Steak and Cheese on Low Carb Pita

I posted a picture on Instagram & Facebook and a lovely friend asked me for the recipe, I thought it would make a great post!

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This is one of my husband’s favorite meals, and I have to say I really enjoy it as well. It’s super quick and easy and better than a lot of steak and cheese subs I’ve had when getting take out. Here we go!

Ingredients:

1 onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 pound thin sliced roast beef, cut into small strips

Montreal Steak Seasoning

2 cloves garlic, minced

Sliced provolone cheese

Butter or olive oil for cooking

Mayo

Low carb pita bread (This is the kind I buy)

Optional toppings: Sliced tomato, lettuce, pickles, olives, etc.

Directions:

I use a well-seasoned cast iron skillet on medium heat. Start by adding a pat of butter to your skillet. Add your chopped onions and bell pepper. Cook until they are soft and just starting to brown. Remove from pan, add another pat of butter and the roast beef. Season with Montreal Steak Seasoning to taste. Cook until brown, add minced garlic and cook for an additional minute. Add pepper and onion back to the pan and stir into the meat. Turn off the heat and add the sliced provolone as a top layer on top of the mixture. Once the provolone is melted, remove from heat.

Serve on the low carb pita bread with mayo, and whatever toppings you like, enjoy!!

❤ Ashley

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Homemade Electrolyte Drink (Homemade Pedialyte)

The flu is going around like crazy! We have been dealing with it in our house for several weeks now. My daughter and I are past the worst part now, thank God! There was one day we were both very weak with very high fevers. I was so happy I had made some of this homemade Pedialyte the day before. This is a great way to save yourself some money and a trip to the store. You can also flavor this any way you want! I know there are quite a few recipes out there but this is how we do it:

Homemade Pedialyte:

• 8 cups water (I prefer to use distilled water, I always have some on hand)
• 1/4 cup honey (you can also use sugar but we try to stay away from extra sugar and the honey has added benefits)
• 1 teaspoon SEA salt (contains important minerals that table salt does not, you could also use Himalayan salt which would be even better)
• Juice of an orange, lemon or lime (optional but has even more benefits, like Vitamin C)
• Crystal Light or Kool-aid powder for flavor (also optional, we love the lemon Crystal Light with Stevia)

Combine all ingredients in a pitcher, stir until salt and honey have dissolved. Store in refrigerator.

We also love to make this into popsicles, great for when you or your child is burning up from a fever. When my daughter is sick I make sure she takes a sip of this every 10 minutes or so. Best served chilled.

Warning: Honey is not considered safe for children less than a year old.

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Also a quick update on my cousin Joe… (I mentioned in the First Birthday post about how he had a massive heart attack) Miraculously he has no serious brain damage, his heart is working on its own and it looks like he will be okay! He still has to get through heart surgery on Thursday so he is a long way from full recovery, but I am just so happy and thankful he is still with us. If anyone could send some positive thoughts or prayers his way I would really appreciate it 🙂

Homemade Garlic Knots

These garlic knots are to die for and incredibly easy to make. The first time I ever had a garlic knot was at an Italian restaurant in Florida, and I was hooked! I wanted to go to that place all the time just for the garlic knots, lol! When we moved to Massachusetts I started having garlic knot withdrawals! There is not a single place near us that serves them, and even if they did I highly doubt they would be as good. So I was determined to make my own, and dare I say these might even be better than the ones we loved so much in Florida. You might want to make a double batch because everyone will be begging for more, at least that is what happens around here 🙂 You can also freeze leftovers (if you have any) and then reheat in the oven.

I started by looking for an easy pizza dough recipe, and found an awesome one on The Fauxmartha. I just made a couple of changes and had my perfect dough.

GARLIC KNOTS: (Makes 8)

• 1 cup WARM water (about 110 degrees, you don’t want to kill the yeast)
• 1 tablespoon oil (olive, grape seed, whatever you have on hand)
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 and 1/4 tsp instant yeast, or one package
• 2 and 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tsp sea salt

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together warm water, oil, honey and yeast. Let sit for 5 minutes, you should see bubbles/foam forming from the yeast.
3. Add flour, parmesan cheese, and sea salt.
4. Stir together until it gets tough to stir, then knead in the bowl with your hands until you have a smooth dough ball (should only take a minute or two).
5. Oil a flat surface, I use a flexible cutting mat sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
6. Transfer dough to oiled surface, turn to coat.
7. Divide into 8 equal sections.
8. Roll into long “snakes” and then tie into a knot. (don’t worry if they don’t look perfect)
9. Place knots on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
10. Bake 20-25 minutes, until tops are golden brown.

While the knots are baking prepare your garlic sauce:

• 1/2 stick of butter (4 tablespoons)
• 3 large cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp sea salt (If you use salted butter you can leave this out but I personally like them a little salty)

1. Combine all ingredients in a small saucepan, cook on low to medium-low for about 10 minutes. Watch carefully, you do not want your garlic to brown or else it will become bitter.
2. Spoon over baked knots, making sure to coat each one with some of the garlic.

We love to sprinkle ours with grated parmesan cheese too, yum!

Happy Holidays! Enjoy!

❤ Ashley

Homemade “Caramel” Apple Dip

Today I may have just stumbled upon the EASIEST and most amazing apple dip ever! At least that is what I would like to think 😉 My 4-year-old took one bite and told me I HAD to write a blog about it. With fall just around the corner it means there will be lots of apple picking and eating going on. I remember getting so excited when my mom would bring home the caramel apple dip from the store. She only bought it every once in a while as a special treat but I found a way to get the same taste with out all the sugar and guilt. My daughter wanted an apple this morning, and lately I have been making her a dip that is a mixture of yogurt, peanut butter, honey and ground flax seeds (also really yummy by the way). I didn’t feel like eating that particular dip this morning, I wanted something more fall like… so I came up with this. You probably won’t even need to write this one down, it is so easy to remember.

• 1/4 cup plain (organic) yogurt
• 1 tablespoon molasses

Stir together and voila, creamy, caramel-y tasting goodness! Skip all of those dips loaded with sugar and preservatives and just try this simple and healthy dip once, you won’t be sorry 🙂 I am not gonna lie I kinda felt like a genius for coming up with this even though it is so easy haha.

Next time I will probably be mixing some flax-seed meal into this dip as well, I am always trying to find ways to get more into our diet. (For other ideas on how to eat more flax-seed and why it is good for you check out this post) I bet this would also be amazing with a sprinkle of cinnamon.

Do you plan on trying this, what did you think, what are your other favorite apple dips? Enjoy!

❤ Ashley

Quick & Easy Homemade Yeast Rolls

When I was little, my dad used to take my sister Amanda and I to visit family in Texas every summer. When we would go visit my Nanny (great-grandma) in Palestine she would always have lots of yummy food ready when we got there. We would have a great meal, all of the best southern comfort foods. Then we would sit on her front porch and watch literally HUNDREDS of hummingbirds swarm the feeders at sunset. One of the things I really looked forward to were her homemade rolls. This is not her recipe, but it must be pretty darn close! I took one bite of these, warm out of the oven with some honey butter and it flooded my mind with memories of my Nanny. I found this recipe on Your Homebased Mom. I followed it exactly the first time, but this time I attempted to make it a little healthier. I figured I wouldn’t feel so guilty about wanting to devour the entire batch by myself lol. These are SO soft and tender and don’t take long to whip up. It is more work than opening a can of dough from the fridge but I promise you it is worth it. Your house will smell like a bakery, and best of all you will get bragging rights! lol.

Ok here we go! Quick Homemade Yeast Rolls (Makes 12):

• 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons warm (not hot) water
• 1/3 cup oil (I used canola)
• 2 tablespoons active dry yeast
• 1/4 cup sugar (I used honey)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 3 and 1/2 cups flour (I used all-purpose, whole wheat and ground oatmeal)

 

In your mixing bowl, combine the water, oil, yeast and honey – allow to sit for 15 minutes. This is proofing the yeast, it should start to foam up like this:

The original recipe I tried said to use your dough hook with a stand mixer for this next part… however when I tried that the dough just “climbed” up the hooks and made a big mess. I prefer just to mix this recipe by hand. Add in your salt, egg and flour until well incorporated. The original recipe says to use bread flour or all-purpose flour, but since I was trying to make it a little healthier I used 2 cups of unbleached all-purpose flour, 1 cup of whole wheat flour, then 1/2 cup of finely ground oatmeal (I just put quick oats into my food processor to grind them up) Now both times I made these, that was not enough flour. I was left with a very thin and sticky dough. At this point add in 1/4 cup of flour at a time until your dough starts forming a ball and is not sticky anymore. Each time I added an additional 1 and 1/2 cups of flour (this can vary by where you live and the weather so this is why I say add in 1/4 cup at a time, you don’t want to add too much) Knead for just a couple of minutes until its soft and smooth. Your dough should look something like this:

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and grease a 9×13 baking dish. Form dough into 12 balls and place into the greased dish.

Don’t worry if they are not perfect. Somehow I ended up with balls that were slightly bigger than the rest. I put them on the outside edge so they will cook through. Let them rise for 10 minutes. Then bake for 10 minutes or until golden brown on top (it took about 13 minutes for our oven).

At this point you can brush them with half of a stick of melted butter, garlic butter or my personal favorite; honey butter. I use half of a stick of butter and an equal amount of  local raw honey YUM!

Beware though… these are so good you might have to protect them from cute little roll thieves!

They are also great for sandwiches!

Enjoy!

❤ Ashley