Fat Frog Diary

Just a quick little tip for a snacker who doesn't want to fall off the wagon. (Me!) I'm sure you've seen those mini-peppers in the store in bags, looking colorful and tempting. Were you scared of the heat? Don't be. No heat! Those things wouldn't cause a hot flash even if Leonardo DiCaprio walked by stark naked. (Sorry Leo!) Cut them in half and you can stuff them with cream cheese and ground beef, but for a simple snack with no fuss, cut a mozzarella stick in half and stuff the pepper with that. I stuffed four peppers with four halves of two mozzarella sticks and microwaved them for a minute to melt the cheese to gooey deliciousness. Yum!

Burgundy Bean Soup This is a great way to use up that bit of wine left in the bottle from the party or intimate gathering before it goes to vinegar. The next morning after the party, pour the wine(s) into ice cube trays and freeze. Remove the wine cubes and store in a labeled freezer bag until needed for a recipe. It's a handy way to have wine available for recipes without having to keep bottles around. We use a lot of bacon in our recipes, so we normally don't fry. We cut it up with kitchen shears, then bake it in the oven, drain, and store it in 1-lb increment freezer bags until needed. Pre-cooking bacon and ground meats in 1-lb increments (pre-cooked weights) saves time and trouble later. Just remember to label those freezer bags very well with a fat Sharpie!

Everyone knows the summertime grilling season here in the Northern Hemisphere. We Americans will soon celebrate Independence Day on July 4, and most of us will grill out, picnic, and other forms of mayhem. My family will include a family reunion in the mayhem. I'll probably bring the hot dog sauces. Here are my favorites below. Be aware some must be made well in advance. Who says hot dogs are boring? Not my family! Tart Apple Mustard 1/2 cup honey mustard 2 T shredded green apple (I used Granny Smith) 1/2 t. ground black pepper In a small bowl stir together all ingredients. Cover bowl and allow flavors to marry for at least 2 hours. Makes about 2/3 cup. Bacon Brown Sugar Mustard (Family favorite!) 3/4 cup yellow mustard 3 slices crisp cooked bacon, cooled and broken up 4 t. brown sugar or 2 t. Splenda Brown Blend them all together, cover and refrigerate overnight to blend the flavors. Hot Ketchup 2/3 cup ketchup 2 T. Worcestershire 1 t hot sauce (Tabasco) or a...

This is a "We can convert this to Low Carb!" recipe. Read the original, then see the substitution. Yes, go ahead and use the cream of chicken soup in a can. Condensed soups work well in a crock pot, and since you're only going to have a tablespoon or so of sauce, it's not going to blow your low carb regimen. Hash Browns with Ham 1 pkg (32 oz) frozen cubed hash browns (Substitution below) 1 cup cubed fully cooked ham. (Yeah, I used Spam. Get over it.) 1 small onion, chopped 2 cups (8 oz) shredded cheddar cheese **DIVIDED** 1 can (14.75 oz) condensed cream of chicken soup, undiluted ½ cup of butter, melted (1 stick) 1 cup sour cream Line your slow cooker or spray it well. Combine the potatoes, ham, onion, and 1 cup cheese. Combine the soup and butter. Pour over the potato mixture. Cover and cook on low 3-4 hours or until potatoes are tender. (Switch on warm until dinner.) Stir in the sour cream. Cook for 15 minutes. Sprinkle each serving with remaining chee...

I've been playing with this one a little, and I've found that the tuna alternative is just as tasty! How inexpensive can you get? Next, I think I'll try a can of tiny shrimp, or maybe I'll even splurge just a little and get a bag of frozen shrimp. That'll make several pies.

You don't have to have an egg salad SANDWICH. You can just have egg salad, or use a tomato cup. Remember that the carb counts below include the bread. Take that away and the carb count becomes very good indeed! Plain old white bread slices can be 70 calories and a whopping 13g of carbs EACH. Pita isn't any better at  130 calories and 30g of carbs. Nope, not even the so-called "healthy grains." Forget it. Eat it without the bread and save yourself the carbs. If you don't, you may as well just superglue the bread directly to your hips.

Don't discount this because it's meatless. This is good!!

Yeah, I've posted this one before, but this bears repeating. This is a fast and easy quiche with no crust. You can mix and match the meat, cheeses, and veggies to anything you want! My fave substitution is a classic-- make this into Quiche Lorraine by substituting pre-cooked (you do bake your bacon and save it, right?) bacon and Swiss Cheese. Don't be afraid to toss in some frozen veggies! I've been known to raid the freezer for the remainder of a bag of frozen green beans, a few broccoli tops, and about a cup of bell pepper strips for stir fry. This is one of those recipes that also makes a superb leftover for the lunch box. While I do prefer mine warmed in the microwave for a minute, it doesn't have to be. Cool the pie in the fridge overnight, then cut into 1/6 slices. Wrap them up in foil or zip-top bags, and freeze. I gave up making just one pie at a time. I make two and take the remainder of the second one as lunches for later days. If you need more similar rec...

I made a few changes to this recipe, I admit. First off, I used cut up cooked chicken from my stash of leftovers instead of the expensive boneless skinless chicken breasts. I did manage to find andouille sausage, but it wouldn't hurt my feelings if I had to substitute another kind. This is a Cajun recipe, and they're famous for making do with what they have. My chicken broth was homemade, and you don't get much more "reduced sodium" than that. (That's what I do with all those leftover bits like the pointy wing tips, necks no one wants, and the occasional "sale meat" that is a bargain only if you stew it to death. Grin) Also, here's a little trick to gladden the heart of any cook-- You can make your rice in the slow cooker too! Just use the "converted" rice (I use Uncle Ben's) and it cooks up just fine. (This is why I have two crock pots, and I'm thinking about getting another.) I'll make the jambalaya in the big pot, a...

