1. Brown 1 pound of lean ground beef

2. Add 1 packet of taco seasoning and 1/2 cup of water

3. Simmer for 5 minutes

4. Put the ground beef in the bottom of a casserole dish in an even layer

5. Take 2 small tortillas and cut them into smallish pieces (I use these low carb ones) and layer on top of the meat

6. Next take a can of refried beans (I use the fat free version) and spread over the tortilla layer

7. Next, add a layer of salsa

8. Cover the whole thing with a nice layer of cheese, I like to use a 2% milk Colby Jack

9. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes

10. Remove from the oven and let sit at least 5 minutes before cutting into it

11.  Serve with some Light sour cream and some fabulous guacamole

(Printable version coming soon)

First, I grated some Romano cheese

I used about 2/3 of a cup of grated romano and a little over 1/2 cup of mozerella

Spread that on the bottom of a pizza pan (with sides) that has been sprayed with non-stick spray

Next measure out 6 oz of low fat cream cheese and put it in the mixer with 4 whole eggs, 1 tsp of Italian seasoning and 1 tsp garlic powder and mix until smooth

Then pour the liquid mixture over the cheese on the pan

Put that in a 350 degree oven for 25 minutes

Meanwhile, I made some homemade pizza sauce because all the commercial sauces I found had lots of sugar, but feel free to use whatever kind you want.

I started with tomato puree

Then added

• a few cloves of crushed garlic
• 2 tbsp Italian seasoning
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tsp fresh basil
• 1 packet of Splenda

Then I set that to simmer while I got my toppings ready

Use whatever you want, as long as its low carb. I used a mix of regular and turkey pepperoni, onions, green olives and mozerella

Your crust should be about ready to come out of the oven now, it will be golden brown

Spread it with your pizza sauce

Load on the toppings

Sprinkle on the cheese

And return to the 350 degree oven for another 10 minutes

Remove and marvel at how good it looks

Slice it and serve

It really does taste like pizza, not “eggy” at all.

Ingredients

• 1 pork tenderloin (about a pound)
• 1/4 cup Lysanders pork rub (or seasoning of your choice)
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 tsp flour
• 1/2 cup white wine
• 1 cup water or stock
• 1 ounce chopped prosciutto
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tsp thyme

Directions

1. Cut the pork tenderloin into 1/2 inch thick slices (its best to slice it when is very cold)

2. Coat the pork medallions with the seasoning mix (its easiest to put the seasoning or rub in a zip top back and shake it!)

3. Sear the pork medallions on both sides. Don’t be shy, get a GOOD sear on there!

4.  Next, move the pork medallions to a casserole dish (oh, and preheat the oven to 375)

5. In the still hot pan, place the vegetable oil

6. Add in the flour and stir it around to make a roux

7. Once you have the roux made, add the wine and water (or stock)

8. Add the prosciutto and mix in the herbs and spices and let simmer for about 5 minutes

9. Pour the sauce over the pork medallions in the casserole dish and bake at 375 for about 25 minutes.

10. Serve with rice

Cut 3/4 to 1 lb of chicken into small pieces

Place 1/4 cup of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper in a ziplock bag, then place the chicken in the bag and shake to coat

Heat 2 tbsp of vegetable oil in a large pot.  Once hot add the chicken and flour mix and stir occasionally until brown the chicken

Once the chicken has browned, add 1 cup of chicken broth

Cut one large russet potato into medium large chunks

Add the potatoes to the pot

Next add in about 2/3 of a package (about 5 oz)  of dried cheese tortellini

Add the tortellini to the pot along with 2 cups water, 1/2 tsp thyme, 1 tsp rosemary, 1/2 tsp black pepper, 1/2 tsp garlic  and salt to taste.

Simmer for at least an hour, the longer the better, I think it would also be good in a crock pot.

I served mine with some fresh baked bread.

A co-worker and I had been talking about Swedish meatballs but I didn’t have all of the ingredients for that, so I made this instead.

Meatballs in Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients

1. 1lb ground beef (lean)
2. 1/2 medium onion chopped
3. 1/4 cup egg substitute
4. 1/4 cup bread crumbs
5. 1 tsp salt
6. 1/2 tsp black pepper
7. 1 tsp paprika
8. 1 tsp garlic powder
9. 1/2 tsp ground cumin
10. 1 can cream of mushroom soup
11. 1 cup chicken stock

Directions

Mix the first 9  ingredients together in a bowl

Tip: you can use whatever spices you want, I used what came handy that night.

Then either using a tablespoon or a small disher, make them into meatballs and put them in a pan sprayed with non-stick spray

Cook until they are browned all over (turning once or twice during the process to get a good crust all the way around), should take about 15 minutes.

Mix the mushroom soup and chicken broth together and pour over the meatballs

Simmer for about 10 minutes while you boil some egg noodles

Serve over egg noodles.

Pork Cube Steak

Ingredients

• 1/2 to 3/4 pound pork cube steak
• 2/3 cup milk or butter milk
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp paprika

Directions

Marinate the pork in the milk or buttermilk overnight (I am not counting this time in the 30 minutes obviously)

Mix the flour and seasonings together on a plate

Dredge the cube steaks in the flour mixture and put them in a HOT pan

Turn once at about 7 or 8 minutes

Serve with mashed potatoes and some canned low fat pork gravy (I like the Heinz brand)

“What’s that?”

“Chicken in white wine and lemon sauce”

Matthew gives me a skeptical look.

“It will be good, you’ll like it.”

“It doesn’t  sound very good” he said, looking kind of sad.

“Trust me, you’ll like it”

“Ok” he said, still looking sad.

So I…..

