Bacon, Cheddar, and jalapeno dip

From one of my favorite recipe sources DJ Foodie I present this delectable, HOT dip!  It's oh so good!  I had to make a few changes due to what I had on hand so original recipe is at link.

2 tbsp olive oil (or fat of your choosing)
2 green onion stalks
5 jalepeno (from whole jalepeno can, not fresh...gasp! )
2 garlic cloves
8 ounces cream cheese
1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese
3 pieces of bacon


Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
 In a medium saucepan heat olive oil, green onions, and chopped jalapeno until tender.  Soften the cream cheese in microwave, crumble bacon over cream cheese and add vegetable mix with cheese. Stir together

Put in pie pan dish and pat down

Bake at 400 for 15 minutes.

Mock Mac and Cheese

My husband makes fun of me all of the time because I don't care for mac and cheese.  Apparently that is "un-American" of me.  One thing I do enjoy is homemade macaroni and cheese, like my friend Donna Himebauch makes for family dinners.

Because my husband loves the good ole' American treat, I decided to try and make a low carb version. I found this recipe on Pinterest and altered it by a smidgen. It doesn't taste like the boxed stuff, so if that's what your looking for move on. However it does have the warm cheesy goodness of the homemade version I love.

1 bag of frozen cauliflower
8oz. Cream cheese
1 cup cheddar cheese
4 tablespoons heavy whipping cream
2 tbs. Dijon mustard
sprinkle of  garlic powder (if that's your thing)

Preheat oven to 350

Place the cauliflower in a microwaveable dish for 5 minutes. Remove and stir. If needed place back in microwave for an additional 1-2 minutes.

Chop up cream cheese and place into a saucepan. Begin to melt and add garlic powder.    Once melted whisk in whipping cream, mustard, and 1/2 the cheese. Stir until melted and blended together.

Chop up cauliflower if desired. Pour into small baking dish. Stir in cheese mixture until well blended. Top with rest of cheese.

Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes.

Gift Wrap Organizer

So as I stated last week, while telling you about my DIY workstation, I am organizing.  My pantry isn't quite there yet, but I made some headway this weekend when I organized my gift wrap and gift bags (I was truly shocked at how much I have, I may never have to buy a gift bag again!)  This tutorial on Pinterest gave me the idea to use an over-door shoe organizer to contain my supply. 

I got one for about 8 bucks at Walmart last week.  I didn't sew the pouch that the original poster did (my sewing machine doesn't see much action between August-May).  I rolled up my gift bags and put them into the pouches(my organizer wasn't made like the original poster, so I couldn't make two slots into one).  My tissue paper also got stuffed into a couple pouches (please ignore the messy tissue paper, I didn't take the time to straighten it all out).  The wrapping paper on the bottom was a bit of a problem though.  Only putting it into the bottom slot didn't allow the paper enough support to hold it without it falling out.  So I cut the bottom of the slots right above so the wrapping paper could slide right through it. 

I'm happy with how it turned out, and really impressed at how much I had accumulated. 

Low Carb Chicken Enchilada's

I made this recipe a few weeks ago and it was awesome!  If you know me, you know that I LOVE Mexican food.  This White Chicken Enchilada recipe is one of the first Pinterest recipes I tried years ago, if you haven't tried that recipe yet, I strongly encourage you to, it's so good!  However, it didn't fit the bill for my lower carb ways so I began my search for alternatives.  I struck gold with this one from Food.com.  I added more chicken and less than a pint of heavy whipping cream.  Warning...this dish is RICH! 

5 chicken breasts, cooked and cut into pieces or 3 chicken breasts, shredded

1 (4 ounce) can green chilies, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 (1 ounce) package cream cheese
2 cups grated cheddar cheese (Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, etc.) or 2 cups your favorite
cheddar cheese, mix (Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack, etc.)
1/2 pint heavy whipping cream

1 bit butter

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Cut up onion.  Melt butter in a saucepan.  Once butter is melted, cook onions until they become transparent.  Put chicken and green chilies in and mix with the onion mixture.  Chop cream cheese into small squares and stir into chicken mixture until cheese is melted. 

