Ground Chicken Tortillas (gyro inspired)- cheap and easy meals

 

Hey, it's me again! 😂 Back with another one of my cheap, easy, use-what-you-have kind of meals. You know by now that I love taking something simple, playing around with it, and seeing what happens. Well, this one turned out so good that I had to share it.

And the best part? It's inexpensive, high in protein, great for meal prep, and you can change the flavors a hundred different ways depending on what you have in the refrigerator.

So, let's make some ground chicken tortillas!

You will need:

 1 lb of ground chicken

4-6 low carb or regular tortillas (my macro calculations were for the low carb one)

lettuce, tomato, onion, cucumber

Sauce, ranch, or tzatziki sauce

Greek seasoning

Panko bread crumbs (you can skip these, still very good)

I started with ground chicken and low-carb tortillas, using about 3–4 oz of ground chicken per tortilla. Depending on how thin or thick you spread the chicken, a pound should make around 4–6 tortillas.

Quick tip: Don't have ground chicken? Chicken breast is usually pretty cheap. Cut it into chunks, throw it in your food processor and pulse it until it's ground. There you go — ground chicken, and sometimes cheaper than buying it already ground!

Spread the raw ground chicken right onto one side of the tortilla, going almost all the way to the edges.

Now season it however you like!

For this one, I went Greek-inspired, kind of a gyro flavor. I used the Greek seasoning I had on hand. You could use your favorite Greek or gyro seasoning, or just season it yourself with garlic, oregano, onion, salt and pepper.

Optional little extra: I lightly pressed some panko bread crumbs into the chicken before cooking. You absolutely don't have to do this, but gosh, it gave it a little crusty action that I really liked.

Put the tortilla chicken-side down in a hot skillet and let the chicken cook and brown. Once that side is cooked through and nicely browned, flip it over and let the tortilla side brown and crisp a little.

That's it!

If you're eating it right then, put it straight onto the plate and pile it up with whatever you like. I used lettuce, tomato, cucumber and onion.

And ranch.

Yes, ranch! 😂 Tzatziki would be the usual choice with the Greek/gyro flavors, and it would be delicious, but ranch is what I had — and it was GREAT.

And They Reheat!

This may have been my favorite part.

I let the extras cool completely, put parchment paper between them, stacked them flat and put them into the refrigerator.

Today I popped one into the air fryer to warm it back up, added my cold toppings afterward, and it was just as good.

That makes these great for meal prep, lunches, or one of those days when you just want to grab something that's already made.

Basic Macros

Using a 60-calorie low-carb tortilla, before sauce, toppings or optional panko:

With 3 oz ground chicken:
About 180–200 calories
23–25g protein
About 15–20g total carbs, with most coming from fiber in the low-carb tortilla
Approximately 4–7g net carbs

With 4 oz ground chicken:
About 220–240 calories
30–32g protein
Approximately the same carbs as above

Your exact numbers will depend on the ground chicken and tortilla you use, so check your packages if you're tracking closely. Sauce, cheese, panko and toppings can then be added depending on what you use and how much.

Change It Up!

And while I was eating this, I was already thinking about another way to make it.

Italian style!

Season the ground chicken with Italian seasoning, garlic, salt and pepper. Cook it the exact same way, and while it's still warm, add a little spaghetti or pizza sauce and some shredded mozzarella.

And really, once you have the basic idea down, you could take these in all kinds of directions — taco, buffalo chicken, pizza, Greek — basically whatever sounds good or whatever you already have in the house.

Cheap, easy, high in protein, and something you can make ahead.

That's my kind of meal.

Thanks for checking in with me again. I hope maybe this gives you another idea for putting an inexpensive meal on the table, or even inspires you to come up with your own version.

And as always, feel free to comment, follow along, or just say hi. I love hearing from you.

Remember to be the change, spread kindness, and love to all.

Love,
Louise ❤️

Air-Fryer Chicken & Egg Breakfast - Chick-fil-A Inspired — Sandwich or Breakfast Bowl

Air-Fryer Chicken & Egg Breakfast Meal Prep

Chick-fil-A Inspired — Sandwich or Breakfast Bowl

First, about the picture! The one pictured above is my bowl version, made with hash browns instead of an English muffin. The Chick-fil-A breakfast that inspired this recipe is actually served as a sandwich on an English muffin. Since this is the only picture I have right now, I wanted to clear that up right from the beginning!

