Taco Salad (Keto)

We eat taco salad almost every Tuesday in my house.  It's a very simple recipe, but we love it around here.  We cut up all the toppings and everyone can personalize their bowl.  Before I went Keto, I ate it over corn chips (like Fritos), and my kids still eat it this way.  I make 3-4 pounds of meat for my family of 6.  This recipe includes my homemade taco seasoning.  I make large amounts and use 3 Tbsp per pound of meat.

Ingredients
1 lb ground turkey (or beef)
1 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water

Optional toppings:
lettuce
cheese
salsa
tomatoes
avocado
sour cream
guacamole
cucumber
black olives
corn chips (if you're not doing low-carb or keto)

Directions
Brown ground meat, drain, and return to pan.  Add all the seasonings and the water and bring to a boil but then reduce and simmer for 5 minutes.  Top with whatever taco toppings you choose.

Asian Lettuce Wraps (Keto)

So I usually do 3x-4x this recipe for my family of 6.  It also goes well over rice or mixed with rice if you want to stretch it and aren't concerned about carbs.  If you want to add a little sweetness to it, I use one packet of Truvia when I triple to quadruple the recipe.

Ingredients

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 yellow onion, diced 

8 oz canned water chestnuts, drained and finely diced

2 green onions, chopped (optional)

2-3 garlic cloves

3-4 Tbsp soy sauce or liquid aminos

1 Tbsp rice wine vinegar (or white vinegar)

1 tsp dried ginger

1 tsp sriracha

1 Tbsp natural peanut butter 

1 tsp sugar (optional)

1 tsp sesame oil

salt & pepper to taste

butter or hydro lettuce (for wraps)

Directions

Brown ground turkey and onions together.  Drain and return to pan.  Add water chestnuts, garlic, and green onions to pan and saute while you make sauce.  Whisk together soy sauce, vinegar, ginger, sriracha, peanut butter, sugar, sesame oil, and salt/pepper.  Pour over top of meat mixture and combine thoroughly.  Serve inside lettuce.

Cream Chicken (or Turkey)

This is and has been one of my favorite dishes as long as I can remember. This is one of those dishes that I used to request for my birthday dinner growing up. Originally this was my Nana's recipe, but I think she added butter or something else to it. Then my mom made it using a little lesser fat ingredients. I never had it growing up with the peas and carrots in it, but my Nana started doing this a couple of years ago, and I enjoy it this way. Mostly because I feel like I'm eating something healthy amidst the rest of the ingredients. :-) It also adds a little color to it which is nice. You can serve this over pastry shells, or my husband prefers it over rice or you could do it even over pasta. Sometimes if I would run out of pastry shells, I would eat the leftovers over plain toast. Really, I love, love, love it over pastry shells. I do have trouble finding them sometimes at other grocery stores other than Publix, but I know they are out there elsewhere. My husband, who does not like sour cream at all, likes this dish, and even all of my kids eat it as well. It's a great dish to serve after holidays when you have leftover turkey or chicken around or just because! :-)

Ingredients
1 lb cooked and shredded chicken or turkey (I boiled breasts for this)
1 family size or 3 regular size cans cream of chicken soup (can use reduced fat if you prefer)
8oz sour cream (again, you can use light or fat free if you prefer)
8.5oz can peas and carrots, drained (optional)
Pepperidge Farm Puff Pastry Shells or rice or pasta or toast, whatever you want to serve it overDirections
Mix together chicken or turkey, cream of chicken soup, sour cream, and peas and carrots and pour into a sprayed 2-quart baking dish. Bake at 375 for 30 to 40 minutes or until hot and bubbly. If I am making pastry shells, they call for you to cook them at 400, so I just cook the cream chicken at 400 with the pastry shells. Let cool for 5-10 minutes to thicken before serving. If you are using pastry shells, make sure you pop the tops off before filling with your cream chicken. So yummy!!!

If you want to freeze this, only freeze the cream chicken part.

Ideas for leftover turkey

I wanted to post some ideas for using leftover turkey since it's the day after Thanksgiving. I hope everyone had a great day by the way. Many people eat turkey or chicken for Christmas as well, so I thought this was a perfect time to post these ideas. These recipes all call for cooked, chopped or shredded chicken, but just sub your leftover turkey in these, and I hope you enjoy!

Leftover turkey or chicken recipes:
Chicken Tortilla Soup
Delicious Chicken Casserole
Salsa Chicken Rice Casserole
Rice & Black Bean Casserole
Chicken Spaghetti Casserole
Roasted Red Pepper Alfredo Pasta Bake
Creamy Chicken & Noodles
Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole
Chicken Enchiladas