Wow, thanks for the great recipes Oakleyok! Sausage & rice dishes are my DH's weakness, so we'll be trying it out!

I have no name for this meal, I made it up years ago and it's one of our favorites:

1 package of pork chops. Debone cube and brown, then set a side in a dish.

Brown 1 large box of Rice a Roni per instructions (if preferred you can use the same pan from the pork chops or just use oil as directed)

Once the rice is browned, add chicken seasoning, the pork, about 1/2 of 1 medium sized jar of Pace Salsa (mild or medium depending on heat you like) and about 2/3 of the water needed to cook the rice.

Then cover and simmer until it's cooked down, usually about 30 minutes.

Oakley, that recipe does sound yummy but DH has a bit of a high sugar and takes meds for high Cholesterol so sausage and white rice are merely fond memories now. LOL!

Here's a quick and tasty low carb dinner we have these days:

Note: This is a fast moving meal so make sure the table is set before you start. Wrapping the prosciutto around the pork chops takes longer than anything so I usually do that earlier than put in fridge to wait until hubby is ready to eat. LOL! I also cheat and buy pre-washed spinach in a big plastic container because I hate washing Spinach.
******

Spinach and Prosciutto Pork Chops for two:

4 *thin* cut pork chops
4 slices prosciutto (parma)
6-8 sage leaves
2-3 Tbsp capers with juice
olive oil for skillet
2 bunches of fresh spinach

Wrap a slice of prosciutto around each pork chop, overlapping edges so prosciutto sticks to itself. Heat a (I use stainless) skillet until it's pretty darned hot. (A drop of water should sizzle!) After skillet is hot, pour in enough olive oil so pork chops won't stick and immediately cook pork chops on high heat for two minutes each side. Remove from heat and put the sage leaves and capers in with cooked pork chops. Cover with lid and let sit while you make the spinach.

Heat another stainless pot or large skillet until it is hot. Place spinach directly on dry stainless (no water or oil) and stir constantly for a couple minutes until spinach is all wilted. Split the spinach between two plates and place 2 pork chops on top of spinach and drizzle the juices, capers and sage on top. The spinach will be yummy!

Low carb, fast and very tasty.

Golddust, same here. Both me and dh are diabetics and take meds. I haven't had my sausage casserole in seven months! My husband likes it but not for a main dish because there's not enough meat, so I used to make him his own meal, and me the casserole, and I'd eat on it for a couple of days. Yum.

You lost me at prosciutto. lol. I had to look it up. I don't think I've ever seen it before. You Californians eat weird things. heh. I have two close friends from CA. and they eat all kinds of food I've never heard of!

I hate to cook, and I use hot summer weather as an excuse to cook even less than I normally do. With 3 kids, it's hard to find recipes that make everyone happy, anyway. One thing we do about once a week in the summer is have cheese, crackers, and fruit! I'll buy 2-3 types of cheese and put them out on the table with a couple types of crackers and a platter of berries, grapes, whatever I have, and everyone digs in. Might sound like a lame dinner to some, but we all enjoy it. Another favorite (and lame) summer dinner: sandwiches and smoothies. For the past two weeks (and for one more), I have been at our summer cottage with the kids Mon-Fri -- DH is here on weekends -- so dinners have been as basic as possible.

LOL, oakley! You are just trying to have your favorite meal vicariously through us.

Prosciutto is Italian. You can buy it at any Deli around here, even the grocery store that has a Deli. Yep, just 4 thin little slices. (It's *really* thinly sliced) It tastes kind of like bacon but maybe saltier. It's expensive but a little goes a long ways, so don't let the double digits price per pound frighten you. I buy it by the slice and ask them to slice it as thin as they can. Four slices weigh nothing. They put wax paper between each slice so the slices won't stick to each other. You should try it. I think you would like it. If you like bacon, you will like this.

I've been able to keep DH off of meds for his high sugar with diet. His grandfather died from complications of diabetes so I have to take it seriously.

sueb20, cheese is my weakness. Any kind except American, that is. I love the stuff. I would be right at home with your cheese and fruit dinners. DH likes hot food. I swear he doesn't think he has eaten unless it is cooked. (sigh)

Proscuitto is more like ham. Pancetta is an Italian bacon. I love proscuitto-wrapped asparagus! Great appetizer!

