July 2020 – My Lowcountry Living

Super Simple and Super Good Home Made Guacamole

Guacamole is a favorite as an appetizer for Taco Tuesday, picnics, snacks, watching a big game, or for a get together with friends and family. This side dish is super simple in just a matter of minutes and only has 6 ingredients.

Ingredients:

1. Avocado

2. Chopped Onions

3. Crushed Chili Pepper flakes

4. Salt

5. Garlic

6. Juice from a lime

Directions:

Cut Avocado in half and scoop each half into a bowl.
Mash up your avocado.
Add your chopped onion, crushed chili pepper flakes, salt, garlic, and lime juice.
Mix together
Enjoy!

How to make sizzling steak fajitas.

Whether its for Taco Tuesday or any day of the week it is hard to beat sizzling steak fajitas for a meal. Join us as we make fresh hot sizzling steak fajitas with fresh peppers and onions.

Indredients:

12 ounce steak

1 green pepper

1 red pepper

1 red onion

2 cloves garlic

juice from one lime

salt and pepper to taste

1 tbs chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

Directions:

Slice onions into long slices and place in a bowl.
Slice green and red peppers into long slices and place in a bowl.
Mince the garlic and place in bowl with vegetables and set aside.
Pour 1 tbs olive oil into a cast iron pan and pour vegetables into pan, saute until soft and caramelized.
While the vegetables cook, slice the steak into long strips.
When the vegetables are done cooking remove and place in a bowl.
Pour steak into the cast iron pan, season with the chili powder, cumin, salt and pepper and the lime juice. Cook until meat is done and sizzling.
Serve the vegetables and steak on tortillas and enjoy!

Optional: Mix up some margaritas to drink with the fajitas. Check out my margarita recipe. https://mylowcountryliving.net/happy-cinco-de-mayo/

How To Make Amazing Sizzling Steak Fajitas

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Flank Steak Rolls

Recently, it was my daughters birthday and she wanted stuffed flank steak. I couldn’t turn down a birthday dinner request so I went to my local butcher and asked for the largest flank steak that he had. He sold me a 3 pounder! It is the largest flank steak I have ever seen, but it was perfect for a birthday dinner that had to feed 6 adults.

These tender flank steak rolls are to die for! Don’t miss the amazing flavor of flank steak rolled with a rosemary garlic butter, spinach, sun dried tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. It is so quick and simple to make and your family will absolutely love it.

Ingredients:

3 pounds of flank steak

2 sticks butter, softened

4 twigs of fresh rosemary

4 cloves of garlic

4 cups of fresh spinach

1 cup of sliced mushrooms

9 slices of mozzarella cheese

8.5 oz jar of sun dried tomatoes

salt and pepper

Note: Most flank steaks that you buy will be between 1 and 1 1/2 pounds, so when following this recipe you may want to cut your ingredients in half.

Directions:

The first step to making these steak rolls is that you will need to butterfly cut your flank steak so that it isn’t so thick. Once you butterfly cut your steak we will make a garlic butter that can be spread on the steak.
Remove the leaves from the 4 rosemary twigs and add them to your softened butter sticks. Add your four chopped garlic cloves and mix together. Once mixed together spread evenly over your butterflied flank steak.
Spread your mushrooms evenly over the butterflied flank steak.
Spread your spinach evenly over the butterflied flank steak.
Add your cheese slices across the flank steak, over your spinach.
Add your sun dried tomatoes.
Roll up your flank steak from one end to the other, like a large burrito and tie butchers twine around your flank steak to keep it together, then transfer to a baking dish.
Broil in the oven for 10-15 minutes depending on how rare you like your flank steak. Make sure to flip the steak over halfway through to evenly cook it on all sides.
Remove from oven and let sit for 5-10 minutes before cutting.
Cut the flank steak into 1 inch rolls, place on plates and serve.
ENJOY!

Spinach and Cheese Stuffed Flank Steak

Italian Meatball Recipe for Spaghetti or Meatball Sandwiches

Italian meatballs are not as difficult to make as you may think. A good meatball can really make your pasta dish into something special and multiple meatballs can turn a bun into an incredible meatball sandwich that is way better than you could get at Subway! Follow along with our easy recipe to make your own homemade meatballs from scratch.

Ingredients:

1/3 cup bread crumbs

½ cup milk

1 pound ground beef

1 pound ground pork

½ cup fresh parsley

1 diced onion

3 cloves garlic

1 tsp fresh chopped basil

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp salt

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp red pepper flakes

3 tbsp grated parmesan cheese

2 eggs 2 tbsp olive oil

Directions:

1.Mix the bread crumbs in a bowl with milk and let set for 20 minutes.

2.Heat the olive oil in a pan on low heat and sauté the diced onion until soft and translucent. When finished let cool for a few minutes.

3.Mix the beef and pork together. Add in the onions and all other ingredients and stir until all is combined. When combined refrigerate for 1 hour.

4.Remove meat mixture from refrigerator and form into meatballs. I prefer golf ball size meatballs because they cook quicker. Placed formed meatballs onto a baking dish and bake at 425 degrees for 20 minutes.

5.Optional – Place cooked meatballs into a pot with your favorite pasta sauce and let sauté on low for 1 hour.

6.Serve with fresh pasta or as a sandwich on a bun with provolone cheese.

7. ENJOY!

Intermittent Fasting for 60 days – weekly journal weeks 5 to 8.

Weekly video diary entries documenting the first 60 days of intermittent fasting for the second month of Intermittent Fasting. The video journal is for weeks 5 through 8. I am a type 2 diabetic with high blood pressure and I tried intermittent fasting to lower my blood pressure, lower my blood sugar and A1C and to lose weight. Watch this video to see my progress on blood pressure reduction and my milestones in weight loss.

