Zuppa Toscana Soup – low carb

Everyone knows about Olive Garden’s famous endless soup, salad and breadsticks. I for one, am a huge fan of their Zuppa Toscana soup. I’m not, however, a fan of the calories and carbs associated with the soup. Not to mention the basket of breadsticks I would want to consume if I was at OG. So I tried my hand at a keto friendly zuppa. And I have to tell you, I didn’t miss the potatoes at all. Cauliflower really is a low carb chameleon and I’m glad that I like it.

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. mild Italian Sausage

4 slices thick-cut bacon (chopped)

32 oz beef bone broth (I couldn’t find beef bone so I used beef broth)

1 small onion, diced

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1 head fresh cauliflower, diced or one bag of frozen florets

½ cup heavy whipping cream

2 cups fresh spinach or kale (I used spinach)

salt and pepper, optional

crushed red pepper flakes, optional

shredded parmesan cheese for garnish, optional

DIRECTIONS

Brown your sausage and chopped up bacon together in a large soup pot. Once your meat is cooked, drain the grease and add beef broth, onions, garlic, and cauliflower. Cover and cook on medium heat for about 15 minutes, until the cauliflower is tender. I used a potato masher to break up the chunks of the cauliflower at this point.

Once the cauliflower is softened, add in heavy cream and spinach. Cook for about 5 minutes, until spinach or kale is soft. Add salt, pepper and some crushed red pepper flakes to taste. Serve with a sprinkle of parmesan cheese.

Jalapeno popper chicken – keto

I’m always looking for ways to jazz up chicken breasts and this was the perfect recipe! Don’t be scared by the jalapenos. This isn’t a spicy dish. I would probably add another jalapeno for more kick next time I make it because I like the heat. If you need a quick dinner that’s easy to throw together, I highly recommend this creamy and delicious meal.

INGREDIENTS

4 slices bacon chopped

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (could do thighs also)

Salt, pepper and garlic powder

4 ounces cream cheese softened

3 to 4 tablespoon heavy whipping cream

1 heaping tbsp of minced garlic or 2 cloves, minced

2 small jalapeno peppers - de-seeded and minced

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese

DIRECTIONS

Preheat the oven to 375F. In a large skillet over medium, cook the chopped bacon until crisp.

Cube your chicken breasts and sprinkle with salt, pepper and a dash of garlic powder. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook until browned, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Remove chicken and place in the bottom of a sprayed baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the cream cheese, whipping cream, and garlic. Spread over the chicken in the dish.

Sprinkle with the jalapeno and cheddar cheese, then sprinkle with the chopped bacon. Bake about 20 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the chicken is cooked through.

 

Stuffed Italian Sausage Bake

This recipe was insanely simple and delicious. I saw it on a low carb site and instantly wanted to try it. I am so glad I did. It was yummy Italian goodness. You could definitely serve this with a side of pasta or on a toasted roll for a sub sandwich too.

INGREDIENTS

1 pack of sweet Italian sausage links

5 string cheese

Marinara or crushed tomatoes (I used a large can of crushed tomatoes)

Mozzarella

Optional: spinach and one mini sweet bell pepper

 

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400°F. Spray an 8 x10 pan with nonstick spray.

Use kitchen scissors or a knife to cut a slit down the middle of the sausages. Do not cut all the way through and do not remove the casing. Lay a mozzarella stick inside each sausage and press it back into its shape.

Pour a small layer of marinara on the bottom of the pan. Put the sausages casing side down. Top with some baby spinach and diced sweet bell pepper, then the rest of the marinara sauce. I sprinkled with Italian seasoning, garlic powder, crushed red pepper, then a bit of mozzarella over the top. Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 35 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for 10 more minutes or until the top layer of cheese is melted.

Note: You don’t have to do the spinach. I just thought it would be fun. Could probably throw some mushrooms, onions or other veggies in too if you wanted.

Air fryer cheese stuffed garlic crescent rolls

They other night my friend told me that they made crescent rolls in the air fryer. “You can do that?”, I asked. I use my air fryer pretty much every day but I’m still learning to think outside the box for ways I can use it. Apparently TikTok knows all the ways so I may need to start opening that app more often. Anyway, she says they made them in the air fryer and they were amazing. And then mentions you can do fun things with them. I had to find out for myself because I am a bread lover! I decided to do Italian style crescents with mozzarella, Italian seasoning, garlic and butter. Basic but essential when having pasta, right? I paired these with a homemade cajun chicken broccoli fettucine alfredo. The combination was amazing!

