Low-Carb Pasta Sauces

Lately I've been experimenting with some pasta sauces. After making my initial batch of Zoodles, people were commenting on the sauce that they love with their Zoodles, so I decided to try some new recipes! Trying all these recipes makes me like to cook! Unfortunately, I am mostly cooking for one as my family doesn't like the healthy meals that I prepare. :(

I started with a basic basil pesto sauce and went from there. Check out the individual recipes below. 

1) Basil Pesto Sauce

Ingredients

2 cups of basil leaves

3/4 cup of extra virgin olive oil 

1/4 chopped walnuts

1/2 grated Parmesan cheese (I just used the prepackaged bottle that you use to top pizza) 

1/2 tbsp of chopped garlic

A dash of lemon 

Instructions 

1. Combine all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet. Blend into a smooth sauce. I started with 1/4 cup of olive oil and added more to help blend the other ingredients. 

2. Pour ingredients over your favorite pasta. I made Low-Carb Vegetable Pasta but if you prefer to not eat low-carb, you can easily pour this sauce over any pasta. 

3. I only used about 1/4 cup of sauce so I froze the rest to use for later. If you don't know about this trick, you must learn. It's so easy to freeze leftover sauce. Just use an ice cube tray and freeze the sauce into individual cubes. Each cube is about 3 tbsp, which is slightly less than the 1/4 cup serving size. 1/4 cup of sauce is 6 carbs. 

Once the ice cubes freeze, pop them out and place in a freezer baggy. When you're ready for your next pasta meal, take out one (or how ever many you want) ice cubes, microwave, and enjoy! 

2) Simply Enjoy Pasta Sauce 

I won't take the credit for this find, but my friend located this low-carb pasta sauce at the Giant grocery store. It's the Giant brand too, called Simply Enjoy. 

It's 4 carbs per serving (1/2 cup). That's really a great find. And of course, a ready made pasta sauce is always great when whipping up a quick meal! There are other flavors too, so you'll have to check them out! 

3) Mushroom Sauté

Ingredients
2 tbsp of olive oil
12 oz of mushrooms
2 tbsp of chopped garlic
creole seasoning
finely chopped green onions

Instructions
1. heat olive oil in the frying pan
2. add sliced mushrooms and sauté for 2-3 mins, stirring regularly with a wooden spatula
3. sprinkle some creole seasoning (or any seasoning or salt) and continue stirring
4. cover pan with lid and continue to sauté for another 7 mins. The lid will pull out the natural moisture from the mushrooms and then the mushrooms can sauté in it and not get burned.
5. sauté for another 5 mins
6. season once again, to taste, and add green onions
7. plate and enjoy!

This sauté can be enjoyed as a side dish or on top of your pasta! It's just that versatile!

That's all I got for you now! While I have so many other ideas, I'll stop here and let you enjoy what I've experimented with so far! Hope you enjoy them as much as I do! So, what's your favorite pasta sauce? Please share with me in the comments!

Godere!
Gigi

Low-Carb Vegetable Pasta

I've been researching the alternatives for grain pasta for a few weeks now. I tried the shiratake (miracle) noodles and enjoyed them. Then I heard about Zoodles and thought I'd try them too. Simply put, Zoodles are Zucchini Noodles. 

They might be the easiest, quickest pasta I've ever had. After you buy the spiralizer to make them. I bought a Spirooli at Bed, Bath & Beyond (gotta love the 20% coupons!) and immediately went to work.

I will say, the directions in that box were awful, so it was trial and error for me as to which blade cut which way, but I figured it out. I'd also highly recommend this spiralizer. There are many others, like the vegetti that is manual, but the Spirooli is super easy to use! Even my kids helped me! 

As you can see in the photos, you just place a zucchini (peeled or not) into this thingy that spins it around and makes it into noodles. It took like 3 seconds. Falls right on to the plate! 

While you're spiralizing, boil some water. When the water comes to a boil, add the zucchini for 30-60 seconds. The 30-60 seconds is just enough time to get the zucchini warmed, but not soft or mushy! Take it out quickly and place back on the plate. 

At this time, you can top it with whatever you want to, like pasta sauce, pesto, ground beef, whatever! I had mine with pasta sauce. I literally threw my meal together in less than 5 minutes because it was unplanned. Next time, I'll take the time to cook some mushrooms and put them in a sauce with some ground beef. Now that sounds good! 

Since I already had the Spirooli out, I also spiralized an Jicama! Jicama is a root ️fruit and tough, so it was a little more difficult (more man power to crank the knob!) but it still came out great! I used a different blade for it too, just to try it out. 

It was fun to experiment with my newest kitchen gadget! It's always fun to experiment with new (or old) foods and make new creations! Hope you'll take the time to experiment too. Sometimes an experiment in the kitchen is the only experiment we get to do as busy working moms! I know that all too well! 

Happy Spirooling!

Gigi

Low-Carb Pasta

I haven't had pasta for at least 9 months. While I'm not a big pasta eater, I do like it every now and then. And I've had this butternut squash pasta sauce for a while now and haven't found a use for it since I don't eat pasta. So... I finally found a pasta that I can eat! A pasta that is both low carb AND gluten free (for all your celiac/gluten free folks!) 

Shiratake Noodles, known in Japan as Miracle Noodles, are found in the refrigerated aisle by the tofu in your local grocery store. I'm not going to pretend like I know anything more about this pasta since I just heard of it for the first time this week! But after a lot of research, I made it tonight and I was quite please! 

1. Open the package with scissors. Beware, there is a strong aroma that comes from the bag. 

2. Dump the noodles into a strainer and rinse off for a good minute or two under running water. 

3. Dry off thoroughly with a paper towel. 

4. Put into a frying pan and "dry fry" the noodles, using a fork to move them around and prevent clumping. This should take about three minutes. 

5. Heat some pasta sauce, add some garlic and S&P, or stir fry in some of your favorite veggies to complete this dish! I added some butternut squash pasta sauce to mine and it turned out delicious! 

Carb breakdown:

Shiratake Noodles 

2 servings per bag= 4 carbs per serving

Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

1/2 cup= 17 carbs 

Total= 25 carbs 

Now you go and try something new! You'll be sure to enjoy! 

Gigi