Easy Caesar Salad Dressing

Into a blender add:

• 4 heaping (really heaping) tablespoons of mayonnaise.  So it’s probably more like 8 tablespoons.
• 2 cloves of crushed and chopped garlic
• 1 lemon, zested and juiced
• 1 tin of anchovies
• 1/2 cup grated parmigiano cheese
• 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon course ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil (EVOO)

Place mayo, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, anchovies, parm cheese, Worcestershire sauce and black pepper into blender and blend on low/medium.  Stream the EVOO slowly into the blender on low.  Once oil is combined stop blender.  If you over blend, it will break and instead of being creamy, it will look grainy but taste fine.

Homemade Simple Marinara Sauce Recipe

For this recipe I use the really big can of crushed tomatoes that Costco sells.  I divide the recipe into 2 half gallon mason jars.  You can freeze one or you can pull the air from the jar to help it keep longer in the frig.  I use a FoodSaver.

If you don’t have half gallon jars, you can mix everything up and then store in smaller jars or in storage bags.

Divide the 53 ounce can of crushed tomatoes evenly between 2 half gallon jars.  Then to each jar add:

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried thyme

1 tsp dried oregano

1tsp dried parsley

2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Blend with an immersion blender.  No need to heat.

The uses for this are endless.  You can pour out just what you need.  Having this in the fridge really cuts lunch or dinner prep time.

1/2 cup of this sauce will have about 3 g of carbs and about 85 calories.

 

Resistent Starch (Low Carb) Potato Salad

According to Wikipedia:

Resistant starch (RS) refers to starch and starch degradation products that escape from digestion in the small intestine of healthy individuals. Resistant starch occurs naturally in foods but is also added to foods by the addition of isolated or manufactured types of resistant starch.

Potatoes are a resistant starch under certain conditions:

When potatoes are cooked and then cooled in the refrigerator, their digestible starches convert into resistant starch through a process called retrogradation. In fact, one European Journal of Clinical Nutrition study reported a 57 percent increase in resistant starch after refrigerating their spuds for 24 hours!  (click link above for source of quote)

Cold potatoes don’t sound too good unless you think POTATO SALAD!

Ingredients:

• 3 pounds red or purple potatoes, quartered or cut into similar bite size pieces.
• About 10-15 dill pickles chopped (add to taste)
• 1/2 yellow onion – small dices
• 2-3 stalks of celery – small dices
• 3 green onions, whites and greens.
• 1/2 cup mayo (use Hellmann’s Best for a gluten free recipe)
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 3 tablespoons yellow mustard
• 2 heaping tablespoons chopped fresh dill
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

• The day before, clean and quarter the potatoes.  Bring a pot of water to a boil.  Drop potatoes and set timer for 15 minutes.  When finished, drain potatoes and cool in ice water to stop cooking.  Drain again once cooled and store in the frig overnight.
• Add mayo, apple cider vinegar, mustard, dill, salt and pepper to a big mixing bowl and mix this dressing.
• Add potatoes, onions, celery and green onions to bowl.
• Check seasoning and add salt/pepper as needed.

What’s your favorite resistant starch?

The Best VERY Low Carb Pizza Crust Recipe

Pizza is my favorite food and since finding out that I’m gluten intolerant, I’ve tried A LOT of different pizza crust options.  I’ve tried the cauliflower crust, Bob’s Red Mill low carb crust (good but not as low carb), making my own with various “flours”, and this is the lowest in carbs.  And, more importantly, it tastes better than the cauliflower and as good as Bob’s Mill.

So here goes …

Crust Ingredients

• 1 pound of very lean meat like chicken breast or turkey breast. Lean is key.
• 3/4 cup of your favorite cheese like cheddar, mozzarella or monterey jack – something that melts well.

