Back in business, kind of...

Okay, I'm not a food blogger, and I rarely even post links to this site. Not even when I was posting to it fairly regularly. However, after restarting my weight loss attempts I figure that it's time. I see things that I made when I had way more time on my hands. Items that I add may be more time-friendly. Of course, this is assuming that I even share the site link in more than one place. :-)

Pork Steaks with Wine

I've played around with this one a little, to the point where I like it. There is no missed ingredient - there is no salt in the recipe. The steak seasoning has salt in it, so I dropped it entirely.

2 pork steaks (~8oz each), boneless loin chops used

Marinade Ingredients
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp rosemary
2 tsp steak seasoning (think heavy on the pepper, with maybe garlic and salt)
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper
2 Tb white wine
2 Tb balsamic vinegar

Put the two pork steaks in a plastic bag. Mix the marinade ingredients together and pour over. Close bag tightly and marinate in fridge overnight.

Mix together:
1/2 cup chicken stock
3/8 cup white wine

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat, with a little no-stick spray. Remove pork from marinade and brown for a minute on each side. Pour the wine/chicken stock mixture and cover pan. Turn down the heat slightly (to medium) and cook 10-12 minutes, until 155F on a meat thermometer. If the liquid is too thin, remove pork steaks to a plate and cover with the pot lid, then turn up heat and thicken slightly. Pour over pork to serve.

Calories in marinade/cooking liquid: 199 calories (38% alcohol, 4% protein, 22% fat, 36% carbs) - 2 servings

Calories in pork loin (8oz) chops: 322 calories (63% protein, 37% fat)

So basically it's ~100 calories plus the size of the steak you're using.

Pork Tenderloin with Bourbon Sauce

You know, I really do tend to think of these recipes as jumping off points. As much as I give amounts and calories, I really expect that people will tailor them to their own tastes. The sauce here would go well with chicken as well I think.

1 pork tenderloin, all fat removed (1-1.5 pounds)

1/4 cup bourbon (Jack Daniels used)
1/4 cup soy sauce
1 Tb brown sugar splenda (use 2-3 Tb brown sugar if desired)
2 cloves garlic, chopped

Mix the above ingredients and let the pork marinate for approximately 2 hours in a tightly closed plastic bag. I've found in the past that alcohol bases don't do well with the pork tenderloin overall texture (that's why the shorter marinating time).

Remove pork from the marinade (reserve the liquid). Sprinkle with pepper (not salt) and roast in preheated 350F oven for 30-40 minutes until a trace of pink remains. Don't worry, once you slice if you won't see the pink.

While the pork is roasting, to the reserved marinade add:

1 tsp dehydrated onion
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 clove garlic, chopped

Bring mixture to a boil in a small pot (watch it as it will boil over if you're not careful), turn down and cook until well reduced. Stir in:

2 tsp butter

Mixture should thicken slightly. Keep warm until the pork is cooked, or turn off and reheat while slicing pork.

Dish should serve 2-3 people depending on pork tenderloin size. Calorie counts will vary depending on pork serving size (1oz roasted pork is 46 calories).

Sauce total: 483 cals (7g protein, 12g fat, 34g carbs, 28g alcohol)

Again, the sauce would do for three people, although I usually split it between two servings and use the leftover pork in sandwiches. That picture was taken with just a drizzle of sauce, there ended up being about double that amount. You could probably cut some of the butter out if you needed to (but it is used to thicken the sauce).

Protein Waffles

This started out as a pancake recipe, with a ton more stuff in it. I could never get the pancake cooked to the right colour so I pulled the waffle iron out of storage. This makes one, pretty nice, waffle - although I'm not sure how it compares with 'real' waffles. I know that first attempts couldn't be eaten without a huge glass of water handy. This final version can be eaten without water and/or coffee handy. The picture is shown with homemade mulberry/cherry syrup which was actually a failed attempt at jelly (long story).

6g ground oats (I whiz oat flakes in the blender, keep a container of it)
6g white flour
2g protein powder (vanilla used)
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp oil
42g egg whites

Mix the dry ingredients together well. Add in the oil and egg whites and blend. This ends up with a very thin batter, but it rises well in the waffle iron and spreads fairly well. Cook in preheated waffle iron to desired colour. For me, that's about 5 mins, but it could maybe be a little browner if you want it more crispy.