While on vacation, we ate at Chick-fil-A for a quick breakfast, and I would always get their grilled chicken, egg white and cheese English muffin. I really liked it, especially because of the amount of protein it gave you to start the day.

When I got home, of course I started thinking, I can make this myself.

The first time I made mine, instead of using the English muffin, I put the chicken, egg and cheese over hash browns and made it into the breakfast bowl you see pictured. It was really good, and then that got me thinking about meal prepping these for my son.

Why not make one basic high-protein breakfast and give him two ways to eat it?

For the Chick-fil-A-inspired sandwich, we'll use a lightly toasted English muffin with grilled chicken, egg and American cheese.

For the breakfast bowl, we'll skip the muffin and use roasted diced potatoes with the same chicken, egg and cheese. You could also use hash browns like I did in the picture.

Since he has an air fryer, I wanted to figure out a way he could make the whole batch in there, portion everything out, and have breakfast ready to grab throughout the week.

For meal prep, I'm also changing things just a little from the one pictured. Mine has a whole egg. For his batch, we're going to use mostly egg whites with one whole egg mixed in. That keeps the protein high but still gives us a little of the flavor and fat from the yolk.

So here we go—one basic breakfast prep, two ways to make it, and a really nice amount of protein to start the morning.

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What You'll Need

This makes 6 breakfasts, and you can make them all as sandwiches, all as bowls, or do a few of each.

For the Chicken & Eggs

• About 1¼ lbs boneless, skinless chicken breast

• 1 cup liquid egg whites

• 1 whole egg

• 6 slices American cheese

• Seasoning

• Cooking spray

For the Sandwich Version

• 6 Thomas' Light Multi-Grain English muffins — the 100-calorie ones

For the Bowl Version

• Potatoes, diced

• A little oil

• Seasoning

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Let's Start With the Eggs

For meal prep, I thought an 8×8 brownie pan would make this really easy. It fits right into the air fryer, and once the eggs are cooked, you can just cut them into portions for the sandwiches or bowls.

Spray the 8×8 pan with cooking spray.

Whisk together:

• 1 cup liquid egg whites

• 1 whole egg

• A little seasoning

Pour into the pan and air fry at 300°F for about 8–12 minutes, checking it around 8 minutes.

Don't cook these to death! You just want the eggs set. Remember, they're going to be reheated later, so keeping them a little soft now will give you a much better egg later.

Let the eggs cool and cut into 6 pieces.

That one whole egg mixed into the egg whites gives us a little yolk for flavor and fat, while we're still getting most of our egg portion from those protein-packed whites.

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Now for the Chicken

Slice the chicken breasts horizontally so you have thinner pieces, somewhere around ½-inch thick and roughly the size of your English muffin.

Give them a little seasoning and lay them on the flat tray in the air fryer without overlapping.

Air fry at 375°F, starting to check them around 8–10 minutes, depending on the size and thickness of your chicken.

You do want your chicken completely cooked and to reach 165°F, but here's the important part for meal prep: once it reaches temperature, take it out.

We're going to reheat this chicken later, and cooking it way past done now is just asking for dry, rubbery chicken when we heat it again.

Let the chicken rest and portion it into about 3 ounces of cooked chicken per breakfast.

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Option One: The Chick-fil-A-Inspired Sandwich

This is the version that started the whole idea.

Split your English muffins and put them in the air fryer at 350°F for just 2–3 minutes.

We're only giving them a light toast. This helps dry that cut surface a little so when we put our eggs and chicken on there and then refrigerate or freeze them, hopefully we aren't coming back to a soggy muffin.

And this next part is important:

Let everything cool before you put the sandwiches together.

Warm chicken and eggs wrapped up with bread are going to create steam, and steam is going to give us exactly what we don't want—a wet muffin.

Once everything is cool, layer:

Bottom English muffin → Egg → 3 oz grilled chicken → American cheese → Top muffin

Wrap each sandwich individually in parchment paper, then slip the wrapped sandwiches into a large freezer bag and remove as much extra air as you can.

