In a previous podcast episode called Simplified Menu Planning, I encouraged listeners to not overthink meal planning. (You may listen to that episode here.)

In this audio, I described how my original freezer cooking, in which I plugged all of my entrees into categories (based on meat types), led me to look at meal planning in a more simplified way. I made my master list of most of the entrees that I fix under each category, and then I can see what meats are on sale, scan my master entrée list, and choose meals to make.

I know there is a lot more to meal planning and preparing than simply choosing a category and “fixing” it. However, one of the things that people say over and over concerning the whole idea of meal planning includes “I can’t think of anything to make when it is time” or “I feel like I always make the same things over and over again.”

This idea of having all or most of your entrees listed under the meat that it is made of gives you a ready list at your finger tips. I found myself saying, “Oh, yeah, I forgot that everybody loves that taco soup. I’ve got taco meat in the freezer. Think I’ll pull it out and make that.”

One of the key concepts that Organizing Wizard teaches in her courses (and one that I have been trying to teach long before I heard of her great products in my workshops for moms) is that we often spend too much time thinking about what we want to do. We can spend a great deal of time on decisions and things that should really be decided quickly and decisively. This will free up our brains for the headier decisions—and make those things we do over and over again (prepare dinner, for example) happen more quickly.

When we learn to think quickly about those activities and tasks that are repeating in our lives, we make them smaller. That is, they do not remain so large and daunting. I have found this to be true over and over again as I have put systems in place, made quick decisions, etc., on things like Daily Tasks, menu planning, and more.

So, once again, I am going to give you those lists and encourage you to spend an hour or so making your own. You can even write them on large sticky notes (one sticky per meat) and place them on the inside of your kitchen cupboards and add to it as you think of more dishes that you make (or used to make).

Note:

Here are some other podcast episodes about kitchen efficiency that you might enjoy:

Podcast: Tips For Efficiency in The Kitchen

Podcast: Simplified Meal Planning

Podcast: Tips for Efficiency

Podcast: How to Implement Cycle Cooking for Freezer Entrees and Starters

Podcast: Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Freezer Cooking

THINK IN TERMS OF MEATS/CYCLE COOKING AND MAKE MASTER LIST

1. What meats (and in what form of the meats) do you regularly use in your meals?

2. How can these be “grouped” (either for thinking purposes or for preparing bulk entrees for the freezer)?

3. Make a master list of things that you EVER make from various meats, print it, and tape it to the inside of a kitchen cabinet or on the fridge in a sheet protector. You want this handy!

Shredded Chicken

• Chicken enchiladas
• Chicken tetrazinni
• Chicken broccoli casserole
• Hot chicken salad
• BBQ shredded chicken
• Chicken taco meat
• Chicken alfredo (or starter for freezer)
• Cream of chicken soup (or starter for freezer)
• Chicken rice soup (or starter for freezer)
• Chicken gnocchi soup (or starter for freezer)
• Chicken noodle soup (or starter for freezer)
• White bean chicken chili (or starter for freezer)
• Chicken tortilla soup (or starter for freezer)

Crumbled Ground Beef or Turkey

• Enchiladas
• Cheeseburger pie
• Shepherd’s pie
• Lasagna
• Spaghetti pie
• Beef noodle stroganoff (or starter for freezer)
• Beef-broccoli Alfredo (or starter for freezer)
• Taco meat
• Goulash (or starter for freezer)
• Chili (or starter for freezer)
• Hamburger Stew (or starter for freezer)
• Vegetable soup (or starter for freezer)
• Homemade hamburger helper (or starter for freezer)
• Taco soup (or starter for freezer)
• Pasta e fagioli soup (or starter for freezer)
• Cheeseburger potato soup (or starter for freezer)
• Mexican pizzas (or starter for freezer)
• Layered Mexican dip (or starter for freezer)
• Beef nacho supreme (or starter for freezer)
• Beef taco soup (or starter for freezer)
• Maid rite sandwiches
• Ravioli
• Hamburger gravy
• Mexican pizza

Shredded Roast Beef (or Pork)

