loaf of meat > loaf of bread

my pal steve and i were waiting in line at mixd greens last week and noticed they had meat loaf on the menu.  and i was all "i'mma make that." and so i did, today.  low carb meat loaf with mock mashed potatoes and mushroom cream gravy.  cook time plus prep time ~1.5 hr, yields 10 servings, 3 net carbs per serving.

ingredients:

loaf:
1lb ground chuck
1lb ground pork
1lb ground sirloin
0.5 cup grated parmesan
2tbsp dehydrated onion
1tbsp dehydrated garlic
1tsp salt
1tbsp crushed red pepper
1tbsp italian seasoning
1 egg
"potatoes":
1 head cauliflower
1 stick of butter at room temperature
0.25 cup heavy cream
gravy:
1 box mushroom broth
1 portobello mushroom cap - chopped
0.75 cup heavy cream

• for meat, preheat oven 350
• mix together all meat ingredients then place in greased 10inch loaf pan
• cook in oven for an hour to 1.25 hours when internal temp has reached 150 and top bit of loaf is golden and awesome
• for "potatoes", chop cauliflower well and boil until soft.  place butter, cream, and drained cauliflower in food processor or blender or whatever and puree until smooth creamy consistency is reached.  they should be sort of thin at this point, if they're not and you're happy with them, then eat them.  if not, as i was not, put them in a large pan over medium heat and stir frequently until they've thickened up a good bit.  add salt and pepper to taste.
• for gravy, bring mushroom broth to a boil with mushrooms over high heat.  reduce broth to a quarter of its original volume then add cream and cook until sorta thickish and delicious.

throw it all on a plate and viola.  there's meat loaf dinner.  i started the meat in the oven then started the cauliflower and the gravy at the same time.  but cook time is all sort of up to you.

blah blah blah, soup!

i like soup.  soup tastes good.  we had soup for dinner.  here is my recipe for cream of mushroom soup.  cook time + prep time: 0.75 hours, yields six servings, 4.16 carbs per serving.  this was surprising to me.  i had no idea portobellos were sooo fracking high in carbs.  every website says something different.  it makes me want to cry cause i had seconds before i looked it up and we pretty much have this soup like once a week.  le sigh.

ingredients:

24 oz portobello mushrooms - chopped
3 celery stalk - chopped
0.25 onion - chopped
3 cloves garlic - minced
2 cups cream
1 tsp beef base
0.5 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp montreal seasoning
2 tsp italian seasoning.
2 tbsp olive oil
2 cup water

• in a large stockpot, over medium heat, cook onion and garlic in olive oil until transparent.  add celery and stir.  add mushrooms to the top, top with all seasonings and cover pot with lid to let mushrooms sweat for about five minutes
• stir mushrooms and add beef base, cream, and water.   stir soup occasionally.  soup is done when broth is thickened to your desired consistency.

see?  super crazy easy and super crazy yum.  but not as low carb as one might hope.  stupid mushrooms and their stupid secrets.