Tag: dinner

Skinny Buffalo Chicken Burritos

I saw this video on #TikTok and got inspired to use the method but slim down the ingredients used to make it #KetoFriendly and not just low fat, like the original intended. Thanks, Nikita Fair for the inspiration!

  • 1 Pound Chicken Breast, cut into 4 equal pieces
  • 1/4 Cup Franks Red Hot Buffalo Sauce
  • 1 Cup Cottage Cheese
  • 1 TBLS Ranch Seasoning (Homemade or Store Bought)
  • Paprika
  • Garlic Salt
  • Ground Pepper
  • 1 Cup Shredded Cheddar Cheese
  • 4 Mission Carb Balance Flour Tortillas

Sprinkle the chicken breasts with the garlic salt, pepper, and paprika and cook at 375°F in the air fryer for 10-12 minutes until internal temperature reaches 160°F. Remove chicken, cover with foil and set aside while you prepare the sauce.

In mini (or full size) blender jar, combine cottage cheese, buffalo sauce, and ranch seasoning and blend on medium-high until smooth.

Uncover chicken and chop into about 1/2” chunks. Combine with sauce and cheese. Divide chicken mixture equally onto the 4 tortillas. Fold the tortillas and place seam side down on a hot sauté pan. Brown burrito on both sides and wrap in foil to keep warm if not serving immediately. Can be stored in refrigerator or freezer and warmed back up.

Nutrition information: 541 Calories 27.5 g Fat 5.5 g Carbs 61.5 g Protein

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Pressure Cooker Bourbon Short Ribs

It’s time to ditch the #Covid15, so back to cooking at home instead of Doordashing dinners I go!

These short ribs pressure cook to a fork tender, falling off the bone, delicious finish in under an hour and are great with a simple salad and cauliflower mash. I used ground Chipotle, but you can use any pepper spice you prefer. I prefer it smokier with the bourbon.

Bourbon Short Ribs

  • 2 1/2 Pounds Bone-in Short Ribs (About 6)
  • Salt & Pepper
  • Olive Oil
  • 1 Medium Onion, Chopped
  • 1/2 Cup Bourbon
  • 1 TBLS Paprika
  • 2 tsp Ground Cayenne, Adobo, or Chipotle (1 tsp if you want it milder)
  • 3 TBLS Granulated Sugar (you can use a sugar substitute if you’re strictly counting every carb)
  • 3 TBLS Balsamic Vinegar
  • 6 Cloves Garlic (Iused 1 TBLS jarred chopped garlic)
  • 3-4 Sprigs Fresh Thyme
  • 1 Can Beef Consommé
  • 1TBLS Cornstarch + 1 TBLS Cold Water mixed together

Cooking Directions:

  • Fill a large bowl or pot with cold water. Immerse the short ribs, and rinse the ribs in the cold water to wash off excess blood and bone dust.
  • Drain and pat dry the short ribs with paper towels. Generously sprinkle salt & pepper on all the ribs, on both sides.
  • Switch on the Instant Pot to the saute setting on high. When the instant pot is hot, pour in about 2 tbsp of oil. When the oil is hot, place about 3 – 4 short ribs in the instant pot to caramelize or to sear. It’s important not to overcrowd the bottom in order to get nice caramelization on your short ribs. Sear the short ribs on all sides, about 2 – 3 minutes per side. Place the caramelized short ribs on a plate.
  • Repeat with the rest of the short ribs.
  • Place the onion in the pot, and add the boubon. De-glaze the bottom of the instant pot to make sure that all of the caramelized bits on the bottom are mixed with the bourbon (de-glazing is an important step, so don’t skip it). Add the paprika, cayenne pepper, sugar, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and thyme.
  • Bring just to a boil, then turn off your instant pot.
  • Place the short ribs, fat side down, back in the instant pot.
  • Pour the consommé over the short ribs. Close the instant pot. Choose the manual pressure function and set it to high. Cook the short ribs for 45 minutes, followed by a 10 – 15 minute natural release.
  • Gently remove the short ribs on to bowl, and turn the saute function back on to thicken the liquid in the instant pot.
  • Dissolve the cornstarch in the water and add it to the sauce in the instant pot. Mix it in and bring it to a simmer until the liquid has thickened. Taste and season the liquid with more salt, pepper, or balsamic vinegar, if needed. Turm the Instant Pot off and put the short ribs back into the instant pot to coat with the sauce.