Makes 1 waffle: 82 cals (31 cals protein, 35 cals carbs, 14 cals fat)

Note: the protein powder I use is pretty much all protein - 95% protein, 3% carbs, 2% fat, so switching it with something else will obviously change the macros. I realized that I never have added any sweetener, although the protein powder has a little. With using the syrup I don't think it needs any, but you might want to add a little something.

Protein Pudding Pops

I'm eventually going to work on these without the packaged pudding mix, but in the meantime....

1 pkg jello chocolate instant pudding mix (fat free / sugar free)
55g chocolate protein powder **
2 cups skim milk (I make it from powdered)

Mix powdered pudding and protein powder in a bowl. Whisk in skim milk and whisk for 2-3 mins, until mixture starts to thicken. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze. If using sticks, let sit for about 5 mins before putting sticks in.

As made: 8 (62 cals - 34 cals protein, 27 cals carbs, 1 cal fat)

** this is a 55g serving of ISO XP - 210 cals (50g protein, 1.5g carbs, <1g fat)

Tandoori Chicken Legs

I make approximately 1/3 of this recipe, serving 2 people. I'll give the full recipe though and the macros from the original recipe. Obviously depending on the type of yogurt and the amount of chicken your calorie counts are going to be slightly different. The marinating in the yogurt/citrus/spice blend though give you a lovely moist chicken, even though it's baked without the skin. I'm thinking of using the basic recipe next time and changing up the spices a bit. I don't bother with ground cumin and coriander as the mixer grinds them up fairly well, and I don't mind getting a piece of seed on my chicken.

4 lbs chicken legs, skin removed
4 cloves garlic
2 medium onions, quartered
1 pc (~3") ginger root, peeled
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp ground coriander
1 tsp garam masala (or 1/4 tsp each ground cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, black pepper)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 cup plain yogurt
1/4 cup lime or lemon juice

Remove skin and excess fat from chicken. Cut legs into two pieces if you wish. Place in large plastic bag. In food processor or blender combine the rest of the ingredients and blend until smooth. Pour marinade over chicken and mix well to combine. Seal bag and let marinate for 24 hours in fridge.

To cook, remove chicken from marinade and place on foil lined baking sheet (spray with cooking spray or brush with oil). Grill on barbecue (medium-high heat) for about 35 minutes or until meat is pulling away from the bone. Alternately bake in 425F oven. Serve garnished with coriander and lime slices if desired.

Note: I cut up the chicken legs and I cook them about 45 mins in the 425F oven.

Nutrient info from original recipe:

Per serving (6): 321 cals, 13g fat, 10g carb, 40g protein
Per serving (4): 481 cals, 19g fat, 15g carb, 61g protein

Sun-Dried Tomato Meatloaf

I'm sure you could probably use more ground turkey in this, but I pretty much stuck to the recipe (except adding ground turkey sausage instead). Oh, and I cut back on the liquid just a touch as I thought it would be too wet. Although, I was surprised when I started mixing it that it really wasn't. So you could probably double the milk and get away with it. The only thing I might have added was a little chopped garlic. For the version in the picture I cooked two servings in a meatloaf pan (two piece that allows you to drain the fat easily). That's why it's so flat as the pan would likely have taken 6 servings easily.

3 pounds lean ground beef (85% used)
1 pound hot italian turkey sausage (500g package)
2 small onions chopped (8oz used)
2 cups instant potato flakes (150g)
2 eggs, beaten
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup milk (could probably use the full cup)
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
2 tsp italian seasonings
6 Tb chopped sun-dried tomatoes, not oil packed (used 50g)

Mix the beef and sausage together. Add in the rest of the ingredients, mixing well. Divide into portions and freeze (I use plastic sandwich bags). I basically weighed the ingredients as I went and totaled them up, dividing it into 12 servings. For me this was 260g per serving.

To cook, thaw overnight in fridge, press into an appropriate pan and bake uncovered at 350F for an hour. If possible, drain the fat off after about 45 minutes. I usually brush a little ketchup over the top as a glaze.

Calories (per 1/12th): 410 cals (24g fat, 34g protein, 14g carbs)

Citrus Loaf

I don't usually share the recipes for my high-protein bread baking attempts. Mainly because they don't usually turn out as well. This is meant to be a lemon loaf, but I use mixed dried peel. For the purposes of the calorie count I used 3oz of raw peel. What I do is peel oranges, lemons, and/or grapefruit - bring to a boil in water, then dehydrate them. The original recipe called simply for peel.

