Tag Archives: Easy Dinner

Goi Ga | Vietnamese Salad with Chicken

The Huz and I went to Chicago last weekend, and had the most amazing time! At some point, if I have time, I’ll do a blog post about what we did and where we ate.

One of the restaurants we went to was Le Colonial. We got some of their Goi Ga, and it was perfection on a hot day!!! I kept thinking about it for days afterwards, and was inspired to try and make something similar.

I got most of the ingredients at Trader Joe’s. This isn’t an ad for them, just an fyi 🙂 . Minus the fish sauce…they recently discontinued it, so I went to another local store for that. Good grief is it expensive?!! It does make the dressing though…

The dressing typically has chili flakes in it, but I left that out for Maya’s sake. I added plenty of hot sauce on mine though 🙂

Ingredients (feeds 4-6)

Dressing

1/2 cup water
1/4 cup fish sauce
1/4 cup rice vinegar
2 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lime juice
2 Tablespoons Raw Local Honey
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon crushed ginger
1 teaspooon crushed lemongrass
You can add red chili flakes, but I left that out for Maya’s sake and added hot sauce after :))

I put all the ingredients in a mason jar and shook it up-done!

Salad

9 oz bag of Trader Joe’s Organic Shredded Green & Red Cabbage with Shredded Carrots
1 cup shredded carrots
3/4’s of 10 oz bag of Trader Joe’s Cruciferous Crunch (Kale, Brussel Sprouts, Brocolli, and Cabbage. (I was going to add the entire bag, but it was a bit much…)
1.75 oz container of Trader Joe’s Organic Micro Greens
1 rotisserie chicken shredded.
Optional diced peanuts (Maya is allergic, so I left these out. If I’m being honest, I totally forgot haha. I might add almonds next time!)

What to do

Combine all the salad ingredients, top with chicken, and salad dressing. It’s best to let it sit for a few minutes and keep tossing it to make sure the dressing gets absorbed.

I topped mine with red chili garlic sauce and Sriracha, but it’s nice and refreshing all on it’s own!

Enjoy 🙂

Healthy Pad Thai | Peanut Free + Gluten Free

Leave a reply

This is one of those recipes that I repeat A LOT!! In it’s most basic form, I posted it here, but I mix it up all the time with what I add to it. The sauce is just so good!! And SO EASY!

Sadly, Maya can’t have peanuts or gluten anymore, so I made a few tweaks and made it work! I sold it as a healthy Pad Thai, and even our 18 year old son had seconds! Basically a gold medal on healthy cooking there!

Ingredients

For Sauce

- 1/2 cup Almond Butter (use Sun Butter for Nut free or any nut butter if you don’t have any dietary restrictions!)
- 3 tablespoons Rice Vinegar
- 3 tablespoons Coconut Aminos (used in place of Soy Sauce)
- 1 tablespoon Pure Maple Syrup (used in place of Brown Sugar)
- 1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I cheat and use this)
- 1 Cup Water

For the rest of the dish…

- 1 medium onion diced
- 2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
- 1 Tablespoon crushed garlic
- 1 Teaspoon Ginger
- 1 of each of a yellow, orange, and purple carrot (or really any veggie)
- 8-10 Mushrooms diced
- 2 blocks of Rice Noodles (or can use any noodle, quinoa, or skip it!)
- 1 Rotisserie Chicken Shredded (or you can cook chicken separately and shred)

Directions

Pull chicken off your rotisserie chicken and shred. We always buy two chickens every week. Eat one, then pull all the meat off both to use for another meal!
Add a couple Tablespoons of olive oil, ginger, and garlic to a large pan
Add diced onions, mushrooms, carrots, and sauté til soft (5-8 minutes)
Add back in shredded chicken

Make Sauce…

In a blender, combine 1 cup water with the whatever nut butter you choose, rice vinegar, coconut aminios, maple sugar, and ginger. Blend until smooth.

Cook noodles….

These particular noodles cook in less than 5 minutes!
Add the sauce and noodles to the pan, stir, and let sit for 2 minutes to soak in all the flavor of the sauce.
You could leave out the chicken for an amazing vegetarian Pad Thai!

Another healthy variation of this recipe here

Enjoy!

Chicken Meatballs + Veggies (easy one pan meal!) Gluten free + Paleo + Whole30 + Costco Hack

Leave a reply

Sooooo…. What do all kids like? Never mind, what does everyone like?

