She's Back!

Oh, my, but it's been a while since I've done anything with this blog.  If anyone is still out there and interested, this is for you...and for me.  I find I need a place online to have my recipes accessible when I'm not at home.  Plus, while Alexx and I are touring the country in our RV we continue to meet more and more people that are dealing with type 2 diabetes.  The biggest complaint seems to be the same one that Alexx had before I started investigating ... food he can eat doesn't have much appeal.  So over the past two years, I have compiled quite a collection of food he now loves.

One of things we love to do in our travels is find local farmer's markets and buy fresh veggies and meats from local ranchers who have sustainable practices, use no hormones or antibiotics and have grass fed beef, and vegetarian chickens for meat and eggs.  We also look for no nitrates added in homemade sausage.  On a recent visit in Portland we found some of these goodies at the Lake Oswego Saturday morning market.  So here is today's dinner:

Sausage and Onions
Whipped Cauliflower
Wedge Salad (lettuce, bacon bits, Gorgonzola cheese, hard boiled egg, homemade ranch dressing)
Lemon Bars

Growing up, sausage was a favorite in our family for breakfast, lunch or dinner.  My dad's heritage is Luxembourg and he grew up in a small town in Iowa.  As long as I can remember, whenever visiting my grandfather, we always made a special trip to Spencer to visit the butcher.  A few years ago, Alexx and I made a side trip back to Spencer to see if we could find the butcher shop we used to frequent.  It was gone but we found an older gentleman at the town square who remembered it.  Ah, memories.  Anyway, whenever I can find local butchers, I always check out their sausages.  Alexx also loves sausage.  If you cook it slowly, you can release most of the fat, and just leave the flavorful tenderness of the pork and spices.  I use a slow-cooker for mine that is filled with a good quality IPA (hoppy beer) and the sausages.  I let this cook for about 5 hours.  I will serve it with sliced red onions and mushrooms that I have also purchased at market.  The onions are also best when cooked slowly in a tablespoon of olive oil and seasoned with salt and garlic.  I add the mushrooms the last 10 minutes of a 30 minute cook time.  I let them cook until they are completely softened.  Then before serving I cut the cooked sausages into slices and mix them with the onions/mushrooms.

The whipped cauliflower is very simple and a nice compliment to the sausage mixture.  The cauliflower is chopped into small pieces and placed in a small baking dish.  I cover the cauliflower with butter and coconut creme (I get this from Trader Joe's in a can) and sprinkle with salt and onion powder.  Then microwave the vegetable until it is soft.  You can do this ahead of time and just reheat it and whip with an immersion blender before serving.

The wedge salad is Alexx's favorite so I make this alot.  The salad dressing is an adaptation of a recipe I got from my niece and nephew Cindy and Brian Diederich.  We had it for dinner at their house and loved it.  Brian said the key is to use lots of fresh garlic.  I don't always have fresh garlic on hand in the RV so I do substitute garlic powder when needed.  This recipe is very low carb, but not quite as delicious as the original recipe which you can find at annie-eats.com if you search for Ranch Dressing.
Ingredients:

3/4 cup	Veganaise
3/4 cup	Greek yogurt
6 cloves	fresh, minced garlic
1 tablespoon	fresh squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon	extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon	dried parsley
1 teaspoon	dried onion powder
1/2 teaspoon	sea salt
1/4 teaspoon	ground pepper
1 cup	coconut creme

Directions:

Blend all ingredients except the coconut milk. Add the coconut creme slowly and whisk to the consistency that you want for your dressing. (You don't have to use the full cup.)

Finally - the Lemon Bars.  What a nice tart ending to this dinner.  I make a small pan for the two of us, but you can double the recipe if you wish and use an 8x8 baking pan.  If you do that, then use 3 whole eggs when you double the ingredients.  You will also need to increase the cooking time.  You can also use bottled lemon juice if you don't have fresh, but there is nothing as wonderful as fresh lemon flavor.

Ingredients:

	Cake:
1 whole plus 1 white	beaten egg
1/2 cup	almond flour
3 tablespoons	sugar substitute
1/2 teaspoon rounded	baking powder
	Topping:
1 whole	beaten egg
1	egg yolk
1/2 cup	sugar substitute
2 tablespoons	fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon	baking powder

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl combine all the cake ingredients and mix well. Pour into an 4x4 inch pan greased with non-stick cooking spray. Bake on the center rack until lightly browned, about 7-10 minutes.
While the cake is baking make the Lemon Topping by whisking all the ingredients together in a bowl.
Removed the browned cake from the oven and let it rest for 5 minutes. Pour the glaze over the top of the cake while it's still hot and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes or until firm. Refrigerate for 2 hours to serve chilled. Cut into 6 bars and enjoy.

 So that's tonight's dinner...one of our favorites and very low carb.  Alexx can eat this complete dinner and when testing his blood sugar 2 hours later it will have not risen more than 5 points.  Score!