It was so lovely and sunny today that I decided to make us a salad for our supper.  I loosely based the flavours on a traditional Nicoise Salad (which uses Tuna), but used chicken instead and added some potatoes for my Carb Loving husband! 

 

My version was low carb, which meant no potatoes. Instead I had some leftover steamed asparagus that I used and some sliced cooked beetroot. In all truth I could not finish it, and it was delicious!

 

I have only recently discovered that you can roast frozen beans on a baking tray at the same time you roast other things like potatoes or meat.  They come out beautifully.  A bit caramelised on the edges, perfectly cooked, and the flavour is fantastic!

 

To be honest I have never been overly fond of frozen beans, but this way I love them.  We are funny in our family, we like tinned beans . . .  that's what we were brought up on.

 

I had some leftover Rotisserie Chicken from one we had bought at Costco.  This is the chicken I used. You could  could a couple of chicken breasts if you don't have any leftover. But the Rotisserie Chicken is lovely.

 

Roasted fingerling potatoes  . . .  just tossed with a bit of olive oil and seasoning and roasted along with the beans.  Perfect.

 

Ideally you should use Nicoise Olives, but I didn't have any. I did have a mix of Kalamata and Green with small cubes of feta cheese.  This is what I used. Yum!

 

Hard boiled eggs . . .  I always use free-range eggs.  Its the least I can do.  I refuse to support an industry that is inhumane, and if I can find them I use RS PCB approved.  Then I know for sure that they are really produced humanely.  Want to know my secret to perfectly cooked hard boiled eggs. Its a electric egg boiler just like this one.  They turn out perfectly no matter the degree of doneness you wish, every single time.

 

The dressing is a very simple one.  Just lemon juice, white wine vinegar, Dijon mustard, olive oil,  seasonings and fresh herbs.  A simple vinaigrette.  The original used 1 tsp of granulated sugar, which if you are not bothered you can use.  I am bothered so I used a tsp of sugar substitute. Without it, the dressing would be very tart.

 

 

I hope you are enjoying these new recipes I am sharing. I would really love your feedback. I promise you there will be something deliciously sweet tomorrow. I am trying to stay away from those things as much as possible, but its not fair to punish Todd for my sinful ways. 

 

I was wanting something fresh and crunchy to eat the other day, and then I remembered the Deli Kitchen Skinni Wraps I had in the freezer, so I took them out to thaw and started thinking about what I was going to do with them! 

 

We are always being told to eat a "Rainbow."  A mix of five or more servings of vegetables and fruits in a day.  I have heard as many as 8.  This can be a bit hard to do, but it isn't impossible, and your heart  and body will thank you for it! 

 

I love the Deli Kitchen Skinni Wraps!   The come in plain and multi grain. 

 

They truly are very thin and coming in at less than 100 calories per wrap, they are the wise choice for someone who is trying to low carb it and eat healthier! 

 

Plus they come in a handy packaging which boasts a peel and stick closure, which means they will stay fresh for longer.  They also freeze very well. 

 

They also boast a unique rectangular shape with a pointed end, which makes them perfect for filling and rolling up tightly, no matter what you choose to fill them with! 

 

As you can see I chose a variety of fresh veg to fill mine with . . .  courgettes (zucchini), carrots, red cabbage, mashed avocado, rocket, carrots and two colours of fresh peppers . . . . 

  

I spread a thin layer of hummus over each wrap before I added the vegetables and then I added the crisp and fresh veggies in rows . . .  a beautiful rainbow of colours and textures and flavours!  Because the mashed avocado is a bit wetter than the others, I chose to put it in the middle.

  

Mmmm  . . .  I love mashed avocado and this was lightly flavoured with tangy lime juice, which also helped to maintain it's bright green colour! 

 

I adore hummus also and this was perfect for the base on which to layer everything else.  You can make your own or use a good, well flavoured store brand.  I used a Lemon, pepper and coriander one.

 

Its just loaded with flavour and it is my favourite! 

 

I often eat hummus with crisp vegetables for dipping!  This was kind of like that in a tasty wrap! 

  

It looked really pretty when sliced . . . 

 

And those lovely wraps held everything in beautifully, making these easy to eat and enjoy! 

  

I love eating rainbows!

 

I love these Deli Kitchen Skinni Wraps, both the Multi Grain ones and the Plain ones.  Totally yummy!  You can buy them at Sainsbury's here in the UK.    Their delicious range also includes Sliced Focaccia, Plain Subwich, two kinds of folded flatbreads and three kinds of sandwich thins.  As a diabetic I do try to watch my carb intake most of the time and I have found these thinner, healthier options really helpful in doing that, plus they are also delicious.  I can have my sandwich and eat it too!  You can find their products in a variety of different shops, to find out which products are available where, do check out their website.

 

When it comes to burgers we are more fond of turkey burgers in this house than we are of beef burgers.  I am not sure why that is.  I think we just prefer the taste of turkey more and I know (Speaking for myself) I prefer the texture of ground turkey to beef.  Turkey is also one of those things that you can really adapt well with other flavours such as the additions I have made here today.

 

Today's recipe is one which I adapted from one I found in the cookery book "The 8-Week Blood Sugar Diet Recipe Book." The original sounded really delicious.

 

The original recipe called for chopped dried apricots and Haloumi cheese.  I had neither one of those in my larder, so I decided to go with dried cranberries and goat's cheese which I do have. 

 

Because I had changed out the fruit and cheese in the recipe, I decided to use different herbs also. In the original they had used coriander flakes (cilantro) and red chillies.

