Low-Carb Swiss Meatloaf Recipe

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I ended up serving a simple salad -- lettuce, sprouts and tomatoes -- with a double serving of this tasty Swiss loaf. Total carb count for this dinner -- 6g.

I ended up serving a simple salad — lettuce, sprouts and tomatoes — with a double serving of this tasty Swiss loaf. Total carb count for this dinner — 7g.

I picked up 4 lbs. of ground beef with every intention of grilling a bunch of burgers for the week. Instead we grilled a few burgers and I ended up using a little more than half of the beef for a low-carb meatloaf.

The recipe came from Dana Carpender’s 500 Low-Carb Recipes. I love this cookbook. The other night I started flipping through it and ended up flagging the recipes I want to try. I flagged about 60 recipes, but that’s only because I ran out of Post-Its!  Lord I’m drooling just thinking about it. I’d say this book was a smart buy on my part. Read More

Low Carb Pumpkin Pie For The Holidays

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I tested a low carb pumpkin pie recipe last night. Tasty and awesome, it will make my Thanksgiving Day menu.

I tested a low carb pumpkin pie recipe last night. Tasty and awesome, it will make my Thanksgiving Day menu.

I love baking. Putting my hands in the dough, turning raw ingredients into something else. It’s pure joy. Unfortunately, when I went low carb, I thought my newfound hobby was lost. Key ingredients – flour, sugar – are not friendly to my waistline. Thankfully, there are more alternative ingredients, sites and cookbooks popping up that focus on low carb baking. Read More

Pepper Lime Salmon

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Salmon fresh off the grill! It cooked a little faster on the thinner parts of the fillets. It was still good eatin'!

Salmon fresh off the grill! It cooked a little faster on the thinner parts of the fillets. It was still good eatin’!

I stayed true to my word and made salmon last night. My grocery story had a sale on farmed salmon and I got a couple fillets for me and the hubby. I did a small variation of a lime-marinated grilled salmon recipe I found on allrecipes.com. This recipe is awesome not only in taste but because it is low carb — only 2 net carbs per 6-oz serving of fish. Sweet! Read More

Great Recipe Blogs For Low-Carb Foodies

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In a low carb cooking rut? Check out some of my favorite go to low carb/paleo recipe blogs. You'll find great, healthy culinary delights to try in your kitchen. Image courtesy of phasinphoto and FreeDigitalPhoto.net.

In a low-carb cooking rut? Check out some of my favorite go to low-carb/paleo recipe blogs. You’ll find great, healthy culinary delights to try in your kitchen. Image courtesy of phasinphoto and FreeDigitalPhoto.net.

Looking to shake up my weekly menu, I’m visiting some of my favorite low-carb recipe blogs. When I feel like I’m in a cooking rut, I always find great, easy to make, low-carb meals on these sites. The recipes are amazing and will help you lose weight. Plus you’ll find smart cooking tips that save you time and headaches.

Dot’s Go 2 Food Blogs

All Day I Dream About Food – Worth a visit for the low carb ice cream recipes alone! If you’re like me and love to bake but gave it up for the low-carb life, this blog is for you. You’ll find great low-carb, gluten-free ideas for brownies, cookies, cakes and breads. But it’s not all baking. I’m making the tandoori lamb meatballs, cilantro lime cauliflower rice and grilled zucchini lasagna this week. Read More

Low Carb Bacon Wrapped Jalapeno Poppers

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My bacon wrapped jalapeno poppers came out delicious, but I made a few boo-boos in making them. I've corrected those in the recipe.

My bacon wrapped jalapeño poppers came out delicious, but I made a few boo-boos in making them. I’ve corrected those in the recipe.

Sunday night I got the craving for Jalapeño poppers. These are great low carb treats that satisfy your craving for tasty, spicy appetizers. Lucky for me I had some bacon in my fridge. I decided to wrap each stuffed jalapeño in the best tasting meat around!

Jalapeño poppers are one of the easiest snacks to make. Tossing bacon into the mix doesn’t complicate the dish. It makes it more wholesome and delish! Read More

Cheesy Zucchini Tomato Bake

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GreenLiteBites.com is a great resource for easy to make, healthy recipes. The recent Cheesy Zucchini Tomato Bake is officially one of my favorites.

GreenLiteBites.com is a great resource for easy to make, healthy recipes. The recent Cheesy Zucchini Tomato Bake is officially one of my favorites.

If you haven’t checked out GreenLiteBites.com I suggest you do. You’ll find some great, healthy recipes that are easy to make. On Friday I made the Cheesy Zucchini Tomato Bake (the day the recipe posted…yes it sounded that awesome to me!).

How easy is this recipe to make? All you need is a large zucchini, 1-2 large tomatoes, provolone cheese, salt and some sriracha (found in Asian section of your grocery store). That’s it.  If you can’t find sriracha, try using hot sauce instead.

