Hi

I need some help with a family picnic I am organising at the beginning of March. I do have a small gas ring so I thought I would make a nice vegetable soup as it would be nice to have something hot given the time of year. I am reluctant to make sandwiches or the usual picnic stables of pies and quiches and would appreciate any suggestions any of you may have.

Try a pastry less quiche. Spray and line a muffin tray (bun tin) with torn up bacon or cured ham and drop your normal quiche egg mix into it and bake in the oven for 20 or so minutes. Scotch eggs but no breadcrumb coating and oven bake. Prunes wrapped in cured ham and cooked in the oven for 15 to 20 mins and pop on skewers.

Thank you sunshine-girl they all sound delicious. I will give them a trial run before the picnic.

if you make the scotch eggs use the pork or pork mix from a sausage. If you use pure pork you will find it very dense, probably due to the oven baking instead of the quick deep fat frying (wash my mouth out). If you want them super cute, use quails eggs.

If you want a drier crispier texture to the outside, you can always roll in a little milled flaxseed.

How about some savory muffins? They make great finger food and taste equally great hot, warm or cold.

Scallion Cheddar Cauliflower Muffins

2 cups raw cauliflower, finely chopped or pulsed in the food processor to a rice consistency
2 large eggs, beaten
2 tbsp melted butter
⅓ cup grated parmesan cheese
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 clove garlic, minced
1 medium green onion (about 16 grams), finely chopped
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp black pepper
½ tsp baking powder
¼ cup blanched almond flour (you can use coconut flour but it adds a couple of grams of carbs)

Preheat the oven to 375 deg F (190 C).

Mix the cauliflower, eggs, add butter in a large bowl. Add the cheeses and stir until thoroughly mixed. Add the green onion, garlic, salt, pepper, baking powder and almond flour and stir until thoroughly mixed.

Lightly grease a muffin tin with olive oil spray or a small amount of butter. You really need very, very little coating for this. The first batch I made I sprayed every cup and the sides and bottoms were sooo greasy. Now I spray the first cup and wipe it around with a paper towel. Then I use the paper towel to grease the other cups. That’s how little you need. If you use butter, melt a teaspoon of it and brush it or wipe it into the cups.

Divide the batter into the 12 muffin cups. It should be a couple of tbsp per cup. This will make quite a short little muffinlet. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes or until golden brown. Turn off the oven and leave the muffins inside for one hour to set properly. Take them out of the tin and serve warm or refrigerate for later cold eating.

Each muffin is 132 calories , 1 net gram carb (sugar) and 1 gram fiber.

the muffins sound delicious, I used to love cheese scones pre diabetes days. I might try them when I have visitors and they are eating crap.

I used to make scallion cheddar biscuits (what Americas mean by biscuit) in my pre-low carb days that I loved to an indecent degree. These muffins are an homage to them, and although they’re different in flavor and texture, they are just as delicious and comfort foody. Also they’re very versatile. I’ve used all kinds of different cheeses, herbs and spices. Thyme, rosemary and goat cheese is an another favorite combination.

Hi everyone

Sorry for the delay in getting back to you but a huge thank you for your suggestions. Have had a practice run with quiches and muffins and they have turned out beautifully will try the scotch eggs next, think I will try it with the quail eggs.

Zinnia, quails eggs are a bugger to peel so take care but they do give it something special. Just found another recipe make a meatball mix (mince, sautéed onion and garlic, egg, tomato puree and any spices you want) put into a cake or muffin tray, top with some tomato sauce of your choice and bake in oven for 20 mins. I think the beauty of these recipes is that they are so simple and things we cook all the time but when you make them miniature they are so cute for picnics or party nibbles. A change from sausage rolls and meat pies and crisps.

You can buy peeled quails’ eggs in Waitrose

Well I have heard the saying ‘life is too short to peel a mushroom’ so why not quails eggs. I would be worried as to how soft or hard boiled they were when you want a nice oozy yolk.

The peeled ones are definitely all hard boiled, having said that I find it hard even with the unpeeled ones done myself to get that yolk consistency. I will try making some mini scotch eggs with some some time, sounds like a great idea for healthy finger food.

The muffins look brilliant, Esneca – I’ll be trying them for work lunches next week (already batch cooked for this coming week! )
Some great ideas here.
Julia

That’s a great use for them, Julie. I hope they satisfy!