INGREDIENTS

1 - 8 ounce can refrigerated crescent rolls
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
2 tablespoons butter melted
1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

DIRECTIONS

Spray air fryer basket with non-stick spray. In a small bowl, mix the melted butter, garlic, and Italian seasoning. Open the crescent rolls and separate the triangles. Add a pinch of shredded mozzarella cheese to the widest part of the crescents. Roll the crescents and pinch the ends together so that no cheese spills out. Brush each crescent with the butter garlic mixture.

Add crescent rolls to air fryer at 375 and cook for 7 to 8 minutes, until golden brown. Air fryers vary so be sure to check on them halfway through. Once done, remove the crescents from the air fryer and brush with additional melted butter.

I have so many recipes I want to try for these crescents now like adding pepperoni, stuffing with buffalo chicken dip, ham and swiss, jalapeno popper, Nutella and a chocolate syrup drizzle…mind blown.

Makes: 8 servings

Garlic Butter Steak Bites with Lemon Zucchini Noodles

I was pretty on the fence when trying this recipe. I had never had zucchini noodles before. I know that probably sounds crazy, but I’ve always been a “give me all the pasta” kind of girl. But this recipe was better than I could’ve imagined! Easy to make and filled me up fast with barely any carbs. Can’t beat that!

Ingredient

1 - 1.5 lbs sirloin steak cut into small cubes

4 medium zucchini, spiraled (or a 24 oz bag of store-bought zucchini noodles)

1 tablespoon olive oil

3 tablespoons butter, divided

2 teaspoons minced garlic

1/4 cup beef, chicken or vegetable broth

1 tablespoon minced parsley

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves

1/2 teaspoon red chili pepper flakes, optional

Juice of 1/2 lemon (or ¼ cup)

Marinade:

1/4 cup soy sauce

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 tablespoon hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

Fresh cracked black pepper, to taste

Juice of 1/2 lemon 

Instructions

In a ziploc baggie, combine the ingredients for the steak marinade (soy sauce, olive oil, hot sauce, pepper, and lemon juice) and add the steak bites. Mix well and marinate for 15 to 20 minutes minimum, while preparing the other ingredients. I let this marinade for an hour, flipping halfway through.

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Drain steak bites from the marinade. Keep the remaining marinade for later.  Place the steak bites in the skillet in a single layer.  Do not overcrowd the skillet or meat will steam, so you may have to work in batches depending on the size of your skillet. Cook steak bites for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally until steak bites are golden brown. Repeat with remaining steak bites if needed.

Once all the steak bites are golden brown, add 2 tablespoons butter and garlic to the skillet; cook for 1-2 minutes, stirring to coat the meat in the sauce. Remove the steak bites to a shallow plate and set aside, leaving the juice in the pan.

Add 1 tbsp butter, lemon juice, red pepper flakes, beef broth, and remaining marinade juices. Bring to a simmer and allow to reduce for 2-3 minutes, stirring regularly.

If you spiral your own zucchini: add the noodles and toss for two to three minutes to cook it up. Stir in the fresh parsley and thyme, then allow the cooking juices to reduce for one minute if the zucchini noodles render too much water. If you use a steam and serve bag like I did, cook the zucchini as directed then drain. Add zucchini and coat in the sauce. Push the zucchini noodles on the side, add the steak bites back to the pan and reheat for another minute while mixing. Serve immediately your garlic butter steak bites and zucchini noodles. Enjoy!

Note: I didn’t have any parsley. And my thyme was the dried kind in a shaker, not fresh. I did add a couple extra shakes of red pepper flakes.

Egg roll in a bowl

Love egg rolls but trying to cut carbs? This is the perfect dish for a healthified Asian fix. Quick, easy and makes a big batch.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground pork sausage (you could use chicken, turkey or beef also)

1 bag (6-7 cups) coleslaw mix or shredded cabbage

4 cloves garlic minced

1 tablespoon ginger minced

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1/4 cup chopped green onions

1 tablespoon sesame oil

Instructions:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add the minced garlic and sausage. Cook, stirring often to crumble, until cooked through. Do not drain.  Add the coleslaw mix, ginger, and soy sauce to the skillet with the sausage. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until cabbage has softened a bit. Remove from the heat and top with the green onions and drizzle with sesame oil. Serve immediately.