Still on my mango kick. Today I made a mango and black bean salad. I guess that'll be dinner since it's just moi.

We are vegetarians. One of our favorite fast dinners is a big salad with a lot of goodies in it. Basically a few cups of greens (lettuce, finely shredded cabbage, arugula or spinach if we have it) with a few raw vegetables (red onion, carrot, tomato, peppers, diced cooked potatoes, avocado, pitted sliced olives) and some protein (cheese, nuts, hard-boiled eggs). Toss in a big bowl with salt and pepper, basil, dressing (usually ~6 T olive oil and 3 T vinegar or lemon juice, depending on how much salad there is). Eat with good bread and butter.

Another is a stir-fry with tofu. For two of us: cook 1 cup of basmati rice in 2 cups of water. While rice is cooking, cut extra-firm tofu into 1/2-inch cubes and marinate in a few tablespoons of soy sauce with a few dashes of hot sauce or vinegar. Cut up several cups of vegetables -- onions are important, but others change depending on what we have and what is in season. Chop several cloves of garlic and about a tablespoon of fresh ginger. Heat about a quarter cup (or less, if you prefer) of vegetable oil in a wok, saute the vegetables (start the longer-cooking ones first), add the ginger and garlic, and then add the tofu with the marinade. Stir fry until vegetables are crisp-tender. We usually include a few tablespoons of nuts (almonds or walnuts), cooking them in the hot oil before adding the vegetables. Serve over rice. This is really good with very fresh vegetables from the co-op or farmer's market.

Both of these meals take maybe a half hour to prepare and are quite satisfying.

Big Salad with Protein is one of my all-time favorite meals, regardless of season. I like to add some raw pepitas and/or sunflower seeds for a little extra kick. Dressing is generally just a good olive oil and a good balsamic, maybe with a little sea salt.

Throw Stuff on the Grill is another favorite. Whatever protein is handy and whatever veggies are to hand (brushed with olive oil and seasoned with sea salt and whatever dried herbs/spices I feel like). You'd be surprised what you can grill if you want to.

here's some baby bok choy on the grill:

Then, especially this time of year when tomatoes are so yummy, I love all the variations on "caprese salad". The more traditional tomato, fresh mozzarella, drizzle of olive oil and balsamic with fresh basil and a little salt (sliced is traditional but I like making this with small cubes and letting the mozz soak in the dressing for a while), The cherry tomato version of the same, the bastardized version (add some cloves of roasted garlic), the roasted version (cherry tomatoes, olive oil, balsamic, a little salt, garlic, roast until wrinkly, dress with a little more balsamic and fresh basil) the broiled version (slices of tomato, drizzle olive oil, a little garlic powder and salt, a slice of fresh mozz, a little pecorino romano, broil until lightly brown, dress with balsamic and basil). You get the idea.

Then there's always the traditional BLT (lunch today). Or the slightly Filipino version - just serve some bacon with some diced tomato (breakfast today served with a sunny side up egg). Yum.

Sue, we make sandwiches a lot in the summer also. Especially toasted tuna salad with a slice of tomatoe.

Here's another one I fixed when the kids were home, similar to cheese and crackers.

Cheese tortillas. You just slice cheddar thinly, put it between two tortillas (white flour are the best), and brown each side in a skillet, no Pam or anything, until the cheese melts. Cut into quarters.

I serve sliced Summer Sausage on the side and sometimes a salad.

Natal, Mango and BEANS? Yuck!!! lol.

natal wrote:

"Proscuitto is more like ham. Pancetta is an Italian bacon.."

Yes, you are right! Thanks. I was sitting at my computer thinking, it's not really like bacon but ham didn't even enter my mind. I am talking about prosciutto wrapped pork chops, not pancetta. That salad looks great! Oakley, you need to expand your taste buds. :+)

Prosciutto wrapped asparagus is yummy too! Pbrisjar, that grilled bok choy is to die for.

Pbrisjar, a traditional Caprese salad doesn't have any vinegar ... just tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, basil, and EVOO.

Oakley, unless you hate one or the other you wouldn't know until you tried it, lol. It also has sweet onions, red bell pepper, serrano, cilantro, lime juice, and a touch of olive oil. Just like mango salsa, but with beans.

