Dinner, Journal, Low Carb, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe

My Pepper Steak

This was one of my mom’s staples when I was growing up. This is my tweaked version.

My Pepper Steak

Notes

My Pepper Steak
(For the original recipe, see Ma’s Pepper Steak)
2 pounds beef, shredded
Marinade
2 Tablespoons soy sauce
2 Tablespoons Chinese rice wine (or white wine or water)
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
2 Tablespoons corn (or potato) starch
Vegetables (any vegetables can be used)
2 Tablespoons oil
1 Tablespoon ginger garlic paste (or 1 teaspoon peeled, grated ginger with 2 cloves minced garlic)
6 medium bell peppers, seeded and julienned
1 large onion, peeled and julienned
1 head of cabbage, cored and sliced
Sauce
3/4 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup water
1 Tablespoon red pepper flakes (or black pepper)
2 Tablespoons brown sugar (optional but highly suggested)
2 Tablespoons hoisin sauce
1 Tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
Thickener (whisked together)
1 Tablespoon corn (or potato) starch
2 Tablespoons cold water
Leave your beef partially frozen and slice against the grain as thin as you can. Once sliced, cut it into strips, then place in a bowl with the marinade. Mix well and let sit for 30 minutes to overnight, in the refrigerator.
In a large skillet on medium-high heat, pour in 2 Tablespoons oil. Let that heat up a bit, then add all the vegetables. Sautee until mostly cooked. Remove from pan with a slotted spoon, trying to leave as much oil in the pan as possible.
Add 1 Tablespoon of oil (if needed), then brown the meat in a single layer. Once all of the meat is brown, turn the heat down to medium and add the vegetables and sauce to the pan. Mix well and let that cook until the beef is thoroughly cooked (2 to 3 minutes), then pour the thickener evenly around the pan. Mix and let simmer until sauce is thickened.
Serve over steamed rice, noodles, steamed vegetables, or by itself.
This can be pressure canned (with or without the vegetables) in quart sized jars for 75 minutes at the pressure for your altitude (mine is 12 pounds).
Dinner, Level 1, Lunch, Recipe

Basic Meatloaf


I don’t typically crave meatloaf often (it’s not a dish my husband enjoys) but for some reason I had to have some this week. Why? I want a leftover, cold meatloaf “sandwich”. I want the mayonnaise and mustard, mostly. So, I am slapping a slice of this onto a leaf of iceberg lettuce and BAM! I have my cravings met! I let this cool in the refrigerator, sliced it, placed each slice between parchment paper, and threw those into the freezer.
This recipe is totally adaptable. You can add diced bell peppers, salsa, cheese, tomatoes, jalapenos, etc. As you can see in the video above, I added caramelized onions and sauteed mushrooms.

Low Carb Meatloaf

  • 2 pounds ground beef (88% lean from Costco)
  • 1 1/2 cup onions, finely chopped
  • 2/3 cup ketchup Use sugar-free if you can find it
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Use either a baking sheet with baking racks or a broiler pan, to allow as much of the fat to drain away while baking. Line the bottom with aluminum foil for easier clean-up.

Place all of your ingredients in a large bowl. With your hands (gloves help), squish all of the ingredients together. You want to make sure the seasonings and onion are well incorporated.

Pour out your meat mixture onto a platter and shape it into a loaf. Place the platter into the refrigerator to let it solidify (about 15 minutes).

Now, take your meatloaf out of the refrigerator and transfer it to your baking tray. Place it in the oven and bake for roughly 1 1/4 hours (or until a thermometer reads 160 degrees F). You can serve immediately or let cool for easier, less crumbly slices.

