Crockpot Butternut Squash Soup

This recipe I made up. I have been making it for a few years now. I started making it because I had gotten a butternut squash from a bountiful basket and didn't know what to do with it. So I searched recipes online and saw several for butternut squash soup. None of them sounded too bad, but I didn't have everything that those recipe called for. So I improvised and created this DELICIOUS soup. I emphasize this because I have made it for a few of my friends and they are still begging for the recipe and for me to make them my soup. They crave it. They call me and ask if I'm going to make any anytime soon. I figured it was about time to add this to my blog recipes. I hope you enjoy this simple recipe as much as my family, friends and I do. It's perfect for a cold wintery day or just because you want some.

Butternut Squash Soup

Ingredients

64 oz of chicken stock/broth
1 butternut squash, peeled and diced
4 apples- gala, fuji or braeburn - peeled and diced
4 med - small potatoes - peeled and diced
1 onion diced
1 can cream of chicken soup
1 8oz cream cheese - room temperature
S & P to taste

Directions

In a Large Crockpot (6 qt or larger), add the butternut squash, apples, potatoes, onion and chicken stock. Set on low for 8 - 10 hours or high for 4-6 hours. Once they are soft and mushy, use a submersible blender and blend until smooth, add chicken soup and tempered cream cheese. Continue to use the blender until nice and smooth consistency. Season with Salt and Pepper to taste. Top with bacon bits and chives, or a little sour cream and cheese.

Serve warm.

Verdict on this... HEAVENLY! nice and smooth, rich and creamy, sweet and savory... the best of all world.

Please let me know what you think of my recipe. I love getting feedback from all who visit my blog. Thanks for stopping by. :)

Beef and Bean Chili

This recipe is a concoction of stuff I had around the house and in food storage. I am trying to stretch our food budget and our food. This recipe includes leftovers from a previous freezer meal for Beef Burritos. This seemed like a great alternative to extend our food. The meat from the burritos stretched from burritos, to quesadillas and now to chili. All from one pot and one freezer bag. Three meals! I find that amazing. Talk about stretching a dollar. :) I may even be able to stretch this to one other meal. That would make four meals from one freezer meal! I'm thinking since this makes a TON of chili. You can reuse leftover chili from anything such as chili cheese dogs, to cornbread chili, and chili burgers. The list can go on and on. You could even make it into a cheese dip for chips. MMM my mouth is salivating thinking of all these possibilities. I digress... Well, here is the recipe for tonights chili. I hope you enjoy it. I know we will.

Ingredients:
2 cups leftover burrito beef (or other leftover meat)
2 cans corn (do not drain)
2 cans white beans (drained and rinsed)
1 can black beans, low sodium (drained and rinsed)
1 can chili beans
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can Rotel diced tomatoes with green chilies
1-2 cups chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp beef buillion
4-6 dashes of liquid smoke
2 tsp cilantro
1 tsp garlic, minced
2 tsp onion salt

Add all ingredients in slow cooker. Stir gently, not smashing the beans.  Set on low and cook until heated through or let simmer all day for a full blended flavor. I have mine set on low for 8 hours.

Serve with sour cream and cheese, tortilla chips or corn bread.

Beef Burritos Freezer Meal

I have been trying to do more freezer meals to help me in the evenings since we've become so busy this school year. I found a great recipe on Pinterest for Beef Burritos. I've changed the recipe a bit. It's really good. I want to warn you... this is spicy, but very flavorful. I found it delicious.

I bought my meat at Costco, because it comes in bulk and is usually cheaper unless you hit a sale some where else.

Ingredients:

1 Beef roast (aprox 2-3 pounds)
1 diced onion or 1/2 cup minced dry onions
3 Tbsp minced garlic
2 Tbsp ground pepper
2 Tbsp Apple Cider Vinegar
2 cans (8oz) tomato sauce (I used spaghetti sauce)
1 Chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (comes in a can, ONLY use 1 pepper per roast)
2 tsp chili powder

Stick in a gallon size labeled freezer bag, seal. Freeze up to 3 months.
When ready to use. Run outside of freezer bag under warm water to loosen contents from bag. Empty contents in crockpot for 8 hours on low. Enjoy in taco shells, tortillas, make into enchiladas or divide and make into separate meals.

