Don’t ask about the radish/pea dish… didn’t turn out like I thought. Instead, focus on the sauce in the green dish.

My first attempt, I went a bit overboard with the cider vinegar. I needed something to water down the tomato paste, but not so bitter as the vinegar and Worcestershire sauce. See, in the old days, I made my BBQ sauce using ketchup. But I can’t do regular ketchup anymore without having issues. While looking through the fridge for some ideas, I spotted one of my 6oz cans of V8 juice. “A-ha!” I said to myself.

Well, not really. So attempt number two uses the V8, and it turned out pretty good. It went very well with my chicken. But I have this nagging feeling it just needs a little… something. Not sure what yet… but I’m sure I’ll try again when I’ve used this up.

Now this only makes about 1/2 cup, which will last me for quite awhile. I suppose for a normal family meal, you could double this and it will do ok. Let me know if you try.

What’s In It:

2 Tablespoons tomato paste
1 Tablespoon V8 or tomato juice
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon spicy brown mustard
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1 Tablespoon Splenda
1 teaspoon granulated garlic
salt and pepper to tastes

Mix everything up well in a bowl. If you don’t have brown mustard, regular yellow prepared mustard would be fine. I use either Frank’s Red Hot or my own homemade red pepper sauce, but use what you like, and adjust for how hot it is, and how much of a kick you want. And on the V8, after the first tablespoon, see how thick the sauce is and if you want it thinner, stir in more V8 a teaspoon at a time until it’s the consistency you like.

Now I ate this right away, cause… I was hungry and it was dinner time. I’m hoping the flavors will blend a bit more once it’s sat in the fridge for a few days. We’ll see.

Like I said, overall, I like it. It’s not super sweet and has just the right amount of kick to it.

I started out by taking about an ounce of the fish and breaking it up in to bits. I also sliced up one green onion. A bit of non-stick spray in the skillet over medium heat and I added the fish and onion and sauteed for a couple minutes.

This would work fine with other meats and veges, what ever you want. I’m thinking to try some next time with ham, peppers and onion, a sort of Denver Burrito?

Then I scrambled one egg with a tablespoon or so of milk. Pour the egg in the skillet and stir as it cooks - I’m sure you’ve made scrambled eggs before. BUT, you don’t want to cook the eggs all the way. You want them to be just a tad undercooked, otherwise when you finish these off later the egg will get too over cooked and rubbery.

For the tortillas I use Mission Carb Balance Whole Wheeat Fajita Size tortillas. I was using the larger ones pre-op for different things, now they would be way too big for me. The fajita size still a bit to big for me right now this soon after surgery, but they don’t make them any smaller. They have just 4g net carbs, (12g - 8g fiber), 3g protein, 2g fat and 80 calories. There’s no lard, no cholesterol, and not trans fat.

The 1 egg will make enough for 2 burritos. I heated the tortillas about 10-15 seconds in the microwave to make them a bit easier to roll up. Spooned 1/2 the egg mixture on the middle of the tortilla, put a bit of shredded cheese, and then rolled them up. The picture doesn’t show it, but you actually want the filling not right in the middle, but just a bit below the middle.

If you never rolled on, fold the bottom up, then the sides… do the sides at a slight angle so the tops angle further in than the bottom, then roll from the bottom towards the top.

Here’s the two rolled up burittos.

I took one and baggied it and put in the freezer. I’m hoping it will freeze well enough and that I can nuke it for a bit or maybe let it thaw and grill like I did the fresh one.

The second I put in the fridge. I made these up the night before so I would have a quick breakfast the next morning.

So the next morning, I heated up the Grill Station while I was getting ready for work, and when it was heated up took the burrito out of the frige tossed… well set it on there, closed and let it cook about 3-4 minutes.

The tortilla crisped up, the egg and fish inside warmed up nicely.

You can see the grill marks on the finished burrito… it even browned slightly.

I topped it with a bit of taco sauce and ate it with a fork. I’m thinking in future ones, I may put the sauce inside, and it can be a hand-held breakfast.

Actually, put some chicken or pepperoni or such in here and this would be a good lunch or dinner item too.

Once I’ve tried the frozen one, I’ll post a comment as to how it worked out.

What’s in it….

1 Tablespoon sugar free blackberry preserves
2 teaspoons prepared horseradish (not the sauce stuff)
1 teaspoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 teaspoon Splenda
salt and pepper to taste
shrimp for dipping

Basically, just mix all this up together in a bowl and chill for a bit before serving. I was tempted to use some catchup instead of the tomato paste, vinegar and Splenda… but I wanted to keep this sugar free. If I had some sugar free catchup, I suppose I would have used that, especially since now I have an almost full can of tomato paste to use up.

This made about 2 Tablespoons worth, which gave me enough for my shrimp tonight and I’ll probably use the rest tomorrow with some left over fish I have from last night.

