What I've Been Eating Lately: Quicky Healthy Meals & Recipes

What I've Been Eating Lately: Quicky Healthy Meals & Recipes

I know you ladies love these quick easy healthy meal posts. If you are anything like me and are in a season where you feel you just don't have enough hours in the day to get everything done that you need to do..then these meals I post are for you! They are quick(er) than most and are still for the most part, healthy. I'll try to post these more often, maybe one every two weeks or once a week, we'll see!

Greek Salad & Lavash Bread: For the above photo I made a quick healthy lunch with this Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Lavash Bread, their pre packaged fresh greek salad, and a side of their organic hummus. Delicious and SOO EASY! This whole wheat lavash bread is seriously amazing, you can do so much with it as you will see below, i used it like pita bread for dipping in hummus (you could dip it in olive oil with herbs), I made wraps with it, and I used it for pizza crust! Its WAY healthier for you than bread, or normal pizza crust!

Healthy QUICK pizzas: These babies cook (Broil at 425 in the oven) in 5 minutes! I used the Lavash bread mentioned above so you don't have to wait for your crust to cook like normal pizza. You just slap on whatever toppings you're in the mood for.  I used Tj's precooked preservative free grilled chicken, their sun dried tomatos, organic spinach, low fat mozerella cheese, Tj's bruchetta and of course some basil tomato pizza sauce! 

 For this pizza I used basil tomato pizza sauce, then lined it with organic baby spinach, then low fat mozerella cheese on top, then layerd it with jalapenos,  onion, TJ's fauntina and roasted garlic chicken sausage with half the pizza drizzled with TJ's tapenade (and olive blend of green and black olives) that i had left over in the fridge. You can really put anything you want on these! They were so delicious, you just have to make sure you don't use too much tomato sauce since the lavash bread is thinner than normal crust. And make sure its crispy!

Serve with a side salad and this meal would take you less than 10-15 minutes including all the prep and slicing!

Quick Curry Chicken and Vegetable Bowl: I use Trader's Red Curry sauce (they also have a green we've tried and loved, and a yellow curry sauce i have yet to try). I could make curry from scratch and it would probably be even yummier but the goal of these meals is to help all of us mamas, or tired people who come home from work and want an easy healthy meal to whip up in less than 20-30 minutes. I used Tj's 3 minute brown rice, their frozen sliced bell peppers and 1 fresh green bell pepper i had left in the fridge, frozen broccoli (takes 6-7 minutes to cook on the stove), fresh chopped onion, 1 raw garlic clove, and organic raw chicken (grilled in olive oil and 1/4 cup or so of the red curry sauce). I layered the rice first on the plate, then the veggies, then the grilled and flavored chicken. I then quickly heated up some of the curry sauce and poured it over the entire bowl (use as much as you'd like). DELICIOUS!

Spinach Kale Turkey Pattys: I used Tj's 99% fat free ground turkey and mushed it up with some chopped organic spinach, 1 tspn garlic powder, a pinch of salt and pepper, and then added in some chopped frozen kale (tj's sells this in the frozen section). I muchsed it all together into 5 or 6 patties and threw them on the george forman grill. SO quick, took 10 minutes all together! This is a perfect example of eating healthy while still being able to enjoy a delicious meal. I threw these on some whole wheat buns with veggies, ketchup, and cheese. My hubs wanted beef so here we have a his and her's meal. 

I hope some of these meals find their way into your home! Enjoy!

I always welcome your ideas and recipes if you'd like to share in the comments below I LOVE that and will possibly even feature one of your recipes!

XO

Easy Quick Healthy Meals: What I've Been Eating Lately

Easy Quick Healthy Meals: What I've Been Eating Lately

Here are some of the meals i've made over the past few days.  Im all about balance, I like to aim for healthy but if something doesnt taste right without adding a little cheese or cream here and there then ill go ahead and add it in there.  When I cook i usually try to add in lots of veggies, one starch, and a protein.  

Swedish Meatballs, Brown Rice Pasta and a side of Grilled Zucchini:  These swedish meatballs are from traders and they're super easy to grill up (you can store a bunch in the freezer for lazy nights when you don't feel like cooking from scratch).  I always try to use brown rice pasta to make pasta nights a little more healthy, and then grilled up some onion and garlic in olive oil to add some flavor to Trader Joes spicy Arrabiata sauce (this sauce is great with seafood pasta as well). It has the perfect amount of spice from sweet red peppers and tasted great with the swedish meatballs. 

For grilling the zucchini as well as what the brown rice pasta looks like click here to see my previous quick meals post where i posted pics and talked more in depth about it: Easy Quick Healthy Meals

Chicken Serenada Tacos:

This was another easy meal that tasted so delicious.  I grilled up Traders "Chicken Serenada", its fresh  chicken breast with grilled bell peppers and grilled onion all pre-marinated and precooked, you just need to reheat on the stove. I am not a fan of precooked meals but traders doesnt add any preservatives and you have to eat their food within a few days or it goes bad. Its just as though you made it yourself.  I threw it on an ezekiel sprouted grain tortilla (super healthy and so yum!), with some shredded cabbage, avocado, a little mexican cheese blend, and lettuce.  You can add on tapatio or salsa if youd like but i thought the chicken gave it plenty of flavor. 

Shrimp Tacos with Lime chipotle sauce:

Shrimp tacos are my hubbys favorite and i haven't made them in so long! I decided to give them a twist by topping them with a delicious homemade lemon chipotle sour cream sauce.  I uses fresh shrimp (it cooks fast so be careful), I cooked the shrimp in olive oil with a sprinkle of chipotle, chili powder, garlic, salt, and 2 tablespoons of salsa and a half of a lime.  I piled it onto the same Ezekiel sprouted grain tortillas as above with shredded cabbage, a sprinkle of a mexican cheese blend, and avocado. I squeezed fresh lime on top and then added my homemade sauce.

For the sauce:  you'll need 1/4 cup light sour cream or greek yogurt. Half of a lemon or a whole lime. A 1/4 teaspoon of the following spices: chili powder, chipotle, garlic, cumin,  fresh or dried cilantro salt and pepper to taste. Add in minced jalepeno (i used 4 little slivers from a jar)  You will love this sauce and can use it on fish tacos as well! It makes the tacos!

Filet Mignon with Grilled Zucchini and Onion with a Side Kale Salad:

I am not a huge red meat kinda gal but once in a while I enjoy a nice steak. I grilled up some filets, added a side of zucchini and grilled onion (off the grill instead of grilling it on stove top), and a side of my kale salad that is also one of my husbands favorites!  For the Kale salad recipe go here (at the bottom of the post): Healthy Recipes and Ideas: What I've Been Eating Lately

Eat up & Enjoy Ladies! 

What are some of your favorite easy quick and healthy recipes/ideas?!

Easy Quick Healthy Meals

Easy Quick Healthy Meals:

When you are a mama on the go like I am, but you reallllly dont like to eat out every night and at the same time barely have any time to cook you have to figure out how to make something that is healthy, quick, and easy,...and of course, delicious.  Here are some of the meals i've made over the past couple weeks that I remember to snap a few pics of.  I try to make 2 completely home made meals a week, we go out 1 night usually on the weekend, and then the other 2-3 nights i'll whip up something quick like this: 

CousCous Stuffed Salmon: I posted this salmon and brown rice recipe a couple weeks ago, instead of broccoli I grilled up some zucchini, i wanted to post it again because the zucchini was so easy, i used an herb spice mix, salt and olive oil and they were so yummy!

Chicken, Pesto, Spinach, Pepperjack Panini: I used 1 tablespoon of Tj's premade pesto sauce (not the jar, the container), olive oil to grill the bread (i used TJ's cracked wheat sour dough bread..my guilty pleasure), a handful of spinach, 1 pepperjack slice, pregrilled chicken (packaged by Tjs.. the upside is its fresh and quick to use but the downside is you have to use it within a couple days or it goes bad), and sliced red bell pepper.. so good!

Veggie Stuffed Peppers with a hodgepodge of what I had in the frige/feezer (i deperately needed to go grocery shopping, this was at the end of last week) Salad, and Meetless meatballs over Brown Rice with teriyaki sauce. Took just 10 minutes.

PASTA NIGHT! I made spaghetti with TJ's organic brown rice spaghetti noodles (this was my first time using the spaghetti noodles, i had only used their penne --which i like better, but they were still good), i grilled up some ground turkey and onion, and then used Tj's ogranic Tomato basil Marinara (much quicker than doing it from scratch).  Then I made some kale salad which i've posted on in the past, its olive oil, lemon, garlic, red crushed pepper, salt and paremsan cheese.. sooo delicious.

I just realized that i used these (spaghetti noodles) when i made pasta on a different night last week.. I used rotini brown rice noodles this week (in the pic below)

Coffee:

 Trader's is pumpkin crazy right now for the Fall season, so we decided to try out their pumpkin spice coffee and i looove it.

Curry Chicken and Veggies over Brown Rice: I buy Tj's premarinated meats sometimes, this was their curry chicken tenders, i grilled them up and used their 3 minute microwavable brown rice (in the frozen section, ive posted on this before as well), and then chopped up some veggies and used their curry sauce to top it off and give it some moisture. 

Ejoy!

Healthy Recipe's and Ideas: What I've Been Eating Lately

Healthy Recipe's and Ideas: What I've Been Eating Lately

Teriyaki Grilled Salmon: I didnt have time to marinate the salmon but you honestly could not even tell! Grill salmon in coconut oil or EVOO and then halfway through cooking each side add on Trader joe San Soyaki (my fav teriyaki sauce from Tj's).  We had made pasta a couple nights prior and I wanted to use the rest of our whole wheat noodles so i added in some parmesan and olive oil with a tiny bit of Trader Joe's fresh pesto sauce (Genova Pesto, comes in a small tub)... my husband honestly loved this..you could totally add in fresh tomatoes and basil if you wanted to.  I made a small side salad with a leafy blend, honeycrip apples, fresh strawberries, light feta, sliced almonds, and TJ's Cranberry Walnut and Gorgonzola salad dressing.  I added a salmon skewer that had big chunks of salmon, red and green bell peppers and onion on it.  These were also grilled in teriyaki sauce. I didnt really need the skewer but I had purchased them fresh from the seafood counter at Ralphs and wanted to use them while they were still fresh.  Really quick and simple meal! But so delicious and healthy!

