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.

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.

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.

Low Carb Cauliflower Chowder

It’s snowing again. Yes, I know it’s Iowa but I could’ve done without the last 10 inches of snow we’ve gotten in the last 24 hours. And knowing there is 6-8 more inches on the way tomorrow has got me in a soup making state of mind. This is an easy keto soup. And if you like bacon and cream cheese (who doesn’t?!?) you’ll enjoy this soup no matter what the weather is in your neck of the woods. (360 calories, 4 net carbs, 28g fat, 20g protein) Makes 5 servings.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups chicken broth

1 head of cauliflower or bag of frozen fleurets

1 cup spinach

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/2 cup diced onion

2 tbsp butter

1 tbsp minced garlic

1/2 pound cooked crumbled bacon

salt & pepper to taste

I also added a can of corn which takes it out of the keto category but added some nice texture and thickened it up

In a large pot, add the butter and onions and sauté until clear. Add the minced garlic and sauté for an additional minute. Add the chicken broth, seasoning and cauliflower to the pot and simmer for about 15 minutes or until the cauliflower is tender. Carefully pour half or more of the mixture (along with the cup of spinach) into a blender and pulse a few times until creamy. Place back on the heat and add the cream cheese. You can add a cup of water or more chicken broth, depending on your consistency preference.  Simmer for 5-10 minutes or until the cream cheese is melted and blended nicely. Top with crumbled bacon, chopped green onion and shredded cheese (I used pepper jack). I also added a couple drops of sriracha because I like things spicy.

Low Carb Garlic "Bread"

Today was the most Monday-est Tuesday ever. Work was a total poop show. And although every ounce of me wanted to opt for pizza and some wine I went with a treadmill workout and healthy dinner.  Baby steps. But Lyndee for the win today. I paired this with a 4 oz boneless sirloin chop and it was delicious. Not to mention, super easy to make.  18 minutes starts to finish and it tasted just like a slightly doughy cheesy bread stick from Pizza Hut.

Ingredients
1 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup parmesan
1 egg
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning

Preheat over to 350 degrees. Break egg into a bowl and beat.  Add a few dashes of garlic powder and Italian seasoning. Stir in the cheeses. Line a cookie sheet or pizza pan with parchment paper.  Dumb the "bread" mixture on the paper and spread into a circle.  I threw a few squirts of butter spray on top and another dash of garlic but that's optional.  Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown. I did 15 minutes and then a low broil for 1 minute and 30 seconds. That's it! Remove from oven and cut. I did half of the bread for dinner which was 3 carbs.  Yes, for half of it.  6 carbs if you wanna eat the entire thing and you probably will want to.

Fathead Bagels

With 21 grams of protein and 4 net carbs these bagels are a definite add to the breakfast menu!

1 ½ C almond flour

1 T baking powder (can use gluten free)

2 ½ C finely shredded mozzarella cheese

2 oz. cream cheese (cubed)

2 large eggs

Trader Joe’s Everything But the Bagel Seasoning

Stir together the almond flour and baking powder. Set aside.

Combine the shredded mozzarella and cubed cream cheese in a large bowl. Microwave for 2 minutes, stirring halfway through. Combine the two bowls together, and add in eggs. (Be careful the cheese mixture isn’t too hot or it will cook the eggs.) Stir thoroughly! I used my hands to mix.

NOTE: It's very important for the dough to be completely uniform before proceeding to the next step. You shouldn't have pieces of cheese separate from areas of almond flour. Divide the dough into 6 parts. Form a long log with each part, then press the ends together to make a bagel shape on a parchment lined baking sheet.

Sprinkle with seasoning.  Bake for 10-14 minutes at 400, until the bagels are firm and golden.

These can be stored in the fridge for freshness. 

Low carb 2 ingredient pizza crust

I love pizza.  It is hands down my favorite food and I could probably eat it every day. I mean, the topping and crust combinations are endless so that you would never get bored! But...I've been trying to cut back on carbs so we tried this at my parents last weekend when I was home.  Everyone knows my mom makes the best homemade pizza in NE Iowa but I have to say, this variation did not disappoint!

Ingredients:

4 eggs

6 oz. shredded cheese, preferably mozzarella or provolone

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Beat the eggs and blend in 6 ounces of cheese. Spread the cheese and egg batter on a round baking sheet lined with parchment paper.  Sprinkle with garlic powder and Italian seasoning.  Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the pizza crust turns golden. Remove and let cool for a minute or two.

Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees. Spread on sauce then top with ingredients of choice.  We did one sausage and pepperoni and the other we added onions and green peppers.  Top with shredded cheese and bake for another 5-10 minutes or until the pizza has turned golden brown.

Remove from oven, cut and dig in!!!

I thought this pizza was amazing. Sure, it’s not a deep dish Chicago style pizza but the flavor is great and you skip the carbs of a thick crust.  And it’s much easier than the cauliflower crust/breadsticks I’ve tried before.  I would opt for this or the low carb gluten free thin crust recipe! 

Skillet pizza (low carb)

Review by Lyndee:

This was very easy to make and I thought it turned out pretty good for a crustless low carb pizza snack. 

Ingredients:

Mozzarella cheese

Toppings (I used 5 slices of pepperoni) but you can add whatever you wish)

Heat non-stick skillet to medium heat.  Add ½ cup of mozzarella cheese.  Top with ingredients.  The cheese will melt, bubble and begin to turn a slight golden brown on the bottom.  Check often to make sure it doesn’t burn.  Once the bottom is a nice golden brown and your toppings are warm, remove from heat  Let stand a minute so that the cheese can set.

To me this tasted like a very thin crust pizza. I generally enjoy the cheese and toppings most anyway so this was a great snack for me.  Only takes a few minutes to make, you can get some protein and feel like you’re indulging and eating pizza.