Veggie and Turkey Egg Casserole

This is a recipe that I like to make to make to have for lunches during my work week.  It makes 10 - 12 servings, so I cut it into servings and freeze it, and then thaw a serving for lunch when I need a quick lunch. 

Stuffing with Sausages, Apples, and Pecans

This is a fun spin on a classic side dish to serve at Thanksgiving or Christmas.  

Rooter's Cabbage Casserole

When I was going to graduate school at the University of Georgia, there was a BBQ restaurant called Rooter's.  Unfortunately the restaurant no longer exists, but at least their amazing Cabbage Casserole recipe lives on!

Breakfast Sausage Casserole

We love to make this breakfast casserole for holiday brunches.  You can easily make it the night before and then bake it in the morning.  It's easy to make and super indulgent. 

Corn Pudding

Corn Pudding is one of my favorite easy holiday side dishes.  Super easy to whip up and always a hit. 

One Pot Baked Ziti

My life has been so chaotic lately, I barely have time to cook or post recipes any more.  My 4 year old never stops chattering, and my 18 month old's idea of fun is trying to climb furniture or turn the oven on.  So when I make dinner these days, I need it to be relatively easy, and with little clean up.  Also ideal?  A meal that everyone in my family will actually eat.  I'm trying to eat lower calorie meals in order to lose the last few pounds of baby weight, my husband wants to feel full, my daughter hates anything with vegetables, and my son doesn't like most meat.  

This Baked Ziti was pretty much a miracle.  First of all, it all bakes in one pot!  Just make sure you use something that can go in the oven, like an enamel dutch oven.  Otherwise, you'll need to transfer the food into a baking dish, which will give you two dishes to clean up (the horror!).  It only takes about 30-40 minutes to cook, which is super necessary in my life right now.  I held my breath when I served it to my family, praying that the meal wouldn't be filled with tears and gagging (like most meals these days...toddlers are so much fun!).  To my immense relief, everyone ate it happily!  Sweet success!  And to my own happiness, this dish is under 400 calories a serving, so I can eat it guilt-free.  WOO!

Cheesy Broccoli & Chicken Quinoa Casserole

I have a deep love for casseroles.  It is really hard to cook a main dish and several sides when you have two young children.  A casserole means less cooking, less cleaning, and a less frazzled mama.  Plus, casseroles will always be the quintessential comfort food.  

Creamy Sausage & Spinach Pasta

My sweet newborn baby is apparently not a newborn any more...he's a whopping 8 month old.  If you think the first baby grows up fast...well, the second is just a blur!  He's crawling, pulling up, cruising, eating grown-up food; and most importantly, he is sleeping through the night.  However, back 8 months ago, none of us were getting much sleep, and my husband and I were zombies.  When you have just one child, you can theoretically sleep when the baby sleeps.  But when you have two kids?  Well, that clearly just doesn't work. 

Broccoli & Egg Casserole

Now that we have two children, our mornings are quite chaotic.  My husband usually gets the toddler ready, and I'm in charge of the baby, which doesn't leave much time for ourselves.  To make things easier, I make a big batch of breakfast for the whole week on Sunday night.  During the Winter, we ate Baked Pumpkin Oatmeal, but now that it is officially Spring, I wanted to find a more season-appropriate meal to start our day.  I've also started to work on losing the baby weight, so I wanted a meal that was nutritious and full of protein.  I came up with a Broccoli & Egg Bake, and it is so delicious!  I use just broccoli in my egg casserole, but you could easily add in ham, or swap out broccoli for asparagus or whatever vegetable you prefer.  It is easily adaptable to your tastes!  After I finish baking it, I wait for it to cool, cut it into 10 servings, and stick it in the fridge.  On weekday mornings, I take out individual servings and microwave it.  It reheats beautifully!  I love that I have such a healthy and easy breakfast at my disposal on hectic mornings.

