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

Quinoa Egg Casserole

Hello foodies!

I don’t know about you, but I’m a big fan of quinoa. It’s a great addition to salads, stir fry, or as a side dish all on its own! I decided to mix it into my favorite meal (breakfast) for a delicious egg casserole. (Don’t you worry, there’s bacon in there too…)

It was easy to make and came out really yummy 🙂 The casserole is cooked and prepared the same way I made my Anything and Everything Eggs (which I’ve linked to below). I hope you enjoy it!

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Ingredients:
-2 eggs, whisked
-20 tbs egg whites, mixed in with the eggs
-2 pieces of bacon, cooked over a pan
-1/2 cup quinoa dry (we’ll cook it before it goes into the casserole)
-zucchini, onion, and any other vegetables to your liking

Directions to cook the quinoa:
-add one part quinoa and two parts water to a stovetop pan
-bring it to a boil, and then cover it and let it simmer
-stir sparingly and let it simmer until all the water has been absorbed

Directions for the casserole can be found in my Anything and Everything Eggs post 🙂

Viola! A great breakfast casserole!

I’m telling you guys, baked eggs (when you have a little extra time) are the way to go. They are simply delicious!

Nutritional Information (using 2 pieces of bacon and 1 1/4 cups of zucchini):
serving size is 1/4 of the egg bake, recipe makes 4 servings
-200 calories
-6.25g fat
-17.3g carbs
-17.75g protein

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

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Bacon Guacamole

Hi foodies!

This past weekend, my dad went out of town for a business trip. When he got back, he gave me a call, and our phone conversation went something like this.

Dad: Lauren, I have to tell you the most amazing thing that has ever happened.

Lauren: Ok, shoot. (By the way, my dad is known for making up hilarious / untrue stories, so I’m always on my toes whenever he says things like this)

Dad: On Friday night, your Uncle Ron and I went out to dinner at a Mexican restaurant. The waitress asked me if we wanted any appetizers, to which I replied ‘Duh, guacamole.’

Lauren: Ok, so, what’s so amazing about that? I love guacamole, but it isn’t exactly a new discovery.

Dad: Well, the waitress then asked me, ‘Do you want the regular guacamole, or the BACON GUACAMOLE?’

Lauren: *slowly starts wiping the drool off her face

Of course, he got the bacon guacamole.
(side note: my dad and I share the same intense love for bacon AND avocados)

So below is my own rendition of bacon guacamole! (I made a small recipe- you could definitely add more avocados and bacon)

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Ingredients:
-1-2 medium to large sized avocados
-1-2 pieces of bacon (I used Black Forest Bacon from Trader Joe’s)
-1/4 of a red bell pepper, cut into small pieces
-grease from cooked bacon
-salt / pepper / mosquite seasoning to taste

Directions:
-cut the avocados in half and remove the seeds
-scoop the avocados in a bowl and begin mashing it up

-cook the bacon over the stove on medium heat to desired crispiness

-add the bacon grease into the mashed avocado
-add the cut pieces of red bell pepper into the mix and stir

-cut the bacon into smaller pieces and mix in
-add the salt / pepper / mosquite seasoning sparingly and test often until it gets to desired taste
-serve with chips or carrots (or anything else you like) and enjoy!

I can’t believe I didn’t think to combine bacon and guacamole before (two of my favorite foods), but I am so glad I did!

Nutritional Information:
nutritional information is for 1 entire recipe using 1 avocado and 2 pieces of bacon
-424 calories
-35g fat
-16.8g carbs
-17.2g protein

Don’t be startled by those numbers- that’s for the whole recipe! (you typically wouldn’t eat the entire recipe in one sitting…)

Try out the 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

Raspberry Butter

Hi foodies!

One quick note: since I’m a very type A personality organized person, I’ve decided to really map out the nutrition plan I’d like to follow so that I can start truly eating clean / following a mostly paleo diet. I’ll post the photo up on Instagram of what I’ve laid out, but it has my do’s and don’ts of what to eat, a few quick things I can go for if I’m out and in a pinch for healthy food, and a little wiggle room during the week so I can still enjoy some of my favorite, non-paleo or clean eating treats (pizza and quest bars, mostly). I’m going to follow it as much as I can this weekend, but Monday is my official start date.

I wanted to share that all with you because 1, it ties in nicely to the theme of this blog and 2, it’ll help keep me more accountable now that the whole internet community knows! I ate really clean foods the two weeks before my competition, and I can honestly say I’ve never felt better! Energy levels were up, strength was up, and no tummy aches from too much heavy food.

