Sticking with Tradition

Whether you grew up in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s or 80’s I know each one of us can say without a shadow of a doubt that we have at least one favorite meal that brings back happy childhood memories. Over the last 60 years we’ve seen a lot of amazing recipes and some not so great recipes. Ok, I’ll be honest, I’ve seen things that don’t look safe for human consumption but I have to remind myself that if I had been raised up eating it then I would think otherwise.

My Mom sent me a link today that brought back my childhood! I was truly blessed to have a mom who could cook and bake! Well, she could do it all(and still does to a point) but she really opened up my world to cooking and baking. I have many a memories watching her make meatloaf, scalloped potatoes, buttermilk biscuits and pancakes, decorating cakes for birthdays, making pies from scratch, even making homemade bread(my favorite being brioche). It’s those comfort foods that make us feel all safe and happy, yeah it’s definitely a psychological thing but hey don’t knock it! 😉

Here, check out the link for yourself (click HERE). After reading through it I sat back thinking, hey we still make those things in our family, 40+ years later! Sure the execution of how the recipe is cooked may have changed(y’all REALLY need to try cooking a meatloaf in the crock pot, it is to die for), but we continue to enjoy those forgotten dishes!
I did learn from my ex fiance’s mother–yeah, that’s something new to share on here…oops–how to make cabbage rolls. It can be tedious if you’re new at it, and that’s been something that I’ve brought back to my family but with a twist!

I know we all get so hung up with our busy schedules, which is why we all need to slow down and enjoy the simpler things and have a home cooked meal every now and then! In fact, tonight for the family I am making a tried and true oldie. Tuna Casserole, here’s the Facebook chat I had with my Mom:

Me: I have blogged about some of those, not the tuna casserole though(blech)

Mom: Hey! Done well, a tuna casserole is delicious! It’s the boxed junk that tastes bad! SO THERE!!!!

(lol I love her)

Me: 😛

(and here is where we posted a similar thought nearly at the same time…freaky!)

Mom: Can we have one tonight?

Me: So, you saying I should make one tonight?

Mom: Jinx!

HA! I really do love her and yes we have lived around one another for so long that we will say the same things, voice the same thought and jinx one another 😉 You’ll get it in stereo here in our house hehe! It’s true, I’m not a tuna fish fan. I can tolerate cod and salmon on occasion, I’m just more of a shellfish lover! Coconut fried shrimp, YES PLEASE!!! Soft shell crab?!

Hehe 😉

Every now and then be sure to pull out one of the classics, even if you have to tinker with it a bit to suit your family’s tastes, a recipe doesn’t haven’t to have everything in it including the kitchen sink in order to make it yummy. Sometimes the best dishes are the ones that simply have a few ingredients. And promise me one thing, when you do make those forgotten dishes that you’ll include your kids in on the action. That’s how memories are made and traditions get passed on!

Have a blessed weekend!!

Another Milestone…

Night Owl Kitchen Blog turned 2 yesterday!

403 Followers
18,070 Total Views
406 Comments
118 Countries

(That last stat really blew my mind!)
I think I’m at a loss for words…….oh wait, I’m not!

I am BEYOND thankful for all you who come by this humble blog, who try the recipes, share the links on Pinterest, who reshare on Tumblr, those who follow on Instagram(there are world chefs who are liking my images), and people who let me know that you enjoy what I put on here 🙂 Yesterday two very sweet and dear friends told me how much they love the posts on here, I was humbled by their praise *blushes* I know they will eventually see this, so thank you Stephanie and Dede!

Being the writer of this blog has been a huge blessing to me, it’s opened a door for me to share a part of myself with everyone! In a world of 7 billion, it’s easy to feel so insignificant that you’ll never get noticed, that people outside your immediate family and circle of friends will never know about you. When that just isn’t true at all! It’s encouraging to see that those who make their way here enjoy what they see, are inspired, feel a sense of unity, or feel like you’ve just stopped by and spent time with a friend!

I really hope everyone continues to come back for more recipes, and yes there are plenty more to share, will continue to share these posts, invite your friends and family to check out a recipe or two. There’s a little bit of everything here and I know I didn’t post a single thing last week(Jamberry took up a lot of my time) but this is a brand new week and I can’t wait to share it with you all!

Holy Cow, LC/GF Brownies!

No joke, this is a great recipe and one that I was skeptical of! Y’all know I’m not a chocolate fan but there is that occasion when I do like a little something chocolaty, especially if it has peanut butter. These are perfect and turned out beautifully!

