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 Eating Tuna Salad

I love me some tuna salad! It's packed with protein and quick to make! I typically eat this for lunch but it very well could be a quick dinner too!

Ingredients:
(makes 2 servings of the tuna mixture)

• 1 6oz can of Starkist Low Sodium Chunk Light Tuna in water
• 2 oz 0% plain greek yogurt
• 6 baby carrots, shredded
• 1 oz 2% low fat mild cheddar cheese, sliced from a brick of cheese
• 1 Thomas' whole wheat english muffin

Directions:

1. Drain tuna and spoon into a bowl.
2. Measure out 2 ounces of 0% plain greek yogurt and add to tuna.
3. Shred the carrots and add to the tuna/yogurt mixture and combine together.
4. Toast your english muffin and top the muffin with 1/2 of the tuna mixture and all of the cheese.
5. Save the extra tuna for tomorrow's lunch or snack.
6. ENJOY!

If there are too many grams of fat in this recipe for you, you can use 1/2 a serving of cheese instead of the full 1oz serving. That should cut the fat down to around 5.

Serving details:
(1/2 of the tuna mixture, 1 oz of cheese, and 1 english muffin)

Calories = 304

Carbs = 29

Fat = 8

Protein = 31

Calcium = 33

Sugar = 5

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

<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