That is a mouthful to say, right? But seriously. I hate cauliflower. I hate it so much. It is one of the only vegetables I won’t touch. So when I tell you I am suspicious of all these cauliflower replacement recipes, I mean it. Cauliflower mashed potatoes? Get that shit away from me. I was at Trader Joe’s awhile back and for whatever reason, when I am shopping in there…everything sounds good. Isn’t that weird? I picked up a bag of frozen riced cauliflower and then it sat in my fridge for a few months.

I was home with a sick Zoe Monday and Tuesday this week. Desperate times call for desperate measures. and I was hungry. I have been wanting thai food for awhile now, specifically something with peanut sauce. I thought…well I can try out the cauliflower rice since it is just for me. That way if it is gross, I didn’t try to pawn that shit off on Chris too. You know? I started whipping out some random stuff in the pantry to make a Weight Watchers friendly version of my peanut sauce. Normally I use coconut milk and it is DELICIOUS!!! But that adds a lot of calories so I replaced it with some chicken broth instead. This came together so quick and easy and was amazing!!!!

Now, I didn’t have any chicken on hand. I threw in some frozen peas and carrots. I think you can toss in some other veggies, or add some chicken and really make this your own. Also, I had some leftovers and took it for lunch the next day. Just as delicious as the first day!!! Maybe even better.

What You Need

riced cauliflower (I used one package from Trader Joes)

olive oil

frozen veggies – I used about half a bag of frozen peas and a half bag of frozen carrots

Peanut Sauce:

1/2 cup low sodium chicken broth

1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce

3-4 tablespoons chunky peanut butter

1 tablespoon lime juice

2 tsp minced garlic

1 tsp ground ginger

1/4 – 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (depending on how much kick you want to it)

What You Do

–Cook the cauliflower rice in a skillet with some olive oil. While that is cooking, heat up some olive oil in a wok and also start cooking the carrots and peas.

–Combine all the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a bowl with a whisk. Heat in microwave for 1 minutes, or warm in sauce pan on the stove for several minutes.

–Combine cauliflower rice in the wok with the veggies, pour peanut sauce over and cook for about 2-3 minutes.

This was a super quick and easy recipe that tasted delicious! I didn’t miss the flour tortillas at all. You could make this so many different ways, we used chicken. I think having black beans and other veggies would be a great meatless Monday meal. Or doing some beef would be good too! Whatever you have on hand.

What You Need

cooked shredded chicken breast – I had bought a package around a pound, maybe a little less, of thin chicken breasts from the grocery store and cooked them in some chicken broth in the crock pot on low for 8 hours while we were gone during the day. You could also use a rotisserie chicken to make it even easier! Or boil some on the stove.

2-3 zucchini

1 can enchilada sauce

2 cloves minced garlic

2 tsp chili powder

2 tsp cumin

1 tsp salt

shredded cheese – I used a cheddar jack mixture

What You Do

–Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray your baking dish with cooking spray.

–Heat chicken in skillet along with the salt, minced garlic, chili powder, cumin, 1 cup of cheese and 1 cup of the enchilada sauce. Stir for around 5 minutes.

–While that is cooking, using a veggie peeler and slice out your zucchini

–Take three zucchini slices and lay them horizontally flat, overlapping them just a little. Spoon in the chicken mixture to the middle, and close up the enchilada by wrapping the sides around. Lay them with the wrapped side facing down into your baking dish.

–Once they are all rolled up, drizzle the remaining enchilada sauce and sprinkle with some additional cheese.

–Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

ENJOY!!!!

I love rice. There. I said it. I don’t care if it is a grain, a form of a carb, it is delicious! One of our go to weeknight meals is a taco bowl. We opt to skip out on taco shells, but I like to have at least rice with it!  Lately it has just been extra lean ground turkey, black beans, a little cheese, taco bell sauce, jalapenos…all over some rice. I don’t like buying the 99 cent rice packets at stores. You know which ones I am talking about, the Knors or the Rice a Roni boxes. Sure, they are delicious. But do we even know what is in them? I mean, besides ridiculous amounts of salt.

I prefer to make my own rice, and have found a super cheap and easy way to do so. Without losing any flavor, of course! You probably have most all of these ingredients sitting in your pantry right now, so let’s get started.

What You Need

1 cup brown rice

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 cups low sodium chicken broth

1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce

2 teaspoons of  minced garlic

1 teaspoon chili powder

What You Do

–Heat olive oil over medium-high heat, then stir rice around for a few minutes until it starts to get a golden color

–Pour in the chicken broth and stir. (Careful, the pan will be hot and the sauce will sizzle and bubble when you first dump it in. Often I turn the heat down until I add all my ingredients, then turn it back up.)

–Add in the tomato sauce, garlic and chili powder and stir. Bring to a boil.

–Cover and reduce heat, allowing the rice to cook until all the liquid is gone. This usually takes 20-30 minutes.

Enjoy!!!

I have been wanting to share the keto pizza skillet recipe with you guys. With this recipe, you can make it as unhealthy or as healthy as you want. If it is one thing I learned over the last few years, just because a recipe is “diet friendly” doesn’t make it healthy. I am looking at you “paleo” desserts. This recipe has cheese and meet. There is fat. You know what there isn’t a lot of? Carbs. I used ground beef, you could use sausage, ground turkey, a mixture of it all, no meat, whatever you like. I really loved the flavor from the pepper in this recipe, and I don’t like pepper on my actual pizza. Play with the veggies. I think you can really make this veggie heavy and sneak in a lot of stuff for your husband kids.

What You Need

1 pound extra lean ground beef

around 40 slices of turkey pepperoni (we like a lot of pepperoni, you could do less ovciously) diced into fours (I stack them several at a time to make this a quick and easy process)

1/2 an onion

1 green bell pepper

jar of pizza sauce

2 garlic cloves

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 bag Parmesan cheese

1/2 bag of mozzarella cheese

What You Do

–Heat your cast iron skillet with olive oil, add ground beef, peppers, onions, garlic cloves and seasonings.

–Cook until the meat is brown, then add in the pepperoni and pizza sauce.

–Top with cheese and then place under the broiler in your oven for 3-5 minutes, until the cheese is starting to bubble and become golden.

I served ours with a Caesar salad and it was delicious!!! We had some leftovers which worked great for lunches the next day.

Last week I had lunch with a friend at one of my favorite local places, SoHo Social. I almost always order the sweet potato fries with gorgonzola dip as an appetizer, so I don’t want more fries with my meal….you know? I decided to try the brussels they had listed and OMG!!! They were the best I have ever had! I knew I had to recreate them at home immediately. Enter this super simple concoction!

What You Need

1 package shaved brussels or around a pound of regular brussels halved

olive oil

salt

black pepper

2-3 tablespoons real maple syrup

What You Do

–Preheat oven to 400 degrees

–Place brussels in a bowl and drizzle with olive oil, salt and black pepper to taste. Be sure to mix it around real good!

–Line a pan with tin foil and spread out in a single layer.

–Bake for 15 minutes. Toss them around and put them back in for about 8-10 minutes.

–Drizzle 2-3 tablespoons of maple syrup on them, mix them around real good and good for about 8-10 more minutes.

Enjoy the deliciousness!!!!!!!!!!!!