Low-Carb Cheesy Cauliflower

Low-Carb Cheesy Cauliflower

 

Here's a veggie recipe for ya. Not my favorite honestly, but maybe with some tweaking, it could work out. It tasted "fine" and of course I ate it though! I wouldn't make it like so again, but I still love cheesy cauliflower!

 



 

Ingredients

1. 1 head of cauliflower
2. 3 c of shredded cheese
3. 6 tbsp of butter
4. 1/2 c of heavy cream
5. 3 cloves of minced garlic
6. 1 tbsp of fresh thyme (or another seasoning)
7. salt and pepper

Ready for the oven

 

Directions

1. Preheat over to 400 degrees.
2. Boil cauliflower until soft.
3. Melt butter and mix in heavy cream and garlic.
4. Once cauliflower is soft, place into a Pyrex bowl and pour butter mixture over it. Mix all the ingredients together.
5. Sprinkle with thyme and cheese.
6. Bake for 30 mins, until golden brown!



All done

So, as you can see, the bowl is filled with oil from the butter, not super appealing. Personally, I don't think this recipe needed 6 tbsp of butter, so I'll definitely try it again with just 2 tbsp. I'd also add some "actual" seasoning, not thyme. The flavor was lacking so I ended up adding salt and pepper when I went to eat it. I ate this dish as leftovers too and it reheated fine.

Ladies and Gents, if you try this recipe, let me know how it works out for you!


Not giving up!!
Gigi

Low-Carb Cheeseburger Casserole

Low-Carb Cheeseburger Casserole

 

Hi! Hi! Here's a great recipe for picky kids and spouses alike. It's low-carb and gluten free. It's just ground beef and cheese and if you threw a few veggies in there, finely chopped, the kids (and spouse!) wouldn't even know! As always, I prepped it the night before and baked it when I got home for dinner. It was a hit. My daughter even took it to school the next day.

 

Ingredients

1. 2 lbs of ground beef
2. 2 cloves of minced garlic
3. 1/2 onion or 1/2 tsp of onion powder
4. 8 eggs
5. 1 6 oz can of tomato paste
6. 1 c of heavy cream
7. 1/2 tsp of salt
8. 1/4 tsp of pepper
9. 12 oz of shredded cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Brown ground beef in a skillet. Add onion or onion powder.
3. Drain grease and spread ground beef on the bottom of the pan.
4. In a bowl, whisk the eggs and add tomato paste, heavy cream, salt, and pepper until combined.
5. Add 8 oz of cheese into the egg bowl.
6. Pour the entire egg mixture over the meat.
7. Top off with the remaining cheese, or more ;)
8. Bake for 35 minutes, until it's golden brown!

All ready to go in the oven!!!

 

All ready to be eaten!!! (oops... it already has!!)

 

Truth be told ya'll, I don't like cooking. I don't like cooking for my family that doesn't want to eat my food. It's insulting, it's annoying, it's unnecessary. My husband has been cooking for us for years so we should enjoy that, right! Well, yea of course we do, and I'm thankful that he does it, but it's the same food over and over again. I am happy to get a little bit more into cooking now, now that my kids are older, now that my husband is expanding his taste buds, now that I am not the only one eating it all. So I'll continue to post about my meals and I'll continue to share with you. I hope you enjoying reading and I hope you enjoy the recipes. Please please, leave me a comment, tell me what you liked, what you didn't like, what you tried, what you added, I love to hear from all of you!

 

Till next bake!

Gigi

 

Low-Carb oat-LESS-meal

Low-Carb oat-LESS-meal

 

If you're anything like me, you probably don't even bother with breakfast. I have a cup of coffee and call it a day. Who has time to sit down and eat in the morning! I have three kids who need lunches, breakfasts, a dog who needs to go outside, and I need a cup of coffee! But this breakfast is super simple. It takes as much time as it does to make my cup of coffee. And it's filling and delicious and I love it! Makes me want to get up and eat in the morning! It's a Low-Carb oat-LESS breakfast!





Ingredients

1. 1/2 c + 2 tbsp. of Chia Seeds
2. 1/2 c + 2 tbsp. of Golden Flax Meal
3. 1/2 c + 2 tbsp. of unsweetened coconut flakes (shredded or flaked)
4. 1 tbsp. + 3/4 tsp of Ground Cinnamon

(I linked all the food above to Walmart.com just because I figure everyone has a Walmart nearby, but these grocery items are available at your local grocery store, maybe in the Natural Foods aisle. I usually shop at Giant and that's where I find everything!)


Take all those ingredients and put them in a sealed Tupperware.