MEATBALLS!

I frequently use meatballs to hide a ton of veggies in a meal, when I don’t really want to make a seperate salad.

We were down the teenage boy for this meal, so I went with a one pot meal with no extra carbs.Ingredients

2 packages of Coleman Organic Chicken and Basil Meatballs
1 White Onion
Olive Oil (or oil of choice) I just drizzle, but maybe 2 Tablespoons.
1 teaspoon grated fresh ginger (I cheat and use this)
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (I use this, but woah…go to the store! It’s a fraction of the cost)
8 Organic Bella Mushrooms
3 organic Rainbow Carrots (regular are just as good-not as pretty though ;))
1 Jar of Pasta Sauce
4-5 handfuls of Power Green Mix which is spinach, baby chard, and kale)

Directions

Use a pretty large non stick pan, and add in the garlic, ginger, and oil of choise
Dice up the onion and add it in.
While the onion is sauteing dice up your other veggies. I honestly just use whatever I have on hand. I’ve subbed in various sweet peppers or even broccoli. Add whatever you have in.
Once they are almost al dente add in your meatballs. I like to get them cooking with the veggies to impart their flavor a little bit.
Once everything is almost ready, add in the hand fulls of greens. It doesn’t have to be mixed. Just spinach would be good! If it’s all kale, I would add it in sooner due to the toughness of kale.
Top it all off with a jar of your fav spaghetti sauce and your good!
Frequently I’ll add in these gluten free noodles (can be bought in smaller quantities at Thrive Market or in bulk at Costco. We LOVE them not only for their flavor but QUICKNESS to cook!) . Or you could easily add zoodles to keep it dietary compliant!

None of this is sponsored. We just live by the easy shopping of Costco, Trader Joe’s, and Thrive Market. And are happy to share the easy cooking to be had from there!

Enjoy!

Bone Broth Rotisserie Chicken Ramen Soup with Soft Boiled Egg || Crockpot | Gluten Free

Leave a reply

We had two gorgeous days this week, and then…back to rain and cold.

We cannot seem to shake the illnesses over here, so I’m still cranking out the bone broth soups!

LOVED this one!!

This recipe can be varied in so many ways, but…here’s what I did!

I buy two rotisserie chickens each week. One we eat as a meal, and then I use both carcasses, for the bone broth. The other chicken goes back into the soup I make!

Ingredients (feeds 4 with leftovers)

Two Rotisserie Chickens (Use both carcasses for the bone broth but the shredded chicken from both can be used for multiple meals!)
4-6 Medium sized carrots (I used usually use organic Rainbow Carrots, because… FUN COLORS! 🙂 but didn’t have them this time. I highly recommend them though :))
1 Tablespoon crushed ginger
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 Medium to Large Onion Diced
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Soft boiled egg (boil for 7 minutes and then immediately put into ice cold water)
Avocado and any other veggies to top for crunch. I added tomatoes, but shredded carrots or sprouts would be yummy too!
Ramen Noodles (I used these) . Or you could do zoodles or sweet potato “noodles” for Whole 30!

Directions

Pick off all the chicken from the bone and set aside in an airtight container.
It’s not necessary, but I found these bags and I put all my bones in them. No need to pick out bones and you get to keep all the yummy onions and carrots Very crude Video HERE haha.
Place the carcass in the slowcooker with the carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger.
Pour 10-12 Cups of Water depending on your crockpot. I filled mine until 1″ of the top.
Cook on low overnight for 12-18 hours. Honestly…longer the better.
The next morning, pull on the bones out unless you bought the bags!!. I left the carrots and onions in there, and for me…it’s a must for flavor! They were mushy, but I figured the flavor would still be good and it SO was!
Add in ramen noodles and let them sit for a few minutes or all day.
Add shredded chicken back in and let sit on warm until dinner.
Top with soft boiled egg and any other condiments.

For other recipes…

For beginners that haven’t tried making bone broth before….I hadn’t either. So…here’s (with adjustments added! My first attempt here, and my 2nd version with sweet “potato noodles”.

And, other easy Crockpot Recipes you might enjoy…

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Healthy Chicken and Dumplings

Crockpot Veggie Pasta and Turkey Meat Sauce

Most importantly…

Enjoy!!

And let me know if you have!

