Thanksgiving leftovers

Leftover sausage and cabbage stuffing.  A turkey sandwich.  I made Rev Rolls on Friday and used those to make my leftover turkey sandwich.  The Rev Rolls also worked to make an open-faced sandwich.  Yummy!

I'mmm baaaaaaccckk!!! With Gruyere Egg Muffins

One of my all-time favorite shows is NCIS.  I LOVE Special Agent Leroy Jethro Gibbs!  For those of you who don’t know, Gibbs operates by a set of rules.  Rule #6:  Never apologize.  (It’s a sign of weakness.)  I don’t agree with the rule 100%; however, I’ve observed that, in general, people apologize too much - and when an apology isn’t needed.  Why am I writing about this?  Because I’ve been MIA for a while - and I know it!  ;-)

I have several recipes to post over the next week or two.  Most were successful.  One was successful as to taste and not so much so as to functionality.  I made Gruyere Egg Muffins with a minor adjustment because I didn’t have shallots.  The taste was spot-on.  They just didn’t hold their functionality as muffins and didn’t come out of the paper liners easily so I ate the “muffins” with a fork!  LOL  I kinda thought these would come out as mini-quiches.  Nope.  

Immediately out of the oven they were like a soufflé - all puffed up!  I think that’s because eggs were beaten until fluffy.  Experiment!  Try not beating the eggs as much.

<-- The picture to the right is about 30 seconds after I removed them from the oven.  They deflated very quickly!

The original recipe makes 12 muffins.  I made 1/6 of the recipe - 2 muffins.  I recommend making 3-4 with the quantities below - these will puff up (big time!) and spill over the edge of the muffin well.  You can also use mini-muffin tins.  According to the original recipe, these freeze well.  I didn’t test that.  Yet.  I give the recipe 3 wing flaps (good flavor but not great or absolutely yummy).

Ingredients:

2 eggs

.25 cup Gruyere cheese, shredded

1t garlic, finely chopped

1t butter

4t HWC

dash of Jane’s Krazy Mixed Up Salt

1.  Preheat oven to 325F.

2.  Beat eggs until slightly fluffy.

3.  Lightly sauté garlic in butter.

4.  Add garlic, cream, cheese, salt, to the eggs.  Mix well.

5.  Pour into muffin tin* and bake 25 minutes.

*I recommend greasing the muffin tin and not using liners.

Nutritional info:

Fat:  30.7g (75%)

Protein:  20.2g (22%)

Carbs:  2.4g (3%)

Calories:  371 cal

Doesn't this look absolutely awesome!

Doesn't that look like a wonderful way to end a Monday?

I've been AWOL.  Sorry!  Life interfered.  I didn't remember to weigh in on Friday or Saturday.  Therefore, I do not have an update on that front.  Groceries for the week ... I hadn't been grocery shopping since August!  I had purchased much protein (meats) and had veggies in the freezer.  Publix offered a coupon this past weekend:  spend $50 on groceries and receive a $50 gas card for $40.  That was incentive enough!  I bought mostly staples: condiments, tuna, etc.  I eeked in with $52.00 in groceries.  Plus the gas card!  Plus plus ... I walked to and from the grocery store.

I was invited out to dinner Sunday evening.  As a result, I didn't do my normal cooking on Sunday.  I wasn't going to eat any of the entree on Sunday so I opted to cook later in the week.  I might be cooking individual entrees this week.

Sunday dinner was: salmon topped with soft goat cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, and lemon butter plus sautéed spinach as my side.  Monday ... oh my! ... Monday was delicious.  I'd splurged on a ribeye steak over the weekend.  I cooked it stove-top on Monday.  I added a garlic tomato butter sauce to it.  It was lip smackin' yummy!  How good does that steak above (and below!) look?   And the sauce ... 5 wing flaps!  I melted butter in the pan.  While it was melting, I dried and then seasoned (Jane's Krazy Mixed Up Salt) the steak.  When the butter was melted and the pan hot, I put the steak in it - listen for that sizzle! I let it cook for 4-5 minutes each side.  I like it a lot on the pink side!

It makes my mouth water just looking at it!

No nutritional information for this.  

Carbs are killing you! An infographic

Two and a half years ago I came across a very informative infographic.  I don't recall where I first saw it.  It's hosted here.  I'm reposting it on my blog.  This infographic really explains, with pictures, how carbs (not fat), make us fat.  The infographic includes attribution to Why We Get Fat by Gary Taubes, which is a useful explanatory read.

Zippy Chicken

Happy Tuesday!  Last night I promised a 5 wing flap recipe.  Here it is!  As I mentioned, I started with Linda's Seoul Chicken.  This chicken is absolutely delicious - and oh-so-moist!  There's some zip to the flavor - hence my name for it.  And OMG - the skin just crisps up.  It melted in my mouth.

