Honest to Goodness Eats

Hello friends! After some thought and deliberation I've decided the recipes portion of my creative extravaganza's will be moving. Future recipe posts will be posted to my new blog: 

Honest To Goodness Eats.  

I invite you to follow along there if you are particularly enjoying the recipes I've been shring here on Lostsentiments. 

I will continue to share crafty things on this blog, but if you've enjoyed the recipes I've shared you'll want to follow me there too! 

Thank you to all my readers for your support! :) 

Love you! 

~Dawn

Zesty Chicken Soup Recipe - for your Crock Pot!

Zesty Chicken Soup

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:
1  4 - 5 lb chicken
1  14.5 oz can Diced and Fire roasted tomatoes
2  10 oz cans of Rotel Diced tomatoes with green chilies
1  Tblspn Garlic Powder
1/2  Tblspn Chili Powder
2  cups chicken broth
1/2 cup water
2 Tablespoons Bacon Grease
1  Tspn Poultry seasoning
1/2  Tblspn Cumin
4  Tablespoons fresh cilantro chopped

Put everything together in the crock pot, cook on LOW for 6 - 8 hours. The timing all depends on your chicken. Check if the chicken is cooked throughout (no pink) around 6 hours. If it comes off the bone easily then pull the rest of the chicken out of the crock pot and pull the meat off the bone.

Once you've pulled all the meat off the bones and back in the soup, you can let the meat continue to marinade or you can dish up! :)

I made Maria's Healthified Cheetos the same day I made the soup. They were a perfect cracker substitute! :) I also added sour cream and cheese to the soup - nom nom nom!

Please let me know if you try it out and how you like the recipe! :) 

Best, Dawn

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Looking for more Low Carb soups or crock pot recipes? 

Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog! 

Find more low carb SOUPS HERE. 

Find more low carb CROCK POT RECIPES HERE. 

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Spicy Low Carb Goulash

In an effort to feed my family one of the staple dishes of my childhood, I came up with this low carb / Paleo friendly version of goulash. This is also a low sodium version since I know my husband has been trying to watch his salt intake. I wasn't sure how the can of no salt added tomatoes would fair but the dish turned out very tasty! 

What you need:

- 1 lb Mild Italian Sausage (I used Mild Poultry Italian which is a mix of chicken, and turkey. Sausage or beef would go well with this recipe too!)
- 1 Cup Onion Chopped
- 1 Spaghetti Squash
- 1 can 14.5 oz  Diced Tomatoes No Salt Added
- 1/2 Cup water
- 4 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
- 1 Tspn Garlic Powder
- 1 Tspn Ground Mustard
- 1/8 Tspn Ground Sage
- 1/2 Tspn Black Pepper
- 1/4 Tspn Tabasco Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Bacon Grease
- 1/2 Tspn Mrs. Dash Extra Spicy

What to do:

Put the meat, onions and all the spices in a large pan and let cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally..

Meanwhile, cut the spaghetti squash lengthwise. Pull out all the seeds and fibers, I use a large spoon to do this. Once both sides are clean fill one half with water and place it in a microwave safe bowl setting the other half right on top. If the squash seems to want to wobble slice a very thin piece from the bottom of the squash to make it stay in place. Microwave for about 10 minutes. Use oven mitts to pull the dish from the microwave it will be really hot!

Once the meat is browned and the spaghetti squash is done, add the tomatoes, the spaghetti squash and water to the pan. Simmer over medium heat for 15 - 20 minutes to allow the flavors to really blend.

Serve warm and top with Parmesan cheese! :) 

I hope your family enjoys the recipe! It tasted subtly sweet (I'm guessing that's from the tomatoes ;)) but is definitely spicy at the same time! My sister and I both enjoyed the crunch of the spaghetti squash. We think it'd be good with cottage cheese too! :) 

Happy cooking! ♥ Dawn

Low Carb Chicken Alfredo

9/14/13 UPDATE:

 I made this bad boy recipe again today and took a more colorful photo than the first one. What can I say, when I know I'm going to blog about something I get a little excited! That and the zucchini skin didn't stay on the first time I cooked this... but the SECOND time it did! ^-^ Yeah baby get your greens! :) ;)

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This recipe is super easy and great for feeding 2 - 3 people. I know my mister enjoys Alfredo so I wanted to make a version without the flour noodles and sauce packets. With a little imagination I threw together this dish and I felt good about serving it to the family too since there weren't any artificial ingredients and stuff. ;)

 I wish I had a better picture to share of this dish because the flavor was great! Personally I really enjoyed the texture of the ground chicken. I have another recipe I conjured up and hope to share with you soon! :) So... stay tuned! ^-^

Low Carb Chicken Alfredo

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:.