Bone Broth Rotisserie Chicken Sweet Potato “Noodle” Soup || Crockpot | Whole30 | Gluten Free

3 Replies

I’m officially obsessed with making bone broth soups!!

Admittedly so much so that the Huz said….”Ok, I might need a soup break.”

haha. Whoops.

Yet…are you kidding me? SOUP break when it’s FREEZING outside and everyone is getting sick??!!

NO!!

I changed my original attempt at making this, because one chicken carcass didn’t seem to wield enough flavor-mostly because I don’t like adding a litany of seasonings!. Also, my original attempt used regular noodles, so don’t despair, if you want a hearty DELICIOUS recipe, that is not Whole30…it would be delicious with any kind of noodles! And would be even more so with the two carcass addition!

Admittedly, I didn’t soak mine for days… as it probably should have if you are only using one carcas.

I’m more of an overnight for the next meal kinda person. SO…if you’re with me on that, and want even MORE left overs…

TWO CHICKENS!

Otherwise…one chicken carcass for longer 15-18 hours is what I read.

SO…I’m now converted to buying two chickens! We eat one meal from the actual chicken, and then I take all the meat off both for later use (more recipes on that to come!) but most of one chicken goes back into the soup.

Ingredients (feeds 4 with leftovers)

Two Rotisserie Chickens (Use both carcasses for the bone broth but the shredded chicken from both can be used for multiple meals!)
4-6 Medium sized carrots (I used organic Rainbow Carrots, because… FUN COLORS! :))
1 Tablespoon crushed ginger
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 Medium to Large Onion Diced
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1 Sweet potato spiralized to make “noodles” . Could also do any veggie or use any other kind of noodle! I cannot even tell you how easy it is to do this! Less than 2 minutes.

Directions

Pick off all the chicken from the bone and set aside in an airtight container.
GUYS!!! Editing to add. I did NOT do this for this recipe, but later found these bags and I put all my bones in them, then lifted it all out! DONE! Very crude Video HERE haha.
Place the carcass in the slowcooker with the carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger.
Pour 10-12 Cups of Water depending on your crockpot. I filled mine until 1″ of the top (Ok, I filled it to closer to the top my next time, and…it didn’t go well for the cleaning up aspect…fyi :)) . SO…keep it within an inch of the top 🙂
Cook on low overnight for 12-18 hours. Honestly…longer the better.
The next morning, pull on the bones out unless you bought these bags!!. I left the carrots and onions in there, and for me…it’s a must for flavor! They were mushy, but I figured the flavor would still be good and it SO was!
Meanwhile…spiralize your sweet potato. You have plenty of time, so no rush on doing it 🙂
When the bones are all out (pick them out or lift them out in a bag!), place the spiralized sweet potatos back in and cook on high for another hour.
Add shredded chicken back in and let sit on warm until dinner!Great for those sick days….or NOT, because….YUM!!

For other recipes…

For beginners that haven’t tried making bone broth before….I hadn’t either. So…here’s (with adjustments added! my first attempt!

You can see Esther’s chicken soup post where she started from scratch with a whole chicken.

And, other easy Crockpot Recipes you might enjoy…

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Healthy Chicken and Dumplings

Crockpot Veggie Pasta and Turkey Meat Sauce

Most importantly…

Enjoy!!

And let me know if you have!

Bone Broth Rotisserie Chicken Soup (Crockpot )

2 Replies

By now, I’m sure you all have heard about all the amazing health benefits of bone broth. If by chance you haven’t, you can read about some of the benefits here.

Often, I’ll make a soup from the turkey carcass after Thanksgiving, by boiling it on the stovetop but other than that…I’ve been totally lazy thinking it was too much of a process to do regularly.

Until recently, when a friend told me she does it in her crockpot over night-DUH!!

Every week we have a rotisserie chicken for dinner. For whatever reason, the chicken gets dried out and nobody eats it after a day. So, every week I end up throwing away the leftovers after a few days and get SO frustrated over the wasting off all that chicken! NO MORE!

This last week, I took off all the extra chicken we didn’t eat that same night and put the carcass in our slow cooker. The next day, I added back in the chicken

Ingredients (feeds 4 with leftovers)

One Rotisserie Chicken (Mine was half eaten from the night before-haha!)
4 Medium sized carrots(I used organic Rainbow Carrots, because… FUN COLORS! :))
6-8 Cups of Water
2 Can Chicken Broth (check labels if you are on Whole30)
1 Tablespoon crushed ginger
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 Medium to Large Onion Diced
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
1/2 a bag of noodles. (You could use gluten free OR 2 cups zoodles or sweet potato noodles etc if you are Whole30!)

Directions

Pick off all the chicken from the bone and set aside in an airtight container.
Place the carcass in the slowcooker with the carrots, onions, garlic, and ginger.
Pour 6-8 cups of water. I used 6, but then added some chicken stock later. I wasn’t sure if just one carcass would flavor the broth enough.
Cook on low overnight for 12 hours.
The next morning, pull on the bones out. I left the carrots and onions in there. They were mushy, but I figured the flavor would still be good and it was!
Add shredded chicken back in and let sit on warm until dinner!
If you aren’t doing Whole30 or you could also add in noodles at this point and they end up cooking on the “warm” cycle til dinner. Ours were a little soft, but still yummy!
For Whole30 add in zoodles or sweet potato noodles!

You can see Esther’s chicken soup post where she started from scratch with a whole chicken.

And, other easy Crockpot Recipes you might enjoy…

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup

Healthy Chicken and Dumplings

Crockpot Veggie Pasta and Turkey Meat Sauce

Enjoy!

Thai Coconut Chicken Soup (Crockpot | Paleo | Whole 30 )

5 Replies

I’m sure most of the world is feeling the warmth of spring and summer, but…in Seattle, we are NOT-UGH!! But…while I’m sick of wearing layers upon layers, I never get tired of yummy soups! Especially easy ones that are practically cooked without me!

This is a recipe that I’ve now done twice because after the first attempt was so well received, I obviously did it again!! And it was all a fluke of things I just happened to have in my cupboard and fridge-WHOOP!

Ingredients (feeds 4 with leftovers)

4-5 frozen chicken breasts (I’m ALWAYS on the fly. If yours aren’t frozen, the timing should still work. It might just mean the meat will be more tender)
1 Can Full Fat Coconut Cream (check labels if you are on Whole30, I used Trader Joe’s)
1 Can Chicken Broth (check labels if you are on Whole30)
1 Tablespoon crushed ginger
1 Tablespoon crushed lemongrass
1 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 Medium to Large Onion Diced
1/2 Cup Diced Carrots (I used organic Rainbow Carrots, because…duh FUN COLORS! :))
If you aren’t on a dietary restriction you could add 1/2 a box of Pasta (again, I go light on this end and used veggie pasta. You could use gluten free OR 2 cups zoodles or sweet potato noodles etc if you are Whole30!)

Directions

Place everything in the crockpot, and you’re DONE!!!I I always wonder if things look the way they should when I’m throwing things together, so…yes, it should look like this 🙂And then….after you take the chicken out and fork shred it (it will be SO tender!!)

THIS!

Unless, you want to add a noodle variation. When you are about 10-15 minutes out, you can add the pasta or zoodles etc and they will cook to being tender. I think they’d be mushy if you added them in at the beginning, but let me know if you try! I even added them after the cook time when it was in “warm” mode, and it worked!

Another Recipe you might enjoy…

I posted one of my latest crock pot easy healthy dinners last week.

Crockpot Veggie Pasta and Turkey Meat Sauce

Honestly, I was on a crock pot roll lately. Too much to do, no time to cook, yet I wanted yummy healthy food. I didn’t have a recipe for either of these meals and both were DELICIOUS! I’m saying this because a lot of times I see recipes that I like, but I don’t have the time or the ingredients. THAT is the best part of the slow cooker. I have taken tried and true recipes that involved multiple pots and hours of time of me in front of the stove, and rolled the dice throwing everything into the slow cooker in the morning. Guess what? They’ve all turned out fine! Are they as amazing as the original? Sometimes maybe not QUITE as much, but honestly…

It’s pretty darn good!

Enjoy!

Crockpot Veggie Pasta and Turkey Meat Sauce

4 Replies

I’ve been on a total crockpot kick lately. That seems to happen every winter, and before the urge kicks in, I always think…

“Why don’t I use my crock pot more??!!”

Then, I do, and I think…

“Why don’t I use my crock pot more??!!”!!!

Every post I do on my crockpot meals, I wax poetic on the fabulousness of it, but then the spring and summer roll around and I forget about it. I’m determined to make things all year round! It’s SO easy, and the smell walking into your home after not being home all day/or even if you ARE home all day…YUM!!!

