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recipe developer . podcast co-host . cookbook author . photographer . mental health warrior . online educator

 

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Chicken Meatball Skillet

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A while back I schlepped over to Costco and bought a few simple ingredients and prepared food items with the intention of making a series of fast, simple meals that would be perfect for a week night when there’s little time and little energy but you still want a tasty plate of food – and not the same-old-same-old stuff. This Chicken Meatball Skillet is the first off the press and totally fits that bill.

Chicken Meatball Skillet | Carrie Brown

The Chicken Meatball Skillet is ridiculously tasty even though the ingredients list is short and ordinary. It’s amazing what can happen when you thoughtfully combine certain flavors together. Delicious does not have to be long, complicated, or involve a trillion things. Also, this Chicken Meatball Skillet is cheap. Some find the transition to whole, fresh foods expensive. This recipe is definitely not that, especially if you are able to shop at somewhere like Costco, Sam’s Club, or a similar wholesale / discount situation.

Chicken Meatball Skillet | Carrie Brown

This dish is a snap to throw together, and if you make sure to get the meatballs out of the freezer the night before so they can defrost naturally in the ‘fridge, you can have dinner on the table with 15 minutes of tossing your coat on the bench as you walk in the door from your day. I like to keep several packs of these meatballs in the freezer for those times when I haven’t planned and need a virtually instant meal. The rest of the ingredients are staples in my ‘fridge or can be found at every grocery store, so grabbing them on the way home will be fast and hassle-free.

Chicken Meatball Skillet | Carrie Brown

If you have a favorite chicken meatball recipe that you love and enjoy making you can totally use those. If you make them in bulk, bake them, and store them in the freezer they will be as easy to use as the prepared ones from the store.

If you’ve been looking for simple, tasty meals that require more assembly than cooking, this Chicken Meatball Skillet has you covered!

 

Chicken Meatball Skillet

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time:  5 mins   |   Cook time:  10 mins  |   Total time: 15 mins  |  Serves: 2 – 4

What You Need

  • 1 TBSP avocado oil or coconut oil
  • 1 lb / 450g chicken meatballs (I used these and got them at Costco), cut in half or quarters
  • ½ cup / 4 fl oz. heavy cream
  • Sea salt and ground black pepper to taste (Get the best sea salt here and use code: carriebrown for 15% discount!)
  • 8 oz. / 225g baby or cherry tomatoes, halved or quartered
  • 8 oz / 225g mushrooms, quartered or cut into thick slices
  • 3 TBSP finely chopped fresh basil

 

What You Do

  1. In a large pan heat the oil, add the halved or quartered meatballs, and saute over high heat until browned. You are not trying to cook them, just brown them, so a few minutes over high heat should do the trick.
  2. Add the heavy cream, season with the sea salt and ground black pepper, stir well and bring the cream just to the boil.
  3. Reduce the heat so the cream is simmering, add the cut tomatoes and mushrooms and stir well.
  4. Allow the mixture to simmer for a few minutes until the mushrooms are *just* cooked and the tomatoes warmed.
  5. Carefully spoon the meatballs and sauce into serving dishes and sprinkle liberally with the chopped fresh basil.

 

Top Recipe Tips

  • If your meatballs are frozen, get them out of the freezer the night before and let them defrost naturally in the ‘fridge. Meat does not fare well in the microwave and no one likes tough meatballs. No one.
  • If you cannot find the same meatballs that I used, feel free to use any clean, grain-free chicken meatball that you like and can get locally, or you can always make your own.
  • Do not over cook once you have added the mushrooms and tomatoes. They will start releasing all their moisture, become soggy, and give you a very runny, watery sauce. Plus, no one likes wrinkly vegetables.
  • I do not recommend using dried basil instead of fresh as the cooking time is so short it could well be like munching on dried grass. No bueno.

 

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

 

Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos

 

Substitutions

  • Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
  • I do not recommend using dried basil instead of fresh as the cooking time is so short it could well be like munching on dried grass. No bueno.
  • You can use thick coconut milk instead of heavy cream for dairy-free. The flavor will be a little different.

