California Chicken

California Chicken is in the e-book as a Multiply Meal. Tonight I served it on top of one of the coconut cheese biscuits left from yesterday. This was so good. While we are accustomed to eating it alone, the biscuit base made it so much like the California style pizzas my guys adore. So delish. Chicken, peppers, onion, mushrooms and bacon all in a rich alfredo sauce. What is not to love?

Italian Sausage with Secret Alfredo Sauce

Shh. If you don't mention it, they might not even notice. This unassuming plate of Alfredo has a big secret--chia seed gel. I used it to extend the normal sauce. The non flavored gel offers big nutrition, but no flavor at all. It extends the flavor of my sauce rather than diluting it, but lowers the fat and the calories. It even cuts the carbs because of the great fiber content. Chia seeds are themselves highly nutritious, boosting protein.

Sure there are some little seeds floating around in my sauce--but they don't look gross.In fact my guy did not even notice they were there. He just kept telling me how outstanding the dish was. He loves Italian sausage. He loves cabbage. He doesn't know that he also loves chia seeds.

This month's newsletter has more chia seed ideas. Can you tell that is what I am working on today? The Diner news will feature all sorts of low carb specialty products, so watch for it in your mailbox on April 1. Maybe chia seeds could be your little April Fools trick too!

E.Z. Chicken Alfredo

On cabbage of course. Steamed cabbage makes a fine substitute for the dreaded pasta. John raves and raves over this. This is not my usual version, which is extra decadent and full of fats. This is the weeknight version, meant for busy people.

The sauce is a jar of prepared Alfredo sauce. Mine has 4 carbs per serving. To that, I add some extra garlic. We love our garlic and don't seem to mind bad breath. I also add cream cheese. This amount is optional. I added about 4 ounces tonight, but I have been known to use a full 8 ounces with a little sherry to thin it out a bit. The way I do this is to brown the chicken breast in the skillet with a bit of butter and extra garlic--fresh, bottled or ground. When it is done, I dice the chicken and stir in the chunks of cream cheese until it is melted and coats the chicken. Then I add the sauce. Voila. If you are smart enough to be steaming finely shredded cabbage while the chicken was cooking, you are done. Just plate and serve to a very happy family.

To make this even quicker, use precooked Chicken Chunks and add the garlic to the sauce rather than the chicken. You could even cook it in the microwave that way if you needed to. I do like the little browned chunks in the sauce you get with skillets, though.

California Chicken

We are big fans of Lost, so I had to get dinner done in time tonight. Barely made it! California Chicken was on the menu. Nothing too gourmet, it tastes like my guys' favorite pizza--Chicken Club. Chunks of chicken with peppers and onions, mushrooms and bacon...all topped with Alfredo sauce. Divine.

This recipe is in the e-book in the Multiply Meals. So good you'll be glad to have another in the freezer!

Italian Hobos

So far so good--we still have electricity here. The ice wasn't so bad afterall, but the snow just keeps coming down. The lights have flickered three times as I have been loading my photos for tonight's blog. I don't mind being snowbound a few days as long as we have electricity.

I wanted an excuse to heat up the oven tonight, so we had a hobo meal buffet. We all ended up with Italian themed foil packets. That's fine. The ingredients all went together really well. The basis of tonight's packets were chicken breast tenders, but these would be excellent with Italian sausage. The veggies we had to choose from: bell peppers, tomatoes, cabbage, onion, cauliflower and broccoli. We all went with garlic, onion powder and Italian seasonings, but you could add anything in the spice rack to suit individual tastes.



I reheated some leftover rice for the carby boy. That took almost no time. He also chose to pour jarred Alfredo sauce over the top of his chicken and veggies. Both guys also got a sprinkle of cheese, but I refrained, as I am cutting calories.




Now the kitchen is warm, stomachs are full and everyone got just what he wanted. We are all safe inside watching the snow and a Netflix movie. Two more reasons I really don't mind winter. Snow has a way of slowing our schedules down. At least here in Oklahoma where we don't live with lots of the white stuff for several months!

Christmas Pasta

When blizzards don't get in the way, my family spends Christmas day at my mom's home with my sister and all her kids. We are even into the next generation now too. My mom's instructions this year--instead of trying to get anyone to adhere to a theme--was bring your favorite. In the past we had enjoyed a bed and breakfast style buffet. But low carbing means lots of breakfast casseroles and that was not so special anymore. We then tried Italian food, but found it a little harder to make ahead and travel with. So potluck it is. We are likely to have all sorts of international favorites, and who cares? It is fun to see what others consider their signature dish, or which foods they can only have on special occasions.