When it's time to make your oat-LESS-meal, scoop out 1/2 c of the above ingredients (from that sealed Tupperware) and add 1/2 c of hot water, 2 tbsp. of unsweetened almond/coconut/cashew milk, and artificial sweetener (to taste). I added 3 tbsp. of Skinny Syrup (my sweetener of choice always!) (Skinny Syrup is like Torani, it's a Sugar Free sweetener that I buy at Home Goods for $3.99)

 

And now look! Breakfast is served!

 

Happy travels,

Gigi

 



Low-Carb Berry Bomb

Low-Carb Berry Bomb

  

My sweet tooth will be the death of me! Like for real! So of course I have to make something to satisfy it and of course, this berry bomb did not disappoint! It tastes like berry ice cream.... except that I wanted to eat way more than a serving! 

 

The recipe was pretty simple. I recommend having silicone muffin tins in your arsenal for ideal Low-Carb cooking or at least a 12 count muffin tin and cupcake liners. 

 

Ingredients

 

1. 2 c assorted frozen berries 
2. 6 tbsp softened butter
3. 8 oz softened cream cheese 
4. 1 tsp vanilla extract (or any flavor, I used coconut)
5. 5 packets of Splenda 

Directions

Soften butter and cream cheese in the microwave (1 min should work)

1. Add frozen berries, butter, cream cheese, flavored extract, and Splenda to a blender (I used a Ninja Blender) 
2. Pour mixture into a muffin tin lined with cucpcake liners, or, if you’re like me, just pour the mixture into a cake pan and attempt to portion it put yourself.... yea right! 😂😂
3. Freeze overnight and pop out a delicious Berry Bomb whenever you’re hungry! 

 

This Berry Bomb was delicious eating as frozen ice cream, but it was also delicious right after I made it, eating it like a dip with Daikon Radish chips. I had never had Daikon Radishes before but found these at the Produce Market in my town and they were really good. They're like Oriental Radishes (those little red ones, that's what they're called!) but they were less "peppery" in taste. They were crunchy and just perfect with this dip. It was a nice balance between the radish "pepper" flavor and the sweetness from the berries and Splenda. I recommend you trying this Berry Bomb BOTH ways!

 

This recipe is really going to test your will power. Test to see if you have any and if you can maintain it after just one serving. Let me know how that works for you! I already told you how it worked for me! 

Sweets & Treats,

Gigi 

Low-Carb Vegetable Stuffed Chicken

Low-Carb Vegetable Stuffed Chicken

A few coworkers and myself are getting serious about Low-Carb. While I was serious and very successful a few years ago, this year I “let loose” and gained some of the weight back. Well now I’m serious again and I am going to beat this battle and get back to a healthier target weight!

This recipe was so easy. Everything takes time of course, defrosting the chicken, cutting the veggies, stuffing the chicken, cooking! But I find that doing the prep on one day and cooking/baking on the other helps to break up the monotony of cooking for me, because, get real, I don’t actually like to cook.

So here's how it goes, my step by step of making this delicious Vegetable Stuffed Chicken.

1. buy the chicken. I bought 5 boneless chicken breasts at the market. I bought 5 so that when I prepped them on Sunday night, I would have enough dinner for Mon-Fri nights.
2. buy the ingredients, which are listed below. Choose veggies that you like, not necessarily the ones that I used.
3. prep the chicken. Slice the chicken in a hassleback style and stuff the veggies inside. Smother in cheese and seasonings. I suggest that when you smother the chicken in cheese, it's on the piece of tin foil that you'll wrap it in to place in the freezer. If not you'll see it might be difficult to pick up and put on the foil later.
4. wrap in foil and freeze.

Ingredients

• 5 boneless chicken breasts
• assorted veggies- I used 2 tomatoes, 1 c of spring mix, 3 springs of basil, 25 slices of daikon radishes, 1 green and 1 red pepper, 1/3 of an onion, 1 avocado
• seasoning of your choice- I used adobo. Yummy!!
• 1 c of cheese- I used mozzarella but I often use a Mexican cheese blend
• tin foil

Directions

• preheat oven to 400 degrees
• prep your veggies in thin slices
• slice the chicken in a hassleback style (5 slits throughout the body, but do not puncture all the way through)
• stuff each chicken breast with one slice of each veggie in each slit (or however you desire)- make sure your chicken in on a piece of tin foil by now if you're going to freeze it
• smother in cheese
• sprinkle in seasoning
• bake. If the chicken is fresh, it will take about 40 mins. If the chicken is frozen (not defrosted), it will take about 65 mins.
• eat and enjoy!!

 fresh

frozen

Whether you cook your chicken "fresh" or "frozen," it all tastes delicious! I am always so hesitant because chicken can be so dry, but this chicken wasn't ever dry, it was always perfect! And honestly, I didn't even eat the chicken with an additional veggie side because it was quite filling all on it's own. I still have 2 chicken breasts in the freezer that I can't wait to eat!

