Turkey with Zucchini "Pasta"

So, have you seen those "make pasta from your veggies" machines? If not, Google them.

Some look really cool, others look like a gadget thought up on Star Trek.

But hey, neat idea.

For this dish however, I used the good ol' fashioned potato peeler. I didn't get uniform "noodles," but I did get thin cuts of zucchini that I sauteed in the pan to make a delicious base for my ground turkey and my husband's homemade awesome tomato sauce.

This dish can be whipped up in minutes and is super healthy, clean eating, paleo, and ready to be in your tummy.

Ingredients
makes ~2 servings
1/2 lb ground turkey
1 large zucchini
1 cup of your favorite pasta sauce
1-2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Directions: 
Cook and brown your ground turkey in a skillet. Season with some garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
Take your zucchini and hold upright on a cutting board. Using your peeler, stroke from the top of the zucchini to the bottom in a quick motion to produce "strands". They should be thin.
In another skillet, heat a little olive oil on medium heat. Add in created zucchini noodles and saute them for about 2 min--until they are fragrant and beginning to get some brown spots on them. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder as desired.
Heat up you pasta sauce.

Now place your cooked zucchini noodles as the base of your dish, then top with ground turkey and pasta sauce.
Mix it all up, and enjoy!

Feel free to sprinkle some Parmesan cheese, or crumble some croutons on top; No need to worry about calories with this "pasta" dish.

Enjoy!!!!

Low Carb Greek Yogurt Pancakes

So I pretty much stole this one from my self. Greek Yogurt Pancakes are my favorite "normal" pancake to make, but the carbs can add up quickly. I'm trying to rotate my carb intake now, so I needed something that was going to allow me to fulfill my craving for pancakes on my low carb days.

Bring in the oatmeal.

copyright bobsredmill

Rolled oats are a fantastic alternative to flour, when ground up, and can be gluten free! yeah!

It's also a 1:1 ratio so no tricky measuring, just use the same amount of oats as you would flour.

Now, you can buy rolled oat flour, or you can buy regular oats and the blend them yourself (that's what I do).

I love using ground rolled oats in muffins, cakes, and cookies too!

Alright, ready for some awesome high protein, low carb pancakes? Go.

Makes ~10 pancakes

Ingredients
1 large egg
1 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cups rolled oats, blended
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 cup milk of choice (I use almond milk--the more milk you use the thinner the batter, your choice)

Optional (my favs):
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder 

Directions
Heat a large skillet on Medium heat.
Blend your 1/2 cup rolled oats to a fine powder and place in a medium bowl.
Then whisk in your greek yogurt, egg, vanilla, and baking soda.
Add cinnamon and protein powder, if desired.

Scoop and pour batter and evenly  into the heated skillet. (I use a 1/4 cup to scoop, pour and even out the batter)
Cook until bubbles start to pop on top of the batter and then flip.
Cook for another 45-60 sec.
Repeat until all batter is gone.

Top with some delicious fruit, or jam (blueberry jam is my favorite!)

ENJOY!!!

Nutrition Information: 

Serving size ~5 pancakes

172 Cal * 19 carbs *4.5g Fat* 21.5g Protein * 2.5 g Fiber*

 P.S. It's okay, you can eat them all and still be under 350 calories and have 43g of protein: I DID!

Chili Lime Roast

London broil is a fantastic cut of meat.
It's a thick enough to hold a ton of flavor but it's also very lean and easily shredded.

I was first introduced to London broil by my mother-in-law who makes her pepper steak with it.
I love it.

It does have a unique "roast" like flavor that is hard to mask, but I found the key to this dish is the lime. It makes this roast a flavorful mexican fiesta in your mouth.

This dish is simple, high in protein, clean eating, and DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:
2lbs London broil, frozen
1tbs garlic powder
1/2 chili powder
1tbs cumin
2 cups  stalk (chicken, beef, veggie, your choice)
1/2 onion, minced
1 tbs vinegar
1 4oz can of diced green chilies
2 limes, juiced

*optional sweet potato

Directions: 
Place frozen* London broil, stalk, seasonings, vinegar, chilies and onion in the slow cooker.
Set on high for 3-4 hours then turn to low for another 3 hours.
Take two forks and shred the cooked meat.
Squeeze the two limes over the shredded beef and stir.

