Smokey's Cheesy Smashed Cauliflower

Pasta, potatoes, and rice are three major staples that accompany most dishes!  And of course, those staples are key to gaining a lovely amount of weight.  😆

However, we've discovered that smashed cauliflower with cheese can be used as a substitute for all of these amazing sides.  Not only do they look similar to mashed potatoes, rice of pasta, they also taste phenomenal!  

Preparation time is a mere 5 minutes, while cooking time is another 8-10 minutes.

Our delicious ingredients include:

• 2 Cups Shredded Cheese of choice
• 1 Head of Cauliflower 
• 1 Cup Chicken Broth (or 1 tsp. bouillon mixed with 1 cup of water)
• 1/2 Stick of Butter or Margarine
• 1/4 - 1/2 Cup Olive Oil
• 1/4 Cup Parmesan Cheese
• Pepper (to taste)

We'll begin by cutting off the leaves and discarding the core of our head of cauliflower. 

 \We'll then, continue to cut the head into small sized florets and will place them in our pot.  

Cutting our pieces into smaller sized florets will allow them to steam faster.  

As we were preparing our cauliflower, we noticed that we didn't have any Chicken Broth. However, we instead, poured 1 Cup of water into our pot and then sprinkled 1 tsp. of Chicken Bouillon Powder over our cauliflower. 

We'll then, generously drizzle our Olive Oil over our cauliflower, will cover our pot, and will cook on high heat for about 8-10 minutes, or until our water has mostly evaporated.  

Now that our cauliflower has been thoroughly steamed,  we are ready to smash our cauliflower until our mixture looks similar to rice or mashed potatoes.  

Should you notice that your cauliflower has cooked sooner than planned, not to worry.  A slight browning of the underside of the cauliflower still allows for a delicious dish, and may appear as "brown" rice.  

While our mixture is still hot, we'll add our butter, Parmesan and Shredded Cheese to our cauliflower and will stir until all has melted and have been fulled blended.

There you have it!  

A side dish of Smashed Cauliflower that can be substituted for pasta, rice, or mashed potatoes.  

We enjoy pouring Chili, Curry, or Tomato Sauce over our Smashed Cauliflower mixture to make for a scrumptious meal or to use as a side dish accompaniment.  

We estimate that the carb count for our dish is approximately 25 grams and lasts us for about 2 meals.

Eat bit screams cheesy and has become one of our major staples for many a meal.

From our kitchen to yours ~

Enjoy!

Giraffe's Spectacular Creamed Spinach

Lawry's is one of our favorite restaurants in Las Vegas. They serve an amazing Creamed Spinach that seems superior to any other restaurant chain.  We'[ve tried to replicate their dish and think we've come pretty close. However, through the years, we've perfected our recipe and have created our own style that we absolutely love.

Our spinach dish is creamy, cheesy, and offers a slight buttery flavor.  Although our recipe is very simple to create, it's flavors are not lacking to say the least.  We love to savor each bite and usually end up eating more than we should.  😏

Our recipe only requires a few ingredients:

• 8-10 oz. package of Frozen Spinach
• 8 oz. Cream Cheese
• 1/2 stick Butter/Margarine
• 1/4 cup Parmesan Cheese
• Pepper to taste

Simple is an understatement.  We merely place all of our ingredients into our small casserole dish, starting with the butter.  

We'll then, place our cream cheese next to our butter and will pour our Parmesan cheese over our mixture. 

 Next, we'll sprinkle our pepper over our dish. 

Finally, we'll place our spinach over our mixture..  

Next, we'll place our casserole in our microwave oven for about 8-10 minutes.  

Once completed, we'll remove our casserole from our microwave, will thoroughly stir our mixture, and will cook for an additional 3-5 minutes or until our creamed spinach is piping hot and appears smooth.

Voila!  

Our casserole lasts us for about 2-3 dinners..

Every once in awhile, we'll feel creative and will add additional ingredients to our Creamed Spinach. 

Lately, our additional ingredient has been a small can of mushrooms.  It's amazing how a small can of mushrooms can change the entire taste of a dish, by merely adding a little flavor.

Mmmmm.  The aroma of our spinach dish gently tantalizes our taste buds and pleasantly permeates our apartment.  Our neighbor will usually knock on our door to inquire about what we are cooking. 

We hope you'll enjoy our Creamed Spinach as much as us and our neighbor.  😍

From our kitchen to yours ~

Enjoy! 

Giraffe's Creamy Low-Carb Deviled Eggs

When we were little kids, growing up, back in the day, our mother's would always throw dinner parties or barbecues.  One of their main appetizers would be their Deviled Eggs.

 We can still remember the creaminess of the egg, mayonnaise, and mustard mixture, coupled with the soft and tasty boiled eggs

Who would know that Deviled Eggs were that easy to make and could be a delicious low-carb snack.

Preparation time is only 10 minutes, once our eggs have boiled for about 30 minutes.

Our scrumptious ingredients include:

• 12 eggs
• 2 tsp. Distilled White Vinegar
• 1 Tbsp. Sugar-Free Pickle Relish
• 1 tsp. Dry Ground Mustard
• 1 tsp. Dry Paprika 
• 1 tsp. Ground Pepper
• 1 sandwich sized storage bag
• 1/2 cup Mayonnaise

We'll begin by placing our eggs in our pot, will submerge in water, and will initially boil on "high."

Once our eggs begin to boil, we'll lower our setting to "simmer," will cover our pan with a lid, and will allow our eggs to cook for 30 minutes.  

Once our eggs have finished cooking, we'll remove our pan from our stove and will drain our water.

Next, we'll continuously rinse our eggs with cold water, until they have sufficiently cooled (approximately 2 minutes).

We'll then, peel our eggs, while holding them under cold water.  This will allow our shells to be easily removed.

To easily peel our eggs, ours mothers have always taught us to gently squeeze our egg, until the entire shell cracks and then, continue to remove our shell.

If our egg is perfectly cooked, its shell should be easy to remove.  If not, patience is a must.  😋

Once all of our eggs have been peeled, we'll carefully cut them lengthwise with a butter knife,  placing their yolks in a bowl and their egg halves on a plate.

Next, we'll mash our yolks with our fork and will add our Mayonnaise, Dry Mustard, relish, vinegar, and pepper.

If your mixture is too dry or moist for your taste, simply add or decrease the amount of Mayonnaise.

For years, we would try to scoop a little bit of the yolk mixture into each egg half. However, the dish would look atrocious when we were finished. 

So, we began placing our yolk mixture into a small sandwich storage bag, snipping the bottom corner with a pair of scissors, and then, piping our mixture into each egg half.  

This method seems to work like a charm and is not messy.  

Finally, we'll place our Paprika into the palm of our hand, and will pinch and sprinkle a small amount over our eggs.

 This will add a professional touch and will offer our eggs a slight smoky flavor.  

Mmmmmmm!  Our Deviled Eggs are simple to make and are absolutely scrumptious. 

With less than 1 gram of carbs per servings, our Deviled Eggs have become one of our favorite go-to appetizers when heading to a party, barbecue, or just to satisfy our cravings.

We thoroughly enjoy the creaminess of our egg yolk mixture with the hint of spicy mustard.

From our kitchen to yours ~

We hope you enjoy our Low-Carb Deviled Eggs!

Bon Appetit!