Blueberry Sweet Potato breakfast casserole - Paleo, Whole30

When I am doing Whole30, I get tired of eating eggs! Who doesn't? Believe it or not, this is what I eat when I am tried of eggs. Even though it has eggs in it, it doesn't taste like an egg dish to me.

Cooking Equipment

12-inch cast iron skillet, seasoned

Ingredients

up to 1/4 cup ghee (if you're not on whole30 you can use butter)

2-3 medium sweet potatoes, peeled and dices in half inch cubes

1/2 tsp salt

1 apple, diced

5 large eggs

1 cup canned coconut milk 

1/4 cup chopped walnuts or almonds

1/2 cup blueberries fresh or frozen

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. On your stove top, heat half the ghee in the skillet add your sweet potatoes and sprinkle with salt. Cook sweet potatoes until they are almost soft, 7-8 minutes and then add the apple. Cook for 3-4 minutes minutes until the sweet potatoes and the apples are soft. While cooking your apples, warm the coconut milk in the microwave for 15-20 seconds to partially melt it. Beat your eggs slightly with coconut milk. There will be some clumps of coconut milk in the eggs, this is fine as it will melt more when you pour it in the skillet.

Sprinkle nuts and blueberries over the sweet potatoes and then pour the egg mixture. Stir to incorporate with the sweet potatoes. Any clumps of coconut milk should melt, take care to mix it in with the eggs.

Place the skillet in the oven and bake until the eggs are done, 15-20 minutes.

Taco skillet casserole - 2 points on Weight Watchers

Are you looking for a one pan dish that is quick and easy to make? Look no further than this taco skillet casserole!

This dish uses cooked rice to come together really quickly, or if you don't have rice that's already cooked you can cook the rice right in the pan by adding 3/4 cup dry rice and 1.5 cups of water. The dish will take about 25 minutes longer if you use uncooked rice and cook it in the pan. I use leftover rice from the night before's dinner.

The whole recipe is only 10 points on Weight Watchers blue plan (formerly Freestyle) and it's easily 5 servings, making it 2 points for serving. Top it with a little cheese and sour cream for extra points. You can also roll it up in a in wrap for a burrito, I like to do this the next day for lunch.

If you are looking for another great one-pot meal, you can also try my un-stuffed pepper skillet. It's similar but more like a stuffed pepper than a taco flavor. 

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1.25 lbs 99% FF ground turkey (you can also use beef or higher fat turkey but it will increase the points if you are following Weight Watchers; my photos show lean beef)
1-2 packets taco seasoning, ideally low sodium
1 14.5 oz can fire roasted tomatoes
1 14.5 oz can of corn
1 14.5 oz can of black beans
1.5 cups of cooked rice

Optional toppings:
Shredded cheese
Sour cream or plain Greek yogurt

Wrap or taco shell

Cooking equipment: Very large skillet or high-sided pot or Dutch oven (preferred)

Directions:
Spray pan with cooking spray and turn on medium heat, add ground turkey and season with 1 packet of taco seasoning. Brown the meat until fully cooked, about 5-7 minutes.

Add tomatoes, corn, black beans and cooked rice. Stir. Add a second packet of taco seasoning if desired for a spicier/more flavorful dish. If the mixture appears dry (especially an issue with low fat meat) add up to a .5 cup of water. Allow to warm fully and simmer uncovered about 5-8 minutes.

Top with cheese and sour cream or yogurt,if desired and serve.

When made with 99% FF ground turkey, the recipe is 10 total points on Freestyle. Dividing it into 5 servings makes it 2 points each, excluding any optional toppings. The 5 servings are pretty generous portions, easily 1 cup.

This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. This post may contain affiliate links, if you make a purchase using one of these links this blog may receive a small commission. Thank you for your support.

Cheesy crock-pot chicken - 3 pts on WW

My husband and I absolutely love crock-pot chicken made with cream cheese. It's really simple to throw in a crock pot in the morning and it's a versatile filling, we eat it:

• over rice (this was more common pre-Weight Watchers, but it's also the best!)
• over cauliflower rice
• over egg noodles
• as a taco/burrito filling
• in a wrap
• with black beans

This dish is so cheesy and decadent I did not even check the points on it when I first joined Weight Watchers, thinking they would be way too high. However with a few simple swaps I was shocked that it was only 3 points a serving! That is dividing the recipe into 4 servings, which is a very large serving.

To make this magic happen for 3 points, you need to use fat free cream cheese. While I try to avoid the fat free products that have fillers, I make an exception for this meal because sometimes I just need something quick and easy. If you change to light cream cheese, the recipe is 7pts/serving. 

This recipe is even easier because you can use frozen chicken without thawing it first. I have also left it for up to 9 hours and it was fine but it does burn on the sides a little bit. I spray it with cooking spray really good or use a crock-pot liner. 

Ingredients:

3 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 2.5lbs, fresh or frozen)

8oz fat free cream cheese

1 can of light cream of chicken soup (I use the Aldi fit & active brand)

1 packet Italian dressing seasoning mix

cooking spray

Cooking equipment:

5 or 6 quart crock-pot or slow cooker

Directions:

Spray sides of crock-pot with cooking spray and put chicken in the bottom of the crock-pot. Sprinkle full packet of Italian dressing seasoning on top of the chicken and add the cream of chicken soup and block of cream cheese.

Cook on low for 8 hours. Shred the chicken and mix with the cheesy sauce and serve as desired.

Crock-pot chicken over cauliflower rice (3pt) with some chips on the side (4pt)

This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase from one of these links this blog may receive a small commission, thank you for your support. This blog is not affiliated with Weight Watchers in any way. Points were calculated in June 2018 using the WW freestyle program. 

Pad See Ewe - the best EVER Thai dish

If you have ever eaten take out with me, you know that I have a strong preference for Asian food, both Thai and Chinese. Normally, I don't see the appeal in getting take out that I could make myself at home and my common refrain is "yeah, but that is just as sandwich."

I used to get Thai almost weekly with one of my friends. When I lived in DC, I also had the "Pad See Ewe Summer" where myself and a few other Pad See Ewe (PSE) enthusiasts went to many, many Thai restaurants in the District to see which one made the best PSE.

This delectable dish, goes by many different spellings - Pad Si Ew & Pad See Ewe being the most common. If you haven't tried it yet, RUN do not WALK to your nearest Thai restaurant. When you are totally hooked, come back here and we will try to make it at home together.

A word of warning, PSE noodles are the great white whale of ingredients. At least they have been for me, I have literally gone to 3-4 Asian groceries and had an unsuccessful Amazon search before I finally found them at a massive Asian Market called Li Ming's in Durham, NC, that I had been meaning to visit for the last year, for the express purpose of finding PSE noodles. Now that I know they have have them I will definitely be back.

Li Ming's also carries what is definitely the largest selection of soy sauce I have ever seen. I am not even nearly culturally equipped enough to shop at this store; I can only identify uses for about a 1/2 of the items they carry.

But the point is, if you cannot find the fresh flat rice noodles, you can substitute dried rice noodles. Sometimes, you gotta make it work.

My weekly Thai food eating friend, sent me a PSE recipe she made a few weeks ago which spurred on my desire to go to Li Ming's. I like to have "saucy" and "eggy" PSE, so I made a few alterations, I have put the recipe I used below with my alterations.

PSE

• 1 head broccoli, chopped
• 3 tablespoon Dark Soy Sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1 lb Fresh Flat Rice Noodles
• 2 cloves chopped garlic
• 6 tablespoons regular Soy Sauce
• 2 tablespoon sugar  
• 1/2 lb, your protein of choice, sliced thin or extra veggies
• 2 tablespoon olive or other cooking oil

If your fresh flat rice noodles are not pre-cut, cut them into strips of 1 inch wide. Chop your broccoli (Chinese or regular) into pieces. Heat a wok or large skillet to high heat and then add 2 tablespoons of oil. Drop in the chopped garlic and stir. Add your protein and saute to cook. While your protein cooks, mix your soy sauces and sugar together in a bowl on the side. When your protein is almost fully cooked, add your sliced rice noodles and pour you sauce over it, stir it together.

Push your noodles to the side, clearing a space to drop in your eggs. Put the eggs into the open space and scramble them until fully cooked, then mix them in with the noodles. Add broccoli and stir together. Let it heat in the pan for a few minutes to cook the broccoli and give yourself a little char on the noodles. PSE is not normally spicy, but if you want a little kick, add some cayenne pepper now.

The verdict:
Even with increasing the amount of sauce, I still felt it could have been saucier, so I'll need to work on that. I think this sauce isn't quite right also, it's good and it's close but it's not perfect. I might need a little fish sauce or oyster sauce, or something. I'm not quite sure yet, I'll keep trying! I also, did not include this in my recipe but I made mine vegetarian, so I added some cabbage and bean sprouts I had. Normally, I like my PSE with chicken but the veggies were good too! They soaked up the sauce nicely.

It was also surprisingly quick to make! I will definitely be making this again and keep fine tuning the sauce as I go.

fried "rice" quinoa

Over the past two years, quinoa has quickly become one of my favorite grains! If you haven't tried this super food yet, you are seriously missing out! Don't let the funny name intimidate you! It has a slightly nutty flavor in my opinion but you can use it basically as a substitute for rice.

It's definitely pricier than rice, if you have a Trader Joe's nearby I have found them to have the most competitive prices for quinoa.

Quinoa made like fried rice has become a favorite meal for boyfriend and I, especially during the busy work week. It's gluten free and can be made as a vegetarian main dish or as a side dish.

Quinoa fried "rice" as a side for ginger chicken

Ingredients:

1 cup quinoa
Chicken or vegetable bouillon (use vegetable to make it vegetarian)
1 Tb of olive oil 
1 Tb of minced garlic
1/2 cup chopped celery
1/2 cup frozen or fresh peas
1/2 cup chopped carrots
1-2 large eggs

for sauce:
2 Tb of soy sauce
1 Tb of Teriyaki sauce
1 Tb of sesame oil (can substitute olive oil)

Directions:
Rinse quinoa in a mesh strainer. Cook quinoa in bouillon, refer to package directions for the amount of liquid needed to cook 1 cup of quinoa, typically 2 cups of liquid. Allow quinoa to cool, this step can be completed the day before.

Heat 1 Tb of olive oil in a a large skillet, add the garlic and cook for one minute. Add peas and celery and cook for 2-3 minutes or until they are about half of your desired tenderness. If you are using frozen peas, you might need to cook slightly longer than 3 minutes. Add in carrots, mixing them with the other vegetables.

Add cooked quinoa to the skillet and mix with vegetables for a few minutes allowing the quinoa to heat up. While the quinoa is warming, mix all of the sauce ingredients together in small bowl. When the quinoa is warm, pour the sauce over the top and stir all ingredients together.

Push the quinoa and vegetables to one side of the pan, making a small pocket of empty space. Crack eggs in the small pocket of empty space and scramble them a few minutes until cooked fully. Note this can be done in a separate pan if you don't have enough room. When the eggs are fully cooked, mix them in with the quinoa and vegetables thoroughly. Serve hot.

Servings: 2 main dish or 4-5 as a side dish

Broccoli fish bake

Lately, I've been feeling like I'm in a fish rut and need to be more creative with the seafood, not just putting some lemon pepper on white fish and sticking it under the broiler. The idea of a casserole is something that appeals to me, in a time management sense, though I typically don't like all my food mixed together. I'm that person on Thanksgiving who is trying to keep all their food from touching each other.

However, I decided to give this broccoli-fish-cheese concoction a shot. Overall, a satisfying experience. It cooked much faster than a casserole made with chicken because it has fish and I enjoy just about anything with cheese. I would not say that it makes a good meal solo, which is a shame, because that is the point of a casserole! I decided pretty quickly that it needed some rice and thankfully, has some Uncle Ben's ready rice in the cupboard.

This is a cambell's recipe, which I found on allrecipes.com see it here or pasted below.

1 (10 ounce) package frozen broccoli spears, cooked and drained
1 pound fresh or thawed frozen firm white fish fillets (cod, haddock or halibut)
1 (10.75 ounce) Broccoli cheese soup Soup
1/3 cup milk
1/4 cup shredded Cheddar cheese
2 tablespoons dry bread crumbs
1 teaspoon butter, melted
1/8 teaspoon paprika

Arrange broccoli in 2-quart shallow baking dish. Top with fish. Mix soup and milk and pour over fish. Sprinkle with cheese. Mix bread crumbs, butter and paprika and sprinkle on top. Bake at 450 degrees F for 20 minutes or until fish is done.

I used fresh broccoli. Honestly, I don't know why anyone would use frozen but if you want to, go for it. Fresh worked just fine, left the broccoli a little crunchy, but I like that. I also used tilapia, and suspect any white fish would do the trick. I would also recommend you to go heavy on the bread crumbs, it made a very nice crispy layer on the top.

Sorry I don't have a photo...I forgot to take one.

Lentil Tacos

I heart lentils. But I have a hard time knowing what to do with them. I can put them in soup but that's about it. Until now - I have discovered lentil tacos. Do they sound disgusting to you? Well, you aren't alone. Just about everyone I mentioned lentil tacos to, replied with a sickened expression and an audible ew. There were a few people who said, "what is a lentil?" but the let's face it - if you aren't eating lentils already, you're not sitting at the cool lunch table. That's just a fact.

The lentil-taco-ewwers just needed a little bit of perspective. After I said, "ever eaten a bean taco or burrito? Lentils are basically a bean." They came around. I don't like beans much, but we're going to ignore that today (I'm trying to let beans grow on me). I'm also likely discussing my cooking projects too much with friends and associates, though to be fair, I was eating leftover lentil tacos at work for at least one of these conversations.

Moving on, lentil tacos are simply yum-tastic. Yes, I did just write that and with a hyphen. I made them twice in one week. That's right twice. In a week. I'm an addict. On the plus side, these are über healthy and consistent with the diet that I started a few weeks ago (unlike the ribs I made recently...).

Et Voilà!

Lentil Tacos (adapted and scaled down from here)

1 tsp olive oil
2 cloves chopped garlic
1/2 cup lentils (dry)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
1 tsp oregano
1 1/4 cups of chicken broth (I imagine veggie broth is fine too)
1/2 cup salsa
taco shells and your preferred toppings

Makes 8-10 tacos.

Sauté garlic in olive oil in a large nonstick skillet until tender. Add lentils and spices; cook and stir for 1 minute. Add chicken broth and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 25-30 minutes or lentils are tender. Uncover and cook for an additional 6-8 minutes. Stir in salsa, spoon mixture into taco shells and top with desired toppings.

I recommend you use a fruity salsa. I chose a peach & pineapple salsa and found the sweet salsa to be a nice juxtaposition to the spice I put on the lentils. I didn't have any avocado or guacamole to top my tacos with, but I suspect this would be an excellent choice.