All posts by Rene Averett

Main Dish, Poultry, Recipes

Chicken Leek Pot Pie Comfort

Last week, a storm system rolled into the Northern Sierra  Mountains and brought downright chilly weather to Reno along with some heavy rains at times.  It was lovely to go from over 100-degree temperatures one day to down in the low 70’s for several days.  But it also called out for a casserole dish or some other kind of comfort food.  So I made this wonderfully delicious chicken with leeks and other vegetables pot pie.   It has a rich creamy sauce with light seasoning that is just great.   I used kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts in the dish, but the vegetables can vary.  Add turnips and green beans or cauliflower and broccoli.  The recipe is versatile.

Chicken Leek Pot Pie

Chicken and leek are just two of the wonderful ingredients in this delicious pot pie.

3/4 lb Chicken Breast
1/2 cup Leek, sliced (white and greens)
1/2 cup Mushrooms, sliced
3/4 cup Kohlrabi, diced and parboiled
1 cup Brussels sprouts, cut into quarters and parboiled
1/2 cup Onions, chopped
1 teaspoon Better than Bullion Chicken
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream or Half and Half
1 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/4 teaspoon Black Pepper
1 teaspoon ground Thyme
1 teaspoon ground Sage,
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
2 tablespoons Butter
1 tablespoon Low Carb Flour

Topping
1 cup Low Carb Flour
1/4 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/3 cup Water
1 large Egg,
1 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/3 cup Cheddar Cheese, shredded & divided

Preheat oven to 400 degrees (F.) Prepare a 2 to 3-quart baking dish by spraying lightly with cooking spray.

Cut chicken into bite-sized pieces. Cover and set aside.

In a large skillet, melt 1 tablespoon butter over medium heat, then add leeks and onions. Cook until they are just tender. Add chicken and cook until the meat turns white. Push the meat and vegetables to the side, add 1 tablespoon butter and 1 tablespoon low carb flour and stir together to make a paste in the middle. Add the cream, bullion and seasonings. Stir until mixed together, then pull the meat and vegetables back into the sauce. Add the mushrooms, kohlrabi and Brussels sprouts. Turn burner to simmer and cook while you prepare the topping.

In a medium bowl, add the topping ingredients, except 1/2 of the cheese, and mix together. If it is too thick, add a little water. This is like a moist drop biscuit dough so don’t over-mix or add too much liquid.

Pour the chicken filling mix into the prepared baking dish. Use a spoon to drop six large biscuits over the top and use the back of the spoon to spread them to make an almost solid crust over the top.

Bake for 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Sprinkle the rest of the cheese over the top and bake another 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

Makes 6 servings

Nutrition Info per serving:
     Calories:318.6 Fat: 22.7 g Net Carbs: 6.2 g Protein: 20.7 g

Give this recipe a try and add your own favorites to it.  Let me know how you like this.  By the way, what is your favorite comfort food for a chilly day?

Product Review

Italian Style Pasta Bake Is Lacking

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Product Review: Atkins Italian Style Pasta Bake Frozen Meal

While I am usually a fan of most of Atkins’ Nutritionals Products, the Italian Style Pasta Bake is lacking in both pasta and flavor. When I saw this product in the freezer section, I was excited to try it. I mean, look at the photo! Doesn’t it look absolutely delicious with lots of pasta, cheese, and sauce?

I admit it. Pasta is a difficult food to have on a low carb lifestyle. When Dreamfields Pasta came out with their pastas that they alleged were the equivalent of 5 net carbs in a serving, I was thrilled. Unfortunately, that didn’t turn out to be the case and they had greatly misstated the actual carbs. Although I did try them in several dishes and had no ill effects or weight gain from one serving and I still use the product. Atkins had a pasta on the market also, which I think has since been discontinued, but I never tried the pasta because it was still too high in carbs to fit into my lifestyle.

So, I saw this one and thought it would be the answer to a dream. It only has 7 net carbs in the whole meal and generally, Atkins meals are pretty generous for the average eater. I popped it in my microwave to cook and pulled it out to stare at it in disappointment. If there is 1/4 cup of pasta in this dish, I would be surprised. The sausage is plentiful though and the flavor of the sausage is very good, but the sauce lacks spice and is just too bland to really make a hit with me. The actual cooked product bears little resemblance to the picture on the box. I wish I’d taken a photo of the actual dish, but I didn’t and I don’t plan to buy it again in order to get the photo. Take my word, this is not one of Atkins better products.