I was surprised to learn there are people in the world who don't know how to make this ubiquitous lunch food, or worse, who stir together canned meat, mayo, maybe a little instant minced onion, and call it good. Then again, I used to be one of them, until I found this recipe and made it, just to be different. I will never go back to plain old chicken salad ever again! I found Nirvana. Then I looked at the variations. YUM-OH!

In the same way as my comments on Feb 4 concerning mayonnaise, the same thing has happened in the salad dressing market. The so-called "diet" dressings can be higher in sugar and carbs because they're supposed to be lower in fat. Yet at the same time, the "regular" dressings are so loaded with chemicals and preservatives as well as carbs, the choices are very limited unless you like vinaigrettes. I happen to like creamy dressings, though I've learned that dipping my fork into a small cup of 2 T of dressing (average serving size on bottled dressings) and then stabbing a forkload of salad means I get a much tastier mouthful than pouring the dressing over the top and hoping it's still around when I get to the last fork full. Imagine having fresh dressings to dip your veggies into, and I don't mean just for a bowl of salad. Imagine taking a small sealed container of this with some celery, green pepper strips, and fresh broccoli when you need a snack. Y...

First, an explanation and elaboration. I love Baked Eggs, aka Shirred Eggs. They're easy, first and foremost. I keep a pile of custard cups around, as well as some cheap Corningware coffee mugs just so I can make baked eggs whenever I like. Custard cups work best, but when feeding a crowd, sometimes my little six cups just aren't enough! Thank goodness for Corningware! Now take your basic Baked Egg recipe and put on your thinking caps. How do you like your eggs? Me, I like a little meat, a little broccoli, a little bell peppers, and a whole lot of cheese with my eggs. DH likes onion, hash browns, cheese, and peppers on his. Dante likes his with a whole lot of veggies and a little deli turkey or ham.. DD3 likes hers Mexican style with chilies, olives, and Monterrey Jack cheese. Drag out those leftovers, wield your chopping knife, and add what you want to your cups the night before! Put the egg in the cups in the morning, and throw them in the oven in the steam bath. Bake t...

This recipe comes from the Food Network and Giada De Laurentis. They did not provide a calorie or carb count, so I made a guess at approximately 93 calories and 10 carbs per serving. I also substituted sour cream for the creme fraiche. (Sorry, Giada honey, not all of us are rich.) Also, I HIGHLY recommend you grind up the rosemary extra, extra fine, especially if you have to use the dried version like I did. Picking rosemary out of your teeth is never a cool look.

Deviled Eggs are a staple on my low-carb diet. They're easy, quick, and the stuffing can be made a ton of different ways to add variety. Below is my basic deviled egg recipe, plus a couple of variations for fun. I'm too lazy to pipe in the filling! Two spoons or my melon baller scoop up plenty. LOL!

Okay, if you're on a low carb diet, I'm sure you've now seen that regular old mayonnaise is lower in carbs than the so-called "light" mayo. (Hey, they took out the fat, so they had to put sugar in to compensate.) Perhaps this is why when I followed slavishly the "diet rules" and ate only "diet foods" I actually gained weight! Making my own mayonnaise to eliminate all those interesting and unpronounceable chemicals the commercial producers put in seems like the logical next step in my freedom from fat. Here's my recipe for mayo, done with several common kitchen appliances. (I'll be using the food processor, but you can use what you have, okay?) I can't wait to try these!

Nothing like the good old red and white Better Homes and Gardens Cookbooks when I need a simple, old-fashioned recipe for the classics like stuffed mushrooms. Here's some goodies guaranteed to make a great bandster lunch. Imagine this on a portobella mushroom!   You may want to make your own mix, and don't forget to substitute ground up fried pork skins for the bread crumbs for even less carbs. I find bags and bags of the pork skins on the same aisle as potato chips, and they're so useful to keep around! I've been known to measure out a serving just to have a bit of crunch while everyone else snacks, so I don't feel deprived. However, their best use is when you grind them in the food processor and keep them around to replace those carb-laden bread crumbs. 

No, you don't have to use a bun. You can use a wrap, or simply do without and eat the delicious frank with a fork.

Yeah, they're a bit heavy on the carbs. I recommend trying this with honey first, then attempting to substitute with Splenda for Baking to lower the carbs. As one of the unlucky bandsters who cannot do any form of bread, I'm hoping someone will tell me how this tastes. Better yet, don't.

Baked Eggs With Spinach and Ham (Phase 1) Make-Ahead: Ham and spinach can be prepared 1 day ahead and stored in separate covered containers in the refrigerator until ready to use. Prep time: 10 minutes Cook time: 45 minutes Serves 8 Ingredients 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil 1 small onion, thinly sliced 4 (1-ounce) slices lower-fat, lower-sodium boiled or smoked ham (not honey glazed), cut into thin strips 4 ounces baby spinach, chopped (4-5 cups) 12 large eggs 1/4 teaspoon salt 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper Instructions Heat oven to 350° F. Lightly coat an 8" by 8" glass baking dish with cooking spray. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Add ham and cook 3 minutes more. Transfer to a large bowl. Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil to the pan. Add spinach and cook, stirring occasionally, until spinach is wilted, about 3 minutes. Add to the bowl w...

This is definitely NOT low carb! However, because it's not out of a box, it's better for you. Besides, it keeps the kids happy.