This makes a LOT of beef. I made this and it will provide 2-3 meals.

Slow Cooker Chocolate Chip-Brownie Cake

I saw this recipe on Pinterest and I had to make it! Since we're having FHE tonight and are busy until then, I thought this would be a great idea, since it's cooked in the slow cooker. Luckily for me, I have two separate crockpots. I have dinner going in one, and I'm going to make this in the other one. :) This looks dangerously delicious! So bad and NOT healthy, but I've been so busy and I need a pick-me-up! every once in a while isn't bad... right!? Well, I'm using the recipe exactly as written. I'm not as comfortable adjusting baked goods in the slow cooker as I am other recipes.

Doesn't that look decadent? It does to me :)

Ingredients:
1 box fudge brownie mix
1/2 cup melted butter
4 eggs
1 chocolate chip cookie mix pouch
Vanilla ice cream or whipped topping if desired
*Hot fudge topping if desired

Directions:

Spray 4 1/2 qt. slow cooker with baking spray with flour. In a large bowl mix brownie mix, 1/4 cup melted butter and 2 eggs. In another bowl, mix chocolate chip cookie mix with 1/4 cup melted butter, and 2 eggs.

Drop by large spoonfuls alternating brownie and chocolate chip cookie batters into slow cooker.

Cover, Cook on high heat setting for 2-3 hours or until cake is set in the center. To serve, spoon cake from slow cooker, and top with ice cream and fudge sauce.

I can't wait to try this! :)

Bourbon Sesame Chicken Crock Pot

Picture taken from Pinterest

Tonights dinner I found on tablefortwoblog.com but it called for honey and red pepper flakes. I didn't have either.  I also didn't want to cut an onion. I also changed the oil to sesame oil instead of regular veg oil. This should give it a nice nutty flavor. I have adjusted the recipe with my changes. I also doubled the recipe to feed my crew of growing boys. So these measurements can be cut in half to feed less people, or have smaller portions. With less chicken, you will also need to cut the cooking time in half. This dish smells delicious. Tonight I will take a picture and add it, since it's cooking right now. I also changed the name of this dish since I don't have any honey in it.  I'll write the verdict at the end of the recipe after dinner tonight. I hope you like this. I am looking forward to dinner tonight :)

Bourbon Sesame Chicken

Serves: 5-8 depending on appetite

Ingredients:

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts

salt and pepper

1 1/2 cup corn syrup

1 cup white sugar

1 cup soy sauce

1/2 cup ketchup

4 Tbsp sesame oil

2 Tbsp minced garlic

1/2 cup dry minced onion or 1 cup minced fresh onion

1/8 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Cornstarch

toasted sesame seeds

Directions:

Place chicken breasts in slow cooker, sprinkle with salt and pepper on both sides. In a medium bowl, combine rest of the ingredients except the cornstarch and toasted sesame seeds. Stir to combine well. Pour over the chicken in the crockpot.

Cook on low for high for 4-6 hours.

When done remove chicken from slow cooker, slice/cut up. while chicken is out of slow cooker, add cornstarch mixed with cold water to crockpot to thicken sauce a bit. Add cut up chicken back into the slow cooker stir around to coat chicken with sauce. Serve hot/warm over rice, or eat in a lettuce/cabbage wrap. 

Sprinkle sesame seeds on top of dished up chicken.

Pancake Muffins

This morning, I decided to make some Pancake Muffins. There is no picture because they were eaten by the boys before I could get a picture. I will make more since they are such a hit with my kids. I hope to be able to update this post with a picture when I make more of these.

Since school started at my house, for my kids. I've been wanting them to have a healthy breakfast before they leave for school. I have seen on Pinterest different posts about Pancake Muffins. I decided to try my hand with it. They are baked in the oven and are SUPER easy to make. My one regret is that I don't have more muffin tins. I can only make 12 at a time. With three boys, sometimes that just isn't enough muffins. My children LOVED these. I hope you like them too. Let me know what you think.

