Keto Baked Feta Pasta with Tomatoes

 

https://peaceloveandlowcarb.com/keto-baked-feta-pasta-with-tomatoes/print/35198/

This was really really good. We added pepperoni which gave it a yummy pizza vibe.

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SCALE

INGREDIENTS

• 1 large spaghetti squash or 2 small, halved and seeded
• 8 ounce block feta cheese (or sub 6oz crumbled feta)
• 3 cups grape tomatoes (2 pints)
• 1 small bulb garlic
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 1 teaspoon sea salt, more to taste
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
• Pinch of red pepper flakes
• 5 fresh basil leaves, torn
• 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese, optional
• cracked black pepper, optional

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INSTRUCTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Drizzle the spaghetti squash halves with a little olive oil, and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
3. Roast the spaghetti squash for 45 minutes, or until the shreds easily pull away from the skin and are tender.
4. Place the block of feta cheese in a the center of a large baking dish. Add the tomatoes to the dish and place them all around the feta.
5. Slice the top off of the bulb of garlic, exposing all of the cloves and add it to the baking dish with the tomatoes and the feta.
6. Drizzle the olive oil and balsamic over top of the feta, tomatoes and garlic.
7. Sprinkle over the salt, pepper, Italian seasoning, and red pepper flakes. Toss the tomatoes so that they are evenly coated in the oil, vinegar, and seasonings.
8. Add the the baking dish to the oven with the spaghetti squash and cook for 30 minutes, or until the tomatoes are just about to burst, the cheese is melty, with a golden brown top, and the garlic is roasted.
9. Once they are done, squeeze the garlic cloves out of the bulb into the baking dish with the tomatoes.
10. Using a fork, gently start popping the tomatoes, mashing the garlic, and mixing them into the cheese as you go. This will be the sauce for you pasta.
11. Add the fresh torn basil and the roasted spaghetti squash and toss until the squash is evenly coated in the sauce.
12. Top with Parmesan cheese and cracked black pepper before serving.

Classic chili

 Anna made this tonight and it was good! A little spicy for Leo but Wren liked it. 

https://www.thewholesomedish.com/wprm_print/8547

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion -diced
• 1 pound 90% lean ground beef
• 2 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cayenne pepper* -optional
• 1 1/2 cups beef broth
• 1 (15 oz.) can petite diced tomatoes
• 1 (16 oz.) can red kidney beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

Instructions

• Add the olive oil to a large soup pot and place it over medium-high heat for two minutes. Add the onion. Cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the ground beef to the pot. Break it apart with a wooden spoon. Cook for 6-7 minutes, until the beef is browned, stirring occasionally.
• Add the chili powder, cumin, sugar, tomato paste, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and optional cayenne. Stir until well combined.
• Add the broth, diced tomatoes (with their juice), drained beans, and tomato sauce. Stir well.
• Bring the liquid to a low boil. Then, reduce the heat (low to medium-low) to gently simmer the chili, uncovered, for 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Remove the pot from the heat. Let the chili rest for 5-10 minutes before serving.

Notes

I typically skip the cayenne pepper because I have a young kiddo.  Then, I put out some hot sauce for those adults that want to add some spiciness to their chili.

Crispy baked chicken wings

 These came out really good! A bit time consuming but quite tasty and the kids ate them, which is a huge win.

https://tastesbetterfromscratch.com/wprm_print/10130

Ingredients

• 4ish pounds chicken wings, halved at joints, wingtips discarded
• 2 Tablespoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Instructions

• Adjust your oven racks to the upper-middle and lower-middle positions. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, use convection if you have the option.
• Line two baking sheets with aluminum foil. Spray with non-stick spray.
• Use paper towels to pat the wings dry and place them in a large bowl. I dried them with paper towels twice. It's important to dry them REALLY well so they get crispy not soggy. 
• Combine the salt, pepper, garlic powder, paprika, and baking powder in a small bowl. Then sprinkle the seasoning over the wings, tossing to evenly coat.
• Arrange wings, skin side up, in single layer on prepared baking sheets. Do not crowd them. Spray with cooking spray.
• Bake, turning every 20 minutes until wings are crispy and browned. (For me that was 40 minutes. The total cook time will depend on the size of the wings but may take up to 1 hour.)
• Remove from oven and let stand for 5 minutes. If you want to sauce them, transfer wings to bowl and toss with wing sauce, or BBQ sauce, or whatever you prefer!

Easy Baked Chicken Quesadillas

 The kids have been off quesadillas for a while now, but I want to win them over again. I like quesadillas and they're so easy! We'll see if this recipe does the trick. I'll probably add cilantro and use mild salsa instead of chipotle for the kiddos.

Ingredients

8-10 10" flour tortillas

4 cups chicken, cooked and shredded (about 1.5 lbs)

1 Tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, to taste

1 1/2 cups sour cream

2 cups shredded cheese

 

Instructions

 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees

 

2. In a large bowl stir together the chicken, sour cream, chipotle peppers, and cheese. Salt to taste. 

 

3. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper and adjust racks in the oven if needed. Grease the parchment paper with cooking spray. 

