Eleni's Stuffed Tomato Recipe

Hi all! I've been super busy trying some new recipes and deciding what to post on here. I've got a particular recipe I'm looking forward to posting, but am working on getting all the ingredients together to cook it again with photos. I'm also working on regular and low carb pita recipes. I'll be sure to share when I get them to my liking!

Today, I want to share what we had for dinner: stuffed tomatoes. These were oh-so good! You should definitely give this recipe a try! We had ours along with Γιαγια's (yiayia's or grandma's) recipe for φασολακια (green beans), which is another recipe near and dear to my heart that I or Alex will have to share. Onto this recipe.

Stuffed Tomatoes:

• 4 large beefsteak tomatoes 
• 1 lb. ground beef 
• 1/2 onion, minced
• 1 1/2 t. salt 
• 1 1/2 t. black pepper 
• 1 t. oregano 
• 1 t. garlic powder 
• desired amount of feta cheese, crumbled (I would have used a larger chunk, but only had a little left)

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Cut the tops off each tomato. Using a spoon (I used a dessert spoon with a serrated edge), scoop and scrape around the edge of the tomato to remove the insides from the outer meat and skin. Set hollow tomatoes aside. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
3. Into a medium bowl, scoop the tomato seeds and juice. I discarded the majority of the tomato meat. The juice helps keep the meat moist and give it a great flavor. Add the beef, onion, and seasonings to the bowl and mash and mix with a fork until well incorporated.
   
   
   
   
    (This is most of the inner tomato meat. Discard this, or blend it and season it for tomato sauce!)
4. In a large skillet, brown beef completely. Add feta cheese and mix until fully incorporated.  
   
   
   
   
5. Place hollow tomatoes into a baking dish. Spoon and fill the meat mixture into each tomato. 
   
6. Bake tomatoes for 25 minutes. 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Viola! Don't those look tasty? As T-Rex says "Mmmm, Momma! Delicious!" 

Keep an eye for more yummy things from us sisters. We have lots more coming your way! Until next time! 

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

More Tips for Keto/Low Carb

I was inspired by Eleni's very informative post and thought I would add my two cents.

 

MY KETO STORY

After stumbling upon the /r/keto subreddit and doing some preliminary research, I started a ketogenic diet in April 2011. My goals were completely vain -- at 5'9" and 160 pounds, I was bigger than I was used to (especially around the stomach) and wanted to lose weight fast without being hungry and still being able to eat things like mayonnaise and eggs and salami. Using MyFitnessPal as a macronutrient and calorie counting resource, I made sure I was eating no more than 1600 calories per day and that my nutrient ratios were 65% fat, 25-30% protein, and 5-10% carbohydrate. I rarely went over 50 net carbohydrates per day and I diligently tracked every morsel and each liquid that passed my lips.

By the end of May 2011, I lost almost 20 pounds and had the nicest physique I had ever had, without doing any extra exercise (just my regular NYC walking and twice weekly Simple Fit workouts). Some of this result is due to genetics -- my family tends to have defined, lean muscles even at higher body fat rates and we tend to be lean overall -- but I'd say 80% was just eating keto.

I lost a few more pounds (at my lowest ever -- 135 pounds) and then maintained this weight and physique using a ketogenic diet and rigorous boot camp training and weight lifting (exercising 5-6 days per week) through November 2012 (because I was exercising more, I relaxed my nutrient tracking and allowed myself more calories).

However, I got engaged in September 2012, and then fell prey to holiday food in November and December. I was having a hard time at my job and our apartment had some serious structural problems (our bathroom ceiling caved in!), and I used that as an excuse to get lax with diet and exercise.

With the stress of getting married, changing jobs, moving, setting up our new apartment and getting used to my new position at a new firm, I completely neglected my eating habits and exercise regime for basically an entire year. By September 2013, I was the biggest I have ever been in my entire life -- 180 pounds. Getting back into my  healthy habits has been a struggle. But keto has been a miracle for me, once again. I'm now down to about 150 pounds (still have 15-20 pounds left to lose). My exercise habits have not bounced back yet -- but that 30 pounds of weight (even while being somewhat inconsistent) have melted off with keto.

