Recipes

Name: Low Carb Mac and Cheese Zoodles
Ingredients: 1 Zucchini (Spiralized); 1/2 Cup Water or Chicken Broth; 1 Tsp Salt; 1 Tbsp Butter; 1 Tbsp Heavy Whipping Cream; 2/3 Cup Shredded Cheese

Mac and Cheese Zoodles

May 11, 2019 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

Cheesy zuchinni spiralized into zoodles and covered in a rich and creamy cheese sauce for the perfect low carb/keto/THM S side dish.

Craving comfort foods can be enough to derail your low carb diet efforts. And I decided to do something about that! By the end of this you are probably going to have a new favorite side dish!

One of the benefits of eating low carb is that you can have a delicious steak. But I can’t live on beef alone (my hubby thinks I’m weird). I want a tasty side or two to go along with my big steak.

This low carb and keto friendly Mac and Cheese Zoodles recipe will complete your meal without any of those added carbs you would get from tradiational macaroni!

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Low Carb Mac and Cheese Zoodles

I seriously think we ate this low carb vegetable side every week for several months.

It makes the perfect side dish for two (which is great for us because the kids happily eat regular pasta). You can also easily double it up if you are feeding a bigger crowd.

These Mac and Cheese Zoodles are so quick and easy to put together and require just a couple of simple ingredients.

Ingredients

If you have been living a low carb or Trim Healthy Mama lifestyle very long at all, you will probably have what you need to make this delicious side dish recipe on hand.

You just need these keto staples:

1 Zucchini

2 Tbsp Heavy Cream

2/3 Cup Shredded Cheese

1 Tbsp Butter

1/2 Cup Water

1 tsp salt

Preparing the Mac and Cheese Zoodles

First spiralize your zucchini. I use this inexpensive spiralizer. You could also chop or grate the zucchini. I have tried grating it before and prefer the zoodles just from a consistency standpoint.

Salt the noodles and cover with the water. You can also sub chicken broth here for some additional flavor.

Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally until almost all of the water/broth reduces and is gone.

Reduce heat to medium/low. Add butter, cream and cheese.

Stir gently until the butter and cheese are melted.

Add salt and pepper to taste. I sometimes add a shake of Cavendar’s seasoning. If you are following Trim Healthy Mama, this seasoning blend is not on plan but I’m not a purist and I love it so… sometimes I add it. It is just as good with just simple salt and pepper though!

I hope you love this Mac and Cheese Zoodles recipe as much as we do! This side dish goes great with a steak or my secret ingredient keto baked pork chops.

This recipe was adapted from Simply Delish Eats Cheesy Zucchini and made to fit the Keto, Low Carb and Trim Healthy Mama S diets.

Low Carb Mac and Cheese Zoodles

Servings

Ingredients

1 Zucchini Spiralized
1/2 Cup Water or Chicken Broth
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
2/3 Cup shredded cheese

Servings

Ingredients

1 Zucchini Spiralized
1/2 Cup Water or Chicken Broth
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tbsp Butter
1 Tbsp heavy whipping cream
2/3 Cup shredded cheese

Instructions

Spiralize, dice or grate the Zucchini.
Place the zucchini and the water or chicken broth into a medium saucepan.
Sprinkle the zucchini with salt.
Bring the water/broth to a boil and continue cooking until almost all of the liquid is reduced.
Reduce heat to low or medium-low.
Add the butter, cream and cheese.
Gently stir until combined and the butter and cheese are melted.
Season with salt and pepper to taste before serving.

Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

May 2, 2019 by Stacy Craft 3 Comments

Caramel, cream cheese and churros. Roll it up in a ball and serve it with more churros for a simple and festive treat on Cinco De Mayo (or any day of the week!).

Cinco De Mayo! It is almost here and I have a simple and delicious Dulce De Leche dessert cheeseball to share with you today. Add an easy sweet treat to your celebration and dessert table at your 5/5 party.