 

4. Add 1/3 c - 1/2 c filling to each tortilla and fold in half. Arrange prepared quesadillas on baking sheets and brush or spray with oil.

5. Bake for 15 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Serve with sour cream, salsa, and/or guacamole.

https://themodernproper.com/baked-chicken-quesadillas

Pollo Sudado in the crockpot

I love this recipe and am trying to work out a good crockpot version. Having the chicken on low from 8:30 AM - 5:30 PM was certainly too much, so next time I'll try for 6 hours instead. The potatoes needed about 90 minutes and that came out well. I'd like to try using two onions next time for more sauce, since the onions and tomatoes basically liquefied.

Ingredients 

- 6 chicken thighs bone in, skin on

- 2 Tbsp mustard

- 2 Tbsp oil

- 1 Tbsp minced garlic

Salt and pepper to taste

- 1 or 2 onions, diced

- 5 Roma tomatoes, diced

- 1/4c fresh cilantro, minced

- 2 Tbsp parsley, minced (optional)

- 1 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce

- 1 tsp turmeric 

- 2 tsp chicken bouillon (or 2 cubes)

- 10 oz water

- 1 1/2 lbs potatoes, roughly chopped

Instructions 

1. Marinate the chicken by combining the first 5 ingredients in a ziploc bag or a bowl. Marinate for 15ish minutes while prepping the other ingredients.

2. In a wok pan sauté the onions in oil until plumped, then add the next six ingredients (not the water) and simmer until tomatoes fall apart a bit. Then add the water and mix until combined.

3. Put the chicken in the bottom of the crockpot, then add onion tomato mix on top. Cook on low for 6-9 hours.

4. Add potatoes for the last hour and a half. Serve with white rice or biscuits, sour cream, and extra cilantro.

Chocolate mousse pie

https://www.cookingclassy.com/easy-chocolate-mousse-pie/?fbclid=IwAR3kpOJQPZnh_MdWrRvpUZjamps91qD08tU9Q8MP9cXdA8Tp-bt-mL7Oi5Q#jump-to-recipe

Definitely using Kroger brand cool whip instead of whipping actual cream though. 

 Ingredients

2 Tbsp (28g) salted butter, diced into 4 pieces

1 cup (6 oz) semi-sweet chocolate chips*

1/2 cup (3 oz) bittersweet chocolate chips (or another 1/2 cup semi-sweet if you don't want it quite as rich)

2 cups (104g) mini marshmallows

1/3 cup (80ml) milk (whole or 2%)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 3/4 cups (415ml) heavy whipping cream

1 (6 oz) store-bought Oreo pie crust

Topping

1 cup (235ml) heavy cream

2 Tbsp (25g) granulated sugar

Chocolate shavings, for garnish

Instructions

Add butter, milk, semi-sweet chocolate chips, bittersweet chocolate chips and marshmallows to a large saucepan.

Heat over low heat, stirring constantly until chocolate and marshmallows have melted (it will take a while for the marshmallows to melt, keep stirring).

Remove from heat, stir in vanilla pour into a large mixing bowl and let cool, about 45 - 60 minutes (it should be about room temperature).

Whip 1 3/4 cups heavy cream (preferably in a chilled bowl) until very stiff peaks form. Fold into cool chocolate mixture.

Pour chocolate mixture into Oreo crust and spread into an even layer (if you don't want it as tall as mine is you can just reserve some of the mousse chilled in cups for later).

Chill in refrigerator 3 hours.

For the topping, whip remaining 1 cup cream with sugar (preferably in a cold mixing bowl) using an electric hand mixer until stiff peaks form.

Spread over pie, garnish with chocolate then cut into slices. Store pie in refrigerator.

*I've also made this successfully with 1 cup milk chocolate chips and 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips for more of a milk chocolate flavor vs. the regular dark chocolate flavor it has.

**To make chocolate shavings just run a vegetable peeler down the sides of a bar of chocolate.

Slow Cooker Smothered Pork Chops

 

 

 

Ingredients

• 1 packet of Onion Soup Mix or 1 packet of Pork Gravy Mix (original calls for both but came out very very salty)
  
• 1 TSP Garlic Powder
• 1 TSP Chicken Granules
• 1 15 oz can Cream of Chicken Soup
• 1 cup Water
• 4 - 6 Pork Chops

Instructions

• Label freezer bag with cooking instructions and date.
• Place everything in the bag.
• Freeze bag in the freezer until ready to use.
• Thaw in fridge over night.
• Dump bag into slow cooker.
• Cook on low for 6-8 hours.
• Serve with biscuits and spinach, or sides of your choice.

https://www.stockpilingmoms.com/slow-cooker-smothered-pork-chops-freezer-meal/