Maggie and Wilson

Bacon Wrapped Eggs

What you need:

• 1 dozen eggs
• 1 pkg of bacon (thick cut works best)
• Shredded cheese of your choice
• Minced fresh herbs of your choice
• Salt and pepper

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Cook bacon until done, but not crispy.  Drain on paper towels and let cool. Remove all residual grease on bacon strips.

Spray muffin tin or individual small ramekins with nonstick cooking spray.  Line each muffin cup with one piece of bacon.  Use leftover small pieces in the bottom of each cup.  Crack one egg into each cup.   Add salt and pepper.  Sprinkle each with cheese and minced herbs of your choice.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, checking often for desired doneness.

Everyone in my family liked these.  I prepared some without breaking the yolk and some were made with whisked eggs.  My family preferred the whisked eggs, which puffed up nicely.  My children thought the unbroken yolks had a strange consistency when baked.

Next time, I'm going to try a variation with spinach and mushrooms.

GF: Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies

Today we tried Betty Crocker Gluten Free Brownies.  They are delicious.  They have a little bit of the gritty texture like the cookies, but the flavor is so wonderful, you can easily overlook the consistency.

Again, a very easy mix to prepare: 1/2 stick of butter and two eggs, mix well and bake.  We'll definitely be purchasing these again.

A side by side comparison of ingredients and nutritional information:

 

           

  

 

GF: Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies

 Due to my son recently being diagnosed with a mild case of Celiac Disease, I have immediately switched him to a 100% gluten free diet.  Today we ventured into our local Publix grocery store to peruse the aisles in search of gluten free options.  We picked up a Betty Crocker Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookies Mix to try.

It's a super simple mix to prepare.  Add 1 egg, 1 stick of softened butter and 1 tsp. of vanilla, mix, drop onto cookie sheet and bake at 350F for 11 to 13 minutes. 

The texture is expectedly different but the taste is very similar to regular chocolate chip cookies.  They have almost a gritty texture and they crumble quite easily which can be offputting to some.  However, I have since done a little more research and found suggestions that might help.  One suggestion was to add a gluten free pudding mix to the batter.  Some people had great results by simply using a hand mixer instead of a spoon to mix.  Other people rolled the dough into balls before placing them on the cookie sheet and still others froze the dough before baking.  I'll be trying all of these options to see which works best.

The biggest drawback I see to these cookies, long term, is their prohibitive cost.  Our Publix charges $4.59 per box (each box makes 2 dozen average size cookies).  The ingredients list is very short and simple though so I think I can find a recipe, buy the ingredients and make them myself at a much lower cost.

It's also interesting to compare the gluten free and traditional mixes (click image to enlarge):

 

Hickory Smoked Ribs

Here is a very tasty way to prepare baby back ribs in a carb friendly manner.  We tried this for dinner yesterday and it was a giant success all around.

Soak a small bag of hickory wood chips in water for about an hour.  Drain thoroughly and set aside.

Liberally season ribs with kosher salt, pepper and garlic.  You could, of course, add some paprika or cayenne pepper for an extra kick.

You'll need to alter the way to place your wood chips on your grill based on the number of burners you have.  We have five burners and placed our wood chips on the far ends of the grill.  Light only those burners (low temp) near the wood chips.  This allows the chips to add smoke inside the grill without providing direct heat to your  meat.  it basically turns your gas grill into a smoker of sorts.  The idea is to slowly cook the meat to lock in moisture and allow the hickory flavor to permeate.  It took us about an hour and half to cook two racks using this method.

Just before removing the ribs from the grill, you can baste with some barbeque sauce for your non low  carb  eaters.  These were by far, the best ribs I have every had.  Very flavorful and juicy and with the hickory flavor, I didn't even miss the barbeque sauce.  I served this with grilled asparagus and mixed berries on the side.

 

Pork Chops with Mushrooms and Onions

Pretty simple meal, but an easy way to start down the low carb path.  Pork chops seasoned with olive oil, salt, pepper and garlic and then grilled.  Baby bellas and sweet onions sauteed in garlic, salt, and pepper with a dash of red wine and Worcestershire Sauce.  Simple steamed green beans.  I gave the kids french bread with theirs and everyone was happy.

...and it looks like I need to work on my photography skills.  ;-)

An Introduction

Hi Low Carbers!  This is the other half of Maggie and Wilson checking in.  My name is Cathy and I am owned by "Wilson", a 7 year old, superbly spoiled Weimaraner.

I am just now in the process of getting my kitchen, and attitude, geared up to eat a lower carb diet.  I have been reluctant to begin simply because I'm not sure where to start.  My husband and children are not on board with this idea either, which adds an additional layer of resistance.  I am hoping that blogging about it will not only keep me on track but that it will also result in getting some ideas from all of you out there that are also on this path. Strength in numbers, or so they say.

Low carb is a concept I understand and it makes sense, but let's be honest here. Many of the recipes commercially available in low carb cookbooks are, in a word, gross.  Many times when I've tried them I've found myself wondering if the person who wrote the recipe actually tasted the end result and lived to tell about it.  I'm tired of wasting food because it is absolutely inedible.

I have some interesting health issues that make this a different kind of challenge for me.  I am allergic to many raw fruits and vegetables and have been for most of my life, which makes finding variety quite the quest.  As an added bonus, I also suffer from IBS and am unable to ingest sugar substitutes that contain sugar alcohol.  Aspartame causes me headaches that last for days.  And last, but certainly not least...  I am lazy and set in my ways.  Don't get me wrong... I love to cook and, according to my family and friends, and judging by my waistline and my husband's, I excel at it.  The challenge for me is going to be finding ways to alter my personal recipes to be lower carb without sacrificing too much of the flavor.

Greek and Italian are my two favorite types of food to prepare and eat, so you'll see recipes with lots of fresh herbs and even more garlic.  So please, join me on this journey and feel free to offer any advice or ideas that you have.

Journaling

Because there are two of us that post to this blog we've added a category for each of us to help distinguish who's posting what.  At the bottom of each post you will see that it will either say "Cathy -Journal" or "Deb-Journal".  It isn't really that big of a deal, but if one of us is cooking something yummy you'll want to know who's house to show up to for dinner!