SUPER SIDE: Broccoli Au Gratin

Eating healthy can be a bit daunting sometimes but here's a cheat even my son loves. A creamy, cheesy, broccoli side dish.

We're serving this on the side of some pork chops with a port wine, mushroom reduction sauce.

INGREDIENTS (3 servings)

1 large head of broccoli
4 oz. cream cheese
1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup low fat mile
1/2 tablespoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper.

In a small sauce pan, melt the cream cheese into the milk.

Break up the head of broccoli and put into a casserole dish. Salt and pepper the broccoli. Cover with the cream cheese and milk sauce. Sprinkle the cheddar on top.

Bake, covered,  for 20 minutes at 300 degrees.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

DINNER: Pork Chop 'Alte Heide'

Inspired by a pork Cordon Bleu dish we recently had in Munich, here's another dish I tried to make upon our return.

The Alte Heide is a small, neighborhood cafe and biergarten in Munich's Schwabing district. It also made the best food we had during our stay and the best of that was their pork Cordon bleu.

Similar to chicken Cordon bleu, it's stuffed with cheese and ham, and fried with a breadcrumb crust. I'm using a parmesan crust on mine.

We're cooking five chops, to serve three and have some leftovers for lunch. Scale the recipe up or down as needed

INGREDIENTS

5 boneless pork chops at least 1 inch thick
5 slices prosciutto
10 1" wide slices of Havarti cheese
Shredded parmesan cheese
1 cup chicken broth
1 diced medium onion
1/2 cup white wine
3 tablespoons Kosher salt
1 tablespoon black pepper
2 tablespoons olive oil.

Heat up chicken broth in bowl, add salt and pepper to make a brine.

Put chops in sealable plastic bowl, cover with brine (above). Seal and put in refrigerator for at least 4 hours.

Drain brine from bowl.

Take pork chops out and slice almost in two so that there are 2 - 1/2 inch slices and put prosciutto and cheese in the middle.

Sprinkle each side with parmesan cheese.

Heat olive oil on high heat in stainless steel pan.

Brown pork chops for 2 minutes on each side. Move pan into 350 degree oven for 8 minutes on each side.

Remove chops and cover with foil. Put pan back on medium heat, add wine.

Use a spatula to scrape up the drippings in the pan.

Add the onions, stir in, and cook another 5 - 10 minutes to reduce a bit.

Serve and ladle sauce over chops.

Darryl Musick
Copyright 2016 - All Rights Reserved

This Week's Menu: Pan Fried Pork Chops with Mustard Cream Sauce and Grilled Egg White, Ham, and Cheese Sandwich

Here's a killer pork chop recipe for your Sunday dinner. And you know what? Since the chops were on special at the market, the entire dinner...including the potatoes and asparagus as sides...cost less than four dollars, which made three servings.

Along with that delicious dinner, I've got a protein-rich, diabetic friendly, grilled cheese sandwich which makes a great quick lunch or even a dinner replacement.

Recipes are at the links below.

DINNER: Pan Fried Pork Chops with a Mustard Cream Sauce

LUNCH: Grilled Egg White, Ham, and Cheese Sandwich

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

LUNCH: Egg White and Ham Grilled Cheese Sandwich

Even though I haven't posted any D-Day articles lately, I'm still firmly on the Type II Diabetes train. Here is a very glucose friendly recipe for a quick and filling lunch or dinner.

INGREDIENTS

2 slices whole wheat (or your favorited whole grain) bread
1 slice cheddar cheese
a pinch of shredded cheddar jack blend
1 egg white
1/2 slice Danola low fat, low sodium ham (or something similar...I'm using Trader Joe's healthy ham, which is basically the same thing)
1 pat soft butter
1 tablespoon olive oil

Heat up the oil in an 8" frying pan. Slice up the ham into 1" squares. Spread evenly across the surface of the pan. 

Add the egg white. When it is fully cooked, fold into a bread shaped and size square and remove to a plate.

Thinly coat each side of the bread with butter.  Place the cheese and ham 'n egg on the bread, making a sandwich.

