21 day fix baked chicken tacos

Taco Tuesday!

Baked Chicken Tacos! Super simple and delicious and easy to modify for picky eaters! Plus a great way to use up left over chicken!

Ingredients:

-3 Chicken Breasts (diced or shredded)
-1 tbsp of olive oil
-1 can of diced tomatoes or 1/2 jar of salsa, make sure it's low sodium
-1 tablespoon of chili powder, 1/2 tsp of onion powder and 1/2 tsp of garlic powder, 1/2 tsp of cumin
-1 can of black beans, drained and rinsed
-1 Box of Taco Shells (10)
– Mexican Shredded Cheese
-lettuce or spinach for topping, plain greek yogurt, sliced avocado, chopped green onions, chopped fresh tomatoes for toppings

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Heat saute pan over medium heat with 1 tablespoon EVOO. Saute diced/sliced boneless skinless chicken breast until cooked thoroughly. (Or here is where the leftover chicken comes in, if you have left over chicken, shred and put in sauce pan over low heat just to warm, then resume directions here) Add salsa or diced tomatoes. Add seasonings and black beans. Stir together and simmer over low heat for 3-5 minutes. Spray a glass cooking dish with non stick spray. Place corn tortillas in dish. Fill with chicken mixture. If you are following the 21 day fix or portion fix meal plan, use your green container to measure out the chicken mixture. Add 1 green of this (if you can fit it... I could only fit about 1/2' in mine before it cracked ) then top with 1 (1/2 blue if you wanna add some avocado too later!) blue! Bake 10-15 minutes or until cheese is bubbly. Add chopped green onions, lettuce, avocado (optional), fresh tomatoes, and plain greek yogurt (or sour cream). DONE! ENJOY!!!
They are so good you will want seconds! And you can because they are guiltless!

Top 10 ways to eat more veggies! For non veggie lovers!

Did you know, the more you eat veggies, the more you crave them? WEIRD right?

I like veggies, don't love them. I enjoy salads, and raw veggies for snacks, and veggies for my side. But I am not going to become a vegan any time soon. Or ever. I like every other food group just a little bit more.

BUT that said, I crave them more than I ever used to, because I eat them more!

Here are some great ways I have found to incorporate more veggies into your diet if you simply aren't a veggie-aholic! We are supposed to get between 2-3 cups of veggies per day, the exact amount depends on your age and gender. SO you better get started!

*start early! The more veggies you get in early, the better your day will most likely go! Put a cup of spinach in some eggs. Add peppers, onions, mushrooms and tomatoes too! You could easily get 1-1/2 cups in your breakfast alone! If you eat a donut for breakfast and pizza for lunch, chances are you aren't gonna eat 3 cups of veggies for dinner! SO starting off strong is KEY!
*Chop raw veggies once a week and put in sandwich bags to grab on the go! Cucumbers, carrots, cabbage leaves, sweet peppers, celery, are all go to veggies for me!
*drink your veggies! Add a cup of spinach, kale or zucchini to your smoothie! You won't even taste it! I also like fresh juice. I like to juice beets, ginger, carrots. I also love pineapple, cucumber, celery and lime! Just be careful not to do too much fruit!
*roast your veggies with a dash of EVOO. They turn so much sweeter when you roast them as opposed to steaming! Brussel sprouts, asparagus and broccoli are my faves! Grilling also seems to bring out the sweetness too!
*Get a zoodle maker! Spiralize some zucchini to saute and sub that in instead of pasta! Make shrimp scampi but nix the pasta and add in zoodles!
*spaghetti squash! YUM! half it lengthwise and bake, then add in some ricotta and meat sauce and some cheese and bake again as an alternative to lasagna!
*butternut squash! YUM, great by itself or you can sneak into just about anything and it's DELISH! I bake mine in the crock pot, and add to soups, sauces or eat plain!
*cauliflower is so versatile! You can make fake tater tots, and pizza crust and cheesy bread! But honestly, I love it steamed, then put in the blender. Add some Greek yogurt, garlic, salt and pepper and blend and it tastes amazing! Way better than mashed potatoes!
*use dip! stay away from cheesy and ranchy stuff. Use hummus, Greek yogurt based dips, mashed avocado with lime/salt and pepper, or all natural peanut butter or almond butter!
*consider a supplement like shakeology. Not only does it make you crave veggies, it's the equivalent of eating 5 bowls of veggies! Of course it's best to eat your foods, but since this drink IS whole foods, your body recognizes it as food and digests it and takes it in like food! So it's definitely a WIN win.

