Hashed Breakfast Cauliflower, My Tweak

This is what I made this morning for breakfast--

Ingredients:
2 small heads cauliflower, cored and diced
1 tablespoon dried onion flakes
Salt, to taste
White Pepper, freshly grated, to taste
6 Pieces of Bacon
1 Tablespoon Fresh, grated Garlic
1 Tablespoon Butter
Two good handfuls of Cheddar (I used Mexi-Melt from Costco)

Method:

Cook bacon in large non-stick skillet till almost crisp.
Remove to a paper towel covered plate and drain.

Reserve two tablespoons of Bacon grease, and fry the cauliflower in it, till beginning to brown. Add the rest of the ingredients, except cheese.
Dice the bacon into fifths, and add to the cauliflower.
Continue cooking till browned and a bit crisp, but not burnt. Add cheese, let sit, then fold everything over on itself-- serve.

Nice with an extra sprinkling of Parmesan Cheese over the top.

I served this with scrambled eggs, sausage, and Faux French Toast.

Best Breakfast I've had in a while.

RAVEN'S CHEESY BAKED CREAMED CABBAGE WITH HAM, ITALIAN SAUSAGE AND MUSHROOMS

Serves 8-12

Ingredients:

1 very large head of Cabbage, chopped into medium sized chunks and separated (about 6 cups raw)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped medium
1 cup sliced Criminey Mushrooms
1 cup ham, chopped
4 Italian (link) sausages, microwaved until done, chopped medium
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons granular Splenda
1 teaspoon nutmeg, ground
½ teaspoon allspice, ground
2 teaspoons granulated garlic
4 heaping tablespoons sour cream
4 heaping teaspoons cream cheese
1-1/2 cups shredded Mexi-Melt cheese
2 tablespoons butter, divided.
2 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese (Kraft in the carton)

Method:

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large (preferably non-stick) dutch oven, saute onions in 1 tablespoon butter until browning; add ham and mushrooms. Cook for about 5 minutes, or until mushrooms and ham are browning.

Add the cabbage, and carefully cook on medium hi heat, till tender. Add chopped sausage.

Continue cooking to marry the flavors; add spices, 1 tablespoon butter and Splenda.

When cabbage is very tender, turn out into a colander and drain well.

Turn drained cabbage mixture into a large mixing bowl.

Add 4 tablespoons sour cream and 4 tablespoons cream cheese. Stir till everything is blended well and taste. This is where you tweak your seasonings.

Turn into well greased 9x13 casserole dish. Sprinkle the top with the Mexi-Melt cheese, until covered.

Bake at 350 for half an hour, turn oven up to 475 and continue cooking till cheese is bubbly.

Remove from oven and sprinkle the top with parmesan cheese.

Carb Counts: (Per Linda Sue--THANKS!!)

Per Whole Recipe: 3352 Calories; 264g Fat; 154g Protein; 104g Carbohydrate; 33g Dietary Fiber; 71g Net Carbs

Per 1/8 Recipe: 419 Calories; 33g Fat; 19g Protein; 13g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 9g Net Carbs

Per 1/12 Recipe: 279 Calories; 22g Fat; 13g Protein; 9g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 6g Net Carbs

A Low Carbing Black Woman Revisits Turnips...

Turnips are a great Low Carb food.

However they elicit a response from me-- that is almost visceral.

Why?

When I was a very little girl, I knew this very old Lady-- her mother had actually been a slave-- she was about six years old when she was freed. Some of the slaves were not freed at the time of the Emancipation Proclamation-- because they could not read, and *some* of the slave owners did not enlighten their slaves about the situation.... regardless... I got a great recipe out of this.. and the fact that this is a recipe from my past-- from someone I knew-- who went through the experiences she did...makes it even more meaningful. My grandmother let This wonderful Older Lady live on our property in Mounds, Illinois, until she died.

Anyway-- this lady was nearly a hundred years old when I knew her-- and I was about five or six, myself. She made the best Turnips I've ever had in my life. Lots of butter. Pepper, and salt and garlic and onion. And that was it. She stewed them ...forever and a day... but they were GOOD.

And she lived a long, long time. That should tell you something. Think about what she lived through. This should tell you something. Low Carb is GOOD for you.

