I’ve working on the idea of freeze drying different “salad topper” options to get that crunchy texture without being high calorie/high carb. Here are some thoughts…

Freeze dried:

1) Blueberries

2) Strawberries

3) Sweet Peppers

4) Red onions – start with a slightly larger slice so when it’s done, it won’t be an “onion straw”…

(We have a Harvest Right freeze drier which I’ll be using for all sorts of Low Carb / Keto craziness!!).

Nothing like  a snack time with a few fluffy, crunchy Hot-N-Spicy Pork Rinds with a side of Blue Cheese for dipping!!

This Blue Cheese has been a staple of mine for a few years. I was aiming for something very creamy and a little sweet (and very Low Carb) to go with Buffalo Chicken strips. This is what I came up with.

Tom’s Low Carb Blue Cheese Recipe:

1 C Mayo
1 C Sour Cream
3 Oz Blue Cheese
3 t Apple Cider Vinegar
1/2 t Black Pepper
1/2 t Garlic Powder
3-4 drops liquid sucralose

Mix all ingredients well EXCEPT BLUE CHEESE – fold it in gently at the end.

ENJOY!!

Low Carb Smoked Pork Quiche

So yesterday – I was making a quiche with some left over Smoked Pork Tenderloin as the meat… a while back I had smoked off a bunch of different meats. Ribs, Pork T-Loins, Fish, etc, etc…

This stuff was about at the end of it’s “usefulness” so I thought – “what the heck”? Why not throw it in a quiche for breakfasts? I start trimming it up a little better… then I tossed it in my little processor…

As I was standing over this bowl – I was overcome with the incredible aroma of the smoke… WOW!! I was rolling all kinds of ideas around in my head about what I could do with this stuff. Stay strong – stay strong… just make the quiche’ and WALK AWAY!!

Low Carb Quiche recipe:

6-7 eggs
1 C Meat (in this case I used the processed Smoked Pork Tenderloin)
1 C grated Cheddar Cheese
8 oz Cream Cheese (if you like on the moist side – cut this down to 4 oz and add 4 oz of Sour Cream).
2 T of the spice base leftover when storing it…

NO CRUST – Just cooking spray, pour it in and GO!!

Note: Depending on what “version” I’m up to I will add a spice profile to match. For instance, with a more Spanish/American meat version I might toss in a packet of Sazon to amp things up a little.

Mix all ingredients well. Shoot a pie pan with some cooking spray. Pour ingredients in… bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 min. I start checking at about 30. I finished this one off with a little Smoked Paprika and just a little shredded cheese on top.

This worked out REALLY WELL.

However, when I got done processing it – I realized I had something like 3 1/2 cups of this stuff!! SCORE!! I took one cup to make the quiche – and it had CRAZY FLAVOR. Then I took the other 2 1/2 cups and decided to make a version of ham salad since it as already finely chopped.

Easy Pork Salad Recipe

2 1/2 C processed Smoked Pork Tenderloin
1 1/2 heaping T of Mayo
3 t No Sugar Sweet Pickle Relish
2 T of the Smoke Spice base left over in the storage container.
3 drops QuickSweet

Whip it all together.

Whoa… really, really good.

This was last nite. After this “Smoked Pork Salad” had a chance for the flavors to really come together over night, it was JUST UNREAL how good this was. This was our third meal/snack. All gone…

Moral to the story – don’t be afraid to be creative!!

The end

RIBS DAY!! (for lunch)… but first…

Breakfast:

We did Scrambled Eggs, grated Cheddar Cheese and left over chicken in breakfast tacos. I can assure you there was some Valatina salsa picante’ in there somewhere. We only had one each. I used the Mission brand Low Carb Tortillas – the 3 Net Gram version.

Pro Tip:  Toast those Low Carb Tortillas off – takes about 45 seconds and really brings the whole thing together – just toss it on a skillet or flat-top with no sauce and let it warm up a bit. It should develop just a few dark spots – then it’s nice and toasty. Don’t leave it on either side too long. That’s no good.

