slow cooker Archives - Holistically Engineered

Whole30-Day 15 Prosciutto Wrapped Cucumber and Slow Cooker “Apples”

Karen Sorenson — Mon, 20 Aug 2012 09:30:00 +0000

I have now completed Day 15 of Whole30. Things are still going well and I love how I feel on this Whole30 Plan. I am a little nervous because I will be traveling for work later in the week and I really want to stay on plan. I will be taking some food with me (pouches of tuna and salmon) and I’ll pick up some veggies at the store once I get there. This will help me stay on track without being tempted by non-Whole30 food.

My meals for Day 15 were:

Breakfast: Chicken Sausage with Slow Cooker “Apples” (Recipe Below)

Snack: No snack

Lunch: Leftover Ribeye steak with Ranch Fries

Snack: Cucumbers and carrots (dressed with olive oil and vinegar)

Dinner: Salmon with Prosciutto Wrapped Cucumber (Served as a Whole30 appetizer for a party)

Snack: No snack

Time for a new week and a new meal plan!

Day 15:
Breakfast	Chicken Sausage with Slow Cooker “Apples” (Recipe Below)
Dinner	Salmon with Prosciutto Wrapped Cucumber
Day 16:
Dinner	Roasted Pork Tenderloin with Mashed Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic
Day 17:
Dinner	Pumpkin Chili over Turnip Fries
Day 18:
Dinner	TBD-Traveling
Day 19:
Dinner	TBD-Traveling
Day 20:
Dinner	TBD-Traveling
Day 21:
Dinner	Dijon Chicken Thighs with Roasted Carrots and Zucchini

I used the following ingredients for Whole30 Slower Cooker “Apples”:

3 medium zucchini, peeled and diced
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
Juice of half a lemon
1/8 tsp saltCombined ingredients in a slow cooker (I used a 4-qt. slow cooker. The recipe can be doubled for a larger slow cooker) and cook for 2-2.5 hours on HIGH.

Net Carb Count*:

Whole30 Slow Cooker “Apples”: 17 net carbs (for the entire recipe)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: I am not eating fruit right now because I do not want to use it as a replacement for sugar because my cravings may return. I will eventually add fruit back into my diet, but until then I wanted a great replacement. Zucchini is the perfect replacement because it is a blank canvas for flavors. Since I am completing the Whole30 Program I left out sweetener, but I would recommend adding some sweetener and a little vanilla for a more apple like taste. Apples can also be used if you can eat apples on your current meal plan. For the Chicken Sausage I used the seasonings from my Homemade Sausage (minus the cayenne for nightshade free) and added it to ground chicken. I formed the chicken into patties and cooked them in a skillet. I took the Prosciutto Wrapped Cucumber as a Whole30 appetizer for a party. Just make sure to peel and remove the seeds before wrapping half a slice of prosciutto (Check the label for no added ingredients. I used Applegate Farms) around each slice of cucumber.

Enjoy!

~Karen

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Pot Roast with “Potatoes” (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

Karen Sorenson — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:05:00 +0000

My latest cooking adventure is Low Carb Crockpot Pork Roast. I am usually pretty busy during the week and I don’t always have time to make dinner. In order to stay on track with my low carb plan I usually make a large batch of meat (chicken breasts, pork roast, pot roast, etc.) on Sundays so I can eat off of it all week for lunch and/or dinner. This past week I decided to make pot roast. The typical pot roast uses potatoes, but for mine I used radishes. After being slow cooked in the crockpot they taste just like potatoes. It is definitely a great replacement!

I used the following ingredients for the Crockpot Pot Roast:

3 lbs beef chuck roast
3 sprigs of fresh rosemary
5 sprigs of fresh thyme
6 whole garlic cloves
3 cups beef broth
1 lb radishes

Add the beef broth and spices (rosemary, thyme, and whole garlic) into the crockpot. Heat a large skillet on medium-high heat with 1-2 Tbsp of oil. Season the chuck roast with salt and pepper, to taste. Sear all sides of the roast for 1-3 minutes for side or until each is browned. Place the roast into the crockpot. Cover and cook on LOW for 4-6 hours (you will be adding the radishes later–see below) or until the meat shreds easily with a fork.

Cut the ends of the radishes and cut them in half. With 1-2 hours leftover cooking, add the radishes and allow to cook with the roast until tender.

Once the roast is done cooking, taste the liquid and add any extra salt and pepper, if necessary. Remove the meat from the crockpot and shred with a fork. Also remove the radishes. To make a sauce, strain the liquid through a mesh strainer and reserve the liquid. Heat the liquid in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the temperature to a simmer and let the liquid reduce by half. Serve the sauce over the roast and radishes.

