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One More Little Thing

Dreaming of an easy way to be SUPER Mom

Archives for April 2017

Chili dog Casserole- A kid friendly, husband approved, Freezer meal

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Weekly freezer meal logo

It is wonderful to have great meals on the table each night but sometimes it’s also hard to keep everyone pleased. Today’s post is not going to make you lose 100 pounds but it is on plan! This kid-friendly, husband approved, Trim Healthy Mama (THM) friendly Chili dog Casserole is a great addition to your freezer stock.

Another bonus to this recipe is how easy it is.  My kids LOVE to help make this!

 Chili dog Casserole

Chili dog Casserole

Start by rolling your all beef or turkey hot dog in a tortilla shell.  To make this Trim Healthy Mama (THM) I used the mission low carb tortilla shells.  You can find them at most grocery stores and sam’s club but also at this amazon link below.

pan of chilidogs

As you are rolling your hot dogs up in the shells layer them in a greased 9×13 pan. I usually try to squeeze in as many as I can by pushing them tightly together.

When you pan is packed as full as you can get it, then you want to cover the dogs with chili.  I usually use canned chili but you can definitely use homemade leftovers or your favorite recipe.

The last thing you need to do it top it off with shredded cheese. I like to grate my own in my food processor.  It’s so easy to do and doesn’t include all that yucky stuff.

That’s it!  You are done!  This can go in the freezer and when you are ready to eat it just thaw it and bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

THM Side notes

To my fellow THMers, I wanted to let you know that you should limit yourself to 2 of these so that your carbs don’t get too high and you end up in crossover mode.  This recipe is an S meal.  Also if you do not want to use the low carb tortilla shells for the whole pan you can mark two out for yourself with a tooth pick.  I do this often and it works great!

Printable Recipe

Chilidog Casserole
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Chili dog Casserole

A wonderful kid friendly, husband approved, THM freezer meal, that you can have done in about 20 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 8-10 Flour tortilla's I use mission brand low carb to make it THM
  • 8-10 Beef or turkey hot dogs
  • 1 can Chili or homemade chili
  • 8oz Shredded cheese I like to use Colby as a Mexican blend

Instructions

  1. Roll one hot dog in each tortilla shell and layer tightly into a 9x13 pan

  2. Cover the dogs with the chili

  3. Spread the shredded cheese over the top

  4. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes

Get that freezer stocked

Having a stocked freezer is the biggest blessing when that 5 PM time hits and I would love to share my freezer meal theory with you too.  If you haven’t read about it yet you definitely should check it out!  The best thing about this recipe is everyone LOVES it and it is SO easy to make. This is also a GREAT meal to take to a family in need.  I easily made four pans of this for my weekly freezer meal in 20 minutes! Bonus that my kids love to make this one too and it’s so easy that I do not stress about having their help!

BLT Bacon, Lettuce, and Tomato Jar salad. THM S

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Weekly Mason Jar Salad logo

In West Michigan, there is a restaurant that is known for good, old-fashioned Dutch cooking.  Sweet elderly people are seen eating their dinners there with their coupons at 4 PM, and then families join later to take advantage of a great kids menu.  I always crave their BLTs and onion rings.  Yet, we all know that’s not a sustainable way to eat unless I want to ruin my hard work doing Trim Healthy Mama (THM)!  So, here is a great compromise with a BLT jar salad!  It won’t disappoint!

I’m trying to help you spice up your stock for the week a little so hopefully last weeks freezer treat recipe was a nice change for you.  This week I’m back to another jar salad!  I love having such a variety of options with these.  This week I’m going to share my latest recipe which is a BLT Jar Salad.

Can I just quick share with you that as our wonderful Easter family time was coming to a close and we were packaging up food I asked my mom if she had any jars… “Of course” was her response and we took her wonderful salad that would have probably gone to waste and quickly made up 6 pint sized jar salads. They were so nice for each one of us to take home for the week!  Jar salads can even be a blessing when you have leftovers!

BLT Bacon Lettuce and Tomato Jar Salad

BLT Jar salad

This is a Trim Healthy Mama (THM) S jar salad.  If you want to learn more about THM you can click here to visit their website but I also hope to have a post ready soon about my journey as a Trim Healthy Mama.

Whether you know what THM is or not most of the recipes on my blog are just good healthy options so if you aren’t ready to learn the full THM lifestyle don’t worry!  No matter how you eat being prepped and ready is the best option!