On an exciting note, this post features a super simple and delicious recipe (it unfortunately isn’t paleo based on the jam I used, but it could easily be made paleo using fresh fruit).

Raspberry Butter

Ingredients:
-1 stick of butter (half cup)
-2 tbs raspberry preservatives jam (I picked mine up from Trader Joe’s, of course)

Directions:
-soften the butter by microwaving it in a bowl for 10-12 seconds at a time
-mix in the raspberry jam (note: you could pick any other jam / preservative of choice)
-serve on waffles, toast, pancakes, etc. and save the rest in the fridge!

Nutritional Information:
information is for 1 tbs. of raspberry butter
-83 calories
-7.7g fat
-3g carbs
-0g protein

 

Really easy and so yummy 🙂

Use this butter the next time you make my homemade English muffin or protein waffle!

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

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Protein Waffle

Hi foodies!

Last status update for the moment: I have a new oven (yay!) AND I took first place for both of my lifts at my kettlebell competition on Saturday! 🙂 All around, it was a fabulous weekend.

I ordered two pre-competition presents for myself, and got to utilize them both for this post. I bought myself a waffle maker (if you love breakfast foods, seriously get yourself one on Amazon) and I ordered protein peanut butter spread from Buff Bake. While ordering the Buff Bake, I saw on their website that they had some recipes posted, so I tried out their Protein Waffle recipe!

I’m not going to lie, when I made this waffle, I wasn’t hungry for it and I wasn’t that excited about it. However, I think I was being too harsh on it, because all day today I’ve been wanting another one 😉 Check it out for yourself and let me know what you think!

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Ingredients:
-1/4 cup rolled oats
-3 tbs. egg whites
-1 scoop Optimum Nutrition Vanilla Ice Cream Protein Powder
-1/4 tsp. baking powder
-1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
-2 tbs. unsweetened almond milk
-1 no-calorie sweetener packet

Directions:
-mix all ingredients together
-place in a waffle maker and cook until golden brown
-top with your favorite waffle toppings (I topped mine with my Chocolate Chip Buff Bake protein peanut butter)
-enjoy!

Here it is plain

And here it is topped with the Buff Bake 🙂

It was light and fluffy and had a TON of protein- all good in my book!

Nutritional Information:
nutrition is for 1 waffle, recipe makes 1 waffle
-235 calories
-3g fat
-18g carbs
-31.5g protein

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

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Homemade English Muffin With Baked Eggs

Hi Foodies!

I wanted to let you know of two things that have happened / are coming up that will affect my next few posts:
1. My really ghetto oven (which I have to manually light each time I use it) blew up on me, and now I have really short eyelashes. I’m really sad. (But I am getting a new oven)
2. I have a Kettle Bell competition in one week from today!

Basically, that means that my next few posts will include things that you can make in the microwave, some of my favorite healthy products that you can buy at the store, and what I’ll be chowing down on the night before my competition.

Also, if anyone has recommendations on products to use to make your eyelashes grow back quickly, I would really appreciate it. Sigh.

Today’s post features 2 recipes! One is a homemade English muffin, which I adapted from a few different recipes I saw online, and one is for a simple egg and spinach bake (the last thing I cooked in my oven) that perfectly complimented the English muffin. Hope you enjoy!

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Homemade English Muffin

Ingredients:
-1/4 cup Quaker Oats
-1 tbs coconut flour
-3 tbs liquid egg whites
-1 tsp coconut oil
-1 tsp maple syrup of choice
-pinch of cinnamon
-pinch of salt
-2 tbs water
-1/4 tsp baking powder

Directions:
-mix all ingredients together in a small bowl
-transfer to a small, greased ramiken (I greased mine with Pam spray)

-throw it into the microwave and cook it on high for about 2.5-3 minutes

It comes out perfectly cooked and ready to go!
-throw it on a plate to cool, and then slice it in half
-toast it in a conventional toaster or toaster oven and it’s ready to go!

Really simple and really delicious!

Nutritional Information:
serving size is 1 English muffin, recipe makes 1 English muffin
–220 calories
-10g fat
-24.8g carbs
-8g protein

This was perfect to have as my preworkout source of carbs 🙂

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Simple Spinach and Egg Bake

Ingredients:
-18 tbs liquid egg whites
-2-3 cups spinach, sauted
-spices as desired

Directions:
-preheat the oven to 350 degrees (and please don’t singe off your eyelashes like I did)
-saute the spinach over the stove until wilted
-grease a baking pan of choice (mine was a 9in. round pan)
-place wilted spinach into the bottom of the pan evenly
-pour eggs over the spinach
-add spices as desired (I added basil to mine)
-bake in the oven for about 14 minutes or until eggs are cooked all the way through
-remove from the oven, let cool, and enjoy!

