Zucchini Boats

I forgot to take pictures because this was so darn easy and fast! Next time I promise, because this is a definite "make again". However, I didn't actually follow any recipe for this, I kind of made it up. And you can stuff the boats with anything you choose. This time we did an Italian sausage "stuffing".

• First you cut 2-3 zucchinis (or yellow squash are delicious too!) in half longways.
• Next you scoop out the seeds, but make sure to not go all the way through. 
• Season the "boats" with whatever seasonings you like. We used salt, pepper, and Italian seasoning.
• Then bake for 10 minutes at 350 until a bit soft. This gives the squash a noodle texture. 
• Now STUFF! We put Italian sausage and then topped them with shredded cheese. (You could do a Mexican type stuffing or even a thai seasoned chicken or something and it would be delicious).
• Throw them back in the oven and bake until everything is heated through and the cheese is melty, approximately 5-10 minutes. 

Try it out for yourself and let me know what you come up with!

6 Month Photos

Carter got his pictures taken! They were supposed to be a while ago but I guess we will call them 6.5 month photos. They are all so great! Even the ladies at the photo studio were dying over the pictures. They were all "ahh"ing and "eww"ing over them. And again we were asked if we wanted to get Carter into modeling.

Here are a few, they are all so good it was hard to choose just a few.

Oh, baby boy, you are adorable!

6 Month Lovelies

Carter turned 6 months on December 28. We were still in Missouri so we celebrated with Grandma and Grandpa Adams. Carter celebrated by having carrots :).

A few things about The Dude:

Carter loves to blow raspberries
He is slowly starting solids, does a "shimmy shake" after a few bites
Can roll both ways
He jumps like crazy 
Love to yell and scream
Talking up a storm
Giggles and laughs
He thinks Daddy is hilarious, Mommy's hair is awesome to pull
Love to pull off people's glasses
Has started to be a terrible sleeper
He has gotten sick for the very first time (roseola and the beginnings of an ear infections)
We found out that he might be allergic to amaxicillin
Still no teeth
Sits like a boss!

Taco "Pasta" Bake

I found a recipe on pinterest.com a while ago for something called a Taco Pasta Bake. Apparently the original recipe has been deleted but here is what it is:
Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 3/4 box of penne pasta
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 package of taco seasoning
• 3/4-1cup water
• shredded cheddar cheese

Directions:

• Brown the ground beef in a skillet, drain the meat. Add the taco seasoning and cook according to the package directions, adding the appropriate amount of water and bringing to a simmer. After that is incorporated, melt in the cream cheese. Then stir in the cooked pasta and 1/2 cup of cheese. Pour the mix into a greased baking dish, top with more cheese. Bake at 350 until bubbly and melted. 

It was delicious and we ate it often. I decided I would make this into a low carb recipe because we liked it so much. I made sure to buy the lowest carb cream cheese I could (the weight watchers brand) and read the labels on the taco seasoning, or make your own.
Here are the tweaks I made to the recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 shredded spaghetti squash
• 4 oz cream cheese
• 1 TBS of taco seasoning
• just a dab of water
• shredded cheddar cheese

It is cooked exactly the same and I think I may like the low carb version better. It's has a great amount of crunch and a tiny bit of sweetness from the squash.

I served it with a side of yellow squash sauteed with a bit of butter, red pepper flake, and garlic salt. It was very good and it's a definite "do again".

Get out there and COOK!

Quick Tip

Did you know that Carl's Jr. has low carb options? Well they do! The burger is supposed to have 9 carbs, which is pretty high in my mind. But I don't eat all of the ketchup and I remove the tomato which cuts down the carbs significantly. There is also a chicken sandwich but I haven't tried that yet. I love the burger! It's satisfying, delicious, and huge!

But here's the real tip, do NOT try to eat it while driving. It will be all over your face and possibly all over your car. Take this guy home or pull over. Driving while eating this is probably dangerous for your health.

Happy Low Carbing!

Breakfast-A-Go-Go

This morning we made low carb pancakes, you may be thinking "what the what?!" but it's good, don't worry.

We used to make this recipe a lot because Andy has a serious sweet tooth and he LOVES pancakes. Like when we went off of the diet the next thing he ate was a pancake. I'm not a huge breakfast fan and even I think these are good. They are not the fluffy, cakey pancakes but you still the feeling you are eating a pancakes.

Obviously I didn't go the syrup route, but you definitely could. I used this recipe (but I doubled it):

Ingredients

• 2 oz cream cheese
• 2 eggs
• 1 packet stevia (or any) sweetener
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 
• (I added a bit of vanilla and lemon juice just for a bit more flavor, but it's good without those added ingredients)

Instructions

• Put all ingredients in a blender or magic bullet (or blender, or food processor). Blend until smooth. Let rest for 2 minutes so the bubbles can settle. Pour 1/4 of the batter into a hot pan greased with butter or pam spray. Cook for 2 minutes until golden, flip and cook 1 minute on the other side. Repeat with the rest of the batter.

Another reason I love this recipe is because these are ingredients you will always have in your refrigerator when you are on a low carb diet.

Now, go! Create! Eat! Have a BLAST!

Sleepy House Comfort Food

We've been "sleep training" around here... So I've been flipping exhausted. Wednesday night was the absolute worst. Carter and I basically didn't sleep at all, so Thursday night I was so out of it that I totally forgot about dinner. Andy stepped up to the plate and made dinner. And he struck it out of the park! We had had a roast earlier in the week so he took the leftover meat and added garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, red pepper flake, and cumin. Let that simmer in the pan for a little bit while he made the "rice". He used this recipe:


MEXICAN "RICE"
10 ounces fresh cauliflower, grated, 1/2 medium
1 small onion, slivered, 2 1/2 ounces
2-3 tablespoons butter or oil or a combination
1/2 cup salsa
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
3/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/8 teaspoon granular Splenda
In a very large skillet with a lid, sauté the onion in butter and/or oil until tender. Stir in the grated cauliflower, then the remaining ingredients. Mix well. Cover and simmer 10-12 minutes until the cauliflower is tender, but not mushy, stirring occasionally.
Makes 6 servings
Can be frozen
Per Serving: 56 Calories; 4g Fat; 1g Protein; 5g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 3g Net Carbs 
 http://www.genaw.com/lowcarb/mexican_rice.html

It was so insanely good. He totally won the cauliflower race. So we put the "rice" in the bottom of our bowls then put a bit of meat on top, then some sour cream and cheese. We didn't miss the carbs AT ALL! It was so good.