Entrees

This makes cozy comfort food. You can put it together pretty fast and pop it in the oven so you can do other things while dinner finishes up. I like dishes like this because it gives me time to load the dishwasher with the cooking tools and the kitchen is cleaned except for the actual eating dishes before I even sit down for the meal. Perfect dish for a pot luck too.

With this recipe, I’ve included about 25% of the pasta that would be in most similar recipes. That’s a big secret. Just cut it back. You won’t miss it. This casserole focuses on the veggies, the protein and the sauce.

Don’t start making potatoes every week. Keep this for special occasions. When you have fully stabilized and you are confident in keeping your weight in control you can consider eating a one cup portion of potatoes about once a month.

This is semi-spicy. If you want less heat, just back off on the pepper flakes.

Best served over ravioli; especially a pumpkin ravioli or a butternut squash ravioli.

Let cool to warm or room temperature before serving; the soup will thicken as it cools. Serve with additional grated Parmesan at the table.

Yes, you can have raisins once you stabilize. Just not too many. Use as few as you feel you can get away with and still get the flavor sensation.

Once you get your system cleaned out with ZReduction and you stabilize in ZReboot, you can “go a little wild” once in a while and venture out into the world of a bit of sugar. I took a recipe that called for an entire cup of syrup (yep, you read that right) and totally redesigned so it could be eaten in ZReboot 3.5.

The dish is QUICK. EASY. Brunch for dinner maybe? Or this can be a fun breakfast or lunch, too.

Jambalaya is normally a rice-centric dish that is chock-full of carbs. I redesigned this dish so you can fit some rice into your life without blowing your diet.

This is a cheesy and bubbly casserole that will keep you warm for dinner during the cold winter weeknights!

When I was a kid my father traveled a lot. When he was gone, sometimes my mom would let us just fry up some hamburger meat and add a can of Campbell’s baked beans. We called it bean hash. I loved it.

This dish is easy to put together. The spouse or the kids can help chop and it comes together fast. You can be doing other things while your dinner bakes in the oven. Makes great leftovers, too.

You can have your stroganoff and eat it too! Most stroganoff recipes are served over rice or a big pile of noodles. You don’t have to do that. You have other choices.

Dieter and KLSS Star 106 DJ Harry O stopped by Plan Z headquarters this weekend. Harry, who's lost 150 pounds on Plan Z, brought with him a fantastic lasagna recipe. It tastes just like the homemade version we all love, but without the additional carbs

My husband loves shrimp and grits. His mother was from Arkansas and they ate grits often. Trouble is grits are very high carb. Traditional grits are made from cornmeal. I took an inspiration recipe and came up with my own version of shrimp and grits. There is just enough corn in here to help you get the corn flavor without the cornmeal. And there’s enough cheese in here that even though you’ll be using almond meal (aka almond flour) for your grits base, you won’t taste the almond.

I made this ‘good luck’ recipe for the Championship Final for basketball. The Wisconsin Badgers played the Duke Blue Devils. Brats are such a Wisconsin thing it seemed like a great theme.

Well, the brats didn’t bring any luck to the Badgers, but neither did watching the game from our lucky red sofa! Badgers lost. That doesn’t take away from the flavor of the brats though. They are a BIG YUM.

If you decide to have a second one, skip the bread. Just pile the stuff on your plate and use your fork.

I was shocked. I have made this casserole so many times in so many variations -- I had no idea I had never typed it up to share with all of you! I am going to give you one version here but I’ll also editorialize a bit and give you other options to experiment. This recipe is so easy it comes together in under 15 minutes and then you just bake to heat it. A novice can handle this one for sure…and a busy parent can get a kid-friendly recipe on the table fast.

This is a dreamy, smooth pasta dish that uses little pasta but is still big on taste. This dish can be easily doubled and baked in a 9" x 13" pan for a larger crowd.

This dish is Italian comfort food. I curl up on sofa with a bowl of this and watch a movie. You can go totally low-carb with this one and make it without the pasta. Tastes just as good. This also makes a great casserole addition to a pot luck party.