All that story is to preface 3 key things I've learned from doing a very low carb/ketogenic diet on and off for the past three years.

NUMBER ONE

Consistency Is Key

Keto is awesome, but if you go "off the wagon" and eat sugar/grains/starchy food on even a semi-regular basis, along with all the fat and protein you are used to, you WILL gain all the weight back and FAST. If you want to transition out of a ketogenic diet, I would recommend doing so like Eleni does and still "eating clean" with your carbohydrates coming from potatoes, sweet potatoes, fruit and whole grains like oats and quinoa. If you transition out of keto, you will also need to cut back on fat intake. The whole point of a ketogenic diet is fueling your body on fat. But if you add more carbohydrates, you are basically confusing your body -- it will start to run on glucose again and instead of metabolizing fat you are keeping the extra fat you are eating.

If you do keto, get keto adapted, and then abruptly start eating thoughtlessly like I did (New York City pizza and Chinese takeout, anyone?), you will pile on the pounds but quick. I ended up being TWENTY POUNDS HEAVIER than I ever was in my entire life by being inconsistent with keto. 

NUMBER TWO

Fat Is Your Friend

 

Make sure you are eating A LOT of fat. Err on the side of too much fat (and very low carbs)! Fat keeps you full, in a good mood, and fuels your body on keto. Scrumptious, fatty, luscious avocados will become your favorite fruit. I always stock up and then refridgerate once ripe to have a big supply. Here's one of my favorite keto snacks:

 

 

All that is? Half an avocado with a scoop of full-fat cottage cheese! It is AMAZING and the macronutrient ratios are almost perfect. You know I'm lazy -- I just bring an uncut avocado and a little container of cottage cheese from home, cut the avocado in half at work, plop the cottage cheese on top in work kitchen and DONE. It's gobbled at my desk with a spoon on days where I'm busy. If I want to make a lunch of it, I'll eat both halves and double cottage cheese. If not, I'll wrap other half of the avocado for next day. It's around 600 calories total for a full avocado.

 

Another thing is to always have a fat pick-me-up around, especially when you are first getting keto adapted. This helps keep you satiated AND sane. I always keep this in my drawer at work:

 

PORK RINDS. They are amazing source of fat, have no carbs, and you feel "normal," like you are getting a nice, potato chip-like snack (especially if co-workers eat garbage snack food around you).

 

NUMBER THREE

Alcohol is NOT Your Friend

 

You CAN have alcohol on a ketogenic diet -- but basically only sparing helpings of dry red or white wine or hard liquor with mixers like plain seltzer and Diet Coke. However, please take it from me: your alcohol tolerance is SEVERELY limited on keto! Your body is running on ketones for fuel and because of this, your body metabolizes alcohol completely differerently.

 

Where before I could have 3 or 4 mixed drinks over the course of a weekend night out on the town and be completely fine the next day with no hangover? On keto that is a recipe for being blackout drunk, not remembering anything past the first drink, and waking up with the worst head-pounding-stomach-churning-just-plain-evil hangover EVER. Trust me, I found this out the hard way this Valentine's Day. My husband was not too amused about me first drunkenly dancing around the apartment and then not being able to function after two drinks! Not to mention having to help me through the next day's earth-shattering hangover.

 

I don't care WHAT your tolerance is on a normal diet -- I guarantee you that you will be an EXTREME lightweight on keto.

 

Basically, if you want to drink, please be careful. On keto I can get a buzz off a single drink. The problem is not knowing your limit because you are used to drinking more, or gettting so buzzed off a single drink that you decide you want to drink more "for fun." Trust me, next day will be the least fun day of your life.

 

Please, please, please: pace yourself and be smart about your alcohol intake while on a low carb or keto diet.

***

 

I hope that, through my own trial and error, you may glean some insights that will help you with your diet regimen!

 

Keto is amazing, but like anything, it's not a magic wand -- it takes work and thought to gain the most benefits.

