Hot dogs + stuffing + bacon = delicious!

Carol over at Frugal Like Grandma posted today on her blog about stuffed hot dogs. I rarely eat hot dogs, stuffing, or bacon and can't recall ever having eaten them together but I had the ingredients and the pictures looked good so I made stuffed hot dogs for my dinner tonight. Let me say that this one is a real winner but if you're sodium conscious, you might wanna have these as a rare treat!

I used turkey franks, stuffing in a box because I couldn't see making the tiny amount needed for four hot dogs, and vegetarian "bacon" because it's what I had on hand. I don't have any toothpicks but when I googled for ideas on what to use instead, I decided the idea of uncooked spaghetti, broken into pieces, would work. The stuffed dogs were on the prepared pan and I went to get the spaghetti and ooops, I'm out of that. So, I made the dogs without anything to keep the bacon on and had a mental image of bacon flopping around in my oven but the skinniness of the franks and the length of the strips worked to my advantage. I just tucked the end of each bacon strip under the dog and after 20 minutes in a 350 degree oven, the bacon was still in place. Oh, and I put the bacon on only two of the dogs and the ones without the bacon were just as good as those with.


So, here you have it - stuffed hot dogs. I ate them with steamed spinach and am a very happy camper!

I'm going to play with different low carb stuffing ideas to see if any of them will work in these delicious dogs but in the meantime, I have a new meal idea to enjoy now and then.

Thanks, Carol!

Worthy of a comeback - Fire Roasted Tomato Soup!

Not for the soup but for me! It's been way too long since I posted on this blog. Really, I should be a winner of the Worst Blogger Award if there is such a thing. However, today I made Fire Roasted Tomato Soup for the first time and it was so good I just have to share!



I had fire roasted tomato soup for the first time a few months ago at Newk's Express. It was incredibly good and I hunted for a recipe that I thought would give me a dish close to theirs. None that I found seemed to be right, though, so today I just experimented and came up with my own version. It's not quite as good as the soup at Newk's but it's darn close and a little more playing with it should give me a just as good fire roasted tomato soup.

If you like the look of the soup and want to try it, here's my recipe so far:

1/2 Tablespoon olive oil
1/2 an onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 cans fire roasted diced tomatoes, undrained
12 ounces chicken stock
1 Tablespoon dried whole rosemary
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a few red pepper flakes
1/4 cup crema mexicana

In a skillet or wok heat the olive oil until it's hot but not smoking. Add the onion and garlic and cook until onion is tender. Reduce heat to a simmer and add the tomatoes and stock. Simmer about 15 minutes then add herbs and black pepper. Reduce heat a little more and very slowly add the crema mexicana and red pepper flakes, stirring constantly. Cook and stir for about five minutes. Serve topped with sour cream or more crema mexicana and whatever cheese you like. I used sour cream and a little parmesan this time but plan to really play with cheeses for this dish.

I think this soup could easily be adapted and a version with black olives, cilantro, chili powder, and cheddar or pepper jack would help make a great fiesta inspired tomato soup. Watch for more experiments with this basic recipe. I promise there will be some!

March 21st - 27th Menu

I haven't blogged much lately because between work, the dietary restrictions, and life in general the menu has been pretty dull. But I really need the accountability of posting entries here (and judging by the emails sent to me some of you really miss me! lol) so I've planned a menu of meals that require a little more work on my part but should help alleviate some of the boredom in our diets.

Last night I worked until after 8 and when I got home I was famished so I whipped up a quickie chili with Laura's Lean Beef, some no salt added canned diced tomatoes,  dark red kidney beans, a little green onion, and some spices. It was very good topped with a little shredded cheddar and there's enough for our lunch today. It isn't as low in carbs as I wish, thanks to the kidney beans, but all in all it's a healthy dish.