EAT MORE VEGGIES. It's all the rage.

Clean Eating Cookies

Recipe for my clean eating COOKIES!!! You will THANK ME LATER!

If you like a super crunchy thin cookie, this isn't for you! But if you like a doughy, almost under-done, soft cookie... This is right up your alley! They are vegan and gluten free, but don't let the ingredients fool you... They are DELISH!

Ingredients:
Cooking spray
1 can (15oz) chickpeas, rinsed and drained (make sure it's no Salt added!)
1/2 cup all natural almond butter or peanut butter
1/3 cup pure maple syrup or agave nectar (you can also use honey if you’re not vegan)
2 teaspoons vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/3 cup dark chocolate chips plus 2 tbsp
sea salt for sprinkling

Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray an 8×8 inch pan with nonstick cooking spray.
In a food processor, add all the ingredients except chocolate chips and process until batter is smooth. Fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips, I like to use dark chocolate because it has less sugar but it’s up to you. Note: Batter will be thick and super delicious, so you could actually just eat it on it’s own!

Spread batter evenly in prepared pan then sprinkle 2 tbsp of chocolate chips on top. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean and edges are brown. The batter may look under cooked but you don’t want them to dry out.
Cool pan for 20 minutes on wire rack. Sprinkle with sea salt and cut into squares!!!

(I actually didn't use the 1/3 cup of dark chocolate chips for the inside, I misread my recipe when I made them and ONLY put the 2 tablespoons on top and they were delicious! So if you are really trying to be super healthy, just forgo the chocolate folded in! Trust me, still amazing!)

Roasted Butternut Squash Soup!

I love creamy soups in the fall! But sometimes creamy soups = heavy cream. And while I love heavy cream as much as the next gal, I don't want to eat a bowl of it! I prefer a dollop of it on fresh fruit or the occasional treat! But it basically cancels out the healthiness of the squash! And that's no bueno!

So you gotta try this recipe, because it's super creamy but without the cream/guilt!

• 1 large butternut squash (about 3 pounds), halved vertically and seeded
• 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for drizzling
• ½ cup chopped shallot (about 1 large shallot bulb)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 garlic cloves, pressed or minced
• 1 teaspoon maple syrup
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• Up to 4 cups (32 ounces) vegetable broth
• 1 to 2 tablespoons butter, to taste (substitute olive oil for dairy free/vegan soup)
• 1 tablespoon of goat cheese (optional)

I put one butternut squash completely whole, in my crock pot on high for 3 hours, or low for 6. You can bake in instead, but this is my preferred method! I get it out and let it cool so I can cut it open. Then I cut it lengthwise and scoop out seeds and discard that part. Then I put the pulp into a high speed blender. I have a vitamix, but any kind will due! Then I saute up the chopped shallot and garlic, being careful not to burn it! Once they are soft, I transfer that into the blender along with the maple syrup, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Then I add 3 cups of the vegetable broth, reserving one. Then just a touch of EVOO or a pat of butter for a little extra flavor/goodness. Blend until smooth. If I feel like I want it a bit thinner, I add a touch more of broth. I dish it up, and top with a bit more pepper. And if I am entertaining or really wanna impress my husband I add a dollop of goat cheese! He likes crumbled bacon on his, but I prefer just as is! 

Enjoy! 

Chicken Pad Thai with Zoodles

I love love love thai food, or I should say pad thai, because that's what I get every single time I go! Branching out is so over rated! This recipe is awesome! It's super flavorful! I made rice noodles for my kids, but my husband and I ate the zoodles and didn't miss the noodles one bit!

