Menu Plan Monday - October 21 to 28, 2024

It's been a while since I've added a Menu plan Monday, and I wasn't planning on doing it again, really, but just felt like it today, so thought I would bring it back and hopefully stick with it.  It helps me have a place to keep my meal plans on hand.

Hope you enjoy a peek into our meals over the next week!

MENU PLAN October 21 - 28, 2024


Monday 21st
Breakfast: Low Carb Banana Pancake
Lunch: Tuna Salad
Dinner: Sage and Kale Stuffed Spaghetti Squash

Tuesday 22nd
Breakfast: Oatmeal, Coffee
Lunch: Vegetable Soup
Dinner: Cabbage Roll Casserole, Salad

Wednesday 23rd
Breakfast: Scrambled Eggs, Multigrain Toast
Lunch: Honey and Vanilla Greek Yogurt, Walnuts
Dinner: Ham Alfredo Pasta, Garlic Knots, Salad

Thursday 24th
Breakfast: Weetabix, Coffee
Lunch: Tuna salad
Dinner: Baked Fish Fillets with Creamy Spinach Sauce, Basmati Rice, Tomato Zucchini


Friday 25th
Breakfast: Oatmeal
Lunch: Leftover Zucchini and Fish
Dinner: Stromboli - Pepperoni and Ham and Vegetarian

 

 

Saturday 26th

Breakfast:  Cinnamon Rolls for the kids, Keto Waffle for me

Lunch: Heading to a museum so will get something out for lunch and dinner

Dinner:  Eating out

 

Sunday 27th

Breakfast: Keto English Muffin

Lunch:  Salad

Dinner: Beef Curry with Rice

4 ingredient Keto Pizza

 

 

Since I've been on a low carb diet, I have tried to find recipes that I can make that are not only easy but delicious, and will take away my cravings for those carb loaded meals, that I used to love.

Pizza is one of those.  I do love a good pizza, but I really don't want all the carbs.

This recipe is just 4 ingredients, faster and easier to make than normal pizza and it is delicious.  

4 Ingredient Keto Pizza Crust

Source

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese (plus more for topping)
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 egg (beaten)
• sauce & pizza toppings of your choice

Instructions

• Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.
• In a large bowl, microwave the cream cheese and mozzarella together for 90 seconds, stirring half way through.
• Stir in the almond flour and beaten egg to combine (if your dough appears to be too sticky, add in a little more almond flour). Knead with your hands until a dough forms.
• Place the dough in between two large pieces of parchment paper and roll the dough out into a 10" circle, or until it's about 1/3 inch thick. (*See tips in the recipe notes below for keeping the dough from sticking to the paper).
• Remove the top piece of parchment paper, and place the bottom sheet with the dough on it onto a pizza pan or upside down sheet pan.
• Use a fork to pierce lots of holes throughout the dough to help it cook evenly and prevent bubbling.
• Bake for 8-10 minutes or until slightly golden brown.
• Remove from the oven and top it with sauce, cheese, and the toppings of your choice.

Bake for an additional 5-10 minutes. Gobble up. :-)
 

Spicy Cucumber Salad

Hello everyone, I know it's been a long time.  The last recipe I added to this blog was back in November of 2023.  My word, seems like forever ago.

 

If you follow me on my main blog, you will know that in January, after routine blood work, I was told my Triglycerides were slightly elevated and I needed to make a few changes to my diet.  I've never been one to eat a really bad diet to begin with, but certainly had to make quite a few changes, mainly ditching all the junk, sweets, sodas and snacks and embracing a more healthier way of life.

 

I had already been looking into the Mediterranean diet and had made a few dishes, but after my doctor suggested the same diet to me, I just dived right in.

 

My meals now revolve around a lot more fish and chicken, minimum red meat.  Lots of veggies and fruits, quinoa, lentils, chickpeas and wholewheat pasta and rice.  Minimal potatoes and when I do have those, they are either red skinned which are healthier, or sweet potatoes, but even then, I have a few pieces and that's all.

 

I have lost 35 pounds since February and am in the best shape I've been in since my twenties.  My goal is to maintain this healthier way of life, but not give up everything yummy completely.  I still have a sweet treat once in a while, maybe once a month if that.

 

But, I want to start sharing some of the meals I've been having, here on the blog, not just to help others achieve a healthier way of life, but also as a record for me to have for the future.  Hope you enjoy!

 

Today's recipe is one of my husband and son's favorites lately, well, and mine too.  This spicy cucumber salad is so refreshing with just the right amount of heat.  It's delicious.  The recipe comes from Recipe Tin Eats, she has amazing recipes so be sure to check out her website. 

 

 

 

Spicy Cucumber Salad

Source:  Recipe Tin Eats

Ingredients

• 4 cucumbers (~20cm/8", scale up/down for shorter/longer, Note 1)
• 3/4 tsp cooking/kosher salt
• 1 eschalot/French onion , halved then very thinly sliced (US: shallot) (Note 2)
• 1 cup green onion , green part only finely sliced (1 large, 2 small stems)
• 2 tbsp+ chilli crisp (crispy chilli oil) - Laoganma is my fave (Note 3)
• 2 tsp white seame seeds , toasted (save some for topping)

Dressing:

• 1 1/2 tbsp rice vinegar (sub any clear vinegar)
• 2 tsp soy sauce , all-purpose or light (Note 4)
• 2 tsp sesame oil , toasted (ie brown, not yellow)

Instructions

Smash & salt cucumbers

• Smash - Hit cucumbers with a meat mallet, rolling pin or similar to make the sides burst open. Cut in half lengthwise then into 2.5cm/1" pieces.
• Salt 30 min - Place in a bowl, toss with salt. Set aside for 30 minutes to draw out water (Note 5). Drain/strain and discard salty water, leave cucumbers in same bowl.

Salad

• Whisk Dressing in a bowl.
• CHECK spiciness of your chilli crisp - they vary by brand. If using Laoganma, stick with recipe, else adjust to taste.
• Toss - Put green onion, eschalots, sesame seeds, dressing and chilli crisp in with the cucumbers. Toss until eschalots go floppy - ~30 seconds.
• Serve, sprinkled with extra sesame seeds and dollops of chilli crisp if you dare!

Note: Water continues to come out of cucumbers so after few hours/next day, you'll have a lot more dressing but not as intense flavoured. So eat/serve with spoon to get plenty of dressing in every bite!

 

Chocolate Yogurt Cake

 

I love easy recipes, the kind that take a only a few ingredients and are easy to remember.

This yogurt cake is so easy to make and so delicious.  It just uses a yogurt cup for the measurements, so you don't even have to dirty your measuring cups.  Even better right?

The versatility of the cake is that you can make a simple vanilla cake, you can make chocolate, or even lemon, which I did last week, and was immediately devoured by my lemon loving boys here at home.

So, without any further ado, let's bake.....

Chocolate Yogurt Cake

Ingredients:

1 plain yogurt 170 gr, cup  (6 oz)

Now using the same cup, we measure the remaining ingredients:

1 cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar

1 cup cocoa powder

3 cups of all purpose flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

3 eggs

Chocolate chips

Directions:

In a bowl, beat the eggs with the yogurt using a whisk, then add in the oil and sugar.  Whisk until well combined.  Add in the cocoa powder and mix.

Add the flour, a little at a time, sifting while adding.  Lastly, add in the baking powder and mix gently just until combined, don't over mix the baking powder or it may make the cake dense.

Grease the cake pan with butter and cocoa powder, then transfer the cake mix to the pan.  At this point, you can pour some chocolate chips over the batter, but it's optional.  I like to, just to make it even more chocolaty.

Bake for 40 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in middle comes out clean.

Let cool completely then invert onto cake dish.  You can leave the cake as is, and make a simple chocolate frosting to cover the top, or you can cut the cake in half, and use your favorite filling.  

For simplicity purposes, I just used some whipped chocolate frosting, that I already had on hand.  

Enjoy!

Kibe de Forno - Oven Kibbeh

Have you ever had Kibbeh?  

Do you know what Kibbeh even is?  I didn't for a long time, but a couple months ago, I started looking more into Mediterranean cooking, and found a whole new world of delicious recipes.  Kibbeh is one of them, and funny enough, it is quite popular in Brazil too.

The traditional Kibbeh is usually made into balls and fried.  I am all about the traditional most common way, but I also love trying the variations to the more popular recipes, from each country.

Ok so, first of all Kibbeh is considered to be a national dish from Lebanon.  It's basically a combination of ground meat, bulgur wheat and spices, and it is absolutely delicious and quite easy to make.  

 

One thing to keep in mind, there are different types of Bulgur Wheat, you want to use the fine, although I could only get some medium coarse which works well too, it just takes a bit longer to soak.

Let me show you....

 

Oven Kibbeh

Ingredients:

2 cups of bulgur cracked wheat 

2 cups of hot water

2 pounds ground beef

1 onion, finely diced

Parsley and Cilantro

1 tablespoon butter

Salt and pepper to taste

Garlic to taste

Juice from 1 lemon

Sumac, to taste (Sumac has become one of my favorite spices)

Aleppo pepper, to taste (another new favorite)

Shredded Mozzarella cheese

Cream cheese

Olive oil

Directions:

In a big bowl add the bulgur wheat, pour over the hot water.  Cover with plastic wrap and let it soak for about an hour.  Should be long enough to hydrate the wheat. 

After the hour has passed, give the wheat a good stir to loosen it.  To the same bowl, add the meat, onion, parsley and cilantro to taste, butter, salt and pepper, garlic, lemon juice, sumac and aleppo pepper.  Mix well.

 

Drizzle a little olive oil in a baking dish, I used a 13x9 inch.  Take half of the kibbeh meat mixture and pat down into the dish.  Next, cover the mixture with some cream cheese, and then shredded mozzarella.  Take the remaining kibbeh and pat down on top of the cheese.   (I find it easier to grab handfuls of the meat mixture, at a time, and then pat it down on the palm of my hand, then place it on top of the cheese, that way it's not pulling off the cheese.)

Take a knife or dough scraper, and make a diamond pattern on top.  I just make diagonal lines one way, then come back the other way.  You don't have to go all the way down to the bottom of the dish, you basically just want a small dent to drizzle on more olive oil.

Once done, drizzle some olive oil across every line, then bake in a 375 F, for about 35 minutes.  Keep an eye on it, if you overcook it, the kibbeh will dry out.  I just check after 25 minutes, and if there's a lot of liquid in the pan, I pour it out and then pop it back in the oven for the last 5 minutes.  

Serve warm!