Layer the following into breadmaker (in order, roughly):

1-3/4 cups water
2-1/4 tsp oil
2-1/4 tsp salt
15 oz white flour
4 oz soy flour
2.5 oz unflavoured protein powder (283 cals, 54g protein, 5g carbs, 6g fat)
1 oz vital wheat gluten
1 oz skim milk powder
1.5 oz sugar
1 oz dried citrus peel
1/2 tsp lemon extract
1/2 tsp cardamom
3 tsp yeast (I think it was quick rise)

I used the dough cycle only, lifting it out before the first rise (mainly because it rises too high in the machine). Put into greased bowl (I use canola oil spray), cover and let rise until doubled in bulk. I usually turn the oven on briefly as our kitchen is never warm enough to give a good rise. This was about an hour.

Turn out onto floured surface and sprinkle with a little flour (weighed out another ounce, but only used a little over half). Punch down, knead briefly, divide into two loaves and place into baking pans. Cover and let rise another 30-40 mins. Bake at 350F until ready (took about 22 mins today). Loaves should be brown on top and sound hollow when tapped on the bottom.

This made 2 x 20oz loaves (so 1.25 pounds).

Total calories: 2737 cals, 29% protein, 9% fat, 62% carbs

per ounce: 68 cals, 5g protein, .67g fat, 10.5g carbs

Turkey/Beef Minestrone

This ended up making a lower calorie/lower protein serving than I had expected. I thinned it down with another 8 cups of beef broth when it was made (as it really was pretty thick). Next time I might divide it first, adding the beef broth, if needed, when reheating. I find big pots of soup hard to divide, so I usually just do it by weight. This made 33 x 12oz servings.

1-3/4 lbs lean ground beef
2 lbs ground turkey
4 medium onions, chopped (14.7oz)
2 cups celery, chopped (10.3oz)
2 cups carrots, chopped (9oz)
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 28oz cans chopped tomatoes
2 19oz cans kidney beans
2 14oz cans baked beans
16-24oz beef stock and/or broth (24 used)
6-8 cups shredded cabbage (24oz)
6oz mixed small pasta

Brown beef and turkey in large stock pot, adding a little stock if needed. Add onions, celery and carrots and cook until softened. Add in garlic, tomatoes, kidney beans and at least half of the stock. Bring to a boil and reduce heat, simmering for 60 minutes.

Turn heat up. Bring back to a boil and add baked beans, cabbage, pasta, and more stock. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook for another 30 minutes, until pasta is cooked.

Total calories: 6485 (32% protein, 34% carbs, 6% fiber, 28% fat)

per 12oz serving: 197 cals (16g protein, 20g carbs, 4g fiber, 6g fat)

Crab-stuffed Mushrooms

This is an old favourite that I haven't made in a while. For my current plan it's a little low in protein, but not too bad. It makes up for it by being low in calories. I also think it would be a really nice appetizer, although I've never served it as such. The baby bella mushrooms are simply small portabella mushrooms, usually 6 to 8 in a 1-lb package. It works nicer with bigger mushrooms, but this is what Costco sells (better quality and price than the local grocery store). I've got into the habit of putting weights into recipes, so I'm adding them in brackets at the end of each line.

16-oz package baby bella mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped (3.5oz)
1 clove garlic, chopped
2-3 stalks of celery, chopped (2.5oz)
120g can of crabmeat, drained (little over 4oz)
2oz grated cheese blend (~100 cals/oz)
1 Tb bread crumbs
2 Tb parmesan cheese
2 Tb oil

Clean mushrooms, removing stems and most of the gills. Chop stems and reserve for filling.

Preheat oven to 400F. Place mushrooms (gill side up) on lined baking sheet. Brush lightly with some of the oil and seasonings of choice. Sometimes it's salt, pepper and garlic powder. Tonight I used a touch of chili powder with pepper and salt. Bake for 20 mins and remove from oven. Set aside.

While mushrooms are cooking heat remaining oil in a skillet. Add in onions, celery and mushrooms and cook over high heat until onion is softened and slightly browned. Add in garlic and remove from heat. Let mixture cool slightly and mix in breadcrumbs, crabmeat, and grated cheese. I'll generally use whatever blend is handy, but tonight's choice was a Nacho blend (and why I used the chili powder).

