Instant Pot Recipes - YESSSSS Please!

As some of you may have noticed I am in LOVE with my Instant Pot! I'm thinking that the Bown Family, well maybe except for Zoey, are all in LOVE with the Instant Pot!

FOR THE INSTANT POT!!!!!!!!!!

With school starting tomorrow I have got to find some Instant Pot dishes so that I can have a great dinner for the family, since we will all be eating at different times. Chuck and Mary will be eating at a normal time whereas the kids and I will either be eating early or super late due to running, swimming, homework, and everything else going on during the school year.

I've been scouring the innerwebs in hopes of finding some great recipes that I can easily make in the Instant Pot. Of course I'll still be making my Keto/Low Carb dishes on nights when we are not swim bound or on the weekends. So many recipes the whole family loves; again except our little Zoey who refuses to embrace food of any kind. 

As with many healthy dishes I went straight to I Breathe I'm Hungry to see what Mellissa has available for the Instant Pot. She did NOT disappoint!

Here are some recipes I will definitely be trying over the next month. BTW, these were found on I Breathe I'm Hungry's post about the 35 best Low-Carb/Paleo Instant Pot Recipes:

• Belizean Stewed Chicken - I'll probably use boneless, skinless chicken thighs and legs as my gang does not like a lot of fat, skin, or bone in their chicken. I might even try this with chicken breast. 
• Easy Keto Balsamic Beef Pot Roast - This recipe has info for the Instant Pot as well as cooking it on the stove. Chuck is not a huge beef fan but I'm going to give this a try!
• Buffalo Ranch Chicken Dip - I'm quite skeptical about trying this as it is very similar to the Chicken Crack recipes, but it does sound good!
• Chili - You can't go wrong with a good chili recipe and I've been trying a bunch of different ones this year! Maybe I'll do a post just on the different chilis we've tried. 
• Hard Boiled Eggs - Yeah I know this isn't a dinner per say, I mean I guess it could be, just ask Mary! 
• Ghoulash - UMMM, the name "Ghoulash" just doesn't sound appealing; however, take a look at the picture and you may change your mind!
• Jamaican Jerk Pork Roast - Oh Mellissa, this looks so good! I need to make a grocery list now!
• Spaghetti Squash - I'm in the mood for some spaghetti squash......I'm wondering if I made this the night before and then used it for the Chicken & Chorizo Spaghetti Squash bowls how it would turn out?
• Asian Beef Pot Roast - I bet you this would go great over some Shirtaki Noodles! I just got my latest order of Miracle Noodles in. Time to get cooking!
• Green Chicken Chili - Yep, I'm definitely on a chili kick!
• Rotisserie Chicken - Really? You can make this in the instant pot? Sounds like a winner winner chicken dinner to me! Wonder if I can cook potatoes in there with it?
• Meatballs??? Buffalo Chicken Meatballs to be precise! I'm trying to get away from everything red sauce and find different things to tickle the taste buds. These might do it! but sometimes you just need traditional meatballs with red sauce!
• Steamed Veggies; Chuck was just asking me about this last night...."Could we do more steamed veggies in the Instant Pot?" Well sure we can if I can find some recipes or directions! How about some Artichoke? Brussel Sprouts?
• Sausage and Peppers is always a good meal! Although I must say that nothing will ever beat the Sausage and Peppers we get at Dollywood. We dream about those!
• Mexi-Meatloaf anyone? Chuck loves meatloaf and I've made it a few different ways over the years. It will be interesting to try it in the Instant Pot. If it goes well I might try my other meatloaf recipes in there. 
• Curried Chicken with Potatoes! This looks so good! Although I typically am Keto/Low-Carb which means no potatoes I'm going to be splurging once a week with rice or potatoes so I don't go crazy! Sometimes a girl just needs her carbs!
• Zuppa Toscana - We were just at Olive Garden last week for Zoey's birthday and the adults at the table were loving the fresh pot of Zuppa Toscana. I've tried to make this soup in the past with no luck; I'm so willing to try this again!

While searching her site, I also found these lovely delectables that I'm eager to try:

• Keto Pistachio Pudding Pie - can you say yum!!!!!!
• Easy Keto Chicken Shawarma - I wanted to make this last weekend and just ran out of time!
• Keto Mexican Cauliflower Skewers - Still ran out of time last weekend!
• Keto Asian Noodle Salad with Peanut Sauce - My mouth is watering!
• Keto Shrimp & Chorizo Spaghetti Squash Bowls - I've made this before with chicken instead of Shrimp...OMG delicious!
• Keto Crispy Pork & Noodle Stir Fry - YUP, I've made this a couple of times. So good!
• 5 Spice Chicken Skewers - These look yummy! Get the grill out!

Feel free to look through my "Recipes" label to for all the dishes I've posted over the years. One of these days I'll get my recipe book finished and will post it; not published, just posted for others to enjoy!

If you have a favorite Keto/Low-Carb or Instant Pot recipe that you love please share it! I'm always up for trying new recipes!

When I get some more free time, HA HA HA, I'm going to look at the email my BFF Jill sent me. There were several Instant Pot meals that caught my eye!

Instant Pot Blueberry Zucchini Oatmeal

I am LOVING the Instant Pot!

Sunday I made my second batch of oatmeal. This time Blueberry Zucchini Oatmeal!

I know, I know, who puts Blueberries in oatmeal? I mean seriously, what was I thinking?

Well, I was thinking that I needed something to go with some Zucchini, and what better than blueberries! To be honest I was dreaming of my friend Nadia's Blueberry Zucchini Bread. And since I'm trying to keep the carbs low and I know I can't control myself with that bread around I decided to go a better route for myself. Sorry Nadia, but your food is so good I cannot control myself around it!

Let's start with the fact that anything I put in the Instant Pot does not look good BUT just because it doesn't look good doesn't mean it tastes bad! Some things just look gross! LOL!

Jesse took a look at this and said "I'll pass, don't ask me to try that!" I love what comes out of his mouth. He's such a funny kid! But you know what, I was making this for me so "No soup, errr Oatmeal, for you!"

I did a little more research on my Instant Pot and decided to give the "Porridge" setting a try! I didn't want to have the "Burn" message pop up again! This was definitely the ticket. So if you have a "Porridge" setting and you are using rolled oats, 6 minutes is a perfect setting.