Fudgy Brownies–LC, GF, SF

Yields: 24
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 25-30 minutes

1 cup butter, melted
2 cups dark chocolate chips
2 cups almond flour/meal
6 Tblsp unsweetened cocoa powder
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
6 eggs
2 cups Stevia in the Raw
1 tsp real vanilla extract(optional)

Preheat oven to 350*F. Line 9×13 baking dish with release foil, set aside. In a large bowl melt butter and chocolate chips together in the microwave for 2 minutes. Whisk together to melt remaining chips, set aside.
In a medium bowl combine almond flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, and salt(I just used a pinch since I used salted butter). Set aside.
In another medium bowl add eggs, stevia and vanilla extract. Use hand or stand mixer and combine till mixture is a creamy lemon color. Pour egg mixture into the melted chocolate mixture. Use hand or stand mixture to mix completely. With a silicon spatula, fold in the dry ingredients. DO NOT STIR. You don’t want to kill the air you’ve incorporated already, be gentle and just fold the dry in slowly. Once everything is completely mixed together, pour into your foil lined pan and smooth out evenly. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until the edges begin to pull away from the sides. You can insert a small sharp knife or cake tester into the center. If there’s a little batter on the knife that’s ok, these are supposed to be fudgy. Enjoy!!

These are to die for! The texture is lighter than the regular brownies I make(from the recipe on the Baker’s Unsweetened chocolate box), but that’s mostly because of the almond flour. Almond flour is so fine and light, even when there are tiny bits of almonds in the flour, the texture is still so light. Now, these are strictly a treat these are great with your morning coffee, for dessert, or even a snack! Pair it with your favorite low carb ice cream(if you are allowed to have any), enjoy with some strawberries on the side, or a tall glass of milk(unsweetened almond milk works too)!

Enough hype, what’s the nutritional info?! Get ready!

Calories: 148
Fat: 14g
Carbohydrates: 4g
Fiber: 2g
Net Carbs: 2g

HA! 2g net carbs per square! If you want to get technical it’s 2.2g but hey who ever counts the number after the decimal?! Yep, these are a keeper going into my tried and true folder 😀

Let me know if you make these and what you think about them! Hope you all have blessed day!!!

UPDATE::

Tonight I made these brownies again, only this time I used King Arthur Flour Bensdorp Dutch-Process Cocoa. It is the best cocoa I have ever used! 1 net carb for 1 tablespoon of cocoa powder. Which is the same as Hershey’s unsweetened cocoa powder. Thankfully there was nothing to recalculate and the results were absolutely amazing!

  

These are not eggy at all, they are a bit dense, and definitely fudgy! The perfect guilt free treat ☺️ Hope you all enjoy!

UPDATE!!!

If you would like to make these into cheesecake brownie squares, make the brownie batter as is above and before you bake it add this cheesecake mixture on top:

2 pkgs full fat cream cheese, softened

6 tblsp granulated stevia(or prefered sweetener equivalent)

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 large eggs

Cream together all the ingredients in a medium bowl and dollop the cheesecake mixture over the brownie batter. Take a butter knife and swirl the cheesecake mixture into the brownie mixture. Bake for 26-31 minutes or until cheesecake top is cracked and produces a slight jiggle. 

Cool completely before storing in the fridge covered. 

I made these for Father’s Day and they were a MASSIVE hit! The brownies alone are amazing but when you add the cheesecake topping to it, have mercy it just takes these brownies to another level of awesomeness! 

I did have to bake mine for 31 minutes, please note that every oven is different and test the center for doneness. I used a sharp knife and after 31 minutes the cheesecake layer was mostly set as was the brownie layer. Still a bit gooey which just adds tos the yumminess! 

Enjoy! 

Mediocre Results…

Last night I decided to do a family favorite but low carb style. Baked Parmesan Chicken and Squash Casserole. I know there are plenty of recipes out there that boast delicious results, this is just my take on two of our faves. With any new food lifestyle there are bound to be recipes that there just aren’t any substitutions for, that’s a sad realization but it’s the truth. Now my own beef with last nights meal was that there was just way too much butter. GASP! I know, but for someone who is trying to minimize her candida issues, there was just too much butter in both recipes. For starters…

Baked Parmesan Chicken

I basically took our recipe but I modified it to make it more low carb friendly. The results were tasty, tender, but for me too buttery.

