Low Carb Tuscany Peasant Soup

What you’ll need:

1 pkg Italian sausage links, remove casing, chop

1 small onion, chopped

2 stalks of celery, washed and chopped

2 tblsp coconut oil

3 garlic cloves, minced

3 zucchini, peeled, slice lengthwise and slice into quarter to half inch slices

1 can tomato sauce, find one with the lowest carbs if possible

1 can beef broth

1/2 c heavy cream, optional

2 tblsp tomato paste

Granulate stevia to taste, cuts through the acid

Salt and pepper to taste

5 leaves of fresh basil, chopped

Fresh Parmesan, garnish

In small dutch oven over medium heat, sauté onion and celery in coconut oil. Cook till transparent. Add minced garlic, cook for 30 seconds and add sausage. Cook till sausage is mostly cooked through about 10 minutes. Stir in zucchini slices, add tomato sauce and beef broth. Bring to boil, reduce temp and simmer for 15 minutes. 

To thicken, add tomato paste, heavy cream. Now season with salt, pepper, and a little stevia. Five minutes before serving, add fresh basil. This will preserve the basil flavor. 

Garnish with freshly grated parmesan cheese and enjoy!

Nutritional Information(according to MyFirnessPal)

Calories: 208

Fat: 8.2g

Carbs: 13.4g

Fiber: 2.7

Net Carbs:  10.7g

I love the fresh basil flavor the most! This a great soup to have on a chilly night, and can be made into a topping for spaghetti squash. Just leave out the beef broth and you’ll have a nice thick low carb meaty Italian sauce. 

NOK TIPS:

This can be made dairy free by leaving the heavy cream out entirely. Which is why I mention it as optional. 

Any sausage can be used, not just Italian. I used a mild Italian sausage, but you can use hot, bratwurst, or kielbasa. Turkey or chicken sausage can also be substituted. 

Hop you all have a blessed week! 

Lazy Day Goodness

I love having days where I don’t have to worry about what to make for dinner because dinner was taking care of itself in the crock pot. Which left time for other fun things…like laundry, school work with G-Man, and trying out an oh so yummy peanut butter cookie recipe! I might have to make a second batch tonight just because they are THAT good! 

What you’ll need:

1-2 pounds frozen chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1 tblsp paprika

1 tblsp granulated garlic

1/2 tbslp black pepper

2 tsp kosher salt

1/2 tblsp onion powder

1/2 tbslp cayenne pepper, or less if you wish

1/3 cup peanut oil or coconut oil

Directions:

In a 4-qt crock pot add everything and cook on low for 8-10 hours. Just before serving shred with forks or hand mixer(love this method). Serve over salad, on low carb tortilla wraps, or on romaine lettuce leaves. 

Nutritional Information(according to MyFitnessPal per 1/8th serving)

Calories: 301

Fat: 14.7g

Carbs: 2.5g

Fiber: 0.7g

Net Carbs: 1.8g

Have mercy this is an easy recipe! Just sprinkle your seasoning over the chicken, slap a lid on it and just like Elsa, let it go. 😉 As always season to your liking, I added more because I have to make more for my family. This freezes nicely too! You can easily make more in a larger crock pot and portion it out into freezer bags to keep for future meals. I highly recommend that. 

Ok, are y’all ready for some gluten free, low carb, dairy free, and sugar free cookies?! These are crazy good…

What you’ll need:

1 egg

1/2-1 cup granulated sweetener, I used Stevia

1 cup natural peanut butter, smooth or crunchy

1 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line baking pan with either non-stick foil, parchment paper, or silicon baking mat. 

Combine everything in a medium bowl. Using a melon baller, scoop cookie dough, release into your hand and gently roll into a ball. I was able to get 24 balls. Use a fork and lightly press on top to create a crisscross pattern, or use your fingers. Either will work. Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let cool on pan for a few minutes before moving to a cooling rack. 

Nutritional Information(according to MyFitnessPal for 2 cookies)

Calories: 134

Fat: 11.1

Carbs: 4.3g

Fiber: 1.3g

Net Carbs: 3g

Please note, these are fragile. Because it lacks the stability from coconut or almond flour they do break easily. Now, with that  said, I am going to make another batch and use some dark chocolate to either dip the bottom half of the cookie in or drizzle it over the top. Also note, if you use Stevia in this recipe, as I did, DO NOT use the max amount. It is way too much. Start with a half cup, taste the batter after you’ve mixed it, and add more if needed till you get it to where you like it. 

These are incredible, no joke! Been having a devil of a time keeping G-Man out of them!!! He says they almost remind him of the “real” peanut butter cookies. Nice to know I make fake cookies now. 😒 Kids lol! 

Please let me know what you think below, share, pin, or reblog. 

Have a blessed week! 

LC/GF Chocolate Cake & Buttercream Frosting Review

Hey everybody!

