Patties:

In food processor put the onions, garlic clove, celery, psyllium or gluc powder, fennel or caraway seeds, allspice, paprika, salt and pepper. processor until finely chopped and well mixed.

Add partially frozen chicken pieces and hot sauce. Process until well mixed with other ingredients and it looks like it will hold together well when shaped into patties.

Measure out 3oz or 4oz of meat, roll into a ball and then form into a patty. Do this until all the meat is formed into patties. Wrap individually in plastic wrap and freeze until needed.

To Cook: Remove from freezer and add to a pan sprayed with cooking spray and pan fry until done, about 8 minutes on each side.

I had mine on a Lcal wrap with a wedge of Laughing Cow Blue Cheese, lettuce and Walden Farms bacon/ranch dressing. OMG it was SO good!! I could see using this sausage crumbles after cooking in a salad or omelet!

Nutrition Facts
Serving Size 1 Serving

Amount Per Serving
Calories from Fat 2
Calories 60

% Daily Values*
Total Fat 0.27g 0%
Saturated Fat 0.006g 0%
Polyunsaturated Fat 0.014g
Monounsaturated Fat 0.004g
Cholesterol 28mg 9%
Sodium 24mg 1%
Potassium 34mg
Total Carbohydrate 1.22g 0%
Dietary Fiber 0.2g 1%
Sugars 0.54g
Protein 13.2g

[KeirasMom]

These sound so good I'm going to cry. I think I need to try this with my mango habanero sauce.

[Beeb]

Originally Posted by KeirasMom

These sound so good I'm going to cry. I think I need to try this with my mango habanero sauce.

OH........

[Dottie]

Those sound great! I like the idea of psyllium to make them drier and add fiber

[kris4chloe]

Originally Posted by Alcestis

Ingredients

1 whole garlic bulb
2 sprays of olive oil
1 onion, chopped
10 1/2 oz sweet potatoes, peeled and chopped
4 cups chicken broth
4 oz green beans
pepper
4 tbsp lowfat plain yogurt

Directions
Preheat oven to 375. Pull the garlic bulb apart and put in small roasting pan. Roast in oven for 20 minutes or until soft. Remove and let cool before squeezing out the soft insides. Set aside.

Heat the oil in pan, add onion and sweet potato and cook, stirring constantly for 5 minutes. Add the stock and bring to boil. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Add the green beans and roasted garlic and continue to simmer for 10 minutes.

Set aside 2 tbsp of green beans and puree soup. Add reserved beans with pepper to taste and heat through.

Divide between 4 bowls, swirl a spoonful of yogurt in each. Serve.

Number of Servings: 4
Calories per Serving: 97
__________________________________________________ _________
I changed this by just using minced garlic and throwing it in with the onion. I put in 1lb of sweet potato. I also think you could use sour cream instead of yoghurt and just adjust the calories.

this looks very good. gonna give it a try and looks simple to make

[MintQ8]

All looking yummy - must do something along these lines when we get home.

[JKat]

i have to try the sweet potato soup :-) thanks for sharing

[Dottie]

This was in the hungry-girl newsletter and it looks good

Fully Loaded Egg Rolls

PER SERVING (1/8th of recipe, 1 egg roll): 109 calories, 1.5g fat, 380mg sodium, 15g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g sugars, 9g protein -- PointsPlus® value 3*

We loaded up our baked egg rolls with meaty goodies and MORE. These need to be tasted to be believed...

Ingredients:
2 1/2 tbsp. reduced-sodium/lite soy sauce
1/2 tsp. sugar (or granulated no-calorie sweetener)
4 oz. raw boneless pork tenderloin, finely chopped
3 cups dry coleslaw mix
One 6-oz. can (4 oz. drained) tiny shrimp, drained
1/4 cup chopped bean sprouts
2 scallions, chopped
1 stalk celery, thinly sliced widthwise
2 tsp. crushed garlic
1 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. ground ginger
1/8 tsp. black pepper
8 large square egg roll wrappers (stocked with the refrigerated Asian items in the supermarket)
Optional dip: sweet & sour sauce



Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a large baking sheet with nonstick spray.

In a small bowl, mix 1/2 tablespoon soy sauce with sugar. Add pork and coat well. Cover and marinate in the fridge for 10 minutes.

Bring a skillet sprayed with nonstick spray to medium-high heat on the stove. Add coleslaw mix, pork, and any excess marinade. Cook and stir for 3 - 5 minutes, until pork is cooked through. Transfer to a large bowl.

Add remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce to the bowl. Add all other remaining ingredients except wrappers and optional dip. Mix well. For added flavor intensity, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes (optional).

Lay an egg roll wrapper flat on a dry surface. Evenly distribute 1/8th of slaw mixture (about 1/3 cup) in a row a little below the center of the wrapper. Moisten all four edges by dabbing your fingers in water and going over the edges smoothly. Fold the sides about 3/4 inch toward the middle, to keep mixture from falling out. Roll the wrapper up around the mixture and continue to the top.

Seal with a dab of water. Place on the baking sheet, and repeat with remaining wrappers.

Spray egg rolls with nonstick spray. Bake in the oven until golden brown, 25 - 30 minutes.

If you like, slice in half and dunk in sweet & sour sauce!

MAKES 8 SERVINGS

[Alcestis]

I can now fully recommend the sweet potato soup

[gharkness]

Originally Posted by Alcestis

I can now fully recommend the sweet potato soup

I'm really glad to hear that because.....guess what's for lunch?

I didn't taste it much when I made it last night. Figured I'd just enjoy it today as part of my DD.

[gello5440]

Do you think canned pumpkin could be subbed for the sweet potatoes? Would the flavors still work?

[gharkness]

Originally Posted by gello5440

Do you think canned pumpkin could be subbed for the sweet potatoes? Would the flavors still work?

Not sure whether you were asking me, but I would definitely say so. Also, if you have any winter squash (like butternut), that would work as well. Lower calories and carbs than sweet potatoes....but sweet potatoes happen to be what I have at the time

[gello5440]

Thanks gharkness. I've got 2/3 of a large can of pumpkin left and I'm off work on a snow day! so I think I'll make this up and try it out. So appreciate your quick reply.

Gail

[Wine2]

Dottie, I just happen to have some eggrolls and stuff in my fridge to make the Fully Loaded Egg Rolls tonight!

Also I read an interesting way to use egg rolls that I want to try as well! Take egg roll, place two pieces of salami or pepperoni on end nearest you, add 1 string cheese roll half way up, tuck sides and finish rolling. Secure with toothpick if you're challenged like me. dip in eggbetter and fry in skillet turning frequently. Alternative is to spray with oil and bake. Sounds like a mini pizza to me, esp. if after it's cooked you dip it into a maranara sauce!!