Chicken Lettuce Wraps

Lettuce wraps! Love this idea and there are endless combinations you can prepare! Make it fun, think outside of the box...make them your own!

I used :

1 lb cubed chicken breast

1 c corn

1/4 c each onions, celery, carrots, silvered raw unsalted almonds

Seasoning for the mixture:

lime juice, cumin, Badia complete seasoning, cilantro,  parsley, ginger, crushed red pepper, pepper, garlic, 1/4 c lite sodium soy sauce (I would have made it spicier for sure with wasabi, Sriracha  and Red Hot if my son wasn't eating it too-he handled the above flavors great though!)

I sautéed the chicken first with all the seasonings/juice/sauce and slowly added in the veggies and then spot checked for taste and added more of whatever I thought it needed. Total cook time 20 min. Wrap in iceberg lettuce and serve-I need a little help on my wrapping skills but that will come! Enjoy!!! xoxoxo-A

Healthy Whole Grain Penne Pasta w/ ground lamb smothered in pesto garlic lemon sauce

[caption id="attachment_583" align="aligncenter" width="360"] penne with lamb and pesto[/caption]

What you will need:

8 oz Whole grain penne pasta

3/4 lb ground lamb-hard to find but so worth it!

1/2 c feta cheese

2 c spinach leaves

1/3 c pesto paste

1/4 lemon juice

1 cup pasta water

1/2 c skim ricotta cheese

2 tsp minced garlic

1/4 c chopped onion (white or spanish)

salt, pepper to taste

pine nuts to garnish

Optional: 1 c beef stock-mine was homemade from left over short ribs (celery, carrots, onion, basil, oregano and burgundy wine) I am pretty sure this contributed to the awesomeness but you should be fine with low sodium store-bought beef stock or without it at all. Lamb has a very powerful taste all on its own!!

Cooking Directions:

Cook lamb in skillet over med heat and drain fat

Cook pasta and set aside to cool-saving one cup of the pasta water for sauce

Add beef stock, garlic, onion, ricotta, feta, seasonings, pesto paste and  lemon juice to the lamb and mix together well

Let cook for 8 o 10 min on low to med heat then add in pasta water and pasta giving it all a good mix again

Lastly,  add spinach and pine nuts until all melted down and in together then serve

Warning!!! This smells divine from the minute you start to cook the lamb and you will want to taste it several times throughout the cooking process....its just so good!

(p.s. great for kids too! My 3 year old had 2 helpings!!)

(p.p.s remember portion control-you can eat this and not feel guilty about being what feels like  indulgent but remember to save some for lunch the next day!! )

Makes about 5 total servings and I served it with a tomato and feta salad dressed in olive oil and red wine vinegar!

Enjoy!

xoxo-A

 

Twice baked sweet potatoes w/Greek yogurt, ricotta, black beans and blue cheese

 

Twice Baked Sweet Potatoes-maybe my favorite thing to eat in the whole world!

Step 1: Microwave sweet potatoes until able to cut in half and scoop out 3/4 of the inside.

Step 2: Add scooped sweet potato to 1 heaping tbsp plain Greek yogurt, 1 heaping tbsp skim ricotta cheese, 1/4 c almond milk (optional), 1/4 c black beans and 1/4 c  crumbled blue cheese.

Step 3: Mix together with hand mixer until well blended and slightly fluffy

Step 4: Bake for 15 to 20 min at 375 degrees

Other combos to try for the stuffing:

Spinach, black beans, Greek yogurt and feta cheese

Ricotta cheese, tuna, red onion and Greek yogurt

Enjoy!

xoxo-A

Wasabi, soy and lime tuna pasta salad

 





So simple to make, so good for you and so yummy!

2 cups of your choice of noodle-I used tri colored radiatore-cook , run cold water over and set aside in bowl

2 pouches Starkist white albacore tuna in water-add to cooled pasta

1 avocado-chopped-smother in lime juice after you cut it so it can keep its green color-add to dressing then pour into pasta mix

1/4 c chopped red onion-add to pasta mix

Dressing:

2 tsp honey

4 tsp olive oil

1/2 c lime juice

2 tsp hot sauce

2 tsp wasabi mustard

2 tsp soy sauce

whisk together then add chopped avocado to dressing then add to pasta mix

salt and pepper to taste

finish off with lime zest

yields about ( 4) 1 cup servings

Enjoy!

xoxoxo-A

Baked Black Bean Pita Pockets

I love black beans! These can be made vegetarian if you like.  I added hot sausage to ours.

Ingredients:

Whole wheat pita pockets

1 can black beans

1/4 c chopped onion

1 c yellow pepper-or color of your choice

1 avocado

1/4 c shredded cheese

lime juice

olive oil

6 oz chopped meat-if you wish (chicken, pork or sausage)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and Combine all ingredients except for avocado and cheese in skillet. Heat in skillet for 12 min with lime juice and olive oil-tsp of each. Season with pepper, red pepper flakes, cilantro (and whatever spices you want)  Line the pockets thinly with smashed avocado and fill with the bean, veggie and meat mixture. Bake for 10 min then add hot sauce (if you wish) and cheese and bake for 5 more minutes.

