Stuffed Peppers

Clean Eating Stuffed Peppers

3 large green bell peppers

1 cup chopped mushrooms 

1 medium zucchini, peeled and chopped

1 lb lean turkey

1 tsp cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

Fresh cilantro

Cheddar cheese for topping if desired

Cut each Pepper in half the long way

and then clean out the stem and seeds so they make pretty little bowls

for your stuffing.

Place these in a baking pan and preheat your oven to 350 degrees

While the oven is preheating 

peel the zucchini and chop it and the mushrooms and set aside. 

Warm up a skillet and brown the ground turkey evenly and then

toss in the mushrooms and zucchini and cook until they soften. 

seasoning the mixture while it cooks through

with Cumin, onion powder and garlic powder.

When the turkey is fully cooked feel free to taste this

as you season. 

Everyone has different tastes and you won't find out what you like

unless you experiment and taste things as you go.

Once the turkey is fully browned and the veggies are cooked through and slightly softened

pull off the heat and mix in your fresh chopped cilantro.

(I admit I did not measure here- just grabbed a handful off the bunch and 

coarsely chopped it before stirring it in.)

 

Now spoon the meat and veggie mixture evenly

into your pepper boats,

cover with cheese if desired and

pop them in your preheated oven.

 

 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until the cheese is melted and 

the peppers look soft and the edges are starting to brown.

I usually just serve these with rice but get creative.

They also hold well in the fridge if you want to 

save your leftovers for lunches during the week.

And fret not my friend if you have extra meat filling. 

It taste's great as leftovers even without the pepper boat or 

warmed up and  tossed onto a bed of lettuce for an exciting twist for your salad.

Happy cooking!!

~Patty

Chick Pea and Spinach Curry

 Sometimes the best dinners happen when I am forced to improvise. 

Last week I had a get away weekend with my girlfriends so I did not

do my usual weekend meal planning and shopping.

That left me Monday with no time to shop and forced to find something healthy to make with what was in the fridge.

I had spinach and chicken.

In the pantry I found some chick peas and decided to try a quick curry.

This would stand alone as a great vegetarian option but since my husband prefers dinner have some meat attached I made mine with chicken. Fell free to leave the chicken out though, it would still be pretty yummy.

I have abandoned cooking my meat with any sort of oil and found a great stoneware pan I can bake small quantities of meat in with no oil and it keeps them from getting soggy from cooking juices on the bottom (yuck...I can't imagine anyone likes a soggy white underbelly on their chicken...)

Anywhoooo--I just dust the chicken with a little of the same seasonings I use in the curry (chili powder, curry powder, marjoram, and ginger) 

 

and pop it in the oven (375 for about 40 minutes or until the internal temperature reaches 165 degrees) then pull it out, chop it up into small chunks and set aside.

see look...no soggy chicken!! Hurray!

While the chicken in baking you can start chopping up the onion

and get the curry started.

I melt about 1 TBS of coconut oil in my saute pan

and then add the chopped onion 

and all your seasonings:

1 tsp. finely chopped fresh ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp chili powder 
1 TBS curry powder
1/2 tsp marjoram

I am a firm believer in adjusting seasonings to your own tastes.

Don't serve a dish you have not tasted and feel free to use less or more

of anything I list or experiment and swap some of these out for

something different.

For example I am positive garam masala would be perfect here but

I did not have any on hand so I came up with this combo.

Trying new things is half the fun of cooking so be brave and 

play with the recipe.

 

Once the onions are cooked through and translucent you can add

the diced tomatoes and rinsed and drained chick peas (garbanzo beans).

Stir that up and let them start melding together

while you coarsely chop your spinach. 

You can skip this step but I find that chopping it a bit keeps

the wilted pieces a bit smaller and more manageable for my kids

to eat once its fully cooked.

Add the spinach a hand full at a time and

mix it well and allow it to wilt

 

Keep adding the spinach little at a time until its all mixed in.

Allow the mixture to heat through until the spinach is completely wilted.

This is when I add back in my chopped cooked chicken and 

stir it through. 

