BBQ Pork

I'm not sure that this one is a recipe, or more of an idea. However, it was simple to make, and quite tasty. So I suppose in the end that's all that counts. Making it again I'd like add a few hot pepper flakes to give the dish a little more heat though. I had two chicken breasts in the freezer so I added them in. You could make it a bigger portion (for the same calories) by mixing the two meats.

4-1/2 pounds pork shoulder, trimmed and cubed
10 oz boneless chicken breast, cubed
1 cup barbecue sauce (Bullseye used)
1-1/2 cups chicken broth
3 Tbsp dehydrated onion flakes
1 Tbsp chopped garlic
3 tsp hot sauce

Place pork in crock pot, reserve chicken. Mix all other ingredients and pour over top. Cook for 5 hours on low then add chicken. Stir mixture and continue to cook for another 5 hours. Separate meat and liquid, putting the liquid into a pot. Cook down until mixture is reduced by half and pour back over meat. When cooled divide into portions and freeze.

Makes 18 servings

Calories: 216 (26g protein, 9g fat, 7g carbs)

Eye of Round Roast

This is a crock pot recipe which is going to vary depending on how big a roast you use. This was made from almost exactly 6lbs (2 roasts), divided into 20 portions of ~2.7oz of meat with 3Tb of reduced gravy. I'll give nutrition information at the end. It really is a two day recipe, as the roast is too soft to slice well when removing from the crock pot.

6 lbs eye of the round (2 roasts), well trimmed
1 Tb oil
12 oz onions, sliced
15 oz mushrooms, sliced
1 Tb chopped garlic
2 bay leaves
1/2 tsp pepper
4 cups beef broth/stock
1 cup dry red wine

Using the 1Tb of oil, soften the onions and mushrooms in a pot. Place in the bottom of the crock pot and place the roasts on top. Don't worry if there's almost no room left, the roasts will get smaller as they cook. Add the beef stock and red wine to the pot used for the vegetables along with the garlic, bay leaves, and pepper. Boil the liquid until reduced by half. (Careful, this can boil over easily.) Pour liquid over the roasts and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. Lift roasts out, wrap in foil and cool in fridge overnight.

In batches, using a blender, puree the liquid left in the crock pot until relatively smooth. Put into a pot and cook down until volume is reduced to approximately 4 cups. (This amount will give you 3Tb x 20 portions with a little room for error.) Cool overnight with the roasts. The next day measure out portions desired and place in baggies with 3Tb of gravy. Tie baggies closed and freeze until needed.

The above made 20 servings (this will depend on size of roasts and portions).

Calories: 214 (31g protein, 8g fat, 3g carbs, 1g fiber)

Notes: Recipe made with roast weighing 2.71kg (5.96lbs). I always measure vegetables, so you need not use the exact oz from the recipe. This was just what I used. Obviously you will need to recalculate the nutrition information based on changes. Although the vegetables and wine are not needed, they add a richness to the gravy, which I like. I reheat on the lowest setting on the microwave until hot.

Turkey Meatloaf with Salsa

Okay, I'm cheating slightly as this has a side of roasted veggies, but a picture of the meatloaf on it's own would be pretty boring. The ground meat came in grams, but roughly 450g = 1lb.

1350 g lean ground turkey (3lbs)
450 g lean ground pork (1 lb)
2 eggs (extra large used)
3 Tb chili powder
1 Tb cumin seeds
1 Tb chopped garlic
1/2 cup salsa (homemade one used)

Mix all ingredients and divide into servings (it was just over 5oz of mix). Press into 1-cup custard cups and bake covered in 350F oven for 45 mins. You could likely put 1/2 servings into muffin tins (adjust cooking time down) and have each serving be two mini loaves. Let cool completely. Tip mixture into baggie for freezing. I thaw these overnight, put 2Tb salsa on top and reheat in the microwave.

Makes 14 servings.

