Needed something quick before the debate tonight so I threw together a frittata with the vegetable odds and ends in the fridge. Sausage, onions, mushrooms, broccoli, jalapeno, a few roasted cherry tomatoes and lots of cheese. It wound up being an excellent iteration! I accomplished the rest of my debate prep with a Rob Roy, extra cherries. 
TCC and steamed haricots verts with soy butter. Hit the spot.
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Tonight was homemade bolognese with zuchinni noodles.
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Mmmmmm, bolognese sounds WONDERFUL. Perhaps Iāll add a big batch to my weekend cooking and stock the freezer.
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Same hereā¦made some low carb big thick onion rings tonight to go with some porterhouse steaks. Used fine Almond flour. Not even close to as good as the ones I made with regular bread crumbs for the kids. Breading continues to be a problem.
Junkfood crap for the kids snacks is also problematic , especially late night with alcohol induced munchies.
Bride lost 15 lbs on low carb, down to wedding weight. She is thrilled but she is only about 4 months into it.
I lost a good 35 lbs over about 8 months but put 10lbs back on via cheating recently. Have to get re-motivated.
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Had salads for lunch and steak for dinner the last 5 out of 6 nights, finally feeling back on low carb track. FYI almond butter is a good ātreatā.
I find that breading is most successful when you mix various types of coatings. Pork rinds alone arenāt great, but mixed with some almond flour, coconut flour, grana cheese, etc., they really work well. Depending on just how low carb you are trying to go, you can also add a small amount of cornstarch to the mix, which helps a lot with adhesion and texture.
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You inspired me - I made a big batch of Bolognese yesterday and managed to put some in the freezer, although my husband would have eaten the entire pot if I let him! Itās not the lowest-carb of sauces due to the carrots and onions, but not terrible, especially if you just eat it by itself, as we did! It got me craving lasagna, though, so Iām planning an American red-sauce and mozz lasagna later this week, with zucchini instead of noodles.
Iāve only had zucchini noodles out, never made them at home and Iām not the biggest fan of them I did make some butternut squash āpastaā and that was very good. I made with with broccoli in an alfredo type sauce and re-backed in itās shell with mozzarella on topā¦sooooo good.
I had recently read about a new franken-pasta that was made from chick peas (I think) and was suppose to be VERY good and low carb. Gotta look it up and see if I can find it again.
I actually donāt care for zucchini or other vegetable ānoodlesā when theyāre cut thin on a spiralizer - IMO, they just get watery and mushy. However, long planks of roasted zucchini are pretty good as a noodle replacement in lasagna. I often use thin slices of extra firm tofu as well, or tofu skin noodles.
I do like spaghetti squash, but I think itās better in casserole form than as a spaghetti or other long/thin pasta substitute. Iād be very interested to hear more about the chickpea pasta! I know @StoneSoup is a big fan of soybean pastas but I havenāt done much experimenting with them.
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I either do zuchinni or spaghetti squash.
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Yeah, it can be tough, especially when eating out. Steak is always a winner. After a very pricey summer season, beef cost has really come down. Purveyor / RD should be in the $5 - $6 lb range for 0x1 boneless striploins.
Also going to get the fish menu going again. RD has a 5 lb box of individually vacuum sealed #2 grade Tuna steaks in the $9 lb range that is very good.
Yeah if you havenāt taken a look at the āBig Ole Steakā NJ thread, you will see I think I had steak 5 out of 7 nights last week. lol When Iām trying to stick to my low carb diet steak becomes 75-80% of my food consumption.
I have purchased the RD tuna steaks on several occasions, forgive me for my naivety with regard to tuna steak is #2 equivilan to Ahi? Whatever I have gotten from there was excellent, Iāve used it for seared tuna steak and sushi. Only thing is to be sure to dry the steaks once thawed, they absorb a lot of water in the freezing process and are kind of water logged once first defrosted. I let them sit then pat them with a towel before cooking.
I was in a rush this time and just used fine almond flour & coconut flour 75:25. I can live with the flavor but the texture was to mealyā¦distinct absence of crunch / crispness.
Next time going to try your mixture. The pork rinds should add crunch. What are the approximate ratios (almond flour, coconut flour, pork rinds & cheese) ? Does the ground cheese add texture when deep fried or is that more for flavor? What do you think the āminimumā amount of cornstarch would be to help adhesion per cup of mixture ? Thanks, Tom
It varies every time I do it, but typically I put a 2 oz bag of pork rinds and a solid 1/2 cup of whole almonds in the food processor (which maybe makes a 1/4-1/3 cup of ground almonds?) and blitz it all together, then add maybe a 1/2 cup of grated cheese. I buy bags of pre-grated/ground parmesan from Costco for this purpose - itās not nearly as flavorful as Reggiano, of course, but it works perfectly for this application and is much tastier than the green can. The cheese actually helps a lot with crispness when fried, IMO - it turns into tiny bits of frico, very crunchy. I only use coconut flour if I donāt have almonds, because coconut flour tends to absorb a LOT of liquid so it tends to make breading a little gummy. Ground walnuts are tasty but impart a much more distinct flavor than almonds.
Iāve never bothered to measure the amount of cornstarch I use because it varies based on how many carbs Iām willing to consume, but you might try a teaspoon per cup of other stuff and see if that helps, then add from there. With onion rings, you might also try par-cooking the onion just a bit, enough so that the surface is a bit more wet than a raw onion. Also donāt be shy about using plenty of egg wash, and letting the rings sit in a pile of crumb coating for a couple of minutes to let more of the crumbs adhere.
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I just got my membership card to Restaurant Depot AND an extra freezer in the basement, so I am super excited to check out more of their offerings. I was in there last weekend and picked up a big chub of ground beef, which is a bit tough/coarse but has good flavor. Also a cryo of flap meat and a cryo of flank steaks, but I havenāt busted those open yet. Would love to hear more about your favorite offerings!
I donāt think I have seen the āBig Ole Steakā NJ thread. If I have, its been a while and I forget. Will check it out.
In its simplest terms the tuna grading system is numbered 1 - 5 with #1 being the best. Then there are also sub grades within each number grade.
What most supermarkets carry ($6 -$7 lb range) is #3. RD sells it in 10 lb cases for around $5.99 lb. The industry term for #3 grade is āchocolateā because of the brown color. The latest industry trick is to process #3 grade with carbon monoxide which turns it bright red like watermelon flesh. Grade #3 is fine but I have found it can have an off odor and slight fishy flavor. Soak in butter milk cures that. More than good enough for heavily seasoned dishes like blackened tuna.
#2 grade is a really nice stuff. Deep red color, no off odors & very clean taste. RD sells it in 5 lb boxes in the $9 lb range. IMHO worth the extra money for mild dishes like sesame crusted tuna or any dish where the tuna is served rare or raw inside.
**#1 grade is the best and the last time I checked it āstartedā in the $13 lb range and very few purveyors deal in it. Cassidyās at Viking Village in Barnegat Light gets it right from the longline boats that are part of the Viking Village Seafood company owned by the Larson & Puskas families. Same for many other types of fish. Their right off the boat dry scallops are outrageously good and their dry day boat dry scallops are to die for.
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Donāt ask about the bold face type, I am a computer idiot.
I just figured you were really stressing the point of #2 since that was what your original comment was regarding.
Somehow I activated the bold faced type but didnāt know it. Then after I posted it, I saw it and tried unsuccessfully to edit it & my tech support was still in school.
