Pizza Sub Wrap

When I was a kid we used to have a pizza place nearby that served hot subs made with lunch meats, tomato paste and mozzarella cheese. I was a teenager before I realized that there was any other kind of "sub" sandwich. And since I've been grown, I've never found the pizza place kind of sub anywhere but my hometown. So I learned to make a version of it at home, using deli buns.

This version contains the same toppings but in a low carb tortilla. It's quite good. Although I keep hearing the "Hot Pockets" tagline as sung by Jim Gaffigan in my head whenever I make them.

For each wrap you will need:

1 low carb tortilla
1 T. tomato paste
1 slice bologna, cut in half
1 slice hard salami, cut in half
2 slices lunchmeat ham (I used Oscar Meyer Smoked Ham lunchmeat)
Small handful of shredded mozzarella cheese
1 square of foil big enough to wrap the sandwich for the oven

Spread tomato paste on tortilla. Lay out meat slices to mostly cover the tortilla. (You will use both halves of the bologna and salami on the sandwich.) Sprinkle the cheese over the meat, and fold the wrap in thirds. Wrap in foil. Bake at 450 for approximately 10 minutes. Allow to cool a few minutes before eating, the center will be hot!

Slow Cooker Pork Tacos (or Taco Bowls)

1 pork shoulder roast
1 c. water
Adobo seasoning to taste (Goya brand)
low carb tortillas
Toppings of your choice

Put roast, water and seasoning in slow cooker, and cook all day on low.

Shred the meat with two forks. You can take it out of the slow cooker liquid if you want it more dry and roast-like, or mix in some of the liquid if you want it a bit soupy.

Serve hot pork on low carb tortillas and top with your favorite toppings. I used shredded colby-jack cheese, sour cream, fresh pico de gallo and shredded green cabbage.

I wound up taking off the tortilla and eating the pork and toppings with a fork, it was so good that way I probably won't bother with the tortilla next time.

Breakfast, Lunch and Snack Foods

• Unsweetened chocolate almond milk (add a little sweetener of your choice or drink plain)
• Full-fat cottage cheese with chopped tomatoes
• Hard boiled eggs (buy the pre-cooked and peeled kind in a bag)
• Scrambled eggs (with or without add-ins or toppings such as chorizo sausage, veggies, cheese, pico de gallo, etc)
• BACON
• Bologna pizza roll-up: tomato paste & mozzarella on a slice of turkey bologna (can also add salami or pepperoni)
• Microwave flax bread
• Celery with cream cheese
• Celery with pimento cheese
• Celery with natural peanut butter
• Raw veggies with guacamole
• Raw veggies with dip: radishes, cauliflower, pepper strips, celery, mushrooms
• Raw mushrooms dipped in marinara
• Pork rinds with french onion dip
• Pork rinds with natural peanut butter and sugar-free strawberry jello (tastes like PBJ!)
• Pork rinds with peanut butter, cup of chicken broth or boullion (reminds me of my favorite childhood lunch of peanut butter sandwich with chicken noodle soup)
• Pork rinds dusted with Splenda and cinnamon (tastes like cinnamon twists from Taco Bell)
• Shrimp with low carb cocktail sauce
• Cheese sticks (cheddar jack, orange & white string cheese)
• Nuts (watch portion sizes & carb count. Cashews are apparently a little higher carb than other nuts)
• V-8 juice (1/2 cup is 5 grams of carb)
• Cucumber slices with rice wine vinegar
• Cucumber slices with Olive Garden salad dressing
• Baby tomatoes or tomato wedges with Olive Garden salad dressing
• Berries
• Pickles
• Olives
• Pizza bowl: sliced mushrooms topped with marinara and cheddar jack cheese
• Hot dogs with cucumber slices, mustard & ketchup, celery salt, sport peppers
• Lunch meat
• Ham (Hormel Brown Sugar Cured) with green pepper slices
• Taco salad (hamburger seasoned with taco spices, on top of lettuce with salsa, sour cream, olives, tomatoes, avocado, etc.)
• Chicken salad (white meat chicken, mayo, chopped celery, serve in half an avocado if desired)
• Tuna salad
• Shrimp salad
• Turkey bratwurst (leftovers)
• Cold chicken wings (leftovers previously roasted with seasoned salt)
• Crystal Lite (I like the pomegranate cherry). Add chia seeds for fun.
• Sugar-free Jello cup - chop up the Jello into cubes and add a little heavy cream. It's like Jello mixed with whipped cream and you don't even need to add sweetener)
• Greek yogurt - add a little Crystal Lite for flavor (lemonade or cherry pomegranate is really good. Can also sprinkle with sliced almonds.)
• Cottage cheese with berries
• Atkins Shakes (dark chocolate royalle flavor is delicious)
• Chicken broth - supposed to be good for "Keto flu" symptoms
• Hot and sour broth - chicken broth or boullion with vinegar and cayenne pepper. 
• Hot and sour soup - hot and sour broth with chicken, eggs, mushrooms, tofu, veggies for more of a meal or just drink the broth for a snack
• Root beer "float" - diet root beer over ice with a couple tablespoons of heavy cream added
• Hot chocolate - 1/2 cup of unsweetened chocolate almond milk, 1/2 cup of heavy cream, 2 teaspoons of Swiss Miss No Sugar Added hot chocolate mix (has a little over 2 carbs)
• Sugarless cough drops, sugarless gum - not exactly "foods" but helpful for sweet cravings and for getting rid of keto breath or an unpleasant taste in the mouth
• Cinnamon sugarless breath mints

