Leftover Burritos

 

Burritos are a great way to use up leftovers because they are simple, fast, and delicious. There are a million different ways to fill them. I happened to have leftover pork and rice from a family dinner so decided to turn them into something I could prep and freeze for lunch and snacks later on. 

I have included measurements for the ingredients BUT these are pretty loose and can be altered A LOT to fit what you have on hand. Use them as a starting point. 

Leftover Burritos

Ingredients

Lime Cilantro Rice

1 - 2 cups cooked rice (I used basmati but any kind is fine)

juice of 1 lime

1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

Pico De Gallo

4 tomatoes, seeded, diced

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped

1 small red onion, finely diced (any onion will do in a pinch)

2 - 4 cloves garlic, minced

1 jalapeno, seeded, diced (or more if you like spicy)

juice of 1 lime

Burrito 

12 - 14 8 inch tortillas (or 10 large ones)

3 - 4 cups cooked pork, sliced 

(I used pork steak but you can use any cut of pork)

2 Tbsp taco seasoning

1 can refried beans

lime cilantro rice (recipe above)

pico de gallo (recipe above)

Directions

Prepare rice - heat up leftover rice and stir in lime juice and cilantro. Set aside.

 

Prepare pico de gallo - stir together tomatoes, cilantro, onion, garlic, jalapeno, and lime juice. 

Set aside. 

Mix leftover sliced pork with the taco seasoning and heat until warm. If you don't have taco seasoning then you can use chili powder and cumin OR leave it off. 

Assemble your ingredients together. 

Lay a tortilla on a flat surface. Layer a spoonful of refried beans, rice, pice de gallo, and meat in the middle of the tortilla. Be sure to leave space on either side for folding and rolling. DO NOT overfill. 

I found it helpful to watch a couple of you tube videos on how to roll a burrito so the filling doesn't spill out. The secret is to definitely DO NOT over fill them. 

If you are prepping these for eating later then you can wrap them in tinfoil for freezing. 

Plastic wrap will also work. I like tinfoil because it's a little sturdier if you are eating them right away. 

I believe I made 8 (8 inch) tortillas and 3 (10 inch) tortillas with the amounts above. 

We had half for dinner and then froze the rest. 

To reheat them: remove from tinfoil, place in microwave for 2 - 3 minutes to thaw and warm, then place in a lightly oiled pan and fry until golden brown on both sides to crisp up. 

I will often fry them when I first prepare them too. I like the tortilla to be a bit crispy. I then rewrap them in the tinfoil to eat them. 

It takes a little practice to be able to wrap the burritos up nice and snug. I highly recommend watching a few videos if you are unfamiliar with making them. It also helps to warm your tortillas if you find they are cracking when you wrap them. 

If you have a lot of leftovers, burritos are always a good way to use them up!

Pork and Veggie Ramen Bowls

 

Whenever I make a pork roast I end up with leftovers and I'm always looking for recipes that will use them up. I saw a similar idea to this over on Tik Tok and decided to experiment. 

Peeps, this recipe is sooooo good! 

It only takes about 20 minutes from start to finish and makes 4 generous servings. I use my leftover pork roast but you could use pork tenderloin or even pork chops. It's a simple combination of flavors but the end result is amazing! I used carrots, broccoli, snow peas, and bok choy but you could easily sub your favorite veggies. 

Pork And Vegetable Ramen Bowls

Ingredients

2 (85 gr/3 oz) pkgs ramen noodles

1 lb pork, cooked, sliced thinly 

1 Tbsp oil

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup soy sauce

1 - 2 Tbsp chili garlic sauce

1/2 cup carrots, sliced thinly

1/2 cup broccoli, chopped

1/2 cup bok choy, sliced thinly

1/2 cup snow peas, cut in half

green onions & sesame seeds for serving

Directions

Open ramen noodles and discard flavor packages (save for another use). Cook noodles in boiling water for 3 minutes. Drain and set aside. 

First photo is the brand of noodles I used, for reference (Amazon link provided above).

Set drained noodles aside while you prepare veggies and pork.