Ingredients:

2 cups Krusteez Pancake Mix
2 scoops protein drink powder (I used vanilla)
4-5 Tbsp agave nector
2 Tbsp Cocoa Powder
3 dashes pumpkin pie spice
2 tsp vanilla
and enough water to make slightly thinner than normal pancake batter
Chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven 350F.

Mix all ingredients in a medium bowl, except the chocolate chips. Place in Non-Stick sprayed muffin tins. Sprinkle with chocolate chips (these will sink to the bottom). Bake for 15 min. Remove from muffin tins and enjoy!

My kids ate these all UP. My middle child was begging for more. These are a nice alternative to typical pancakes with syrup. No syrupy mess and the kids can eat it on the run. They also bake while your helping to get the kids ready for school. I don't have to stand over the griddle making pancakes. I just mix it up, pour in muffin tins and move on to the next thing. You can add fruit or really anything to this. I hope you find these as easy as I do. I'm going to try to make up a bunch and freeze them. So they can just grab, heat in microwave and go to school.

This recipe made 12 plus enough batter left for at least 2 more.

BESTEST CrockPot Mac N Cheese

This morning I asked my kids what they wanted for dinner tonight. Last nights dinner was very tasty but the kids didn't want it for dinner and so then dinner became a fight. I am trying to limit the amount of contention in my home. Fighting with my kids to eat the delicious dinner I made them, because they didn't want to eat it, is not something I want to do every night. I figured that I needed to make something that they actually wanted to eat tonight to save myself some sanity and peace in my home, at least one night this week. I can hope right :). Well, They asked for homemade mac n cheese. I totally could have used the "blue" box, I have several. However, my kids said they wanted HOMEMADE, mac n cheese. I said I could make baked mac n cheese, and they didn't want any part of that either. So homemade cheesy goodness was to be made on the stove and be ready for them for dinner. I decided I didn't want to turn on my stove to make a white sauce into a cheese sauce and then make the noodles and wait for them to just eat it. Too many dirty dishes, and headache for me. The only cooking on the stove for this is to pre-cook the pasta a little, but I think it would be just fine to skip that step in the future. I will test and let you know a different day.

This is recipe is a culmination of looking online and through my recipe apps for a crockpot mac n cheese. I didn't find any that are made this way, but OMGoodness... this is so delicious!  I am so glad that I adjusted this with what I had at home and what I thought would be good.

Ingredients:
12 oz. velveeta, cubed
1 1/2 cup shredded cheese blend
1 cup parmesan cheese
1 1/2 cup half n half
1 can evaporated milk
2 tbsp dijon mustard
1 lb medium shell pasta
1/4 c butter, cubed
1/2 med/large onion diced
1/4 tsp garlic salt
5-8 dashes tabasco
salt and pepper to taste (may need to just add pepper)

Directions:

Pre-boil pasta 5-6 minutes in salted, rapid boiling water to al dente. Drain and set aside (do not rinse). Spray slow cooker with "Pam" or other non stick spray. Add drained pasta. In a medium bowl mix together the rest of the ingredients, pour over the pasta and stir to incorporate throughout the pasta. Set cooker on low and stirring periodically for 2 hours, so the cheese melts thoroughly and does not get crusty on the sides and bottom. After cheese is melted throughout the dish is done. Pasta is cooked perfectly. Eat right away, or set on warm and eat later.

This dish is one of my favorites I've made so far! It's that GOOD! This makes a bunch, but as much as my family LOVES Mac N Cheese, I doubt there will be any left over for lunch tomorrow. I was thinking of serving some chicken tenders with this, but the Mac N Cheese maybe all we eat tonight.

Please let me know what you think of this I am curious to see how you like this recipe. Thanks for stopping by :)

Crockpot Freezer Meal - Teriyaki Pork and Cream Cheese Peas

Tonights dinner was one of my Freezer Crockpot meals that I made a week or so ago, to help me with evening dinners since we are doing Football in the evenings and it's new for our family. These easy dinners have really helped me with juggling these busy evenings.

This recipe was originally for pork chops, but I only had pork roasts, instead of cutting them up into chops, I figured cooking the whole roast would be tasty. It really was! My husband raved that I needed to keep this recipe and make it again. Soon! So, because it tasted so yummy I'm posting it on my blog and sharing with you. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

ingredients:
2-3 pound pork roast or 6-8 pork chops
salt and pepper to taste (I recommend sprinkling them before you freeze them)
1 Tbsp minced garlic
4 Tbsp brown sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce or amino acid
2/3 cup chicken or veggie broth

Add the garlic, brown sugar, soy sauce and broth in a large gallon size ziploc freezer bag. Mix well, then add the pre-seasoned pork roast or chops. make sure you coat all of the roast or chops in the marinade. Place in the freezer. Pull out the morning you want this for dinner, run warm water over the outside of the freezer bag to loosen up the items in the bag. Place in a crockpot on low 6-8 hours. I removed mine about 10-20 minutes before the end of the cooking time, and let set for about 5 min. This will allow the pork to stay moist.

I served this with cream cheese peas and instant mashed potatoes.

The cream cheese peas is super easy and I made that in the microwave. it's half a cream cheese package, salt and pepper to taste, and 1 pound sweet peas. Microwave 5 min on high, stir, microwave on high another 5 min. Serve warm.

Applesauce Banana Oatmeal Cookies

These last couple of weeks I've been trying to see how little I can go to the grocery store by using my food storage to make meals for my family. So far I've only had to buy milk, eggs, and bread. I do have powdered milk, powdered eggs and flour. However, those items are quite expensive to replace in powder form. I want to make sure I keep those for a true emergency. Therefore, I am willing to purchase only those items from the store. I have been using frozen and canned vegetables instead of fresh, just for this experiment since I currently don't have a garden. I have several banana's that were getting quite browned in places and I needed to use a few of them up. Instead of the typical banana bread I wanted to make something that was a "treat" for my kids. They won't eat banana bread. I found a recipe on yummly.com for banana oatmeal cookies. I had most of the items and I decided it sounded delicious to make. However, I got a phone call part of the way through making the cookies... never a good idea. However, I made a mistake in making the cookies, and they still turned out delicious. Here is my altered recipe from the one I found on Yummly.com. I am posting the doubled recipe since I doubled the original recipe. this recipe makes 4 doz cookies.

Total time 20 min
Bake 10 min
Prep 10 min

Applesauce Banana Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup butter shortening
1/2 cup applesauce (homemade)
1 cup white sugar
1 cup coconut sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cup white unbleached flour
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp nutmeg
4 ripe (browning) bananas
4 cups oatmeal (old fashioned)
4 Tbsp flax seed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Cream sugar, shortening and applesauce until fluffy. Add eggs 1 at a time incorporating each egg before adding the next. Add dry ingredients alternating between flours and other dry ingredients. Add oatmeal, bananas, and flax seed. Drop by teaspoonful on greased baking sheets. Bake 10 min each.

These cookies are delicious! My kids LOVE them! I was worried that the baking powder would change the flavor and consistency of the cookies but it didn't bother them at all. They are fluffy almost cake like cookies. Nice and soft! I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.

Banana Oatmeal Wheat Muffins

I was craving banana muffins today and I had several bananas that were perfect for banana muffins. So I looked on Pinterest here and found a recipe for Banana Oatmeal muffins. I had all the ingredients except for chocolate chips. I know a travesty but none the less, no chocolate chips. :( I thought I could make it a little healthier if I wanted so I made a few changes to the original recipe. Here is what I did. I have the muffins in the oven right now. I tripled the recipe and made 18 muffins and 2 loafs of banana oatmeal wheat bread.

Banana Oatmeal Wheat Muffins

• 9 mashed bananas (the more ripe the better!)
• 1 cup vanilla Almond milk (you could use skim but you may want to add a little sweetener)
• 6 eggs
• 3 tbsp Baking powder
• 8 cups (240g) Old Fashion or Rolled Oats
• 1 cup wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 3 tsp vanilla extract
• 9 tbsp (42g) mini chocolate chips (optional)

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients except the chocolate chips together, and let sit while you prepare the muffin pans.

