Cooking

Simple and Delicious Guacamole Salsa, Just in Time for Game Day (Low Carb)

October 2, 2020October 1, 2020 deb@bluewillowlaneLeave a comment

Hello and welcome to the weekend! Is anyone else happy to have football back? I can tell you, we are! Mostly because it makes our son so happy! He absolutely lives for football season, and even though he has a developmental disability, he has an encyclopedic knowledge of the week’s football schedule. Every week I ask him what he wants for “game food” and his face lights up.

Most weeks, we have these crispy parmesan wings along with some other snacks. This guacamole salsa is one of our old standbys, but it’s so good we never get tired of it. My husband has developed this recipe over the years, and he’s definitely known for his guacamole. The other day our college-aged kid was away while we were having our game snacks, and she texted me, saying “don’t eat all the guacamole.”

Other times, I’ve invited our adult kids to stop by, saying “we have guacamole.” It gets them every time. 🙂 This recipe is mostly like a guacamole, but it has more of a spiciness and also contains tomatoes. It won’t look as green as traditional guacamole when it’s done because of the spices, but it will taste delicious.

Before we get to the recipe, thanks so much for checking out my blog! For those of you who are also eating low carb, consider trying out this wonderful low carb bread company, Omega Bun. You can take 10 percent off of any non-subscription order by using my code hip2keto. Nothing goes better with game day than a big sandwich on a bun!

Here’s the recipe. I hope you enjoy it!

Steve’s Guacamole Salsa

Ingredients:

3 Florida avocados, remove pits and mash with a fork

1 Medium tomato (diced)

1 Small onion (finely chopped)

1/2 c Mayonaise

1/2 t Black pepper

1 t Garlic powder

2 t Chili powder

2 T Franks Red hot sauce

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir to mix thoroughly. Eat immediately or cover and refrigerate. Serve with tortilla chips or veggies.

Have a beautiful day, and cook up something spicy! 🙂

Cooking

Cook Up Something Hearty and Low Carb for Dinner: Saucy Spanish Chicken and Riced Cauliflower

September 9, 2020October 1, 2020 deb@bluewillowlaneLeave a comment

Need a new low-carb dinner option? Try something saucy

Craving some comfort food that fills your tummy with something saucy and spicy but is low carb? Try this Spanish Chicken and Riced Cauliflower dish! I adapted it from our family Spanish Rice recipe, and it’s always a hit. Dinner in one casserole dish, chock full of veggies and protein!

Before we get right into it, thanks so much for reading my blog today! If you are also eating low carb, considering checking out this great bakery. They have a product with only one gram of carbs so you can enjoy a roll or sandwich and stick to your eating plan! Take 10 percent off any non-subscription order when you use code hip2keto!

Alright, here’s the recipe!

Ingredients

One pound ground mild Italian sausage

4 chicken legs and 4 chicken thighs

¼ cup butter

1 small onion, chopped

½ cup red bell pepper, chopped

½ cup green bell or mild Italian pepper

1 t minced garlic

1 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes

20 ounces of frozen riced cauliflower, cooked according to package directions.

1 ½ t salt

⅛ t pepper

¼ t turmeric

½ t paprika

Directions:

Salt and pepper the chicken pieces.

Melt butter in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat

Brown the chicken pieces in butter, remove from skillet.

Add the Italian sausage, cook over medium-high, breaking into fine pieces as you go. Cook and stir for about 5 minutes until sausage begins to cook through..

Saute the onions and pepper in the same skillet with the sausage until onions are translucent, add garlic and saute another minute.

Add the crushed tomatoes and spices to the skillet. Turn down the heat to low and cook 5 minutes to blend.

Combine the steam riced cauliflower and the sausage mixture in a large casserole dish.

Top with the browned chicken pieces.Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and paprika

Bake at 375 for 45 minutes or until chicken is cooked through (at least 165 degrees internal temperature)

Enjoy this hearty, carb-friendly dish! Have a beautiful day! 🙂

Le Creuset New Color Launch: Dark Teal

New Cookware from Goodful

Save up to 15% on Adoric Home & Kitchen Products

Save $20 on ILIFE V5s Pro Robot Vacuum

Cooking

Easy Corn and Black Bean Salsa

September 7, 2020September 7, 2020 deb@bluewillowlaneLeave a comment

Cooking With Steve

My husband loves to cook. Which is a great thing for me and the rest of the fam. 🙂 Generally, I also find it rewarding to put something yummy on the dinner table for the family. My husband and I each have our own specialties: the kids claim my soup is better (I think it’s because I do a lot of finessing and don’t follow exact rules) but my husband is undeniably the king of candy-making and anything that is very exacting and more like a chemistry experiment.

Over the years, his cooking has evolved, and he has created a plethora of family favorite recipes. I’m sharing those with you here in a new feature, Cooking With Steve.

In our first installment, you will find our family recipe for corn and black bean salsa, delicious, healthy, easy, and perfect for your holiday weekend! This nutrient-packed dish is a snack you will feel great about serving the kiddos! In the right season, fresh veggies are awesome in this recipe.

Easy Corn & Black bean salsa

Ingredients:

15 oz can of black beans – rinsed

15 oz can of sweet corn – rinsed

1 large tomato – diced

1 medium onion – finely chopped

1/4 c green pepper – chopped

1/2 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp chili powder

1 tsp cilantro (dried or 1/4 of fresh chopped)

1 tsp salt

1 tsp Jalapeno Hot Sauce (we use Trader Joe’s brand for this recipe)

Instructions:

Mix in bowl and chill for at least two hours, stirring occasionally.

Have a beautiful Labor Day and enjoy some veggies! 🙂

Romertopf Classic 4 Quart Large Baker

Cooking

Simple and Delicious Broiled Flounder Recipe (Low Carb)

August 24, 2020October 1, 2020 deb@bluewillowlaneLeave a comment

Are you looking for a healthy, easy, tasty dinner option? Consider fish! If I happen to have some fresh fish in the fridge vs. some ground beef, I’m going for the fish every time. Cooking up some fish is easy and speedy. Experts say we should eat fish at least once a week for its numerous health benefits including lowering the risk of heart attack, yet according to Harvard research only about one in five people actually incorporate fish in their weekly diet. Delicious, low-fat (except for maybe some healthy fats in some fish varieties), and low carb, what’s not to love?

I personally am crazy about fish, but I seem to have been born that way. Despite growing up in the middle of a landlocked state and among cooking that specializes in various noodle, potato, and pork dishes, fish has always been my favorite food. I was that weird kid who got the filet of fish sandwich instead of a burger at McDonalds and asked for my mom’s amazing fish dinner for my special birthday meal. It goes without saying that fish is not a hard sell for me.

Some perceive fish as expensive or hard to cook. But for this recipe, I used a pound of flash frozen flounder filets which cost about $8 from our local grocery store and the meal was fridge to table in half an hour.

I do prefer fresh fish, but it is more difficult to get from the store right now since we are ordering groceries because of the pandemic. I used Sea Best Frozen Flounder and honestly, I was impressed. The fish had a flaky texture and everyone at my table loved it, including the more “non-fish” person.

I call this broiled fish, but really it’s just baked in the oven. It tastes like what you get if you order broiled fish from a restaurant.

Ingredients:

1 pound fresh or frozen flounder filets

1 t vegetable oil

2 T softened butter

1 t kosher salt

1 t black pepper

1 T dry mustard

1 T paprika

1/4 t seasoned salt

1 t garlic powder

¼ t cayenne pepper