Buffalo Chicken Bake with Quinoa & Broccoli

During my pregnancy, I had a constant craving for Buffalo Chicken Dip.  I was determined to figure out a way to turn this awesome dip into an awesome entree.   However, since the baby was born, I barely have had time to feed myself, much less create new recipes.  But as the weather gets warmer and the days get a little longer, I'm determined to get back into my regular routine of cooking new, healthy recipes for my family.  And, yes, we could argue over the label of "healthy" when it comes to this recipe...after all, Buffalo Wing Sauce is high in sodium, and there is a copious amount of cheese.  But...BUT!  There is quinoa and tons of broccoli!  And lean chicken!  And a generous serving size is under 500 calories!  Most importantly, it is frigging delicious, and sometimes you just want to eat something frigging delicious.  

Chicken & Quinoa Casserole

Seriously, who doesn't love a casserole?  You have your protein, veggies, and grains all whipped up in one dish!  Easy to make, easy to eat, easy to clean up.  It's the lazy cook's trifecta. My newest one dish favorite is this Chicken & Quinoa Casserole.  For this particular go-around, I decided that mushrooms, asparagus, and sun-dried tomatoes would be my vegetables, but this recipe is so adaptable!  Feel free to swap out those veggies for whatever vegetables you're craving, or (keeping with the lazy theme) whatever is in your fridge.   I replace all 3 veggies for just lots of broccoli when I'm making it with my picky toddler in mind.  Report back if you try a different combination that you'd recommend!

Turkey & Sweet Potato Shepherd's Pie

Yesterday we had our first bout of winter weather for 2015.  Here in Georgia, that means ice and sleet; not exactly fun outdoor weather.  So I decided to fight cabin fever by working on a new recipe:  Shepherd's Pie.  I've been wanting to give Shepherd's Pie a healthy makeover for a long time now, and let me say, I truly like the healthier version so much better!  I swapped out the ground lamb (or ground beef) for lean ground turkey, and switched up the white potatoes for the much more nutritious sweet potatoes.  Not only is this dish more healthful, it is also diet-friendly:  under 450 calories for a very satisfying portion.  However, the best part of this casserole is that my picky eating toddler loves it!  

Chicken Pot Pie

I've been working on creating a healthy (and delicious) chicken pot pie for a while now.  I've looked over a ton of different recipes, and played around with various ideas, and I can say with absolute certainty that I have definitely come up with a winner.  The weather was chilly last night, and my husband built a roaring fire in the fireplace, so I figured it was the perfect night for a hearty chicken pot pie.  To make my pie as healthy as possible, I made it bursting with my favorite winter vegetables.  Feel free to adapt the vegetables to your own taste; just try to keep the amount of vegetables roughly the same to make sure that there is enough filling for the gravy (for example, if you'd rather not use parsnips, increase the carrots from 2 to 3, or substitute a potato instead).  When developing the recipe, I toyed with the idea of finding a substitute for the pie crust (like phyllo), but ultimately decided that real pie crust is the best part of pot pie, so it would be almost sacrilegious to remove it.  So I only used one pie crust as opposed to the traditional two, to keep the calorie and carbs low without sacrificing the integrity of the dish.  The result?  A healthy yet hearty chicken pot pie that is under 500 calories for a nice large serving.  Most importantly...it's comfort food at its best: warm, filling, and full of rich flavor.

Smothered Burritos

Every family has their own way of making burritos, and well, this is how it's made in my house!  By smothering the burritos in delicious red sauce and cheese and baking them, it makes the burritos so gooey and delicious.  It's definitely a fork-and-knife meal, but so worth it.  Make sure to top your burrito with your favorite toppings!  I never serve this meal without plenty of sour cream (or even better, crema), shredded lettuce, diced tomatoes, and lots of ripe avocado.  