Calories (each, without extra salsa) - 211 (27g protein, 11g fat, 3g carbs, 1g fiber)

Note: the homemade salsa is an estimated calorie item, based on the recipe from the last time made and canned. 1/2 cup is 63 cals (3g protein, 0g fat, 15g carbs, 3g fiber)

Possible adjustments: This was meant to be a lunch item. It could be changed up slightly for a dinner dish. I'd like add some chopped onion and maybe even a can of drained corn kernels with some oatmeal flakes as a binder.

Pizza Shells (mini)

The picture here is of the left-over dough, which is about half of a real shell. It is, however, the nicest 147-cal pizza I've had in a while. Really - shell(67), ham(20), mustard(8), cheese (52).

Oh, did I mention that plate it's on is just about 7" side to side...

Into the bread machine (in order) goes:

1 cup water
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1-1/4 cups white flour
2 tsp wheat gluten
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp italian seasonings
2-1/2 tsp yeast

Set on dough cycle. Again, I usually let it rise in a bowl even for the first rise, but that's up to you. After the first rise (~1 hour) punch down dough in bowl. Measuring out 2-oz of dough for each shell, roll out on floured surface. I've counted on another 1/2 cup of flour being needed for rolling out. I measured it out, but didn't quite finish using it. Bake each shell about 5-7 mins at 425F. This is just to firm the shell, not to cook it until brown. Let cool (here I freeze them).

To finish off - put toppings on and bake at 375-400F for ~15 mins until shell is nice and brown and toppings are heated through/cheese melted.

Makes: 12-1/2 (the 1/2 pictured above)

Each shell:
134 cals (4g protein, 23g carbs, 2g fiber, 3g fat)

Entire recipe (meant to be 2 whole pizza shells):
1677 cals (55g protein, 287g carbs, 24g fiber, 32g fat)

Added:

I made a version recently with 2 cups whole wheat flour and ~1 cup (4oz by weight) of soy flour. It was a slow riser (perhaps needed a touch more water), but made much tastier version with different macros.

Entire recipe:
1643 cals (109g protein, 219g carbs, 44g fiber, 33g fat)

Cracked Wheat Oatmeal Bread

This could be a little darker. I baked it at 340F convection (350F reg), but I think next time I'll bump up the temperature a little for a nicer look. This is started in the bread machine, but finished in the oven. I generally only let the bread machine do the kneading. I often do the first rise out of it as well. If my mixer was better I'd likely skip the bread machine all together. I have made this completely with wheat flour, but it does bake up nicer if you use some white flour. One warning, I always slice and freeze the bread, so I'm not sure how it would do untoasted.

1 cup cracked wheat
1-1/3 cup warm water

Let the cracked wheat soak in the water for an hour. I usually just start the soaking in the machine. After soaking add (in order):

1-1/2 tbsp oil
1 tbsp honey
1 tsp salt
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup white flour
1 tbsp wheat gluten
2 tsp yeast

Put on dough cycle. This will make a 2 pound loaf (just in case you're going to finish it in the machine). After the mixing is done, remove and dump into a lightly greased bowl (no stick spray works well) and cover (wax paper and a towel). Leave in warm spot to rise for about an hour.

Sprinkle work surface with 2 tbsp of flour and punch down dough. Divide into 2 loaves and place in appropriate baking pans. Cover and let rise again for 30-40 mins. Bake in 350F (maybe 375 better, but not sure yet) for 35-40 mins until ready. If you haven't made bread before, you lift one loaf out, slide it out of the pan and thump it lightly on the bottom. It should sound slightly hollow. Oh, and obviously, if you bake it at the higher temp it will need less time. :)

Two loaves were just about 2 pounds. I counted them at 30 ounces so I'm over-estimating the calories slightly (but I'm good with that).

1 loaf:
1000 calories (37g protein, 182g carbs, 22g fiber, 16g fat)

I weigh my slices though, by the ounce. They end up somewhere around an ounce, depending on how well I slice it.

