Twice Baked Spaghetti Squash!

Cooking time: 1.5 hours
Serving size: about 5-6 people

This has to be one of the coolest things I've ever made.  I usually enjoy spaghetti squash with just some butter or marinara on top + some veggies but this recipe is a game changer.  It's basically the same idea as a twice baked potato.  Once you cook the squash you mix up the insides with whatever your favorite sauce is, stuff it all back in, cover with cheese, and broil! It's pretty simple, the skin of the squash acts as a bowl and holds the saucy noodles + melted cheese.

Be sure to be careful and keep a close eye on your "noodle bowls" as they are under the broiler because broiling things tends to increase the chances that you could burn your food.  If you take your attention off of the squash for even two minutes you might come back to notice that your cheese topping has turned completely dark brown or black!  It's alright if it does happen though, it actually happened to me on my first try today!  I just scraped the burnt cheese off the top and started over with a fresh layer of cheese. Probably best to set your broiler to "low" and place your squash halves on the lower rack of the oven.

Even though the spaghetti squash might seem small, it packs a lot, seriously, a lot of "spaghetti" inside.  I made one spaghetti squash (two halves) for my family and there is plenty leftover. 

Ingredients:
1 spaghetti squash
1/2 cup of your favorite sauce [if you are doing two sauces you should use 1/4 cup of each sauce per half squash]
1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese 
Salt and pepper to taste 
1-2 pinches of parsley 

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. 
2. Poke a few tiny slits in the spaghetti squash so that it can vent while cooking in the oven.  It will need to cook for 45-60 minutes depending on wether or not the squash is large or small. The sizes vary. 
3. Once the spaghetti squash is done baking you might want to let it cool for a few minutes. Slice it in half longways so that you have two long oval halves. 
4. Carefully scrape out all of the seeds and gooey pumpkin-looking insides. Be sure to leave the thicker outline of the squash because once you scrape at that with a fork you will see the noodles start to appear. 

5. Once your squash is full of noodles you can mix in your sauce and stir it around.  Cover the top with cheese and any seasonings you might want. [I used granulated garlic + salt and pepper for both halves.]
6. Turn on the broiler. Sprinkle the cheese topping with some parsley and place the halves of the spaghetti squash inside and watch carefully until the cheese on the top is completely melted and starts to bubble.  This step will probably take 10 minutes, it should look exactly like the top of a pizza by the time it's done.  
7. Let cool and eat up!  I like to eat it with a fork right out of the squash but you can slice it up if you are sharing :). 

Low-Carb Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Cauliflower pizza crust before baking. 

Serving size: makes one medium pizza 
Prep time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 20 minutes

This pizza is amazing. I really don't think I will be going back to making regular pizza dough any time soon after trying this + learning of it's healthier nutritional value. Anyone who likes cauliflower with a little bit of butter and salt would love this recipe! I got the idea for this recipe from Google because the first thing I do when I'm curious about something is Google it. 

When you make the cauliflower crust, you must be sure that you microwave and heat the shredded cauliflower enough so that there is no water at the bottom of the bowl. When the cauliflower is too moist, it is harder to stick together and to spread out across the cookie sheet. The good thing about this dough vs. traditional dough is that it can be easily molded without having it scrunch up on you.  I ran a spoon around the outside of the pizza crust dough and shaped it up very nicely. 

So I made two pizzas, because I wanted to try one with white sauce and one with traditional tomato sauce. First, I ended up making a tomato sauce pizza topped with pepperonis, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella cheese. This one turned out to taste so much like a regular thin crust pizza! The only difference is that since the cauliflower crust contains a lot of cheese, it is a little bit more flimsy than traditional pizza crust dough, and it's hard to transport the entire pizza without it tearing.

Pepperoni, sharp cheddar, and mozzarella. 

The white sauce (alfredo sauce) pizza was topped with mozzarella, sweet potato, mushrooms, finely chopped pancetta, crumbled feta cheese, and I also put a swirl of balsamic glaze over the entire thing.  I would suggest steaming most vegetables that you are going to top with to ensure that they will be cooked all the way. It would suck to have your pizza done with veggies on top that aren't fully cooked. 

