Snacks

Name: Cheesy Taco Sprouted Pretzels - THM E
Yield: 4 People
Ingredients: 12 Unique Sprouted Pretzel Twists (Splits); 1/2 tsp Chili Powder; 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika; 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder; 3/4 tsp Salt; 2 tsp Nutritional Yeast; Olive Oil Spray

Cheesy Taco Sprouted Pretzels – THM E

August 31, 2020 by Stacy Craft 1 Comment

These cheesy taco sprouted pretzels are a healthy snack for Trim Healthy Mama’s in an E setting.

I have been following the Trim Healthy Mama plan on and off since 2016. All that time, I had always wanted to try the on plan sprouted pretzels but never gotten around to it in the last 4 years.

A few weeks ago I put the pretzel twists and the shells in my Amazon cart and pulled the trigger right before we went on our beach trip. I was hoping to include them in my THM beach vacation meal plan.

But I got them, tried them and didn’t love them. Not bad but nothing amazing (full disclosure, I’m not a big pretzel lover anyway so that could be the problem). Pretzels just always seem a bit plain to me, sprouted or not.

But I do love them seasoned up with a bunch of flavor! In this Trim Healthy Mama E recipe, taco seasonings and nutritional yeast are combined to create a batch of cheesy taco sprouted pretzels.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Cheesy Taco Sprouted Pretzels – THM E

The taco seasoning is combined with nutritional yeast to give the pretzels their cheesy flavor. Plus you get all the nutritional benefits of the nutritional yeast added in to your pretzel snack.

To make these cheesy taco sprouted pretzels you need just a few staples from your THM pantry and 30 minutes.

What You Need for Seasoned Sprouted Pretzels

Unique Sprouted Pretzel Twists
Chili Powder
Smoked Paprika
Garlic Powder
Salt
Nutritional Yeast
Olive Oil Spray (My Misto is one of my fave kitchen tools)

Seasoning the Spouted Pretzels

Mix all the seasoning in a gallon zip bag. Place the pretzels in the bag, spray with olive oil spray and zip the bag. Shake, shake, shake!

Open the bag and spray the pretzels again and shake until all or most of the seasoning has coated the pretzels.

Baking the Taco Pretzels

Spread the pretzels in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone baking mat.

Bake at 250 degrees for 15 minutes. Flip each pretzel and bake for an additional 15 minutes.

Carefully remove the pretzels from the sheet and allow them to cool completely.

Serving Size

The serving size on the pretzel bag is 3 pretzels so that is what I would stick to with this Trim Healthy Mama recipe.

You would still have a few “leftover” carbs before you hit the max carbs for an E meal if you wanted to add something to it (or even an extra pretzel).

Now, if you have never bought these before you are probably losing it over the serving size being three measly pretzels. But these pretzels are big! Like the size of the palm of my hand. So it won’t be a tiny serving.

Pair your cheesy taco sprouted pretzels with a lean protein like some turkey deli meat for an extra boost of protein to round out the meal/snack.

Try these easy Crockpot Pumpkin Spice Almonds – THM S.

Cheesy Taco Sprouted Pretzels - THM E

Servings

People

Ingredients

12 Unique Sprouted Pretzel Twists (Splits)
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
Olive Oil Spray

Servings

People

Ingredients

12 Unique Sprouted Pretzel Twists (Splits)
1/2 tsp Chili Powder
1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
1/2 tsp garlic powder
3/4 tsp Salt
2 tsp Nutritional Yeast
Olive Oil Spray

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 250 degrees.
Combine the seasonings in a gallon zip bag & add in the pretzels.
Spray the pretzels with the olive oil spray and seal the bag.
Shake until all of the seasoning has coated the pretzels. You may need to open the bag & spray with olive oil once more.
Spread the sprouted pretzels onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Do not overlap.
Bake for 15 minutes.
Flip the pretzels and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Allow the pretzels to fully cool. Store in an airtight container.

Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Mushrooms

August 16, 2020 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Chicken, bacon and ranch make everything better, right? These Keto chicken bacon ranch stuffed mushrooms make great appetizers or even a nice side dish for your meal.

