As many of you are aware, last January I was diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes. It’s been a long year full of learning: how to cook in the low-carb style that is my new way of eating, what besides the obvious foods set off my blood sugar (looking directly at you, post-election stress), and how to travel to the desert with enough emergency food to last five days just in case you can’t find “safe food”. For the record, TSA looks at you funny when your bag gets chosen for screening and you have 16 low-carb protein bars and 8 Vermont Smoke & Cure meat sticks inside. Also, Peanut Butter and unopened cans of tuna fish count as “liquids”. Seriously.
In January, my doctor congratulated me on bringing my A1c (a measure of average blood glucose levels over the past 3 months) to normal levels and promptly took me off the minimal meds I’d been on, which makes me very happy! I still have to eat carefully every single day or those levels will shoot back up, and I have to plan meals in advance so I don’t get frustrated at my options (I can’t eat bread, rice, pasta, potatoes, oats, grains, legumes, corn or peas) and my family still gets food they want to eat. This means impromptu meals are not always my specialty. But last night’s fish… lemme tell you about it!! Grab a beverage (are we still drinking Russian vodka, or no?) and join me below the story break after a word from our sponsor!
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It had been a busy day and 6:30 rolled around before I realized “oh no, I have nothing prepped for dinner and I do NOT want to spend money earmarked for elsewhere on dinner out because I screwed up the planning”. I had COSTCO tilapia filets in the freezer, so I quick-thawed those while skimming the interwebs for ideas that did NOT involve dredging in coconut flour and coating with egg and almond meal before pan-frying, as that is what we do with chicken cutlets. What I ended up with was the following:
1. Preheat oven to 400F, line a baking dish with foil for easier cleanup
2. Mix together ¾ cup grated parmesan cheese, 2 tsp paprika (I used a mix of sweet and hot varieties), 1 tsp onion powder (I grind up onion flakes with a mortar & pestle) and 2 tsp basil (the recipe I based this on wanted parsley but I didn’t have that), then pour onto a plate
3. Pour a little olive oil into a bowl and use that to coat the tilapia, then press into the cheese mixture to coat and place on the baking dish.
4. Cook for ~12 minutes, until the fish flakes easily (I use an instant read thermometer, fish should be above 145F.
5. Serve with the side of your choice. Mr. Brillig and K2 had leftover pasta with red sauce, while I had a serving of low-carb vegetables (broccoli, onion, red pepper and mushroom mix).
I was hoping for “doesn’t suck, but let’s not have this again”. What I got was “this is delicious, we have to do this again” and even a “this is really good, Mom” from the boy who was actively mad at me at that very moment. Inexpensive, easy, and my entire meal had 6g net carbs (total carbohydrate minus fiber, which doesn’t raise blood sugar). Win all around!!
What meals have you made in a moment of “wth are we eating tonight” that end up as family favorites? Please share in the comments!! After you enjoy the banquet of Tops provided every evening — a three course delight of Top Comments, Mojo and Pictures brought to you tonight by a man I’ll gladly break bread low-carb almond flour crisps with, BeninSC!
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For Monday, March 6, 2017, first comments and tip jars excluded. Thank you mik for the mojo magic! For those of you interested in How Top Mojo Works, please see his diary on the subject.
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