Chocolate Coconut Protein Bars

GUYS.. Pay attention. You HAVE to make these. Like NOW. Or tomorrow at least. And then post it on instagram, tag @cait508 and make my mouth water all over again. I tasted a little bit of it and then immediately portioned it out for myself into ziploc bags so I didn't eat the entire 8x8 pan size of it. It tastes like protein almond joy heaven. Anyways... Here's the recipe.

1 mashed banana
1 1/2 cup rolled oats
3 scoop chocolate protein
2 tbsp flaxseed meal
2 tbsp chia seed
1/4 cup almond butter
1/3 cup shredded coconut
1/4 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
1/4 cup coconut water
1/2 tsp almond extract (I used 1 tsp when I made mine, but it is a STRONG flavor, so make sure you like it first before you go all crazy like me)

Put foil into 8x8 baking dish. Combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl. It will be very moist and sticky. Press into the prepared baking dish. Cover with more aluminum foil. Place in freezer for 2-3 hours. Cut into desired size squares and try not to eat them all in one day. :D

Turkey Stuffed Zucchini

I've seen like a million posts floating around Pinterest that gave me the idea for this one. I made this ground turkey mixture all the time to eat throughout the week. So I figured for dinner, I'd just shove it in some hollowed out zucchini and BOOM! dinner is SERVED.

2 zucchinis
1/2 onion, chopped
1/2 green pepper, chopped
3 cloves, minced
1 lb ground turkey breast
8 oz tomato sauce
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tsp basil
1 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place aluminium foil on baking sheet.

Wash zucchini, chop off ends, cut in half lengthwise. Using a spoon, hollow out middle of zucchini. Set on baking sheet.

In a large skillet, sautee onions and green peppers in olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. Add in cloves of garlic and ground turkey breast. Season with pepper, basil and oregano. Cook until turkey breast is fully browned. Add in tomato sauce and red pepper flakes.

Spoon mixture into hollowed zucchinis. Cook 25-30 minutes until zucchini is fork tender.

Turkey Sausage Soup

Aloha!

So the other day I made some mini turkey meatball soup. It was such a hit, Jon ate all of it over the span of two days. Today, I was going to make the soup again but needed my ground turkey to make some Turkey Feta Burgers. I realized I had turkey sausage I needed to use up and figured it would get the job done. Sure enough, it tastes just as good and was a lot easier to throw together. I will save the recipe for the turkey meatballs for another day.

** You may want to cook the rotini (or whatever noodle you use) separately, then toss it in olive oil and keep it on the side. Otherwise, if you're keeping the soup in the fridge or even on the stove just for a few hours, the noodles can get mushy from the liquid. So you can just keep the noodles separate and then add to the soup when you're ready to serve. **

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 an onion, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 lb turkey italian sausage
2 1/2 quarts water
6 tbsp chicken base (I used "better than bouillon" chicken base)
1/2 tbsp worcestershire sauce
1/2 tbsp dried oregano
1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
salt & pepper to taste
2 ribs of celery, with leaves, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and diced
1/2 zucchini, diced
1 14.5 oz can diced tomatoes
1 15 oz can cannelini beans
1 15 oz can corn
6 oz rainbow rotini

In a large soup pot, sautee onion in olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add in garlic and turkey sausage. Brown turkey sausage. Add in water and chicken base and stir until combined. Add in worcestershire, oregano, parsley, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper. Stir to combine. Bring to a boil and drop in vegetables, tomatoes, beans and corn. Allow to cook about 15 minutes, until vegetables are fork tender. Add in rotini and cook until al dente. Enjoy!

Orange Chicken Stirfry

I am always looking for ways to use leftover shredded chicken. I normally throw together chicken soft tacos or just mix it in with some whole wheat pasta. Today, I decided to try something new. It was delicious.

2 tbsp coconut oil 

3 cloves garlic

1 cup orange juice

1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce

2 tbsp honey

2 cups shredded chicken, fully cooked

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp salt

2 cups vegetable Stirfry mix

1 tbsp cornstarch

In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together orange juice, soy sauce and honey. Add shredded chicken to sauce. Cover and marinate for about a half hour in the fridge. In a large skillet, sautée garlic in coconut oil for about 2 minutes on medium-high heat. Add vegetable Stirfry mix, red pepper flakes and salt. Cook vegetables per Stirfry package instructions. Add chicken mixture to skillet. Reduce heat to low-medium, whisk in cornstarch and allow to simmer for 15 minutes, or until heated through. Enjoy!

