Spicy Tennessee Deviled Eggs {Low Carb}

While waiting for a flight in the Nashville airport, my husband and I stopped in O’Charley’s to grab a quick bite. We were looking for something fast and low carb. They had Tennessee inspired deviled eggs on the menu. We ordered them and quickly decided that this was a flavor we would need to replicate at home.

I had to search around for the ingredients but after I found them all, I was able to copy the flavor almost exactly.

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Here’s my recipe:

2 boiled eggs

2 tsp. mayo

1 Tablespoon Tennessee Chow Chow

drizzle of Historic Lynchburg Habanero Hot Sauce

4 pickle slices

Boil eggs. Let cool. Peel eggs. Cut the eggs in half and take out the yolk. In a bowl combine the mayo, chow chow, and cooked yolks. Mix until mostly smooth. Place pickle slice under each egg. Put the yolk mixture into the egg. Drizzle the hot sauce on the top.

Enjoy!

Low Carb Brownies {Recipe}

I haven’t shared a low carb recipe in awhile. I tried out a few recipes that weren’t share worthy, but finally made one that I just HAVE to share.

I am not the biggest fan of cake but I love cookies and brownies. I feel like a have a good handle on  low carb almond flour cookies but haven’t really been brave enough to try brownies until now.

These brownies truly taste as good as the full sugar, flour version. They are low carb, no sugar, and gluten free. They stayed moist for a full week without having to be tightly wrapped. So, without further ado, here’s the recipe:

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Loved in the South’s Low Carb Brownies

3 cups blanched almond flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1/4 cup olive oil

1 cup sweetener (I used Splenda)

1 cup Torani sugar-free caramel syrup

2 eggs

1 tablespoon vanilla

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Mix all the ingredients together until smooth. Pour into a greased pan. Bake 35-40 minutes until a knife inserted in the middle comes out dry. It may have a little bit of soft brownie stuck on it, but it should be cake-like, not runny.

Enjoy!

Super Spicy Buffalo Dip {recipe}

I made a buffalo dip last night that was so hot that my kids were running to get glasses of milk and huge dollops of sour cream. I even had to have sour cream with mine. I love sour cream so it was a bonus.

If you like spicy, this should hit the spot.

Loved in the South’s Super Spicy Buffalo Dip

3 large cans of chicken breasts (drained)

1 bottle of spicy buffalo sauce

1.5 containers of jalapeño cream cheese

1 can diced jalapeños

Mix it all together in a large bowl until smooth. Put it in a casserole dish. Put cheese all over the top.  Bake at 350 until cheese is melted and the dip is bubbly.

Serve with tortilla chips if you don’t count carbs. For a lower carb dish, ditch the chips and find a fork. It’s delish!

 

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Vanilla Frappuccino Recipe {Low Carb}

imageMy children are big Starbucks fans. If calories and carbs were of no concern to me, I would love it too! One of the drinks I really enjoyed during my last pregnancy was the Vanilla Bean Frappuccino. It doesn’t have any coffee in it and is caffeine-free. Of course, that was probably a contributor to my big weight gain with my son. Every time we go to Starbucks, I think about how tasty that drink was and how I will probably never get one again. I decided to try my hand at making a low carb version of my favorite Starbucks cold drink.

It’s not a perfect copy, but it is cold, creamy, and has a great vanilla taste.

 

Loved in the South’s Low Carb Vanilla Frappuccino

1 cup of unsweetened coconut milk

1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

2 Tbl.sugar free vanilla syrup

2 sugar substitute packets

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Put in all in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour in a glass and enjoy!

If calories were not a concern, I would have added 2 Tbl. of heavy whipping cream and a dollop of whipped cream on top. I believe that those additions would make it even more like that favorite coffee shop.

 

 

Getting Ready for Shark Week

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When I was in the hospital with my first baby it was Shark Week. For years, we knew the start of school was right around the corner when Shark Week was upon us. For the past couple of years though, Shark Week on Discovery Channel has been in June. I wish they would’ve kept it the same time as always. Last year, I was planning all kinds of festivities to go along with the week. Then I realized I had already missed it. I was so disappointed! Since I know it starts this Sunday, I can use the plans I had last year.

Some cute ideas can be found at Community Table.

There are free printables at Pretty Providence

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Photo credit: Pretty Providence

Teachers Pay Teachers has a great little bundle all about sharks.

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Photo Credit: TPT

 

I bought a few things from Amazon. I got some shark plates, cups, and toys.

I know they sell shark fruit snacks at Kroger so I’ll be getting some of them.

On Monday, we will have a seafood dinner in honor of Shark week. I got the recipe from The Fresh Market. We’ve had it once before, and it is so good!

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Baked Blue Cheese and Lime Shrimp

Ingredients

2 lbs. 21-25 ct peeled & deveined shrimp
juice of 2 limes
1 stick unsalted butter
1/4 c. heavy cream
1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese
2 oz. blue cheese, crumbled
1/2 tbsp. hot sauce
1 (14 oz.) box brown rice
– paprika, to taste
fresh parsley, to taste
Preparation

Preheat oven to 350º. Place shrimp in a single layer in a 9×13-inch baking dish; drizzle lime juice evenly over shrimp and set aside.

In a 4-quart pot over high heat, melt butter; add cream and bring to a boil. Add cream cheese, blue cheese and hot sauce, whisking until smooth. Pour cheese mixture over shrimp and bake for 20 minutes in preheated oven.

Meanwhile, cook rice according to directions on package; set aside and keep warm.

Serve shrimp and cheese sauce over cooked rice; garnish with paprika and parsley.

