Tuna Casserole

The Ingredients:

4 – 5 oz cans Tuna, packed in water, drained

6 oz. Fresh Green Beans, cut in 3rds

12 oz Cauliflower, cooked and chopped, about 2 cups

3 oz. Onions, diced

3 stalks Celery, chopped, 4 oz.

4 1/2 oz. Mushrooms, sliced

4 Tbsp Butter

8 oz. Marscapone or Cream Cheese

1/2 c. Heavy Cream

8 oz. Cheddar Cheese, shredded

2 tsp. Salt

What to Do:

Pre-heat oven to 375*

Cover green beans with water, boil for 10 minutes and drain.

Melt butter in a large saucepan over med-high heat. Add mushrooms, onions, celery and saute for about 5 minutes. Stir in marscapone or cream cheese, heavy cream, salt, green beans and cauliflower. Stir well and heat through, add tuna and mix thoroughly.

Pour into a 9×13″ casserole dish and spread evenly. Top with shredded cheese and bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes until cheese is golden and bubbly.

Makes 8 servings.

I served this over spaghetti squash as shown above in the photo.

Nutritional Information:

Sodium: 1028 mg     Fat: 36.44 g     Total carbs: 6.21 g     Fiber: 1.8 g          NetCarbs: 4.41 g     VeggieNetCarbs: 2.75 g     Protein: 21.88 g     Calories: 437

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Crab Benedict

This little number was a fabulous meal, very decadent and so so easy.

It consists of fresh Dungeness crab meat on the bottom, topped with 3 poached eggs and hollandaise sauce. I did not have any made, but some spaghetti squash would have been a perfect bed to lay all this on.

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If you are afraid of poaching eggs, don’t be! It’s easier than you think. Simply bring some water to boil with a little white vinegar added to it, turn heat off, crack your egg into a little bowl then carefully pour egg into hot water using a spoon to help the white stay near the yolk, the vinegar aides this as well and is the reason you need the vinegar in the water.Now, just cover the pot and let it poach for about 2-3 minutes, less if you like the whites a little runny, more if you don’t care for the runny yolks. Then simply remove egg from water with a slotted spoon, you can dab the egg a little with a paper towel to remove the excess moisture if you want.

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Here is a fabulous recipe that I got from my friend Barb for Hollandaise sauce.

Blender Hollandaise Sauce: 4 egg yolks, 2 Tbsp lemon juice, 1/4 tsp salt, pinch white pepper, 1/2 cup hot melted butter. Blend …yolks, lemon juice, salt and pepper at high-speed for about a half a minute, then start adding the butter drop by drop until it starts thickening, then in a slow steady stream. When about half the butter is in, you can speed things up a bit. Continue blending till thick and satiny. If desired you may add a drop or two of hot sauce. Be patient when starting to add the butter, if added too quickly you could cook the yolks, go slowly to temper them and get a perfect sauce.

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Now there is no excuse for not eating well. This dish, as does MANY others, proves that low carb is not about what you can’t have, it’s what you CAN have. Eat well and enjoy your food, there are too many options out there to say that you are bored with food choices while eating low carb.

Vegetable & Shrimp Stirfry

The Ingredients:

1-1/4 lbs. Large Shrimp, peeled & deveined (I used 18.7 oz.)

8 oz. Asparagus, cut into 2″ pieces

1 Orange Bell Pepper, chopped into 1″ pieces (5.7 oz)

1 Green Bell Pepper, chopped into 1″ pieces (5.9 oz)

8 oz. Mushrooms, stems cut off and halved

2 Zucchini squashes, halved and sliced (13.4 oz)

1/2 oz. Green onions/Scallions, chopped

5 oz. Sweet Onions, chopped into 1″ pieces

1/2 head of Cabbage slice thinly (13.9 oz)

4 cloves Garlic, smashed and minced

1 tsp. Gourmet Garden Ginger Paste (found in the produce aisle)

3 Tbsp. Soy Sauce

1 Tbsp. Corn Starch

2 packets of Truvia

1/3 c. Water

3 Tbsp. Canola Oil

1/4 – 1/2 tsp. Crushed Red Pepper Flakes, depending on what spice level you like

What to Do:

Combine water, soy sauce, Truvia and corn starch in a bowl and set aside.

Heat 2 Tbsp oil in a large Wok over Medium to Medium-high heat, Add all veggies except cabbage and ginger paste to hot Wok and stir-fry for 4 minutes, add cabbage and 4 Tbsp of soy mixture to veggies in the Wok and stir-fry for another 4 minutes. Remove from the Wok into another dish and cover.

Add last 1 Tbsp of oil to the Wok on stove, add Shrimp, ginger paste, red pepper flakes and remaining soy mixture. Stir fry Shrimp until cooked through, about 3-5 minutes.

Makes 8 servings

Sodium: 455mg     Fat: 6.77g     Fiber: 3.6g     Net Carbs: 8.68g          VeggieNet Carbs: 6.8g     Protein: 17.3g     Calories: 172

Ratios: Carb: 29%     Fat: 35%     Protein: 36%

My good friend Sandra asked me to remake her non-Atkins friendly recipe of this dish. I added more veggies and I like it a lot, I hope she, as well as all of you, enjoy it too.

Mexican Shrimp & Scallop Scampi

The Ingredients:

6 oz. Sea Scallops

8 oz. Shrimp, peeled and deveined (I used 51-60 count for this)

6 oz. White Mushrooms, halved

1/4 lg. Sweet Onion, sliced (5.3 oz)

4 Tbsp Butter

1/2 tsp. Ground Cumin

1/2 tsp. Chili Powder

2 Tbsp. Ketchup, reduced sugar

1/4 tsp. Cayenne Pepper

What to Do:

Melt butter in a large skillet over medium to medium-high heat.

