Low Carb Buffalo Chicken Dip – Only 4 Ingredients

This is probably my most favorite low carb thing to eat. PERIOD. It’s SO good and super addicting and so easy to make!

Mine is served with crackers here, substitute with low carb crackers, pork rinds or celery. Or just eat it with a fork! 

My recipe makes 2 servings. Here’s what you need:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

6 chicken tenderloins, cooked and shredded

3oz cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup buffalo/wing sauce ( I use Frank’s) – adjust to your liking, depending on how spicy or not spicy you like it. You can start with less, then just taste and add more if necessary.

1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese

Salt and  Pepper to taste, sometimes I use garlic salt

Combine all ingredients except the cheddar cheese and put into an oven safe dish, top with the shredded cheddar and cook in the oven until bubbly and cheese is melted. This doesn’t usually take long for me, maybe 5-10 mins because I use the chicken while it’s still hot. If your chicken has cooled or is cold, this will take longer and you may need to cover with foil so the cheese doesn’t burn.

So creamy and just a little spicy, definitely counts as low carb comfort food! Yum!

 

 

Creamy Chicken Spaghetti Squash Casserole

Mmmm mmm this was so good! I didn’t really have a plan when I made this, just kind threw things together and here it is! I’ll put down a rough recipe where all measurements are just basically guesses. Next time, I’ll measure everything! I always forget…

1 medium sized spaghetti squash, cooked and shredded

2 chicken breasts, diced and cooked

4 green onions, diced

2 roma tomatoes, diced

1 tsp garlic powder

S&P to taste

4 oz cream cheese

3/4 cup heavy cream

1/4 cup marinara sauce

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

Start by cooking chicken in butter and olive oil, once browned, add onion, tomato, garlic powder, salt and pepper.

Add heavy cream, marinara and cream cheese, heat everything up over medium heat and stir until cream cheese is melted.

Add in shredded spaghetti squash and cheese and stir until combined. Taste for seasoning and adjust to your liking.

Pour mixture into an 8×8 glass baking dish, sprinkle a little cheese up top (opt), bake at 350 until bubbling and top is lightly browned.

Serves 4.

Definitely making this again! It was so good!

 

 

Dinner Brought To You (Mostly) By Winco!

This is what happens when I don’t want to cook. I go to the grocery store and get a Rotisserie Chicken (Garlic & Pepper) and some frozen potatoes. These ones are the Alexia Waffle Cut Fries and they are so good!

Basically all I had to do was turn on the oven, cook some Kale and onions and we were good to go! I like to buy the Organic Tuscan Kale from Trader Joe’s, it’s so good and not bitter at all.

 

Braised Paprika Chicken – 2 Ways (Paleo, Whole30)

This is the perfect winter dish for dinner! It’s warm, delicious and comforting, what more could you want? Oh, and it’s also Whole30/Paleo compliant, it doesn’t get better than that!

1st Way:

4-5 Chicken Thighs, bone-in, skin removed

1 medium onion, chopped

5 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 T of paprika

1 t dried sage

1 cup chicken broth (I love the kind from Trader Joe’s)

A few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

Begin by heating up the oil or butter and adding the chopped onion and garlic and cook until beginning to turn translucent.

Then add your paprika and sage and stir around until fragrant.

Add in chicken broth and make sure you get all the crispy bits off the bottom.

Nestle your chicken into the sauce, the sauce should come up about half way on the chicken. Adjust your liquid accordingly.

When the mixture comes up to a bubble, put the lid on and reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 2 hours or until chicken is very tender and falling off the bone.

Here is a picture (served with Brussels):

2nd Way:

Takes less time but not quite as flavorful as the first way since tenderloins are boneless but still yummy!

6-8 chicken tenderloins or 3-4 chicken breasts, boneless and skinless

1 medium onion, chopped

2-3 T garlic powder

1 T of paprika

1 t dried sage

1 cup chicken broth (I love the kind from Trader Joe’s)

A few tablespoons of butter or olive oil

Begin by heating up the oil or butter and adding the chopped onion and cook until beginning to turn translucent.

Then add your paprika, sage and garlic powder and stir around until fragrant.

Add in chicken broth and make sure you get all the crispy bits off the bottom.

Nestle your chicken into the sauce, the sauce should come up about half way on the chicken. Adjust your liquid accordingly.

When the mixture comes up to a bubble, put the lid on and reduce the heat to low and let simmer for about 1 hour or until chicken is very tender.

When the chicken is done, shred it up and let it simmer about 20 more minutes in the sauce.

I served mine over a bed of lightly sauteed kale and spinach, the sauce is super slurpable (is that even a word?) by the way, enjoy! 🙂

If you eat rice, this is also super delicious served over white or brown rice!

Sun-Dried Tomato and Feta Chicken Meatballs

I have made different variations of these in the years past and they always come out tasting amazing! I’ve made them with fresh basil, sun-dried tomatoes and fennel. I’ve also used fresh parsley instead of basil and they still come out amazing. This time, I’m adding feta cheese. I don’t consume much dairy, hardly any at all actually but feta is one of my favorite cheeses, it’s just so good! And I think they will go along so well with these meatballs.

Love those colors!!

Here’s the recipe:

1 pound lean ground chicken

1/4 cup chopped sun-dried tomatoes (I used dried, I don’t really care much for the ones packed in oil)

1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese

Small onion, finely chopped or grated

2 cloves garlic, finely chopped or pressed (or if you’re like me, 3 giant cloves of garlic)

1 egg

S&P to taste

1 T dried basil or 20 fresh basil leaves, rolled and cut into thin strips (Optional – It’s good with or without! I ended up using parsely)

Roll into 1 1/2 inch meatballs and place on stoneware or nonstick baking tray, brush with olive oil or canola oil and bake at 400 degrees for 10-12 minutes.