 

Let the whole mixture cook together for 4 or 5 more minutes

to make sure all the flavors are blended nicely.

Once its all heated through and your kitchen smells delicious,

turn off the heat and add about a 1/4 cup of chopped cilantro to the top

and mix it through the dish.

 

Done.

Now you can serve it on a platter with Greek yogurt on the side for topping or 

serve on top of some rice or if no one is looking

eat that yumminess straight out of the pan-

OK OK I'm kidding here...that would be naughty,

we have to remember to watch our portions....

 

and speaking of portions,

make sure you separate the leftover into small individual portions

in order to make it super easy to grab

and heat it up for an easy lunch during the week 

with no measuring needed!

 

In less than an hour you made a great, 

healthy meal for the whole family

that smells and tastes delicious AND you have

quick easy lunches for at least a few days!

Congratulations to you-

Here it is without my commentary:

Chick Pea and Spinach Curry

• 2 boneless skinless chicken breasts
  
• 1 Tbs Coconut oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1 tsp ginger
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp chili powder 
• 1 TBS curry powder
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1 15-oz. can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 14-1/2-oz. can organic diced tomatoes
• 7 oz baby spinach
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• 1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt for serving

Sprinkle chicken with small amounts of each seasoning and then bake at 375 for approx. 40 minutes or until cooked through (internal temp of 165). Once chicken is cooked chop into bite size pieces and set aside. Heat the oil in a 12-inch saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the onions and seasonings and cook, stirring often, until the onion is softened, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas, and tomatoes. Coarsely chop the spinach and add it by the handful, stirring and allowing it to wilt as you go. Continue to cook, stirring often, until the spinach is completely wilted and then add in the baked chicken. Let it cook until the flavors have melded, 4 to 5 minutes more. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the cilantro.
Spoon onto a platter, and serve by itself or over some rice with the Greek yogurt on top if desired.

Chicken White bean Chili

Wednesdays are super busy here in the afternoon and 

I don't get in the door until 6:00pm. 

The kids are hungry, 

I'm hungry and my husband is

either just home or on his way home and 

he will be hungry too.

They are the kind of nights that

you think it would just be so much easier to pick dinner up

on the way home. 

But I do not want to do that.

So my trusty slow cooker and I have a date 

every Wednesday morning.

I spend 20 minutes or so filling her up and 

she slaves the day away and has dinner waiting for me

when I get home. 

She is like my 1950's wife...hahahaha

One of the family favorites is

white bean chicken chili.

So easy and very tasty!

Plus you can tweak all the seasonings to your

personal tastes, just make sure you don't sample it

unless you know your chicken is fully cooked first.

(One of the main reasons I brown mine before

putting it in the pot)

Here is what you need:

1 lb ground chicken

1 green pepper (chopped)

1 medium yellow onion (chopped)

2 can great northern beans or navy beans

1 can corn (if canned make sure it has no sugar added...)

1 can diced green chili's or 3 fresh chopped chili's (no seeds)

 1Tbs Cumin

1 Tbs Onion powder

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 cup organic or homemade chicken stock

 

I started with only 1 can of beans but since I put in so much onion and pepper I decided to add a second can of beans and it came out yummy. Feel free to use dried beans but make sure they have been soaked over night or soaked and cooked to soften them up. I would love to do this every time but quite frankly the idea of this meal is to be done quick so I don't usually take the time to do that.

   

Turn on the burner under your sautee pan

so its warming up while you chop up the pepper and onion.

 

Brown the ground chicken 

 adding the pepper and onion when its about halfway done.

I do not use oil in this step because I have this crazy pan that

works so awesome I don't need it but if you do

need some oil use extra virgin olive oil and only a tablespoon. 

This chicken cooks quick and you should really not need more than.

 

Once the chicken is browned and the onion is translucent

transfer this whole yummy concoction into your slow cooker.

sprinkle with the cumin, onion powder and garlic

and again feel free to modify these amounts to your taste. 

