Lemon Butter Chicken

I recently started a new low carb diet. I saw a recipe that fit my diet on Tip Hero.  It was a one pan meal, so that was nice, too.

   

Lemon Butter Chicken

4 large chicken breasts
1 1/2 teaspoons paprika
dash salt and pepper
1 Tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
2 cups baby spinach, chopped
1 lemon, zested and juiced
1 teaspoon dried thyme

   

Preheat the oven to 400°.

   

Cut the chicken breasts in half, lengthwise.  Place them on a plate and season both sides with the paprika and salt and pepper to taste.

   

Melt the butter in an oven proof pan.  I used cast iron.  Sear both sides of the chicken for 2 to 3 minutes.  Remove to a plate.  Add the minced garlic and stir for about 20 seconds.  Stir in the broth, heavy cream and cheese.

Bring the mixture to a simmer and add the chopped spinach.  Cook until the chicken is wilted and the cream has thickened slightly.

   

Stir in the lemon juice, zest and thyme.  Place the chicken back in the pan and put it in the oven.  I turned the pieces a few times in the sauce to get the lemon flavor on both sides of the chicken.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

   

I served the chicken with a small salad.  I stayed within my Atkins guidelines and had a really nice meal.  Lee liked it and he isn't on a diet, so I considered that a win.

Healthy Chicken Tenders

A few months ago I was in California and I happened to be in a Trader Joe's.  I love Trader Joe's and they don't have one here in Southwest Virginia.  I came across some almond meal.  It is almost almond flour, but not that finely ground. I bought some and brought it home for some vague future use.

The package mentioned that it could be used for breading.  What a good idea!  After a quick peek around the Internet, I discovered that by using this for breading chicken tenders and then baking them, I fit in with a bunch of healthy diets.  It works with Atkins, Paleo. and plain old low fat!  So give it a try.

   

Healthy Chicken Tenders

1 pound chicken tenders, or chicken breasts sliced into strips.
1 cup almond meal
2 eggs

spices of choice... some suggestion are cumin and coriander and chili powder for a Mexican flavor, or garlic and Italian seasonings. On this occasion I used:

1 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 teaspoon ground mustard
1/4 teaspoon paprika
pepper


   

Preheat the oven to 400.  Use foil to line a baking pan and then spray it with Pam.  Or use parchment paper.

   

I prefer to snip the tendon and remove the bit of white membrane on the tenders.  Then rinse the tenderloins and pat dry with a paper towel.

   

Break the eggs in a medium bowl and whisk them until smooth.

   

Put the cup of almond meal in a good sized bowl.  Add the spices and stir together with a fork. 

   

Now for the assembly line.

   

Dip the tenders into the eggs and then coat both sides with the almond mix.  Place on the prepared baking pan and then do all the rest,  leaving a bit of space between each tender.

   

Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.

   

 I cut one in half to make sure they were done.  If you want them to crisp up a bit more you can place them on a cooling rack, but I was hungry and just put the hot tenders on a plate and served them with some Ranch dressing for a dip.  The bottoms got a bit soggy, but they tasted great.  Lee could taste the almond, but I couldn't.  Maybe it was the Ranch dressing I used!

   

You can't just have meat for dinner, so I steamed a bit of broccoli to go with the tenders.  I had some Alouette spreadable cheese left over from making ham roll-ups a few days ago.  It was the garlic and herb flavor, but any flavor you like will do.  The Alouette is low carb and does not have  a whole bunch of fat, so I had a plan.

   

After steaming the broccoli, I put the hot vegetables on top of the 1/3 cup spreadable cheese I had placed in the bowl.  The broccoli melted the cheese into a delicious sauce.   I  had cut the broccoli and cooked it in the time it took for the tenders to cook.  Bam!  Dinner!

