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 

Easy Quick Healthy Meals

Easy Quick Healthy Meals

Recipe's here:

Being a new mommy I dont always have time to cook a delicious healthy meal for my family. I am not one to want to eat out every night, not to mention how unreasonably expensive that would be.. so I have to come up with ways to make cooking work.  Here are just a couple simple ways i still manage to cook and eat healthy without spending hours (that i dont have) in the kitchen.

Last week I grilled up a slab of Trader Joe's Pollo Asada (its premarinated and its sooo good). I chopped up some leafy greens, avocado, onion, tomato, and cilantro.  Add a dallop of greek yogurt on the side (instead of sour cream) and top with shredded cheese and tortilla chips (or sweet potato or lentil chips to be a tad healthier). You can add some tapatio and squeezed lemon for flavor.  Or traders had a really good cilantro dressing.  Quick, easy, and good!

Lately I have been crazy Salmon in any form.. stuffed, grilled, teriyaki, garlic and lemon, you name it ill eat it.  Two delicious meals i've been making the past couple weeks are from trader joes (again of course). One is Tj's coucous and dill stuffed salmon and the other is TJ's spinach and feta stuffed salmon. OH and actually we've also had TJ's cajun seasoned salmon (a little too salty but REALLY good). I usually cook it in EVOO ( you could use coconut oil for the flavor as well) and I add fresh squeezed lemon while cooking it and after.  Heat up a bag of TJ's brown rice (takes 3 minutes..remember people, we are talkiing QUICK meals ..i know the microwave isnt the best option but I didnt have an hour to wait for rice to cook).  And then choose a veggie..my go to with rice and fish is usually broccoli (top with a little fresh parmesan and you are good to go).

Heres the spinach and feta stuffed salmon (comes with 2 slices of salmon) brown rice and broccoli.

Ready in 3 minutes

A pic of the Salmon stuffed with couscous & dill

Last night we had Linguine with Clam Sauce from Trader Joe's.  This is such an easy meal to make..it was missing vegetables so i added a whole bag of steamed spinach to the mix as well as some grilled chicken with some red pepper flakes, parmesan, and fresh minced garlic.  I grilled the chicken in EVOO.  This meal took less than 15 minutes to make and was delicious if you are crazy pasta (i was in the mood for Fall so something warm sounded good). You could also add sauteed tomatos, onion, red peppers or broccoli to add in some more veggies.  

 Serves 3

Use an entire bag of baby spinach

 YUM!

Healthy Recipes and Ideas: What I've Been Eating

Healthy Recipes and Ideas: What I've Been Eating 

Dinner: Spicy Ground Turkey Lettuce Wraps- First cook 1 tsp-2 tsp fresh minced garlic, EVOO or coconut oil, and yellow onion on the stove.  After the onions are translucent add in  99% lean ground turkey (i used a lb or a little more).  I purchased Trader Joe's gluten free Taco Season Mix  and added that to the meat (ingredients: The Taco Seasoning Ingredients: sea salt, cumin, cayenne pepper, cane sugar, paprika, onion, garlic, black pepper, red bell pepper, oregano, chili pepper, and smoked paprika). I added in a tsp or so of extra chili powder to my liking.  After the turkey is fully cooked you can serve it in Lettuce cups. I purchased a head of lettuce and gently pulled the leaves off to keep them in the shape of a cup.  I added on cabbage, tomato, and low fat mexican cheese blend. After your tacos are ready you can add a splash of lime on each of the tacos and a dap of greek yogurt or sour cream on the side.  I served these with black beans and whole wheat tortillas but didnt even end up needing the tortilla after 2 big taco wraps and beans.  Get creative with it and add in bell peppers or green onions etc!