Okay, it does sound kind of good. Am I the only "Okie" here used to southern food only? lol

LOL. So I bastardize even that. Ah well, it's how we like it. Hubby likes it when I use the little bocconcini mozzarella.

I can attest to the tastyness of mango/black bean salads. I've had a couple of variations on that theme.

Also forgot to mention that cheese, crackers and fruit is also one of my favorites. Alas, Hubby is not a cheese fan so I almost never get it these days.

I toured a prosciutto factory in Parma.

As wonderful as it tastes, it doesn't smell as nice hanging whole on the hooks. :)

oakley, tortillas with cheese prepared as you describe = quesadillas.

I'm born and bred southern - but I like different foods. My aunt makes a sausage casserole that has green peppers and onions, and it IS yummy, but not very healthy so something we rarely eat.

Golddust - that is wonderful news that you've been able to keep your husband off meds. We've recently been trying to eat healthier as my husband's cholesterol is creeping up. It's not to 200 yet, but our doctor is very much on prevention, so we have made some changes. We already didn't eat fried foods (very rarely), and eat alot of veggies, fruits, etc. The main changes we have been making are very little beef (once a week - tops), more whole grain, cutting down on cheese, margarine, etc. (which is hard - I love cheese!) and we've really cut down on bread products. We have no blood sugar problems, but white rice, white flour, white bread, etc., etc., etc. is just not healthy. We use whole grain pasta, brown rice, whole grain bread, etc. and you know what - we like it! It's so much healthier for you.

This time of year, it's so much easier to eat healthy with all the fresh veggies. I can do without meat most of the time and thankfully my hubby enjoys some meatless meals also. Tonight, since we have had no beef this week and since we had some huge tomatoes (my husband calls them hamburger tomatoes LOL), I grilled lean burgers.

Natal - that salad looks YUMMY! I love black beans. I make a black bean salsa or relish very often. Red pepper is yummy with black beans. I've never tried mango in the mixture, but I'm going to have to try it! I love different salads.

tina

okay, oakley, I am an "Okie" too, and I just gotta say, "Get out often?" -LOL!!

I LOVE Mangos, but, I am allergic to them. It is just awful to see someone eat mango salsa, or whatever, and I can't have a bite!

I do have to say that I married a Californian (16 years ago) and he had never had fried okra or fried squash. He loves southern food. I never know what Oklahoma is, some consider it southern, some midwestern. Most Oklahomans I know consider themselves more southern for some reason.

I'm a good old farm girl whose parents hailed from Indiana. I was born in CA but culturally, I was raised a Hoosier. We had dinner and supper, potatoes and gravy twice a day. My genes can take it. My family lived to ripe old ages.

DH would have been dead in a month if I cooked like that for him. About every six months, I order breakfast (out) with gravy. Oh, me oh my, do I love that. It takes everything I have not to ask for extra gravy but I think to myself, "This is why I don't make it at home. I'd eat too much. A little is better than none."

We try to stick to a Mediterranean type diet, as DH's Dr suggested. No more Chinese food, but Thai food is great (with brown rice). Whole grain everything. Very few potatoes but yams are fine. No more juices, unless it's carrot, etc. Fruit is OK. I switched to Uncle Sam cereal with Agave nectar instead of sweeteners. DHs Dr said NO sweeteners that end in 'ose', EVER! No soda, that is for sure. Exercise is important too. We bought a tread mill (and my hula hoop). Beef is a rarity here too. Chicken, pork, fish and lots of time we have no meat at all.

It isn't as hard as it seemed like it was going to be at first.

Here's another favorite summer salad. I have it for lunch a lot.

Slice a fresh Mozzarella ball

Slice fresh tomato or tomatoes (heirlooms are great here)

Chop some fresh basil

Fresh ground pepper and a tiny bit of salt.

Layer all three, salt and pepper than drizzle Balsamic vinegar all over it.

(Costco has great balsamic vinegar. It tastes like candy.)

A fave is an adaptation of a weight watchers recipe.

Slice polenta & grill (spray non-stick first). Slice up chicken sausage...we get the garlic chicken at Costco, and grill it, along with peppers & onions.