Tonight we're having Mexican Chicken from The Everyday Low-Carb Slow Cooker Cookbook made with Sanderson Farms chicken breasts. I don't know if that brand is available where you are but if it is, you really should try it. The chicken is always juicy, meaty, and tasty without having added hormones, additives, and other garbage. And the breasts are huge! One is usually enough to feed the two of us and trust me, we can put away some chicken! We'll have this savory-sounding dish with some leftover Chipotle Cauliflower and low carb tortillas.

The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Vegetable stir fry with riced cauliflower

Triple decker vegetable omelets (from The Low-Carb Bible but also found online) served with zucchini fries

Salt-Baked Rosemary Chicken (modified from the original recipe to use less salt), steamed green beans, and tossed salad

Breakfast burritos made with low carb tortillas

You're On Your Own (YOYO) night when we clean out the fridge, eat leftovers, or go out for dinner.

And that's it for this week's upcoming evening meals. Some of them are a little more interesting than our usual fare and that's a good thing. I hope your culinary week is a great one and join us over at Menu Plan Monday for more great recipes and menu plans!

Spicy Chicken and Avocado with a Colby Jack "Wrap"

You know how sometimes you have a little bit of roast chicken leftover from a meal but there isn't enough to feed the whole family? Well, today the man person didn't want chicken but I had a skosh of last night's delicious chicken and this was the perfect opportunity to make good use of it.

I dug through the fridge, found a few ingredients and came up with this:


The picture isn't great (not sure why but my pictures are blurry lately) but this turned out to be a delicious lunch today and I thought I'd share the 'recipe' (cough) with you.

1/2 cup cooked chicken, cut into bite size pieces
1 green onion, sliced
a few cloves of roasted garlic 
3 or 4 thin strips of bell pepper
2 Tablespoons Rotel tomato
freshly ground black pepper
garlic powder
chili powder
chipotle pepper seasoning
1 thick slice Colby Jack cheese
1 avocado

In a skillet or wok, quickly cook the bell pepper on high heat until soft but not limp. Lower heat and add sliced onion, garlic and pepper. Add cooked chicken and cook until heated through and pepper is cooked to your liking. I like mine crunchy so it doesn't take long at all. Add the Rotel tomatoes and let simmer. Quickly mash avocado and add whatever spices you like. I prefer to add just a little pepper and garlic. If you want to add chopped tomatoes and onions, that would be tasty, too.

Place cheese on a plate and top with the hot chicken mixture. Spread avocado mixture over all and sprinkle with chili powder and chipotle seasoning. You can eat this like a taco, roll it like a burrito, or do as I did and use a fork to get every scrumptious bite. Mmmm!

Mock Crab Cakes - Mmmm with a capital M!

I wanted to make something different for dinner tonight. Never mind that I broiled a three pound beef roast today or that we have leftover chicken and leftover chili in the fridge. Never mind that 'something different' wasn't on my menu plan for this week. I don't feel too good and very little appealed to me but I knew I wanted something different.

While perusing blogs this afternoon, I found a recipe for Mock Crab Cakes by Shannon at Margarita Stewart and knew that those were my 'something different'. I lacked two ingredients so although I was tired and just feeling puny I went to the grocery and bought them, along with the other things I needed. And I prepared the Mock Crab Cakes.

Let me say that I take a little bit of exception to Shannon's comment of "There is no crab in this, it tastes like it". Neither I nor the man person thought the patties tasted much like crab but don't let that deter you because these babies rock! To be very fair, the recipe didn't say whether the zucchini should be peeled so I didn't peel it. Also, I cut the ingredients in half and sometimes that makes a difference in taste.

I do detect a very slight seafood taste that I think is given mainly by the Old Bay seasoning which I associate with seafood and you might think they're 'crabbier' than we do so let your tongue and taste buds be your guide. Regardless of how crabby tasting they are or aren't, these patties don't disappoint in any way and will be on our menu now and then. The man person liked them so much that when I gave him a bite to taste test while the bulk of the cakes were cooking, his response was, "Do you have a bunch of that stuff made up?" Ehhh, that means he really likes it! And I'm adding this recipe to my February Recipes to Try, even though I still have one from January I haven't tried yet. Okay, so adding one I just found and tried today is kinda cheating but hey, it's my blog. ;)


Shannon, thank you for sharing this treat with the world!