Optional: I also fried an egg, chopped it up and added it.

Drizzle with sriracha, sweet chili or sweet and sour sauce before serving, if desired.

Baked Firecracker Chicken

When it's snowing in October I will find any reason to turn on the oven. Sunday meal prep for lunches this week...baked firecracker chicken. 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup hot sauce (I used Sriracha)

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 Tbsp soy sauce

1 Tbsp cider vinegar

1 Tbsp minced garlic

1 pinch red pepper flakes

1 Tbsp oil

1 pound boneless and skinless chicken breasts

Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Heat the hot sauce, sugar, soy sauce, vinegar, garlic and chili pepper flakes in a small sauce pan until the sugar has melted into the sauce.

Heat the oil in a large oven safe skillet over medium-high heat. Season the chicken with salt and pepper. Add to the pan and brown, about 3-5 minutes per side.

Transfer to oven safe dish. Pour 1/3 of the sauce over the chicken and bake until cooked, about 10-15 minutes, basting with the sauce every 5 minutes.

Enjoy with the remaining sauce!

Egg Roll in a Bowl (low carb)

My coworker McKayla had this for lunch the other day and it smelled great! She was sweet enough to share the recipe and it did not disappoint! 

1 lb. ground meat (I used beef but pork or chicken would be great too) 

Onion (green/red/white)

3T sesame oil

¾ T garlic

3T low sodium soy sauce

2T Rice vinegar

2T Grated ginger

1T olive oil

1 bag cauliflower rice – cooked per bag directions

1 bag Asian salad kit - greens only (Hyvee also has a Dole brand. If you want added crunch, save the wontons to top your bowl once it’s cooked.) or a medium chopped head of cabbage

Brown meat & onion. Meanwhile mix all remaining ingredients together (except cabbage and rice). Once meat is cooked, add cabbage, cauliflower rice & sauce and sauté to desired doneness.

I added a tablespoon of siraracha and drizzled with sweet chili sauce.  Delicious! 

Jalapeno Popper Cheese Bread

I love anything to do with jalapeno poppers. I’m also a sucker for cheese bread. So this was a marriage of the utmost happiest for my taste buds.

Ingredients:

1 loaf of french bread

1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted

1 teaspoon garlic powder

4oz. cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 mayo

1/2 cup jalapeno slices, divided

1 tbsp. parmesan cheese

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon black pepper

1 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella or Colby jack cheese

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.  Cut the bread lengthwise and place both parts face up on the sheet.  Brush both pieces with melted butter. Sprinkle with garlic powder.  Cover with a piece of aluminum foil and place in the oven.  Bake for 5 minutes.

In the meantime, divide the jalapenos. Save the pretty slices to place on top of the bread (About 1/4 cup). Chop the rest. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together cream cheese, sour cream, mayo, chopped jalapenos, parmesan, salt and pepper.

Remove the bread from the oven and uncover. Spread the jalapeno dip mixture on the bread. Top with remaining jalapenos and the shredded cheese. Bake for 5 more minutes or until cheese begins turning golden brown. 

Cheddar bacon garlic dip

Ingredients

6 bacon strips, thick-cut cooked and crumbled

1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup mayo

1 cup shredded cheddar

1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese

1/4 cup sour cream

In a medium mixing bowl, place cream cheese, mayo, and sour cream. Whisk to combine, until smooth and creamy. Add garlic powder. Add bacon and cheddar to the mixing bowl with cream cheese mixture, and stir to combine.

Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve with your favorite crackers.  I chose to use bacon Ritz and added a stalk of green onion just for fun. 

Million Dollar Cream Cheese and Garlic Dip

Everyone knows I finding new dip recipes for get-togethers.  This dip has only six ingredients but many flavors to satisfy your taste buds. 

Ingredients:

8 oz whipped cream cheese

1 cup of mayonnaise

2 cups of shredded colby jack cheese

5 green onions, chopped

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup of bacon, chopped into small pieces

Instructions

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl and stir well. Chill in the refrigerator until ready to serve with chips, crackers, or your favorite vegetables. 

Sriracha Bacon Sliders

When you’re having a Cards Against Humanity party and you know how much your friends love bacon and sriracha, these sliders are an absolute no brainer. I was a bit worried they would be too hot but they were nothing short of spectacular and were a huge hit with the crew. 