 

As always, please let us know if you have any questions -- we love to hear from you. Also, I think Eleni and I will be focusing on some "crunchy" home beauty secrets in our next round of posts. Stay tuned!

 

-Alex

Tips for Keto/Low Carb

After explaining what keto is and why it works so well, I hear from a lot of people that it sounds interesting, but overwhelming to get started. Many people wonder we have for meals, since mainstays in a normal American diet such as pasta and bread are out of limits. I wanted to share a few things from our house that might make others' transitions into keto or low carb a little easier.

First, let me share the meal that we had last night that you might not think of as keto right off the bat. Keep in mind, some people on keto are very serious about tracking the amount of carbs, fat, and protein they are taking in. T-Rex and I are not on a full keto diet (further explanation in a moment). Hubster kept track of his ratios in the beginning. Since he has been doing keto for about a year and has lost his goal amount of weight (25 lbs.! ROCK ON, BABY! SO proud of your determination!), he doesn't really track his ratios anymore. He mostly stays away from things he knows he should not eat and eats the things he knows he should. So, about our meal last night...

We had seasoned, bone-in pork chops and chopped salad. I seasoned the chops with my favorite "grill" seasoning that I get from the farmer's market. I'm not sure what herbs and spices are in it, but it is delicious and works well with pretty much everything. The chopped salad consists of chopped romaine, tomato, cucumber, onion, mushroom, broccoli, chopped "boiled egg" (check out my previous post here to see how I make my "hard-boiled" eggs), shredded colby cheese, and chopped bacon.

This meal may not seem low carb since it is typical to have a meat with a salad for dinner, but by adding things like bacon, eggs, cheese, and full-fat dressing to a salad, which is also full of lots of yummy veggies, you can bring up your fat ratio.

Like I said before, T-Rex and I don't follow a full keto diet. Our fat and protein ratios are usually high (good fat is very important for the development of young brains!), and our carb ratios low, but we will eat some carbs. When we eat grains, they are always whole grain. Other carbs we eat sometimes are beans and lentils.

Sometimes for dinner, I want to make pasta. T-Rex and I are ok to eat whole what pasta, but obviously that doesn't work for Hubster's diet. I use an idea from Alex, instead! I steam broccoli florets and put whatever pasta sauce on broccoli instead of pasta. He still gets the yummy sauce and a filling portion of veggies, without the added carbs.

We make another modification when we want to have sandwiches. T-Rex and I will have sandwiches on whole-wheat bread. Instead of bread, Hubster will have a wrap on a high fiber tortilla. These are the kind that we like:

7" La Tortilla Factory Whole Wheat Low Carb Tortillas (Regular Size)

They end up being only 3 net carbs. Not so shabby for tortillas!

If you have any questions or modification ideas about/for keto, please leave a comment! We love to hear from you! Until next time!

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Keto Tilapia Fish Sticks

This is a kid-friendly (and adult-friendly) recipe that works well with keto. I use this coating recipe for fish, chicken, and string cheese. It is my go-to! When we get an itch for these breaded foods, I make a big batch of the coating and store it in a gallon baggie in the freezer so I don't have to mix it up every time. For this recipe, I have listed the ingredients for single use, for just the fish sticks.

Keto Tilapia Fish Sticks:

• 1/2 cup parmesan cheese 
• 1 1/4 cup almond flour 
• 1 T. paprika 
• 1/2 T. salt 
• 1 t. garlic powder 
• 1/2 t. pepper 
• 2 eggs, beaten in a medium bowl and set aside 
• 4-5 tilapia fillets 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a medium bowl, mix together parmesan, almond flour, and seasonings. Set aside. 
   
3. Cut each tilapia fillet lengthwise in 4 strips or "sticks". 
   
4. Grab bowl with beaten eggs, or egg wash. Individually dip and coat each fish stick in the egg wash, then immediately dip and coat in the breading. Place breaded fish stick onto uncoated cookie sheet. Repeat this step until all fish sticks are breaded. 
   
