Spaghetti Squash Burrito Bowl

Typically, when I make spaghetti squash, I tend to stick to italian style recipes. Spaghetti squash with pasta sauce, spaghetti squash lasagna boats, and the like. Well, I came across an interesting looking recipe on Pinterest for a burrito bowl in spaghetti squash, so I thought that I would recreate my own burrito bowl.

I must say, they turned out super delicious! And these could absolutely be done with various ingredients, based on your own personal tastes.

Ingredients
(makes 4 servings)
2 spaghetti squash
1 can of white beans
1 can of tomato sauce
2 tsp cooking oil
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1 lb ground turkey
1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
1 packet low sodium taco seasoning

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Cut spaghetti squash in half, and clean out the seeds. Place cut side down onto a baking sheet. Bake for 45 minutes, or until the inside is tender. Remove and let cool.
3. While spaghetti squash is baking, heat 2 tsp cooking oil in a large skillet, and sautee onion.
4. Add in minced garlic, sautee for one minute, or until fragrant, and then add in the chopped bell peppers. Cook until tender.
5. Add in the ground turkey, and brown.
6. Mix in taco seasoning until full incorporated, cook for 5 minutes.
7. Add in the can of drained white beans, and can of tomato sauce, let simmer for 10 minutes.
8. Divide the filling between the four spaghetti squash boats, cover each with 1/4 cup of cheddar cheese and sprinkle with the chopped cilantro.
9. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until cheese is browning and bubbly.
10. Enjoy!

There you have it, super delicious spaghetti squash burrito bowls! If you wanted to, you could substitute out the white beans for black beans, and even mix in fresh salsa or fresh chopped tomatoes if you wanted to!

Who is ready to try some spaghetti squash burrito bowls?

Kale and Tomato Salad

Kale was one of those foods that when I started getting healthy and looking to eat better that I really didn't care too much for in the beginning. It tasted bitter and sharp to me, and I wasn't sure what all to do with it.

I ended up using it in smoothies mostly, because you don't taste it as much when it's blended up with some delicious fruit. But the past few months I have been branching out even more and trying new recipes with kale. The conclusion, I love kale now!

This week I experimented and made a sauteed kale salad that I will definitely be doing again! It was a bowl of tasty goodness that is just exploding with nutrients. You could definitely tweak this recipe to fit your own tastes with other spices that you enjoy. This is the base recipe that I used, feel free to experiment!

Kale and Tomato Salad
(two servings)

Ingredients
1 tsp cooking oil
2 cloves of garlic (or more if you love garlic, I know I do!)
3 cups of kale (chopped or torn to medium to smaller sized pieces)
1 cup of cherry tomatoes
1 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or more if you like it spicy!)
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp sesame seeds
A few splashes of soy sauce *optional*
Season according to your own tastes!

Directions
1. Heat your cooking oil in a medium skillet over medium high heat
2. Finely mince your 2 cloves of garlic and sautee in the skillet for about one minute
3. Add in your kale and tomatoes and stir around with your garlic. Cook until the kale begins to wilt slightly.
4. Season the kale with all of your seasons, correct to your own tastes.
5. Stir all together, cook until the kale is wilted and the tomatoes are heating through.
6. Top with your sesame seeds and enjoy!

Who's ready to try some kale and tomato salad?? Do you have a killer kale recipe? Please share it with me, I would love to try it!

Zoodle Pad Thai

Zucchini and Thailand collide in this delicious dish! I have been absolutely loving my Vegetti lately (it's what makes these "zoodles"- aka zucchini noodles), and decided to make a dish with an Asian flair from one of my favorite Asian countries- Thailand.

I created a veggie pad thai dish not long ago and loved it, and decided that I would substitute the whole wheat noodles for the delicious zucchini noodles to add in an extra servings of vegetables! It's actually even easier to make with the zucchini noodles because they don't have to cook longer.

So, here we go! 

Zoodle Pad Thai (Optional with chicken)
6 servings
Ingredients
-6 medium zucchini
-2 tsp cooking oil
-1 head of broccoli, cut into florets
-1/2 an onion, finely chopped
-3 cloves of garlic, minced
-1 red bell pepper, chopped
-1 green bell pepper, chopped
-1/3 cup peanut butter
-2 Tbsp soy sauce (plus more to taste)
-3 Tbsp coconut milk (more to taste if needed)
-Pinch of crushed red pepper
-1 Tbsp Sesame seeds (plus a few extras for garnish)
-2 chicken breasts, cut into smaller pieces (if using chicken)

Directions
1. Use a vegetti or other spiralizer cutter, cut all of your zucchini on the "thick" setting, set aside.
2. Heat your cooking oil in a large skillet, and also bring a medium pot of water to a boil (one that you can fit a steamer basket into)
3. Sautee your onion until translucent, add in garlic and sautee for a minute, until fragrant.
4. Add in all of your other chopped veggies.
5. Sprinkle and mix in your sesame seeds and let the whole mixture cook over medium to medium high heat for 5 minutes, until veggies begin to get tender.
6. Add in your chicken, cook until done, mixing with veggies.
7. Mix together your peanut butter, soy sauce, and coconut milk, to make your peanut sauce. Add in a pinch of red pepper, and pour over chicken and veggie mixture.
8. Cook for 5 minutes over medium high heat.
9. While the veggies and chicken are cooking, steam the zucchini very briefly. I prefer my zucchini noodles with more crunch. The longer you steam them, the smaller they get, so you can vary it according to your taste.
10. Remove and toss with the chicken and veggie mixture.
11. Top with a few red pepper flakes and sesame seeds, and enjoy! 