1 ounce:
67 calories (2g protein, 12g carbs, 1g fiber, 1g fat)

White Chili with Cauliflower

For some reason I'm in a crockpot mood. It's sometimes a little tricky making a dinner for just two people, but this one can be halved quite nicely. I do that when making this, leaving half the beans and green chilis in the fridge until the second time I make the dish (maybe two days later). The original recipe called for 4-oz of cream cheese, which I cut out, and since I didn't have jalapenos (1-2 in orig) I used a homemade canned hot sauce (which is pretty much jalapenos, a few other hot peppers, vinegar and horseradish).

1 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, minced (hot sauce used - 1 tbsp)
1 tbsp cumin seed
1 tbsp dried oregano leaves
1 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cracked black peppercorns
1 can, 19-oz white kidney beans, drained and rinsed
3 cups vegetable stock (used chicken)
3 cups cauliflower flowrets (pre-cook for 4 mins - oops, I didn't do this)
1 green bell pepper, cut into strips
2 cups monteray jack cheese, shredded (I used a bagged cheese blend, only 4-oz)
4oz cream cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes, optional
1 can (4.5 oz) chopped mild green chilies, optional
finely chopped green onions, optional
finely chopped cilantro, optional

In skillet, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and cook until softened. Add garlic, jalapeno peppers, and seasonings. Cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Transfer mixture to slow cooker stoneware. Add beans and stock and stir to combine.

Cover and cook on Low (8-10 hours) or on High (4 to 5 hours), until hot and bubbling.

Stir in cauliflower, green pepper, monteray jack cheese, and cream cheese and chilis, if using. Cover and cook on High for 25 to 20 minutes, until green peppers are softened and cauliflower is heated through. Ladle into bowls and garnish as desired.

(If you prefer a thicker chili, mash some or all of the beans before adding.)

Okay, as typing it up I realised why my cauliflower needs closer to 45 mins to cook. But it's quite good cooked in the crockpot. Information (based on 4 servings) with only the chilis added for the optional ingredients, based on 4-oz of cheese (6 is probably closer to 2 cups).

Calories: 360 (23 g protein, 15g fat, 39g carbs)

When I put the cauliflower in I also put in smoked sausages as well (for more protein!), just kind of pushing them down into the chili. I'm really not insane marking this vegetarian. It was a vegetarian meal, but my mother is one of those 'it's really good, but a piece of sausage would make it better'. Since I've been trying to keep my protein levels over 30% I've done so by adding sausages at the end, but it's a lovely dish without meat.

Basic Biscotti

I make these quite a bit and have them most nights with some fruit salad. I know, it's odd, most people dip biscotti in coffee and/or tea, but I don't use either. I'm going to go see if I can take a picture of the jar the remaining few are in. The one thing I should point out is that since I wrote this recipe out I've changed the egg substitute for 3 large eggs. It does add 89 calories to each batch, but the overall quality of biscotti is so much better. And if you're cutting them into 60 pieces as I am, 1.5 cals isn't a big deal. You can use eggs substitute for those that have stopped using whole eggs. The ones pictured are the cinnamon ones and the lemon ginger (with cocoa). They are also smaller, cut into the 60+ pieces.

2 1/4 cups flour (1024)
or, 2 cups flour, 1/4 cup cocoa powder for chocolate base (910+48)
2 tsp baking powder (10)
dash of salt

Mix above ingredients together (dry).

egg substitute, for 3 eggs (135)
3/4 cup sugar (581)

Whisk together egg substitute and sugar until smooth (wet).

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix until it forms a soft ball of dough. Dust a work surface with a little flour. Divide into 2 or 3 balls and shape into long logs, about 1/2 to 3/4" high. The original recipe calls for a single log 12 inches long and 4 inches wide. Once it's out of the oven you are supposed to slice them 1/4" thin. I have never been able to get the slices that thin, so I usually make 2 or three logs about 15" long and about 2" wide. Today I did three, and managed to slice each into just over 20 pieces. So you can see I can only slice them about 3/4" wide. If you can slice them thinner, then the original recipe would work.