How to make Authentic Mexican Restaurant Style Queso Dip

When I go to Mexican restaurants one of the favorite appetizers that my entire family enjoys is queso dip. There are different types of queso dip, you can get queso that is yellow and had a cheddar cheese base, or you can get white queso that has a base of queso fresco which is a Mexican cheese. We prefer white queso cheese that has a bit of spice to it that gives you that extra flavor kick. Here is my recipe for an authentic queso dip that you would find in a Mexican restaurant.

Ingredients:

12 oz pepper jack cheese

1 ½ pounds of American Cheese

12 oz of Queso Fresco (Mexican style cheese, can be found in deli or cheese section of your store)

1 pint half and half

1 jalapeño

Optional – red paper flakes (adjust to your taste and heat tolerance)

Instructions:

Shred all your cheese (or cut into small blocks) and mix together in a big bowl.
Pour the half and half into a sauce pan on low heat.
As the half and half begins to warm up slowly start adding in the cheese a small handful at a time and continue to stir the cheese to allow it to melt.
Dice the jalapeño into small pieces and add to the cheese mixture. Continue to stir the cheese to keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.
Add the optional red paper flakes.
Once the queso dip is melted remove it from the heat and serve it in a bowl with corn chips.

Orange Chicken – Panda Express copycat recipe

I love Orange Chicken from Panda Express. It is like the crack cocaine of Chinese Food. I have looked for recipe’s as good as Panda Express and I am always disappointed. Finally I have developed my own recipe that is absolutely amazing. So, here it is for all of you to try.

Orange Chicken

(Panda Express copycat recipe)

Chicken part:

Ingredients:

1 ½ pounds chicken thighs (de-boned)

1 egg

½ tsp black pepper

1 tsp soy sauce

1/4 cup corn starch

1/3 cup all purpose flour

1 tablespoons water

Sauce part:

Ingredients:

¼ cup orange juice

½ cup brown sugar

2 tbsp rice vinegar

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp chili garlic sauce

1 tbsp orange zest

½ tbsp corn starch

1 tbsp cold water

Directions:

1.Cut up your chicken thighs into roughly 1 inch “bite size” pieces.

2.Mix the flour with the cut up chicken and mix so that all pieces are covered with flour. Set this aside until later.

3.In a separate bowl mix together the egg, salt, black pepper, corn starch and water together.

4.When well mixed you can add the chicken pieces into the mixture and cover the chicken pieces thoroughly with the coating.

5. Heat a pan with 2 inches of oil on the stove.

6. While the oil heats mix together all the ingredients for your sauce and then pour into a sauce pan and sauté on low while we fry the chicken pieces.

7. Carefully drop the chicken pieces into the oil and fry until golden brown.

8.When all pieces of chicken are cooked add your chicken to your cooked sauce and mix the chicken into the sauce coating all pieces.

9.Serve over rice.

You can garnish with chopped green onions and/or sesame seeds.

ENJOY!

I used Intermittent Fasting to reduce my A1C from 14+ to 5.9 in less than 6 months!

Just six months ago, I was in a diabetic crisis. Flashback to January 13, 2020, I was a type 2 diabetic with a blood glucose reading of 450. I went to the doctor, and he did an A1C test. The results (see pic) came in as 14+. My doctor said I was on my way to needing insulin. He immediately added a second medicine to reduce blood sugar and advised me to go on a low glycemic index diet, along with daily exercise.

Less than two weeks later, on January 21, 2020, I woke up, and my eyes couldn’t focus on anything. I couldn’t read anything, and everything was a big blur, I couldn’t read any letter that wasn’t at least 2 feet tall. My wife rushed me to the ER, and they performed a series of tests and sent me home with a referral to an ophthalmologist. I saw the ophthalmologist a few days later, and he said the blood vessels in my eyes were under distress from diabetes. He asked how my A1C was, and I let him know that I had just had a 14+ test and added glipizide to my medications to help lower my A1C. The addition of the glipizide and a new strict low glycemic index diet had helped bring my daily blood sugar test down from 450 to about 250. Hearing this, he knew what was happening because he said he had seen it before. Over time my eyes and the blood vessels had adjusted to the high levels of sugar in my blood. That was constricting the blood vessels, and the sudden decrease in blood sugar was putting less pressure on the blood vessels. The result is that my eyes were trying to adjust to this, and he thought if I continued to lower my A1C, my eyes would self adjust in about a month. As a result of this wait and see (pun intended) approach, I had to call into work for a week because I still couldn’t see, and the ophthalmologist recommended not get any new glasses until I had another eye exam in a month.

The drastic change to my eyesight and my recent A1C test was the epic health scare that I needed to make real change in my life. Over the next month, I searched for a way to create a healthy lifestyle and then discovered Dr. Jason Fung and the Intermittent Fasting lifestyle. That led me to Gin Stephens and Delay Don’t Deny. On April 5, 2020, I started Intermittent Fasting. Since then, I have lost nearly 30 pounds, my vision returned to normal, and I went back to my old glasses. My daily glucose levels now register between 89-110. On June 26, 2020, I went for a checkup, and my A1C was 5.9! (See pic). My doctor took me off glipizide, and the new goal is to get off metformin eventually. I return in October, intending to be 5.6 or below. The last six months have been an incredible journey. I have had some successes, but there is still a long way to go on this health journey. I have proved to myself that I can lose weight and reverse my diabetes through Intermittent Fasting. This is not a diet for me. Instead, this is a new way of life. It is the beginning of a new lifestyle.