Place mushrooms into an oven safe dish and top with filling, sprinkle with parmesan cheese. Reduce oven temperature to 350F and bake until cheeses are melted (~15-20 mins, depends on how much you cooled the filling).

Total calories: 754 (49g protein, 39g carbs, 10g fiber, 47g fat)

Serves 2 as a main dish

Per serving: 377 calories (25g protein, 19g carbs, 5g fiber, 24g fat

It is a little skewed to higher fat, which is from the cheese. You could easily cut it back, however, it's really quite nice. And the overall calories are pretty low. I tend to serve this with a side of veggies as well. That makes it a pretty filling, still lower calorie meal.

Eye of Round Roast

The original recipe for this was for a 3-lb roast. You were to do 7 mins/pound for the first stage, and then turn the oven off. I read some of the comments on the site it came from, and made some adjustments to the seasonings. I would think that with a smaller roast you would have to go back closer to the original recipe. I didn't trim the small amount of fat until the meat was cooked (as the entry I used from my calorie counting program didn't have a 0 fat entry anyway).

1 eye of round roast (7-lbs used)
salt
pepper
onion powder
garlic powder

Preheat oven to 500F. Season the roast on all sides with the salt, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Place on a rack in a roasting pan, with a little liquid beneath it. Do not cover. Put roast in oven and reduce temperature to 475F. Cook at this temperature for 5-mins per pound (7 if a smaller roast). Reduce temperature to 200F and continue cooking for approximately 3 hours. Check internal temperature of the roast, cooking until 145F (this is medium rare).

Trim any remaining fat and wrap roast in aluminum foil and let cool. Putting it in the fridge overnight will make it easier to slice. Slice as thinly as possible, as thick pieces will be tougher. A 7 pound roast yielded just over 5 pounds of cooked beef. The pictured roast was about 143F when I took it out of the oven. The second time I went to 146F, which sliced up slightly better.

Cals: 1oz cooked - 53cals (19 fat, 34 protein)

Orange Pork

I wasn't sure that this was going to have a lot of taste, but served with the orange slices on top it was really quite nice. The recipe below is for two servings and cooked for 6 hours on low and came out perfectly. I used sirloin chops that had been trimmed of excess fat. If making a larger amount you might need to increase the cooking time.

1 Tb butter, melted
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp dried minced onion
2 tsp chopped garlic
2 Tb white wine
2 Tb orange juice
1/4 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp tabasco sauce (used generic hot sauce)
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 pound pork chops (recipe called for boneless center-cut)
1 navel orange, sliced

Melt butter in a dish or measuring cup. And remaining ingredients except the pork and the orange. Put the pork into the crockpot. Cover with orange slices and pour other ingredients over. Cook on low for 6 hours.

Just before serving, pour liquid out of crockpot, skim fat off (there really wasn't much) and thicken with a cornstarch solution. I did this in a glass dish in the microwave. I counted 1 tsp of cornstarch in the macro but didn't use it all. Serve pork chops with orange slices and sauce on top.


Calories (sauce/orange) per serving: 132 cals, 6g fat, 16g carbs, 3g fiber, 2g protein, 1g alcohol

Calories (pork) per serving: 322 cals, 13g fat, 48g protein

Note: I usually save the sauce ingredients in my calorie counter separately, then weigh the specific amount of pork used. ie. tonight it was just under a pound of meat.

Turkey Spaetzle Soup

Well, considering I've never made spaetzle before, the soup turned out fairly well. Normally I wouldn't recommend messing with a recipe that you've never made, but hey, why not? The recipe I found online for soy flour spaetzle was so far off though it almost turned into a disaster. The recipe called for 1 cup soy flour (which weighs ~4oz), 2 eggs, and 1 cup of milk. Once I worked in the eggs I knew there was no way that it needed a cup of flour, so I only added 1/2 cup. This was a mistake as probably 1/4-1/3 cup would have done. Anyway, I just added more soy flour and adjusted the recipe accordingly. The same with the veggies. I started with a head of celery and adjusted the onions and carrots to match. I estimated 24 cups of stock as I used homemade, quite concentrated stock. I added water to thin it down. I did not add salt as I had put some in the stock originally. You may wish to adjust the seasonings to taste.

