This was so easy...I rinsed a package of shirataki noodles. While they were draining I cut some onion into skinny slivers and put it, along with a bag of slaw mix, into a hot pan with a little bacon fat in the bottom. When they started to get limp, I added the noodles, and handful of fresh pea pods, and some sliced mushrooms, then seasoned it all with sesame oil and soy sauce, along with powdered garlic and ginger (heavy on the ginger!). Reduced the heat, covered, and when the cabbage was cooked, served it with some chicken that I'd brined in heavily salted water with garlic and lots of ginger, in addition to the sea salt and some Diabetisweet Brown Sugar sub before roasting.

I know it says breasts but I think it would be great with thighs also...I had breasts I'd just gotten on sale though (99¢/lb) so I used those.

For the stuffing I combined equal parts (maybe a couple of Tbsp each) of full-fat cream cheese, butter, and parmesan from the green can. Then I mashed in about a Tbsp of Knorr's Alfredo sauce mix.

I took the resulting glop and, after separating the skin from the meat to make a pocket, stuffed the breasts. (I didn't think of it, but afterward I realized I could have cut slits into the meat to get the flavor even more into it.) After all 4 were stuffed, I brushed the tops with olive oil and put them into a 375º oven; because the breasts were enormous, it took them nearly an hour to get done.

But OHHHHHHH were they worth it! The meat was so juicy, and infused with the flavors of the stuffing...it was AMAZING!!!

This is something I made just today. I wanted warm creamy comfort food and this absolutely filled the bill!

First I rinsed, drained, and lightly chopped some shirataki noodles. Then I crumbled ground beef into a pan with the noodles and cooked it until the beef was browned, and added about a half-cup of frozen asparagus that I had left, chopped into 1/2" pieces, plus a can of mushrooms and 2 Tbsp of Knorr Alfredo Sauce mix to coat it all with 2 Tbsp of butter and a little sea salt. When the butter was melted I added a cup of cream, and let it come to a boil, stirring constantly, then down to simmer until the sauce had thickened.

This is just very basic, and, although delicious, could be easily modified with any meats or vegetables you might have in the house, and any spices you'd care to add as well. If I liked spicy, for example, I might have added pepper flakes. And now that I'm out of frozen asparagus, I could see adding green beans or brussels sprouts (halved probably), or spinach. Certainly it would work with chicken or pork also. But it was quick, easy, cheap, basic, filling, comforting, and low in carbs. Perfect!

Today was a one-meal day, consisting of pork chops marinated, with butternut squash medallions, and salad.

Recipes - for the marinade: dijon mustard, a few shakes of sesame oil, a few shakes of soy sauce, and a few shakes of liquid smoke, plus onion and garlic powder, ginger, sea salt, cinnamon, and diabetisweet brown sugar sub; marinated for 3 hours, then roasted on a rack @ 375 for 25 minutes. For the squash medallions, I peeled and sliced a butternut squash, then tossed the slices with olive oil, sea salt, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, and a touch of diabetisweet brown sugar sub. Laid the slices on a large sheet pan and roasted them at 425F for 20 minutes, then 375F for 25 minutes after I put the pork in the oven. I turned the medallions once, also at the time I put the pork in the oven.

Pork was $1.29/lb; our package was $2.37 and fed 4 adults with some left over. The squash was 69c/lb and cost under $1.00 (don't remember exactly how much); also fed 4 adults with some left over. Used a 50¢ bag of mixed greens. Add the salad dressing and seasonings for another $1 - a VERY liberal guesstimate, I'm sure it wasn't nearly that much - and all 4 of us had a great meal for about $5.00 total.

(Have I dispelled the "low carb is so expensive!" myth yet? :).)

Supper was a last-minute, thrown-together deal. I heavily seasoned some b/s chicken breast strips with garlic and chili powder, plus a little sea salt, then cooked them in a frying pan with olive oil. When they were done I cut them into big (2-bite) chunks and tossed them with the pan juices to coat all sides. I also made a simple dip of 2 parts ranch dressing and one part sour cream (full-fat of course). Buttered cauliflower with cheese sprinkled on top was our vegetable.

Beets. I love them! I buy them in a can that only contains water & salt with them. First I drain the juice into a saucepan, then I add a couple Tbsp of white vinegar and a couple Tbsp worth of sweetening. To that I add a Tbsp of butter with about 1/2 tsp of xanthan gum mashed into it. I bring it to a boil, stirring all the while; when it is thickened and boiling I add back the beets with just the tiniest pinch of cinnamon, lower the heat to medium low, cover, and let simmer for 10-15 minutes (or until I remember I have something on the stove!).