Now, Atkins has often improved on their products when the feedback and sales aren’t that high and it’s possible they will try to improve this one as well. So, if I see a “new and improved” label on it, I might try it again. For now, I’ll stick with my pasta sauce on spaghetti squash or zucchini noodles. I also have pasta flour from LC Foods that I just might try making one of these days soon. Stay tuned for that!

Nutrition Info per box (Atkin)
Calories: 360 Fat: 21 g Net Carbs: 7 g Protein: 33 g
Weight 9 oz. (255 g)

On a scale of 1 to 5, I give this 2 cooking spoons. It’s not terrible, but it’s not very good either.

Asian Recipes, Main Dish, Pork, Recipes

Sweet and Spicy Pork is Cool and Easy

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On hot summer nights, you don’t want to spend too much time in the kitchen cooking and you don’t want to turn on the oven. Here’s a quick stir fry recipe that just fits the bill. You can prep the meal in the morning or the night before and store in the ‘fridge until you’re ready to cook. It has a great sweet and spicy taste from low carb honey and brown sugar substitute combined with Chinese style chili sauce. Just enough bite to give it zing and not too sweet. Add cauli-rice to serve and a nice green or cucumber salad to complete the meal. By the way, this recipe also works great with the other white meat – chicken!

Sweet & Spicy Pork

1 tablespoon Brown Sugar Substitute
2 tablespoons Sugar-free honey
1/4 cup Soy Sauce
2 teaspoons Ginger Paste
2 teaspoons chopped Garlic
2 tablespoons Chinese Chili Sauce
salt and pepper to taste
1 pound boneless Country Pork Ribs, cut into 1″ cubes
3 Green Onions, cut into 1/2 -inch pieces
1 tablespoon Oil (Olive or Coconut or Canola)

In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar substitute (I use LC Foods), sugar-free honey, soy sauce, ginger paste, garlic and hot sauce. Cover with a plastic wrap until ready to use.

Lightly salt and pepper the pork cubes. Slice the onions, using most of the green sections as well as the bottoms.

Heat the oil in a large skillet or wok over a medium high heat and add the onions. Cook and stir for about three minutes, then add the pork and brown the pieces on all sides. Takes about 4 to 5 minutes total. Pour the sauce over the pork and simmer until the sauce thickens, about 8 to 10 minutes.

Serve over 1/2 to 2/3 cup Cauli-rice for a fabulous meal. As an alternate to the cauli-rice, you can also serve over 1 cup stir-fried shredded cabbage or even mix the two for added flavor.

Nutrition Info per serving (pork dish only):
Calories: 365 Fat: 25.5 g Net Carbs:1.6 g Protein: 28.3 g

Tip: If you can’t find sugar-free honey, you can use 1 tablespoon regular honey. It will increase the net carbs to 6.4 g and calories to 385 per serving.

Breakfast & Brunch, Recipes

Simple Summer Dish of Zucchini Frittata

Let’s start the hot days of summer off right with a dish that is quick and easy to make for breakfast, lunch or supper.  Frittatas are very versatile.  Zucchini is a summer squash, but really, it’s available year round. It works well with eggs and sausage in this delicious frittata. Basically, a frittata is an Italian flat omelet that is either finished off by cooking on the stovetop with a cover over the pan to bake it or placing it in the oven to bake.   I used a lid over the skillet for this version.  They are easy and very tasty.  For a crisp top on the frittata, put it under the broiler for about 5 minutes.

Zucchini Sausage Frittata

By Rene Averett

3/4 cup Zucchini – sliced 1/8″ thick
1/4 lb. Italian Sausage, pork
2 tablespoons Sweet peppers, chopped
2 to 3 large Eggs
1 tablespoon Heavy Whipping Cream
1 teaspoon Coconut Oil or Olive Oil
1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/4 teaspoon Seasoning Salt
1/8 teaspoon Black Pepper
1/4 cup fresh Kale, chopped

Break the sausage into small pieces and cook in a 6″ skillet until lightly browned. Turn off heat or remove from heat source. Remove to a paper towel to drain.

Add oil to the skillet and arrange the zucchini slices into a circle around the pan, overlapping where necessary to fill the pan. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top.

In a small bowl, beat eggs, cream, sweet peppers and kale together. Add a bit of water if it is too thick. Return the pan with the zucchini to the stove and cook over medium heat until the zucchini begins to look translucent. Add the egg mixture, pouring over the zucchini to distribute the vegetables as evenly as possible. Distribute the sausage on top.

