Bacon-Wrapped Chicken

Hello Foodies!

Man, it has been quite some time since I last blogged! A few weeks, actually!

I apologize for being so MIA- I unfortunately had to put my sweet furry baby to sleep 😦 I was an emotional wreck leading up to that and an emotional wreck afterward. Hence my temporary leave of absence from food blogging.

I had to come back with a bang though! And what better way to say ‘I’m back’ than with a recipe that is simple, (somewhat) healthy, and includes one of my favorite foods (bacon)? And so, I bring you… Bacon-Wrapped Chicken!

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Ingredients:
-2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts with rib meat
-8-10 pieces of bacon

Directions:
-preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-wrap each piece of chicken in 4-5 pieces of bacon (mine were kind of crossed and random)
-bake in the oven for about 55 minutes or until the bacon is brown and the chicken is thoroughly cooked
-serve with some great roasted veggies and enjoy!

This came out SO yummy. Everything I hoped for (and more) from bacon-wrapped chicken 🙂

Try out the recipe and post your photos on Instagram! Tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Healthy ‘Buffalo’ Chicken

Hi foodies!

I apologize for being MIA this week- to be honest, this week just kicked my butt all around. But hey, it’s Friday (and guess who is so excited to go to bed early? ME!)

I love making chicken, and I love coming up with new ways to cook it / flavor it, since chicken has the tendency to get a little boring. I decided to make a spicy, buffalo-inspired sauce, and let me tell you, this just might be one of my favorite recipes yet!

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Ingredients:
-1/2 of a snack pack size (so about 1/4 cup, give or take) of Fage Nonfat Greek Yogurt
-paprika
-crushed red peppers
-mosquite seasoning from Costco
**the amounts of the seasonings will vary based off of how spicy you want the sauce

Directions:
-cook the chicken however you’d like (I recommend in the oven with minimal spices for about 35 minutes, but stovetop or crockpot would be fine too)
-place the greek yogurt in a bowl and mix it with the spices

-taste test the yogurt until you get it to your desired spiciness
-dip the chicken into the yogurt until it is fully coated
-enjoy! (I enjoyed mine with some grilled zucchini and corn on the cobb)

So simple and delicious!

The greek yogurt only adds about 40 calories total to your chicken (most of which comes from protein), making this an extremely high protein, low carb main dish! I’m telling you, this chicken was BOMB. The yogurt blends so well with the spices and adds a really great texture to the chicken. I seriously cannot wait to make it again!

Try out the recipe, and post your photos on Instagram! Tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Hi foodies, Happy Sunday!

I hope your Sundays have been as relaxing as mine as been. I finally finished the book I was reading, and I got a ton of cooking and cleaning done. Success!

While shopping at Trader Joe’s earlier today, I went to grab my usual meat suspects (chicken with rib meat and Black Forest Bacon) and I spied their pork tenderloins. I love them and hadn’t had them in a little while, so I decided to grab one of those as well for the week.

Check our how I like to cook my pulled pork in the crock pot!

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Ingredients:
-1.5 lbs pork tenderloin
-1.5 tbs olive oil
-spices to taste (I used this awesome Jalapeño salt seasoning that one of my gym friends makes, and mosquite seasoning from Costco)

Directions:
-place the pork tenderloin in the crock pot and turn it to the ‘low’ setting
-drizzle the olive oil over the top
-sprinkle the spices on top
-let it cook for about 6-7 hours or until middle is cooked all the way through
-shred or cut up as you’d like and enjoy for several meals!

Nutritional Information:
the recipe I made is for 1.5 pounds of pork tenderloin, which would be six servings of 4 ounces, information is for 1 serving
-197 calories
-7g fat
-0g carbs
-24g protein

How do you like to cook your pork tenderloin? Try out this recipe, and post your photos on Instagram! Tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Breakfast Bell Peppers

Hi foodies!

With summer just around the corner, the grocery stores seem to be filled with extra fresh and vibrant fruits and vegetables. I am a huge fruit and veggie lover myself, and I had picked up a couple of yummy bell peppers from Trader Joe’s the other day. I only had one left to use tonight, but I thought I’d try my hand at a stuffed bell pepper! Of course, it had to be breakfast themed (in case you all couldn’t tell already, breakfast is my favorite meal of the day and anytime I can sneak bacon into my life, I do). This recipe is really simple and really easy, it just takes a little time to cook.