I’d love to hear if anybody out there plans on doing anything fun for Shark Week.

Keto Fried Chicken

It will probably come as no surprise to anyone, but fried chicken is my very favorite food. I don’t actually remember my mom making it very often. I just know that it is one of my favorite foods. I like it crunchy and if I can get a little spice in there too, it’s even better. I rarely eat it. I probably went years without it. So sad! Then, my husband said, we can fry foods on keto. Eureka! I may be able to have fried chicken again.

So, one night we got adventurous. We coated the chicken breasts in egg. Then we dipped them in parmesan cheese.  We used the kind that comes in a cylinder on the shelf. Then we dipped it again and coated it again. We then put in into a fryer. We bought a small fryer for about $20 at Christmas time. We actually did all this outside because we tried this once before and it really makes a lot of smoke. Because the breasts we used were so large, (I guess those chickens had really been hitting the free weights hard) it took forever for them to cook. The next time we do this, we decided that we will make them into chicken fingers. That will make them more manageable and make them cook faster.

These are completely allowed on the diet because the have a lot of fat. Now, I still don’t eat them very often. I like them a little too much and go a little overboard. Also, while we can eat these kinds of fried foods on a keto diet,  I still prefer to eat healthier.

If you are like me, and get a hankering for some fried chicken while on a keto diet or even a gluten-free diet, then this is for you!!

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Keto Fried Chicken

2 pounds of chicken breasts or chicken fingers

1 1/2 to 2 containers of shelf stable parmesan cheese

Salt, pepper, any other spices to taste

6 eggs, beaten

In a medium to large bowl, beat the eggs. In a lasagna pan or large Ziploc, put the parmesan cheese and if you desire spices, add them as well. Drop your chicken into the egg, dredge in the parmesan mixture. Do this two times. When your oil is very hot, carefully drop your chicken into the fryer. The outside should turn a lovely brown. Use a meat thermometer to check for doneness. Place on a paper towel covered plate to help pull out any excess oil. This takes time when using a small fryer. You may want to keep them warm in the oven until all of them are done. 

Enjoy!

If you try this, please let me know how you liked it.

“Fried” Squash

 

One of my favorite foods is fried squash. I always looked forward to the days at school when fried squash was a side item. One of our friends who has a farm brought us some squash that he’d grown. Since we stay away from regular flour, I decided to make these with almond flour and bake them.

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Oven Fried Squash

3 medium squash, cut into circles

1/2 to 3/4 cup almond flour

salt to taste 

Spray the squash with cooking spray, coat with almond flour. Place on cookie sheet and then in an oven that’s been preheated to 425 degrees. Bake, turning them halfway through. I baked them for about 15 minutes. 

Enjoy!

 

 

 

Enchilada Soup

I love a good thick soup. If you’ve ever seen my other recipes then you know I like spicy too. This soup is thick and spicy and I love it! It is one of the easiest soups to make, so without further ado, here’s the recipe.

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Loved in the South’s Easy Chicken Enchilada Soup

  • 3 packets of taco seasoning
  • 1 to 2 small jars of diced jalapenos
  • 3 large cans of green enchilada sauce
  • 3 lbs. of  cooked chicken breasts
  • 2 containers of jalapeno cream cheese

I place all of the chicken in my crockpot with one taco seasoning packet and cook it on low for 6 hours. When the chicken is done, I shred the meat. I take out most of the liquid that is in the crockpot. I then put in all my other ingredients and stir. I cook it on low for as long as I need or until it is heated through. If I’m using my Dutch oven (like in the picture), then I will put it it in the oven at 180 degrees for a few hours. Yum!

 

Celebrating Earth Day

The kiddos woke up to an Earth Day breakfast. I thought that Earth pancakes sounded so cute. image

They were not the hit I’d hoped they would be. Only one of my children would even try them. Good thing I knew that was going to be the most probable outcome and made the rest of the batch normal.

Later, we read The Lorax by Dr. Seuss and the two little girls did a couple of worksheets pertaining to the book.

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After some school work, we made seed paper out of old catalogs. We tore paper into about 2 to 3 inch pieces and put them into a blender filled about halfway with water. After blending, we took the pulp outside and used an old screen to press out the excess water and mold them into shapes. Then we added marigold and hollyhock seeds. We plan on giving these away once they dry.

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We even had a Lorax themed dinner and an “earthy” dessert.

I got the coloring sheet printable from Dawn Nicole Designs. Olivia loves to color and after we read The Lorax, she was so excited to color and frame her work.

I made bow tie pasta (the Lorax’s mustache) with broccoli (truffala trees) with homemade low carb Alfredo sauce with Keto fried chicken. For dessert, the kids used chocolate pudding, smashed Oreos, and gummy worms to make their “earthy” dessert.

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I hope you had a nice Earth day too.

Pimento Cheese {Low Carb}

I love a good pimento cheese spread. I’m pretty picky about them though. It can’t have too much mayo. It better not have too many pimentos. It definitely needs a little heat. I decided to try my hand at a homemade version including all of my must haves and excluding all the things I don’t like.

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I put a large block of sharp cheddar through the food processor. I added mayo, jalapenos, pimentos, and cayenne pepper. It was DELISH!!! I can barely wait to find more things to slather it on.

Loved in the South’s Spicy Pimento Cheese

1 large block of sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)

1 cup mayonnaise

1/4 to 1/2 tsp. cayenne 

1 small jar of pimentos

1 small can of diced jalapenos.

I drained both the jar and can just a little before adding them. Mix everything together and enjoy!

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