Greek Turkey Meatballs

I love, love, love, Greek food. I have a favorite Pork Soulvaki recipe that I turn to over and over again. Now I've found a second favorite recipe, Greek style meatballs, a recipe that I'm sure I will use over and over again.

Although the original recipes uses ground chicken, I used ground turkey. These meatballs are full of flavor and would be delicious made into burgers, as well. I didn't make the tzaziki sauce to go along with the meatballs but I know that it would be a delicious sauce on them.

These little gems are low carb, too! I can't wait to make this recipe into burgers and try them on an oopsie roll! (another recipe that I still haven't tried yet.)

Another excellent point was that my son and my husband thought that they were delicious. No way was my 6 yr. old going to try them but I'm thrilled that the other two liked them.

Here is the original recipe with any of my changes in bold next to it.

Spanikopita Chicken Meatballs
1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 onion, grated
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 box frozen chopped spinach, defrosted (I used 1/2 of a 750 g bag of Europe's Best) (I used 1/2 of a 12 oz bag of frozen spinach - no specific brand...whatever happened to be on sale that week. )
3/4 cup crumbled feta cheese (optional) (I left it out but I'm going to try it next time)
1 lb ground chicken (I used 1 lb. ground turkey)
1 tbsp grill seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Defrost the spinach in the microwave, then place in a kitchen towel and squeeze to remove all the excess water. Place in a large mixing bowl with the rest of the ingredients and mix really well. I didn't use feta because it made the recipe more expensive and I knew my husband and I wouldn't miss it. I've tried it with and without and both are delicious. If you too want to cut costs, don't worry...it's totally amazing without.

Roll into about 18 (1 1/2 inch) meatballs (I made 15 golf ball-sized meatballs) and place on a cookie sheet. Drizzle with a little bit more olive oil and place in oven and bake for about 12 minutes, turn over and bake for another 10-14 minutes or until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked all the way thro.

**my notes**  This recipe would be great to make mini meatballs for soup or to make into burgers for oopsie rolls or low carb tortillas...or just plain on a plate with all of the fixins. Freeze any leftovers. 

Low Carb Chocolate Cheesecake

After reading how some of my fellow low carbing friends eat cheesecake for breakfast, I was determined to find a recipe for a low carb chocolate cheesecake that would serve as dessert for Valentine's Day and as breakfast, too. Debbie, who I met from FamilyCorner.com, posted this low carb cheesecake recipe for me. It sounded great so I decided to add some cocoa to it to see if the chocolate taste would come through enough to satisfy my cravings.

It worked just fine.

Here is the original recipe with my changes printed below it:

Low Carb Cheesecake
3 packages (1 and 1/2 lbs) cream cheese, room temperature
4 eggs, room temperature
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/3 cups worth of artificial sweetener
1/4 cup sour cream

Crust
1 cup almond meal
2 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp artificial sweetener


Heat oven to 375 F.Combine ingredients for crust, and press into the bottom of a springform pan. Bake for 8-10 minutes, till fragrant and beginning to brown. Raise oven heat to 400 degrees, or lower to 350 degrees if you're using a water bath (see below).Put cream cheese in mixing bowl, and beat till fluffy. Add other ingredients, scraping the bowl and beaters each time (this is very important), fully incorporating each ingredient. When all ingredients are combine, scrap one more time, beat one more minute, and pour mixture into pan over crust.

Instructions for water bath: Wrap the bottom and sides of the springform pan in foil, put it in a baking pan and pour boiling water around the sides. Bake at 350 for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 degress, remove from oven.

Instructions for non water bath: For this method, you start the cake at a high temperature, and it slowly drops. If you have stoneware, bricks, etc, this allows it to happen at a slower rate, and I get better results in less time. Put the cheesecake on a sheet pan in case of drippage. After putting the cheesecake in the oven at 400 degrees, turn the oven down to 200. Bake for 60 to 90 minutes, checking often after an hour. When the cake is firm to touch but slightly soft in the center, or the center reaches 155 degrees, remove from oven.
Chill completely. Top with fruit.Makes 16 servings.

With regular cream cheese, each servings has 1.5 grams carbohydrate, 5 grams protein, and 174 calories.

My changes/additions: 

I added 4 TBSP cocoa to it to make it chocolate.

I made it in a 10" spring form pan to make the slices bigger but not as tall. For a regular cheesecake, you would probably want to use an 8" pan.

I used the non-water bake method to bake this. It took just 60 minutes to bake.

Also, this cheesecake is not really sweet, especially with the cocoa added to it. I like it this way but if you like it on the sweeter side, I would suggest adding another 1/3 c. of sugar substitute to it. The texture is firm, yet creamy. The almond crust is a nice treat but I bet that this could be made without it if you chill the cheesecake really well before slicing it.

Make sure to keep scraping the bow (including the bottom of the bowl), as suggested. After a lot of beating, I still had a few white spots in my cheesecake -- I didn't mind it at all. The next time I will add the cocoa in 1 TBSP at a time and then mix it well afterward.

I sliced it into 8 pieces instead of 16 because I'm going to eat most of it for breakfast and with the low carb count (you have to add in the carb count for the cocoa), I figured that it was ok for the bigger pieces. lol! (Don't you just love my reasoning?)

 

 

My husband liked this, too. He had some Cool Whip on his.

I stored the slices in a plastic container in-between layers of waxed paper. Make sure to use a lid that will seal tightly. Cheesecake can also be frozen.

Enjoy! 