Pro Tip #2: The Tupperware you see under the tortillas – store all tortilla type products in their bag – then in Tupperware. Shelf life = unknown?? Hahaha…

On a side note – I usually don’t push it on the “net carb” items (tortillas, breads, etc, etc…), even things I am pretty sure of. For instance, if I have one meal where I use something like the Mission Brand tortillas (1 or 2 – almost NEVER 3) then I won’t do any more like that for the rest of the day. Maybe longer.

Lunch:

Half a rack of ribs and a chopped salad.

We’ve obviously covered these Ribs in the “Smoke-A-Palooza” post… These ribs have set finished in the fridge for at least 2 days. I cut out what I wanted for lunch (about a half a rack each). I added the ribs and plenty of the juice/renderings to a plain sauce pan – threw it in the oven for about 20-25 min at 250*. Just gently bringing it up to a comfortable temp. STUNNINGLY GOOD.

Supper:

For “Supper” – we really just had a snack tray… Some Kentucky Bourbon Bellavitano Cheese, some Blue Diamond Salt and Vinegar Almonds (these can be addicting – BTW) and some Pepperoni (garden variety). I can almost guarantee the pepperoni got dunked in some of the Sriracha Lime Mayo I mentioned in another post.

Now – before I go any farther, I must point out – this Kentucky Bourbon Bellavitano Cheese is RIDICULOUSLY GOOD. It is the most rich, succulent cheese I have eaten. Cheese is one of our “things”. We like to sample different kinds – this here… it’s a WINNER. DO NOT MISS. You might find it a the upscale Kroger’s around here – maybe finer grocery stores near you.

Next week (when I get the money – we’re going to try a Merlot Bellavitano – and report back).

Late Nite Snack:

Total violation of one of the “3 rules”… however…

So anyway – I got hit by some late night cravings and figured – “what the heck??”

I had about a half a bag of regular Kroger Pork Rinds bathed in my Sriracha Lime Mayo dressing… solved the craving problem. However, what would it do to my weigh-in tomorrow?

(Note: I actually lost about 2 tenths of a pound – even after the late night snack. No harm, I guess?? I doubt I make it a habit)

Here’s a couple thoughts. Even though we’re doing this for TheLowCarbBlog.com and documenting it – a consistent meal review and weigh-in is not a bad idea. For a long time now – we have talked over what we ate, what we’ve going to eat and weigh-in early every AM (same time – keep it consistent). The idea is to get an “unvarnished” look at what your diet really is. A lot of times you will miss some stuff – and it’s a great time to communicate (Ha!!).

Breakfast:

For breakfast yesterday (around 7:30AM) – after a couple of cups of coffee, Community Coffee w/Chicory and some heavy cream – we had a Cottage Cheese/cereal… very fresh – good stuff.

A base of a handful of Pecan pieces, in a fairly small serving dish (any size will do though), somewhere between 1/4 and a 1/2 Cup of Reg. fat Cottage Cheese (beware all the Low Fat stuff – READ LABELS), a slight dusting of some powdered Splenda (or something along those lines) and topped with a large, sliced Strawberry.

Very fresh tasting, kinda’ fills the cereal gap and is good for you. While we are pretty serious about carb counts and it’s important to be realistic – we don’t obsess over fractional carb counts. This one is probably under 5 total grams. Not bad for breakfast.

Stir this up a little and ENJOY!! There are tons of different variations on this theme – just don’t go crazy with the fruit. Just enough for a little added flavor.

Why don’t you guys sound off on what we should even call this??

Lunch:

We had some leftover Garlic and Onion soup (the Bayona’s of New Orleans recipe) and a Smoked Fish Taco pretty filling and DELISH…

I had a full bowl of the soup. Can I say WOW?!? You wouldn’t think it but Garlic and Onions done this way is really VERY flavorful. While it’s a pretty AMP’ed up Low Carb taste, it’s not the odor repellent you would think. Good taste – even for left-overs.