Thai Chicken Burgers

  
  

I haven't put any recipes on my blog for awhile.  That is because I am going carb free for awhile and it is BORING.  Yeah, yeah, I am never hungry, but life is so less fun with out BAKED GOODS.  Of course my love for white sugar and processed flour is what got me in the position where I must forgo them.  So I will take a break and then slowly work my way back to them as I ALWAYS do.  No matter how many times I tell myself I won't.  At least this time I haven't gone too far to the dark side.

But cooking veggies and eating salads are kind of boring so I went to the Atkins site and found a recipe to use.  They made Spicy Thai Chicken Burgers, but I am not into spicy.  No I just made...

Thai Chicken Burgers

1 pound chicken breasts
1/2 cup packed cilantro leaves
2 or 3 green onions, chopped
1 Tablespoon lemon zest
2 teaspoons rice vinegar
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1 Tablespoon Splenda (I used it, but it is probably optional)
a smattering, or pinch of cayenne.  Or more if you like it!
1 egg white ( I used the white but I don't see why I couldn't just dump in a whole egg!)
1/3 cup canned coconut milk
oil for frying

   

When I went to the store to buy the ingredients, the chicken breasts were way more expensive than the breasts complete with ribs and skin.  I went cheap and bought the whole shebang and trimmed them at home.  Just breasts would have been easier!

   

I cut them in chunks and added them to the food processor.  Chop the cilantro leaves, toss the stems into the compost bin.  Cut up 2 big or 3 little green onions.

   

Add them with the lemon zest, vinegar, garlic powder, Splenda (if you use it), red pepper and the egg white to the food processor.  Pulse it 6 or 7 times until the chicken is finely ground, but not a paste.

   

Add the coconut milk and pulse a few more times to mix it all in.

I used a cast iron pan and heated a bit of the oil.  I was going to make patties, but then thought about my ice cream scoop.  It made the perfect size patty and I didn't have to get my hands all icky.

   

Cook a few at a time.  It took about 3 minutes on each side to get nice and brown and so there was no pink left.  You may need to add a bit more oil for the next batch.  I froze the extras for an easy meal another day.

Serve on a bed of lettuce with chopped tomatoes and avocado.  Or with a side of another vegetable.  I added a wee bit of dressing to the salad greens.

Other than the coconut and cilantro, I don't know how Thai this is.  But when I serve the rest of the burgers, I think I will make a peanut sauce.  Now we're talking Thai!

Tara suggested using the rest of the can of coconut milk to make a Pina Colada. Not a low carb drink, but a GREAT suggestion.  Or maybe a curry over vegetables (with NO rice :/)  Now I know my next meal!

Breakfast Casserole for Dinner

I have been busy working on the basement.  There WERE even more places to paint.  But that is DONE.  On the other hand, I know there will be touch up painting necessary after installing doors and tile and carpet.  Oh, yeah, and baseboards.  So I can't THROW away the rollers and brushes like I want to and put away the paint for the NEXT owner of this house.  Do I detect a little frustration?  Yes, I do.  Tired of painting?  Yes, I am.

So that explains why I haven't been keeping up writing about what we do.  Just too tired doing it to want to write about it.  Plus, I didn't take the time to get any pictures.  A picture-free blog is no fun. 

However, I did make some actual food!  My aunt gave me a breakfast casserole recipe.  Well, I had to modify it to make it low carb and then I had to modify it to make it a dinner.  This involved adding vegetables.  So I made a breakfast casserole for dinner.  Perhaps I'll call this one...

   

Sausage Zucchini Casserole

1 pound bulk sausage.  I used sweet Italian
1/2 onion, diced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
Herbs you like.  I added 1 teaspoon fennel, some dried sage and dried parsley.  Basil, oregano, fines herbes and Italian herbs would all work.
1 large zucchini.  I could have added 2
1 or 2 Roma tomatoes, seeded and diced
garlic salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
1/4 cup Half and Half  (milk would be OK)
1/2 package shredded mozzarella

Prepare a square casserole baking dish by spraying with Pam.  Pre-heat the oven to 400.

