Category Archives: Veggies

Italian Hamburger Helper

Ground Meat, Main Dishes, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies

About a month ago I shared a “hamburger helper” recipe I found on Robin Brookshire’s website, Mamashire. She has two versions: Italian and Taco. We love both versions. Today I’m sharing the Italian version.

Robin uses shredded cabbage in her original recipe but Michael isn’t doing well with cabbage right now, and thus he’s not wanting to eat cabbage. Also, I happen to be one of those people that does not lose weight with cabbage–seriously, I stall with it (or at least I have in the past). But the cabbage adds some good bulk and veggies, so I felt another veggie was needed. I went with ‘riced’ cauliflower.

I put the 1/4 onion and zucchini in the food processor to chop them up finely and quickly.

Then I put it in the pot and start it to cooking because we like our veggies really cooked. Once those are started cooking, add the ground meat (we use ground turkey).

(Sorry about the really bad lighting on the picture…it was either that very whited out one or a very yellowed out one.) Brown the meat. Meanwhile, I steam one to two bags of cauliflower.

Then I use a hand chopper and “rice” the cauliflower.

When the meat is browned, add the seasonings, cauliflower, and tomato sauce.

Combine, cover, and simmer for 20 minutes.

We really enjoy this recipe. And with just a few spices: garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast, it’s super simple to throw together.

Pop over to Robin’s site for the full recipe.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Taco Hamburger Helper

Ground Meat, Main Dishes, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies

Some time ago I came across this “hamburger helper” recipe on Robin Brookshire’s website Mamashire. She has two versions: Italian and Taco. We love both versions. I’m sharing the taco version today.

Her version uses shredded cabbage but Michael isn’t doing well with cabbage right now, and thus not wanting to eat cabbage. But cabbage adds some good bulk and veggies, so I felt another veggie was needed. I went with ‘riced’ cauliflower.

Start by browning ground meat. We use ground turkey because Michael cannot have beef.

Meanwhile put 1/4 of an onion and a zucchini cut into chunks in the food processor and pulse cut them to small bits but not pureed.

Add it to the meat and saute until softened. I steam a bag of cauliflower, pulse it in the food processor. Then add it with the spices, salsa, and water, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

Serve with a dollop of greek yogurt (nonfat is good if you need to make it a bit lighter) or sour cream and more nutritional yeast, if desired.

Pop over to Robin’s site for the full recipe.

I hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Egg, Sausage, and Veggies

Breakfasts, Sausage, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies

I wish I had a cutesy name for this dish but I don’t. You may recall me sharing Eggs and Zucchini before and it is still a favorite, but sometimes I want a little more pizazz from my breakfast, so here is what I came up with.

I finely diced a medium zucchini and put it into a frying pan with a little bit of oil.

Zucchini Hash ~ Lifeofjoy.me(It wasn’t quite this much but this picture gives you an idea, since I failed to take step by step pictures the other day. ;) )

I added some finely diced onion and diced mushrooms too. Seasoned with salt and pepper.

When it was nearly as done as I like them, I added about 2 ounces of bulk pork sausage, pinched off in smallish bits.

Then cooked it until it was nicely browned. :)

I scooted it all to the side and added a little more oil (or butter) to the pan and fried one egg.

When the veggies and sausage were done I put them on a plate, added a bit of nutritional yeast, and then topped it all with my fried egg (over easy).

Since I had the sausage, I only had one egg because I’m in that stage of my life when I need to be cautious about how much protein I should be eating to lose weight.

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Egg, Sausage, and Veggies

Ingredients

  • medium zucchini
  • slice of onion
  • 2-3 mushroom
  • about 2 ounces sausage
  • egg
  • butter or oil

Instructions

  1. Dice the veggies and add to a skillet with about a teaspoon or so of oil or butter.
  2. Season with salt and pepper, as desired.
  3. Add sausage to the veggies.
  4. When nearly done, clear way to fry the egg.
  5. Serve with the cooked egg on top of the cooked veggies and sausage.
  6. Sprinkle with nutritional yeast, if desired.
https://lifeofjoy.me/egg-sausage-and-veggies/

I hope you enjoy this yummy way to eat some veggies for breakfast.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Philly Cheesesteak Wrap

Tasty Tuesday, Veggies, , ,

When I was in college, I worked summers at the local pizza/sub shop. I absolutely love pizza but I found I got sub sandwiches most of the time. My favorite was a steak sub. I liked and ate others like hot ham & cheese or the Italian sub. I occasionally got a small pizza but it was rare, which surprised even me.

They made their steak and cheese subs with meat like a steak um and provolone cheese. I sometimes get a hankering for a steak sub and will buy a box of Steak Ums. Lately has been one of those times. ;)

I start by chopping up some onion, mushrooms, and peppers because that’s what I like on mine now. :) I get those cooking with some salt and pepper.

I add a bit of oil of some kind since I’m having this as a Trim Healthy Mama S meal. Sometimes I’ll add butter, sometimes bacon fat, and sometimes coconut oil.

When they are almost as done as I want them to be, I break up my Steak Um into pieces and add it to the pan.

I sprinkle on a little oregano.

Next I heat up my wrap. I try not to use too many low carb Mission tortillas because THM says that if you are not losing weight and you are eating these (and other “frankenfoods”;) then try cutting them out for a while and see if you start losing again. So that’s what I’m doing.

Last Saturday after I made the double batch of sourdough pancakes, I had Tiff whip up the batter for Trim Healthy Mama’s Wonder Wraps 2 from their Trim Healthy Table cookbook. They have a bit of psyllium husk flakes in them, so they are really beneficial to my health. :)

I made these on my griddle and then let them cool on cooling racks. Then I placed them between sheets of parchment paper and put them in a gallon baggie. Then I just heat them up in a skillet for a few seconds.

I spread a Light Laughing Cow cheese wedge on the wrap and added the filling.

I sprinkle on some nutritional yeast.

Fold and eat. :)You could definitely add some cheese on the meat and veggies and let it melt but I’ve been going a bit overboard with my meat and cheese intake lately and that’s not conducive to weight loss. :( I was surprised that the laughing cow wedge tasted so good on this.

Steak Ums aren’t cheap but I found the name brand is cheaper than the off brand at my local stores. I don’t use these for a family dinner but use them for lunches on occasion. :)

I hope enjoy this as much as I do.

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Philly Cheesesteak Wrap

Ingredients

  • Frozen steak um
  • onion
  • peppers
  • mushroom
  • butter
  • wrap
  • light laughing cow cheese wedge
  • salt, pepper, and oregano
  • nutritional yeast, optional

Instructions

  1. Chop veggies and saute in a teaspoon or so of butter.
  2. When nearly done to your liking, break up the steak into pieces and add to veggies.
  3. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and a bit of oregano.
  4. Heat wrap and spread with light laughing cow cheese wedge.
  5. Add cooked meat and veggies and nutritional yeast, if desired.
  6. Fold and eat.
https://lifeofjoy.me/philly-cheesesteak-wrap/

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Another Pasta Skillet

Chicken, Main Dishes, Pasta, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies, , ,

We love Aldi’s brown rice & quinoa pasta. This pasta is a THM E meal, which means it is a healthy carbs and low fat meal. We like to weigh the pasta to ensure that we get the right amounts cooked for each of us. :) Measuring by cup doesn’t usually yield the correct amount of food.

So, bring the measured amount of pasta to boil. Be sure to check the serving size because it can vary per type of pasta.

Meanwhile saute your chosen vegetables. Seriously, pick whatever veggies you like. It is best to stick with non-starchy veggies since you’re having the carby pasta. Only spray your pan with a light coating of oil of your choosing (we either us olive or coconut spray). Then if your veggies need a bit more moisture, add a bit of water to the pan to help keep them from sticking.

This time we chose onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, and zucchini.

Tiffany has discovered that although she does not like raw tomatoes, she does like them cooked. :)

We added some minced garlic and stirred it in.

I just used the jarred variety this time. You don’t have to add garlic if you don’t prefer it.

When the pasta is cooked, drain it and then add it to the cooked veggies.

We had some chicken breast that we’d cooked up a few days prior in the crock pot. This is what we used but you could use any low fat meat. Canned chicken breast or canned tuna ( or fish from a pouch) would work well too.

This night Tiffany decided to add one wedge of Light Laughing Cow Cheese to add a bit more creaminess, but we’ve done it without it and it is just fine too. :)

Stir it in and serve. Of course add whatever seasonings you like.

