by Lisa Douglas
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon shredded Cheddar cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons finely chopped green pepper
1/2 cup sliced fresh mushrooms
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
1/2 teaspoon olive oil
1 cup torn fresh spinach
Lightly beat the eggs, then mix the garlic powder, salt, pepper flakes and cheeses in and then set the egg mixture aside.
Add the olive oil to an 8-inch non-stick skillet. Sauté the green pepper, onion and mushrooms for 4-5 minutes, or until the vegetables are tender. Add the spinach and cook it until the spinach is wilted. Add the egg mixture to the skillet. As the eggs begin to set, lift the outer edges of the omelet, so the uncooked egg can flow under the edge. As soon as the omelet is completely set, slip off onto a plate. No folding required! Cut your omelet into slices and serve immediately.
Serves: 2
Ready to Eat in: 20 minutes
Carbs 6g Fiber 2g Calories 205g Fat 13g Protein 16g
Sweet Potato Omelet
Sweet potatoes are a great substitute for white potatoes in many low carb recipes. Though they have a similar carb count to potatoes, they are far lower on the glycemic index (a measure of how quickly blood sugar goes up after eating a food) which makes them a far better choice for anyone watching their waistline.
3 bacon strips, diced
1 cup diced peeled sweet potatoes
1/2 small onion, chopped
3 eggs, lightly beaten
Salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
Cook the bacon until crisp in a medium non-stick skillet. Set the bacon aside and drain off most of the bacon fat from the pan, but keep the drippings. Sauté the sweet potatoes and onion in the skillet until tender. Add eggs, salt and pepper and mix gently with the contents of the skillet.
Cover the skillet and then cook over medium heat until the eggs are set. Sprinkle cheese all over the top of the omelet. Cover and remove from the heat and let stand until the cheese is completely melted. Sprinkle with bacon. Loosen the omelet by running a knife gently around the edge of the skillet. After you’ve transferred it to a plate, cut the omelet into slices and serve.
Serves: 2
Ready to Eat in: 25 minutes
Carbs 20g Fiber 3g Calories 357 Fat 21g Protein 22g
Basic Baked Omelet
This is a great recipe for any low-carber to have in his or her arsenal. You can whip it up quickly and put it in the oven to bake while you go grab your shower and get shiny for your day.
This is the basic version, but you can add all kinds of great ingredients to make variation after variation. Try adding artichoke hearts and sun-dried tomatoes some summer morning.
8 eggs
1 cup half and half
1/2 teaspoon seasoning salt
3 ounces cooked ham, diced
1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 tablespoon dried minced onion
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8x8 glass casserole dish and set that aside.
In a medium bowl, lightly beat the eggs and milk. Add in the seasoning salt, Cheddar cheese, Mozzarella cheese, ham, and minced onion. Pour the egg mixture into the greased casserole dish.
Bake uncovered at 350 degrees F for 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool for three minutes before serving.
Serves: 4
Ready to Eat in: 55 minutes (mostly baking time)
Carbs 6g Fiber 1g Calories 356 Fat 26g Protein 26g
Spinach Breakfast Frittata
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 onion, chopped
1 (10 ounce) package thawed frozen chopped spinach, drained
5 eggs
3 cups shredded Muenster cheese
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9-inch pie pan and set aside.
Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, sauté the onions until they are soft, and then stir in the drained spinach. Continue cooking the onions and spinach until any extra moisture has evaporated. Remove the skillet from the heat.
Combine the cheese, the eggs and the salt and pepper in a large bowl. Add the spinach mixture and stir well. Pour into the prepared 9-in pie pan.
Bake in the oven until your frittata has set, about 30 minutes. Let cool for five minutes before serving.
Serves: 4
Ready to Eat in: 60 minutes
Carbs 11g Fiber 3g Calories 480 Fat 36g Protein 31g
Mediterranean Frittata
I live in Seattle where the mornings are almost always gray, even if the sun comes out later. This frittata evokes the sunny Mediterranean and is a wonderful antidote to a gloomy morning, no matter where you live.
1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
1 small garlic clove, peeled and flattened
1 tablespoon minced fresh oregano leaves
1 tablespoon minced fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes packed in oil, roughly chopped
1/3 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup olives, pitted and minced
6 large eggs
Adjust the oven rack to the middle-upper position. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Over medium heat in a medium-large ovenproof skillet, heat the olive oil and garlic. Once the garlic begins to color slightly, remove it from the skillet and swirl the oil to spread it evenly around the sides and bottom of the pan.
Add the basil, oregano, tomatoes and olives and make sure they’re well coated with oil. Spread them evenly over the bottom of the pan in a single layer.