(this was an earlier version of the same soup – lighter, creamier and probably lower carb count. The one referred to here was darker, chunkier and fortified with some Great Low Carb Bread Co. slices – not the carb problem. The MASSIVE ONION AND GARLIC amount was the issue)

However, we started working up some numbers on the twist on the Bayona’s recipe we went with. EPIC CARB FAIL!! We’ve done this one several different ways. I’ll do another version and record the amounts and let you all know how it tastes (BTW – we’ve done different versions of this that were actually better). This version was probably around 20+ grams per serving. Not good!! Mistakes happen – keep on keeping on.

This makes an important point I talk about a lot. We can’t afford to be delusional about what’s actually in the food. No matter where it comes from. One reason we cook a lot of our own meals (not all – but a lot) is I have very little faith in what gets put in our food when we aren’t looking.

For instance, the same goes for those on a Low Sodium Diet. It is VITAL one takes ownership of diet and ingredient choices and even then – there will be bumbles. We’ve been doing this (a Low Carb Diet) successfully for a long time and this still happens to us once in a while.

I am so amused when I hear someone tell me they had a carb-free day. Ummmmmm – no. Not possible. Low carb? Maybe – no carb? Can’t happen. Be diligent. Be real about it.

The Fish Taco was really, really, REALLY good too. The smoked fish seems to be the under dog of “Smoke-A-Palooza 2017” (more editions of “Smoke-A-Palooza” to follow)…

I started with about a half a filet of the smoked fish topped with some butter (I’ll cover this in a “Smoke-A-Palooza” post soon) and microwaved for about 30 sec…

Pro Tip: While that was working – I was toasting off the low carb tortilla – this one was the smallest size Mission brand. About 3 net grams apiece. To toast them off – just toss it on a skillet or flat-top with no sauce and let it warm up a bit. It should develop just a few dark spots – then it’s nice and toasty. Don’t leave it on either side too long. That’s no good.

Then add a little shredded cheese…

Then spoon on a little of my Sweet Sriracha Lime Mayo dressing… OUCH!! Roll this baby up and enjoy the FLAVOR. This was a ride on the FLAVOR TOWN EXPRESS!! I cannot stress enough when I say this – it is very difficult to find a dish anywhere with this kind of flavor. Really good stuff here.

Supper:

“Supper” was more like around 4:30 pm and I really just had a few snacks. I was still in recovery from lunch… a little flavor overload.

Easy enough to figure out – a couple of hard boiled eggs (we keep these on hand – we’ve got chickens), some kind of hoity-toity pepperoni roll I picked up at Kroger’s and some cheese (I’m sure there were some Pork rinds lurking around in the background too – just begging to dive into that dressing). I’m gonna’ have to track that cheese down again for you. It was good. That is more of my Sweet Sriracha Lime Mayo up in the corner… could there have been left-overs of that??

Sweet Sriracha Lime Mayo recipe:

3-4 heaping TBSP of my home-made whole egg mayo (I mean HEAPING)

a generous squirt on Sriracha sauce

a couple of good squirts of Lime juice

3-4 drops of Quick Sweet

Wisk thoroughly and enjoy. This stuff has a life-expectancy of about 14 minutes… Be very careful. Almost anything close to it has a tendency to get dragged through it and eaten. ANYTHING!!

I’ll do an official recipe on this soon – it’s a GO TO… I don’t normally do it that way, but I’ll really focus and put one together soon.

Exercise:

For exercise – I was pretty light. No cardio and I basically just did 50 push-ups (in sets of 5 – relax, it’s not that hard). Exercise is what I can get – with my schedule…

I try to do something everyday – doesn’t have to be much. Just something.

P.S. Quick teaser – the Monday review is gonna’ be Smoked Ribs Day (for lunch). Tune in and check the meal review out!!