 

Chicken Meatball Skillet | Carrie Brown

 

 

 

 

 

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  • Chicken Meatball Salad - The Real Carrie Brown | Low carb | Keto[…] Chicken Meatball Skillet (Members) […]ReplyCancel

  • DavidHi Carrie! I heard you talk about these meatballs and didn’t know where to look in the store. Freezer, fresh? Btw your links for the meatballs go to a Coleman beef and pork page.ReplyCancel

    • ShawnWhile looking for a place to buy the meatballs I came across a link to the Coleman site that said their chicken products are discontinued. ReplyCancel

  • Shawn CooperWhile looking for a place to buy the meatballs I came across a link to the Coleman site that said their chicken products are discontinued. ReplyCancel

Strawberry Mousse

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A little while back I was tasked with bringing desserts to a Minifest at 2 KetoDude Carl Franklin’s home. I decided to make individual Strawberry Surprise Crumbles and Cappuccino Mousses. It just so happens that the frozen strawberries were heavily discounted when I went to get all the things I needed from the grocery store, so I hauled quite a load off to my freezer. Consequently I have been inventing all manner of strawberry things because every time I open the freezer they’re all waving at me. First up is Strawberry Mousse. The Cappuccino Mousse was such a huge hit at Cousin Carl’s house I decided a fruity mousse was necessary, too.

Frozen strawberries are an entirely different beast to fresh strawberries. The flavor is different, the texture, even the color. I made this Strawberry Mousse specifically with frozen strawberries and I would recommend that you do, too. Having a stash of frozen strawberries on hand is always a good idea. I love to eat berries year round, but flying them in from goodness-knows-where and paying the price for that tugs at my sense of frugality, especially when you can get frozen strawberries so cheaply. Whenever I see frozen strawberries on sale I stock up. And leave the fresh strawberries for summer when they cheap, plentiful and local. I do love fresh strawberries. Frozen Strawberries make this mousse quite fantastic though.

Strawberry Mousse | Carrie Brown

As a full-size dessert this Strawberry Mousse be a lovely way to end dinner. It’s light enough after a slap-up celebration meal, but also swanky enough to make your friends think you spent hours working on it, especially if you break out the fancy dishes and take a few minutes to pretty it up with some extra strawberries. At the same time, it’s simple and easy to make, and can be made ahead so you don’t have a time crunch on the day. If you’re making it ahead I would spoon the mousse into the glasses and cover with plastic wrap, leaving the garnish for the last minute before you bring them to the table.

Aside from fancy dinners, these would be awesome made into little individual fat bombs if you just like or need a little something at the end of your evening meal. Spoon the Strawberry Mousse into small silicone molds or spoon or pipe into small ramekin-style dishes. For dishes, cover with plastic wrap before putting in the fridge. For the silicon molds, freeze them unto solid, then remove from the molds and place in an airtight container in the fridge. You could also keep them in the freezer if you are not going to eat them up in 4 or 5 days. Another every day option would be to spoon the mousse into baby Mason Jars or  baby Pyrex (so adorable!) and just whip one out every day or grab one as you pass the fridge on the way to work.

However you decide to serve your Strawberry Mousse, you really need to make some. I’ll let you get on with it.

Strawberry Mousse

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 15 mins | Cook time: 0 mins | Total time: 15 mins + 4 hours setting | Serves: 4 – 6

What You Need

  • ¼ cup / 2 fl oz. cold water
  • 1 TBSP gelatin
  • 4 oz / 110g cream cheese
  • 1 cup / 8 fl oz. Greek yogurt
  • 6 oz / 170g frozen strawberries, thawed (+ a couple ounces extra if you want to use some for topping as I have in these pictures)
  • large pinch salt
  • 1 ¼ oz / 35g allulose OR 1 oz / 30g xylitol or erythritol
  • 1 cup / 8 fl oz. heavy cream

What You Do

  1. Put the cold water in a small dish and sprinkle the gelatin evenly over the surface. Allow to stand for at least 5 minutes.
  2. Place the cream cheese, Greek yogurt, thawed strawberries, salt and allulose in a large mixing bowl and beat well with a hand mixer (or in a stand mixer) until completely blended together.
  3. Gently melt the gelatin in the microwave for about 30 seconds or place the soaked gelatin in a small pan and warm gently until melted. Do NOT boil.
  4. Pour the gelatin carefully into the strawberry mixture and beat well.
  5. In a separate bowl, whip the heavy cream until firm peaks form.
  6. Spoon by spoon carefully fold the whipped cream into  the strawberry mixture until fully incorporated.
  7. Spoon into individual glasses or dishes, or pour into a large serving bowl.
  8. Place int he fridge for at least 4 hours before serving to allow it to set to the right consistency.

