Philly Cheesesteak Casserole, Maple Dijon Balsamic Chicken, and Chicken Broccoli Soup

Philly Cheesesteak Casserole – For the base, I blended 24 oz of well steamed frozen cauliflower (I usually add 1 minute to the instructions on the bag for this) with 24 oz low-fat cottage cheese and a beef bouillon cube.  Then, I steam sautéed a diced onion (~150 g) with 8 diced bell peppers until they were starting to turn tender (2 green, 2 red, 2 yellow, and 2 orange – around 950 g total).  I combined the veggies with the cottage cheese blend and divided it between 5 glass containers.  Meanwhile, I cooked 20 oz of ground turkey with Worcestershire sauce and Montreal steak seasoning.  When that was cooked through, I layered the meat on top of the cheese and veggies, topped each container with 1.5 slices of provolone, then baked at 350 F for 25-30 minutes.  Makes 5 servings, 475 calories, 48 g protein, and 5 g fiber each.  You can up the fiber by making breadcrumbs out of 2-3 slices of high-fiber bread without adding too many additional calories. 

Maple Balsamic Chicken – 32 oz bl/sl chicken breast goes in the slow cooker with 1/4 cup maple syrup, 1/4 cup Dijon mustard, 2 tbsp balsamic vinegar,  3/4 tsp garlic powder, and 1/4 tsp salt.  When it was done, I shredded the chicken, divided it into containers, and poured some of the liquid back into each serving.  Paired with 60 oz of roasted carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower.  Makes 5 servings at 410 calories, 43 g protein, and 9 g fiber each.

Chicken Broccoli Soup – I slow cooked and shredded 32 oz bl/sl chicken breast yesterday and saved the cooking liquid in a separate container.  Today, I cooked one onion (~150 g) using some of the cooking liquid instead of oil.  It's kind of a hybrid of sautéing and steaming the onions.  Then added about a tbsp minced garlic, and let that cook for another minute or so, adding more liquid as needed.  Next, I added 32 oz of frozen broccoli cuts.  Let that cook for another 10ish minutes, again adding more liquid as needed.  While that was cooking, I blended 1 mostly undrained can of cannellini beans, some buttery garlic seasoning, and about 8 oz of cottage cheese together.  I added the bean blend and about 3 cups of chicken broth to the pot, brought to a boil, cut the heat, and let it simmer until the broccoli was tender (about 15 minutes).  I removed about half the broccoli, used an immersion blender to blend the soup base.  I think you could probably skip the blending of the beans and cottage cheese step, because it's probably overkill, but it is what it is.  Then I added the reserved broccoli, the shredded chicken, and 8 oz of reduced fat (store brand) Velveeta.  I'm not a huge fan of cheese-like products, and I wish I could find a reduced fat cheddar for this, but my store didn't have it.  I let the soup continue to simmer until everything was melted.  Five servings, 515 calories, 62 g protein, and 10 g fiber each.