Tag: High Protein

Instant Meals In A Jar: Italian Beef
Clean Living · Prepping · Recipes

Instant Meals In A Jar: Italian Beef

Sarah

It has been a while since I did “instant meals in a jar.”With it being winter, it’s a perfect time for it.

A high-protein/lower-carb recipe, made to take on the go for an “instant” meal or to pack away for long-term storage. It works great in power outages or winter storms.

Italian Beef

Ingredients:

Directions:

Pack ingredients in a pint mason jar or a “MRE” style mylar bag. For longer-term storage, add a desiccant or oxygen absorber and seal. (Discard the packet before cooking.)

To prepare:

Add 1 cup of boiled water, seal, and sit for 15 minutes. Stir well. If it is cold where you are, insulate the jar/bag with a clean kitchen towel.

It can be prepared in a small pot. Bring water to a boil, add dry ingredients, cover tightly, and remove from burner.

Add a pinch of sea salt if desired.

Serves 1.

~Sarah

High Protein Egg Breakfast Dish
Clean Living · Recipes

High Protein Egg Breakfast Dish

Sarah

I saw this recipe idea on a reel and made it my own based on what I had in the house. It matched what I was looking for in a breakfast: easy to make, filling, and high-protein. And while I am not an expert on keto, I would classify it as keto-friendly.

If anything, I almost couldn’t finish the breakfast; it was that filling. It fueled me well until noon, and I didn’t feel hungry, even though we walked for miles. I’d call that a winner.

I used guacamole, a simpler choice. A fresh avocado sliced up on top is a good substitute. However, I was out of avocados. The brand of guacamole I had on hand has a simple ingredient list. I would have preferred fresh avocado, but I wouldn’t be picky, as well…I was all out of that. It would remove 140 mg of sodium, though.

As always, read the ingredients because not every brand is a good choice. I usually buy Daisy brand cottage cheese. It has three ingredients—milk, cream, and salt. You don’t want anything more added! There are no stabilizers, gums, or thickeners.

High Protein Egg Breakfast Dish

Ingredients:

  • ½ cup 4% cottage cheese
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
  • Pinch of fine sea salt, if desired
  • 2 Tbsp guacamole

Directions:

Spread the cottage cheese on a serving plate.

Whisk the eggs together and add to a small fry pan. Dice up the butter and fold in.

If you like, add a tiny pinch of salt (I did not, as the cottage cheese for me provides enough sodium).

Heat the pan over medium-low, and gently scramble the eggs until set.

Spread the eggs and guacamole on top.

Serves 1.

Nutritional Stats:

420 Calories / 32 Grams Fat / 25 Grams Protein / 530 Grams sodium / 4 Grams Sugar (from cottage cheese) / 2 grams Carbs (from avocado)

~Sarah

Low Carb Philly Cheesesteak
Clean Living · Recipes

Low Carb Philly Cheesesteak

Sarah

This easy, low-carb/high-protein dinner doesn’t need anything else, but I did heat up flour tortillas for the boys. Kirk and I ate it sans, though if you had butter lettuce on hand, you could do wraps with it. I was lettuce-free, so we got by.

Some will argue with me over the high vegetable content in this recipe, but I stand firm on this: vegetables are NOT evil and are good for the body. They are also fiber-rich, which is beneficial if you eat a lot of meat. It’s the same that I am OK with berries and fruit. We need not to fear carbs and sugar that are in whole ingredients; it is the added ones that must concern us. It’s easy to overeat baked goods, but you will tap out on vegetables quickly as your stomach fills up, waiting to digest. All that pesky fiber. Lol…..

Low Carb Philly Cheesesteak

Ingredients:

  • 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
  • 1 large green bell pepper
  • 1 large red bell pepper
  • 1 large sweet onion
  • 1 pound flank steak
  • 1 tsp dried oregano leaves, crushed
  • Fine sea salt (a good pinch)
  • 4-5 slices provolone cheese

Directions:

Partially freeze the meat to make it easy to slice. Slice it thinly into bite-size pieces.

Meanwhile, slice up the peppers and onions.

Heat a large cast iron skillet over medium-high. Add in half the oil, and saute the peppers and onions with the oregano and salt, tossing often, for about 10 minutes.

Remove from the pan and set aside in a bowl.

Add the remaining oil and stir-fry the meat for about 5 minutes, keeping it moving.

Return the pepper mixture and toss to combine.

Place the cheese slices on top and cover with a lid. Turn off the burner and let it sit for a couple of minutes to melt.

Serves 3 to 5, depending on appetite and if you use wraps.

Nutritional Stats (Based on 4 servings):

370 Calories – 20 grams Fat – 63 grams Protein – 6 grams Carbs – 1.75 grams Fiber

~Sarah

High Protein Meat Bread
Clean Living · Recipes

High Protein Meat Bread

Sarah

We are an ingredient household and also trying to consume the whole-foods way of life. That means there aren’t usually snacks lying around the kitchen or quick lunches. Trying to find a high-protein way of having a fast lunch isn’t easy. I love bread when I bake it. I am not eating keto bread, which is usually a slurry of gums, binders, and often cheap seed oils.

So, meat bread? Yes. It isn’t meatloaf. It is sliceable and has the texture of bread. It is well worth trying!

I found it so delicious. Finally, a snack or lunch that will fill my stomach but not keep me from my low-carb desires. And it is whole ingredients.

If you don’t have a high-speed blender, use a food processor.

I recommend using a disposable pan to bake it, as you can flex the sides for easy removal.

High Protein Meat Bread

Ingredients:

  • 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 pound ground turkey or chicken breast
  • 5 large eggs
  • ½ cup parmesan cheese
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • ½ tsp granulated onion
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375°. Lightly oil an 8″x 4″ disposable loaf pan with olive oil and set it on a baking sheet.

Heat the olive oil in a saute pan. Add the turkey or chicken breast, and cook until done, breaking up and stirring often.

Set aside to cool a bit.

Crack the eggs in a bowl, add the onion and salt, then the parmesan cheese.

Add the cooked meat to a high-speed blender (or food processor), and using the tamper (if your blender has one, or stop and scrape the container), break up the meat a bit on low. Add the egg mixture and turn it up, processing until smooth.

Add in the cheese and stir in with a spatula.

Scrape into the pan and smooth out.

Bake for 45 minutes, until golden on top. Insert a thin butter knife to check if it is done (it should come out dry). Remove from oven and let cool for 5 minutes. Flex the sides of the pan and use a thin spatula to work loose. Turn out onto a cooling rack.

Enjoy warm, and promptly store leftovers in the refrigerator.

Makes 8 slices.

Rough nutritional stats (can depend on what you use as ingredients) Based on one serving:

212 Calories /  1.25 grams Carbs / 20 Grams Protein / 14 Grams Fat / 268 mg Sodium / 0.5 Gram Sugar (from Mozzarella cheese)

Before baking.

~Sarah

High Protein Meals: Ginger Garlic Steak
Recipes

High Protein Meals: Ginger Garlic Steak

Sarah

While my steak dinner contained a small amount of carbs (½ cups of rice), this dish is an excellent high-protein dinner.

Have you never heard of the Shabu Shabu cut of meat? It is often sold at Costo, where it is an incredibly thin sliced steak – and is either top round or loin New York (it can be ribeye as well). It is wafer thin, in a cut you cannot get at home without a commercial meat slicer. It is used in hot pot and similar recipes, where the meat is quickly cooked in boiling broth. This same cut is also great in dishes like this and Philly cheesesteak.

This is a flexible recipe ingredient-wise. When it comes to ginger, do you need to measure it? Use your heart and nose. It’s good for you.

You can make the hoisin sauce easy enough (and no, it shouldn’t have peanut butter in it if you see recipes for that…sigh). Read labels carefully, and look for US-made ingredients and a short list of ingredients. Yes, it is processed but can be relatively OK for a few brands. Hoison is heavy on soy sauce and not overly sweet (whereas teriyaki sauce is very sugary, making it a far better choice when eating higher protein). It is Cantonese Chinese.

Leftover steak? Add it to a skillet with a knob of butter, saute it up, and then add in eggs for a delicious scrambled egg breakfast the following day.

Ginger Garlic Steak

Ingredients:

  • 2-ish pounds of Shabu Shabu steak
  • A big chunk of fresh ginger
  • 1 bulb garlic (or as much as you like)
  • Avocado oil
  • Hoison sauce
  • Sesame seeds

Directions:

Peel the ginger and use a microplane to grate it. Peel and finely dice the garlic. Mix the two.

Separate the steak slices in a large bowl and gently massage the ginger mixture into them, setting them aside. You can do this up to 24 hours in advance and chill until ready.

Heat a large cast iron skillet or wok over high heat. Add enough avocado oil to cover the bottom of the pan.

Add in the steak, let sit for a couple of minutes to start getting a good char on the bottom, then start working it, stir-frying the meat till it is done. You want the meat cooked with a nice sear on it.

Turn the heat down to medium, and add ¼ cup of hoisin sauce, stirring it in. Taste and add more if desired.

Take off the heat and serve.

Served with steamed broccoli on the side. If rice is desired, ½ cup per person. Sprinkle sesame seeds on top for a nice crunch.

Serves 6.

~Sarah