Net Carb Count*:

Pot Roast with Radishes: 15 net carbs (for the entire recipe with the sauce)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: I left out the onions and carrots because I’m not a fan of onions and I didn’t want the added carbs from the carrots. These can definitely be added, but allow extra time for the onions and carrots to cook (they will take longer than the radishes and MAY be able to handle the full cooking time). This recipe produces tender and juicy shredded meat that can be eaten as a meal or used in other dishes like eggs or tacos. I portion the meat and radishes into individual servings and take it with me for lunch or dinner on a busy day. It’s always a good idea to plan ahead, when possible, and have meals and snacks ready. It’s the only way for me to stay on track. Hope you enjoy this recipe!

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Homemade Crockpot Chicken Stock (Low Carb and Gluten Free)

Karen Sorenson — Thu, 24 May 2012 21:13:00 +0000

My latest cooking adventure was Homemade Crockpot Chicken Stock. I have been reading a lot lately about the benefits of bone broth/stock and I wanted to try making some. Bone broth/stock is packed with vitamins, minerals, and gelatin (which helps with joint pain). While the store bought chicken broth is convenient, it is a processed food item that contains A LOT of sodium. Making your own allows you to control the ingredients and plus it’s pretty easy to make!

I used the following ingredients for the Homemade Chicken Stock:

The bones and carcasses of 2 cooked chickens (I used the bones leftover from two (3 lb) roasted chickens)

2 small onions

1 carrot

The inner ribs and leaves of 1 stalk of celery (plus leftover end pieces and leaves–use what you have available)

2 sprigs of fresh rosemary

3 sprigs of fresh thyme

10 cups of water

1 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV)

Cut the onions and carrot in half. Place the carcasses/bones, ACV, veggies, rosemary, and thyme in the crockpot. Cover everything with water (I used 10 cups-make sure you leave some space at the top). Cook on LOW for 8-12 hours. Allow the broth to cool and strain the broth through a mesh strainer lined with cheesecloth (optional). Refrigerate, allowing the fat to settle to the top and skim the solidified fat.

You are left with nutritious bone stock that tastes even better than store bought! Freeze or store in the fridge (see note below for storage suggestions).

Net Carb Count*:

Estimated to be 1 net carb for 1 cup of stock

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: I used the bones and carcasses leftover from chickens I had previously roasted. A good tip is to place all of your leftover chicken bones in a plastic freezer bag and store the bag in the freezer until you are ready to make stock. Anytime you make bone-in chicken (breast, thighs, legs, whole, etc.) save the bones and add it to the bag. I usually have celery to snack on, but I don’t like eating the celery hearts (small, light green ribs of the celery stalk) so I used those in this recipe. You can save your raw veggies scraps and those veggies that aren’t perfect for your dinner recipe and use them for broth/stock. Just store your veggies the freezer in a plastic freezer bag and add all of your veggie scraps to the bag. The vegetables are good for making bone broth or vegetable broth. It’s great tip for not letting anything go to waste! Also, I cooked my chicken stock overnight and woke up to delicious stock in the morning.

In this recipe I made stock and without the addition of salt. I chose to leave out the salt so that I can control the amount that is used in my recipes. You could add it to your mixture while cooking, but *WARNING* make sure you figure out the amount of salt per serving. You don’t want to end up with more per serving than store bought!

STORAGE: To store the chicken stock, I saved about 2 cups of stock in a mason jar for use this week. The stock should last about 3 days in the fridge. The stock you store in the fridge will turn into a gelatin like substance. This is good! It means that there is a lot of healthy, joint healing gelatin in your stock. Heat will turn the gelatin back into liquid form when you use it in your recipes. What do you do with the other 8 cups? I poured it into ice cube trays, let them freeze, and stored the cubes in containers labeled with the serving size (I made 1 and 2 cup servings.) My ice cube trays hold about 2 cups of stock, but make sure you measure how much yours will hold so you can label the servings properly. The ice cube shape makes it faster for the stock to defrost. Also, each one of my cubes is about 2 Tbsp worth of stock so it’s easy to measure (yours may be different). If you don’t want to mess with ice cube trays you could freeze the stock in individual serving sizes, but be sure to label the container so you how much chicken stock it contains (I recommend 1 or 2 cup servings).

When making the stock you can optionally add 1 Tbsp of apple cider vinegar to the bones to help extract extra minerals. Pour the vinegar over the bones and wait 30 minutes before adding the other ingredients and starting the stock.

I’ve written a lot of info here, but it really was easy to make because the crockpot does all the work. It is a good way to use all of your ingredients and to not be wasteful. Plus you get all of those vitamins and minerals! I hope you try it out because I loved the rich flavor that was produced from the homemade stock!

Need recipes using chicken broth/stock? Do a search in my blog for chicken broth and it will bring up lots of great recipes that use chicken broth.