One of the things I remember that she did was to put fatback in the pan and get it browned before adding the turnips and the water. And I think she might of soaked the turnips in salt water for about an hour before she cooked them. Maybe half an hour.

**; also Mr. Rabbitt, who drove me on the bus to the little schoolhouse in Mounds where my Grandma taught..to Mr and Mrs. Schurlock who lived down the hill, and my very first friends--Maria and Jan.

I miss you all, very much.
__________________

Comfort Food: My Extremely Simple Low Carb Egg Drop Soup

In the words of Barack Obama, ENOUGH!

Even I get sick of politics.... and banging my head on the keyboard is getting me nowhere!

Comfort Food is required!

My Extremely Simple Low Carb Egg Drop Soup

Ingredients:

Chicken Broth, 4 cups
2 Leeks or 4 Green onions, cleaned and sliced thin
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon fish sauce
½ teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon sesame oil
1teaspoon dried lemon grass
4-5 eggs.

Instructions:

In a large sauce pan saute leeks and dried lemon grass in sesame oil on low heat until tender.
Pour in Chicken Broth and other ingredients and bring to a boil.
In a small mixing bowl, break and mix eggs. Strain eggs through fork tines a little at a time, and stir well for a few minutes till egg ribbons are cooked through. Serve hot.

This makes a very satisfying soup-- it's quick, it's easy. Serve with Asian Meatballs , Cauli-Fried Rice, and Low Carb Egg Foo Yung.

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters (my version)

6 cups shredded zucchini
1/4 cup shredded onion
1/4 cup protein powder
1/4 cup Bob's Red Mill Soy Flour
1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
2 eggs (beaten)
salt and pepper
Granulated Garlic, 1 teaspoon

Shred Zucchini using a grater. Place grated zucchini in a large mixing bowl with the other ingredients, mixing well. I recommend mixing your dry ingredients in one bowl and mixing them separately, then adding them to the Zucchini /egg mix.

Mix all together well.

Heat about 1/2 inch Peanut Oil oil in a frying pan to where water sizzles if you flick a little into the pan.

Using a large Tablespoon, drop Zucchini /egg mix into hot oil, in small ( about 2 or 3 inch diameter) mounds. When the bottom is browning, flip over, continue cooking till done and crisp.
It helps to use your spoon to press them down a bit in the oil, flatten them a bit.

Work in small batches, until all the batter is used up. You should be able to get at least ten fritters, 15-20 depending on how thin you make them.

Drain on a rack covered with paper towels, set over the sink.

Hint: Place old newspaper in the sink to catch any excess oil. When you're done with your cooking and draining, you can just throw the newspaper away and wipe out the sink with a good cleaner. This makes for easier and quicker clean up time.

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

(Raven's Tweak)

Ingredients:
Brussels sprouts
olive oil
salt and pepper
Hungarian Paprika
granulated garlic
nutritional yeast and/or Parmesan Cheese (Kraft Type in the box)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Slice the sprouts in half lengthwise, removing any loose, outer leaves and trim the bottom stems.

Toss sprouts in a little bit of olive oil and and add spices. Make sure the sprouts are well coated. Spread cut side up in a single layer on a foil-lined baking sheet. (use nonstick foil.)

Bake 400F for 30-40 minutes, or until browned and crispy on the outside and tender on the inside. Sprinkle with a bit more Parmesan Cheese and serve. Sometimes I also sprinkle these with Mitmita which is Ethiopian Pepper -spice.

Serve these immediately- - these are best hot. (my roommate and I had these as a sub for taters, along with cauliflower popcorn when watching a movie the other night!) This was great the next day for lunch. This is also great finger food for parties, served with a nice dip, like a Tzzikki sauce.

Raven's Frighteningly Good Roasted Cauliflower

This is another of my takes on a classic.

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 (or 6 cups) large head cauliflower, cut and separated into florets
Olive Oil ¼ cup or enough to coat cauliflower
Dried Basil , 1 teaspoon
Dried Parsley 1, teaspoon
Sweet Hungarian Paprika, 1-1/2 teaspoons
White Pepper 1 teaspoon
Nutriional Yeast, 2 tablespoons

Instructions:

Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees.