Bake in preheated 350F oven for 30 mins (do not shorten the time for smaller logs). They should be firm to the touch when taking out. Cool on a wire rack for 15-30 mins.

Using a serated knife, slice the loaves diagonally into 1/4" slices (if you can, hooray). Place the slices on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake for an additional 12 to 14 mins. Remove from over and cool completely a second time on a wire rack.

Since I slice mine thicker the 12-14 mins leaves them slightly soft in the middle. In fact, I haven't quite figured out how much longer they need to go in. Today I did another 8 mins at 325, but they were almost cool by that time. It sounds complicated, but once you know how long you need it's really quite simple. The worst that can happen is that they soften on standing. If they don't soften they should keep for more than a month in an airtight tin (I use canning jars). If they soften you can either eat them as is, or simply put them into a 325F oven for 5-10 minutes to crisp up. I gave calorie counts for each ingredient so you can change it around as you wish. Also, the cherry calories come from one I found online that has a small amount of sugar and oil (which my home-dried ones don't have, but are more likely what you would use if you buy them).

Note: There is probably another tablespoon or two of flour used to dust the work surface (or if dough is really really sticky), but 2 Tbsp flour adds 57 calories to the batch. I've added in the 2Tb of flour, assuming that you will need it.

Everything else are changes to original bases (dry & wet).

Chocolate Cherry Almond (use flour/cocoa in dry)
Add to dry - 1/4 tsp cinnamon (2), 1 cup unblanched whole almonds (815), 1 cup dried cherries (415)
Add to wet - 1 tsp vanilla extract (12)

Calories (for 48) - 64 cals, 2g fat, 11g carbs, 1g fiber, 2g protein
Calories (batch) - 3077 cals, 94g fat, 505g carbs, 34g fiber, 80g protein

Cinnamon (use flour only in dry)
Add to dry - 2 tsp cinnamon (12)
Add to wet - 2 tsp vanilla (24)

Calories (for 48) - 40 cals, 0g fat, 8g carbs, 1g protein
Calories (batch) - 1921 cals, 18g fat, 383g carbs, 11g fiber, 50g protein

Lemon Ginger (use flour only in dry)
Add to dry - 1 tsp lemon zest (1), 1/4 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger (1oz - 104)
Add to wet - 1 tbsp lemon juice (4)

Calories (for 48) - 42 cals, 0g fat, 9g carbs, 1g protein
Calories (batch) - 2003 cals, 18g fat, 410g carbs, 9g fiber, 50g protein

Roasted Veggies

My favourite selection for these is carrots, brussels sprouts, cauliflower during the first step, and then throwing whole green beens on at the end. I will take a better picture later, but for now I've got an old one (with broccoli which I really don't like roasted).

Preheat oven to 450F.

Select veggies you're going to use and prepare them by cleaning and/or trimming them as needed. I've used (lately) cauliflower, baby carrots, brussels sprouts - these all need the longest. I've also done eggplant and red onion - the onion though should wait about 10 mins before adding. Green beans are great, but add them about 10 mins later. Guide - cauliflower, brussels sprouts, carrots, eggplant (30-40mins), onions (20-30mins), green beans (10-15mins).

Take a baking sheet and cover with aluminum foil (easy clean-up) and spray lightly with non-stick spray. Place vegetables on the foil and spray again lightly with non-stick spray (about 3 secs total - 30 cals for my spray). Sprinkle with salt, pepper, basil, and chopped garlic. Roast for amount of time noted above, adding and mixing in other vegetables as desired. When finished they should have some browned areas, the beans will shrivel a little. Remove from the oven and bring the four corners of the foil up slightly. Toss in a Tbsp of balsamic vinegar and shake lightly to coat.

I used to use about 8 - 10oz of raw mixed vegetables for a nice big side serving. You can roast larger amounts and save some (nice cold), but if you're doing that add the balsamic vinegar only when serving. That picture above is an early start which I just checked, ws 2oz of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, and green beans. Your calorie count will depend on what you use and how much oil/spray you use. The above though was under 120 cals (with 30 cals being spray).