So, who is ready to try using zucchini noodles??

Buffalo Cauliflower Tots

Cauliflower is one of my new vegetable favorites. I am seriously in love with this vegetable and have cooked with it more in the past six months than I ever have in my life. Who knew such a funny looking veggie could be so deliciously tasty?

From cauliflower mac and cheese, to a cauliflower “alfredo” sauce, to cauliflower pizza crust…the list goes on and on. But I have found a brand new favorite that I am drooling over still. And that’s buffalo cauli tots. You heard me. Veggie tots. But tangy, delicious and crisp.

Drooling yet? Here’s the recipe so you can try it out for yourself and see what I mean!

Buffalo Cauli Tots

Ingredients

4 cups of shredded cauliflower (about a whole head if it’s a smaller head of cauliflower, half if it’s a large head)

½ cup sharp cheddar cheese

½ cup hot sauce (think Frank’s Red Hot…any sort of “buffalo” hot sauce)

1 egg

½ cup cornmeal

½ teaspoon onion powder

½ teaspoon garlic powder

Salt and pepper to taste

*Tip if you don’t want to shred your cauliflower by hand, put it in the food processor for a couple of seconds and chop that bad boy up!*

Directions

1.     Preheat your oven to 400 degrees and spray a mini muffin tip with your choice of cooking spray.

2.     Squeeze out the excess moisture from the shredded cauliflower by placing it in a kitchen towel or several paper towels.

3.     Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl and mix together thoroughly.

4.     Scoop the mixture into the mini muffin tins, pressing firmly into the cups.

5.     Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 25 minutes, or until golden brown and crispy.

6.     Enjoy with your favorite dipping sauce! (Try making a greek yogurt style ranch dip…yum!!)

There you have it, yet another tasty way to get a serving of veggies in with our delicious friend, the cauliflower! Who is going to try this recipe themselves?

5 Easy Ways to Clean Up Your Diet

Clean eating can get a bad rap sometimes it seems. Eating of course is something very vital and essential in our daily lives, so people are naturally going to have an opinion about it, and have strong habits formed in their lives around what and how they eat.

No matter which way you dice it, eating as a whole in America has gone downhill. A lot of food is heavily processed, laden with extra sugar, filled with chemicals and refined flours and ingredients. There’s not a lot of natural, whole food that is in the average person’s diet these days.

But, the good news is that there is hope, and a better way to eat without breaking the bank. There’s a way to cut back on the processed food, sugars and refined flours without taking away from the good foods you eat (in fact you’ll improve them), get more nutrients and most importantly feel better because you are eating better.

You don’t have to go cold turkey with entering clean eating. Of course you can, but it can be easy to get frustrated and give up that way the first time you are offered a delicious, cheesy, greasy pizza. Finding small, simple substitutions and slowly adding things into your diet will help you clean up your eating.

1.    Start adding in a new vegetable. Whether it is carrots, red bell peppers with hummus, or spinach in your morning omelet, find ways to add in just one more serving of veggies a day. It is so important to get your veggies, so start just by adding one more serving a day.

(Get a serving of veggies in with a fun recipe like cauliflower tots...watch out for the recipe soon!)

2.    Switch your regular pasta with Whole Wheat pasta. It’s a simple switch, and still can sometimes be tricky, but whole wheat pasta is going to be better for you than pasta made with refined white flour.

3.    Make a smoothie! Whether it’s for breakfast or a snack, or dessert, try adding smoothies into your diet! It’s a great way to get your fruit (and even veggie) servings in every day, and it can help with your sweet tooth.

4.    Try a veggie substitution recipe. By that I mean try making spaghetti squash instead of noodles (so good!), or making a cauliflower crust for your pizza, or making baked eggplant lasagna instead of traditional lasagna. There are a ton of recipes out there that show you how to incorporate veggies into your diet.

5.    Stay away from sugar. It may be hard, but it will help your diet so much. The less you have it, the less you will crave it, and the more energy you will have over time! Look at the labels of food you are eating before you buy it and stay away from things with added sugar.

These are just a very few simple ways you can start cleaning up your diet! Consistent effort and work at looking at what you are eating will help you in so many ways. You will have more energy, tone up, and just feel better! Your body will start to crave the good stuff, and it turns into a great cycle for your life.

What’s your favorite way to clean up your diet?

"....I'd Rather Be Fat."

Okay so if you follow me on Facebook or Instagram, you may have seen this picture that I posted recently.

