Many people will try to “fancy” the recipe up.  That’s OK – that’s their choice.  But I think that a chuck roast combined with water and some root vegetables is really all you need.

Don’t bother buying a better, more expensive grade of beef.  The cheapest chuck roast will taste better cooked this way than a more expensive roast ever will.  So don’t waste your money on quality for this recipe – spend that money on quantity instead (especially if you try to eat locally raised beef).

If you are trying to eat low-carb, it’s also the safest recipe while on induction.

Sunday Pot Roast

1 chuck roast (buy a larger roast if you like left-overs)
3-4 rutabagas
5-6 Turnips
1 head celery
1-2 small carrots
3-4 potatoes (not for low-carb)

Rub salt on roast and place in a large crock pot.  Peel rutabagas & turnips and add chunks to crockpot.  Add slices/chunks of cleaned celery & carrot.  If you are not doing low-carb, add potatoes.  Don’t add potatoes if you or anyone in your house is doing low-carb.  The starch will not only stall you, but will make you crave more high-carb foods.  It’s not worth it for a few potatoes.   If you think you’ll be able to tell the difference after cooking – good luck with that.  Once the crock pot is finished cooking the vegetables, they will all look alike and taste pretty much just like a potato.

Add water to just the top of the roast.  Turn crock pot on low and walk away for 6-8 hours.

If you decide to make gravy, use a product called ThickNTHIN instead of flour or corn starch if you are eating low-carb.

Serve with steamed asparagus or a salad.

Enjoy!

Hoagie Dip – click HERE for the recipe

Deviled Egg Dip – click HERE for the recipe

Cheesecake Cookies- click HERE for the recipe

Now, no matter what kind of goodies are at the party, I’ll be able to enjoy low-carb options and not feel deprived.

Here’s a tip for you that I learned the hard way when I went to go grab a snack and all of my low-carb goodies had been scarfed up – I put some aside for myself and store them in the fridge or backseat of the car (depending on the weather) – that way everyone can enjoy my offerings and I don’t have to worry about them totally disappearing on me!

Enjoy the game and may the best team win!

I think it’s because it’s such a tedious process.  Boil the eggs – cool them off … shell the eggs.  Sigh … I always manage to mess up a few that now look pitted and diseased with big chunks out of them.  Then I can’t stand it when the inside of the egg whites are wet, so I have to dry them out and I must pipe the yoke filling back in once it’s made – so there’s more mess that has to be cleaned up.

But they taste so darned good ………

You know, it never occurred to me that I could just make a dip with the same ingredients and it  would taste just as good with much less effort.  DOH!

I  found the recipe in a magazine I bought for myself recently, the Food Network Magazine – Jan/Feb issue.  It was in a pull-out section that I almost threw out thinking it was an advertisement.  Here’s the dip with my modifications.  Enjoy!

Deviled Egg Dip

• 8 eggs, hard boiled
• 1/4 cup heavy mayonnaise
• 1-2 slices bacon, fried crispy & crumbled
• Paprika, Salt & Pepper, to taste
• Fresh chives

Puree eggs with mayo and add paprika, salt and pepper.  Garnish with more paprika, chives & sprinkle with crispy bacon bits.

For those doing low-carb:  Serve with celery sticks and cucumber slices
For those doing mainstream:  Serve with veggie / roasted garlic crackers or pretzel chips

Enjoy!

The only reason I get the blues during this time of year is because all of the farmers markets and local area produce vendors either close their doors completely or they start bringing in produce from far, far away.

I want local produce from local farmers.  I live in an area where corn is what most farmers are growing – not exactly what someone on a low-carb lifestyle can eat.  So its also rare for the local farmers to grow fall/winter veggies when large conglomerates will pay them to grow corn and then leave the land to rest until next corn-growing season begins.

I’ve been looking for places to buy local and they just don’t exist.  At least we have a farmer’s market where I can go to support local small business and they at least know where they get their produce and usually how its been grown.

I think for next year, I’ll try buying in bulk and start canning …… yep, just what I need – one more time-consuming thing to add to my plate!

Thanks!

There is a way to make veggie soup in a low-carb way.  It won’t work for induction, unless you opt for a chicken/beef stock instead of tomato juice, but that’s not “my mama’s veggie soup.”

The trick to making low-carb veggie soup is, naturally, choosing the lowest carb veggies out there.