If you are following the Night Owl Kitchen Blog on Instagram and/or Facebook then no doubt you know where this post is going to go. 😏

Friday was a busy cooking day here, mostly because of G-Man. Those of you who have been following since the beginning know that I’m a control freak in the kitchen and really don’t let kids (mine or anyone elses) help that often. But I gave in since he was so determined to make anything. He had my Memaw’s olf Pillsbury cookbook out asking if he could make a thick crust pizza. I kept telling him no, that’s not low carb. Finally I told him, ok, you can help me make dinner. He wasn’t too interested in in what I had planned until I showed him some Googled images. That’s when his eyebrows shot up and he said “whoah”. But that’s for another post! 

He didn’t want to stop after helping with dinner. No, after getting dinner into the oven he asked me if we could make a dessert. Kid you’re killing! He asked me to make REAL brownies, you know high carb, one bowl Baker’s chocolate brownies. Yeah those. So we compromised, I pulled out the low carb family cookbook that mom and I have spent the last few years putting together. These are mostly tried and true recipes that we’ve been making since 2011, and there are some recipes in there that are waiting to be made. This low carb chocolate cake was that recipe!

Let me preface this by saying, this cake is crazy good! This was my first time making a low carb double layered cake complete with a low carb frosting. Most of the desserts I make are simple(i.e. brownies, fruit desserts, coconut pound cakes, etc.). G-Man helped with every part of this recipe, which original credit is giving to Tropical Traditions. We did have to make a little change to the original recipe, in order for this to be truly low carb we swapped out the sugar and used granulated stevia, which measures cup for cup. We don’t keep much liquid dairy in the house anymore, so for that we measured out half a measurement of heavy cream and made up the difference with water to simulate half n half. But you can certainly use whatever you have on hand. 

G-Man measured out the ingredients, while I whipped up the wet he stirred together the dry. Of course, the reward for such amazing help is getting to lick the beaters and batter bowl. Family tradition around here! 😉 I waited for his seal of approval and boy did he give it! The little fiend even pinched a few bites of batter right out of the cake pans!!! Apparently he liked it A LOT! Thank goodness, he is so hard to convince sometimes but I guess letting him help out with the whole process made it worthwhile for him. 

So, where’s the recipe?

I haven’t received permission from Tropical Traditions to share it here on my blog. But you can click HERE for the original recipe, just remember to swap out the sugar for a low carb granulated sugar option. We buy the Great Value brand of Stevia in the Raw, it’s actually pretty good! Have yet to notice any bitter aftertaste and it measures cup for cup, which makes it easy to use.

Overall, the cake recipe is easy to put together. G-Man got to experience measuring out coconut flour, Dutch processed cocoa powder, and learned that sometimes you have to get creative with a thick batter. Indeed this stuff is thick, but that’s the nature of coconut flour. Surprisingly it wasn’t a suck all the moisture out of your mouth kind of dry cake. But you can tell that it is made with coconut flour and that’s why the next time I make it(yes there will be a next time) I’m gonna add a spoonful of sour cream and replace some of the coconut flour with almond flour. It’s not an unpleasant cake at all if you’re used to using coconut flour in baked goods, or you’re so desperate for a low carb dessert you don’t care! LOL! I know that feeling, when you don’t really care what it is as long as it’s low carb and pretty good you’ll eat it in order to kill that craving! This cake recipe will take care of that and then some!

Once we got the cake into the oven we talked about “frosting options”. Which let’s face it, when you’re doing low carb you’re pretty much left with maybe one or two ideas. And he didn’t like either one. So that’s when I took to Google and found this incredible low carb buttercream frosting that blew us away. It tastes like the real deal only better because it’s not going to send your bloodsugar through the roof or make you feel guilty later on for eating a large piece. Truly, there is no judgment here, I will serve up large pieces if that’s what you want. Just saying. 👍🏼👍🏼 Low Carb Yum (<–click for recipe) came through for us with flying colors! Again we had to fudge our way through it, no pun intended. We used only granulated stevia as our main sweetener and wound up adding an extra 4 tablespoons of stevia to cut through the bitterness of the cocoa. If you can, use two different sweeteners to help sweeten the cake and frosting. Just like the cake, it’s an easy recipe, comes together quickly, and is so rich! Didn’t feel like I was eating something low carb, it felt absolutely sinful. 😈😜

I sincerely hope you all give this cake a try, it really is a wonderful dessert would be perfect for a birthday, anniversary, get togethers, or just because! Because we mamas need some cake without all the guilt, so get to it!! 

Happy Baking!!

Chicken Chowder(Easy Crock Pot Recipe)

Hey y’all! Today I want to highlight a favorite recipe that is not only easy to fix-n-forget but it also freezes well too. SCORE! One of the many issues we busy moms and folks in general have is we might have a strict food lifestyle we are trying our best to adhere to and the last thing we want to do is rely on supposed convenience foods that “say” they are good for us. Especially with certain intollerances running amuck, it’s best to just avoid at all cost. Which means we have to make our foods from scratch and even I’ll admit, there are days when I don’t want to make anything and will grab a handful of pepperoni slices and a couple scoops of cottage cheese…calling it a meal. No judging. 