Looks pretty dang gum good in there! Yeah, Yeah, yeah, Jesse, I know it looks like vomit, but it doesn't taste like vomit!

This recipe made four servings of yummy blueberry oatmeal with a serving of zucchini mixed in. You could not taste the zucchini at all which is even better when you are looking for something on the sweeter side.

Ingredients

• 1 pint of Fresh Blueberries (1 cup to cook, remainder for top of oatmeal)
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Quaker Rolled Oats (uncooked)
• 2 1/4 cups water
• 1/8 tsp salt (optional)
• 1 Tbsp Swerve sweetener (optional but included in nutritional information)

Directions

• Coat the bottom and sides of the inner Instant Pot pan with non-stick cooking spray. 
• Mix in all the ingredients in the Instant Pot; stirring well.
• Set the Instant Pot to "Porridge", High, for 6 minutes, "Sealing"
• Once it is done, release the seal
• You can use the remaining blueberries as an additional topping for the oatmeal. 

Nutritional Info from (MyFitnessPal)

Instant Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal

For a while now I've been seeing friends comment or post about the Instant Pot, raving how good it is. Not to mention seeing the recipes that they've been posting! YUMMY!

First off, WTH is an Instant Pot?!?!?!?!

From my quick searches its a pressure cooker, crock pot, steamer, sauteer (I don't think that's a word) etc, etc, etc, etc all in one. Now, if you plan to get one, all my peeps out there kept telling me to only get the Instant Pot brand; no other brand will do.

What's a girl to do?

Lord knows I LOVE me some kitchen appliances and I waited a LONG time to finally get an Instant Pot. As with many of my kitchen gadget purchases I had to purchase this, well I was trying to, without Chuck knowing. He thinks we have too many kitchen gadgets that go unused. And although he may be correct in some cases he's not always correct about my kitchen gadgets. I would use the Kitchen Aide mixer a lot more but he seems to think that it's his and I'm not allowed to use it. I giggle, mostly on the inside, when he gets all possessive about that dam mixer!

After doing a little research I found that Kohl's had the Instant Pot Ultra 10-in-1 on sale and was offering 20% off if you purchased online and had it delivered or you did in-store pickup! SOLD!!!!!!!!! That saved me over $60! I purchased it on Friday morning and picked it up that afternoon.

I texted with my BFF Jill about what I should make first. She says "Start easy. Do the water test first. Read the manual. Then start with the 5-5-5 method for hard boiled eggs or something simple." My reply was "Where's the fun in that? I don't do anything simple or easy. I just jump in!" Jill replied "I know! That's part of why I love you!" AWWW SHUCKS!!!!! LOVE YOU TOO JILL!

I have been wanting Pumpkin Oatmeal for about a week now so I figured why not start out with Oatmeal; how hard can that be? I mean, come on, it's oatmeal!

Chuck and I did do the water test, Jill will be proud of me! But that's where I stopped with the "start easy" way of things. I jumped right in to the oatmeal. I found numerous recipes online but settled on something of my own based on other recipes, because...let's face it...this is how I roll! Buttered roll preferred if you don't mind!

So before I set off on completing a duathlon (see post later today) I set the Instant Pot to make some pumpkin oatmeal! BTW, a "Duathlon" is a thing and yes it is spelled correctly!

You really can't get much simpler than this oatmeal recipe. You can omit the salt if you want, and you can add sweetener if you want. 

I'm not a fan of stone-cut oats; they just aren't my thing. But I do enjoy rolled oats and well Quaker is my favorite. I can't imagine why you couldn't use any other brand so go for it if you want to. Same thing with the pumpkin; I'm a Libby's girl but use whichever brand you want!

Now, this was my first Instant Pot recipe and things didn't go according to plan. Do they ever? UMMM, Yes, Yes they do but this one didn't; however, my results were DELICIOUS!

Make sure you grease the inner Instant Pot bowl with something! I used Pam Cooking Spray but you can do it however you want.  Put all ingredients in the bowl! 

I've seen some recipes where they cook the oatmeal in a glass oven safe bowl instead of directly in the Instant Pot. I'm not really sure why you would do that unless you just wanted to. To each their own! But I'm not using another dish unless I absolutely have to. Chuck gets grumpy when there are tons of dishes for him to clean.

I would recommend adding in some type of sweetener at this point as well. I didn't and added liquid stevia to the individual servings but when I made my Blueberry Zucchini Oatmeal on Sunday I mixed it in while cooking. 

Make sure you stir everything up before closing the lid and turning it on. I know this does not look appetizing but think about the end result. Not to mention, what oatmeal looks appetizing?

My settings.....well this one was more difficult to figure out. There are not a lot of blog posts out there for the Instant Pot Ultra 10-in-1. So I had to take some educated guesses and figure some things out. Bottom line is, you will have to play around with your Instant Pot to get things the way you expect them. 

OK, So based on several other oatmeal recipes I found you set it on Pressure Cook, High, for 4 minutes for rolled oats, with the "Steaming" setting on. Once cooked, you can either release the steam or you can let it continue on it's course. Well if that doesn't help a newbie!!!!!!!!!!! Seriously, it did not help! I literally scratched my head! CCCCHHHHUUUUCCCKKKKK, can you come help me! "Why of course dear!"

When I set all of this, and then went out for a 5K run (the first part of the duathlon), Chuck heard the Instant Pot beep and then it displayed "BURN". AHHHHH! My biscuits, I mean OATMEAL, are burning! 

Now all of this was unbeknownst to me. Who would have thought you could burn oatmeal in this thing. Everyone keeps saying that it is fool proof! Well Guess What???? It was! YUP, It was fool proof!

Chuck let the steam out and did nothing else to it. I'm sure figuring that the oatmeal was burnt and that I would clean it up! Silly man, he knows I don't do dishes!

However, when my run was over I came up to hear that the oatmeal was burnt. I had a sad sad face because I was really looking forward to pumpkin oatmeal before my 18 mile bike ride (2nd part of the dauthlon). YES, I wrote that number correctly!

Guess what, Ladies and Gentlemen? The oatmeal was perfect and did not burn! When I opened up the Instant Pot, the oatmeal was pumpkiny goodness! It smelled amazing and I couldn't wait to have a bowl!

I immediately separated it into four servings and set out to try it. Remember, I didn't put any sweetener in this to begin with. Bad choice Karen! OK, so I added the liquid Stevia to my individual serving at this point which had it tasting so much better. I also added some chopped walnuts to mine and sat down to have lunch!