   
   
   
5. Bake fish sticks for 10-12 minutes, until internal temperature is 145 degrees (the fish should be opaque at this point). 
   

Ta da! You now have a delicious and healthy dinner! And the kids won't fuss about eating fish. This was not much of a problem at our house growing up, but I hear that others have a hard time getting their younger kids to try seafood. 

We ate this with cauliflower "rice" and mixed veggies, buttered and salted. Yum! I hope you enjoy this as much as we do. Until next time. 

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Keto Shepherd's Pie Casserole

Continuing our long-running penchant for ground beef and cauliflower: I whipped this up on Wednesday night. This is a filling and delicious Winter comfort food while being healthy, keto, and very low carb. Also, you get some nice Greek-style tastes here from the olive oil melted garlic, onion and peppers!

Keto Shepherd's Pie Casserole

• 1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
• 2 green peppers
• 2 yellow onions
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 large head of cauliflower
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• salt, pepper, cayenne pepper to taste
• cheddar cheese

1.) Finely chop peppers, onions, and garlic. Sauté salted vegetables on medium high heat in olive oil until onions and garlic are "melted" and translucent.

2.) While veggies are cooking, remove outer leaves and stem of cauliflower. Roughly chop up the cauliflower. Boil chopped cauliflower in salted water. Make sure the boiled cauliflower is still firm and not mushy -- you want your faux-tato casserole topping to be creamy, not watery. Drain cauliflower.

3.) Once vegetables are cooked and melted, add ground beef and salt and pepper to taste. Brown meat in vegetable mixture.

3.) Add salt, butter, and pepper to taste to your boiled, drained cauliflower. Then mix all in food processor or blender. (I used my trusty Ninja!) Set faux-tato mash aside.

4.) Once meat mixture is cooked, layer meat evenly into a casserole pan.

 

5.) Evenly spread your faux-tatoes on top of the meat mixture.

 

Pro Tip: A flexible spatula is the best way to get a nice and even layer here. It's useful for lots of things, really, including icing baked goods. We have a great set of silicone spatulas in three different sizes. Bonus when using silicone spatulas: they don't melt at high heat!

 

 

6.) Grate cheddar cheese and sprinkle on top of the casserole. I did this because cauliflower does not brown the way potatoes do in a traditional Shepherd's pie -- cauliflower lacks the starch to do so. The melted cheese on top basically completes the "look" of the pie. It's also delicious! I also lightly sprinkled on some cayenne for the same reasons (and you know how much I love cayenne!)
 

 



7.) Bake casserole in oven for 25 minutes at 375 degrees. Keep an eye out, though...if the sides start bubbling over, take it out ASAP!

8.) Admire your pretty pie.

9.) EAT!

Pro Tip #2: Wait about 5-10 minutes to let this cool down and use your large silicone spatula to cut squares and serve (as you can see from the above picture, I was in a rush and hungry and didn't take my own advice at first...). This casserole really stays together and looks nice. It's also very easily reheatable!

I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as Bear and I did! Let us know what you think in the comments!

-Alex

Homemade Chicken and Veggie Soup (Keto/Low-Carb Friendly)

Yesterday I was sick. I woke up and wanted nothing more than to curl back under the covers and die. But, alas, I have a little one to play with all day, and a house to clean in anticipation for opening my home daycare (I cannot put into words how excited and nervous I am!!). Sore throat, headache, body aches, the chills, yet no fever. I had no real appetite, which is insane, just ask my sisters. What could I eat at a time like this? Homemade chicken soup, of course!

This is very similar to the soup that our Yiayia and Papa Sid made us when we were sick. The one difference is they would both add rice. Obviously that doesn't work for our keto household, so I left it out. I'll write an option for it if you would like rice in your soup.

Homemade Chicken and Veggie Soup (Greek Style)

• Olive oil
• 1/2 of a medium onion, finely diced
• 2 chicken breasts 
• 4 chicken bouillon cubes 
• 8 cups water 
• 1 cup of celery, sliced 
• 1 cup of carrots, sliced 
• Optional: 1/2 cup rice. I prefer brown rice, but don't use rice when Hubster will be eating it

1. In a large pot, drizzle a bit of olive oil. On medium heat, sauté onions until translucent. 
   
2. Add chicken breasts, bouillon cubes, and water to the pot. Bring mixture to a roiling boil, then reduce heat, cover, and simmer about 45 minutes. Optional:if you are adding rice, add it to the pot now.
   
3. Uncover, pull chicken breasts out of pot, and cut into small pieces, or shred. Whichever you prefer. I used kitchen shears and cut the chicken up to my liking. 
   
   
   
4. Add chicken back to the pot. Add carrots and celery to the pot. Cover and simmer for 15-20 minutes, until veggies are tender, but not mushy. 
   
   
5. Remove from heat and enjoy your lovely cold weather comfort food. 
   

This soup turned out great! In the past, I have had a hard time seasoning soup well enough, but the bouillon, chicken, and veggies add great flavor. Hubster is usually critical of my soup (he has been such a trooper with my experiments!) and he loved this soup. T-Rex really enjoyed it too! We ate the soup along with cheese quesadillas and it was quite the yummy combination. It had me feeling much better on this yucky, sick day. 

I hope this soup brings you comfort as it did for me! Feel free to comment and let us know how you are liking the recipes!! Until next time. 

Φιλάκια, 

Eleni

Keto Jalapeño Bacon Cheeseburger Stacks

It's amazing the deliciousness you can create when you are forced to use your ingenuity. My husband and I collaborated last night to create the following meal, using only the dregs of our nearly grocery-less refridgerator. (It also helps to only buy keto-friendly items on the regular!)

Yumminess embodied.

Jalapeño Bacon Cheeseburger Stacks (served on Garlic Cauliflower Mashed Faux-tatoes)

For the Stacks:

• about 3/4 to 1 pound ground beef
• 1 large jalapeño pepper
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 large egg
• salt and pepper to taste
• 3 slices thick cut bacon, each slice cut in half
• 8 large "button" shaped portabella mushrooms
• cheddar cheese (we didn't have slices, we cut off a block, it looks a little silly in the pics, but it melted down beautifully)
• little bit of olive oil to lightly grease burger pan
• dill for garnish

For the Faux-tatoes:

• 1/2 to 3/4 of a head of cauliflower, roughly chopped
• 2 cloves garlic
• 4 tablespoons butter
• salt to taste

Serving Size: 2
Preparation and Cooking Time: approximately 40-45 minutes

1.) Finely mince the jalapeño pepper and garlic. We used our Ninja chopper.

2.) Mix ground beef, mixed veggies, spices and 1 egg well in a large mixing bowl, until beef shows no signs of texturization and is "sticky" to touch.

3.) Start boiling some water for your cauliflower. At a good, roiling boil, add the cauliflower and a bit of salt. Cauliflower should boil until tender, but not mushy. You want a nice and hearty mashed faux-tatoes, not gruel! Ours took about 10 minutes. 

 

4.) As your cauliflower boils, evenly form your meat into 4 patties and place in a greased pan to cook. Eleni has a George Forman grill (which I am jealous of and which would make the burger cooking process easier) but cooking on a stovetop works just fine. Simultaneously start cooking your halved bacon slices in another pan.

How awesome are our cast-iron pans? They are non-stick, work wonderfully and create less mess!



 

5.) With one eye on your busy stovetop, chop up your mushrooms and get your slices of cheese ready for the stacking, which is coming soon!

6.) Bacon cooks fast! Place your cooked bacon on a small, paper towel covered plate to the side. Then immediately add the mushrooms to the hot bacon grease to cook.

7.) Make sure you flip your burgers as needed and get your cauliflower off the stove as soon as it is tender. Transfer the cauliflower and all the other faux-tatoes ingredients to a food processor and blend well. (We used the large Ninja blender for this).

8.) Make sure burgers and mushrooms are completely cooked to your temperature and taste specifications. We cooked the burgers medium well and only lightly sauteed the mushrooms. Obviously, there are many possibilities.

