Asparagus and Mushrooms Frittata

Sunday Morning Breakfast

Easy

Asparagus, Mushrooms Frittata

This is a really easy and delicious dish to make for any meal and can be made with many different kinds of ingredients added to the egg and cheese mixture. I used sharp cheddar but other kinds can be used such as a Mexican blend, etc. I think one could also use cottage cheese on the inside and a cheddar or other flavor. Your only limit is your imagination. I have also used spinach in them with sausage, just cook up the meat ahead of time and drain the grease. You could also use broccoli and bacon. Frittatas are very versatile. 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

1. 8-10 large eggs
2.  (11 or 12 oz.) package of shredded cheese
3. 3/4 (8 oz) package of sliced mushrooms  
4. (8 oz.) package of frozen asparagus spears
5. salt and pepper to taste
6. T. olive oil

The first step is to scramble up the eggs in a medium size bowl. Add the salt and pepper as you like it. Then you'll need to put in just HALF of the package of shredded cheese. Save the other half for the last step of the process.

I used a 10-inch cast iron skillet but whatever you choose it has to be able to go in the oven. I like to make them in cast iron. I put the olive oil in the skillet and used a paper towel to run it over and coat the bottom and sides of the skillet. 

I put the sliced mushrooms in the bottom of the oiled skillet. So it was pretty much covered with mushrooms across the bottom. I then poured most of the egg and cheese mixture on top of them. I laid the asparagus spears across the top and poured in the remainder of the mixture.

The next step is to put the whole thing into the preheated oven on the middle rack. I think I let it cook for about 15 minutes. I am sorry but I didn't keep an eye on the clock but rather checked on how the frittata looked. When it started looking a light toasty brown on top I took it out.

And this is what it looked like.

Now take the other half of the package of shredded cheese and layer it on the top of the frittata. Put it back in the oven and this time put it on the top rack. Turn your oven to the broiler position and let it work its magic for about 5 minutes. Again, I have a bad habit of not using a timer but just checked it by eyeballing it a few times. When the cheese has melted and is turning a golden brown it's finished.

  Remove it from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes. Now as it cools it will fall slightly instead of being all high and fluffy when it first comes out. That's alright. I cut mine into four wedges and used a spatula to lift a slice out. That first one is always the hardest, isn't it? 

I give it a thumbs up and my dogs give it two paws up. I hope you like it.

Low Carb Banana Nut Bread

This recipe comes from a book that I bought called "Cooking With Coconut Flour" by Bruce Fife. There are quite a few recipes in the last part of the book. Everything is made using coconut flour and they're gluten free.

1 ripe banana, mashed
8 eggs
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 cup brown sugar sweetener
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup sifted coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped

Blend together the mashed banana, eggs, coconut milk, sweetener, vanilla, almond extract, and salt. Combine coconut flour with baking powder and whisk thoroughly into batter until there are no lumps. Fold in the nuts. Pour into greased 9x5x3-inch loaf pan and bake at 350 degrees F for 60 minutes. Remove from pan and cool on rack.

This stuff was very good. I took it to work and everyone who tried it really liked it. I don't know what the carb count is but a medium banana is around 27 grams and if you get 10 slices out of the loaf that would be only 2.7 grams from the banana. The other ingredients have very little net carbs.

I didn't use the almond extract in mine, just doubled the vanilla. I also used half regular eggs and half Eggbeaters. I had some brown sugar sweetener called Nature Sweet that I ordered from netrition.com but if you don't have any I think you could substitute another sweetener.

I would definitely make this again!

Pumpkin Pound Cake "Stella Style"

I might have mentioned this before but I love George Stella and his recipes. I so appreciate that he was there many years ago developing good low carb recipes and presenting them on his show that use to be on the Food Network. I miss not having him on there anymore. So the next best thing is to have all of his cook books. He has a new one out and it can be found on QVC with 130 new recipes "Still Livin' Low Carb;A Lifetime of LowCarb Recipes".

I'm just going to include the link to George Stella's Pumpkin Pound Cake instead of copying and pasting the recipe in here. People have given it a 5 star rating as most of Chef Stella's recipes on Food Network are. I found the pumpkin pound cake very good and since I live alone I cut the recipe in half and baked it in a mini loaf pan. I kept the leftovers in the fridge as baked goods containing almond meal seem to spoil faster than ones made with flour. When I wanted a slice, I'd put it under the toaster oven for awhile and then either put home made whipped topping on it or some plain cream cheese. It was good either way and once I even sprinkled some Cinnamon in the whipped topping.

