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Easiest Dinner Ever!

Posted on February 3, 2016 by thesweetlifesugarfree

Well life just got super crazy in our house! We were just getting into the swing of basketball season, and the craziness of baseball season smacked us upside the head. Little did we know that baseball started the day after the draft and looks to be 7 days a week between the two boys.

Pile that onto 3 ongoing basketball teams and a move! My head is spinning. We are regrouping to some very easy, fast meals that can be prepped ahead and thrown into the oven at go time.

This is something I made on a ski trip on the fly so I pulled it out today. It doesn’t get much easier than chicken, sauce and cheese!

Green Enchilada Casserole

2 Chickens or 6 Chicken Leg Quarters

1 jar of 505 Roasted Green Chili Sauce

3 cups Monterrey Jack Cheese

Sour Cream

Hot Sauce

Yes! It is that easy. I bought the precooked chicken quarters at Costco (Not the best quality, but as well as I could do in a pinch) and just peeled the chicken. We prefer the fattier dark meat chicken, but you can also use a rotisserie chicken, chicken breasts or boil or roast a couple of chickens. I was able to get about 5 -6 cups of chicken out of the Costco pack. I used 4 in my casserole dish and saved the rest for chicken salad.

Pile the chicken in your dish and cover with about 2 to 3 cups of the green chili sauce and mix throughout the chicken. (I used 1/2 a large jar) I even mixed it in the baking dish.

Top with cheese!

That is it. Now you can either throw it in the oven or cover and refrigerate until you are ready to cook.
I cooked it on 325 degrees for 45 minutes. You could do 350 degrees for 30 minutes, but I had carpool and needed the time!

We like to top it with a healthy portion of sour cream, and if you like it spicy, add some hot sauce too.

It goes beautifully with broccoli and Kerrygold.

There you have it! A hot great dish in less than an hour!

Enjoy!

Posted in Dinner, Kids, Main Course, recipe, Sauces and Dressing, tips, Uncategorized tagged with chicken, dinner, easy, enchilada, Fast, meal

A Fast and Delicious Weeknight Favorite!

Posted on November 12, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

‘Tis the season for crazy weeknights! We are all in the thick of school and sports, but add the holidays to the mix, and you are about ready to pull out your hair. Let’s just say, dinner sometimes becomes a hassle, more than a featured event this time of year!

Before I give you the recipe, I need to preface it with the fact that I used to detest salmon. I LOVE fish, but never ever wanted salmon if I saw it on the menu. I don’t know if I had it poorly prepared in the past or if my tastes have changed, but it is now a staple around here. Not only is it perfectly amazing in healthy fats, but it is SO tasty and E-A-S-Y!!! Many are afraid to cook fish at home, but this one is a no brainer. Up until last night, we were a split family on the salmon. Three of us can’t get enough, but the daddy and one middle child (who shall remain nameless) would eat it, but didn’t love it. Things have changed due to one simple addition: Herb Butter! The best news; you can make it ahead, and you can have dinner on the table in less than 20 minutes! I kid you not!!!

Herbed Butter Salmon

Prepare your butter ahead of time and wrap it up for later.

1 cup butter (I used one block of Kerry Gold – yes, it makes a difference)

1 lemon zested (just the zest) you can save the lemon juice for later.

1 TBSP dried dill (or 3 TBSP fresh)

5 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 tsp ground pepper

1/4 tsp pink Himalayan salt

Bring your butter to room temperature. Zest your lemon and mince your garlic. Combine all of your ingredients.

Stir and mash everything together.

Scrape onto a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper.

Form it back into a block on parchment, seal in a bag, and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use.

Now for the Salmon:

I used a wild caught whole filet. There are many many kinds from farm raised to the cold waters of Alaska. I always ask for the fattiest version of salmon at the seafood counter. Just like everything else, the food industry is actually trying to make salmon “low fat” because of our fat phobic society. I figure the fatty one is the most natural since salmon IS a fatty fish!

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

On a cookie sheet sprayed with coconut oil, lay out your filet skin side down.

Sprinkle your salmon with your favorite seasoning. There are several that I love, but this was a favorite last night:

You know how I love my bulk spices! They are such a bargain, and so many from which to choose! This one is the Colorado Spice from Central Market, but take a stab at something new! This is the fun part of grocery shopping!

Once you have your fish seasoned, place in a preheated 425 degree oven. Watch it carefully! Depending on the size, cook for 10 to 15 minutes until the fish flakes. I did this one for 12 minutes. It is always best to ere on the less done side for fish.

I sautéed a box of fresh spinach in butter to go under the salmon while the fish was in the oven, and in under 20 minutes, dinner was served. Top with your fun new herb butter, and it is just perfect!

Enjoy!!!

Posted in Dinner, Kids, Main Course, recipe, Sauces and Dressing, tips, Uncategorized tagged with butter, dinner, easy, Fish, Herbs, Main Course, Quick, salmon, weeknight

A New Twist on the Breakfast Casserole

Posted on October 8, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

Today is Grandparent’s Day at my children’s school, which means a rushed morning so we make sure to have a parking space. It is a day for a breakfast casserole to throw in the oven so I have time to get dressed myself!