Cooking Instructions

1. Cook the meat.  You can boil it or microwave it or bake it.  It needs to be dry.  Don’t use any oils to cook it.  And dry it after it’s cooked to remove in fat or water that may be there.
2. Preheat your oven to 425 F.
3. Put the cooked, dry meat into a food processor and add 3/4 cup of cheese.  Process until it turns into what looks like a dough ball.
4. Oil whatever pan you’re going to use.  I typically use a 13 inch round pizza pan, but you can use a cookie sheet or whatever you have.  I have used both olive oil and coconut oil and they both work fine.
5. Press the dough onto the pan with your fingers until you get the thickness you want.  I like mine relatively thin so I press it to the edge of the 13 inch round pizza pan.
6. Bake for 9 to 14 minutes depending on how thick it is and how crispy you like it.
7. Remove from oven and put your sauce and toppings on.  The crust is dry, so you’ll want to use some tomatoes or sauce.  Also make sure that you season your sauce or tomatoes well since the crust does not have any seasoning.  Yes, you can add seasoning to the “dough” if you like, but I usually forget for some reason.
8. Bake for another 9 minutes or to the doneness you like.

The only carbs in the crust will be those in the cheese you use and of course the toppings you use.

Let me know how you like it and any variations you try!

Easy Homemade Organic Dark Chocolate Recipe| Gluten Free Soy Free Corn Free Sugar Free

I recently found out that I’m sensitive to gluten, soy and corn.  Corn is in everything!  I also try to limit my sugar intake.  As I’ve been looking more and more at labels I’ve noticed things in chocolate that I don’t really want to ingest.  So I started an experiment to see if I could make great tasting chocolate without much effort and that would be gluten free, soy free, corn free and maybe even sugar free.

This dark chocolate recipe is organic and very easy to make.  It is also low carb and Paleo Diet approved.  It’s a great low calorie substitution for dark chocolate.

INGREDIANTS:

•  1/2 cup organic coconut oil
• 1/2 cup organic cocoa powder
• Sweetener of choice
• 1/4 tsp organic instant coffee
• 1/2 tsp organic vanilla extract*
• a pinch of sea salt

For sweeteners, here are some options:

• 6 packets of Stevia (this is my favorite)
• Liquid Stevia
• Organic honey
• Organic maple syrup

TIP:  Don’t use granulated sugars, they don’t dissolve and so your sugar does not get mixed in.  The liquid sweeteners seem to dissolve and get dispersed the best.  Because I use packets of Stevia, I just make sure that I stir often during pouring process.

Microwave the coconut oil for about 30 secs, a little more if not completely melted.  Once it’s all melted add the cocoa powder, sweetener, instant coffee and vanilla.

TIP:  Taste it at this point to see if your sweetness is where you want it.

Stir well and pour into mold — stir during pouring process.  OPTION:  Grind some sea salt over the chocolate.

Store the molds in fridge for 15 minutes or more until the chocolate is hardened.

I love these great chocolate molds.

Remove your yummy dark chocolates from the molds by pushing from the back of the mold.

TIP:  If you don’t have the molds you can use ice cube trays or just pour into any container and break the chocolate into pieces after it sets.

Store your chocolate in a container or bag in the FRIDGE.  Because this is made with coconut oil it will start to melt at room temperature.

TIP:  When I take this to parties or potlucks I put ice in one container and then nest the second one with the chocolates in it on top of the ice so that they stay cool and don’t melt.

OPTIONS:

• Add your favorite nut to the mold before pouring the chocolate in.  I like almonds, but you can use walnuts, hazelnuts, peanuts, cashews or anything you like.
• Add a dried fruit into the mold before pouring the chocolate in.  Dried cherries, or anything you like.
• Try using flavored liquid Stevia’s.
• Use extracts* other than vanilla.

* If you’re allergic to corn, be careful with the extract you choose.  Some are derived from corn.

Healthy Spicy Hummus | Healthy Easy Appetizer

Whenever I need a quick appetizer, I make this healthy, spicy, low calorie hummus.  It’s quick to make and I serve it with some colorful green, yellow and orange bell peppers.