24 cups turkey stock (start with 18 and add more if needed)
26 oz roasted turkey (again, this is what I had)
17 oz chopped onions
17 oz chopped celery
17 oz chopped carrots
28 oz can diced tomatoes
2 Tb chopped garlic
2 Tb dried basil
1 Tb dried rosemary
2 tsp black pepper
3 bay leaves

Bring above ingredients to a fast, rolling boil. Boil gently for 30 mins. Add:

3 pkgs edamame shelled (750 cals, 60g protein, 23g fat, 60g carbs, 30g fiber)

Mix together spaetzle ingredients:

6 oz soy flour (defatted used)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup 2% milk (skim would do)
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp black pepper

This is where I'm completely guessing. I think it should be a medium to firm dough. I used a metal cheese grater to get the strands into the soup. Bring the soup back to a rolling boil. You kind of rub it and press it through at the same time. Here's a close-up of what they look like:



Cook for a few minutes longer. That's the best I can say. If you look at the above picture they float on top, although later they blended in more with the soup. You could probably chose to leave them out. I added them to boost the protein level, but I had enough pieces of turkey that it really didn't matter. However, they are an alternative to noodles (and 50% protein to boot).

Calories (total): 4715 cals (511g protein, 144g fat, 309g carbs, 97g fiber)

I divided it into portions by weight (12oz) to freeze. I ended up with 26 portions from the above. It's approximately 12 fl oz as well (ie. a decent sized portion).

Calories (12oz): 182 cals (20g protein, 6g fat, 12g carbs, 4g fiber)

Pork Smothered in Onions

This turned out fairly well. It's a nice comfort meal with a little prep the night before. Then drop the whole thing in the crock pot in the morning. The original recipe is for four servings, but I cut it back to two servings. So I cut the cooking time down by an hour. The macros at the end are divided into sauce calories and pork (as I usually separate them then add in the raw meat amount). I did cut back a little from the original amount of oil (it was double).

1/2 Tb butter
1/2 Tb oil
8oz onions, sliced into rounds
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1 fl oz golden sherry (used dry)
~1 lb pork cutlets (used trimmed sirloin chops)
1 oz shredded swiss, gruyere or romano cheese (used 90 cal blend with mozzarella/provolone/cheddar)

In a pan, over medium heat, warm the butter and olive oil. Add the onions, salt, pepper and thyme. Saute until onions are wilted and slightly brown. Turn off the heat and add the sherry to the skillet.

(You can simply go on to the next step or put the onions in the fridge overnight.)

Place the pork in the crockpot and top each one with half of the onion mixture. Cover and cook on low for 7 hours. (If you double the recipe you might want to do the full 8 hours.) A few minutes before serving divide the cheese between the chops and let melt.

Sauce Calories (per serving): 160 cals (10g fat, 10g carbs, 2g fiber, 5g protein, 2g alcohol)
Pork Calories (8oz chop): 322 cals (13g fat, 48g protein)
(used - Pork, fresh, loin, sirloin (chops or roasts), bone-in, separable lean only, raw)

Total for above (per serving): 482 cals (23g fat, 10g carbs, 2g fiber, 53g protein, 2g alcohol)

I served this with a side of mixed veggies which added another 60 calories for a nice easy, no fuss meal.

Protein Pancakes

Okay, I'm posting this one with a kind of warning label. They make look like pancakes but they aren't even close to pancakes. They're a little dry and without the thinned down jam would likely be hard to eat. However, they are a great filling, high-protein breakfast choice. Especially when you don't want another shake! I gave the calorie count for the protein powder used as different ones will make a difference in the protein content. It's a brand called ISO XP, which has a very high protein content.

30g oatmeal (whizzed in blender to a flour-like consistency)
20g protein powder (76 cals, 95%P,2%F,3%C)
1/2 tsp baking powder (~2g)
63g egg whites (~1/4 cup or two egg whites)
28g frozen blueberries

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix in egg whites, then blueberries. If you use frozen blueberries you likely won't need to add water. If you use fresh fruit (or no fruit) you may need to thin it slightly.

Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Cook as you would pancakes, turning when bubbles are breaking and top is starting to dry. Serve with topping of choice. I take 1Tb of whatever homemade jam is around and thin it down with water, warming in microwave.

Serves 1: 238cals (30g protein, 2g fat, 25g carbs, 4g fiber)
(Yes, 49% protein)

Note: adding that you should check out the waffle recipe - maybe not as much protein, but tastier!

