Veggie Dinner

Roasted Sweet Potato with Spaghetti Squash, Steamed Green Beans and Honey Glazed Garlic Carrots

Low Carb White Chicken Chili

Tennessee had a lovely fall day about a week ago that had everyone in a good mood...then it got hot again. But regardless, we had the ONE awesome preview to fall. Oh I can't wait. So, that day inspired a light chili supper for me and my hubby.


Low Carb White Chicken Chili

Ingredients:

Pulled chicken from a Kroger Roasted Chicken....or you can cook your own, but I wanted to save time
1 can Cannelini beans (which are apparently not to carb friendly)
1 can Red Kidney beans
1 can Large Butter Beans
1 can Garbonzo Beans (which turned out awesome)
1 onion finely chopped
1-2 garlic cloves finely chopped
1 jalapeno pepper (optional)
1 Carrot chopped
1 sweet pepper chopped
3-4 strips raw bacon chopped
1-2 cups heavy cream
12 ounces chicken broth
salt and pepper to taste
1/3 stick real salted butter....never use margarine....REAL BUTTER is amazing and better for you.

Topping:
Sour Cream (All-Natural has the lowest carbs)
Cheddar Cheese
Avocado


How To:

I prefer using my Martha Stewart dutch oven to make any soup or chili. It's so awesome. (Shout out Martha!)

Anyways, I started by browning/sizzling some butter, the bacon and garlic. Ina Garten always says if you want people to think you're making something good, just saute some garlic in butter. SO, this is your flavor maker base. If this starts turning brown at the bottom, then you're doing a good job. That's the good stuff. Also, remember to use a wooden spoon for this.

While this is sizzling, I went ahead and rinsed and drained all the beans. I just dump the cans in a colander and rinse well.

Then I had pre-chopped my carrots, onion and peppers so they'd be ready to join the garlic and bacon yumminess. I just dumped those in and stirred 'em up.

Now here's where I wanted to add some liquid so I used about 3/4 of this lovely free range chicken broth. I felt very East Nashville purchasing this item. (Insert Portlandia quote: is this local?)

I also added the heavy cream and the beans once there was lots of liquid in there.

Now you can learn from my mistake...I added my chicken at the beginning and by the end of the 4 hours of stew time, the chicken was mush. It was still delicious...but it was mushy.

I let mine simmer on low heat (like the 2 setting) for as long as I could wait to eat this. Basically 3-4 hours...but it would probably be ready after coming to a boil then simmering for about 20-35 minutes....I would add the chicken about 15 minutes before you're ready to eat it if you're on a tight schedule.










It's probably a good idea to bring it to a soft boil before you decide to go to simmer mode.

This is the photo I sent to my hubby....to get him to come home from work. Just a little teaser...who can guess what's in here? (clue quote)









When you've waited as long as you can wait, then it's time to dig in. I topped mine off with some cheese, sour cream (of course) and avocado.....DELICIOUS and low carb! Yay.

PS...Another chance for you to learn from my mistake...thinking my garden's jalapenos weren't going to be hot, I added a can of Rotel too...big mistake. This chili was SPICY! Like back of the throat breathing fire spicy..but it was still yummy. So ...DON'T add a can of rotel. :)


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Here's a nice little bean chart I found from http://www.slowcarbfoodie.com/2011/07/23/what-kind-of-beans-should-i-eat-the-great-slow-carb-bean-index/

For ONE CUP of COOKED Legumes....

Bean  Type	Calories	Carbs	Protein	Fiber	Fat
Black Beans	227	40.8g	15.2g	15g	0.4g
Red Beans	225	40.36	15.35	13.1g	.88g
Pinto Beans	245	44.8g	15.4g	15.4g	1.2g
Great Northern Beans	209	37.3g	14.7g	12.4g	0.9g
Cannellini Beans	282	46g	20g	12g	2g
Lima Beans	216	39.3g	14.7g	13.2g	0.8g
Navy Beans	255	47.5g	15g	19.1g	1.1g
Fava Beans	187	33.5g	12.9g	9.2g	0.7g
Mung Beans	212	38.8g	14.2g	15.4g	0.8g
Adzuki Beans	294	57g	17.3g	16.8g	0.2g
Black-eyed Peas	220	32g	16g	8g	1g
ChickPeas (Garbanzo Beans)	269	44.9g	14.5g	12.5g	4.3g
Lentils	230	40g	18g	16g	1g
Soy Beans (edamame)	254	20g	22.2g	7.6g	11.5g