Put these ingredients into a food processor and start to blend:

•  1 can chickpeas, mostly drained (but not all the way)
• 1 can other creamy white bean, mostly drained (but not all the way)
• 2 tbls tahini paste
• 1 tsp crushed red peppers  (or more if you like it even spicier)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp ground coriander
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• course sea salt to taste

 

Drizzle in while food processor is going:

•  EVOO to make as creamy as you like (I don’t measure it, but it’s probably about 1/8 cup).  It depends on how much of the bean juice you left in the can.  The more bean juice you have, the less EVOO you need — a healthy, low calorie substitution.  But don’t replace all the EVOO!
• 1/8 cup lemon juice or more to taste

 

Stop food processor:

Taste and adjust salt and lemon juice as desired.

Start food processor to combine anything you added.

 

Keeps for about 1 week in the fridge.

Belly Fat Cure Recipe Chicken Enchiladas with creamy green chili sauce (4/1)

This is one of my favorite Belly Fat Cure recipes that I’ve created.  The use of store bought roasted chicken makes it a fast, easy recipe.  The enchilada sauce is so good, that I’ve also made other types of enchiladas with the same sauce. 

This is a BFC recipe that you can make as spicy as you like based on how hot and how many of the chilis you use.  I like it hot, so I use hot ones and more than the recipe calls for.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 Tortillas – I use Xtreme Wellness tortillas with 5 carbs and 0 sugars each.  They are awesome.  I get them at Walmart.  I’m not sure how they only have 5 carbs because they also have 12 g fiber, but they are great tasting.
• 1  roasted chicken from your grocery’s deli (there will be plenty left over to make this a few times).  0g sugar, 0g carbs
• 1/2 cup of Mexican Four Cheese Blend (or Monterey Jack or whatever you like). 2g carb, 0g sugar
• 1/2 cup finely chopped onion (a 6-7 ounce whole onion is about 9 carbs and 4 sugars).  The key is to measure your onion since onions have a signicificant amount of sugar.
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon butter. 0g carbs, 0g sugar
• 1 tablespoon and 1 teaspoon soy flour or whatever low sugar flour you can find. Soy has 3.5g carbs, 1.5g sugar
• 2/3 cup chicken or vegetable broth. 0g carbs, 0g sugar
• 1/3 cup sour cream. 1.3g carbs, 1.3g sugar (You may be able to find a brand with 0 sugar.)
• 4 oz can of green chiles or 4 oz of fresh green chilis. I almost always have some hot hatch green chilis on hand, but you can get mild ones and you can get them in a can. 6g carbs, 0g sugars
• fresh cilantro to garnish if you like

That is a total of 31.8g carbs and 6.8g sugar for 2 people.  So each serving is 15.9g carbs and 3.4g sugar.  To make sure I can’t eat 2 of these, I stuff them with chicken.

DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. Chop the 1/2 cup onion.  If you don’t like crunchy onions, then saute them.  If you like cruncy don’t.  When I saute them I just use a little water to keep the fat content down.
3. Take enough chicken off your store bought roast chicken to stuff 2 medium sized tortillas.
4. Divide the chicken, most of the cheese (save some cheese to put on top) and onion between the 2 tortillas.  Roll up the tortilla.  When I do this, because I like them full, there is not a lot of overlap. 
5. Put the tortilla, seam side down in a greased pan.  (Just spray the pan with a nonstick spray or  I use an oil spritzer.)
6. Make the enchilada sauce (best part of recipe!):  melt the butter in a saucepan over medium heat.  Add the flour and whisk until mixture begins to boil.  Slowly add broth, stirring with a whisk until thickened.  Mix in the sour crean and chiles, continue stirring, heat thoroughly but do not boil.  Pour mixture over the enchiladas.
7. Top with remaining cheese, bake for 20 minutes or until heated through. 
8. Garnish with cilantro if you like it (I don’t) and serve with a Mich2lob Ultra.  Yum and only 2.6g carbs, 0g sugar.

So that’s a Belly Fat Cure recipe with 4 sugars (rounding up) and 1 carb unit or a 4/1 per serving.  The tortillas I use are medium sized and I put quite a bit of chicken in each one.  Sometimes I can only eat half.

I’m making this tonight for a party so I will be making 3X this recipe to fill a whole 9×13 glass baking dish (I love this pan) with six of them.  I’m also going to alternate between the wheat tortilla and a tomato basil tortilla (also by Xtreame Wellness) to give it a nice look. 

