Inexpensive Smoked Pork Loin

Hello consumers.  Which the price of everything going up I have been trying to find good healthy choices that won't make me go broke.  

My wife and I shop at Sam's Club and yes we are Plus members.  We do that for the 2% cash back on our purchases and there are many things we buy and share with family members.  Also, if you use the Sam's credit card, you get an additional 3% cash back on all credit card purchases in the store and online with free shipping.  Well, that is enough of a commercial for Sam's Club, don't cha think?

On my last run to Sam's last week I was searching around for a good choice of beef to prepare and cook with my smoker.  My DynaGlo offset smoker does a great job and I love to use it.  Well, beef prices are absolutely absurdly through the roof.  A decent brisket that used to be in the $25-$30 range, they are all $70- 80.  For a freakin' brisket!!!!!  That is unacceptable for such a low end beef cut.  I can't do it, or actually, I will not do it.  

So, what I did find as a great cut of meat at Sam's Club was a pork loin.  It was a smaller one as you can see my my receipt clip and ad on SamsClub.com.

We cut it into 3 equal pieces and packaged it for the freezer.  

This week I prepared one of the pieces on the smoker.  My process is simple.  I brine it for 2 days in about 3/4 cup of salt in water in the fridge.  I put a light coating of TexJoy BBQ Seasoning Rub on all sides and smoke it for 6.5 hours at 200-225degF. 

I find that it really does not matter what type of wood you use to smoke, hickory, maple, cherry, mesquite.....they all work equally well.

And this is what is left after my wife and I had 2 meals with this pork sliced at about 1/8-1/4" thick.  It is tender and moist, the flavor is outstanding, and there is little fat left on the meat. (Personal pet peeve, I do NOT like meat fats, the texture to me is just nasty)  There is enough in this dish for at least 2 more meals for each of us, maybe three.  A great way to eat the leftovers and harden up the soft fat is to lightly butter or grease a pan and brown both sides of the slices.  That is soooooo good.

Another tip, while the meat is on the smoker, cut up a bunch of your favorite veggies, we typically like yellow squash, broccoli, onions, cauliflower. Put them in a ziploc bag with enough olive oil to coat all of the veggies and a dash more, then season to taste.  Salt and Pepper,  I use all purpose seasoning, but not a ton.  Shake it up to evenly lightly coat your choice of veggies.  Then, put them into an aluminum foil hammock  to fully enclose them.  Poke about five or six knife slits in the top of the foil tent.  Throw that in the smoker during the last hour of your cooking.  You will be incredibly happy with those results, I promise you.  This is the day after photo, looks rough, but they are excellent. And I tell you I can smell the smoke when I opened the container.

Happy cooking, and enjoy.

My Diet Plan that works - 33 lbs (so far) in 84 days this year

 JC’s South Park Diet: My unique version loosely based on South Beach (Dr. Agatston) and The Zone (Dr. Barry Sears)  diets 🡨Read these!!

Typical Breakfast

½ cup Egg Beaters omelette filled with a layer of turkey bacon or sliced ham and mozzarella (I like hot sauce with my omelette)

Typical Morning Snack (any one of the following)

Celery

Cauliflower

Broccoli

Sliced tomato w/slices of mozzarella cheese

Mozzarella cheese stick

Slices of cucumber with salt

Typical Lunch/Dinner

Hamburger (no bun) 

Lamburgers

Buffalo burgers

Baked or grilled chicken

Salads with Olive Oil (1/3) and Red Wine Vinegar dressing (2/3)….but limit the onions (sugars), no carrots (lots of sugar), no corn

Baked spaghetti squash (a JC favorite) topped with low fat spaghetti sauce or a spicy salsa and parmesian/romano cheese

Broiled salmon

Diced ham fried in olive oil with melted shredded mozzarella on top; put over diced fresh tomato (this is fab)

Typical Afternoon Snack (usually I need a little higer level of fat with low carbs, energy food)

Sliced tomato w/slices of mozzarella cheese

Mozzarella cheese stick

Slices of turkey bacon

Great adders to recipes above

“Silk” soy coffee creamer

Hot sauces (RedHot, Tabasco, whatever you like)

Low fat salsa on top of anything is excellent 

Cook everything in Olive Oil or even better use Pam Olive Oil spray

THE RULES: (the most important part)

1. IF YOU ARE HUNGRY, EAT.  DO NOT STARVE YOURSELF, DO NOT WAIT TO EAT IF YOU FEEL HUNGRY.   MAKE SURE YOU HAVE ACCESS TO A SNACK WITH LOW FAT, AND LOW CARBS AT ALL TIMES.   Your whole goal is to keep your hormones that regulate insulin in your body at a low, even level throughout the day.  Insulin is the substance that your body uses to store fat.  At low levels, you will not store fat, you will have great energy all day.   This is the most important rule.  