I really enjoyed it in the evening with a big mug of hot tea.

Baked Garlic Wings

This is a George Stella recipe from his cook book "Real Food, Real Easy". He is one of my very favorite low carb cooks and I would definitely recommend his books. The pictures alone are worth it!

Baked Garlic Wings

Serves 12:

4 pounds chicken wings

2 T. olive oil

2 1/2 T. minced garlic

1 t. garlic powder

1 t salt

1/2 t. black pepper

1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 375. (I set it on 350 for mine)

In a large bowl, combine the wings, olive oil, minced garlic, garlic powder, salt, and black pepper. Toss all the wings in the mixture to coat.

Place the wings on a cookie sheet lined in aluminum foil and sprayed with non-stick cooking spray so they don't stick. ( I didn't and I was pulling them off the foil)

Bake for one hour or until the skin becomes crispy.

Sprinkle the Parmesan cheese on the wings while they're still warm and shake them around to evenly coat them.

Serve immediately.

calories: 320

fat: 14 grams

protein: 45 grams

fiber: 0

net carbs: 0.5

I ate way too many of these last night at dinner. They are so good and I like wings anyway. Another idea is to skip the cheese and use 2 T. of honey and add a pinch of ground cayenne pepper. I want to do that next time. Nature's Hollow makes a low carb honey substitute that I use.



Garlic Cheddar Biscuits Made With Coconut Flour

Garlic Cheddar Biscuits

We've come such a long way in the world of low carb eating. I remember several years ago when I first discovered the Atkins diet. We pretty much were limited to using soy flour or Atkins bake mix for baking with. I never cared for either one or the newer Carbquik mix. So I was skeptical about whether these would be good. Well, let me tell you, they are very close to the real thing like the ones they serve at a popular seafood restaurant. These are also very filling, I think. I ate one at breakfast as soon as they were done and cooled enough to eat and I was full.

I found the recipe at this blog:  Sugar Free Low Carb

Makes 10 biscuits
Net carbs per biscuit: 2g
Other nutritional values: 109 calories, 9g fat, 4g protein

You can print the recipe from her blog but be aware that there is a mistake if you do it that way. I used the print option and when it finished printing out it didn't have  the garlic powder in the list of ingredients. Just giving you a heads up if she hasn't fixed it.

This was my first time at cooking with coconut flour and I'm happy with the results I had with these biscuits. Now I'm thinking of purchasing this book: Cooking With Coconut Flour by Bruce Fifie to add to my ever growing collection of low carb cook books.  

Sugarfree Pecan Meringue Cookies



1 cup whole pecans
3 egg whites (room temperature)
Pinch salt
1 teaspoon vinegar
3/4 cup of Splenda granular

Take the pecans and lightly toast them in an oven at 250 degrees for about 10 minutes. Set them aside to cool. Heat oven on 300 degrees.

In a bowl beat the egg whites and vinegar until soft peaks form. Then slowly add the sweetener and salt with the mixer on medium high. Continue mixing for a few minutes. Then increase the speed on the mixer to high and whip until they form stiff peaks.

Chop the pecans and lightly fold into the meringue mixture. Drop by the teaspoon onto cookie sheets lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat. Should make at least 2 dozen cookies but I think I got more. 

Put the cookie sheets in the oven, shut the door, and turn it off . Leave in the oven overnight and they should be done in the morning. They are wonderly light, airy, and crispy. These were a huge hit with my sister who is also diabetic. She even took some home with her after dinner. Everyone at work liked them, also. If the people at work, who aren't sugarfree, like them then I consider it a big plus. 

Low Carb Cinnamon Coffee Cake

In one of my previous blog postings I said that the cake recipe for the lemon bars could be used for other desserts. See lemon bars here...... Low Carb Lemon Bars. I hadn't made any before but that was the statement from George Stella's cook book. The other day I was drinking my morning coffee and I remembered that cinnamon cake thing and thought I'd make one to go with my coffee.

I whipped up the basic cake recipe and baked it. It's so darn easy. I let it rest for five minutes and I laid some chopped pecans in several places on top. Then I poured the mixture from the lemon bar recipe but minus the lemon juice and zest and with a teaspoon of cinnamon.

This was very good. I even took it to work and several people tried it and said it was good. It went extremely well with my morning coffee, too.