Put sausage & veggies on polenta slices, then pour about 1.5 c of marinara sauce (we like Newmans Own), sprinkle on a few fresh herbs, pop in the oven for a few, then enjoy.

Oh, so I've been making quesadillas all these years? lol. I thought they had more ingredients to them, or maybe it's just the toppings you can add.

Ollie, of course I get out, but the restaurants in OK. are mostly the general fare and Tex Mex, Chinese, etc. We eat out a couple of times a month in the City.

But I have noticed that my California friends eat things I've never heard of.

Oklahoma definitely IS a southern state. Fried Okra and yellow squash in the summer is a staple here.

A lot of our eating habits stem from our parents, I think. My whole family except my brother and I were born and raised in southern VA. Now one thing I could never do is dip my cornbread in buttermilk like my parents did. ICK. lol

Oakley, I was born & raised in Indiana in the 50s & 60s. Didn't move south until I was an adult. My mom wasn't a gourmet cook, but she loved to try new things. I think that instilled my curiosity for trying different foods. And I'm noticing that as our population changes ... the more ethnic it becomes ... the more choices we have. A visit to the grocery store can be an adventure in itself, lol.

Oakley,

Step away from the quesadillas, hon, they aren't on your diet anymore. LOL! Bad carbs in those flat little tortillas. Many cheeses aren't on your list either. Bad carbs turn into sugar and sugar is a no no for diabetics. WW tortillas are a little better but they don't taste as good. :+(

Natal, what part of Indiana? My parents grew up close to Cataract Falls, in Owen County. Wiki says Cataract in the west central part of the state. Spent many a summers there, sweating to death at night. :+)

Differing consensuses consider Oklahoma either Southwestern, mid western or Southern. I never think of it as Southern although it doesn't really matter that much to me as my favorite food is much more Mediterranean, Italian or Californian. We go through gallons of evoo for the three of us and I'll make a round trip of 3 hours to go to a Fresh Market.

Golddust, Fort Wayne ... it's in the NE close to Ohio. Do you ever go back?

Oakley, I don't know how many carbs you can have, but I use Mission's Carb Balance flour tortillas. They have 18 grams.

Here is a link that might be useful: Mission tortillas

We love the Carb Balance tortillas. There are actually several decent brands that are low carb (and a lot lower than Carb Balance). No, none taste totally authentic but they get the job done!

I would love that black bean/mango salad but I'm terrible at knowing how to pick and prepare mango so I always buy it in the salad bar ready to go. Thankfully we have several extraordinary store salad bars to choose from.

Oklahoma is not midwest and I don't care what Midwest Living Magazine says! They expanded the boundaries of what is traditionally considered midwest just to have a larger population of potential readers! They have the Dakotas and Nebraska as Midwest when they are Great Plains states. Missouri is even kind of iffy - west of St. Louis the Missourians I know consider themselves to be southern. But I digress...... a lot!

Summer food....... fresh fruit salad - whatever is around, cut it up and put it in a bowl - plain. Once you start adding stuff to it it's overdone! Crackers, cheese, Trader Joes Sundried Tomato Pesto thing, thin slices of sausages from the German deli, grapes, slices of pear, a glass of a crisp white with a spritz of sparkling water..... sitting on the deck listening to Chicago Symphony Orchestra playing at Ravinia.....heaven!

Natal we have good friends in your area - Auburn - in fact the Mr. Friend was just here for a visit on his way home from the EAA show in WI.

Gold, I use the Mission low carb tortillas that Natal mentioned. I've got my numbers almost controlled now and have lost a lot of weight so I can now add some desserts to my diet! Yay!!!

Most cheeses are fine because they're high in protein and low in carbs. At least the one's we eat. In fact, cheese IS one of the "free" foods diabetics can eat quite a lot of. That's why many diabetics only eat pizza toppings instead of the crust. I make pizza on the wheat tortillas, and they are great!

The key to eating extra carbs is to eat it with protein. For example, if you have a steak for dinner, you can have a dessert immediately afterwards.

Bumble, Oklahoma is south of the Mason Dixon line & is included as part of the south, but we're the far western 'southern" state. We fought for the south in the Civil War. Kansas is also part of the South.