Nutrition Per Serving (includes sugared ketchup): 193 Cal; 19 g Protein; 10 g Tot Fat; 4 g Sat Fat; 4 g Mono Fat; 0 g Trans Fat; 7 g Carb; 0 g Fiber; 5 g Sugar

Breakfast, Dinner, Level 1, Lunch, Recipe

Oven Roasted Tri-tip

One dark and stormy night (a relief in Central California) we really didn’t want to barbecue in the rain (and we were low on charcoal). So, my husband made a tri tip roast in the oven. If you aren’t accustomed to this cut, here’s the Wiki about it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri-tip.

How we (my husband as I watched and took pictures) made it:

Oven Roasted Tri-tip Roast
Ingredients:

  • 1 beef tri tip roast
  • Your choice of seasonings

Season your roast (we have been using McCormick Montreal Steak seasoning lately).
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Place a heavy skillet (we love our cast iron) on the stove and heat on high. Once the skillet is hot, add about a teaspoon of oil to the pan (or spray with Pam). Place the roast in the pan and sear it for about 4 minutes (as you can see from the photos, it wasn’t that brown this time and turned out better than ever). Flip it over and sear the other side.
Now, place the skillet in the oven (do not cover) and let cook until you are happy with the doneness.

Here’s a great webpage about proper doneness of beef: https://www.certifiedangusbeef.com/kitchen/doneness.php.

The basic rule of thumb is 10 minutes per pound. We baked ours for almost 20 minutes and removed the tri tip from the oven when the thermometer read 135 degree F.

While resting (we let it rest for 10 minutes before cutting) it reached 140 degrees F.


That’s it! To serve, either slice it thick (against the grain) like a steak or thin (think roast beef). My favorite way to eat it is with some cheese and avocado (OH! Maybe some horseradish sauce, too!). Tri tip is great leftover, too! Either dice it and add to scrambled eggs, pan-fry and serve with fried eggs, or just grab a piece and munch away!
Here’s some pictures (unless you do not like this setup, I think I will post any recipes I/we create before any pictures because I HATE having to scroll a mile just to read a recipe).

IMG_0776.jpg
Browning in cast iron skillet
IMG_0778.jpg
Our meat thermometer from Home Depot
IMG_0777.jpg
Resting
IMG_0779.jpg
Medium Rare (almost medium) 140 degree internal temperature
1972 Recipes, Dinner, Level 1, Lunch, Recipe, Sauces

Dr. Atkins' Steak and Barbecue Sauce (and copies of the Original book)

One quick note about getting copies of Dr. Atkins’ original book: I noticed, when updating my Amazon store (look over there) there are a lot more copies of the book available. I have listed the 1972, 1980, 1984, and 1990 publishing dates. I think up until the 1990 version, they are roughly the same.
Judith, this is the closest thing I could find to a barbecue sauce recipe from my books.

Steak Sauce
11 Tablespoons
1/2 cup Hunt’s Tomato Puree (sauce)
1/4 cup water
5 teaspoons distilled vinegar
1/4 teaspoon orange extract
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 small clove garlic, crushed
1 teaspoon grated onion
1/2 teaspoon Maggi Seasoning
20 drops of Tabasco sauce
Blend and refrigerate until serving time.

WAIT! I found it (I think). It was included in a Barbecued Spareribs recipe!

Dr. Atkins Barbecue Sauce
1/4 cup chopped onions
1 Tablespoon bacon drippings
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 cup water
1/8 cup lemon juice
2 Tablespoons tarragon vinegar
1 Tablespoon Lee & Perrins Worcestershire Sauce
3 Tablespoons brown Sugar Twin
1 cup Hunt’s tomato juice
3 Tablespoons of soy sauce (how funny, the note says this can be purchased in a health food store)
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1 Tablespoon Gold Seal cocktail sherry (optional)
Saute the onion in bacon drippings until brown, add garlic powder and cook 1 minute. Add remaining ingredients and simmer for 25 minutes.

Dinner, Journal, Levels 2 And Above, Recipe, Sauces

Horseradish Cream

Since I have been craving horseradish, I finally bought some.  We also bought a tri tip to cook over some hardwood charcoal (the best smell in the world).  So, I looked around the web for some recipes and couldn’t figure out which one to try.  I pretty much just made it up as I went along and am very happy with the result.
This is the brand (and style) I bought.  Looking at the prepared creams, I saw that every single one had corn syrup in it.

