Category Archives: Veggies

Vegetable Scrambled Eggs ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Veggie Scramble

Use whatever veggies you have on hand and make this delicious scrambled egg breakfast dish.

Eating vegetables at every meal is a very healthy thing. :) It is also a great idea when trying to lose weight. I’m in a season where I am pushing to lose some weight. If I just do what I have always done, I will stay what I have always been. I am carrying way too much weight on this little five foot frame of mine and I need to lose some weight. That is going to mean cutting back somewhere.

Now it does not mean I will have to live there forever but in order to get where I want to be, sacrifices must be made. I am choosing to eat smaller portions and include more veggies in my day. This summer I have been part of a group online that has been focusing on getting healthier this summer. One of the goals has been to eat veggies with each meal. I am here to tell you, that is not easy to do. I mean, what veggies taste right with  pancakes? Well, thanks to this challenge, I decided to eat a small salad before some pancakes for lunch this past Sunday. It was good because we were waiting for the pancakes to cook and I was very hungry, so the leftover salad from pizza night was a good decision. Another time, I ate some green pepper before eating pancakes for dinner. :D Yeah, my family has a thing for pancakes. ;)

The “recipe” I’m sharing today is one of those veggie breakfast ideas. Basically, take your favorite veggies or whatever you happen to have on hand, sauté them, add in the egg and cook to desired doneness.

Today I used some diced onion, (heat the pan and some of your favorite oil–I used some bacon fat)

cook onions ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdded some diced mushrooms,

sautéing diced onions and mushrooms ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen they are nearly as done as you like them, add in the spinach, which I chop into thin strips. We like our onions and mushrooms very well done but our spinach barely cooked at all.

Added spinach ~ Lifeofjoy.meMeanwhile, slightly beat the eggs, so there is no solid white part left and add them to the pan.

Added beaten eggs to sautéd veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.meCook as desired, adding salt and pepper, as desired as well.

Tiffany is very particular about her eggs. She did not even used to like eggs but now she is okay with them as long as they are well done. I have a friend who likes his the complete opposite of Tiffany, he likes his just done and zero browning at all. Tiffany likes hers nice and golden. So, all that to say, cook it how you desire or as the THM authors would say, “own it.”

Scrambled veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.meCooked this way, these are a deep S THM meal. We added a touch more bacon fat on top of our eggs on our plates but would have been great with a drizzle of MCT oil as well.

Scrambled Eggs and Veggies ~ Lifeofjoy.meIt was delicious! I hope you like it too.

Veggie Scramble

Ingredients

  • 2 eggs
  • a couple of slices of onion, diced
  • a mushroom or two, diced
  • about a cup of spinach, sliced
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • choice of fat (coconut oil, bacon fat, butter, etc.)

Instructions

  1. Melt about a teaspoon or so of fat in a skillet.
  2. Add onions and mushrooms. Sauté until nearly caramelized or however you prefer them.
  3. Add spinach.
  4. Beat eggs slightly and add to veggies.
  5. Cook until they are done to your liking.
  6. Serve with a smidgen more fat on top.
https://lifeofjoy.me/veggie-scramble/

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Sweet Potato Fries Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Sweet Potato Fries Salad

I’ve found a love for sweet potatoes since starting Trim Healthy Mama. :) I never found them very sweet before but now I think they are pretty sweet without anything on them. I used to like them candied with brown sugar and now I’m good with them plain. My family likes to add syrup to theirs though.

One of the ways I like them is made into fries. Tiffany and I have had them with chocolate “shakes” or frappes. So reminiscent of fries and a milk shake–one of my favorite treats long ago.

So, on to how to make it . . .

Cut the the sweet potato into “fries.”

Cut sweet potato ~ Lifeofjoy.meSweet Potato slices ~ Lifeofjoy.meCut them a bit thinner to get done quicker.

Sweet Potato Fries ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen I finished cutting this one potato it was enough for two people.

I used my air fryer but you could bake them in the oven with just a light spray of oil and a sprinkling of salt. If you are baking in the oven be sure to put them on either a silpat, foil, or parchment paper.

My air fryer is also a toaster oven, so I have a rather large “basket.”

AIr Fried Sweet Potatoes ~ Lifeofjoy.meThis day Tiffany and I used these in a huge salad.