2. Read labels on your food; your goal is LOWER carbs (not zero), and LOWER fat (not zero) and ideally you want a little of both when you eat to maintain insulin as described in rule 1.

3. Limit (and by this I mean avoid if you can):

1. Sugars

2. Breads

3. Pastas

4. Alcohol

5. High fat foods

6. High carb foods

7. Anything that reads “Partially Hydrogenated (blank)”

South Beach-esque Diet Works

 A quick note to again acknowledge the power that the Low Carb, Low Fat nutrition regimen works.  I have been able to lose 30 pounds in 59 days in 2022.

Six smaller meals or snacks a day, I never go hungry. I feel great, have more energy, sleep better and more rested.  It is an amazing transformation.  

I have 60 more pounds to lose this year.  I will do it.  Good luck to all.

Great Vegan Burrito MIx

I bought a great vegan product from Sam's Club last week, it is the Tattooed Chef Burrito Blend product.  It is a great meat substitute product that tastes excellent.  It is a frozen product that heats up nicely in a pan with 4 tablespoons of vegetable oil.  Now, that being said, I had to doctor it up with about an 1/8 cup of Tone's Taco Seasoning and 1/8 cup of water.  Otherwise I find it less flavorful.  It is certainly personal preference, I enjoy spiced (not necessarily hot, but flavorful) food so I do this a lot to many prepared foods. 

To serve:

Put the fully heated product hot in a burrito wrap or taco shell with some sour cream, and simple salsa and you have yourself a meal.  I like soft tacos and burritos so that is my go-to. 

Here are the links to the actual product at Sam's Club and the whole Tattooed Chef product line.  

Enjoy

https://tattooedchef.com/collections/all-products

https://www.samsclub.com/p/beef-burrito-blend-tattooed-chef-2-ct/prod25240128?xid=plp_product_2 

Crockpot Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I put together this recipe on a whim to see what I could do with what we had in the house.

I looked in the fridge and freezer and saw a big bag of boneless, skinless chicken breasts.  Thought "that would be easy to whip up a meal".  I also saw a full bag of hash browns. 

So here it goes:

I took 6 pieces of good sized frozen chicken breasts and put them into the crockpot on high.  Add salt and pepper, I use a lot of seasonings, I find that many recipes are under-seasoned, and a little salt and pepper does the trick.(Hint: Use a disposable crockpot liner, it is the greatest invention ever.)  😉 

Added some diced onion, about a 1/2 of a large yellow onion.  Next time I will also dice up some jalapenos as well.  Cook in crockpot on high for 3 hours.

Then drain the liquid off. 

Put the chicken and onions back into the crockpot.  

Add a cup or so of Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet and Spicy BBQ sauce.  But hey, use whatever BBQ sauce you enjoy.   Next time I will use a cup of my homemade BBQ sauce.  Look up the recipe, I think it is excellent and have not had any complaints.

Add one cup or so of orange marmalade.

Cook this mixture for an hour or so on high in the crockpot.

For the hash browns, I used them as a base.  I fried a 4" circle of the hash browns in a skillet until browned on both sides using a light mix of olive oil and butter.  Salt and pepper to taste.

Place the hash browns on a plate put a piece of the cooked chicken on top.  Spoon as much of the sauce as you wish.  Enjoy.😀

Pickled Jalapenos

Easy, easy, easy to make.  10 Minutes is all you need to pickle your own sweet and heat.

In a pot boil:

1 cup vinegar or apple cider vinegar
1 cup water
2 tbsp garlic
1 tsp salt
2-4 tbsp sugar (to taste)
1 cup sliced jalapenos

When it all starts to boil remove from heat and let cool.  Then take the jalapenos out of the pot and pot in mason jars up to the top. pour the liquid to cover the jalapenos and make sure you get a bunch of the garlic in the jar as well.  Screw cover to jar snug and put in refrigerator for a couple of hours.  You can enjoy these for the next 2 weeks or so. Yummy.

Versatile Cream of Chicken Soup

Cream of Chicken soup.  Is there anything you CAN'T do with it?
 