My famous Banana Pancakes: My hubby dies for these and my healthy french toast (ill have to make that this sunday and post the recipe).  These banana pancakes are AMAZING and so easy to make.  They are made without any oil and with TJ's Multigrain  baking and pancake mix.  I made 6 pancakes (3 for each of us.. a serving is 150 calories for just the mix.. 230 cals prepared IF you follow their instructions and use whole eggs, regular milk and oil.  I used a little less than half cup of apple sauce instead of oil, almond milk instead of regular milk, and egg whites instead of the whole egg.  I also smashed in half a large banana into the mix and then diced up the other half to lay on top of the pancake while its cooking before i flipped them.  These are too die for! You can use blueberries or whatever fruit your little hearts desire. I make pancakes usually every sunday before church, its become our little family tradition, i cannot wait to make these for our son once hes here and can eat solids!

7 Layer Dip (Healthier version):  This was so amaze that it was gone in just 3 days between my hubby and I.  I first layered the bottom with whole organic black beans mixed with tj's refried organic black beans.  I cooked 99% lean ground turkey in trader's taco seasoning (used half the packet, 1 lb of meat), added in minced garlic (probably a clove or two), sauteed half a yellow onion all together in a pan with EVOO until cooked through.  I added the meaty combo on top of the beans.  Then i made a mixture of greek yogurt, a couple dashes of cayenne pepper and chili powder, and a tiny bit of lime and mixed that together.  I layered the greek yogurt mixture on top of the meat.  I then made guacamole with fresh avocado (1 1/2 small ones), lemon juice (1 tablespoon), 3-4 tablespoons of mild salsa and a dash of garlic salt. (As you can tell i make this up as i go so I never really measure things).  I then added on a mexican blend of mixed cheeses and on top of that did tomatoes, jalapenos,  diced green chills and salsa (i used red mild PACE salsa and TJ's salsa verde (green, my fav!). I baked this in the oven just to get the cheese a little hot (halfway melted), i didnt want it too hot because i wasnt sure how the greek yogurt and guac would hold up... but when we ate it the following two days i heated it and melted the cheese and it was to die for both ways!  We ate this with tortilla chips, you could do sweet potato chips for a healthier version or a whole wheat tortilla and make a burrito or taco.. its really up to you! This would be good in my taco lettuce wraps that i make as well! This is a must try though!

Grilled Chicken Salad:  Grill chicken in EVOO or coconut oil, add in 1 whole lime squeezed, salt and pepper to taste, 1 clove of minced garlic, and I used 2 tablespoons of honey.  I used left over kale salad (the recipe is sooooo yummy! its lemon, garlic, red pepper flakes, olive oil, and parmesan----simply delish), added the kale to a blend of leafy greens, chopped up some fresh pineapple, tomatoes, and feta cheese.  I made my own dressing using lemon, honey, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a little spicy mustard.  This was refreshing and we ate it all up!

Seafood Alfredo Pasta and Kale Salad:  My husband and I wanted to have a date night at home and cook a yummy meal together so we went and bought some fresh scallops and jumbo shrimp.  We sauteed the scallops carefully (YOU DO NOT WANT THESE TO OVERCOOK AND GET CHEWY) in EVOO and then set them aside and cooked the shrimp the same way and then set those aside.  I boiled whole wheat spaghetti noodles until they were cooked through and steamed chopped asparagus on top of the noodles while they were cooking.  I steamed up some spinach to layer my pasta on top of (I learned this a while ago and it helps fill you up! Spinach doesn't have much flavor so I hardly notice its there but get all the added health benefits!).  My hubby diced up some onion and tomato (along with a can of chopped tomatoes we purchased from the store and some light alfredo sauce).  In a separate pan i sautéed the onion, then added in tomato, asparagus, and 2/3 of the can of tomatoes, i added in a little bit of alfredo until the sauce looked like a good consistency (id say maybe 1/2 cup).  Once that has heated up a little bit add in the noodles and mix around in the sauce until covered, then gently add in the scallops and shrimp and fold into the sauce evenly.  Serve!

Kale Salad (Similar to true foods Kale salad)... I used a bag of organic chopped kale in a bag from traders already ready to go, on the side make a blend of 2 cloves of garlic, salt and pepper, half a lemon or more if youd like, 1/4 cup of EVOO.  Massage into the kale and let it sit for 15 minutes.  Then add in 1/2 cup of parmesan and a dash of red pepper flakes, mix around and let sit for 3-5 more minutes at room temperature.  Then serve! So yummy!