Tofu "meat" muffins with sauce (and great mock meat stuffing!)

This is a great versatile recipe that is a great stuffing for zucchini or other vegetables, and in a thicker form makes great muffins, meatloaf or patties.   Just add more flour to get it to the consistency that you want.

Prep time- 10 minutes

Cooking time- 20 minutes

Feeds- roughly 6

Number of things that get dirty- 3

mixer 

muffin tray

heat proof bowl

Ingredients
2 c Tofu
2-3 eggs
1 c Tomato paste divided
1 c white cheese (smooth cottage cheese would probably work but we used gvina levana) divided
whole wheat or almond flour
Parmesan
onion soup powder
garlic powder 
water


Shred 2 c dry tofu into small pieces. 
Add 1/2 c tomato paste and 1/2 c cheese
add eggs and flour to get to a sticky ish consistancy just slightly less firm than meatballs.
Add spices and parmesan to taste.
Scoop into greased unlined muffin tins
make until solid


for sauce, combine remaining tomato paste and cheese ina bowl with cheese and spices to taste.  Serve hot over muffins.

Low carb almond flour pizza crust

Base recipe from http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/ , one of my favourite low carb recipe sites.  Use with a home made tomato sauce, cheese and the topigs of your choice.  It is very thin, but make a good solution for those days where you just want pizza.

Prep time- 5 minutes

Cooking time- not long

Feeds- 1

Number of things that get dirty- 3

bowl

frying pan

spatula

Ingredients
1 large egg
1 tablespoon almond flour
1 tablespoon parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon oil, about 
garlic powder to taste
onion powder to taste
zatar to taste
Pizza toppings of your choice
basil and oregeno to taste


Mix everything in a bowl
Heat a little oil in a small nonstick skillet. 
Pour in the batter and fry like a pancake. Cook until golden brown on both sides. 
Remove the crust to a baking sheet. 


Add the pizza toppings of your choice then bake or broil to heat the toppings and melt the cheese.

Fake garlic "bread" (turned tuna broccoli quiche)

Base recipe from http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/ , one of my favourite low carb recipe sites.  

Prep time- 5 minutes
Cooking time- 20 minutes
Feeds- 24 ish servings (can be frozen)


Number of things that get dirty- 
mixing bowl
spoon
baking dish

Ingredients
4 ounces cream cheese, softened
3 eggs
1/3 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup parmesan cheese, 1 ounce
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
optional tuna and shredded broccoli

Beat the cream cheese and eggs with a whisk until smooth. Add the cream, parmesan and seasonings (and tuna and broccoli if desired)
Line a baking dish with parchment paper (I use an 8x8 square); 
Spread the mozzarella evenly in pan. 
Pour the egg mixture over the cheese. Spread slightly with a spatula. 


Bake at 180*C for 20 minutes until lightly browned. Cool on a rack, then cut into 24 pieces. 


If desired, spread a little butter on them and sprinkle with garlic powder and parmesan cheese; broil just until butter is bubbly and very lightly browned.

Peanut Butter cookies

This also works really well as a base for an ice cream cake.  WARNING- They are really, really crumbly!

Prep time- 5 minutes

Cooking time- 12-15 minutes

Feeds- makes 24 small cookies, or two loaf pan ice cream cake bases

Number of things that get dirty- 4

bowl

mixer

fork

baking trays

Ingredients

1 c natural peanut butter

1/3 c sugar or sweetener (I use splenda)

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

2 tbs spoons extra sweetener

parchment paper

Combine all ingredients except for the extra sweetener (and parchment paper).

Drop by teaspoons on parchment lined baking sheets

dip fork into extra sweetener, and use to ppress cookies to about 7mm thick (ish)

Bake 180*C for 12 to 15 minutes.

Almond Flour Cake/muffin base

This is a really bland and sort of heavy cake (or muffin) recipe that is terrible on it's own, but fantastic as a base for all sorts of lower carb desserts.  I add strawberries and cream to make a really easy strawberry shortcake, or just leave of the berries for cupcakes kids can decorate themselves.  You can also add all sorts of things to it like bananas and walnuts, chocolate chips, berries, or lemon juice and cranberry to turn it into fantastic low carb muffins that are great for quick snacks or even for breakfast.

Prep time- 5 minutes

Cooking time 15 minutes ish.  Longer for a cake

Feeds- 12 normal sized muffins or 30 mini muffins

Number of things that get dirty- 3

mixmaster

baking tray

spatula

Ingredients

2 cups almond flour

2 tsp baking powder

pinch of salt

1/2 cup melted margarine or butter

4 eggs

1/3 c water

1/4-1/2 C sweetener

1tsp vanilla

Combine and bake at 180*C for roughly 15 minutes.  Can be frozen really well and are awesome microwaved for a few seconds.