If you know me, you know that I would eat cake over steak any day. But when it comes to Mexican food, cheese dip and tacos usually win out over sweets. So this year, I think I will have my queso and then my dessert “queso” ball – the best of all worlds. See what I did there? I promise the cheeseball is better than my jokes.

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Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

I had been eyeing the new Cinnamon Toast Crunch churro cereal at the store for the last few weeks. The box was doing a little Cinco De Mayo dance on the store shelf every time I passed it. Begging me to buy it and make some type of seasonal treat.

I was originally thinking about some kind of churro trail mix but then I thought about using those cinnamon sugar sticks as a dipping agent for a rich dessert cheeseball.

The dulce de leche dessert cheeseball is stuffed with caramel and served with the Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churros. It is rich and full of all the traditional tastes you love in Mexican dessert cuisine.

What You Need:

You only need a few ingredients to make this dulce de leche dessert cheeseball for your Cinco De Mayo party. Here is your simple grocery list:

8 oz Block of Cream Cheese

4 Tablespoons Butter

Nestle’s La Lechera Dulce De Leche

1/4 cup Powdered Sugar

Cinnamon Toast Crunch Churro Cereal

Directions for Dulce De Leche Dessert Cheeseball

Add the softened cream cheese, softened butter and powdered sugar to your bowl and mix until smooth. (This mixer will be your BFF)

Spread the mixture onto parchment paper (I use a reusable silicone mat) and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Open the dulce de leche and spread 1/3 of the can (up to 1/2) on top of the cream cheese layer. If you use 1/2 can it will be very caramel heavy. If you prefer to taste more cream cheese over caramel, go with only 1/3 of the can. Save the rest and make mini no bake dulce de leche pies.

I went with 1/2 a can to give you a visual reference.

Place it back into the freezer for 15 more minutes.

Fold the parchment paper or silicone mat in half making the cream cheese mixture into a “sandwich.” Then working quickly start to mold it into a ball form.

Crush 1 cup of the Cinnamon Toast Crunch churro cereal and roll the cheeseball in the mixture.

Return the dulce de leche dessert cheeseball to the fridge for about 2 hours so that it can finish setting up.

Serve with additional churro cereal or even cinnamon sugar pita chips for dipping.

What is your favorite Cinco De Mayo food or dessert?

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

April 6, 2019 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

Are you loving that you can have crunchy store bought pork rinds on your low carb lifestyle but struggling to find something to dip those little piggies in? 29 easy low carb, THM S and keto friendly dips are listed below to help you in your snack sessions.

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What is the hardest part of staying Low carb or Keto for you? For me it is when I am invited to some type of social event. There are always tons of yummy dips and treats there to tempt me off my diet.

Instead of falling off the wagon, just take one of these yummy low carb dips for pork rinds and a big bag of skins to curb your need to dip!

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

Creamy and cheesy dips are one of the best part of a keto/low carb diet, right? They are so decadent and taste like you are cheating! But what do you dip into those delicious dips? Pork rinds of course.

And I have a low carb confession. I really don’t enjoy pork skins plain. I like the crunch that they provide but the taste is just a bit overpowering for me. So I find that some kind of dip really helps to mellow out the pork rind’s flavor.

I actually don’t follow a Keto or low carb specific diet. I have lost 60 lbs postpartum following the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. On THM, they recommend that you eat every 3 hours. Although there are several things on the plan that I don’t do, if I do eat an afternoon snack some of these dips are easy enough to be used then!

And if you are joining here on the THM journey, all of these are going to be used with “S” meals or snacks.

Dip Ideas for Pork Skins

Guacamole

Tuna Salad

Ranch Dressing mixed with hot sauce

Tzatziki

Salsa

Egg Salad

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Dip

Easy Pimento Cheese

Sour cream, lime juice and hot sauce

Roasted Cauliflower Hummus – great option when traditional hummus is not friendly on the carbs.

Grilled Avocado Hummus

Warm Ranch Crack Chicken Dip

Mississippi Sin Dip

Mustard

Chicken Salad

Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke dip

Cheese Dip

Salsa mixed with Sour Cream

Crab Dip

Sausage Cream Cheese Rotel

Cream Cheese sprinkled with Everything Bagel Seasoning

Creamy Feta And Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Creamy Cheddar Bacon Dip (just omit the Ritz & sub your Pork Rinds)

3 Layer Mexican Dip

Cuban Ham Spread

Dill Dip

Instant Pot Hot Onion Dip

Chorizo Pizza Dip

So if you are like me and don’t just LOVE pork rinds, try them with some delicious dip. And then bread your pork chops with them too!

Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

March 30, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Egg-cite your kids with this iced honey bun Easter Egg treat that they can decorate exactly the way they like!

At my house, we love store bought treats that can be turned into holiday inspired desserts quick and easy! This year we have already made mummies from Little Debbie cakes and a turkey from oatmeal cream pies. For this honey bun Easter egg treat, all you do is open up the pastry, provide some embellishments and let the kids have fun.

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Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

A simple, no bake Easter treat for kids is great for everyone. The kids will have a great time decorating and of course eating their beautiful creations. And you will love the easy set up and not having to actually cook anything!

The iced honey buns are the perfect egg shape and the white icing on top provides a perfect canvas for all of your pretty pastel toppings. If you are looking for the iced honey buns at your local grocery, I usually find them near the cash registers on an end cap with other premade cakes and donuts.

The best part about this DIY Easter dessert for kids is that you can add just about anything on top of your honey bun that your kids like. I bought a couple of things and then raided my pantry for the rest.

Topping Ideas:

Cookie Icing or Gel Icing

Spring M&Ms

Starburst Jellybeans

Bunny & Carrot Sprinkle Mix

Fruit Loops

Gummies

Creating A Honey Bun Easter Egg Treat

My five year old helped me make a couple of these treats after dinner the other night. I just opened up the iced honey bun for her and set out all of the toppings that we had chosen.

She had a great time applying the M&Ms, jellybeans, and icing into a perfect masterpiece. And she of course spent lots of time licking icing off her fingers and sampling her egg decorations.

After we finished decorating and of course taking some pictures, we wanted to test out that beautiful honey bun Easter egg treat that we had worked on. But the honey bun is a pretty large treat for the small tummies of my toddler and preschooler. I just cut about a third of it to serve to my 5 year old. We saved the other part of it in a ziplock bag to enjoy at another time.

These easy Easter treats would be a fun project for a class party or a Sunday school class that can do pretty inexpensively. If you wanted to make it even less expensive, you could buy the regular box of honey buns. These types of honey buns are a more appropriate size for young kids. Then top them yourself with store bought icing.

The icing would not be as smooth as the iced honey bun but I think it would work just fine. I hope you enjoy this easy way to interact with your kids on a simple Easter project.

Don’t forget to check out 39 Preschool Easter Basket Stuffers Under $5, Infant stuffers under $5, Personalized Easter Fillers for Kids and for teen girls.

10 Keto Recipes Using Cauliflower Rice

January 27, 2019 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

Find 10 keto recipes using cauliflower rice that will spice up your dinner table but keep your pants fitting well!

A bag or two of riced cauliflower is always living in the bottom of my freezer. It is kind of a Keto/low carb rite of passage. It is the Kale of 2015.

The trend is to eat cauli rice so of course, I buy it and put it in my freezer. But what do you actually do with it? Because I can promise you I am not just popping it in the microwave and putting it on a plate. No Ma’am, too plain and blah for me. These 10 keto recipes using cauliflower rice will show you how to easily doctor that lonely bag of frozen cauliflower into something amazing!

(Affiliate links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Why Eat Cauliflower Rice?

Want to know a secret? When I first started eating low carb, I didn’t like cauliflower rice. Not just didn’t like it, I despised it. The smell of cooked cauliflower does not please me but I wanted to eat it. Remember that 2018/2019 cauliflower bandwagon that I wanted to hop on?

But why should we eat cauliflower? There are lots of reasons and here are a few of my favorites.