NOW, what I learned when making my 2nd batch of oatmeal (Blueberry Zucchini) was that I should have used the "Porridge" setting on my Instant Pot Ultra. The Directions for this recipe are based on that much better experience.

Finished Oatmeal!

Ingredients

• 1 Cup Canned Pumpkin Puree
• 1 tsp Pumpkin Pie Spice
• 1 tsp Vanilla Extract
• 1 cup Quaker Rolled oats (uncooked)
• 2 1/4 Cups Water
• 1/8 tsp Salt
• OPTIONAL: Sweetener of choice (not included in Nutrition Facts)
• OPTIONAL: Nuts, raisins, any topping (not included in Nutrition Facts)

Directions

1. Use non-stick spray for the bottom and sides of the inner Instant Pot pan. 
2. Mix in all the ingredients in the Instant Pot; stir well.
3. Set the Instant Pot to "Porridge", High, for 6 minutes, "Steaming". 
4. Once it is done, release the steam and serve!

Nutritional Information (via MyFitnessPal)

As many of you know, I am not a professional cook and do things my own way all the time. I do however enjoy posting about my experiences and have fun while doing it. I hope you have fun  making Instant Pot Pumpkin Oatmeal!

Memorial Day Weekend New Recipe Fun!

When I'm trying to eat healthy there is nothing better than finding a new recipe. Any of you that follow me on Facebook know that I am "sharing" recipes all the time and then blog about them....when I make them.

The recipes rarely look like they are supposed to and my pictures are not the best. HOWEVER, I'm having a FABULOUS (sing songy voice) time making the new dishes and sharing them with everyone.

This past holiday weekend was EXTREMELY, extremely busy. I don't know where to begin or how I got through it. BUT, here we are on Wednesday, I'm exhausted, but feeling good.

What was on the agenda this past weekend you ask????? DON'T ASK! You should never ask! ;)

• Mary moving in
• Took Mary to the doctors for the day
• Swim Camp packing when we got home
• Mary packing after that; loading up and hauling numerous boxes
• Driving 2 hours for Swim Camp drop off
• Driving 2 hours home
• Cooking
• Cleaning
• More packing
• Running
• Cooking
• Answering the phone every 2 hours
• Repeat for Sunday!
• Driving back to swim camp; driving home.....4 hours total....ANYONE TIRED!

OK Seriously, I said "Don't Ask!" Let's just say that my four day weekend went by in a flash! 

I did make several new recipes that were posted on the I Breathe I'm Hungry Facebook page. Again, everyone knows how much I love Mellissa's recipes. Well she also re-posts some wonderful recipes from other blogs. 

Now, I don't know Mellissa personally but I'm fairly certain that with the wit, sarcasm and overall bluntness that comes across on her blog posts she and I are kindred spirits! I LOVE READING her blog. It's a breath of fresh air...and the recipes are superb!

OK, OK, OK....on to the recipes!

First up was the "Keto Crispy Pork & Noodle Stirfry". I have to say it, listen up, this was better than Chinese take out. YEP! I said it and it's true! This dish was one of the best Chinese dishes I've ever had. I made it, with the help of Mellissa's recipe and it was DEEEEEELISH!!!

Again, my pics are not the best but I love showing what I created on my own plates. I don't know....it makes it more real for me. Yes, Yes I'm a weirdo!

So, noone in the family but Mary and I like pork and when I saw this dish I knew Mary and I would love it. I'm not one to typically follow all the steps in a recipe and this one was no different. I go with what I have on hand. 

Coconut flour.....I love it, however, I get afraid of it. I don't want everything to taste like coconut. Let's face it, a lot of low carb/keto recipes call for coconut flour or oil. I've pretty much given up on coconut oil. It turns everything the flavor of coconut. And I love coconut, but a girl has to have variety. Did I say "Coconut" enough?

I persevered and used the Coconut Flour....apparently I didn't say it enough yet. The "breading" for the pork was outstanding! The pork didn't taste like you guessed it, COCONUT! It was really good! I also didn't need all the breading. I ending up only using about 2/3 of it. 

As with most recipes, I try to have everything pre-measured and ready. Why do I do this? Because I find that most recipes go super fast and I overcook things if I don't have all the ingredients 100% ready to go. With this recipe I think it is a must. 

I didn't have cabbage, nor do I like cooked cabbage, so I chose to use a broccoli, cauliflower, carrot, stirfry bag. Now there was nothing in the frozen veggies other than the three veggies shredded. 

I also didn't have avocado or sesame oil so I used Moroccan Olive Oil. My friend Nadia gets it for me, yes she's from Morocco, and it is the best tasting Olive Oil I've ever had. Sometimes I feel like I could bathe in this oil. It smells great, tastes fantastic, and feels quite light in my cooking. So if you smell Olive Oil and you're near me....I may have....OK, seriously I would not bathe in oil. MAYBE!

The dish turned out fantastic and we had leftovers. Mary is having them for lunch today.

Well it was a TWO dessert night! OMG, you said that! Yep, I said it.....Mary, Zoey, and I had two desserts on Sunday night. THIS IS HOW WE ROLL SOMETIMES FOLKS! You have to enjoy life, live it to the fullest, and this was one of those nights. 

DISCLAIMER......I do not recommend having multiple desserts or even making two brand new recipes in one night, let alone three! BUUUUUTTT, what the hell! It was a girl's night and we were living it up! HA HA HA....making three low carb recipes in my own home after having exhausted myself for the past few days was living it up? YOU CAN BET YOUR SWEET ASS IT WAS! I was with my girls, laughing, singing, and having a great time. Couldn't be any better!

OK, on to Dessert #1's Recipe...No Bake Keto Cheesecake - Quick, No Crust...This one came from Broke Foodies via I Breathe I'm Hungry. Now I'm not a huge cheesecake person, but this looked so dam good I couldn't resist. 

Again, my pic isn't the best, but it's my blog....my sandbox....so I'll keep it! 

I didn't have any lids for my small ramekins so I opted to use two of the larger ones. I don't know about most of you but my stomach cannot take all the artificial sweetener that a lot of folks use. But with anything, make it your own, so that's exactly what I did! I used about 1/3 of the sweetener called for in the cheesecake itself and no artificial sweetener in the raspberries....oh yeah I used raspberries instead of strawberries. This came out really good....very tart....but very good. Zoey was not a fan as she loves everything to be over the top sweet. Mary and I however, LOVED IT! We only ate a little bit as this took a while to set up. Matter of fact I finished mine last night after my late night, for me, run. 

