Roasted Rep Pepper, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

Roasted Rep Pepper, Spinach and Artichoke Dip

This warm, deliciously rich dip is very easy to prepare.  Serve it alongside mixed, fresh vegetable or with my Garlic-Parmesan baked tortilla chips.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 - 14 oz. Can of Artichokes

3.5 oz. Roasted Red Peppers

10 oz. Package Frozen Spinach - Thawed and drained

8 oz.  Cream Cheese - Softened

1 Cup Parmesan Cheese - Divided

1/3 Cup Mayo

4 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

Salt and Pepper - To taste

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 350*

Chop artichokes and roasted red peppers.

In a large mixing bowl, combine artichokes, roasted red peppers, spinach, cream cheese, 3/4 cup Parmesan cheese (Save remaining 1/4 cup to bake on top of the dip), mayo, garlic, and salt and pepper.  Mix until all ingredients are well incorporated.

Place mixture in a glass baking dish.  Bake for 20 minutes.  Remove from oven and sprinkle remaining 1/4 cup of Parmesan cheese on top.  Bake an additional 10-15 minutes or until the Parmesan on top is a nice golden brown.

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  286

Protein -  9.5  g

Carbs -    5 net g 

Fat -   24  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Peace, Love, and Dips

Low Carb Teriyaki Beef Tips

 

Teriyaki Beef Tips

This teriyaki recipe is great as a sauce or a marinade and for just about any type of meat.  I was very pleased with how it turned out.  You can use soy sauce instead of the Bragg Liquid Aminos but I choose the Bragg's because it has a lot less sodium and has all natural ingredients. Also, you can omit the xanthan gum without losing any flavor.  However, the sauce will not be thick.  Omitting the Xanthan gum would be great for using this recipe as a marinade.  Let your meat marinate in the fridge over night before cooking..  ENJOY!!

INGREDIENTS

1 lb. Steak - You can use any cut you like.  Tastes best with a nice tender cut of meat

1/2 Cup Water  - Divided

1/4 Cup Bragg's Liquid Aminos - You can get it here - Bragg Liquid Aminos

1 Tbs. Rice Vinegar

1 Tbs. Brown Sugar Splenda - You can get it here - Splenda Brown Sugar Blend

2 Splenda Packets

1 Tbs. Garlic - Minced

1 tsp. Fresh Ginger - Grated

1 tsp. Xanthan Gum

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

***Optional garnish - toasted sesame seeds***

DIRECTIONS

Cut your steak into bite size pieces.  

In a non-stick pan, brown your meat slightly on both sides and remove from heat.  (You will finish cooking it later)

In a sauce pan, mix together 1/4 cup water, Bragg Liquid Aminos (or soy sauce), garlic, ginger, rice wine, brown sugar splenda, splenda packets - Stir and heat over medium-high heat.  

In a glass mix 1/4 cup water and Xanthan gum.  It will not dissolve.  It will look like white clumps swirling in the water.  

Pour the Xanthan gum slurry into the sauce.  Whisk constantly until you can no longer see any of the xanthan gum and the sauce has begun to thicken.

Reduce heat to low and allow to continue to thicken.  

Drain any excess juice from the meat pan so you do not dilute the sauce when you mix it in.

Mix meat and sauce and allow to cook on low 5-10 minutes more or until meat has reached desired temperature (rare, med-rare, etc.)

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 4 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories - 174

Protein -  26 g

Carbs -  3.2 net g 

Fat - 9  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Peace, Love, and Teriyaki

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs

Buffalo Chicken Deviled Eggs

When this idea came to me I wasn't sure if I was about to embark on some genius new creation or perhaps the oddest combination ever.  The end result was incredibly delicious and just seemed to make perfect sense.  I hope you like them as much as we did.  

INGREDIENTS

6 Large Eggs

6 oz. Cooked Chicken - Chopped

1/4 Small Vidalia Onion

1/4 Cup Blue Cheese Crumbles

1/4 Cup Franks Buffalo Wing Sauce

1/2 Rib Celery

2 Tbs. Blue Cheese Dressing

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Hard boil the eggs.  This is how I make perfect hard boiled egg.  Put the eggs in a large sauce pan with cold, salted water.  Add enough water that the eggs are fully submerged.  Over high heat bring water to a rolling boil.  Once the water is boiling, remove the pan from the heat, cover and let sit for 12 minutes.  

While your eggs are boiling, chop up the chicken and the celery.

Peel the eggs and slice in half lengthwise.  Scrape the yolks out into a large mixing bowl.  To the bowl add the rest of the ingredients except for the onion.  Use a microplane to grate the onion over the bowl.  The juice from the onion will add a lot of flavor to the mixture.  

Mix all ingredients together.  Put mixture into a ziploc bag.  Squeeze the mixture to one corner of the bag and snip off the corner of the bag.  Use this to pipe the mixture into the eggs.  

***You can garnish with any leftover celery or green onions as I did***

SERVE AND ENJOY!!

Makes 6 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories - 112

Protein - 7.5 g

Carbs - 1.3 net g 

Fat - 8.5 g 

Peace, Love, and Crazy Creations

Low-Carb Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes

Low-Carb Cinnamon Vanilla Pancakes

I have been craving pancakes like crazy.  I started to feel like it would just be one of those foods that I had to give up for good. I wasn't sure I could come up with a recipe that would satisfy my craving without feeling like I was sacrificing taste or texture.  I'm glad I was wrong.  These turned out amazing.  My husband said that I could serve them to any non low-carber and that they would not know the difference.  I apologize to those of you that are looking for a gluten-free recipe.  This uses Carbquik - which does contain wheat.  We served these with Joseph's SF Maple Syrup. Hope you enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS

2 Cups Carbquik - You can get it here -Tova Carbquik Bake Mix
3/4 Cup Half and Half
1/3 Cup Water
1 Egg
1 Stick Salted Butter - Melted
3oz. Cream Cheese - Softened
4 Tbs. Sugar-Free Vanilla Syrup.  I use Toranis - You can get it here - Torani Sugar Free Syrup
1 1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)
 ***We served this with Joseph's SF Maple Syrup*** This was the first time we have tried and and we really liked it.  It did not taste SF to me at all.  You can get it here - Joseph's Sugar-free Maple Syrup.  Also you can always use vanilla extract and a little sweetener in place of the SF vanilla syrup.

DIRECTIONS
In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix using a hand mixer.  Be careful not to over mix it as it will become too thick.

Heat a lightly oiled or buttered griddle or frying pan over medium heat.  Ladle a scoop of  batter onto the griddle.  Brown on both sides.  SERVE AND ENJOY!

This entire batch is only 22 net grams of carbs

Peace, Love, and Pancakes

Sour Cream Smothered Chicken

 

Sour Cream Smothered Chicken

I am always trying to think of new ways to dress up chicken.  What better way to dress it up than smothering it with all my favorite things??  This makes for great leftovers.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 lb. Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast - 4 breasts total

6 Slices Bacon - Cooked crisp and crumbled

8 oz. Mushrooms - Sliced

6 Green Onions - Chopped

1 Medium Sweet Onion - Thinly sliced

1 Cup Chicken Stock

1 Cup Sour Cream

1/3 Cup Mozzarella Cheese - Shredded 

4 Tbs. Butter - Salted

4 Tbs. Olive Oil

Garlic Salt

Pepper

(2 Tbs. Peace and Love)

DIRECTIONS

Prepare all your veggies.  Thinly slice the onions.  Slice the mushrooms.  Chop the green onions.

Chop up bacon and cook until it is nice and crispy.  Drain excess grease and set aside.

In a large saute pan, combine onions, mushrooms, 2 Tbs. butter, 2 Tbs. olive oil, and garlic salt and pepper - to taste.  Saute over medium heat until the mushrooms and onions are nice and caramelized.  About 25-30 minutes.

Once your onions and mushrooms are caramelized, add the chicken stock, and sour cream.  Allow to come to a boil over medium high, reduce heat to low and allow the sauce to simmer and thicken. About 15-20 minutes. Stir often.  While the sauce is reducing and thickening, taste periodically and add garlic salt and pepper until you have reached your desired level of saltiness.

At the same time, in a large skillet,  pan-sear the chicken breasts in 2 Tbs. butter and 2 Tbs. olive oil over medium heat.  Cook until the chicken is cooked all the way through and is a nice golden brown on both sides.

Once the chicken is cooked all the way through, plate it, top with sauce, cheese, bacon and green onions.

SERVE AND ENJOY!

Makes 4 servings:

Per Serving:

Calories -  459

Protein -  16  g

Carbs -    7.25 net g 

Fat -   32  g

***Nutritional info can vary greatly by brand.  Please be sure to check the labels of all of the ingredients you use***

Peace, Love, and Smothered Goodness