So light and fluffy!
*You can add tons more to this recipe (cheese, other veggies, meat, etc.) but I wanted mine to be simple.

Nutritional Information:
serving size is 1/4 of the pan, recipe makes 4 servings
-115 calories
-0g fat
-0.5g carbs
22.5g protein

I ate the spinach and egg bake with the homemade English muffin, of course, and it was delicious!

(I even added a teaspoon of this all natural garlic parmesan butter my dad picked up at Costco for me to the English muffin, and it was glorious!)

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

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Egg, Bacon and Brussels Sprouts Hash

Hi foodies!

Tonight’s recipe comes from a blog post I saw while logging in to My Fitness Pal (I modified it slightly, of course). If you guys don’t use MFP, I highly recommend it. It helps you keep track of your macronutrients, your daily fiber intake, and your important vitamins (like vitamins A & C). MFP has gotten really fancy recently, and they now post links to healthy recipes and cool articles, which is where I found this gem.

This recipe uses Brussels sprouts as the base of the ‘hash browns,’ and it is a great low-carb option for those looking for a yummy breakfast option! It also only uses 3 ingredients and is super easy to make. A win-win in my book!

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Ingredients:
-8 Brussels sprouts, diced
-1 piece of bacon (I use Trader Joe’s Uncurred Black Forest Bacon)
-2 eggs

Directions:
-chop up your Brussels sprouts into small pieces
-start cooking the bacon on the stovetop on medium heat (you can chop up the bacon into smaller pieces if you want before cooking it)
-once the bacon is mostly cooked, add the Brussels sprouts to the pan and cook everything together
-transfer the bacon and Brussels sprouts ‘hash’ to a plate
-cook your eggs however you please (I made mine runny)
-place the eggs over the ‘hash browns’ and enjoy!

Simple and delicious! I had this after hitting the gym, and it filled me up and satisfied my post-workout hunger 🙂

Nutritional Information:
serving size is one full plate, recipe makes one serving
-290 calories
-16g fat (you can cut fat by using egg whites instead of whole eggs)
-12g carbs
-22g protein

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

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes

Portable Mini Frittatas

Happy Sunday Funday, foodies!

If you’re like me, finding high protein, low carb snacks can be challenging. If you’re like me, you also probably enjoy the occasional change up to your snack time routine at work. And if you’re really like me, you love breakfast food all day, every day.

I decided to make some mini frittatas (in muffin tins, because they are super cute and fun) that I could take to work for a mid-morning snack. These came out light and fluffy, they were super easy to make, they do happen to be paleo AND gluten-free, and you can add in different ingredients to fit your taste buds. Perfection!

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Ingredients:
-4 eggs
-18 tbs liquid egg whites
-2 cups spinach
-3 pieces of bacon (I get Uncurred Black Forest Bacon from Trader Joe’s)

Directions:
-preheat your oven to 325 degrees
-tan out a muffin pan and grease with Pam spray (or any oil of choice)
-cook the bacon in a pan over medium heat until it is fully cooked, but not very crispy (since it will continue to cook in the oven)
-saute the spinach in a pan over heat medium heat (I put the bacon aside and immediately cook the spinach in the same pan)
-whisk the eggs and egg whites together in a large bowl
-divide up the spinach and bacon equally into the muffin tins
-pour the egg mixture evenly over the spinach and bacon

-cook in the oven at 325 degrees for about 12-13 minutes, or until the egg is fully cooked through
-take them out, let them cool, and enjoy!

Delicious, fluffy, and easy to bring along to work! I took 2-3 each day to work last week, and they were the perfect mid-morning snack. These lasted in the refrigerator for 4 days- making them perfect to whip up on a Sunday to have for the work week.

Nutritional Information:
serving size 1 mini frittata, recipe makes 11
-55 calories
-3g fat
-0.3 (basically 0)g carbs
-6.1g protein

You can use this as a base recipe, and add any ingredients to it that you like! You could add cheese, mushrooms, bell peppers, anything and everything you’d put in a regular frittata.

Try out the recipe, and post your photos on Instagram! Make sure you tag @laurenslovelyrecipes and #laurenslovelyrecipes.

Enjoy!
xo, Lauren
@laurenslovelyrecipes
#laurenslovelyrecipes