Meanwhile, back at the ranch....."ranch dressing" Zoey would say.....it was off to another recipe. Who doesn't love lava cake! There must be something wrong with you if you don't love lava cake! It's chocolate and it's cake! WHAT'S NOT TO LOVE! Oh yeah, and you put ice cream on it!

I really need to get a few kitchen items, like mini bundt pans. Don't tell Chuck! He'll freak if I come home with anything else for the kitchen. He thinks I have way too many kitchen gadgets. BUUUUT, if I sneak it in the house when he's not home and then blame it on Mary if he sees it....hmmmm, this might work! I'm going to try it! SSSSSHHHHHH, let's keep it between us! And for godsakes don't tell Zoey because Daddy does no wrong and Mommy does everything wrong in her eyes....so she'll tell on me. 

This low carb lava cake from Tasteaholics was DELICIOUS! I mixed up three separate batches and used a large muffin pan because I didn't have those cute little bundt pans. I'm dreaming of them right now...maybe I'll check Amazon! No wait, Chuck can see what I order.....I guess I'm going shopping without him!

10 minutes was not enough time to cook these, however, 15 was too long. So my lava was too thick and thus did not spill out onto the plate. DON'T fret my sweeties because it still tasted, OMG, so good! Add a little ice cream and it was the perfect second dessert of the evening! 

I don't know about you but I'm tired and could use one of these wonderful desserts and a NAP!

Chicken~Chorizo Spaghetti Squash

On my search for low carb/keto recipes, to stay on track, I came across this beauty from one of my favorite food blogs...I Breathe I'm Hungry! I can't say enough about the recipes that Mellissa posts.

I don't know that I have made anything that I didn't like from her blog. Definitely a blog you want to check out, bookmark, and read regularly even if you aren't a Keto/Low Carb eater! Maybe you are a vegetarian? She's got your covered. Maybe you are gluten free, she's got options for that too. I feel like whatever your way of eating is, she's got a recipe for you!

Trying to find a dish that the whole family likes is REALLY DIFFICULT! My family is really picky! You've all heard it before ... Zoey is a Carbitarian, Jesse has texture issues, Chuck is a garbage disposal, and Mary is low carb like me. You know I love you honey, but you will eat just about anything!

I truly think I hit the jackpot when I found this recipe. It was posted to use shrimp but Mary is allergic and the kids and I don't eat seafood, so chicken it is!!!! I find almost any dish that uses seafood can use chicken as a replacement.

The hardest part about the whole recipe was finding chorizo. Three stores later I found it! 

For those of you that live in the the Southern NJ area, the Absecon Shop Rite had chorizo in the sausage section and the dried meats section near the produce. I used the stuff from the sausage section.

This was my first time cooking a spaghetti squash. I've always been afraid of making spaghetti squash because everything I read said you had to roast it in the oven. I don't like using the oven in the hotter months and last weekend it was quite warm here....had to turn on the AC. But this recipe suggested cooking the spaghetti squash in the microwave. I love microwave ease!

Chuck had to help with putting the "deep holes" into the spaghetti squash. This was not an easy task for me and well I think I was making him extremely nervous with my knife wielding skills. Just imagine me channeling my inner Psycho and you'll understand his need to remove the knife from my hands! I could actually see the tension lift off his shoulders when I set the knife down. 

When taking the spaghetti squash out of the microwave, it basically fell apart. I would recommend having this on a plate when you microwave it, and be prepared for it to fall apart. To me, it just made the process even easier. 

Once that was done, putting this recipe together was super easy. If you have a busy week night coming up, I would recommend cooking the chorizo and chicken ahead of time. Even the spaghetti squash ahead of time. This dish can easily be thrown together on a week night with early prep or without. Other than using chicken instead of shrimp the only change I made was using 11 oz of chorizo instead of 8. The reason for this was because that's how much was in the package and I didn't want to store it. 

The family reviews were:

• Chuck - I can't believe how good this is; I wasn't expecting it to be this good! You can definitely make this again and again. 
• Me - I really like this; definitely going to add red pepper flakes next time. I felt that the only thing missing was some heat.
• Mary - When can I come back over for dinner so you can make this again? Yes, the red pepper flakes....Chuck was nodding saying "Hmmm mmmm". 
• Jesse - This is good! Can I have more with extra chorizo?
• Zoey (who only had a little bit) - Can I have more sausage?

Just for the record, my kids rarely...RARELY...ask for seconds unless it is tortellini. So this was a SUPER DUPER HUGE HIT in my house!

Thank you I Breathe I'm Hungry! We'll be back for more recipes!

Who says you can't have carrot cake?

Every year my family makes a carrot cake for Easter and we decorate it. Everyone gets to put their own design and well sometimes they are quite interesting. This year not only did we make a carrot cake for the family I also made low carb carrot cupcakes for Mary and I. These were absolutely delicious and really didn't take a long time to make. I preferred them over traditional carrot cake!

And that's saying something!!!!!!!

This picture doesn't give the cupcake justice. 

It is the size of a normal cupcake, not a mini. 

Ditch the Carbs has a great recipe and has it for a cake instead of cupcakes. I decided to follow some of the comments and made cupcakes. I also used 8 tbsp of butter instead of 7. A couple of other changes I did, was 1 tsp of Allspice instead of Mixed Spice, no walnuts, and a 1/4 tsp of nutmeg instead of ginger. 

I didn't put all the carrots in the cupcakes and used a small amount in the icing. 

Now for the icing, I modified this significantly from Ditch the Carbs recipe by googling "Cream Cheese Icing". I added, vanilla and butter. This was all to taste and came out amazing. I'm really hoping that I can repeat it. 

Mary and I loved these cupcakes. We didn't feel left out of Easter's annual carrot cake dessert either!

Since this made 12 cupcakes, we each ate one and then froze several. I also gave one to Amber the next day. She enjoyed it!

I'm calling this another Low Carb win!

Homemade Hibachi Dinner with YUM YUM SAUCE

YUMMMMMMMMMM! YUMMMMMMMMMMM!

No I didn't take the tag from Red Robin.......We are talking Low Carb Yum Yum Sauce for homemade Hibachi dinner!