Avocado Hummus and BBQ Tater Bites

 

I went to Wild Cow the other day and ordered this amazing Chick Pea Salad that had a pile of yummy hummus on top. It was super delicious and I decided I’d try to recreate it.

The BBQ Tater Bites were created out of too many awesome leftovers of things I shouldn’t really be eating…so in order to make myself feel less guilty about eating potatoes and barbeque, I made these small bites.

Slice leftover baked potato into 1/2 inch slices. Slather butter onto potato slice. Add a pile of BBQ, sprinkle with cheddar cheese and bake at 350 for about 20 minutes or until cheese is golden and bubbly.

I put a dollop of sour cream on top and served with a side of Avocado Hummus!

Avocado Hummus Recipe:

1 can chick peas (rinsed and drained)

1 avocado chopped

1/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

handful of sunflower seeds

salt/pepper/garlic powder …(I find that putting minced garlic in my hummus makes it way too strong)

2 tbs. chopped red onion  (just learned how to soak chopped onion in cool water for 10 minutes to make it less onion-y in a good way )

Blend all ingredients in a food processor until consistency is to your liking.

<- Great texture here!

Snacks and 4th of July

Fruit Flag

blueberries, strawberries (halved), bananas in large chunks

Roasted Tato Fries

sweet potatoes and yukon gold potatoes

olive oil

sunflower seeds

salt and pepper

garlic powder

oven, 395 F for 20-30 min. 

Low Carb Dinner: Alfredo Tilapia with Green Beans and Ceasar Salad

I've been buying frozen tilapia that comes in little sealed bags....they thaw in like 5 minutes in some warm water and bake at 400 for about 17-22 minutes...so easy and good! I just sprinkle garlic powder, salt and pepper, little bit of curry and drizzle olive oil on top. 

I made alfredo (from scratch!) for the first time and it was like pure creamy nectar. So, i tried it on the fish and it was sooo good cause I usually like this fish with a "creamy" sidekick. So, anyways, I topped with a 'swirl' of Sriracha with some capers. Yumm. 

Sunday Morning Roast

We have been trying to find the right day to cook this roast and it's been such a busy week...so low and behold, Sunday it is!


We used a simple recipe and have made this in the past where we let it cook all day (7 hours-ish) on 250 and it's sooo good.

 garlic, carrots, onions and red potatoes....

Favorite Sushi...

We have officially found our favorite sushi place...in Green Hills of all places. The prices are great...especially for the amount of food you're getting. And, it is so consistently good. Everytime we go, it is seemingly more delicious than before. We looooove it.


Tokyo Japanese Steakhouse : http://www.yelp.com/biz/tokyo-japanese-steak-house-nashville

Yummmmmm.

Low Carb Roasted Vegetables and Sausage

I know D gets so tired of eating this, but I love this meal! We have been on a low carb diet for almost a year now and this is soooooo easy (and delicious).  I make this Sunday night and snack on it all week...

Ingredients: 
1 bag frozen brussel sprouts
1 package of Polska Kielbasa sausage or turkey sausage
a handful of grape tomatoes
1 onion sliced into large chunks
1/2 bag whole baby carrots
chopped parsley
2-3 garlic cloves chopped coarsely

you can also add: potatoes/sweet potatoes, bell pepper, zucchini, cabbage

Seasoning: 
olive oil drizzled generously
a couple of dashes of worcestershire
a drip or two of balsamic vinegar...optional
salt and pepper
......
or try Dale's Seasoning with olive oil

Bake at 350 for about 40-50 minutes...or until sausage looks golden and yummy.

Pre-Bake

Post-Bake