Our Christmas pasta is in the second category. Can't really say it is my signature dish, as I kind of make it up as I go. It is something we indulge in rarely. Even though I use Dreamfield's pasta, my dear one's blood sugars are still likely to rise. Dreamfield's is so good, however, that no one can tell the difference between it and standard high carb varieties. I have to say, this year's choices were phenomenally good. I own a double crockpot. Each side is large enough to hold a pound of pasta. So, I made a different recipe for each side. They were both based on the same alfredo sauce, but the flavoring ingredients were very different. Everyone in my family liked both. Wish the snow wouldn't have prevented us from sharing it with the non low carbers in my family. They really flip when they get a taste of full fat ingredients. That is a true indulgence for them.

Christmas Sun-dried Tomato Pasta

1 pound Dreamfield's Rotini
1 jar alfredo sauce
1 Tablespoon minced garlic
4 ounces cream cheese
3 Tablespoons butter
1 cup Italian blend shredded cheese
1/2 cup diced sun dried tomatoes
1/4 cup sliced black olives
2 links Italian Sausage (or any variety)
1 package precooked crumbled bacon

Cook noodles according to package directions. Precook sausage and slice it. In a saucepan, add jarred Alfredo sauce, cream cheese, butter and garlic. Heat and blend well. Stir in tomatoes, olives, bacon and sausage. Stir the sauce in with the drained pasta and add salt to taste. Sprinkle with Italian cheese blend. You can stir this in, or leave it one the top to melt. Serve immediately or place into a crockpot to stay warm for serving.

Pretty, rich and easy. What a perfect holiday recipe! The next one was devoured before I got the camera out, so it must have been even better.

Christmas Pasta with Chicken and Pesto

1 pound Dreamfield's Penne Rigate Pasta
1 jar alfredo sauce
4 ounces cream cheese
3 Tablespoons butter
3 Tablespoons pesto sauce (more if you really like it)
1 cup Italian Blend shredded cheese
1 1/2 pound chicken tenders
2 teaspoons olive oil
2 teaspoons minced garlic.

Boil pasta according to package directions. Pan fry chicken in olive oil and minced garlic. Cut into bite sizes and set aside. In a saucepan, add jarred Alfredo sauce, cream cheese, butter and pesto sauce. Heat and blend well. Stir the sauce in with the drained pasta and add salt to taste. Stir in the chicken and top with the shredded cheese. Serve immediately or transfer to a crockpot to keep warm.

These looked very nice in my black dual crock. One side was flecked with green, the other side, with red. I was never able to make it to the family celebration. Our car could not get over the ridge left in our driveway from a giant snow drift. My poor boys shoveled for an hour. My oldest son, Andrew, was able to get his truck out, so he took one brother and attended the Christmas festivities at my mom's. The cousins made it--barely--and hiked in through her hills wearing garbage bags on their feet. Too funny. We shared a secret Santa exchange over the phone. Later in the day, my sons drove Nana back to our house for presents. She was nice enough to share some of the food from the lunch. Don't tell, but I still think my pasta was the best!

Tuna Alfredo Ready to Go Polar

This is one of those rich sauces we get to have when we low carb that makes everyone else jealous. Really good. Butter, cream, cream cheese... We eat ours on steamed cabbage strips. They are mildly flavored and don't fight the creaminess of the sauce. My Tuna Alfredo is a Multiply Meal recipe--it makes at least four or five meals, this one usually makes more. It depends on how many mouths you feed.

So, since you are investing in the big box of cream cheese from Sam's, a couple of canisters of Parmesan cheese, a large carton of cream, you certainly don't want to mess up when it comes to freezing this precious stuff. These are my tips for freezing sauces and soups.

It is fine to use ziploc bags, if you learn how to keep them a uniform size and flat. To do this, I keep a few old boxes around as forms. I pour my liquidy food into a freezer bag, then fit it into the box to freeze. Once it is frozen, I can remove the food from the box. That way, the bags are all the same size, and stack well in the freezer. They also tend to thaw more quickly if the food is evenly distributed. Whatever you do, don't place a freezer bag with liquidy foods in the freezer if you have wire shelves. The bag may form around the wire and be next to impossible to remove.

For some sauces or soups, I use inexpensive plastic storage bowls. I find the best place to buy these is at the Dollar Tree. I can get good quality bowl at a cost of only four for one dollar. These bowls will even stand up to microwave heat if the food content is not too fatty. These are only available in smaller sizes, so plan on these only if you are freezing two cups or less. These aren't Tupperware for sure, but they work!

Now for that recipe:

Tuna Alfredo

66.5 ounce can of water packed tuna
1 3 pound block of cream cheese
1 cup butter
2 Tablespoons garlic powder
4 cups water or to preference
2 cups cream
16 ounces grated Parmesan cheese
1 Tablespoon ground black pepper

In a large pot, melt butter and cream cheese together, stirring constantly. Stir in parmesan cheese and spices. Gradually add cream and water to desired consistency. Stir in drained tuna. Place the mixture into freezer containers or bags.

30 servings 396 calories 3 carbs