1 lb ground chicken
1 onion chopped
1 medium grated zucchini,
1/3 c heavy whipping cream
2 1/2 Tablespoons Parmesan Cheese
1/8 Tsp garlic powder
1/4 Tsp pepper
dash of poultry seasoning
salt to taste

Add more ingredients to suit whatever army you are feeding ;)

Add all ingredients to a medium size pan and cook. Simmer on medium stirring occasionally until chicken is brown and the zucchini is cooked to the consistency you like. Then dish up and lets eat! :D

If you make the recipe - please feel free to share your variations in the comments and how you liked it! :)

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Looking for more Low Carb chicken or baking pot recipes? 

Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog! 

Find more low carb CHICKEN RECIPES HERE. 

Find more low carb COOKING RECIPES HERE. 

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Homemade Chicken Nuggets

Home made Chicken Nuggets - the best thing since sliced bread. ;) 

Okay maybe not, but I can appreciate making your own of anything, then you can control the ingredients. And since you can never have enough recipes for chicken - why not chicken nuggets?

These were pretty tasty - you almost don't need to eat them with mayo! 

Which is saying something - because I love condiments!

Without further ado!

\

Homemade Chicken Nuggets:

What you'll need:

- 5 eggs
- 1/2 tsp garlic powder
- 1/4 tsp chili powder
- Dash pepper

- 3 large chicken breasts

- 1/2 c Parmesan cheese
- 3 Tblspns grated Jarlsberg cheese

- Sesame Oil (or cooking oil with a high temp tolerance)

What to do: 

1) Whisk the Eggs, Garlic Powder, Chili Powder & dash of pepper in a medium size bowl. Set aside.

2) Cut up the 3 chicken breasts into 1 inch cubes, add to the egg whisked mix.

3) Add the Parmesan and Jarlsberg cheese to a Ziploc bag along with the chicken chunks and shake it up! (Think shake and bake ;))

4) Add the coated chicken to a medium/large pan and cook on medium high. Take care to turn the chicken and make sure all sides are cooked. 

Serve warm and Enjoy!

Cucumber Tomato and Cottage Cheese Salad

Yep, that's it. Super quick, super easy and GOOD for you! 

I whipped this up tonight before heading out the door to get groceries. 

I needed sustenance I tell you! ;) 

What is not pictured is pepper... I added some black pepper later and it was YUM! ^-^

If you want more flavor - you could add a bit of ranch and or Mrs. Dash salt blend of some kind! 

Just saying ;).

To make for one: 

- Cut up 2 - 3 Medium size tomatoes

- Add 1/2 cup sliced and diced cucumber

- Finish with a 1/2 cup of cottage cheese

Stir and enjoy! :) 

I suppose on a larger scale you could make this for a cookout. Maybe.

Please let me know if you tried it and what you think!

Thank you for reading! :) ~Dawn

This is how it happened...

Cottage Cheese met Mrs. Dash - Extra Spicy ;)

Mrs. Dash shook things up a bit with Cottage Cheese

Once Mrs. Dash put her top back on, Cottage Cheese got all stirred up and made one yummy dish! :)

^-^

This is a PG blog - I promise lol 

Seriously, If you like pepperoni pizza you'll love this! Super simple, takes not even 5 minutes to "make", eat and lick the bowl! Though please... do slow down to savor and be kind to your stomach ;)

To make a Low Carb tastes like pepperoni pizza snack - here's what you need:

- Cottage Cheese (full fat, no? ;))
- Mrs. Dash Salt Free Spicy Blend

As much or as little as you'd like of each - mix them up and enjoy!

Chicken Stir Fry Recipe - Paleo Friendly

Yesterday I made Garlic Chicken and had some left over. I decided to use the chicken breasts as part of my old and faithful go to recipe ...

Chicken Stir Fry

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:

- 4 - 5 chicken breasts cut (cooked or uncooked)
- 1 cup cut carrots
- 1 cup diced celery
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 1 Tblspn dried cilantro
- 3 Tblspns olive oil
- 1 1/2 tspn poultry seasoning

You could also add onions - but they make me cry so I'm not too keen on them at the moment ;). 1/2 a cup would be good wiht this ratio.

1) Cut up the chicken breasts.
2) Add all other ingredients and saute on med-high heat.
3) Cover and let simmer for about 20 - 25 minutes. Stir ocassionally.
4) Cook until vegetables are tender (or to your liking!)
3) Serve warm and enjoy!