Serve over your cauliflower mash (I grilled some summer squash) with the sauce. #ThisGirlLovesToEat

Three Pepper Cacio de Pepe

Recipes like this are why it’s so damn hard to stay Keto. 😂😂😂 Food & Wine Magazine just keeps enticing me to #TheDarkSide!

Three Pepper Cacio e Pepe

  • 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 teaspoon crushed pink peppercorns
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground Tellicherry pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground Szechuan pepper
  • 12 ounces uncooked bronze-cut fusilli col buco pasta (such as Giusto Sapore) or bucatini pasta
  • 1 1/2 ounces pecorino Romano cheese, grated with a Microplane grater (about 1 cup), plus more for garnish
  • 1 1/2 ounces Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, grated with a Microplane grater (about 1 cup)
  • 1 Cup reserved pasta cooking water

Are you on Facebook? You might be interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: food news, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water. If so, visit my This Girl Loves To Eat community at: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

Crispy Keto Taco Shells

Tomorrow is #CincoDeMayo and, if you’re Keto like me, you can feel left out. This recipe for Keto taco shells changes that in a flash! Most people just make a taco shell from cheese, much like the #FatBomb cheese crisps I love, but Sugar Free Londoner made a shell that’s crispy and more like a hard shell, with 1.1 net grams of carbs per shell, that I’m pretty excited about. #ThisGirlLovesToEat

Crispy Keto Taco Shells

  • 2+1/4 Cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
  • 1/2 Cup Coconut Flour (25 g)
  • 2 tsp Ground Psyllium Husk

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 175 Celsius / 350 Fahrenheit.

  2. Mix all ingredients in a food processor or with an electric mixer until they resemble small crumbs. 

  3. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Draw circles of 6 inch / 15 cm diameter on the parchment. I traced around a small saucepan lid, but you can use any round object that size. 

  4. Scoop 1/4 cup of the taco shell mix onto each circle and spread out inside the circle.

  5. Place a second parchment paper on top and press down the dough with your hands or use a rolling pin. Press down well – you want it nice and compacted

  6. Remove the top parchment paper and bake in the oven for 7 minutes or until the edges of each taco have browned. 

  7. Remove from the oven and hang each taco shell over the side of a large saucepan until cooled. I like to use something a little bit wider than a pan edge, like a piece of sanded, clean 1/2″ dowling, so that there’s more room inside to stuff with fillings.

Nutrition Facts

Amount Per Serving 1 Taco Shell (23 g)

Calories 103 Calories from Fat 57
Total Fat 6.3g Saturated Fat 4.1g
Total Carbohydrates 3.3g Dietary Fiber 2.2gSugars 1.1g
Protein 8g

Steak & No Bake Baked Potatoes

It’s a hot, lazy Wednesday evening and I’m not in the mood to cook.

I’m looking for something to make for dinner that:

  1. Won’t take a lot of time;
  2. Will satisfy post-basketball practice hunger;
  3. Won’t heat up the house more than the 89° day did already;
  4. Won’t make a huge mess in the kitchen; and
  5. Won’t interrupt my Girls Drinking Wine time

A quick review of items on hand resulted in a hearty dinner that satisfied my family and, bonus, took minimal effort on my part so I could enjoy a rare mid-week treat of girl time!

steakandpotatoesI pulled out my handy (practically hands off) go-to kitchen saviors, my T-Fal Electric Pressure Cooker & cast iron skillet and dinner was well on it’s way to being made.

Baked Potatoes & Boneless Rib-Eye Steaks with Garlic Mushrooms

First, get the potatoes started:

  1. Wash 2 Large Baking Potatoes
  2. Put rack and 1 cup of water into the pressure cooker pan
  3. Place potatoes on rack
  4. Brush Potatoes with a touch of olive oil & sprinkle with sea salt
  5. Close and lock pressure cooker, set to cook on high
  6. Once pressure cooker reaches temperature, cook potatoes for 20 minute
  7. When cooking time is done, unplug machine and leave closed until your steaks are done

While the potatoes are cooking:

  1. Heat the cast iron skillet over medium-high heat;
  2. Place 6 slices of bacon in the pan and cook for about 4 minutes per side (give or take) until crispy but not over browned;
  3. Remove the bacon to a paper towel lined plate to drain.
  4. Salt and pepper 2 Boneless Ribeye Steaks on both sides & put in hot skillet;
  5. Add about 1 cup of sliced mushrooms, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 1 tsp garlic salt & pepper to the pan;
  6. Cook the steaks to desired degree of doneness while also stirring the mushrooms while they cook.  My husband likes his medium rare, so I cook them roughly 4 minutes per side at medium-high heat.

When the steaks are ready:

  • Turn off heat and immediately remove steaks from the pan;
  • Place steaks on a serving plate and mound 1/2 of the mushrooms on each;
  • Release the remaining pressure in the pressure cooker;
  • Place potatoes beside the steaks on plates;
  • Cut the potatoes open, butter generously, crumble 1/2 the bacon inside each potato and top with sour cream, salt & pepper.

Are you on Facebook?  You might be interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water. I may not write a blog post every day, but there are daily updates to my This Girl Loves To Eat community at: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

La Cave in Costa Mesa, CA

I love cooking, but I love eating out too.

La Cave was one of the restaurants my husband took me to on a date many, many moons ago.

lacave

Are you on Facebook?  You might be interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to: local restaurant specials & promotions, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water. I may not write a blog post every day, but there are daily updates to my This Girl Loves To Eat community at: https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood

Doc Says It Might Be Time To Cut Back a Bit

childdietI hate dieting!  Me without a hearty breakfast (think coffee, eggs, bacon, and some kind of bread), lunch, a snack around 4, and dinner + wine = a grumpy, hangry girl with a raging headache!

But I’ll be a good girl, at least as much as I can be, so my doctor gets happier with my blood tests and that stupid body composition machine she likes to torture me with every few months.

So, I grudgingly started today with a meal replacement shake prescribed by my doctor: Designs for Health PaleoMeal Plus Lean Body 14 Day Program.

There are some pluses to this choice:

  • It’s only available with a doctor referral
  • You get a significant discount off the regular $139 with a doctor referral
  • It’s made with Proserum, exceptional quality, native whey protein concentrate
  • Comes from cows that graze on pesticide-free, chemical-free natural grass pastures, and which are never given hormones, genetically modified organisms, or injected pathogens
  • The most important part, I get to eat between meals!

In addition, I know that I’m not making an effort to drink enough water, so 1 stocked up on liter bottles of Essentia 9.5% alkaline water.

Lunch was a really exciting smoothie concoction that I threw into the Vitamix:

  • 2-3 Cups Fresh Baby Spinach
  • 1 Large Ripe Nectarine – seed removed
  • 1 Naval Orange Peeled
  • 8 Medium – Large Frozen Strawberries
  • 6-8 Ice Cubes

I mixed the fruit & spinach together on 2-5 speed until blended then threw the ice cubes in and popped it up to 8 until the ice cubes were crushed up.  It was a very putrid shade of green but surprisingly sweet.

Big Bonus:  I got 5 of my fruit/vegetable servings out of the way in one fell swoop!

sugarbabiesTattling on myself:  While I was digging through the refrigerator I came across a bag of Sugar Babies.  The bag of Sugar Babies is no longer in the refrigerator…  Baby Steps.

If you are on Facebook and are interested in the things I may not devote an entire blog post to, recipes, food facts, nutritional information, photos and other things that make my mouth water, I have a page on Facebook you can visit too:  https://www.facebook.com/ThisGirlLovesHerFood