It is excellent on its own but the versatility in cooking with a can or two of Cream of Chicken is amazing.  It is creamy, "chickeny", it has a touch of salt and the right spices, it can be used as a thickener or binder.  Cream of Chicken is a great compliment to pasta, many vegetables, in all sorts of casseroles, (obviously) with chicken dishes, in ground beef dishes.  It goes great with green beans, broccoli and cauliflower esepcially well.

Always add a pinch of black pepper to your recipes when you use Cream of Chicken soup.  Pepper adds that little zing which enhances its flavor.

My advice is to keep a couple of cans on your shelves if you run out of ideas for cooking.  NEVER stop experimenting with foods, you will find combinations that you will enjoy for years to come.

Enjoy.

Keto Cheddar Bay Biscuits - I will try soon

http://keto-daily.com/keto-cheddar-bay-biscuit-recipe/

BBQ Chicken Leg Quarters

A little work but worth it.

Brine leg quarters in 1 gallon water, 1 cup of salt, and 1/4 cup garlic powder. I brine mine in the refrigerator for 2 days. Rinse thoroughly, put on hot grill. I used a couple of small chunks of wetted hickory on top of the hot coals for a touch of smoke. Grill until cooked through, approx. 45-60 minutes. 

5 minutes before removing slather on BBQ sauce - I prefer homemade, see my post from about a week ago for a great recipe or visit my blog...... JC'S Good Food Spot....Google it

Add BBQ sauce to taste when eating......enjoy, we sure did.

Perfect Rib BBQ Sauce

Perfect BBQ Rib Sauce

1 cup Catsup
15oz tomato sauce
1/2 cup Brown Sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1 tbsp butter
1/2 tbsp liquid smoke
2 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
2 tsp garlic powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp cumin
2 tbsp chili powder (add more to taste if you like spicy)
2 tbsp paprika
2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
dash of cinnamon

Bring to a boil, then simmer for 45 minutes.

BBQ Sauce

My first bottle of homemade BBQ sauce.

1 cup ketchup
1/2 cup water
4 tbsp Worchestershire sauce
4 tbsp Red Wine Vinegar
4 tbsp garlic powder
4 tbsp onion powder
4 tsp chili powder
2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp brown sugar or molasses

Put all in a pan and bring to a boil.
Then simmer for 10 minutes, take off of heat, and let cool to room temperature.

Place in sealed bottle or container and refrigerate. 

Enjoy

Sunday's Vegetable Chili

2 cups diced onion
2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup frozen corn
1 cup rice
2 cups water
1-6oz tomato paste
1-8oz chili ready diced tomatoes
1-8oz can black beans
1-8oz can kidney beans
1-8oz can chili beans
1-8oz can black Eyed Peas
1-8oz can garbanzo beans
1 small can green chilies
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon salt
1 tablespoon pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon parsley
2 tablespoons minced garlic

put all in crock pot on low for 5-6 hours. Feeds about 20....LOL

Smoked Fish - Mesquite/hickory

Oh man this is a good one if you have a smoker.

Prep for fish (1lb portion)

Brine the cut of fish for 12 hours in a quart of water with 1/4 cup of salt, 1/4 cup of brown sugar, 1tbsp garlic powder, & 1tbsp chili powder.

Dry rub fish with equal parts salt, paprika, white pepper with a touch of found garlic.

Smoke at approximately 190deg for 3 hours then up the heat to 225deg for the last hour. I used equal parts mesquite an hickory wood chips for smoke.

Absolutely great smoke and completely moist. It made a great piece of fish incredible. Enjoy

Today's chili

Made another twist on chili today using honey as a sweetener to offset the heat in a mid level spicy chili - enjoy

Brown 1 lb ground chuck and drain off oil

Add:

2 tbso chili powder

1 tbsp paprika

1 tbsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp salt

1 tbsp black pepper

1 pinch of cinnamon

2 tbsp cumin

1 can canned diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce

1 can garbanzo beans

1 cup diced onion

1 small can green chiles

1 can kidney beans

1 can black beans

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup honey

Cook uncovered on low heat for 2 hours, add water as necessary to consistency preference.

Great Ranch Dressing Recipe

Great recipe from the Barefoot Contessa from the Food Network for homemade ranch dressing. The Barefoot Contessa's name is Ina Garten and she is an excellent cook/chef. This recipe is great as written, however, my next try with this one will be without salt and with less lemon.