While noodles are cooking, heat oil over medium heat in a large pan. Add the vegetables and stir fry until done - about 5 - 8 minutes. (I like to cook them for about 5 minutes then add a few tablespoons of water and put the lid on so they steam for another 2 - 3 minutes.) Add in the brown sugar, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce. Reduce heat and simmer about 5 minutes, until vegetables are cooked to your preference and sauce is sticky. 

Add in the cooked, sliced pork.

Cook until pork is heated through. 

Add the cooked noodles to the pan and cook and stir until the noodles are heated and coated in sauce. 

Serve in bowls, sprinkled with green onions and sesame seeds. 

The brand of noodles I buy (see photo above) comes with little packets of soy sauce and chili sauce so I serve the ramen bowls with those packets for guests who like to add more to their noodles. 

Pork and Veggie Ramen Bowls make a quick and easy lunch or dinner and work well to make ahead as they will keep, covered, in the fridge for a few days. 

If you don't have leftover pork you can use raw pork - in the step where you would heat up the leftovers, simply cook the raw pork instead. 

Keto Thai Meatballs with Cauliflower Rice

 

A lot of the meals I have been posting lately have the word “keto” in them. You don’t have to be following a low carb or keto eating plan to make them. They are delicious, healthy, hearty, beautiful, and also happen to be keto friendly. You can substitute cauliflower rice with regular rice or even something like quinoa if you prefer. 

The nutritional counts per serving (recipe makes 8) are: 247 calories, 14 fat, 7.5 carbs, 3 fiber, 26 protein. That’s 4.5 net carbs per serving. Counts would obviously change if you use white rice or quinoa. 

Recipe is easy to halve if you have a smaller crowd to feed or aren’t meal prepping. 

Keto Thai Meatballs with Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients 

Meatballs

2 lb ground beef

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp red curry paste

1/4 cup green onions, diced

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

1 Tbsp Swerve sugar substitute 

1 Tbsp olive oil

Sauce

1 Tbsp butter

1/2 medium onion, sliced 

1 large red pepper, slivered

1 can coconut milk (~2 cups)

1 Tbsp red curry paste

1 Tbsp lime juice 

1 tsp fish sauce

1/4 fresh basil, chopped 

4 cups cauliflower rice

Directions

Combine meatball ingredients (ground beef through olive oil) and form into meatballs. I do 4 per serving, so 32 meatballs about 2 Tbsp in size. 

Cook using your favorite method - either in the oven or in a frying pan. I usually do 375 for about 15-20 minutes. Set aside when done.

Prepare sauce - sauté onion in butter until softened. Add in pepper and cook 2 more minutes. Add in coconut milk, curry paste, lime juice, fish sauce, and basil. Simmer to thicken, about 5-10 minutes.  

Add in meatballs and cook another 5 minutes. 

Heat up the cauliflower rice and put 1/2 cup serving on each plate or bowl. 

FYI - If you are not trying to make it look pretty, you can also just mix the cauliflower rice directly into the sauce. 

Top with 4 meatballs and 1/8 of the sauce and peppers. 

Serve immediately or let cool and place leftover in fridge. They will last several days, covered, in the fridge. 

For meal prepping I place them bowls with lids so they are stackable. 

My mom prefers quinoa for hers so I thought I would share a pic of that too. The meatballs and sauce are tasty on a variety of different things. Rice, zoodles, quinoa, couscous, etc. 

From start to finish in under an hour.

 If you don’t need 8 servings simply cut the recipe in half! 

If you aren’t counting carbs then throw in another pepper for more veggies. 

Keto Crumb Coated Pork Chops

I love pork chops but I sometimes find them really dry. The secret to perfectly moist and juicy pork chops? First, coat them in this crumb coating, second, use a meat thermometer. I cook meat so much better now that I invested in a good meat thermometer. 

Pork rinds are a must for keto cooking. They are so versatile and act just like bread crumbs in most recipes but with zero carbs! I buy the jumbo container from Costco as they last for a long time! You can even buy flavored pork rinds.... I have yet to try any other than regular. I want to get the BBQ flavor and make this recipe again!