I also like to add chili powder or

use fresh garlic just to spice it up a bit once in awhile. 

Play with it and make it your own!

Once the spices are on the meat pour in the

rinsed and dried beans, drained corn and green chili's

then pour the chicken stock over the whole thing.

(I usually start with only 1/2 cup and then after a few hours I check it and if it looks too thick I will add up to another 1/2 cup. This is also a great time to taste it and adjust seasonings.)

 

Now plug that slow cooker in 

(yes I have forgotten this step...

yes, it's happened more than once)

Turn it on low for 6-8 hours.

Come home from gymnastics or soccer

or a long day of work, grab a bowl and a spoon and 

ENJOY!!!

(oh yes, feel free to grate some good cheese on top or 

add a dollop of plain Greek yogurt in lieu of sour cream. delicious)

 Let me know if you make this what you think!

~eat well, live well

Patty

1 lb ground chicken

1 green pepper (chopped)

1 medium yellow onion (chopped)

2 can great northern beans or navy beans

1 can corn (if canned make sure it has no sugar added...)

1 can diced green chili's or 3 fresh chopped chili's (no seeds)

1Tbs Cumin

1 Tbs Onion powder

1 Tbs garlic powder

1 cup organic or homemade chicken stock

heat the chicken with the chopped onion and pepper until the chicken is browned.

Place all ingredients into your slow cooker.

Cook on low for 6-8 hours

Homemade Peanut Butter

Peanut Butter...yum.

(sorry if you have nut allergies I am going to spew wonderful nut fantasies here for a minute)

Whether you like it on apples or celery, sandwiches, with bananas or crackers, mixed in baked goods or even blended into a protein shake or some Greek yogurt (or straight off the spoon shhhhh, don't tell) peanut butter is just one of nature's yummy inventions.

But I am not talking about the stuff off the shelf I am talking about real, homemade, 1 ingredient peanut butter. SERIOUSLY!

 Here is what you need:

That's right. Just peanuts. Unsalted roasted peanuts (or you can use raw and roast them yourself but I don't always have time for that and my kids seem to like the store bought ones a bit better) and a really really good blender or food processor.

Now I happen to have a vitamix (which I love) and it is able to process this peanut butter without any additional ingredients. I am sure there are other amazing blenders and food processors that can do the same thing but I have only been successful using the vitamix. I have made peanut butter with a food processor but ended up adding a touch of peanut oil just to get the consistency I was looking for but if you don't have a vitamix experiment with what you've got- I will attach a few links to the bottom of the post for some other good recipes.

I put 3 cups of peanuts in the vitamix

Turn it onto setting 1 and then slowly increase the power to 10 while using the tamper to get all the nuts moving.

It sounds pretty loud and like its working hard (which I assure you it is) but just keep smushing the nuts down until the magic happens and they transform into liquid gold. 

Ok seriously though, once the peanut butter starts flowing freely the motor sound will change into a high pitched sound and this is when your peanut butter is done so turn of the blender.

For real now, turn it off!
(I have heard that if you run it much longer it can overheat the motor and thank GOODNESS that has never happened to me but I usually turn it off before I hear the high pitched noise just to be on the safe side!)

And that's it! 

No salt, no additional oil, definitely no sugar. 

Just delicious, velvety peanut butter!

I pour mine into a few little ball jars and seal them up and pop them in the fridge. 

3 cups of nuts usually gives me about 2 8oz jars full.

If that's too much trouble for you at least read the labels on the store bought stuff.

I mean wouldn't you rather eat this:

 

Than this:

 That is a whole lot of extra ingredients don't you think?

So go try it, I promise it's easy and the taste is so different!

As promised if you don't have a vitamix here are a few other recipes that might work better for you:

Peanut butter in food processor

(don't judge me here this ladies pictures are WAY better than mine-they even made me hungry)

Don't like it plain or the kids aren't buying it? Try this food network recipe, its got a few more ingredients but it's still better than the stuff on the shelf and you control everything that goes in so you know exactly whats in there!

Alton Brown's homemade Peanut Butter