Slow Cooker Tarragon Chicken with Mushroom Cream Sauce

Eliminate the flour [for thickening - maybe use cream cheese] and this recipe is diabetic friendly!

INGREDIENTS
 5 bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed and trimmed of fat
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 green bell pepper, diced finely
2 cremini mushrooms, chopped
1 small onion, diced
2 teaspoons minced garlic
1 tablespoon canola oil
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, plus more to taste
1 teaspoon dried tarragon, plus more to taste
1/2 cup chicken broth
2 bay leaves
1 tablespoon soy sauce
3 tablespoons butter
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons heavy cream, half-and-half, or milk

DIRECTIONS


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Season the chicken on both sides with salt and pepper, to taste. Place the chicken in a 3- to 5-quart slow cooker.

Place the bell pepper, mushrooms, onion, and garlic on a cookie sheet. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. Coat with the oil and season with the thyme and tarragon. Stir until well combined. Transfer to the oven and cook for about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and place the vegetables on top of the chicken.

Add the chicken broth and slip the bay leaves into the bottom of the slow cooker. Coat the chicken with the soy sauce. Cover and cook on low until the chicken is tender, 4-6 hours. Remove the chicken from the slow cooker and transfer to a plate. Loosely tent with foil. Reserve the cooking juices from the slow cooker.

In a pan, melt the butter over low heat until frothy. Slowly whisk in 1 tablespoon of the flour at a time to form a roux. After all of the flour is added, the mixture will be really thick. Slowly add in the juices from the slow cooker, ¼ cup at a time. Whisk until the mixture is nice and thick and creamy. Then, slowly add in 1 tablespoon of the cream at a time. Season with additional tarragon, thyme, salt, and pepper, to taste.

Place the chicken on individual serving plates and top generously with the creamy sauce. Serve with a side of your favorite vegetables.

Read more: http://www.thedailymeal.com/slow-cooker-tarragon-chicken-mushroom-cream-sauce#ixzz1teeII1od

Gluten-Free Paleo Honey Cornbread Recipe -

The ingredients in this recipe are acceptable for a diabetic, except the honey. I'm thinking
the honey could be excluded and the Stevia increased.

http://hip2save.com/2012/04/30/gluten-free-paleo-honey-cornbread-recipe/

OK, so I am about to share with you the most delicious, gluten-free, Paleo friendly cornbread recipe! This stuff is so good… in fact, my hubby and I managed to eat the whole pan in a matter of 24 hours. It’s very addicting!

The funny thing is that I never set out to make cornbread. I was actually trying to make pie crust… yep, pie crust. When the weirdly shaped pie crust came out of the oven… well, I sadly knew I had failed at trying to concoct pie crust. However, once I tasted my odd creation, I knew that with a few minor changes, I could turn this pie crust into some amazing cornbread!

Gluten-Free Paleo Honey Cornbread

Ingredients:

1/4 cup almond butter
 2 tablespoons Coconut oil
 3 eggs, beaten
 1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
 2 tablespoons honey
 1/4 teaspoon liquid Stevia (if you don’t have this on hand, you may want to add a bit more honey)
 1 cup almond flour
 1 teaspoon baking powder
 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Directions:

Melt almond butter with coconut oil in the microwave, then stir in vanilla extract, eggs, honey and Stevia. Mix dry ingredients (almond flour, baking soda and salt) in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients together. Stir well.  Pour into an 8×8 greased (or lined with parchment paper) baking dish or pan. Bake at 325 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes.

Side note, you could totally add in other ingredients you may have on hand to give this cornbread a different taste. For instance, you could add jalapenos and shredded cheese to change things up and give the cornbread a little kick!

Cauliflower "Rice"

http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/lowcarbsidedishes/r/caulirice.htm?nl=1

This is my method for making "rice" from cauliflower. If you haven't tried it, you must! It tastes very mild. It can be used under a sauce, such as crab imperial or chicken ala king, or as the base for a dish such as fried "rice" or a "rice" salad. It does not work well as a substitute for rice in casseroles where the function of the rice is to absorb liquid.
 Watch the Demonstration Video of How to Make Cauliflower "Rice"
Ingredients:
•1 head Cauliflower (or however much you want)
Preparation:
To make this dish the most easily and to have it come out the best, three pieces of equipment are very helpful:
 - A food processor
 - A microwave
 - A covered (or fairly tightly coverable) microwave-safe dish
 1) Process fresh cauliflower until it is the size of rice, either using the plain steel blade or the shredder blade. Alternatively, you can shred it with a hand-held grater, or even use a knife, if you have the dexterity to chop it up VERY finely.
 2) Microwave it in a covered dish. DO NOT ADD WATER. Cauliflower absorbs water like crazy, and the "granules" will become gummy. To keep it fluffy, just let the moisture in the cauliflower do its work.
Carb Count: Each cup contains 5 grams of carbohydrate, about half of which is fiber, for a ECC of 2.5 grams.

Cabbage Enchiladas

Found this recipe at Hip2Save. It is diabetic approved [by me].

Ingredients:

1 head of cabbage
 Shredded Chicken (I used leftovers from a rotisserie chicken we had)
 1 cup chicken broth
 1 cup sour cream
 2 (4 ounce) cans of chopped green chiles
 Fresh cilantro
 Salt & pepper (to taste)
 shredded cheese (optional)

For the Sauce:

Add the chicken broth to a saucepan over medium heat. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat and mix in the sour cream and green chiles, heat thoroughly but do not boil and make sure to stir often. Let simmer for just a bit and the sauce should thicken. Season with salt and pepper.

For the Enchiladas:

Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Peel the cabbage leaves – make sure to peel them gently, as you don’t want them to tear. I ran the cabbage under warm water as I was peeling. This helped a ton. Throw the cabbage leaves into the pot of boiling water for a couple of minutes. Remove and set on a paper towel to dry.

Mix the shredded chicken with chopped fresh cilantro and shredded cheese (optional). I also seasoned well with salt & pepper.

Spread the enchilada sauce in the bottom of an 8×8 baking dish. Then take your cabbage leaves and place the chicken mixture inside of them and roll up. Place each cabbage roll in the baking dish. Once done, pour the rest of the enchilada sauce over them. I also topped with shredded cheese.

Bake at 350° for about 20 to 30 minutes.

Top with anything you please. Salsa, hot sauce, jalapenos, avocados, cilantro, more cheese, freshly squeezed lime juice, sour cream and the list goes on! Enchiladas are so fun to make because you really can get creative and definitely make use of the veggies and pantry items you already have on hand.

* Please note that I have started incorporating dairy products back into my diet, so that’s why I decided to concoct a sour cream enchilada sauce. You can always substitute this sauce for more of a red sauce if you are trying to stay away from dairy products
http://hip2save.com/2012/04/25/simple-cabbage-enchiladas-recipe/

Diabetes: It's All About Food Choices [well, not ALL about but almost]

How yummy does this look? My diabetic lifestyle dictates I eat as carb-free as possible. I chopped up two gallons of vegetables to include cauliflower, peppers, celery, asparagus, zucchini, froze the veggies, and they are ready whenever it is time to eat. No more prep, no more waste of vegetables. When it's time to eat, I saute' the veggies in coconut oil. Depending on the time of day, either one egg is added to the mixture [breakfast] or for lunch/dinner I add a meat protein. Yummy.

Simply The Pesto - Diabetic Low Carb Friendly

Simply the Pesto

PER SERVING (1/4th of recipe, about 2 tbsp.): 68
calories, 5g fat, 228mg sodium, 3g carbs, 0.25g fiber, 0.5g sugars, 3g protein
-- PointsPlus® value 2*

Ingredients:
1 cup fresh basil leaves
1/4 cup fat-free ricotta cheese
2 tbsp. reduced-fat Parmesan-style
grated topping2 tbsp. pine nuts
1 tsp. olive oil
1 tsp. chopped garlic
1/4 tsp. salt, or more to taste
1/4 tsp. black pepper, or more to
taste
Directions:
Place all ingredients in a
small blender or food processor, and blend/process until a smooth paste forms.
If you like, add additional salt and pepper to taste. Refrigerate until ready to
serve!

MAKES 4 SERVINGS

Broccoli and Crab Bisque

This recipe hit my email from Taste of Home. It is diabetic [low carb] friendly. Enjoy!

5 Servings

Prep: 5 min.

Cook: 30 min.

Ingredients1 cup sliced leeks (white part only)

1 cup sliced fresh mushrooms

1 cup fresh broccoli florets

1 garlic clove, minced1/4 cup butter, cubed

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme, crushed

1/8 teaspoon pepper

1 bay leaf

2 cans (10-1/2 ounces each) condensed chicken broth, undiluted

1 cup half-and-half cream

3/4 cup shredded Swiss cheese

1 package (6 ounces) frozen crabmeat, thawed, drained and flaked

Directions

In a large saucepan, cook the leeks, mushrooms, broccoli and garlic in butter until broccoli is crisp-tender. Stir in flour and seasonings until blended. Gradually add broth and cream. Bring to a boil. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes or until thickened. Add cheese; stir until melted. Add crab; heat through but do not boil. Discard bay leaf before serving. Yield: 5 servings.

1 serving (1 cup) equals 303 calories

Nutrition Facts: 20 g fat (12 g saturated fat), 98 mg cholesterol, 674 mg sodium, 12 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 18 g protein.