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Chicken and "Dumplings"

I received a special request to do a low carb version of chicken and dumplings and I'm hoping I hit the nail on the head for Dawn Roberts! I decided to make a large batch so that I can freeze some of it to pull out for quick easy meals! With the following ingredients you should be able to get 12 big bowls at 6 carbs each!

Ingredients:

• 5 cups of bone broth
• 1 cup of heavy cream
• 4 stalks of celery
• 1 16 oz bag of baby carrots
• 1 10 oz box of Birdseye chopped, frozen, spinach
• 1 large yellow onion
• 8 oz frozen cauliflower
• 1 rotisserie chicken dissected and chopped (or whatever cooked chicken you have on hand)
• 4 tbs (1/2 stick) of butter (I used salted)
• 2 tbs minced garlic
• 1 tbs parsley flakes
• 2 tsp thyme
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• salt and pepper to taste

*Note because I made extra for freezing, I did not add cauliflower to it, I think to keep it from getting overcooked it would be easiest to add the cauliflower to the individual bowls when you defrost it. If you plan on scaling down the recipe for a one night dinner, be sure to add 1/2 cup of cooked cauliflower per serving, for 2 net carbs.

Directions:

Put butter in large stock pot and turn heat on low. Chop onions, celery and carrots, add to butter. Turn the heat up to medium, put lid on pan and cook for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, in the microwave or on the stove, steam your cauliflower until it is VERY tender. Keep in mind, we will be mashing it up!

This is how my veggies looked once I tossed them in.

This is the cauliflower after I cooked and strained it.

After the veggies have cooked for a good 10 minutes, add garlic, and chicken broth. Let it cook for another 10 minutes on medium-high. In the meantime, add the heavy cream to the cauliflower and mash. I actually used my new Nutri-bullet for this step. The goal is to use this as a thickening agent for the broth, so it really needs to be liquefied. After the veggies have cooked for 10 minutes, add the cream/cauliflower mixture to the soup. Add the spinach and chicken and cook for another 10 minutes on medium. Add the parsley, thyme and nutmeg. Salt and pepper to taste. I kept my veggies a bit under-cooked so that when I pull it out to re-heat they don't turn to mush. If you're making this for just a single dinner, I would cook the veggies for an extra 5 minutes.

This is how mine looked (sans cauliflower to sub for dumplings)

And here is the small bowl I made for Aiden! (I tossed a few pieces of cauliflower in there) For a kid who hates veggies, he sure did kill it pretty fast. :)

And I may have ended up grabbing a bowl for myself! ;)

So there is my take on chicken and dumplings. Honestly, with all of those amazing veggies I didn't even miss the dumplings! I hope you guys enjoy!

REAL Chicken Parm!!!

Who the heck decided on the name Chicken Parmesan? You Google it, you go to a restaurant and order it and you always get the same thing A breaded piece of chicken with some sauce and mozzarella cheese. Maybe Chicken Mozzarella doesn't have the same ring to it? Well let me tell you ladies and gents, I have seen the light! And upon this blindness I have come up with a recipe for REAL chicken PARMESAN!!

Seriously, upon going low carb, the biggest thing I've missed is saucy cheesy Italian American food. This is by far the best low carb meal I've ever had and yes, that includes anything made with bacon! Whether you're low carb or not, you're going to want to try this!! Also, total net carbs are only 5!!!!

Ingredients:

• Oil for pan frying
• Chicken breasts (I used 3)
• Sauce of choice (I used 'Trader Giotto's organic spaghetti sauce)
• 3 oz Mozzarella Cheese
• 4 oz Parmesan cheese blend (I used Trader Giotto's Quatro Formaggio)

For Breading:

• 1/2 cup Carbquick mix
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 water
• 1 tsp Italian Seasoning
• 1 tsp Garlic Powder

(chicken not pictured)

Directions:

Pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees. Mix together all ingredients for breading. It should wind up looking something like this:

Get out your frying pan and dump enough oil is there to make it approx. 1/2 inch deep. I used my small frying pan and did them one at a time. I feel like it cooks more evenly and it wastes less oil! Start heating the oil while you get your battering station set up.

