After rain there is sunshine so lets make dinner outside!

Posted on June 4, 2014 by Malin

I think this is honestly the roughest winter I ever experienced, even for a swede! So when I woke up to a coldish gloomy day I never thought I would make dinner outside but I guess behind the clouds the sun is always lurking. So the I whipped the together some delicious beef patties filled with sundered tomatoes served with a basil and feta cheese spread.

I think Gary-Taser was the happiest of all not being stuck inside 😉

Beef Patties

1 pound of organic minced beef

1 chopped garlic clove

1-2 tablespoons of chopped sun dried tomatoes in oil

1/4 cup chopped basil

1 egg

salt and pepper

Mix everything together and make small patties ready to put on the grill

Grilled Vegetables

Asparagus

Mushrooms

Bell pepper

Red onion

Squash

Unflavored coconut oil

salt

I used whatever vegetables I had in the fridge and I am so happy that Heinen’s, our new grocery store has unflavored coconut oil as it is so good for you.

Basil and feta cheese Spread

1/2 cup sour cream or greek yogurt

1 Crushed Garlic clove

feta cheese (to you liking)

1/4 cup chopped basil

chopped sun dried tomatoes

salt and pepper

Mix everything together and store in a cool place until it is time to serve dinner and when you do…I guess the summer is back!

Beetroot soup with ginger, lemon and chili

Posted on March 27, 2014 by Malin

It seems like everyone is escaping this never-ending winter and traveling south. At the same time we are receiving letters regarding strep throat, infections and stuffy noses so what else can you do than trying to stay healthy by eating food that boosts your immune system. Not only is beetroot good for defeat colds but it also enhance physical activities because it improves the oxygen uptake…so I guess more beetroot for the people!

3 big beetroot
1 yellow onion (i used a red onion)
2 chopped garlic cloves
1 tablespoon Ginger
Chili Flakes (depends how spicy you like it)
6dl /3 cups water
3 tablespoons beef fond or 2 cubes vegetable stock
salt and pepper
1 lemon (juice and peel)
Sour cream
Direction: Chop the beetroot, onion, garlic and grate the ginger. Fry the beetroot and the onion for a couple of minutes before adding the ginger, chili and garlic and sauté for another couple of minutes.

Add water, bouillon, season with salt and pepper. Let it simmer for 15 minutes, mix the soup until it is smooth and serve with a splash of sour cream.

Original recipe by Linnea Sward

LowCarb Nasi Goreng

Posted on March 24, 2014 by Malin

I always have my freezer stocked with meat or fish but when I opened it up today I realized the only thing left was a piece of pork tenderloin. Not knowing what I was going to do with it I started to unfreeze it and pulling out whatever we had in the fridge…and this is what it turned into 😉

1/2 shredded Cabbage
Sesame Oil
chopped Garlic
fresh grated Ginger
Soy Sauce
1 tablespoon tomato pure
1 teaspoon Sambal Oelek
Fish sauce (I used touch of taste)
apple cider vinegar
splash of Worcestershire Sauce
1-2 teaspoons Hoisin Sauce
leek
Cilantro
2 egg
Salt
Edamame Beans
Pork Tenderloin
Salt and Pepper

Direction: Start by shredding the cabbage and fry it in the sesame oil. Add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, hoisin, sambal oelek, tomato pure, fish sauce, vinegar, worcestershire sauce and let it cook or simmer until dry. What you will find is all the spices will really infuse into the cabbage.

Whisk the two egg with some salt and fry in sesame oil. Slice into smaller pieces add into the cabbage together with the edamame beans and the chopped leek.

I used the grill to cook the pork tenderloin. I love to use the grill, less mess and the meat taste 100 times better!

Serve the meat on top of the cabbage with some fresh cilantro. The kids loved it and so did the grown up…so tumps up!

Unfortunately I did not keep track of the measurement but I think with common sense it will be ok 😉

Lets make oatmeal…hmm, delightful?!

Posted on March 19, 2014 by Malin

In our family it’s just Knut and me that really likes oatmeal and this was often on the menu as both my parents were working and would not have time to spend an hour in the kitchen.

Although oatmeal is not really a low-carb alternative it has a fairly low Glycemic Index and when adding flax seeds reduces the effect on blood sugar. So today after working out a fair amount and rushing out to fit the kids activities in this was a perfect alternative.

Oatmeal

1 cup oatmeal
2 tablespoons flaxseed
2 cups water
a pinch of salt
Milk

Strawberry jumminess

4-5 sliced fresh strawberries
a splash of water
a pinch of stevia

Directions: Bring oatmeal, flaxseed, salt and water to simmer and stir occasionally for about 2-5 minutes. In a different pot add strawberries, stevia and water and simmer for the same amount of time. Serve the oatmeal hot with strawberries and cold milk…you will be surprised!

LowCarb Crepe filled with garlic and mushroom

Posted on March 18, 2014 by Malin

I have never been a big fan of pancakes or Crepe as they always given me a tummy ache, not even as a child. Today I was in the mood to make something fast and easy and I thought Garlic and mushroom filled Crepe would be a perfect dinner and without the wheat I don’t feel nauseous.

Low-carb Pancake

2 Eggs

1/2 a cup and a bit of Almond Flour

1/4 Water

Pinch of Salt

Garlic and Mushroom Filling

Button Mushroom

1 Clove of Garlic

Pinch of salt

Dijon Mustard

A slice of cheese

Direction: Whisk everything together and use half of the batter to make a “pancake” and fry it until it is slightly brown. Sauté the mushrooms and the garlic in butter and season with salt. Spread the Dijon mustard on the pancake, add the cheese and top off with the garlic mushroom before “closing”.

If you want it more creamy or if you need more fat because of your diet, add mayonnaise.

