Low Carb Zucchini Lasagna Recipe

Lately I have been craving marinara sauce like CRAZY. I could seriously eat a can of Prego with a spoon. As far as my research has shown, I most likely have an iron deficiency. Working on that (hello multivitamin)... Anywho...

I got this recipe from Skinny Taste and then I kind of adapted it in a couple of ways for my taste (made it saucier). If you havent checked Skinny Taste out and you are a low-carber, I HIGHLY recommend it.

Before I jump in to the recipe, a couple things: I wish it had more zucchini, I also wish it had a little less cheese ( Sayyy what? For real. It had a lot of cheese, dont get me wrong I love cheese, but it would cut down on the calories if you only use about 3/4 of it).

So here is my version of the recipe. 

Me and my puppy, cooking up some low-carb lasagna

Ingredients:  

• 1 lb 93% lean beef
• Garlic Powder
• Dried Onion Powder
• Dried Basil 
• Dried Oregano
• Dried Cilantro
• 1/2 onion
• salt and pepper
• 24 oz can Marinara sauce (make your own if you are avoiding added sugars)
• 3 medium zucchini, sliced 1/8" thick
• 15 oz part-skim ricotta
• 1 large egg
• 16 oz part-skin mozzarella cheese, shredded

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Slice zucchini into 1/8" slices. I used a mandolin slicer and it only took about 5 minutes to slice all three zucchinis. Set zucchini aside on a plate. 

Brown hamburgers with spices and onion. While you are browning the hamburger, turn a skillet on medium heat and place zucchini slices in a single layer and cook each side for 2 minute or until zucchini slices are slightly browned and tender.

 In a small bowl, mix together Ricotta, the egg, and the same seasonings that you used on your hamburger. Set aside.

 Once hamburger is browned, add in your marinara sauce and stir together. And now, youre ready to layer.

 In a 9 x 13 inch casserole dish, pour down a thin layer of meat sauce. Place a layer of zucchini on top of the sauce, add a layer of ricotta, then a layer of mozzarella. Continue this pattern until your casserole dish is full. Add any additional cheese to the top of your dish. 

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. I put my dish on a cookie sheet just in case it bubbles over a bit. 

This recipe makes 8 servings. Each serving is about 596 calories and 20 g carbohydrates. 

I consider this a more indulgent meal for low-carbers because its still pretty high in fat and sodium. This isnt something that you should eat everyday, but it is definitely a great meal for when you are craving pasta. This definitely kept me full and it tasted amazing. I would actually prefer this over regular lasagna. All of the taste is there, but the carbs arent.

Have you ever used zucchini in place of traditional pasta? Tell me about your experience below. 

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Low Carb Zucchini Boat Recipe

I went to my parents house yesterday and they have so much zucchini from the garden, and the tomatoes are coming on too! I wanted to help use some of it up, so I made us these low carb zucchini boats. They are delicious and easy to make. Heres how:

Ingredients
2 medium zucchini, cut long ways in half
1 lb lean ground beef
2 tomatoes, diced
1 green bell pepper,  diced
2 cloves garlic, diced and separated in half
1/2 tablespoon dried onion
1/2 teaspoon basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3/4 cup shredded cheese (optional), separated in half

Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with tin foil and set aside.

Use a metal spoon to scrape the center pulp out of the zucchini halves. leave about a 1/4 of an inch worth of zucchini in the peel, dont scrape too far through! Set the boats and pulp aside, youll use them later.

In a pan, combine ground beef, tomato, green pepper, one clove of garlic, dried onion, oregano and Italian seasoning. Brown ground beef completely. Add half of the shredded cheese to your ground beef and combine.

In a blender or a food processor, blend zucchini pulp and garlic together until it is a smooth texture. Pour pulp into hamburger mixture and mix well.

Place boats on lined cookie sheet and spoon mixture into each one. Sprinkle with remaining cheese and bake for 30 minutes.

Each boat counts as one serving, this recipe makes four servings.

This recipes is low in carbohydrates. The sugars are primarily coming from your vegetables. If you are looking to cut down on the fat, eliminate the cheese and switch to ground lean chicken, turkey or your favorite vegetarian crumbles. 

Have you ever tried zucchini boats? What do you fill yours with? 

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Low Carb Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

Im a fan of anything cheesy and meaty. While I try not to over do it on cheese too often, every once in a while I like to indulge with a gooey, cheesy, low carb recipe. These low carb* stuffed peppers are amazing! Instead of using rice, they us quinoa.

Ingredients

4 large green bell peppers
1 pound hamburger
1 c. cherry tomatoes, halved
1 c. fresh spinach, chopped
1/2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
1/2 c. shredded cheese, divided
1 c. uncooked quinoa

In a large pot, bring water to a boil. Slice tops off of green peppers and remove seeds and core. Place in boiling water and boil for about 7 minutes or until tender. While peppers are boiling, combine hamburger, tomatoes, spinach, Italian seasoning, salt and 1/4 c. cheddar cheese. Cook until hamburger is done. In a small sauce pan, add two cups of water to the quinoa and cook until quinoa is translucent and tender. Add quinoa and beans to hamburger mixture. Remove peppers from pot and place in a baking dish. Fill each pepper with the hamburger mixture and sprinkle remaining cheese over each pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes.
 *Note: I added pinto beans to mine in this picture because I had gone on a long run that day. :) To keep it low carb, I cut them out of the recipe.