I've never thought of Oklahoma as a southern state either.

tina

oakley is right, I was born and raised here and have always known it as a southern state, but, I understand how others think not.

A dinner we have about once a month, any season, is:

Chicken Casserole

In 9x12 pan (I use glass) crunch up Nacho Doritos and put on bottom of pan. Boil chicken breast (or I sometimes get the roasted Chicken from the grocery store and use the breast only) and tear and lay on top of Doritos. In a pan combine 2 cans cream of chicken soup, 1 can cream of mushroom soup, 1 can Roitel, 1 can chicken broth. Cook soup mixture until all combined well-doesn't have to be real hot. Pour soup mixture over chicken breast. Then top with Shredded Cheese all over. Bake about 35 mins or so on 350 degrees. Just until Cheese is a tiny brown and casserole is a little bubbly. It is best if is sits for about 20 mins before eating. I serve with a dinner salad and the Hidden Ranch dressing you make with mayo and milk.

Oh, and of course, good ole Southern iced tea-hehehe!

My favorite easy thing to make lately is crock pot pulled pork. After some experimentation, I find I like the end loin roast the best. Slice 1.5 large onions thinly and chop the remaining 1/2 onion and put away. Rub a pork roast (your favorite cut) with bbq rub - can be homemade, I use mccormicks. Place half the sliced onions in the crock, put roast on top and cover with remaining sliced onions. Pour in 1.5 cups of water. Cover and cook on low 8 hours. Remove and shred the roast discarding any fat and drain the water. Return the shredded pork to the crock with reserved chopped raw onion and a bottle of your favorite bbq sauce. Cook on low 1 hour more.

kgwlisa, we all love pulled pork, too. Of course, living in South Carolina, it's considered practically a staple down here....lol! Here's a tip for you that you'll love for your recipe. Do everything as you already do with the pork and crock pot, but use ROOT BEER for your liquid. It makes a marvelous difference and lends the perfect tang to the meat. Then I use a honey-mustard BBQ sauce made by a great little barbeque restaurant just down the road outside of Savannah, called The Pink Pig. Yummmmm!!

Hey Natal...

I was raised in Fort Wayne!

I think the west side, but not 100% sure of that, we moved in 1978.

nanny2a, kgwlisa: you two are my heroes! I've just been bemoaning the serious lack of good southern style BBQ (pulled pork in particular) around here and have vowed to start making it myself. Now I have a jumping-off point.

My favorite quick, easy meal in summer ~ when I'm not wanting to heat up the oven . . . and my kitchen~ is my shredded beef enchiladas. I cook up a big roast ahead of time, shred it and then freeze it in meal-sized portions. I reheat it and roll it in corn tortillas; top with my homemade red chile, a bit of shredded Monterey Jack cheese and pop into the microwave, covered with wax paper.

Another favorite is a big, hearty salad that I add meat, shrimp or fish to. When I make any meat or fish dish, I always try to cook extra in order to make this salad the following night. I like using garbanzo or black beans, chopped walnuts, pecans or pine nuts, mixed greens, diced cheeses and even fresh fruits to these, depending on the meat/fish I'm using. I make my own salad dressings using EVOO, one of my many different vinegars and fresh herbs, etc. This way, I know we're keeping the calories and fat down. I also like to dip my salad into a small dish/bowl of dressing instead of dousing the whole thing. I tend to use less that way. I serve a few whole grain crackers with this instead of bread. We top them with olive tapenade for our bit of needed carbs.

Another fav is a couple slices of grilled meat or fish, a nice Caprese salad and bruschetta topped with sauteed Swiss chard. I do a quick saute with the chopped chard, EVOO and a clove or two of diced garlic. I add a bit of salt to taste when finished.

Thanks for this great thread, Oakley!
Lynn

I meant to say "minced" garlic ~ not diced . . . sorry!
And, I forgot to say that I also add various fresh veggies, and not just fruits to my salads ;^P
Lynn

One of our favorite hot-weather meals are roasted vegetable subs with balsamic vinaigrette. We have a large and bountiful garden, so most of the produce gets picked right before dinner. I grill eggplant, red peppers and onions (sometimes I add zucchini), layer them on a fresh Italian bastone, top it with fresh mozzarella and basil and drizzle balsamic vinaigrette over it. It doesn't get any better!