Breakfast:  I made scrambled eggs with some veggies i had in the fridge. I used egg whites and 1 whole egg and put in chopped spinach, tomato, yellow bell pepper, cilantro, minced garlic, tomato, salt, pepper, and crushed red pepper. Served 2 people

Lunch: Turkey Sandwhich- Whole wheat fiber bread, sprouts, crushed red pepper, dijon spicy mustard, arugula, avocado and nitrate free turkey (trader joes).  Served with a side of organic baby carrots, sliced cucumber, and a dallop of spinach and kale dip ( I LOVED this trader joe's delight but now that im pregnant i havent really been all that into it, i highly suggest trying it though.. its pretty good if you dont have pregnant food adversions)

Breakfast: Kashi blueberry waffles ( TO DIE FOR and fiber full). With olive oil butter (next time id probably use coconut oil) low sugar maple syrup and blueberry flaxseed with a side of bananas. Served with orange juice. Yum

Lunch: Spinach Shredded Chicken Salad- rotisserie chicken (easy and ready to go for salads and sandwhiches- i never use the skin), shredded carrots, sliced cucumber, red bell pepper, garlic and herb goat cheese, and a trail mix berry medly (raisons, dried banana, mango, dried coconut, and mango).  I had this with Champagne Vinaigrette mixed with balsalmic vinegar. 

Breakfast: Morning Veggie Scramble: 1 egg, 2 egg whites, sauteed spinach, minced garlic, red orange and yellow bell peppers, onion, and low fat cheese.  Add salt and pepper to taste. Side of blueberries and sliced banana

Dinner:  "Healthier" Tuna Melts- I mixed tuna (canned in fresh water) with onion, celery, relish, seasoning salt and pepper, 2 tsp dijon spicy mustard, dill, chopped carrots, finely chopped cucumber and greek yogurt together in a bowl. (you can also use Mothers Market vegan mayo but i didnt have any on hand). Layer as much as you'd like on top of fiber whole wheat bread.  I added sliced tomatos and yogurt pepper jack cheese on top and put it in the oven on broil until the cheese browned. Sliced cucumber salted on the side. We went to a movie and had yogurt land for dessert YUM... okay and some popcorn. Splurge a bit more on the weekends.

Dinner: Almond Crusted Chicken and Kale Salad- I made this up one night when I wanted to add some flavor to my chicken.  I took chicken breast strips and smothered them with dijon spicy mustard and a little honey. Then used the vitamix to blend up whole almonds until they were finely chopped ( add a little salt and pepper). I rolled the chicken in the almonds and put them on a cookie sheet that was oiled with EVOO.  Bake them in the oven on 360 for about 20 minutes or so depending on how thick your strips are.  If you want to go even easier with this meal you can use chicken that is already cooked then add on the mustard and almonds and put on the baking sheet for a shorter amount of time until the almonds are crispy.  Its your choice.  I made this with a citrus kale salad. I used kale, goat cheese, shredded carrots, lemon, EVOO, salt and pepper, balsalmic vinegar, and green apples ( you can add in pomegranate and mango or other citrus fruits as well, and sunflower seeds but i didnt have any). Make sure you massage the lemon, vinegar, and oil into the kale leaves and let it sit for a good half hour so the kale is softer. Bake the sweet potato with coconut oil, nutmeg and cinnamon with a little honey or sugar to sweeten if you'd like.

Dinner: Orange Chicken and Teriyaki Broccoli. This is a quick easy meal when you get home late for work and you are too tired to cook.  Steam the broccoli, and cook Trader Joe's Mandarin Orange Chicken (in their frozen section). I use coconut oil and just a tiny bit with a splash of water to fry the chicken so its crispy.  When they are fully cooked I use only half of their sauce packet.  I added on Trader's Terriyaki sauce to the broccoli and the chicken to taste.  Pepper the broccoli if you'd like. This dish would have been good with a side of brown rice but I didnt want to cook for that long so I skipped and had extra broccoli. 

Breakfast: Egg on a Bagel.  Cook 1 egg over easy & add pepper and seasoning salt to taste. Slice avocado and add onto a bagel of your choice. Everything bagels are great with this but i had small sarah lee wheat bagels left over so i used one of those. I would have added turkey bacon to this if I had more time.  You can play with this dish and add tomato or lemon pepper as well.  Side of navel oranges (my absolute favorite fruit). 

Breakfast: Egg veggie scramble:  Cauliflower, diced spinach, diced cucumber, orange bell pepper, mushroom, feta, and nitrate and msg free turkey baco, 1 egg 2 eggwhites, minced garlic, salt pepper and crushed red pepper.

