Worlds BEST Taco Salad

I want to share this amazing recipe with you all! It is literally the best taco salad I have ever made and it is HEALTHY! Yes- no guilt, but the taste makes it feel like I'm totally cheating! What makes it even better- it is 100% 21 Day Fix APPROVED!!!

So- this is also kid tested and hubby approved! Can't get much better than that!

Ingredients:

1 Green Container (1 Cup) baby spinach or spring mix lettuce

1 Green Container (1 Cup) sliced peppers- I use baby sweet peppers and onions

1 blue container (about 1/4 cup) of avocado and mexican cheese

1 Red Container (3/4 cup) of ground turkey with taco seasoning

1 Yellow Container -- I improved and guessed it would be about 8 blue corn organic chips

And I used hot sauce or salsa as the dressing!!!

SO MUCH FLAVOR!! And this is out of this world amazing!!!

Try it and let me know what you think!

Flank Steak Stir Fry

This is what's for dinner tonight!!

We love our Chinese food around here, but come on... let's face it-- there is so much sodium in that stuff that we are bloated and feeling gross for days after eating it! So, my hubby and I like to put our own spin on stir fry!!

I am sharing this recipe with you to help you make your own delicious dinner without the guilt! It is healthy and so good! And as always, kid approved!!!



FLANK STEAK STIR FRY

Ingredients:

2-inch slice fresh ginger, peeled, finely chopped
3 1/2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 Tbsp. crushed red pepper
2 Tbsp. fresh lime juice
1 Tbsp. raw honey
¼ cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. sesame seed oil
1½ lbs. flank steak 

Additional:
1 bunch of broccoli
1 red bell pepper
1 yellow bell pepper
sliced or julienne carrots (as many as you'd like)
brown rice

Cut steak into strips. 

Combine ingredients and marinate for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Cook to your liking. 

Cut the broccoli and peppers up into chunks and add it to the stir fry about 5-8 minutes before it is finished cooking! We like ours to still have a little 'crunch' to them!

Serve over a bed of brown rice!

ENJOY!!!!

Almond Crusted Tilapia (or Chicken!)

This recipe is so good! It gives your fish or chicken an amazing flavor all while being super healthy! It gets an A+ from my family, so I want to share it with you!!


Ingredients:

1 1/2-2 pounds of chicken or tilapia
1 pound bag of unsalted almonds
1 cup (maybe a little more) egg whites
salt
pepper
paprika
onion powder
garlic powder

This makes a LOT of breading. I usually divide it in half and freeze the half I'm not using for next time! Simple and easy! I'm all about freezing leftovers or 1/2 of dinners so I can just pull them out next time we have it!

DIRECTIONS:

Okay- so first thing is first. Line a cookie sheet with aluminum foil. It makes clean up so much easier!!

In a food processor blend the almonds, salt, pepper, paprika, onion and garlic powders until fine.  I honestly just guestimate the seasonings. I am sorry if you are a a measuring person!!! I just put a pinch here and a dash there!! Taste it along the way to see how you like it!

Okay, separate the mixture and freeze half at this point.

Now, take your meat. Cut it into slices. I will put mine in between plastic wrap and 'pound' them until thin. They cook faster and taste better when they are thin!! Usually 6-8 pieces! Put the egg whites in a bowl and now you will want to coat your meat in egg whites. I usually get it pretty wet with egg whites and then I dip the meat into the almond flour mixture! Coat it well and place it on the GREASED cookie sheet with the foil on it. To grease it, I just take a little bit of Olive Oil on a cooking brush and brush the foil with it before I put my chicken down on it. Works great.

BAKING:
If you are like me and like your chicken/fish CRISPY then bake at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. At the 10 minute mark I take them out of the oven, flip them over (so they don't get soggy) and finish cooking. THEN I put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes to get the tops really crispy like "fried" chicken!!

Try it tonight! I hope you LOVE it as much as we do!

I generally serve with baked sweet potatoes and baked asparagus with LOTS of garlic ;)

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

I am a creature of habit, so I tend to stick to what I love and know that my family loves too. When I try new recipes it is usually the basics of chicken or turkey. My husband and I have never really been huge fans of pork (unless if it is a huge ham on Christmas, then my hubby is all over it! ;)  ) but we really don't eat much pork. Well, I came across this recipe not too long ago and decided to try it because we were really getting sick of the same meals over and over again. Well, let me tell you.. it was a HIT! My kids asked for seconds and my hubby really enjoyed them too. We paired them with some brown rice and asparagus and we all ate it up! So good and super easy! I don't do hard dinners! NO WAY! So, here you go :) 

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

Ingredients:  

• 3/4 c parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp basil leaves
• 1/4 tsp garlic powder
• 1/4 tsp dried orgeno
• 1 dash black pepper
• 1 dash salt
• 1/4 tsp thyme leaves
• 1/4 cup dijon mustard
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 lbs pork chops

Directions:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• Line baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.
• In a small bowl whisk together mustard, oil, and spices.
• Season the 4 pork chops with pepper, then brush both sides of the chops with the mustard mixture.
• Press the grated cheese into both sides of the chops.
• Place the chops on the prepared baking sheet.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.  The coating should be browned and slightly crispy and the pork should be cooked through.
• REMEMBER: If you don't like pork then you can also use this recipe with boneless chicken breasts instead of pork chops.