Love a dish with lots of color! :D

Delish!

If you try this dish let me know how your family liked it!

Chicken & Cheese Ham Burgers! Paleo Friendly and Low Carb

 ** Pan Kissed Chicken & Cheese Ham Burgers! **

Yes - it's kind of a play on words here - I was trying ;) tee hee

Thank you to SmokedandGrilled for the base of this recipe geniusness! After making them once I decided to add a few additional items to spice it up and add more of our families favorite ingredient - cheese ;). though in some Paleo variations this is not an accepted food. Feel free to omit if you're doing Whole30! But of course ;)

****I cannot wait till it stops raining long enough for me to get these on the grill! :)****

I mean pan seared salty flavor from the meats is great - but to add a smokiness to them with the grill? YUM! And yet I wonder - liquid smoke... there is such a thing... O.O ^-^ For now - let's share the recipe as it is today shall we? :) ;)

What you'll need:

2lbs Ground Chicken
1 cup cooked ham - diced
2 cups Parmesan cheese - shredded
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp ground mustard
1 tsp cilantro

1) Mix up the meats first
2) Add the cheese and spices - mix well.
3) Form into burger patties and cook 'em up!

I'm a bit of a condiment nut folks, so it *should* mean a lot ;) when I say these burgers don't need anything but to be eaten as is. You will still find me pulling out mayo and Paleo Ketchup though to dress this up if I am feeling especially like an otter that day ;).

Makes about a 13 burgers :) Feel free to cute the recipe in half for smaller crowds. I normally make food with leftovers for work in mind. Adjust accordingly ;)

5.9.13 UPDATE: -

LEFTOVERS FOR WORK - for the win! ;)

Fiesta Egg Bake Revisited - Low Carb & Paleo Friendly

Happy Cinco De Mayo! :) It just so happened I had most of the ingredients on hand that helped prompt me revisit a recipe I put together last August. Let's revisit this Fiesta Egg Bake shall we?

Fiesta Egg Bake

Pin it for later here.

Ingredients:

- Bacon grease (or butter) to grease pan with
- 16 oz regular breakfast sausage 
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 sweet onion (chopped)
- 1 garlic clove minced
- 1/3 c heavy whipping cream
- 12 eggs
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp ground mustard
- 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce
- 1 jalapeno minced
- Dash cayenne pepper
- 4 cups shredded cheese


1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees

2) Grease a 9" x 13" pan with bacon grease and set aside.  

3) Add sausage, red pepper, onion, garlic and jalapeno to a stove top pan. Cover mixture and let simmer until vegetables are tender.

4) As the vegetables and sausage are simmering, in a separate bowl mix together the eggs and spices, mix well.  Add the heavy whipping cream and whisk until its mixed well.

5) Once the sausage is browned and veggies are tender - add them to the 9" x 13" pan by spoonfuls making sure to spread the mixture out evenly.

6) Pour the egg and cream mixture on top of the sausage and veggies. Use a spatula to even out the mixture through out.

7) Sprinkle the cheese on top, using a spatula push the cheese down just until the egg mixture covers the top of the cheese.

8) Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until the top is browning.

Now pull it out the oven and allow it to cool. The cheese is normally inflated and once it deflates a bit I know it's "go" time. ;) Time to eat! :D

I hope you like the recipe! :D 

Oh! Not only did I revisit this recipe but I managed to realize my avocado's were ripe enough to cut and store in the freezer for baking adventures later! :) This idea is brought to you by pinterest lol. But I had the foresight to execute it tonight! :D 
I'm super proud! 
The last time I got avocados I let them sit *too* long... they met their doom - the trash can. Womp. Womp. 

Happy Creating Everyone! :D ~Dawn

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Looking for more Low Carb recipes to bake? 

Since posting this recipe I've started a foodie blog! 

Find more low carb BAKING RECIPES HERE.

And more CASSEROLE RECIPES HERE.

***** 

Garlic Chicken Breast Crockpot Recipe with option of a Parmesan Cheese Crust - Low Carb and Paleo Friendly

Lots of chicken in the fridge to use up and a while my pinterest board has a lot of ideas for chicken breast recipes I'm lacking vegetable variety. I need to go to the grocery store but that won't happen until Monday. So what to do, what to do... work with what I have on hand! :) I present Garlic Chicken Breasts! They are mighty tasty and tender! Don't say I didn't warn you! :)

The ingredient spread.

