Cream Cheese and Turkey Scramble and Prep Day

I love scrambles. They are so quick and good for any meal. Today it was brunch. We went to church last night, so that makes Sunday morning a slower pace for us. My boys had the same scramble on bagels, so no cooking several meals to please every diet in the house. This is so tasty, though, who needs bread? I just scrambled the eggs and deli turkey and topped them with the chive flavored cream cheese spread. This has to be the quickest scramble of all time.

With that short venture into the kitchen, that I won't be too stressed out doing my prep day for the week. Today I am putting together some Chinese Chicken for our Triple Play meal. For our breakfasts, I am going to experiment with some Turkey Bacon cups. I'll let you know how those turn out.

This afternoon, hubby has promised to fire up the grill. I will throw some extra burger patties his way. Yes, we even freeze pre-cooked burgers. They are so nice to have around for lunches. You do lose a little flavor and texture, but if you look at the Burger Bonanza section of the e-book, there are lots of ideas of toppings that will make them special. Not to mention, the gourmet flavors keep you from getting in a burger rut.

And sometime today, I need to fit in doing our taxes and working on the March Newsletter for the Diner. Better run!

Cinnamon Danish in a Minute

Well almost a minute. This is a variation on the infamous Minute Muffin, so famous among low carbers. Armed with my Capella drops, I entered the Minute Muffin arena and came out a winner. These are really tasty, especially if you are already familiar with the flavor of flax. It couldn't be easier to make a fresh quick breakfast muffin.

These can be made in a coffee mug, as usual. But this morning, I was making them for two, so I used a bowl and my silicon muffin cups. I recently found some new shapes at Marshalls. Too cute. The one in the photo is rectangular, but I got star and heart shapes too. Yes, I am an addict when it comes to those cups. I use them all the time for bento lunches, muffins and sides for sauces and dips. I even made the glaze for this morning's muffins in a square cup then used the corner for drizzling.

Speaking of the glaze. Don't skip this step. It really makes the muffin special.

Cinnamon Danish in a Minute

2 Tablespoons flax meal
2 Tablespoons almond meal
1 egg
1 Tablespoon oil
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
7 drops of Capella's Cinnamon Danish flavoring
2 packets sweetener of choice

Glaze
1 Tablespoon powdered sweetener
1 teaspoon cream
4 drops Capella's Cinnamon Danish flavoring
Dash of cinnamon

Mix all the muffin ingredients in a mug or bowl. Stir well. Pour into muffin cups or keep in the ceramic mug. Bake in the microwave for one minute 20 seconds. Your oven may vary. The mixture will rise and fall a bit. You may remove the muffin from the mug or cups, or leave it in. To make glaze, mix powdered sweetener with cream and flavor drops until smooth. Drizzle glazeover slightly cooled muffin. Sprinkle with ground cinnamon.

The level of sweetener in this muffin is up to you. Some prefer less sweetness, others more. So, play with it to find your sweet spot! I used a combination of stevia and saccharin for the muffin. For the glaze, I used powdered xylitol. I really like to use combos of sweeteners, as they seem to work together well and downplay the drawbacks of a single sweetener. It also helps me spread out the costs of the pricer options. By all means, however, use what suits your tastes. We all seem so different there.

I am working on a fantastic new dessert. I made a trial run yesterday, and while some things are phenomenal about this recipe, I think it still needs a little tweaking. I hope to have it ready soon, but since we have to eat all the experiments, we can't overdo. In addition, I am trying a new dish in the crockpot too. We will see how that one goes. Not every new thing I make ends up blog worthy for sure!

Pizza Crust Burger Buns?

Yep, pizza crust becomes hamburger buns. Not so strange when you know the ingredients are cheese, egg and coconut flour. Today's buns are really pretty versatile. Add pizza toppings and you get personal pan pizzas. Add grilled onions and a burger patty, and you get the Unjun Burger from the Burger Bonanza section of the cookbook.

Because the dough is sticky, I use my muffin top pan which makes the right size bun. But if you don't mind getting a little sticky, you can roll the dough into a ball, then press it down on parchment paper on a cookie sheet. Either way, they are pretty tasty. Just another Diner secret to get more than one meal from a single effort in the kitchen.

Addendum: Some of you want the recipe for these versatile buns/crusts. The idea is in the e-book. I would really love it if you could hop over there and buy that, But since I have changed it a tiny bit since then, I will go ahead and post it here. But by all means, if you like my recipes, please consider purchasing the entire plan. For the buns, I double this recipe and use my muffin top pan to get 6 buns.

Cheesy Crust/Buns: To make a small pizza crust, blend 1 egg, one cup grated cheese, 2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese and a Tablespoon of coconut flour. Spread a circle on parchment paper very thinly and bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, or until browned.

Capella Winners!

My hubby John and I just drew the winners of the Capella Flavorings giveaway. Congratulations go out to T2Nashville, Kahri and Dearest Joshua! I have three bottles of the water flavoring, Flavlets, to send to you. Believe me, even though I have been enjoying the blueberry pomogranite, these flavors have been calling me too. Go ahead and check--the shrink wrap is still on tight!

