Sunday, August 26, 2012

Low Carb Enchiladas Verdes - Lazy Leftovers Strike Back

Hatch Green Chile Fest continues to reign supreme in kitchen stadium!

Low Carb Green Enchiladas with Pork or
Enchiladas Verdes de Puerco - gluten free (if you can have
dairy), Paleo and diabetic friendly. And the best part?
They are Girlish Figure Approved (GFA!)
A moment on the lips,
forever off your hips!
I figured for once you might appreciate if I finish an idea thread with all the associated recipes before running off on another tangent! I hope by now you aren’t bored with the whole Green Chili Festival thing! We have so many recipes to explore! The next two posts will be recipes that build upon using an element or elements of things already made. Let’s call them Lazy Leftovers. Or Sloppy Seconds – your pick!

One of the things I love about planned abundance – that’s a nice way to say, “That Susie, she cooks like she’s cooking for 10 people instead of 2 adults, 5 sock monkeys, a little toy dog, a stuffed giraffe, and the little dog’s stuffed sock monkey baby. Hey wait! That is almost 10 isn’t it? But none of the menagerie eat much…

So one of the things I love about cooking in batches is that it allows me to morph dishes into really fantastic complex, multi-step dishes at a moment’s notice and with little effort. I look like a culinary wizard, but really I’m just Lazy Susie, taking shortcuts and scoring points in the kitchen.

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

Tex-Mex Pulled Pork Shoulder - Hatch Chile Fest Continues

Tex-Mex Pulled Pork Shoulder Makes An Easy Addition to Hatch Chile Fest and Opens Low Carb Possibilities!

Green Chili made with Tex-Mex Pulled Pork Shoulder and
a slowly simmered Hatch green chile broth. I'm an
equal opportunity chili lover! Ha!
Some people in New Mexico claim the main question on everyone’s mind is, “Green or Red?”

They don’t care about anything else. They just want to know if you belong to the Green Tribe or the Red Tribe. And by tribe, I mean, are you someone who eats your food with a hearty slather of green chili or do your enchiladas glow redder than Rudolph’s nose.

Well, since we pinched green chili from New Mexico anyway, that same argument exists here in Texas, too. But it gets a little more complicated with us Texans. We also want to know if you want to ditch both green and red in favor of Tex-Mex Chili Gravy. Oh my…chili gravy…

For those of you who might be unaware, there are two kinds of chili gravy in Tex-Mex cooking. Logic will tell you, “Heck fire. Chili gravy is the broth left over after you’re done pickin’ all the car-nayyyy outta the

Friday, August 17, 2012

A Texan Talks Goin' Green with Tex-Mex Tomatillo Sauce

Goin’ green in Texas is much bigger than simply addressing the state of planetary and energy conservation...

Tex-Mex Tomatillo Sauce tops Enchiladas Verdes.
Low carb and delicious!
Go green! Yep I said it. It’s Hatch green chile season here in Texas and in what I suspect are other lesser known areas of the universe.

Oh come on!

You and I BOTH know that Texas is the center of the universe. Nah, let’s be real…me, myself, and I living in Texas and talkin’ about tempting low carb comfort food – that’s the REAL center of the universe! Trick question! See? You have to stay on your toes to keep up. I may be fluffy, but I’m fast!

To a Texan, Green is so much more than a state of social consciousness.

Yes, so Hatch chiles. Well honestly? Texas annexed ‘em. Even though Hatch is officially located in the southwest sector of New Mexico just north of the New Mexico – Texas state line. According to New Mexico True, the official travel site for the entire state of New Mexico, even though New Mexican cuisine spans 400 years and claims to blend Spanish and native American cultures and cuisines...I (and most Texans) firmly believe anything remotely hot or Tex-Mex or "southwestern" in nature, at least food-wise,

Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Low Carb Tex-Mex Sloppy Joes To The Rescue!

Hiho Silver! Away!

Low Carb Tex-Mex Sloppy Joe with a side of Bing cherries!
I know, YOU know, I know… that everyone and their brother, most especially God and his Son are aware that I am slightly obsessed and geeked out about food, nutrition, how nutrition relates to health and wellness and cancer prevention.

Everyone under the sun also knows that I’m, oh let’s just be kind and say “fixated” on having my proverbial cake and eatin’ it too! I want healthy food that tastes awesome! I want comfort food to conform to my specific low carb diet. I want agents of rescue. I want the Lone Ranger of Low Carb to ride up on Trigger and sweep me away to a land of Texas splendor…

In case you just arrived at the scene of the crash, what the captain is really sayin’ here (or what I really mean) is that I want to continue to get a pleasure fix from food, have that endorphin rush from what I put in my “mouf”, while simultaneously eating food as if it

Monday, August 6, 2012

Sambal Oelek Green Beans With Garlic - Another Veggie Tale in the Land of Low Carb

Pardon me while I Bubba Gump the “hay-ulll” outta summer veggies - again? Let's talk Sambal Oelek Green Beans with Garlic - just for grins!

Sambal Oelek Green Beans with Garlic a summertime
staple in the Land of Low Carb. 
Veggies are synonymous with summertime. This is the second post dedicated to Fluffy Chix highlighting or rather, exposing the fact that for most, low carbing isn't simply about meat and more meat on top of meat, served with a side of meat and a wad of fat.

And when somebody says, "Low Carb", it doesn't = "No Carb" (with a wad of fat).

These veggies just scream summertime! And Fluffy Chix Cook or have cooked and talked about most of 'em already, this summer.

Wednesday, August 1, 2012

Yes, Virginia, You Do Eat Veggies On a Low Carb Diet

Summertime Tomatoes Shine In This Easy Caprese Appetizer Bites Recipe

Caprese Appetizer Bites make a quick
and delicious low carb appetizer!
I always get a chuckle from some of the assumptions made about low carb living. One of the biggest gross generalities about low carbers is that we don't eat any veggies and that we eat SO much protein. People always want to know whether or not I eat veggies at all…and don’t get me started about the questions that usually begin with, “How can you eat all that fat?”

The irony is that I eat way more veggies on a low carb diet than I ever did eating SAD (Standard American Diet). And summertime with its vegetable bounty is one of my favorite seasons. Honest, this is straight from the mouth of a low carber!

*the crowd makes a collective gasp and swoons*

And tomatoes, a summertime superstar, offer great options for quick and easy recipes! From salads to ingredients in main dishes and veggie side dishes, tomatoes brighten the summertime plate. Every spring, my blood starts pumping as I plan recipes highlighting the new tomato season.

I’m going to focus the next couple of posts on quick and easy vegetable dishes that feature some of the summer’s brightest stars, and why not kick this off with the beloved tomato? I want to illustrate that our low carb lifestyle isn’t all about the meat, although it’s lovely to fearlessly chow down