The Road Home

The Road Home
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Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Fern's Low Carb Meat Pie

After Frank and I changed the way we eat, I tried to dream up some new meals that were low in carbohydrates, that were filling and also taste good. It's one thing to eat low carb, it's another thing to eat low carb stuff that tastes like cardboard. So this is a meal I dreamed up that actually tastes very good. The best thing about it is the versatility of ingredients allows you to make the 'same thing' frequently by changing what you put into it. I didn't know what to call this dish, so I made that up, too.

I discovered along the way that you can make a sourdough starter with cornmeal. I'm not sure where I found the information about it, I can't find the link if I saved it. I took some of my whole wheat sourdough starter and gradually introduced cornmeal, hoping it wouldn't kill it. After a couple of weeks, I was feeding it straight cornmeal. The 'sour' smell is stronger with cornmeal than flour, but it works just fine. The fermentation process of a sourdough starter predigests the carbohydrates in the flour or cornmeal it is fed. This lowers the carbohydrate count in the final product substantially. One half cup of sourdough starter contains roughly 4 to 5 carbohydrates. I have made the Meat Pie with both types of starter, whole wheat and cornmeal, and they both taste fine. This is another way to make the same meal different.

I start off with some butter in a cast iron skillet. For a standard skillet I use about four to five tablespoons. This skillet is a little smaller and four tablespoons would have been plenty. Put the skillet in the oven for about five minutes while it is preheating to 450* and you are preparing your ingredients. Brown or cook your meat of choice. I am using ground chuck this time. I have also made this with diced ham and sausage. Use whatever sounds good.

 
Make sure the butter coats the bottom of your pan, then pour in 1/2 cup of sourdough starter. I'm using the cornmeal version this time. Spread out your starter to cover the bottom of the pan. Sprinkle the meat onto the starter, as much or as little as you desire.


Add any vegetables and toppings you like. This time I am using fresh sliced squash. I have used canned, drained squash as well and it tastes very good. Sliced mushrooms and frozen sweet peppers from last summer go great in this combination.

We also used grated homemade cheddar cheese. This is the second wheel we have opened this summer. It was waxed April 14th. It is not as dry as the first wheel, and it has a very smooth texture and not as many holes. Very good.


That's all I'm adding this time. You can see how versatile this recipe is. I can hear you thinking, "Hmmm.....I can add this and this......", and you can. It can be a pizza flavored dish, or have a Mexican flare with salsa and jalapeno peppers. The versatility is only limited by the imagination you put into it.



Depending on the ingredients you add, bake at 450* for about 20 to 30 minutes. If you add moist ingredients like salsa or ranch dressing, increase your baking time to allow for the extra moisture. Since I used fresh squash instead of canned, I had to allow 30 minutes before it softened up and was ready to serve.

The sourdough starter will come out as a crunchy crust, not as thick as pizza crust, and crunchier. Since I had more butter than I really needed this time, the crust was more of a chewy crunchy. But if that's what you prefer, you can adjust accordingly. 


This meal is really good, low carb and good for you. Of course the ingredients you choose to include will affect your carb count. If you don't need to watch your carb intake, you can still use this recipe to make a variety of meals, tailored to your family's tastes and preferences. Use your imagination, and you will be surprised what you can come up with. Frank and I have each lost almost 40 pounds in less than seven months. There isn't much you can't do if you set your mind to it. Thankfully for us, the time arrived when we decided to change our lives for the better. We're very glad we did.

Until next time - Fern

18 comments:

  1. Congratulations on the weight loss! Just from changing your diet? That is an inspiration! A question about cornmeal: most corn is now GMO. Does that include cornmeal?
    SN

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    1. Unfortunately, I would expect all cornmeal to be GMO. I don't remember reading anything specific about it, but it wouldn't surprise me at all. All the more reason to grow and grind your own, which we haven't been able to do yet. Thank you for the comment and question, SN.

      Fern

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  2. Wow! That looks very tasty & hearty! :) Thanks for sharing! I think I will give this a try! YUM!

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  3. Fern, that looks so good! And your weight loss results are fantastic. Well done.

    In trying to work toward of our diet being 100% homegrown, I've realized that carbohydrates are one of the more labor intensive things to grow, especially grains. That kind of reverses the menu for us naturally, with more veggies and protein, and less grains. So far I find corn the least labor intensive in terms of processing, although we do love a good loaf of bread. :)

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    1. Thanks, Leigh. Trying to grow everything we eat is a tall, tall challenge. The closer we get, the better we feel. We haven't tried to grow wheat, let alone process it. We don't eat a lot of bread, but we do enjoy it when we do.