Salad with Sweet Potato Fries ~ Lifeofjoy.meI added low-fat ham lunch meat for protein and tomatoes for moisture.

Sweet Potato Fries Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.meIt was delicious!

Bake the sweet potato fries for about 15-20 minutes on about 400º, turning as they brown on one side.

I hope you enjoy this “recipe.”

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Warm Veggie Salad and Roased Okra ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Warm Veggie Salad

Okay, I am probably going to mess with some of your thoughts on salad here, so hold on to your hat. ;) The first time I was introduced to having warm foods on my salad was when I ate in my cousin’s restaurant, where I had Steak and Fries Salad. I loved it soooo much I recreated it at home using chicken since my hubby cannot eat beef right now.

That experience opened up a whole realm of possibilities to me. There was something about adding French fries to a salad that unlocked my salad eating, although I must admit, it wasn’t completely unlocked until the last couple of years or so.

I’ve realized that you can sauté or otherwise cook almost anything and add it to a salad. You are only limited by the items you have on hand. ;)

Today I’m going to share the salad Tiffany and I had for lunch yesterday. We started by putting some cut okra in the toaster oven to roast. Then proceeded to sauté some cauliflower and broccoli for Tiffany (I’m currently cutting back on cruciferous veggies so I didn’t have any).

Cruciferous ~ Lifeofjoy.meWe also sautéed some onions, mushrooms, and radishes for us both, as well as some squash for me.

sauté squash ~ Lifeofjoy.meThe we added some ground beef for our meat choice and cooked it with the onions, mushrooms, and radishes.

Meat and veggies  ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhile that was all cooking away we tore some lettuce leaves. We used some green leaf and some baby artisan lettuces from Aldi this time.  We added some diced colored peppers and some shredded carrot.

Lettuce and Peppers ~ Lifeofjoy.meLettuce carrot peppers ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhen the veggies and meat were cooked to our liking, we added them to the salad.

Warm Veggie Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.meWe could have added the okra too it but we decided we wanted to enjoy that on the side. (For the record, before THM I did not like okra. It’s pretty good roasted and sprinkled with nutritional yeast.)

Roasted Okra ~ Lifeofjoy.meWarm Veggie Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.me

There really isn’t a recipe to write down. Cook veggies to your liking and add them to what cold veggies you want. Tiffany and I have also added cooked salmon to a salad like this. Yum!

Oh! Don’t forget the salt and pepper! It’s the key to a good salad.

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Breakfast Burrito ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Sausage Veggie Breakfast Burrito

Nice mix of veggies, sausage, and egg without any one ingredient being overbearing.

Last week I was hungry for a breakfast burrito and was so glad that I still had a Joseph’s Lavash left in the refrigerator. Half of one lavash is allowable once in a while on Trim Healthy Mama in an S meal. So I cut a lavash in half and Tiffany got half and I got half.

Cut a Joseph's Lavash ~ Lifeofjoy.meI put two to four ounces of sausage in my skillet and began to brown it.

Bulk Sausage in Pan ~ Lifeofjoy.meThen I grated a small to medium zucchini into the pan.

Grating in Zucchini ~ Lifeofjoy.meNext dice up a mini pepper or about a quarter of a medium bell pepper. I used a yellow one this time but any color will do.

Yellow Pepper ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd it to the pan and saute.

Cooking vegetables and sausage ~ Lifeofjoy.meDice up one large mushroom and either one some tomato and add them as well. Season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast, if desired. (The salt helps to draw out the moisture and cook the veggies.)

Breakfast burrito ~ Lifeofjoy.meYou can either add a bit of oil, like coconut oil, or just a bit of water, if things start sticking to your pan.

Slightly beat two to four eggs. The first time I made this I only used two eggs because we didn’t want egg to over power the taste but even though I wrote looked at what I’d written down previously, I did four eggs before I realized it. 😯 Not to worry though, we were still on plan, the egg did not over power the taste, and we had a lighter lunch.

Beat eggs ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd these to the pan and mix in.

Eggs added to Burrito filling ~ Lifeofjoy.me (I was dealing with a very overcast morning, so some of the pictures did not turn out very good.)

When the egg is nearly cooked through, add two wedges of light laughing cow cheese. You could use the pepperjack version if you want it spicy.

Breakfast Burritos ~ Lifeofjoy.mePlace half of the filling on a lavash half, roll and enjoy. :) Tiffany puts hers on he length of the lavash.