Makes 3 servings or 6 half pockets

Total time 30 min-15 prep-15 bake

Enjoy!
xoxoxo-A

 

White bean, wheat berries, tomato & mozzarella salad

Ingredients:

Mozzarella pearls

Chicken cubed lightly seasoned-salt, pepper, red pepperflakes and parsley

Chopped tomato

Wheat berries

Chopped celery

Chopped onion

Mixed together with olive oil and red wine vinegar

Tips: chill the wheat berries and chicken in the fridge after they cook before adding them to the mixture.

It's even better hours later after all of the flavors have had a chance to marry together!

 

Enjoy-A

 

Santa Fe Chicken Salad

[caption id="attachment_390" align="aligncenter" width="630"] Santa Fe Chicken Salad-loaded with goodies-loaded with flavor-loaded with protein and veggies![/caption]

The other night I made a delicious Santa Fe Chicken Salad! I want to share it with you!

I marinated the chicken in lemon juice, lime juice and salsa just for an hour. Once I put everything together in the giant salad bowl  I baked it for 25 min at 350 degrees turning it at the halfway point- just like this in this pan.

[caption id="attachment_391" align="aligncenter" width="300"] Marination-makes it more moist and delicious![/caption]

Next I chopped up peppers, red onions, asparagus, tomatoes, green onion, lettuce, basil and cubed some cheese-cheddar and mozzarella blend. I let the chicken marinade for a while as I chopped everything up.....



Last, I made my own dressing using the ingredients pictured below.....

[caption id="attachment_393" align="alignleft" width="1024"] Make your own dressing-it is so easy!!![/caption]

Jambalaya Recipe

JAMBALAYA!

I started with this recipe I found from Emeril when I got the notion that I wanted to make a jambalaya:

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/cajun-jambalaya-recipe2/index.html

Then I saw that I had on hand already "baby salad size frozen shrimp" and "spicy chicken sausage" so I bought the chicken and went from there....Protein is most important to me so that is what I tend to focus on the most and then let the rest fall into place.

Step 1: cube about 1/2 lb. chicken breast and cook on med  heat with the following seasonings:1 teaspoon each paprika, oregano, blk pepper, crushed red pepper, garlic powder and dash of cinnamon (place together in a small bowl and stir as you will need half of the mixture for the shrimp/sausage in a min)  for about 10 to 12 min using a teaspoon of olive oil to coat the pan prior.

Step 2: cook the shrimp and sausage (use about 1/2 lb combined of both) with the same seasoning mixture you used on the chicken (you should have about half left over) on med heat for about 6 to 8 min.

 Step 3: chop 1/2 c each spanish onion, green onion, green pepper and sautéed those in a deep skillet on low to med for about 8 min with a little bit of olive oil.

Step 4: chop 3/4 c tomatoes and 1/4 c fresh parsley and add to the veg mix, stirring for another 4 min.

Step 5: add all protein to veggies in deep skillet along with 2 cups rice (brown or jasmine) and approx 3 cups hot water. Bring to a boil and then cover and simmer on low for about 15 min until the rice is cooked-but has not soaked up the liquid....you need and want some liquid when all said and done! Feel free to add hot sauce to kick it up a notch here...mine was only med spice temp.

I took his recipe and tried to make it budget (I didn't use all of the Emeril suggested ingredients) and a little more health friendly!

Try this with all recipies.....you can see from his picture in the recipe and my picture they don't look the same but it still tasted incredible!!!

Enjoy!

xoxoxo-A

Meals made EASY all week!

In this post I want to try to show you how easy and quick it can be to eat healthy.....

On Tuesday I chopped my veggies-tomatoes, zucchini, red onion and green onion-about 2.5 cups total

I cooked 1 package of chicken and cubed it so I can easily throw it in a pita pocket, salad or mix it with some rice or quinoa.

I boiled 2 eggs so I had them ready for when I wanted to add them too!
I had on hand already brown rice, quinoa, tuna, feta and mozzarella cheeses and lettuce.

If you take a little time 1 or 2 days a week to prepare your meals or part of your meals you will be more inclined to throw together something healthy quickly rather than stopping and grabbing something quick-that rarely ends well!! Try it this week and see if it works for you!! 

This is what I ate all week for lunch and dinner. I spent maybe 5 min at the most putting it together and making a little homemade dressing each time if I wanted to add it. Below are pictures so you can see how I basically ate the same thing over and over again BUT I never got bored with it.....

Quinoa Steak Salad-My way and Max's way

My way-so you can see about how big of a portion each takes up on my plate, mine was dressed with a homemade wasabi, rosemary, lemon, red wine vinegar and olive oil dressing. Max's way-chopped up into bite sizes and mixed all around so the quinoa sticks to each bite. His was dressed with just a little olive oil and red wine vinegar. We were both feeling very happy and balanced after this meal!!! Give it a try!