Ingredients:

1 pound bacon, cooked and crumbled

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 sriracha sauce

24 slider rolls, sliced in half but kept as one large piece (I used King Hawaiian Sweet Rolls)

3 cups cooked turkey or chicken (I used canned chunk chicken)

2 cups shredded cheese (I used Colby Jack)

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1/4 tsp garlic salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 by 13 inch pan with cooking spray. In a small bowl, mix together the mayonnaise and sriracha sauce. Set aside. Put the bottom of the rolls in the baking dish. Spread the sriracha sauce over them. Add the cooked turkey/chicken, bacon, cheese and top with the top half rolls. Mix the butter and garlic salt together and spread over the top of the rolls.  Cover with aluminum foil and bake for 15 minutes. Uncover and bake for 5 more minutes. Serve immediately.

Cowboy Supper

This is one of my friend Mel’s favorite childhood meals. And I can see why! In the spirit of the American cowboy throwing together a hearty meal out on the trail over a camp fire, we bring you the aptly named “cowboy supper”.  Dump all the ingredients together and bingo!

Ingredients:

1 lb ground beef

1 can pork and beans

½ onion, chopped

1 tbsp minced garlic

Salt and pepper

In a skillet, sauté onions and garlic.  Add hamburger and pork and beans. Salt and pepper to taste.  Cook until meat is browned and serve in a bowl.

You can eat this plain or with a dash of ketchup. We did ours with some siracha and it was hearty, spicy goodness.   

Jalapeno Kettle Chip Crusted Chicken with Jalapeno Ranch

Ingredients:

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:

1/4 cup mayo

1/4 cup lowfat sour cream

1/4 cup (plus 2 tablespoons) lowfat buttermilk

1 tablespoon Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing (the powder)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

dash of cayenne

5-6 hot pickles jalapeno slices, finely chopped

For the Chicken:

4 chicken breasts (about 1 3/4 - 2 pounds total)

1 bag Jalapeno Kettle Chips, crushed

1 cup low fat buttermilk

1 teaspoon salt

dash cayenne

For the Jalapeno Ranch Dipping Sauce:

Mix ingredients together (adding additional buttermilk until desired consistency). Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 375º. Place an oven safe cooling rack in a large jelly roll pan and spray with non-cooking spray. In a bowl, whisk together buttermilk, salt, and cayenne. Pound out chicken breasts to roughly 1/2" thickness and add to buttermilk mixture (toss to coat well).

Place crushed Kettle chips in a shallow baking dish. Pull one piece of chicken at a time out of the buttermilk and gently shake to remove some of the excess. Dip into the chips and coat thoroughly on both sides. Place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat until all chicken breast are thoroughly coated.

Place into oven and bake for 25-35 minutes, until cooked through (cooking times vary based on chicken thickness and actual oven temperature). Serve hot with jalapeno ranch dipping sauce.

Cheesy Stuffed Garlic Bread Sliders

When there is an ice storm pummeling your state what better way to spend a Sunday afternoon than with great friends, a crockpot of chili and these amazing stuffed garlic bread sliders? Simple to make and were the hit of the party.

Ingredients:

1 pkg slider buns, like Kings Hawaiian

1 (10 ct.) pkg sliced mozzarella

1/2 cup butter, softened

3 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp garlic salt (I used garlic powder instead of garlic salt)

2 tsp Italian seasoning

Topping

4 Tbsp butter, melted

1 clove garlic, minced

1/2-1 tsp garlic powder

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350.  Slice slider buns in half lengthwise. In bowl mix together your butter, garlic, garlic salt and Italian seasoning. Spread butter mixture on both cut sides of buns. Layer bottom of sliders with cheese and top with upper layer. In another small bowl mix together your topping mixture and pour over tops of buns, spread over tops with a spatula. Cover with tin foil and bake for about 20 minutes or until cheese is melted. Let cool a bit, cut and serve.

Garlic Butter Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:

2 pounds carrots, diagonally cut into about 2 to 3­inch pieces (I used a bag of baby carrots)

5 tablespoons butter

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon fresh ground pepper

chopped fresh parsley, for garnish

Preheat oven to 425F.  Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray; set aside.  Melt butter over medium heat in a large nonstick skillet or pan.  Add garlic and cook for 3 minutes, or until lightly browned, stirring very frequently. DO NOT burn the garlic.  Toss the carrots with the garlic butter either in the pan or pour the butter over them in a mixing bowl.  Transfer carrots to baking sheet.

