First Time Mom and Losing It

I bought this big bag of chicken tenderloins from Costco and enjoy making my Keto Chicken Tenders with them. I wanted to try something different with them so I looked at what I had in the refrigerator and decided to use what I had on hand. I came up with this delicious Creamy Chicken and Mushroom sauce that I could put on top of zoodles. It was so creamy and delicious and the richness of the dish satisfies you with a small portion. This dish is super easy to make and really quick too.



Creamy Chicken and Mushrooms Zoodles

• 1 pound chicken tenderloins
• 1 tblsp of oil (I used avocado oil)
• 7 ounce package baby bella mushrooms, sliced 
• 4 tblsp heavy cream
• 1 tbsp butter
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, shredded
• 1 large zucchini, peeled and made into zoodles
• salt and pepper to taste

I love creamy sauces like alfredo or carbonara but I don't like how heavy it is with regular pasta. When I have a thick and creamy sauce I like to use my favorite pasta substitute the zoodle. Since all of the ingredients to make the carbonara sauce is low carb I decided to make it with my zoodles. Carbonara is a creamy sauce made from eggs and cheese with the addition of bacon or pancetta.


It is one of my favorite "pasta" dishes because it is super easy to do. Since you don't have to boil the zoodles it is also quick and a one pan meal. All you have to do is cook some pancetta and then add your zoodles. Mix some eggs and cheese and drizzle into the zoodles and pancetta. It's amazing how creamy the combination of eggs and cheese make this dish.


Low Carb Zoodle alla Carbonara (printable recipe)

• 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
• 4 ounces pancetta, cut into 1/4-inch dice
• 1 clove garlic
• 4 zucchini 
• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 3/4 cup grated Parmesan
• Freshly ground black pepper

I have been missing in action for a week because my home was hit with an ugly stomach bug. First it hit me for days, then my precious toddler luckily for only a day and finally it hit my husband. When I was finally able to eat all I wanted to eat was soup. My husband doesn't cook and my mom was busy at work so I had to settle for the canned version.

I love eating soups and have always had them with starchy pasta or white rice. I decided to make my own version of chicken noodle soup and make it with zoodles instead of noodles. First I took some celery stalks and onion and chopped them into large pieces and put them in the bottom of my slow cooker. I placed a whole chicken on top and added 4 cups of water. Then on top of the chicken I put some salt, garlic powder, onion powder and threw in some springs of fresh thyme, parsley and a dry bay leaf. Then I cooked it on high for four hours.


I took out the chicken and placed into a large bowl. Then I removed all the skin and bones and shredded it into big pieces. After the chicken is removed you get this super homey and delicious chicken stock to start your soup with.


After that I strained the stock and placed it into a big pot and added three cups of low sodium chicken stock. I added diced stalks of celery, some peas and carrots, a little bit of granular chicken bouillon and some salt to taste. I let it simmer until the celery was tender and then I added the chicken. I took a zucchini peeled it and cut into zoodles and then I put it onto the bottom of my bowl and ladled the soup on top. I sprinkled on some fresh chopped parsley and it was delicious!  Low Carb Chicken Zoodle Soup (printable recipe)

• 4 stalks celery (two chopped into big pieces and two diced)
• 1 small onion
• whole chicken
• 4 sprigs fresh thyme
• 1 handful chopped fresh parsley (plus more to garnish)
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp salt (plus more to taste)
• 2 tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp garlic powder
• 3 cups low sodium chicken stock
• 1 cup peas and carrots
• 1 tsp granular chicken bouillon 
• zucchini (1 per serving, peeled and cut into zoodles)

1. Place chopped celery and onion onto the bottom of a slow cooker. Place chicken on top. Add 2 cups of water, thyme, parsley and one of the bay leaves. Sprinkle the onion powder, garlic powder and salt on top of the chicken. Add two more cups of water to the top of the chicken and cook on high for 4 hours. 
2. Remove chicken and place in a large bowl. Remove skin and bones and shred meat into large pieces. 
3. Strain stock and place into a pot. Add the remaining bay leaf, bouillon, diced celery and peas and carrots and cook on a high simmer until the celery is tender. 
4. Add the chicken and taste for seasoning. Add more salt if needed. 
5. Place zoodles onto the bottom of a bowl. Ladle on some soup and sprinkle with chopped parsley to garnish. 

As I am starting on my Atkins 40 journey I am becoming creative in the kitchen and getting used to the idea of using butter. To make it low carb I used zucchini in place of pasta and turkey sausage as the protein. The Creamy Sausage and Spinach Zoodles is super flavorful, creamy and light at the same time. It is also really easy to make.


Ingredients:

• 1 medium zucchini
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup fresh baby spinach, rinsed and dried
• 1 turkey sausage patty
• 1 tblsp butter
• 2 tblsp shredded Parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Fully cook and heat up sausage patty. Dice and set aside. 
2. Cut zucchini into zoodles using a machine like the Slice-A-Roo and set aside. 
3. Add olive oil and garlic to pan and cook for about half a minute. Add zoodles and saute for a couple of minutes. 
4. Add sausage and spinach and saute for another minute.
5. Add butter and parmesan cheese and stir for a minute. 
6. Season with salt and pepper to taste. 

5.5 net carbs

I love Pinterest because of all the creative recipes I have found. I usually just tuck them away in my Healthy Recipes folder and forget about them. I finally decided to make the Teriyaki Salmon with Sriracha Cream I found in this pin from the Damn Delicious Blog. I love that the recipe has a homemade teriyaki marinade and what I loved even more was that I had all the ingredients already.

The marinade was super easy to do and I let it marinate overnight. Then I baked it in the oven for about 20 minutes. I made the Sriracha cream but omitted the sweet condensed milk it called for.


Since I was splurging on carbs with the sweet teriyaki sauce I decided to make a nice light, low-carb side to go with it. Out came the zoodles that I make with my Slice-A-Roo.


Garlicky Zoodles

• 1 large zucchini
• 2 tsp coconut oil 
• 1 clove finely minced garlic
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• pinch red pepper flakes
• 1 stalk green onion, thinly sliced