Serving size is 1 pepper. This is a filling meal, and it makes great leftovers, too!

You can dress these up with sour cream or hot sauce, but they are also just as good plain. If you want to cut out some calories, cut back on the cheese by excluding it from the hamburger mixture.

If youre looking for more cheesy, delicious recipes, check out this low carb Pizza recipe. Its the BEST!

Whats your favorite cheesy, low carb meal? Share a link in the comments section below!

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Low Carb Broccoli Salad Recipe

I have been completely obsessed with broccoli salad lately. The crazy thing is that Im not even that big of a fan of broccoli, but for some reason this salad is like a heavenly chorus of random flavors that is perfect for adding a little fiber into my life.

Its easy to make, and its pretty low carb. I make a big bowl and eat it through the week when I dont feel like making anything.

Ingredients:

4 cups broccoli
1/2 cup currants
1/2 cup Turkey bacon, cooked and diced
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup mayo
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoons Trulicious powdered stevia
1 gallon Ziplock bag

Directions:
Wash broccoli and cut into small pieces. No need to keep long stems, you can cut pretty close to the floret. Put chopped broccoli in a large Ziplock bag and set aside. In a small bowl, combine mayo, apple cider vinegar and Trulicious. In the large Ziplock, add the currants, turkey bacon, red onion and sunflower seeds. Pour mayo mixture into Ziplock bag, seal and shake it up. pour into a large bowl, cover, and chill for 15 minutes before serving.

Makes 4 servings. Each serving contains 363 calories, 10 grams net carbs, 9 grams protein.

This is a simple recipe, its usually featured on salad bars. My dad makes a version of this that I had fourth of July weekend (he is a diabetic and loves experimenting with food). He used regular mayo and it definitely had a creamier flavor than this version, but I made a couple ingredient swaps to make it a little lighter. For instance, I used Mayo made with olive oil, I used unsalted sunflower seeds, stevia, and I used turkey bacon. If you ask my dad, he will say that this recipe has to be done with REAL Mayo, but I was pretty satisfied with my version. :) What is your favorite way to use raw broccoli?

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So what is The Fast Diet

The Fast Diet is a simple concept on paper. It is written by Michael Mosley and in basic terms it sets out the concept of significantly reducing your calorie intake for 2 days every week. He states that on a fast day, you should cut your calories to a quarter of a normal calorie intake.

• As per RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) men should consume no more than 2500 cals per day which would mean on a fast day, no more than 625 cals should be consumed.
• For women, RDA suggests no more than 2000 cals should be consumed per day which would equate to no more than 500 cals consumed on a fast day.

Sounds easy?

Well to be honest, yes it does, and the best bit is yet to come. Mosley also states that when not fasting, you are allowed to practically eat what you want, when you want. Providing you stick to the 2500 / 2000 calorie guideline, then you are allowed to have a free rein for the rest of the week.

Please keep reading my posts though as along the way I will be discussing some exercise techniques / tips and will also be posting about super foods which will help speed up the metabolism...

D x

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Celebrate Your Victories Even the Dirty Ones

Last week I blogged about how excited I was to do the Dirty Dash for the fourth time since starting my weight loss journey and as promised, here is a race re-cap and some pictures!

Saturday morning rolled around and it was race day. I was incredibly nervous. I wasnt sure if I would be able to do all of the obstacles, I was nervous that maybe I hadnt trained enough. With all the nerves, the hour long drive up to Soldier Hollow seemed to take for-EVER.

Luckily my roommate Mattie was coming with me. This was her first Dirty Dash, and I wanted to make sure it was a good experience for her. Shes not really into running, so I told her she would control the pace and we were just going to have fun.

Pre-race:

I gave Mattie all  my Dirty Dash advice: make sure your shoes are tied tight, stick to the edges of the start line, its less muddy, ect.. We were both pretty nervous, but we were also ready to conquer the course.

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During the race, I was pleasantly surprised that I was able to do all of the obstacles with relative ease. We jogged parts and walked parts. Since its not a timed race and since there were so many people, we didnt feel pressure to rush. A lot of the times the groups of people made it difficult to walk anyway. Even though we didnt do too much running, I felt like I could have run the whole thing. With the Dirty Dash, you have the option to do a 5k or a 10k. By the time we ascended the final hill before the 5k/10k split, Mattie was pretty wiped out. She did incredible too! She did twice the amount of obstacles I did when I did it for the first time. We opted for the 5k and made our way to the giant slip n slide. With a running start, I supermanned down that slide SO FAST. :) It was pure joy.

Post-Race:

I kept thinking the whole time how proud I was of my body. I  felt strong and empowered through the whole thing, and it was a major confirmation to me that my working out is paying off.

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Sometimes I get frustrated with myself because I dont feel like Im where I need to be weight wise, and then things like this happen and I realize that there are many different types of progress, and the scale is only one of them. For me the victory of seeing how much easier this race is this year compared to last year was worth celebrating.

What small victory can you celebrate today?

Ive come so far. My weight will most likely always be a work in progress, but as long as Im not stagnant, as long as I take the time to celebrate my small victories, its all going to be worth it.

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