Creamed Cauliflower is my FAVORITE! (Cheat)

So I love cauliflower more than any other vegetable..EVER. Seriously, I cannot name another veggie I love more. So I keep trying to come up with new and interesting ways to serve it so my husband doesn't get bored. (Cauliflower is not his favorite ;) )

This recipe is based loosely on my Mom's Cauliflower Soup. It is basically the same theory, only on a smaller scale. It is not extremely low carb because of the milk and flour, but I think you could probably revamp it if you are adventurous with coconut flour and almond milk. If I try it out that way, I will definitely update this entry. :)

Creamed Cauliflower Recipe

1 small head of cauliflower

2 TBSP butter

1 TBSP flour (coconut flour if low carb)

1/2 cup of milk

smallest pinch of nutmeg

salt,pepper,garlic to taste

Boil the florets in a pot of water until mashable.  Put aside, reserving a small amount of water (about 1/2 cup).  Then put the butter into the pot, and melt over medium to medium low heat. When the butter is melted, add the flour, and completely whisk together. Before it can get too clumpy, start adding the milk, alittle at a time, constantly whisking. Once you get all the milk added in, it should be a very thick roux in the pan. Add nutmeg.  At this point, I add a small amount of the cauliflower water until it is the consistency of porridge. Add cauliflower back to pot, and mash until it looks like this:

Not the prettiest, but yummy!

Then start seasoning until it tastes right to you. I hesitate to actually advise on this because to some people it would be way too salty, and to others it would be too bland.  You know your family's tastes, so just add whatever seasonings sound right to you. :) 

And Beer Chicken it is...

This sounds awesome, right? Anything that adds beer to my meal...lol. Now since I grew up in the South, this would not be my first "Beer can chicken", but this is a great alternative to using the grill. Especially when it's SUPER cold outside. ;) And it really couldn't be any easier. Which seems to be a running theme in my blog, huh? 

Now, like the original poster writes, you can use a whole chicken, cut up chicken pieces, or chicken breasts. I used chicken breasts, and it came out great. You can also play with the spices. I am not a huge fan of Basil, so I just put in a shake of that, but I  believe that you can never have too much garlic, so I added extra of that. Here's how I did it:

Beer Can Slow Cooker Chicken

6 Boneless Chicken breasts

1 Can of any beer of your choice (Organic if you want to "clean" it up) 
1/2 tsp Sea Salt

1/2 tsp Garlic Powder

1 clove of Garlic minced

1/2 tsp Black Pepper

1/2 tsp Paprika

Shake of Basil ;)

Put all these ingredients in the slow cooker, and cook on low for 6-8 hours, or 4 on High. (I rarely cook anything on high...I feel like it toughens whatever meat I am using, but I will do it if I am in a pinch)

You can just eat these straight out of the crock with a veggie side dish, or you can shred the meat and put it back in the slow cooker to soak up the liquid. Then serve on rolls or over rice. You can't go wrong no matter what way you choose to eat it. It's delicious! :) 

Cauliflower "Rice" (Clean)

Now, do not get too excited. Does it taste like rice? No. But does it taste good enough to replace rice for the good of your health? Definitely. I LOVE cauliflower! Probably more than any other vegetable,so this is easy for me. I sneak it into mashed potatoes, completely undetected by my kids. One of which does not eat any vegetables AT ALL. So, that's something. Anyway...this could not be easier. Actually, it could be easier if I weren't scared of my food processor, but I digress. Here are the only items you need to do this:

Grater
Head of cauliflower
Skillet
Oil of choice
Salt and pepper

Basically you grate up the cauliflower florets into small bits. Heat up TBS of oil in the pan, and "dry" fry the cauliflower with salt and pepper. Just stir it around until it is halfway done and there you go. I served this to my husband with my Shrimp Creole because quinoa is not his preference. I think he was really surprised that he liked it as much as he did.

I also posted my Creole recipe, so check it out! (Please) :)

Looks like rice, doesn't it? :)

And it's time for Creole... (Healthy modifications)

Shrimp Creole

I have been making this recipe for years.  One of the few things I have been able to make for years and make well. Only problem is, none of the kids like it...actually, I guess that is not a problem. More for me ;) 

There are alot of Shrimp Creole recipes out there, but when I was younger, I wouldn't make any recipe with stewed tomatoes in it, so I adapted the recipes to my picky tastes. I guess I should be a big girl soon and try the normal recipes :) Until then, here you go:

Ingredients

1 TBSP butter (or oil, I guess)

1 medium onion, diced

1 green onion, diced

1 tsp red pepper (or chili powder - whatever you have)

2 (8oz) cans of tomato sauce

1 can of water

1 bay leaf

1 lb Uncooked Shrimp (cocktail shrimp are the best)

   cleaned and deveined

Melt butter in a saucepan. Add onion and green onion and cook until soft. Add red pepper,  2 cans of tomato sauce and 1 bay leaf, and cook for about 15 minutes all together. Remove bay leaf and add shrimp. Cook until shrimp are pink. Now at this point, I decide if it is too runny. Sometimes it is, and sometimes it is not, so it just depends. (on what, I have NO idea). If it is too runny, you can make a paste? of cornstarch and water and then add it to the mixture. I rarely find that it is too runny, but I wanted to add that, just in case. 

You can serve this over rice, unless you are cutting out rice like me, and then you can put it over quinoa or "riced" cauliflower.  I have added a short blog about that too. :)