The Bown Family doesn't do the traditional meal for any holiday. Our tradition is simple, whatever makes us happy is what we're having. Chuck and Jesse both requested homemade Hibachi dinner and I knew that I could put a Low Carb twist on this family favorite to keep Mary and I in check!

Not to mention that there is ALWAYS leftovers and I love Hibachi leftovers! Which is kinda funny because I pretty much despise leftovers of any kind.

How can you make a low carb hibachi dinner? Simple...

• Make the Low Carb Yum Yum Sauce. OK, this could have it's own post but what the heck, let's do it here! I would recommend that you make this sauce a minimum of 2 days in advance. It is absolutely wonderful and takes at least 24 hours for the flavors to meld together; however longer is better. See below for the recipe (low carb or with carbs...your choice). I also recommend making a quadruple batch. Do you really need that much yum yum sauce. Well YES! YES YOU DO! Anyone who loves yum yum sauce knows that you can never have too much. Plus it is great on anything. 
• Cut up your veggies. We typically do Zucchini, Carrots, yellow onions, and Broccoli for the mixed veggies. Now if you want to make it really low carb, forget the carrots and onions, but I think for the small amount that you eat, it's worth it. You'll also need 1 medium onion, chopped, for the cauliflower rice. I purchase the cauliflower already riced but if you want to rice your own I would recommend two heads of cauliflower for 4 adults. If you are buying the cauliflower riced, I go for 2 bags in the produce section. 
• Chicken - No carbs and cube them up before putting them on the griddle with soy sauce, the garlic/parsley butter and maybe some fresh cracked black pepper. Sometimes I put sesame seeds in it at the end. I also add a touch of ginger. This is to taste!
• Cauliflower rice: We like to cook this in the cast iron skillet. Throw in a blob of the garlic/parsley butter and let melt for a short time. Then add the cauliflower, onions, soy sauce, touch of ginger, a heaping spoon full of minced garlic. As it is cooking you can add yum yum sauce here and there til you get the desired flavor. Again, sometimes I had sesame seeds. When it's just about done don't forget to add the eggs. Now, I make a spot in the center of the rice and crack the eggs right in there; typically one per person. You could however basically make scrambled eggs (no milk) off to the side and then add them when you are ready. Totally up to you!
• Filet - no carbs and when you cook it medium rare it is like bubble gum in your mouth. I chose a good marbled filet, well about 10 of them actually and I cooked them last. They turned out absolute perfect. Here I am eating leftovers 2 days later and they are still perfect! These were cubed and cooked on an extremely high griddle for about 3 minutes in garlic, parsley, butter. I will probably get the griddle even hotter before starting them next time. 

Now trying to cook all of this at the same time can be quite difficult. Imagine, if you will, an electric skillet on the counter, the griddle on one side of the stove, and the cast iron skillet on the other side. Then add in 2 cooks and you have WAY TOO MUCH GOING ON! BUT, this is one of the most satisfying meals you will cook for your family and the work is worth it. 

OOPS, looks like I should have given you guys the ingredients for the dinner before walking through how I make it. LOL! Aren't I the best recipe blogger you've ever met! NOT! 

Hibachi Ingredients (It's up to you on how much of each because it is based on the number of people eating, I commented on that above.)

• Eggs
• Cauliflower (or rice)
• Carrots
• Yellow Onions
• Broccoli
• Zucchini
• Filet Mignon
• Chicken
• Black Pepper
• Ground Ginger (or fresh'y grated)
• Soy Sauce
• Sesame Seeds

YUM YUM Sauce 

I know this doesn't really look appetizing but I assure you it is absolutely delicious!

(I'll note the low carb difference below; this is for one batch, I recommend you multiple it times 4 to make a quadruple batch....you will not be sorry you did this!)

• 1 and 1/4 Cup Hellman's Mayonnaise (Do not substitute)
• 1 tsp Tomato Paste (Do not use ketchup)
• 1 tsp Sugar (or Liquid Stevia to your taste; I did 8 drops )
• 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
• 1/4 tsp Paprika
• 1 tbsp melted butter
• 1 dash cayenne pepper (again, to taste, I did 1/2 tsp for a quadruple batch) 
• 1/4 water (even when doing a double or quadruple batch, start with 1/4 cup water and add more if necessary; I typically don't add more than the initial 1/4 cup.)

Whisk all that up, or use a mixer, till everything is well blended. Let it sit over night, but I prefer 48 hours. 

What you get after this labor of love is your favorite Hibachi dinner without the high carb content or the need to eat in one hour after you've finished!

A lot of this you can prep several days in advance, such as all the chopping and cutting of the veggies and meat. 

I hope you and your family enjoy your homemade hibachi dinner as much as my family does!

Craving PB&J!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

OMG, have I been craving Peanut Butter & Jelly! I mean seriously, who doesn't love PB&J!

When they came out with Uncrustables, years ago, I thought this was a product sent down from the heavens! I mean, these are unbelievably delicious. I LOVE eating an Uncrustable after a workout. I feel so much better! I'm guessing it's all the sugary goodness!

With all that wonderfulness that is an Uncrustable, the sugar and carb content is WAYYYYY more than I should eat. Especially being a diabetic; yet I continued to eat them and eat them and eat them.....shall I go on?

At one point I requested that they no longer be in the house because I just couldn't stop eating them. I'm almost felt like I had an Uncrustable addiction! Laugh all you want, God knows I laugh at myself on a daily basis but seriously...

My name is Karen......Hi Karen!
I have an addiction to Uncrustables......We love you, don't give up! You can fight the urge!

Anyone notice I used PB&J colors!!!!!!!!! HA HA HA!

Chuck and Zoey were not happy with getting rid of Uncrustables from our lives. What is a girl to do?!?!?!? Guess what, I kept eating Uncrustables. UGH!

But I am fighting my Uncrustable urge and haven't had one in over 2 months! WHAT WHAT!!!!!!!!! Where's my coin? Just kidding!

Addiction is real, I'm not making light of that but truly of myself. I seriously have an addiction to food and going Low Carb (I know, once again) is the only way I seem to be able to get my food addiction under control.

And what do my wondering eyes find just last week but a blog post from All Day I Dream About Food of wonderful Peanut Butter & Jelly! It was like the heavens opened up again welcoming me home to my safe and happy place! A place filled with Peanut Butter & Jelly yumminess!

