We have always been a meat and potatoes family. Don't get me wrong, we love veggies, but have always loved our starches, sometimes in the form of potatoes, sometimes in the form of chips or fries, my wife's (a.k.a. "Turkey's") homemade bread or even rice, but now, with my focus on low-carb eating, I have had to change my ways! I still get meat, but potatoes and rice are not really low-carb AT ALL!
I in my search for a substitute, Birds Eye and Green Giant came to the rescue with MASHED CAULIFLOWER. There are other brands too, but these are very
easy to find and reasonably priced (not as reasonable as potatoes or rice, but that's another story). Mashed Cauliflower comes in plain and flavored varieties, but whichever you choose, you will want to enhance that. I found that cream cheese and sour cream are a good start. Think loaded baked potatoes, because the cauliflower is a blank canvas for your flavors.
The other component is the MEAT! I discovered Hormel's Beef Tips years ago and they make a great addition. They are precooked and require only heating. I am only cooking for 2, so this makes sense. It would also be a great way to use leftover roast beef. I just cooked the mash and heated the beef and we had our meal! Since the mash is a heart healthy veggie, we didn't need anything else, although I did add some cherry tomatoes for a bit of freshness. Try this leave a comment on what you think or what you did to change the basic ingredients.
A few Christmases ago, in fact, the Christmas just before her passing, my dear mom was not well enough to come to our family Christmas party. Not to be left out of the holiday spirit, as each family member visited, she had a gift for them...a jar of Smucker's Red Raspberry Preserves. To this day, I don't know who brought them to her, but I have always loved Smucker's products and didn't think to ask. Fewer than 3 months later, she was no longer with us, but the preserves were and an anecdote about PB&J sandwiches along with it.
To set the groundwork, several years ago when my mother was cleaning the home of a wealthy woman (she loved cleaning), we were visiting the home where she cleaned, and making some sandwiches. Let me say that my mother has always loved BUTTER...not margarine or spreads, she could believe it's not butter! The interesting thing I learned that day was she had NEVER buttered the bread on our/her PB&Js! I understood not doing the jam/jelly side, but I always buttered the peanut butter side, cause I love butter too! I probably gave her a bit too much ribbing for her butter-less peanut butter, and I felt bad afterword. Other family members were surprised too.
That brings me to this post. Since being diagnosed with type 2 Diabetes, I have had to find a better way to eat a PB&J. In keeping with the gift from my mom, I still use Smucker's Red Raspberry Preserves, but now the Sugar Free variety sweetened
with Splenda. My favorite replacement for the peanut butter is Sunflower Butter from Trader Joe's and I use Dave's Killer Bread, or Franz's 24 grain bread, and let us not forget BUTTER! This is a truly delicious replacement and a bit more healthy for me. We never had whole wheat bread growing up; just the soft, white, store-brand with an occasional loaf of Wonder Bread thrown in! Bless you, Mom, and thanks for all of the PB&Js, even without butter!
We are quite simple with most of our meals. I tend to focus on the main dish, usually meat or fish, and the side, if any is usually quite simple. The one exception to that might be for Sunday dinners. This dinner is simple and delicious because it starts with a nice piece of meat and a simple steamed vegetable.
The meat I chose for today is a thin-cut ribeye steak I found quite by mistake, while shopping for other items at one of my favorite supermarkets. My wife (a.k.a. "Turkey") likes hers thin and will request her steak "butterflied" when eating out. But since I discovered sous vide cooking, she loves steaks at home. Why? Because sous vide cooking (French for 'under vacuum') cooks it perfectly without overcooking! It is almost impossible to do! You select a temperature you want to cook it to (today I chose 145℉ or Medium), and the time one wants to cook for and DONE!
ADDENDUM: This post was started and the meal eaten BEFORE i was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes, but is in fact low-carb and a meal I will go back to regularly!
