Stuffed Bell Peppers

My MIL pretty much rocks! Last night she made supper for all of us, and it was A.MAZE.ING! All of us, including the kids gobbled it down. I wanted to share this with you, and I had to save it here for future dinners. Enjoy!!

INGREDIENTS: 

• 6 Bell Peppers
• Olive Oil 
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 lbs venison burger
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 1/4 cup parsley flakes
• 3/4 tsp sea salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• sprinkle of red pepper flakes
• 1 cup brown rice or quinoa
• Mozzarella cheese
• 15 oz tomato sauce
• water

DIRECTIONS: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut off the tops of each pepper and chop up the edible parts from the tops.
3. In a large pot, heat the water and parboil the peppers for 2-3 minutes. Take out the peppers and let dry on paper towels. 
4. In a skillet, heat the olive oil. Add the onion and pepper tops and cook until tender. 
5. Add venison, parsley, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Cook until meat is browned through.
6. Add rice and tomato sauce, mixing well.
7. Arrange peppers in baking dish and add water until about 1/3-inch thick.
8. Stuff peppers with meat and rice mixture, filling until it is just over the top of the pepper. 
9. Bake 25 minutes or until tender.
10. Sprinkle on mozzarella cheese on the top of each pepper. Bake for 5 more minutes.
11. Remove and let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.

Basil Pesto Quesadillas

Let's face it, meals in our house the past week have had to be simple and quick as we are figuring out this whole diabetes thing. A couple nights ago I made the kids mozzarella cheese quesadillas, and I had planned on making some avocado ones for my MIL and I. However, my avocados weren't too ripe. Plan B... I pulled out the basil pesto sauce I had in the fridge, and I have to say, I am glad the avocados weren't ripe! ;) This was pure deliciousness!

BASIL PESTO QUESADILLAS

INGREDIENTS: 

• Basil pesto sauce
• 1 small roma tomato, diced
• 1 green onion, sliced
• Salsa
• Mozzarella cheese
• Whole Wheat Tortillas
• Seasonings of choice - We used:
• Cumin
• Garlic Powder
• Paprika
• Sea Salt

DIRECTIONS:

1. With the tortilla flat, spread an even layer of basil pesto sauce over the entire area. 
2. Layer with diced tomato and green onion.
3. Sprinkle on your seasonings.
4. Put mozzarella cheese on top of all of this.
5. Fold the tortilla in half to close.
6. Spray skillet with cooking spray, and place the quesadilla in the skillet.
7. Brown on both sides.
8. Top with salsa if desired.

Yum, yum, yum! Let me know if you give it a try. :-)

Citrus Baked Chicken with Glazed Carrots

Wednesday night I cooked up a meal from my Insanity book. I wasn't sure what the family would think of it, but they tried it and gave two thumbs up as they gobbled it down. I, personally, was worried about the honey-glazed carrots, because I am not a big fan of honey {I know, I know... who doesn't like honey?!} but it's a keeper from me too! Give it a try, and let me know what you think. 

So far, so good on my Insanity journey. Today is day 5 of 60. Monday I will be posting a week one progress update here on the blog to share my thoughts with you all. Have a great Friday, friends!

{Makes 1 serving}

INGREDIENTS:
5 oz. raw boneless, skinless chicken breast
1 tsp. extra-virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp. paprika
Sea salt and fresh ground black pepper {to taste; optional}
2 medium carrots, sliced, cooked, hot
2 tsp. raw honey

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Place chicken in small, ovenproof dish.
3. Drizzle with oil and lemon juice; sprinkle with paprika. Season with salt and pepper {if desired}. 
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until center is no longer pink and juices run clear. 
5. Drizzle carrots with honey.
6. Serve chicken with carrots on the side.

TIPS/MODIFICATIONS:

For a 400-calorie meal: Add 1/2 cup cooked brown rice on the side.

For a 500-calorie meal: Increase chicken to 6 oz. and add 3/4 cup brown rice.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION {per serving}: 

Calories: 303

Total Fat: 9 g

Saturated Fat: 1 g

Cholesterol: 91 mg

Sodium: 517 mg

Carbohydrate: 26 g

Fiber: 4 g

Sugar: 17 g

Protein: 32 g

Homemade Taco Seasoning

Why have I not been making my own taco seasoning all along?! It is so simple and so much healthier than some of those store-bought packs that are loaded with salt and many times MSG too.

The recipe I used has no salt and the extra I made can be stored in the spice cabinet for next time we eat tacos.

INGREDIENTS:

4 tbsp chili powder

3 tbsp, plus 1 tsp. paprika

3 tbsp ground cumin

1 tbsp, plus 2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

DIRECTIONS:

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, paprika, ground cumin, onion powder, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper. Store in an air-tight container.

I used three tablespoons of this mix with our one pound of venison.

Meal Prep 101

Today I want to go over how I meal plan and prep. I think it is absolutely crucial for success, whether you want to lose fat or build muscle, whatever your goals may be, if you don't prepare your meals for the week, you will just set yourself up for failure. You may be thinking, "I don't have the time to spend planning and prepping; it takes too long!" That is why I want to go over what I do. When I started, it took me about 4 hours, but now that I have it down, it takes me less than two hours. It saves time in the end because I don't have to think about what we are having for lunch or come home and try to get supper all ready. This is a great way to stay on track with your eating during the week. If you spend the time making healthy food and pre-portioning it out, you will be less likely to binge and be likely to grab the healthy goodies you prepared!

What To Do

• Pick one day for planning and one day for shopping. I plan all my meals and snacks on Saturdays, and then I shop and prep on Sundays. 
  
• Be sure to have enough storage containers. You are going to need storage for all this food, and you want to be sure to get something that isn't going to crack after a couple uses. For those of you on the 21 Day Fix, Target has colored sandwich bags that are perfect! You can measure your food and snacks out in the containers that came with the program and then put them in the coordinating baggies so they are ready to go for your week ahead.
  
• Use your measuring cups or the 21 Day Fix containers to be sure you have accurate serving sizes.
  
• I have a food scale as well. This has been a great tool to have on hand as I am measuring proper portions. I bought an electronic one from Amazon, and I love that I can zero it out and measure my food with the tupperware right on there.
• 
• Cook everything you can at the same time to save time.
• I cook a lot of chicken breast, and you could do turkey as well. These are meats that keep longer. If you make seafood ahead, you will want to use it the first day or two before it goes bad.
• Keep it simple! You don't need to make all these exquisite meals. If you check out my meal plans, you will see a lot of repetition throughout my week.

Prep Tips

1. Head to the store and pick up all the groceries you need for the week.
2. Place all veggies in a water/white vinegar bath and leave them to soak for 10 minutes. {To create the "bath", fill your sink with cold water and add 1/3 cup white vinegar.} Drain, rinse and set aside.
3. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. While that is preheating, you can start peeling and cutting the veggies you just washed. If you want to bake any of your veggies, I toss mine with coconut oil and sea salt, throw them in the oven and bake for 40 minutes. 
4. If roasting any veggies, chop those with olive oil, sea salt and any other dry herbs you desire. Place in the oven, along with your sweet potatoes and bake for 30-40 minutes. 
5. Boil any chicken breasts you will be using. Poach for 15 minutes or until cooked through. I shred or cut those up and place in a container.
6. Hard boil eggs.
7. Wash, cut up and portion out any fruits you need on hand for the week.

Good luck on prepping! Comment with any questions; I am happy to help!

Nutella Fudge

Say what?! Yeah, I know... I had no idea there was a Nutella fudge recipe either or we would have been making it a whole lot sooner at this house!

Now that I do know, and now that we have had a chance to try it ourselves, you can bet it will be made again {and again and again!} around here. :-)

I saw the recipe posted over on The Chronicles of Ruthie Hart's blog, so thank you so much for sharing this, Ruthie!

Ingredients:

• 3 Tbsp butter
• 1 14 oz. can sweetened condensed milk
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 8 oz. chocolate chips
• 1 cup Nutella
• Sea salt

Directions:

1. In a glass bowl, combine condensed milk, vanilla, chocolate chips and Nutella.
2. Form a double-boiler by setting the bowl over a medium pot of simmering water. The water level should be low enough that the bottom of the bowl does not touch the water.
3. Stir until the chocolate chips are melted and the batter is smooth.
4. Pour the batter into a prepared {greased and lined w/wax paper} 8x8 baking dish. Spread smooth with a spatula.
5. Sprinkle with sea salt.
6. Refrigerate until the fudge is firm, about 2 hours.
7. Once the fudge is chilled, loosen the fudge by running a knife around the edges and then lifting the wax paper out. Peel off the wax paper. 
8. Cut and enjoy!