I was preparing last night…I went to the fridge to get my ingredients, and of course the breakfast sausage that I had checked for before grocery shopping earlier in the day turned out to be expired! Now what to do? I definitely needed a meat to throw in with the eggs, and was DEFINITELY not going to the grocery store with three children at 5:00 PM. Soooo….we are improvising! We all love beef bar-b-que sausage which I had purchased to throw in some spaghetti sauce to serve over zucchini noodles, so what about that? It was fresh, ready to go, and how yummy in eggs!

I did change up the recipe a tad to account for the extra grease from the sausage so here you go:

Bar-B-Que Beef Sausage Breakfast Casserole

1 3/4 pound Beef Sausage

10 eggs

2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese

3 1/2 cups heavy cream

2 tsp ground mustartd

1 tsp salt

fresh ground pepper

Steps:

Cut and brown your sausage in a pan.

Spray your pyrex or ceramic baking dish with coconut oil or butter. I like this one from Trader Joes.

Add your sausage to your greased dish. It should line the bottom of the dish.

Sprinkle your grated cheese over your sausage. I did the grating the old fashioned way for this one. My kids love to serve themselves slices of this cheese while we have it out in the kitchen.

Whisk your eggs, cream, and spices together.

Once your ingredients are thoroughly mixed, pour this over your sausage and cheese.

Place saran over your unbaked casserole and let it set overnight. Bake this for 1 hour 15 minutes in a 350 degree oven or until it is set in the center. You don’t want any jiggling.

Happy Friday, Y’all!

Here is the outcome:

No complaints about breakfast this morning!

Topped with sour cream and homemade salsa:

Every bite was devoured!

Enjoy!

Posted in Breakfast, Brunch, Kids, recipe tagged with breakfast, brunch, Casserole, easy, eggs, kids, Quick, sausage

Sugar-Free, Dairy-Free, Paleo, Keto Chocolate Pudding!

Posted on June 24, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

That’s a mouthful! This may be the perfect Keto Chocolate pudding to put in your mouth though!

The kids always want some kind of treat, so I experimented with something different. I wanted to go chocolate based off of a treat the kids picked out at the grocery store on vacation a few weeks ago. I relax a little on the restrictions on vacation, and amazingly the treat they chose was not too far off. It was a store-bought Jello-brand chocolate mousse at the grocery store in Port Aransas, Texas. I expected it to be filled with artificial this and artificial that, but it actually had real cream in it! Surprising, right? It wasn’t perfect, but it did give me the idea of trying to create my own that was perfect! The only ingredient I am still waiting on is my new gelatin, but the Knox worked for today.

This is not really a mousse, but a pudding. With supervision, this is a great one to do with the kiddos this summer.

Start with your ingredients: (I also added vanilla and salt that are not pictured.)

1 can Coconut Cream (I used Trader Joe’s)

1 can Coconut Milk

You can see the difference in consistency between the two:

1/2 cup cocoa powder

3/4 cup Swerve Confectioners

3 packets of Gelatin or 3 Tbsp of this one

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 tsp Celtic salt

1 tsp vanilla

Directions:

In a saucepan, combine your coconut cream, coconut milk, cocoa, Swerve, and salt.

Whisk over medium heat until warm.

In a small bowl, empty your gelatin packets and combine with your 1/2 cup of cold water. Stir until there are no clumps.

Whisk the gelatin mixture into your chocolate mixture, and stir until dissolved. Add your vanilla, and stir until well combined.

Spoon into 8 individual ramekins.

Cover each bowl with saran wrap and place in the fridge for about 2 hours to set.

We topped ours with homemade sugar-free dairy whipped cream, but if you are Paleo or dairy-free, you can whip up some coconut cream with some Swerve and vanilla and use that as well.

We all gobbled it right up. Enjoy!

Posted in Dessert, recipe, Snacks, Sugar Substitute, tips, Uncategorized tagged with chocolate, coconut cream, coconut milk, cream, dairy-free, Desset, easy, gelatin, jello, keto, kid friendly, paleo, pudding, snack, sugar-free

Cancer Fighting and Alzheimer’s Preventing Delicious Side Dish

Posted on April 26, 2015 by thesweetlifesugarfree

What do you think when you hear the words “Brussel Sprouts”?

I used to think, “Yuck!”

Now our entire family devours these nutrient dense veggies in just a few seconds.

Believe it or not, Brussel Sprouts are in the cruciferous family and one the healthiest vegetables on the planet.

They are also one of the best vegetables for Cancer and Alzheimer’s prevention containing loads of Vitamin K and Vitamin C.

Check out this link for all the health benefits of Brussel Sprouts:

http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=foodspice&dbid=10

So how do I cook these so they are Keto and the kids inhale them? It is super simple!

I always make these on a day that I cook a lot of bacon for breakfast!

Bacon Brussels

2 lbs Brussel Sprouts

1/2 white onion chopped

4-6 cloves garlic

8-10 pieces of bacon with drippings

Salt and Pepper

Cook a foil lined cookie sheet of bacon on 375 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes. I can usually cook 10 to 12 large pieces on a sheet. You can do more batches of bacon to get more drippings if you like. I did two batches for 2 pounds of Brussels. This way you have bacon for breakfast, and the rest left over for dinner!

Remove bacon to a paper towel after it is cooked, and leave all drippings on the cookie sheet.

Rinse and drain your Brussel Sprouts in a colander.

Cut off ends, and throw in the trash. Quarter the sprouts and place in a large mixing bowl. These Brussels were huge so I had to cut some of them into eighths.

Dice your onion and peel and mince your garlic. We like a lot of garlic, but you can adjust to your taste.