Farmhouse Beef Casserole - mixed reviews

I got in from work at about 5:20 tonight and made the Farmhouse Beef Casserole I mentioned in yesterday's entry. It took a little while to prepare the ingredients but I did it while watching the tail end of the Cowboys/Eagles game (take that, you Eagles!) and the time passed quickly.

I like this dish but the man person said, and I quote:

"I wouldn't want that often but it wasn't bad."

He isn't really into casseroles for the most part so for him to really like any casserole is rare. Keep that in mind and don't let his words sway you into declaring this dish as "don't try".

Here are some things I really like about this dish; the thrifty ingredients, the great smell while it's cooking, and the fact that it's satisfying for the tummy. One thing I didn't like about it though; the taste was a little blander than what I like and I think it needs a little more something though I'm not sure what. I did make a few changes to the recipe and they're noted in parentheses after the original. My additional notes are after the recipe.

Farmhouse Beef Casserole

Olive oil cooking spray
1 small russet or all purpose potato
1 cup shredded low fat mozarella cheese (I used cheddar as I have a glut of it right now)
1 lb extra lean ground sirloin (I used ground turkey as I had it on hand and only used 1/2 lb)
1 medium yellow onion, chopped (I use about 1/4 of an onion but more would have been better)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1-14.5 oz can no salt added diced tomatoes with juice (See below)
1 Tbsp chili powder or to taste
2 cups shredded green cabbage (I don't shred cabbage, instead I just slice it thin then dice it)
salt (optional) (I used a little celery salt)
freshly ground black pepper
1-3 tbls purchased taco sauce (I omitted this)
6 slices pickled jalapeno chili peppers (optional) (I omitted this)


Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly coat a 2 qt casserole dish with cooking spray. Peel and grate the potato into a bowl. Stir in 1/4 cup ot the cheese and spread evenly over the bottom of the prepared dish. Bake 15-20 minutes or until potato is browned and crispy. Meanwhile, brown ground sirloin, onion, and garlic in a large nonstick skillet, breaking up the beef with a wooden spoon as it browns. Discard any excess fat. Stir in tomatoes with their juice, chili powder and cabbage. Season with salt & pepper to taste. Saute, stirring for a minute or two. If mix seems too dry add 1 Tbsp of the bottled taco sauce, adding up to 2 Tbsp more, if needed. When potatoes are done, spoon beef mixture on top of potatoes. Top with remaining cheese and jalapeno slices (if using). Bake for 25-30 minutes till casserole is hot and bubbly. Serve at once.

Calories 235 (40% from fat), 24g protein, 11g total fat (4.8g sat. fat), 12g carb., 2 g fiber, 38mg cholesterol, 471mg potassium, 357mg sodium
Exchanges: 3 lean meat, 1 carb (1/2 bread/starch, 1-1/2 vegetable

Here's a picture of the crust, which I made according to the directions.
 
It's very good as is but I think to reduce the carb count I might try making it with shredded cauliflower. Since we need to be careful of fat and not just carbs, I used ground turkey breast instead of beef and since I don't have a stove I put the turkey, garlic and onion in my handy dandy Pampered Chef small Micro-Cooker (bought at a garage sale for a quarter!) and cooked it all for 4 minutes, stopping twice to break the meat up a little. When it was cooked through, I let it cool, strained it well, and used clean hands to break the meat up really well.

Since I was using only half the called for meat, I figured I needed a little less liquid than what the original recipe called for so I reserved the juice from the tomatoes rather than mixing it in with the meat and cabbage. I did use some of that juice a bit later but only about 1/3 of what was in the can.