10 chicken tenders
1 cup butter
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups parmesan cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1tsp dried parsley
1/2 cup almond flour
1/2 tsp black pepper

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line baking pan with foil, set aside. Melt butter with garlic on stove top, leave on low. Combine dry ingredients together in a medium bowl. Pat dry the chicken and with a fork, dip the chicken tender in the warm garlic butter. Place into parmesan coating and transfer to baking pan. Repeat for remaining chicken tenders. Any leftover coating should be evenly sprinkled over the chicken, as well as the leftover garlic butter. Bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown.

Everyone loved this chicken, JJ said it was the best yet because it was so tender and juicy and I will agree with him on that note. I explained to him it was because of the almond flour. Breadcrumbs are dry and tend to suck the moisture out of the chicken. Almond flour on the other hand has it’s own oil and will lend it instead of absorbing the moisture from the chicken. He thought it was pretty cool and really enjoyed it!
It was very parmesany, I’m just thankful for the digestive enzymes I take that helped me through the night. While this was a low carb recipe(@2g net carbs per two pieces), it was a rich recipe and one I won’t be having too often.

Our side dish was flavorful but somewhat disappointing. We’re used to a squash casserole that is creamy with a crunchy cheese topping. That’s not what happened last night. I only ate small spoonful on my salad, burped it for a while afterwards and was concerned it would cause acid reflux later on in the night. It didn’t but I don’t think I’ll be making that particular recipe again.

Low Carb Squash Casserole

1 medium zucchini, peeled and sliced
1 medium yellow squash, peeled and sliced
1 medium onion, diced
2 Tblsp butter
6 pieces of turkey bacon, chopped
2 cups shredded cheese
salt and pepper to taste
Parmesan cheese for top

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Peel and slice zucchini and squash into rounds. Set aside. Dice onion and chop turkey bacon, add to a skillet with butter and cook on medium heat until onions are transparent. Add veggies and cover for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with a little salt and pepper(I did a pinch of each) and transfer to an 8×8 baking dish. Stir in shredded cheese, top with parmesan cheese and bake for 10 minutes.

At 6g net carbs per serving(6 servings) I wasn’t too thrilled with this. Mostly because of how it left me feeling afterwards. Could easily be from all the dairy and turkey bacon. I’m not sure how the rest of the family liked it, didn’t look like too much of it was eaten. I will say this, it needed more zucchini and squash. The cheese ratio to veggies was way off. If I make this gain I will be adding more vegetables and reducing the cheese considerably. Two cups just seems like a lot for so little vegetable content.

I leave it up to you wonderful readers to give these recipes a try, if you do please let me know what you think. If you have any suggestions about how I can improve these two dishes in a low carb gluten–free way then comment below! I look forward to your suggestions!

Have a blessed day!!!

Last Week’s Cold and Fever…

…is this weeks weight loss! Yes I am down a total of 10 pounds 🙂 Last Tuesday I started the day with a sore throat and sneezing, by that evening I was down for the count. By Wednesday night I had a fever and the remainder of the week remained a blur. Sunday was the first day I actually felt clear headed and more like myself but still physically weak from being dehydrated. I did have enough energy to get into the kitchen to make myself some Italian Chicken, but it took me two hours to do it lol!!! I was moving so slow but I did manage to cook up a little dinner. Something healthy and low carb too!

I saw a recipe online for a cucumber salad and thought “hey, that sounds pretty good!” but the bummer side to it is that it’s not dairy free. So for those who are looking for low carb dairy free recipe, I apologize in advance…this is not one. However, I did make this lower in carb by replacing sugar with Stevia and not using nearly as much onion as some of the recipes I’ve seen call for.

Cucumber Squash Salad

Serves 4
Prep Time: 5 minutes +/-
Total Time: 10 minutes +/-

3 small cucumbers, peeled or not
1 medium yellow squash, peeled
1 medium zucchini, peeled
1/4 onion, diced
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp Stevia
1 Tblsp vinegar
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium bowl add your sliced vegetables and diced onion. Stir in sour cream, stevia, vinegar, salt and pepper. Cover and let it sit for a couple of hours before serving.
Goes great with bbq, grilled chicken, burgers you name it! It’s a cool and refreshing salad for the summer!

Nutritional Information for 1 serving:

Calories: 152
Fat: 3g
Carbohydrates: 8g
Fiber: 2g
Net Carbs: 6g

A thought did cross my mind, for those concerned about fat or calories you can use Greek yogurt if you like or reduced fat sour cream. The nutritional value changes so please be mindful. All the numbers are based on full fat ingredients, when doing low carb it is better to consume a little more fat with each meal. It helps to keep you sated longer and less likely to cheat or snack on something unhealthy later!

Please let me know if you make this and what you think! I hope you all have a blessed Monday 🙂