Review: Crockpot Italian Zucchini Meatloaf

Crockpot Italian Zucchini Meatloaf

My room mate and I are low-carbers and I'm a devotee of the crockpot. It was my turn to cook Saturday night and I wanted to try something different so a little Google-fu and this recipe popped up. Crockpot Italian zucchini meatloaf.

I like meatloaf as much as the next guy and the roomie's okay with it too so that sounded good. The problem with meatloaf, as you can see on the right, it's not terribly photogenic. It looks like a poop on a plate. It didn't taste like it though!

The first thing that drew me to the recipe was the binder wasn't cracker crumbs or oatmeal, it was shredded zucchini that sat and wept the water out for a while. I squeezed it out repeatedly and let it sit longer. It stayed shredded and didn't turn into mush. I wondered how it'd take the weeping in a strainer. It took it fine.

The second thing about the recipe that caught my eye was the idea of using aluminum foil to make "straps" to go under the meatloaf so when you're done you can just lift it up out of the crockpot and set it on the plate. That's what I did here, and as you can see it came out in one piece really nicely. I forgot to put the cheese on so that was added later. I microwaved it for a minute to get that much melt on it. Oops, my fault, not the fault of the recipe.

Flavor? Good. If I made it again I'd increase the garlic and the salt and now that I've eaten it and am sitting here about half an hour later... I'd probably decrease the oregano. I'm burping it. He isn't so it's just me and he probably wouldn't notice if I dialed it back a bit.

The ultimate question is did I keep the recipe? Will I make it again? No. Probably not. I will use the techniques IN the recipe again though. Those foil straps are genius and the zucchini binder was good too. I'll use that in future recipes as it adds vegetables to the diet and doesn't increase net-carbs unduly.

So, the recipe wasn't one I'll make again, but it'll change the way I cook and that counts as a win in my book.

Steel cut oats vs rolled oats vs instant oatmeal

My mom suggested I try steel cut oats for breakfast. I've been eating instant oats. The ones on the right of this picture, mostly they look destroyed. In the middle are the rolled oats that I always intend to eat but seriously... they take too long so I would wind up eating the ones on the right.

Then mom said "get the steel cut oats. DO IT! I AM YOUR MOTHER OBEY ME OR ELSE!!!" (I may have dramaticizerated that last bit.) They take longer, much longer to cook than either the instant oats (minute) or the rolled oats (10 minutes). The steel cut oats cook all night. Kind of.

Steel cut oats are hard little oat nuggets. I put a cup of them into three cups of boiling water with salt in it, let it come back to a boil and almost boil over. I turned it off and took it off the heat, stirred again, put a lid on it and then, before I went to bed I stirred it one more time and put the lid back on it. I left it on the stove and this morning when I woke up they were ready to eat. I had a bowl. I nuke it with some splenda, butter, and cinnamon and it was good. It was as fast as the instant oats. The texture was much better than the instant oats which always seem a little pre-digested to me when I eat them. The steel cut oats need chewing whereas the instant oats feel like they'd just slimily slide down my throat if I tipped my head back like a baby bird. It might be in my head but I think the steel cut oats are a little "nutty" tasting maybe? A hint of it? I could be imagining it as a texture induced taste hallucination. I'll eat them more and know better but for now? They're better tasting and better for me than either the instant oatmeal or the rolled oats.

So, I'm trying steel cut oats for breakfast for a while as part of my blood sugar & weight management plan that is based on Atkins but has some things added... like this steel cut oatmeal breakfast.

Food Experiment Part 1

Today I went shopping and tried to buy a week's worth of healthy food. My definition of healthy is Atkins Diet friendly. That means low carb, high fiber and preferably nutrition dense with a wide variety of healthy stuff in it.

I wound up spending a lot more than I thought I should on it all but I intend to eat on it for a week and nothing else. (I'll include the shopping list at the end. It's the least interesting thing in the post.)

I'd intended to keep the receipt and give a cost breakdown of each meal. I accidentally threw it away and then it wound up with erm... stuff all over it. Next time.

This was tonight's dinner/supper (depending on where you're from) and I couldn't finish it all. I saved half of the burger and Colby-Jack cheese back for tomorrow. What follows is the nutritional breakdown.  You can't see the Chia seeds that I added to my 12oz glass of water (in which I'd dropped cucumber slices earlier in the day with some ice and put in the fridge to infuse the cucumber flavor through out. SUPER refreshing. It actually FEELS wetter).

Total Calories: 705
Total Fat: 55
Total Protein 63
Total Carbs 18 (Brussels Sprouts were the worst offenders at 4 net carbs)
Total Fiber 9
Net Carbs 9 (Total Carbs - Total Fiber)

Okay, so what'd I get with my $61?

1 head of cabbage
1 onion
6 roma tomatoes
1 pint cherry tomatoes
2 zucchini
2 cucumbers
3lbs lean ground beef
1 lb bacon (thick cut)
cheapest olive oil they had
1 lb coffee (cheap stuff from Folgers)
3 peppers (green, yellow, & red)
1 box of mushrooms
1 dozen eggs
3 cans of white tuna
lots of green beans like a gallon ziplock of them (fresh)
a gallon bag of brussels sprouts