From there I followed the original recipe.

I'll try this recipe again but with some changes. As I mentioned, I'll use cauliflower instead of potato and will use more onion than I did this time but I think I'll add a little bit of homemade taco seasoning to the meat, garlic, and onion to give it that extra flavor. I might even put a little pico de gallo on top, too.

All in all, this is a hearty dish and I think it's one that lends itself to versatility. If you don't have one of the ingredients, use something else. Make it your own and if you do, please share with me what you did! I'm always looking for inexpensive but flavorful recipes.

December 27 - January 2 Menu

It's been a long time since I participated in Menu Plan Monday and I've missed it! I'll try to be more consistent about blogging and I hope others will try to give me input on menus and posts. ;)

So, last night was a YOYO (You're On Your Own) night because I worked until 6:30 and the Cowboys game was about to start when I got home. I had some Dreamfields pasta cooked in beef broth with a little stewed tomato and garlic and the man person had a sandwich made with some of the barbecued chicken I prepared yesterday. The meal wasn't particularly exciting but it was cheap, hot, filling, and very good while watching the Cowboys game.

Tonight we're having garlic baked salmon with steamed carrots and salad. And on New Year's Day we'll have black eyed peas, cabbage and fish of some sort for lunch.

The rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Roast beef slow cooked with sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions, served with tossed salad

Open face roast beef sandwiches (made with leftover roast beef) and green beans

Vegetable beef soup using the last of the cooked roast and vegetables

Sticky Chicken cooked with fresh green beans and served with salad

Homemade chicken pot pie (using Carbquick to make the crust), salad, and steamed spinach

And that's it for this week, tasty, nutritious, and thrifty food!

Happy eating, y'all, and don't forget to check out MPM for more great menu ideas.

Menu Plan Monday

This week we're going to try to eat what we have on hand. We spent quite a bit of money on the trip and need to tighten the belts a tad for the next week or so. Fortunately, we have plenty of food so we'll be fine and should need to hit the grocery just for things like milk, bread, and fresh produce. In light of that, here's the menu for the coming week, all easy and thrifty and in no particular order other than the first meal which we had tonight:

Barbecued chicken thighs served with salad, baked beans, and spinach

Beef roast broiled with lots of carrots, potatoes, and onions

Meat loaf, salad, and green beans

Beef salad, made from leftover beef roast, served on bread or lettuce leaves with cantelope and cheese chunks

Southwest chicken salad made with spicy cilantro chicken and a variety of toppings Went out for Mexican food

Scrambled eggs and turkey Italian sweet sausage with whole wheat toast

You're On Your Own (YOYO) night when we eat leftovers or whatever else we can scare up

For some excellent menu planning ideas and recipes, go on over to Menu Plan Monday. Add your own menu if you like and come back here with a comment letting me know so I'll be sure to check it out. I love reading about what others have planned! Oh, and if you're planning a vacation this summer check out Laura's Family Travel Tips and Vehicle Organization entries. That organizing junkie just rocks and she has great suggestions for anyone traveling this summer!

Using bits of this and bits of that - stir fry!

Stir fry is a great way to use little bits of this and that and leftovers work very well for it. It's also fairly easy so even a beginner can cook a thrifty and healthy dish.

And don't be stuck on the idea that stir fry has to be Asian!

One of the best dishes I create is a Mexican stir fry. I use a little leftover wild rice, taco or enchilada seasoning, bits of meat, a few vegetables like baby corn, onion, peppers, and even broccoli, and a splash of olive oil. It all combines to make a lovely dish with Southwestern flair.

For the meat, leftover meat loaf broken into small bits is good, as is leftover beef roast, chicken, or even fish! Don't forget that you can top each serving with a little cheese or shredded vegetables, too.

Let your imagination run wild and try stir fry with whatever you have on hand, cooked or raw. You might create a family favorite while making use of food that's been lingering in the fridge a bit.

