Survival Meal

Last night we had biscuits and gravy for dinner. There was about half a saucepan of gravy left which I saved until the next day. Right now we are on self-imposed quarantine because of the Coronavirus, and the grocery store shelves are pretty bare.Making food last is important right now.

What could I do with this leftover gravy? There really wasn’t enough left for two people to eat a meal. I decided to turn it into potato soup.

Gravy is very thick, especially when it has solidified during the night. I added about 2 cups of water and brought to a boil. Snipped in some fresh green beans for color and cut into quarters about a dozen small fingerling potatoes. Allowed these to boil for about 15 minutes until the potatoes were soft. Spooned into bowls and topped with some bacon bits and some French fried onions left over from the last time I made green bean casserole.

Potatoes aren’t part of the Ketogenic Diet, but sometimes survival is more important than losing weight. On the other hand, intermittent fasting is a really good boost to your immune system, so you may want to consider that during the lean times.

If you are going to do intermittent fasting, make sure you take your vitamins and get enough electrolytes in your liquids. I use Keto Chow Electrolyte Drops. Just a capful in your water or tea gives you the magnesium, sodium, potassium, and chloride you need to stay hydrated.


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Review - Gardein Sweet and Sour Porkless Bites

At one time my husband and I were trying to eat less meat, so we tried these Gardein Porkless Bites. Buy them by the case at Amazon. 

After baking them in the oven for 17 minutes, they are drizzled with a tasty sweet and sour sauce. Without the sauce, they aren’t spectacular, but with the sauce, they are quite satisfying.

One serving is 9 bites, at 160 per serving, 12 g of protein, 22 g of carbohydrates. 

We served this with steamed sweet potato and rice for a very satisfying meal. 

This is not a product for those trying to eat gluten free or low-carb. 

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Review - Cirkul Flavored Water Drinks

Cirkul is a subscription service you can join to receive a minimum of 8 flavor cartridges per month for $27.  They are all sugar free and most are quite tasty.

The only disappointing thing for me was the number of bottles of flavored water each cartridge makes. The website says each one is supposed to make six bottles. but I have yet to get six bottles even when turning the setting all the way down. 

Other than that I have no complaints.



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Copyright Judie McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living

Review - Swerve Chocolate Cupcake Mix

This mix makes exactly 12 cupcakes. They don’t rise a lot, so if you want them taller, cut it down to 9 and fill them a little more. 

Each cupcake has only 3 net carbs. Very chocolatey, like dark chocolate, so not extremely sweet. But still satisfying to someone who rarely gets bread or sweets. 

A great addition to this would be some chopped pecans. In icing them, we tried an organic chocolate frosting with 8 carbs per serving, some Hershey Sugar-free syrup with 3 carbs, or some peanut butter. I have to say, I preferred the peanut butter as it provides a nice counterpoint to the strong chocolate flavor.






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Copyright Judie McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living

Easy after Christmas Taco Casserole

This dish starts with cornbread on the bottom. Now if you are doing keto or trying to reduce your carbs, start this with a recipe previously posted on our Facebook page for keto cornbread. But if you’re not counting carbs, a simple Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix will do. One box of Jiffy in a small cast iron skillet makes just the right amount.

After the cornbread comes out, just open a can of Pace Taco Complete.

Spread the Taco Complete over the cornbread.

Top with shredded sharp cheddar and place back into the hot oven for five minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Top with salsa and serve.









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Copyright Judie McMath and The Center for Unhindered Living

Hamburger Skillet Stew with Cornbread

Cold weather demands a nice big pot of hot soup or stew. And even though it’s only October, this is COLORADO. It’s our third snow day so far this season.

Hamburger Skillet Stew can be made with extra large meatballs, or with ground beef scrambled and browned. Today I was looking for something simple, so just scrambled it.

Cornbread is hard for those trying to eat low carb, but this is a great recipe for low carb cornbread. If you’re not trying to watch carbs, just use any regular cornbread recipe. This one tastes just as good.

Stew

1 pound grass fed ground beef
1 cup uncooked organic basmati rice (preferably grown in California)
1/2 carton organic stock (beef, chicken or vegetable, your choice)
1 jar organic spaghetti sauce
1 package frozen organic mixed vegetables
1/2 cup medium picante sauce
Salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Brown ground beef in large Dutch oven. While it is browning, add rice to big saucepan of boiling water. Boil rice for 20 minutes or until tender. Strain out water and add rice to Dutch oven. Add all other ingredients and stir to mix well. Allow to simmer for 10 minutes with lid on. Turn off heat and leave lid on while making cornbread.

Cornbread

4 pasture-raised eggs at room temperature
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup Stevia
1 1/2 tsp sweet corn extract
1 1/2 cups almond flour
1 tsp baking powder

Whisk together eggs, butter, corn extract and Stevia. Add dry ingredients and stir until just moistened. Pour into a small greased cast iron skillet. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes or until lightly browned. 

Allow to cool before cutting.

Take the lid off the pot of stew. By now the rice has probably absorbed most of the liquid. Add a little more stock or just a little water and stir to desired consistency. 


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Copyright The Center for Unhindered Living and Judie McMath

One Pot Butternut Squash

This makes a great vegetarian meal, but throwing in some sausage crumbles makes it good as well. Tailor it to your own needs.

If you are trying to get the highest amount of nutrition in your food that you can, you may be tempted to use brown rice. And you’d be right, brown rice has a nice nutty taste and more vitamins and minerals as well as fiber. But there’s something you may not be aware of about rice.

It all contains arsenic. Very small amounts, but some kinds of rice have higher levels than others. Brown rice has 80% more arsenic than other varieties. Because rice is grown in flooded conditions, the water often contains arsenic picked up from the soil as well as other pollutants. So rice absorbs more arsenic than other average food crops.

Jasmine rice and basmati rice seem to absorb less arsenic than other varieties. Therefore, my choice is always organic jasmine or basmati rice grown in California. Never buy rice grown in China.

According to Consumer Reports, “You may be able to cut your exposure to inorganic arsenic in rice by rinsing raw rice thoroughly before cooking, using a ratio of 6 cups water to 1 cup rice for cooking and draining the excess water afterward. That is a traditional method of cooking rice in Asia. The modern technique of cooking rice in water that is entirely absorbed by the grains has been promoted because it allows rice to retain more of its vitamins and other nutrients. But even though you may sacrifice some of rice's nutritional value, research has shown that rinsing and using more water removes about 30 percent of the rice's inorganic arsenic content.”

My new favorite butternut squash recipe.

2 tbsp coconut oil
1/2 red onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup organic jasmine rice
1 1/2 cups organic chicken or vegetable stock
1 cup chickpeas
1 1/2 cups butternut squash, cubed
1 tablespoon curry powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 cup sausage crumbles or Morningstar Farms Griller Crumbles
Chives

In Dutch oven, sauté onion in oil. Add rice and stir until coated in oil. Add stock, chickpeas, squash and spices. Heat to boiling, lower heat and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until rice is done and liquid has been absorbed. Add sausage crumbles and stir into rice mixture. Spoon into bowls and top with fresh chives.