Low- carb (Paleo/primal) meals

As I "try" and meal plan each month I'm always wishing I had a master list of all of our low-carb meals. I always come us short when I think about which ones we like. So, I sat down and went through all my recipes and made up this list. This is REALLY going to come in handy. Maybe you'll glean some gems from this too.

Most of these recipes can be found on my Recipes page, or they'll be posted there soon.

Snacks-

*Roasted garlic chickpeas

Breakfast-

Baked Ham and egg cups 

Spinach bacon and mushroom crust less quiche 

Ham and cheese quiche 

Boiled or fried eggs 

Lunch-

Broiled chicken with green salad

- pear pomegranate salad

- winter green salad

Berry kiwi salad with mint lime dressing 

Dinner-

Chicken and bacon crockpot chowder

Italian sausage and mushroom bake 

Paleo Maryland crab cakes 

Paleo chicken tenders 

Herb roasted crockpot chicken 

Slow cooker 20 garlic chicken 

Slow cooker roast beef or pot roast

Steak

Roasted Salmon, red onion and fennel

Crockpot chicken teriyaki

Cilantro lime chicken tacos 

Cafe rio chicken 

Cafe rio pork 

Alice springs chicken 

Roasted red potatoes and pearl onions 

Baked sweet potatoes

Roasted asparagus 

Sautéed chicken and mushrooms 

Chicken DaVinci (sans noodles)

Pork & sauerkraut

Stir-fry sesame chicken and asparagus

Chicken tortillas soup

Taco soup

Lemon Rosemary chicken with sweet potatoes

Pioneer woman's beef stew 

Cauli pizza

Grilled taco chicken 

Paps baked chicken legs 

White bean chicken chili 

Italian style shrimp

Sweet potato fries 

Cauli rice

Some carbs-

Easy chicken cordon bleu 

Lighter sesame chicken 

Fiesta fajitas

Peanut Butter Snack Bites

baked sweet potatoes

This recipe is hardly a recipe. It makes a easy, low-carb side for dinner, or a warm snack with a little sweetness.

BAKED SWEET POTATOES

Ingredients:
Sweet potatoes
cooking spray

Directions:

1. Heat oven to 350*.
2. Wash your sweet potatoes. Poke them a few times with a fork. Place them in a baking dish that's been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray.
3. Bake for 1.5 hours or until tender.
4. Cut in half to serve. Top with a little butter and/or brown sugar and cinnamon.

spinach bacon mushroom feta crustless quiche

I found this recipe while surfing the web. It comes from Budget Bytes and is pretty good, but I modified it a smidgeon. This is on the rotation of ready-made breakfast foods I make 1-2 times/month. It is yummy!

Spinach, mushroom BACON & feta crustless quiche (aka frittata)
Adapted from: Budget Bytes

Ingredients:
8 oz. fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1/2 t. minced garlic or 1/8 t. garlic powder
5 oz. frozen spinach, thawed
4 slices of bacon, cooked and chopped
4 large eggs
1 c. milk
1/4 c. feta cheese
1/4 c. grated parmesan
1/2 c. shredded mozzarella
salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350*. (If your frozen spinach is not already thawed, thaw it in the microwave. Empty spinach into colander and let it drain while you begin to prepare the rest.) {I like to put the spinach in cheesecloth or a double layer of paper towels and squeeze it to get the water out.}

2. Place the sliced mushrooms in a skillet coated with non-stick spray (or butter), add the minced garlic and sprinkle a little salt and pepper. (If using garlic powder add it to the egg mixture in step 4.) Turn the heat on to medium-high and saute the mushrooms until they release all of their moisture and no more water remains on the bottom of the skillet (5-7 minutes).

3. Spray a 9" pie dish with non-stick spray. Squeeze the rest of the water out of the spinach and spread it out on the bottom of the pie dish. Next add the cooked mushrooms, crumbled feta and bacon.

4. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs until fairly smooth. Add the milk, parmesan, and another small sprinkle of pepper. Whisk to combine. (This step can be completed while the mushrooms are cooking.) Pour this mixture into the pie dish over the spinach, mushrooms, bacon and feta.

5. Sprinkle the shredded mozzarella cheese over top. Place the pie dish on a baking sheet for easy transfer into the oven. Place the quiche into the preheated oven and bake until golden brown on top and the center is solid (approx 40-60 minutes). Slice and serve!

pear pomegranate salad

I was looking for a nice fall green salad and found this one in my "savoring the seasons" cookbook. It is wonderful, delicious, and SO beautiful with various greens, red pomegranate seeds, white feta cheese and light pears. This will be added to our rotation! We really, really like it!

Sadly, I do NOT have a picture for you. Just KNOW that it is beautiful and SO delicious and you need to make it TODAY! :) You'll thank me.

PEAR POMEGRANATE SALAD 
by Our Best Bites

Sweet juicy pearls and tart pomegranate seeds are tossed with tangy feta cheese and a sweet red wine vinaigrette for a beautiful I, festive salad that is perfect for the winter months. If you're having a hard time finding fresh pomegranates, you can substitute fresh raspberries.

Ingredients:

1/2 c chopped pecans

1/4 c sugar

1 head romaine lettuce

1 (14oz) bag baby spinach

Seeds from 1 pomegranate (about 1 cup)

2 ripe pears that are still a little firm

Juice of 1 lime

4 oz crumbled feta cheese 

Directions

1. Spray a sheet of aluminum foil with nonstick cooking spray and set aside. 

2. Combine pecans and sugar in a small nonstick skillet. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar melts and coats the nuts (about 15 minutes-however mine were done in about 8 minutes). Place on the prepared foil and set aside. 

3. Core and slice pears. Toss with a little lime juice to prevent browning. 

4. Toss together lettuce, spinach, pomegranate seeds, pears, lime juice, and cheese, adding the candied pecans right before serving. Drizzle Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette (see below) over the salad and serve immediately. 

Sweet Red Wine Vinaigrette 

1/2 c red wine vinegar

1/2 c sugar

1-2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped

1 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon coursely ground black pepper

1/2 c canola oil

Combine vinegar, sugar, garlic, salt and pepper in a blender (or food processor in my case) and process on high. Lower speed and while blender is running, add oil in a steady stream. (This is a very important process in making a salad dressing. This emulsion brings everything together. If you don't do this, the dressing with separate and be yucky SEPARATE on your salad). Dressing may be stored in refrigerator about 2-3 weeks. Shake well before serving. 

{Elana's pantry} flour less nut-free brownies

In an effort to eat better and healthier I tried out this recipe for some "healthy brownies". Although they are much more dense than I'm used to, hubby and I were pleasantly surprised at how good they taste. Put one in a bowl, warm it up for 15 seconds and pour a little milk over top...healthy brownie heaven. :)

Note: Yes, some of the ingredients are obscure, but they're becoming more widely available at most grocery stores. You can always order them on amazon.com. ;) And yes these ingredients are a little spendier than the usual ingredients...that's why they're SOMETIMES treats.

Flourless nut-free brownies

From Paleo Cooking from Elana's Pantry

1 c dark chocolate chips

1/4 c Spectrum all-vegetable shortening

1 c coconut sugar

4 large eggs

1 Tablespoon vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350. Grease an 8" square baking dish with shortening,

2. In a medium saucepan over very low heat, melt the chocolate chips until smooth. Remove the pan from the heat, then mix in the shortening and coconut sugar. Stir in th eggs and vanilla extract until thoroughly combine. 

3. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish.  Bake for 20-25 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the brownies comes out with just a few moist crumbs attached.

4. Let the brownies cool in the baking dish for 1 hours. Cut into 16 squares and serve (preferably warmed up in the microwave for 20 seconds then pour a little milk over top- it hits the spot!).