This had me saying “Mmmm” with the first several bites and declaring how much I was enjoying it throughout the meal. The serving size of pasta is quite filling, so we didn’t serve it with anything else but a side salad would be good. Just keep it low fat to stay in E mode. :)

I hope you like this “recipe”. I’ll include what we used below but know that you can use whatever non-starchy veggies you like (and even a bit of the starchy ones, since it is an E).

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Another Pasta Skillet

Ingredients

  • Brown Rice & Quinoa Pasta
  • Veggies of your choice: onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, zucchini were our picks this time
  • You could add some carrot or peas or a bit of corn if you like
  • Seasonings of choice: garlic, salt, and pepper were ours
  • Optional light laughing cow cheese wedge (1)
  • Protein: cooked chicken breast was ours

Instructions

  1. Boil measured pasta until done, and drain.
  2. Spray pan with cooking oil, lightly.
  3. Saute diced/sliced veggies.
  4. Add seasonings, drained pasta, and protein.
  5. Serve
https://lifeofjoy.me/another-pasta-skillet/

I hope you enjoy this “recipe;” we sure have.

Michele ºÜº

Super Simple Snack

Tasty Tuesday, Veggies, ,

There are a lot of days that I just don’t feel like making something for an afternoon snack. Some of those days I go ahead and have a couple of Wasa cracker snacks. But some days I don’t even feel up to that. So what do I do?

Take some deli lunch meat (the lighter the better) and slice some strips of some kind of pepper. (Sorry about the pictures. We used a pink plate and it washed everything out and we were too tired and hungry to retake the pictures on a different plate. :D)

Sprinkle on some salt and nutritional yeast (if so desired).

Roll it up

And eat!

Now if you don’t like bell peppers, you can do this with whatever veggie you do like. I try to keep it low carb. I like it with cucumber.

At lunch today Tiffany even wrapped some of her sweet potato in lunch meat. It was quite good. (It was with a carb, THM-E, meal.)

Today I added a slice of cantaloupe to my snack and it was delightful. I haven’t had a good cantaloupe in years. :)

Well, I hope this snack idea helps you stay out of those high calorie snacks of cheese, nuts, and chocolate; it has me. ;)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Quick and Easy Pasta Skillet

Ground Meat, Main Dishes, Pasta, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies

A couple of weeks ago Tiffany and I were stumped with what to make for dinner. For whatever reason, I didn’t have anything planned for dinner that night or didn’t want to make what I had planned. This  meal is what we came up with and we absolutely loved it!!!!

It’s very simple. Just use whatever you have on hand. We browned some ground turkey with some onions and peppers. Then we added some cut fresh tomatoes that we had on hand and needed to use. (You could use any meat of choice, including chicken breast, raw or pre-cooked.)

The night of this picture we didn’t have any peppers, so it was just onions and tomatoes.

 

While the meat and veggies were cooking, I boiled four servings of Dreamsfield Pasta. To be honest, I didn’t think that the amount stated as a serving (dry measurement) was going to be very much when cooked but went with it anyway. It was plenty!Once the veggies and meat were cooked, we added the cooked and drained pasta.

As you can see, the pasta we had this night was spaghetti. We made it with macaroni the first time and were concerned that we wouldn’t like it as much with this shape of pasta but thankfully, it was delicious as well. :)

We added extra virgin olive oil before eating. Yum!

The first time we made it we added a garnish amount of cheese but to be honest it wasn’t needed.

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Quick and Easy Pasta Skillet

Ingredients

  • 1 pound meat of choosing (I used ground turkey)
  • Veggies of choice: I used
  • Onion
  • Pepper
  • Grape Tomatoes
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • Extra virgin olive oil or whatever you choose
  • Dreamfield Pasta
  • Any herbs desired (we sprinkled with a bit of basil)

Instructions

  1. Prepare pasta as directed and drain
  2. Cook the meat and veggies with salt and pepper
  3. Add drained pasta, add any herbs desired, and combine.
  4. Drizzle with oil of choice.
https://lifeofjoy.me/quick-and-easy-pasta-skillet/

I hope this simple meal is as helpful to you as it is to us. :)

Until next time,

Michele ºÜº

Pasta Salad ‘E’

Pasta, Salad, Side Dishes, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies

I love pasta salad. I feared that following keto and now Trim Healthy Mama that I would never be able to really enjoy it again. My favorite pasta salads use Miracle Whip and that is not on either plan. I don’t like regular mayonnaise and I really don’t want to add another thing to make from scratch. See my dilemma?