If you like stir fry or haven't tried making it but would like to, check out this free cookbook . The minestrone recipe sounds particularly tasty to me and certainly unusual.

Enjoy!

A day off but not a day of rest & a really cheap pair of pants!

I'm off work today but have a lot to do. I absolutely must get the laundry done and I have to continue getting records together for the trip. I also need to make a few phone calls, get my hair trimmed, go to the bank, and ensure any bills due while we're gone are paid before we leave. Then I have to make sure our neighbors have our cell phone numbers so they can reach us in case of an emergency. There are other things I need to get done and they're all associated with the great excursion we're about to undertake.

Now for something totally different. Recently we went to Burke's Outlet in Marshall and were so impressed that when a friend of my stepdaughter needed clothes we took him to the one in Kilgore. We got him three pairs of pants and some shirts and socks and I got two pair of pants for work (4.19 each!), a shirt, a couple of hair doodads, and a three pack of trouser socks. The total for all this was $62.65. But the best part is one of the pairs of jeans we got the young man. Check out the third item on this recipt:

Eighty cents! Yes, eighty cents! I love Burke's Outlet!!

Menu Plan Monday - late but good!

I've been so busy with work and getting ready for the big genealogy research trip that I haven't done as much menu planning as I should have. I worked Saturday, Sunday, and today so there's been no cook out for us but that's okay. We'll do that while we're on vacation!

The menu for this week is short and uses some leftovers so it's easy and very thrifty.

Tonight we had the last of the enchilada casserole. I was going to prepare a salad to go with it but we were only in the mood for the casserole so that's what we had.

After tonight we have four more evening meals before we leave so the rest of the week we'll have, in no particular order:

Meat crust pizza with tossed salad and steamed green beans

Chicken stir fry with a little wild rice and a cold vegetable salad

Meatloaf with faux mashed potatoes and steamed spinach

Whatever leftovers are in the fridge

We'll be gone for a few days but I'll resume Menu Plan Monday when we return. And if you haven't participated in Menu Plan Monday, give it a shot. It's fun to see what others are posting and planning saves both time and money. And both of those are great things!

Easy Spicy Enchilada Casserole

I was in the mood for a little Tex Mex cuisine before I headed to work this afternoon so I whipped up a very fast and easy dish, similar to the Enchilada Stack I make now and then but requires less fuss. The recipe makes enough for two adults to have two servings with enough leftovers for another meal for at least one person. From start to finish this takes about 25 minutes and if the ingredients are bought at the right prices it's very inexpensive to make. In addition, it's fairly low in carbs! It's also great for get togethers and church functions and a lot of it can be prepared in a short period of time.

Spicy Enchilada Casserole

1 lb ground meat (I used turkey sausage today)
onion to taste
1 package taco sauce (I used some off brand purchased for .22 cents)
3/4 cup water
Crushed red pepper to taste
small can of green chiles, drained
2 cups shredded cheese (I used Monterey Jack, Pepper Jack & Sharp Cheddar)
10 ounces enchilada sauce, red or green
4 or 5 tortillas (I used La Tortilla Factory low carb tortillas)
Chili powder

Brown the meat with the onion. Drain grease if there is any and add crushed red pepper, green chiles, taco seasoning mix, and 3/4 cup water. Let simmer about 15 minutes then remove from heat.




Coat the bottom of baking dish with enchilada sauce. Place two tortillas in then turn them over to ensure both sides have sauce.

Pour a little less than half of the meat mixture onto the tortillas and spread fairly evenly. (Perfection isn't necessary because cheese hides a multitude of sins in Tex Mex cooking!) Spread a little less than half of the cheese on the meat. Top with two more tortillas, more enchilada sauce, and more cheese, spreading the cheese around the top of the sauce.




Sprinkle lightly with chili powder.

Bake at 350 for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Remove from oven, cut into squares and enjoy with toppings of your choice.




