Lil Carb Caesar Dressing

Every weekend I sit down and write out my grocery list for the week.  It's become some what of a 'process'... I love to try new recipes so it takes time to think them up and do online research trying to find new, yummy ones to try. In my first post I mentioned that I had lost 40 lbs in preparation for my wedding in September.  I will go into exactly how I did it in another post-- coming soon!  But what I will tell now is that I have done just about every diet known to man and the low carb diet worked for me.  So even after the wedding is over the "diet" has become more of a lifestyle. If I eat certain carbs or sugar now I get really lethargic and just blah feeling.  It's kind of crazy to think that my body felt like that all the time but just got used to it. Scary. I stay away from most things white- flour, rice, sugar, pasta, bread....I know what you're thinking- how?! That has been my mission- turning my most favorite and even new recipes into a low carb version for my husband and I.  I wanted to share my menu for the next few days so everyone could see that even though its low carb it still can be good!  As I make some of the recipes I will share them and you can try them for yourself.   When posting a recipe I like to post a complete meal. That way you know what goes well together- I try to take the guess work out of it. So here's my menu:

• Paprika chicken served with sour cream gravy and a side of zucchini gratin with gruyere cheese
• Rosemary and garlic ground chicken burgers served over arugula 
• Teriyaki chicken breasts served with sriracha cauliflower
• Sausage and pumpkin soup made with organic pumpkin and spicy italian sausage
• Meatless zucchini lasagna served along side my famous meatballs
• Broccoli and cheese soup served with a ham and cheese cuban melt
• Chicken parmesan with homemade marinara and spaghetti squash 'noodles'
• Flounder filet with a garlic, almond, and caper sauce served over cauliflower mash
• Hard shell tacos made with my own taco seasoning blend and all the fixins

Those dinner options seem like a good mix of chicken, beef, sausage, and fish.  I try to vary it so dinner never gets boring. Plus I love cooking with all different ingredients. 

I'll let you know how they are! I'll try to share the recipes as I go.

Here's a little taste of what I whipped up tonight- Homemade Caesar Dressing!

I don't know what it is in caesar dressing but almost every one makes me sick. But I love it so much that I decided to go out and make my own.  I have perfected the recipe and I will share it with you here- you will be surprised how easy it is.

In a food processor add all the ingredients together and pulse until smooth:
1 Cup Mayonnaise- I use Hellmans regular
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp dijon mustard
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp fish sauce- to avoid the anchovy I found this does the trick and you can find it in the international aisle in most grocery stores.
2-3 smashed garlic cloves- the food processor will do the chopping
1/4 tsp black pepper
Pinch of salt

Toss with some romaine and croutons and you're all set!

Homemade Caesar Dressing