One quick note: I would definitely make more than one at a time. I just happened to only have one bell pepper left on me. It was mildly filling, but I would have enjoyed another one 🙂

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Ingredients:
-1 bell pepper, with the top cut off and the seeds taken out
-1 piece of Trader Joe’s Black Forest Bacon, cooked
-a few spinach leaves
-1 whole egg

Directions:
-preheat the oven to 350 degrees
-cut the top of the bell pepper off and take out the seeds

-cut your piece of bacon into smaller pieces
-over the stove, saute the spinach and bacon together until the bacon is cooked, but not super crispy

-once the bacon and spinach are cooked, remove from the pan and place them inside the bell pepper
-crack the egg into the bell pepper over the spinach and bacon

-place in an oven-safe container (I used a smaller round cake pan) and place it in the oven for about 35 minutes, or until the egg is full cooked
-take it out of the oven, let it cool for a few minutes, and enjoy!

Really healthy and delicious!

Nutritional Information:
recipes makes 1 stuffed bell pepper
-180 calories
-10g fat
-7g carbs
-13g protein

Try it out, and post your photos on Instagram! Tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Crock Pot Chicken

Hi foodies!

When I first started eating meat, I really fell back in love with chicken. It’s a leaner protein source, it’s delicious, and it’s easy to incorporate into tons of recipes.

One of my new favorite ways to prepare chicken is in the crock pot! It’s hands down the easiest way to prepare chicken (you put it in the crock pot and don’t have to worry about it), and the texture and flavor is fantastic!

Here’s how I like to cook my chicken in the crock pot:

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Directions:
-place 12-16 ounces of chicken in the crock pot (I prefer chicken breasts with rib meat)

-drizzle olive oil over the chicken (I use a SMALL amount- about 1 tbs. for the entire batch)
-season with any spices you like (I used basil, a little sea salt, and a jalapeno spice this round)
-let it cook in the crock pot on low for about 4.5 hours
-enjoy throughout the week!

I brought some for lunch today and paired it with zucchini noodles (which I talk about in my review of the veggie spiralizer).

The nutritional information will vary depending on the type of chicken you use, as well as what you decide to put on it (olive oil, BBQ sauce, etc) but this is simple, easy, and makes for a great base for tons of healthy meals!

What do you like to cook in the crock pot? Post some photos of your favorite meals on Instagram, and tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Lazy Girl Chili

Hi foodies!

Today is my first official day of my new clean eating / mostly paleo nutrition plan. I’m really excited to start it because 1, it’s something I already follow about 60% of the time, but I wanted to really lay out it and be more serious about it and 2, this weekend while visiting my good friend Ryah, we had ice cream for lunch…. twice. So this is probably a good time to start.

Last night, I made this extremely lazy girl chili, and let me tell you, it was fantastic! The salsa I used ended up not being 100% paleo (it’s not unhealthy by any means, but I’m trying to follow the guidelines I set out), so I’ll have to adjust the next time I make it. Still, totally delicious and really simple!

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Ingredients:
-3 pieces Black Forrest Bacon from Trader Joe’s
-1 package (4 servings) 96%/4% extra lean ground beef from Trader Joe’s
-1.5 containers of ‘Cowboy Caviar’ salsa from Trader Joe’s

Directions:
-chop up the bacon into small pieces, and cook until desired crispiness in a pan over medium heat
-transfer the bacon and most of the bacon grease into a pot and set aside
-with the remaining bacon grease, begin cooking the ground beef in the same pan over medium heat; add desired spices to it as well (I added a mosquite seasoning from Costco)
-once the ground beef is mostly cooked, add the salsa to the pot with the bacon and begin cooking that over medium heat
-transfer the ground beef once it is thoroughly cooked into the pot with the bacon and salsa, and continue mixing until hot
-serve and enjoy!

This is the yummy salsa I ended up using.

And here’s the final product!

It was so easy to make, tasted amazing, and provided me with a lot of protein. Success!

Nutritional Information:
serving size is about 1 cup, recipe makes about 5 servings
-229 calories
-6g fat
-20.1g carbs
-24.5g protein

Try this out, and post your photos on Instagram! Tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes in the posts.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes