Spaghetti Squash Chicken Florentine

Oh mah gah. Am I actually doing a dinner recipe?! 

I literally feel like it has been forever. 

When I asked you guys to take a survey on the blog at the beginning of the new year, recipes were your least “wanted” posts. Then when you guys took this survey last week, it was yall’s most requested! 

You guys are so silly – lol. None the less, I thought I would share one of my absolute favorite recipes of the moment with you guys. My bestie, Ann Bowie actually made this for me a few months ago, and it quickly became my new favorite dish. 

It is literally scrumptious. Like so good. 

& it only has like 4 ingredients soooo #winning. 

I love recipes like this because they are so easy to make & it makes a lot of it which is perfect for leftovers! If you follow me on Snapchat (Lauren_smith6), then you saw last night how easy it is to make! 

I’m not exactly sure as to which recipe Ann originally used, but I have been using this one, from Stupid Easy Paleo. When I feel like I have been eating a lot of carbs & dairy, I like to eat straight paleo for a little while. Just to get my body back on track. But don’t let that scare you away! This recipe is absolutely delicious!

The spaghetti squash makes this the perfect low carb – high protein dinner! 

Ingredients: 

• 1 large Spaghetti Squash 
• 16 oz of Chicken Italian Sausage 
• Minced Garlic
• 1 White or Yellow Onion (diced) 
• 3 cups Baby Spinach Leaves 
• Himalayen Salt (to taste) 

Directions 

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Using a large knife, split the squash in half longways. Once the squash is split in half, use a spoon to remove the seeds and pulp (just toss it!). Place the halved squash cut-side down on a roasting pan, add 1/2 cup of water to the pan and roast the quash for 35 to 40 minutes.
• While the squash is cooking, starting preparing to cook the florentine. Heat a large skillet to medium-high and drizzle in a few tablespoons of olive (or coconut) oil. Once heated, crumble in the chicken Italian sausage, garlic and diced onion into the pan. Cook and stir until the sausage is fully cooked and the onion is translucent. This will take about 12 minutes. Right before the chicken is finished cooking, pile the baby spinach on top of the sausage and stir the spinach into the sausage mixture. Set aside until the spaghetti squash finishes cooking. 
• Once the squash has finished cooking,  pull it out of the oven, and turn them over so they cool a little faster. Once you can handle them comfortably (or if you can manage holding them with an oven mitt), use a fork to scrape with the grain out of the squash. Transfer the strands of squash into the pan with the florentine and mix the two completely using a folding motion. Add sale & pepper to taste. 

Nutrition: Energy: 231 // Fat: 10.7 // Carbs: 14.3 // Fiber: 3.7 // Sugar: 5.6 // Protein: 20 

 

Skinny Fajita Salad

Welcome back guys!! Are you all enjoying this Cinco de Mayo inspired week as much as I am?! If you guys haven’t noticed, today I am sharing my favorite healthy fajita salad.

I posted a while back on How To Build A Healthy Salad, so in honor of Cinco de Mayo coming up, I thought I would share a Cinco de Mayo version!

At Mexican food restaurants, the fajita salads can be a little….heavy to…say the least. They are usually HUGE, have a ton of cheddar cheese, tortilla chips, are covered in a fattening dressing and are high in sodium. This is all no bueno.

This salad though, is great! It’s light, delicious, and gives you an extreme amount of nutrition! I make chicken fajitas a lot in our home. To say it’s a staple still doesn’t do it justice.. Plus it’s super easy to make!

So what makes it healthy? The fact that the fajitas are cooked in avocado oil and marinated only in chili powder, which means its very low in sodium and cooked in healthy fats. The rest of the salad is filled with veggies, and topped with homemade guacamole. Then instead of drenching the salad in a fattening dressing, I use salsa as the dressing! Salsa has about 10 calories per TBSP as compared to most dressings which have 120 calories plus! So that alone is a big game changer.

Also, you’ll notice in the pictures that I have little bowls of sliced bell peppers. This is my number one tip on eating healthy when having Mexican food in general! Basically, to have as a snack, I’ll chop up bell peppers, and use them to dip in guac, queso or salsa instead of tortilla chips! Even when I eat out at restaurants, I ask them for sliced bell peppers instead of the chips. Yeah, they always look at me like I’m crazy, but it’s so worth it!

BUT LETS GET BACK TO THE SALAD!

Here’s how you’ll make it.

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Ingredients (Serving 4)

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Two Large Chicken Breasts

4 TBSP Chili Pepper

2 TBSP Avocado Oil

2 TBSP Water

Bag of Spinach

1 Avocado or already made guacamole

1/2 Yellow Onion

1 Red Bell Pepper

1 Yellow Bell Pepper

4 oz goat cheese

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Directions

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For the fajitas

Start to heat up a large skillet on medium heat. While heating, add 2 TBSP of Avocado oil & 1 TBSP of minced garlic into skillet.

Next, slice chicken breasts into long pieces and coat in chili powder. Turn skillet onto high heat and place chicken into skillet.