Top Recipe Tips

  • The wider the dish you use for the water is, the easier it will be to sprinkle the gelatin evenly over it.
  • When choosing which cream cheese and yogurt to buy always read and compare the ingredients lists on the labels.
  • Leave your cream cheese out the night before you make this as it will be much easier to mix if at room temperature.
  • You can vary the fat amount in the recipe to suit your goals by varying the fat % in the Greek yogurt you buy.
  • You will not get the same result if you use fresh strawberries. I recommend you stick to frozen.
  • The allulose (or xylitol or erythritol) is there just to sweeten, so you can add more or less to your taste and not affect the consistency or texture.
  • Do not over-whip the heavy cream or you will end up with butter. Which isn’t a disaster by any means. Unless you then have to go out to get more cream for the mousse.
  • Folding is the act of gently turning the mixtures over each other until incorporated. Folding ensures you do not knock all the air out of the cream that you just spent time whipping into it.

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos

Substitutions

  • Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
  • Xylitol and allulose are the sweeteners I recommend because they work very well. I also recommend erythritol if allulose or xylitol give you issues, but erythritol can be tricky to use successfully. You can use any other sweetener you like, but I cannot guarantee the results if you choose to use something different. In low carb and keto baking sweeteners are generally not interchangeable if you want great results.
  • The alternative to gelatin is agar agar.
  • Sub thick coconut milk for heavy cream, Kite Hill cream cheese for cream cheese, and Kite Hill yogurt for Greek yogurt. The flavor of the mousse will be materially different.
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  • DebOh, my Gawd!!! You’re a genius! When do you sleep? ? What an amazing recipe, (one of many) my friend! Can’t wait to make this. I love how organized your recipes are and all the steps and tips you lay out for us. You make it impossible for us to fail. I am in Heaven studying your recipes, learning from the best ever, YOU, Carrie Brown. Everything you write is quite entertaining as well…you make me laugh. Thank you so much! I just love you!ReplyCancel

Easy Peasy Pizza 3 Ways

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Ah, pizza. It’s one of the things that causes many people new to a low carb lifestyle to partake in much wailing and gnashing of teeth. And while there are lots of recipes for alternatives ricocheting around the inter-webs these days, you can most easily scratch that pizza itch by getting your mitts on some Fox Hill Kitchens Bunz. (Coupon: carrie for 15% discount!)

Wait. WHAT?? You mean to tell me there’s no magical pizza recipe going down in this post??

Nope. No magical pizza recipe.

Because one of my big, fat life goals is to help you eat the most delicious food so you can happily stay on the low carb / keto train for as long as you want or need. And that does not require fancy or complicated recipes. And while creating new recipes is one of my favorite things in the world to do, this blog isn’t about me. It’s about you.

And there are times when you need food that is simply assembled; because you don’t have the time, or the energy, or the equipment, or the space, or the mental or emotional capacity to break out all. the. things. just to get dinner on the table. AND THAT’S ABSOLUTELY FINE! And yes, I also need food like that on the regular.

So this post is giving you permission to have it all. Have really delicious food that doesn’t require a culinary arts degree, half your evening, or require a fully-stocked pantry and the need to fearfully ask the internet for a tried-and-true recipe because lord knows there are far, far, far more keto recipe fails out there than ones that actually work and taste great.

And here’s the real kicker: this post also gives you permission to revel entirely and excitedly in your pizza success despite the fact that you did not spend a ton of time trying to wrestle one of 3.12 gazillion different versions of Fat Head Dough into submission.

Easy Peasy Pizza #1: marinara + shredded mozzarella + pepperoni + dried oregano

Easy Peasy Pizza #2: marinara + shredded cheddar + ground sausage + sliced mushrooms + dried sage (saute the ground sausage in a skillet prior to using as a topping – cook it but don’t brown it)

Easy Peasy Pizza #3: pesto + chopped feta + sliced cherry tomatoes + fresh basil (I used pre-made pesto that I bought at Costco – always check the ingredients!)

 

Side note: I love Fox Hill Kitchens products. I mean *really* love them. I use them all the time and anywhere I would have used regular buns and bagels. And if you know me at all then you know that I do not share or promote anything that I do not totally believe in and use myself.

 

Easy Peasy Pizza

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time:  5 mins   |   Cook time:  15 mins  |   Total time: 20 mins

What You Need

 

What You Do

  1. Allow your Fox Hill Kitchens Bunz (Coupon: carrie for 15% discount!) to defrost, and while that’s happening pre-heat the oven to 450F.
  2. Slice your Bunz in half and lightly toast them. The goal is not to give them color, but just to dry them a little to make them sturdier.
  3. Place your Bunz cut side up on a baking sheet covered with aluminum foil or parchment paper. (Yay! Easy clean-up!)
  4. Spread your sauce evenly on your Bunz with the back of a spoon.
  5. Spread your cheese on your Bunz.
  6. Add your toppings.
  7. Bake in the center of the oven for 15 minutes, until the cheese is melted, golden and bubbling.
  8. Sit on the couch with your plate of pizza and revel in the fact that you have pizza with practically zero carbs (depending on toppings) that tastes like pizza and feels like pizza but was faster and cheaper than pretty much any other alternative.
  9. High-five your cat. Or dog. Or fellow human(s).

 

Top Recipe Tips

  • Fox Hill Kitchens Bunz (Coupon: carrie for 15% discount!) – buy 6 of any combination for free shipping on top of your discount (!)
  • Freeze your Bunz and Bagelz as soon as they arrive.
  • Allowing your Bunz and Bagelz to defrost naturally gives you the best results.
  • Don’t use pre-shredded cheese – they have carby fillers in them. Buy block cheeses and shred yourself using a food processor (Cuisinart is my recommendation) or, like I do, use a simple box grater. In the case of feta just slice or cube with a sharp knife.

 

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

 

 

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Fennel Tarragon Lamb Shanks

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I love lamb. I ate lamb quite a lot growing up in England. We have a lot of lambs frolicking around the British Isles, especially in Wales, where it’s said there are more sheep than people. So while my love of lamb runs deep, when I came to live in America 19 years ago I discovered that lamb was really hard to find and when you did find it you also had to go and find a bank loan to be able to purchase it.

Then, fast-forward 6 or so years and lamb started popping up here and there. Nowadays I think I can get lamb in practically every grocery store I wander into. Not only is it much more readily available, but the price – depending on the cut – can be less than your grass-fed beef, your steaks, bison, and quite a lot of seafood. So lamb is now well and truly on the menu! Or, at least, it should be. Especially if you are eating low-carb or keto. Lamb is a fatty meat, so you can typically get keto ratios by just eating the onboard fat that comes with your lamby goodness.

And, had I not been usurped by one Yogi Parker – our giant, resident Keto Trucker – this would have been the first time lamb made an appearance on the blog. But Yogi gave us roast lamb (cooked (!) in (!) a (!) truck (!)) a little while back, so I shall concede to second place with this Lamb Shank recipe.

If you’re new to lamb, you should totally make this. And if you love lamb, you should totally make this. If only for the way your house will smell for hours during and afterwards. And please don’t be put of by the total time it takes. The prep part is almost nothing. All the effort and magic happens while it is languishing in the oven.

You can even prep it the night before or the morning of, and then just pop it in the oven when you get home. Or if that makes dinner too late for you, save it for the weekend when you can toss it in the oven earlier in the day. But please make it. It combines 3 of my favorite things: lamb, fennel, and tarragon, and they compliment each other beautifully in this simple and easy dish. If you hve only had fennel raw and don’t love the aniseed flavor, cooked fennel has a very different, gentle flavor so I urge you to try it cooked before you dismiss it out of hand.

I’d serve this with cauliflower rice, or Miracle rice, and let all those delicious juices make you forget that grains are even a thing.

Fennel Tarragon Lamb Shanks

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time:  15 mins   |   Cook time:  2 hours 30 mins  |   Total time: 2 hours 45 mins  |  Serves: 4 – 6

What You Need

  • 1 TBSP avocado oil or coconut oil
  • 4lb / 1.8kg lamb shanks (4 – 8 shanks)
  • 5 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 10 oz / 280g fennel bulb, sliced
  • 6 oz / 170g onion, chopped (watch how to chop an onion!)
  • Sea salt (For the best salt and a 15% discount use code: carriebrown)
  • Ground black pepper
  • 1 cup  / 8 fl oz. dry white wine
  • 1 ¾ cups  / 14 fl oz. chicken stock
  • 2 tsp. konjac flour / glucomannan powder
  • 1 oz / 30g butter
  • 1 TBSP finely chopped fresh tarragon

What You Do

  1. In a large pan heat the oil and brown the lamb shanks on all sides. You may have to do this in batches.  As you brown the lamb, remove it to a plate.
  2. Add the crushed garlic, sliced fennel, and chopped onion to the pot and cook over a medium heat until soft, about 10 minutes.
  3. Season with sea salt and ground black pepper.
  4. Add the wine and stock, stir well and bring to a boil.
  5. Carefully add the lamb shanks to the pot, cover and cook at 350ºF until the shanks are tender, about 2½ hours.
  6. Carefully remove the lamb from the pot (it will be slippery and delicate!) and place it on a plate.
  7. Place the pot over a low heat and gently sprinkle the konjac flour over the surface of the liquid with one hand while whisking rapidly with the other to quickly and completely incorporate it.
  8. Stir until the sauce has thickened – 2 minutes or so – and then add the butter and finely chopped tarragon and whisk until the butter is melted and mixed in.
  9. Return the lamb shanks to the pan and allow to sit in the sauce for 5 minutes before serving.