I hope ya'll enjoy this recipe as much as I did! It's on my favorite list!

Cock-a Doodle-doo ya'll!
Gigi

Stewed Tomatoes

Tonight I made some delicious stewed tomatoes. Because they were so easy and actually tasted like perfection, I wanted to take a minute to blog about them. Hopefully this will go into your vault of delicious recipes because it sure is going into mine! 

Ingredients

- 4 large tomatoes (they don't have to be perfectly ripe and they can be imperfect) 

- 1 tbsp butter (I used unsalted)

- 1 tsp salt

- optional: additional veggies (green beans, green peppers, mushrooms, onions) 

Directions

- Blanche the 4 tomatoes. I know, I know. You have no idea what that means! Hell, me neither! So to blanche, it's really very simple. Take a big pot of water and boil it. Once boiling, submerge all tomatoes in it until the skin looks soft. Then place the tomatoes in a bowl of ice cold water to cool down. Once the tomatoes cool down, you should be able to easily peel off the skin. Simple! 

- Now that the tomatoes are skinless, cut them up and place them in a frying pan. 

- Add the butter and salt and stir together on medium heat. 

- Add additional veggies if you want and cover the frying pan. I added a bag of whole frozen green beans. Cook for about 15 mins or until you think the veggies look cooked. 

- No need to add additional spices; your stewed tomatoes are now done and ready to eat!! 

Pair your veggie dish with a protein and you have a hearty, healthy and yummy dinner meal! 

Stewing away!

Gigi 

Low-Carb/Egg Fast Egg Drop Soup

Here's a quick dinner recipe that's Low-Carb and Egg Fast friendly!! I made this while feeding the kids and finishing homework tonight and it hit the spot. 

Ingredients 

- 2 cups of chicken broth. I used boxed broth, but you can also use a bouillon cube and make your own broth. 

- 2 eggs

Instructions 

- pour 2 cups of chicken broth into a microwave safe bowl 

- microwave for 3 minutes until it's boiling hot 

- crack two eggs into the bowl. The boiling water will cook the eggs and make the eggs look stringy. 

- add some spices or bits of celery to the broth to complete your soup 

Egg Fasting Mama signing off! 

Gigi 

Low-Carb/Egg Fast Cream & Herbs Egg Bowl

I saw a recipe for eggs with (heavy whipping) cream and herbs that I desperately wanted during my Egg Fast but the ingredients just didn't match up with the Egg Fast requirements. So, I put on my creativity hat, and really adjusted the recipe to make it Egg Fast friendly! Did you know that 1 portion of heavy whipping cream = 1/2 portion of cream cheese? We'll now you know and that's what I subbed out in this recipe to get the "creamy" effect! I used 2 oz ramekins which only hold 1 egg, but the recipe can be doubled if you are using a 4 oz ramekin which can hold 2 eggs. 

Ingredients

- 4 eggs

- 2 tbsp cream cheese

- 4 tbsp butter (or oil) 

- 1/2 tbsp Rosemary & 1/2 tbsp Thyme- mix together 

- (optional) Parmesan cheese 

Instructions

- preheat oven to 425 degrees

- build your 4 2 oz ramekins according to the diagram

(when cracking the egg into the ramekin, do not pierce the yolks)

- (optional) add a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese on top of the herbs

- bake for 10-12 mins- place on a cookie sheet/pan so the ramekin is stable in the oven 

- once the whites are settled and the yolks are soft, 

- and the butter has melted to the bottom of the ramekin, 

- enjoy!! 

Each ramekin is 1 egg/1 fat/.5 cheese. Enjoy 2-3 ramekins for a meal or 1 for a snack! 

Creamy & Dreamy! 

Gigi 

Low-Carb/Egg Fast "Muglette"

So today is the start of my 5 day, low-carb, egg fast. It's a fast which is suppose to help break through the stall in weight loss that I have been experiencing for months! There's a ton of research to support it too! Just google Egg Fast. But I know you're not going to, so here's the support.....

For the egg fast, all you can eat for 5 days (I chose 5 days but it can be anywhere from 3-30 days really), is eggs, fat, and protein. So my first egg fast meal is a "muglette," that's a mug omelette ya'll! Like an omelette in a mug, yep! 

Ingredients

- 3 eggs

- 1 tbsp cheese

- 1 tbsp meat (meat is not technically egg fast approved) 

- cooking spray 

- salsa, olives, veggies (optional, though also not egg fast approved) 

Instructions 

- spray the inside of the mug with a cooking spray 

- beat 3 eggs in the cup

- add in some cheese and meat (this morning I used shredded chicken, but you can also use pepperoni, sausage, ground beef, anything that you love!) 