I’m tellin’ you, folks – I just don’t make complicated food … so here is my yummy and low-carb vegetable soup!  (Mamma would be proud!)

Low Carb Vegetable Soup

1 large can tomato juice
1 can cut green beans w/ liquid
1 bag frozen broccoli
1 bag frozen cauliflower
1/2 head cabbage, cut in bite size pieces
2-3 rutabagas, cubed
4-5 turnips, cubed
1 stalk (bunch) celery, sliced
1-2 slices bacon
1/2 lb. beef cubes (optional)
salt & pepper to taste

Combine all ingredients in large stock pot.  Pour in tomato juice and then add water to just cover the veggies.

If you decide to add beef, brown the cubes on all sides and add both beef and the searing liquid to the stock pot.

Cook over medium heat until all veggies are cooked through and beef is fall-apart tender.

Enjoy!

Well, doing low-carb meant no more visits to the bakery for me!  I was missing coconut macaroons, so I tried this recipe and it’s really good.

The trick is to find unsweetened coconut – you can’t use the regular coconut from the grocery store.  That stuff is loaded with sugar.

I found unsweetened coconut at one of our local health food stores – so start your search there and you can always buy it online if your local search comes up empty.

Coconut Macaroons – Low Carb Style

• 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
• 4 egg whites from large eggs (should be about ½ cup)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 to 1 cup pourable splenda
• about 2 Tablespoons water

1) Heat oven to 375 F. Line baking sheet with either parchment paper on a silicone mat.

2) Measure egg whites. If they aren’t quite ½ cup, add a little water to reach that level. Then add the vanilla.

3) Mix pourable Splenda in with unsweetened coconut.

4) Mix dry and wet ingredients together. The mixture should just hold together. Let set a minute or two and you’ll be able to mold the macaroons better.

5) Roll into balls a little bigger than an inch in diameter. Slightly flatten and put on baking sheet (whatever shape you put them in is how they will stay, so this is your chance). Put at least half an inch apart.

6) Turn down the oven to 325 F, and bake for about 15 minutes, but start checking them a couple of minutes before. You want them golden brown on the bottom, and just barely starting to brown on top (though if you like them a little crispier, bake a couple of minutes longer).

Makes about 14 cookies, but yield will vary based on size of the cookies.

When I’m craving a BLT, I discovered that if I use lettuce leaves to roll up the other ingredients, the sliced tomato combined with the washed lettuce made everything too wet and drippy.  Tasted good – but I felt like I needed a bib!

So, instead, I decided to make it into a salad instead.  I’ve left the amounts of each ingredient very vague.  Hey, I have no idea how hungry you are – or how many people you plan to feed.  You want the bacon & tomato mixture to resemble a chicken or tuna salad – so make it as wet or dry as you prefer.

BLT Salad

bacon slices – cooked and diced
tomato – diced
romaine lettuce, cut for salad
mayo (I recommend Dukes because they don’t use any sugar in theirs)

Combine bacon & tomato with mayo and mix thoroughly.  Spoon mixture on lettuce and serve!

This Baking Mix can be used in place of Bisquick, Jiffy Mix or Carbquik.

Low Carb Bake Mix

1 2/3 cup almond flour
2/3 cup Designer Whey vanilla protein powder
2/3 cup vital wheat gluten

Mix and store in air-tight container.  Use measure for measure in place of other bake mixes.
Makes 3-1/3 cups at about 10 carbs per cup.

The recipe can easily be doubled … I have to double the recipe so that I have enough cookies left over after I finish baking them – to make it through the week for both my husband and myself! 

Cheesecake Cookies

16 oz. cream cheese, softened
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup pourable Splenda

Beat softened cream cheese with the egg.  Add in the vanilla and Splenda until thoroughly mixed.  Drop by spoonfuls onto a lined or greased cookie sheet.

Bake at 350 until the edges are browned.  Start at 15 minutes … my oven requires 15 minutes for foil-lined pans and 22 minutes for parchment-lined pans.  The cookies brown easier using foil but they come out “fluffier” using parchment.  They will puff, then fall, when they begin to wrinkle on the top, they are ready.

Remove from cookie sheet and place onto cooling racks. Try not to eat as you cook or do what I do and make a double-batch. IF you have any leftover, store in an airtight container.

Recipe makes about 60 cookies.
Carb count for each cookie:  0.43 g