Keto Crumb Coated Pork Chops

Ingredients

4 boneless pork chops

Crumb Coating

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup pork rinds

1 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp garlic powder

1 egg

2 Tbsp heavy cream

Directions

Preheat oven to 400. Line a tray with parchment paper, set aside.

In blender or food processor, pulse together almond flour, pork rinds, smoked paprika, and garlic powder until resembling fine crumbs. Dump into shallow bowl or plate with sides.

In another shallow bowl, whisk together egg and heavy cream. 

Dip each pork chop into the egg mixture and then into the crumbs to coat both sides. 

Place coated pork chops onto prepared tray.

Cook in preheated oven until pork chops are done, approximately 20 - 30 minutes. (Check with a meat thermometer to be sure.) 

Serve hot!

So tasty! And very "shake and bake"-ish

I served mine with coleslaw and some cucumber and tomato slices to keep things keto. 

This coating is also gluten free!

Meal prepping this meal works like a charm too, in case you were wondering. 

From start to finish in about 40 minutes. If you buy already crushed pork rinds it will take even less time! You can just stir the coating ingredients together instead of using a blender.  

According to MyFitnessPal, one pork chop is: 260 calories, 15 fat, 3.8 carbs, 2.1 fiber, and 29 protein. If you count macros I suggest entering your own just to be sure as counts change with weights and brands!  

 

Keto Lo Mein with Chicken Yakitori

 

Going low carb or keto doesn't have to be tough. You can find ways to make your favorite carb heavy dishes so you don't feel like you are missing out. 

For example: the picture above looks just like any "regular" lo mein and yakitori. Tastes delicious too. But it's completely keto friendly. I often meal prep for several people and this has come back as top pick for A LOT of my clients. Taste and texture are pretty darned close to the real deal too so even if you are not counting carbs you should enjoy it!! 

Nutritional counts: Lo Mein: 145 calories, 5.7 fat, 10 carbs, 3.2 fiber, 13.6 protein. That's 6.8 Net Carbs.

Chicken Yakitori: 210 calories, 4 fat, 0.7 carbs, 0.1 fiber, 38.3 protein. That's 0.6 Net Carbs.

Total Meal: 355 calories, 9.7 fat, 10.7 carbs, 3.3 fiber, 51.9 protein. Total of 7.4 Net Carbs. 

First up: Keto Yakitori Chicken

Keto Yakitori Chicken

Ingredients

4 1/2 Tbsp soy sauce

1/2 cup Chinese cooking wine

2 Tbsp Swerve brown sugar

1 1/2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken thighs

Optional

Sesame seeds

Directions

Mix together soy sauce, cooking wine, and brown sugar. Place chicken thighs in oven safe dish with marinade. Place in fridge while you preheat oven to 350. 

When oven is preheated, place pan in oven and cook chicken until done, spooning sauce over the exposed chicken every 10 minutes or so. This should take 30 - 40 minutes but use a thermometer for best results. (Alternative cooking method: marinate chicken overnight, place chicken on skewers and BBQ until cooked through, brushing with excess  marinade while cooking). Serve hot, sprinkle with sesame seeds if desired. 

While chicken is cooking, prepare lo mein.

Keto Lo Mein

Ingredients

1 Tbsp oil

1 Tbsp sesame oil

3 cups pork (or other meat)

1 1/2 tsp garlic, minced

2 tsp ginger, grated

1 red pepper, chopped

1 cup snow peas

1 1/2 cup bean sprouts

scant 1/2 cup scallions, chopped

1 1/2 cup cabbage, shredded

1 1/2 cup spaghetti squash, cooked

3 cups of NuPasta konjac angel hair noodles (or similar)

Sauce

1 1/2 Tbsp Swerve brown sugar

1 1/2 Tbsp lime juice

3 Tbsp soy sauce

3 Tbsp rice wine vinegar

Directions

Prep your ingredients so everything is ready to go.

Whisk together your sauce ingredients and set aside. 

Heat oils in a large wok or skillet. Cook pork (or preferred meat) until done, then remove from pan.

Add in garlic and ginger and cook 1 minute. Add in red pepper, snow peas, bean sprouts, scallion, and cabbage. Cook and stir for about 5 - 8 minutes, until veggies soften. 