Menu Plan Monday - My Low Carb + Family Dinner Menu

Here we are on another dreary Monday. If you are like me, you're ready for spring! I can't wait to see the sun shining brightly, to hear the birds chirping and to see the flower buds peaking out from the dirt.

I'm trying two new recipes this week. Other than that, I'm planning meals from the food that I have in our freezer. Hopefully I can keep my grocery shopping for the week to a minimal.


My Low Carb Menu

M - Greek style turkey meatballs* w/ sauteed green beans - new recipe

T- turkey ham & cheese omelet

W- steak salad

H- baked chicken, salad & a veggie to be determined

F- pizza bowl

A - Chinese 5-spice chicken w/ faux rice* and broccoli - new recipe


Family Menu

M - chicken noodle soup

T - scalloped potatoes & turkey ham

W - steak salads

H - baked chicken, rice & gravy, and a veggie to be determined

F - baked ziti 

A - Chinese 5-spice chicken stir fry* w/ Jasmine rice - new recipe

To see more great menus, check out Menu Plan Monday!

Welcome to the Cookie Carnival's New Home!

I'm happy to announce that the Cookie Carnival has found a new home here at Tami's Kitchen Table Talk!

Let's get baking again!  Please take a minute to review the FAQs below as there have been some changes in the emailing information that you will need to participate.

I look forward to meeting and talking with all of the Cookie Carnival regulars, as well as, the newbies that will be joining in on the fun!

I am going to offer a cookie for February for those who would like to bake it with me. Be on the lookout sometime today for an email from me containing that recipe. (Kate was kind enough to pass along the current email list)

I realize that there's only a couple of weeks left to bake this one, so please don't feel pressured into baking it if you don't have the time. We'll start March off with different cookie. 

If you have any questions or comments, don't hesitate to email me: yinzerfan@gmail.com  

I'm always open to suggestions. This is my first time hosting an event like this so please bear with me if I make mistakes along the way. 

If you've made it this far through this post, I hope that I've peaked your interest enough to join us in baking some wonderful cookies!

Thanks, Kate, for having the faith in me to pass along the reigns! I hope that you will join us whenever you are able to!

Hugs,
Tami


Cookie Carnival FAQs

HOW do I join up?

Send an email to yinzerfan{AT}gmail{DOT}com, please put "cookie carnival" in the subject line. and I'll email you the recipe of the month.

When do you post the round-up?
Good question. Whenever I can get to it! I ask for the links and photos to be sent to me by a certain date (usually the last or second to last day of the month) my intention is to get the post up in the following day or 2.

How will I know the round-up is up?
I will send you an email with the link.

What do I have to do to be included in the round-up?
Easy. Just send me an email by the appointed date including a link to your post (not to your blog, but a direct link to your post). that's all!

Will you post a photo of my cookies?

YES! In order to have a photo up as part of the round-up, all you have to do is attach one to your email that includes the link to your post. Your photo MUST meet the following criteria in order to be posted:

A. it must be titled with your blog name. example: tamiskitchentabletalk.jpg
B. it must be no larger than a width of 205.

If your photo meets these criteria, I'll post it. Please understand that it's very time consuming to put the round-up together. This will ensure that I can do the work more quickly!

When/how will I find out the new recipe for the month?
I will email it to you sometime in the first week of the month.

Do I have to participate every month?

NO! This blog event is open in that way. You can participate or not. It's up to you! Just make sure you get me a link to your post when you DO participate, so we can all see how you did! Ilove to have people participate as much as possible, but we're all busy, so we do what we can!

How do I opt out?

Just send me an email telling me to remove you from the list.

Can I submit a recipe for consideration?
Heck yeah! Just email me the recipe and I'll toss it in the pot. Sometimes I'll decide a recipe by a vote as well.

Sound like fun? I hope so! Let the cookie baking and mouth watering begin!



**New**

I've had a few people email me to ask "Can I join the Cookie Carnival without having a blog?"

YES!  You can join the Cookie Carnival if you follow these rules:

Please email me to let me know that you would like to join. I will add you to the email list so that you will start receiving the recipes each month. At this time please let me know that you will be participating via email.

1. You must email me one picture of your cookies - no bigger than 50 x 50, please.

2. Please include a sentence or two about yourself - ex: your name and where you live

3. Please include a comment about the cookies - good or bad or just a thought pertaining to the cookies.

4. Please let me know if you followed the recipe as written or if you made changes - and if you did, what changes did you make? I will post those changes, too.

Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia - Low Carb, Too!

This was another great dish that my whole family really liked. All of the ingredients are low carb, too!

If you're not found of fish, I suggest giving this a try. It has a very mellow flavor and the Parmesan cheese adds a nice crunch around the edges.

Red Pepper & Parmesan Talapia
taken from the Taste of Home Busy
Family Recipes 2010 magazine

I doubled this recipe

¼ cup egg substitute
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ to 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
½ teaspoon pepper
4 tilapia fillets (6 oz. each) - The fillets I used weren't 6 oz. each, they were smaller

Place egg substitute in a shallow bowl. In another shallow bowl, combine the cheese, Italian seasoning, pepper flakes and pepper. Dip fillets in egg substitute, then cheese mixture.

Place in a 15-in. x 10-in. x 1-in. baking pan coated with cooking spray. -- Do not skip this step or the cheese will stick to the pan. 

Bake at 425° for 10-15 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

Shown here with a side of sauteed squash w/ roasted red peppers. YUM!

Delish and only 1 carb per serving!