* If your london broil is thawed cut the the  cooking time down to just 3-4 hours in the crock pot.

* If you don't have a crock pot, cut the London broil into thin strips then place them in a large pot over medium heat. Cook the meat all the way through and then all all the ingredients, except the lime. Bring to a boil for 2 min then let simmer for 20-30 min until everything is mixed in. Squeeze the two limes over the meat and shrewd more as needed.

Use to make delicious tacos or top it on a spicy sweet potato

Spicy Sweet Potato
1 sweet potato
1/16 cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp garlic powder

Poke holes in the sweet potato with a fork and then microwave for 3-5 min.
Carefully cut it open (the steam from the inside can burn) and scrape the insides away from the skin. Place the insides in a small bowl with the cayenne pepper, and garlic powder.
Smash it all together with a fork.

Done.

Enjoy!!!!

Summer Apple Chicken Salad

Have a pita? 

Fill it with this, your taste buds will thank you. 

Something you may not know about me is that one food motto I hold strong too is anything "white" and/or "solid" generally at room temperate I don't allow into my diet. Food items in these categories include: mayonnaise, white bread, ranch dressing, butter (now, I'll bake and/or cook with it every now and then but you wont see me putting it on my daily bread), crisco or any cooking agent that is in that category, velveeta....(I still don't really know what it is, but sorry all you nacho lovers my cheese dip will NOT include that solid in a box "cheese"). 

So with mayo out, let's say hello to plain greek yogurt. The healthy, high protein, extremely versatile yogurt.  I chose to buy plain greek yogurt and then season/sweeten it up myself to keep as many preservatives out of my diet. So far so good! 
Check out this Greek Yogurt Parmesan Chicken: it will rock your world.

Now,
thanks to  The Gracious Pantry  I have been inspired to create yet another wonderful and easy to make work lunch. 

Bonus, it's high in protein, clean eating, and low in fat! Feel free to double, triple, quadruple as needed.

Ingredients: 
4-6 oz chicken breast
1/4 cup greek yogurt
1tsp garlic powder
2 tbs chopped red onion 
1/4 cup granny smith apple, chopped
1 tsp lemon juice
1/4 tsp black pepper
pinch of salt 

Optional: add chopped celery, exchange the apple for grapes, and/or add chopped nuts.

 
Directions: 
Shred/chop your chicken as desired. 
Mix everything together and....

Voila! 

Healthy Spring Stir Fry

 

Yes, stir fry can be clean eating and healthy,

and best of all, be DELICIOUS!

I put this simple dish together in the morning for my lunch at work and was so pleased with the outcome. I could easily be doubled or tripled to feed more than one, and feel free to mix up the veggies and meat as desired. 

Recipe adapted from Skinnytaste
Ingredients: 
4-6oz chicken breast, cooked and cubed
1/2 cup brown rice, cooked
3tbs egg whites
1 large carrot, chopped
1/2 cup sugar snap peas
1-2 garlic cloves, minced
red onion, slivers
1-2 tbs low sodium sauce
1/4 tsp garlic powder (optional: I like garlic)
1/4 tsp pepper
1 tbs olive oil

Directions: 

Mix 1tbs soy sauce,  pepper, and garlic powder in a bowl.
Toss cubed chicken in sauce and set aside.
Heat olive oil in a small skillet over medium heat. 
Add onion and cook until partially translucent.
Then add minced garlic, chopped carrots, and snap peas and sir fry until veggies are tender.
Move cooked veggies to one side of the pan and add in the egg whites. 
Stir them until they scramble and then mix in with the veggies.
Mix the veggie-egg mixture with  the cooked rice and sauced chicken. 
Add another 1/2-1tbs soy sauce and toss it all together until well combined.