Quinoa Egg Cups

Aloha!

I am a personal fan of anything made in the muffin tin. Mini meatloafs.. the hard boiled eggs... muffins.... cupcakes.... Oh, derailed a little from clean eating there. Anyways! I decided just to throw some stuff together this morning and see what happened. What happened was amazingness. I had some items prepped for myself (the quinoa and asparagus) that made it super easy to throw together.

2 whole eggs and 2 egg whites

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt free Italian seasoning mix (such as Mrs Dash)

1/2 tsp salt 

1 cup chopped, washed kale

4 slices chicken breast, chopped into small pieces (I used a seasoned chicken breast by Aidell's, gave it extra flavor)

8 asparagus spears, cooked, chopped into small pieces

1/2 cup cooked quinoa

2 tbsp freshly grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray.

Combine eggs and seasonings in medium mixing bowl.  Add in remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined. Evenly distribute into muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes depending on your oven. 

Zucchini Cakes

I have been an absolute warrior with eating clean this past week. However, my meals have been very basic due to limited time for meal prep. This morning I had a little extra time to look through Pinterest for ideas. I came across these little beauties. So excited to share!

Make sure you squeeze out the extra moisture from the zucchini with paper towels or a cheese cloth. Incredibly important! You don't want soggy cakes.

1 medium sized whole zucchini

1 cup panko bread crumbs

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese, grated

1 egg

1 tsp smoked paprika

2 tsp salt free Italian seasoning

1 tsp black pepper

Grate zucchini. Place in paper towels or cheese cloth and squeeze out moisture. Place in mixing bowl. Add in remaining ingredients. Mix together until well combined. Form mixture into several similar sized patties. *I got 6 all together*. Add 1 tbsp Olive or coconut oil to skillet. Cook about 2-3 minutes per side on medium high heat until browned.

I served mine with some chicken breast and organic marinara sauce. According to my app, about 350 total calories for the chicken, sauce and 2 zucchini cakes. The 2 zucchini cakes alone are only ~137 calories!

Mini Turkey Meatloaf

I am not sure if the word "meatloaves" exists. I feel like it doesn't. So I keep calling this recipe Mini Turkey Meatloaf because I don't want to get made fun of. Now you are making fun of me in your head because it probably is a word. Then you will eat this delicious, healthy, quick meal and remember that I am a genius where it matters.

The best part about this meal is that the hardest part is dicing the onions, green peppers and garlic. I have actually made this twice in the past week so I had pre-diced my onions and peppers. So yesterday, I was literally able just to throw everything together and hand grate the garlic right into it.

Sorry the picture is before these beasts went into the oven. Totally forgot to snap a picture after the fact. And I am too lazy to go grab some from the fridge right now to take a picture of. If you notice, my onions and green peppers are pretty roughly chopped. We are no longer afraid of veggies in this house. If you have kids or a husband like Jon was circa 2006, feel free to dice them more finely. Or just cover them with ground turkey better than I do.

1 lb ground turkey

1-2 cloves minced garlic (depending how much you like garlic)

1/4 cup chopped onion

1/4 cup chopped green pepper

1/2 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs

2 egg whites

2 tsp smoked paprika

1 tsp salt free Italian seasoning

1 tsp pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Ketchup or salsa to top

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prep regular sized muffin tin with cooking spray. Mix all ingredients in a medium mixing bowl. Scoop even portions into muffin cups. Bake for 30-35 minutes until browned through. Add desired topping (ketchup, salsa or even BBQ sauce) and put back in oven for 3-5 minutes.

Serve immediately or portion out for future meals! Just pop in the microwave for 45 seconds to 1 minute. 

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!