Taco Pasta

So this was amazing. And it took like 30 minutes, tops. I used flavorgod spices. These spices will change your life. Check him out on Instagram @flavorgod. 

1 tbsp Olive oil 

1/2 cup onion, finely chopped 

1/2 cup bell pepper, finely chopped 

2 cloves garlic

1.25 lb of ground turkey breast

2 cups salsa

2 cups chicken stock

1 13.25 oz box whole wheat rotini pasta

1 tbsp flavorgod everything seasoning "spicy" (or your favorite taco seasoning)

1 can whole kernel corn

1/2 cup shredded cheese

In a 12 inch deep skillet, sautée vegetables in Olive oil for about 2 minutes. Add in ground turkey and cook through. Add remaining ingredients besides cheese and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium and cover. Allow to simmer, stirring occasionally, for about 15 minutes until pasta is tender. Sprinkle with cheese and cook 2 more minutes until cheese is melted. Add more seasoning if desired.

I skipped the salt because I wanted to keep it low sodium but go'on witcha bad self if you wanna salt that bad boy up. :D

Light Eggs Benedict

I literally have not even finished eating this masterpiece and I ran to my computer to type up a post for everybody.

First, let me start by saying, I have learned not to try and take unhealthy recipes and make them healthy in my everyday life. I try to just eat very simple and very clean. Limited ingredients, sometimes its a little bland, but it is getting my body the fuel it needs. I truly believe food is an addiction and I think eating shortcut meals, desserts, snacks, really just enables the problem. However, when I feel it creeping in the back of my mind that I want to cheat, that's when I'll incorporate a lightened option.

I have been absolutely obsessed with my zucchini cakes and finding new ways to incorporate them. I was driving the other day and it dawned on me that I could use them as the base for an eggs benedict, instead of an English muffin. Happiest revelation ever. And then I'm like HI, hollandaise sauce is like, the worst ever. I knew there had to be a lighter hollandaise recipe that still used real ingredients. I was correct. #thankyouinternetz

SO I got in the kitchen and started with my hollandaise sauce. I followed a recipe from food.com. I did add smoked paprika and a little extra salt. I also reduced the lemon juice amount. My sauce actually took about 25 minutes to thicken but it's probably due to my ghetto pseudo double boiler method I use.

I then took the metal bowl off my sauce pan and just used the boiling water I already had to poach my egg. I found easy intructions on simplyrecipes.com. I did opt for the mason jar ring method they show. It was super easy!

I threw a couple of my zucchini cakes on a plate and topped it with my beautiful poached egg.

I then poured some of the hollandaise sauce right over the stack, sprinkled with some paprika, and garnished with parsley. Absolutely amazing.

Light Eggs Benedict
(Single Serving recipe, multiply as needed)

2 zucchini cakes
1 poached egg
Desired amount of Hollandaise sauce (recipe that follows yields about 1 1/2 cups)

1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
1 tsp lemon juice
3 egg yolks
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dijon mustard
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp smoked paprika

Bring saucepan with a shallow amount of water to a boil. Use a medium metal mixing bowl that will fit over the saucepan without touching the water, if you don't have a double boiler. In the metal bowl, combine yogurt, lemon juice and egg yolks until well combined. Place over boiling water and reduce heat to medium. Stir frequently. The sauce will thin out towards the middle of the process. Don't remove until it has thickened back up again. Remove from heat and stir in remaining ingredients.

Lay zucchini cakes on a plate, top with poached egged. Cover with desired amount of hollandaise sauce. Sprinkle with a little paprika and parsley if you wish. Enjoy!


If you are on instagram, please check out my new page @beastlybeautyfitness. Tag me if you make this or any of my other recipes. I'd love to see some pictures. Chances are your food photography will be way better than mine!

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.