Spray a muffin pan and/or liners with with non-stick spray.

Stir the chocolate chips into the oatmeal batter.

Divide batter into 15 muffin cups. They should be just about filled.

Bake 20-30 minutes, you’ll see the edges just starting to brown and they will be firm to the touch.

The muffins may stick when hot but are removed easily when cooled for a bit.

*For bread bake for 60 minutes.

They look and smell delicious. I hope you give them a try :)

Garden Shepherds Pie (meatless)

Garden Shepherds Pie (Meatless)

Tonight I wanted to celebrate National "PI" Day. PI not Pie... 3.14. I know math nerds everywhere rejoice.
The base for this recipe I got from Clean Eating Mag I found online when I googled clean eating shepherds pie. It looked good so I did my best with the ingredients I had on hand. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.

I really wanted something like pie with a nice flaky crust and yummy center... so if your looking for that kind of pie... this isn't it, I mean the nice yummy center yes, but not the flaky crust. This does not have a crust. Instead of using potatoes, I am using cauliflower, leeks and turnips with a hint of almond milk sprinkled with salt and pepper, topped with parmesan cheese. Sound yummy... I think so too. :)

The middle is full of rich delicious nutritious vegetables. Full of good nutrients and appeasing my new lifestyle of eating cleaner healthier meals. This is one of the first meatless meals I will be serving and hopefully not the last. I did use a lot of organic vegetables but not all are fresh, some have been previously canned, such as the beans and the carrots and peas were previously frozen. My house smells delicious and I'm hoping it tastes as good or better then it smells. :)

Ingredients:

Cauliflower Topping
1 cauliflower, cut off stem pieced
1 medium leek quartered and diced
1 medium turnip, diced
1 tbsp minced garlic
1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)
Salt and Pepper to taste

Add cauliflower, leek, turnips and garlic to a pot of water, boil until cauliflower is tender and turning translucent. Remove from heat, drain in strainer. Return to pot add almond milk. With a submersible blender, blend until creamy. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Use as topping for shepherds pie, or smooth out on a lightly greased cookie sheet and use for a pizza crust by cooking (drying out) in oven for 15 min.

Shepherds pie filling

2 tsp coconut oil
1 large leek, white and light green parts thinly sliced, rinsed well.
2 medium carrots diced or sliced (I used frozen carrots mixed with peas)
1 medium turnips, diced small about 1 1/2 cups
1/2 cup fresh or frozen peas
1/4 lb fresh green beans, trimmed and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
5 small garlic gloves (minced)
2 cups low-sodium vegetable broth, divided
3 large swiss chard leaves, torn into medium pieces - I rough chopped mine and I used Rainbow chard
1 sprig rosemary - chopped
1 sprig sage - chopped
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1 can cannelloni beans - rinsed
1/2 can black beans - rinsed
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

Instructions:
Preheat oven 400F.
Add oil to a large dutch oven or wide sauce pot on medium-highheat. Add leek and sauté for 5 minutes, stirring often, until begins to soften. Add Carrots, turnips, peas, green beans, and garlic and sauté for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Until vegetables begin to soften and brown bits form on the bottom of the pan. Pour 1/2 a cup of broth, scraping brown bits from bottom of the pan as the broth evaporates.

Add chard and herbs (thyme, sage and rosemary) and sauté until chard wilts, about 2 minutes. add beans and remaining broth, salt and pepper and simmer for 10 minutes, until liquid thickens and reduces slightly, and vegetables are tender.

Transfer stewed vegetables to a 10-in pie dish. Spread on top of stewed vegetables cauliflower mixture over vegetables, to the edges of the dish. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese and bake in the oven for 20 minutes or until browned (mine cooked for 26 minutes to lightly brown). Remove from oven let rest for 10 minutes. and enjoy warm!

***VERDICT!!!

SUPER DELICIOUS! I will be making this again, soon! I love how healthy this is and delicious. I am so, very pleased with how delicious this turned out. I love being able to add a meatless dish to my families dinner, which helps us stay healthy and helps our tight budget. Enjoy!!! Let me know what you think and how you adjust for your family.

Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salad

I am sorry I thought I took a picture of this beautifully, yummy salad, but I didn't. :(  I know how sad. Well. When I make it again I will take a picture of it and post it. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did. :) I brought this dish to our Cub Scout Blue and Gold banquet this tuesday. It was a real hit! Super easy to make, just lots of chopping fresh ingredients. But this is a delicious salad. Totally worth the time chopping veggies. Enjoy!

Black Bean, Corn and Avocado Salad

2 – 15 oz cans black beans, rinsed and drained

4 ears of fresh corn, cooked, and kernals cut off the cob

2 peppers – 1 yellow bell pepper and 1 orange bell pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

2 Tbsp minced shallots (1 Medium shallot)

2 tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp cayenne pepper

1-2 Tbsp stevia (optional)

3 passes around the bowl with olive oil

2 limes (The juice of 2 limes)

zest from 1 of the limes

½ cup chopped parsley, plus more for garnish (can substitute cilantro)

2 – medium avacado’s diced

1 cucumber, peeled and diced (if using English cucumbers leave peel on)

4 roma tomatoes, diced

1 bunch of green onion stalks (dice the green off the tops of 1 bunch of green onions)

Mix all ingredients in a bowl except the avacado. Cover and chill for a few hours or over night. Right before serving add the avacados and mix gently. *Do not mash the avacados. Garnish with a few sprigs of chopped parsley or cilantro. Serve at room temperature.

Serves 8-10 people generously

Clean Eating Fajita Taco's with Caramelized Onions

Fajita Taco's with Caramelized Onions


4 - Chicken Breasts, sliced thin
3 (1 of each) Red, Yellow, green or orange Bell Peppers, Sliced thin
2 - Onions, sliced thin(reserve one for the caramelized onions)
1/2 packet fajita spices (low sodium)
1 cup salsa (homemade)
Romain Lettuce Leaves


Cook the chicken, bell peppers and 1 of the onions until the chicken is cooked through, onions translucent and peppers are soft. Add fajita spices and salsa, add 1/3 cup water and simmer down. In a separate pan, slowly cook on low/med heat, add onions in 1/2 a tsp of  heated coconut oil, and a sprinkle of kosher salt until they are tender and browned. 


Spoon the fajita mixture into romaine lettuce leaves, then add a light layer of the caramelized onions on top of the fajita mixture. 


ENJOY! These are so super tasty and full of flavor. The sweetness from the onions and the spice of the fajita meat are a perfect combination. I made these for a dinner with my husband and they were so supper tasty! WE ate them all up.

Clean Eating Turkey Burgers with Homemade Salsa

Turkey Burgers with homemade Salsa


1 pound Ground turkey
1 zucchini (shredded)
1 onion (diced)
2 Tbsp Ms Dash
1 Tbsp kosher salt
2 Tbsp Fresh Grated Pepper

Preheat oven 350 Degrees F.
Combine all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Make a medium size ball of the mixture in your hand, and flatten to about 1/4 inch thick. Place on non-stick foil. Repeat until all mixture is completed. Or make meatballs using a medium (Pampered chef) scoop. Once all meat is used. Place in the oven and bake for 30 min, rotating the pan half way through and flipping burgers. Remove and serve warm and refrigerate the remaining meat for a different meal.

Homemade Salsa

3 Roma Tomatoes diced
1 big bunch of cilantro, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 Tbsp minced garlic
1 jalepeno, diced (seeds removed)

Mix together and eat! :)

