Sugar-Free Mojito Recipes (Or with Sugar if your prefer, delicious either way)
Posted by Rebecca | Filed under Uncategorized
Strawberry-Basil WLS Friendly Mojito
Ingredients:
- 1 cup ice
- 1/2 750 ml bottle White Rum
- 1 liter Club Soda/Seltzer
- 6 limes, cut into quarters (2 limes reserved for garnishing individual glasses)
- 1 cup Basil Simple Syrup (See Recipe Below)
- 6 sprigs of basil (leaves from two sprigs left whole and reserved for garnish/to muddle in indiv. glass)
- 12 large ripe strawberries
Muddle 3-4 basil leaves with juice from 1 lime quarter per glass in four pint glasses. Fill each pint glass with ice. Top with one additional unsqueezed lime quarter and set glasses aside.
Squeeze juice from remaining four limes over sprigs of basil in the bottom of a large pitcher. Muddle lightly with a wooden spoon then drop limes into the pitcher. Slice strawberries into quarters and drop them in the pitcher also. Add rum to pitcher and coarsely mash contents with a potato masher. Stir with wooden spoon. Add simple syrup, ice and seltzer, stir again and pour into prepared pint glasses. Serve and enjoy.
Traditional (Yet Sugar-Free, Low Carb) Mojito Variation
Ingredient Substitutions:
- Substitute Fresh Spearmint for Basil in the Recipe Above
- Substitute Mint Simple Syrup for Basil Simple Syrup (See Recipe Below)
- Omit Strawberries
Basil *or* Mint Sugar-Free Simple Syrup
Ingredients:
- 1 part (1 cup will make one pitcher) Granulated Splenda
- 1 part Cold Water
- 1/2 chopped fresh herbs: either basil or spearmint (but you could use other herbs for other cocktails, stay tuned for future recipes)
In a medium size sauce pan combine all ingredients and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to a gentle simmer and simmer for about ten minutes. Strain syrup mixture through a fine sieve into a glass bottle or other covered container with a leak-proof lid. Allow syrup to cool to room temperature and refridgerate, will keep up to a week.
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Grill Envious? (Recipes invented tonight)
Posted by Rebecca | Filed under Uncategorized
Grilled out tonight, so much delicious low carb, high protein WLS friendly deliciousness…
Tuna Steaks
Ingredients:
- 1lb Tuna Steak (should be about 1.5″ thick)
- Ziploc Bag
- Lemon Zest
- Freshly Ground Coarse Black Pepper
- 1/8 cup Trader Joe’s Soyaki Marinade
- Trader Joes Sesame Wasabi Dipping Sauce (For Garnish)
- Diced Scallions (For Garnish)
Rinse tuna steak and pat dry. Coat evenly with finely diced/ground lemon zest and black pepper. Allow to stand at room temperature five minutes, then place tuna steak in a ziploc bag with Soyaki Marinade. Let tuna marinate in fridge for ten minutes then sear on a hot charcoal or gas grill over high heat for three minutes per side. Move tuna to low temp side of grill, lower lid and cook for an additional four minutes. Garnish with Wasabi Sauce and Scallions.
Flavor-riffic Turkey Tenderloin
Ingredients:
- Four Turkey Tenderloin Breasts
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- 1/4 cup Sugar-Free Honey (Or Regular Honey if you don’t watch your sugar/carbs)
- 2 tbs. Rice Vinegar
- 1 Shallot, finely minced
- Dr. Gonzo’s One Hump Dry Rub
- Dr. Gonzo’s Smoke Elixir
Combine Olive Oil, Honey, Vinegar and Shallots in a medium size bowl and whisk until well combined. Coat turkey evenly in marinade and allow to marinate covered in the fridge for at least an hour, preferably over night. Just before cooking generously sprinkle Dry Rub over turkey. Sear on a hot charcoal or gas grill over high heat for five minutes per side. Move turkey to low temp side of grill, lower the lid and cook for an additional ten minutes. Garnish plate with Smoke Elixir for dipping.
Balsamic Grilled Veggies with Asiago
Ingredients:
- One Yellow or Orange Pepper Sliced into 2″ wide strips
- One Half a Vidalia onion sliced into 1/4″ thick slabs
- One half a small sweet potato cut into thin, wide slices
- One zucchini cut lengthwise into think strips
- 6 stalks Asparagus
- 4 medium size portabella mushrooms, stems trimmed
- 1/2 cup Olive Oil
- 1/2 cup Balsamic Vinegar
- Coarse Kosher Salt to Taste
- Freshly Ground Black Peppercorn to taste
- 1/2 Cup Shaved or Four Deli Slices Asiago Cheese
Combine all ingreditents except for Asiago in a large ziploc bag and marinate in the fridge for at least an hour, up to 8 hours. Grill Veggies one to two minutes per side over high heat on a gas or charcoal grill until lightly blackened. Cook with lid down over low heat for an additional five minutes. Pop veggies into a foil packet, cover with asiago cheese and wrap up tightly until cheese melts slightly.
