Quick Lo-Carb Pie Crust

Here's a simple recipe for a quick lo-carb pie crust. I personally find that too much soy is too much, so I use Nutribiotic Rice Protein (Plain--not the vanilla or chocolate, heh heh) in this recipe:

• 1/2 c. oat or spelt flour (can use part rice flour, etc., if desired)
  
• 1/2 c. unflavoured rice protein or soy protein
  
• 2 tb. organic butter
• Organic almond milk, unsweetened rice milk, soy milk or water: enough to achieve a thick, dry, pie-crust dough consistency, i.e., "rollable without sticking"

Mix all ingredients and lightly flour a cutting board and roller. Sing Frank Zappa's Cyborg while rolling crust dough out into desired thickness--this helps with those long, powerful strokes necessary for a great crust. Bake according to recipe instructions. Use for pies, pastries, topping for pot pies, etc. Be sure to double the recipe for a full-sized baked pie.

Chicken & Stray Veggies Pot Pie Roundup

Here's a cool recipe that rounds up all the stray, leftover veggies in your fridge so they don't go to waste. It is healthy, lo-carb without all the usual weird lo-carb ingredients, nutritious and takes only a few minutes to prepare for baking. You can size this meal for one or for an entire family.

Now for the sobering news: depending on how old your veggies are, you may only be getting 40% of their intended nutrients. Most store veggies are at least a week old, so try to get to farmer's markets or local co-ops as often as possible (better yet, get off yer ass and start growing something--even one thing--yourself!). But take heart--even if your veggies are old, they will still provide fiber--and the more veggies you eat, the better.

The way this dish is prepared, by adding the flour and butter directly to all the other ingredients, will result in a nice, thick sauce for the chicken and veggies during baking, without having to prepare it separately, so it not only saves time, but energy as well.

In mid-sized or large oven-proof pan (e.g., an iron skillet like the one you'd hit hubby over the head with that can go in the oven) or glass baking dish, place:

• Water, enough to come 1/3rd to halfway up the side of the pan or baking dish
• 2-3 pinches sea salt
• 1 tb organic butter or Organic Earth Balance
• 1 tb organic oat flour, spelt flour or other thickening agent

Now, stir all these ingredients together in the pan or baking dish. Don't worry about the butter not mixing in - it will melt when it heats up. Next, add:

• Sliced leftover organic veggies, leaving space in the liquid for 1 - 3 chicken breasts (without overflowing the pan or baking dish - onions, garlic, celery, carrots, greens, shallots, herbs, etc.)
• 1- 3 organic chicken breasts, arranged so they are at least halfway covered by the liquid while baking. (Add more water if necessary and note that if you want to veganize this, you can use the Earth balance instead of butter, leave the chicken out or cube some tofu into the mix to your taste.)
  

Bake at 375 degrees F for 35 minutes or until chicken is bright white through the center of each breast. If chicken is done (or even very close), cut each breast with scissors to create small bite-sized chunks of chicken. Stir the whole chicken-veggie mixture around in the hot pan or baking dish for 1 to 2 minutes to encourage thickening of the liquid.

Next, cut one store-bought (or homemade--see my Quick Lo-Carb Pie Crust recipe) into long, thin strips and cover the chicken-veggie mixture in a lattice pattern and return to the oven for 10-15 more minutes until crust is cooked. Spoon into individual bowls.

Easy Bitchin' Inulin-Sweetened Chewy Granola Balls

Welcome to my Fit and Bitchin' Kitchen! This is the first recipe on this blog, and it's a sweet--but not sugary--healthy and nutritious snack that's easy to make.

This recipe, like some of the others on this blog, is something I came up with during my recovery from cancer, which continues to this day, and where refined white sugar is an absolute fucking no-no for me and anyone with cancer, as it only serves to feed cancer cells, providing them the acidic environment they need to thrive in.

[Recommended reading: Sugar Blues, by William Dufty. Read it and cry, because intellectually, you'll never want to eat white sugar again, even though Big Food has bastardized your tastebuds to be addicted to it.]

This recipe uses inulin, a pre-biotic, which is a sweet powder derived from Chicory Root that feeds the good bacteria in your gut while providing a good dose of fiber (farting is encouraged!). Its sweetness is mild as compared with sugar and will not impact your blood sugar levels like sugar does. Inulin can be found in most health food stores and Trader Joe's carries a reasonably-priced large bottle in their vitamins section (update: Trader Joe's has informed me they no longer carry their inulin, so I now order it in multiples from AllStarHealth.com).

This recipe is simple and can be made anytime in just minutes.

In medium bowl, mix together 1 c. of Stuff*:

• 1/3 c. raw organic sesame seeds
• 1/3 c. raw organic buckwheat groats
• 1/3 c. uncooked organic rolled oats

*Stuff can be any mixture of things you have around--raisins, other seeds, etc. Just be sure it totals around 1 cup.

Next add inulin and sea salt to the Stuff:

• 4 tb. inulin
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt

In large bowl, cream together:

• 2 tb. organic agave or maple syrup (adjust for sweetness--use vegetable glycerin and/or your fave no-calorie or low-glycemic sweetener instead if you need to limit sugars)
• 2 tb. organic cashew butter
• 1 tb. sweet organic butter, unsalted (use organic Earth Balance if you don't do butter)
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract

Add your dry Stuff to the creamed wet ingredients. Mix thoroughly until everything is evenly mixed and everything is sticky. Roll mixture into balls, then refrigerate. These lil' fuckers are good.

• Option 1--add 1/2 tsp. cinnamon to recipe
• Option 2--add 1/4 c. grain-sweetened or similar chocolate chips
• Option 3--roll balls in dried coconut
• Option 4--roll balls in ground flax meal

Enjoy!