Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken

We survived day 2! It's amazing how when you're cutting out processed foods  and sugars they seem to jump out at you at the grocery store! It doesn't help that it's Halloween season and there's candy in every corner of every isle of every store. But day 2 came and went and we're on a roll.

Tuesday are always dedicated to tacos. We usually go to our favorite taqueria and order dinner to-go there. It's cheap and easy and always delicious; but it's easy to go overboard there. Every meal comes with refried beans and rice, which are both superb. They don't offer black beans, and everything is fried and greasy (and wonderful.) Plus, you have to get their home made chips! Not this week though!

I decided on another slow cooker recipe; salsa chicken: 2 ingredients + spices. Nothing easier than that. Pretty similar to my chile verde. You can use this chicken for tacos, enchiladas, salads, burritos, etc. We made taco salad burrito bowls, kind of like a Chipotle burrito bowl and salad mixed into one.

Ingredients:

Chicken:
2 large chicken breasts
2 cups favorite salsa (I used La Victoria)
1 tsp of each: paprika, cumin, coriander, chili powder, cayenne pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper.

Salad toppings (optional):
Brown rice (cooked in a rice cooker with chicken broth)
Salad greens ( I used butter lettuce and spinach)
Guacamole
Pico de gallo
corn kernels
black beans, rinsed and drained.

Directions:

1) Place chicken breasts in slow cooker. Sprinkle with the spices. Cover with the salsa. Set on LOW for 4-6 hours. If you're using more chicken breasts, the cook time will have to be adjusted.

2) Once the chicken is done, shred the chicken with 2 forks.

3) Serve and enjoy!

Clean Eating Cobb Salad with Honey Mustard Dressing

Stefan and I are going on a cleanse this week. Nothing extreme, but just a clean eating week of no processed foods, only complex carbs, no added simple sugars, limit dairy and extra veggies. (And no alcohol for me) We don't usually eat that poorly during the weeks, especially when I'm cooking, but on the weekends we cheat. Our gym has been under construction for the past couple weeks, and we've been finding other ways to work out, but we just feel a little off and tired. Trying to kick start ourselves back up again.

For dinner on Monday night I made a cleaned up version of a cobb salad. No crumbled blue cheese, used turkey bacon, on a bed of butter lettuce and spinach. I ripped up the spinach because I feel like it's easier to eat raw spinach in smaller chunks than whole leaves. I can't really handle the texture of raw spinach that hasn't been doused in dressing. Cobb salads are usually best eaten with ranch or blue cheese dressing. I wanted something rich and creamy without the all the sugars and cream, so I decided to make a simple honey mustard, which turned out fantastic!

(I learned a new easy method on how to hard boil eggs! Pre-heat oven to 325. Place eggs in muffin pan, cook for 30 mins, then place eggs in cold water to cool down for about 10 minutes before peeling. The eggs came out perfectly. On the egg whites a few tiny brown spots will appear, but they do nothing to affect the flavor of the eggs. )

Ingredients:

Salad:
4 cups salad greens ( I used butter lettuce and spinach)
2 hard boiled eggs, sliced
4 strips turkey bacon, cooked and chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1 half avocado, chopped
1/4 jicama, shredded
1 carrot, shredded
2 Tbsp sunflower seed kernels

Dressing:
1 Tbsp yellow mustard
1 Tbsp stone ground dijan mustard
2 tsp honey
2 tsp olive oil

Directions:

1) Divide all the ingredients onto two plates.

2) Mix all the dressing ingredients together. Divide the dressing on both salads and enjoy!

Serves: 2
Prep time: 30 minutes

Pancetta & Garlic Brussles Sprouts

This recipe is a nice and easy side dish that goes great with just about anything. I never liked brussles sprouts until I ate them this way. The pancetta and garlic really add just the right amount of flavor to make you forget your eating the sprouts, and then to make you actually crave them in the future. This is a great light side to go with steaks, or you can stir in some cooked pasta and a little more olive oil and to make it a hearty side or main.

Ingredients: 
1 lb shaved brussles (buy the pre-shaved ones and save a lot of time! Or just use whole ones and slice them up)
1 oz pancetta, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 Tbsp olive oil
dash of salt and pepper

Directions:

1) Saute the pancetta on medium heat in a pan until nice and crispy.

2) Add the olive oil, garlic and brussles sprouts. Saute for about 5-10 minutes, until the sprouts are tender but still have a little crisp to them.

3) Season with salt and pepper and enjoy!

Serves: 2
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

The Best Lasagna I've Ever Made....

...granted, this was the first lasagna I've ever made, but I think it turned out pretty darn great!

I tried lightening it up in just any way I could think of. I was making a lasagna though, which is noodles, cheese, more cheese, and meat, so I figured this was a recipe that would just have to be. I semi-made my own meat sauce, which turned out delicious! I plan on making this sauce again for spaghetti.

Ingredients:

Meat Sauce:
1 lb 93% lean ground beef
1 lb chicken Italian style sausage
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp Italian seasonings
salt & pepper to taste
2 jars of your favorite marinara sauce

Cheese Filling: 
2 lbs part skim ricotta cheese
8 oz part skim mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan, grated
1 package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and moisture squeezed out.
2 eggs

Lasagna:
1 lb lasagna noodles
8 oz part skim mozzarella, shredded
1/4 cup Parmesan

Directions:

1) In a large dutch oven, ground the beef and the chicken, breaking up as it cooks. Season with salt and pepper. Once browned, drain the residual liquid grease and fat. Pour in the jars of marinara sauce. Season with Italian seasonings and red pepper flakes. Stir, bring to a boil, then turn on low to simmer for 2 hours. Add a little bit of water every now and then as the sauce begins to thicken up.

2) Mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, parmesan, spinach and eggs.

3) Boil lasagna noodles until cooked but still slightly tough. Drain, rinse in cold water, then let sit in cold water.

4) In a large dish, at least 9 x 13, ladle some sauce to coat the bottom. Lay out noodles to cover the bottom, then spread the cheese mixture evenly over. Ladle more meat sauce over the cheese. Repeat one more time. Add one last layer of noodles, meat sauce, then sprinkle the shredded mozzarella over the top and sprinkle the parmesan on top.

5) Wrap tightly in foil and bake at 375 for 30 minutes, then uncover and bake for another 30 minutes. Take out and let rest for 10-20 minutes before serving.

Prep time: 20 mins
Cook time: 2 hrs for sauce, 1hr 20min for lasagna
Serves: 12 at least

Slow Cooker Brisket Sandwiches

Another yummy and easy slow cooker recipe! There isn't anything better than having something cook on it's own all day to be ready for dinner with minimal effort.

We've smoked brisket three times before; once it came out too tough, once it came out perfect, and once it came out OK. To smoke brisket, it takes 10-12+ hours and in our experience, the effort wasn't always worth it. I figured I'd try a different approach with this brisket I had. I put a rub on the brisket Friday night, threw it in the cooker first thing Saturday morning, and enjoyed the smells all day.

We made a sandwich with these, with lettuce, tomato, BBQ sauce, pepper jack cheese. Served up with some seasoned fries.

Ingredients:

A good BBQ rub.
2-4 lb brisket
Your favorite BBQ sauce

Directions: 

1) Coat the brisket with a BBQ rub of your choice the night before, or at least for an hour.

2) Put the brisket and a cup of BBQ sauce in the slow cooker. Cook on LOW for 8-10 hours.

3) Slice/shred and put on a sandwich, or eat on it's own with some mac n cheese and beans!

This is what happens when you give a Pig roasted turkey breast

Our pig has an unnatural obsession with turkey. As soon as the package is taken out of the fridge, he comes RUNNING from where he was in the house to sit at your feet and drool.

I think he loves this fresh roasted turkey breast even more. Can you tell?

Roasted Turkey Breast

There really is nothing better than a turkey sandwich for lunch. The only problem with today's deli meats is they are full of nitrate/nitrites, preservatives and sodium. Even with Applegate products, who boast on being preservative/nitrite/nitrate/gluten/hormone free, they are still full of sodium, only come in 7oz packages that cost almost $7 per pack, and it doesn't really taste that good. The turkey breast I found here was from Sprouts and cost only $10 for 2 lbs.

The best turkey sandwich really only comes once a year; leftover Thanksgiving sandwiches! They are hands down the BEST turkey sandwich around. Friends even made an episode about it (poor Ross). This inspired me to find a way to get fresh roasted turkey all year round.

This turkey breast could be sliced up and used for traditional deli type sandwiches (with lettuce, tomato, onion, mayo, mustard, etc) or you could whip up some Skinny Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and have that leftover Thanksgiving turkey sandwich any time!

Ingredients: 

2 lb boneless skinless turkey breast
olive oil
1 tsp each of any spices you like (could just do salt and pepper, add some paprika, oregano, garlic powder, onion powder, cayenne for a kick)

Directions:

1) Pre-heat oven to 350. Get a roasting pan out. Roll up some foil balls or a roasting rack and set on the pan.

2) Rub the turkey breast with a little bit of olive oil. Just enough to coat it. Sprinkle on the spices and seasonings of your choice. Place turkey on the foil balls or roasting rack.

3) Roast in the oven for 1 hr 30 mins, or until the center comes out to 165 degrees. Take out and cover with foil and let sit for about 20 mins.

4) Slice up and enjoy!

Prep time: 5 mins
Cooking time: 90 mins
Serves: About 3-6