I don’t like diet food. I want my food to taste good. (Who likes eating cardboard? Not me!) I found ways to eat the foods I like without emotionally eating AND still lose weight. (win-win!!)
I ate a lot of TACOS, BLT’s & PIZZA during my weight loss phase. I still do! However; I made a tweak to them that kept them healthy & a regular part of my protocol.
I also don’t like lots of time consuming recipes!! I went through a phase where I was in the kitchen cooking ALL DAY LONG making up these fancy meals that were healthy & tasted delicious.
But, I couldn’t keep up.
I was cooking so much that I wasn’t able to run my business or do all the other million responsibilities I have. (My husband always says I exaggerate! LOL! We’ll see if he’s reading this or not.)
Instead, I decided to find easy, simple recipes that my family liked & I could do in 15 min or less. I decided to share those recipes here with you. Are you ready? You’re going to want to print this out because they are YUMMY!!
Tacos. I’m a lover of all things tacos. I thought I’d have to give them up to lose weight & overcome my emotional eating. GOOD NEWS!!! I don’t!! I have several tacos recipes but one of my favorites it this:
Chicken Taco with Jalapeno Cream Cheese
found in canva under blog photos
Let’s just say – this is my signature taco! I would eat these tacos regularly at a local restaurant nearby & they are hands down my FAV! (And I still lost weight!) I ate one (sometimes 2) for lunch everyday for weeks! (#truth) The secret is the jalapeño cream cheese sauce! ENJOY!
Ingredients:
- 1 pound of boneless and skinless chicken thighs
- 2 cloves of garlic (minced)
- 1 tablespoon of lime juice
- 2 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of chili powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon of salt (to taste)
- ¼ teaspoon of black pepper
- Hard corn taco shells
- Toppings: shredded lettuce, cheese & tomatoes
Jalapeno cream cheese (the best part of the taco! See recipe below)
For Jalapeno Cream Cheese:
- 8 oz softened cream cheese
- 1 tablespoon mayonnaise
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 jalapeno, seeds removed & diced fine (Add enough for your own taste)
Instructions:
Step 1:
Combine the chicken, garlic, olive oil, lime, and spices in a large boil and shake to combine. Heat a large pan to medium-high heat. Cook the chicken for 6-7 minutes until it’s no longer pink and the internal temperature becomes 165oF. Then, remove from heat and cool for five minutes or more. Chop or slice into small cubes.
Step 2:
To prepare jalapeno cream cheese, blend softened cream cheese, mayonnaise and garlic powder together until it becomes smooth. Add chopped jalapeno to cream cheese mixture and stir until just blended (the longer the mixture sits, the hotter it becomes)
Step 3:
Assemble tacos by placing chicken into each shell. Add jalapeno cream, shredded lettuce, cheese and tomatoes. Finally, top with your favorite salsa.
Turkey, Bacon Lettuce Wrap
Bacon, Lettuce, Tomato Sandwich (BLT…aka anything with bacon!!)
I love bacon. L.O.V.E. I’m not sure my life could continue without bacon. (just sayin…)
But, when I ate BLT’s on bread it wasn’t the best for me. The high amount of carbohydrates in the bread reacted like sugar in my brain & then I’d start to crave sweet stuff. It just wasn’t the best. And, when I ate it a lot…I didn’t lose weight. So, I made my own hack that is even BETTER. Have you heard of lettuce wraps? YUM! I add turkey to my BLT lettuce wrap & this is a HANDS DOWN delicious, healthy meal. You’re welcome in advance.
Ingredients:
3-4 medium size leaves of iceberg lettuce (iceberg gives it the crunch)
3-4 slices of Thin sliced turkey meat
3-4 pieces of cooked bacon
3 slices red, flavorful tomato (Seriously. Get a good one. It makes a BIG difference for this sandwich)
Slice of purple onion (optional)
Tbl of Mayonnaise (choose a good one without sugar) Other fat options: ranch dressing or avocado
Parchment paper
Step 1:
Lay out a good size parchment paper on the counter.
Step 2:
Assemble the wrap in this order:
3-4 lettuce leaves spread out over parchment & layered
Put turkey meat in the middle of the lettuce leaves
Add bacon, lettuce & tomato
Spread mayonnaise over the top.
Step 3:
Here’s the fun part! You wrap it up into a cool little burrito using the parchment paper & then cut it in half. Here’s a great video explaining how to do that.
This recipe is sooooo good!! And once you get down the whole wrap thing, it’s very easy. ENJOY!
Crustless Pizza
Pizza. We could just leave that word there & we’d all understand why I included it in my favorite foods. No explanation necessary. Pizza. PIZZA. This was definitely one of the foods on my BAD LIST. I honestly thought I would never be able to eat it again. When I was on a “diet” & my family wanted to go out for pizza, it was like a death sentence for me. I knew I was going to be miserable sitting there eating a salad AGAIN while they enjoyed their pizza. It was like they would shove it in my face & taunt me with it. (Remember, my husband said I exaggerate a lot??! Just roll with me, okay?)
To be honest, pizza nights were hands down, one of the top foods that caused me to go off my diet. It was too difficult to not give in. On top of liking pizza so much, the feeling of being left out was too much of a trigger for me and I’d just end up eating the pizza.
But…..I can have it. YOU CAN HAVE IT!! The world is now suddenly okay again.
When I found this recipe, I wanted to cry tears of JOY! I remember the 1st time I made it & was eating it. It was delicious. Like….really delicious!!! You know how sometimes you’ll think something is good for being “healthy” food. That’s not this. THIS is the real deal. I would choose to eat this over the real pizza. Serious. Don’t believe me?! Come to my house & I’ll make it for you. You’ll go home in love.
The thing is – this IS real pizza! It’s exactly the same thing. It just doesn’t have a crust. (I hear you all now…”Diane, how in the heck do you eat pizza without the crust?!?!) Keep reading my friend.
Ingredients:
- ½ cup pizza sauce (Pick one without sugar. Walmart brand works)
- Favorite pizza toppings: I use pepperoni, green peppers, olives, onions, thin sliced turkey, marinated artichoke hearts, zucchini (cut into match size pieces)
Mozzarella cheese - Italian seasoning
Set oven to 425.
Use a dish with deep sides that you can also eat out of. (picture above works great) Or, use any 9X13 baker and just serve with a spoon onto your plate.
Step 1:
Spread pizza sauce along the bottom of pan.
Step 2:
Layer in all your favorite pizza toppings.
Step 3:
Top with a good amount of mozzarella cheese & sprink a small amount of italian seasoning over the top.
Step 4:
Cook in oven for about 11 minutes until cheese is bubbly. Cool & eat out of pan or serve onto a plate & eat with a fork. You won’t miss the crust!