High Protein Kid Friendly Menus Recipes

Southwestern Meatloaf Dinner

This is a low carb meal that you can serve to your family without any apologies.

You’re welcome to substitute ground beef for all or part of the ground turkey in the meatloaf. I prefer the taste of the ground turkey though as it doesn’t overwhelm the spices and herbs and I definitely appreciate the lower calorie count of the ground turkey.

You may also choose to use frozen veggies in place of fresh veggies. You could use taco or fajita seasoning in place of the chili powder, black pepper, cumin and salt if you still have them in your cupboards but I try to avoid these prepackaged seasonings as they contain so many chemicals. The prepackaged Mexican seasoning mix found in the spice section of most grocery stores is great though.

You can use instant oatmeal, whole wheat panko, whole wheat bread crumbs or crushed whole wheat crackers in place of the pork rinds, but I don’t like to mix starches with proteins as it makes food more difficult to digest and if you’re on a low carb eating plan then you’ll want to keep the recipe as is.

Southwestern Meatloaf

Ingredients:

  • 1 tablespoon chili powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 medium minced onion
  • 2 small minced & seeded green chilis
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 1 egg (or 1/4 cup egg substitute)
  • 1 cup pureed roasted red peppers
  • 3/4 cup finely crushed pork rinds
  • 1-1/2 pounds ground turkey

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together in a large bowl except the ground turkey. The reason that you mix the meat in last is that if you manipulate the meat too much your meatloaf will turn out tough. You want to manipulate the meat as little as possible, so adding it last means you will only need to mix it much less than if you dumped all the ingredients in a bowl and went at it.

Pack the meatloaf mixture into a lightly oiled loaf pan. Bake uncovered about 1 hour, until a meat thermometer inserted in the center of the meatloaf reads 160-165 degrees. If you don’t have a meaat thermometer you can make a cut in the center of the meatloaf and check to see if the meat is still pink.

Once the meatloaf is fully cooked, remove from oven and let stand at least 10 minutes before slicing. This helps the meatloaf to reabsorb much of the juices and of course you end up with a juicier, more flavorful meatloaf. Slice and serve drizzled with Enchilida Cream Sauce (recipe below) or 1 carb ketchup.

Enchilida Cream Sauce

If you don’t want the extra carbs you can skip the sauce. If you’re trying to lose weight by lowering your calorie intake you can use 2 cups of broth and skip the heavy cream. However if  you really want the cream sauce then don’t deprive yourself – choose where you’ll lose.

This sauce is also good with chicken or pork. Just marinate a chicken breast or a pork roast in the Enchilida Cream Sauce, then baste with the sauce during the last few minutes of cooking.

Ingredients:

  • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
  • 1 tablespoon soy, almond or coconut flour
  • 1/4 cup chili powder
  • 1 cup chicken stock
  • 1 cup heavy cream
  • 1 sixteen ounce jar roasted red bell pepper
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Dump the jar of red bell pepper into a colander and quickly rinse. Puree in a blender or food processor, then dump the puree into a coffee filter lined small colander to drain overnight.

In a medium saucepan heat oil, add flour, smoothing and stirring with a wooden spoon. Cook for 1 minute.

Add chili powder and cook for 30 seconds.

Add stock, tomato paste, oregano, and cumin. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and cook for 15 minutes.

The sauce will thicken and smooth out.

Taste and adjust the seasonings.

Variation: Add 1 cup chopped sauteed onion and 1/2 cup minced green chilis or roasted bell pepper.

 

Zucchini & Pepper Saute

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup chopped onion
  • 1 chopped red pepper
  • 1 minced green chili pepper (or jalapeno pepper if you like it hot)
  • 3 cups sliced zucchini
  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt (or 1/2 teaspoon salt and add 2 minced garlic cloves to onion mixture. If you have a head of roasted garlic you could mince 2-4 cloves and add at this point in place of the minced garlic)
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Mexican seasoning (or 1/4 teaspoon each chili powder, paprika, oregeno, and cayenne pepper)

Saute onion in canola or olive oil until just soft. Add remaining ingredients and continue cooking until vegetables are crisp-tender, about 5 minutes.

 

Garlic Mashed “Potatoes”

Ingredients:

  • 1 head cauliflower, separated into florets or one 16 ounce bag frozen cauliflower
  • 1 head garlic
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • 1/4 cup marscapone or cream cheese
  • salt and pepper to taste

Steam cauliflower (or cook in microwave) until tender when pierced with a fork, about 15-20 minutes.

In a medium saucepan over low heat combine garlic cloves, (shortcut: buy refrigerated peeled whole garlic cloves) and butter. Cover & stir occasionally until garlic is tender when pierced with a fork, about 10 minutes. Alternatively you could use roasted garlic and skip this step.

Puree all ingredients in blender or food processor. If the mixture is not thick enough add some powdered chicken or vegetable broth. Taste and add salt & pepper to taste if needed.

You can make this up to two weeks ahead & freeze in freezer quality ziplock bags. Thaw by leaving at room temperature or on top of fridge until completely thawed or at least thawed enough to remove from bag & reheat in a covered dish in the oven.

About admin

I've always abhorred the idea that the only way to lose weight is to starve yourself, eat foods that are foreign to you, or gulp down special weight loss potions. I've proved that it is not only possible, but it's easy and fun to lose weight The UnDiet way. The UnDiet is extremely flexible, allowing you to make deviations based on your personal taste, the choices confronting you at any given time, your mood, your cooking skills and the time you have available. A gourmet cook can be happy with The UnDiet as well as those who don't know or care what saute means. You can eat out at restaurants and parties and still not fall off The UnDiet. You can eat olive oil, butter, cream, meat, mayonnaise and still not fall off The UnDiet. You can eat until you're full and still lose weight, once you've mastered the basic principles of The UnDiet. So dig in to this blog, subscribe to the newsletter for lots of extras not published on the blog and get ready for the Kindle book coming soon.

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