Approximate Macros — One Sandwich

About 320 calories
37–39g protein
27–29g carbs
About 8g fat

For comparison, the Chick-fil-A sandwich that gave me this idea was 300 calories with 27g of protein.

So yes, our homemade version is around 20 calories more, but we're getting roughly 10–12 more grams of protein out of it. I'll take that trade!

And for someone who wants a little more breakfast, throw some hash brown crowns, tater tots or a hash brown patty in the air fryer while the sandwich is reheating.

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Option Two: Make It a Breakfast Bowl

And this brings us right back to the picture at the top of this post.

Mine was made over hash browns, and you can absolutely do it that way. For meal prep, though, I thought little roasted diced potatoes might hold up even better in the refrigerator or freezer.

Dice your potatoes into fairly small pieces. Toss them with just a little oil and seasoning and spread them out on the flat air-fryer tray.

Air fry at 400°F until they're browned on the outside and tender inside, tossing them a couple of times as they cook.

For each bowl, add:

4 oz roasted potatoes → Egg → 3 oz diced grilled chicken → American cheese

Let everything cool completely before putting the lid on your container.

When you're ready to eat, just heat it up and give everything a little stir. The cheese melts down into the chicken, egg and potatoes, and you've got a completely different breakfast from the sandwich using almost exactly the same ingredients.

And if you'd rather have it like mine in the picture, skip the diced potatoes and use hash browns instead.

Approximate Macros — One Potato Bowl

Using about 4 oz roasted potato and roughly 1 teaspoon of oil:

About 340 calories
34–36g protein
About 25g carbs
About 10g fat

You can also cut back on the oil if you want to bring the calories down a little.

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How I Would Meal Prep Them

Personally, I think I would do 3 sandwiches and 3 bowls.

Same chicken.
Same eggs.
Same cheese.

We're just changing the English muffin for roasted potatoes, and suddenly breakfast doesn't feel quite so repetitive.

Keep what you'll eat during the first 3–4 days in the refrigerator and freeze the rest.

For the sandwiches, wrap them individually in parchment and put them together in a freezer bag. Pull a frozen one out the night before and put it in the refrigerator.

The bowls can go into individual freezer-safe containers. Again, just move one from the freezer to the refrigerator the night before you need it.

In the morning, all that's left is to reheat breakfast. If it's a sandwich morning and you're extra hungry, you can get those hash browns or tots going in the air fryer while the sandwich heats.

So now you've got a breakfast that's already made, easy to grab, inexpensive, and packing somewhere around 35–40 grams of protein to start your morning.

And all of this came from one quick Chick-fil-A breakfast on vacation and me thinking, there has to be a way to make this at home.

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Until Next Time...

I hope this gives you an idea or two for making those busy mornings a little easier. Sometimes all it takes is seeing something we like and figuring out how to make it work a little better for our own family.

Thanks so much for checking in and spending a little time with me. If you try these, change them up, or have another idea, leave me a comment and let me know! Or follow along for more of my cooking, meal-prep and use-what-we-have ideas.

And even if you don't have anything to say, just stop by and say hi. I love hearing from you. ❤️

Until next time, remember—

Be the change. Spread kindness, give grace, and share a little love wherever you can. The world can always use more of it.

Love,
Louise ❤️

Sushi Imitation Crab Bake

I am back, some days I get a hankering for sushi, I went to Sam's club today and ogled the sushi in their case. I refused to actually pay money for something I can make at home. Now a days there are so many recipes on how to make at home. Little quick hacks and all.

Today I did the sushi bake and the flavor was spot on. I am a bariatric sleeve gal, but my family loved this also. I made 4 single servings 4x6 pans and took one of them and broke into thirds which is just my size. 

I’d turn that into a little “What It Cost Me” section for the blog. Based on the prices you remember, the important distinction is between what you paid for the packages and what you actually used. Your actual recipe cost looks surprisingly reasonable. See below after the recipe

I looked over your edited version. I’d keep the personal parts because they make it sound like your recipe, but clean up the wording, put the rice vinegar/sweetener step where it belongs, and make the family-size option clearer.

One correction: I changed “let it cook a bit” to “let it cool a few minutes”, which I think is what you meant after taking it out.