Sir the feta cheese and black pepper into the eggs and then pour the egg mixture into the skillet. Stir lightly with the bottom of a fork until the eggs start to set. Use a spatula to pull the cooked edges of the omelet toward the center of the pan. As you do that, also tilt the pan slightly in that direction so any uncooked egg runs to the edge and under the frittata.
Return the skillet to a flat position and swirl it to redistribute the eggs. Cook for about 30 seconds and repeat the previous step and keep repeating until the egg on top is no longer runny.
Transfer the frittata to the oven in the skillet and bake until the top is dry to the touch, anywhere from 2-4 minutes. Make sure to remove the frittata as soon as the top is set, because you want it to stay tender inside.
Let cool for a minute, and then loosen the frittata by running a spatula around the edge; invert onto a plate, then serve warm cut into wedges. This is also pretty good at any temperature, including straight from the fridge.
Serves: 4
Ready In: 12 minutes
Carbs 3g Fiber 0.5g Calories 197 Fat 15g Protein 12g
Sweetheart Baked Omelet
This is the lightest omelet on earth and perfect for mornings when you crave something sweet, but don’t have carbs to spare. Serve with a little sour cream and low-sugar raspberry jam to induce a morning mouthgasm.
4 eggs separated
1/2 cup half and half
2 tablespoons Splenda
2 tablespoons butter
Pinch of salt
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
Beat the egg yolks well into the half and half. Add a pinch of salt and Splenda.
In a separate bowl beat the egg whites until stiff.
Melt the butter in a large skillet (which must be ovenproof) with the burner set on medium.
As soon as the butter is melted, fold the egg whites gently into the yolk mixture. Pour the egg mixture into the skillet and cook for about two minutes until the bottom is set
Transfer the skillet with the egg mixture into the preheated oven. Bake until puffy and lightly brown, about 10-20 minutes. Ser
ve immediately.
Serves: 2
Ready to Eat in: 30 minutes
Carbs 5 g Fiber 0g Calories 338 Fat 29g Protein 14g
Sides
How to Cook Perfect Bacon
If you’ve never cooked bacon in the oven before, get ready to have your world and your taste buds rocked. Not only does it turn out perfect every single time, but it’s incredibly easy to clean up after.
First, grab a cookie sheet and line it with foil, curling the edges up a little to catch the bacon fat.
Then cut a package of bacon in half down the middle. This makes the slices of bacon half as short as they were when you started and they are now really easy to fit evenly on the cookie sheet, as well as lay out without stretching the meat (which can lead to uneven cooking).
Half a package should fill one standard-sized cookie sheet with approximately 18 half-pieces of bacon. You can wrap up the other half of the package and pop it back in the fridge, or you can be tricky and cook two batches of bacon at the same time since it’s so easy. Store the extra cooked bacon in the fridge or freezer to eat later. Bacon’s easy to reheat and a low-carber with a bacon stash is a happy low-carber.
Slide the cookie sheet into a cold oven and close the door. Set the oven to 400 degrees F and set a timer for 17 minutes. Then go and do something else (like cooking some delicious food to go with your perfect bacon).
When the timer goes off, check the bacon. Depending on the thickness of the bacon and your personal preference, it may be done. If it’s not, keep checking it every minute until it’s ready. At this point, the bacon will cook very quickly, so pay very close attention to what’s happening in the oven, or your bacon could burn.
Take the pan out of the oven and put the bacon on a plate lined with paper towels as quickly as you can. You can enjoy your bacon after it has cooled for about a minute.
Sweet Potato Hash Browns
These are so great that no one will notice you’ve swapped out the white potatoes with the low-glycemic goodness of the sweet potato.
1/4 pound diced bacon
1/2 cup chopped onions
1/2 tablespoon chopped garlic
1 pound peeled and grated sweet potatoes (about 3)
In a skillet large enough for all the ingredients, cook the bacon until it’s crispy. Without straining the bacon fat from the pan, add the onions and season with salt and pepper. Sauté the onions until they’re soft (about two minutes). Add the sweet potatoes and garlic and a bit more salt and pepper. Fry the hash browns for about 12-15 minutes. Serve warm and don’t eat them all!
These freeze really well and are also great as a side dish with steak or pork at dinner.
Serves: 4
Ready to Eat in: 30 minutes
Carbs 26g Fiber 4g Calories 260 Fat 12g Protein 13g
Low Carb Pancakes
This is the only recipe in the book that requires low carb substitutes for high-carb ingredients (flour). I wanted this book to be filled with great meals that anyone would enjoy eating, low carber or not. But, a breakfast cookbook without pancakes would be a bit strange, so I’m including this recipe, which I happen to think is pretty darn good. Soy protein isolate and vital wheat gluten can both be found at most health food stores and many Trader Joes stores in the US.
This one’s for my fellow pancake freaks.
2 Eggs
2 tablespoons Cream
1 tablespoon Sour Cream (optional)
2-3 tablespoons Water (to desired thickness)
3 tablespoons Soy Protein Isolate
3 tablespoons Vital Wheat Gluten (I use Bob’s Red Mill brand)
1 tablespoon Splenda
3/4 tsp baking powder
Whisk dry ingredients together, set aside. Combine wet ingredients and then gently add to dry ingredients until they are just mixed in. It is okay to have lumps in the batter. It’s very important not to over-mix the gluten, because you will have an unpalatable rubbery disc as your end result.
Cook between medium to medium-low heat in an oiled frying pan or griddle. It’s important to watch the heat on these, and you may need to lower the burner heat as you cook each pancake. They burn more easily than regular pancakes, but they’re just as yummy. Serve with butter and your favorite low-carb pancake topping.
You can make a variation with 1 tablespoon of oat flour, which improves the texture, but adds 3g of carbohydrate to the entire recipe. If you use oat flour, you will want to add an extra 1/2 tablespoon of water to the recipe.
Serves: 2 (makes 4 pancakes)
Ready in: 15 minutes
Carbs 12g Fiber 2g Calories 355 Fat 18g Protein 40g
Egg and Sausage Muffins
These are fabulous to make ahead and store in the fridge for mornings when you’re in a rush. You can grab one, be out the door in 30 seconds and eat it in the car.
1/2 pound ground pork sausage
1/2 (4 ounce) can chopped green chili peppers, drained
12 eggs, beaten
1 small onion, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Lightly grease all the muffin cups in a 12-cup pan, or line them with muffin papers. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Cook sausage in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat until evenly brown. Drain the excess fat and set aside.
Beat the eggs in a large bowl. Mix together the chilies, onion, garlic powder, sausage and salt and pepper to taste. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the sausage and egg mixture into each prepared muffin cup.
Bake in your preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, until the egg has set and a toothpick inserted into the center of each sausage muffin comes out clean.
Serves: 12
Ready to Eat in: 40 minutes
Carbs 3g Fiber 1g Calories 132 Fat 9g Protein 10g
Homemade Breakfast Sausage
A lot of commercially available breakfast sausage has sugar in it, so if you’re really watching your carbs or really don’t want to eat any sugar, this easy recipe offers a great alternative to buying pre-made sausage.
2 pounds ground pork
2 teaspoons dried sage
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon dried marjoram
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1 pinch ground cloves
Stir together the sage, black pepper, salt, red pepper, marjoram, and cloves until completely blended.
Add the spice mix to the pork in a large bowl. Smoosh the pork and spices together well with your hands. Form the sausage meat into patties and set them on a plate.
In a large skillet, sauté the patties over medium high heat for 5 minutes each side. If you’d like to check with a meat thermometer, you want the internal temperature to be at least 160 degrees F.
Serves: 8
Ready to Eat in: 25 minutes
Carbs 0g Fiber 0g Calories 298 Fat 24g Protein 19g
Breakfast Smoothies
Attack of the Health Monster Smoothie
It hasn’t been proven by science (yet), but I believe that just reading the ingredients in this smoothie could make you healthier. It’s absolutely chock full of stuff to make your body happy. The best part is that you’d never think you were drinking a health elixir, because it’s so sinfully delicious.
1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup plain or Greek yogurt
1/4 frozen banana, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup frozen strawberries
Two scoops vanilla whey protein powder
1 1/2 tablespoons flax seed
1 teaspoon Splenda
In a blender, pulse all the ingredients until the smoothie reaches the desired consistency. Add a tablespoon of water to thin the smoothie if necessary.
Serves: 1
Ready to Eat in: 5 minutes
Carbs 28g Fiber 6g Calories 434 Fat 23g Protein 35g
Wake You Up Smoothie
Get your breakfast and your java all in one. This is also really great spiked with instant coffee
and an extra half-cup of ice.
1/2 cup plain or Greek yogurt
1/2 cup half and half
1 cup chilled coffee
1/2 cup ice
2 scoops vanilla whey protein powder
3 teaspoons Splenda
In a blender, pulse all the ingredients except the berries until everything is smooth.
Add the berries and blend again until the desired consistency is reached.
Serves: 1
Ready to Eat in: 5 minutes
Carbs 13g Fiber 0g Calorie 412 Fat 14g Protein 50g
Strawberries and Cream Smoothie
This is a simple recipe, but delicious and good for people on tighter carb budgets.
1/2 cup plain or Greek yogurt
1/2 cup frozen strawberries, unsweetened
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 teaspoons Splenda
3-4 ice cubes
In a blender, pulse all the ingredients until the smoothie reaches the desired consistency. Add a water to thin the smoothie if necessary.
