All posts by Sonte

Atkins Diet Meals, Just Pics of Easy to throw together Stuff

Pork Chops with Alfredo Sauce

April 11, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

I think that my Atkins dieting husband is really missing pasta and all the lovely sauces that go with them. I had a poke around google and found a lot of folks were pairing Pork Chops and Alfredo Sauce! Now I know Pork Chops are a far cry from Pasta but it seems to have hit the spot. I reckon this is a recipe that will be in my rotation from now on. Lucky for me it is so incredibly easy to make too! The salad took the most effort to make!

I cooked the seasoned the pork chops with salt and pepper, a bit each of onion and garlic powder; just a hint of each. I was going to cook them in olive oil but the jar of bacon drippings on the counter caught my eye so I used about a tablespoon of that instead.
I cooked the chops in my electric frying pan at 350F for 6 minutes, seasoned the second side, flipped them over, put the lid on and continued cooking for another 6 minutes.

While that was cooking I melted about 8 ounces of cream cheese over medium-low heat, stirred in about 3/4 cup of heavy cream, stirring until smooth.
Next I added 2 ounces of grated fresh parmesan cheese and stirred some more, until smooth.
Finally I added a bit of salt, pepper and nutmeg.

Plate the pork chops, spoon alfredo sauce over top and garnish with chopped fresh parsley.

500gm Pork Chops, Boneless
1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper, to taste
1/2 teaspoon each Garlic and Onion Powder

8 ounces Cream Cheese
3/4 cup Heavy Cream
2 ounces grated Fresh Parmesan Cheese
Salt and Pepper, to taste
Pinch of Nutmeg
Parsley, garnish

Just Pics of Easy to throw together Stuff

Salmon Pot Pie

April 10, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

It is time to go grocery shopping! I had a difficult time pulling together a dinner tonight! Thank goodness my mother cooked up a huge salmon yesterday and sent some home with us.
The men said that they loved the Salmon Pot Pie!

While sweet potatoes were cooking I pan fried an onion until softened, added about a half cup of cream cheese, the same amount of mayonnaise, stirring until it all melty. Added some salt, pepper, a bit of lemon juice, some dill (think I could have added a bit more of that) then stirred in about 1 lb of baked salmon.
I poured all of that into a 2l casserole dish, lightly sprayed with vegetable oil spray, topped the salmon layer with fresh spinach.
Drained cooked sweet potatoes, mashed them with a potato masher and smoothed over the salmon and spinach, tucking all bits of spinach under the mashed sweet potatoes.
Smoothed out the top, into a preheated 375F oven for 30 minutes.
Done deal.

1 kg Sweet Potato

1 Onion, chopped
1/2 cup Cream Cheese
1/2 cup Mayonnaise
S &P
Dill, to your liking
500gm Baked Salmon or Canned Salmon

3 cups fresh Spinach

Cakes

Carrot Cake

April 7, 2012 Sonte 1 Comment

I went to make a Carrot Cake this morning and do you think I could find my faded, tattered recipe in the recipe box? NO! So the search began: Did I tuck it into a cookbook? Is it by my computer in the stack of “To Be Entered” recipes? Did a search on my site, plus a search on my old site to no avail. Now I am pulling my hair out because Carrot Cake is one of the family favourites and we are celebrating three birthdays this weekend! Dejected I went down to the kitchen prepared to pull out my Better Crocker cookbook (though I suspect Carrot Cake is missing from there too as I think I tore it out and gave it to someone O.o) and lo and behold! Seems I made a Carrot Cake not too long ago because the tattered old recipe card was just chillin’ in the recipe holder my oldest daughter made for me a gazillion years ago!
Catastrophe averted but I think I am going to enter that recipe right NOW so I don’t have to go through this again!

4 Eggs, well beaten
2 cups Sugar
1 1/2 cups Vegetable Oil
2 cups Flour
2 teaspoons Baking Soda
1 teaspoon Salt
2 teaspoons Cinnamon
Pinch of Nutmeg
Pinch of Cloves
1 1/2 teaspoons Vanilla
3 cups Carrots, raw, grated
1 cup Raisins (optional)
1 cup Walnuts, chopped (optional)
Cream Cheese Frosting
1/2 cup soft butter
4 ounces Cream Cheese, softened
1 1/2 – 2 cups Icing Sugar, to right consistency
1 teaspoon Vanilla
1 teaspoon Lemon Juice

Preheat oven to 350F.
Lightly spray a 9X13 (4l pan) with vegetable oil spray and line bottom only with baking paper.