Easy Imitation Crab Sushi Bake

This turned out so good and is surprisingly easy to make and portion for meal prep. I made mine with jasmine rice and imitation crab and baked everything in small individual glass dishes. Then we scooped the warm, creamy sushi bake onto crispy roasted seaweed snack sheets and topped it with avocado and cucumber.

You can make this as four individual sushi bakes like I did, or put everything into one larger baking dish for a family or party-size sushi bake.

Ingredients

Sushi Rice

• 1¼ cups dry jasmine rice, cooked according to package directions

• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

• 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener, optional

• Furikake seasoning, to taste

The little bit of sweetener is completely optional, but I think it gives the jasmine rice more of that sushi-rice flavor. Any white rice works for this recipe.

Creamy Crab Mixture

• 1 lb Crab Classic imitation crab, shredded or chopped

• ¼ cup Kewpie mayonnaise

• 6 oz cream cheese (¾ of an 8-oz block), softened

• Sriracha, to taste

• Furikake seasoning, to taste

For Serving & Topping

• Avocado, sliced or finely diced

• Cucumber, finely diced

• Green onions, sliced

• Roasted seaweed snack sheets

• Crispy French fried onions, optional

• Extra Kewpie mayonnaise

• Extra sriracha

• Soy sauce or coconut aminos, optional

• Extra furikake, optional

Make the Rice

Cook the jasmine rice according to the package directions.

While the rice is still warm, gently mix in the rice wine vinegar and, if using, 1 teaspoon sugar or sweetener.

Assemble the Sushi Bakes

Divide the cooked rice evenly among four small 4×6-inch baking dishes and gently press it into an even layer.

If you'd rather make one large family or party-size sushi bake, simply spread the rice into one larger baking dish instead.

Sprinkle the rice with furikake.

In a bowl, combine the imitation crab, Kewpie mayonnaise, softened cream cheese, and sriracha to taste.

Divide the creamy crab mixture evenly among the four dishes and spread it over the rice. Sprinkle with a little more furikake if desired.

Bake

Oven: Bake at 350°F for approximately 15–20 minutes, or until hot and creamy throughout.

Air Fryer: Bake at 340°F for approximately 15–20 minutes, checking a little earlier since air fryers can vary.

Optional Crispy Onion Topping

During the last few minutes of baking, sprinkle some crushed crispy French fried onions over the top.

Put the sushi bake back in just long enough for the onions to warm and lightly toast while staying crispy.

Finish It

After removing the sushi bake, drizzle thin lines of Kewpie mayonnaise across the top. Then drizzle sriracha in the opposite direction to make a simple crisscross design.

Let it cool for a few minutes before digging in.

Serve It Sushi-Style

Top your serving with fresh avocado, cucumber, and green onion.

Scoop a little of the warm sushi bake onto a roasted seaweed snack sheet, add some of the fresh toppings, fold it up, and enjoy.

A Few Little Hacks

Avocado cups work too! If you have individual avocado cups instead of a fresh avocado, just spread a little over your serving after baking and then add furikake.

I like to dice the avocado and cucumber really small. That way you can get a little bit of everything onto each of those small seaweed snack sheets.

You can also add extra spicy mayo, Kewpie, soy sauce, coconut aminos, green onions, or furikake to make each bite your own.

Bariatric-Friendly Portion

Being a bariatric sleeve gal, I could only eat about ⅓ of one little sushi bake. I loaded up 6 little roasted seaweed snack sheets with my sushi bake, avocado, cucumber, and crispy onions.

And honestly, they were six of the best little bites ever!

The nice thing about making these in individual dishes is that you don't have to eat an entire serving at once.

Meal Prep

This recipe makes four small 4×6-inch sushi bakes.

I like to bake them all at once, enjoy what I want, and refrigerate the others. When you're ready for another serving, simply reheat the sushi bake and then add your fresh toppings.

Keep the avocado, cucumber, green onion, seaweed sheets, and other fresh toppings separate until you're ready to eat so they stay fresh and crispy.

One small sushi bake can easily make 2 or 3 smaller meals, depending on your portion size.