Let me know what you think!

Belly Fat Cure Recipe Frozen Hot Chocolate (2/1)

I created this recipe because from time to time I have a chocolate craving and I loved the Dairy Queen Frozen Hot Chocolate when they had it.  So I made low calorie, low sugar substitions to make a Belly Fat Cure version.

This is a Belly Fat Cure (BFC) recipe with 2 grams of sugar and 1 carb unit.  1 carb unit in the BFC is 20 grams.  So this is  a 2/1 Belly Fat Cure recipe.

1 package Diet Swiss Miss Hot Chocolate mix (4g carbs, 2g sugars)
1.5 tsp sugar alchol.  I use Xlear Xylosweet (8g carbs, 0g sugars)
1 tbsp hersey cocoa (3g carbs, 0g sugars)
1/2 cup cream (8g carbs, 0g sugars)
1 cup water (0g carbs, 0g sugars)
2-3 ice cubes based on desired thickness  (you can add more ice and then reduce the water to make it thicker)

Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until ice is blended.  I use a Vita Mix blender and it takes less than 30 seconds!  Serve with whip cream if you like!  It’s a really good chocolate fix. 

I make this about once a week, typically on a day when I have not had all six of my carb units.  I made this for my sister Laura when she was visiting last week and she loved it even though she’s not dieting.  She asked me to post this — so this is for you little sis!

Easy Baked Chicken with Goat Cheese Belly Fat Cure BFC 1/0

This is a really easy, healthy, and a really good Belly Fat Cure BFC recipe.  It has 1 sugars and 0 carb units.  I’ve adapted this recipe from one I saw on the Food Network by the Barefoot Contessia.  Tasty receipes for chicken are hard to come by — this one is awesome!  It also appears very fancy (so great for guests) even though the prep time is about 10 minutes.

Ingredients:

• SKIN ON chicken breasts or thighs.  I get boneless if I can find skin on, boneless.  One for each person.
• goat cheese, about 2 ounces per piece of chicken.  You can get plain, herb, or garlic and herb. 
• two sun dried tomatoes per piece of chicken.  I like the ones in oil and herbs.  Tomatoes have some natural sugar so I rated this a BFC 1/0.
• olive oil
• salt and pepper

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 F.

Place the chicken breasts on a sheet or pan.  I use a 9×13 glass pan.  Loosen the skin from the meat of the chicken with your fingers, leaving 1 side still attached.  With the skin pulled back, salt and pepper the meat. 

Cut the goat cheese and put 1-2 slices (about 2 ounces) on each piece of chicken.  Place 2 sundried tomatoes on top of the cheese on each piece of chicken. 

Pull the skin back over as much of the meat as possible so the chicken won’t dry out.  They spray or rub each piece of chicken with the olive oil.  Salt and pepper again (on outside of skin this time).  I use an oil spritzer.

Bake chicken for 35 to 40 minutes until skin is lightly browned and the chicken is just cooked through.  Serve hot or at room temperature with other Belly Fat Cure approved sides — you have lots of options since the main dish is sooooo Belly Fat good!

Variations:

• try different cheeses
• add different herbs to the goat cheese

2 Healthy Barbecue Sauces Belly Fat Approved for July 4th

Spicy Grilling Sauce for Chicken
12 servings

2 eggs
1/2 cup coconut oil
1 cup apple cider vinegar
1 Tbsp. sea salt
1 1/2 tsp. poultry seasoning
1/4 tsp. pepper
Cayenne pepper – to taste

Mix all ingredients together. Baste and grill.
S/C Value = 0/0 per serving (Belly Fat Cure)

Tangy Barbecue Sauce for Meat
4 servings

1 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbsp. Tabasco sauce
2 Tbsp A-1 or other steak sauce
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. meat tenderizer
1/4 tsp. onion powder
Crushed pepper flakes – to taste

Blend all ingredients together. Baste and grill.

S/C value = 2/0 per serving (Belly Fat Cure)

Both receipes are from Jorge Cruise, the author of Belly Fat Cure.