Now that our last hoorah of vacation is over and we're back at school, time is at a premium. While I'd love to say that I'm June Cleaver incarnate and whip up a fabulous breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily, that would be an outright lie. Instead, I try to spend my Sundays cooking several items we can eat throughout the week. (Staying on track with the weight loss means no more frozen pizzas tossed in the oven because I have papers to grade!)
Breakfast is a must when living on a bell schedule that barely gives a body time to have a sip of coffee, let alone eat a snack. Last year I made sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits in advance to be popped into the microwave each morning. Since I haven't tried baking low carb biscuits yet, it seemed best to stick to something I've enjoyed all summer - frittata (or quiche minus the crust). So, after cooking up a package of bacon for the fridge, I took advantage of that yummy grease and sautéed chopped veggies (green onions, bell pepper, tomato, a few mushrooms) to add to my base of six eggs and a cup of heavy cream. (The cream makes this rich and fluffy!) Some Parmesan cheese and plenty of pepper round out the add-ins. After 40 minutes in the oven, this beauty is ready to go into the fridge supplying four days worth of breakfast. (Of course, you could crumble some bacon in, too, but I really like mine on the side. Ham, though, is a different story!)
Next, something to snack on during the week seemed to be in order. A couple weeks ago I thumbed through some recipes looking for foods to adapt to my new lifestyle. One of the recipes that caught my eye was for classic cheese straws. These are made with butter, flour, grated cheddar cheese, salt, and cayenne pepper, so the only change I made was to substitute almond flour for the regular flour. Mine spread a little more than I anticipated, but they are delicious - tender on the top and slightly crispy on the bottom with a rich, buttery-cheesy flavor. Next time, I'll be making a double-batch of these. (Recipe: In a food processor, combine one stick of softened butter, 8 ounces of grated cheddar cheese, 1 1/2 cups almond flour, one teaspoon salt, and cayenne pepper to taste. I used about 1/4 teaspoon, but next time I'll probably put in 1/2 teaspoon. Pipe the soft dough onto foil lined baking sheets and cook at 300 degrees for about 15 minutes.) I might refrigerate the dough to minimize the spreading. They're tasty as is, but didn't really hold their cheese straw shape.
Before deciding on what kind of lunch/dinner items to put in the fridge, I surveyed the remaining leftovers, which included two helpings of yesterday's beef stroganoff, a couple of teriyaki shrimp kabobs, and one foil baked chicken breast with veggies. Unfortunately, this cheesy pasta bake was all gone. (Boy, did it go fast!) Some of the best dinners seem to be things made up with what's in the fridge (primarily, some leftover cheese sauce that was a little too thick and lumpy). After putting it back on the burner, adding some white wine, a little lemon juice (the acid binds the cheese to the wine making it saucier) and a fair amount of stirring, I came up with a lovely, velvety cheese sauce which begged for pasta. So, I tossed some Dreamfields low carb penne into a pot and sautéed a variety of left over veggies from the fridge along with a pound of ground beef with a good dose of pepper and Italian seasonings. After everything was done simmering, I simply put it all together in a baking dish and gave it 30 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. I think the cheese sauce - with its white wine and smooth texture - made this sort of average casserole into something extra special.
Finally, I ended the day with a double batch of fried chicken, which makes excellent leftovers. I always use boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into tenders because I like not having to deal with the bones and getting all white meat. In addition, since almond flour browns a little faster, smaller pieces help ensure the chicken is cooked through in less time. (The only complaint I have about the almond flour is that it tends to turn the oil dark and seems to absorb more of it.) Tonight's fare was nothing fancy, but definitely tasty. I just mixed an egg with some heavy cream to douse the tenders in before rolling them in seasoned almond flour. (I also seasoned the raw chicken with salt and pepper before dunking.) I fried the chicken four pieces at a time in a deep pot. Since I was only cooking a few tenders at a time, I kept it warm in the oven, which also gave the meat time to rest and the coating time to shed any excess grease.
While cooking several items each Sunday can be a chore, I like having plenty of leftovers in the fridge heading into the week. Not to mention, the house smells good and the guys tend to hang with me while I'm cooking - just in case I need someone to sample items as we go. Enjoy!
Breakfast is a must when living on a bell schedule that barely gives a body time to have a sip of coffee, let alone eat a snack. Last year I made sausage, egg, and cheese biscuits in advance to be popped into the microwave each morning. Since I haven't tried baking low carb biscuits yet, it seemed best to stick to something I've enjoyed all summer - frittata (or quiche minus the crust). So, after cooking up a package of bacon for the fridge, I took advantage of that yummy grease and sautéed chopped veggies (green onions, bell pepper, tomato, a few mushrooms) to add to my base of six eggs and a cup of heavy cream. (The cream makes this rich and fluffy!) Some Parmesan cheese and plenty of pepper round out the add-ins. After 40 minutes in the oven, this beauty is ready to go into the fridge supplying four days worth of breakfast. (Of course, you could crumble some bacon in, too, but I really like mine on the side. Ham, though, is a different story!)
Before deciding on what kind of lunch/dinner items to put in the fridge, I surveyed the remaining leftovers, which included two helpings of yesterday's beef stroganoff, a couple of teriyaki shrimp kabobs, and one foil baked chicken breast with veggies. Unfortunately, this cheesy pasta bake was all gone. (Boy, did it go fast!) Some of the best dinners seem to be things made up with what's in the fridge (primarily, some leftover cheese sauce that was a little too thick and lumpy). After putting it back on the burner, adding some white wine, a little lemon juice (the acid binds the cheese to the wine making it saucier) and a fair amount of stirring, I came up with a lovely, velvety cheese sauce which begged for pasta. So, I tossed some Dreamfields low carb penne into a pot and sautéed a variety of left over veggies from the fridge along with a pound of ground beef with a good dose of pepper and Italian seasonings. After everything was done simmering, I simply put it all together in a baking dish and gave it 30 minutes in the oven at 350 degrees. I think the cheese sauce - with its white wine and smooth texture - made this sort of average casserole into something extra special.
Finally, I ended the day with a double batch of fried chicken, which makes excellent leftovers. I always use boneless, skinless chicken breast cut into tenders because I like not having to deal with the bones and getting all white meat. In addition, since almond flour browns a little faster, smaller pieces help ensure the chicken is cooked through in less time. (The only complaint I have about the almond flour is that it tends to turn the oil dark and seems to absorb more of it.) Tonight's fare was nothing fancy, but definitely tasty. I just mixed an egg with some heavy cream to douse the tenders in before rolling them in seasoned almond flour. (I also seasoned the raw chicken with salt and pepper before dunking.) I fried the chicken four pieces at a time in a deep pot. Since I was only cooking a few tenders at a time, I kept it warm in the oven, which also gave the meat time to rest and the coating time to shed any excess grease. While cooking several items each Sunday can be a chore, I like having plenty of leftovers in the fridge heading into the week. Not to mention, the house smells good and the guys tend to hang with me while I'm cooking - just in case I need someone to sample items as we go. Enjoy!
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