Skinnier Burritos ~ Lifeofjoy.me

And I put mine down the width. Hers are skinnier than mine.Sausage Breakfast Burrito ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Sausage Veggie Breakfast Burrito

Ingredients

  • 2-4 ounces sausage
  • 1 Roma tomato, about 7 grape tomatoes, or a couple of slices of larger tomato
  • 1 mini pepper
  • 1 small to medium zucchini, shredded
  • 1 large mushroom, diced or sliced
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 2 wedges of Light Laughing Cow Cheese
  • 1 Joseph's Lavash cut in half
  • salt and pepper, as desired
  • Nutritional yeast, as desired (optional)

Instructions

  1. Brown the sausage and add the vegetables and cook to desired doneness.
  2. Season with salt, pepper, and nutritional yeast (optional)
  3. Add beaten eggs and stir as they cook.
  4. Add the cheese wedges and blend with cooked sausage, veggies, and eggs.
  5. Place half the filling in a lavash half, roll up, and eat.
  6. (If you put the filling in the lavash over the length of the lavash, you may need to cut it in half to eat it properly. 😉 )
https://lifeofjoy.me/sausage-veggie-breakfast-burrito/

I hope you enjoy this yummy breakfast with hidden veggies. :)

Until next time, God bless,

 Michele ºÜº

Fast Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Salad the Easy Way!

Salad the fresh and easy way! It is so simple that we’ve been eating a lot more salads and I don’t mind making it.

So, salad is something that I haven’t really liked to make because it is just cumbersome. And if you buy bagged lettuce and don’t use it right away, you have to sort through it and get rid of the nasty leaves. So here is a solution.

Start with a head of the romaine hearts.

Super Easy Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.meRemove one head from the bag. Slice it.

Easy Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.meEasy Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.meYou can slice it down the middle as well, if the pieces are a bit too big for you. Normally I care about large bites, but this is so easy and I’m eating something that is so good for me, so I don’t really care.

Fast Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.mePut it in a fairly large soup/salad bowl.

Fast Salad~ lifeofjoy.meIf you season this salad up right with some good fat/oil be it coconut, olive, or even bacon fat and some salt and pepper with a dash of balsamic vinegar, you can eat it as is.

I generally like a little something with mine so one button mushroom sliced up, a bit of bell pepper sliced, and maybe a bit of carrot grated or sliced are all easy options. Sometimes I’ll add a few slices of cucumber. Toss in any veggies you like. Grape tomatoes would be good as well because they don’t require much prep. :)

Add some pre-cooked chicken. I look for rotisserie chickens on clearance at Walmart because then it is already cooked and only cost $3! I’ll share how I pre-cook chicken for use in this too next week.

Fast Salad ~ Lifeofjoy.me

We’ve taken to adding nutritional yeast of late. It is a healthy cheesy tasting substitute for when you need to eliminate some dairy for the sake of losing weight. ;) It has lots of B vitamins too.

I have found that the Baby Butter Lettuce Salad at Aldi is a good option but you must plan to use it within a few days of purchase so that you don’t have to sort through and rid yourself of the slimy leaves.

I know this doesn’t sound all that great but trust me. I’ve been doing this for a couple of weeks now and I don’t even mind having a salad anymore. More importantly, Tiffany doesn’t mind either and she used to sigh when I asked her to prepare one! :)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Chicken Sausage Mushroom Casserole

The combination of chicken, turkey sausage, mushroom, cauliflower and cheeses is like chicken and dressing without those carbs.

This is yet another wonderful recipe from Linda’s Low Carb Menus and Recipes. I don’t know why I don’t make this more often. We really like it and it is tasty. It tastes almost like chicken and dressing, at least when I make it with turkey sausage; I don’t think I’ve ever made it with pork sausage.

It is another of the recipes that I found when I did the hCg diet and was on phase 3. However when I was watching calories, I tried making it with less cheese and it just wasn’t creamy enough. But when you include all sixteen ounces of cheese and your cauliflower is nicely cooked, it is just delicious! :)

So let’s get to it.

Dice the celery and onion. I do it finely, because we do not like chunky crunchy veggies in our casseroles.

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.me Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.meI start by sautéing them in a little coconut oil; I use refined coconut oil so there is no coconut flavor. Tiffany went a little overboard on the onion this day. ;) It was still delicious.