   

Put a Tablespoon of EVOO in a large skillet.  Add the diced onions and cook until they are soft.  Add the garlic and the sausage.

   

 Cook until the sausage is no longer pink. 

   

Add the herbs and the chopped zucchini. 

   

Cook for about 5 minutes until the zucchini starts to soften.  Add the tomatoes. Season with the salt and pepper. 

   

Stir everything together and scrape the meat mixture into the baking dish.  Mix the eggs and the Half and Half (or milk) in a medium bowl and mix with a fork.  Pour the egg mixture over the meat in the baking dish.

   

Sprinkle the mozzarella over the whole thing and put it in the oven for 15 minutes.  I used a lot of mozzarella and it was good, but I could have gotten by with just a sprinkling. There was a lot of delicious, stringy cheese ,though and we enjoyed the heck out of it.  For several meals!

   


I served it with low carb fruit.  I usually opt for strawberries.

Swiss, Chicken and Cauliflower Casserole

Yesterday was a crazy day.  There were storm warnings early in the afternoon.  Then I got a call from the trainer that she was bringing the horses back.  And I mean right now, before the weather broke.  It is winter and no one is looking for horses to buy.  She would keep them but the board bill would have to go up because there was no grass and she had to feed a lot more to keep weight on them.

Right after she left them here, the rain started.  It lasted the rest of the day and night with bursts of heavy, sideways rain.  It was also strangely warm.  Like mid-fifties warm.  It was mid-twenties warm (?) last week.

I made a wonderful casserole, which we both really enjoyed and then watched TV and went to bed.  At 10:00 the neighbor down the hill called.  Our bridge was blocked by all the debris from up the creek and the water was flowing over our bridge.  The onslaught was looking to undermine his house.

This happens about once or twice a year.  We keep our part of the stream clear, but upstream, things fall into it and are caught by our bridge.  So Lee gets in the tractor and I get into a slicker and gather tools.  This time the water took the top of our rake.  Last year ts broke the hoe.  It is very dramatic and I wish I had pictures for you, but it was too dark and we were too wet and busy for that.

Between Lee maneuvering the bucket on the tractor and me hauling logs and sticks up by hand, we managed to unblock most of the bridge.  The water still crested over it occasionally, but that was from the force and amount of water in the creek.  Nothing we could do about that.  The main thing is most of the water was now diverted down the creek and away from the neighbor's house.  I sure hope he appreciates us.  As Lee said, we won't be able to do that much longer.  He is in his twenties and presumably in better shape than us old folk, so we should just give him permission to clear away and don't call us!  But the tractor really does help.

So it is a good thing we had a delicious and warm meal the night before!  And I do mean delicious.  Usually I am ambivalent when it comes to cauliflower.  Lee loves it, though, so I make some every couple of weeks.  This was so good I will definitely make it again soon.  Plus, it was fast and easy.  Always a plus in my mind!  Oh, and low carb, too.

   
   
Swiss, Chicken and Cauliflower casserole

4 cups cooked chicken, chopped.  Buy one already cooked from the market or buy the frozen pre-cooked variety, like I did.

2 cups cauliflower flowerets
1 1/2 cups Swiss cheese, shredded.  Buy the shredded kind when you are getting the pre-cooked chicken and dinner is almost made!

3 stalks celery, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1 teaspoon garlic, minced

1/2 to 1 teaspoon curry.  Your preference.  I used about 3/4  teaspoon.
2/3 cup Mayonnaise
1/2 cup milk


Heat the oven to 350.  Find your 2 quart casserole dish.

   

In a small bowl, mix the milk and Mayo with the curry.  I used a mini whisk to get it smooth.  Set it aside.

   

The frozen precooked chicken breast strips I had were in big chunks.  I allowed it to thaw a bit and chopped them up in to bite sizes.  Cut off any yucky parts.

   

 If you think all parts are free from yuckiness, good for you.  Saves time.  It irritates the cats and the dog that are hoping for those bits, however.  Keep chopping until you have 2 cups.  Dump those in a medium bowl.