Cabbage Casserole

In Athens, Georgia, there use to be a great little barbecue restaurant called Jot Em Downs.  Its most famous offering was the Cabbage Casserole; and it was so in demand that it was sold out 90% of the time.  It was seriously that good!  I've been trying to replicate the dish for years, and have yet to nail it down (I'm convinced their trick was using the pork drippings to make a rich gravy/broth to add to the roux), but I think I've finally gotten as close as I can get to the recipe using regular kitchen staples.  However, if you happen to have pork shoulder drippings around, I totally recommend adding it to the recipe to replace the chicken broth!  Regardless, Cabbage Casserole is a fantastic dish to bring to holiday gatherings; I guarantee that no one else will bring the same dish.  I'll be taking it to my family's Thanksgiving this year!

Update:  I have the ACTUAL Cabbage Casserole Recipe from Jot Em Downs now.  I've made the changes below.  Enjoy!

Blue Cheese Chicken & Broccoli Casserole

When I reached the end of my pregnancy, I made a ton of freezer meals, so that I would have easy dinner fixings after the baby arrived.  One of my favorites was a dish I created by thinking of a few of my favorite things:  Blue Cheese Chicken & Broccoli Casserole.  This is a rich and decadent casserole; it's definitely not low calorie, but it is for sure high comfort food!  I wanted something that would be soothing and delicious, and more importantly, something my picky toddler would eat without a fight. It did all those things!  

Chicken Enchilada Casserole with a Creamy Green Chile Sauce

The other day, I was halfway through a recipe when I discovered that I was missing a few key ingredients.  Rather than stop what I was doing and make a grocery store run, I decided to get creative and make my own recipe.  What I ended up creating was a Chicken Enchilada Casserole with a Creamy Green Chile Sauce.  It was super easy to put together, and turned out gooey, flavorful, and delicious.  It's also under 500 calories and low carb, though it seriously doesn't taste like it should be either!  I love it when a potential kitchen conflict turns into something beautiful.   

Low Carb Taco Pie

This recipe for Taco Pie is probably the lowest carb dinner I have on the blog.  I promise you won't miss a single carb though, as this as filling and comforting as a carb-filled casserole.  It whips up quickly and easily, and is easy to amend to your own personal tastes.  I keep mine on the mild side, so that my toddler will eat it, but feel free to adjust the seasonings if you prefer more heat.  Once baked, top with your favorite taco garnishes, and you will be in food heaven!

Cheeseburger Pie

This summer, the dish I have made absolutely the most has been Tomato Pie.  I think I can go as for as officially naming it my #1 Pregnancy Craving.  However, my picky toddler does not like tomatoes, so I needed to come up with a way to combine my pregnancy craving and my daughter's taste preferences into one recipe.  This led to the creation of Cheeseburger Pie!  The dish is incredibly kid friendly, while still allowing you to enjoy the freshness of summer ripened tomatoes.  I simply remove the offending tomatoes from my kid's slice, and place them on top of my own serving--so double the tomatoes for me!  Win-win!  In summary, this is a hot, cheesy, filling dish that every one in your family will crave.

Squash Casserole

As many of you know, I'm pregnant with my second child.  Like with my first pregnancy, I developed gestational diabetes around my 25th week.  As I have mentioned in the past, there are a lot of misconceptions about gestational diabetes; mainly that is caused by something that the mother has done (or not done).  This can lead to a lot of guilty thoughts when a woman is first diagnosed.  The truth is, many cases of gestational diabetes are due to genetics.  I live a very healthy lifestyle: my diet is made up of nutritious and unprocessed foods, I exercise five times a week, and I maintain a healthy weight (and healthy weight gain during pregnancy).  Yet the hormones in my body go crazy when I get pregnant, and my placenta starts having trouble regulating insulin, and unfortunately, there is nothing I can do to prevent it.  What I can do, however, is stay on a very strict diet during my pregnancy, that allows my body to handle the diabetes without medicine.  I'm not going to lie: it's really hard to be on a rigid diet when you are in your third trimester; a time when you are starving and just want to eat what you want to eat, when you want to eat.  Instead, I have to eat a certain amount of carbs (not too much, not too little) on a very strict schedule (every 2-3 hours, no earlier, no later).