UPDATE: It turns out I know the wife (Facebook friend: amazing what you miss when all you talk about is food, crafts and politics lol) of THE grower of the horseradish used by Beaverton Foods (the makers of Tulelake Horseradish)!  If you are on Facebook, please like their page: Organic Horseradish Roots – Tulelake, CA.

tulelake_old_fashioned_horseradish_front
And here’s what I came up with.  It is amazing how flexible this is, depending on your tastes.  I just added a bit of this and that until I was happy.  Now, I have more than enough to satisfy my craving!

Horseradish Cream

  • 4 Tablespoons prepared Horseradish
  • 1/2 cup (4 ounces) Sour Cream
  • 3 to 4 Tablespoons Mayonnaise
  • 1/4 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 teaspoon Prepared Mustard
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Splenda (or other sweetener)

Mix it up and let it sit.  How long?  I let it sit for about an hour while we were finishing the tri tip and letting it rest.  All these amounts are approximate.
I started with just sour cream and it was too bland.  Added a pit of mayonnaise and it got better.  Then just kept adding a bit of this and that until I loved the flavor.  I’m pretty sure I ended up adding another Tablespoon of Horseradish in the end.  I ate about 1/2 cup with dinner (yeah, that much) and ended up with roughly 1 cup leftover.  I split that between 2 1/2-pint jars: one for the fridge and one for the freezer.

Dinner, Level 1, Levels 2 And Above, Recipe

Unstuffed Cabbage Rolls


https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/235997/unstuffed-cabbage-roll/

  • 2 pounds ground beef
  • 1 large onion, chopped
  • 1 small head cabbage, chopped
  • 2 (14.5 ounce) cans diced tomatoes
  • 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
Dinner, Recipe

Chile Colorado

Last night we were alone for dinner.  Hubby was thinking Mexican but he wasn’t sure what I could eat.  We hadn’t gone to our favorite Mexican restaurant since before August of last year and I was missing it! So, I thought about it and decided to look it up.
Our favorite meal is the number 1: beef taco (real with chunks of beef), beef enchilada, chili colorado, chile verde, chile relleno, beans and rice.
Chile Verde: Del Real Chile Verde has always been a staple, so that’s not an issue.
Chile rellenos are only dredged in corn starch, then dipped in beaten egg whites and fried, so that wasn’t a problem.
As for the taco I scraped out the meat (boy, was that good meat).
I did the same with the enchilada (and I just wouldn’t eat the beans and rice) but what about the chili colorado?  Well, it turns out the only carbs in it are just from any peppers!
So, I found a recipe that is the closest to what I had for dinner last night.  It was the best dinner I haven’t had to make in so long!
http://davidsfreerecipes.com/chili-colorado

Chili Colorado

Ingredients:
4lbs. chuck roast
1 1/2 teas. salt
1 teas. pepper
2 teas. onion powder
1 teas. garlic powder
1 tbsp. oil
water to almost cover the meat
Sauce Ingredients:
2 oz. dry pasillo-ancho chilis (dry pablanos)
1 1/2oz. dry guajillo-entero chilis (dry Anaheim chilis)
1 green pepper
1 fresh Anaheim chili
1-2 jalapeno peppers (depends on how hot you like it)
1 big onion (or 2 small ones)
6-8 cloves fresh garlic
3 1/2 cups water
1 teas. salt
1 teas. dry Mexican oregano
1 teas. chili powder
1/2 teas. cumin powder

Dinner, Journal, Levels 2 And Above, Lunch, Recipe

Spicy Beef and Cabbage Soup

And I stumbled onto this from the same website. It basically looks like chili with cabbage. Leave out the beans (and baking soda) to lower the carbs. It’s intriguing (and I’d probably use more beef).