Egg Drop soup noodles

Any soup can be made into egg drop soup.  Egg drops take the place of noodles really well without upping the carb counts at all.  Just make your soup as you normally would, then in a separate bowl beat 3-6 eggs depending on how much "drop" you want in your soup.

Once you are done, make sure your soup is at a good boil  Stir your soup to get it spinning in the pot.  Very slowly, in a thin stream, pour the egg into the spinning soup.  The "drop" cooks pretty much instantly and you look like a very impressive chef!

Veggie "Fries"

Dying for a french fry but don't really want the calroeis that go with it?  Carrots, sweet potato, and green beans all make excellent substitutes.  Sure you can deep fry them if you really want to, but why?  Toss them so they are lightly coated in olive oil, lay them out in a single layer in a baking dish, sprinkle with salt (and maybe garlic for the green beans) and bake until toasty (tossing again after a few minutes).  An amazing snack that comes together fas,t is really colourful on the table, and had a great crunch.

Easy schnitzle

So easy my 6 year old does most of the work!

Prep time- 15 minutes

Cooking time it depends

Feeds- as many as you want

Number of things that get dirty- 2

2 plates

baking tray or pot

Ingredients

skinless boneless chicken cut into 2 bite pieces ish

bread crumbs OR almond flour (the taste is almost identical.  Bread crumbs are way cheaper, but almond flour makes it a really low carb recipe)

shwarma spice

low fat mayo

oil or cooking spray

Combine crumbs and swarma spice on a large, shallow plate

Coat chicken in as tin a layer of mayo as you can manage.  I find the easiest way to do it is to drop the chicken and the mayo into a ziplock bag and smush, but as ziplock bags in this country come at a premium we tend to just roll them on a plate.

Coat with crumbs

Either fry or bake.  If baking (which is what we generally do) lay out flat on a baking tray, spray liberally with cooking spray.  Bake at 200*C for 12-15 minutes.

Peanut Sauce

Great on tofu, chicken, or in a stir fry

Prep time- 5 minutes
Cooking time 0
Feeds- quite a few

Number of things that get dirty- 2
bowl
fork

Ingredients
5 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbls warm water (or more depending on desired consistency- just add it slowly and thin it out to however you want it.
2 1/2 tbls chinese rice vinegar or red wine vinegar
3 tbls soy suce
2 tbls sugar or sweetner (more or less if you prefer)

Mix and use.

Potato or Zucchini Kugel

This recipe works equally well with potatoes or zucchinis.  


Prep time- 5
Cooking Time- 1 hour
Feeds- 10-12

Number of things that get dirty- 4
food processor
bowl
cooking pan (we use foil)
knife

Ingredients
8 potatoes or 12 zucchini
1/2 teaspoon onion soup mix
6 eggs
1/2 cup oil
4 tablespoons flour
salt and pepper



peel and prep potatoes for food processor
grate potatoes.  I am sure you could do this by hand if you wanted to, but I don't know why anyone would.
mix eggs, oil, flour, salt, pepper and onion soup in a bowl
squueze excess liquid out of potatoes and add to mixture in the bowl
mix thoroughly


bake at 200*C for 1 hour until a knife in the middle comes out clean.

No fail frozen veggies

Prep time- 2 minutes
Cooking Time- 20 minutes minutes
Feeds as many as you want

Number of things that get dirty- 1
oven safe pyrex or bakeware


Ingredients
frozen veggie of choice (we use a lot of broccoli/cauliflower mix)
your favourite garlicy dressing
shredded cheese
bread crumbs

toss it all together and throw into an oven uncovered for 15-20 minutes at 180*C

Eggy Muffins

Prep time- 10 minutes
Cooking Time- 30 minutes per tray
Feeds a lot. We made this as a huge recipe and froze a ton of them for breakfasts and lunches. This version made 30 muffins

Number of things that get dirty- 4
mixing bowl
electric beaters or a fork
muffin trays
cup fpr breaking eggs


Ingredients
18 eggs
1/2 c bread crumbs
2 cans of tuna
1/3-1/2 c milk
1 tsp onion soup powder
garlic powder to taste
black pepper to taste
veggies from the freezer (anything bite sized that will fit nicely into your muffin tins. In theory you could also use fresh, or sauteed veggies)
1 c (ish) shredded cheese
1/3 c (ish) ketchup

Pour everything into a large mixing bowl
mix
baked in greased muffin tins. you can fill them almost full as they will only puff up a tiny bit

cook roughly 30 minutes 180* C

freeze them and thaw quickly in the microwave for a great breakfast

Onion Chicken

This is the fastest and easiest chicken recipe that I know of. It is my chicken of last resort when I do not have time to do anything else for shabbat. You can even add rice in the bottom (with enough water) and it will all cook together and give you a really easy and tasty side dish at the same time.