Ignore My Hunter! No such thing as normal picture taking with him, haha! ;)

Workouts and Meals for the Week

Home from church and set the timer for 30 minutes to force myself to get this menu done. Having a time limit helps me. I really should do that more often. ;)

My meals are so repetitive and simple, but as My Hunter said, I am busy and need to keep it simple.

So here is my plan. Excited to get back on track.

{Click to Enlarge}

After yesterday's intense Insanity workout, I am excited to have a rest day today.

I am now off to meal prep... chili is going to be thrown together and in the crockpot so I can have it in the fridge all set for the week.

Tonight's supper is leftover from last night, Chicken BBQ Beer Sandwiches. You can find that recipe here.

Thanks Laura and Jill for the link-up!

Have a great Sunday, friends! :-)

Saturday Supper

Hi friends! How has your weekend been? Ours has been gorgeous and eventful with the warm temps and My Hunter getting his first black bear... one that the taxidermist said was about as big as they get here! Proud of him!

Today we are off to church and then I have a meeting with the women's ministry team after. I really need to get home after and get our meal plan done for the week. Remember I stated that I want to get back on track with that? Gotta do it!

Last night I tried out a new crockpot meal. Since I love simple crockpot meals so much, I wanted to share this one. Turns out it was super similar to the BBQ chicken recipe we already make from time to time, but this one had beer in it. We couldn't taste the beer in it at all, but maybe if we tried a different kind next time. I chose Corona because we had a bottle sitting in the fridge that was left over from when we had friends over at Easter.

Ingredients:  {Serves 8-10} 3lbs boneless skinless chicken breast 1 tbsp onion powder 1 tbsp paprika 1 tsp garlic powder 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp pepper 8oz bottle of beer  1 bottle of your favorite  {16-18oz} BBQ sauce {We always use Sweet Baby Rays.} Sandwich fixings- buns, specialty cheeses, jalepenos 
Directions: 1. Place chicken breast in the bottom of the crockpot. 2. Mix in spices, beer, and BBQ sauce 3. Cook for 4-6 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low depending on your crockpot 4. Be sure to shred the meat as you go. 5. Serve warm on buns and with toppings of your choice!
Let me know if you end up trying this one out. I absolutely love recipes that are this easy and yummy and where I have all the ingredients on hand.
Happy Sunday!

High-Protein Chocolate/Vanilla PB Bars

On Sunday, my 5-year-old daughter and I decided to try making the protein bar recipe that came in my 21 Day Fix book. We had to improvise a little, because I only had a little Chocolate Shakeology on hand and no peanuts on hand. I am known to just mix and match recipes with whatever I have in my cupboards. ;)

Super easy to make and they have been a great snack to have on hand during our week.

High-Protein Chocolate Peanut Butter Snack Bars
{Makes 24 servings, 1 bar each}

Container Equivalents {per serving}: One Yellow Container

Ingredients:
4 Scoops Chocolate Shakeology {We used 2 scoops Chocolate & 2 scoops Vanilla.}
2 cups quick-cooking old-fashioned rolled oats
1/3 cup chopped raw peanuts {We used almonds.}
1/2 cup golden raisins {We used raisins.}
1 cup unsweetened almond milk {We used vanilla flavored almond milk.}
1/2 cup all-natural creamy peanut butter

Directions:
1. Combine Shakeology, oats, peanuts and raisins in a large mixing bowl; mix well.
2. Add almond milk and peanut butter; mix well.
3. Press mixture into 8 x 8-inch baking pan; cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours.
4. Cut into 24 bars.

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Chips & Almonds

Sometimes you just need a good treat, am I right?! Thankfully, my 21 Day Fix still allows goodies. My motto... all in moderation! I definitely can't give treats up for good. I would totally fail at this lifestyle if desserts weren't allowed. I have too big of a sweet tooth! ;)

Over the weekend, I made up these super yummy, extremely easy cookies to have on hand for my week when I craved that sweet little something.

Have to share with all of you, of course!

Oatmeal Cookies with Chocolate Morsels and Toasted Pecans

Serves: 8 {2 cookies each}
Container Equivalents {per serving}: One Yellow Container

Ingredients:
Nonstick Cooking Spray
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate morsels
1/4 cup chopped raw pecans, toasted {I only had almonds here, so I used those; tasted great!}

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. 
2. Lightly coat baking sheet with spray. Set aside.
3. Combine oats, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl; mix well.
4. Add applesauce, morsels, and pecans; mix well.
5. Drop by heaping Tbsp. onto prepared baking sheet; flatten with a spatula.
6. Bake for 14 to 16 minutes or until firm.

Enjoy!

MIMM with Protein Pancake Recipe!

Good morning, friends! How was your weekend? Ours was busy but a lot of fun!

It started off Friday with My Hunter surprising us by working from home all day. And while he actually did work the entire day, it was nice to just have him here.

Friday night before our family movie night started, he and I snuck in a quick Insanity workout. I love having him to workout with when he is here. We got in another workout together on Sunday afternoon in between everything else we had going on. Felt so good!

And we ended both Saturday and Sunday night at friends' houses to enjoy supper. Truly a marvelous weekend!

One thing I wanted to share with you this morning is this recipe that our Saturday morning started off with. These pancakes were definitely marvelous, healthy, super yummy and *very* filling!

Protein Packed & Gluten Free Pancake Recipe
{Makes 1 G.F. Pancake}

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggs
• 1 medium, very ripe banana
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• Cinnamon to taste

Directions: 

1. Mash the banana up in a small bowl.
2. Add the two eggs and whisk together.
3. Add the flaxseed, vanilla extract and cinnamon and mix all together.
4. Pour the mixture in a greased 8-inch pan.
5. Let it sit for 10-minutes.
6. Flip and let sit for just another minute.

That's it! You are ready to enjoy a great breakfast. I topped mine with strawberries, but you could put any fruit on top. 

Comment below if you try them out.

Thanks Anne! So glad I came across this recipe, because it is one we will be eating again and again at our house.

And, thank you to Katie for hosting such a happy and encouraging weekly link-up. Always a joy to join in!

Almond Crusted Chicken

I am working on getting my "Eat Clean Recipes" tab to be up and running so that eventually you can go right there to find all the recipes I share. Until then, I will just post them here.

This is a clean one that we love at our house. I love a little crunch to my chicken, which is just what this almond mixture gives. This breading is easy and delicious! You could also put it on your fish; it's great on tilapia!

{Photo Source}

Ingredients:
1 pound bag of raw unsalted almonds

1 1/2 teaspoons (or up to 1 tbsp depending on your taste) paprika

2 large egg whites

Dash of salt
Dash of black pepper

Garlic to taste
Onion to taste

4-6 chicken breasts

Directions:
Mix all ingredients except for egg whites in a food processor until very fine and soft, almost flour-like. In a separate shallow dish, whisk the egg whites.

Trim off fat from chicken breasts and cut into individual portion sizes. Place each breast between plastic wrap and pound until thin. Dip each piece of chicken into the egg, letting the excess drip back into the dish. Press both sides of the chicken breast in the almond breading. Place on a baking sheet, cover and put in the refrigerator for 20 minutes to let the breading set.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and bake chicken for 20 minutes. Half way through this baking time, take out the chicken and flip each piece over so the underside doesn't get soggy. With about 4-5 minutes remaining, turn on the broiler and let chicken get nice and golden brown on top.

Whenever I make breading, I am always left with extra. You can just put it in the refrigerator and use next time.

Enjoy! And, as always, I would love for you to comment below and let me know if you try it out! :-)

Learn to LOVE Vegetables

Recently I got asked the question from one of the ladies in my challenge group how you can get yourself to start eating vegetables. I love this question! I love it, because I have been there. A couple years ago, I was in this same boat. I never ate vegetables, and I mean never. It was a great day if I got two servings in! I would eat a lot of pasta, prepackaged snack foods, any type of dessert/chocolate I could get my hands on, and seriously, eating a salad for supper actually felt like torture!

My taste for food has dramatically changed. It just slowly seemed to happen. As I started making better choices, my taste buds started to actually crave these healthier options.

So, I want to share some ways that you can get those vegetables in to your day and maybe {Hopefully!} start to love them like I do now! ;)

•  Put vegetables you like into meals you already love! Put some onions,peppers, tomatoes or mushrooms in with your eggs to make a delicious omelet or pile it all with a scrambled egg and put that on your favorite toast or bagel. Add some spinach into your soup, chop up some carrots to add to your brown rice or quinoa. This is a great way to introduce them because the flavors of the other foods will help them taste better and be less noticeable. We love chili at our house, and that is one meal I can add a ton of vegetables… tons of beans, chopped celery, diced tomatoes, etc.! Double the amount of veggies your recipe calls for. Since you are already going to the work of chopping, why not add to your veggie intake?
• Add flavor! Raw veggies can be boring. Adding some seasoning (Garlic is a fav. at our house!) and spices or eating with dip, a favorite dressing or hummus will make them much more appetizing! Hummus or dressings are perfect for dipping carrots, celery, sliced peppers, cucumbers and more! When cooking vegetables, it’s all about the seasoning! Pick-up some Mrs. Dash seasoning (There’s no salt in these!) and sprinkle that on there. It changes the whole taste! I just picked up a lemon pepper one (A little goes a long way with this one.) and that added lemon flavor makes the veggies so much fun! You could also sprinkle some pepper or garlic on your veggies. Roast them in heart-healthy olive oil or herbs. You could also add some cheese (not a ton). Cheese makes everything better, right?! (Or is that just the WI-girl coming out?) 
• Learn how to cook! This can be a trial and error thing. I still pick up the phone often and call my mom or another cooking friend to ask them how to make a certain vegetable. I am searching Google or pulling out cookbooks. Pretty soon you will get this cooking thing down and make them taste {and even look} good.
• New Cookbook! Along with learning how to cook, I wanted to let you know there are some great cookbooks out there that have many recipes where hiding vegetables is their main purpose. I have tried out are Deceptively Delicious and then a friend suggested The Sneaky Chef. I use this to sneak more nutrition into my kids' plates. They don't know what hit them! ;)
• Follow the Season! Seasonal foods are better tasting, healthier, and fresher. You will find that right now, in the winter, strawberries for example just aren’t the same. You are still going to find them in the grocery store, but they don’t taste as good as they do in the summer. Find out what the best options are for each season just by researching a bit. Start going to farmer’s markets when those start-up this year and talk to your local growers. They will tell you what’s good, and they can tell you how to eat it too.

Hope this helps get you on the path of loving your veggies! Please comment below if you have other ideas. I would love to hear! 

TurboFire Chili

We eat a lot of chili in the winter at our house. Personally, my hubby makes my favorite ;), so I will have to share, but this one is pretty amazing too! 

When I started out on my Beachbody journey, my first workout was TurboFire. That's where this recipe came from, and the program comes with many other great recipes too. You can check it out here if you are interested.

Okay, go try this recipe. I promise you will love it! Easy. Healthy. Delicious.

Turbo Fire Chili Recipe
1 lb lean ground turkey (We use venison because that is all we have around here and it's super lean.)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
8 oz whole kernel corn, canned
1/2 onion, diced
2 garlic cloves
8 oz black beans, canned
8 oz pinto, chili, or kidney beans, canned
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 pkg Lawry's Chili seasoning
4 oz low-fat shredded cheddar cheese (optional)


Brown meat. Drain and discard any fat. Place all ingredients except cheese into a slow cooker. Cook for 4 hours on low, or 2 hours on high. Top with 1 oz. cheese, if desired.

Vegetarians!
It's extremely easy to modify this recipe! Just leave out the turkey and add extra beans! The more veggies, the better, in my opinion... tomatoes, mushrooms, peppers, corn... it's pretty hard to mess up.

Let me know if you try it out and what you think.

Skinny Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I don't know about you, but I am always on the hunt for clean recipes that my kids will love too. On Saturday I found one that fits just that, so I wanted to share with all of you.

Skinny Peanut Butter Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

SERVES 12 BIG MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS
For the MUFFINS:
2 large, ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup Greek Yogurt
1 large egg
1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or regular milk)
1/2 cup natural creamy peanut butter
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 and 3/4 cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt

**And, of course we added in chocolate chips!  **

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Spray 12-count muffin pan with nonstick spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, mix the bananas, honey, brown sugar, yogurt, egg, and milk together until combined. Whisk in peanut butter and vanilla extract until smooth.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and chocolate chips together. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients and whisk until just combined.

Fill the muffin cups almost all the way to the top. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 degrees. Keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 12 more minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. If you choose, you can drizzle muffins with melted peanut butter. 

Thanks, Sally's Baking Addiction!

If you try this out, let me know what you think!