I'll be honest I didn't read much of the post because I couldn't wait to see more pictures and to find the recipe. I WAS ON A MISSION! I NEEDED PB&J!

Well a scroll later, some items purchased, and the very next day I was making these wonderful, lovable, low carb PB&J Fat Bombs. I've never made my own jam before but that was super super super easy! Did I say "super"? Yep, just checking! 

Anyone who loves PB&J is going to be head over heals in love with these little fat bombs. I really wish I would have brought one for myself at work today........why, why, why, didn't I think ahead!

The recipe calls for 12 cupcake size silicon papers. I didn't want that big of an item. I was looking at these as bite size yumminess! Something that will quickly satisfy that PB&J craving but not kill my new way of eating. So I used my silicone candy trays and made 36 little 1 inch PB&J treats!















Something else the recipe calls for is Coconut oil. Now, I used it this time because I really didn't know how these were going to turn out.

SUPERB is how they turned out BTW!

I truly feel that the coconut oil is not needed and you can use strictly natural creamy peanut butter. I got the "normal size" jar and only used half this time. Next time I will use a full "normal size" jar. I honestly cannot remember the size of the jar, but you don't want the jumbo or the tiny jars, you want the "normal size"; i.e. the just right size. Come on....who needs perfect measurements!

My candy molds made for the perfect little snack. Mary and I both tried two each and couldn't get over how good they were. Chuck also tried one and was amazed. We all agreed to no coconut oil next time and straight Organic Natural Creamy Peanut Butter!

Based on MFP's recipe builder and using the coconut oil here are the specs when I enter it. Again, not too shabby for a snack! I'm going to have two but this is for 1 serving. 

I might use a full cup of the organic frozen raspberries as well. I had to really stretch the JAM.....so PUMP UP THE JAM....I will go on the next batch!

And I think I will have to investigate how to make grape jam, because you know I LOVE YOU grape jam!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anyone looking for the recipe I followed can jump over to All Day I Dream About Food and get the Peanut Butter and Jam Cups recipe! You'll be glad you did! Feel free to leave a comment on how yours turned out and if you made any alterations!

Potato Skins Shamato Skins - Who needs them when you have chiken?

I cannot begin to tell you how much my family loved "Texas Chicken Nachos" by RealFoodbyDad.com. 

Seriously these things reminded me of the Potato Skins you get as an appetizer at any restaurant only ONE MILLION TIMES BETTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And what what you say, ZERO CARBS you say!

I call that a winner winner chicken dinner!!!!!!!!

Now the picture from http://realfoodbydad.com/texas-chicken-nachos/ is so much prettier than mine, but I like to post my own pics as much as possible.

My mouth is watering 

just looking at this dish!

Now, the recipe called for chicken tenders that you pick up in the fresh meat section of the grocery store. I don't like to use these as they have the tendon running right through each one. So I opted to use chicken breast and sliced them up myself. I used three chicken breasts and sliced them about a half an inch thick, maybe 3/4 of an inch. When it came to cooking these the post said 3-4 minutes on each side. It took mine more like 14 minutes on each side. They were juicy and perfect!

MOUTH WATERING AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you want this to be a quick meal, I would recommend having the chicken thawed, possibly sliced, and the spice mixture prepared a head of time.

OOOHHH, one more thing we did slightly different! I cooked everything on a cookie sheet instead of transferring it to the cast iron skillet.

Chuck, of course, added fresh jalepenos to his portion, but the kids and I ate it as you see above. Zoey drank 2 cups of milk and said it was spicy. Jesse said "next time, I would like a 3rd one".

All in all this was a huge hit in my house and it is going in the recipe book! I cannot wait to make this again.

Who doesn't love Grilled Cheese!

Listen....I don't know who doesn't love grilled cheese. I go through times when I crave grilled cheese. No, No, No, I AM NOT PREGNANT! But that doesn't mean that I don't have cravings. This weekend, I was seriously craving a grilled cheese sandwich!

Only problem is, I'm eating a Low Carb diet which means no bread for me! What is a girl to do?!?!?!

I was seriously wracking my brain trying to figure out what I could have that would get me close to a grilled cheese sandwich.

Then I had a lightbulb moment and remembered that I had gotten Smart Buns! WHAT WHAT?????

YES! Smart Buns from Smart-baking.com!

Making this was the same way you make any grilled cheese sandwich, for me that's making it on the stove via frying pan or skillet. Some folks just microwave it, I would not recommend this with Smart Buns. You could put it in the toaster oven...that's how my hubby likes it....but again watch as the Smart Buns will grill up faster than normal bread.

Butter one side of each piece of bread, these are sides that will be grilled.
Two slices of your favorite cheese; mine was Hot Pepper Cheese.
And then grill until toasted.

Although the Smart Buns taste different than regular bread, I LOVED this! Watch how long you cool these and the Smart Buns will grill up faster than regular bread. But I still got that crunch on the outside and the gooey cheese on the inside.

Next time I'll make a low carb tomato soup to go with it! Will need to find a recipe or make up my own.

Fat Bombs!

I've been waiting for my Sugar Free Chocolate Morsels to arrive so I could  make Chocolate Chip Cookie Fat Bombs! UMMM, yeah, you heard that correctly!

I came across PaleoMomNoms' Chocolate Chip Cookie Fat Bomb recipe last week on one of the Keto/Low Carb Facebook pages I belong too.

I mean come on....doesn't this look good?

The recipe link is above, but these little gems were absolutely delicious and super simple to make. I didn't have any NSA creamy peanut butter so I did use Skippy Creamy Peanut Butter. But I'm not worried.

I finally got to use my new silicone cookie/muffin trays. I didn't have to spray them or anything since these are FAT bombs. Full of fat, which makes them greasy and non-stick (for the most part).

One batch of these made 27 fat bombs. There were three in a circle tray too. I put them in the freezer for about an hour and then popped them out. I'm storing them in the freezer in a plastic container.

So now, when the kids want a cookie, or treat, I can join in with my own treat that is only 2 carbs.

Here's a picture of the silicone trays, there wasn't much left on them. Although I don't do the dishes at home, that's Chuck's job, they look like it won't take much to clean them.

I also made Lemon Fat Bombs. These weren't as easy to make but weren't too bad. They are kept in the fridge for a month and are not quite 1 carb each. I did put the fresh lemon juice from the lemons in them to give it more of a lemon flavor. I also used Swerve instead of Stevia as the sweetener.

