My Typical "Wheat Belly" Breakfast

This is my typical "Wheat Belly" breakfast, although I change the protein often; usually black forest ham or bacon. On the side is a piece of the Herbed Focaccia Flatbread I made a few days ago.

I like the eggs runny; there are two here. Underneath, I sometimes put a piece of cheese.  You don't have to worry about "fat" on this program so much, so bacon fat stays on and I cook the eggs in coconut oil.

The orange spots are hot sauce! 

I find this breakfast can often last me all day; unless I'm digging a ditch!

Fried Pork Tenderloin Fit For A "Wheat Belly"!

This is one of the first recipes I tried from Dr. William Davis' "Wheat Belly 30 Minute (or less!) Cookbook, page 133, and it's one of my favorites, because it gives me back my former love; rice!  Well, kind of.

To give up all grains means more than just the wheat, it includes, among other things, rice and oats, which are seeds of grass...therefore, grain.  I miss rice.  It was as much a staple to me as was pasta...two things a Type 2 diabetic don't need.  Like a baked potato, it all turns to "sugar" in the body.

However, I quickly found a substitute; cauliflower!  It mimics rice to a "T" and the brain is fooled into thinking it's eating rice.  I really discovered this years ago when I was trying to give up the carbs in potatoes.  Ruby Tuesday used to offer, don't know if they still do or not, a cauliflower dish that made your brain think it was eating mashed potatoes.

Back to the recipe.  Tonight we tag-teamed "Pork Fried 'Rice'", and had it on the table in about 20 minutes.

The book says you need these ingredients on hand:

• 1 head of cauliflower (we grated ours to the consistency of, what else, rice)
• 2 TBS coconut oil (actually used Extra Virgin olive oil)
• 4 scallions (I used green onions)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 2 eggs, whisked
• 1/2 pound pork tenderloin (cut into 1/2" cubes - However, I've tried it thinly sliced and kind of prefer it that way.  Seems to be more tender that way.)
• 1/4 cup tamari or gluten-free soy sauce

Put the grated/shredded cauliflower in a microwaveable bowl, and cook covered on high for 4 minutes, stirring once (or until desired doneness).

Meanwhile, in a WOK, or large skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of oil until hot.  Cook the scallions or onions and garlic for 2 minutes.  Add in the whisked eggs and stir continuously until cooked and lightly brown.  Set aside in separate bowl.

Reduce the heat to medium, add 1 tablespoon of oil to the WOK, and cook the pork until no longer pink.  Stir in the soy sauce, steamed cauliflower, and the egg mixture.  Cook, stirring, for 2 minutes, or until heated through.

If you like a lot of salt you can add a little to the eggs, but believe me, the soy sauce adds a lot of salt taste!  So, be careful.

Serve!  Enjoy!

My Mexican Omelette

We were out on a road-trip a couple of Sunday's ago, and stopped, again, at the Golden Girls Restaurant,  2211 North Charles G. Sievers Blvd., Clinton, TN.

We have eaten there before, and it has always been a pleasing experience.  It needs a little modernizing, but I guess that's the appeal to us.  The day we were there they had suffered a little wind damage and there was a blue tarp over a section of the roof.

This trip Judy ordered okra, pinto beans, the chicken and dumplings, with fried cornbread!  I chose the "Mexican Omelette" ( or omelet), and it was spectacular!  They put whole jalapenos in theirs, and man was it hot!  But, I love hot!

So, this past Sunday morning I made my version for our granddaughter, and she was wild about it!  Of course, I served it with cheesy grits, which she also loves.

The prep takes a little while, but usually while the coffee is brewing and the biscuits are cooking you can have it done and ready to pour the eggs.

I mixed some chopped honey-ham, some Paul Newman's Salsa, some canned mushrooms (chopped), onions, yellow bell pepper, and diced jalapenos in a small frying pan and sauteed them in a little butter.  

I had already prepared the cheesy grits (Quick Grits with lots of Velveeta cheese and butter!), and coffee was brewing.  I also cooked my bacon, 2 strips per person, in the microwave.  Usually about a minute per slice, but until it's crisp.

I mixed up some eggs in a bowl, usually one egg per person, and added a little salt and pepper.

In a medium hot skillet, pour in enough egg to form a thin layer on the entire bottom of a medium pan.  The mixture should be thoroughly whipped.  If you leave some white unmixed, it will separate when you try and turn it.

When you can tell the mixture is completely cooked on the bottom side, gently squirm your spatula underneath and over to the center.  Then gently raise it up and flip it over.  The opposite side should cook quickly.  

Remove the egg and place it on a plate.  Spread the cooked ingredients in a line across the egg, sprinkle on some mild cheddar cheese, lay on two strips of bacon, and then close the edges of the egg over the mixture.  Spoon some more salsa down the length of the omelet, plop on a biscuit or the grits on the side (not both...too many carbs), and serve the plate.

It will put a smile on your face!

BTW, the jalapenos make coffee taste even better!  Try it!

MUSHY'S QUICK OMELET RECIPE

This Sunday morning my wife wanted an omelet and that sounded good to me!

I heated the oven and popped in some canned biscuits, Pillsbury, of course, and started the coffee!

I then prepped the omelet.

I chopped up some onion, and put it into a hot pan of butter, along with some chopped jalapeno from a jar, and about half a small can of chopped mushrooms.  I sauteed until the onions were translucent, and removed them from the heat.

In a bowl, I put three jumbo eggs, some sea salt, some pepper, and some Tennessee Sunshine hot sauce.  I mixed up the eggs, then plopped in a small handful of shredded mild cheese, and the sauteed ingredients, and mixed everything thoroughly, ensuring everything was coated with the egg. 

In a hot skillet coated with some vegetable oil, I poured in the mixture.  I had a rubber scrapper and plastic spatula ready for duty.  With the rubber scrapper, I ran it around the edges as it began to cook to keep it from sticking, and when it was almost cooked from the bottom up, I gently used the spatula to flip the half cooked mixture into a half-moon position.  Sometimes you have to hold the position for the omelet with the spatula.

I gave it a few more minutes of cooking time on medium heat, and cut the half-moon in half.  I could then easily flip each half over for further cooking.  Sometimes it don't flip beautifully, as the photo shows, but it all taste the same!

I served half the omelet, a biscuit, and teaspoon of Muscadine jelly to my wife, who had poured the coffee and placed it by our chairs in the living room.  We were now ready to watch CBS's Sunday Morning show, a tradition of ours since we were married 33 years ago!

Note: For those of you that have never tried jalapenos with coffee, it's wonderful!  It's a new taste that's addictive.  It's the same taste you get eating leftover pizza that has jalapenos, with scrambled eggs.  A great wake-up call!

Testing Carla Hall's Glorified Grits Recipe

My wife and I enjoy The Chew most everyday on ABC, and we always end up hungry and curious as to whether or not we would have the same results in our kitchen.

So, tonight I decided to whip up Carla Hall's "Glorified Grits".  The recipe is a bit much to do early in the morning, especially when we usually just have one eye open until noon!  Doing it at night, after we've eaten supper and watched the evening news, affords us time to use both our eyes and have a ready made breakfast the next morning.

As a matter of fact, this recipe serves 6, so we should have enough for 2 or 3 mornings!

I did most of the heavy lifting, but Judy was there to separate the eggs and get the herbs out of the cabinet when I needed them.  It goes something like this:

Ingredients - 

• 2 cups grits
• 2 1/2 cups of milk
• 2 1/2 cups of chicken stock
• 3 garlic cloves (or a big tables spoon of minced)
• 1 pound of spicy (we used medium) sausage
• 1 tablespoon of fresh oregano (chopped) (we used powdered and I suggest only 1/2 as much)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (leaves chopped) (again we used powdered)  (I suggest using half as much, because it was a little strong.  However, fresh may not have had the same effect.)
• 1 1/2 cups of sharp cheddar cheese (I plan on using a big hunk of Velveeta next time as well!  I will add to the creaminess.)
• 3 tablespoons of butter (or margarine) 
• 4 eggs (separated)
• Olive oil

Preheat the oven to 425, and grease a casserole dish.

Uncooked mixture.

Pour all the milk, chicken stock into a heavy pot and start the mixture to boiling.  Add in salt and pepper, and then add the grits.  Constantly stir the liquid after it begins to boil, then turn the heat down to simmer until the grits get creamy and soft (and done).  One trick - when the grits pop out on the back of your hand...they're done!

In a big skillet, pour in a tablespoon of olive oil and cook the pound of sausage until it is brown and done.  You can add the herbs and garlic in right at the end.

Cooked mixture.

Put the sausage into the grits mixture and mix well.  Then blend in the cheese and butter.  Also add the whisked egg yokes.

The last ingredient are the egg whites which have been fluffed stiff with a mixer.  Fold them into the grits mixture last.

Pour the whole mixture into the greased casserole dish, place in the heated oven, and cook 25 to 30 minutes.  The top should be lightly golden brown.

It can be served immediately!

It was great!  We have to have a little tonight right after it was finished.  We can't wait until morning to have a larger portion!

         

   

A QUICK CHORIZO BREAKFAST WRAP

Open and squeeze one tube (approx. 2.7 oz.) of Ole’ Mexican Chorizo sausage into a medium skillet and heat it on low heat.