Pepper Jack Turkey Burgers

My husband has been working really long hours at work so I decided I would spoil him with his favorite type of food, a burger. Jon is a red meat type of guy. However, over the years, he has truly come to love my Feta Turkey Burgers. So, I wanted to make a twist on them. I have been trying to cut down my cheese intake. However, I allowed myself to indulge a little with these.

It is also worth mentioning that on this day I decided to spoil him, he decided to bring home some flowers and a card to thank me for taking care of the house and meals since he hasn't been home to help me. Being appreciated is the best feeling in the world!

1.25 lb ground turkey breast
1/2 red bell pepper, finely diced
1/2 red onion, finely diced
1 tsp creole seasoning
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/4 tsp smoked paprika
1/4 tsp ground cumin
1 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
1 egg white
2 tbsp whole wheat bread crumbs
1 tbsp lime juice
1/4 lb pepper jack cheese, cut into small cubes

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients with hands until well incorporated. Spray griddle or skillet with cooking spray. Cook burgers until lightly browned and cooked through, about 6-7 minutes each side on medium heat. Serve on toasted whole wheat bun. Enjoy!

BBQ Chicken Portobello Mushrooms with Caramelized Onions

The BBQ sauce was such a huge hit I used it two nights in a row for dinner. The first night was the unforgettable BBQ pulled pork tacos. The next night was pizzas made with portobello mushrooms. So. Very. Delicious.

4 portobello mushrooms (removed stems and chop them, reserve on side)

1/2 red onion, sliced

2 tbsp olive oil

1 tsp sea salt

1 tbsp agave nectar

1 cup bbq sauce

1 cup shredded chicken (fully cooked)

about 1/4 cup of shredded cheese if desired to spread between 4 mushrooms

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray. Place portobello mushrooms on baking sheet with hollow side up.

Cook onions in olive oil on medium high. Allow to cook for about 5 minutes and then add sea salt. Stir continuously. After about 5 minutes, drizzle agave nectar over it. Reduce to low-medium. Keep stirring onions until browned. Add mushroom stems. Cook for about 2 minutes. Add in bbq sauce and shredded chicken. Cook for about 2-3 minutes until chicken is heated through.

Place an even amount of mixture in each mushroom. Place in oven (without the cheese) for about 7 minutes. Take out of oven, sprinkle with a little cheese on each and put back in oven for 3-5 minutes until bubbly. 

BBQ Pulled Pork Tacos

I am finally using my crockpot the way it deserves to be used. I was so excited to try a recipe like this that I drove to three different stores just to find pork tenderloin. This is hands down one of my all time favorite dinners I've made.

1.39 lb pork tenderloin
1/2 red onion, sliced
2 tsp creole seasoning
Salt & Pepper to season tenderloin
1 cup bbq sauce (plus 1/2-1 cup extra)
1/2 cup chicken stock
8 whole wheat tortillas

Spread onion slices on bottom of crockpot and season with a little creole seasoning. Season both sides of tenderloin with creole seasoning, salt and pepper. Cut into 3 or 4 sections and place in crockpot. Pour bbq sauce and chicken stock over tenderloin. Cook on low for 4-6 hours until pork is tender enough to shred with a fork. Shred with fork and pour extra sauce in. Stir together and cook for an additional 30 minutes.

While pork is finishing, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray tortillas with cooking spray. Place on baking sheet and cook until golden brown, about 5-7 minutes. As soon as they come out of the oven, fold over itself to make a taco shell. (Use a fork to do it- they will be hot!)

Once pork is done, fill shells with pork. Serve with shredded lettuce and diced tomatoes if desired. Enjoy!

Low Sugar BBQ Sauce

So I had like 3 or 4 posts pending for here and I am totally skipping their deliciousness to bring you my newest concoction, low sugar BBQ sauce. It was such a big hit I used it for two dinners in a row. I will post the sauce recipe here and then those will follow shortly after.

1 29 oz can tomato sauce
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1/2 tbsp smoked paprika
1/8 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
2 tbsp yellow mustard
1/4 cup Worcestershire sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar

In a medium stockpot on medium-high, whisk all ingredients together. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low-medium and stir repeatedly. Reduce to low and allow to simmer about 20 minutes until sauce is thickened.

Garlic Shrimp

Recently I moved to the west side of the island of Oahu. Until now, I had been living on the North Shore. One of the best parts of living on the North Shore was driving 5 minutes down the road to get famous garlic butter shrimp. I can't drive 5 minutes to Fumi's anymore, and I also can't afford the calories in it anyways.

So, I got crafty at home. I used 5 ingredients to get this delicious dinner made. I go crazy heavy on garlic because I'm obsessed. So feel free to scale it back if you don't want to stink up an entire zip code with your breath.