Instead of a muffin tray, I used a chocolates tray to make lemon hearts. They turned out super cute and actually took on some of the heart design. I think it would have worked better had I pressed more into them.

Couple of food reviews...

Mary and I have been cooking for each other and sharing different dishes. I've also been buying some things and trying out items from the Keto Krate. Speaking of which, I got my March Keto Krate yesterday! YEAH!

Where to begin???????????

Let's start with March's Keto Krate, because well, when I see the orange/yellow box in the mailbox
I get EXCITED! Last month's krate was a lot of fun. I enjoyed many of the items found in that box; again I shared things with Chuck and Mary. I think my absolute favorite was the Milkdamia and the Chocoperfection bars.

Not the best picture I know, BUT, my Keto Krate arrived and I couldn't wait to take a picture of it. Lots of goodies in this krate!

I'm not big on olives or jerky so Chuck and Mary fought over who got the Olive Snack and the Beef Jerky. There was also a Chorizo Salame Stix. Chuck snatched that up pretty quickly.

I can't wait to try some of that chocolate bar.

Now, Can you see the recipe on the card? I think it is awesome how Keto Krate provides you with a recipe using one, if not more, of the ingredients in the krate. Unfortunately I didn't realize this last month until I had used the items in the recipe but this month I knew it was coming. SOOOOO, I cannot wait to try the "Crazy Go Nuts Walnut Biscuits".

HOWEVER, I have since bought the two ingredients that are in last month's recipe and will be trying it; Cinnamon Swirl ice cream!

The Creation Nation Energy Bar Bite mix looks quite interesting. My need to bake recently may have been fulfilled. Chocolate, Coconut, hmmmmmmmmmmmm, Let's have a moment shall we!

Yesterday's lunch was pretty tasty! It included Mary's Pulled Pork and my coleslaw. I posted about these recipes in "Super busy Sunday COOKING!". However, I also used a new purchase called a Smart Bun for the roll.

Whose got Smart Buns? I got Smart Buns?   Feel free to sing that as the 1985 Nair commercial of "Who where's short shorts?" You know you use to sing along to that! ;)

Add a couple pickle slices and you've got yourself a great southern summer lunch on a semi-cold NJ winter day in March. Now we are in South Jersey, so we'll take it!

I know that some of you are are going say "carrots are not low carb!" And you would be correct. HOWEVER, my meal, my blog, my sandbox! Seriously, it is! 

OK, silliness aside.....the amount of carbs from the carrots in the cole slaw mix compared to the amount of time it was going to take me to remove said carrots was WORTH IT!!!!!!!!! I don't mind going the extra mile for a lot of things, but let me tell you that I do not have time to pick out tiny pieces of carrots shavings that are only going to save me a carb or two.

The Smart Bun (I just keep singing "Who wears short shorts"    LOL) comes freshly baked from Smart Baking and delivered within a couple of days. The directions, special card inside the box, tells you to put the Smart Buns directly into the freezer. I thawed the bun on the counter, which only took about an hour, and then I lightly toasted mine in the toaster oven. Note on this, the directions say that these buns toast quickly and don't take the same amount of time as regular bread. I would agree, be careful, especially if you like your toast on the darker side. Beware of the dark side!!!!!!!!!!!!

The Smart Bun has a good flavor/texture and feels just like bread. This made having pulled pork on a low carb diet much more enjoyable!

When Mary came over on Saturday night for dinner (not to babysit...lol) she brought me two new dishes that she made. I was very intrigued by what she had brought and was looking forward to having them for a lunch this coming week. However, when I was trying to get stuff out of the fridge to make pierogies last night I kept dropping things because it was too full with leftovers. Needless to say, we'll be having pierogies tonight and I had left overs for dinner last night.

So I decided, let's have the dishes Mary made! It was Crockpot porkchops with some type of sauce....OK, let's face it.....the sauce was brown on the bottom and green on top. NOOOO, before you say I left it in the fridge too long, I didn't. She made it Saturday and I ate it Sunday.

Sorry Ma, but I was very skeptical about eating this. Although it smelled delicious so I said "what the hell, let's give it a whirl!". I also chose the zoodles Mary had made. These too, smelled AMAZING and this one looked really good!

Again, Sorry Ma, but the pork chops were not my thing. There was way too much curry on these for me. I'm going to find a different pork chop recipe that we can share and see how it goes. We are the only to Bowns that like pork chops so we are trying to share them.

As for the spaghetti zoodles! I LOVE THEM! I'm not sure what all Mary put in the sauce or what veggies were in there but it was a bit spicy and OH SO TASTY! I made Chuck try some and he loved it too! We will definitely have to eat these again!

Hope you enjoyed the review as much as I enjoyed trying these items.

Who doesn't like a Chili Cheese Dog?

So who doesn't like a Chili Cheese Dog? In my house, there's no one who doesn't like these! Now, my kids are big on hot dogs and we can't go anywhere near the local Target or BJs without Jesse and Zoey both asking "Can we go to the Hot Dog cart?" Jesse always asks for 3 hot dogs, plain, and Zoey has been asking for 2!

For the local peeps, the hot dog cart sits in front of Dick's Sporting Goods on Saturday and Sunday pretty much all year long. She's sometimes there on Fridays in nice weather and a lot of times she's there on holidays when the weather is nice. 

I came across this recipe the other day and just couldn't believe how good it looked! Just reviewing the blog post I was salivating, wanting to know when dinner was so I could make it.

Courtesy of Keto Size Me: Blog post with recipe

I also posted it on the "Keto Low Carb Support & Recipes Group - Wholesome Yum" Facebook Group I belong to. It got a lot of attention, and folks were eager to try it. With any new recipe I'm always worried if I'm going to like it, will the family try it, how many leftovers am I going to have? Notice I don't care if the family will like it, just that they'll TRY it!

A few words on this Facebook Group. If you are eating a low carb/keto diet and are interested in great recipes and support, this Facebook Group is for you. I've not seen a negative word on here. Everyone is super friendly, polite, and genuinely wants to help. It is a closed group, so you'll have to request to join. I got my access within a few hours asking requesting to join. I would love to see you on there!

