What I've Been Eating Lately: Quick Healthy Meal Recipe's & Ideas

What I've Been Eating Lately: Quick Healthy Meal Recipe's & Ideas

 Ground Turkey Tacos:You guys know Im a sucker for mexican food, so i cook something mexican-"ish" at least 2x weekly.  I have posted on ground turkey tacos before, but here we added in some red and green bell peppers, corn, cilantro, and cabbage to mix it up and give it a new flavor. I also topped with lettuce, avacado, and cheese and wrapped it in a soft whole wheat flour tortilla.  I usually cook the ground turkey in a skillet with EVOO or coconut oil and put in some onion, garlic, garlic salt, chili pepper, cumin and a cajun spice spend we have. You can play with the spices or even add in salsa. Trader Joe's has a great taco seasoning if you'd rather do something easy.

 Spicy Grilled Cheese Sandwhiches & Tomato Soup: One of my all time favorites is a gooey grilled cheese sandwhich and some hearty tomato soup. I made this a month or so ago and through in a little spin on the standard grilled cheese by adding jalepenos, artichoke, spinach and used monzerella and jack cheese. Grill it in olive oil and you're set! Its spicy and so delish! Serve with a side of tomato soup. I used frozen artichoke and spinach (they dont go bad as quickly so i have some time to use them up)

 Breakfast in Bed with Blueberry Raspberry Pancakes: I've posted on my applesauce pancakes before, we simply added in some blueberries and raspberries. Find the recipee here. 

 Lemon Pepper Pappardelle Pasta with Chicken Artichoke and Veggies: These lemon pepper noodles are from Trader Joe's and they are so yummy because they are packed with flavor so you can just coat the pasta with a little olive oil and salt and pepper and you dont really even need a heavy duty sauce. I sauteed some yellow, green and red bell pepper with onion and used minced garlic, basil, and italian seasonings with sea salt and pepper to taste. I separately grilled chicken and sauteed some frozen artichoke.  Toss together with olive oil in a bowl and serve.  I served it with TJ's Chopped House salad (my current favorite premade Trader's salad).

Ground Turkey Taco Salad with Homemade Dressing:  This is so easy and so filling and of course so yummy.  Cook the ground turkey in coconut oil in a pan with onion and bell pepper and season the same way mentioned above in the tacos i made. Toss over a bed of lettuce, add some cheese and whatever veggies you feel like. Then top with the taco sauce i have previously posted on for a light meal (recipe here)

Spicy Cajun Salmon, Broccoli, and Feta Spinach Brown Rice: This meal is healthy, quick and so easy. Sauteed TJ's preseasoned Spicy Cajun salmon (highly recommend trying this, its really good, a little salty but good) use olive oil or coconut oil.  Steam some fresh broccoli and season with Steak Seasoning or garlic salt.  Sometimes we'll sprinkle parmesan on our broccoli.  Make enough brown rice to serve your family and then on the side sauteed some fresh or frozen spinach in a skillet, when its ready add in the cooked brown rice and sprinkle on as much feta as you'd like. You can season with a little garlic salt and pepper. This blend is so good! It's definetly something i'll be making more often.

Ground Turkey & Cheese Enchiladas: These are easy to make and a new take on my chicken enchiladas i've previously posted the recipe on (here).  Instead of chicken you use ground turkey, you can lightly season with a little chili powder, and garlic salt.  I also sauteed some onion and through that in too.  

Chimichurri Steak Salad: This was TO DIE FOR. I loved this meal! You will need to cook a bag of TJ's Rice Medley (includes brown rice, red rice, & black barley, it cookes in 3 minutes in the microwave).  Cook some Edamame (i used frozen, from TJ's).  Cook some yellow corn, fresh, canned or frozen.  Then grill TJ's premarinated herb and garlic seasoned sirloin steak in Chimichurri sauce, cut into pieces and set aside.  First do a layer of the rice, then top with a bed of lettuce, then top with a tiny bit of cheese, then the steak, then corn and edamame. You will really love this salad. I used some of the left over chimichurri sauce to put a little atop the salad.

ENJOY!

Be sure to follow my blog on the side bar by entering your email! And thank you to all who have been so supportive and all of the beautiful people i have met since I began this journey. You are all so loved!

 Share with me one of your favorite meals or recipes in the comments section!

Xo

What I've Been Eating Lately: Quick Healthy Meals Recipes/Ideas

What I've Been Eating Lately: Quick Healthy Meals & Recipes/Ideas

Hey all, I have been stacking up some food pics for you ladies. I try to throw in some new ideas and mix it up throughout the week as well as have some quick healthy meal options for those nights when im exhausted, just put the baby down, and want to get something nutritious in my tummy ASAP without much work involved. If there is ever anything you ladies cook up that you'd like to share i would love to know! Please share below in the comment section your favorite easy healthy meals or even places that make premade preservative free meals or have easy meal prep ideas!

Dinner- Sweet Potato Burger with Organic Grass Fed Beef:

Instructions for Sweet Potatoe Bun: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice sweet potatos into 1/4-1/2 inch and lay flat onto a baking sheet. Cook in the oven for 15 minutes and then turn over and cook another 15 minutes. 

The next time I make a sweet potato bun im going to make one that sticks together so you can pick the bun up instead of eating the burger with a fork.  Heres the recipe for that:

You'll need: 1 large sweet potato (about 3 cups, shredded), 3 large eggs, 1 teaspoon cumin, 2-4 tablespoons coconut oil

Shred the sweet potato using either the shredding blade of a food processor or box grater. Stir into a bowl with the eggs and cumin. Over medium heat place 1/4 cup sweet potato into a ball (flatten into a patty) onto a skillet with 2 tbspn of coconut oil or EVOO. Once the bottom browns and holds together, flip it over and cook the other side.
(makes 8 patties)

Grill up a regular patty and layer on top with whatever toppings and sauces you're into. We put bell peppers, cheddar cheese, lettuce, mustard and ketchup with avocado on ours.

I put a side of backed zuchini fries (Trader Joe's premade/frozen) and a delish mango tangerine slaw. ((below))

I used TJ's salad medly of kale, brussle sprouts, and cabbage mixed it together with a dollop of greek yogurt, and chopped mango and tangerines with tangerine juice squeezed on top. Mix together for a sweet tangy light salad.

Dinner- Grilled Chicken, Potatoes with Sauteed Vegetables:

Instructions: Grill chicken tenders or breasts in EVOO until almost done. Add Trader Joe's Garlic Sauce on top and cook until no longer pink inside.  Grill onion in EVOO with chicken until translucent.

Heat oven to 375 and put tiny potatoes on a baking sheet, drizzle with EVOO, spribkle salt and pepper to taste, and fresh rosemary. Bake for 20 minutes.

Sautee red, green & yellow sliced bell peppers in EVOO.  If you want to be really quck you can buy TJs frozen pre-sliced pepper medly.

Luch- Italian Chicken Salad: 

Grill chicken on a skilet with some EVOO, lemon, garlic powder, and salt and pepper to taste.  Slice up some romaine lettuce, tomato, and onion. Top with light Mozerella cheese and your favorite Italian salad dressing. 

Dinner- Spicy Ground Turkey Taco Salad: 

Romaine lettuce, cabage, chopped tomato and onion, chopped cilantro, top with chedder cheese. Cook 1 lb ground turkey in a skillet on medium head in 1-2 tbspn EVOO. Add 1 tbspn Chili powder, 1-2 garlic cloves, salt and pepper to taste, cajun spice, & cayenne pepper to taste. Add crushed chipped and avocado on top. I used Trader's Flaxseed Tortilla chips.  Add a side of light sour cream or greek yogurt to be healthier.

Dinner- Lemon Garlic Chicken over Parmesan Rice with Grilled Asparagus & Greek Salad:

Cook chicken tenders or breast in EVOO, squeeze half a lemon to flavor chicken, use TJ's garlic sauce (enough to cover the top layer of chicken).  Grill asparus on George Forman or a BBQ with a little bit of EVOO and sprinkle on steak seasoning.  

Pour the chicken sauce and chicken tenders on top of a bed of cooked brown rice (sprinkle rice with parmesan beforehand if you'd like).  

Chop up some romaine lettuce, red bell pepper, cabbage, and throw together with green or black olives, feta cheese and some sliced cucumber. Top with your favorite greek salad dressing.

Lunch- Trader's Butternut Squash premade Salad with pumpkin seeds, feta cheese, spinach and romaine lettuce, pomegranate seeds, and a light vinegarette dressing. Delish! I didn't make this but their salads are worth sharing..they're so easy and i eat them all of the time for lunch with a side of some type of carb or protein.

Xo 

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

Quick Healthy Soups: Chicken Tortilla Soup, Jalapeno Turkey Chili, and Tomato Vegetable Soup

Quick Healthy Soups: Chicken Tortilla Soup, Jalapeno Turkey Chili, and Tomato Vegetable Soup

Here in California we barely had a real Winter this past year so when it rained for 3 or 4 days straight last week I took full advantage (knowing Spring and Summer weather is here to stay for months on end).  So I decided to soak up the gray stormy weather and make some delicious warm hearty soups. I made Tortilla soup, a SPICY chili, and a Tomato Vegetable soup.  

Tortilla Soup: The base of this soup is Chicken broth and canned diced organic tomatoes.  Its really simple! My husaband rarely cooks but he actually threw this together for me while I went to a gym class.  I just left him a simple recipe to follow and he did a great job, I love having a warm meal ready for me after a tough late night work out (no one ever wants to pump one out but i have to take those rare opportunities during the week that i get).  

• 4 c. chicken broth
• 3-4. whole chicken breasts
• 1 large can of diced tomatos (i used 1 and a half of trader joe's organic diced tomatos 14.5 ounce cans)
• 1 large onion, chopped 
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1-2 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1 Tbsp. chili powder
• 2 Celery Stalks chopped (optional for added veggies and crunch.)
• 1 Jalapeno' , finely diced (optional for flavor)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 lime
• ¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (more to taste)
• avocado, shredded cheese, sour cream, crushed tortilla chips ( I used trader joe's Veggie Flaxseed Tortilla chips, cilantro (didnt have any but it would be a great topping.
• 
  
• 1)Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium-high heat. Add garlic,onions, jalapeno and celery and cook, stirring, until onions begin to become translucent. 
• 2) Grill up some chicken breast in Olive oil, when fully cooked then slice or shred (whichever you prefer).
• 3)Add chicken to pot of onion/garlic. Add in crushed tomatoes, chili powder, cumin, cayenne pepper, and juice of 1/2 lime. Bring to a boil, stir constantly so it doesnt burn. 
• 4)Then add in your chicken broth, reduce the heat to low, simmer soup for 15 minutes.
• 5) Top with toppings (avocado, cheese, sour cream, cilantro, chips).
• 
  

*You can add black beans and corn to this recipe if you'd like!

• 
  

Spicy Chili: My girlfriend Tori gave me this recipe, and it is soooo yummy! I made it for our couples bible study we host at our home and everyone loved it! The recipe calls for Pumpkin puree' but Tori said because its not in season to sub it out for Trader Joe's Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup. Thats the only way i've made this soup so far and I think its perfect! 

Serves 6-8

Organic Tomato & Roasted Red Pepper Soup

1/2 Cup Water

2 Jalepenos

1 Can of Red Kidney Beans (15 oz) rinse first

1 Can of diced tomatoes w/ liquid (again I used TJ's organic diced tomatoes 14.5 oz can)

1 lb of ground turkey

1 yellow onion chopped

1 green bell, seeded and cored, then chopped

2 garlic cloves diced

1 tbspn EVOO

1 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tspn salt

1 tbspn chili powder

pepper to taste

1)Heat oil in a large pan. Add bell pepper, onion, garlic, and jalapenos. Stir frequently, cook until tender.  

2)Add turkey, cook until browned.

3) Add tomatoes, the red pepper soup mix (i used about 1/2 of the box), water, chili powder, cumin and salt and pepper and bring to boil.

4) Reduce heat to medium and add beans. Cover and simmer for 30 mins stirring occasionally.

Serve!

Its even better the next day!!

Tomato Vegetable Soup: My girlfriend Chelsea had tried Tori's chili recipe and made a quick version but instead of doing chili she just made it into a simple soup. Its healthy, hearty and really yummy! We ate ours with a side of cheese bread (you gotta balance the healthy out with some gooey cheesey bread, right?!? lol). 

1 yellow onion, chopped

1 tsp minced garlic

1 yellow bell pepper seeded, cored, chopped

3 celery stalks chopped

salt & pepper to taste

1 tbspn EVOO

I also added oregeno, cumin, basil to taste (probably 1/2 tspn for each)

1 lb ground turkey (i used TJ's kosher turkey, it has so much additional flavor!)

1 box of Tj's Organic Tomato And Roasted Red Pepper Soup (see bove)

1 can diced tomatoes (14.5 ounce organic traders can, see below)

1)Throw all of your veggies in a pan with EVOO and garlic, cook until tender.

2) Cook turkey in pan until browned.

3) Mix in all spices and add in tomatos and soup mix.

4) Heat until boiling, then simmer for 10 minutes or longer , stirring occasionally.

Serve.

Enjoy!! 

Tell me in the comments what you would like to see more of? What would you like me to cook? Or what are your favorite topics that I write about, ill try to encorporate more. I just want to hear from you! 



All submissions for the Iphone Case GIVEAWAY end tonight at 5pm Pacific time. Winner will be announced this weekend! Thanks all for your participation.  (Instructions to enter HERE if you havent already)

XO

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!