Prep time- 5 minutes
Cooking Time- 45-60 minutes minutes
Feeds 4-5

Number of things that get dirty- 3
poultry shears
large pyrex or roasting pan
knife


Ingredients
1 onion
1 whole chicken

Remove skin and stems from onion. Cut a single slice into the side of the onion to give it more surface area.
Set aside onion
Clean chicken. If you are in Israel, remove feathers. If you are not in Israel, you probably do not have to bother with that step as the kind folk at the chicken factory have already done it for you.
Place in baking tray legs up
Stuff onion where the sun don't shine (alternatively if you are more aidle than I, insert onion into vacant chicken cavity)
Cover and cook at 180*C until golden cooked.
Uncover and cook an addotional 10 minutes or so

I told you it was easy.

Cucumber Salad

This salad works best when you do the first part a day or so in advance. It really helps if it sits. I make the two "pre-mixtures" in ziplock bags which makes it easy to drain them and easy to clean up!

Prep time- 5-10 minutes minutes
Cooking Time- None but it should sit over night before you serve it
Feeds - depends how much you make

Number of things that get dirty- 3
chef knife
cutting board
serving bowl

Ingredients
2 cucumbers (or enough for about 2 cups of thin slices)
1 small onion
1 tsp cider vinegar
2 pinches of salt
1 pinch of sugar
2 tbls dill
2 tbls water
2 ziplock bags

slice cucumber into really thin slices and put into a ziplock bag
add 1 pinch of salt
seal and stick in the fridge for at least a few hours

slice onion into small pieces
add 1 pinch of salt
add 1 pinch of sugar
seal and stick in the fridge for at least a few hours

add dill to cider vinegar and stick in the fridge for at least a few hours

drain the liquid out of both bags and pour the remaining contents into a bowl
add vinegar and dill
add water if required

Serve cold

Purple Cabage Salad

Prep time- 5-10 minutes minutes
Cooking Time- None but it should sit over night before you serve it
Feeds - depends how much you make

Number of things that get dirty- 4
food processor
mixing bowl
two forks

Ingredients
Purple cabbage
1/3 C Light mayo
2 tbls apple cider vinegar
garlic powder
onion powder

Shred cabbage in food processor. Yes you could use a knife but that sort of takes the quick out of this recipe
mix in mayo and vinegar
add garlic and onion to taste

let sit over night or at least a few hours!

Easy meat sauce

Prep time- 5 minutes
Cooking Time- 30 minutes
Feeds - as many as you want it to

Number of things that get dirty- 3
1 pot

Ingredients

as much ground beef as you want
8 oz tomato paste
1 cups of lemon lime or gingerail soda
2 tsp onion soup powder
2 bay leaves (if you have them)
1/3 C ketchup

break up ground beef and combine with other ingredients over high heat
stir thoroughly.
turn down to a simmer until meat is cooked through
Keep stirring periodically or it all sticks to the bottom.

Easy Any fish

Fresh or frozen this is an easy way to prepare any white fish.

Prep time- 5
Cooking Time- 1 hour
Feeds - as many as you have fish for

Number of things that get dirty- 2
large bowl or pan
baking sheet

Ingredients
fish of choice
lemon or orange juice
garlic powder
onion powder

marinate defrosted fish in enough juice to cover for 2 hours (in the fridge)
drain marinade
place fish on parchment lined baking tray

cook at 375* for 20-40 minutes until just starting to brown at the edges
sprinkle on garlic and onion

Tuna Patties

I usually double this recipe and it makes great sandwiches for lunch the next day.

Prep time- 5 minutes
Cooking Time- 10 minutes ish
Feeds 3

Number of things that get dirty- 4
1 bowl
1 frying pan
one spatula
one fork

Ingredients

1 can of tuna
1/3 C of may0
1 egg
1/2 C of bread crumbs or almond flour
1/3 C frozen peas (canned will do but I prefer frozen. I actually put them in frozen and they maintain their shape)

sesame oil to fry (you can use any oil but I find sesame adds extra flavour)

Combine all ingredients
Heat sesame oil (just enough to cover the bottom of the pan. Replenish as necessary)
Form mixture into patties about 2.5 inches across
Cook in oil until brown about half way up
flip and cook other side.

drain on cooling rack on top of paper towel. If you do not have one, paper towel will do.

We like ours in pita with salad and ketchup.