Put in the hot frying pan, cooking for two minutes then flipping over. When the bread is a nice golden brown, you're done.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved.

LUNCH: Triple Grilled Cheese with Ham

This is super easy. Well, it's a grilled cheese sandwich which, by definition, is a quick and easy lunch. Just punching this one up in the cheese flavor and adding some healthy protein.

To keep it diabetic friendly, we're using low fat and low sodium ham with multigrain bread.  It's as delicious as any grilled cheese sandwich I've ever had, maybe more so, and the great result is it lowered my blood sugar by 8 points.

INGREDIENTS
1 slice cheddar jack cheese
1 slice Havarti cheese
2 slices sandwich bread (we're using multigrain)
1/2 slice cold-cut ham (we use Danola low fat/low sodium or Trader Joe's Healty Ham)
1 pat butter

Spread a thin layer of butter on both sides of the bread.  Layer your cheese and ham on it.

Put in a hot frying pan. 

Cook about 3-4 minutes and flip over. Cook the same on the other side.  Cook 10 seconds again on each side while pressing down with the spatula.

Plate, cut in half and serve (we're serving ours with Trader Joe's delicious Sriracha potato chips).

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

BREAKFAST: Asparagus and Cheese Omelet

We're cooking up some asparagus to put in a quick omelet for breakfast.

Just put some olive oil in a hot pan, cook up for five minutes, and put in an omelet with cheese using our basic omelet recipe.

Darryl

BREAKFAST: Basic Omelet

Basically, an omelet is just a quickly fried, beaten egg, cooked without stirring (as you would with scrambled eggs), and folded over.  Most people also put something inside as a filling, such as cheese, vegetables, or meat.  

We're doing a little of all three in our basic omelet recipe.

INGREDIENTS (as shown, you can put whatever you like in your omelet)

2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon half and half
salt 
pepper
2 tablespoons shredded carrot
1 1/2 stalk of chopped asparagus
1/2 oz. shredded cheese 
1/2 oz. chopped ham
guacamole
1 tablespoon olive oil

In a hot non-stick ten inch frying pan, with some olive oil, put in the carrots and cook for a couple of minutes.  Add the asparagus and cook another five minutes. Set the mixture aside and wipe the pan clean with a towel. Be careful not to burn yourself.

Put the eggs in a bowl, add the half and half, and a sprinkle each of salt and pepper.

Stir the mixture with a fork. Add a little more olive oil to the pan and rock it back and forth to coat the cooking surface and put it on a hot flame.  Pour the mixture into the pan.

As the eggs start to solidify, lift the edges with a spatula and let the liquid mixture fill in the voids.

Put your filling...the carrot/asparagus mixture, cheese, and ham...over one half of the pan.

Reach over to the far edge and carefully put your spatula under the edge. Fold it over the other half. Press down on the top for about 10-15 seconds with your spatula and flip the omelet. Cook another 10 seconds and put on a plate.  I'm also garnishing mine with a little guacamole on top (picture at the top of the post).

These are also good to go, we're taking these two to my convalescing mother in law and her son. Just reheat them for a minute in the microwave and they're ready to eat.

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved

LUNCH: Spring Ham Salad

This is my go-to meal for a quick, easy, amazingly tasty, satisfying, and healthy lunch.  Super easy to throw together, low carb, good protein, and good fats for a meal you'll never feel guilty about eating.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups spring salad mix
6 or 7 cherry tomatoes
1/4 oz. shredded Mexican cheese blend
1/2 oz. sliced ham
1/2 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 tablespoon balsamic vinegar

Simply put the salad mix in a bowl, sprinkle the tomatoes, cheese, and ham over the top.  Mix the oil and vinegar and use as the dressing.

For this one, I'll even include the nutritional info...

Calories - 176
Protein (grams) - 9
Carbs - 15
Fat - 9
Sodium - 218
Sugar - 5

Glucose Effect:
Pre-meal level   - 127
Post-meal level - 118

Darryl
Copyright 2016 - Darryl Musick
All Rights Reserved