(This is how mine looked)

As you see I took a small plate and put the Parmesan cheese blend on it. I took the chicken breasts, dredged it in the batter and then coated it in cheese! Next step was frying!

How's that for action shots?!

While these were frying I took my sheet pan and sprayed it with some cooking spray. And then put the chicken on there one by one to get ready for baking. As you can see I didn't get my breading very dark. The reason why is because it's going to continue to darken and crisp in the oven and I didn't want it to burn before the chicken cooked through.

This is how they looked going into the oven.

I cooked them for 17 minutes, flipped and cooked for another 7 minutes. Then I pulled them out, added some sauce and cheese, and popped them back in until melted. I used 1/2 serving of sauce, which was actually a lot!!

 Mine is that bad boy all the way to the right!

And that beautiful cheese

I had mine served with broccoli covered in butter,

 while the gents of the house had spaghetti.

And the final result!

Seriously, I think this chicken could create World Peace. I think this is going to be the official food for every occasion. Break ups, weddings, pregnancy, you name it. This chicken should present itself, because it is THAT good! Would love you guys to try it and let me know what you think!

Recipe Suggestions

Hey guys and gals! As you know, I've been playing around in my kitchen a lot lately coming up with new low carb recipes. I have TONS of ideas still, but what I wanna know is: What is one food that you love that isn't low carb?! I'd love to try and make a low carb version of it. I'm all about trying to find realistic ways for people to stick to this lifestyle, and all I ever see is people saying they're sick of eating the same ole' stuff! So stop reading this, and get to the comments! Tell me what you'd like to see!!

If you can't think of anything, just enjoy this ridiculously awful picture of me and the hubs.

A Not-So-Thankgiving Turkey

So I found this little Butterball turkey after Christmas and it's been hangin' in my deep freezer asking to be made into an awesome low carb meal. For this meal there is 9.3 net carbs 12.3 if you decide to have gravy. With the turkey at only 1g of carbs per serving you can see that the veggies can be a little carb heavy, so don't feel guilty packing the meat on your plate!

Ingredients:

• Butterball Turkey Breasts
• 12 large Carrots
• 4 large stalks of celery
• 1 large yellow onion
• 1 stick of butter

(I only ended up using 1 onion because they were HUGE!)

My roasting pan that I used.

(Don't mind the coffee, it always find a way to photo bomb.)

Directions:
 I preheated the oven to 325 degrees, then chopped my veggies into nice big chunks and dropped them in my roasting pan. I put the rack in first so I didn't have to mess around with getting it to fit after. I went with big chunks so they wouldn't be overcooked by the time the turkey way done. 

I put the turkey on the rack part of my roasting pan and poured a little bit of water in the bottom of the pan, just enough to keep the veggies from burning. I like to spray my turkey with some zero carb olive oil spray, it wont burn, like butter would, and it helps to seal in the juices.

I cooked this as directed at 325 degrees for the recommended hour and 45 minutes and it was only 96 degrees internally. :( I knew it wasn't still partially frozen as I took it our 4 days in advance.) So I cranked the heat up to 350, tented it with some tin foil, and cooked it for another 30 minutes. I melted a stick of salted butter in the microwave and then poured it over the turkey and vegetables and popped it back in with the heat on 450 for about 5 minutes, make sure you keep an eye on it though, or it will burn. This step gets the skin nice and crispy!

This is what the turkey looked like after.

And the veggies..

This is the gravy that came with it. I tried it, it tasted great, but was strange because it didn't thicken upon cooking.

When I originally looked at the roast I thought it looked a little wimpy to have a serving size of 10, but upon slicing it they were actually pretty big portions. 

This is a pic of my husband's plate, it just looked prettier than mine. I had deviled eggs as well. I don't know about you guys, but at every Thanksgiving these are a staple to our meal. Last year my sister made the eggs and didn't make it until after dinner. She will never live it down..

Be sure to leave a comment and let know know what you guys think!

Cheese? Olives? Tomatoes? Count me in!