• Enchiladas
• Beef stew (or starter for freezer)
• Vegetable soup (or starter for freezer)
• Beefy potato rivel soup (or starter for freezer)
• BBQ beef
• Pot roast w/ veggies
• Beef carnitas/shredded meat taco (or starter for freezer)
• Shredded beef nachos (or starter for freezer)

Chicken Breasts or Thighs (Not Shredded)

• Chick filet knock off
• Parmesan chicken breasts/thighs/tenders
• Cheddar coated breasts
• Monterey chicken breasts
• Chicken cordon bleu
• Smothered chicken (or starter for freezer)
• Yogurt/parmesan chicken
• Garlic chicken bites (for Alfredo, chicken spaghetti, stir fries, subs, chicken alfredo pizza etc.)
• Monterey chicken bites (for fajitas, appetizers, chicken quesadillas, stir fries, subs, etc.)

Shaped Ground Meat/Steak

• Meat loaves
• Ham loaves
• Meatballs
• Salisbury steak
• Florida steak
• Smothered steak (or starter for freezer)
• Steak salad (or starter for freezer)
• Philly cheesesteak casserole (or starter for freezer)
• Steak breakfast burrito (or starter for freezer)
• Steak fajita
• Steak stir fry
• Dried beef gravy

Ham/Sausage/Bacon/Cheese/Pepperoni

• Hamarama (sandwiches)
• Cheesy potatoes with ham
• Broccoli cheese soup
• Cheesy potato sausage soup
• Soup beans with ham
• Ham steak
• BBQ ham steak
• Grilled ham and cheese sandwiches
• Grilled cheese sandwiches
• Cheddar soup
• Pizza (or starter for freezer)
• Pizza subs (or starter for freezer)
• Pizza casserole
• Pizza soup (or starter for freezer)
• Chicken pork creamy soup (or starter for freezer)
• Goulash (or starter for freezer)
• Sausage breakfast sandwiches (or starter for freezer)
• Sausage gravy and biscuits
• Pizza dip
• Sausage cups ((or starter for freezer)
• Pizza cups (or starter for freezer)
• Sausage biscuit balls
• Egg roll skillet (or starter for freezer)
• Kielbasa stir fry (or starter for freezer)
• Egg skillet (or starter for freezer)
• Omelets (or starter for freezer)
• Egg casserole (or starter for freezer)
• Pancakes and sausage
• Sausage sandwiches
• Loaded baked potatoes
• Breakfast pizzas

Seafood

• Tuna casserole
• Tuna balls
• Salmon patties
• Salmon loaves
• Baked salmon
• Baked cod
• Skillet white fish
• Shrimp scampi
• Shrimp Alfredo
• Clam chowder

The post Don’t Overthink Meal Planning appeared first on Character Ink.

Click here to download the printable handout.

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Click here to see our previous podcasts!

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I have been talking extensively in podcast episodes (see Five Tips for Efficiency in the Kitchen HERE) and in blog posts about my cycle cooking (PODCAST) and just the general idea of preparing meats to be used in dishes. (See my Shredded Chicken post here.)

Having meats ready to use in recipes is one of the best kitchen efficiency tips that I can give people. It truly makes creating a quick meal doable.

I am going to be posting tons of recipes for using crumbled ground beef, ground turkey, or a combination of beef and turkey. So, here are some steps to help you cook ground beef in the crock pot quickly to either freezer in quart bags for later use or to use immediately.

Here is what I do:

1. I place six to twelve pounds of ground meat in small chunks in my crock pot, depending on the size of crock I am using.

2. I cook this on high for three hours or so or low for six hours or so. (My crock pot is super hot!)

3. Then I drain this meat into a colander and let it cool a few minutes or more in the colander.

4. As soon as it can be handled, I crumble it up with my hands (you can use a potato masher, if desired).

5. Normally, I do one of any of the following at this point:

a. Place all of the meat back in the crock pot and make something—chili, sloppy joes, spaghetti sauce with meat, taco meat! Ideas are endless.

b. Bag and freeze part of it and put part back in the crock pot and make a soup—chili, pasta e fagiloi, ground beef stew, etc.

c. Put part in the fridge for a meal later that week and use part in the crock pot as described above.

When I was a homeschooling mama with lots of kids in school, this method forced me to come up with a meal. I mean, the meat was already ready!!! Easy peasy.