http://www.nola.com/food/index.ssf/2014/02/todays_random_recipe_from_our_2.html


Makes 10 to 12 servings
2 pounds lean ground beef
4 onions, chopped
A few green onions, chopped
3/4 cup chopped celery
1 (1-pound) can tomatoes
1 (1-pound) can Ro-tel tomatoes with hot peppers
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 (6-ounce) can tomato paste
4 cups water
3/4 of a medium-sized head of green cabbage, shredded
1 tablespoon chili powder
Few drops hot pepper sauce
1 or 2 (15-ounce) cans red kidney beans
1 teaspoon baking soda

Canning, Dinner, Food Storage, Low Carb, Lunch, Preserving, Pressure, Recipe, Supplies

Homemade Corned Beef

I can’t believe I didn’t post about this!  I made homemade corned beef last year, leaving out the sugar and the pink salt, and it was fantastic!  I thought, well, I could make this, then can it so I know exactly where it came from and what was in it.  I haven’t gotten around to canning this because it usually doesn’t last that long!

Anyway, if you are interested (I wanted to see if I could and I did), here is how I did it:

http://www.amazingribs.com/recipes/beef/home_made_corned_beef.html

And here is how to can it (ever since I canned that chicken, I prefer raw canning meats):

http://canninggranny.blogspot.com/2011/05/canning-corned-beef-brisket.html

There you go!  Give it a shot (even if you only do one).  It really wasn’t as difficult as my brain said it would be!

Dinner, Level 1, Levels 2 And Above, Lunch, Recipe

Favorite Chili Recipe Ever

I have always loved chili (Hormel’s No Bean chili).  About a month into my low carb journey, I had chili dogs (2 hot dogs, in a bowl, with chili, cheese, sour cream and a little onion).  Now, granted, I had about 1/2 cup of chili poured over these hot dogs but I was shocked at my blood sugar response!  That morning was 104 and after my meal it was 137!  That was when I read the label.  That chili not only contains corn flour (which was a huge “Duh!” but also, oatmeal).  I have since been on a mission to find a substitute.  I have yet to find one but this … this looks promising!  Just do away with the corn meal and I’ll be good to go!  I’ll scrounge through the freezer and hopefully be able to try this recipe out tonight!
http://www.scrumptiouschef.com/food/index.cfm/2009/11/18/How-To-Make-Authentic-Texas-Red-Chili

UPDATE:  Well, I didn’t have any bulk meat so I threw in what I could and ended up with chili soup.  That being said, the flavor is spot on!  I love it!

  • 1/4 lb Fat [I use clarified bacon fat but beef suet would be more traditional]
  • 5 lbs Beef Tips [Chuck Roast cut into cubes is best but you may use the product labeled beef tips in the market]
  • 1/2 Cup Chili Powder [Gebhardt is king in Texas but if you can’t find it use common sense and buy a good brand. Preferably from a market that sells a fair amount of it so it’s fresh. If you have access to a genuine Mexican market then you can find the really good stuff and get a pure chile powder like Guajillo]
  • 2 T. Cumin [I like to buy the seeds, toast them on a comal, then grind them in a spice grinder but powdered cumin will work just fine
  • 2 T. Ground Oregano aka Mexican Oregano [Not the Italian kind, this Oregano is sold as a powder and is essential in this dish]
  • 1 T. Salt or to taste
  • 1 T. Cayenne [obviously if you’d like to ratchet up the heat just add more]
  • 1 bulb Garlic [Freshly minced garlic,not the stuff that sits in a jar of oil in your fridge]
  • 2 quarts Stock [I use chicken which is not traditional, beef is recommended here for purists. If you don’t have time to make stock the brand Better Than Bouillon is surprisingly good]
  • 1/2 Cup Masa Harina [If you can’t find masa mix in your part of the country, corn meal will do just fine-the finer grind the better]
  • 1/2 Cup Water