Once the chicken starts to brown. Add sliced onions, and bell peppers on top of the chicken. Cover the skillet and cook on low – medium for about 5-8 minutes or until the vegetables start to soften.

Remove lid from skillet. Add two TBSP of water to the skillet and cook on high until the water is almost gone and the chicken is fully cooked.

For the Salad (per salad)

Start with 1-2 cups of spinach.

Add 1/4 of the fajita mix to the top of the salad.

Add 1/4 of avocado to salad or 2 TBSP of guacamole.

Next, top with 1 ounce of goat cheese and 2-3 TBSP of fresh salsa!

Enjoy!

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Be sure to tune in tomorrow for a margarita recipe!

xo,

Lauren

 

Skinny Little Chicken Fingers

Hey guys!:) I hope that your Monday is off to a great start!

When I was younger, one meal I always remember cooking with my mom was chicken fingers. It may have been a little messy, but it was a simple meal I could help with and always seemed to be a staple in our kitchen.

Since then, I have made it a staple in mine as well. Just a healthier version, of course! Recently, we’ve made these almost every week because they are so good. They’re currently Colton’s favorite, and when he requests them, it makes me happy because I actually know he genuinely likes them

Of course, I am usually more of a non-breaded chicken person lol, but it’s nice to mix it up with this fun loving recipe that brings back so many memories from cooking with my mom.

I like to serve these fingers with a salad or a simple vegetable side. Last week we put them on top of spaghetti squash w/ pasta sauce and it was DELICIOUS.

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Ingredients

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2 large chicken breasts

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup parmesan

1 tbsp italian seasoning

1 tsp pink himalayan salt

1 egg

2 tbsp coconut oil

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Directions

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1. Place chicken breasts into a zip lock bag and smash with a spatula until a little flattened. Once flattened, remove and slice chicken on a cutting board into chicken finger slices.
2. Grab two separate bowls. In one bowl, crack and whisk one egg. In the other bowl, mix in the flour, parmesan, seasoning & salt.
3. Put a large pan on medium heat and start to melt 1 tbsp of coconut oil. While the oil is melting and the pan is heating up, start coating the chicken fingers.
4. To coat the chicken fingers, take your first chicken slice, dip it in the egg, then coat it in the flour mixture. Once fully covered, place in pan. Continue with the rest of the chicken slices and add in remaining coconut oil as needed.
5. Cook chicken until crispy and fully cooked all the way through.
6. Serve with whatever you desire!

xo,

Lauren

Low Carb Chicken Stir Fry

If you guys want to know what I eat every Monday while watching The Bachelor, this is it haha. I love it because it is low-carb, high protein, has lots of veggies and tastes scrumptious! Plus it’s the perfect meal to have when you are just wanting to chill on the couch for dinner, and not sit at the table.

The secret to making it low carb is cauliflower! That’s right, there is no rice in this stir fry, but I promise, you won’t even miss it!

First things first, cook your chicken. You can honestly cook it however you want, but this is my go-to way.

While the chicken is cooking, chop all of your vegetables, and puree your cauliflower in a food processor or blender.

Once the chicken is done, remove, set aside, and cut into bite sized pieces. Add one TBSP of coconut oil into a pan. First add broccoli in on medium heat until soft (about 3 minutes) then add the rest of the vegetables.

Sprinkle salt and pepper on top of veggies and cook until they start to soften and brown.

Next, move vegetables to one side. Then on the other side, scramble one egg. Once it is pretty much scrambled, mix it in with the veggies.

After you mix in the eggs. Add the purred cauliflower, fish oil, and low sodium soy sauce.

Then add in the chicken. Turn it on high, cook for 3 minutes &&& serve!

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Ingredients

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1/2 head of a cauliflower

1 small head of broccoli

1 egg

1/2 cup chopped onion

1/3 cup chopped carrots

1/2 cup sliced mushrooms

2 garlic cloves

1 TBSP coconut oil

1 tsp fish oil

3 TBSP low sodium soy sauce

Himalayan salt & pepper to taste

(Siracaha is always fun to add to at the end!)

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Directions

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1. First step is to cook your chicken. Cook to your liking, but this is my go-to way.
2. While the chicken is cooking, chop all of your vegetables and puree your cauliflower in a food processor or blender until it has reached a rice like consistency.
3. Once the chicken is finished cooking, remove and set aside. Then cut the chicken into bite sized pieces.
4. In the same pan, add one TBSP of coconut oil. Then add in the broccoli. Cook for 3 minutes (or until soft) on medium. Once softened, add the rest of the vegetables. Sprinkle salt and pepper on top. Cook until they start to soften and brown.
5. After the vegetable start to soften and brown, move them to one side of the pan. Then on the other side, scramble one egg. Once it is scrambled, mix it in with the veggies.
6. After you mix in the eggs. Add the purred cauliflower, fish oil, and low sodium soy sauce.
7. Then add in the chicken. Turn it on high, cook for 3 minutes.
8. Enjoy!

xo,

Lauren