Try it. You’ll like it! And check back often (or subscribe to the blog!) for dozens of recipes using crumbled meats!

Save

The post Cooking and Using Crumbled Ground Beef appeared first on Character Ink.

The following post is from this week’s podcast handout: “How to Implement Cycle Cooking for Freezer Entrees”.

Shredded Chicken

Meals

Chicken lasagna
Chicken strata
Sour cream enchiladas
Chimichangas
Chicken noodle casserole
Chicken tetrazinni
Arroz con pollo

Starters

Shredded chicken
Chicken taco meat
BBQ shredded chicken
Hot chicken sandwich filling
Chicken rice soup starter
Chicken gnocchi soup starter
White bean chicken chili starter

Chicken Breasts and Fish Pieces

Meals

Chicken cordon bleu
Breaded fish fillets
Cheddar-coated breasts
Chick-Fil-A copycat
Parmesan chicken tenders
Marinated pork chops
Monterey chicken breasts
Smothered chicken breasts
Marinated salmon filets
Grilled flounder
Shrimp scampi
Chicken cacciatore
Marinated breasts

Starters

Monterey chicken bites
Garlic chicken bites
Chicken stir fry starter
Chicken sausage soup starter
Chicken flat bread (chicken pieces & veggies)
Pork chop cubes

Crumbled Ground Meats—Hamburger, Turkey, and Sausage

Meals

Spaghetti pie
Lasagna
Ground beef enchiladas
Cheeseburger potato or carrot soup
Taco pie
Cheeseburger pie
Mini cheeseburger pies
Pizza cups
Pizza casserole

Starters

Precooked hamburger
Sloppy Joes
Spaghetti sauce with meat
Taco meat
Egg roll skillet starter (sausage & onions)
Precooked sausage
Pizza toppings (onions, peppers, ground beef, sausage
Mexican pizza toppings
Pizzadilla starter

Shaped—Beef and More

Meals

Meatloaves
Ham loaves
Florida steak
Swiss steak
Salmon patties
Pizza burgers
Smothered steak
Philly cheesesteak casserole

Starters

Smoked sausage stir fry (sausage rounds, onions, peppers)
Braised beef cube mix (for stew and stroganoff)
Beef stir fry (onions, peppers, marinated beef bites)
Meatballs
Meatball sub starter (meatballs, veggies)
Shredded roast (for soups, BBQ, and pizzas/flatbread)

Listen to the podcast HERE! 🙂

Links:

• Last week’s podcast episode:
  Ten Freezer Entrees I Don’t Like to Be Without
• Pizzadillas
• Shredded Chicken
• Potato Casserole

The post Podcast Handout for: “How to Implement Cycle Cooking for Freezer Entrees” appeared first on Character Ink.

Click here to download the printable handout.

Subscribe to our Wondering Wednesday podcasts in iTunes.

Click here to see our previous podcasts!

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The following post is from this week’s podcast, “Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Freezer Cooking”.

(1) What method do you think would work for you?

a. Once a Month cooking

b. Extra casseroles here and there

c. Power Hour—a little in the freezer every week

d. Cycle cooking

 i. Big—a month of a certain type of recipe (i.e. shredded chicken)

ii. Small—a few entrees but all the same type of recipe

(2) What do you want to end up with?

a. Full meals—add a salad

b. Meat entrees—add sides

c. Starters –just to get things going

d. Side dishes

e. Others—muffins, crepes, etc.

(3) What stage do you want your freezer entrees in?

a. Completely cooked—just thaw, heat, and eat (fully cooked meatloaves, meatballs, chicken breasts, shredded chicken starters, crumbled beef starters, etc.)

b. Somewhat cooked but still need finished (lasagna, most casseroles, enchiladas, etc.)

c. Raw—marinated but no cooking done, “thirty-five meals in two hours,” raw meatloaves and chicken breasts etc.

(4) What does your family eat a lot of?

(5) What looks good in the freezer section of the grocery?

(6) What can you afford?

a. How much can you buy upfront to get started?

b. What containers can you afford?

(7) How much space do you have?

(8) What kind of cook are you—social or loner?

