Low-Carb Creamy Squash Casserole

This is a favorite of mine, especially in the summer when our garden is producing squash, but since we're in the middle of winter and a snow storm at that, this will have to do for dinner tonight! (Cause I just happened to buy squash...)

Nashville got about 8 inches of snow this weekend, and we've been loving it! 

Anyways here's the recipe.

Low-Carb Creamy Squash Casserole

Ingredients

3-4 yellow squash, thinly sliced

1 cup sour cream

1 1/2 cups shredded cheddar cheese, save some to sprinkle on top at the end

1/2 block cream cheese, softened

1/2 stick of salted butter, cubed

1/4 cup half-n-half 

1/4 cup green onions, chopped finely

1/4 cup fresh parsley

1 tsp salt (maybe a little more)

1 tsp ground pepper 

2 tsp garlic powder 

Optional: Instead of slicing the squash, you could use a vegetable spiraler...I'm kicking myself that I didn't try this! 

I will next time though! 

First, slice or spiral up your squash and bring to a boil in some salted water. Don't boil for long at all...just get it hot then drain. 

In a bowl, add all your other ingredients. If you don't have time to wait for the cream cheese to "soften" then microwave for about 30 sec in a microwave safe bowl. Dump the drained squash on top of your ingredients and start mixing it up gently...I use a silicone spatula. Make sure the cream cheese is blended in well. 

Now grease a 13"x9" baking dish and pour in mixture. Bake at 350• for about 25-30 minutes, until bubbly. Then add the rest of your cheese and bake another 5-10 minutes until your cheese is good and melted. Enjoy!

Super Simple Deviled Eggs

Is there anything better than deviled eggs? Yes I'm sure there is but I found them absolutely delicious yesterday. 

Why would you ever use miracle whip to make these? Cardinal sins! #mayoonly

Super Simple Deviled Eggs 

(Super low carb snack)

Ingredients:

4 eggs

1/3 cup mayo...maybe a little more if it's looking dry (Hellman's)

Tiny squirt of Dijon mustard 

Sprinkling of paprika

Salt and pepper to taste

Boil the eggs. I put them in a small saucepan and cover the eggs with cold water. Once the water comes to a boil I set a timer for 10 minutes. Remove from heat and give the eggs an ice bath. 

Then peel, cut in half, dump the yolks in a bowl and create your mixture. Use a fork to really mash the yolks until smooth and creamy. Spoon mix back into egg halves and sprinkle with paprika. Don't oversalt your mix but also don't be shy with it either. 

Add-ins:

-pickle relish

-green onions

-sweet pickle relish

-diced pickles 

-diced kalamata olives

Funny sorry about Hellman's mayonaise...my husband and I were at a Nashville Sounds game which is not normal, we just happened to have free tickets. Anyways, we ordered some junk food and I was waiting in line for the ketchup when I observe a drunk man pump about a gallon of Hellman's onto his hotdogs.

    I said, "I'm glad I'm not the only person who eats mayo on their hotdogs." 

    To which he replied, "Is there any other way to do it?"

Words of wisdom.

Brambleberry Crisp, A Low-Carb Dessert

I found this original recipe on Pinterest and it's just amazing the way it is, unless you are watching your carb intake. So I made a few changes to make it a little more carb friendly. 

This is a 1/2 cup serving with 2 tbsp of cool whip that brings it to _____grams.

Here's the link to the original recipe:

http://www.tasteslovely.com/triple-berry-crumble-made-with-frozen-fruit/

Low-Carb Brambleberry Crisp

120 carbs total ; makes 4-5 servings

Roughly 24 grams per serving

Ingredients

For the fruity filling:

•3 cups fresh or frozen fruit

     -blueberries, raspberries,   

      strawberries, apples, and/or 

      tangerines (36 grams)

•1 tbsp honey (17 grams)

•lemon zest or 2 tsp lemon juice

For the crisp topping:

•2 1/2 cups oatmeal (50 grams)

•2-3 tbsp almond meal/flour (3 grams)

•1/4 cup almond slivers or walnuts

•2 tbsp brown sugar (10 grams)

•1 tbsp cinnammon 

•1 stick of cold butter, cubed

In a mixing bowl, mix all the fruity filling ingredients together and spread into a greased baking dish. In that same bowl, now mix together all of the crispy topping ingredients. Use your hands to work the butter into "crumbles".

Spread mixture on top of the fruit and bake in a 350• oven for about 30-40 minutes. You want a golden brown top.

Now I would normally eat this with a delicious scoop of vanilla ice cream, but the good news is frozen cool whip tastes just as good! (Only 2 grams per tablespoon!)

Yes there are carbs in this dessert, but it's a much friendlier type of satisfying sweet treat. And hey we're using fruit and oatmeal so it can't be that terrible. 

I added some frozen blueberries just to up the ante...the blueberries are pretty awesome in this dessert.

I'm officially on a chick-fil-a boycott but we keep getting gifted some of their food products and my need to conserve means I have to utilize this free food! So this particular mixture is the fruit cup variety from their restaurant. This fruit is actually the reason I started making this dessert so I guess something good has come of chick-fil-a. 

Sidenote: My husband loves the original recipe and gobbled up the altered version!

Yummm!

Sweet Potato and Spinach Fritatta

So I added some orange to my low-carb breakfast this morning with some roasted sweet potatoes. Ever since getting hooked on the show "Chopped", I have started repurposing cooked items more than usual. So I cut up some leftover roasted sweet taters and added them to my morning "omelett". 