Low Carb Ground Beef Enchiladas

Low Carb Ground Beef Enchiladas

1 lb lean ground beef
1 - 15 oz. can red enchilada sauce (aka red chile sauce), divided
8 low-carb tortillas (La Tortilla Factory)
1 - 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 packets taco seasoning
1.5 cups shredded Mexican style cheese

Brown ground beef in skillet; drain off grease if necessary. Add one can of diced tomatoes, including juice; 1/2 cup of enchilada sauce; 2 packets taco seasoning; 1/2 cup of water. Bring to a boil and simmer until liquid is absorbed.

While meat mixture is cooking, pour 1 cup of enchilada sauce in the bottom of 9 x 13 pan. One by one, dip tortillas in the sauce, coating both sides. Fold each tortilla in half and leave in pan.

When liquid has absorbed from the meat mixture, spoon 1/8 of the mixture into each tortilla. Top with a big pinch of cheese (1 oz per enchilada will use 1 cup of the shredded cheese, leaving half a cup for the top of the casserole.) Roll tortilla around meat-cheese mixture to form enchilada. Pour Remaining enchilada sauce over the top of enchiladas.  Sprinkle the remaining half cup of cheese over the top. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, until cheese on top is melted and slightly brown.

Crockpot Turkey Brats & Sauerkraut

2 pk Jennie-O Turkey Bratwurst
2 15 oz cans sauerkraut, with juice
1 envelope brown gravy mix
1 cup water

Add ingredients to crockpot; cook on high for 4 hours. Optional step: Prior to serving, remove sausages from crockpot and brown in 450 oven for 10 minutes.

To serve: on each plate spoon some sauerkraut and juices over a slice of low carb bread*. Serve sausages on the side.

*I like the Great American Low Carb Bread Company's plain bread for this.

Crustless Zuchini Quiche

2 med zucchini, sliced into thin rounds
1 med yellow squash, sliced into thin rounds
1 c low carb milk (I used Fairlife skim, 1 carb per cup)
1 c heavy cream
4 eggs
1 c shredded cheese (I used cheddar jack)
1 t dry mustard
1/2 t. onion salt
1/2 t cayenne pepper
1/2 c shredded cheese (for topping)

Put sliced zucchini in a baking dish and bake at 325 until zucchini softens and releases its juices. Drain in a colander, pressing down on zucchini to extract as much water as possible.

Place drained zucchini in a pie plate or baking dish. Mix in 1 cup of cheese. Whisk together milk, cream, eggs and spices. Pour over zucchini. Top with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.

Bake at 325 until top is brown and knife inserted in center comes out reasonably clean.