Clean Eating Chicken Salsa Stirfry

Chicken salsa stirfry

Servings Size: 1

Chicken breast piece, Thawed and cubed, seasoned with Ms. Dash

1 cup green bell pepper slices

1 small yellow onion

1 carrot diced

2 celery stalks diced

2 Tbsp Salsa (low sugar)

In a small skillet, add bell peppers, onion, carrots, and celery. Lightly salt (less than a tsp. To pull out the moisture in the veggies. Cook until the onions are starting to turn translucent. Add the seasoned cut chicken. Cook on med/high heat. When it starts to stick, add water to deglaze the pan and help cook the chicken. The amount of water is a personal decision. I used about ¼ a cup at first, then it evaporated and I added another ¼ of a cup. By the time that one almost evaporated the chicken was fully cooked, the veggies were softer and I then added my salsa. Cooked a little more reducing the liquid (which also concentrates the flavor). Then served. This would be good in romaine lettuce leaves as tacos. But I just ate it as a stir-fry. No rice, no noodles. Just veggies and meat. It was spicy and delicious

Clean Eating Spiced Honey Apple Oats

Spiced Honey Apple Oats

Serving Size: 1

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup water

2 tbsp honey

¼ tsp pumpkin pie spice

1 apple pealed, cored, sliced and diced.

In a small pan add water and apples, bring to a boil, then add oats. Cook 10-15 min depending on desired consistency. Add honey, pumpkin pie spice. Stir and serve Warm.

2 tbsp honey

Clean Eating Honey Cinnamon Oats

Honey Cinnamon Oats

Serving Size: 1

1/3 cup old fashioned oats

1 cup water

2 tbsp honey

¼ tsp cinnamon

½ the inside of a vanilla bean

1 small pinch of Kosher Salt

Boil 1 cup water to a small pot and boil. Once boiling add the oats and cook about 10-15 min. depending on desired consistency. Then add honey, cinnamon and vanilla bean to the oats and stir. Serve Warm.

Clean Eating Egg White Farmers Scramble

2 Egg white Farmers Scramble

Serving Size: 1

2 egg whites

½ a bell pepper (red, green, yellow, or orange) each or any desired combination, diced.

½ large white onion

1 sliced carrot (sliced thin or diced)

1 celery stalk, diced

2 handfuls of spinach, chopped

In a small skillet add 1 tsp coconut oil and heat on med heat. Add all veggies and when onions are translucent, add the egg whites. Mix together until the egg is fully cooked. Remove from heat and enjoy.

Clean Eating Farmers Market Chicken Salad

Farmers Market Chicken Salad

Serving Size: 1

1 – 4 oz chicken breast, thawed, cubed

1 sliced carrots

2 sliced celery

1 bell pepper, sliced and cut in half (any color)

½ white onion, sliced and cut in half or diced (personal preference)

1 Roma tomato, diced

½ cup red cabbage, chopped

2 cups mixed greens with fresh spinach

1 small/mini English cucumber, cut in sliced

1 tsp Ms. Dash

1 tsp coconut oil

drizzle of balsamic vinegar

In a small saute’ pan add the coconut oil and heat. Add the carrots, celery, peppers, and onions. Saute’ until onions are turning translucent. Add the chicken and cook until the chicken is cooked through (no more pink).  Set aside to cool.

Meanwhile…

In a bowl or on a plate add the mixed greens, cucumber, cabbage, and tomato. Top with the cooled chicken mixture. Lightly drizzle with balsamic vinegar. Eat. J

*Note: if the taste of red cabbage is too over powering, you can cook it with the other veggies. This will still be very tasty while, removing some of the bite to the red cabbage.

Clean Eating Lemon Pesto Swai Fish

Lemon Pesto Swai Fish Filets

Serving Size: 1

1 Swai Fish Filet (other fish can be substituted such as tilapia, cod or halibut)

1 Tsp Pesto (light oiled or no oiled preferred)

½ a lemon sliced

Preheat oven 400 Degrees F.

In a small baking dish or cookie sheet with sides line with non-stick foil. Place thawed fish filet on top of the foil. Spread the prepared pesto on top of the fish filet. Layer the lemon slices on top of the pesto.

Bake 20-25 min until flaky and fork tender on thickest part of filet. Serve with a mixed green salad, or mixed vegetable blend with cauliflower, broccoli, and carrots. **At least 2 cups worth of vegetables. Enjoy!