Lunch: Quick Chicken Veggie Wrap- whole wheat tortilla, add on greek yogurt, lemon, pepper, salt, nitrate and msg free turkey bacon, avocado, sliced cucumber, sliced tomato, you dont really see it in the pic on the left but i also used a little bit of butter lettuce, and add on the shredded chicken breast.  (you can use turkey as well). Wraps are really yummy grilled (use a gorge forman quick grill) but these were huge and too stuffed to do that, they were falling apart so I couldnt grill them.

Breakfast:  Greek yogurt, mix it with blueberry flaxseed and honey, slice strawberries, add granola, sliced almonds, granola, and dried coconut. I had this with a side of applesauce as well.  Cottage cheese and blueberries would be a yummy addition.

Lunch: QUICK Chicken Lime Tacos: Whole wheat tortilla, orange bell pepper, minced garlic, shredded chicken flavored with lime juice salt and pepper and chili powder, avocado, salsa verde, low fat mexican blend of cheese, and a blend of greens. EASY and so delicious. My hubby loved these.

Ordering out: Dinner & leftovers: California Pizza Kitchen- I go back and forth with what i get at CPK but this time i was feeling like adding some healthy benefits for the baby....I ordered the garden salad with light vinegairette to start and then had some of their new bread (its now cooked and much smaller pieces with olive oil and balsalmic vinegar with some herbs they put in there), and then got the veggie pizza on honey whole wheat and added on chicken and goat cheese. I believe there is a combo of eggplant, mushroom, tomato, broccoli, corn, and asparagus. I LOVE spicy food so I always add crushed red pepper. This was a slice I ate the next day for a snack.

Dinner: Sausage Pasta- Chicken Sausage (tomato and mozerella flavoried) grill on the stove (nitrate and msg free), sauteed spinach with garlic and lemon and EVOO, then sautee sliced red bell pepper, sun dried tomatos, and onion as well as the artichoke hearts in garlic and EVOO.  Add in tomato sauce (you can make your own from scratch but I used trader joe's organic basil flavored tomato sauce thats ready to go for pasta dishes).  Cook your noodles on the side ( i used brown rice penne noodles from traders). I put the spinach on the plate first and layer on the noodles and then the sauce. This is just a different way to do it, i find i eat less noodles this way.. but I also would add spinach in the pasta sauce if my hubby would eat it that way ( but he tends to hate cooked spinach and wont eat it)

Dinner: Quick Easy Comfort Food- Semi Healthy for comfort food- Trader Joe's sells these veggie patty's by Dr. Praeger's they are yummy and gluten free.  I put those on a cookie sheet with tader's sweet potato fries for 20 minutes in the oven on 425 (flipping the patties once halfway). While they were cooking in the oven i made a quick salad. I used spinach and a leafy mix from traders, shredded carrots, a berry blend of cherries blueberries and cranberries, sliced pear, crushed red pepper, garlic and herb goat cheese, champaigne vinegairette mixed with balsalmic vinegar. I ate my little patty with ketchup and had the fries with ketchup and light ranch.  Dessert was a vegan oatmeal chocolate chip cookie from traders, and later i had a cold navel orange for a snack ( i get hungry every couple hours now).

ENJOY! Let me know which recipes you try and how you tweak them! Also add comments of things you'd like to see me try or any suggestions you may have.  I truly enjoy cooking, my mom has always cooked and a lot of my memories of her in childhood are times we spent in the kitchen. I love watching her make "carol concauctions" as we called them, she never used recipes and made most things up with what she had in the fridge. I owe all of my love and zest for cooking to her! <3 Its nice to not just feed my body well but now to feed another life inside of me gives me great joy and a wonderful responsability. 

Healthy Recipees and Ideas This Week

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

Breakfast: whole grain fiber bread (trader joes) with all natural raspberry jam.. side of sliced bananas with blueberry flaxseed, and egg whites cooked on a skillet with minced garlic, chopped green onion, diced red bell pepper, mushroom, chopped spinach, red pepper flakes, trader joe's three cheese blend, salt & pepper.  If you don't eat cheese you can use vegan cheese from Mother's market they have some good options. I had this with a small glass of orange juice mixed with grapefruit juice

Lunch: Yummy lunch wrap.. Whole wheat middle Eastern flatbread (trader joe's), tzatziki garlic cucumber sauce, tabbouleh, grilled chicken breast, sliced tomato, arugula, lemon and salt and pepper to taste.. good with a side of edamame hummus (trader joe's)

Lunch or Snack: Quinoa, lemon juice ( 1 lemon squeezed), salt and pepper, diced cucumber, diced tomato, minced garlic, and mediterranean herb feta cheese (trader joe's make a great one). With a side of Middle Eastern Flatbread (or you can use pita). My hubby and I had this for lunch, we also had a side of edamame hummus. So delicious!