The first time I made it, I used olive oil. The second time I used coconut oil. They were both delicious but coconut oil is supposed to be reeeeally good for you, so if you have it, use it. If you don't have it, I totally recommend it! I even found some at home spa treatments that use coconut oil on Pinterest too, haha.

Here is the star ingredient that saved me a million calories. Love you! :*

1-2 tbsp coconut (or olive) oil to coat sautee pan

5-6 cloves garlic, finely diced

10-12 pieces shrimp, deveined and tail off (I honestly just bought the frozen kind pre-cooked, pre-prepped at Costco and it was still delicious!)

Sprinkle popcorn seasoning butter flavor to taste

Sprinkle sea salt to taste

In a pan, on medium high, sautee garlic in oil for about 2 minutes. Add in shrimp. Cook shrimp until pink for about 3-4 minutes if raw. If pre-cooked, just cook until heated through. Add in butter seasoning and sea salt. And you are done!

Wow, so I realized that I never even blogged about the best day of my life! I have flooded people's Facebook newsfeeds and instagrams with obnoxious pictures but never did here. Weird.

Anyways, We got married On October 6, 2012. The day started out cloudy and a little rainy apparently. However, I was too busy getting ready and rocking out to Pandora with my friends and family to even notice. I managed to have no bridezilla meltdowns. I got to the point where all I cared about was marrying Jon. One of our groomsmen actually tried to play a prank of us that he didn't pick up the pants from the rental place. My bridesmaid freaked out about it more than I did. I was about to have him borrow a pair of Jon's jeans. Haha. He was just messing with us anyways. Also, my groom decided to spend a little too much time doing shots with the boys. We were able to get 8 adult and 3 child females out of the house before he could get himself and 3 other men. Typical. Haha. One of my bridesmaids came up with the idea to all rock silly aloha shirts for the "getting ready" pic. Loved the idea :)

We got married around 4:00pm at Waimea Valley. A couple months before our wedding day, our pastor unfortunately passed away. Jon knew a pastor who lived in the condo complex who offered to step in and officiate the ceremony for us. He did an amazing job. One of my favorite memories of the day was when our ring bearer presented the pillow, which was a Patriots pillow pet, and he laughed at us. He said "and I thought I had seen everything!". We are serious about our love for the New England Patriots.

Our ceremony was short, sweet and to the point. It lasted about 15 minutes in total. After that, the guests went on to the cocktail hour and we started the photo session. We did the group pictures with our families and the bridal party.

Funny story about the bridal party pictures. When planning the wedding, the one part that was freaking me out the most was how unbalanced our pictures were going to be. Jon and I both only have sisters and I have four very close girl friends. So, I ended up with 7 bridesmaids and he only 3 groomsmen. Being a Libra and loving balance and all that, this was totally throwing me off. I figured out a way to line up everyone evenly with 5 on each side, which made me feel much better. As a joke to make fun of his OCD wife, Jon asked the photographer to get a picture with 3 groomsmen on his side and the 10,000 females on mine. It ended up being my favorite picture! Haha.

Then, we went across the street alone to get some shots at infamous Waimea Bay beach at sunset.

After the photos, we headed back over to join the party. Our theme was love birds, in tiffany blue and peach. Our moms set up the entire room and it looked amazing! We had a candy bar, and each guest got a favor box to go fill up. We DIY'd the invitations, programs, centerpieces, favor boxes and candy bar. Our first dance was Michael Buble "Everything". I danced with my father to "Have I Told You Lately?" by Van Morrison. My dad raised me listening to Van Morrison so it was a perfect song for us to dance to. I would've loved to dance to Brown Eyed Girl but my blue eyes kind of ruined that for us, haha. Jon danced with his mom to Landslide by Stevie Knicks. We also went ahead and led the dance floor with Gangnam Style because what would a 2012 wedding be without that? Its also worth mentioning that I specifically asked that guy NOT to smash cake all over the makeup that took precious time to happen. Photo evidence that he doesn't listen very well follows.

A couple worthy shout outs to the photographer and cake designer. Both were incredibly reasonably priced, super professional and I was overly satisfied with their work. My photographer can be found at http://www.hawaiiphotos.com/.

The whole night was just totally wonderful. Jon and I have been together now about 8 1/2 years and it is so wonderful to finally be husband and wife. We have seen each other through good, bad and ugly times. He is my best friend in the whole world and challenges me every day to be a better person. I hope that everyone reading this has someone like that in their life and if not that 2013 brings that person to you!

I will finish this post with a few pictures from our "staycation" honeymoon. We are going on a "real" honeymoon in April to Vegas. But, hi, we live in Hawaii, I'd say that's a worthy honeymoon destination!