(9) How often do you want to use freezer entrees?

(10) How homemade do you want to cook?

Links To Read Further:

Determining The Type of Freezer Cook You Will Be

Shredded Chicken Cooking

Ten Freezer Foods I Don’t Like to Be Without

Listen to the podcast HERE! 🙂

The post Podcast Handout For “Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Freezer Cooking” appeared first on Character Ink.

Click here to download the printable handout.

Subscribe to our Wondering Wednesday podcasts in iTunes.

Click here to see our previous podcasts!

The post Wondering Wednesday Podcast: Ten Questions To Ask Yourself Before You Start Freezer Cooking appeared first on Character Ink.

Once I got on to using crepes (and/or tortillas, depending on your preference) for so many things (advice from DJ Foodie of Low Carbing Among Friends), I went crazy! There are literally dozens of things to do with crepes (savory or sweet) and/or tortillas—low carb or other!

(So if you are not a low carber but just trying to make things more healthfully for your family, read on….using healthy crepes and torts is a great way to reduce white flour and high carb/starchy use and feed your kids healthier options without their knowing it! 🙂 )

Making things with crepes or torts as the base is an amazing find for the low carber because these are either (1) easy to make (in the case of the crepes) or (2) easy to find (in the case of buying low carb tortillas). (Here are two of my faves to purchase: Mama Lupitas (they are brownish but I like them best—and I usually prefer “white”—they have a more nutty taste and make better tort chips and crackers imho and Mission (available in local stores too)—these are more acceptable to my teen sons.)

Low Carb Pizzadillas!

I will be sharing the dozens of ways I use the crepes and torts (see using crepes as noodles here)  on the blog in the future, but today I bring you a super alternative to frozen pizza for your family! (My teen and college sons will eat this readily for a party/movie night—that is a really good sign!)

You cannot pick this dish up like you can pizza or even quesadillas simply because it is too chock full of yumminess. But it is worth all the messiness and utensil-needing!

Here’s the scoop (very loosely!)

•Crepes or tortillas

•Pizza or marinara sauce

•Pizza ingredients: cheeses, veggies, meats (precooked)…whatever you like

1. Place one crepe or tort on a baking dish sprayed (and I use parchment…always parchment…no time for messy dishes!).

2. Put sauce on that crepe (according to how saucy you like your pizza).

3. Put pizza ingredients on top of sauce.

4. Top with another crepe or tort.

5. Bake at 375 for about 15 to 20 minutes convection (20 to 25 regular) until filling is gooey and crepes are golden.

6. Remove from oven and slice with pizza cutter into fourths. Serve with forks! 🙂

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): With the homemade low carb crepes, this is an extremely low carb dish. I would guess that with those, a full double-crepe pizzadilla (which would be a lot of food!) to be one-twentieth of a personal pizza carb count! They are extremely low carb and quick to make. Depending on which low carb tortilla you use, the carb count on the torts alone (two per huge double tort pizzadilla!) would still only be between six and twelve net carbs. Technically, depending on how full you fill the crepes/torts, a full pizzadilla (with two crepes/torts) is probably two servings anyway….very filling. So yes, very low carb!

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): This is one of my MOST family-friendly low carb recipes—especially with store bought, slightly higher carb torts (Mission). It is still going to be probably one tenth of a personal pan pizza carb-wise, so the carbs are still low even with the store bought, white torts. But the real kicker here is how “un-low-carb” this dish tastes. (Yes, that is a word when you are trying to feed teen and college boys!) Nutshell: low carb and kids love these!

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): You Stellas are in business here….you can quite literally buy everything in this dish and simply spend ten minutes assembling a bunch of them! Low carb tortillas; pre-cooked crumbled or link sausage; pepperoni;  pre-chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms; shredded cheeses; jarred pizza sauce. Go make this!

Homemade Hannah (HH): For you Homemade Hannah’s out there, try the homemade low carb crepe recipe! It is a homemade treat that gives homemade cooks a lot of homemade options! (Emphasis on the “homemade” there!)