Mixed 1/3 of a cup of flour, 1 tsp salt, 1/2 tsp pepper and  1/2 tsp garlic powder in a bowl

Pounded some chicken breasts out flat

Dredged the chicken in the flour mixture

Melted 1tbsp of butter and 1 tbsp of olive oil in a pan

Put the chicken in the pan

Waited a few minutes and flipped it over

Waited until it was nice and golden and removed it to a plate

and proceeded to make the sauce

You are supposed to use “rinsed capers”.  For those of you who have never worked with capers, they are tiny, not easy to rinse. Here is how I did it.

I then added the capers, about 3 tbsp worth, to the juice of one lemon, 1/2 cup of white wine and 1 1/2 cups of chicken broth

Now, I am going to deviate for a moment and tell you what I SHOULD have done, not what I DID.

Remember the pan you cooked your chicken in?  Look at all the yummy butter and chicken bits left in it.

Mmmmm….

Okay, stop drooling and take about a tablespoon (maybe two depending on how much oil/butter is left in the pan) and make a roux.  I can’ t show you this, because I didnt do it, and my sauce did not get thick so I had to add the flour in after and do many tiring things to get the lumps out.  So do as I say, not as I do.  Once you have the flour incorporated into the oil in a roux, add the liquids (and capers).

And you’ll get a sauce that looks much nicer than this one

Now I returned the chicken to the pan for a few minutes to heat back up and get all saucy!

Finally I plated it up with a bit of pasta with the sauce over it, some crusty bread that I toasted a bit and a Caesar salad.

Then we sat down to eat.

A few minutes later Matthew looked over at me and says ‘This is good.”

“I told you so” may have slipped out.  I am only human after all.

Get the pdf of this recipe

Ingredients

• 3 cups bread flour (I usually mix white and wheat half and half but use whatever you like, as long as its bread flour)
• 1 tbsp instant yeast
• 1 tbsp kosher salt
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 1/2 cup warm water

Throw all of the dry ingredients in a bowl.

Mix in the water. It will look like a mess!

Coat a large bowl or other container with oil and throw the ugly dough in it, turning to coat.

Cover with plastic wrap and leave out in a warmish (room temperature) place for 12-24 hours.  You will see it start to rise in a couple hours but leave it alone!

Once the allotted time has passed (you’ve slept and gone to work and come home probably), turn the dough out onto a floured surface.  Turn the dough over on itself once or twice.  DO NOT KNEAD THE DOUGH!  All you are doing is bringing it together.

Now, you can either make one loaf using a dutch oven or cast iron skillet which will end up looking something like this

Or you can shape it and make loaves or rolls.  I was making baguettes this time, so I shaped it into two long logs.

Once its shaped you want to let it rest, covered with a tea towel  for about 30 minutes.  I didn’t leave this one rest long enough and I’ll show you in a minute what that does.

It will puff up a bit more as it rests.

Bake at 425-450 for approximately 2o minutes.  It does very well if you cover the pan in foil to hold in the steam, makes lighter, aerier bread.

Now, let me show you the difference  not letting it rest long enough and not covering it in foil makes.

Bread not rested well and not covered in foil

Well rested, “steamed” bread

See all the nice holes!  That’s good bread!  (and yes, that one is mine too, just a different batch from awhile back)

I made some yummy french bread pizza from my bread for dinner tonight!

Get the pdf of this recipe

I started making this dish a couple months ago and we both love it.

This stuff is your best friend, its delicious!  Lysanders pork rub.

Rub that generously all over your pork loin.

Then sear it on all 4 sides in a hot pan.

Then cut up some potatoes.  It dosen’t even matter if you have messed up and get some that are PURPLE inside!!!

Next, wrap some bacon around the seasoned pork loin thusly

Toss the potatoes with a dash of olive oil and some of the Lysanders and then throw them in the pan with the pork

Bake at around 375 for 35 minutes or so until the pork reaches between 145 and 170 degrees.

The last 10-15 minutes I like to take the potatoes out and crisp them up on a separate pan.

And its done!

First, I made the chicken from this recipe.   Then I started two sauces, the lemon garlic sauce from the same recipe as the chicken and the alfredo sauce.

The alfredo sauce ingredients

• 1 pint half & half
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 1/2 cups Parmesan cheese

The procedure

1. Heat half and half and butter over medium-low heat and whisk to combine once the butter has melted
2. raise the heat to medium-high and whisk in the cheese

That is basically how you make alfredo sauce, now I make it into lemon garlic alfredo

1. Transfer the alfredo sauce to a tall sided container
2. Use and immersion blender to make it nice and smooth
3. Incorporate the lemon garlic sauce into the alfredo sauce in about for increments, blending well between each one

Have I mentioned that I now refer to my immersion blender as my “sauce saver”?

Return the now finished sauce to the pan.

Ladle the sauce over cooked noodles (I used linguine)

Throw the chicken on top

What I learned

1. use heavy cream instead of half and half so the heat can go higher to melt the cheese faster and make a smoother sauce

2. put the noodles in the sauce so you don’t end up with “clump o’noodles”

3.  Add a little lemon zest to the chicken breading

Ugh, I’m a messy cook!

Matthew said it tasted almost exactly like the old Houlihan’s dish, so I guess Mission Accomplished!

Except…..it tasted horrible.  We each took one bite and that’s as far as we could go, I even spit mine out.  Ugh.

So, back to the fridge….

Matthew had a leftover chicken sandwich and some olives.

I had some frozen chicken nuggets and bbq chips.  And yes, that is Chic-fil-a sauce on my plate, I bring it home, I have a weakness for Chic-fil-a.

So the moral of the story is, sometimes no matter how hard you try to make a good homemade dinner, you sometimes just had to punt.

(look at me, I made a sports reference!)