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9/25/22

Chicken Bacon Ranch Slider Sandwiches - (Low-Carb Keto option too)

 

 

Last night I wasn't sure what was going to be for dinner.  It was getting late and I needed to come up with a plan so I walked to the deep freezer and chose a package of chicken breasts.  I cooked them in the microwave in water with a tablespoon of chicken bouillon soup base and from there decided to make a 'slider' sandwich but a chicken, bacon ranch version.

We used keto buns but obviously any hamburger style bun will do. 
I didn't measure anything, and honestly, that's just the kind of recipe this is - you can play with all the amounts.  I'll try to do a guesstimate on some of the items to give you an idea but honestly, it's mostly just common sense mixed with a little whatever you like best.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Sliders

Cooked, diced chicken breasts - 2 or 3 depending on the size of yours
1 fresh tomato
1/2 c mayonnaise
1/2 c ranch dressing of choice
Cooked, crumbled bacon
Cheddar Cheese, shredded
Hamburger Buns (I used Keto Culture brand since we are usually doing low-carb in our house)
Butter

To the cubed chicken breasts add the 1/2 c mayonnaise, fresh tomato diced, about 1/3 c crumbled cooked bacon pieces and about 2/3 c shredded cheddar.  Mix. If it's too dry add a little more mayo.  If you like more bacon or cheese - go ahead.  Less bacon or cheese?  Do that if you wish. 

Use some butter to heavily butter a baking pan.  Place the bottom bun in the buttered pan.  Top with scoops of the chicken mixture.  Heavily drizzle ranch dressing over the sandwiches and top with the bun.  Brush the tops with some of the butter, melted or even an egg wash if you wish.  Pop it into a 350 degree oven and bake about 15-17 minutes until heated through.

Extra chicken filling mixture is a perfect casserole, just tuck in along side the sandwiches to bake or just make more sandwiches with it.    The size of the pan you use depends on how many sliders you are making.  You can see we made 5 and heated the leftover chicken mixture separately as a casserole.



 


 

 

I always have crumbled real bacon on hand in the freezer, which I like to put on a paper plate and heat in the microwave to crisp up. 

 

Mixing up the filling; use more or less bacon and cheese and tomato based on what you prefer.



Scooping the filling onto the buns.



Top each slider with a dose of your favorite ranch dressing then put the top bun on, brush with melted butter and bake until heated through - about 15-17 minutes.










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9/24/22

Sugarfree Sweetened Condensed Milk Recipe - trials using some powdered heavy cream and previously frozen almond milk from my emergency storage

This post has multi-levels of information! 

1)  A homemade sugarfree version of sweetened condensed milk
2)  A keto version of sweetened condensed milk
3)  Wanting to do a 'trial' recipe using previously frozen almond milk from my deep freezer
4)  Using some heavy cream powder from our emergency storage


In regular baking, there are many recipes that use sweetened condensed milk.  It's so easy to grab a can off the shelf and make the baked goods.... but not so easy when you are sugar free and/or keto or low carb. 

In 2015 I posted a recipe for a sugarfree keto version of sweetened condensed milk, followed up by a post in 2019 because it's so awesome to use in my favorite homemade keto ice creams. 

A few weeks ago I whipped up a batch of sugarfree sweetened condensed milk so I could have some on hand in the refrigerator for my favorite ice cream, cheesecake and bar recipes.  However, I had to play with my recipe to use things I had on hand since I was low on heavy cream and I wanted to try using previously frozen almond milk from my freezer storage. 


I believe in prepping for emergencies (if you follow me you already know that).  One of the things I've tested over the past 2 years is freezing things like whole milk, almond milk and heavy cream.   Milk freezes beautifully short term but I found heavy cream and almond milk separate.

My goal was to see if using previously frozen almond milk and powdered heavy cream powder could result in positive outcomes in cooked recipes (hoping the separation would come together or cook into the final product).  And it did.

Sweetened Condensed Milk - sugarfree

2 1/2 c heavy cream
1 c almond milk
1/2 c powdered sweetener mixture of 2-3 kinds; like monkfruit, erythritol and xylitol
1 T butter
1/4 t xanthan gum

In a saucepan, place the cream and milk and bring to a boil, reducing to medium low immediately.
Add the sweeteners, butter and xanthan gum.
Simmer, stirring, until it's thickened and reduces by half.
Let it cool down about 20 minutes and pour into sterile, glass jars
Store in the refrigerator



NOTES

This time I added the butter, sweetener and xanthan at the simmering stage instead of waiting til the end; no problems.

I only had a little bit of heavy cream so I substituted the Hoosier Hill Powdered.  I used the directions on the container (3/8 cup of powder to 1 cup water) but then added another tablespoon or so to make it nice and thick(er) for my use.

The big trial was my almond milk.  I wanted to know if I could stock up and save containers in the freezer.  It separates upon thawing and although you can shake and blend it and it comes together a little bit, it doesn't go back to the original state, which makes it gross to drink but seems to work beautifully in cooked items like this condensed milk, puddings, etc.  




You can see how the separated almond milk and the powder make a rather grainy liquid before cooking. No worries it was smooth as normal once it simmered!


This was a video that I took a photo from showing it being stirred while cooking

Thickening up!!  Smooth and perfect.

 


_____________________________

The almond milk I buy and freeze are the plastic containers I buy at Sam's Club.  They are grainy and separated upon thawing and I was afraid they were useless but in cooked goods, they turn out perfectly.

I mentioned my emergency storage heavy cream in the post above.  I have Hoosier Hill Farm's brand and it performs wonderfully.  I can't speak to other brands. 


 

 

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9/7/22

Homemade Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup - (THIS ONE!!!!)

 


This is my all-time favorite chicken noodle soup that I've been making for about 10 years now as it replaced my previous favorite chicken noodle soup recipe.  I've had the recipe in my files for about 25 years - but only regularly started to make it about 10 years ago. 

You would think I knew the recipe by heart, but because I only try to make it when I have keto or low carb pasta on hand, and typically only in the fall and winter... I don't know it by heart.  Too much time passes between making it.

The reason I put *THIS ONE* in the headline is for me so I can find it quickly, glancing over my files

Egg noodle style pastas work best with this one.

(Amounts are approximate - use as much or little as you wish.  I use more celery when I don't use carrot, etc.  and I typically use 1/4 c half and half instead of 1/2 c milk because we don't have milk on hand but we usually have cream and half and half because we are primarily low carb.  See how you can play with this recipe?  But don't leave out the milk and butter, it's part of the delicious flavor of it.)

Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken breasts
water
salt
1 T chicken bouillon paste/base or a couple cubes
1/2 c diced fresh onion
1/2 c diced fresh celery
1/2 c carrot (left out to make lower carb)

1/4 c butter
1/2 c milk
1 can cream of chicken soup
2 c noodles


Cook 2-3 chicken breasts in a pan of water (usually about 6 cups), along with about 1/2 cup of onions, celery and some carrots if you are using them.  Simmer until done.  Remove the chicken and dice it up, and add back into the pan. 

Add the bouillon and noodles.  Simmer until the noodles are just tender but not yet soft.  Add the butter, milk and soup.  Salt and pepper according to your taste.

Let simmer on low - but don't let it boil - about 4-5 minutes more and serve.

 

 

Notes

I like to use leftover chicken or pre-cooked chicken to make this even faster.  I regularly precook chicken breasts in my instant pot and food seal them for the deep freezer for an easy meal later.

You can use rotisserie chicken you've bought from the store as well.  But if you use already heavily seasoned chicken (like the rotisserie style) don't use any bouillon soup base or paste and don't salt and pepper until you've tasted it at the end before serving.  This also changes the flavor from the original recipe - it's not bad - but it's not the original flavor.

This is amazing with homemade noodles.  If you are low carb or keto you have to use a store bought low carb pasta to make this, but I often decide it's totally worth it to make my original version, which used homemade, flour based pasta.  It's one of my all-time favorite comfort foods.













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9/6/22

Sugarfree Cinnamon Spice Cookies (made with almond flour so they are low carb too)

 

 

Due to the use of a brown sugar style natural sweetener and the cinnamon and sweetener mixture that these cookies are rolled in before baking, they do look a little dark brown in the first photo, but don't let that deter you the dark color from the cinnamon and brown sweetener doesn't mean burnt.  (I think I got busy and ignored them baking as well, so this particular pan probably stayed in about 3-4 minutes too long.  I made 3 pans of cookies but I hate taking photos while I'm baking so if I snap one... that's what you get!  Keepin' it real... LOL.)

Cinnamon Spice Cookies - Keto and SugarFree

1/2 c butter, soft
1/2 c almond butter
1 c brown sugar style natural sweetener
2 eggs
1 t vanilla
2 c almond flour
2 T coconut flour
2 T plain gelatin powder granules
2 t cinnamon
1 t ginger powder
1/8 t cloves
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt

1/2 c natural sweetener
1/2 t cinnamon

Beat the butter, almond butter and sweetener until fluffy.  Beat in the eggs and vanilla.  Add the dry ingredients:  almond flour, coconut flour, gelatin, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, baking soda and salt.  Mix well. 

Scoop out 1" balls and roll them in a mixture of the 1/2 c natural sweetener and cinnamon.  Place on a parchment lined baking sheet.  

Bake at 350 for 9-11 minutes and as soon as you take them out,  gently press the cookies down just a little with the back of a spatula to flatten them a bit if they are rounded.  Let them set for about 3-4 minutes on the pan, then remove to a wire rack to cool.

*Brown sugar substitutes would include products like Swerve Brown or Besti Wholesome Yum Brown, etc.

 







 






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