  

I didn't think either one would go well with cranberries or goat's cheese and so I chose to use sage, parsley and thyme, with fabulous results! I use an adjustable measuring spoon that works really well for this. You can adjust it according to the amount you need. No need for a variety of spoons!

 

Make sure you really chop your cranberries and spring onions very finely. The burgers will hold together better if you do. Zirconia Ceramic Knives do the job perfectly.  Good knives are your best friend in the kitchen. I always hated it when I went to my mom's and had to use her knives.  They were old, dull and alot of the handles were broken and taped together. (My mom's was never a keen cook.) After the first couple of times, I used to bring my own knives with me.

 

Cranberries and goat's cheese go very well with each other and with turkey!  These burgers are really moist and delicious!

 

Lately we have forgone the buns when it comes to burgers. They mostly fall apart when you are eating them and we end up eating them with a knife and a fork anyways, so its just easier to eat them plain.  At least for us it is, and as a Diabetic, it is the  healthier option for me!

 

These were served simply with a red slaw, which is a recipe I also got from the book.  Red cabbage, shredded carrot and apple are simply mixed together with a simple slaw dressing. 

 

2 TBS of mayo along with 1 TBS each of olive oil and cider vinegar do the trick. There is a bit of sweetness from the apple, and plenty of colour and crunch. One apple, one carrot and half a small cabbage, shredded finely.  This 5 in 1 vegetable shredder makes really short work of that!  Plus it has a handy bowl which you can mix the salad together in for serving and storing. I love kitchen gadgets like this which are not only attractive, but also useful and work well.

 

I did cook Todd some potatoes to enjoy with his.  I really love potatoes, but in trying to keep my carbs under control, more often than not I have to forgo them.

 

These tasty burgers made for a lovely light supper that we both enjoyed very much!!! 

  

Healthier options for me, whilst still satisfying my skinny husband who can eat whatever he wants. We both felt like winners! 

  

I really, really loved these tasty burgers.  Simple to make and delicious, they went down a real treat. It was all I could do to keep my appetite in check and eat only one. Never mind, I filled up on salad.  Bon Appetit! 

PS - I hope you like my new printable recipes format.  My friend Jan clued me in to the fact that Google documents were changing and not for the better so I made the change to Recipe Generator. Its  not free, but what the hey, I think it looks better!

 

We were feeling in a kind of a Mexicany mood the other day.  I adore Tex Mex food and could eat it until it comes out my ears.  I  will tell you up front, I have never been to Mexico.  The closest I have been is to a Mexican restaurant in Fredericton, New Brunswick called Mexicali Rosa's. Not sure if it is still in existance or not, but it was a place that my ex and I used to love to visit  every now and then.  There were chili pepper fairy lights hanging all over the place, Mexican music playing and every diner was treated to a basket of their homemade tortilla chips and fresh salsa to enjoy while they were perusing the menu and waiting for their meal, sometimes two if you were really eager!

 

The food was always excellent and we were always very happy with our meals.  Other than that my only experience with eating out and Mexican food was Chi Chi's (a chain) in London, Ontario, and the local Taco Bell in Greenwood Nova Scotia, which I understand is no longer there.  I did have plenty of experience through the years in trying to replicate my favourites at home via television programs and magasines.  I am not sure any of it was entirely authentic or not, but I can tell you it was always delicious.  I don't want any Mexican food purists knocking me or giving me grief.  I do the best with what I have on hand, its as simple at that.  IF it tastes good and even remotely similar to what it should, then that's good enough for me!

 

Mexican food here in the UK is something which is quite popuar, but the ingredients are very hard to find, making my food journey a bit of a challenge, but you can get some things in the shops.  I always bring my own tex mex chili powder back with me when I go to Canada, and a really nice reader sent me some Pendery's a year or so ago that I have been REALLY enjoying!

 

Mexican food can be somewhat high in fat and calories however, especially since a lot of the Tex Mex stuff is fried, like chimichangas, tacos, etc.  I am trying really hard to cut back on the fat and calories, and the carbs.  ie, I am trying hard to eat healthier, but I still want to eat tasty.

 

I made us these Crispy Baked Sweet Potato, Corn & Bean Flautas the other day, which I adapted from a recipe I found on Peas and Crayons.  I was really pleased with the results!!  The filling was very simple to make and went together quickly. I had to adapt the recipe to what I had in the house.  I didn't have any black beans (Or the horror, how did that happen!) so I used a tin of mixed beans, which had pinto, black, haricot, borlotti, etc. in the mix.  They worked beautifully.

 

I also didn't have any corn tortillas, but I did have South American Kitchens Coconut and Black Pepper mini wheat tortillas, which happened to be six inch tortillas, which were the perfect size. I used salsa only for the filling and doubled up on the chili powder for a little extra heat.

 

Her method for baking them, filled up, rolled and secured with a toothpick, laid out on a rack over a baking tray, worked perfectly. Because my tortillas were wheat ones, they were soft enough to fill and roll without heating them.  I also skipped the step of spraying the insides of the tortilla with cooking spray. I didn't think it was necessary.

 

I spritzed them only on the outside with some cooking spray and it worked perfectly.  They turned out beautifully crisp and delicious!  We loved them and they are something I WILL make again, maybe even soon because they are that good!

 

 

 

If you are a purist you might want to look away now.  I enjoyed mine by tearing them open and tucking in some of those baby salad leaves (kale, rocket, spinach, chard) and then topping with a dollop of sour cream.  Oh boy . . .  those peppery leaves went really well with that gooey spicy filling.  All in all these were a really delicious taste treat that  was low in fat, high in fibre, and very health conscious!  Provecho Amigos!