Well, I found that I love the THM trimmy thousand island dressing . . . seriously, love it! I had some brown rice and quinoa pasta one day and decided to add a little of it to that pasta. Game Changer!!!!

So today I bring you one of my quick and easy variations on this pasta salad. It’s simple . . . boil the pasta. While it boils, prepare your veggies. Today I used one radish sliced thinly, some diced green pepper, and some cherry tomatoes, with a tiny bit of finely diced onion.

Drain and rinse the pasta with cool water and add to the bowl.  Add a couple heaping spoonfuls of the dressing, salt, and pepper.

Combine.

Yum!!!

I also added a few slices of turkey pepperoni. :)

I’ll be sharing other variations as I make them. This is truly a favorite for me and am glad to have such a delicious E meal.

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Pasta Salad ‘E’ Version

Ingredients

  • Quinoa and Brown Rice pasta, cooked and drained
  • radish, sliced thinly
  • couple tablespoons of diced green pepper
  • 3-4 cherry tomatoes, cut
  • about tablespoon finely diced onion
  • 2 heaping soup spoonfuls of trimmy thousand island dressing
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • about 8 turkey pepperoni slices, quartered (optional)

Instructions

  1. Combine all and enjoy.
https://lifeofjoy.me/pasta-salad-e/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Salad Chicken Crouton ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Salads!

Salad, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies
sweet potato in salad ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Tiffany and I are embracing the Thyroid Type Body Type Diet, since we both tested out as that body type. I’m very thankful for finding out that information because I’m able to tailor my Trim Healthy Mama food choices into this body type recommendations. In this case it means that we need to eat more Energizing meals which are healthy carb meals.

It is also highly suggested that we have salads with lots of raw veggies: peppers, cucumber, radish, green onion, tomato, and of course, lettuce and such. During the Stubborn Loser’s Menu from Trim Healthy Mama, Tiffany and I learned that this eating style will most definitely help us lose weight. So we are 100% in!

I shared last week, I think, how we prepped a bunch of chicken. It was six pounds that we did and we froze most of it. It’s a good thing too because we are only supposed to have 4 ounces of lean meat with our salad and a total of 1/2 teaspoon of fats with the meal, which falls right in line with THM-E meals. It continues to follow the same idea with only having 1/2 cup of a whole grain carb, which is the low end of THM suggestions.

So in the first salad pictured above we have some of the balsamic seasoned chicken with some fat free cheese. Yeah, I know, neither diet suggests this but I’m just gonna be real with you, we love cheese!!! And totally miss it, so we added 1/4 cup to this salad and are calling it our “personal choice” item. ;)

In the same salad above we toasted a piece of Silver Hills, The Big 16 Sprouted Power Bread, and cut it up into croutons. :) That was our carb source. We take a little squirt (we put our MCT oil in a squirt bottle) of MCT oil and rub it onto the leaves of the salad. You’d be amazed at how far the little 1/2 teaspoon (or less) can go when rubbed or as Pearl would say, messaged onto the leaves.

In this next salad we used a half cup of brown rice as our carb source and some more of the chicken for our protein. We again used the message method for getting some moisture onto our salad.

Salad with squash and chicken ~ Lifeofjoy.me

We’ve really gone outside the box and used baked sweet potato for our carb source. We’ve even used quinoa. This week we used tilapia for our protein source because both diets recommend having fish a couple of times each week.

I’m so thankful for the “e” meals in THM because without them I would be so bored with this diet. For those familiar with THM and their recipes, we’ve had Cowboy Grub and will have Quinoa Goes Cajun too. As of last Tuesday, I’d lost a little over six pounds in just a week . . . of course those were pounds that I put on over the holidays, as I did not pay attention to even the 3-hour rule of eating, and thus overindulged a bit, as well as was a bit abusive to calories, meaning I ate too rich food. ;)

If you are on THM and struggling with finding your balance of fuels, I suggest taking the body type diet questionnaire to determine which diet you should follow to lose weight and then incorporate more of those THM meals into your diet. (The one we did was from our chiropractor and I have seen that many chiropractors use the same or very similar thing.)