Top Recipe Tips

  • I really recommend using fresh tarragon, but if you cannot get it or do not grow it, use 1/3 rd TBSP dried tarragon instead and add it to the pot before you cover the pot and place it in the oven.
  • If you have very small shanks you will want to check the lamb after 2 hours.
  • Check out the video I made of how to effectively chop an onion.
  • Stick with white or yellow onions for the lowest carbs.
  • If you are not a wine drinker you can use white cooking wine which you can buy at the grocery store. Or a bottle of Trader Joe’s Two-Buck Chuck for the cheap wine win. But don’t skip the wine. The flavor will be quite different if you do.

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos

Substitutions

  • Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
  • If you try and use guar gum or xanthan gum instead of konjac flour / glucomannan powder you will likely have a slimy sauce and you will be sad. It also won’t reheat well. Trust me. Get yourself some konjac flour / glucomannan powder and keep it in your pantry as a keto / low carb cooking staple.

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Strawberry Almond Porridge

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I made you Strawberry Almond Porridge. Because I often wake up thinking things like, “I wonder what would happen if I threw a pile of chia seeds in my Vitamix and spun the living daylights out of them?”, or, “I wonder if soaked chia seeds would make a good base for ice cream?”, which leads to, “If I used chia seeds as an ice cream base, I wonder what will happen when I churn it?”. Sometimes I wish I could turn my brain off. Or at least put it on pause so that I can catch up with the 324 draft posts I have sitting in my folder. I wish I were joking about the draft post situation.

So with chia seeds on my mind I whipped this up for you. In full disclosure this is a recipe I created years ago before I embarked on my keto journey, so it wasn’t keto enough for y’all. Thus, I tweaked, and the Strawberry Almond Porridge has once again become a keto staple at the Brown house. It’s fast, simple, easy and delicious. Plus, it makes cereal seem like chomping on cardboard. And no-one wants to do that.

Strawberry Almond Porridge | Carrie Brown

Whip it up the night before so it’s ready the instant your feet hit the floor – bar finding a clean spoon and giving it a quick stir. I often make a huge batch on a Sunday night, divide it into Pyrex glass bowls and stack them in the ‘fridge. Then, as I zoom through the kitchen on my way out the door in the morning, I grab one. 20 minutes later I am at my desk enjoying a sweet bowl of scrumptious keto yum. Even quicker than cereal. HA.

Strawberry Almond Porridge | Carrie Brown

The texture is creamier and softer if made the night before. One more night-before advantage – you can throw in the frozen fruit and voila! When you pad bleary-eyed into the kitchen, the fruit is defrosted, the chia seeds are soft, and the texture is thick and creamy. A swift stir and your porridge is done.

Strawberry Almond Porridge | Carrie Brown

I’ve also served this up for dessert to a chorus of “Yum!”s around the table. If you do a big batch once a week you will also have a stash in the ‘fridge for those scary moments when you get the munchies and want something sweet. Whip out a bowl of this and you’ve got a super keto snack right at your fingertips.

Keto over cereal EVERY. SINGLE. TIME.

Strawberry Almond Porridge

Author: Carrie Brown | Prep time: 3 mins | Chill time: Overnight | Total time: 3 mins + overnight | Serves: 6

What You Need

  • 1 1/3 cups / 14 fl oz. unsweetened thin coconut milk (carton)
  • 1/3 cup chia seeds
  • 1 lb / 450g Full Fat Yogurt or Greek Yogurt
  • ½ lb / 225g frozen strawberries, roughly chopped (do not defrost them first!)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • ½ cup toasted, chopped almonds

 

What You Do

  1. Pour the coconut milk in a mixing bowl or large Pyrex glass bowl.
  2. Add the chia seeds and stir immediately to stop the seeds sticking together.
  3. Add the yogurt and vanilla extract and stir well.
  4. Add the chopped frozen strawberries and stir into the mixture.
  5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
  6. In the morning, add the toasted, chopped almonds and give the mixture a good stir until completely mixed.

 

Top Recipe Tips

  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge.

 

Helpful Cooking and Recipe Links

 

Podcast Episodes and You Tube Videos

 

Substitutions

  • Don’t. Just buy the correct ingredients and you, too, shall have a fabulous outcome!
  • Replace the Greek yogurt with Kite Hill Almond Milk Yogurt for dairy-free. The flavor will be slightly different.

 

Strawberry Almond Porridge | Carrie Brown

 

 

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