I'm sorry not everyone could win a bottle. I have to admit, I have loved seeing more comments and new friends on Facebook. So don't lurk, stop and say hi. It is a wonderful gift for bloggers like me. I'll have to see if I can talk more makers of my favorite specialty ingredients out of prizes. This was fun. If you head over to Capella, to make an order, be sure to thank them for providing this give away...even if you didn't win this time.

Chili Cheese Soup

Sorry I have been absent a bit this week. Hope you have been catching us over on Facebook. I post some photos of what we are eating over there. Mostly when the recipe is already in the e-book, and I have not much else to share. I have been really busy with school, and visits to my college kids out of town. I was gone every night last week, and will be this week too! When life gets crazy like this, as it seems to every spring for me, it is especially good to have the Diner system in place. I really appreciate it when I am away from my own Diner kitchen. It is just so much easier to eat healthy at home, and there are times when having all the prep work done is such a life saver.

This weekend we were in another state. Meal choices are not so easy when you low carb, especially if you want to take advantage of complimentary buffets, catered events, etc. We chose a Chinese buffet for one dinner, staying away from the rice and the sweet sauces, the egg rolls and wantons. We still got plenty to eat.I did gain a pound and a half over the weekend though, so something carby must have been hiding in those sauces!

We also ate a huge buffet. There was one section with Mexican food, and I made myself a wonderful taco salad with the taco beef, fajita chicken, lettuce, fire roasted peppers, jalapenos, salsa verde and real sour cream. That was great, but it was really hard to skip the dessert bar. Really hard for me to pass up all those desserts just lined up and calling you. Instead, coffee can satisfy the sweet tooth and not blow the eating plan...especially if you can skip the powdered or non dairy creamers.

Back in town tonight,I guess I was still thinking about that salad. I made chili cheese soup for dinner. Being away, I haven't had time to do a normal prep day, but we will be alright. I just grabbed the Minute Beef from the freezer and added staples to it. This is delish!

Chili Cheese Soup

1 package Mexican Minute Beef (about 2 cups cooked)
1 cup beef broth
1 cup frozen pepper and onion blend
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes
6 ounces cream cheese

Dump the first four ingredients into a large sauce pan. Let simmer until veggies are tender. Add in cream cheese, cubed. Let the cream cheese soften for five minutes, then stir to blend. Add a little hot sauce if you like more heat.

This is wonderful and rich. You will not need a big bowl. Ours will have leftovers that will be great for a soup and salad lunch later this week. When I find time to get to the grocery store for some lettuce, that is.

Valentine Breakfast Casserole

Who says Valentine treats must be sweet? This is our Valentine Breakfast low carbed. I have these cut individual heart shaped baking dishes--49 cents at Michael's Craft stores. This morning, I filled them with breakfast casserole using Freezer Favorites--Minute Beef and pre-cut onion and pepper blend. That makes them really fast to put together. For special flavor, I added red pepper Monterey Jack cheese. Yummy and good for us too.


I hope they feel the love. Now off to the other million things I need to get done today!

Chicken Vindaloo

My family will never go with me to the India Palace. What a shame. I served this Indian inspired crockpot meal, and everyone liked it. Just goes to show they are not so much culinary adventurers--but they are willing to eat just about anything I put on the table.

This version is a combination of several recipes. My original inspiration came from Dana Carpender's slowcooker cookbook. I don't happen to own that one, but have borrowed it from the library before. I have always loved the sound of the name, and I love cumin and other such spices. That spicy chili from last week got me going that direction again. This has been on my to try list for a while. Vindaloo seems to be a popular recipe, as I found many versions on line. This one is low fat and low calorie, depending on the spices to make it a great meal. For my carby boys and one lovely girlfriend, I added some chicken flavored brown rice. For everyone, a side dish of grilled red pepper and zucchini was just right. It would be good over cauli-rice, but my baby boy hates that. Since I was busy making chocolates this afternoon, I didn't want to spend too much time there.

Chicken Vindaloo

6 chicken breasts
1/2 onion, cut in wedges
2 Tablespoons fresh minced ginger
3 Tablespoons garlic wine vinegar
3 cloves garlic
1 Tablespoon cumin
2 teaspoons curry powder
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup tomato sauce
3 Tablespoons lime juice

Blend all dry spices together in a small bowl. Place chicken and onion wedges into crockpot. Sprinkle with seasonings. Add vinegar, lime juice and tomato sauce. Cook on low for 6 hours. The sauce can be thickened with xanthan gum if desired.

We fed five and still had leftover meat for another two lunches. I will divide those into containers and pop them in the freezer for my hubby's work lunch. Too simple.



Now those chocolates. MMMMMM. Coconut oil is good for you. Just google it for all the info. I made our Valentine treats from equal parts virgin coconut oil and cocoa. For sweetness, I like to use a mixture of sweeteners. Chocolate and sucralose are not usually a good match. I use stevia with good results. I poured the melted chocolate mixture into heart shaped ice cube trays. Before it set up, I added a cocoa coated almond to each one. Then I put them in the freezer. These should be kept cold, but this time of year, that is not a problem around my house!

Now if I can find the time to make those Whoopie Pies. I got the last package of Flax meal at Walmart today!