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.

Cauliflower Mushroom Soup

One of the easiest ways for me to stay on track with my food throughout the day is to eat a good lunch.

I eat a very small breakfast most days so by the time lunch comes around I am starving but I don't have a ton of time to put anything together because lunchtime can be chaos around here. 

So what used to happen is that I either don't have time to eat anything myself so I find myself doing the dreaded pantry graze from 1-3stuffing my face with tiny bits of lots of different things and telling myself it's OK since I did not eat lunch that day so surely I have room in my calories for a few crackers, and some nuts, and the leftover corner of that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, some cottage cheese....you get the picture here. Please tell me I am nit the only one that does this! 

(and yes-before I cleaned out the pantry from sugar and processed foods, chips and chocolate were also standard on this list of-stuff them in my face without even thinking about it snacks!)

My best solution is to be prepared. If I am prepping salad for my husband to take to work, I measure out one for myself and put in right where I will see it and can grab it quickly out of the fridge for myself. If dinner was delicious and nutritious I portion out my serving size and keep them in see through containers right in the front of the fridge so they don't get pushed back into no man's land where no one will see them until you go in search of the mysterious smelly item once a month and then realize you wasted all that good food for no reason. 

Also, I have discovered that making soup is so much easier than I thought. 

Yes, you can just buy soup. 

But when you make it yourself you control the quality of ingredients, freshness and cut out all that unnecessary salt and preservatives that is found in many canned soup products.  You can make soup out of just about anything and I promise to share lots of my favorites here with you but this week I had some straggler veggies left in the crisper drawer at the end of the week so I pulled them out and made this soup on the fly and it was sooooooo good!

(Not the prettiest mind you, but very yummy!)

Cauliflower Mushroom Soup:

(if you are allergic to mushrooms you can leave them out of course or replace them with leeks, or a small chopped potato but I think they add a meaty depth to the soup so if you are not allergic and you think you just don't like them try it, they might surprise you!)

1 Cup coarse chopped cauliflower

1 Cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 red onion (chopped)

1/2 cup Cashews

1 Cup water (or organic chicken stock) divided

ground black pepper

 

Place the cauliflower, onion and mushrooms in a saute pan

(I use a coated pan to avoid needing any oil 

but you can use a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil 

if you need to just to get them heated through and soft.)

I  cook them uncovered for a few minutes and 

then covered for about 5 more 

just to make sure they are soft enough to blend easily.

 

While the veggies are cooking place your cashews in the blender

with 1/2 Cup of water or organic chicken stock

start the vitamix on level 1 and slowly increase the level to 10

until you have a gorgeous smooth cashew cream.

(again this recipe was made in a vitamix- 

if you have used a different blender to make cashew cream 

please feel free to share your method in the comments)

If you do not have a high powered blender I have heard that it may help to soak your nuts 

(haha, I said soak your nuts)

for half an hour in water to help them get nice and soft and then drain of the excess water before adding to the 1/2 cup of water or stack and attempting to blend. 

The softer your nuts are prior to blending,

 the smoother the consistency of your soup base will be.

After your nuts have been blended add in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the heated vegetables

into the blender and blend until at a smooth thick consistency. 

My blender has a setting for soup that I use

but of you are doing this with a hand blender or a different type

 just blend until it looks smooth and creamy. 

Now add the remaining vegetables, 

sprinkle the top with some fresh ground black pepper 

and pulse or lightly blend just to break them up a bit.

The amount of blending you do at this stage 

depends on the  amount of chunks you like in your soup.

 

Once you are are happy with the consistency.

pour about 1 cup of the soup into a bowl and enjoy!

in less than 15 minutes you have a healthy, delicious and filling lunch

(and it's even vegan!!)

Now pour the rest of the soup into small single serving containers 

and pop them in the fridge so you have some for tomorrows lunch too!

 

I'm telling you, this may not look that yummy but it really is good.

I had it for three lunches. 

Once by itself, 

once with a salad and 

once with some leftover turkey meatballs (recipe to come later this week).

Does this not sound like something you would like? 

Try it. 

We have a lot of preconceived notions about food. 

What we think we like or don't like.

Healthy food is yucky food. 

Something your mom made you eat when you were little so now you refuse.

Don't let those silly reasons get in the way.

Try new foods.

Try old foods you have not had in a decade.

Try to cook things in different ways.

Experiment.

Have fun with your food

and it won't feel like a chore to eat healthy

it will make it a fun adventure!

Eat well, be well and have a happy day~

Patty

Cauliflower Mushroom Soup

1 Cup coarse chopped cauliflower

1 Cup sliced mushrooms

1/2 red onion (chopped)

1/2 cup Cashews

1 Cup water (or organic chicken stock) divided

ground black pepper

•  Place the cauliflower, onion and mushrooms in a saute pan and cook them uncovered for a few minutes and then covered for about 5 more just to make sure they are soft enough to blend easily.
•  place your cashews in the blender with 1/2 Cup of water or organic chicken stock
• start the vitamix on level 1 and slowly increase the level to 10until you have a gorgeous smooth cashew cream. (if you do not have a vitamix you may want to soak your cashews for about 1/2 hour in 1/2 water and then drain prior to this step)
• After your nuts have been blended add in about 1/2 to 3/4 of the heated vegetables into the blender and blend until at a smooth thick consistency (or use the soup setting if available).
• add the remaining vegetables, sprinkle the top with some fresh ground black pepper and pulse or lightly blend until desired consistency is reached.
• ENJOY!!

*if you are eating this as part of the beachbody 21 day fix 1 cup counts as 1 green and ~1/2 blue

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