Low-Carb Sweet Potato and Spinach Frittata 

Approximately 15 carbs total...so 4 carbs a serving, makes 4 servings 

Ingredients:

1/4 leftover sweet potato

1/2 cup fresh spinach

1/4 cup breakfast sausage (Tennessee Pride is the only sausage you should ever buy)

1/4 cup diced onion

4 eggs

1/2 cup soy milk

Salt/pepper/garlic powder to taste 

1/2 cup shredded cheddar on top

Like always, I start this by browning and "scrambling" the sausage on med/high heat. Then I add my onions and veggies. Finally I pour on the egg and milk mixture evenly as possible. Top with cheese and cover to cook thoroughly. Turn the heat down real low just before adding the eggs.

Lovely colors. 

This takes about 15 minutes and it's a one pan breakfast which is perfect for me since I'm holding a baby.

Low-Carb Spicy White Chicken Chili

Well it's finally in the 20's here in Nashville so it's time to start eating lots of soups! (Funny that my phone autocorrected "soups" to "souls".)

Anyway, here's a super easy and delicious low-carb chili that I make versions of when I don't want to spend a lot of time on dinner. It's creamy and delicious and this version is spicy thanks to jalapeños cause I need a little extra pep when I'm low-carbing. By the way, the husband doesn't consider this a "chili" so whatever you wanna call it, it's good. 

Here's how to make it:

Low-Carb Spicy White Chicken Chili

Prep: 20 minutes, cook time 10-15 min, "stew" time 1 hour 

Carbs:

10 grams per serving; makes about 6-7 servings 

Ingredients:

Meat and veggies:

- 3 chicken breasts, cubed

- 1 can cannellini beans, rinsed

- 1 cup chopped carrots

- 1 cup chopped celery

- 1 onion, diced

- 4 garlic cloves, minced

- 2 jalapeños, seeded and diced

- 1/2 cup chopped parsley (or use 1 tsp. dried if you have it)

Liquids and spices:

- 1 cup heavy cream

- 2-3 cups chicken broth, low-sodium

- 1 tbs. olive oil

- 2 tsp. Kosher salt

- 1/2 tsp. Ground pepper

- 1/2 tsp. Garlic powder

- 1/2 tsp. Onion powder 

Splash of white wine, optional

Toppings: 

- Sliced avocado 

- sour cream

- chives

- cheddar cheese

First chop up all your meat and veggies...drain and rinse the beans and set the veggies aside.

Sauté the chicken in some olive oil in a dutch oven.  Get it cooked pretty well then dump in your veggies...I don't make life hard, just throw them all in at once and sauté with the chicken. Sprinkle your spices in at this step.

After about 5 minutes of sautéing, then pour in your liquids. I start with the broth and make sure the liquid comes to the top of your meat and veggies. Next stir in your heavy cream. Let this boil gently for a few minutes, then reduce heat/cover and simmer for at least one hour. Add more chicken broth if you think it looks low. Stir every 20 minutes or so. 

Note: Two jalapeños is HOT! So maybe just one if you have a hard time with heat. 

Chop things into similar size chunks for even cooking. 

Drained beans...I used organic cannellini. 

Sautéing the chicken. I add a little extra spice during this step and by spice I mean salt/pepper/garlic and onion powder. 

Throwing in the veggies.

Ready for liquids.

Adding the broth. 

Adding the heavy cream and beans last.

Simmering. 

And here's my cooking buddy, Archer.

Now if I can do this while holding a baby then you know it's easy. 

This recipe has 59 carbs total and we guesstimated about 8 cups of soup. So I'm estimating 7-10 grams per serving. Now I will definitely be adding toppings which will slightly increase the carb count but overall this is a realllllly low carb. 

Low Carb Spinach and Sausage Omelett

New Year's Resolutions are in full swing and for me that means my trusty low carb diet again. I had my first baby this past October and after 3 months of losing baby weight thanks to breastfeeding it's time to kick the last 15 pounds with a little help from my friend...low carbs! I actually enjoy this diet and feel better whilst on it. I instantly notice more energy and feel like my head is less cloudy. 

Here's breakfast today...4 grams roughly per serving. Makes 4 servings.

Since I have a baby in my life now, it's not as easy to just "make breakfast" so to make my life easier, I prep the veggies the night before. 

Ingredients:

4 eggs

2 tbs milk

1/3 cup Tennessee Pride Sausage

4 grape tomatoes (halved)

1/2 cup green bell pepper (chopped)

1/3 cup diced onion

2 handfuls of fresh baby spinach

1/4 cup chopped parsley 

1 tsp diced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

Sprinkle of garlic powder

1/3 cup mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Optional toppings:

Sriracha and 1/2 avocado (add 6 grams)

Directions:

Put sausage in a non-stick skillet on medium-high heat and start breaking up with wooden spatula. Crumble the sausage and cook throughly before adding other ingredients. 

Now add your veggies and sauté for a couple of minutes. 

Finally, beat the eggs and milk together and pour on top of meat and veggies. Add salt, pepper and garlic powder to eggs.

Sprinkle some mozzarella or cheddar cheese on top and cover. Simmer on super low heat until eggs are firm which is about 5-10 minutes. I'm usually changing a diaper at this point so I walk away and come back to breakfast that's ready!

Slice like a pizza and enjoy with toppings or not! 

Don't have any eggs? Well do what I did yesterday and make it "eggless"...still delicious.