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

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

Here are some healthy, delicious, and quick (for the most part) meals & recipes i've been making lately. I love love love to cook so I'm in the kitchen 5-6 nights a week making dinner after my little one goes to bed. There really is nothing better than filling my families tummies with delicious and nutritious meals, sharing laughs and talking for hours. Life around the table is truly where its at.  Around the table is where my husband and I are able to look eye to eye at one another and share our day, our dreams, our needs, and enjoy a moment with no other distractions.  

Dinner: I grilled up some chicken breast with Trader Joe's Garlic Cooking sauce (its the best!!! Super delicious and easy).  I through those teeny potatoes in the oven with some olive oil, fresh rosemary, and seasoned them.  I sautéed Brussels sprouts in coconut oil with a couple minced up pieces of TJ's nitrate free Turkey bacon (season with seat salt and black pepper).  I added a side salad of spinach, gorgonzola cheese, and pecans with a homemade vinaigrette dressing (1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1 tsp dijon mustard, 1 tsp agave nectar or honey, salt and pepper. Sometimes i add a little fresh garlic or berry jam). 

Dinner: Sirloin steak (grilled with steak seasoning and garlic), sweet potato with coconut oil, TJ's spicy wasabi edamame pre made salad (SO delicious, spicy and sweet!).

Quick 3 minute Dessert: Pumpkin Mug Cake- I have to admit this was my first mug cake. It was really simple to make, I had all of the ingredients in my pantry and was craving something sweet. I used left over dark chocolate covered raisons just to give it a chocolately flavor.  Chocolate chips or nutella would've been way better!  

1 egg (i used two egg whites)
2 tablespoons almond milk
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup pumpkin puree
7 tablespoons all purpose flour
1/4 cup brown sugar (or a substitute)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt

 Mix all together, add in the chocolate chips. Pour into a medium sized mug. Cook in microwave for 1 1/2 mins. Make sure there is no overflow and then cook an additional 1 1/2 minutes if it needs it.

Garnish with Whipped Cream (well, of course!)

Dinner:  Grilled Almond and Hazlenut Crusted Salmon with quinoa. Trader Joe's sells this crusted salmon, i grilled it in 1-2 tbspn of coconut oil and a little maple syrup (yep, so sweet and savory!).  

Mix together Feta cheese, white Corn (cooked), Organic black beans, and lemon juice.

Add in cooked Quinoa and chop up some avocado. Salt and pepper to taste. You can put in a tiny bit of cayenne pepper for a kick if you're into spicy (i always am!).  

This is seriously SOOOO good by itself but we decided to top it off with a bed of lettuce underneath and TJ's Pineapple mango Salsa! YUM!!

Im drooling over this meal! And it takes 20 mins tops!

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Breast in Tj's Garlic Sauce (show above), Tj's Garlic Naan (it comes frozen, you pop it in the oven for 5 mins and its done! Its so worth it, easy and so yummy), Steamed broccoli with steak seasoning, and a side of quinoa with butter or olive oil and sea salt (you can also do a little lemon). 

Breakfast: Paleo, gluten free pancakes! 3 ingredients: 1 Banana,  a pinch of cinnamon, and 1 egg! Stir together and grill on the stove with 1 tbspn of coconut oil. Makes 3 little pancakes.

I would love to hear from you what your favorite healthy mess are..i would even love for you to share the recipe!  Also, let me know if you try anything from this little blog of mine. 

I hope you ladies enjoy!!

xo

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!