Gluten Free - Spaghetti - Wheat Belly Friendly

If you have been missing a pasta-like dish, here is an easy way to have the same taste and consistency as a "traditional" plate of spaghetti!

First, cook some hamburger like you would normally for a traditional spaghetti meal, except don't pour off all the fat.  Pour in a gluten-free spaghetti sauce like Monte Bene. 

I used just half a jar of their "garlic and marinara" and was very pleased with the taste.  We did add a little Mrs. Dash to kick it up a notch!

Using a "noodle maker" tool, like, or similar, the one shown and twist off some zucchini, and or squash, noodles.  It's so easy!

Boil the "noodle" for about 2 minutes in some beef stock.  Drain, and put them into your spaghetti mixture.

Stir and cook until well blended and then plate.  Add real grated parmesan to the top and serve.

Note: There are gluten-free wines out there, so have a small glass with your spaghetti.* 

You'll never have to miss "pasta" again!

*I haven't shopped for wine in sometime, but amazingly the operator was aware of "gluten-free" alcohol.  He showed me wines, vodkas, and even Tennessee whiskey that were "Wheat Belly" friendly, and some even had "gluten-free" on their labels.  Moderation is the key, and you should read the labels of everything you buy.

Pork Chop - Wheat Belly Meal

A lot of the "Wheat Belly" meals we've been fixing for our evening meal have been similar; only the protein has changed.  That makes it interesting, without burning you out on just one thing.

In this one we fixed the same zucchini and summer squash, leaving out the tomatoes and adding Brussel Sprouts, and just baked a couple of nice size pork chops.  It is quick and easy, and very satisfying!

Look at the "Roasted zucchini and Squash" recipe below for the "how to". 

As for the pork chop, simply season the meat, and place in the oven at 350 until nice and brown; usually about 20 minutes.  My wife covers mine with foil, because I don't like mine as "killed" as she does!

I'm losing more slowly now, possibly because of too many carbs from vegetables, but I was told not to lose too much more.  That's a good sign from your wife that your getting to where you need to be!

Roasted Zucchini, Squash, and Tomato Medley - Wheat Belly

Continuing on with the Wheat Belly program, my wife cooked this for me tonight, in honor of my 70th birthday!

We love the convenience and taste of a good Rotisserie Chicken, which is great protein for a Wheat Belly eating program.  For the side, my wife prepared the "Roasted Zucchini, Squash, and Tomato Medley" from page 131 of Dr. William Davis' "Wheat Belly 30-Minute (or less) Cookbook".

I never knew how great zucchini, squash, and tomatoes could taste roasted, and it goes with any kind of main dish; chicken, fish, or pork!

She cut up the vegetables in bite size half-moon pieces, while heating the oven to 425 degrees.  If the chicken needs to be heated, put in an aluminum pan or on a baking sheet, cover with foil, and place in the oven.

In a bowl put 1 1/2-TBS olive oil, 1-TBS red wine vinegar, 1/2-TS of the "Wheat Belly" Italian Seasoning Mix (2-TBS dried basil, 2-TBS dried oregano, 2-TBS dried rosemary, 1-TBS dried marjoram, 1-TBS garlic powder, and 1-TS ground black pepper, and 1/2-TS of sea salt, and mixed thoroughly.

Toss in the vegetables and mix up until everything is coated.  Spread the vegetables on a grease cooking sheet and place in the oven for 20 minutes.  Stir once, or until brown.  Sprinkle with about 1/3 cup of finely shaved Parmesan cheese.

Serve it with any of the proteins mentioned above, or with chicken as the photo shows.

Eat up, you non-wheat bellies!

Spaghetti Squash For Wheat Bellies!

Well, I've started this "Wheat Belly" program I learned from watching Dr. William Davis' TV and YouTube videos.  I bought his cookbook and over the course of 3 weeks I have lost 25 pounds of weight!  And, the most amazing fact is I have only today begun to exercise again!

Anyway, I wanted to share with you this recipe.  Since beginning I haven't been hungry, but I have missed rice and pasta.  I'll share the rice dish, using cauliflower later, but tonight I wanted "pasta"!