*Baking time will depend on size of meatballs

Paleo Coconut Chicken Tenders (Recipe)

Even though I’ve been eating mostly paleo since the beginning of the year, I still crave certain things like crispy chicken strips. Most paleo versions of “comfort” food compare but don’t really come close to the real thing. BUT, these came real close to the real thing!

They had tons of flavor and were even a bit crispy! Some of the tenders had trouble holding onto the breading while others held onto it really well. I’m not really sure why, I made each one exactly the same. Here are the instructions!

You will need:

Chicken tenderloins or chicken breasts sliced into strips

Coconut flour

Almond flour

Unsweetened coconut flakes

2 eggs

S&P

Coconut Oil

3 bowls

Place the coconut flour in one bowl, the eggs in another, and the almond flour, coconut flakes and S&P in the last bowl. I used paper towels to get any excess moisture off my chicken before breading it. Get your frying pan preheating with the coconut oil in it. You want to hear the chicken sizzle as soon as it hits the pan, this will get the chicken crispy! First coat chicken in coconut flour, then egg, then almond/coconut mixture then fry until brown and crispy and then flip and do the same to the other side. Don’t crowd the pan, make sure there is plenty of space between the tenders. I turned my oven to warm and placed the cooked chicken tenders in the oven while I finished frying all the chicken.

They didn’t take long to cook and it all came out much better than I expected! I served mine with some super yummy dipping sauce. I use this sauce for everything – sweet potatoes, veggies, meats, it’s really good!

I mix together mayo, tomato sauce, creamy horseradish, oregano, paprika and S&P.

Whole30 – Chicken Fajitas

There are only about 10 days left of the Whole30, it really flew by! I’m looking forward to it being over, I don’t like feeling restricted and I don’t think it’s good for anyone to feel that way. I will still eat this way after the 30 days but at least I won’t feel guilty for eating a little sugar now and then.

So far I’ve learned that my body doesn’t tolerate dairy, I don’t think I’m allergic to it, I just think it’s not easily digested. When I eat dairy, I get stomach aches, headaches, bloating and bad acne break outs. Since I’ve cut that out (in just 19 days), all of those symptoms have gone away! Except for one time when I had a tiny bit of dairy at dinner one night and all those symptoms came rushing back and I was very uncomfortable the next day. GOOD TO KNOW!

For breakfast I had my usual – eggs and sausage, coffee.

For lunch I had – “Chicken Fajitas” minus the tortillas, beans, cheese, sour cream, etc… I had some leftover shredded chicken that I added chili powder, cumin, garlic powder and salt/pepper too, served that with some sauteed onions and peppers and spicy guacamole. It was pretty good 🙂

No snacks today, wasn’t feeling hungry between meals. Gonna hit up the gym later though!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Creamy Chicken Taco Bites – Comfort Food Recipe!

Easiest thing to make! Perfect for a quick dinner, snack for football parties or for whatever!

I poached 2 large chicken breasts and then shredded them, added a splash of chicken broth, 2 oz cream cheese and a dollop of sour cream. To that mixture, I added chili powder, red pepper flakes, garlic powder, salt and pepper, cumin. I let the mixture simmer until the sauce was thick and coated everything. Then filled them in wonton wrappers in a muffin tin. Sprinkled cheese on top and baked until the shells were crispy and the cheese was melted. Top with whatever you want!

Creamy Green Bean Non-Casserole

I didn’t know what else to title this, it kinda reminds me of the flavors found in green bean casserole, but I didn’t bake it or add crispy onions on top.

Anyways, it’s really good and a pretty common side dish in our house recently, both my husband and I are loving it!

I started by browning some mushrooms in butter or oil, then added in one thinly sliced onion, then tossed in some fresh green beans. After the onion cooked a bit, I added dried thyme and lots of black pepper. Then splashed in some chicken broth and half and half. Let it reduce all the way so that it becomes a thick sauce and coats everything. Then I add seasoning salt to taste! (In this picture, I served with crock pot chicken breasts).

Chicken Scampi Soup & Sugar Detox – Day 3

The detox is going well. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is drinking my coffee with cream only and no sweetener, that has been the hardest part. But I’m getting used to it!

I have not had any cravings, HALLELUJAH!

On day 3, I still had a bit of a headache and was feeling very tired and exhausted all day. That should be getting better soon! I hope…

I made soup for dinner last night, it was so good! My favorite meal at a popular Italian restaurant is Chicken Scampi and since I can’t have pasta, I made chicken scampi soup!

It tasted just like the sauce at the restaurant, but not as rich and creamy, a little more brothy… (is that even a word?!)

This is easy but I don’t have any measurements because I just kinda threw things in and tasted as I went along. But here are the basics:

Brown the chicken pieces in butter until golden brown and cooked all the way through then remove the chicken and set aside.

In the same pan, add garlic and sliced onions and cook until starting to turn translucent (but don’t burn the garlic!)

Add in some Italian seasoning

Add some chicken broth to deglaze the pan and scrape up the delicious bits from the bottom (this will give you a nice, rich base for the soup)

Add the chicken back in and splash in some heavy cream or half and half and sprinkle in some parmesan cheese.

Before serving add some sliced red and green peppers and let them simmer in the soup for a bit to combine all the flavors.

And there you have it – CHICKEN SCAMPI SOUP! Delicious! I want this for lunch 🙂

This would be really good with some chopped kale or some other kinds of greens for added nutrition!