Approximate Macros

Sushi Bake Only — Before Fresh Toppings

Serving	Calories	Protein	Carbs	Fat
1 whole 4×6 bake	~465	~13g	~61g	~18g
½ bake	~233	~6.5g	~30.5g	~9g
⅓ bake	~155	~4.3g	~20g	~6g

My Smaller Serving

I ate approximately ⅓ of one bake with 6 roasted seaweed snack sheets, ¼ avocado, ¼ cucumber, and about 1 tablespoon of crispy French fried onions.

My meal was approximately:

290 calories • 6g protein • 27–30g carbs • 15–17g fat

Macros are estimates and will vary depending on the exact brands, amounts, toppings, and sweetener used.

It Was a Hit — And Here's About What It Cost

I have to add that this recipe was a HIT! I was already asked to make it again this weekend, so this one is definitely going into our regular rotation.

And one of the best parts? It really wasn't expensive to make, especially considering that several of the ingredients will make more than one batch.

Here's approximately what I paid at Sam's Club and what I actually used:

• Crab Classic imitation crab: The 2-lb package was under $7, and I only used half of it.
  Cost for this recipe: about $3.50

• Kewpie mayonnaise: I already had this on hand. You only need about ¼ cup, and regular mayonnaise will work just fine if that's what you have.

• Cream cheese: I always have this in the refrigerator too. I believe the multi-pack is around $4-ish for four blocks. This recipe uses ¾ of one block.
  Estimated cost used: about $0.75

• English cucumbers: A 3-pack was under $3. You only need part of one cucumber unless you're feeding a crowd.
  Estimated cost used: about $0.50–$1.00

• Avocados: A 5-count bag was about $5.96. How many you use will depend on how much everyone wants on top.
  About $1.20 each

• Roasted seaweed snack packs: A 24-pack was around $8.
  About $0.33 per snack pack

• Jasmine rice: An 8-lb bag is around $11, but this recipe only uses 1¼ cups of dry rice.
  Estimated cost used: well under $1

• Furikake: About $3 a container, and you only use a small amount.
  Don't have furikake? Crumble up a little seaweed instead.

Don't Buy Special Ingredients If You Don't Need To

This is one of those recipes where you can easily work with what you already have.

No Kewpie? Use regular mayo.

No furikake? Crumble some seaweed over the rice.

No little roasted seaweed snack sheets? Cut regular nori sheets into smaller pieces and use those for scooping.

No fresh avocado? Individual avocado cups work too.

So What Did the Whole Recipe Cost?

Based on the amounts actually used, I'd estimate the basic sushi bake itself at roughly $7–$9, before optional toppings and depending on what you already have in the refrigerator and pantry.

Even adding avocado, cucumber, and seaweed for serving, you're probably looking at roughly $10–$13 for the whole batch.

And remember, this recipe made four individual 4×6 sushi bakes for me.

That's roughly $2.50–$3.25 per individual bake, with each little bake potentially making 2–3 smaller meals depending on your portion size.

For something that everyone liked enough to request again a few days later, I'll take that!

Always and most importantly — thank you to my family and friends for all the love and support that has carried me this far. I will be back for me in the days ahead. This is just the beginning. 💛

Let’s Connect

Have an idea?
Share it in the comments — I’d love to hear what’s working for you during your different phases 💛

Till we meet again

love and find joy in your day 

Louise

Tiny Meals - Homemade Jimmy Dean Eggwich (Faux Copycat)

 

🥚 Homemade Jimmy Dean Eggwich (Faux Copycat)

A quick breakfast at home or on the go.

If you’ve ever grabbed one of those Jimmy Dean Eggwich sandwiches, you know how convenient they are — warm, cheesy, and ready in minutes. The only problem? They’re pricey, processed, and not always the best fit for a bariatric lifestyle.

That’s why I started making my own little eggwiches at home. They’re quick to prep, portion-friendly, and cost just over a dollar each. They work beautifully for smaller appetites after surgery — high in protein, low in carbs, and perfectly balanced in flavor. I can make a few ahead for the week or fix one fresh in minutes. The Dash grill makes perfect round egg patties, but a small skillet works just as well.

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🥚 Homemade Jimmy Dean Eggwich (Faux Copycat)

🍳 Ingredients

• 1 medium egg

• 1 tbsp cottage cheese

• Salt & pepper to taste

• Optional: minced veggies (bell pepper, spinach, onion, etc.)