Add in the diced mushrooms. We don’t use the entire package, only about four ounces worth because Sean does not care for them. This is also why they are diced into small pieces rather than simply sliced. :)

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.meI like to lightly salt these because salt helps them release water and thus, speeds the cooking process.

When these veggies are well on their way to losing their crunch, I add the sausage to brown.

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhile that is browning, I steam my cauliflower, unless of course, I have forgotten about it and need it quickly. In which case, I steam it in the microwave. Then give it a course chop. It’s already cooked and has lost it crunch so I don’t have to chop this too finely.

After the sausage is browned, add in the softened cream cheese and blend it in well. Add in the cooked chicken, cheddar, salt, and pepper. Spread into a greased 9×13 baking dish.

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.meBake at 350º for about 40 minutes, until the top is nicely browned. We accidentally left ours in a little longer this time. (I have no idea why this picture has a green hue.)

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Chicken Sausage Casserole ~ Lifeofjoy.meThis is a hearty dish and there will be leftovers, even when I serve it to four hungry adults with no side dishes.

Chicken Sausage Mushroom Casserole

Ingredients

  • 3-4 cups cooked chicken, chopped (1-1½ pounds boneless skinless chicken breast or the meat from a small-3½ pound-rotisserie chicken)
  • 1 pound sausage
  • 1 stalk celery, diced
  • 1 tablespoon onion, diced
  • ¼-½ pound mushrooms, diced
  • 8 ounces cream cheese, softened
  • 16 ounces cauliflower, steamed
  • 8 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded
  • salt
  • pepper

Instructions

  1. Sauté onions, celery, and mushrooms, lightly salted
  2. Add sausage and brown.
  3. Stir in softened cream cheese, until well blended
  4. Add coarsely chopped cooked cauliflower and the rest of the ingredients.
  5. Spread into a greased 9x13 baking dish.
  6. Bake at 350º about 40 minutes until the cheese is completely melted and top slightly browned.
https://lifeofjoy.me/chicken-sausage-mushroom-casserole/

I hope you enjoy this.

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Cheeseburger Soup

This creamy ground meat soup is easily customized to your diet, be it low fat or high fat, with just a few tweaks. It is a low carb soup, full of flavor.

I found this soup over three years ago, somewhere online. I must’ve been on a low carb diet at the time because this one was both low fat and low carb. Now, this doesn’t exactly fit my current diet but it is close enough to adjust with just a few easy changes. The low carb works but the low fat does not, as keto is a high fat diet because you are in a state that your body is burning fat.

The recipe calls for ground turkey and this is what I used. However ground turkey is a low fat meat. Consequently, I added a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil as I was browning it. As it browns, add salt, pepper, and onion powder.

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meIf you are doing a low fat diet, drain off any fat.

Add chicken broth, basil, and veggies. When I made this the other day, I was out of fresh broccoli so I used a bag of frozen broccoli, cauliflower, carrot medley.

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meCheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meBring it to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer. Cover and cook for about 20 minutes, until the veggies are tender or how you prefer them. (We do not like our cooked veggies crunchy.)

We also do not like big chunks of vegetables, so I break them up a bit. ;)

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meNow add heavy cream, half and half, or fat-free half and half depending on the level of fat you need in your diet. Also add in the shredded cheese at this time.

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meCheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meRemove the pot from the heat and stir until the cheese is melted. DO NOT return it to heat or the cheese will probably separate and not be as creamy; it will still be edible but clumpy and maybe a little rubbery. ;)

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Serve as soon as the cheese is melted.

Cheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meCheeseburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Cheeseburger Soup

Ingredients

  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 2 teaspoons onion powder
  • salt and pepper, to taste
  • 1 teaspoon basil
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1 1/2 cups each broccoli and cauliflower OR a small bag broccoli, cauliflower, carrot medley
  • 1 1/2 cups heavy cream, half and half, OR fat-free half and half
  • 8 ounces shredded cheddar cheese

Instructions

  1. Brown the ground meat, season with salt, pepper, and onion powder. (If you need it low fat, remove the drippings but if you use ground turkey and you need the fat, add a couple of tablespoons of coconut oil.)
  2. Add chicken broth, basil, and veggies.
  3. Bring to a boil.
  4. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook covered for about 20 minutes, until vegetables are desired tenderness.
  5. Add cream and cheese. Remove from heat immediately.
  6. Stir until cheese is melted.
  7. Serve!
https://lifeofjoy.me/cheeseburger-soup/

I hope you understand the different options on how to make this according to your dietary needs and it wasn’t confusing. Enjoy!

