Work from Home Meal Plan 2

Friendly reminder – links to the original recipes are included…along with key changes we make and our honest opinions of the recipes. We are a lowish carb family. 

Wednesday – Philly Cheesesteak Cups and Baked Onion Rings

You can find the philly cheesesteak cups recipe here. For the baked onion rings, I am using a yellow onion, egg bath, and almond flour with various spices…and baking them. Season to your liking for the onion rings.

Key Changes: We kept the puff pastry, but you could make Jennifer Eloff’s Miracle Dough. Oh, and we nixed the cream…we just cooked the veggies and beef together and put shredded cheese on top. Oh, and no mushrooms…Bull doesn’t like them.

Bull’s Verdict: Broke a sweat just watching her cook. The philly cup was amazing, and the onion rings are definitely a repeat menu item… The philly cups would be too, but they are kind of pricey.

Robin’s Verdict: Alright…so, work intensive if you have arthritis in your hands and wrists as I do. In the future, I’d try to find pre-sliced meat for it. Really good, though. You know what else would be good? Like, use the miracle dough and then make low carb noodles and make a beef stroganoff cup. I’d definitely eat this again.

Thursday – Creamy Italian Parmesan Tomato Soup

You can find the original recipe here.

Key Changes: As much as I love to bake, guess who isn’t baking bread bowls? This girl right here. Oh, and I buy chicken bouillon cubes because you get 25 cups for $2 versus 32 oz (4 eight oz cups) for $1.38. So, yeah…

Bull’s Verdict: Meh. It’s a good base, but it’s not that impressive by itself.

Robin’s Verdict: I was a fan of this recipe the minute I learned I could just toss it all together in the crockpot and go about my day. I love the ease of the recipe, but it is freaking bland as written. It calls for only two cans of seasoned tomatoes…and that does not give 32+ ounces of liquid enough flavor…even with the two teaspoons of Italian seasoning. So, make sure taste it as it cooks and adjust it accordingly.

Friday – Fuck You…Not Cooking.

Instead, we went to Mama Lou’s and got ignored…really not a win.

Saturday – Fend for Yourself Part Deux

Like…I had a plan…and I don’t even know where in the fuck my day went…we ended up eating cheeseburgers at Way Back Burger for dinner and then a second-dinner (Taco Bell) after picking J up from work after 10 pm.

Sunday – Bacon Ranch Chicken with Low Carb Noodles

You can get the original bacon ranch chicken recipe here. Here’s what I used for the low carb noodles:

2 c. mozzarella cheese

2 egg yolks

Melt the mozzarella in your microwave, but pay attention so you don’t scorch it. It took less than two minutes. Let it cool a little, but it still has to be super pliable. Fold in the egg yolks. This can take some time…just keep stirring. We added a dash of salt and garlic. Roll out around 1/4″ thick (between parchment paper – trust me). Then cut. Pull them apart and let them dry. It takes a few hours. Don’t put them in the fridge to hurry this along because you can make yourself sick with the raw egg.

When it is time to cook them (right before serving), boil your water first. Toss in the noodles for exactly one minute. Drain and immediately rinse with cold water.

Key Changes: Zip.

Bull’s Verdict: It’s alright. Probably double the ranch if we did it again.

Robin’s Verdict: So, I like that the chicken recipe is easy…like, weeknight easy. At first glance of the recipe, I thought it would be bland. The chicken isn’t seasoned in any way from the original recipe except with the ranch dressing and the bacon. I am happy to report that it had a decent flavor. I’d probably make it again, but not sure it would become a regular staple or anything. Oh, and we did not have to use the broiler to crisp up the bacon. It did just fine at 400 for 45 min.

Monday – Sticky Honey Lemon Ginger Chicken + Cauli Rice

The original recipe can be found here.

Key Changes: Cauli rice and we don’t use hot sauce. Robin is a pansy. Oh, and we did not bread the chicken. We just seasoned it.

Bull’s Verdict: We should have seasoned the chicken better (but that’s not the fault of the recipe…we’re the ones who made it low carb). The sauce was REALLY good. I will enjoy it for future digestion.

Robin’s Verdict: I love the sauce. The chicken and sauce are super easy to fix. I ended up mixing the chicken and cauli rice together and then pouring the sauce over that. Really, really good.

Tuesday – Skillet Enchilada Bake

Original recipe from here.

Key Changes: We have ears of corn still in the freezer…and I am using black beans I made last week for the lime chili chicken (I froze the left over cooked beans). No cilantro. It tastes like soap. We only used one can of red sauce instead of two cups because one can was 10 ounces.

Bull’s Verdict: Excellent. I love it.

Robin’s Verdict: Just as easy as a box of Hamburger Helper (which we don’t use), but soooo fantastic. I absolutely loved this!

Total grocery money spent – $75