 Freezer Cooking (FC): I definitely use my freezer cooking skills to do prep work for this. In other words, I always have these things for this dish in my freezer: crepes (just make and stack in a plastic bowl with parchment between…always parchment…) and freeze; pre-cooked hamburger or ground turkey; pre-made sausage patties or links that I cut up for dishes like this one; and more. Other variations of this use other freezer items I have on hand: taco meat for tacodillas (!); shredded chicken and pre-cooked chicken chunks for Alfredo-dillas (okay, getting a little carried away here!); etc. Somehow I always dovetail all new recipes with my long-term-love-affair with freezer cooking!

 Oldie Goldie Family Recipes (OG): While this is not an Oldie Goldie recipe, it is a whole lot easier than my OG homemade pizzas!

 Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This is a definite S entrée for THM’s. And depending on which base you use and what your fillings are, you could probably even make it an E—with low fat meats, low fat cheeses, and the right fat count base. I could see making this an easy E with shredded chicken, veggies, and Laughing Cow cheese.

 Cycle Cooking (CYC):  Just like my Freezer Cooking, this is not in a “cycle,” so to speak, but I do the various meats and even the torts in my cycles. Ground beef and taco meat are in my crumbled beef cycle. Shredded chicken in my Shredded Chicken Cycle; chicken chunks in my Chicken Breast Cycle; and the crepes in my Basic Flour Mix Cycle. Cycle cooking, along with Freezer Cooking, makes everything faster!

 Sugar Free (SF): No sugar in the crepes or torts to speak of. Definitely choose a low sugar pizza sauce or marinara (i.e. not the luscious, sugar-laden Prego!). My experience has been that lower sugar sauces are often found in glass jars (i.e. often more expensive, lesser known brands) and generic brands. Check them out!

 Gluten Free (GF):  The gluten-free option for this recipe is to make the crepes using the Basic Flour Mix Gluten-Free option. Very doable!

 Low Carb Mixes (LCM):  The crepes are made using the Basic Low Carb Flour Mix. Love my Low Carb Mixes!

DISCLOSURE: I am an affiliate for these products that I recommend. If you purchase these items through my links, I will earn a commission, but you will not pay more when buying a product through my link. 🙂

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In my convection oven with three racks, three pounds of bacon can be fully cooked drained and ready to eat in under thirty minutes.

After thirty years of homemaking (a few years ago), I finally hit upon the best, easiest, cleanest, least-time-consuming (in actual work time) way to make bacon: bake it!

According to experts (!), baking bacon is best way to prepare it because the bacon turns out golden brown and crispy; you don’t have as much mess (including the splatter mess from frying or microwaving); the oven cooks it slowly and at a lower temp (to start with), which keeps it from scorching; and, as I mentioned previously, it is easy! (Plus you have amazing, unburned bacon grease to cook with afterward! See Homemade Hannah note below!)

Because that is not quite fully cooked it can be frozen and then reheated a few slices at a time in the microwave oven. It makes it as good as new!

Before you start, go turn off your oven if you have already turned it on—or just don’t turn it on at all—to start with. You will start cooking your bacon in a cold oven.

When I prepare bacon in the oven, I do it in increments of three packages (three, six, or nine), depending on what other meats I bought that week (i.e. budget) and upon whether I am baking any up for the freezer at that time or not. (See freezing info below!) I have a convection oven with three racks—so I do many things in sets of three (love it!).

Here are the steps (for one, two, or three jelly roll pans!):

1.    Line a jelly roll pan (huge cookie sheets with deep sides) with foil or parchment. I use parchment for nearly everything, but for this I prefer foil because I can tear it off much bigger than my pan and form it down into the pan with some edges of foil left over to lift up when I am finished. (It makes the pan less messy.)

2.    Arrange the slices of bacon on the foil and place the baking sheet on the center rack of a cold oven (or on all three racks in my case; or two middle racks if you are doing two pans at one time). Hopefully your pan is large enough that you do not have to squeeze the bacon together too closely; likewise, do not spread it out too much. Just lay the pieces side by side carefully without squishing or stretching.

The golden bacon grease after baking three pounds of bacon.

3.    Close the oven door. Turn the oven on to 400°F. Set your timer for 17 to 20 minutes (depending on whether you have one pan cooking or more). (With my convection and three pans, I set it for fifteen minutes.)

