I LOVE CHIA (and flax meal)

So along with my research I've made a new discovery.. With the help of Pinterest and a few recipes shared by my mom I have found my GO TO breakfast / snack type meal.

LOW CARB "Oatmeal"

It thickens like the classic hot breakfast cereal. It fills you up like it is filled with carbs. It is just as easy as instant! SUPER quick and you don't need a TON of ingredients!

For mine I use:

2 tablespoons chia seeds
2 tablespoons ground flax meal
1/3 cup - 1/2 cup hot water
cinnamon, pumpkin pie spices, cocoa powder - to taste
sweetener, 1 packet - to taste
2 tablespoons of heavy cream (whipped or liquid)
1/2 cup of Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Coconut milk

Turns out to be barely a carb (depending on your sweetener and toppings).
You can add whipped cream, berries, nuts (coconut, almonds, pecans, walnuts)..more whipped cream.

It is super filling and easy to make.
Add the dry ingredients together and mix.
Add the hot water and let it sit about 2-3 minutes. It will thicken A LOT. You can then add either more water or the heavy cream and Almond milk.

I'm terrible at writing recipes. But there ya go!

"Jambalaya" & Cauli-Rice

* I apologize ahead of time for this recipe. I have never had authentic Jambalaya, Gumbo, Creole or Cajun cooking. Not even the pre-made packets from the store. I don't exactly call it Jambalaya, but we can call it a Creole seasoned Stoup (stew/soup).

Our neighbor raved about this local meat shop in town and how they had great Andouille sausage. We never had it and wanted to give it a try - jambalaya style.

It turned out to be a great Cauli-Rice dish!

Ingredients

1 package (rougly a pound) of Andouille Sausage, cut in rounds

2 medium green bell peppers, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 chicken breasts, boneless/skinless & cut in pieces

small bag of shrimp, thawed from frozen or fresh (roughly a pound)

2 chipotle peppers in adobo, sliced & to taste (spicy/optional)

Creole Seasoning, to taste

3 beef bouillon cubes in 2 cups of water (roughly)

1 can of diced tomatoes (with or without green chilies)

small can of plain tomato sauce (about 1/2 cup)

1-2 tablespoons of fresh thyme

1 head of cauliflower, raw & riced

Directions

Chop the head of cauliflower into florets, place in a blender & cover with water. Pulse a few times until it resembles a rice-like consistency. Set aside. Keep raw.

Saute garlic, green peppers, onion and a few tablespoons of fresh thyme, in olive oil and seasoned with some Creole Seasoning. Add to the a bowl with the contents of a small can of plain tomato sauce.

Chop the chicken and the andouille sausage. Cook until brown and tender. You can boil the shrimp separately in a small pot with some Creole Seasoning.

(leaving the shrimp to be added at the very end or in your bowl) 

Add in the tomato sauce mixture, canned diced tomatoes, cauliflower (raw) and cook until cauliflower is tender and all meat is cooked through/sauce heated. I add in the beef bouillon after I add the cauli-rice to get a certain consistency. It is up to you. 

Serving Size: makes ROUGHLY 8 1-cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 250.9

• Total Fat: 11.6 g
• Cholesterol: 90.4 mg
• Sodium: 889.5 mg
• Total Carbs: 12.0 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.1 g
• Net Carbs: 8.9 g
• Protein: 24.0 g

Just got done doing the dishes after this amazing-ly simple meal. It is my first time ever making Rice-d Cauli(flower). For us it was a total success! My hubby couldn't even tell there wasn't any rice! It was also SUPER filling and there are a TON of leftovers. 

I honestly didn't measure out the serving exactly. But I would guess my bowl had about 1 cup or so in it and I didn't even finish it! I added Queso Fresco (crumbled) and homemade guacamole with a dollop of sour cream on top of mine. Hubby put his on a tortilla (he isn't entirely Low-Carb). I will have an ingredient list and Net Carb count for the guacamole and other toppings along with the main dish recipe.

