Tag: High Protein

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

Ranch Seasoning Mix/Ranch Chicken Salad
Recipes

Ranch Seasoning Mix/Ranch Chicken Salad

Sarah

We eat salad greens topped with chicken salad quite often for lunches. It is an easy lunch, so I can add whatever I want to it. Usually, I mix canned chicken with Greek yogurt and use that as the “salad dressing” for the greens. I decided the yogurt needed more flavor, and this easy, dry mix quickly pulled together. Just enough to remind you of ranch dressing without the negatives. While one can buy ranch dressing mix at most stores, the ingredients are not your friend.

Hidden Valley dry mix:

Maltodextrin, buttermilk, salt, monosodium glutamate, lactic acid, dried garlic, dried onion, spices, citric acid, less than 1% of: calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xanthan gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, natural flavor (milk, soy)

You can skip the maltodextrin, MSG, lactic acid, citric acid, calcium stearate, artificial flavor, xantham gum, carboxymethylcellulose, guar gum, and natural flavor (milk, soy). You don’t need the dried buttermilk (which is fine) because you don’t need it if using Greek yogurt. The fewer ingredients you use that are heavily processed, so much the better. For you, your GO tract, and your health.

Pulling the herbs together.

Ranch Seasoning Mix

Ingredients:

  • 1 tsp dried parsley
  • 1 tsp dried chives
  • 1 tsp dried dill weed
  • 1 tsp granulated garlic
  • 1 tsp granulated onion
  • 1 tsp fine sea salt

Directions:

Mix the dry ingredients, add to a blender, and process until finely powdered.

Store in a sealed jar, such as a 4-ounce mason jar.

Makes 3 portions of about 1½ tsp each.

Powdered seasoning mix.

Ranch Chicken Salad

Ingredients:

  • 1½ tsp dry ranch seasoning mix
  • 12-ounce can of chicken breast, drained
  • ½ cup Greek yogurt*

Directions:

Break the chicken up with a fork, then mix the seasoning and Greek yogurt in. Cover and chill for an hour for the best taste.

Use up within 2 days.

Serves 2.

*When buying Greek yogurt, read the ingredient list. It should only contain dairy and live cultures. Avoid those with pectin, gelatin, or gums added.

~Sarah

Smoked Salmon Egg Bites
Recipes

Smoked Salmon Egg Bites

Sarah

Expanding on the daily high-protein/low-carb egg bites I make for Kirk to grab when he is ready to break his fast, this time, I used smoked salmon for the protein. It turns out our 12-year-old son loves these. I cannot keep him out of them. No complaints about that; he needs the protein for growth.

Be wary when you buy smoked salmon, as every type but one has added sugar (be it sugar or honey), and the amount of added sugar is very high. Any smoked fish, including smoked trout, would work. Aim for 4 to 6 ounces of fish. But do read the ingredient list before you buy.

There are about 9 grams of protein per bite. Kirk is supposed to eat 6 of these as a serving, but that is a LOT of food. The boy and I eat 2 and are pretty satisfied.

Whether for breakfast, lunch or even as a protein snack, they can be eaten cold or warmed up for a minute in the microwave.

Smoked Salmon Egg Bites

Ingredients:

  • 10 large eggs
  • 1 cup egg whites
  • ½ tsp fine sea salt
  • ½ tsp granulated garlic
  • 4-6 ounces smoked salmon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°. Line a 12-count muffin tin with parchment paper liners.

Whisk the eggs and egg whites well in a mixing bowl, then add salt and garlic.

Remove any skin from the salmon, discard, and then evenly break the salmon up between the tins.

Pour the egg mixture over the salmon, gently rapping the muffin tin to settle the eggs.

Bake for 20 minutes.

Remove, let cool for 5 minutes, then transfer to a cooling rack. Once cooled, transfer to a glass storage container and keep chilled.

Reheat for a minute or so to warm up.

Makes 12 egg bites.

~Sarah