I will say ahead of time, that this tastes wonderful, and the meat is amazingly tender, but I also need to say that this is more of a “stew” because of the lack of thickening the sauce. I think that if I had an immersion blender, I could have made more of a gravy after removing the meat and continuing to saute, but I did not take the time to do that today.

As always, this instant pot meal was incredibly simple.

Ingredients:

• 3 lb boneless beef chuck roast, trimmed
• avocado oil (or other healthy oil for high heat)
• 1 tsp salt + salt for seasoning the meat
• 1/2 Tsp. black pepper + pepper for seasoning the meat
• 1 onion, cut into large chunks
• 1 cup baby carrots
• 1.5 cups beef broth
• 1.5 Tbsp Worcestershire sauce
• 1 bag Trader Joe’s cauliflower rice (optional)
• 8 oz quartered mushrooms

Method:

Season the meat on both sides with salt and pepper. Using the saute function on the instant pot, sear the meat for about 4 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate.

Add remaining ingredients to the pot (including remaining salt and pepper). Add meat back in.

Touch the “manual” button, and set a time for 45 minutes. When complete, allow the pot to naturally decompress for at least 15 minutes before using the faster nob option.

It doesn’t get much easier or refreshing than this. I was able to throw this together in a matter of minutes, and my only problem was not making enough for leftovers. SO good! There are plenty of variations, and I after taking the picture, I remembered that I had some avocado to throw in. It was then the perfect dish.

Ingredients:

• 1 small cucumber or half of a large cucumber, chopped
• 1/2 cup chopped tomatoes (I used cherry tomatoes from my garden)
• 1/2 cup Trader Joe’s Mediterranean Feta Cheese Crumbles (you can use plain if you’d prefer)
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp lemon juice (more if you’d like)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• sprinkle of black pepper
• 1/2 chopped avocado (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and enjoy!

Is anyone else sweating to death in this weather? It is pretty unbearable where I live, and there’s no way that I want to turn on the stove, oven, or stand over a BBQ outdoors. No thank you. This recipe is incredibly simple. I cheat a bit with the chicken and use the rotisserie chicken from Costco. It tastes so damned good. As for the sweetener, it is optional, but it does round out the flavors nicely should you decide to use it. The cabbage lends 22 net carbs to this dish total, so just divide that by the number of servings to decide whether or not you find it to impact your daily goals. The single carrot in the whole recipe definitely won’t blow me over the edge either.

I was really looking for something clean and fresh after my huge splurge party weekend.  This totally hit the spot.  It’s amazing!

Ingredients:

• 2 cups shredded chicken
• 1/2 head cabbage
• 1/2 head purple cabbage
• 1-2 shredded carrots
• 3 Tbsp chopped mint
• 3 Tbsp chopped basil
• 3 Tbsp chopped cilantro
• 5 green onions, chopped

Dressing:

• 2 Tbsp red boat fish sauce (paleo friendly)
• 1-2 limes, juiced
• 1/4 cup water
• 1.5 Tbsp 1 Tbsp avocado oil, macadamia nut oil, or light olive oil
• 1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1-2 servings low carb sweetener of your choice (I prefer pure stevia, but use whatever works for you).

Combine all of the salad ingredients in a very large bowl. Put all of the dressing ingredients into a separate bowl and whisk.  Toss everything together in the very large bowl and serve.

This one pan, two ingredient meal was fast, easy, and filling! I would also recommend trying with mozzarella, a bit of marinara, and pepperoni.

Ingredients:

• Cheese of choice (depending on how large of a skillet or serving you’d like)
• Thinly sliced protein of choice (ham, turkey, chicken, pepperoni..)

In a NONSTICK skillet, sprinkle a layer of shredded cheese. Use a spatula to push stray sprinkles into the rest of the cheese. Add a layer of meat, and then sprinkle cheese over the top of the meat. The key here is to really let the cheese get crispy so that when you jiggle the pan, it all moves like a giant, slippery pancake. Once it all moves as a solid piece, flip and repeat until all of the cheese on the bottom is crispy and moves as one large entity.

Remove to paper towels. After a couple of minutes, use a pizza cutter to cut into slices. You can dip into ranch, BBQ sauce, marinara, or just eat them plain. Easy and good!

Ok, look no further. I have, hands down, the best chicken salad recipe EVER. I just stand around in my kitchen eating it with a fork once I’m done making it. The entire family loves it, and it has been a huge hit at BBQ’s with friends.

Ingredients:

• 4 cups chopped, cooked chicken (I cheat and use a rotisserie chicken)
• 3/4 cup mayo
• 3 green onions, chopped
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• 1 tsp dried dill or 2 tsp fresh dill
• 1.5 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp sea salt (taste and see if you need more at the end)
• 1/2 tsp ground black pepper

Method:

Combine all ingredients in a large bowl.  Enjoy!

Get ready for nostalgia.

Brace yourselves. This is AMAZING. It truly tastes like tuna noodle casserole, and the textures all come together really well for this recipe! I don’t usually incorporate canned food into my recipes, but I made an exception here to capture the flavor of the casserole of my youth. The net carbs for each serving is 7g. This works well for my macros as a serving is quite large and is a complete meal.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag cauliflower rice (from Trader Joes) or one riced cauliflower.
• 1 can cream of mushroom soup.
• 2 14oz can mushrooms well drained (use only one can if you don’t really love mushrooms)
• 1/2 cup heavy whipping cream or sour cream OR 2/3 cup sour cream
• 2/3 cup frozen peas
• 4 cans (5 oz each) tuna
• 1 cup  and 1/2 cup finely shredded cheddar cheese
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Microwave the riced cauliflower for seven minutes. Stir in remaining ingredients except for the 1/2 cup of cheddar cheese. Spread the mixture into a casserole dish. Sprinkle with remaining cheese. Bake for 20 minutes.

Makes 6 LARGE servings.

I really love how multi-faceted this marinade is. I used it earlier in the week for flank steak, and then I reused it for this tri-tip. While my tri-tip was grilling, I cooked my miracle noodles and after draining them, I added the marinade for the remainder of the time. If you haven’t tried Miracle Noodles, it is definitely worth doing if you give it a shot with Asian inspired dishes. The texture works well in those recipes, but I would avoid using them in place of spaghetti noodles (no cream sauces or marinara).

• 1/2 cup olive or avocado oil
• 1 cup soy sauce
• 4 cloves garlic crushed
• 2 Tbsp toasted sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp sesame seeds

• 0.75 cup, chopped fresh cilantro
• 1/3 cup whole green onion, chopped
• 2 Tbsp fresh ginger, minced
• 2 Tbsp lime juice
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 2-3 lbs beef or chicken
• 2 bags Miracle Noodles

In a Ziploc bag, combine all ingredients.  Add your choice of protein (beef or chicken work perfectly). Marinate for 4 hours (minimum). Cook according to desired method.

In a medium saucepan, bring water to a boil. Rinse the miracle noodles. While meat is cooking, boil noodles for 10-15 minutes (you cannot overcook them). Drain and return noodles to the pan. Add remaining marinade to the noodles and simmer for 10-15 (again, you cannot overcook them). Using tongs, remove noodles and plate them. Top with your meat and enjoy!