Beefy Mushroom Barley Soup

I'm never sure about sharing soup recipes. For me, they are really just a starting point. I would guess that this original soup recipe looked completely different. However, this is how it was made today. I ended up with 21 servings of ~1.5 cups each (I weighed them out and they were actually 12oz each). I did add some meat in from the homemade frozen stock, but I've left it out of the calculations here. I've added weights after anything that I double-checked by weight. That was what I used when calculating the calories/macros. This is meant to be a 'meal in a bowl' type soup. You could lower the fat by using more turkey, or a leaner ground beef. I specifically wanted to use up some ground beef that was in the freezer though.

2 lbs lean ground beef (85%)
2 lbs lean ground turkey
2 cups onion, chopped (11oz)
2 cups celery, chopped (10.7oz)
1 cup carrots, chopped (5oz)
22.5 oz mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 can tomato paste (5.5oz size)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup dry red wine
1 cup pearl barley (7.5oz)
1 cup instant potato flakes (2oz)
2 bay leaves
3 tsp basil flakes
2 tsp thyme flakes
1 tsp ground pepper
20 cups beef broth and/or stock

Brown beef, turkey, and vegetables in large stockpot. You may need to add some stock to stop it from sticking. Add all remaining ingredients and bring to a boil. Simmer for 60-75 mins, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning and add salt if needed. (I don't normally have to as the stock had salt and so do commercial beef broths usually.) Add more broth if a thinner consistency is desired.

Entire recipe: 5059 cals (432g protein, 207g fat, 362g carbs, 66g fiber)

1/20th: 253 cals (22g protein, 10g fat, 18g carbs, 3g fiber)

Salsa (for canning)

This is the recipe I use for canning salsa. It's not a good fresh salsa recipe. It works best if opened (and refrigerated) the day before serving. I jar them into pint sealers (~20oz jars). The size of the diced tomatoes, onion, and pepper will determine how chunky the salsa is. As they are cooked very little, it's important to dice them fairly fine. The calorie counts are approximate (from notes about the yield) but should be close. I bought 1/2 bushel this year of tomatoes and I ended up with 5 batches, making 21 pints.

Base

6 cups charred tomato puree (see below)
1-1/2 cups white vinegar
1 Tbsp salt
4 Tbsp chopped garlic
4 Tbsp hot sauce
2 Tbsp dried parsley (or cilantro)

Char the tomatoes (roma/plum type) over either a hot barbecue or under the broiler. Barbecue is much better, trust me. The outside should be brown, with black patches, the inside soft. Put charred tomatoes in a blender and puree until smooth. Once you have 6 cups, put into a large pot with the vinegar, salt, garlic, hot sauce, and parsley. Bring to boil and boil until reduced to approximately 3 cups. I usually take a ruler before I start and measure the pot where it should cook down to. The pot should be covered, and on firmly. If the pot is not covered you will have tomato puree plopping up the cupboards. When it gets to that stage, take it off the heat before uncovering and stirring and checking. (Trust me on this, I forgot and had some halfway up the cupboard beside the stove.)

By the way - DO NOT TASTE THIS MIXTURE - really. It's vile at this point. No matter that I tell people not to taste it, they will try. Really, it's not worth it.

3 cups tomatoes, peeled and diced

Add the diced tomatoes to the above mixture and bring to a boil. Turn off the sauce and taste it now for seasonings. You may need to add a little salt and perhaps more hot sauce at this point. I use a homemade hot sauce, so you may want to use less in the above stage and adjust it up at this point. If the salsa does not have a slightly smoky taste, you can add a tsp of liquid smoke. This usually means that the tomatoes weren't charred enough in the first stage.

2 cups finely chopped onion
3/4 cup finely chopped pepper

Add the onion and pepper last. It is important not to cook them if you're going to can the mixture. Pour into sterilized jars, add a dash of alum if desired and cover with boiled two-part lids. Process in boiling water batch for 5 mins, no more.

Yield: Approx. 4 pints

I usually make double lots which will get me 8-9 pint jars. 5 times this amount got 21 jars this year.

Calories (per cup): 99 (4g protein, 1g fat, 24g carbs, 5g fiber)

Calories (per Tbsp): 6 (2g carbs, all others showing 0)

Chocolate Zucchini Cake (with protein powder)

This is a protein rich version of the 'company' cake version I posted earlier. It ends up being made in a 9"x13" pan and it's really quite tasty. That, and it's chock full of protein. In fact it is 36% protein - not bad for chocolate cake.