4.    Come back 17 to 20 minutes later. If your bacon is done, remove it. If it is not and you have more than one pan, change places with the pans and set your timer for three more minutes. Check in two or three minute intervals.

5.    Remove the pan from the oven. Remove the bacon from the pan and place on paper towels to drain.

Love my stoneware bacon grease keeper! I just keep mine in the pantry since it has a mesh insert that strains out the bacon particles. So, so I am only storing pure grease. Some people still keep their strained bacon grease in the refrigerator. Either way is fine.

6.    Carefully tilt your baking pans to pour the grease into a glass or stoneware container. (Be extra careful!) . (See Homemade Hannah note below about keeping the bacon grease in a glass jar, stoneware container, or bacon grease keeper like this one.)

The stoneware bacon grease keeper that I have has a metal insert that fits into the top and allows you to strain your bacon grease right into the stoneware container. Then I just empty particles from the can strainer part, rinse the strainer, and replace it so that it is stored right in my stoneware crock. Then the stoneware lid fits over all of it.

7.    Once foil is cool enough, lift it up from the corners and discard it. Your pan shouldn’t be very messy! And your bacon should be perfect! 🙂

8.    To freeze bacon, place a dozen or more pieces on a double sheet thickness and wideness of paper towel. Fold it over and slide down into one quart zipper bag. To use; just defrost in fridge or micro (not in bag in micro). Yum!

Note: You can undercook your bacon by a couple of minutes and freeze in the manner suggested above. Then take it out and finish cooking a few slices at a time in the microwave. We like to undercook ours just a bit for reheating purposes. When we reheat a few pieces in the micro, it is like freshly-fried bacon. Perfect!

Recipe Labels and Variations

read more at the above link

Low Carb (LC): Most bacon is carb-free and delicious! Need I say more? Okay, I will. Bacon is great on a low carb eating plan besides the normal Not-So-Oopsie Roll sandwich or bacon and eggs. Bacon simply belongs in green beans. There are some terrific recipes out there for chicken-bacon chowder soup that are fairly low carb. We keep bacon in the fridge all the time for salad toppings. AND I love to coat homemade cheeseballs with crumbled bacon.

 Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): There are so many ways to incorporate bacon in a family-friendly low carb household! You can use low carb bread, pitas, or tortilla shells to wrap it in. Of course, the old stand-by, BLT can be made FFLC with one of those low carb “bread” options. Turkey-bacon club sandwiches are great for FFLC. Bacon and eggs. Bacon-egg-and-cheese biscuit on a low carb bread, biscuit, or wrap.  (Not-So-Oopsie Roll recipe COMING SOON…the BEST low carb breakfast sandwich!)

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): It doesn’t get much easier or faster than baking bacon! All of the mess and “so much work for so little end product” are gone with this approach. SBS’s should love baking bacon! To make the bacon go further and use some store-bought ingredients to make meal prep easier, consider the turkey-bacon club sandwich—store bought cold cuts, lettuce, bacon….you get the idea!

Homemade Hannah (HH): This should be right up the alley for HH who likes to cook from scratch—because it is time saving and homemade! HH’s—do not overlook the lovely, golden grease that you get when baking your bacon. Save it! Use it for everything—cooking eggs, stir frying veggies, drizzled over broccoli and other veggies before roasting. You get the idea. It is an amazing fat to cook with!

Freezer Cooking (FC): I have been freezing bacon for twenty-five years—even before I started baking bacon (though I admit that I dreaded “bacon cooking day” during those years!). I like to wrap the drained, cooled bacon loosely in thick paper toweling. It absorbs more of the grease before it freezes. I don’t recommend thawing in the bag in the microwave or cooking in the bag in the microwave. Tip: I try to be sure that all of my freezer cooking bags and pans have two important things written on them (besides any directions that the user might need). These include the DATE and the words RAW or FULLY COOKED or PARTIALLY COOKED. Not everybody will need to do this, but because our children alternated cooking nights for many years, I just felt more comfortable letting them all know the state that the meal was in (especially since we would freeze meatballs fully cooked sometimes and at other times raw, as well as many other meats). I do the same with my bacon bags.