9.) Stack time! First is a generous portion of faux-tatoes. Then place a burger patty on top of each faux-tato portion. Top this burger with cheddar. Place the second patty on top of the cheddar. Place your bacon on top of the second burger patty. Top the whole shebang with freshly sauteed mushrooms. We then garnished with a bit of dried dill.





Pure joy for your mouth.

 

I really can't overstate how awesome these were. They were quickly devoured as we made "mmm" noises and nodded haughtily at one another, proud of our last minute creation.

 

Enjoy!

 

-Alex

 

P.S.

 

I am planning to make a bunch of low-carb/keto Greek food soon. Including an experiment with low-carb phyllo dough (I think of it as Franken-Phyllo...). Stay tuned!

Crockpot Hot Pot Chicken

I have been excited for this recipe for awhile now. It exceeded my greatest expectations; honestly, this was the best chicken I have ever cooked.

Quick backstory: Bear and I eat Chinese hot pot quite frequently with our friends R. and S.  S. is from Beijing, and introduced us to hot pot at a restaurant in Midtown a few years ago. We were instantly hooked and often meet up with them and other friends to share a hot pot.

R. and S. have recently settled into a beautiful, huge apartment in Brooklyn and invite us over fairly frequently for S.'s awesomely delicious, homemade hot pot. Hot pot is all about the seasoned broth -- she prepares her broth in a neat pot with a divider. On one side is mild, delicious pork broth.  On the other side, hot and spicy broth. The last time we went, S. gave me a packet of the seasoning she uses for the spicy broth side of the hot pot, and I have been itching to use it ever since.

 

 

(The price for this on Amazon is, frankly, shocking to me, because S. picks up packets of the same spice mix at a Chinese grocery store for $1.99 each!)

I figured I would marry two of my culinary loves -- hot pot and the crockpot -- into one delicious hodgepodge.

Crockpot Hot Pot Chicken

• 1 three-pound to five-pound roasting chicken (basically a chicken big enough to fit nicely in your crockpot and still be able to close the lid)
• 1/2 packet Baijia hot pot seasoning (Note: this stuff is STRONG and SPICY.  I only used half of a packet for the entire chicken and that was perfectly enough.)
• 1 large onion
• olive oil to grease crock pot base

1.) Cut the onion into pieces and layer on bottom of greased crockpot base. This is a protective layer to keep chicken skin from burning into the ceramic base and keep juices circulating as the chicken slow cooks.

2.) Remove giblets from chicken's body cavity and cut off any excess skin (if necessary). However, I decided to just put the giblets into the crockpot. I LOVE chicken neck and liver and figured they would taste incredible in the seasoning too. I was right.

3.) Rub down chicken with hot pot seasoning, careful to make sure some seasoning is applied inside the body cavity and also in every nook and cranny of the chicken.

4.) Place the chicken breast side up in the crockpot on top of the onion protective layer.

...and that's it! Preparation time was only 10 minutes. I covered up the chicken and put it in the fridge. The next morning I took the seasoned chicken out of the refridgerator and plugged in my crockpot on the "Low" setting.

I came home 8 hours later to this lovely smelling bird:

We served our juicy hot pot chicken over fresh riced cauliflower, sauteed in a little bit of butter and garlic. Yes, actually fresh (not frozen) cauliflower. It only took about 15 minutes to get the right consistency. Maybe I am getting less lazy!

This was one of the best meals of my year. Seriously. And it was so incredibly simple -- it took 10 minutes to prepare and was ready when I got home from work! You really can't beat that.

As soon as we pick our hot pot birdy clean, I am going to boil down the carcass into some nice spicy chicken stock using (of course!) the crockpot. Maybe I'll use the stock to make some of that jambalaya Eleni recommended!

Enjoy and let us know what you think.

-Alex

P.S.

Some of you out there, like Eleni, may not like spicy food. You can still make this recipe using mild hot pot soup base. Just as flavorful, but less piquant.

See:
 

Again, if you have a Chinese grocery store nearby, you're better off getting your packets there -- they are much cheaper!