What is this deliciousness?! No, no, it's ridiculousness is what it is! I gotta say, sometimes with all of the bacon and fats, my taste buds are just craving something fresh! This side dish is a favorite of mine, just remember to watch your tomato consumption! For a medium sized beefsteak tomato (168 g if you're a weigher) there is 5 total carbs and 4 net carbs. Also if you're like me and going to rob Jim, Jack and John of their share of the olives, be sure to count a few carbs in for that as well. The 7 oz container I used had 12 servings in it at 1 g of carbs per serving. Depending on how many you eat and how many you spare, you could end up eating 3 carbs worth. Other than that, everything in this is carb free!


Ingredients: (Serving size :1 slice of tomato, 1 slice of cheese, 3 olives = 1.9 carbs servings: 14)

• 16 oz of fresh mozzarella. I used two of the 8 oz Sorrento. I like that it makes circle slices, looks awesome paired with the tomato, and oh man is it delicious!
• 7 oz of Olives. I used the Delallo brand Olive Medley and drained the liquid.
• 3 Beefsteak Tomatoes
• Drizzle of Sugar Free Balsamic Vinegar dressing
• Sprinkle of Cilantro.

That dressing.

Oh man.

You can marinade with it, drizzle with it, dip in it, 

don't look in my pantry or you might catch me drinkin' it.

Now to make this quick easy side dish, just slice up your tomatoes and cheese to about the same width. Stack them, lay them, present them however you please. Salt and pepper to taste. Top with olives, a drizzle of your low/no carb dressing of choice and some chopped fresh cilantro. This is amazing in the summer time paired with any type of grilled meat or seafood! Hope you guys enjoy!

Be sure to leave me a comment letting me know what you think!

No Bake Cheesecake!

I think Cream Cheese Frosting and Vanilla Pudding Just Had a Baby...

This is a picture of my no bake cheesecake. Just follow the recipe and use 1 1/2 cups of Heavy Whipping Cream and 1/2 cup of water instead!

Is it Pudding?! Is it Frosting?! Let's Just Call it AMAZING!! I mean seriously?! Holy crap. And You're going to wanna slap me silly and call me a liar when I tell you that this dessert is only 5 FREAKING CARBS per serving! (total and net)

Ingredients: (Makes 8 servings)

• 1 (4 serving) box of Jell-o brand Sugar Free Instant Vanilla Pudding
• 1 cup of Cold Water
• 1 cup of Heavy Whipping Cream
• 1 6 oz block of Cream Cheese

This recipe took me a whole 10 seconds and a mixing bowl to make, how easy is that? I'm all for things that require minimal cleaning and hands on cook time, especially with a home remodel, 3 kids, a husband, and 4 dogs to tend to. I know, right?!

Instructions:
Take your block of cream cheese and set it on the counter until it's room temperature and soft. If you forget like I did, put that bad boy on a plate and pop it in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.

I used a hand held mixer for the next part.

Dump the box of pudding into the mixing bowl, pour in the water and heavy cream. Mix until the pudding starts to set. Plop the stick of cream cheese in the pudding and continue mixing until it's all incorporated. 

And you're done. No seriously, that's it! This stuff is outrageously rich, so I used an ice cream scooper to dish it out, trust me when I say you do not want more than that. If you want it more rich, use more cream, if you would like it less rich, use a little more water. Just make sure no matter what you use some sort of dairy or the pudding wont set (it reacts with the proteins) and stick to around 2 cups of liquid as well.

I hope you guys enjoy! Leave me a comment and let me know what you think!

Hello World!

Have you ever heard the phrase "They'd lose their head if it wasn't attached"? I'm 104% positive that phrase came to life the day I was born. I always forget something! I spent weeks researching ketosis and low carb. I read books, I read blogs, I Pinterested for days, but low and behold, when I decided to start this new lifestyle choice, I forgot recipes! So I decided to start this blog, because I couldn't find a whole lot of easy, realistic recipes that are low carb. I love playing with recipes, so this is my journey of chemistry in my kitchen, finding ways to create low carb. goodness.

My highest weight was 242 pounds Dec. 2013. When I started a keto based life in Sept 2014 I was 229 pounds. As of January 2015, I am 201 pounds.

August 18, 2013 247 lbs

Reason for the big break in weight loss!! Maintained 229 lbs while pregnant.

October 2014 217 lbs

 December 2014 201 lbs

(P.S. Don't mind the messy vanity, I'm on strike from cleaning it off haha)