And I don’t know about where you live, but here in Seattle…spring has NOT sprung, and warm yummy dinners still sound amazing!

So, I decided to try spaghetti and meat sauce. Total classic. Total crowd pleaser when you have kids. Pretty cheap too! And…it can be healthy and easy!

blog-crockpot-slow-cooker-gluten-free-paleo-whole-30-pasta-and-turkey-meat-sauce-1

Ingredients (feeds 4 with leftovers)

2 lbs ground turkey. I like to make it heavy on the protein!
1 Can of pasta sauce. I used a 32 oz jar (check labels if you are on Whole30)
1/2 teaspoon crushed ginger
1/2 Teaspoon crushed garlic
1 Medium to Large Onion
1/2 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning.
1/2 a box of Pasta (again, I go light on this end and used veggie pasta. You could use gluten free OR 2 cups zoodles or sweet potato noodles etc if you are Whole30!)

Directions

Place Diced Onion, Crushed Ginger, and Crushed Garlic, Ground Turkey (Yes, I put mine in mostly frozen because…no time to dethaw, and it still worked out great!), Jar of Pasta sauce and Italian seasonings in the crockpot, and cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5.
When you are about 10-15 minutes out, you can add the pasta or zoodles etc and they will cook to being tender. I think they’d be mushy if you added them in at the beginning, but let me know if you try! I even added them after the cook time when it was in “warm” mode, and it worked!

Enjoy!

Salmon Avocado Mango “Tacos” | Paleo // Whole30

Leave a reply

This was a leftover meal from the already ridiculously easy Salmon Avocado Mango Salad with Soft Boiled Egg that I made a few weeks ago. I meant to do a follow up post right away, but…

You know….LIFE! Summer has been kicking my arse lately!

In any case! This is a great two-fer meal. Make one and then the other the next day. Isn’t that the mom holy grail???!!

Adjust the measurements as needed! 🙂 Blog Whole30 Paleo Salmon Avocado Mango Lettuce Tacos-1 From the original post (makes both meals!)

Ingredients (Would serve 4)

3 6oz cans of wild Alaskan Salmon
10 grape tomatoes (cut in half)
1 large avocados
1 Mango diced
1/2 and inch slice red onion diced (or a scallion)
1/3 cup diced pickles
Sea Salt and Pepper to taste
Head of Butter Lettuce
For garnish and a bit of heat- my favorite…Garlic Hot Sauce

Directions

Drain Salmon, place in large bowl, and break it up.
Dice tomato, avocado, mango, and onions and stir into salmon
Salt and Pepper to taste
Scoop into butter lettuce cups, and pierce with a toothpick and an extra tomato for garnish

Enjoy!

Grilled Chicken, Onion, and Pepper Shish Kabobs

Leave a reply

It’s summer, and what screams summer more than grilling?!! Ok, pools, popsicles, all of Esther’s yummy cocktails (!!)….ok, a lot of things scream summer. BUT…grilling. YUM!

I’ve talked many times about my love of grilling. Ok, the EASE of grilling!! It used to intimidate me, but now I LOVE it! I usually do whole chicken breasts, but decided to try and do shish kabobs. SO GOOD! Blog Whole30 Paleo Grilled Chicken Peppers Onions Shish Kabobs-1 Ingredients (varies people you want to feed)

Chicken Breasts (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
Bell Peppers-I used red, yellow, and orange (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
Large Onion (cut into 1-1.5 inch cubes)
Olive Oil
Balsamic Vinegar
Trader Joe’s Every Day Seasoning

What to do

It’s not absolutely necessary, but if you can marinate the chicken a few hours before you’d like to grill, that’s the best. Just put the cubed chicken in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, balsamic, and grind the Trader Joe’s Every Day Seasoning over it. I honestly had all these ideas of various spices I was going to add, and then (OF COURSE!) was running late and reached for what’s easy, and good!
Do the same for the veggies (not as necessary to have those marinate!)
You can use wooden sticks to spear all the meat and veggies. If you do, make sure you soak the them for a good 10 minutes prior.
Preheat your grill to medium heat.
Evenly spear chicken and veggies until everything is used up.Grill for 7-8 minutes on each side. Oh, and Maya is in this stage where she doesn’t want her picture taken, UNLESS I’m trying to take pictures of something other than her… haha.

Enjoy! dit-elle-Lauren

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this:

Share this:

Like this: