Zucchini Casserole

A Facebook friend posted this recipe from the Bring 'Em On Home Cowboy Cookbook Facebook Page and I immediately thought of all y'all.   I have altered the recipe to make it P10 friendly by substituting ground flax seeds for the bread crumbs.

And since we’re on a zucchini kick let’s give this one a try!  It’s a perfect side dish to a grilled steak or chicken.

 STAGE 1 – please use ground flax seeds in place of the bread crumbs

STAGES 2 & 3 – please use ground flax seeds in place of the bread crumbs, they’re healthier for you…but really you could use the crumbs if you prefer…

 

photo courtesy of Bring 'Em On Home

Zucchini Casserole

recipe courtesy of Bring 'Em On Home
makes several servings

4 cups zucchini, sliced

1 cup mayonnaise
garlic powder, to taste
pepper, to taste
1 cup mild or medium cheddar cheese, grated
2 eggs
2 tablespoons butter, melted
ground flax seeds or bread crumbs

 

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix together mayonnaise, garlic powder, pepper, cheese and eggs.

Fold in the zucchini. 

Pour into a lightly buttered 9 x 13 baking dish.

Drizzle melted butter on top and sprinkle lightly with flax seed or bread crumbs.

Bake at 350 for 35 -45 minutes.

Skinny Shrimp Salsa

Today’s recipe just screamed ‘SUMMER’ at me.  It’s such an easy and neat idea yet one that hadn’t occurred to me.  This recipe is courtesy of Gina’s Skinny Recipes, her website is www.skinnytaste.com.  It’s mostly geared towards Weight Watchers recipes but you can find a lot of P10-worthy recipes there too.

Shrimp, tomatoes, cilantro, red onion and lime are combined to create a zesty protein rich salsa. Bring this to a party and watch it disappear!

This shrimp salsa is low-fat, gluten-free and perfect for low-carb diets, but you can switch it up and add black beans to boost the fiber, or roasted corn to add a touch of sweetness, and even avocado to add some healthy fats. Add more jalapeño to make it spicier and adjust the lime, cilantro and salt to suit your taste. You see where I'm going with this.... the possibilities are endless!

 

photo courtesy of www.skinnytaste.com

Skinny Shrimp Salsa

Recipe courtesy of Gina’s Skinny Recipes
makes 8 servings

16 oz. cooked peeled shrimp, diced fine

4 vine ripe tomatoes, diced fine
6 tablespoons red onion, finely diced
3 tablespoons jalapenos, diced fine
    (more or less to taste)
2 tablespoons minced cilantro
2 limes, juice of (or more to taste)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

Combine diced onions, tomatoes, salt and lime juice in a non-reactive bowl and let it sit about 5 minutes. Combine the remaining ingredients in a large bowl, taste for salt and adjust as needed. Refrigerate and let the flavors combine at least an hour before serving.

Zucchini Soup

‘Oh wait a minute’ you say…’it’s too dang hot to have soup…besides you already posted a bunch of soups back in the wintertime!’

But hold on a second now – this soup can be served hot or COLD…chilled…nice and cool and ready to go when you get home from a long tough day at work.  And it’s vegetable!  So it’s perfect, right?  Well, Bubba would probably call it ‘Grinch Soup’.

So let’s get started…

Zucchini Soup

makes 4 servings

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 onion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2 pound zucchini

2 cups chicken broth

marjoram: either 1/2 teaspoon dried or 1 1/2 tablespoons minced fresh

Salt and freshly ground pepper

1/4 cup half-and-half (chilled version only)

Using a grater, coarsely shred the zucchini with the peel still on.

In a heavy pot, heat the oil over medium heat.  Sauté the onion and garlic about 4 minutes.  Add the zucchini and sauté for another minute.  Stir in the broth and marjoram.  Bring to a boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.

If you have an immersion (stick type) blender, go ahead and blend up the soup in the pot.  If not, then carefully pour or ladle the soup in two separate batches into the food processor or the blender and spin it until it’s nice and smooth.  Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve hot, return the soup to the pan and warm it up, then serve in bowls or mugs (I like to have hot soup in mugs).

To serve chilled – put the soup in a container, cover, and put in the fridge for at least an hour.  When ready to serve, whisk the nicely chilled half-and-half into the nicely chilled soup and enjoy.  (Do I really need to tell you to put it into a bowl and serve?   I mean really, are you going to stand at the counter with a straw and go to town straight from the Tupperware?)  

For those of you who are overwhelmed by the growth of zucchini (Jeri) you could make large batches of this and freeze it so you could enjoy this any time of year.

Cabbage Hashbrowns

Crispy goodness..... 

Here's an oldie but a goodie - try these for breakfast this weekend!

Bubba's so funny, he knows the drill, he asked 'is this cauliflower?' and The Kid replied 'oh heck no - these are real potato hashbrowns, thanks Mom for some real food!' 

FYI - once you add onions to something it makes it taste 'real' because I think people associate onions with that real down home taste.  Red onions crisped up taste like bacon so there's another tip to make these even more delicious.

I doubled the recipe to make enough for two patties each and I served them with some pan seared chicken sausage (nitrate free) and it was a great dinner.  But they would also be wonderful for breakfast with some...you guessed it...runny eggs. 


Cabbage Hashbrowns
makes 3 large or 4 small patties
adapted from Maria's Delicious and Nutritious Journal

1 cup shredded cabbage
1/2 onion, chopped
1 egg
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
2 tablespoons coconut oil (or butter) for frying


Shred the cabbage (or use pre-bagged if you'd like).

Mix the cabbage, onion, egg, salt, pepper and cheese.

Heat oil in a skillet over medium-low heat. Add mixture to the pan in three portions and then pat them out flat.  Cover and fry for 4-5 minutes. When firm enough, carefully flip the patty. Lower heat, cover and cook for another 4-5 minutes, or until golden brown.

COMPARISON (courtesy of Maria):
1 cup Potato Hashbrown 116 calories, 28 carbs, 2 sugar, 4 fiber
1 cup Cabbage Hashbrown 29 calories, 3 carbs, 0 sugar, 2g fiber

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

photo courtesy of www.realmomkitchen.com

Thank you Karen K. for sharing this recipe – not only easy peasy but yummy!

And since it was already kinda sorta Cinco de Mayo and we kinda sorta missed it, you could still make this recipe and celebrate twice!

This recipe comes from www.realmomkitchen.com and it is VERY flexible.  Whenever I get a recipe from a website, I always take the time to read the comments and see how it worked for everyone and what other great ideas they might pop up with.

And you could put the fajitas on lettuce wraps (Stage 1) or tortillas (Stages 2/3) OR you could dump this on a bed of greens and call it Fajita Salad.

Remember – everyone’s tastes are different so feel free to spice up or down, use more veggies, etc.  This is just a jumping off point for you.  I have altered the recipe slightly for P10.

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

Makes 12 servings

1 pound thawed boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips

2 tablespoons olive oil
2 teaspoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 (15 oz) can diced tomatoes with green chilies - DRAINED
1 medium onion, sliced
1 large bell pepper, seeded and sliced (I use half a green and half a red)
12 lettuce leaf wraps (Stage 1) OR 12 flour tortillas (Stages 2 and 3)
Toppings such as cheese, sour cream, guacamole and fresh lime

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.   Use some extra oil to coat a 13×9 baking dish

Place chicken strips in the baking dish.

In a small bowl combine the oil, chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, dried oregano, and salt.

Combine the spice mixture with the chicken and toss to coat.

Next, add the tomatoes, peppers, and onions to the dish and stir to combine.

Bake uncovered for 20-25 minutes or until chicken is cooked through and the vegetables are tender.  

Serve on tortillas/lettuce wraps or greens with desired toppings.

Nori Wraps

Now remember - Don't knock it until you've tried it...so if you haven't tried nori or you just look at it and go 'eeeeuuuuuwwww' just hear me out...SIT!  Thank you so much.

2 full sheets of nori

Nori, a paper-thin sheet of a roasted and dehydrated seaweed, is used primarily in Japanese cuisine. It commonly serves as a wrapper for sushi rolls. It may also be crumbled for use as a topping or garnish, imparting a sweet but salty taste to dishes. 

However, there's no law that you have to use nori for only Japanese food and certainly no law that it can only be wrapped around rice and raw fish so let's talk nori...

First of all, nori is not a grab and go sort of item.  Once it is wrapped and starts to get moist, it will get a little chewy so wrap and eat one at a time.  Same goes for the cut rolls, try not to let them sit.  Be sure to store nori in a dry place or it will lose its crisp texture.  

Now I wrap EVERYTHING in nori.  And it's darn good.  It's got a nice salty 'snap' to it that I really enjoy.  I will sometimes just eat a sheet of it for funsies.  I keep a package of it on my kitchen table for when the need a fix (of NORI, thank you very much).

• For breakfast I like eggs and avocado wrapped in nori.
• At lunch I might mix up tuna or salmon and cream cheese and cucumbers, or avocado and greens and wrap that in nori.
• For a quick light dinner I have been known to wrap cooked chicken or lunchmeat, cooked veggies and hummus in nori.
• A light lovely dessert is sliced strawberries and cream cheese wrapped in nori.

To review - some things you could wrap in nori and snack on:

Avocado

Carrots, cut into strips

Cucumber, cut into strips

Fresh salad greens

Beans

Eggs, scrambled or hard baked

Cooked sliced chicken, steak or nitrate free lunchmeat or sausages

Shrimp, Tuna or Salmon

Veggies, roasted or grilled

Fruits - sliced strawberries or apples, raspberries, banana

Cream cheese

Hummus

Greek yogurt or sour cream

Almond butter
Rawtella

Here's the 'official' instructions on how to wrap these up, but hey, sometimes I just give it the good ole college try, it looks funny but tastes good anyway.  So don't stress about getting it perfect unless your Japanese mother-in-law is coming over.  (Don't laugh - I actually have one of those!)