I love my beets this way, they pick up the flavors from the sauce quite well, although the sauce itself is too rich to eat...but it needs to be, to flavor the beets.

Supper was delicious. The cornish hens turned out beautifully. After rinsing and patting them dry, I rubbed the skins with butter, then roasted them in a covered roasting pan in a 350° oven for an hour. While that was roasting I peeled and cut into chunks 2 rutabagas and diced half of a large onion, and set them all to boiling in heavily salted water, then covered, lowered the heat to left them to finish cooking.

I'd made the oopsies earlier in the day, but I made the pumpkin cheesecake dessert next. It was quite simple. 1 sm. can of pumpkin, 2c heavy whipping cream, 1 box of SF cheesecake pudding mix, 1/4c Diabetisweet brown sugar sub, ½c cold water,and hefty shakes of cinnamon and allspice. (Where did my nutmeg go???) Whipped it all at high speed until light and fluffy, then put it into a serving bowl and refrigerated it.

30 minutes before dinnertime I uncovered the hens and turned the oven temp up to 375°.

15 minutes before dinnertime I started heating the frozen whole green beans in a small frying pan with some olive oil and sea salt over medium heat, stirring occasionally while I set the table. Then I opened the can of jellied cranberry sauce (my one guilty pleasure today, I love the stuff!) and sliced it, mashed the rutabaga/onions with salt, pepper, and butter and moved them to a serving bowl; moved the green beans to a serving bowl and added a little butter on top, and put the now-golden hens on a serving platter from my childhood. A few of the oopsies were already on the table.

The photo above is our low carb (except for the cranberry sauce!) Thanksgiving dinner, plus the little dish of pure butter (and my mom's crossword books and tissues that she takes everywhere with her). For the 3 of us I felt no need to make a dozen dishes, and in fact this was plenty, and we have leftovers for tomorrow!


The dessert, served with freshly-whipped cream (to which I just added a splash of vanilla and a little Altern (Walmart's sucralose brand), since the dessert was already plenty sweet enough, and this is the result.

I have much for which to thankful, not only on Thanksgiving but every minute of every day of my blessed life. But to spend the day with the people I love, and to offer the food that I create for them with my own two hands, is what really makes the day special for me!

I've had a craving for days that I finally satisfied at lunchtime: cut 1# of bacon into ½" pieces and fried lightly (to get "bits"); drained off most of the fat for later use; added 1/2 yellow onion, chopped, and fried with the bacon until onion was translucent and bacon was crispy; added a head of cabbage, chopped, with about ½c of water. Covered, reduced heat, and cooked for about 20 minutes, until the cabbage was soft; stirred it all up, then cooked for another 10 minutes. (If you like heat, you might want to add some red pepper flakes!)

Definitely cheap and easy! The cabbage was 60¢; the bacon was $1.79; the ½ onion was about a quarter. It made 3 large servings, so the total per serving was about 85¢. Doesn't get any cheaper than that!

Supper was a pork butt roast, which I'd gotten on sale for $1.19/lb. I brined it with sea salt (of course), chili powder, garlic and onion powder, and ginger - about 1/4c of salt and a couple of Tbsp of each of the spices. Then roasted as usual after a few hours of brining. It made an awesomely tender and flavorful roast that we'll be eating for several days. I served it with some simple veggies.

Today was a great, flavorful, cheap and easy low carb day!

When I cook or bake, I don't really measure, I just follow my instincts. So the quantities below - as in all of my recipes - are just guesses.

4 large eggs
2 tbsp heavy cream
2 tbsp oil
1 tsp baking powder
1/4c almond meal
1/4c pecan meal
2 tbsp polydextrose
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Mix all the ingredients well and cook as you would in any other pancake.

I served them with butter melted over them, and SF maple syrup.

Note that this is one variation; it really depends what I have in the house, and since I don't follow recipes it's more often just what I grab :).

Tonight's supper was hash, low carb style. Browned some ground pork sausage ($1.27 for about 1.25#), added 1/2 of an onion (was 49¢ for the whole thing), coarsely chopped, 2 yellow squash (99¢ ea), diced, and a box of mushrooms that were on the "last day" rack for a buck, sliced.

A nice, CnE, "pile it on your plate and pour some ketchup on top" kind of meal. I used 2Tbsp. out of the $2.29, 14 oz. bottle of lowcarb ketchup, 16¢. Pete used some out of the big huge Gordon Foods bottle, so his was less. Anyway, still under $5 for all we could eat (there are leftovers), for both of us.