The flavor was SPOT on. The texture was too. 
As a kid my mom and grandma would make Spanish Rice using Rice-A-Roni and browned ground beef + some stewed or diced tomatoes. 
I wanted to make something similar but MUCH lower in carbs. I think I did pretty good!

Not the prettiest picture, but yummy Spanish Rice-d Cauliflower.

Ingredients:

1 head of Cauliflower (raw) 

2 pounds of ground meat (optional - or chunks of meat), I used ground turkey.

cumin (couple teaspoons or more to taste)

chili powder (couple teaspoons or more to taste) 

garlic powder (teaspoon)

garlic pepper (teaspoon)

dash of salt and pepper

1 medium onion chopped

2 medium green bell peppers

garlic, minced (couple tablespoons)

diced tomatoes (I used a small can with green chilies), plus 1/3 cup of water

1/3 cup of plain tomato sauce (puree) 

I added some mushrooms, diced (optional)

1 bunch of cilantro, chopped

half of a lime, juiced

Toppings:
Guacamole ROUGHLY 3.4 g Net Carbs per 8 servings, 3 tablespoons
Sour Cream ROUGHLY 1.5 g Net Carbs for 3 tablespoons
Crumbled Queso Fresco 0 g Net Carbs per serving
Shredded Cheddar Cheese 0 g Net Carbs per serving

TIP: 

You can easily cut this recipe in half. The seasonings are all to taste. The veggies are to your liking. You can use half of the cauliflower, 1 pound of meat (of your choice/optional).

For a vegetarian friendly recipe you can season Tofu with your own Taco Seasoning (sugar free, I like Chili Powder and Cumin together). And when cooking the Rice-d Cauliflower you can use vegetable bouillon.

DIRECTIONS:

Cut up and blend Cauliflower pieces with water (to cover in blender) until it is a Rice-like consistency - a few pulses.

Add to a large pot of water (1/4 full, couple cups worth) with a 2 beef or vegetable bouillon cubes and cook on medium heat until boiling. Once boiling add rice-d cauliflower and cook for 5-10 minutes or until the tenderness you'd like (not mushy).

Drain in a mesh strainer and press out the liquid OR once cooled you can scoop into a cheese cloth to squeeze out the extra water.

Brown/cook meat in a couple tablespoons of jalapeno flavored oil (jalapeno flavoring optional). 

For flavored oil: *this is where the jalapeno comes in*
couple tablespoons of olive oil, half of a seeded jalapeno and heat until pepper is soft. 

Let cool slightly and add in the other seasonings - cumin (couple teaspoons or more to taste), chili powder (couple teaspoons or more to taste) garlic powder (teaspoon), garlic pepper (teaspoon), dash of salt and pepper and heat it slightly before adding the meat.

Chop your veggies. 

Remove meat, set aside. 
Leave the remaining oil (you can drain) and add the Rice-d Cauliflower. Cook until the flavored oil is absorbed. 
Remove and set aside.

Add a couple more teaspoons-tablespoons of olive oil. Saute the other veggies.

Once the veggies are cooked, combine all of the ingredients (you may need to use a large pot for this).

Add in the tomato sauce and diced tomatoes, plus a little bit of water.

Add the lime juice and cilantro.

You can add shredded cheddar at this point if you'd like.

Add your toppings of choice.

Serving Size: makes roughly 8 1-cup servings

Nutritional Info

• Servings Per Recipe: 8 1-cup servings
• Amount Per Serving
• Calories: 271.7

• Total Fat: 15.0 g
• Cholesterol: 80.0 mg
• Sodium: 160.1 mg
• Total Carbs: 9.3 g
• Dietary Fiber: 3.2 g
• Net Carbs: 6.1 g
• Protein: 25.4 g

Guacamole:

2-3 Avocado

1/4 Onion 

1 Teaspoon Chili Powder (more or less to taste)

Half of a Lime, Juiced (zest is optional)

1/4 Bunch of Cilantro, chopped

2-3 Medium Tomatoes

1/2 Jalapeno (optional)

1 Teaspoon Garlic, minced

1/2 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Salt & Pepper to taste