I think the first time I ever heard of the chicken bacon ranch combo was when Subway came out with their sandwich years ago. And I’ve been hooked ever since.

Mix up a bowl of crack chicken and you can put it in anything. We love it in low carb quesadillas, in chicken puffs, or even just piled high on a salad. So why not stuffed in a yummy mushroom?

Yes, add that to my Trim Healthy Mama S plate!

These mushrooms are loaded with creamy cheese, bacon, rotisserie chicken and ranch to make these the perfect low carb appetizer for your next party. Well, are parties still a thing since COVID? Who am I kidding – you can make these for yourself and sit at home socially distanced BUT at least you will have good food!

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Stuffed Mushrooms

You are seriously going to love these. I made them one night to go with some chicken quarters that my husband smoked on the grill. And then I made them again the next day.

And mid-week, I made them again and we just ate a big plate of stuffed mushrooms for dinner. They were that good.

Do you like appetizers for dinner? I swear the starters are usually my favorite part of the whole meal.

Ingredients for Low Carb Crack Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms

If you have read many of my Keto/Trim Healthy Mama recipes, you know I like to get help from the grocery store when I can to make life a little easier. And these baked stuffed mushrooms are no exception, getting their start with a rotisserie chicken.

Here is what you need to grab from the store or your fridge and pantry.

Rotisserie Chicken
Philadelphia Cream Cheese (I buy generic EVERYTHING but Philadelphia really is better)
Bacon (either cooked/crumbled bacon or real bacon bits)
Ranch Dressing – This is my favorite. You could make your own also.
Shredded Cheese
White Mushrooms or Portabella (baby bella) Mushrooms

How To Bake Chicken Stuffed Mushrooms With Cream Cheese

These bacon cream cheese stuffed mushrooms are easy to mix up and bake for a tasty low carb starter.

Start buy washing the mushrooms with water and removing the stems. You won’t use the stems in this recipe but frugal Trim Healthy Mama’s don’t throw them out! Try the sister’s ground beef mushroom hack to stretch your grocery budget!

I set mushroom caps on a paper towel to absorb any extra water while I move on to the next step.

Then combine the shredded rotisserie chicken, room temp cream cheese, bacon bits, ranch and shredded cheese in a medium bowl. Mix it all together until well incorporated.

Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom until full but not overflowing with filling.

I like to use a Broiler Pan to cook these because it lets any excess moisture from the mushrooms drain away – avoiding a mushy mushroom.

Place your crack chicken stuffed mushrooms on the broiler pan and bake until the cheese is melted and warm in your 400 degree preheated oven, about 18-20 minutes.

Yum!

Looking for more Keto – THM S – Low Carb Stuffed Mushrooms? Try these Sausage Rotel Cheese Dip Stuffed Mushrooms.

Keto Chicken Bacon Ranch Baked Stuffed Mushrooms - THM S

Servings

People

Ingredients

1 cooked shredded chicken breast (Can use Rotisserie)
8 oz Cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
6 oz real bacon bits
2 tbsp ranch dressing
2 pkg White Mushrooms or Baby Bella

Servings

People

Ingredients

1 cooked shredded chicken breast (Can use Rotisserie)
8 oz Cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar
6 oz real bacon bits
2 tbsp ranch dressing
2 pkg White Mushrooms or Baby Bella

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Remove stems from the mushrooms and set aside or discard (THM followers - slice them up and brown them with ground beef for another recipe). Wash and dry the mushroom caps.
Combine the cream cheese, shredded cheese, bacon, chicken and ranch dressing in a medium bowl and mix together well.
Using a teaspoon, fill each mushroom cap with a generous amount of filling.
Place the filled mushrooms on a lightly greased broiler pan.
Bake for 18 minutes or until lightly browned and cheese is melted.

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

April 6, 2019 by Stacy Craft 2 Comments

Are you loving that you can have crunchy store bought pork rinds on your low carb lifestyle but struggling to find something to dip those little piggies in?

29 easy low carb, THM S and keto friendly dips are listed below to help you in your snack sessions.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

What is the hardest part of staying Low carb or Keto for you? For me it is when I am invited to some type of social event. There are always tons of yummy dips and treats there to tempt me off my diet.

Instead of falling off the wagon, just take one of these yummy low carb dips for pork rinds and a big bag of skins to curb your need to dip!

Low Carb Dips for Pork Rinds

Creamy and cheesy dips are one of the best part of a keto/low carb diet, right? They are so decadent and taste like you are cheating! But what do you dip into those delicious dips? Pork rinds of course.

And I have a low carb confession. I really don’t enjoy pork skins plain. I like the crunch that they provide but the taste is just a bit overpowering for me. So I find that some kind of dip really helps to mellow out the pork rind’s flavor.

I actually don’t follow a Keto or low carb specific diet. I have lost 60 lbs postpartum following the Trim Healthy Mama Plan. On THM, they recommend that you eat every 3 hours.

Although there are several things on the plan that I don’t do, if I do eat an afternoon snack some of these dips are easy enough to be used then!

And if you are joining here on the THM journey, all of these are going to be used with “S” meals or snacks.

Dip Ideas for Pork Skins

Guacamole

Tuna Salad

Ranch Dressing mixed with hot sauce

Tzatziki

Salsa

Egg Salad

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Buffalo Chicken Jalapeno Popper Dip

Easy Pimento Cheese

Sour cream, lime juice and hot sauce

Roasted Cauliflower Hummus – great option when traditional hummus is not friendly on the carbs.

Grilled Avocado Hummus

Warm Ranch Crack Chicken Dip

Mississippi Sin Dip

Mustard

Chicken Salad

Slow Cooker Spinach and Artichoke dip

Cheese Dip

Salsa mixed with Sour Cream

Crab Dip

Sausage Cream Cheese Rotel

Cream Cheese sprinkled with Everything Bagel Seasoning

Creamy Feta And Roasted Red Pepper Dip

Creamy Cheddar Bacon Dip (just omit the Ritz & sub your Pork Rinds)

3 Layer Mexican Dip

Cuban Ham Spread

Dill Dip

Instant Pot Hot Onion Dip

Chorizo Pizza Dip

So if you are like me and don’t just LOVE pork rinds, try them with some delicious dip. And then bread your pork chops with them too!

Everything Bagel Goat Cheese Log

July 6, 2019 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

A two minute appetizer, this everything bagel goat cheese log is low carb and will be loved by everyone at your next event.

In order to keep my family from the fast food lines on busy nights, I have several last minute, incredibly easy dinner recipes that I keep on hand. I am talking stupid simple like 10 minute black bean tacos, 15 minute white beans and ham and 2 minute microwave egg scrambles.

Having those simple meals on speed dial helps me to stay on track with our budget goals and our health initiatives. And just like these easy suppers, I love having a few tried and true, easy peasy appetizers that I can throw together in no time.

A couple of minimal prep appetizers in your arsenal are great for last minute, drop in guests. I also like having a few really easy hors d’oeuvres that I can prepare as part of a larger party spread. If you are making 5 or 6 appetizers for a big party, it is nice to have one or two that you don’t have to do much work on to make the big day easier.

Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.

Everything Bagel Goat Cheese Log

This recipe is so simple, it might not even take you a full two minutes to prepare. It has been served at several events that I have hosted and it always gets eaten and people ask for the recipe.

Ya’ll know that I love creating food that doesn’t even deserve to be called a recipe because it is that easy (Hello Keto Creamsicle Drink)! And this Everything Bagel Goat Cheese log falls right into that category. But that doesn’t make it any less delicious!

What You Need:

To make the everything bagel goat cheese log appetizer, you only need two items. So that makes this app easy and pretty cheap! I got both items at Aldi!

Plain Goat Cheese Log
Everything But the Bagel Seasoning

Making the Appetizer

Preparing the everything bagel goat cheese log is so easy that a kid could do it! If you can’t cook or don’t have time, add this to your list. If you love goat cheese, add it to your must make list!

Here are the easy instructions to make this recipe:

Pour a few tablespoons of the seasoning onto a plate.
Roll the goat cheese log into the seasoning.
You may need to use your hands to help press the seasoning into the log. Continue to roll and press until the entire goat cheese log is well covered, adding more seasoning if needed.