 

Spread mixture into a casserole dish (13x9).  Top with 1 cup of cheese.  Then pour the heavy whipping cream over the mix and top with rest of cheese mix. 

 

Bake on 350 for 30-35 minutes.

 

 

Artichoke Dip Stuffed Peppers

I love experimenting with recipes and modifying ones I see on Pinterest. So last night I decided to use some ingredients that I had laying around to make a delicious new appetizer. I took these two recipes, artichoke dip and the stuffed peppers did some tweaking, and had a warm, healthy treat.

12-18 sweet mini peppers (halved and seeded)
1 head of garlic
1 can of artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
4 oz of cream cheese
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1/2 tsp cracked pepper
1 1/2 cups shredded Italian cheese mix

 

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Halve and seed the peppers.

 

Mix the garlic, artichoke hearts, cream cheese, yogurt**, mayonnaise, pepper, and 1/2 the cheese together. 

 

Spoon the mixture into each of the pepper.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.

 

**Mixture was a bit runnier than I would like, and I also think the flavor might have been better without the yogurt.  Next time, I think I will omit the yogurt and add some more cream cheese.

 

 

Low Carb Fudge

I recently discovered coconut oil. I enjoy baking with coconut oil as well as making my version of this primal fudge recipe. I took the honey out to help lower the carb count but have had it both ways. With honey is delicious, without isn't too bad (it will satisfy the sweet tooth)  I have also put some peppermint extract in since mint is my favorite flavor!  These store in the refrigerator and can be whipped up in minutes.

1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup peanut butter or almond butter
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (watch carb counts if low carb important to you).
2 tsp vanilla extract


Put all ingredients into blender. Make sure coconut oil fully melted. Blend ingredients well and pour into an ice cube tray. Freeze for thirty minutes, pop out and store in refrigerator.

Low Carb Taco Casserole

1 medium size spaghetti squash
2 lbs. of ground beef
8 oz. of salsa (whichever kind you like, but watch carb count)
2 cups of sour cream
1 1/2 cups of cheddar cheese
2 packets of taco seasoning

Preheat oven to 400 degrees

Cut your spaghetti squash in half, scrapping out all of in the seeds.  Line a cookie sheet with foil and place each piece face down.  Bake for 35-40 minutes.  When finished set oven to 350 degrees

While that is baking, brown 2 lbs. of ground beef.  Season with two packets of taco seasoning, according to directions on packet (again watch carb count on these too).  Stir in salsa.

Once, squash has come out of the oven and cooled, scrape the insides out into a casserole dish.  Squash should have consistency of spaghetti noodles.  Spread squash out so it covers the bottom of the dish.  Spread the meat mixture over the layer of "noodles".  Spoon sour cream onto the mixture and stir into the meat (try to leave the squash on the bottom).  Once well mixed, spread the cheese onto the top of the dish.

Bake dish at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.  Delicious taco-y goodness!

Low-Carb Cream Cheese Pancakes

Pancakes...my favorite breakfast to make on those lazy Saturday mornings.  My kids and I love pancakes, but when I decided low-carb is the way to go, pancakes were out the window.  Until I stumbled along this gem.  I got this from Ashley over at Just a Pinch Recipes.  I only modified a bit (added 3 oz. of cream cheese instead of 2 to try and stretch it a bit.)  The kids devoured it, and I was pleasantly surprised that I felt as though I was indulging!! 

3 oz. cream cheese (softened in microwave for about 20 seconds)
2 eggs
1 packet of stevia
1/2 tsp. of cinnamon


Put all ingredients into the blender, mix well.  Pour a small amount onto a greased skillet (will be a bit runny so a small amount will go a long way). 

I used sugar free syrup and had mine with some bacon!  Added strawberries for the kids!   Enjoy!!