Grilled Sweet Potato
Ingredients:
- One giant honkin’ sucker of a Sweet Potato
- 2-4 tbs. Butter
- A few good shakes of tabasco to taste
- 1 tbs. Brown Sugar Blend Splenda (Brown Sugar for folks not watching their sugar/carbs)
- Dash of Cinnamon to taste
- Coarse Kosher Salt to taste
- Freshly Ground Black Peppercorn to taste
Microwave the sucker for five minutes. Make a slit in the top of the sucker lengthwise down the center and stuff sweet potato with butter and top with all remaining ingredients. Wrap tightly in tin foil and leave the potato over low heat on your grill the entire time your grilling. Slice into 1″ thick slices and serve.
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Protein Shake Recipes
Posted by Rebecca | Filed under Uncategorized
These are my new Protein Shake staples:
Chocolate Berry Protein Shake
Ingredients:
- 2 Scoops Chocolate Protein Powder
- 6 oz Lite Cran-Raspberry Juice
- 5-6 Whole Frozen Strawberries (No syrup or sugar added!)
- 4-5 Ice Cubes
Pulse in a blender until smooth and enjoy.
Chocolate PB Banana Protein Shake
Ingredients:
- 1 Scoop Chocolate Protein Powder
- 1 Scoop Whey Gourmet Chocolate Peanut Butter Powder
- 3 Tbs. Natural Unsweetened Peanut Butter (I like the kind you can get where a machine grinds it on the spot for you)
- 1/2 Ripe Banana
- 3 oz. Lite Orange Juice
- 3 oz. Water
- 6-7 Ice cubes
Pulse in a blender until smooth and enjoy.
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Casserole Central
Posted by Rebecca | Filed under Uncategorized
So I made two delish casseroles last night. They taste good the first night and as I learned at lunch time today they taste even better the next day! I froze half of each of these and kept the other halves in the fridge for the week.
Start the whole process by doing the following:
- Preheat your oven to 375 deg.
- On your stove top, cook three large chicken breasts in a cast iron grill pan. You want the chicken to blacken a bit to get that outdoor grill flavor here so make sure your skillet is super hot!
Chicken Spinach Artichoke Casserole
Ingredients:
- Two cooked chicken breasts, cut and shredded into 1″ pieces
- Two packages of frozen Trader Joe’s spinach artichoke dip, prepared according to package directions
- 1 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
- 3 tbs. Roasted Garlic Butter
- Two medium sized zucchinis, thinly sliced
- About ten baby bella mushrooms, washed, dried and sliced
- Bag of frozen corn
- 1/2 cup Reduced Fat Feta Cheese
- Parmesan to taste for the topping
Melt the roasted garlic butter in a skillet over low heat, once butter is melted, add zucchini and mushrooms and increase heat to medium. Saute over medium heat until cooked through and soft. Toss the zucchini and mushrooms into a large casserole dish and combine with one package’s worth of Spinach Artichoke dip and the Greek yogurt.
Next saute your corn over medium heat for about five minutes. Add the corn and chicken to your casserole pan. On top of the chicken and corn, add the feta and the second package of spinach artichoke dip. Top the casserole with a little shredded parmesan cheese and bake in the oven at 375 deg. until bubbling and starting to brown, about 30 minutes.
Mexican Leftover Casserole
Ingredients
- One cooked chicken breast, shredded and cut into 1″ pieces
- 1/4 cup Queso Cheese dip (I got mine from Moe’s! Welcome to Moe’s!!)
- 1/2 a large yellow onion, diced
- One large pepper (I used a large green pepper I’d previously cut up, flame broiled and frozen), cut into 1″ strips
- 2 Canned Chipotle Peppers, diced
- Tablespoon Olive Oil
- 1 Can Pinto or Black Beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 Cup Reduced Fat Shredded Mexican Blend Cheese
- 12 crumbled tortilla chips
Heat the olive oil over medium heat until just starting to smoke. Saute your onions and peppers until they begin to soften. Add the chipotles and continue to saute until softened and cooked through. Scoop the veggies into the bottom of a medium casserole dish, add the queso and mix together. On top of this add a layer of chicken and beans. Top with shredded cheese and crumbled tortilla chips. Bake in a 375 deg. oven until bubbly and beginning to brown, about 20 minutes.
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Mmm mmm good!
Posted by Rebecca | Filed under Uncategorized
Recipe to impress boyfriends:
Grilled Flank Steak with Exploded Tomatoes and Roasted Garlic Butter
Roasted Sweet Potatoes with Bacon
Super easy to make…
For the butter: Pre-heat oven to 400 deg. Roast about a dozen garlic cloves in about 1/4c of olive oil (set in a ramekin or small oven-safe bowl) for about 30 minutes. When done, allow to cool to room temp. Toss in a food processor and whirl it around until finely chopped and blended. Allow to set in the fridge for an hour.
For the steak: rub with kosher salt and coarse cracked pepper. Cook five minutes per side in a cast iron grill pan, make sure to let it get hot for a stellar sear. In the last few minutes toss some cherry tomatoes on the vine into the pan and let them grill until they crack open. Plate your steaks with tomatoes beside them and a pat of the roasted garlic butter on top of the steak to melt in delicious deliciousness.
For the sweet potatoes: fry up some bacon in a skillet and cut into 1/4″ small pieces, set aside. Cut your sweet potatoes into cubes, toss with a little olive oil, salt, pepper and diced sage. Arrange the potatoes and bacon in a single layer in a roasting pan and roast at 350 deg. for about 40 minutes.
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