I hope this gives you some ideas to brighten up your carb source salads.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

veggie quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Veggie Quesadillas

Main Dishes, Tasty Tuesday, Veggies
Here is another delicious way to get in those veggies. Use whatever veggies you prefer or have on hand.

As I mentioned last week, I’ve been on a quest to get more veggies into my meals. I don’t really love veggies yet but I’m making every effort to eat them anyway and eat them in a yummy way.

Today I’m sharing a veggie quesadilla. Now I know that quesadillas mean cheese. I love cheese but I have loved it a bit too much. I’m working on lessening it in my diet. But I have to say that this quesadilla is still delicious! :)

Today I used onion, mushroom, and zucchini for my veggies. You can use whatever you like. I am also trying to keep cruciferous veggies limited because cabbage seems to cause me to stall, so I’m not indulging in them as freely as I have in the past.

So, I start by slicing my zucchini nice and thin. I use a mandolin for this job; it’s easy and I can do the job quickly.

Slice Zucchini on mandolin ~ Lifeofjoy.meThen sliced some mushrooms.

Slice mushrooms ~ Lifeofjoy.meThen dice some onion. (I started by slicing it.)

Cut onion ~ Lifeofjoy.mePlace all in a heated skillet with a bit of oil melted in it.

Cook veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd a bit of salt and pepper, as desired. Salt helps them cook quicker because it helps remove the water from the veggies.

Sprinkle with a bit of oregano or your favorite herb.

Meanwhile, I prep my tortillas. I prefer to use a Joseph’s pita and separate it into two very thin circles by cutting around the edge by snipping a hole in the edge, sliding my kitchen scissors into the cup, and cut around the circle. But my store was out of them and the lavash, so I resorted to Low Carb Mission whole wheat tortillas. I got the small ones that are 3g net carbs each so that I could use 2 of them.

Tortillas ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Spread half a wedge of Laughing Cow Cheddar Cheese or homemade greek cream cheese on each tortilla.

Spread with light greek cream cheese ~ Lifeofjoy.meWe shredded a little over an ounce of part skim mozzarella cheese on a medium-small grate, so it makes a bigger pile of cheese and it will melt more quickly.

We are trying to lose some weight, so we are being aware of how much fat we us, so we simply sprayed the pan with a little coconut oil spray and then put one of the tortillas on the pan.

Tortilla with cheese ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd the warm cooked veggies.

Veggie quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.meI wasn’t sure how much protein was here, and I was hungry, so I added a serving of ham. But you could just heap on more veggies and have a protein drink with it, if you are on Trim Healthy Mama where all our meals are anchored with protein.

Ham and veggie quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.mePlace the other tortilla on top with cheese side down.

veggie quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.meI cover it so that the cheese melts quicker.

Cover with lid ~ Lifeofjoy.meFlip when bottom is browned, about 5-7 minutes, depending on the heat of your pan.

Flipped to cook other side ~ Lifeofjoy.meServe and cut once it is browned.

quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.meYum!

quesadilla ~ Lifeofjoy.me(My camera battery died near the end of the meal prep and I had to rely on my phone camera.)

Print
Veggie Quesadillas

Ingredients

  • Veggies of your choosing (I used onion, mushroom, and zucchini.)
  • Laughing Cow cheddar cheese or greek cream cheese
  • about 1/2 ounce shredded part skim mozzarella
  • Joseph's pita, cut into 2 rounds or two small low carb tortillas
  • extra protein (I chose a serving of ham lunch meat)
  • salt, pepper, and sprinkling of oregano

Instructions

  1. Sauté veggies with salt, pepper, and oregano.
  2. Spread half a wedge of laughing cow cheddar (or light swiss) cheese on each tortilla
  3. Spray pan with oil and heat.
  4. Add tortilla, cheese side up, then top with veggies and optional lunch meat.
  5. Top with other tortilla, cheese side down.
  6. Cover and cook, flip when browned on bottom.

https://lifeofjoy.me/veggie-quesadillas/

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº