Slow Cooker Recipe Ideas: Low Carb Meals For Your Family

Let's face it, dieting is not easy. It's hard enough dedicating yourself to a diet when you're only cooking for yourself. But when you've got a family to feed, a family who is used to a certain way of cooking and eating, the difficulty multiplies.

If you're constantly preparing small low carb meals for yourself while still making large carb-loaded meals for your family, eventually something's got to give. You may fall away from your good eating habits or your family dinner time may stretch into the wee hours of the night while you try to produce two dinners.

There are ways to handle this double-duty dinner routine to make it easier and less time consuming. One way is to put your slow cooker to work. Yes, your slow cooker, which produced all those filling family meals before you started your low carb diet can do it again.

Let's take a look at some simple family-friendly meals that both you and your family can enjoy, without sacrificing your low carb diet.

Chicken Cheddar Quesadillas

Kids love quesadillas, but most packaged taco seasonings have added sugar, meaning they are not low carb. Rather than just throw together quesadillas for the kids and start scrambling for something for yourself, why not make a healthier and tastier version that everyone will like. Take a look at this recipe. I think you'll agree it will satisfy everyone.

3 lbs chicken meat (your choice), bones and skin removed
2 cans (14 oz each) chicken broth
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp kosher salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp dried oregano
8 oz sharp Cheddar cheese, shredded (or any cheese your family likes)

Lay the chicken in the slow cooker, then pour in the broth and sprinkle with all the seasonings.  Set the slow cooker to low heat, cover, and let cook for about 6 hours. White meat will cook faster than dark meat, so use your judgment depending on what kind of chicken you use. Remove the chicken, let cool slightly, and shred by tearing apart with two forks, then return to the slow cooker and stir. Add the cheese, stir until cheese melts.

Spoon some of the chicken-cheese mixture onto a low carb tortilla (the kids won't know the difference!), fold in half, flatten slightly, and either put in a hot oven or fry in a skillet until tortilla browns slightly.

These can be 'personalized' and made to order. Each kid, and you, too, can grab a pile of the chicken-cheese mixture, then add whatever ingredients you'd like to make it yours.

Pizza Stuffed Chicken Pinwheels

This is sort of a pinwheel-meets-pizza recipe. Using a chicken cutlet for a pizza crust is not new, but rolling it up and cutting it 'pinwheel style' and cooking it in the slow cooker is a bit different. Mix up the ingredients and have fun with this dish that suits both the family and the low carb dieter.

4 chicken breasts (boneless skinless), pounded thin
8 oz shredded Mozzarella cheese
1 cup rough chopped pepperoni
1/2 good pizza sauce, low carb
any other pizza toppings you normally like
1 cup chicken broth

Once you have your chicken breasts pounded out into thin cutlets, spread the ingredients (except broth) over, then roll up tight. Put the rolled up chicken breasts in the slow cooker so the seam is faced down, then pour the broth over. You can season the chicken at this point if you like with salt, pepper, or oregano or any seasoning you might want. Cover the slow cooker, turn heat to Low, and cook for about 4 hours. Remove and let cool slightly, then slice into thin circles and lay on plates to serve.

These also can be 'personalized' to suit each person's particular tastes. If someone likes olives, throw them in there. Or if Cheddar cheese is favored, use that instead of, or with, Mozzarella. This is a very versatile dish that everyone will love - low carb dieter or not!

The Spaghetti That Isn't

Of course, spaghetti is a kid-friendly favorite. Mix together a cheesy meaty sauce with spaghetti noodles and everybody's happy, right? Not exactly. The low carb dieter gets left out. But, not if you use one of the favorite pasta substitutions of low carb dieters - spaghetti squash. Here's an easy way to put everything together to enjoy a 'spaghetti' dinner right in your slow cooker.

1 lb ground beef, browned
1 can (14 oz size) chicken broth
1 can (6 oz size) tomato paste
1 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp onion powder
dash salt and black pepper
1 medium spaghetti squash
Parmesan cheese for serving

Put the browned ground beef in your slow cooker, then stir in all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the spaghetti squash. Wash the spaghetti squash, then cut in half cross-way and scoop out the seeds. Stick the spaghetti squash halves into the meat sauce cut side down. Turn your slow cooker heat to Low, cover the slow cooker and let cook for 4 hours or until the spaghetti squash is fork tender.

Remove the spaghetti squash and take a fork to pull out the insides of the squash, forming strands like spaghetti. Put this 'spaghetti' into a big pasta bowl, sprinkle with salt and pepper and Parmesan cheese if you like. Serve hot with meat sauce spooned over the top, just like a traditional spaghetti meal.

By taking three classic kid-friendly meals - quesadillas, pizza, and spaghetti - and turning them upside down, inside out, and sneaky, you can create dinners that the whole family will love so much they won't even care that they're eating low carb!