Let cook a few minutes until the egg is set and the edges are bubbly. Put a lid or an inverted pan over the top to keep the heat in. This will begin to cook the top of the frittata. After three or four minutes, remove the lid and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Return the lid and cook another three or four minutes until the egg is completely set and the cheese is melted.

Carefully turn the frittata out onto a plate by putting the plate on top of the pan then flipping the two together. Cut the frittata in half and serve. Makes two servings.

Half of the frittata with 1/3 cup of pasta sauce on top.

If you wish, you can add a low carb pasta sauce on top of the frittata and warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds. (You can also microwave it if the frittata isn’t done enough to your liking.)  This is a versatile recipe and you can swap out meats and vegetables as you like.

Nutrition Info per 1 serving
Calories: 320 Fat: 24.6 g Net Carbs: 3.9 g Protein: 18.4 g

Desserts, Recipes

Cool 4th with Frozen Strawberry Yogurt

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With the 4th of July holiday coming up this weekend, I am looking for some of the great food that I enjoyed as a kid. One of the key items from my childhood was making homemade ice cream. My brother and I shared the job of churning the ice cream and it was the old turning-the-handle method, not an electric motor doing it. We’d sit out in the back under the shade of a tree and turn it for what seemed like hours, but really wasn’t that long. When it got tough to turn, the ice cream would go into the freezer to cure. That was the best tasting ice cream ever. But things change.

Now ice cream is a rare luxury and I look for low carb ice cream. In my area, I can find vanilla Breyers Carb Smart, which is soft, creamy and has a wonderful flavor. For a while, Wal-Mart carried the chocolate Carb Smart also, but I haven’t found it recently. They also make ice cream bars.  A 1/2 cup serving of Carb Smart is 4 net carbs, so it can work easily into a strict low carb lifestyle. There are a few other brands that have ice cream that is lower in carbs, but not as low as CarbSmart. Check out your grocery store if you are looking for pre-made ice creams and be sure to look at the net carbs.

The drawback is that the flavors available are vanilla and chocolate. You can use the vanilla as a base and add other ingredients to it to create additional ice cream flavors. Or you can make your own.

Recently, we acquired a Cuisinart Soft Service Ice Cream maker and I started experimenting with it. One of the first ice creams I made was Strawberry Yogurt Ice Cream. What could be better for red in the red, white and blue for the 4th of July? So here’s the recipe. If you don’t have an ice cream maker, I’m including the instructions to make it without one.

Strawberry Frozen Yogurt

12 oz (2 containers) Kroger Carbmaster Strawberry Yogurt           or Oikos Plain Greek Yogurt
1 – 1/2 cups Strawberries, fresh or frozen
1/2 cup Heavy Whipping Cream
1/2 cup cold Water
1/2 cup Sugar Substitute
1 teaspoon Strawberry Extract
1/2 teaspoon Vanilla

Put strawberries and sugar into the food processor and pulse until the ingredients are smooth and blended together. Add heavy cream, extracts, yogurt and cold water. Refrigerate for 30 minutes or until ready to make the ice cream.

Turn on the ice cream maker and pour in the ingredients. Allow to mix for 12 to 15 minutes before checking for consistency. If it isn’t frozen enough, let it freeze another 5 minutes and check again. Repeat until it is the desired consistency. Remove ice cream from the freezer bowl and put into a container with a tight lid, placing plastic wrap over the top of the ice cream to prevent freezer burn.

Freeze for at least 30 minutes. It will harden or cure into a harder ice cream. Serve and put any leftovers back in the freezer.  To serve the next time, remove about fifteen minutes before serving to allow to soften. This gets very hard.

Makes 10 servings.

Nutrition Info per serving (Plain yogurt will be a little higher in carbs.)
Calories: 144.2 Fat: 13.5 g Net Carbs: 3.4 g Protein: 2.4 g

To make without an ice cream maker, maker the mixture up as above, then pour it into a 2 to 3-quart glass pan, cover with plastic wrap and freeze until it is almost solid. This will vary with your freezer and the depth of the pan. Check it on every hour. Pour or spoon the almost frozen mixture into a blender or food processor and mix until it is creamy and thick. Pour back into the glass dish or into a container with a lid and freeze for at least four hours. It should be solid and will have to thaw a little before serving.

Looking for a potato salad substitute for summer picnics, try this Texas-Style Turnip Cauliflower Salad.