I cooked a "spaghetti squash" (medium size) for about 50 minutes at 375 degrees.  I cut the squash in half, spread olive oil over the inside, and on a cooking sheet, and sprinkled the inside with sea-salt and garlic powder.  I turned the squash face-down and placed it in the oven.

On the stove I heated on low heat about half a jar of Monet Bene Garlic Marinara, which has no sugar added, no gluten, and no preservatives.  

In a skillet, I slow fried some chicken tenders, using olive oil and minced garlic.  I put the chicken aside to drain until I was ready to do the plating.

Once the squash was cooked, I shredded out the squash, using a fork, into a bowl; it even looks like spaghetti.

I placed a generous pile of the squash on the plate and spooned the marinara over the top.  I then sprinkled BelGioiso Parmesan over the top.  I placed two or three chicken tenders on the side and served.

It was delicious!  I even went back and finished the cold squash and marinara after eating!

I no longer have the bloating and gas I used to have after eating.  It's a new way of life!  

You really don't need grains (bread, rice, oats) to survive!

CHRISTMAS DAY DINNER - 2013

My guest chef today is Kaitlyn, my granddaughter!  She is now 21 and beginning her own life away at school, but still comes to her "Granny's" house to spend the night.  The best part, besides sleeping with Granny and talking the night away, is that she is beginning to cook for us!

Christmas Day Dinner is a tradition at our house; a time when our daughter, son-in-law, my mom, and, of course, Katie Bug come to celebrate another year as a family.  It's an intimate time for just the immediate family, but often we share it with one of Kaitlyn's friends.  This year it was Mercedes, a high school friend.

The following recipes with the exception of the cornbread, she said, came from a search on Pinterest. 

She started a crock-pot pork-chop dish around noon and cooked it on low until meal time around 6PM.  It was simple enough, and best yet, she never had to touch it again until the meal was served.

Here is all she had to do:

Ingredients

• Pork chops (she used 8 boneless pork-chops 1/2" thick)
• 1 Ranch Seasoning Dry Mix Packet
• 1 can Cream of Cream of Chicken Soup (plus 2 cans of water or milk)

Instructions

1. Combine all ingredients in crockpot and mix well.
2. Cook on low 4-6 hours.

Around 4PM she began her side dishes consisting of macaroni, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes (giving us a choice, but most, like me ate both kinds), mixed vegetables, and cornbread.

The macaroni dish was prepared normally, drained, Velveeta, colby-jack, and some shredded mild cheddar cheese and milk was added, and then poured into a baking dish.  She then added Panko bread crumbs and baked it in the oven for 30 minutes at 375.

She baked 2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and put them into a baking dish.  To the potatoes she added a can of pumpkin, butter, brown sugar, salt, chopped pecans, cinnamon, and half and half and mixed thoroughly.  She baked it for about 30 minutes at 350.

The mashed potatoes were prepared normally, except for the addition of garlic powder and Parmesan cheese.

Katie then patiently chopped up fresh zucchini, yellow squash, orange bell pepper, and salad size tomatoes.  She placed the veggies into a baking dish and poured vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, and olive oil over the pieces, salted and peppered them, and baked for 45 minutes at 350 covered.

Next, she turned up the oven to 450.  In a 4-cup glass measuring bowl, she added 2 cups of cornmeal, milk to make a batter, an egg, 1 heaping tablespoon of sugar, and 2 heaping tablespoons of flour in a large measuring bowl and mixed.  She put a large cast iron skillet with about a 1/4 cup of vegetable oil in it into the oven.  When the skillet was hot, she poured in the cornmeal mixture.  The mixture should start to rise around the edges immediately.  Put back in the oven for 25 minutes.

Katie (R) and Mercedes (L) relax after Christmas dinner.  

All this, including a glass of Barefoot wine, (and a bowl of "store bought" slaw) was placed on our Christmas table and we dove in with both hands!  It was quite a change from the norm, and everyone seemed to enjoy it...most of all the family time.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year folks!

