Cheesy Chicken Mexican Casserole

I started couponing this week, so I've got that going for me now. This probably means I'm officially old. Now get off my lawn. This is modified from a Caveman Keto recipe. I prefer a bit more vegetables these days (reminder of my elderly status), so I added more of those. I'm also lazy, so I used a pre-mixed taco seasoning. Merry Christmas!

Ingredients:

• 2 green bell peppers, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 1/2 jar salsa (I used Newman's Own. It's as close to homemade as you're going to get in a store.)
• 2 lbs. chicken, cut into chunks
• 1 package taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cayenne seasoning
• 16 oz sour cream
• 2 cups Mexican Style shredded cheese
• 8 tablespoons chives

Directions:

• Cook the chicken breasts, bell pepper, & onion in a pan with oil of choice. I used coconut oil.
• Once the chicken is cooked, drain the excess liquid.
• Add taco seasoning, cayenne pepper, sour cream, & salsa to the cooked chicken breast mixture.
• Transfer the chicken mix into a casserole dish.
• Cook for 60 minutes at 350 degrees.
• Remove and cover in cheese and cook for 5 minutes longer. Broil afterward if you like a nice brown crispy cheese crust like I clearly do. 
• Let cool, cut into 8 pieces, transfer to tupperware and garnish with chives

Serves 8. 328 calories, 13g net carbs, 50g protein, 15g fat per serving.

PF Changs Lettuce Wraps: the 'F' stands for "Faux"

Like I said before, I've been on this huge ground beef kick. Regardless, I have a shit ton of asian cuisine staples thanks to my forays into stir fry and my one failed attempt at making sushi (don't ask - it was almost as bad as my French toast). I drew inspiration for these from Skinny Kitchen's Chicken version of these, but basically used what I have in my pantry and vegetables that I didn't want to go to waste. They were awesomely delicious and Chuckles surprisingly didn't bitch about the vegetables after he stopped complaining long enough to take a bite.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 head of lettuce (we used iceburg because it was cheap and on sale)
• 1 head of garlic, roughly chopped
• 1 bag of baby carrots, chopped into small-ish "discs"
• handful of green onions (I have some sitting on a windowsill in our kitchen and they seem to grow out of control once per week, so I always have to devise some way to use them up)
• a squirt or five of Sriracha
• handful of sliced mushrooms

Directions:

• Throw the ground beef in a pan with all of the veggies except for the green onions until the ground beef is browned/crumbles and the veggies are softened. Drain and return to the pan.
• Add all the other ingredients and add Sriracha to taste. Mix well.
• Spoon mixture into a leaf of lettuce, wrap, and shove in your face. Mmmm mmmm good.

Beef "Stroganoff" Over Broccoli

For some reason, I've recently been on a ground beef kick and have been having horrifying cravings for the Hamburger Helper Stroganoff. When I used to make that, I'd add a ridiculous amount of ground beef and canned mushrooms and it was generally a satisfying, greasy, salty, mushy mess. Needless to say, I'm not about to let these crazy cravings fuck me up! Besides... I think we both know I'd just end up feeling like crap after eating it and basically lie on the couch the rest of the day, watching an inordinate amount of Netflix, wishing I could just rip my stomach out. The point of this long, horribly rambling post is that I made a simple, easy alternative so I could get over my Hamburger Helper craving. And let me tell you... it was the most satisfying thing I've eaten in months.

Ingredients: 

• 2 lb. ground beef 
• 2 bags PictSweet Steamables broccoli 
• 2 onions, chopped 
• 2- 4 oz. cans mushrooms, drained & rinsed twice to get rid of all the salt they throw in there
• 1 block cream cheese, cubed (so it will melt more quickly) 
• 1 can cream of chicken soup (I'd normally make my own, but the key here is simplicity)

Directions:

• Brown ground beef with chopped onions, then drain & return to pot. 
• Steam broccoli in microwave to desired crispness
• Throw brick of cream cheese and can of cream of chicken soup into pot and stir every now and then until the cream cheese is melted. 
• Add mushrooms and mix well. 
• Serve the "stroganoff" over the broccoli florets. 

314 calories per serving and 6.1g net carbs.

Low Carb, Nearly Sugar Free, Lemony Sweet Potato Cheesecake

        I have an inordinate amount of cream cheese sitting in our fridge because I adore making these low carb cream cheese "pancakes" from I Breathe... I'm Hungry... That blog is amazing, by the way. You should check it out. I also bought two sweet potatoes a week ago and I don't really like sweet potatoes unless they're in a pie, so I'm really not sure why I bought them. (I'll blame Instagram.) In the meantime, I've been daydreaming about making a low-carb cheesecake for weeks. (I'll blame Outback Steakhouse.) I'm also in the middle of my last week or so of grad school for the semester, so while I really don't have the time to even THINK about making cheesecake, I also have the tendency stay up until 3 a.m. to satisfy my own curiosity. So as a result of my own curiosity and need to not waste sweet potatoes I randomly bought, I give you... 

Sweet Potato Cheesecake ::FANFARE::

Ingredients:

3 8oz. packages of cream cheese, room temp

3 eggs, room temp

2 tablespoons of raw honey

1 cup Splenda

2 cooked, mashed sweet potatoes

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

1 tablespoon vanilla

Juice of 1 lemon

2 tablespoons milled flax seed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325

Mix eggs, sweet potato, and cream cheese in large mixing bowl until smooth***

Add other ingredients and mix until smooth

Pour into spring-form pan, and bake for 35 minutes.

Turn off the oven, open the door, and leave the cheesecake in the oven for 30 minutes to allow the cheesecake to properly set.

Take cheesecake out of the oven and allow to set for another 30 minutes.

Chill in the refrigerator for 8 hours.

Serve!

***DO NOT OVERMIX. If you do, your cheesecake will have huge cracks. I forgot about this when I was mixing and now I have a huge, ugly crack down the center of my cheesecake.

Nutrition:

Serves 16

Calories: 160

Carbs: 8g

Fiber: 1g

Protein: 4g

Fat: 12g

Sugar: 5g