Today I used sour cream and black olives. Excellent!

A few sites to recommend

Okay, I've not mentioned the TYWKIWDBI blog before but that's because I just recently found it! How I could have missed this gem is beyond me (like I have 100 hours a day to do nothing but find great blogs), but miss it I did. However, now that I've found it I've been perusing the older entries and am just overwhelmed by it all. And impressed in a major way.

I found this blog by doing a Google search for information on New Madrid County, MO, where my paternal grandmother grew up and that search led me to this entry. It made such an impact on me that I started reading other entries. Now I'm hooked.

If you haven't read TYWKIWDBI, you should. Trust me.

Also, if you're interested in food storage, take a good look at Food Storage Depot. The site is well designed and the prices, though they might seem high, are pretty good. We do our food storage the old fashioned way by gathering a little here and a little there but for those that would rather have it done for them, Food Storage Depot is a great choice. By the way, I'm going to try and review their bread mix soon so watch Plain Ol' Food for that!

Eat From the Pantry Challenge, Week 1

On May 18th, I joined the Eat From the Pantry Challenge going on over at Learning the Frugal Life. I'm joining in the middle of it, but oh well, any attempt is better than none at all!

Well, I didn't do so well this week but I won't beat myself up over it. My goal was to buy only milk, eggs, and fresh produce for the rest of the month but I decided that if I can just cut way back on food purchases I'll be content with it so I haven't been blown out of the water.

One day I bought 3 bags of Market Pantry unbreaded frozen chicken wings (spicy garlic, barbecue and Jamaican) and we've been eating them here and there for lunch or a snack. If you haven't tried those, you really should. They beat the fire out of other brands and are reasonably priced at Target. Tonight we went out for Chinese and went to Wal-Mart where we spent $40 for food and some other things for our upcoming trip to Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri.

On a good note, I haven't bought lunch while at work for over a week now. Yaaay!

All in all, I haven't managed to do as well as I'd hoped but haven't totally botched the challenge, either.

When I joined, I'd forgotten we'll be gone for a week and while we plan to cook most meals at our cabin we'll certainly eat out a few times, too. This isn't going to be an outrageously expensive trip but it won't be cheap, either. We've budgeted and saved for it, though, and we're really excited about it! However, I'm taking that week off from the challenge and will resume when we return!

Freebie Frenzy

I've got a pretty good collection of samples and freebies going and Sara at Learning the Frugal Life inspired me to dig mine out for use.

This is a picture of some of the health and beauty samples I have. My stash is made mainly of HBA items but I have laundry and food items, also. Using some of the goodies should save us a little money here and a little money there and what's not to like about that?

Some of the items we simply won't use and those are going to be listed on Freecycle. Surely someone can utilize them, huh? If they aren't picked up they'll go to the local shelter.

Do you have samples and freebies lying around? If so, this might be a good time to gather them up and use them or give them to someone who will. You might save a little money, free up a little space, or give a little help and those are all good reasons to get the freebies and samples together.

Pizza Chicken

Dinner tonight was so simple and so inexpensive it was almost free!

When I made the menu for this week I forgot about the large bag of grilled and seasoned chicken and the large bag of fire roasted chopped onions I'd recently been given. But I remembered them tonight and utilized them in our dinner. I'm thrilled that although I was tired, we managed to have a good meal without going out for dinner and the meal helped me tremendously with the eat from the pantry challenge.

I call this dish Pizza Chicken because the ingredients are similar to those used in pizza but they're piled on top of chicken. It's certainly much lower in carbs than pizza, though, and honestly I prefer it to pizza.



To make this I just put the frozen grilled chicken and about 1/8 cup frozen fire roasted onions in an oval baking dish and baked at 325 until the chicken was almost hot enough to eat. Then I put about 1/4 cup of Focaccia Red Sauce on top of the chicken and topped that with an Italian cheese blend. I sprinkled it with some freshly ground black pepper and baked it about 10 minutes until the cheese was melted. Voila!

We had the Pizza Chicken with Asian vegetables (strange combination) and it was a very cheap but filling and good meal.

By the way, the red sauce I used has 2 grams of carbs for 1/4 cup, one of the lowest carb sauces I've found. It also has a robust and savory flavor to boot!

Eat from the pantry challenge

Sara, over at Learning the Frugal Life, has an Eat from the Pantry challenge going on this month. I just learned about it but I'm joining and will plan our meals around what we already have for the rest of this month. Fortunately, the MPM entry for this week already uses things we have so I don't need to switch gears there.

Eating from the pantry is something we try to do on a regular basis. We buy virtually all of our food on sale and buy a good quantity so rotation of foodstuffs is a necessity. Of course, that means that when something is nearing its 'end of life' stage, we consume it! But that also means we don't spend money for food items we already have unless we need to stock up on them.

My goal for the remainder of this month is to buy only milk, eggs, and fresh produce. I don't know that I'll make it since the stockpile mentality causes me to become a whirling dervish when I see certain things on sale but I'll be happy if I just cut waaaaay back on what I buy.

If you'd like to cut your grocery bill, set a goal for what's left of this month and join the challenge!

Spicy Pepper Jack Chicken

I made this for tonight's dinner and it's not only easy - it's great tasting and fairly low in carbs. I cooked this in my little convection oven and it turned out beautifully. We had it with steamed green beans and brown rice.

Spicy Pepper Jack Chicken

4 to 6 chicken breast halves, boneless and skinless
1 to 2 cups bell pepper, cut into strips or chopped into large pieces
1 can cream of mushroom, celery, or chicken soup or homemade equivalent
1/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup water
4 ounces pepper jack cheese, shredded
Seasonings to taste (I used garlic, pepper, and some chili powder)

Bake the chicken and bell pepper at 325 to 350 for 25 minutes or until the chicken juices run just slightly pink then remove and drain any grease from the pan. Mix the soup, cream, water, cheese, and spices in a bowl and pour over chicken pieces. Return the chicken to the oven and bake about 10 minutes. Remove from oven and top with a few tablespoons of chunky salsa and serve.

If you don't have heavy cream on hand, don't buy it just for this. Instead, use a little milk and water or half and half and milk. The sauce will be a little thinner but it will still be tasty.

To lower the carb count, use a homemade water/cream based soup rather than a store bought soup since those tend to be fairly high in carbs.

Yummy Friday leftovers for dinner!

We just ate a lunch of salad, broiled sirloin steak, and fresh asparagus.


Some of the leftovers went into the fridge for DH's dinner and some went in my bento box, along with a little leftover broccoli with cheese sauce and an avocado, for dinner tonight at work. If the dinner is half as good as the lunch it will be fantastic. The fact that the steak was a 3.5 pound one purchased for $5.49 and the asparagus was $.99 a bundle makes it all the more sweeter!

I just love coming up with a lunch that's low in carbs, tasty and inexpensive.

Pretty fair fare tonight!

Tonight we had SeaPak's Seasoned Ahi Tuna Steaks with spinach and peas and carrots. I'd planned to have salad, also, but we're out of salad stuff...

The tuna steaks were excellent but although a serving is listed as one we each wanted more! I'd only prepared two, though, so we sucked it up and just ate our tuna and vegetables.

The tuna comes pre-seasoned and although the seasoning is good, its a little on the salty side for me. Next time I'll rinse some of it off the fillet before baking.

One of the nice things about this meal is that it took less than 20 minutes, from beginning to end, to prepare. It's also heart healthy, low in carbs, and although it isn't what I'd call dirt cheap, it was quite reasonable. The box of two steaks costs slightly less than $5 and I can't even get greasy fried fish for that price around here.

Will we have Seapak's Seasoned Ahi Tuna Steaks again? You bet we will! And pretty regularly, too. :)