Well I figured, this recipe should be easy and we'll invite Mary over for dinner, and then she could babysit! Now now, Mary LOVES to babysit so don't think I had an ulterior motive! OK, so I do/did, but there is no reason to point that out to MARY! SSSHHHHH, she's going to read this....maybe we'll make the text small and she won't notice. OH and she loves hotdogs too, so it was WIN WIN! More win for Chuck and I but again, SHHH, this is small text so she won't notice. ;)

Ok, so Chuck likes Turkey hot dogs and I like Beef hot dogs. Mary and the kids really don't have a preference, however, I typically give the kids beef hot dogs. What's the Bown family to do.....split the casserole of course!

Chuck grilled up on the hot dogs (10 in total) and I made the chili. BTW, super simple chili recipe, is included in the recipe for this dish, and it has a great flavor. One could easily multiple the sauce ingredients to have a regular chili sans beans. Or add beans if you wish.

The side with the hot pepper cheese on top is Chuck's side, that has the turkey dogs. The side where everyone else was going to eat has the Beef dogs. NOW, I know that this doesn't look that appetizing right now.

BUT, once you add cheese it's a game changer!

Pop this bad boy in the oven for 20 minutes and you have a oooey, gooey, chili cheese dog without the bun!

Courtesy of Keto Size Me

I was so excited to eat this dish that I forgot to take a picture of mine when it was done! So thank you "Keto Size Me", I posted your picture. Now, because I LOVE sour cream, I had my chili cheese dog with some sour cream too. 

I will have to say that I LOVED this recipe when it was first made. It didn't hold the same WOW factor for me the next day. Two things on this: 1 - I wasn't feeling great and that could have been a contributing factor. 2 - I felt like the melted cheese was gone. Chuck suggested I add more cheese when I go to heat up the last of the left overs in a day or so. 

By the way, EVERYONE enjoyed this meal! The kids scarfed it up! Chuck, Mary, and myself enjoyed it immensely. This is definitely a dish we will make again! Thank you Keto Size Me for posting this dish! It's quite quite yummy!

Perogies!!!!!

Some of you may remember the original owners of The Bagel Gourmet in the Leeds Point Shopping Center here in Galloway. They were the sweetest people! When Chuck and I would bring our dogs with us for breakfast (we ate outside), they would bring them water bowls and treats. I would always stock up on pierogies while I was there. These weren't just any old piergoi, they were homemade pierogi perfection! The meat and onion ones were the absolute BEST!!!!!!!!!!!!

Years later we started bringing the kids in there. The woman, forgive me for forgetting her name, would make a huge fuss over Jesse, she would giggle when my pregnant belly wouldn't fit into the booth, and then fussed over Zoey. Jesse ate it up the older he got! He always wanted to go in there every morning before heading in to pre-school (which was in the same shopping center). But Zoey was too young to remember. After they sold the store it just wasn't the same and no more pierogis!

Years after that I ran into them in BJs, the couple walked up to us and immediately said hello. It was like we were all back in The Bagel Gourmet chatting again! I told them how much I missed their company (our chats) and their pierogis. I got a laugh and they said they missed it too.

You must be thinking, where is she going with this? Nostalgia? Is there a point? There's a point, hold on! Well there's nostalgia too! 😉

Since I've gone back to my Low Carb Lifestyle I have been missing pierogis more and more. You know how it is, you don't think about things you can have, you obsess over the things you can't have! Well I've been OBSESSING! Who would have thunk that?!?!?!?!?!? LOL!

I was searching for something to cook for dinner the other day since I had the rare opportunity to be home all night with nothing to do! WHAT WHAT?!?!?!?!

I came across something called fathead dough and what to my wondering eyes should appear? Not a miniature sleigh and 8 tiny reindeer....no sir....but a Low carb Pierogi Recipe!

It was like a golden light shined down and the heavens opened up! I was DANCIN' in the STREETS!!

I couldn't wait to get home and make pierogis. I had it all planned. I was going to make cheesy cauliflower puree for half of them and use ground up sausage, peppers, and onions for the other half. I was also determined for everyone in the family to have the same meal. HOO RAAA BABY! Mommy's only cooking one meal tonight!

Now, just so you know I rarely get to cook during the week and a lot of times we "fend" for dinner. That means everyone gets to make whatever they want for themselves. And yes, the kids "fend" too. Zoey LOVES "fend" night and requests it. That typically means she gets PBnJ, Daddy puts A LOT of jelly on her PBnJ.

OK, I digressed, back to PIEROGIS!!!!!!!!

If you follow a Low Carb or Keto lkifestyle I seriously suggest you become friendly with the "I breathe I'm Hungry" blog. Mellissa Sevigny has some seriously mad skills in the kitchen. And before you think that LC or Keto is all protein THINK AGAIN! She has quite a number of vegetarian options too. I've tried some and they are quite delicious! Pesto Zoodles in a cheese sauce! That was DELICIOUS!

Without further ado, did I spell that right, here is the Pierogies recipe using Fathead Dough by I Breathe I'm Hungry (IBIH): click here!

Just typing up this post I'm ready to go have some more and I just ate my breakfast!

Let me tell you my modifications to this recipe:

• I used only 1 cup of the almond flour
• I let the cheese/butter mixture cool much longer than 2 minutes. It probably took 10 minutes before it was cool enough for me to add the eggs. I didn't want fried eggs in the dough. 
• As for the Keto Pieorgi filling, AKA Cheesy cauliflower Puree, I used frozen riced cauliflower and steamed it. I also used a bit more heavy cream and cheese. I filled 6 pierogies with this and saved the rest for later this week.
• I had made sausage, peppers, and onions on Sunday so I chopped some up and made the 2nd 6 pierogies with it. 
• My gang is not big on onions except for me so I omitted these. 

The Cheesy Cauliflower Pierogies cooking!

I can't tell you how good these were! I absolutely LOVED them! I served mine with a side of sour cream and was in HEAVEN!!!!!!!!!

My Zoey is a seriously picky eater, so she was not impressed by these but she still ate one of each kind. Chuck is following a low calorie, low fat diet so these were not good for him; however he said they didn't taste bad.

JESSE, on the other hand, loved them as much as I did and said "Can we have these every Friday night for dinner? These are AWESOME!" Once I told him what was inside of them he said "I don't care, they are DELICIOUS!" What a way to make me happy!

I will definitely be putting these in the Bown Family Recipe Book! I will probably make more this weekend and will try freezing them to see how they turn out.