Blanco Shepherd’s Pie

Not very colorful but lower carb. How? I substituted cauliflower and parsnips for potatoes and carrots, respectively.

Almost done! Waiting for the top to brown a little more.

Here’s my substitutes for today. The parsnips have already been peeled.

I boiled the cauliflower just covered with water with a little bit of sea salt for 20 minutes. Drained them, then mashed them with my immersion blender.

Look like potatoes, don’t they? Mike was tripping out how much they look like potatoes!

No photo, but I browned the ground turkey next and, in hindsight, I realized that I didn’t season the meat which you should always do, especially with poultry which has such a mild flavor; it has virtually no flavor without salt and pepper, so at the minimum, salt and pepper. I will add garlic powder next time also or just a lot more Worcestershire sauce!

Parsnips and shallots in half a stick of butter to soften.

Add the frozen veggies to warm.

Just enough heat to take the frost off. I’d like the veggies not to over-cook in the oven.

The other half of the stick of butter wrapped into the cauliflower while the cauliflower was cooling. I intentionally left it uncovered to cool, evaporating as much moisture as possible. I planned on patting it dry, but at this point, I was too tired; so I let more moisture evaporate by leaving the prepared recipe in the oven 20 minutes past the usual 30 minutes (in addition to waiting for extra browning of the top)!

Difficult to see, but I added chicken stock (Better than Bullion, actually) and Worcestershire Sauce here.

Non-stick spray in the pan, then the meat mixture on the bottom.

The cauliflower dropped on top in scoops, then spread out towards the edges making sure to fill in the gaps.

Smoothed out the top with a spatula making little waves as this dish tends to display. Sprinkled it with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.

On the grill (we have a convection grill, so it cooks like an oven) for a total of 50 minutes (30, if you cooked everything through on the stove), warm everything back up and crisp the top!

What’s in it?

2 heads of cauliflower, florets only

2 parsnips, chopped

2 lbs ground turkey

1c frozen peas

1c frozen corn

1t Better Than Bouillon Chicken Flavor, plus 3/4 c water to dilute it

1½ t Worcestershire Sauce

Salt and pepper

I used this recipe as a guide. https://www.simplyrecipes.com/recipes/easy_shepherds_pie/

Jalapeño Bacon Avocado Turkey Sandwich

Should we abbreviate this?? Gosh! This is a copy-cat of an amazing sandwich we had from a butcher. So good that I had to try to copy it from memory. I have no idea if the sauce is even close to the stuff we had, but both were delicious!

Buttered bread, fresh jalapeños, crispy bacon.

I’ve been using a lot of oil and vinegar suspensions for salad dressing. I don’t have a selection of regular salad dressings, so I made my own Thousand Islands here with mayonnaise, ketchup, white vinegar, salt and pepper.

I made the bacon and turkey ahead of time. Bacon crispy or else I won’t eat it. For the turkey, I bought or if those boneless turkey roasts you find in the grocery store near the turkeys you buy for Thanksgiving. I let it cook in the Crockpot on Low for six hours. When I was about ready to assemble the sandwiches, I shredded the turkey, then put it in a casserole dish covered in cheese on the grill for 30 minutes.

The jalapeño and avocado were sliced and placed on the bread. Since I like my bacon extra crispy, I get my best results from one of those microwave plates that you spray with cooking spray and pop into the microwave with as many slices of bacon that will fit shoulder to shoulder, no overlapping.

So when everything is cooked, layer the turkey and cheese, bacon, jalapeño, and avocado onto the bread and drizzle with the Thousand Island dressing. Delish!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Going through older photos, I can’t believe I missed this one! It’s one of our go-to recipes for cold weather and for potlucks. I must be keeping it a secret! Not anymore.

Cook 2-3 chicken breasts on High for 3½ hours in the crock-pot with…

One shallot, chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

10 oz frozen corn

10 oz enchilada sauce

15 oz can chopped tomatoes

4 oz can chopped green chilis

1 c water

14.5 oz chicken broth

1 t cumin

1 t chili powder

1 t salt

1/4 t pepper

1 bay leaf

1 lime, juiced

1 T fresh cilantro

Remove chicken and bay leaf, shred chicken with fork, return to pot, stir together. Discard/compost bay leaf.

Top with fresh sliced avocado, lime juice, and tortilla strips

Tortilla Strips

Flour Tortillas sprinkled with olive oil, chili powder, cumin, and bake for 12 minutes at 375°F.

Egg Drop Soup

Why not make it a meal? Restaurant-style egg drop soup, add chicken and baby bell peppers and snipped chives for some color and added nutrition.

I also used arrowroot flour as the thickener to replace cornstarch.

Three scrambled eggs, drizzle into the boiling stock.

 

Keep whisking as you gradually add the eggs.

I little color…

I little flavor…

Some more protein…

Not just an appetizer anymore!

4 c water with 4 t Better Than Bouillon Chicken Flavor

2 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded

3 eggs

½ t ground ginger

2 or more baby bell peppers, sliced

t chopped chives

Cashew Chicken Korma

Here’s an oldie but goodie! It was so labor-intensive that I forgot to take photos (except when it was done)!

I left out the tomatoes, used frozen chicken breast, a shallot instead of an onion, and ground ginger instead of fresh. It came out great (I hope it doesn’t offend anyone)!

https://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/chicken-cashew-korma

Taro French Toast

Low FODMAP? This delicious recipe is made with oat milk and taro bread which is a rice and cake flour mixture.

Six ingredients.

Whisk everything together…

Coat slices of bread in mix…

Heat on griddle or medium to medium-high adjusting if needed until golden brown or all of the egg mixture has dried on the outside of the bread. Drizzle with maple syrup. Enjoy!

Recipe

Five large slices of taro or brioche bread

2/3 c oat milk

2 eggs

t vanilla extract

1/4 t Ceylon cinnamon

1/4 t nutmeg

Whisk together last five ingredients, coat skillet in cooking spray, heat skillet to medium. Coat bread slices in egg mixture just before placing on skillet. Heat until dark golden brown. Flip and heat to match cooked side.

Serve with maple syrup and enjoy with coffee!