Orange Honey Cranberry Chicken

Oh mama did I find me a keeper!

I went shopping with my mom today and came home with a bunch of chicken breasts. I am sick and tired of the same old chicken recipes. So, I turned to my good friend, Mr. Google, for some new ideas. I couldn't decide on just one recipe, so I made my own from a few! Here's what I came up with:

Ingredients:
 

• 4 servings of Brown Rice, cooked (2/3 cup cooked is one serving)
• 1 lb. chicken breast, sliced thin
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries (no sugar added) OR 1 cup fresh/frozen cranberries
• Zest of one orange
• Juice of one orange
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 tsp Sea Salt, divided
• 1 Tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil (can be omitted if you choose)
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 Tbsp Organic Honey
• 1 tsp ground mustard
• 1/2 cup natural orange juice

Directions:

1. Cut and trim chicken breasts. They need to be on the thinner side for this recipe. 
2. Cook the brown rice.
3. Combine juice from one orange, paprika and 1/2 tsp sea salt.
4. Pour the juice combo over the cooked brown rice.
5. Chop cranberries and set aside. 
6. Add oil to a large skillet and heat.
7. Place chicken in skillet and brown on one side for 3 minutes.
8. Flip chicken over and brown on the other side for 3 minutes.
9. Add the orange zest, cranberries, remaining sea salt, water, honey, mustard and natural orange juice to the chicken. 
10. Reduce heat to med-low, cover, and let simmer for 12 minutes. Check occasionally to make sure there is adequate liquid in the pan. 
11. Make sure the chicken breast is cooked thoroughly by cutting through the thickest part of one of the breasts. 
12. Serve 4 oz of chicken with 2/3 cup brown rice and 1 Tbsp of the cranberry mixture from the skillet
13. Enjoy!

This recipe was AMAZING! I literally just had it for dinner and I can't wait to make it again!

<3,

Kell

Clean Eating Vegetable Quinoa Soup

Its mid January. It's cold. It's dreary. It's time for a new recipe to add to my arsenal of weapons!

My mom made me some vegetable beef barley soup the other day. I normally don't eat ground beef because it doesn't agree with my stomach most of the time. I decided to give my moms soup a go. It was pretty yummy but it was greasy. I wanted to find an alternative to the soup that was just as yummy.

So, I came up with my own recipe. I didn't want to use meat but needed a way to get protein into the soup. In a genius move (well, I think it was genius!), I decided to add in cannelloni beans and quinoa. There's my protein!

The end result yielded 16 cups (actually more like 18 cups!) of delicious, perfect for a cold winters night, hearty soup. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

Ingredients:
 

• 1 /2 medium sweet onion, diced
• 1 bag (16 oz) frozen carrots *
• 1 bag (16 oz) whole kernel sweet corn *
• 1 bag (16 oz) sweet peas *
• 1 bag (16 0z) cut green beans *
• 2, 16 oz cans of cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
• 2, 14.5 oz cans of no salt added diced tomatoes
• 4 cups organic chicken stock, no salt added or low sodium
• 2 cups cooked sweet potatoes, diced (I bought mine frozen)
• 1 cup dry, uncooked quinoa

Directions:

1. Sautee diced onions in a large stock pot until they are translucent.
2. Add the remaining ingredients, except the quinoa, to the stock pot.
3. Bring the ingredients to a boil.
4. Reduce heat to medium-low and add in quinoa.
5. Cook the soup for 20 minutes, until the quinoa is cooked. 
6. Serve and enjoy!

These ingredients produced a nice thick stew-like soup. If you want your soup to be more "soupy" then add in more liquid. You can add more chicken or vegetable stock or add some water. The quinoa will soak up a lot of the liquid during the cooking process. 

You can also add in any type of veggies you want. You don't have to use all the ones that I used. I'm not a huge fan of green beans, but my son loves them so I used them. I think some zucchini would work great in this soup too. Also, you can add in any type of spices that you like. I'm not a fan of lots of spices, so I don't use any. To each their own!

I am going to freeze some of my leftovers for later this month or maybe even for next month! I love cooking enough to have some for later!

Let me know how your version turned out and what you did differently!

*when using frozen vegetables, make sure that the ONLY ingredient is the actual vegetable. If you read labels carefully, salt is added quite often! We don't need extra salt in our diets!

Serving details:
(1 serving = 1 cup)

Calories = 158

Carbs = 32

Fat = 1

Protein = 7

Calcium = 7

Sugar = 8

<3,
Kell

Clean Taco Salad

This dinner is a popular one in our house! I make 2 pans of meat - 1 of beef for hubs and 1 of ground turkey for me! Seriously - this is the easiest dinner ever! If you don't want it as a salad, roll up a traditional soft taco in a whole wheat shell!

Ingredients:

• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 1 package of low sodium Taco Seasoning
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup of water
• 1 - 2 ounces of 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
• 1 ounce 2% grated cheddar cheese
• Bag of frozen corn or can of corn
• Can of black beans
• Fresh Salsa
• As much lettuce as your little heart desires!

Directions:

1. Brown the turkey breast and drain if there is any fat in the pan.
2. Turn heat to low.
3. Return the meat to the heat and add taco seasoning and 1/3 - 1/2 cup of water. 
4. Let the sauce thicken.
5. Heat up corn and beans according to the packaging.
6. Prepare your bed of lettuce.
7. Top your lettuce with the meat, cheese, corn, beans, yogurt, and salsa.
8. Enjoy!

<3,
Kell

We are going to a restaurant - what do I eat?

I.LOVE.going.out.to.dinner. There - I said it! I'm gonna own it!

I hate to cook. I'm bad at it. I can NEVER think of anything good to make.

So, why not let someone else do the cooking for me??? BRILLIANT, I tell you, BRILLIANT!

But there's a load of trouble when going out to eat. The fried food smells so good! The appetizers are so, well, appetizing. The dessert is STARING at you from that dessert cart...I could go on and on.

Most of us have a really hard time sticking to our clean eating/healthy eating when we go out to eat. My hubby says "hey, you've earned it, treat yourself". So, I did once. And guess what? I paid for it later! My stomach is actually accustomed to this healthy/clean lifestyle I'm leading now. When I throw a monkey wrench, or Primanti's sammich, into the mix - it can get ugly. So, I've learned to just make good choices when dining out.

They might be hard to find - but the good choices are there!

The FIRST THING you should do is ask for a to go container right away! Restaurants have MASSIVE portion sizes. That meal they just brought you is actually 2 or 3 meals. Put at least 1/2 of your food into a to go container before you even touch it. That way, there is no chance of over indulging!

Always, always, always look for salads. If you can get grilled chicken or shrimp on that salad that's even better! If you can get simple vinegar and oil dressing, that's a massive plus. That way you can control the oil content, and in actuality, the fat content! Have the restaurant hold the cheese. They put a TON on and a small portion to them is 1 cup instead of 2.

If you can't or don't want to have a salad, then look for some type of broiled or baked fish. That's a safe choice. Add a baked potato, bonus points if it's a sweet potato, and you have a meal!

Another option would be some type of grilled chicken meal. A favorite restaurant of mine in these parts has a great grilled BBQ chicken platter. I get it with steamed veggies and a sweet potato! It's deliciousness that I don't have to cook!

Another great option - broth based soup. French onion soup, minus the tons of cheese and 937249072 white bread croutons, is a pretty healthy choice!

Here are some words you want to avoid when dining out:

• Fried
• Alfredo
• Sauteed (hello butter!)
• Breaded
• Crusted
• Cream(y)
• Cheese Filled

Here are some words you want to look for when dining out:

• Grilled
• Baked
• Broiled
• Lite
• Senior portions

Ok - so you get the idea. What if you are craving a sandwich? Those are pretty healthy - right? WRONG!!!

I never knew, until I was a waitress, that restaurants actually heavily butter their buns and bread, toast them and then put all the goodness on them. That's TONS of extra calories! How about the spicy mayo that comes with that burger? Can you say clogged arteries???

If you have to have a sandwich, ask for UNBUTTERED, preferably whole wheat, bread or bun. Skip the mayo. How about a side salad instead of those fries? Get a veggie burger instead of the full fat beef burger. I can promise you that restaurants do not use nice 93% beef - it's probably the 70% stuff. Don't get your burger smothered in sauteed mushrooms and onions - EXTRA BUTTER!

Are you starting to get the picture about how to eat healthier while still enjoying your favorite restaurant? 

So what are you waiting for? GO OUT TO DINNER! Enjoy yourself! Just make good choices!

<3,

Kell

Italian Turkey Meatballs

Ever since my gallbladder issues have cropped up, I have had to find new ways to get protein. My body just can't handle fat. So, I came up with these little gems! They are yummy and hit the spot. Not to mention I packed a TON of veggies in them! My family can't protest veggies if they can't see them - right??? They go great in a whole wheat pita as a meatball sandwich and they work really well as traditional meatballs paired with spaghetti!

