Category Archives: Recipes

Meal Plans From “Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes”

These recipes are from Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes.

Day 3

Breakfast:  Bacon and Eggs

3 large eggs (50 g each)

1.5 tbsp (22 ml) olive oil

6 slices pork bacon, cured (about 50 g cooked)

Fry the eggs in olive oil. Bake or fry the bacon. Digestible carb grams: 2.

Lunch:  Chicken Salad Over Mixed Greens

1 large egg (50 g)

4 oz (110 g) cooked, diced chicken (canned or freshly sautéed in olive oil)

½ oz (14 g) raw onion, diced (about 2 tbsp)

8-inch stalk (40 g or 20-cm stalk) of raw celery, diced

2.5 tbsp (40 ml) Miracle Whip Dressing or regular Mayonnaise

2 oz (60 g) romaine lettuce

2 oz (60 g) raw baby spinach

1 oz (28 g) almonds

salt and pepper

Hard-boil an egg, then peel and dice. In a bowl, place the chicken and add the egg, onion, celery, and Miracle Whip Dressing or regular mayonnaise. Mix all together, with salt and pepper and/or a dash of lemon juice to taste. Place on bed of lettuce and baby spinach. Enjoy almonds around mealtime or later as a snack. Digestible carb grams: 10.

Dinner:  Baked Balsamic Salmon and Green Beans

16 oz (450 g) salmon filets

salt and pepper

4 cloves (12 g) garlic, minced

1 tbsp (15 ml) olive oil

1.5 oz (45 ml) white wine for the glaze

4.5 tsp (22 ml) mustard

4 tbsp (60 ml) balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp (15 ml) granulated Splenda (or 1 packet (1g) of tabletop Splenda)

1.5 tbsp (22 ml) fresh chopped oregano (or 1 tsp (5 ml) dried oregano)

200 g canned green beans (or fresh green beans sautéed in olive oil/garlic)

5 oz (150 ml) dry white wine

This makes two large servings.

Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a baking sheet or pan (8″ or 20 cm) with aluminum foil. Lightly salt and pepper the fish in the lined pan, with the skin side down.

Now the glaze. Sauté the minced garlic in olive oil in a small saucepan over medium heat for about three minutes, until it’s soft. Then add and mix white wine (1.5 oz), mustard, vinegar, granulated Splenda, and 1/8 tsp (0.625 ml) salt. Simmer uncovered over low or medium heat until slightly thickened, about three minutes. Remove glaze from heat and spoon about half of it into a separate container for later use.

Drizzle and brush the salmon in the pan with the glaze left in the saucepan. Sprinkle the oregano on top.

Bake the fish in the oven for about 10–13 minutes, or until it flakes easily with a fork. Cooking time depends on your oven and thickness of the fish. Over-cooking the fish will toughen it and dry it out. When done, use a turner to transfer the fish to plates, leaving the skin on the foil if able. Drizzle the glaze from the separate container over the filets with a spoon, or brush it on. Don’t use the unwashed brush you used earlier on the raw fish.

Heat canned green beans (200 g) on stovetop or serve at room temperature straight out of the can.

Enjoy a 5-oz glass of dry white wine with your meal. This recipe makes two servings of fish and green beans. Digestible carb grams in wine, half the fish, half the green beans: 14.

(The balsamic vinegar adds six g of carb to each serving. To reduce vinegar carbs to zero, you could try this recipe with red wine vinegar, white wine vinegar, or cider vinegar. I’ve not tried that. Digestible carbs per serving would drop to 8 g.)

1 Comment

Filed under Recipes

Meal Plans From “Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes”

These recipes are from Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes.

Day 2

Breakfast:  Mexican Eggs and Avocado

3 large eggs (50 g each)

1 tbsp (14 g or 15 ml) butter

½ cup (120 ml) Pico de Gallo a la Rosa (see below)

1 California avocado (135 g), peeled, seeded, and sliced

salt and pepper

Sauté eggs in butter. Top with ½ cup Pico de Gallo a la Rosa (see Special Recipes). May substitute for Pico de Gallo: any serving of commercial picante sauce with no more than 3 g of digestible carb (digestible carb grams = total carb grams in serving minus fiber grams in serving). Salt and pepper to taste. Digestible carb grams: 7.

PICO DE GALLO A LA ROSA

This is a great garnish for several other foods, such as steak and hamburger.

6 oz (170 g) tomatoes

2 oz (56 g) onion

1 jalapeno pepper (14 g)

3–4 tbsp (2 g) cilantro

salt

Chop all vegetables very finely. Use the entire jalapeno, including seeds, but not the stem. If you prefer less spicy heat, use less jalapeno and discard the seeds. Combine all ingredients after chopping. Salt to taste. Eat at room temperature, chilled, or heated at medium heat in a saucepan (about 5 minutes, until jalapenos lose their intense green color). Makes 1.25 cups.

Nutrient Analysis:

Recipe makes about three servings of ½ cup (120 ml) each. One serving has 80 calories, 4 g carb, 1 g fiber, 3 g digestible carb, 1 g protein, minimal fat. 83% of calories are from carbohydrate, 10% from protein, 7% from fat.

Lunch:  Tuna Salad Over Lettuce, with Walnuts

1 large egg (50 g)

3 oz (85 g) romaine lettuce

5-oz can of white albacore tuna packed in water (drain and discard the fluid)

½ oz (14 g) onion, diced (about 2 tbsp)

8-inch stalk (40 g or 20-cm stalk) of celery, diced

2 tbsp (30 ml) Miracle Whip Dressing or regular mayonnaise

salt and pepper

dash of lemon (optional)

1 oz (28 g) walnuts

Hard-boil a large egg, then peel and dice. Drain liquid off a 5-ounce can of white albacore tuna (net 3.5 oz or 100 g of fish); empty tuna into bowl. To bowl, add diced egg, diced onion, diced celery, and Miracle Whip Dressing or regular mayonnaise. Mix all together, with salt and pepper and/or a dash of lemon to taste. Place on bed of romaine lettuce. Enjoy walnuts around mealtime. Digestible carb grams: 9.

Dinner:  Baked Trout with Snow Peas (sugar snap peas)

7 tbsp (100 g) extra virgin olive oil

5 garlic cloves (15 g), diced

1.5 tbsp (6 g) raw parsley, chopped

1 tsp (5 ml) salt

1 tsp (5 ml) black pepper

¾ fl oz (22 g or ml) lemon juice

4 leaves (1.5 g) fresh basil, chopped

16 oz (450 g) fresh trout

6 oz (170 g) snow peas (sugar snap peas)

5 oz (150 ml) white wine

This recipe provides two large servings of fish and two servings of snow peas.

In a glass or plastic bowl, mix 5 tbsp (70 g) of the extra virgin olive oil, 3 of the diced garlic cloves (9 g), the chopped raw parsley, salt, black pepper, the lemon juice, and the chopped basil. This is your marinade.

Place fresh trout filets in a medium sized (8–9″ or 20–23 cm diameter) glass baking dish, then cover with marinade. Let sit in refrigerator for 1–2 hours, turning occasionally. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C). Pull fish dish out of refrigerator once you start the preheat process. Cover glass dish with aluminum foil, then bake in oven for 20–40 minutes. Cooking time depends on your oven and the thickness of the fish. Thin filets about 1/2″ (1.25 cm) thick may be done in 20–25 minutes. Thicker fish (1″ or 2.5 cm)) may take 30–45 minutes. This is a judgment call. When done, it should flake apart readily with a fork. This works well for trout, salmon, cod, tilapia, and perhaps others. Consider squeezing fresh lemon juice on cooked fish for extra zing.

Now the snow peas. Snap off and discard both tips of the snow pea pods. Sauté 2 diced garlic cloves (6 g) in olive oil over medium heat until soft, perhaps a couple minutes. To the pan add the snow peas. Salt and pepper to taste. Stir snow peas often, if not continuously, while cooking over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Enjoy 5 oz (150 ml) white wine with your meal. Digestible carb grams in wine and half the fish, half the snow peas: 11.

Comments Off on Meal Plans From “Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes”

Filed under Recipes

Meal Plans From “Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes”

A couple blog readers have asked to see meal plans for the Low-Carb Diabetic Diet.  I’ve lined up three days worth so far, to be published today, Jan. 12, and Jan. 19,  2013.  I’ll do more if requested.  These recipes are from Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes.

Day 1

Breakfast:  Eggs and Bratwurst

3 large eggs

1.5 tbsp (22 ml) olive oil

salt and pepper

1 (66g) pre-cooked bratwurst

Sauté eggs in the olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Microwave a pre-cooked bratwurst. Digestible carb grams: 2.

Lunch:  Tossed Tuna Salad and Almonds

3.5 oz (100 g) lettuce

1.5 oz (42 g) chopped onion

5.5 oz (150 g) chunked tomatoes

5-oz can (140 g) of solid white albacore tuna packed in water (drain and discard the fluid)

1.5  tbsp (22 ml) extra virgin olive oil

½ tbsp (7.5 ml) balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

1 oz (28 g) almonds

In a 3-qt (3 liter) bowl, put lettuce, onion, chunked tomatoes, and tuna (3.25 oz or 90 g at this point). Add the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and salt and pepper to taste. Mix well with a fork. Enjoy almonds separately, before, during, or after salad. Digestible carb grams: 12.

Dinner:  Steak and Mushrooms

1.5 tbsp (21 g or 22 ml) butter

2 tsp (10 ml) olive oil

6 oz (170 g) steak

5 oz (140 g) sliced white mushrooms

2 tsp (10 ml) Worcestershire sauce or A.1. Steak Sauce

5 oz (150 ml) red wine

salt and pepper

Grill or sauté (with olive oil or butter) the steak. Melt 1.5 tbsp (22 ml) of butter in pan, add mushrooms and cook over medium heat about 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Season steak and mushrooms with salt and pepper to taste. Enjoy steak with your favorite steak sauce or Worcestershire sauce, but no more than 2 g of carbs in the sauce (e.g., 2 tsp (10 ml) of A.1. Sauce or Lea & Perrins Worcestershire sauce has 2 g of carb). Digestible carb grams: 10.

Comments Off on Meal Plans From “Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes”

Filed under Recipes

Low-Carb Recipe: Natchez Eggs

Natchez Eggs is an old family recipe.  It’s sort of an egg casserole, good for breakfast.  We tend to dust off this recipe when we have house guests—it feeds many people at once, quickly and easily. 

It’s not in my new book, Conquer Diabetes and Prediabetes: The Low-Carb Mediterranean Diet.  Note my use of both U.S. customary and metric measurements, which I also used in the book.  I have no idea how much it costs to ship a book from the U.S. to New Zealand, but the e-book version has no shipping charge.

Ingredients

Cheese, shredded (four-cheese mexican blend), 8 0z (224 g)
Sour cream, 16 oz (448 g)
Green chiles, diced, canned, 8 oz net weight (224g)
Eggs, large, 10 (50 g each)

Preparation

Pre-heat oven to 350°F (175°C).  Mix eggs thoroughly in a blender for 3–4 minutes on medium speed, then pour into bowl.  Coat a baking dish (9 x13 inches, or 22 x 34 cm) with butter, vegetable oil, PAM or no-stick baking spray.  Whisk eggs and sour cream together in bowl.  Drain excess water from the chile cans, then spread chiles evenly on the bottom of a dish, then layer the cheese evenly on top.  Next, ladle or pour the eggs/sour cream on top.  Bake for about 30 minutes, until the eggs are firm, not runny, and you see patches of thin light brown crust.

Makes 12 servings (about 4 oz or 110 g each).  Leftovers hold up well in refrigerator for eating over the next few days. 

Nutrient Analysis

A serving has 3 grams of digestible carbohydrate, 200 calories, 140 calories from fat, 8 grams of saturated fat, 10 grams of protein, 210 mg cholesterol, 4 grams of carboydrate, 1 gram of fiber.

 Options

After you add the cheese layer, sprinkle layer of  Hormel Real Crumbled Bacon (4 oz or 112 g) before finishing up with the  egg mixture.  This adds 33 calories and zero carbs per serving.  Or just serve with bacon on the side (my preference).  An alternative to the Hormel product is to cook and crumble your own bacon (12 oz or 340 g uncooked weight).  Using too much bacon will overwhelm the other flavors.  Experiment with different cheeses.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Comments Off on Low-Carb Recipe: Natchez Eggs

Filed under Recipes

Low-Carb Almond Pound Cake

My son, Paul, and I had a great time making this when he was 11-years-old, around the time he announced he “might be interested in a career as a culinary professional.” This cake was our first joint baking project.

Almond Pound Cake 

2 cups (224 g) almond flour

1 cup (113 g) butter at room temperature     

4 oz (116 g) cream cheese at room temperature

1 cup (28 g) Splenda Granulated No Calorie Sweetener     

6 eggs, medium size (44 g each), at room temperature

1 tsp (5 ml) baking powder   

1 tbsp (15 ml) lemon zest (or 1.5 tsp lemon extract)

1 tsp (5 ml) vanilla extract

 If you can’t find almond flour, make your own by grinding almonds into the consistency of a flour. You can do this in a blender or electric coffee bean grinder.

 Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).

 Mix the butter, cream cheese, and Splenda with a hand-held or table-top mixer, then beat in the eggs one at a time, mixing thoroughly after each egg. In a separate container, mix the baking powder into the almond flour. Add the almond flour a little at a time into the butter/sour cream bowl, beating as you go. Then mix in vanilla extract and lemon zest. Pour into a 9-inch (22-24 cm) cake pan greased with butter, vegetable oil, or Baker’s Joy Baking Spray, then bake at 350 degrees F for 35-40 mins.

 Nutrient Analysis:

Recipe makes 12 servings. Each serving has 248 calories, 5 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 4 g digestible carbohydrate, 5 g protein, 18 g fat. 27% of calories are from carbohydrate, 9% from protein, 64% from fat.       

Steve Parker, M.D.

8 Comments

Filed under Recipes

Recipe: Arizona’s Baked Cheesecake (low-carb)

My daughter, Arizona, enjoys baking.  I’m nudging her into low-carb baking since I miss my sweets.  I’m still low-carbing, so I can’t eat a lot of what she bakes.  

Arizona is used to the commercial cheesecakes based on a pre-mixed box: you mix then refrigerate.  The one below is more work, but I think well worth the effort.  We had fun making this together. 

Arizona’s Low-Carb Baked Cheesecake    

Ingredients for crust:

Ground nuts (pecan, walnut, or almond), 1.5 cups (226 g)

Butter, melted, 4 tbsp (10 g)

Cinnamon, ground, 1/2 tsp (2g)

Egg white, one (33 g)

Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, 1 tbsp (optional)

Ingredients for filling:

Cream cheese, 24 oz (675 g)

Sour cream, 1 cup (230 g)

Eggs, 4 large (50 g each)

Splenda No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated, 1 cup (28 g  I think)

Lemon juice from 1 lemon (47 g)

Vanilla extract, 2 tsp (4 g)

Preparation

Have the following ingedients at room temperature before you start: eggs, cream cheese, sour cream.

Preheat oven to 350.

Crust first: Put ground pecans, 4 tbsp melted butter (fine to microwave briefly), cinnamon, 1 tbsp Splenda (granulated), and egg white in bowl, then blend all.  Spread onto bottom of greased (with melted butter 1.5 tbsp) 9″ springform pan. Cover with plastic wrap to aid spreading evenly.  Bake in 350 degree oven for 10-15 minutes then remove.  Then reduce heat to 325.

Filling: Use a mixer on low to medium setting to beat the cream cheese until fluffy.  Blend in the Splenda incrementally, a little at a time, beating until creamy.  Then mix in the lemon juice and vanilla extract.  Gently mix in one egg at a time and beat on low speed after each egg.  Mix in the sour cream last.  Pour cream cheese mixture into the crusted springorm pan.  Place on the top rack in the 325 degree preheated oven for 50-60 minutes. On the rack below that, place a pie pan full of water.  [The water pan and gentle handling of the eggs help prevent cracking of the finalproduct.]  When time is up, turn off the oven and open the oven door but leave the cake in the oven to cool slowly.  After an hour, remove from oven.  After it cools to room temperature, put it in the refrigerator to age for 24 hours.

NOTES:

  • The filling has one cup of Splenda, which I estimate is one ounce (28 g). This has 96 calories, which I assume is mostly from maltodextrin rather than sucralose.
  • Many cooks just use a glass pie pan instead of the springform pan. The volume of this recipe is likely too much for a 9″ pie pan, so you could reduce the amounts; or make a larger pie or two smaller ones.
  • Some cooks don’t bother to bake the crust first.
  • Reduce the carb count even further by omitting the crust. 
  • For higher fiber, substitute flaxmeal for about  a third or 1/2 of the ground nuts. 
  • The Splenda in this recipe is not the same as in the individual serving packets.

Nutritional Analysis (thanks to NutritionData.com):

Recipe makes 12 servings.  Each serving has 444 calories (382 calories from fat), 8 g of carbohydrate, 2 g of fiber, 6 g of digestible carbohydrate.

Steve Parker, M.D.

Comments Off on Recipe: Arizona’s Baked Cheesecake (low-carb)

Filed under Recipes

Recipe: Low-Carb Chili

I made this chili last night for the family.  It’s spicy, but not hot spicy.  Sliced and peeled cold cucumbers are a nice side dish.  The kids are not eating low-carb; they enjoyed the chili mixed 50:50 with cheese macaroni, and buttered cornbread on the side.      

Ingredients

20 oz  Ground beef, 80% lean meat/20% fat, raw

20 oz  Sausage, Italian, pork, raw

1  Onion, large, raw 

14.5 oz  Tomatoes, canned, diced

4 oz  Tomato paste 

1 tbsp  Cocoa powder, dry, unsweetened

5  Garlic cloves, raw

1/2 tsp  Salt

1/4 tsp  Allspice, ground

2 tbsp  Chili powder

1/4 tsp Cinnamon, ground

0.5 tbsp Cumin, ground 

1/4 tsp Cayenne pepper, ground

2 packets  Splenda sweeteners (packet is 1 g)

 1 cup  Water

Preparation

Cut the Italian suasage into small pieces.  Fry the sauage, ground beef, onions, and garlic in a large pot.  Don’t just brown the meat: cook it thoroughly.  When done, drain off the fat if desired.  Add the remainder of ingredients, bring to a boil, then simmer for about an hour.  Add additional water if the chili looks too thick.  Makes eight cups.  Serving size is one cup. 

Nutrient Analysis (compliments of NutritionData.com)

One cup serving:  492 calories.  10% of calories from carbohydrate, 69% from fat, 21% from protein.  Total fat 38 g.  Total protein 24 g.  Total carbohydrate 14 g.  Fiber 3 g.  Digestible carbohydrate 11 g.  Percent Daily Values: 23% of vitamin A, 28% of vitamin C, 21% of iron. 

Notes: Analysis is based on fat not being drained from the cooked meat.  Calorie count and calories from fat would be a bit lower if you drained off fat.

Steve Parker, M.D.

4 Comments

Filed under Recipes

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 42 + Vinaigrette Recipe

Vinegar and oil

Vinegar and oil

Weight: 155 b

Transgressions: 1 Metamucil fiber wafer

Exercise: none

Comments

Vinaigrette (Olive Oil & Vinegar Salad Dressing)

Ingredients: 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil, 2 tbsp red wine vinegar, 2 tbsp parsley (fresh, chopped), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper (freshly ground), 1/2 tsp Dijon mustard, 1/4 tsp paprika, juice of 1/2 lemon, 1 garlic clove (minced)

Instructions

In a bowl, combine all ingredients and whisk together.  Alternatively, you can put all ingredients in a jar with a lid and shake vigorously.  This tastes even better if you let it sit for several hours before using as a salad dressing or drizzling over fresh or cooked vegetables.  Refrigerate any remaining.  Servings per batch: 6.  Serving size: 1 tbsp.  Digestible carbs per tbsp: 1 g.

With the size of the salads I’m eating these days, I’d use 2 tbsp.

This recipe was in The Advanced Mediterranean Diet.  Find many more vinaigrette recipes at Allrecipes.com and RecipeZaar.

Steve

Comments Off on My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 42 + Vinaigrette Recipe

Filed under My KMD Experience, Recipes

My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 41 + Pico de Gallo Recipe

Jalapeno peppers put the "pico"in pico de gallo

Jalapeno peppers put the "pico"in pico de gallo

Weight: 155 lb

Transgressions: none

Exercise: none

Comments

A friend made me some pico de gallo to put on my sautéd breakfast eggs.  Here’s the quick, easy recipe for “pico de gallo a la Rosa”:

Ingredients

tomatoes 6 oz, onion 2 oz, one jalapeno pepper, cilantro3-4 tbsp chopped, salt

Preparation

Chop all vegetables very finely.  Use the entire jalapeno, including seeds.  Use less jalapeno and discard the seeds if you want it mild (no pico!).  Cilantro amount is 3-4 Tbsp.  Combine all ingedients. Salt to taste.  Makes 1.25 cups. Serving size is about 1/2 cup over three fried eggs or whatever.  A half cup serving size (80 g) has  3 g of digestible carbohydrate.  Recipe makes 1.25 cups or about three servings.  Eat at room temperature, chilled, or heated at medium heat in a saucepan (about 5 minutes, until jalapenos lose their intense green color).

I used NutritionData’s “My Recipe” function to analyze and record this recipe.  Their analysis provides everything you would want to know about macro- and micronutrients in the recipe.  And it’s free!

Steve

Comments Off on My Ketogenic Mediterranean Diet: Day 41 + Pico de Gallo Recipe

Filed under My KMD Experience, Recipes

Free Online Mediterranean Recipes

MPj04329340000[1]Several of the websites below include comments from people who have tried the recipes, as well as nutritional analysis.

http://www.allrecipes.com            Enter search term “Mediterranean”
http://www.arabicnews.com         See Food and Recipes under “Resources”
http://www.cliffordawright.com
http://www.gourmed.gr                For English, click on the British flag in the upper right corner
http://www.mediterrasian.com
http://www.recipezaar.com           Not a sure thing.  Try searching “Mediterranean”
http://www.videojug.com              Check the Mediterranean subsection under “Food & Drink”

Happy hunting!

Steve Parker, M.D.

1 Comment

Filed under Recipes