That is it. You are done and have a great everything bagel goat cheese log to share at your next get together.

How To Serve

You can serve the creamy everything bagel goat cheese log in several different ways. I love how versatile it is and that you can accommodate many different diets and tastes with just one starter.

Low Carb/Keto/THM S

I follow an eating plan called Trim Healthy Mama which essentially rotates low carb/keto meals and healthy carb meals. If you follow THM this is an “S” recipe.

To cater to your Keto or Trim Healthy friends, serve this goat cheese appetizer with celery sticks.

It is also really good with homemade lavash chips.

Standard Offering

If you want to offer an option to your friends that don’t follow a low carb lifestyle, Stacy’s Simply Naked Bagel Chips are amazing. Just make sure you get the plain variety. Anything else will be overpowering because of all the flavor that is in the Everything But the Bagel Seasoning.

What are your favorite virtually no prep appetizers?

Keto Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken Bell Pepper Nachos

November 2, 2018 by Stacy Craft Leave a Comment

Simple Keto cheesy salsa verde chicken bell pepper nachos for a quick lunch or snack on a low carb lifestyle.

(Affiliate Links are used in this post. A small commission may be paid to me at no extra cost to you and that helps to support this page. Please see my disclosures page for additional information.)

My most popular recipe so far has been the Keto cheesy salsa verde chicken with Cauli rice (pinned more than 100k times!). Since I usually have the ingredients on hand, I was thinking about making it yesterday. But then I saw some mini bell peppers in my fridge and another idea was born!

I decided to make some keto cheesy salsa verde chicken bell pepper nachos inspired by the original recipe. With a little meal prep that I had done earlier in the week, these came together very quick for a tasty lunch. Just because you are following a low carb diet doesn’t mean that you don’t want some cheesy nachos in your life!

Keto Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken Bell Pepper Nachos

Just like the original recipe, you need just a few ingredients to make this easy keto friendly lunch. Mini bell peppers, cream cheese, chicken and salsa verde are all you need.

I used the microwave for the cheesy salsa sauce for this recipe but you could also use one of those small crockpots to melt it down if you wanted to throw it together earlier in the day. Melt the salsa with the cream cheese for about a minute in the microwave.

For the chicken, I used my instant pot to shred up a bunch of chicken thighs earlier in the week. If you don’t want to cook your own chicken, a rotisserie chicken would work well with these keto cheesy salsa verde chicken bell pepper nachos.

Mix the cream cheese/salsa mixture, the chicken and the shredded cheese in a medium bowl.

Add the mixture to your cut and prepared mini peppers. Bake at 375 for 10 minutes. I then broiled it for 2 minutes on high so that the tops would get a light brown crust on top!

The cheesy chicken filling has a slight kick from the salsa verde and the mini bell peppers serve as the perfect vessel to get that yummy goodness into your mouth. Don’t forget some extra salsa verde and sour cream for dipping.

If you need some variety in your Keto or Trim Healthy Mama (S) lunch routine, I hope you try these keto cheesy salsa verde chicken bell pepper nachos. If you love the low carb lifestyle, don’t forget to try these smoked salmon, cream cheese roll ups and cheeseburger soup.

And don’t forget to make yourself a 2 minute keto breakfast in the microwave in the morning.

Keto Cheesy Salsa Verde Chicken Bell Pepper Nachos

Cuisine

Keto/Low Carb/THM S

Servings

Ingredients

Cuisine

Keto/Low Carb/THM S

Servings

Ingredients

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Prep the mini bell peppers by cutting off the top, slicing lengthwise and removing seeds.
Place the cream cheese and salsa verde in a microwave safe bowl and cook for 1 minute. You may want to do this in 30 second increments to ensure it doesn't burn.
If your precooked chicken is cold, warm it slightly in the microwave .
Add the salsa/cream cheese mixture, warm chicken and shredded cheddar cheese to a small mixing bowl and combine.
Stuff the sliced peppers with approximately a tablespoon of the cheesy chicken mixture. The exact measurement will vary based on the size of your peppers.
Bake at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
Broil for 2 minutes until the tops are slightly browned.