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

Fat Bomb Hamburger Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup

Versatile soup with lots of flavor from roasted veggies that can either be made deliciously fatty (aka fat bomb) for those on keto, low fat, or somewhere in between.

Today’s recipe is a wonderful soup that has lots of flavor added by roasting veggies. The first time I made it, I didn’t have any brussels sprouts and it was good like that as well. This time I had some frozen brussels sprouts to use. You can eliminate whatever veggies you want or substitute veggies. But this combination was really good.

There’s a lot of chopping to be done, so be sure to give yourself enough time to do so. If I were smart, I’d chop the veggies earlier in the day, so I don’t have to be concerned about time. We don’t like big crunchy veggies in our cooked food, so it takes me a little longer. ;)

Begin by preheating the oven to 350º. Cut the brussels sprouts in half or even quarters, if they are large. The ones I have today are small so I only cut them in half. Dice mushrooms into large pieces. I used about 6-8 mushrooms.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meDice a large bell pepper. I like the yellow or orange because they add a little color contrast and different colored foods have different nutrients. I got a good deal on the mixed color peppers, so I used an orange one today. I cut it into about the same size chunks as my mushrooms.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meDice about 1/3 of a medium large red onion.

Combine these four veggies on a rimmed baking sheet. Drizzle with melted coconut oil, olive oil, or oil of your choosing. Season with salt and pepper.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meMix them up and spread the evenly on the pan.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meRoast for 25-30 minutes. Remove when they are as cooked as you like them.

Meanwhile, brown your ground meat over medium low heat. We used ground turkey which is leaner than ground beef, so we added a bit of coconut oil to it as we cooked it.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meWhile that is browning, get to dicing the celery. ;) We dice our celery pretty finely. Once again, we don’t like crunchy veggies, so these are rather small. Also mince the garlic.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meAdd the celery and garlic to the cooking ground meat. If you are on keto, do NOT drain the fat. You may even need to add a little if you used a lean meat like we did. ;)

Once the celery is pretty well cooked, add the broth, tomatoes (which we will puree next time with the hand blender before adding because, we don’t like chunks :D ), tomato paste, oregano, bay leaf, and either cayenne or chili powder.

Combine and bring to a boil. Then reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes. (We accidentally put in too much tomato paste! Way too much!)

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meStir in the roasted veggies and chopped parsley and serve.

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meHamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meHamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.meAnd because everything is better with cheese, I added just a bit of freshly grated Parmesan on top of my bowl. :)

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup ~ Lifeofjoy.me

Hamburger and Roasted Veggie Soup

Ingredients

  • 200g brussels sprouts, cut in half
  • 125g mushrooms, diced (about 6-8 medium)
  • 200g yellow or orange bell pepper, diced (about 1 large)
  • 125g red onion, diced (about 1 small red onion)
  • 1/4 cup oil (olive, melted coconut, or your preference)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 2 large stalks celery, finely diced (about 70 grams)
  • 3 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 can diced tomatoes, pureed (14-16 ounces)
  • 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • pinch cayenne pepper or 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
  • freshly grated Parmesan cheese (optional)

Instructions

  1. Preheat oven 350º
  2. Combine brussels sprouts, bell pepper, red onion, and mushrooms on a rimmed baking sheet with oil, salt, and pepper.
  3. Roast for 25-30 minutes, stirring after about 15 minutes so they don't brown too much on one side.
  4. Brown ground meat in a dutch oven or large pot, over medium low heat.
  5. Add celery and garlic, cook until celery is softened.
  6. Add broth, tomatoes, tomato paste, bay leaf, oregano, and cayenne or chili powder.
  7. Bring to a boil.
  8. Reduce heat to low and simmer for 15-20 minutes.
  9. Add roasted veggies and chopped parsley.
  10. Serve.
https://lifeofjoy.me/hamburger-and-roasted-veggie-soup/

(I like some measurements in grams because it is more precise, but usually only with baking. However the base recipe for this used grams and I forgot to re-measure into cups.)

Until next time, God bless,

Michele ºÜº

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