Chicken meet chicken bouillon, garlic and pepper. Later... you'll be introduced to Parmesan cheese.

1/2 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

1/8 Tspn Pepper

Mince those Cloves up!

Put in the Crock pot:

5 - 6 lbs of chicken breasts

1/8 tspn Pepper

1/2 Tblspn Garlic Powder

2 Garlic cloves minced

1 1/2 cups chicken broth or 1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon dissolved in 1 1/2 cups water

1) Place the chicken breasts in the crock pot.

2) Add the broth, garlic powder & pepper

3) Mince 2 garlic cloves - add to the top of the mix

4) Set on Low for 4 1/2 hours or on Keep Warm for 6 - 8hrs.

Now at this point the chicken is perfectly edible to get your eating on if you like. However... if you want to add some crunch to the outside of them read on!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Making your Chicken Breast into a Large Chicken Nugget. Sort of ;)

Pull out a plate, a large bowl and a frying pan along with:

- Olive Oil

- Parmesan Cheese

- Dried Cilantro

- Eggs

Add Olive Oil to coat your pan.

On a dinner plate add Parmesan Cheese and Cilantro to suit your taste buds - mkay? 

In a large bowl break 4 eggs and whisk.

You may need to add more of the dry mix and eggs need to add more eggs as you go so keep them handy! 

Take a chicken breast and dunk it in your eggs, coating both sides, then place it in Parmesan Cilantro mix, turn over and coat the other side. Place chicken in frying pan and cook over medium heat until they are golden brown, flip over and cook the other side. Although the pictures show I used a fork, I later discovered tongs are a much better tool for this job!

Once both sides are golden brown load up your plate and get your eatin on ! :) 

Raspberry and Sour Cream Muffins with Lemon Zest!

Hello friends! 

I got curious again this weekend  - curious to see how a recipe from Things My Belly Likes would turn out! The pictures and ingredients looked promising enough so today we gave it a go!

Out with the ingredients and with a little help from the sister here is our adventure in photo form. The conclusion of our taste test fancy is at the bottom.

These smelled AMAZING while in the oven. The batter reminded me of those shortbread cookies that have a fruit jelly filling in the middle. Shortbread with a bit of tartness. Yummy right? :) 

I had them in the oven for 18 minutes since I put the batter together in 6 muffins 

(recipe says these make 8 small muffins.)

I put butter on the muffins, this would happen no matter what kind of muffins I make though. I love butter, basically muffins are a vehicle for butter in my world :).  

The raspberry bits reminded me of rhubarb. The tartness of the sour cream and lemon zest were delicious. :) If the mister would fall in love with coconut flour (he doesnt' like it but tries any new recipe I make even if it called for coconut flour - cause he's a trooper ;)) I would make these on a regular basis. 

All in all - a yummy muffin! :) Thank you Cat of Things My Belly Likes for sharing your culinary finds! :) 

Till next time - eat a bit of any batter okay? Why not? :0) 

Best, Dawn

Quick and Easy Paleo &/or Low Carb Tacos!

Omitting the taco shell while eating Paleo and Low Carb can make a few of the ol' reliable recipes seem off limits. Tacos being one of them. Granted there are the uber chewy low carb wraps at the grocery but if you're dining Paleo style or want to keep the carbs as low as possible here's a route that just might help you when the taco craving comes a knocking...

This recipe is super simple & cooks up fast! Perfect for when you have a to serve a large group of people or if you want to make a munch and divvy it up for leftovers for work! Adjust hamburger portion size if not cooking for a small army ;) :) 

The Meat & Bare Necessities of This Recipe - Add Veggies if desired!

Here is what you'll need:

- 3lbs of hamburger

- 1 - 24oz jar of Tostinos Chunky Salsa (pictured is the medium hotness ;))

Topping ideas that are optional depending on how you are eating.

- Sour Cream

- Shredded Cheese

Optional:

- Black Olives

- Lettuce

- Tomatoes

- Hot Sauce

1) Brown the hamburger over medium heat

2) Drain the liquid fat from the meat. 

3) Add complete jar of salsa to the meat (this acts as the seasoning - should you want it hotter, add a bit of garlic powder, cayenne and chili powder to taste ;)) adjust salsa amount to hamburger amount.

Now load up your plate with the meat and salsa mix, proceed to add the toppings you fancy and enjoy! :) 

If you'd like to eat your taco meat like you would with an actual shell, grab a large leaf of lettuce and roll that goodness up! Viola! Who's missing out on tacos?!?! NOT YOU! ^-^