Arrange in one layer and bake for 22 to 30 minutes, or until carrots are tender.  Garnish with fresh chopped parsley and serve.

I served these last night with pork roast and baked potatoes.  They were just the right amount of garlicy goodness.  

Southwestern Cheeseball

Ingredients:

8 oz shredded sharp cheddar cheese

8 oz cream cheese, at room temperature

2 tablespoons butter, at room temperature

¼ cup finely diced onion

¼ teaspoon garlic powder

4 oz can chopped green chilies

chopped cilantro

crackers, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the cheddar, cream cheese, butter, onion, garlic powder and green chilies. Mix completely.  Turn out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Form into a ball and wrap tightly. Refrigerate until set up, 2 hours to overnight.  Place chopped cilantro on a plate. Unwrap cheeseball and roll in the cilantro until coated. Serve with crackers.

First of all, I left this as a dip and added the cilantro instead of rolling in it.  I found the original recipe to be a bit blah so I added 2 Tbsp of ranch dressing, a few dashes of hot sauce and half a diced jalapeno.  

One Pot Kielbasa Pasta

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lb smoked kielbasa or turkey/chicken sausage sliced 1/4 inch thick

1.5 cups diced onion

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

10 oz can diced tomatoes

8 oz dry pasta(small pasta)

1/2 cup milk or heavy cream

1/2 tsp salt and pepper, each

1 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

1/3 cup thinly sliced scallions, for garnish

Add olive oil to a 4-5 quart saute pan over medium high heat.  Fry the kielbasa and onions.  Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds.  Add chicken broth, tomatoes, heavy cream, pasta, and seasonings.  Simmer for 15 minutes, or until pasta is tender. Remove skillet from heat and stir in 1/2 cup cheese.  Top with remaining cheese and cover until cheese is melted, spotty brown, and bubbly.  Sprinkle with sliced scallions and serve.

This was easy to throw together and very tasty.  I had most of the ingredients on hand so it was super cheap to make.  

Twice-Baked Potato Pie with BBQ Meatloaf Crust

Ingredients:

Mashed Potatoes:

1 packet of Idahoan loaded baked potato mix.  Make as directed and add a bit of butter, salt & pepper, dash of garlic and some jalapeno cream cheese.   Or you can make your own loaded mashed from scratch. 

BBQ Meatloaf:

1 lb ground beef

½ cup crushed saltine crackers

½ cup minced onion

½ tsp salt

½ tsp montreal steak seasoning

½ tsp minced garlic or garlic powder

1 egg

3 tbsp plus 3 tbsp BBQ sauce (I used Sweet Baby Ray’s)

Toppings:

shredded cheese

green onions

cooked, diced bacon

diced tomatoes

Directions: 

Make mashed potatoes as directed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Combine uncooked beef, crackers, onion, salt, garlic powder, egg and 3 tbsp BBQ sauce. Press into ungreased 9" pie plate or 9" square baking dish and up the sides to form the crust. Brush meatloaf with remaining 3 tbsp BBQ sauce.

Cover with mashed potatoes. Sprinkle with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 45 minutes. Sprinkle with tomatoes, bacon and green onions (or any other toppings you want!).

Sweet heat meatballs

Ingredients:

2 lbs. frozen, pre­-cooked meatballs

½ cup molasses

4 tablespoons brown sugar

1 teaspoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon ginger, minced

1 teaspoon chili powder

¼ teaspoon cayenne

½ cup water

1 can (8 oz.) crushed pineapple

2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce

Over medium high heat, bring the water to a boil.  Add molasses, brown sugar, garlic, ginger, chili powder, cayenne, crushed pineapple and Worcestershire sauce and stir to combine.  Add in meatballs and stir to coat evenly.  Reduce heat to medium and simmer until the sauce reduces, about 10 minutes.  Skewer with bamboo sticks and serve hot with or without sauce reduction.

I made these in the crockpot for a NYE party.  After coating the meatballs with the sauce evenly, I just dumped them in the crock and set it on low for a few hours, until the party started.  The taste was smooth and all of the meatballs were gone by midnight.