Cut up most of the cauliflower into flowerets.  When you have 2 cups, add that to the chicken and save the rest for another day.

   

Chop up 3 or so celery stalks, the onion and add them with the garlic to the bowl.  Dump the bag of Swiss cheese shreds over the top and mix. Drizzle the sauce over the top and mix again.  That's IT.

   

Now dump, er, gently spoon the chicken mixture into the casserole dish and cook for about 50 minutes, or until bubbling nicely and the cauliflower has softened.

   

 

Serve with a salad or some fruit.  Or just eat two heaping servings like we did and still have some for the next dinner! 

Creamy Chicken and Vegetables

I enjoyed the meal I made with the Philadelphia Cooking Creme so the next time we went to the store I bought a different flavor this time. I like to cook, but I also love short cuts. It also fits in with my current low carb diet. This time I used the Savory Garlic.

Creamy Chicken and Vegetables

EVOO
1/2 cup chopped onion
1 cup sliced zucchini
2 cups cubed cooked chicken
1 cup mixed cauliflower and broccoli, chopped
1 teaspoon garlic

You may wish to add 2 cups cooked penne. I am trying to stay low carb, so I didn't.

Philadelphia Cooking Creme, Savory Garlic flavor

French Fried Onions
Thinly sliced green onions

I love onions, so there are three kinds in this dish. Feel free to eliminate any that you don't want, but they were all good!




Heat the EVOO in a large fry pan. Add the onion and cook while chopping up the cooked chicken and the rest of the vegetables.



Stir the onions and add the chicken and the vegetables, reserving the French Fried and the green onions. They are for toppings!

If you wanted the pasta, add it now and then the Philadelphia Cooking Creme. If you add the pasta you will need the whole tub. If you just have the veggies you can use most of it and reserve the rest for another occasion. Or what the heck! Use all, but it will be REALLY creamy.




Cook until everything is warmed through. Serve with the green onions and the French Fried onions on top.

I served it with an artichoke. I like to cook them in the microwave when it is just the two of us.

Artichokes in the Microwave

Cut off the tops and the bottoms of the artichokes. Then use scissors to trim the points off any leaves. Spread it open and rinse thoroughly. Dump out the water and place each one face up in a cereal bowl. Cover tightly with plastic wrap. Pierce in a few places to release the steam.

I must stop here and tell you that some people worry about cooking with plastic wrap in the microwave. If this bothers you, use wax paper and a rubber band (or something to close it tightly) to hold in the steam. Poke a hole in the top.

Artichokes come in many different sizes. So the timing is kind of iffy. I put mine in for 8 minutes, but they were huge. Start with 5 minutes and add more if they aren't done. I hate under cooked artichokes, but it is easy to pop them back in for a minute or so. I like to serve them with a bit of mayonnaise, but some people like clarified butter for dipping. Don't forget the bowl to hold the leaves!

Minestrone Soup

I have been saving up some recipes from Parade magazine. They had a Minestrone Soup recipe that I wanted to play around with. We had a huge thunderstorm last night and one was expected today and rainy, thundery days call out for homemade soup.




When we had kids I liked to make homemade bread when I made the soup, or at least biscuits, but I am trying to stay on a low carbohydrate diet so I had some multi-grain tortilla chips with quinoa, brown rice, chia and flax instead. They were really good, but no where near as good as a warm loaf of bread slathered with butter. Pardon my drooling....

Minestrone Soup

1 cup chopped onion
2 or 3 links of sweet Italian sausage, or your favorite, mine is the sweet.
1 rib celery, chopped
1 small handful of baby carrots, chopped
1 large or 2 small potatoes, peeled and diced
4 cups chicken broth
1 can diced tomatoes
1 zucchini
1/2 bunch of kale, chopped
1 can kidney beans

Heat a dutch oven with EVOO and add the onions. While they are cooking, squeeze the sausage in small balls out of the casings and drop them in the pan. Toss the left over casings. This is kind of gross and kind of satisfying. I suppose you could slice them up casings and all, but I don't. This is what I do when I go to a store that doesn't make their own sweet Italian sausage in bulk which is what I prefer.




