NC-Mex

Sometimes great recipes come from disaster. One of our favorite pre-ketogenic treats were "Ooey-Gooey Sandwiches". These were sold for a while by a restaurant at the Sea Pines Resort on Hilton Head Island, SC. They were pimento cheese, bacon, and pepper jelly sandwiches on grilled homemade bread. The restaurant no longer serves them but whenever we visited Sea Pines we would purchase a jar of pepper jelly and loaf of bread from the Farmer's Market and make those one night. I found a recipe for the "Best Keto Bread on the Internet" and tried it for BLT sandwiches one night. It was okay but didn't rise at all so the sandwiches were tiny. I decided to try to double the recipe for Ooey-Gooey sandwiches but it didn't work at all. It wouldn't get done in the middle and it stuck to the pan and fell all apart when I tried to remove it. I was distraught, as I'd been cooking for hours with no supper to show for it, but my son had a great idea: Southern Style Nachos, with the bacon as "chips" and the pimento cheese and pepper jelly as the sauce. It was delicious and is sure to become a new favorite! Maybe my son created a new food genre: instead of Tex-Mex it's NC-Mex!

Southern Style Keto Nachos
Serves 6
3 pounds nitrate-free bacon, cooked and broken into "chips"
6 Tbsp sugar-free pepper jelly
Pimento Cheese:
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 tsp onion powder
4 ounces diced pimentos, drained
1/2 tsp dry mustard

To make the pimento cheese: chop or shred the cheddar cheese in a food processor. Add all remaining ingredients and pulse until blended. For chunky cheese just stop blending before the pimentos disappear. I make mine pretty smooth because it's easier to scoop with the bacon. 

After cooking the bacon drain it on paper towels and let it cool some so it becomes crispy like chips. Break it into chip sized pieces. Plate each person's pimento cheese and drizzle a little pepper jelly over the top. Surround with bacon chips and serve.

I couldn't find sugar-free pepper jelly so we just used a tiny drizzle (I used more for the photo to make it more visible). My garden is just about to produce a ton of banana peppers and when it does I plan to try a sugar-free jelly recipe with those. If it turn out I will certainly share it!

Last night we took  the kids to The Adventures of Kesha and Macklemore concert. It was our youngest kids' first rock concert. Unfortunately we had outdoor seats and had to sit out in tremendous thunderstorms and rain. We didn't get to hear all that much of Macklemore because of it, which I really regretted since he's a favorite of mine. We can't afford stadium food for the entire family so we planned to tailgate and I needed picnic foods. We ended up eating in our car while it rained, so it was a good thing I made finger foods! The music pavilion sells pimento cheese tacos, this being the South, so I decided to use our leftovers from the nachos and make my own. These are low carb rather than Keto, since I used low carb white wheat tortillas. If you have a recipe for grain free tortillas that don't fall apart please let me know! I noticed looking at photos from before and then after we ate that I had a puffy face and rash on my neck and chest after eating the tortillas, so I know I don't need them.

Low Carb Pimento Cheese Tacos
Serves 6

Pimento Cheese (1/2 of recipe above)
12 low-carb taco sized tortillas
1 pound extra-sage country sausage, cooked and chopped into ground beef texture
6 Tbsp sugar free pepper jelly
1 large tomato, diced
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Pan-fry sausage, drain, and chop. Set Aside. Spread a layer of pimento cheese on each tortilla, completely covering it almost to the edge. Drizzle pepper jelly over the cheese. Add sausage to the center of the tortilla. Top with diced tomato pieces. Fold the tortilla in half. Serve hot or cold. For picnics I wrap each taco in aluminum foil to make it easier to hold when eating outdoors or standing.

I'll tell you, it's sad to be so old! It took me several days to recover from the Weezer concert last week and now I have to do it again, with the added muscle strain from dancing all night holding a 9-year-old for much of it so he could see over the crowd! My arms feel like they've been ripped from the sockets! I am also trying really hard to avoid my typical summer visit to the Urgent Care and month on steroids and antibiotics due to allergic reactions. Several days ago I got what I suspect is a spider bite while I was working in my garden. I didn't feel it when it occurred but I have a dark red blotch on one hand that is starting to sting and blister. Often the next step for me with stings is I become tachycardic (my heart beats way too fast) and develop a system-wide allergic reaction and infection. Unfortunately besides the bite I've been exposed to second-hand marijuana smoke twice in two weeks at these rock concerts. I am extremely allergic to marijuana so that even second-hand smoke has landed me in the Urgent Care before. After the last REM concert I attended I was at the doctor early the next morning with tachycardia and an eye infection even though it was an outdoor concert. I hate to even imagine what will happen to me if they ever legalize pot here! They don't seem to enforce the law at all as it is and it's incredibly dangerous for me. It infuriates me, too. If you want to take internal drugs and just hurt yourself, whatever, but don't force me to breathe in smoke that can literally kill me! So, I'm just applying all the essential oils I can think of and taking my allergy oils and drinking tea and resting. I did find the time to list some toys on Amazon today, so please look for me as the seller when you're shopping on that site!