White pizza + toppings & balsamic glaze. 

The first pizza I made was obviously delicious because it was so traditional, but the second was so fun to put together. All of the different tastes going on in one bite made the second pizza really unique and flavorful.  Honestly, both were great and everyone needs to be eating more cauliflower pizza crust! 

One more tip would be to make sure you cook your pizza long enough.  I usually am not a fan of crispy edges but it's necessary with this cauliflower crust. Like I mentioned earlier, it contains a lot of cheese which makes it more flimsy, especially in the center.  You want to make sure that you cook the center of the pizza al the way through because that part takes the longest! I suggest taking it out right when the top of the cheese starts to bubble and turn golden. 

Ingredients: 
-Toppings of choice
-1/2 cup of tomato sauce [or white pizza sauce]
-2 1/2 cups of shredded cauliflower
-1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese
-1 egg
-1 teaspoon salt 
-1 teaspoon pepper

Cooking Instructions: 
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place parchment paper on a cookie sheet and grease it [I just used PAM, but you could use butter]. 
2. Shred the cauliflower into a large bowl, then microwave the cauliflower for 4-5 minutes, until warm and soft. Let cool. Make sure to take out any large chunks that may have fallen into the bowl. Also make sure to drain any water that has accumulated at the bottom of the bowl.  
3. After the cauliflower has cooled add in the parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese, salt & 
pepper, and egg. Stir until thoroughly mixed. 
4. Scoop the mixture in the bowl up into your hands and shape it into a ball. Then set it in the center of the parchment paper and spread out as you would with regular pizza dough. Make sure it is evenly spread out on the parchment paper.
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until a golden color. [When you notice the edges starting to turn a little brown you are ready to take out of the oven!]
6. Spread your pizza sauce onto the crust however you would like. Add your cheese and toppings. 
7. Place pizza back in oven, and cook for about 15-20 minutes. The pizza should be done when the edges of the dough start to turn a golden brown. 

Before baking with toppings.

After baking with toppings. 

Creamy Chicken & Rice Casserole

I've been eating this casserole for years now, when I was younger they used to serve it at my grade school's annual Christmas boutique.  I used to look forward to eating this every year once wintertime would start approaching.  

When I started to get old enough to cook I found the recipe in a pamphlet from the boutique.  I tweaked it a little based on the ingredients that I had at my house and it actually ended up turning out better than the traditional casserole recipe. 

 I like to use kraft mayonnaise, for some reason I think it tastes way better in recipes than any other kind of mayo. In the traditional recipe, it doesn't ask you to put bullion cubes in water when you boil the chicken.  I think that the bullion cubes give the chicken and casserole way more flavor. 

Prep time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breast

4 cups of water

2 chicken flavored bullion cubes

1 cup uncooked rice

2 cups chopped celery

1 cup mayonnaise 

2 cans cream of chicken soup

2 cups cornflakes

1/4 cup melted butter

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 

2. Boil the chicken in the 4 cups of water and add the bullion cubes. [The additions of the bullion cubes will create very flavorful chicken broth.] The chicken will turn white and should be cooked all the way through after about 7-10 minutes. You don't have to worry too much about cooking the chicken completely since you will be cooking the chicken again in the oven once it's a part of the casserole.  Save two cups of the chicken broth. 

3. Combine celery, uncooked rice, and the 2 cups of the chicken broth

in a skillet and turn on medium heat until all the water is absorbed by the rice. While waiting for this step, cube the chicken into small pieces.  

4. In a large bowl mix chicken, mayonnaise, and undiluted cream of chicken cans. 

5. Add the cooked rice and celery mixture into the large bowl containing the chicken and stir until well mixed.  

6. Pour the whole bowl into a 9 x 5 oven safe pan. Top with the corn flakes and drizzle the butter on top of the cornflakes.

7. Bake for 1 hour then serve!

Spicy Garlic Chicken Thighs

If you can't tell by now, I really love garlic.  Also, it's one of the few spices I am allowed to cook with while on the first phase of the Atkins diet.  I used a cast iron skillet which is perfect for flavorful dishes.  I was getting sick of chicken breast then remembered that all kinds of chicken are fair game for this diet, so I chose to use chicken thighs, because they are  much more juicy than chicken breast.  I actually prefer darker meat over lighter meat so the chicken thighs worked out perfectly in this recipe!  For the chicken broth, packaged broth is fine, but I used water and added two chicken bullion cubes.

If you want to make more than four chicken thighs you can add more, you will just have to increase the amount of chicken broth and heavy whipping cream you add into the skillet as you go.  It won't be too difficult to eyeball it I promise!! 

Ingredients:

4  thawed chicken thighs

1 1/2 cup chicken broth

3/4 cup heavy whipping cream

1 tablespoon parsley

4 garlic cloves sliced down the middle

2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

1 tablespoon granulated garlic

1 tablespoon red pepper seasoning

1 pinch of salt

Directions:

1. Pour the vegetable oil into a medium/large cast iron skillet and turn the flame on low.  Add the garlic cloves to the oil and let simmer for about 5 minutes. 

2. Heat the chicken broth in a pan (or microwave for about 1 minute). Add 1 cup of it into the skillet, but do so carefully because sometimes the oil can be very hot and the reaction of the water with the hot oil could cause the hot oil to splash/steam alot. Set the other half cup aside. 

3. Once you have your mixture of broth and the garlic oil bubbling you can add your chicken thighs, place them face down and make sure there is a little space between each one.  Sprinkle the granulated garlic, red pepper, parsley, and salt evenly on top of all 4 chicken thighs.  

4. The chicken should cook in the broth for about 5-10 minutes while it's still at a strong boil.  After 5 minutes you can start adding in the heavy whipping cream.  This makes the broth a little bit thicker/creamy, and the chicken juicier.  I think it increases the overall flavor as well.  

5. Cover the chicken and turn the heat to medium.  Let the thighs cook for about 10 minutes.  

6. While the chicken was covered some of the broth should have been absorbed and evaporated.  You can add more chicken broth (1/2 cup set aside) as well as more cream if you notice the broth starting to become shallow.  If the broth evaporates too much the chicken/remaining broth could burn.

7. Once you have added any cream or chicken broth that was needed, turn the heat down to low.  Place the lid back on the skillet and let it simmer for 10-15 more minutes.

8. Once the chicken isn't pink on the insides anymore it will be ready to come off the flame and serve! 

Mini Garlic Parmesan Meatballs

These are so delish, and the recipe is almost foolproof. Also, all the ingredients are okay to eat during the first phase or induction phase of the Atkins diet.  

The garlic sauce in the skillet helps to keep the meatballs nice and juicy. Also, the parmesan cheese melts inside of the ground beef which adds more moisture to the meatball.  

You can use other types of meat to make the meatballs such as turkey, chicken, or veal.  You could also add buffalo, crushed red pepper, or hot sauce to the mixture to make it a more spicy dish.  I'm not eating carbs right now (it sucks), but if I was I would of definitely put these on top of some spaghetti or linguini noodles. 

Ingredients:
1 1/2 lb. of ground meat
2 eggs
2 tablespoons of parsley
3/4 cup parmesan cheese
2 tablespoon of granulated garlic
1 cup heavy whipping cream

Directions: 
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. Pour the heavy whipping cream, a pinch of parsley, and 1 tablespoon of granulated garlic in a large skillet on simmer. 
3. Combine meat, eggs, 1 tablespoon of garlic, parsley, and parmesan cheese. Mix together with your hands until everything is well blended.
4. Make the meat into small bouncy ball sized balls, and place on a greased cookie sheet. 
5. Bake the meatballs for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Add the meatballs to the simmering sauce in the pan and increase the heat to medium   
7. Let the meatballs finish cooking in the sauce for about 5-10 minutes then you are ready to eat! 

Homemade Garlic Cream Sauce

Makes about 1 cup of sauce

Cooking time: 30-40 minutes

This sauce is so good on everything, and also great for dipping things in. I've used this sauce to put on pasta, to spread on sandwiches of all kinds, dipping for chicken or steak, dipping for french fries, and even as a ranch substitute for chicken wings.  It's so good you can even just dip pretzels or chips in it. 

I've always been a fan of alfredo sauce and someone told me one day that it's made from boiling down heavy whipping cream + parm cheese until it thickens. I've been making alfredo that way for a couple of years now but I've realized overtime you can make any type of white sauce really with heavy whipping cream as the base. I started adding garlic without the parmesan cheese, and I've also added dill weed to make it have a sort of ranch dressing taste to it.  Also, you can add sriracha, hot sauce, buffalo sauce, mustard, or any other of your favorite sauces. If you want the best and most potent type of garlic flavor you can sauté garlic cloves in a little bit of butter and substitute the garlic butter in for the granulated that I suggested in the recipe below.  

The only downside of this recipe is that it does take a while for the heavy cream to thicken, and you can only cook it on low heat settings or else it will burn at the bottom of the pan.  Also, if the heat is too high the cream will bubble up and overflow, trust me it can get messy.  You have to be patient with it, and stir it pretty frequently so that it doesn't get clumpy or burnt.  If you become too impatient you can add pinches of flour into the mixture to speed up the thickening process.  

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups heavy whipping cream

1 1/2 tablespoons granulated garlic

1 tablespoons onion powder

1 tablespoon parsley

1 tablespoon dill weed (optional for ranch taste)

1 pinch of salt

2 or 3 pinches of black crushed pepper

* Parm cheese can be sprinkled in to make it more of an alfredo garlic sauce, I would say about 1/4 cup cheese.

Directions:

1. Pour heavy cream into a small pan and turn the flame to medium-low.

2. Mix in the rest of the ingredients.

3. Once it starts to bubble you can turn the heat down to simmer or low.  Make sure you stir the sauce at least every 30 seconds- 1 minute.  It takes about 20 minutes for the sauce to thicken up, as soon as it reaches a thick texture (like ranch dressing) it should be done! You can use it while it's warm or you can chill it.  

5 Step Soy/Sriracha-Mayo Stir Fry

Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cooking Time: 25 minutes
Serving Size: About 3 people

This is my favorite stir fry of all time. I've made this for a lot of people and every single person raves over it, it's sooo good, and also, it's pretty easy to make. 

One of the best parts about this recipe is that you can switch up the ingredients every time you make it.  I started off by just guesstimating the ingredients and never really kept track of how much I used of what, so if for some reason you want more flavor of a certain ingredient, go ahead and add more, it shouldn't mess up the final product at all because this is a flexible recipe.  

You can also use whatever combination of vegetables you like.  I've used different combinations of broccoli, mushrooms, carrots, snow peas, onion, peas, and many more in each stir fry. 

You can also use other noodles besides Korean glass noodles.  The glass noodles are my favorite because I love the smooth and chewy texture.  FYI, they don't sell glass noodles at the grocery store, you will have to go to a Korean or Chinese Market.  I literally googled "Chinese market + my location", and called the first store that popped up and they had them in stock!  Sometimes people refer to them as 'sweet potato noodles', because they are made from sweet potato starch, don't get confused! Sweet potato noodles, glass noodles, clear translucent glass noodles, are all the same thing.  Also, don't get the glass noodles confused with rice noodles.. rice noodles are less translucent than glass noodles and they are easier to accidentally overcook. 

Ingredients:
1/2 lb. Korean glass noodles
2 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 stick of butter chopped into slices
1/4 cup Sriarcha Mayo
3 tablespoons of soy sauce
3 tablespoons of teriyaki 
3 tablespoons of stir fry sauce
1/2 cup matchstick carrots
1 cup meat (shrimp, chicken, steak)
1 tablespoon garlic powder
1/4 cup scallions
1/4 cup onions
1/4 cup mushrooms 
1/2 cup of broccoli 

Directions:
1. Prepare glass noodles according to package.
2. In a Wok or large skillet combine vegetable oil, butter, onions, carrots, broccoli, mushrooms, and scallions. Medium heat. 
3. Lets the flavors seep out of your veggies and into the oil for about 10 minutes then add in your meat.  After the meat is about half way cooked, start adding in your sauces; soy, sriracha mayo, teriyaki, stir fry sauce.
4. Once all mixed together you can add in the noodles and garlic powder. 
5. Let cook for about 10-15 minutes, stir/mix frequently, then you're all done!