This week’s jar salad is no doubt a wonderful option.  Make up a few this week and have them for quick and easy meals or snacks. If you are just starting out with jar salads you will also want to check out my post about jar salad tips and tricks found here.

Printable Recipe

Steps of BLT Jar Salad

BLT Jar Salad
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Bacon Lettuce and Tomato Jar Salad: THM S

This wonderful jar salad has the wonderful taste of honey mustard dressing paired with bacon and hard boiled eggs.  It's sure to become a favorite quickly!

Ingredients

  • 1 cup Ranch Dressing
  • 1/4 cup mustard
  • 2 T super sweet
  • 4 grape tomatoes chopped small
  • 1/4 cup Bacon bits
  • 1 hard boiled egg chopped small
  • 1/4 cup shredded cheese optional
  • Stuff full with shredded lettuce

Instructions

  1. Combine the first 3 ingredients to make your dressing.

  2. Next, begin layering your jar.  

  3. First, add 1/4 cup of the dressing to the bottom

  4. Continue layering the ingredients in the order listed.  Cheese is optional, like to keep dairy minimal so I did not add it to mine.  Stuff the jar as full as possible with lettuce of your choice.  I used bagged shredded iceberg lettuce but you can use any lettuce you enjoy!

  5. To enjoy these just dump them into a large bowl and stir that dressing around onto each bite!  They keep in the fridge for 7-10 days!

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Casserole THM E

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Do you struggle to get in your energizing good carb meals? This weeks freezer meal brings me back to energizing (E) meals. I find it’s very easy to find low carb fat meals but keeping the fat low and adding in those healthy carbs is not always the easiest thing to do.  As many of you know I follow the Trim Healthy Mama (THM) eating plan and they encourage you to build each meal around protein and then add EITHER healthy carbs (E meals) OR healthy fats (S meals).  I’d like to share a recipe with you called Creamy Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Casserole today.  My family really likes broccoli so I try to squeeze it into our meals as often as possible.

If you are not a Trim Healthy Mama do not stop reading this recipe is easy and healthy.  It’s a great addition to your menu for this week even if you are not following the plan.

I’m going to jump right in with the recipe but if you are just joining us please start by reading my freezer meal theory.  It will show you how making four of the same meal once a week can transform your life!

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Quinoa

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Quinoa Casserole

For this recipe, I used my instant-pot to complete the whole meal and I also cooked it in two batches because I didn’t think it would all fit in one.  If you do not have an instant-pot or pressure cooker you can definitely still make the recipe by cooking your chicken and quinoa separately and then combining everything once they are cooked.  It will definitely take you longer than it took me and more steps but don’t sign off this recipe just because you don’t have the right equipment.

Insta Pot with ingredientsWith that being said here is how I did my whole weeks cooking in just 10 minutes.  I poured 3 cups water into my instant-pot, 1 cup almond milk,  followed by an 8oz bag of uncooked quinoa.  When that was all in I chopped up my 2 lbs chicken into bite sized pieces and added it to the pot, UNCOOKED. Two 8 oz blocks of cream cheese went in next and I topped it off with two bags of frozen broccoli.

I secured the lid to my pot and set it on the chicken/meat setting and let it do its thing.  The cooking time once up to pressure was 18 minutes. When it was done I let the pressure out, stirred it around to combine it and loaded this into two 9×13 pans.  I repeated the process for my last two pans.  After everything was done in the pressure cooker and evenly placed into the 9×13 pans I sprinkled with some salt and pepper and allowed it to cool. Once it was cooled I covered it and froze it.  When I’m ready to eat these I will thaw them and cook at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Printable Recipe

Creamy Chicken Broccoli Quinoa
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THM Creamy Chicken, Broccoli and Quinoa Casserole

This creamy chicken is a great Trim Healthy Mama (THM) E meal.  It is filling and great for the whole family.

Ingredients

  • 3 cups water
  • 1 cup almond milk
  • 1 8oz bag uncooked quinoa
  • 2 8oz blocks fat-free cream cheese
  • 3-4 lbs uncooked chicken cubed
  • 2 bags frozen broccoli
  • salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

  1. Put water, almond milk, and uncooked quinoa into your pressure cooker.

    Insta Pot with ingredients

  2. Add the two blocks of softened cream cheese.

  3. Cut up your uncooked chicken and place it into the pot

  4. Top with 2 bags of frozen broccoli.

  5. Set your post to the meat setting and let it go!  Mine did 18 minutes once up to pressure.  Stir it around to combine and then divide into two 9x13 pans.  Freeze.  When ready to serve thaw and cook at 350 for 30-40 mins