Ground Sausage  and Spinach Bake

I had some smoked salsa to use up so put this casserole together. This takes a little extra time to prep but it makes 6 generous adult portions and keeps for up to 3 days. Turn this into something of your own, vary the ingredients and have fun! You can’t mess it up!

Ingredients

  • 1 lb ground beef and pork mix (plain beef would work too)
  • 2 large onions
  • Large bunch spinach, washed well
  • 1 jar smoky salsa or tin of cooked tomato onion mix, add 1 tsp each smoked paprika and taco seasoning if you are using plain canned tomato mix
  • 6 large eggs
  • ½ cup cream or half and half
  • Fresh cilantro, green onions, 3 large garlic cloves, diced
  • 2 cups grated sharp cheddar
  • Salt and pepper

Method

  1. Fry diced onion until translucent
  2. Turn on oven to 350⁰F (180⁰C)
  3. Add ground beef mix to fried onion crumbling the mince well, and cook for about 5 minutes or until cooked through
  4. Grease a large flat casserole dish well and pour the meat and onion mix into the casserole dish and spread out out evenly
  5. Chop up washed spinach, drain well and re-use the pot you cooked the ground beef/onion mix
  6. When wilted, spread the spinach over the meat and onion in the casserole dish
  7. Sprinkle over a little onion powder
  8. Beat 6 eggs with a pinch of salt and ground pepper to taste
  9. Beat a ½ cup of cream into the eggs
  10. Pour the egg custard over the meat and spinach mix
  11. Spoon over the salsa or canned tomato mix evenly
  12. Bake at 350⁰F or 180⁰ C for 20 to 25 minutes until bubbling
  13. Top with the grated cheese, cilantro, chopped green onions, diced garlic and any other herbs or cheese you enjoy.
  14. Grill until cheese is melted and bubbling.
  15. Serve hot or room temperature and keep refrigerated for up to 3 days.

The cheese didn’t bubble and melt as expected. It was a delicious smoked organic WI cheddar but it refused to grill and had such a low fat content did not melt. It was actually deliciously crispy, cheesy and smoky. This was a first time non-melty experience for me. Weird. 

I do hope you are well. It feels as if my efforts are focused on self care these days. Writing a blog post takes such discipline and effort. I think with all the events happening in our world drains the hours in the day and what I used to accomplish.

Be kind to yourself, nurture the light in your heart and the people that light up your life. This is the flicker and then the flame that builds the bonfire of love and endurance that unites us.

With love and stay well until next time.

💜

We have our dining nook back! My partners office is gone and we’re loving this sunny spot to spend time in and invite friends to share a meal again.

Lastly … Quick carrot and radish pickles.

Dressing: mirin, rice vinegar, light soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sesame seeds and seaweed flakes.

Asparagus Tart

Almond flour crust, mozzarella, cream and shallot egg custard topped with asparagus, spring onions, feta and a few tomato slices.

Ingredients

Pastry:

¼ cup melted butter

2 ½ cups almond flour

1 large egg, beaten

Onion powder,  Salt,  Pepper

Bob’s Muffins: In Honour of a Wonderful Man

I adapted this recipe from the Bob’s Red Mill site to a more low-carb friendly version. I’m sad to hear they are closing the restaurant and on-site store very soon. We heard the line was 2 hours long to get in this weekend. Bob Moore was an amazing man, a legend in his own time, and passed not too long ago. I remembered being delighted to see his products in a grocery store as far away as Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, some years ago.

This is not represented by photos of a step by step recipe. It’s just too good not to share after baking them and I never took a photo journal of the prep.  Enjoy!

And… thank you Bob! ❤️

Oat Bran Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

  1. 1 cup Almond Flour
  2. ⅓ cup Ground Flaxseed  

Tamagoyaki Omelette

My first attempt at making these as my new pan arrived. It is quite a lovely little kit! I don’t think there should be holes in the rolled egg, but I’ll get there!

Here’s my throw together recipe.

Ingredients

4 eggs, beaten

Chocolate Keto Granola

Recipe: makes about 4-5 cups

Oven temp: 320⁰F or 160⁰C

Optional: makes yummy snack bark, though a tad fragile and keep refrigerated

Chocolate Granola

Ingredients:

  • 1 ½ cups chopped pecans toasted
  • ½ cup chopped almonds
  • ½ cup coconut flakes, toasted
  • ¼ cup pumpkin seeds
  • ¼ cup chia seeds
  • 2 tbl sesame seeds
  • 2 tbl poppy seeds
  • ¼ cup vanilla or chocolate protein powder
  • ½ cup almond butter
  • 2 tblspn tahini (optional)
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 4 tbls keto sugar syrup
  • ½ tsp stevia drops (optional for extra sweetness)
  • 1 tsp vanilla essence or almond essence (optional)
  • 1 bar unsweetened dark baking chocolate
  • 2 tbl ghee or unsalted butter
  • If too wet add some almond flour at the end and taste before adding raw egg to see if you like it sweeter, add more sugar syrup according to your preference!

Cheesy Zucchini Egg Bites

Our dairy delivery just started a local Farmer to Table Veggie Box. It is wonderful, a veritable treasure trove of goodness. Included were 4 beautiful zucchini. And some wonderful sweet onions. Our fridge is full so I made this for some space!What we’ll do: turn the oven on to 350⁰F; grate the zucchini, onion and cheese, mix in the dry ingredients then blend the eggs and olive oil, fold egg into zucchini onion mix and scoop into muffin pan. Makes 12 large bites.These are about 130 calories each, 4g net carbs, 8g protein and 8g fat each.If you would like to add more cheddar cheese, you can load some up on top. More carbs and calories then! Cooked, diced bacon could be added to as well as finely chopped fresh red chillies. A bit of lemon zest for extra zing or fresh herbs chopped in. Experiment with your favourite savoury flavours or other cheese – crumbled feta and diced olives? It’s so much fun!
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Easy Egg Foo Young

Sometimes you have days when a quick lunch or dinner dish is all you feel up to, or it’s been a busy day and you’re not feeling like the usual longer meal prep. Our favourite dish to make on days like these is Egg Foo Young.

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My Chaffle Recipe (sweet) with berries and cream

I’ve been putting off trying out the mini waffle maker my partner bought for me … well, I think more nervous about making a keto chaffle itself!

The trick is to work fast, and I mean really fast.

Wow, are they are delicious!

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