Chef Lisa

With Thanksgiving comes a lot of traditions. Families gather and we have our favorite foods. I’m always asked to bring my pumpkin cheesecake, and I’m more than happy to. This year, however, I’m thinking a lot more about portion control, especially when it comes to carbohydrates.

I got the idea for making individual cheesecakes, and did some searching online to get some ideas for how to put them together. So, here’s a cupcake-sized version of my pumpkin cheesecake. It’s got less fat and less sugar than the original, as you don’t make a crust. Of course, if you eat four of them at once, it’ll be almost like eating a slice of the regular cheesecake (almost as many carbs, though a lot less fat), but the smaller portions should make it easier to limit yourself. Right?

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I’m not a casserole person. Never had them while growing up, and the thought of canned creamed soups gives me the heebie jeebies. I can’t tell you how many recipes I’ve rejected simply because it called for a can of cream of mushroom soup.

Now, I love chicken marsala, and when I saw the Marsala Chicken-and-Mushroom Casserole recipe, I had to take a look. Wow! No canned soup. I gave it a try, making a couple of modifications to suit my family and the ingredients I had on hand. It’s being added into the rotation. It’s so easy to make too.

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My kids and I love Chinese food, Matt not quite so much. If I waited for Matt to be in the mood for it, I’d be eating it less than once a year. I really enjoy lemon chicken, but I thought I wouldn’t be able to have it anymore. Then I found Rachael Ray’s Lemon Chicken recipe, and I was suddenly inspired. Why couldn’t I make this a low carb, diabetes friendly dish?

I did, and was told “make it again please!!”.

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I love all things lemon. Lemon cake, lemon candy, lemon tea, the works. Lemon curd is a special favorite of mine, but it’s made with so much sugar, and I thought I’d have to give it up forever. Not so!

I found a low carb, sugar free lemon curd recipe, played around with it, and this is what I ended up with. It’s full of lemony deliciousness, though not as sweet as most people might be used to. If you prefer it sweeter, just add more sweetener.

And lemon curd’s not just for desserts anymore! Check out my Lemon Chicken recipe that uses it!

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The kids love sloppy joes and baked pasta. One of the meals they like is Sloppy Joe Manicotti, but I didn’t want to go through the effort of stuffing the manicotti shells for supper. To make this dish, I combined their favorite sloppy joes with pasta, threw on a handful of cheese and baked it in the oven until the cheese was melted. They gobbled it up.

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