This could easily be increased, but I wouldn’t do all the ingredients proportionatly… and I started out with just 1 teaspoon horseradish, but decided I wanted a bit more kick.  I would start with maybe 1/2 cup of the preserves and for the tomato paste, vinegar, bump those up to 3 Tablespoons, worcestershire to 2 Tablespoons, Splenda to 1 Tablespoon and garlic, well… if you’re like me, it’s hard to have too much garlic, but start with 2 or 3 cloves and go from there. On the horseradish, start at 2 Tablespoons and add a teaspoon at a time to your liking.

I think the original recipe also had some minced jalepeno in it. I didn’t have any on hand, and for the small amount I made, wouldn’t have been worth it. It also called for raspberry jam, but I don’t ever buy that cause I prefer blackberry…. they should be fairly interchangable. I wish I could find a red currant jelly that is sugar free, I think that would be great in this.

If I do a large batch sometime, maybe to take to a dinner or something, I’ll try adding some jalapeno and let you know how it went.

Start with a small (5-inch or so) oven safe baking dish and spray with no-stick spray. Put either a slice of cheese, or about an ounce of shredded cheese. I used a slice of provolone and it fit perfect in the bottom of the dish I used.

Next add some toppings, like I said, I chopped up some left over turkey then added 1 cup of frozen broccoli that I thawed out a bit. What ever you add, limit it to about a cup and a half or it won’t fit in the dish, but try your favorites; chopped bacon, cubed ham, diced onion and peppers… whatever floats your boat.

Then for each omelet, scramble up one egg with a couple tablespoons of milk, salt, pepper, and whatever seasonings you might like. Pour this over your meat/veggies and bake in a 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes until the egg sets. If at 25 minutes the eggs still look runny at all, give them another couple minutes.

Don’t hold on to this just for breakfast either, it can be a great brunch item or even dinner. Serve it with some fresh fruit and toast and you’re good to go. And believe it or not, using turkey or chicken, 1oz cheese, 1 large egg, and 1 cup of broccoli this thing has less than 300 calories, and about 11 grams of carbs, 14 grams of fat, and 23 grams of protein.

Pour the following in to a punch bowl and server over ice.

1 liter raspberry schnapps
1 liter lemon sour
2 liters Sprite

You can also make this as a high-ball drink. Fill glass with ice, add 1 shot schnapps, 1 shot sour, and fill the rest with Sprite. If you don’t want it so sweet, try club soda instead of Sprite.

What you need

2.5 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1.5 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp sea salt
freshly ground black pepper

Put this all together in a small bowl and whisk to combine. Toss this with some chopped, mixed veggies and put in a foil bag and roast on the grill, or baste it on chicken breasts you’re grilling. I may try this next as a sort of glaze/baste on a pork roast.

Start out with some onion and garlic. About 1/2 cup of diced onion - sweet yellow or green onions work well without being overpowering, and about 1-2 diced cloves of garlic. Sautee these in a bit of butter or extra virgin olive olive oil in a 3qt pot.

Just as the onion turns soft, add in two cups of chicken stock. I usually use some made from a good boullion or base, but a 15oz can of either chicken or vegetable stock works fine when you’re pinched for time. Then add in one large baking potato (bout 1/2pounder), peeled and diced up. This is going to give the soup a bit of thickness. Cover the pot and let this simmer over medium-hight until the potato is soft.

While that is happening get your mushrooms ready, you need about 1/2 pound. I used a container of sliced baby bellas this last time but feel free to mix it up. I would love to try this with some morrells mixed in. Heat a skillet over medium heat and melt a couple tablespoons of butter or use extra virgin olive oil and sautee the shrooms just until soft, then take off the heat. I season the shrooms with a pinch or two of sea salt while cooking. Kind of separate them in to two groups in the pan by size - larger on one side of pan, smaller pieces on the other.

By this time, that potato should be about cooked, so lower the heat to the low side of medium and add a pint of half-n-half and the larger pieces of mushroom that you sauteed. If you have a stick blender, great! Use that to blend up everything, pureeing the potatoe and mushroom in there. If you don’t have a stick blender - get one! Or use a regular blender or food processor. Be very careful when transferring hot liquids! Add the rest of the shrooms and put back on the stove over that low heat until warmed. Depending on personal preferences, you can add some different seasonings here… a bit of pepper, thyme, basil, and tarragon all can add to this, but don’t over do it, it’s supposed be about the mushrooms here.

Once it’s head, bowl it up and you’re good to go! Serve with some fresh bread… yum.

I had some extra celery burning a hole in my fridge and decided to try something… anything with it. And this is what I came up with.