Look how brown-n-crispy that chicken skin is!  Yummy!

Zippy Chicken

6-8 chicken thighs, skin on (I used boneless)
Sauce
5 tablespoons Tamari sauce (gluten-free soy sauce)
6 drops liquid Splenda
1/8 teaspoon Jane's Krazy Mixed-Up Salt
1 tablespoon garlic, minced
1 tablespoon sesame oil
5 tablespoons water Xanthan Gum, optional

Place the chicken in a large Ziploc bag.  Mix the sauce ingredients, except the Xanthan gum, in a small bowl.  Pour the marinade into the bag with the chicken.  Close the bag and knead gently to coat all of the chicken pieces.  Place the bag in a shallow pan, just in case the bag leaks.  Put the bag in the refrigerator and marinate at least 1 hour, turning the bag over occasionally.

Put the thighs, skin side up, in a baking pan.  I used a deep dish cookie sheet (of sorts).  You could use a 9x13 pan.  You definitely want a tall lip on the pan.  Add the sauce from the bag on top of the chicken.  Bake at 425º for 30 minutes until the meat is done.  Remove the chicken from the baking pan to a serving platter and keep warm.

Pour the remaining juices into a small saucepan.  Bring to a boil and lightly sprinkle the Xanthan Gum over the liquid while whisking briskly.  Caution - do not to let it get too thick.  Stop before you think it's thick enough or you'll get glue.  Serve the sauce over chicken. Don't want to go to that much extra effort?  Pour the pan juices straight from the cooking pan  over the chicken.

Nutritional information for the entire sauce recipe, including Xanthan Gum, ONLY:

Carbs:  8.1g (16%)

Protein:  10.0g (20%)

Fat: 13.7g (64%)

Calories:  188

Nutritional info for the chicken:

Check your chicken's label.

Update!

Hi!  Happy Monday!!  Normally, I'd have cooked up a good-sized entree yesterday and it would last most, if not all, of the week.  That didn't happen this week.  Let's back up.  I was supposed to be out of town all weekend for a Leadership Retreat, leaving Friday and returning on Sunday afternoon.  Life happened (death in the family) and I stayed in town Friday and Saturday.  As part of the Leadership Retreat there was to be a 2.5-hour organizational board meeting on Sunday.  I drove down there (3.5 hours) on Sunday morning, attended the meeting, and drove back home that afternoon.  I skipped square dancing because I was exhausted (to put it mildly).  I got home about 4p.m. and was zonked out by 4:15p.m.  No cooking that day!  Thankfully I had food left from the weekend.  My sister had VERY thoughtfully picked me up a bunless burger from Red Robin on Saturday.  I had that for dinner on Sunday.  Other than that and a little bit of deli meat and cheese driving to Palm Beach, I didn't eat on Sunday.

A friend from OK texted me yesterday to let me know she and her beau are in town.  So I had lunch with them today!  I had a really moist and delicious stuffed cheddar burger.  It was REALLY yummy.

For dinner I made Linda's Seoul Chicken, modified slightly.  Come back tomorrow for the recipe as I made it.  Spoiler:  5 wing flaps!

I did weigh myself on Friday.  Here are the visuals from my week.

Legend:

C = carbs in grams

T = total calories

C = percentage of calories from carbs

P = percentage of calories from protein

F = percentage of calories from fat

A = percentage of calories from alcohol

E = effective (net) carbs in grams

M = number of meals

D = amount of water drunk

W = weight

Update!

Happy day-after-Hump Day!  I haven't cooked all week.  :-(  Between the spareribs I cooked on Sunday and leftover ribs from the week before, I haven't needed to cook.  My breakfasts and lunches were Rev Roll sandwiches.  I made one with ham salad (using canned ham).  I made one ... well, two ... with mozzarella cheese.  How yummy does that sound?  Warm cheese sandwiches.  Yum yum!  Today I just fixed up some simple tuna salad.  

And I realized that I'm spoiled when it comes to tuna.  For 2-3 years I've eaten only tuna canned in olive oil.  Now, for cost savings, I've switched back tuna canned in water.  Not the pre-drained kind in the foil packet, but actually canned.  I have to 'fess up ... I'm not a fan of the canned-in-water variety.  A) It doesn't drain well.  B) It tastes bland.  If I see my preferred brand on sale (Genova Tonno tuna canned in olive oil).  Even on Amazon the Genovo is easily twice as expenses as the other stuff.

I'll be at a retreat this weekend soooooo ... not sure how much time I'll have to update.  Maybe I'll post pics of what I choose to eat.  That would help keep me on track!