- add in your optional ingredients too (I didn't for the purpose of this fast)

- microwave the mug for 1 minute and stir

- then microwave for another minute and let cool

- and eat! 

It's very easy and tasty! It's good for the egg fast and for an everyday breakfast! 

"Egg"joy!

Gigi

Low-Carb Cilantro Rice

Finally, I tried making cauliflower rice! And it was like heaven in my mouth! I have to thank my hubs for this one, since he actually cooked it while I tended to the littles. 

Ingredients

- one head of cauliflower

- several stalks of cilantro 

- butter

Instructions

- cut the florets off the cauliflower and discard the stem and leaves 

- using a (cheese) grater, grate the florets into a bowl 

- butter up a frying pan 

- cook the cauliflower for about 5 mins and then put back in the bowl

- chop up the cilantro stalks. I used my hand held chopper. Perfect. 

- add the cilantro to the rice and stir up

- add seasonings as desired. I used garlic powder and creole seasoning. 

- now don't forget to enjoy!!

This cauli-rice was delicious! It was also hard to only have one serving, so, I had two. Next time, I'm going to add some lime to it! Makes me hungry just writing about it! Yum yum yum!!! You should try some too!!

Veggies make me smile,

Gigi

Low-Carb Mug Cake

OMG! I found this recipe for a mug cake. It's just like it sounds, a cake that you prepare and cook, in a mug. It's so simple and after try 2 (with adjustments), it's so tasty! And believe me when I say that because I'm not a chocolate lover, but I love this mug cake!! It's so simple! And it's gluten free and low carb and really perfect for anyone to make and enjoy! 

Ingredients

- 2 spoonfuls of coconut oil

- 1 egg 

- 1 spoonful of unsweetened vanilla flavored almond milk 

- 1 spoonful of unsweetened cocoa powder 

- 1 spoonful of almond flour

- a dash of salt

- 3 spoonfuls of Torani vanilla syrup

I wanted to keep the clean up to a minimum, so I used a small eating spoon for all the ingredients and just one mug. 

Instructions

- heat the coconut oil in the microwave for 1 minute in the mug

- once the oil has melted, crack the egg in the mug and beat

- then add the rest of the ingredients and continuing stirring together 

- heat in the microwave for 70 seconds and then let sit for another minute 

- for the purpose of photos, I turned the mug upside down and let the cake drop on the plate 

While I acknowledge that his mug cake doesn't look so tasty in the photos, don't knock it till you try it. It's freaking delicious!! I used Torani syrup verses Splenda because it: a) is less carbs and b) is sweeter and sweetens the unsweetened flavor of the coca powder. It made all the difference (because I tried Splenda first and wasn't impressed). 

Carb Count:

4 carbs

Now it's time for you to try this simple, delicious, and healthy dessert without guilt! I'm glad I did!! 

Gigi

Low-Carb Roll Ups

Here's a simple recipe that every low-carber should try! (And have on hand!) Its super low-carb and perfect for a snack, lunch, or treat! 

Ingredients

- hard salami

- pickles

- cream cheese

Instructions

- on a single slice of hard salami, schmear some cream cheese 

- then put a pickle in the middle and roll up the salami

- take a bite and enjoy!!

Wow! That was simple! Try pepperoni meat or a flavored cream cheese if you want! A lot of flavored cream cheeses only have 2 carbs per 2 tbsp like plain cream cheese, unless they are sweet cream cheeses (like honey almond or pineapple). 

Carb Breakdown

2 carbs per 3 roll ups! 

Try it! You'll like it!

Gigi

Low-Carb Pancakes II

Here's another recipe for low-carb pancakes. I had some cottage cheese that I didn't want to eat plain so I tried a new pancake recipe. It came out good, once I perfected the recipe. Oiy, always trial and error with me! 

Ingredients

- 1/4 cup of almond flour

- 3/4 cup of cottage cheese (I used 4% milk fat) 

- 3 eggs

- 1/8 tsp of baking soda

- 1/4 tsp of salt

Instructions

- use a food processor to finely chop the cottage cheese

- beat the eggs

- add finely chopped cottage cheese and other ingredients to the eggs and mix

- pour a small spoonful onto a lightly greased frying pan or skillet at 350 degrees

- cook until golden brown 

- top with butter, syrup, or cinnamon and sugar and enjoy!

Carb Breakdown

You're not going to believe this but the whole batter was only 11 carbs! And it made 20 pancakes! I added one packet of Splenda and some butter on top and ate 18 of the 20 pancakes (so I'm a pig!). So my entire breakfast was only 12 carbs (because the one Splenda packet is only 1 carb). This was a perfect way to start my day! (Even if it didn't start till noon!) 

Happy Sunday!

Gigi