• 1 slice Canadian bacon (or sausage patty, or ham slice)

• 1 slice American cheese

• Optional: drizzle of Sriracha or other sauce

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🔹 Instructions

1. Whisk Together: Beat the egg, cottage cheese, and seasonings. Add in any finely chopped veggies you like.

2. Cook the Meat: Preheat your Dash grill. Warm your Canadian bacon (or meat of choice) until slightly browned. Remove and set aside.

3. Make the Egg Patties: Spray lightly with nonstick spray, pour in half the egg mixture, and cook until set. Repeat with the other half.

4. Assemble: Layer one egg patty, the meat, the cheese, and the top egg patty. Add a touch of Sriracha if you like a little kick.

5. Serve or Store: Eat right away or wrap and refrigerate. Reheat for 30–45 seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in an air fryer.

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💰 Cost Comparison

	Jimmy Dean Eggwich	Homemade Version
Price per sandwich	~$3.50	~$1.10–$1.30
Ingredients	Processed egg, cheese, preservatives	Real egg, cottage cheese, fresh meat
Prep time	Ready-to-heat	5 minutes

Homemade wins on freshness, sodium, and savings — and honestly, it just tastes better.

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⚖️ Estimated Macros (per sandwich)

Nutrient	Amount
Calories	~155 kcal
Protein	~15 g
Fat	~9 g
Carbs	~2 g
Sodium	~530 mg

🥩 Swap Canadian bacon for a sausage patty and add roughly +70 kcal, +6 g fat, +4 g protein.

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💬 Final Thoughts

This little breakfast feels like the best of both worlds — simple and satisfying without being heavy. I love that it fits my new way of eating, gives me the protein I need, and still feels like a real meal. It’s one of those small wins that remind me: food can still be enjoyable, even in smaller portions.

Always and most importantly — thank you to my family and friends for all the love and support that has carried me this far. I will be back for me in the days ahead. This is just the beginning. 💛

Let’s Connect

Have an idea?
Share it in the comments — I’d love to hear what’s working for you during your different phases 💛

Till we meet again

love and find joy in your day 

Louise

Chili Cheese Fries WW blue 10

Menu: Chili Cheese Fries    (ww blue - 10 ) (please remember you can reduce points)

The Players:

1 Medium Potato with Skin (ww blue 5 points)

1 cup of Turkey Chili ( I used Hormel Turkey Chili (ww blue 4 points ) you could have also used a 1/2                                     cup for 3  because it was really filling and satisfying)

                                    

                                    - next time to reduce points I will make my own 0 point chili - which I will share                                      with you in a few more posts)

1/8 of a cup of Velvetta Shreds (ww blue 1 point)

Diced Onion (ww blue -0)

The Game:

*Take the potato and cut it thin, with skin on, into long strips, like fries. Put into a baggie. Spray with a bit of non-stick spray and season. Shake up in bag coating everything.

 

*Spray your Air Fryer and drop in fries and set 400 for 15 minutes and shake half way.

* Remove fries and Place in a heat safe container. I use a mini meatloaf pan, that I lined with foil so that I could lift them out and put on my plate. you could also take foil and make a nest out of it, bit enough to hold the fries and the stuff you are going to put on top.

*Fries first, then layer on chili, and the cheese. Pop back into air fryer for about 5 minutes to warm up the chili and melt the cheese.

* Pull out ( I pulled up my foil and layed in my dish) at this point put your toppings on. I used diced raw onion.

You could put queso, jalapenos, sour cream

Any way you like to eat this, This was so filling and so yummy. You could also pre prep these and just heat and eat they would hold up really well.

I took a picture with my hand so you can see how much it made.

This was a great lunch idea, and like I mentioned could be a premeal for a weekly idea.

If you give this a try, let me know.

WW Blue Notes

This was a really satisfying meal. I could have even cut back on the chili and it still would have been plenty. The choice of the potato was a personal preference for cleaner, healthier options, but the fast fries are the same points and would have been yummy too. So you do you.

Living your best life and doing what feels good for you is the secret.

Keep it simple, Stay well and safe. 

Louise