Want more info about the benefits of bone broth? https://www.marksdailyapple.com/cooking-with-bones/#axzz1vp6uEuQ7 discusses the benefits of bone broth.

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Low Carb Crockpot Turkey Minestrone Soup

Karen Sorenson — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 02:23:00 +0000

Tonight’s cooking adventure was Low Carb Crockpot Turkey Minestrone Soup. The recipe was inspired by the following recipe: https://www.lowcarbcrock.com/2011/12/low-carb-crock-pot-minestroni-soup.html?spref=fb. I used the following ingredients for my soup:

1 cup chopped celery
1 cup chopped broccoli
1 cup chopped green beans
1 cup quartered radishes
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 Tbsp of minced garlic
1/2 tsp of dried sage
1/2 tsp of rosemary
4-5 cups of low sodium beef broth
1 lb ground turkey
1/2 cup grate parmesan cheese

Place the vegetables in a crockpot and add enough beef broth until the vegetables are just covered. Cook on LOW for 8 hours (or cook on HIGH for 4 hours). Brown the ground turkey in a skillet and season to taste. Set the turkey aside until needed. When there is 1 hour left (for HIGH) or 2 hours left (for LOW) remove 2-3 cups of the broth/vegetable mixture and blend the mixture until smooth. Add the blended mixture to the crockpot and stir to combine. Next, add the cooked turkey to the crockpot and allow the mixture to cook for the remaining time. Right before serving add the parmesan cheese and stir into the soup.

Net Carb Count*
Low Carb Crockpot Turkey Minestrone Soup 30 net carbs (entire recipe)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: This was a really easy soup to throw together and the crockpot does most of the work! The ground turkey adds some real heartiness to the soup. Once again I am pleasantly surprised that by simmering the radishes in the broth the strong flavor mellows and they are a great substitute for potatoes. Spinach could also be added to the soup for additional variety.

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Low Carb Spinach and Olive Tapenade Turkey Meatballs

Karen Sorenson — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:06:00 +0000

Tonight’s cooking adventure was Spinach and Olive Tapenade Turkey Meatballs. The original recipe can be found here: https://www.pamperedchef.com/quick-and-easy-recipes/turkey_meatballs.jsp and page 10 of PC’s Fall/Winter 2011 Season’s Best cook book. I made some changes to lower the carbs.

Spinach and Olive Tapenade:

1 6 oz package of frozen spinach, thawed

¼ cup grated parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves

2 Tbsp of capers

12 large green olives, pitted

¼ cup of fresh basil leaves

¼ cup oil

¼ tsp salt

Juice from half a lemon

Blend the garlic, capers, and olives in a food processor until chopped. Add the spinach, basil, cheese, oil, lemon juice, and salt and blend until a chunky paste is formed.

Turkey Tapenade Meatballs:

¼ cup pork rind crumbs

1-2 cups of Spinach and Olive Tapenade, divided

1 egg

¼ tsp salt

1.5 lbs of ground turkey

Preheat oven to 400 F. Mix together the pork rind crumbs, ¾ cup tapenade, egg, and salt until combined. Then add the turkey and mix until combined. Form mixture into meatballs and bake for 20-25 minutes or until the meatballs reach 160 F. Drain excess liquid after 15 minutes of cooking. Once the meatballs are cooked, place ½ cup of tapenade and the meatballs in a large bowl and toss to coat. Add more tapenade to coat if necessary.

Pictures of the tapenade, meatball mixture, and scooped meatballs (pre-baking):

Net Carb Count*

Spinach and Olive Tapenade Turkey Meatballs: 21 net carbs (entire recipe)

*Note carb counts are estimated based on the products I used. Check nutrition labels for accurate carb counts.

Comments: I recently received my pampered chef products and I couldn’t wait to make the lower carb version of this recipe. These meatballs were so tasty! It was a different spin on old classic. The tapenade gives the meatballs a wonderful flavor. I left my tapenade a little chunkier, but you can process it until it is the consistency you prefer. I baked them in my PC Ridged Baker and they came out really juicy. I also used a small scooper (like an ice cream scoop) to form 45 meatballs. If you make larger meatballs, they may have a longer cooking time. If you like to have a sauce with your meatballs, some low carb marinara or gravy would be good with these meatballs.

UPDATE: I recently made the meatballs for a party and made a variation of the recipe. I added a few slices of red bell pepper to the tapenade and I added a little extra tapenade to the meatball mixture. I cooked them as normal, but once cooked I added the meatballs to a crockpot with 2 cups (or enough to coat very well) of marinara sauce (instead of coating in more tapenade). I simmered the meatballs on LOW to keep warm. The marinara sauce I use has 8 net carbs for 2 cups. Even the non LCers loved them!

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