Please try this and enjoy it.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/buttermilk-ranch-dressing-with-bibb-lettuce-recipe/index.html

THE Best Hommus Mix

This was easy to make, tastes phenomenal, and smells even better. Better yet it is very inexpensive to create. This mix makes great dip for parties when it is dipped into your favorite veggies, pretzels, or even tortilla chips....so here we go.

16 oz tub of Basha plain Hommus 

Mix in:

1/4 cup chopped cilantro 

1 tbsp minced garlic

A pinch of salt

1 tbsp olive oil

When fully mixed, refrigerate to allow the flavors to meld.

Enjoy. 

Low fat Tartar Sauce - A slight revision

My low fat tartar sauce is a real hit with everyone I make it for.  It has evolved a bit, I have added a little heat (not a lot) and more flavorful spices.  I serve it on most types of fish, but it also works well for burgers.  Here it is:


1/2 cup low fat mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar free sweet relish
1 tbsp diced jalapenos
1-2 tbsp Old Bay seasoning (use to taste)
1 tsp black pepper
Optional:  1 tsp of your favorite hot sauce (again season to taste)

Mix all ingredients together, cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.  Serve cold.

Serves about 6-8

Enjoy

Living a low carb, low fat life

Having lost a lot of weight by eating a healthy balanced low carb, low fat diet you will inevitably find that if you follow this lifestyle (yes, it is a lifestyle) - AND if you fall off the "healthy eating train" and have a high carb meal you will feel it.  And not in a good way. Your digestive system upset/difficulty and your mood will be the immediate symptoms of a "not so healthy meal".  It is simply your body telling you that processed, high fat, high carb foods are not good for you.

Processed sugar is the big one for me.  Now if I have something high in sugar it really puts my body into something I call a defense mode.  My stomach does not take well to PROCESSED sugars at all now, they upset my stomach and I feel uneasy right away after eating anything with processed sugars. Natural sugars (such as orange juice) in moderation are fine, but a sugary chocolate treat - forget it.

That being said, being diligent about eating correctly and using "food as fuel" and not "pleasure" takes a lot of will power.  But I can say with conviction that eating many smaller, low carb, low fat meals/snacks a day is the way to a slimmer, happier, healthier, more rested, calmer, satisfied you. It is well worth the work and discipline. Good luck and enjoy.

A Tribute to the Twinkie

I know they are not a real healthy snack, but as a tribute to an icon I post this recipe. Enjoy.

Homemade Twinkies
Adapted from Gourmet Cookbook by Joy the Baker
Makes about 12

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
10 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon almond extract (optional)
1 cup milk

Put a rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Create your own Twinkie-like molds by wrapping heavy-duty aluminum foil around a 4-inch-long spice bottle. Leave the top of the mold open so you can pour in the batter. (For a how-to video, click here.)

In a bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt. Set aside.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer at medium-high speed until pale and fluffy, about 3 minutes.

Beat in eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute in between each addition.

Beat in vanilla and almond extract. Reduce speed to low, add half of the flour mixture, and beat until incorporated. Add milk and beat until incorporated. Add the rest of the flour, and beat until incorporated.

Spray prepared Twinkie molds with nonstick spray and divide the batter between them. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes, or until the cakes are just slightly golden and a pick inserted in the center of the cakes comes out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before filling with marshmallow cream.

Marshmallow filling
by Todd Wilbur of Top Secret Recipes

2 teaspoons very hot water
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 cups (one 7-ounce jar) marshmallow creme
1/2 cup shortening
1/3 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Combine salt with hot water in a small bowl and stir until salt is dissolved. Let cool.

Combine the marshmallow creme, shortening, powdered sugar, and vanilla in a medium bowl and beat until fluffy, using an electric mixer on high speed.

Add salt water and beat to combine.

When the cakes are cool, use a skewer or a chopstick to make three holes along the bottom, moving the stick around slightly to create space inside the cake. Fit a pastry bag with a small tip and fill it with the marshmallow creme mixture (or scoop it into a resealable bag and snip off a tiny bit of one corner; pipe filling into each cake, using the three holes.

Great Spicy Sweet Garlic Dip

This is a 2 minute dip and it is great.

Mix in a bowl and serve

1.25 cup mayo or fat free mayo
1 tbsp Chinese chili garlic sauce
1 tbsp minced garlic
1 tbsp agave nectar
1 tbsp black pepper

It's that easy and delicious.