Kale Salad

I will confess that I have not yet tried this recipe. It is however on my meal plan for next week! I can't wait to try it. I really don't think that there is any way that it will go wrong! I mean, it sounds AMAZING!! And the few ingredients that are put together will no doubt be delicious! I love simple, yummy, and healthy! This recipe meets all three :) Who says that eating healthy is gross? That is definitely not the case around here!! We always have a satisfied belly!!

Here you go!

Kale Salad With Goat Cheese, Pears, Pecans and Pomegranate

Toast 1/2 cup pecan halves at 350 degrees for 5-6 minutes. Just line them up on a cookie sheet and pop them in the oven. That SIMPLE!!
Let them cook and chop them up a little bit! Set aside. 

DRESSING:

2 TBSP Fresh Pomegranate Juice
2 TBSP white Balsamic Vinegar
1 TBSP EVOO
1 minced scallion- listen up… just chop up the white part and the light green part!!)
1 1/4 tsp Dijon mustard
1 3/4 tsp Honey
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 tsp black pepper

Whisk all ingredients together in a bowl. It will keep up to one day in the refrigerator.

SALAD:

3 Pears- slice them thin
8 Cups Baby Kale leaves
1/2 cup pomegranate arils - see pic to the right!
3/4 cup crumbled goat cheese

Serve topped with the toasted pecans!!

Doesn't this sound so good?! It is packed FULL of nutrients and super foods! And it will be sweet and SO GOOD :) I can't wait to have this for dinner! I will pair it with some Beef Tenderloin! Recipe for that will be posted soon! Stay tuned to my Healthy Recipes!

Shrimp Fajitas

Shrimp Fajitas!!

My who lil' fam loves shellfish. Thank goodness because I don't know what I would do without shrimp! We eat it a lot and in lots of different ways! Now, I will tell you that if you do not like seafood, then you can totally sub the shrimp with some chicken or steak! It would be equally as tasty! I made this awesome dish the other night and let me tell you… AMAZINGGGGGG <3 all="" font="" for="" gobbled="" hungry="" it="" just="" left="" let="" no="" one="" s="" say="" seriously="" sure="" table="" that="" the="" up.="" we="">



Ingredients:

Fiesta Lime Seasoning

• 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 lb of shrimp peeled and deveined
• Fiesta lime seasoning to taste (Mrs. Dash-salt free)
• 1/4 tsp himalayan sea salt
• 1/4 tsp black pepper
• 1 small onion thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper thinly sliced
• Hard or soft whole grain tortillas or you can use leaf lettuce instead of the shell

Then I had topping to go with it.  Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, black beans, avocado, tomato, cheese for the kids, lettuce, salsa, brown rice and steamed green beans. This is a yummy dinner that will be on the regular rotation of meal plans! I hope that you enjoy it as much as we do! And guess what?? There is NO GUILT with this meal! Who doesn't love clean eating?!!

Sweet Potato Fries

Sweet Potato Fries

This is a quick and easy way to make some yummy french fries!! We like to use sweet potatoes around our house!

2-3 sweet potatoes- washed
salt
pepper
olive oil

slice your sweet potatoes like french fries :) I leave the skins on mine, feel free to make them however you prefer! Then, put about 1-2 tbsp. olive oil and put it into a ziplock bag. Add the cut fries to the oil in the bag and shake them until covered in oil.

Put on a GREASED cookie sheet and then sprinkle with salt and pepper.  Bake at 425 degrees for about 30 minutes or until crispy! ENJOY!!

Grilled Chicken with Apples and Honey

I know it is winter time right now, but sometimes we still need to grill our dinners!! Plus, I live in the south, so grilling is really a year long thing :) This meal is just too good not to make year round! My family and I love this. I usually serve it with some brown rice or sweet potatoes! And almost always a side of asparagus! It's just so yummy! We eat it up!

Grilled Chicken with Apples and Honey

Ingredients:

¼ cup white wine (or low-sodium chicken broth)

1 Tbsp. Dijon mustard

2 tsp. raw honey

1/2 tsp. sea salt

4 tsp. olive oil, divided use

4 (4-oz.) raw chicken breasts, boneless, skinless

4 medium Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

½ medium onion, thinly sliced

Preparation:

1. Preheat grill or broiler.

2. Combine wine, mustard, honey, and salt in a small bowl; whisk to blend. Set aside.

3. Brush chicken breasts evenly with 1 tsp. olive oil.

4. Grill or broil chicken for 5 minutes on each side or until chicken is no longer pink in the middle and juices run clear. Set aside.

5. While chicken is cooking, heat remaining 3 tsp. oil in medium nonstick skillet over medium heat.

6. Add apples, onion, and wine mixture; cook, stirring frequently, for 8 to 10 minutes, or until apples are tender and liquid thickens slightly to sauce consistency.

7. Serve apples over chicken.