Healthy Mexican Mac and Cheese

Healthy Mexican Mac and Cheese

Ingredients:

1 lb cooked 93% lean ground beef, fat drained

4 tsp low sodium taco seasoning mix

9-10 cups cooked cauliflower, cut into small florets (3 12oz bags frozen)

1 cup chopped green chilies (2 4oz cans drained)

1 cup green or red peppers, diced

2 oz pickled jalapenos, chopped (optional)

For the sauce:

2 cups unsweetened cashew milk

8 tbsp or 4oz reduced fat cream cheese

2 tsp dijon mustard

2 tbsp Kraft reduced fat grated parmesan cheese

1/2 tsp garlic powder

3 cups shredded reduced fat Mexican or sharp cheddar cheese

Topping:

2 cups shredded reduced fat Mexican or sharp cheddar cheese

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a 9x13 casserole dish lightly with cooking spray.

Combine cooked ground beef with taco seasoning mix and 6 tbsp of water in a small skillet. Heat over medium high heat. Cook until sauce thickens, about 4 to 5 minutes stirring occasionally.

In a large bowl, combine seasoned ground beef, cauliflower pieces, green chilies, green or red peppers and jalapenos. Set aside.

Pour cashew milk into a medium sized sauce pan over medium-low heat. Add the cream cheese, dijon mustard, parmesan cheese, and garlic powder. Stir until combined and cream cheese is melted. Add 3 cups cheese. Continue cooking until cheese is melted and sauce is nice and smooth, about 2 minutes.

Pour the cheese sauce over the cauliflower beef mixture and stir until everything is coated with the cheese sauce. Pour mixture into a prepared dish. Sprinkle 2 cups of cheese over the top. Bake for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Divide into 8 equal portions.

Lasagna Soup

 This is Janalee’s recipe.

1 1/2 lbs Italian sausage (you can either do all mild or 1 lb mild + 1/2 lb hot) (if you only have 1 lb it works fine)

2 onions finely chopped (a bag of frozen chopped onions works great)

4 cloves (or 4 tsp) minced garlic

2 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 T. tomato paste (pro-tip: a cookie dough baller is 1 T. and works great for scooping and dropping)

28 oz diced tomatoes (2 regular cans or 1 large can)

6 cups chicken broth (3 cups if you’re substituting veggies for pasta)

2 bay leaves

16 oz fusilli pasta ( if you don’t have fusilli, rotini would substitute well)

1/2 cup finely chopped basil (I never have fresh herbs, so a Tablespoon of dried would work too)

Mozzarella cheese 

Crumble and Brown sausage. Drain fat. 

Add onions and sauté about six minutes. 

Add garlic, oregano, and red pepper flakes and sauté one minute.

Add tomato paste and sauté about five minutes.

Add tomatoes (with juice), broth, and bay leaves. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes. 

Increase heat back to a boil, then add pasta, cooking til al dente. 

Discard bay leaves. Add basil. Add salt and pepper to taste.

Serve with mozzarella cheese .

If you want to make a low carb version, only add 3 cups of broth, simmer as usual, then add small bite-size cauliflower florets instead of noodles and cook until soft. Fresh or frozen work, but if frozen, defrost enough to cut into small pieces before adding to the pot. Sliced half moons of zucchini and squash are also great additions!

White Chicken Chili

(From Stephanie Jones)

- 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

- 8 oz green salsa(La Victoria)

- 1 onion chopped

- 3 cups chicken broth 

- 2 cans white/Great Northern beans

- 1/2 tsp. garlic powder 

- 1 tsp. chili powder 

- 2 tsp. ground cumin

- 1 tsp. dried oregano 

- 1 tsp. salt

- 1 cup sour cream 

- 1/2 cup chopped cilantro 

Combine all ingredients except for the sour cream and cilantro in a slow cooker. Cook on low for 6-8 hours. Remove cooked chicken from pot, shred into bite-sized pieces, and return to chili. Stir in sour cream and fresh cilantro. Serve with tortilla chips.

Rolo Turtles

 

1. Put the pretzels on a baking sheet, you can line with parchment if you want, but I don't find it necessary.

The key here is to put them pretty evenly spaced in rows, it will make the pecan step MUCH easier. You can use the circle pretzels, or the small twisty ones, but I prefer the square shaped that they call Snaps, it gives an even surface to place the rest of the stuff and gives the perfect ratio of crunch to chocolate.

2. Then you will place one Rolo candy on each pretzel.

3. Pop them in the oven at 350 {or slightly lower} for 4-5 minutes. They will look slightly shiny, but they will still look like a Rolo... in other words, they shouldn't melt all over the place.

4. Take them out of the oven {get a helper for this part if you are doing a lot of them} and place a pecan on top of each Rolo candy. Be careful not to burn yourself on the hot caramel or the sides of the baking sheet.

**There have been some fantastic reader comments about toasting the pecan first for a few minutes in the oven.  This is an excellent idea and the toasting adds a great flavor to the candies if you've got a few extra minutes, do it.

5. Then, gently push down squishing the Rolo. You do need a light touch on this part because if you squish them too much the Rolo gets everywhere and they're hard to remove from the pan when cooled.  I mean, they're still good to eat, but if you're gifting them, they don't look as pretty.

6. Let them cool at room temp, then pop them in the fridge or freezer to cool completely.  Wasn't this the hardest recipe you've ever encountered?

I store in the fridge to keep them longer, but remove them an hour or so before eating so the caramel softens up a bit. You can also store in a covered Tupperware container at room temp if you plan on eating them within a few days.

Oh, and one last thing, a REALLY helpful hint... Buy the Rolos at the checkout counter, not the bagged ones. I always forget and buy the bagged ones because we need so many of them, but then you spend more time unwrapping each individual one than you do for the whole rest of the recipe.  Or you can alternatively con your kids into unwrapping them, but then you'll likely be missing more than a couple.

Low carb easy cheesy zucchini bake

 

INGREDIENTS

•  2 medium zucchini, cut in slices or half-moon slices
•  2 medium yellow squash, cut in slices or half-moon slices
•  4 T chopped fresh basil (more or less, depending on how much you like the flavor of basil)
•  2 T thinly sliced green onion
•  1/2 tsp. dried thyme
•  3/4 tsp. garlic powder
•  1 cup grated mozzarella cheese (see notes)
•  1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan, plus a little more for the top if desired
•  salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 350F/180C.  Spray an 8" x 8" or 8" x 11" baking dish with olive oil or non-stick spray.  (I originally used the small size, but now I prefer a slightly bigger dish.)
2. Wash the squash and cut in slices or half-moon slices.
3. Wash basil, spin dry or dry with paper towels and finely chop or slice. (I used a mini salad spinner (affiliate link) to dry the basil and Herb Scissors (affiliate link) to cut into thin slices.)
4. Slice green onions.
5. Combine the sliced squash, chopped or sliced basil, sliced green onions, dried thyme, garlic powder, 1/2 grated mozzarella and 1/2 cup coarsely grated Parmesan and stir together until the veggies are coated with cheese and the herbs are well-distributed.  Season with salt and fresh ground black pepper.
6. Put the mixture in the baking dish and bake uncovered for about 25-30 minutes, or slightly longer. (Pierce a piece of zucchini with a fork to be sure it's mostly tender.)
7. When the zucchini is nearly cooked through, take the casserole dish out of the oven and sprinkle over the remaining 1/2 cup of grated mozzarella, plus a little more Parmesan if desired.
8. Put the dish back in the oven and bake 10-15 minutes longer, or until the cheese is melted and nicely browned and zucchini is fully cooked.  Serve hot.
9. This kept well in the fridge overnight, but mine was gone the next day so I don't know if it would last longer than that!

Chicken Fajita salad

 This dressing is AMAZING!

INGREDIENTS

Marinade/Dressing:

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 100 ml (just over 1/3 cup) freshly squeezed lime juice
• 2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon red chili flakes, (or red pepper flakes -- adjust to your preference of spice)
• 1/2 teaspoon ground Cumin
• 1 teaspoon salt

Salad:

• 4 chicken thigh fillets, skin removed (no bone)
• 1/2 yellow bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1/2 red bell pepper, deseeded and sliced
• 1/2 an onion, sliced
• 5 cups Romaine, (or cos) lettuce leaves, washed and dried
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Extra cilantro leaves to garnish
• Sour cream, (optional) to serve

INSTRUCTIONS

• Whisk marinade ingredients together to combine. Pour half the marinade into a shallow dish to marinade the chicken fillets for two hours if time allows. Refrigerate the reserved untouched marinade to use as a dressing.
• Heat about one teaspoon of oil in a grill pan or skillet over medium-high heat and grill chicken fillets on each side until golden, crispy and cooked through. (Grill in batches to prevent excess water being released.) Once chicken is cooked, set aside and allow to rest.
• Wipe pan over with paper towel; drizzle with another teaspoon of oil and fry pepper and onion strips until cooked to your liking.
• Slice chicken into strips and prepare salad with leaves, avocado slices, peppers, onion strips and chicken. Drizzle with remaining marinade/dressing and serve with (optional) extra cilantro leaves and sour cream.

Shepherds Pie

 This is a great way to use leftover mashed potatoes and gravy.

Mix in a deep casserole dish:

1 lb. ground beef, browned

Frozen or canned vegetables of your choice (onions, peas, carrots, corn)

Gravy

Seasonings (salt, pepper, sage, thyme, parsley)

Top mixture with mashed potatoes.

Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes, uncovered.