Hand Rolls

makes 1 serving

1/2 sheet nori and ingredients to fill it

 

Place nori horizontally in front of you (landscape), smooth shiny side down.  Place other ingredients on the left half of the nori, diagonally (bottom in lower left corner, top in middle top of nori). Take a dab of filling and place it in the upper right corner.

To roll – pick up nori and hold heavy end in left hand, empty end towards you.  Grab bottom left corner and pull it up and to the right WHILE curling the fingers of your left hand towards that corner.  Squeeze gently to firm up roll and use dab of water to seal.

Cut Rolls

makes 1 serving

1 sheet nori and ingredients to fill it

Place nori horizontally in front of you (landscape), smooth shiny side down.  Place other ingredients across the bottom of the sheet. 

Roll tightly, moisten the empty edge and press to seal.  Use a sharp moist knife to cut into pieces.

Liquid Salad

What the heck is a liquid salad? 

Some might prefer to call it a green smoothie.

Lately, my brother and baby sister have been all gung ho about juicing – and they are feeling healthier and losing weight.  But it can be a difficult lifestyle to maintain indefinitely.  My brother let me borrow his Vitamix and I did some experimenting with that (and then he took it back!)  Then, my mom hopped on the bandwagon and got a Nutribullet – and now the family is crazy about smoothies.  This weekend us gals went together to WalMart and my other sister and I both got Nutribullets.  Then, we all went to Whole Foods and loaded up on some good stuff to use in them.  Instead of lasagna, I think we’ll do smoothies for my birthday party in May…

On Easter when the family was together, I remembered that my mom hadn’t seen the movie Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, so I brought it up on my Netflix and we all watched it together.  My niece thought juicing/green smoothies were gross but I told her ‘would you rather sit and eat that giant salad on the TV, or turn it into juice and drink it down?’ – and that made sense to her.  And it really does.  Not all of us stay awake at night dreaming of greens and veggies and how much we really really really love them. 

So there’s no law that says you have to drink the green smoothies 24/7 – some people do if they are desperate to kick off a weight loss or detox (like the guys in the movie).  So how about ONE A DAY?  Just one.  And you can choose which meal as well.  Baby steps – and you will see a difference!

My mom is 66 and she has her normal breakfast and then uses her Nutribullet to make a green smoothie for lunch each day.  And she can feel the difference already – and her doctor can see it.  And it shows on her scale too (and it hadn’t budged much for a while).  Can you sit down and think about doing a green smoothie once a day?  

I love breakfast, it’s my favorite meal of the day and I like a nice warm filling breakfast so I’ll go ahead and keep that one.  I had a green smoothie for dinner tonight.

You could blend up a smoothie and

• take it to work in a travel mug for later; or
• make extra, pour them into bags and freeze them for later use; or
• take the frozen smoothies to work and remember to defrost one each day for lunch;

It tastes better than it looks.  You use greens, some fruit and some boost along with some liquid and there you go.  And you can make the combinations yourself and use what you like best.  You can either blend it all up and drink it down or sit there with a plate of greens and fruit and take your sweet time chowing it all down.

Blender – You’re going to need something powerful enough to blend up the greens, chunks of apple, etc.  If you don’t have something you could use, check on Amazon to see what’s within your budget and has the power to handle the job.  Also, if your credit cards have ‘points’, use them on Amazon to purchase the blender or check the card’s points program to see if they have a blender you could get for free.  I’m using the Nutribullet right now and it’s easy to operate and clean and works great. 

Greens – start with spinach, it’s milder and blends up easily.  You can work your way up to kale and collard greens and such.  Or you can add some kale in with the spinach gradually.

Fruit – on P10 we not supposed to go overboard with the fruit so keep it to a single banana or around a cup of berries or about a dozen grapes.  If you wash, cut up the fruit and then freeze them in pieces you can get a colder creamier smoothie.   Bananas end up being kind of bland so you’ll want to use something with a kick to it once you start drinking more smoothies.  

Boost – now is the time to toss in some of those ‘superfoods’ we hear so much about.  I’m partial to chia gel.  You could also use goji berries, maca powder, raw almonds, cacao nibs, acai berries, etc.  More on those later.  I need to have some info for future posts!

Liquid – in the past I’ve been a big fan of almond milk and you could use that if you’d like.  Nothing wrong with trying some nice clean water or even some coconut water if you’d like to have that extra ‘oomph’.  I’m guessing about 1 1/2 to 2 cups of liquid, less for thicker, more for thinner – you choose.

Basic Beginner’s Smoothie

1 banana

2 cups spinach

1/4 cup chia gel

1 1/2 cups water

Combine until smooth and enjoy.

Makes one very large serving or two regular servings