Ingredients:

(makes 24 - 25 meatballs)

• 2 pounds Ground Turkey Breast
• 1 whole egg, beaten
• 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs
• 1 cup onion, finely chopped
• 1 cup carrots, shredded
• 1 cup zucchini, shredded and moisture squeezed out
• 1 Tbsp dried parsley
• 1 Tbsp dried oregano
• 1 Tbsp dried basil
• 2 cloves of garlic, chopped or passed through a garlic press

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix by hand until completely blended together.
3. Use an ice cream scoop to make meatballs and place onto a prepared cookie sheet. My ice cream scoop yielded 25 meatballs.
4. Place cookie sheet(s) into the preheated oven and cook for about 20 minutes. My oven always takes longer so I cooked mine for 25 minutes and it was perfect!

You could also pan fry these to brown them on the outside and then throw them in with spaghetti sauce in the crockpot on low for 8 hours. That way, dinner is done when you get home! YAY!

Serving details:

1 serving = 1 meatball

Calories = 64

Carbs = 2

Fat = 1

Protein = 9

Calcium = 0

Sugar = 1

This data was compiled using My Fitness Pal. Data will change depending on the specific ingredients you use.

Enjoy!

<3,
Kell

Chocolate Covered Strawberries Shakeology

This is my "go to" Shakeology recipe. In fact, I rarely deviate from it. I just love it!

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 scoop chocolate shakeology
• 7 frozen whole (no sugar added) strawberries

Throw it all into the magic bullet (or blender), blend until smooth, and enjoy! If you like a thinner consistency (one you can drink) then use less frozen berries or even fresh berries. If you like a thicker shake, use more frozen fruit or add in some ice!

(seriously - this is my favorite!)

<3,
Kelly

Kati's Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Alright - this is my first blog post. I decided to not overextend myself and blog about a recipe I tried on Friday night. So here goes nothing!

I cannot take credit for this recipe. I found it on fellow Beachbody Coachs' Kati's and Melanie's blogs. But I can tell you just how my version turned out! One pizza serves two people.

Ingredients:

• 1c cooked, riced cauliflower
• 1c low-moisture, part-skim milk mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano - I didn't measure it out
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic - I didn't use this
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt - I didn't measure it out
• olive oil (optional)
• Pizza Toppings - I used no salt added, organic spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and turkey pepperoni. Veggies are ALWAYS a great idea, I just didn't have any on hand.

Ok - so you are probably thinking - what the heck! - how do you rice cauliflower??? I thought the exact same thing. Thankfully, Kati has wonderful directions on her blog along with pictures. I'm going to do my best do describe how I did it. 

How to rice cauliflower:

1. Take one head of cauliflower. Wash it, remove all the stems, and chopped it into chunks.
2. Add the cauliflower chunks to a food processor (I used my blender because I don't own a food processor) and pulse until it looks like a grain. 
• If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can use a cheese grater to grate up the cauliflower.
• I was VERY careful not to over-process the cauliflower. If you do, it will puree and you will have cauliflower soup!
3. Once the cauliflower has a grainy consistency, place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about 8 minutes. This will steam your cauliflower so it's cooked! 
• You don't need to add any water to steam the cauliflower because it already has a lot of natural moisture!
4. Once cooked, let the cauliflower cool and do you best to get every drop of water out of it. 
• I literally used paper towels and pressed the heck out of it!
• Then, when I was ready to measure it out, I formed it into small, hand sized balls, and squeezed even more moisture out! 
• Trust me, you don't want to have too much moisture!

Voila - you have riced cauliflower! Kati's blog said that 1 large head should produce 3 cups of riced cauliflower but I only got 1 cup. Then again, I had to throw some of the cauliflower away because it was starting to brown in the fridge.

Let's make a pizza crust!

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or use a pizza stone.
• do not make the same mistake I made! I forgot to spray the pan and it was an ever-loving messs!
3. Combine riced cauliflower, cheese, egg (beaten), oregano, garlic and garlic salt in a medium bowl.
4. Mix ingredients until they have a dough consistency.
5. Transfer your pizza dough to your cookie sheet and into a 9" round.
6. Lightly brush/spray the top of the dough with olive oil. This can be omitted if you so wish.
7. Place your dough, on the middle rack, in your oven for 15 minutes.
• The edges will get slightly brown. It's not burning but watch the dough carefully.
8. Remove the crust from the oven and top with your sauce and toppings.
• All of your toppings need to be precooked because you will just be toasting them.
9. Turn your oven to broil and place your pizza under the broiler for a few minutes. 
• Watch your pizza carefully or it will start to smoke!
10. Let cool, cut, and ENJOY!