This was a very quick and easy dinner that filled me up and I still have half the batter left to use for lunch for tomorrow!

Grilled Cod with the famous yumyum sauce

Posted on March 12, 2014 by Malin

A few weeks ago we ended up going to a local restaurant after my dinner attempt turned into an epic fail. I ended up having the fish tacos and after that I am craving fish, so fish was what was on the menu for this evening but their was a slight problem When I woke up this morning winter was back with vengeance after those lovely couple of days of spring. But that was not letting my spirit down and stopping me to proceed with my dinner plans…Grilled Cod.

I think their is a few advantages to making food on the grill; I don’t have to deal with the yucky fish smell that always is stuck in the house for days on days and the food just taste so much better. There is one more thing I always have to deal with when it comes to fish & kids…It’s not their favorite dish but my mother-in-law has the solution and we call it the yumyum sauce! Every kid that has ever tried it ends up eating their fish like it is candy so here we go…

Fish

1 lb of fresh Cod

Canola Oil

Salt and Lemon Pepper (or pepper and lemon juice)

Direction: Use a gridiron so if the fish separates you end up with nothing except an empty plate. Grill the fish for approximate 4 minutes on each side, make sure not to over cook it so it turns dry and awful.

The yumyum sauce

1 part sour cream

1 part cream

1 tablespoon Fish Fond or a cube of fish boullion

Direction: Mix it together and bring to a simmer…as simples as that!

This is magic!

Both the kids finished all the fish and they loved it!!

Leftovers comes from a lot of love and so does this lasagna!

Posted on March 11, 2014 by Malin

I spend a fair amount of time planning, preparing and cooking and I think the more love you give the better the outcome and sometimes leftover just gets better with time. But be warned, they may have joined the dark forces if they start moving around on their own in the fridge 😉

So even we had a lot going on this afternoon we still had a lot of love on our plates from the Sunday leftover Lasagna.

Meat Sauce

1 lb Minced Beef

1 Yellow Onion

1-2 Garlic Clove

Chopped Mushrooms

6 oz Tomato Paste

6 oz Water

Soy Sauce (by taste)

1 tbsp Kale Fond or Beef Bullion

Oregano

Tarragon

Thyme

Basil

Salt and Pepper

Directions: Cook the minced beef, add the chopped onion, garlic and mushroom and fry together for an additional couple of minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and let it simmer for 10-15 minutes and meanwhile prepare the lasagna plates.

Homemade non wheat lasagna plates

2 eggs

1/4 cup Farmers Cheese

2 tbsp Psyllium Husk

1/4 water

Direction: Add everything together in a bowl and whisk it together and let it stand for 5 minutes until its a think paste. Between two sheets of parchment spread the paste evenly and bake in the oven for 5-10 minutes at 350-400 F. (My never know the exact temperature in my oven that is why I have approximately time and temp)

Mix cheese, cream and sour cream.

In a ovenproof dish layer the mince sauce, the cheese mix and the lasagna plate x2.

Bake in the oven until the lasagna is thoroughly warm and the cheese as melted.

A date night with File mignon and a Moroccan Salsa

Posted on July 13, 2013 by Malin

Last christmas I got a book called perfect pairings by Evan Goldstein. I love wine but I don’t know too much about it but last night I picked up the book and started to flip through it when I thought I would carefully make my choice of wine to compliment the food…

Goldstein mentions that Merlot goes well with grilled food as well as citrus and green vegetables, tomatoes and garlic and fresh herbs.

So I went to Fresh Food Market and picket out a nice cut of filet mignon and a bottle of Merlot from Chateau St Jean and started to prepare our dinner.

Moroccan Salsa (recipe by Jonas Brossen) 2 servings

1 Big Chopped Tomato

2 tablespoons of Chopped Red onion

1 clove of chopped garlic

1/4 chopped Jalapeño

1 teaspoon Cumin

2 tablespoons Chopped Fresh Cilantro

lemon juice

2 tablespoons of a good Olive oil

Mix the ingredient together and store in a cool place until serving.

I love my meat medium raw and Freddie grilled the it to perfection so when it was time to eat I served the meat and the salsa on a bed of Arugula and roasted fennel, red onion and asparagus topped of with a balsamic glaze.

A quick summer lunch full of antioxidants

Posted on July 12, 2013 by Malin

After a tough workout I came home and I was starving so I quickly put some chicken tender on the grill, sautéed mushrooms and kale and mixed together a cold fresh chimichurri sauce…yum!

Chicken Tender

Ready made grilling sauce (I normally make my own but I was too hungry)

Kale

Mushroom

Salt and Pepper

Sour Creme

Chimichurri (ready made)

Grilled sirloin tip steak with basil vinaigrette tossed vegetables

Posted on May 30, 2013 by Malin

This is the season to take advantage being able to eat clean and with a new grill I try to cook as much as possible outside and in between the thunderstorms Freddie managed to cook a sirloin tip steak to its perfection…

1 pound of sirloin tip steak

Old world central street seasoning (from the spice house)

Garlic powder

Salt and Pepper

Vegetable Oil

Basil Vinaigrette

1-2 tablespoon Vegetable Oil

1 tablespoon White Wine Vinegar

2 teaspoon Dijon mustard

1 chopped garlic

Salt and Pepper

Chopped Basil

Roasted Vegetables

Yellow Zucchini

Red pepper

Mushrooms

Asparagus

Red Onion

Tomatoes do not roast!

How to: Cut up all the vegetables and roast them in the oven for about 10-15 min @ 350-400 F. Grill the meat to you liking and meanwhile mix all the ingredients for basil vinaigrette and as soon as the vegetables is done mix the tomatoes and toss the vinaigrette over the roasted vegetables.

Bon Appetite!