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This can definitely work in an S setting very well. You can use any of the ideas above in the low carb and the family-friendly low carb sections for THM S bacon ideas!

Sugar Free (SF): Be sure the bacon you use is not molasses or maple syrup infused!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): While bacon is not specifically one of my “mixes,” I do consider it a staple just like one of my mixes and have it in a rotation of freezer items. (When you start filling your freezer with pre-made foods, you ALWAYS have meals to choose from. It’s a great feeling that you will love!)

The post Baking Bacon appeared first on Character Ink.

Low Carb Cole Slaw—just in time for grilling season. We had this last night with grilled pork chops and strawberries and dip. My hubby loved it!
Cabbage is one of those foods that I never dreamed I would be buying almost weekly! I use it chopped and sprinkled in layers that would potentially have had pasta. I use it for Egg Roll Skillet (recipe coming soon), also known as egg roll in a bowl in many circles, and I use it without the meat at all in stir fried cabbage (sort of Egg Roll Skillet with no sausage). Gone are the days of smelly boiled cabbage that nobody would eat. Cabbage is now cool!

And so today, I bring you Low Carb Cole Slaw. This recipe actually began as a sugar-laden, high-carb KFC Cole Slaw knock off. I can’t attest to its tasting like KFC cole slaw now because we haven’t had much KFC, but I do know that my guys liked it a lot—and with the All Purpose Seasoning Mix, it is super easy!

There are options to not make it as low carb (but why not, right?). Oh, this is not a creamy slaw (though I guess it could be with more mayo or liquid). It is more of a crispy, barely-coated slaw, which my family likes better. (It is also good to put on sausage tacos, also made low carb—sort of like the Won Ton Tacos that they make at Applebees, which my guys crave!)

Low Carb Cole Slaw

½ cup mayonnaise
1/3 cup creamy, milk-like liquid (see Note below)
1 ½ TBSP apple cider vinegar
2 TBSP lemon juice
1/3 cup bulk sugar-free sweetener (Swerve, erythritol, xylitol, a blend, or Splenda)
1/2  to 3/4 tsp All Purpose Seasoning Mix (may just use salt & pepper here, but this is so much more flavorful!)
½ tsp celery seed
16 ounce bag shredded cole slaw mix

Note: The original recipe called for buttermilk. I would say that you can use any “milk” that your family is used to. I used half and half. (See Labels for Recipes below for more info.)

Recipe Labels and Variations

Low Carb (LC): This is a very low carb recipe if made with the no-carb bulk sweeteners suggested and by using your normal low carb “milk” subs. I used half and half. Very low carb folks might want to use cream. Others might want to use almond milk or other non-dairy milk substitute in order to keep the carbs low.

Family-Friendly Low Carb (FFLC): With half and half, regular mayo, and sugar-free bulk sweetener (I used Splenda), my family loved this. If you don’t mind adding a few carbs, you could use whole milk and low fat mayo. This version would probably not be low enough for an under-forty grams low carb diet, depending on how much you eat, but would definitely work for FFLC.

Store-Bought-Stella (SBS): If you want to save money, you could use Splenda rather than one of the other more expensive bulk sweeteners suggested. I’m all about simplicity where possible (while still cooking and baking low carb and homemade), so I used the bagged slaw mix—a great SBS tip in general for veggies if your budget allows them.

Homemade Hannah (HH): Of course, this could be made more homemade if you do your own mayo and buy cabbage and carrots whole and shred them.
Freezer Cooking (FC): Don’t freeze this—or fresh salads in general (except for some fruit salads).

Trim Healthy Mama (THM): This can definitely work in an S setting very well with grilled meats and more! I would think you would be a little challenged to get it low enough in fat to use in an E setting—maybe use fat free mayo (is that allowed?) and almond milk or skim milk (?). Just some thoughts.

Sugar Free (SF): Sugar-free and healthy sweetener options! See ideas for sugar-free sweeteners here!

Gluten Free (GF): No reason to add gluten to this. Use my All Purpose Seasoning Mix, and you’ll be covered!

Low Carb Mixes (LCM): This recipe uses my All Purpose Seasoning Mix, a combination of amazing spices that is a great seasoning for meats, veggies, fish, salads, and more!

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