Recipe: Pico Cauli Rice and Chicken

During my kids birthday party weekend, we had a lot of family in town and had to find a way to feed 20+ people. My Aunt, who is a rockstar clean eater, offered to make mexican "cauli" rice for our fajita dinner. I wasn't going to object because 1. I'm a super-fan and clean eating and 2. a lot of our family members are gluten free and 3. did I mention there were more than 20 of us!? 

I finally got around to making this and turned it into a one-pot-wonder. We had grilled chicken two days before that was either going to go bad or going to bad and I needed to think of something to pair it with STAT. Insert "new year, new you" references for healthy and clean eating. 

This was ready in like 15 minutes, tops. Super easy!

• Store prepared pico de gallo from my beloved HEB
• 1-2 bags frozen cauliflower rice 
• Couple slices of butter
• Salt
• Pepper
• Cubed left over grilled chicken breast (we had the preseasoned kind from HEB)
• Avocado (optional)
• Lime (optional)

Heat the butter and saute the pico for a few minutes and until it becomes fragrant and the onions are almost translucent (they will continue to heat). Add the frozen cauliflower rice - I used two bags of birds eye brand. I liked my aunt's better - she riced an actual head of cauliflower and it cooked down better. The frozen bags are a little coarse for my taste but again - super fast and super easy! Cook to your preference, stiring occasionally. You can even add a cover to "steam" everything, too. While this was cooking I chopped the chicken that was left over. Add the chicken and salt and pepper to taste - heat until chicken is warmed. I topped ours with a little squeeze of lime and avocado! We ate it with Siete almond flour chips - so good! 

Thanks to my Aunt for the super easy recipe - healthy doesn't have to be hard or laborious! Enjoy!!! 

Spaghetti Squash BBQ Chicken Casserole

So, I made this bomb paleo casserole (that isn’t 100% paleo because I added cheese to the top). Events leading up to it were not so fun. It’s spaghetti squash BBQ chicken casserole and here is the story behind the goodness (and thank God it was good or I would have really been ticked)! 

I bought the ingredients a few days before to be prepared and one of the main ones was a spaghetti squash (hence, the name). Well, I went to start cooking the spaghetti squash but it was nowhere to be found!!! Seriously, who loses a spaghetti squash?! They aren’t small! Luckily, my husband was just leaving work so he stopped for one. 

He got home, cut it in half (the width way, not length wise), I salted it, set it on a pan lined with parchment paper (cut side down) and cooked it for 35 minutes at 425F. 

Next, I got to work on the chicken. I cut two pounds of raw chicken breast  into bite size pieces. I honestly love doing that because it makes serving the meal to two littles a lot easier and faster! I digress. Into the pan with the chicken, I added garlic and Italian seasoning and some EVOO. I let the chicken cook while I diced a whole red onion. I added the red onion and two pouches of turkey bacon bits (yes, I cheated and used turkey bacon bits instead of cooking turkey bacon and cutting it) and let the chicken finish cooking. 

At this point, my youngest kept asking “Foooood, mommy? Fooood? Eat it?” Yes, dear, going as fast as I can! 

While the chicken and onions and cheater turkey bacon bits cooked, I whipped up some homemade bbq sauce! A small can of tomato paste, garlic, some shakes of liquid smoke, paprika, pepper, some maple syrup, then I used the tomato paste can to measure out 3/4 of a can of apple cider vinegar and 1/4 Worcestershire sauce. I whisked it all together, then tweaked what I put in and had my husband taste test it. He approved! Sorry, we don’t measure much around here. Who has time for that? 

I spaghettified the spaghetti squash, added in the chicken/bacon mix and the homemade bbq sauce then whisked up three eggs and added those. This all went into a parchment lined 13x9 pan. 

The kicker- since dinner was already severely delayed because of the case of the missing spaghetti squash, I threw in the casserole at 400F, set the timer for 30 minutes and tried to distract my hungry kids. I went to the oven with about 5 minutes left, to check on it and add the cheese .... and the oven was OFF! Say what?!? 

Ugh. Needless to say, I restarted the oven but my husband went to grab pizza because none of us could wait. 

The missing spoonful in the picture was tasty and kid approved - even after eating pizza. 

Can’t win them all, my friends. Half glass full: we now have dinner for tomorrow. 

New Year's Eve Bash

I haven't put up many recipes lately but since I was so impressed with my NYE spread, I thought I'd post a few. Part of my feeling of accomplishment stems from the fact that I made all this yummy goodness while Mini G played, snacked then slept... I was even able to clean up for our get together! I am getting the hang of this working mom thing. I really thought I had stretched myself too thin NYE because I had to go grocery shopping and I had scheduled a haircut and a visit with some family. However, it all came together so nicely and even before our guests arrived!! 

Aside from feeling like super mom, the stuff I made was legitimately delish and easy. Here is the finished product before our guests brought their snacks:

First up... Caress bites! So easy... Use a toothpick and skewer (lot of skewering going on in this post FYI) half a cherry or grape tomato, a folded up basil leaf, and a chunk of super fresh mozzarella. Not pictured (because I forgot to do it)...Drizzle of balsamic vinaigrette. Done and done. 

Next Cheese tortellini skewers (told you)... Boil cheese torts, use some EVOO so they don't stick when you drain them, let them cool. While they sit, mix some light Alfredo sauce and some pesto together. Equal parts will work. Skewer the tortellini (4) and refrigerate everything until time to serve. You could serve them warm, too! 

Then there is the basic Guac, store bought, sorry, but HEB's is the best!! 

Next, the spinach bites; these were my fav!!! Defrost a bag of organic chopped spinach and get out as much water as possible. Finely chop a medium yellow onion.  Melt 1/2 stick of butter. Beat 6 eggs. Combine spinach, eggs, onion, butter into a bowl. Also add in half a package of stuffing mix (chicken or herb flavor), 1 cup of Italian mix shredded cheese, garlic salt and pepper (eyeball it). Roll into 1 inch balls, bake at 350 for 20 mins! 

Next is a fun twist to a party staple- lil' smokies. Wrap the smokies with strips of turkey bacon and skewer (last time) with a toothpick. Top with brown sugar (as best as possible) and bake at 400 degrees for 20 mins. I used 1 1/2 packages of lil smokies and one package of turkey bacon. The first batch was eaten so fast I made the rest shortly after they were gone. 

I set out some basic picante sauce with scoops. 

Last is a Greek dip. It. Is. Perfect. 

2 regular size tubs of hummus (I used garlic flavor because garlic goes hard in my household) spread across the bottom of a glass baking dish. Sliced and quartered seedless cucumber goes on next. Then add diced tomatoes. Next you'll layer on some kalamata olives, feta cheese, and some chopped parsley. Such a pretty and super tasty dip. I love how it's not traditional and it was a hit. It was served chilled with pita chips but it was so flavorful it could have been eaten with celery! 

Okay, enjoy! 

Happy new year!