1/2 Tbsp butter, melted
1/2 Tbsp oil
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 eggs
1/4 cup skim milk
1/2 Tb vinegar
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup sugar
6 oz grated zucchini with peel

Melt butter and mix with oil to make 1Tb. Mix with rest of above ingredients in bowl.

5 oz soy flour
1/4 cup cocoa powder
1 tsp baking soda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
88g protein powder (64g protein, 8g fat, 8g carbs, 4g fiber)
20g fiber sure (fiber supplement - 18g fiber)
2 Tb wheat gluten

Sift dry ingredients together and stir into wet ingredients. Do not over mix. Spread into greased (non-stick spray) 9x13 pan and bake in preheated 350F oven for 35 mins until inserted wooden pick comes out clean.

Calories (entire cake): 1876 (171g protein, 38g fat, 228g carbs, 55g fiber)

so... 1/24 - 78 cals (7g protein, 2g fat, 10g carbs, 2g fiber)

Zucchini Bread

This is a remake of a higher calorie bread we make each year. Although I did not make them side by side, I really don't think there's much difference. This is something I would easily serve to someone without telling them it was lower cal! I make them in mini loaf pans (~3.5" x 5.5"), so I'm really not sure what the cooking time would be for a regular loaf pan. Oh yes, and the picture is of a couple of frozen slices. I forgot to take a picture of the bread when it was cooling.

3 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 Tb vegetable oil
1/2 cup splenda brown sugar mix
1/2 cup skim milk (I use dry powder, reconstituted)
8 oz grated zucchini

Mix all the previous ingredients into a large bowl. This is now all your wet ingredients together. In another bowl mix your dry ingredients. They are:

1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 oz soy flour (defatted)
1 Tb gluten flour
1 Tb ground ginger
1 Tb ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder

Once dry ingredients are combined mix into wet ingredients. Do not over mix! Stir in:

4 oz dried cherries
4 oz chopped pecans

Divide into baking pans (I use 5) and bake in preheated 350F oven for 35 mins (or until tester comes out clean).

Notes: I've played with this a couple of times and I think this version worked quite well. The thing to watch for is batter consistency. The first time I tried it I could tell it was way too thick, but wasn't smart enough to thin it down. That's why there is now 1/2 cup skim milk in it. Oh, and just for fun, the original recipe had 4800 calories in it. There's a lot you could do to cut calories more in this (for example the cherries and pecans are 1152cals (10g protein, 83g fat, 109g carbs, 14g fiber). I chose to leave them in on purpose though.

Calories (total): 3321 (124g protein, 116g fat, 434g carbs, 45g fiber)

Calories (per oz, based on 48oz yield): 69 (3g protein, 2g fat, 9g carbs, 1g fiber)

Blueberry Bran Muffins

These turned out quite nice, although they do seem to stick a lot to the paper. I'd probably make them directly into the non-stick pans next time. I also ended up making them smaller than I had planned (getting 25 instead of the 18 I had planned). I'll give the per muffin calories (and full) at the end so you can adjust to how many you make. They ended up 29% protein, 28% fat, 34% carbs (leaving 9% fiber).

1 cup 2% cottage cheese
1 cup nonfat milk (made mine from powder)
1-1/2 cups red bran (75 grams)

Blend the cottage cheese and milk in blender until smooth. Stir into bowl with red bran and let sit for 30 mins.

2 eggs
1/2 Tb oil
2 Tb applesauce, unsweetened
1 tsp grated orange peel

Mix above ingredients into the bran. Then combine the following dry ingredients:

7/8 cup whole wheat flour (100 g)
75g soy flour
50g wheat gluten
50g brown sugar splenda
1-1/2 tsp baking powder
1-1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt

Combine wet and dry ingredients, mixing lightly (do not smooth out batter). When combined mix in:

1-1/2 cup blueberries (frozen used)
3/4 cup sunflower seeds

Put into muffin tins and bake at 350F until tops spring back lightly when touched, or tester comes out clean. This took approximately 25 mins for the size I made.

Note: If you make larger muffins I might even turn the heat up slightly. I looked at a couple of other muffin recipes as the one I adapted this from said 350F for 15 mins. They weren't even close to ready and needed another 10 mins at 350F convection. Other recipes I have use 400F as the baking temp, however, with removing the fat you may not want to cook them that hot.

Calories each (25 made): 99 (7g protein, 3g fat, 11g carbs, 3g fiber)

Calories total: 2472 (180g protein, 80g fat, 265g carbs, 68g fiber)