I saw this and just about fell out of my chair laughing. Not only is the cat’s face hilarious, but it definitely reflects how I feel about salads. Now, I do have to say, that I would actually choose to eat a salad over “being fat” or sliding back into a lifestyle where I don’t care about what I eat.

However, salads have never been my favorite food. Sure every now and then I’ll have a hankering for one, or I’ll come across a super dressed up, fancy, delicious salad. But as a whole, I’m not the world’s biggest fan of salad. And on my journey towards health, they haven’t been a major part of my diet. This could probably be due to the temptation to literally cover the thing in salad dressing, thus defeating the purpose of the salad in the first place.

Like I said, every now and then I like a salad, but for the most part, I get my five servings of daily vegetables in other ways every day. Yes, I said FIVE. I know, I thought that was a lot too at first. I went from eating a veggie maybe once a week, to eating five servings every single day.

And all without salad!

Want to know how? I’m going to share a few of my quick substitutions, tips, and favorites on how to get my five servings of veggies in every day.

Put the “salad” in my smoothie! Yup, you heard right. Get that spinach in your blender and give it a whirl! Spinach and kale are incredibly nutrient dense and good for you. They pack a powerful punch. So instead of munching on a bowl of spinach like a bunny, I put about two cups of spinach in my morning smoothie with a serving of fruit, and either my Shakeology, or some Greek yogurt. Add some ice and water, blend, and voila! It will be a green color (or brown, depending on your fruit choice), but trust me, you can’t taste it. It’s delicious, and so good for you!

Start making one or two veggie centered meals a week. This will help you ease into it, and incorporate more veggies while expanding your cooking repertoire! Try a veggie stir fry, home made veggie and bean burger patties, eggplant or zucchini lasagna…the list goes on and on!

Make your pizza crust with a veggie! You heard right again. I actually do this a lot of different ways. You can make an actual “crust” with cauliflower, which is fantastic. I have also sliced up zucchini to make pizza “slices” and pizza “boats”, and I have also used slices of eggplant as a “crust” for pizza. Give one a try, it’s pretty easy and super tasty!

Pasta sauce made from a veggie. I have come to LOVE cauliflower. I never knew you could do so much with it! This is now my go to white pasta sauce because I know it’s a whole lot healthier than alfredo sauce, tastes amazing, and gets me a serving of veggies. I use this to top spaghetti squash as well.

Speaking of spaghetti… One easy substitution that we love is spaghetti squash! Especially now that it’s the squash season of the year! If you have never tried it, I definitely recommend trying it. Really easy to cook, tastes great and you can top it exactly like real spaghetti.

Sub out your potatoes for this! Here’s another fantastic use of cauliflower. When you would normally serve mashed potatoes (which don’t have nearly as much nutrient as cauliflower) cook up your cauliflower, “mash” it in your food processor with your choice of seasoning and spices (my favorite is garlic), and serve! It’s super good and you’re getting veggies!

Snack it up. Pre portion out your favorite veggie to eat as a snack. My favorites are carrots, cucumber slices and red bell peppers. You can grab some hummus to dip them in as well for a super delicious treat!

There you have it. Just a few of the ways that I like to “dress up” my veggie servings every day. Give a few a try! Find the vegetables that you like to eat and then look up different ways that you can make them! You will probably be surprised as to just how many ways there are to use your veggies in your diet.

Let me hear from you now, what’s your favorite way to eat your veggies?

Stuffed Red Bell Peppers

One of my favorite crunchy veggies to snack on has to be red bell peppers! Get a little hummus in there, and you're set! But, red bell peppers are not only for snacking. You can make a great dinner and meal with these vibrant, red beauties, and it's a lot simpler than you would think.

I've made several variations of stuffed bell peppers, but this has to be one of my favorite so far. It's simple, and I love the combination of veggies that I used. That being said, you can also switch up your stuffing to whatever you want! Really it is quite versatile, and you can substitute different veggies for the ones your family likes.

Let's take a look at this simple, healthy recipe!

Ingredients (makes 4 servings)
2 red bell peppers
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 medium to large zucchini, chopped small
1 onion, chopped small
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp cooking oil
Pepper, paprika, garlic powder and basil to taste
1 cup of parmesan, mozzarella, or pepper jack cheese (shredded)

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cut the tops off of your bell peppers, remove the insides and slice in half long ways.
3. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.
4. While peppers are in the oven, heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat.
5. Once the oil is hot, add in your chopped onions and sautee until slightly translucent. Add your garlic, sautee for one minute.
6. Add your 1/2 lb of ground turkey, season lightly with pepper, paprika, garlic powder and a few small pinches of basil. Cook until browned and cooked through.
7. Add in your chopped zucchini, cook until slightly soft (about 5 minutes).
8. Divide up between the bell peppers, top with your cheese.
9. Cook in the oven for 20-30 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt and brown/bubble.
10. Enjoy! You can even top it with a dollop of plain greek yogurt, and your favorite hot sauce. Yum!

Some other ways that you can switch this up, you can add in cooked quinoa, brown rice, chopped green peppers, shredded carrots, the possibilities are endless!