Mushroom For Improvement: 2014

Broccoli And Cheddar Soup; The Real Deal.

Whew! Finally!

You all KNOW how many times I've tried to make this at home because well, I'm going to go broke if I don't stop eating at Panera's. But in the past, it hasn't turned out very well. The cheese clumped up or got stringy, the flavor has never been right and you certainly couldn't eat any leftovers later.

But THIS one, my people ... this one is THE ONE.

And just so you know, it weighs in at half the calories

as it's famous predecessor ... in case that matters to you :)

Here are the ingredients:

1 tbsp butter.

1 onion, diced.

2 teaspoons of minced garlic.

1 tsp of thyme

1/2 grated carrot.

2 cups vegetable or chicken stock

1/2 large bunch broccoli cut into florets OR, a half bag of frozen.

8 ounces regular cream cheese, softened.

1/2 lb cheddar cheese, grated.

Salt and Pepper.

Total time to make from prep to finished is about

20 minutes. 25 minutes if you count the optional dancing and the best part is ...

you can put the leftovers in the fridge (or portion it out in separate containers)

and heat it up the next day, the day after that, or the day after THAT!

The cheese never separates, sticks or clumps when re-heated

via stove or microwave.

Serves 4-5 depending on your appetite :)

I am so confident you will like this that I'll even wait for you to gather your ingredients. Go ahead, I'll wait ... shoo ... go! ...

Okay! Now here we go:

1. Grab your medium sized soup pot and put it on the stove over a

medium-low heat, then add your butter to the pan and melt it.

2. Toss in the diced onions, garlic, thyme and a little salt and pepper.

Simmer this until the onions are translucent.

3. Now pour in the vegetable/chicken stock and add the

grated carrot and bring it to another simmer.

(This is where you'll start to feel giddy over the aroma.

Feel free to dance around the kitchen at this point)

4. Once it starts to simmer, add the broccoli and a little more

salt and pepper. Let this simmer again just until the broccoli

gets tender. Typically about 2-5 minutes.

5. Once the broccoli is tender enough, whisk in the cream cheese first

until blended, and then the cheddar cheese after that.

6. Allow it to simmer one last time for about 5 more minutes then taste,

adjust salt and pepper to your liking, and then eat!

Right On! Now enjoy!

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Easy Low Carb BBQ Chicken

Labels: Low Carb, Meals

I LOOOOOOVE my slow cooker and by using it, it doesn't get much

easier to make delicious BBQ chicken in it.

To save money, I get the BIG package of legs that usually has about 10-12 pieces and I make it all up for the whole week. You can also use boneless chicken breasts, thighs or leg quarters as well - works just the same.

Now, to make this low carb I don't use regular BBQ sauce. I use to LOVE me some "Bullseye BBQ Sauce" but since I switched to "Guys BBQ Sauce (no assembly required)", I won't ever use anything else. The taste is fantastic!

They have 4 flavors; Original, Spicy, Smokey Garlic & HOT.

(Ooooh - no hot for me!)

I use The Smokey Garlic for my chicken and the Spicy for hamburgers.

And here's what's special about them:

All natural ingredients

No preservatives

Sugar free

Gluten free

Trans fat free

Low sodium

YAY! And ...

... 5 CALORIES AND 1 CARB PER SERVING!

Yes! I said that!

So now that you have that OR, a BBQ sauce of your choosing, you

just chuck all that chicken into the sleeve of the crockpot ... no need to make

it all fancy, just throw it in - give it a few good shakes of garlic powder and black pepper -

then cover it with half the bottle of sauce.

Lastly, sprinkle it with some onion flakes, put the lid on it and let it cook

on LOW for 6 hours.

That's it! Takes less than 2 minutes to prepare.

Easy-peasy, eh? Now go ahead and give it a try :)

And ... Enjoy!

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Spicy Fajita Meatball Soup

Labels: low carb., Soups

Spicy Fajita Meatball Soup

This is my FAVORITE go-to recipe. I get 4 meals out of this, so I have it twice a week - E-V-E-R-Y week. I just keep single servings in the freezer until I'm ready to eat them.

It's also very versatile as you can use meats other than ground beef.
Steak, chicken or - no meat at all! Yeah, it's all good :)

Ingredients:

1 Quart of chicken broth (if you can find the tortilla broth, even better!)

2 medium yellow onions, sliced or diced

2 -3 green, red or yellow peppers, seeded, and sliced into
strips or diced.
1 Tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce or soy sauce

1/2 cup frozen/canned corn, (optional)

2 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes

1 tablespoon chopped/minced garlic or garlic powder

1 tablespoon chile powder

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, diced or leave whole
1 teaspoon of black pepper

Oh, and about 20-30 mini meatballs :)

Directions:

Brown the mini meatballs in a skillet and set aside to drain off the grease.

Meanwhile, In the sleeve of the slow cooker, add all of the above ingredients.
Now add those meatballs!

Cook on high for one hour, then on low for 3-6 hours

OR - Cook on low for 5-7 hours.

Cooking times depend on how tender you prefer your vegetables :)

Garnish with cheese, guacamole, sour cream ... anything you want!
While you're at it, bake up some home made tortilla chips using a
couple 3 carb tortillas and sprinkle with paprika. YUMMO!

Enjoy!

Want to print this recipe?
Here ya go :)

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B8W2D4xcDuApeThzTlN2dm92OWM/edit?usp=sharing

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It's a Meatzza!

Labels: Low Carb, Meals

It's a Meatzza!

Everyone loves pizza, but even if you don't care about the calories or carbs it contains, most of us hate how it makes us feel afterwards. Bloating is no fun!

With the Meatzza you don't get that. It's pure, unadulterated YUM - any way you like it.

I say "any way you like it" because you can top it just as you would any other pizza keeping in mind, that your crust is actually MEAT, not bread. For the sake of this recipe, i'm showing you MY fave - The Broccoli Meatzza - but as I said before, you can top yours with the usual like pepperoni, bacon, ham or veggies, of your choice. The crust is what is going to reduce the calories and carbs, for you.

What you'll need to know first, is how to make the crust and that can be of your choosing, as well. For this recipe, I used ground pork sausage which adds major flavor without having to add spices. But more often I use ground chicken because it has less calories. I just season it well, to kick the taste up a notch.

I'll show you ALL the ingredients first and then, how to make it.

1 pound of any kind of raw meat, ground - if not already

Italian seasoning to taste

1/4 cup of coconut flour to bind the meat

1/4 cup of grated cheese for crust

2 eggs.

Salt/pepper to taste

Pizza sauce

Grated cheese of choice for topping

Parmesan sprinkle cheese

Toppings of choice

The Crust

This will consist of 1 pound of any ground meat. ANY ground meat I say! Pork, chicken, turkey, beef, sausage ... any will do. You can even mix 2 different meats together!

You then add 2 eggs, 1/4 cup of coconut flour (as a binder) and 1/4 cup of grated cheese.

Zap it with some seasonings if you wish - I like to use a teaspoon of Italian seasoning and pepper.

Now you want to squooooosh it together- mix it all up ...

Spread it all out on your lined or greased cookie sheet or pizza pan.

Make it about 1/4 inch in thickness.

Now let that cook for 15 minutes on 375.

While that's baking, Let's get the other stuff ready. I'm all about low carbs and calories so I read labels. There are many pizza sauces out there that do the job; this one having 4 net carbs and only 30 calories. Yes!