Cut into small pieces, enough onion to mix with the appropriate number of eggs you plan to cook. I cooked for two, so I used 3 eggs. The chorizo will make its own grease, but you will need to blot that out with a paper towel before adding the eggs.

Once the sausage is cooked through and the onion pieces are translucent, reduce heat and remove the skillet until you have seasoned the eggs with salt and pepper. Do not use as much as normal for scrambled eggs since the sausage contains a large amount of both!

Break the egg yokes and mix the chorizo, onions, and eggs into a batter. Put the skillet back on the heat and cook until eggs are done.

Hopefully, you have already prepared your coffee, and have placed one Ole’ Mexican Xtreme Wellness Tortilla wrap on a plate. I prepared 2 plates for the 3 egg scramble I made. I like to put a little Kraft Mayo with Olive Oil on my wraps!

Spread the chorizo and egg mixture evenly over the tortillas you have prepared and serve with hot black coffee!

BREAKFAST PIZZA

Judy and I discovered a long time ago that we love to drink coffee with the heat of jalapeños in our mouth. This means that we must occasionally have a spicy omelet or breakfast pizza, loaded with diced onions and jalapeños, in order to give us that special taste in our mouths.

We had the omelet earlier this week, but when we discussed what to fix this morning, we both remembered the crescent rolls in the refrigerator – naturally, we both said “breakfast pizza” at the same time!

The first step to preparing bacon, or anything fried, in our house is prefaced by the "lighting of the candles". Judy loves her candles, so there are always at least half a dozen to light! Notice the Christmas flower arrangement she made…lovely huh!?

Jeff asked, “Who died” when I shared the photo with him earlier in the week! Judy may never speak to him again!

While Judy cooked a couple of strips of bacon, and sautéed the diced onions and jalapeños, along with a couple of strips of sandwich ham, I sprayed the Pampered Chef pizza dish with EVOO, and spread out the triangles of Pillsbury® crescents with the Baker's Roller® Judy had hidden in a drawer of implements we rarely use.

The triangles want to separate, but if you work hard at kneading them together, they will eventually cooperate and flatten out together.

Once it was all spread out as far as I dared to push it, I poured three beaten eggs over the top. The eggs were seasoned with salt, pepper, and Tennessee Sunshine hot sauce. The mixture will run off the edges unless your put the dough into a smaller pan with sides, but as it turned out, on the pizza stone, the egg cooked up just right in the oven. We simply cut it from the edges of dough and laid the cooked strips on top of the pizza.

After pouring on the eggs, I layered on the bacon, and sautéed onions, jalapeños, and ham! Yum!

This was all popped into a preheated oven at 375 degrees for about 13 to 14 minutes.

The taste was wonderful and the jalapeños and coffee bit at our taste buds!

HORSESHOE BREAKFAST SANDWICH

So, I was sitting there in my living room watching the Food Network, and, as usual, I was sucked into Guy Fieri’s “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives”! He and Paula Deen grab my “grease buds” every time I pass either show!

However, this particular “Diners, Drive-ins, and Dives” show was about crazy breakfast dishes, and especially one about the “horseshoe breakfast” sandwich. Man, this baby is a grease lover’s dream concoction, and I had to have one!

Mine was a little less loaded than the ones Guy featured, but the basics are the same:

1. One or two pieces of toast laying flat on a plate
2. Topped with two crumbled pieces of bacon
3. Topped with a slice of American cheese
4. Topped with fried cubed potatoes and onions (salted and peppered)
5. Topped off with a very runny, over easy, egg (or two)!

My tongue almost slapped my brain out before I could cut off a bite and get it into my mouth! To quote “Fat Bastard”, “Now get in my belly!”

Put one in yours today…so easy, so tasty!

CORNBREAD AND GRAVY

Yeah baby! I know you are looking for a way to slap on another 2 or 3 pounds before Labor Day, so this breakfast post and tomorrow’s “supper” post will help you out!

Before “getting serious” again Monday, there were things I wanted to eat. The first was a good old country breakfast of cornbread, white-milk gravy, eggs, and bacon! My gosh, it even had the dog dancing around the kitchen wanting some of the action!

While Judy was busy wiping up the gravy, using the grease from thick sliced bacon, I watched the cornbread in the oven, and whipped up some scrambled eggs. I know what you are thinking, but I got my blood test results back from the doctor today and everything was “PERFECT,” to quote the doc’s comment!

So, it was so delicious there was little left to share with Baylee!

Now, the other things I wanted I will get at my mom’s Sunday afternoon – EVERYTHING FRIED! Fried squash, fried okra, fried green tomatoes, and creamed yellow corn! Is life grand, or what?