While I love any food with melted cheese, I have to confess the spicy kick the sriracha added made this dish soar. I served this with chicken quarters and a small side salad. Yum.

My hubby and I both loved it. As an added bonus, it’s just as tasty reheated. This is real important since veggie dishes rarely make great leftovers (I like ’em fresh).

It’s something I plan to make again, but I’m going to switch out the provolone cheese for fresh mozzarella. Why? Because I always have fresh mozzarella in my fridge…that’s just the way I roll, baby!

Wow I’m drooling just thinking about it. Hmm…maybe I’ll whip it up tonight.

A serving size equals 3g net carbs or 3 points if you are doing Weight Watchers’ PointsPlus. Obviously you can cut the Weight Watchers points by using low-fat cheese (but why do that!?!).

Check out all the awesome, healthy recipes over at greenlitebites.com.

Peking Slow-Cooker Pot Roast

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Slipping slices of garlic into the roast adds wonderful flavor! Plus it allows the marinade to really penetrate the meat.

Slipping slices of garlic into the roast adds wonderful flavor! Plus it allows the marinade to really penetrate the meat.

For the most-tender roasts you need to use a crock pot. It’s easy – just put the roast in with a liquid – and cook for 8 – 10 hours on low heat. The result is pure yum!

My 500 Low Carb Recipes cookbook calls for a pot roast that takes 2 days to make – 1 day to soak the roast in a marinade and the 2nd day for cooking.

Monday I sliced holes in my roast and shoved pieces of garlic into each hole. Then I marinated the roast in cider vinegar and water mixture. The marinating roast sat in the fridge for 24 hours. I rotated the roast about every 4-6 hours to make sure the thing marinated. Read More

Pork Chops With Garlic & Balsamic Vinegar Sauce

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The garlic and balsamic vinegar sauce had a lovely tangy-sweet flavor. This easy to make sauce only adds 2g of net carbs. Awesome. And yes, that is a slab of butter on the cauliflower! I'm eating low-carb/high-fat after all.

The garlic and balsamic vinegar sauce had a lovely tangy-sweet flavor. This easy to make sauce only adds 2g of net carbs. Awesome. And yes, that is a slab of butter on the cauliflower! I’m eating low-carb/high-fat after all.

I whipped this dish up last night. Easy to make, delicious, and low carb – just the way I like it. The only mistake I made with this dish was slightly over cooking the chops. That’s a mistake I won’t make again. Thankfully they were still tasty.

The recipe comes from low-carb cookbook — 500 Low Carb Recipes by
Dana Carpender. The book’s loaded with great ideas and I plan to try a few in the coming weeks. The egg recipes especially intrigue me. Eggs are a daily staple for us, so recipes that punch them up are always welcome. Hmmmm…I’m starting to drool.

Pork Chops With Garlic & Balsamic Vinegar Sauce
Net Carbs: 2g
*Weight Watchers PointsPlus: 11
Servings: 2-3 servings

*The PointsPlus value will vary based on the weight of your pork chop. For this recipe, I assumed a pork chop that weighs 6 ounces. Adjust accordingly.
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More Fruit-Infused Water Recipes

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More great ideas to add flavor to your water without the added sugar or artificial crap found in vitamin water! Photo courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

More great ideas to add flavor to your water without the added sugar or artificial crap found in vitamin water! Photo courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

EatLocalGrown.com posts 13 produce-infused water recipes guaranteed to get you to drink more H2O (the 14th includes alcohol so I don’t count that one). I’ve experimented with a few and they are tasty.

Adding fruit and veggies gives water a refreshing taste. Also it’s a better option than vitamin water, which is just sugar-water. Yuck!

Enjoy!

Chocolate Peanut Butter Smoothie Recipe

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Image courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhoto.net.

Image courtesy of zirconicusso and FreeDigitalPhotos.net.

Lately I’ve craved frozen custard and unfortunately, we happen to live by the most awesome frozen custard shop on the planet. I gave into my cravings on Sunday with a double scope of chocolate. Of course I tell myself that frozen custard is lower in carbs than regular ice cream. That is true, but if I really wanted to lower the carbs and satisfy my cravings, I should’ve ordered vanilla.

But where’s the fun in that?

Well those cravings are kicking in today. Why? Because that awesome shop has a chocolate peanut butter flavor today. Two of my favorites combined…crap!

Thankfully I came across this chocolate-peanut butter smoothie recipe compliments of Greenlitebites.com. The recipe calls for PB2 – powdered peanut butter. Ladies in my Weight Watchers meeting swear by PB2.  I guess in powdered form it lowers the fat significantly. But since I eat low-carb/high fat, I’ve stayed away from it. But for a kick-ass smoothie, I might be willing to break down and pick up a jar.

The carb count on this recipe is high, but it is still less than the custard version I’m drooling over. I might have to give it a try when I’m back from Savannah. Until then, I need to stay strong!