      Fern

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  4. Fern, congratulations to both you and Frank on the impressive weight loss! You must be so proud and I'll bet you're looking and feeling a lot better, too. Your low carb pie sounds like a good dish. I keep imagining it with beaten eggs added so that it would be more like a quiche.

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    1. We tried it with eggs, C.M. It's good, but the starter bakes in with the eggs so there isn't a definite crust. It was good, but we prefer it this way. Have fun experimenting!

      Fern

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  5. hi.got a book called
    'the adrenal reset diet' by alan christianson.

    the two of you are doing so well on your diet, you don't need this, but it may give some readers hope
    .
    i have always had all the symptoms of hypothyroidism except that i am always hot.

    every time we move i ask the new doc to test for thyroid function and the test always says i'm fine...except that i'm not fine!

    you would think a doc would say if it isn't thyroid then what could it be?
    no, they blame the patient. one said to me, after i told him how i was exhausted and couldn't get anything done, that he found that people could get done what they wanted to get done.
    in other words, i was a lazy worthless dog, in his opinion.

    you have to be your own doctor.

    my daughter was doing some reading and came across the adrenal book. as she read she thought the writer knew me personally!

    i have been more or less eating this way--according to the book-- for about a week. some things are already improved, thank God!

    i now live in hope that i can live out my days with a bit of energy.

    after talking to friends, many of them want to borrow the book so i got three copies so i can read mine and friends can borrow the others.

    the crux is that grain may not always be your friend and that we are eating 'backward' by having carbs in the a.m. and protein in the evening.
    i have been eating beans with a bit of meat for breakfast and i am no longer looking for something to constantly nosh on.
    in other words, the diet is satisfying. and i have fewer bowel issues.
    i found a few years ago that daughter and i are both gluten sensitive so avoiding wheat has been a boon to us..
    goes against all the diet advice we've been taught all our lives.
    just thought i'd drop a word in case any readers find they are in the same boat and wonder what is wrong with them.
    as, leigh, above, says, 'it reverses the menu.'.
    deb h.

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    1. Great information, Deb, thank you for sharing it. Frank and I were talking just yesterday about knowing our bodies better than the doctors do. It seems that most doctors now are just pill dispensers. I hope you continue to feel better and find some good solutions for your health.

      Fern

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  6. Fern, and Frank,

    Your low carb meat pie looks delicious. I hope you don't mind, I'm going to borrow this recipe......and give it a try. My husband and I have found if we eat healthier, and in moderation we feel so much better. Congratulations to both you and Frank on your weight loss of 40 pounds!
    Have a wonderful weekend :-)
    Hugs to you and Frank.
    Sandy

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    1. Borrow away, Sandy. When I was younger, I wasn't brave enough to experiment and come up with things like this. Now it is much easier to create something edible....but not always. You know that look your husband gives you when you serve up something that is borderline yucky? It makes me laugh just to think of it. And you're right, we do feel much better. Take care.

      Fern

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  7. Holy Cow...40 pounds each. That's impressive.

    I so agree with eating fewer carbs. Another commenter noted how labor intensive it is grow carbs anyway - wheat, potatoes, corn, etc. Wheat especially takes a lot of hard- core physical effort. Since we're going low carb, too, I decided not to grow any wheat this year.

    Funny story about my wheat last year ---- I had spent 4 months growing my small crop. Then thrashing and winnowing it by hand. I was getting it ready for storage, when I made the mistake of accidentally leaving the whole crop in a big bowl on the kitchen counter overnight.

    One of my very curious kitties was probably wondering, as they approached the big bowl of cat-litter type substance in the middle of the night, why I had left a cat box on the counter, of all places. Use your imagination.

    Yep. That's what happened. One of them peed into my big bowl of wheat. Entire 4 months or work down the drain.

    Just Me

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    1. Well, Just Me, I would have never thought that a cat would prefer wheat berries for kitty litter. Never. It's so sad to lose all that work. So sad it's almost funny. Thanks for sharing.

      Fern

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  8. Looks yummy and healthy - good for you on the weight loss. Hubby and I are working on that and have lost about 10 lbs each in a month and a half, hopefully we can keep it going and a new recipe will help! Thanks.

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    1. Hang in there Kathy. It's well worth the effort. Best of luck.

      Fern

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  9. This looks delicious, Fern. Thank you.

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