A Vegetarian Supper For Ellen

You won't see that word, vegetarian, on my cooking blog very often, but this is one of the few that even Ellen DeGeneres might eat!

We were sitting around watching a little late afternoon TV, around about news time, when hunger pangs/pains hit us at about the same time.  We had been eating a lot of animal flesh over the previous days, so we wondered out loud what in the world we could have for supper (that's dinner to you northern folks) that didn't involve another meat sacrifice!

Luckily, Judy had been cooking greens beans since about mid-day, so one thing was ready, so, what to go with it!?

We decided on  cornbread, which  was the obvious thing to have if just beans were on the table, but something more was needed.  

She remembered buying some fresh vegetables the day before and mentioned that to me.  A vegetable meal sounded good to me, but I didn't want anything breaded and fried, at least that day!

So, while she finished up the green beans, mixed up the cornbread, put it in the oven, and cleaned up the corn-on-the cob, I busied myself washing and cutting up the other vegetables.

We had bought okra and squash for the purpose of frying up our annual "fried garden meal", but with frying out of the question, I cut the items up, mixed them in a bowl with vegetable oil, sea salt, cayenne pepper, garlic, pepper, and creole seasoning.  

Along the way, I also found one red and one orange bell pepper and a big fat onion, which also fell to my knife and all got mixed into the bowl!

I then spread them on a sheet of aluminum foil over a cookie sheet and waited my turn for the oven.

Judy wrapped the corn in paper towel and placed them in the microwave.  When the time came, a press of a button for about 6 minutes, that would bring everything to the table hot!

The oven dinger went off and out came the cornbread, and in went the vegetables; turned down to 400.  In about 10 minutes the corn was nuking, and in another 10 the broiler came on at 500 (for a little browning), and when I judged them to be fit for consumption, out they came.  They were sizzling and smelling so good!

I think we may have had another meal of leftovers, but as I write this I'm so hungry I think I could have eaten it all!  The cornbread made it all that much better...and especially with an ice cold glass of Mayfield's 1% Nuture milk!  

I sure hope Ellen at least drinks her milk!  If not...so sorry for her!

MESSING WITH "FLAVOR BOOST"

My wife was feeling poorly this afternoon, and we know now that she probably has strep throat!  Anyway, someone had to cook, and it was obviously going to be me!

We usually keep frozen chicken tenderloins in the freezer, so the protein was a given.  We had also been snacking on carrot, squash, and turnip slices for the last week, so the vegetables were also chosen for me!

I fried the chicken in olive oil, letting one side heat up and then flipping it so the thawed and oiled side would hold the  sprinkles of cayenne pepper, sea-salt, and black pepper seasonings.  I then rolled each over and season the opposite side and continue frying.

When the chicken is tender enough to break into bite size pieces using the spatula, pour in the vegetables you've already chopped into stripes and pieces, and add a teaspoon of minced garlic.

When the vegetables are done to your liking (I like mine crisp) add in the Swanson's Chicken Flavor Boost.  I only used one for this recipe, but I may add two the next time.

The Flavor Boost packets are a great way to quickly add flavor to a dish where a lot of liquid is not needed.  It's basically chicken bullion with special seasons, so it works perfectly when you're in a hurry.

If you wanted, you could add a side of rice, but we enjoyed it just right out of the skillet with a cold glass of milk!

See ya next time!

WEIGHT WATCHERS - THE NEW PROGRAM 2

Fixing a quick meal that’s tasty, within points, and is good for you does not have to take long or be elaborate.

Plop a few chicken strips, some sliced turnips and squash, and a few tiny asparagus sprouts onto a baking sheet, spray everything with olive oil, and sprinkle everything with salt and pepper, and maybe a little garlic powder on the chicken and your almost done.

Pop it all into the oven for about 30 minutes on 450, turn everything once, and BAM…it’s done!

This loosing weight and watching points is a breeze.

During the final episode of The Soprano’s this evening, we split a bag of “light” popcorn. I hated the ending, but alas, they are just everyday folks trying to get along in this world the best they know how!