Put cauliflower into a large mixing bowl, and coat well with Olive oil.

Season with Sweet Hungarian Paprika, Granulated Garlic, dried Basil, dried Parsley and heaping tablespoon of nutritional yeast.

Turn out into a large baking pan, and arrange in a single layer.

Bake for one hour.

Enjoy!!!

Carb Counts for ingredients:

Cauliflower: 6 cups raw, approximately 15 grams carb.
Nutritional Yeast: 2 heaping tablespoons: Total Carbs 5 g
Dried Parsley: Trace carbs
Dried Basil: trace carbs
Hungarian Paprika: 1 gram carbs
Olive oil: 0 carbs
White Pepper, 1 gram carb.

Total Carbs per recipe:
22 grams carbohydrate

Per serving:
5.5 grams carb.

Raven's Dirty “Cauli-Rice”

Ingredients:

2 large heads cauliflower

1 pound cooked ground turkey, lamb, beef, or ground pork or a combination of the ground meats + plus a couple of cooked chicken livers and/or chicken giblets, cooked and chopped fine

2 or 3 links nitrate free, sugar free Andouille sausage, chopped
2 stalks green onion
1 med stalk celery, chopped med
6-10 med crimini mushrooms, chopped fine
2 tablespoons butter
1 ½ teaspoons cajun seasoning
1/2 teaspoon Splenda
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon granulated garlic
olive oil


Here's what I did:

I grated the cauliflower in a cheese grater, then sauteed it in the olive oil and half the butter 'till tender. Then I added the other seasonings and ingredients and sauteed till everything was done. (Tender, tasty!)Add the second half of the butter last. Creamy and luscious.


By the way-- this is great with a handful of fresh crab, shrimp, crawdaddy, pine nuts or all of the above. For a real neat twist, add a handful of crushed pork cracklin's. Not Pork rinds-- *Cracklin's*. There's a difference. I like to bake up some chicken, drain the grease, and smother the chicken with the dirty "rice"-- and then bake it for about 30 minutes at 350. Serve hot.

Baked Mushrooms

This is a simple but surprisingly hearty and filling side dish.

Ingredients:

1 pound large white mushrooms
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 tablespoon Onion Powder
1 tablespoon Granulated Garlic
1 teaspoon freshly ground Black Pepper
1/2 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Clean mushrooms and remove hard part of stem. Place mushrooms in a 9x12 glass baking dish, cap up.

Drizzle oil over the mushrooms, then sprinkle with seasonings.

Bake at 400 degrees, (turning once or twice) for 45 minutes to an hour.

Carbs Per Mushroom: 0.8 g
Per serving (6 per serving) : 4.8 grams carb
Large serving: (10) 8.0 grams carb

I'm Takin' My Country Back Fauxtato Salad

In honor of Independence day! A plea for the return of our Civil Rights! Without further ado...

I'm Takin' My Country Back Fauxtato Salad

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Ingredients:

1 cup cooked cauliflower, chopped
1 cup boiled turnips, cubed
1 cup raw celery, diced
3 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 green onion, minced
1/2 cup mayo, more if needed
1 tsp Dijon mustard
1 tsp cider vinegar
1 TB minced parsley
1 tsp chopped Dill pickle
1 packet Splenda
dash of garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

To Prepare:

Chill all ingredients before combining. Mix all together in a large bowl. Check seasonings. Pack into a 1 quart container and let it chill in fridge for at least 3 hours (overnight is better).

Cauliflower : 1 cup boiled, drained with salt: cup
(1" pieces 2.55g x2 = 5.1 grams carb

Turnips: 1 cup boiled with salt, cubed: 7.89

Celery : 1 cup chopped: 3.00

Hard Boiled Egg = 0.56 x 3 = 0.168

1 green onion, tops only minced = 0.68

Boars' Head Mustard, Delicatessen Style : 1 tsp= 0 grams

Pickles: Kosher Dills, Mini Claussen, 1 chopped: 1 gram

Makes about a quart of salad with 16 carbs net = 8 half cup servings @ 2 carbs each.
Total Carbs for entire recipe= 17.158
6 servings: 2.8 grams carbs per serving

* The Carb count has been checked using the USDA Nutritional Database by R.