Sift flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves together in a mixing bowl.
In large mixing bowl beat egg and sugar on low speed until combined then increase speed to medium and beat for a couple of minutes until smooth and foamy.
Stir in dry ingredients on low speed until all flour is incorporated then increase speed to medium and beat for 2 minutes.
On low speed, stir in grated carrots, vanilla and, if using, raisins and chopped walnuts.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake in 350F oven for 30 – 40 minutes, until golden and a pick inserted in centre comes out clean.

Remove from oven and let sit, in pan, on cooling rack for 10 minutes.
Turn out onto wire rack, peel off baking paper and cool completely.

While cake is cooling prepare the Cream Cheese Frosting:
In large mixing bowl combine the cream cheese and butter; beat on medium speed until smooth.
Stir in icing sugar a cup at a time, adding vanilla and lemon juice after the first addition, then adding enough icing sugar to preferred consistency.

Frost Carrot Cake with Cream Cheese Frosting when cake is completely cooled.

*I split my cake in two, add a layer of custard or icing in the middle the frost all over and add a piped border.

Atkins Diet Meals, Salads

Low Carb Greek Salad

April 6, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

I don’t usually measure this stuff…

1/2 cup Olive Oil
1 clove Garlic, minced (why did I give away my Garlic Press? Oh yea, coz I want a Pampered Chef one!
1/4 cup Red Wine Vinegar
a splash of Brine from the Kalamata Olives
Salt and Fresh Ground Pepper
1 teaspoon Oregano
1 teaspoon Basil

3 cups Spinach Leaves, washed and spun
1 Long English Cucumber, cut into chunks
1 each, Red Pepper, Orange, Yellow and Green Pepper, chopped
1/2 Red Onion, diced
4 ounces Feta, crumbled
Kalamata Olives
Grape Tomatoes, garnish

Measure all of the ingredients together in a resealable jar, screw on the lid and give it a good shake.

Toss together in a large bowl the spinach, cucumber, peppers and onion.

If serving all of it immediately, go ahead and toss in the feta, dressing and Kalamata olives.
If not serving all of it immediately, I like to just put a serving of the “Greens” in a large pasta bowl, top with a bit of crumbled feta, a few (lot) Kalamata olives and a generous drizzle of dressing.

Greek Salad doesn’t hold well which is why I don’t add the feta and dressing to a big bowl of prepared “Greens” thereby avoiding the soggy cucumber syndrome!

Atkins Diet Meals, Just Pics of Easy to throw together Stuff

Stir Fry Veg and Beef Strips

April 6, 2012 Sonte Leave a comment

Oh man, so very tired when I came in from work and so did NOT want to cook last night! Alas the grocery store didn’t have a cooked chicken ready for at least 20 minutes and I sure wasn’t going to hang around the store waiting….oh, I could have hung out in the Book/Mag aisle and got all caught up on my mag browsing! Then again, like I said, I was fading fast and one of the purchases in my basket was coffee beans and I had a real fanging for a cup of coffee!

Anyway, I probably did my family a favour by leaving the store without the chicken but now I had to cook! My husband is trying to shed a few so we can no longer rely on the old, “Oh, we can just have a bowl of cereal, throw in some fruit and nuts and call Dinner done.” Sadness, I know. Another standby fave was Eggs, Hashers and Veggie “Bacon” or “Sausages” with Toast but, well, we don’t do that anymore either.

So, coffee now in hand, I chopped a few things, sliced a few others, threw them in a deep frying pan and made stir fry veggies. Normally I would have thrown in some Teriyaki sauce but apparently that is off limits now too O.o I threw in a few Tablespoons of H2O and crumbled in a McCormicks Vegetable Stock cube. It was pretty tasty!

For the Beef Strips? I had some Sliced Steak in the freezer from a couple of weeks ago that cooked up nicely in a Tablespoon of Hoisin Sauce combined with 1/2 cup of water; I just chucked the liquids on top of the still thawing steak strips, stuck a lid on the pan for a few minutes, removed the lid to reduce liquid.

Don’t call me Late for Dinner!

(Disclaimer…I didn’t actually eat that stuff aside from a taste of the veggies. Before, while and after that was cooking I made a great big bowl of salad which I hope will last through today 😉

Aysontespli's Kitchen