Add onions, saute for 2 minutes, add mushrooms, saute for 2 more minutes, add spices and ketchup, stir well, add shrimp and stir and cook for about 4 minutes until shrimp are cooked through.

Remove from heat, cover and let rest for 2-3 minutes before serving.

Makes 3 servings

Sodium: 506mg     Fat: 17.74g     Fiber: 1.2g     Net Carbs: 8.28g          VeggieNet Carbs: 4.61g     Protein: 30.46g     Calories: 317

Ratios:     Carbs: 12%     Fat: 50%     Protein: 38%

This is also really good topped with some sliced avocado and sour cream.

Clam Chowder

THE INGREDIENTS

2 small Onions, diced (12 oz)

1 bunch Celery Hearts, chopped (7.7 oz.)

8 Green Onions/Scallions, chopped (1.7 oz)

3 – 6.5 oz cans Chopped Clams, drained, juice reserved

2 – 8 oz. Bottles Clam Juice

8 Tbsp. Unsalted Butter

3 small Turnips, peeled & cut into chunks (17.7 oz)

4 oz. Sharp Cheddar Cheese, shredded

1 c. Heavy Whipping Cream

1/2 tsp. White Pepper

1 tsp. Dill, dried

2 Tbsp. Parsley, dried

8 slices Bacon, cut into 1/2″ pieces

12 oz. bag Frozen Cauliflower, cooked and mashed

What to Do:

Fry bacon in large stockpot over Med-high heat until crisp, remove bacon and set aside.

Reduce heat to medium, add butter, melt and add onions and celery and saute for 5 minutes, add clam juice and bring to boil over med-high heat.

Add turnips and spices, return to boil and reduce to medium heat, cover and cook for 10 minutes.

Remove lid, add clams, green onions, bacon bits, cheese and cream, stir well until cheese is melted, stir in mashed cauliflower.

Makes 8 servings

Sodium: 592mg     Fat: 33.47g     Fiber: 3.3g     Net Carbs: 11.31g           VeggieNet Carbs: 7.43g     Protein: 12.8g     Calories: 410

Ratios:   Carbohydrate: 15%     Fat: 73%     Protein: 12%

I made this again tonight but added a block of cream cheese into the cauliflower mashed and I love the results. Updated 2-7-2016

Tuna Cakes

The Ingredients:

2- 5oz. cans Chicken of the Sea Solid White Albacore Tuna in water, drained

2 Tbsp Golden Flaxmeal

1 oz. minced Fresh Onion

1 tsp dried parsley flakes

1/2 tsp Garlic Salt

1 tsp Dijon Mustard

1/4 tsp dill, dried

1/4 tsp coarse salt

1/4 tsp white Pepper

2 Tbsp Grated Parmesan

1 Tbsp Mayonnaise

2 large Eggs

2 Tbsp Butter

What to do:

Mix all ingredients, except butter, in a medium-sized bowl until combined thoroughly.

Heat a skillet over medium heat with butter in it until hot.

Take 1/4 of mixture and press into a patty in the pan and fry each patty for 4 minutes per side, flipping carefully.  I was able to fry 2 patties at a time in a 10″ skillet.

Makes 4 servings.

Nutritional Information Per Serving:

Ratios:  Carbohydrate 8%    Fat 42%     Protein 50%

Sodium: 483mg      Fat: 5.43g      Fiber: 1.2g     NetCarbs: 0.99             VeggieNetCarbs: 0.46      Protein: 14.89g      Calories: 115

Serve with Dill Tartar Sauce.

These are SO good, my husband even ate 2 of them as soon as I made them! He doesn’t eat low carb, but wants me to make these more often!

Shrimp & Veggie Salad

The Salad ingredients:

1 lb. Medium sized Prawns in the shell

2 med. sized cans Slice Black Olives (7.4 oz drained weight)

3.5 oz jar Non-pareil Capers (2.3 oz drained weight)

3.7 oz Onions, finely diced (about 1/2 medium onion)

13.5 oz radishes (2 bunches) quartered or cut into 6th’s for large ones

Zattarains Crab boil concentrate (2 Tbsp) or traditional bag of spices

What to do:

Bring 2-3 quarts of water to boil in a large pot and add crab boil seasonings and shrimp. Return to boil and let cook for 2-3 minutes until cooked through. Remove shrimp from water and cool off in ice-cold water. Peel all shrimp and coarsely chop.

Mix all chopped veggies and shrimp in a large bowl and toss with dressing (recipe to follow)

Dressing Ingredients:

1 tsp Celery Seed

2 pkts. Truvia

1 tsp Lemon Juice

2 tsp. Grey Poupon Country Dijon

2 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar

1/2 tsp Salt

1/4 tsp White Pepper

1 1/4 c. Best Foods Olive Oil Mayonnaise

Mix all ingredients with a wire whisk and stir into Salad.

Makes 8 servings at 6 ounces each.

Ratios:  carbs 12%     Fat 64%     Protein 24%

Sodium: 1024mg     Fat: 16.47g     Fiber: 2.0g     Net Carbs: 4.98

Veggie Net Carbs: 2.68g     Protein: 12.41g     Calories: 232

Baked Salmon with Sweet Sauce

This dish is so simple it doesn’t even need a recipe.

All you need is nice piece of Salmon

Mix Best Foods Olive Oil Mayonnaise (1-2 Tbsp) with 1 packet of Truvia and spread it evenly over the salmon fillet.

Line a baking sheet with foil, place salmon on foil and bake at 400 degress for about 12-14 minutes then broil for about 2 minutes keeping an eye on it so the top doesn’t burn.

Enjoy!