Crock pot meals are wonderful to keep on hand for days when you know you aren’t going to feel like coming home to cook a whole meal for yourself or anyone else. Can I get an amen?! Last Friday was such a day when I wasn’t in the mood. Mostly because I had fallen a couple of days before, hurting my knee and shoulder. What can I say? The floor looked lonely and I decided it would be a great idea to miss the last step going down the stairs and give the floor a hug. Needless to say, I’m a bit banged up and bruised from it and still recovering. 

The bruise itself doesn’t hurt, but my shoulder does. There’s a lesson here, no matter how bad the floor is begging, never give it a full body hug. And now that I’ve probably grossed everyone out…let’s move on! 😉

My mom helped me out on Friday in putting this chicken chowder together. It’s really easy, some prep work is involved but if you plan ahead this will become a true fix-n-forget meal that you will love! It’s hearty, filling, and perfect on those cold chilly nights. BTW, pork rinds are yummy with this chowder as well! Just a little fyi. 

What you’ll need: 

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 medium celery ribs, chopped

1 medium onion, chopped

6 oz baby bella mushrooms, chopped(or any mushroom you prefer, I just happen to like how baby bellas taste)

2 tblsp organic coconut oil

4 tbslp butter

1 pound chicken breasts, chopped 

2 cups organic chicken broth

8 oz full fat cream cheese

1 cup heavy cream

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1 tsp granulated garlic

1 tsp dried thyme

1 pound bacon, chopped and fried, garnish

Directions:

Prep all your vegetables first. Chop and mince, add those to a large skillet with coconut oil and butter. Cook for five minutes. Chop chicken and add to vegetables. Cook another five minutes, add to crock pot. In a large bowl combine chicken stock, cream cheese, and heavy cream with handmixer, low setting preferred. Stir in salt, pepper, granulated garlic, and thyme. Pour over chicken and vegetables. No need to stir, but you can if you want. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Chop and fry bacon, serve on top as garnish and use pork rinds in lieu of crackers. 

This is a keeper recipe in my book, it’s over 400 calories and is 10g net carbs per 1/8th serving. It’s easily doubled, which is what I had to do for the family, and fits perfectly in our 7 qt crock pot. The above recipe could fit in a 4 qt crock pot. If you’re concerned about it being too runny, just reduce the chicken stock. Any leftovers can be frozen, just thaw completely and reheat slowly adding extra cream if needed. Leftovers are great for lunches, quick dinner, and are perfectly portioned too! Enjoy with a side salad to round out your meal. 

You don’t have to precook your vegetables and chicken, we did because we like the flavor it lends. But you can chop everything up and add it to your crock pot if you’re in a hurry. 

I would imagine that this can be made dairy free if needed by omitting the butter, cream, and cream cheese. Almond milk can be used instead, but please note it would make the chowder runny and more soup like. Also leeks can be used in lieu of a regular onion. They will help bring down the carb count a little. Instead of chicken you can also use ham, kilebasa, spam, or any combination thereof. Use whatever you like to make this chowder your own, spice it up with hot sauce and peppers, or add cheese for a cheesy chicken chowder. Possibilities are endless!

Hope you enjoy and have a blessed day! 

LC/GF Baked Parmesan Chicken

Hey everyone, 

How many here are fans of pork rinds? I sure am, but I will admit that I have been extremely hesitant to use them in lieu of breadcrumbs. I always feared that the meal would taste like pork rinds, which isn’t technically a bad thing but in a way it is. So I jumped into the deep end of the pool, sink or swim, and made this for the family. The only difference is that I used pork rinds instead of breadcrumbs, everything else was the same. 

What you’ll need: 

2 pounds chicken, thawed and fileted

7 oz pork rinds, finely ground

1 cup parmesan cheese

1 tsp dried basil

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp black pepper

3 sticks butter, melted

1 Tblsp minced garlic

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Line sheet pan with non-stick foil and set aside. On the stove top in a medium size sauce pan over medium heat, begin melting the butter. Once melted, reduce heat to low and add minced garlic. 

Filet chicken, try to keep your pieces about the same thickness. Set adise in a covered bowl.

Finely grind up pork rinds in food processor. Add to a medium size bowl and stir in parmesan cheese, basil, oregano, and black pepper. 

Take chicken, coating and sheet pan to the stove and begin assembling. First begin by placing chicken, one piece at a time, in the melted garlic butter and the rind into the pork rind coating. Once completely coated move to lined sheet pan. Easy! Continue this step until all the chicken fills the pan. Take the remaining pork rind mixture and spread it out over the chicken and drizzle the rest of the garlic butter over the top of the chicken. 

Bake for 40 minutes, or until the coating is golden brown. Serve over your favorite salad, in low carb wraps, or with spaghetti squash with a marinara sauce. 

If you want to reduce the amount of butter please feel free to do so. I like for this recipe to be super buttery, but you can do it however you like. The pork rind coating didn’t crisp up like abread coating would, but it was a great alternative and definitely making it again!

 Let me know what you think and if you’ve tweaked it! I love learning about other possible variations. 

Have a blessed week!!