While the meat and the onions are cooking, chop the celery and carrots and add them to the pot when the meat is browned. This will take a few minutes and you have to stir now and again to get it browned all over. I like to chop up any large bits so that there is room in every spoon for a few things and not one big chunk of sausage. Cook about 10 minutes.




Peel and dice the potatoes. Add to the pot. Keep stirring and wait about 10 minutes until the potatoes start to get tender. Add the chicken broth and bring to a boil.


Dice the zuc and add to the soup with the can of tomatoes.




Rinse and chop the kale and then add that. When the soup gets back up to a boil, reduce to a simmer and let it cook until the potatoes are soft. Drain and rinse the beans and add for a few minutes. I added a bit of s & p and some Italian herb to season, but it was pretty good even before I did that.

Serve with grated Parmesan cheese on top. And you may like to have some fancy bread from a fancy bakery with lots of garlic butter. Rub it in.

A Low Carb Experiment

We still have lots of blueberries from this summer. They make great toppings for crepes, pancakes and any baked goods, actually. But I had one left over pie crust from making a quiche and I wanted to try a pie.

So I did.

Low Carb Blueberry Pie

Don't ask me how low carb. I have no idea.

6 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
1 cup Splenda
1 Tablespoon corn starch
1 Tablespoon water
1 teaspoon lemon, optional
1 pie crust, room temperature

Pre-heat oven to 350.
I had no idea how many blueberries I would need. I though my self very clever to fill a pie plate up with water and measure it in a large measuring cup. Then I doubled that as I knew it would cook down. It measured out at 2 cups. So I used 5cups of blueberries. It was enough, but not perfect, so I added one more cup for YOU to use on my list of ingredients. So try 6 cups. I used 1 cup of Spelenda. My friend Dreama recommends Stevia, so I was going to try it, but went with the Splenda this time. Next time I will try the Stevia.

Heat the berries in a large saucepan with the 1 cup of sweetener. While you are waiting for it to boil, carefully unroll the pie crust and place it in a pie dish.




Cut off the excess. You can also use the frozen pie crusts.




Stir the blueberries and when they are boiling gently, mix the corn starch in a small bowl with the water and add to the mixture. Boil for one minute while stirring, until thickened. I didn't add the lemon, but afterwards, thought it would have been a good addition. So do so if you wish.

Scrape the blueberries into the pie crust and bake for 30 minutes. Let cool. Serve with Cool Whip. Or low carb ice cream. Enjoy!


The pie was OK and low on carbs. It was NOT, however the best pie I ever ate. It had a slight aftertaste. That is why I thought the addition of lemon would be good. There was a slight "skin" on the surface of the pie. You couldn't taste it and there was no mouth feel of skin. I guess that was because of no top crust. I am curious to see how Stevia will change the flavor. I'll let you know.

I made the pie because I had the crust, but also because I was cooking a turkey breast. Surely turkey breast calls for a dessert! I am in "training" for a wedding, (daughter, in England, SOON)so I am watching the food intake. So we had turkey and a salad. Now salads can get boring, but this one was pretty good. Romaine blend, feta cheese, sunflower seeds and tomatoes with a small amount of Ranch dressing.




The best part (naturally the most carbohydrates!) was the pineapple. After living in the South Pacific for many years, I love pineapple. This was a particularly sweet one. And in Virginia of all places! Of course, there are no better pineapples than those in Tonga. You can even eat the cores. One day I'll give you the recipe for Inu Meleni that we learned from Ngalu'afe Tupou with pineapples and watermelon.

Did you notice I put the dessert first? You can tell where my mind is. I'll keep working on the pie. I hope it will be better next time. I TOLD you it was an experiment!