 QUICK DINNER, also craving fries so here it goes: Semi healthy.. Trader Joe's sweet potato fries, baked them in the oven (sprinkle with salt or if you want something sweet you can put cinnamon and sugar or honey on them) I had them with ketchup.  I used the frozen Asparagus Risotto from tj's and mixed in Sun-Dried Tomato with Mozerella Cheese smoked chicken sausage from tj's and through in some sauteed mushrooms to add in more veggies.  You could add in onion (green or yellow and brocoli if you want). I was aiming for a quick meal after work ( Being pregnant I get so hungry now that I have to eat right when the baby gives me the signal that my tummy is empty.. so sometimes frozen food as long as their arent preservatives, is the way I have to go.. HEY, its better than take out!). I sauteed the sausage seperately and then added it into the risotto. Took me 10-15 mins. Really simple! AND SO DELICIOUS! This would have been good with a side salad but the fries were calling my name. (:

Dinner: Grilled Chicken Breast cooked in Thyme, Rosemary, Garlic, Salt, Pepper, EVOO, Lemon, Onion, and Green Onion.  Side of cauliflower mashed potatoes.. steam cauliflower until almost fully cooked, smash and add in milk and 1-2 tablespoons of light sour cream, add minced garlic (to your liking) and salt and pepper with olive oil butter.. you can use coconut oil as well if you'd like.  We also had a side of butternut squash (sauteed in a skillet with 1 tablespoon agave or honey and cinnamon, add EVOO so they don't stick to the pan..cover and simmer until soft).

Dinner: Grilled Cheese sandwiches with Amy's Organic Tomato Bisque (my favorite tomato soup.. the best flavor and consistency I have found so far..aside from nordys).  In a skillet cook 2 peices of fiber whole grain bread with EVOO, layer on cheese, I used yogurt pepper jack cheese (any type.. you could do goat cheese, gorganzola, pepper jack, cheddar etc its up to you), add spinach (it will cook as everything melts together, and sliced tomato with salt & pepper and pepper flakes for spice. So delicious, just wish we had some fresh basil!

Dinner: Chicken, veggies and cheese enchiladas....Shredded grilled chicken breast (you can use rotisserie chicken to be quick), chop up some cilantro, dice tomato, green chilis (canned), onion, and green bell pepper. I used whole wheat tortillas and 3 cheese blend from trader joe's. Purchase any green or red enchilada sauce you like or make your own. I used green enchilada sauce by Las Palmas (la victoria is good too). Get a caserole dish, heat the oven to 425 on bake, take 1 tortilla (soft taco size..medium) put 1/4 teaspoon minced garlic on the middle of the torilla, add 1 spoonful of green enchilada sauce to the center, add in chicken, then layer in all the veggies on top with a tiny bit of cheese. Fold and place with the fold toward the bottom of the caserole dish so it stays closed while it cooks.  Add in 4-5 more and once all of them are in the casserole dish add on top more of the green enchilada sauce until its covered but not drenched. Add on cheese to your liking (i use a mexican blend of 3 cheeses from tj's) and then if you have any other veggies left over sprinkle them on top. Cook for 40-45 minutes depending on how many you are making. Good until the cheese is brown and golden on top.  You can add chili powder in the chicken if you want an extra kick. I love these with a lemon cabbage arugula side salad YUM! And a dollop of light sour cream or greek yogurt if you want to be extra healthy.  

Note: you can add in any veggies you like. I'd recommend green onions and red bell pepper or jalepenos as well as what i have above.  I just used what we had in the kitchen already. One day I will have a garden I pull from...hopefully...still dreaming (:   Ask your hubbys or kids to help chop and it goes by so much quicker!


Enjoy! Share your recipe's here! I'd love your suggestions.