Clean Eating Lemon Ms. Dash Tilapia

Lemon Ms. Dash Tilapia Filet

Serving Size: 1

1 - 3-4 oz fish filet

1 tsp Ms. Dash (Season to taste)

1 Lemon, sliced

Place fish filet on non-stick foil. Sprinkle with Ms. Dash. Place Lemon wedges on top. Bake 400 Degrees F. for 20 min (until fish is fork tender and flaky). Remove and serve over mixed green salad with fresh spinach, cucumbers, red cabbage, cherry tomatoes, and carrots.

Clean Eating Bruschetta Chicken

Bruschetta chicken

Serving Size: 5

15-25 cherry tomatoes sliced in half

½ a large white onion diced

1 yellow bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

2 big handfuls of fresh spinach (chopped)

1 -1 1/2 bunches of fresh basil (chopped)

5 – 4 oz chicken breasts

Ms Dash (to season)

Drizzle of Balsamic Vinegar

Preheat oven for 400 Degrees F.

In a baking dish line the bottom of the pan in non-stick foil. Place the chicken breasts seasoned with Ms. Dash on the foil in the pan, set aside.

In a medium bowl. Mix tomatoes, onion, bell peppers, spinach and basil together.

Pour over the prepared chicken (before cooking or after cooked chicken (would be good both ways) I cooked mine)). Bake for 45 min.

Remove from oven and serve with mixed green salad with bruschetta mix on top of chicken. Drizzle with Balsamic Vinegar.

Great Cold or reheated the next day over a bed of spinach or mixed green salad.

**You don't need to cook the bruschetta topping with the chicken, but it adds moisture to the chicken if it's a little dry.

Progress on Biggest Loser

My progress on Biggest loser is slow and steady. The first two weeks I lost a lot, but now I'm at a pretty steady loss of one or two pounds a week. I've currently lost  15 pounds in 5 weeks, and average of 3 pounds a week. I'm trying to make healthier choices. I don't always succeed but I'm working on it. This is definitely a process.

I have created some healthy recipes that are part of my new clean eating habits. I will work on posting those soon. I hope you enjoy them. They are very tasty and full of flavor. I know that is what a lot of people tell me about their diets or habits of eating healthy is that they have no flavor. These recipes are full of flavor and really good for you.

Bruschetta

This beautiful bruschetta has loads of good things for you. Nothing is artificial. Isn't the color just beautiful!

Ingredients:
15-25 cherry tomatoes - sliced in half length wise
1 whole yellow bell pepper, diced
1 whole red bell pepper, diced
1 handful of fresh spinach, chopped
1/4 large white onion, diced
1 bunch of basil, minced
1/2 tsp minced garlic

Add all ingredients to a bowl, mix together. For added zip, add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar.
Add to chicken, pork, seafood, or bread.
Eat and enjoy!

For this particular bruschetta I added it to chicken. It was very tasty and full of flavor.

Biggest Loser Challenge

Hello all! :)

Sorry it's been a while since I've written. I have been gone at my in-laws for Christmas break, and then getting back and starting a new life challenge. A new life challenge if life wasn't challenging enough... yeah I know, remember I'm a gluten for punishment. I started this Biggest Loser challenge through a personal trainer I know. I've been on it for about 10 days and at my first weigh in 3 days ago, I had lost 7 pounds. I am not starving myself. I am eating up to 6 meals a day, and exercising. Eating 6 meals a day is actually a lot harder then I thought it would be. Most of these meals require some type of cooking. So I'm working on trying to get a handle of these meals. however, I'm on a Jumpstart right now through Thursday, Jan. 19th. I am trying to create recipes that are delicious, filling and beautiful. A few have turned out good. Other's not so much. I know not everyone likes everything I'm using, but as long as I do, you can adjust as you'd like.

I will be posting those recipes and tagging them under Biggest Loser challenge, low calorie, and even, what meal it works for. I hope these are helpful. The recipes for the jump start are gluten-free. The only actual dairy are the one's with cottage cheese, but that is fat free cottage cheese, and not many people like that. I've had very low carbs as well, no pasta, no bread which has been really a difficult change for me. I am looking forward to getting off the jumpstart on Thursday so I can start eating healthier breads, and carbs. I hope you enjoy these recipes :)