Add in spaghetti squash, rinsed and drained NuPasta noodles, and the cooked meat.

Pour the sauce over the top and stir to combine. Cook until heated through, about 3 - 5 minutes. 

Serve hot.

So good! You can use chicken, beef, pork, shrimp, even tofu in this if you prefer. Keep in mind though that will change the nutritional counts a bit! 

Serving size for the recipes above is 6. You get about 2 thighs and 2 cups chow mein per serving. 

I do make this often for meal prepping and it is super easy to double.... just make sure you have a big enough pan!

I know some of you are going to say, " BUT some of those ingredients aren't keto." 

In moderation they can be. Adding things like snow peas to this dish ups the carb count a bit but it is still keto friendly in the end AND with the addition of the peas it seems closer to the "real thing". You can, of course, change the veggies to suit your needs. 

Cuban Sandwich

Sue and I eat a lot of sandwiches. Sandwiches are awesome. 

What is weird is that we haven't shared a lot of sandwiches on our blog. 

We definitely need to fix that. I'm going to start right now by sharing one of our favorites. A Cuban sandwich. You can make this on normal bread but if you want it to taste like a super de duper delicious Cuban sandwich then you need to make it on Cuban bread (pan cubano). Homemade bread is a little consuming but always worthwhile in the end! FYI - This is a great way to use up leftover pork roast. 

Cuban Sandwich

Pan Cubano

1 1/4 cup hot water

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

4 tsp sugar

3 cups flour

2 tsp salt

4 Tbsp lard (can use butter), melted

Sandwich

butter

yellow mustard

Swiss cheese

deli ham

pork roast 

pickle

Directions

Prepare bread - In a small bowl, whisk together water, yeast, and sugar. Let bloom for 5 minutes. 

In another bowl, put in flour, salt, and melted lard (or butter). Stir in the active yeast. 

Knead dough for 5 minutes, until smooth. Add in a little more flour if dough is too sticky. 

Place in an oiled bowl, cover, and place somewhere warm to rise for an hour. 

After dough has risen: punch down and divide into 6 logs. Let rest for 15 minutes. Then shape the pieces of dough into 8 inch logs with tapered ends. Place on cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, cover with a clean tea towel, and let rise somewhere warm for another hour. 

After buns have risen: preheat oven to 375. Lightly spray the buns with water (or very gently brush water on with a basting brush) With a very sharp blade, place a slash down the center of each bun, leaving about an inch on each end not cut. 

Bake at 375 for about 15 minutes, until buns are golden brown on top. Remove from oven and let cool completely.

Prepare sandwiches - Cut Cuban buns in half and place on work surface. 

Spread one half of each bun with butter. Then spread both halves generously with yellow mustard. 

Top both sides with a slice or two of Swiss cheese. Then layer on the ham, pork roast, and pickle.

Close sandwich and admire how beautiful it is. 

Now slather the top with a generous amount of butter. 

Place sandwich in tinfoil. I like to put a smear of butter under the sandwich as well. 

Wrap the sandwich in the tinfoil (see photo for clarification).

To cook the Cuban sandwich - heat BBQ grill to medium/low heat. Place wrapped sandwich on the grill and top with something heavy, like a cast iron skillet. Grill for 5 minutes. Flip sandwich over and repeat on other side for 5 minutes.

Unwrap the sandwich and grill for 2 - 3 more minutes on each side. 

If you do not have a grill - You can cook the sandwiches in a frying pan on the stove top. You do not need to wrap them in foil to do this. Simply get the stage where you cover the top and and bottom with butter, then place in a frying pan over medium/low heat. Place something heavy, like a cast iron skillet, on top and cook for about 5 minutes on each side. You want the cheese to be melted and the sandwich to be heated through. 

You can add more cheese if you want things gooier, of course. 

I didn't have a lot of pork roast leftover so I diced mine so it would go further. If you want to leave it in thin slices then that works great too. Even shredded pork roast is fabulous on a Cuban sandwich. 

Like a grilled cheese but a magic, otherworldly grilled cheese. 

I recommend making the bread up before you need it and freezing it. 

You can easily double the recipe for 12 buns instead of 6.