An American Housewife

2/16/15

Chicken Parmesan

When I made this I had used up the Parmesan the night before on homemade pizza so I opted to use mozzarella. It's one of those quick, mindless, easy meals to throw together at the last minute when you have to put something on the table.

Chicken Parmesan (Mozzarella)

1/2 c dry bread crumbs
1/2 t Italian seasoning
1/4 t garlic powder
4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (I've used thighs as well)

2 c spaghetti sauce
1 c mozzarella cheese
Oil or butter for pan

Combine bread crumbs and seasonings. Place chicken in a greased or oiled baking dish. Top with the bread crumbs. Bake 20 minutes. Pour Sauce over chicken; top with cheese. Bake an additional 10 minutes or until chicken is thoroughly cooked.

2/14/15

Tie-Dyed Cookies

The accidental cookie

Strap yourself in for a ride on this recipe. My goodness. What a train wreck!

3/4 c butter
1 1/4 c powdered (confectioner's) sugar
1 t vanilla
dash salt
3 egg yolks
2 1/2 c cake flour
food color - gel
sprinkles
egg wash - (1 egg white mixed with 1 t water)

Allow a LOT of time for chilling. Each step needs to be completely chilled - which is about 2 hours in the refrigerator (although I sped up the process once they were rolled into flat rectangular discs)

My first mistake is that I didn't want to make a full sugar/flour cookie. I knew my husband wouldn't want to eat it as he prefers a healthier cookie - no flour and no refined white sugar. So I used my sugar free cookie recipe which I thought would be sturdy enough, but it really wasn't. The dough is a little softer and stickier then the kind made with flour so it was more difficult to work with. And when you add the food color, you might need to add a bit more flour to make up for the extra moisture. I did end up using a couple tablespoons of flour in mine to help with this sticky problem since this dough is worked with a lot.

2/3 dough is left plain/vanilla. The other 1/3 cut into 6 equal pieces to color

After chilling, rolled out to equal sized flat rectangular pieces and chilled again

Using an egg wash to stack the dough, then sliced into 6 blocks, and chilled again

This is when I realized I was going to waste a LOT of dough cutting out and using just hearts

So I decided to take the dough, cut CIRCLES and re-use the dough gently to cut MORE until it was ALL used up

And I formed a tie-dyed log to chill yet again

Roll out the plain vanilla dough, and roll up the tie-dyed center log in it

Roll in multi-colored sprinkles and freeze until firm then slice into cookies

Ready to bake - I'm really sick of these cookies by now!

Tie-Dyed sugar free, wheat free cookies!!!!

2/12/15

Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno and Cheddar Meatballs

In the post below this one (yesterday) I mentioned how I was going to make jalapeno and cheddar cheese meatballs but wasn't in the mood so I threw it all together to make a simple meatloaf out of it. I thought I would go back and find the meatball recipe and post it though, as they are really are so very good and worth making. I plan on making them again next week myself!

Jalapeno Popper Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef
1 t fresh minced garlic
1/4 c ground almond flour (you can use regular flour, fine oatmeal or crackers or bread crumbs as a binder/filler)
1 egg
salt and pepper
jalapenos
1 c shredded cheddar cheese
4 oz. cream cheese
bacon slices

In a mixing bowl combine the beef, garlic, flour, egg, salt and pepper. Add a few or many jalapenos depending on how spicy you like your dishes. Form patties a couple inches across.

In a second bowl, mix the cheddar cheese and cream cheese. Form small balls. Form the beef patties around each cheese filling ball.

Slice the bacon in half and use a half slice to stretch gently and wrap around the meatball. Bake at 375 until they are done, the cheese is starting to melt out of the balls and the bacon is done. I crisp them under the broiler for about 3 minutes as we like our bacon completely done and crisp.

*I saved the leftover cheese filling and used it the following night in cheese stuffed chicken breasts.

Mixing everything in a bowl.

You don't even have to wrap with bacon if you don't wish to!

2/11/15

So Simple Mexican Meatloaf.... Jalapeno's and Cheese!

Just a quick 'fly-by' post to get this in my 'remember this one' file! Last weekend I had to make a quick dinner but was in no way in the mood to cook. Ground Beef is a simple starting point, so I grabbed a package out of the deep freeze and put it in the microwave to thaw. Standing in front of the ground beef on the counter, I stared at it.... and decided to make jalapeno and cheddar cheese meatballs. Except... I wasn't in the mood to even make meatballs. Instead I decided to call it meatloaf. In a bowl the meat and a handful of ingredients went and then into the oven. The result was a simple Mexican meatloaf that was a hit.

Mexican Meatloaf

1 1/2 lb. ground beef
1 handful shredded cheddar cheese (about 1 cup)
Jalapeno's to taste. I used about 1/2 cup lightly chopped

Mix in a bowl and place in a greased pan to bake. Bake approximately 40-60 minutes depending on how much meat you used, until the center is done completely. You can drizzle taco sauce or salsa on top. Serve with sour cream and guacamole if you wish!

2/8/15

A small update: Low Carb Bread

When I posted my trial of the low carb, wheat-free bread (original post) I mentioned it was a beautiful looking bread, but was a bit spongy. My husband suggested perhaps toasted or made into French Toast, it would be better. At the time I took the loaf and put it into the deep freeze as I wasn't really craving bread at that time but I didn't want to waste it.

This morning I took it out of the freezer with the intention of experimenting a bit. I found that when sliced thin and toasted, then smeared with a bit of real butter while piping hot; it's very, very good! I enjoyed it very much with a few crisp slices of bacon and a sliced avocado. Once it cools down the texture changes again, but toasted hot, it's a very good 'bread'. Tomorrow morning (or perhaps later today) I will be trying it as a sugar free "French Toast" which I will update later on my site to let you know what I think.

Here is a short version of the original post (you can click on the original one above for all the photos and comments and link back to the original poster of the recipe).

Maria's Bread Recipe

1 1/2 cup blanched almond flour (5 oz)
5 TBS psyllium husk powder (no substitutes) (45 grams)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp Celtic sea salt
2 1/2 TBS apple cider vinegar (1 oz)
3 egg whites (about 3.5 oz for almond flour option)
7/8 cup (a little less than a cup) BOILING water

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium sized bowl, combine the flour, psyllium powder (no substitutes: flaxseed meal won’t work), baking powder and salt. Mix until dry ingredients are well combined. Add in the eggs and vinegar and mix until a thick dough. Add boiling water into the bowl. Mix until well combined and dough firms up.

Form into 4 to 5 mini subs or one large loaf and place onto a greased baking sheet. Bake for 55 minutes (45-50 minutes for smaller shapes like buns). Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely. Cut open with a serrated knife. Fill with desired fillings. Makes 5 servings.

NOTE! If you are having an issue with a bubble, try weighing your ingredients as listed above.
OPTION: Use 2 whole eggs. If you are having trouble with it rising using whole eggs you can try egg whites. Also, if your buns looks nice and big but then deflates after removed from the oven, try reducing the baking powder to 1 1/2 teaspoons.

NUTRITIONAL COMPARISON (per serving)
Traditional Sub Bread = 198 calories, 6g fat, 4g protein, 41 carbs, trace fiber
Almond Flour Sub (egg whites) = 209 calories, 14.2g fat, 8.2g protein, 15g carb, 9.8g fiber (60% fat, 15% protein, 28% carbs)