High Nutritional Value

Cauliflower is rich in vitamins and high in fiber. It is also very low in calories so it allows you to bulk up your meal without adding lots of excess calories. The cool thing about keto is that you don’t need to count calories but you also don’t want to go crazy with your calories either.

Budget Friendly

Cauliflower is also relatively inexpensive, even when buying it as a convenience item (like riced in the frozen food section). Since it is economical, you can use it to add volume to your meal and have plenty of money in your grocery budget left for more expensive items like meats and cheese.

Great Substitute for High Carb Items

Lets be honest. Many of us want to eat the same way that we did before making the choice to move to a healthier and lower carb lifestyle. Rice and potatoes and bread are all comfort foods that we grew up with. Being able to find a substitute to give you the feeling of a comfort food dish without all the unnecessary carbs and calories is a win.

10 Keto Recipes Using Cauliflower Rice

As I said up top, I didn’t always love cauli rice. You know why? Because it is not good plain. I am sure someone out there will disagree with me but to me it needs to be doctored up a bit (or a lot).

These 10 keto recipes using cauliflower rice will give your dinner rotation a fresh new feel while incorporating a vegetable packed with vitamins and nutrients. I love that each of these recipes gives a completely different flavor profile and cuisine to the cauliflower rice that you haven’t known what to do with.

Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken with Cauliflower Rice – This is my top recipe on my blog and was pinned more than 100,000 times in 2018. It features a simple 2 ingredient queso to drench your cauli rice and chicken in. And it is ready in 30 minutes!
Low Carb Cajun Shrimp Casserole – An old family favorite, this recipe of my grandmother’s was adapted to be low carb by subbing the white rice for cauliflower rice. It is rich and delicious.
Keto Hawaiian Haystacks – Keen for Keto shows you how to make a completely customizable Hawaiian Haystacks meal using cauliflower rice. She shares that it is great for her large family because everyone can choose exactly what they like. I am definitely adding this to my meal plan the next time we have all the kids over. Trying to please 5 kids (3 teens and 2 toddlers) is next to impossible.
Chicken Divan – Broccoli, chicken, cheese and rice just go together. They are keys to a great casserole and buy simply subbing cauli rice for the white stuff, you can eat it on your low carb / keto diet. Yum!
Cajun Cauliflower Rice – Valerie at Thyme and Joy has created a delicious take on New Orleans dirty rice with this recipe. My husband is from Louisiana so Cajun food hits our table often. And as a busy mama, I love simple one skillet meals like this one.
Bacon Burger Casserole – Burgers are always a family pleaser and a casserole is great for an easy week night meal.
Keto Chicken Korma – One of my step-daughters loves Indian food. This dish has all of the classic Indian flavors and comes together in 30 minutes. It is going on my meal plan for this week!
Tumeric Chicken and Cauliflower Rice Soup – A quick soup that is loaded with vegetables and turmeric is a great week night remedy to keep you feeling your best.
Cauliflower Fried Rice – One of the first cauli rice recipes that I ever made was a low carb fried rice. Even my cauli rice hating husband ate it and like it. It is a great way to get your Chinese take out fix without cheating.
Louisiana Seafood Gumbo with Cauliflower Rice – This recipe from A Sprinkling of Cayenne is a little more time consuming than the others in this list but I just couldn’t leave it out. I had written off gumbo while eating low carb and boy was I wrong! Check out this yummy recipe when you have a little extra time on your hands and want a big bowl of Cajun love.

Other Keto / Low Carb / THM Recipes

And if this list of 10 Keto Recipes using cauliflower Rice leaves you wanting more, I have many more Keto/low carb/Trim Healthy Mama recipes that you may want to try! Feel free to stay a while and look around! Some of my favorites are Leftover Cheeseburger Soup, Cucumber and Smoked Salmon Faux Sushi, and Parmesan and Pork Rind Crusted Pork Chops.

If you love low carb / keto but you feel like you could use a healthy carb every now and then, read about how I have lost 60 lbs postpartum using the Trim Healthy Mama plan.