What you need…

3 stalks celery, washed, dried and sliced thin - about 2 cups
1 small red onion (smaller than a tennis ball), chopped small - about 1 cup
1-1/2 cups frozen corn
2 tablespoons butter
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup milk (try half and half or even heavy whipping cream for an extra creamy taste)
nutmeg (optional)

Heat up a large skillet over medium heat and melt 1 tablespoon of the butter. Add the celery and sautee for about 5 minutes, then add the onion.

While you start the celery, put the frozen corn in a strainer and run it under cold water for a minute or so. You just want to wash off any frost that might have formed on it and start it thawing out. Let sit in the strainer to drain. About 3 minutes or so after you’ve added the onion, the celery should start getting a bright green and the onions just start turning transluscent - add the corn and the other tablespoon of butter to the skillet and stir occassionally while sauteeing for another 3-4 minutes. Add the choped garlic, stir it up a bit and then measure out your milk.

Pour the milk in the skillet and reduce the heat to low. Stir things up a bit and add a couple shakes of nutmeg if you’d like. Let this simmer on low about 5-6 minutes, stirring occassionally as the milk reduces. This is not going to be anything like the creamed corn you get in a can. Let the milk reduce until it almost becomes basically just a sort of creamy glaze.

Pull off the heat, add a bit of salt and pepper to taste and dish it up! Maybe sprinkle with a bit of paprika for color when serving.

This should give you four decent servings, and the celery should still have a bit of a crunch too it, not be all soggy. And play with some of the ingredients. I probably added a bit more garlic, and I used red onion because that’s what I had. Try sweet yellow onion, or even a white onion to add a bit more oomph to the flavor. And if you’re tired of corn… maybe try it with peas? hmmm… I still have some celery left.

This particular version is seafood, but feel free to try it with some shredded chicken. And since it uses canned and other ready to go ingredients, they are super quick to whip together.

What you need

6 taco size flour tortillas
1 10-3/4 oz can cream of onion condensed soup
8 oz sour cream
4 oz can of chopped green chilis
1-8 oz package artificial crab meat
2 oz salad shrimp
1-1/2 cups shredded cheese
4 green onions, chopped

Start by heating the oven to 350. Then in a small bowl combine the soup, sour cream, and can of chilis, don’t drain them, the liquid helps thin out the soup. If you don’t like cream of onion, try cream of chicken or cream of mushroom. And you can use only half the can of chilis if you want… it’s just you usually don’t have anything else to use the other half for, so might as well use them up. If you want to kick up the heat a bit, use the chopped jalepenos instead.

Put the shrimp in a small strainer and run them under cold water for a couple minutes while you shred up the imitation crab meat and put it all in another small bowl. By this time the shrimp should be thawed, fold them up in a paper towel and pat them dry before adding to the crab. Then add about half the cheese, about half the chopped green onion, about 1/2 to 3/4 cup of the sauce and mix it all up. You don’t want the crab/shrimp mix soupy, use just enough to coat it all. My cheese preference is marble-jack, but go with what you prefer.

Take 3 of the tortilla and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds. Take them out and spoon a scant half-cup of the crab mix in the middle and spread it out a bit. Roll them up, you can do open ends, or close ends like a buritto. I did closed cause they fit my 6×9 baking pan better. Spritz the pan with some non-stick spray before laying the filled tortillas in there.  If you’re using an 8×8 or other wider pan, feel free to roll them up open ended, just spread the crab mix out more.

Once the first three are done, do up the other three. Then pour the remaining sour cream sauce over the top of them all and top that with the rest of the cheese. Pop this in the oven about 20 minutes until the cheese is bubbly. Serve up a couple per person garnished with some of the chopped green onion and a side dish like the skillet corn shown in the picture.

This recipe will make six very filled enchiladas, enough for dinner for a couple people with left overs for lunch the next day. This recipe doubles very easily, you can skip doubling up on the chopped chilis if you want.. or not.

What you need:

The corn cut from 2 ears of corn or about 2-1/2 cups frozen corn
1/2 red bell pepper - diced
2 cloves garlic - chopped
2 tablespoons butter

Heat up a skillet over low-medium heat. I use my cast iron skillet for this, but any decent sized one should do. You don’t want the corn to be crowded as it covers the bottom of the pan. When the pan is warm, melt the butter. Don’t get the skillet to hot, you do not want to burn the butter. Add the corn and increase the heat just a little bit. If you are using fresh corn, you’ll need to cook it about 10-12 minutes, stiring frequently until you’ve cooked most of the water out of the pan. If using frozen, sort of the same thing… but it should only take about 4-5 minutes.

Add the diced bell pepper. You can use green bell pepper instead of the red, both give a nice visual contrast. if you have kids use some of both and call it something like “Stop Light Corn”. (gree, yellow, red.. get it?). Cook it about two minutes more once you’ve added the pepper, then add the garlic and season with a bit of salt and maybe a few shakes of my season-all. Cook about one minute more, then scoop out to a servering dish. This makes about four serving, and the recipe is easy to cut in half for just a couple people.