Ingredients:
3 zucchini, spiralized into zoodles
4 chicken breast, I like to cut up the raw chicken into chunks and then cook it
salt and pepper to taste
Oil for sauteeing chicken and veggies. I use coconut oil. You can use EVOO if you don't cook it too high.
1 red bell pepper sliced thin
carrot sticks, 1 small bag
2 garlic cloves, diced
1 bunch of green onions diced
3 eggs
1 tsp of ginger, freshly grated
2 cup of bean sprouts
Fresh cilantro and lime wedge for topping it, and unsalted peanuts chopped, red pepper flakes and sesame seeds optional.

For the sauce:
Fish sauce 2 tablespoons
1/3 cup of low sodium soy sauce
1 -2 tablespoons of honey
1/4 cup of rice vinegar
juice of 1 lime


Make the sauce, and put aside.
Spiralize the zuchini. I saute in a tiny bit of oil for no more than 2 minutes or they get soggy. Put aside. Some water will drain out, just get rid of water before serving.
Saute the chicken in some oil until cooked through. Salt and pepper. Remove from pan but leave oil in there.
Cook peppers and carrots, about 3-4 minutes. Add green onions, garlic and bean sprouts. Cook another minute. Push veggies to sides of pan, creating an empty circle in the middle. Break 3 eggs open in there, and scramble. Once cooked stir veggies into the eggs. Add chicken back. Add in zoodles and sauce and stir, turn heat off. Dish up plates, and top with cilantro, a squeeze of lime, peanuts and red pepper flakes if you want. Sesame seeds would be nice too, but I was all out!

ENJOY!

For my fixers out there: I measured out 1 1/2 green containers and counted it as 1 red, 1 green, 1/2 orange of chopped peanuts and 1 tsp. 

Zucchini Ravioli

Ingredients:

2 cups of meat sauce (I make mine with organic marinara from the store, I check the sugar and sodium content, add cooked ground turkey or chicken, onions, garlic and some italian spices!)
5 zucchini
2 cups of Ricotta cheese
1 blue of grated Parmesan cheese
2 blues of grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg
Dash of Oregano

Ok, So y'all know I love me some Italian food. But sometimes I use all my yellows up by dinner! Or I wanna save it for a glass of VINO! So this is perfect for me! And BONUS, my kids liked it. Well two out of three. And the other one ate the meat sauce with whole wheat pasta, so I didn't have to be a short order cook. The only part that was slightly annoying was slicing up all the zucchini. But if you have a fancy gadget or a mandolin it wouldn't be too bad. I just used a veggie slicer.

Basically make your favorite meat sauce. If you don't know how to make meat sauce, You PROLLY wouldn't like this recipe anyway because of the slicing of the zucchini and I am automatically assuming if you don't know how to make meat sauce you would never go to the trouble of slicing up your zucchini. Is that a bad assumption? Maybe so... But whatevs... telling it like it is sista!

So make you favorite meat sauce, and slice up 5 zucchinis as thing as you can! Almost translucent! I washed them and cut the four sides off so it was almost like a large squared off zucchini... what is that a cube or a cylinder... ugh, I wish my 8 year old was home, he'd know! Anyway, then slice it up. In a bowl mix 2 cups of Ricotta Cheese and 1 egg and 1 blue of Parmesan cheese. Then a dash of Oregano. Set aside. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Take four thin slices of zucchini and lay them two horizontal right next to each other touching and 2 vertical like in a t shape. Then put a tablespoon of the ricotta mixture in the middle and fold up, place in a casserole dish seam down. If you are like me it will look pretty initially but then fall apart immediately when you serve it. But don't worry, it will taste AMAZING so no one will care. Repeat until you are out of zucchini or ricotta! Top with meat sauce, then top with 2 blues of mozzerella cheese!  Bake for 20 minutes or until cheese is starting to brown! ENJOY!


I ate 4 raviolis and counted as 1 red, 1 blue, 1 green! And I paired it with a salad!

Stuffed peppers with turkey bacon and ricotta!

YUM, this was an accidental dinner. Basically had nothing planned. Gave the kids some chicken nuggets and broccoli, because that is my go to, have nothing planned for dinner, dinner. But for the adults I made this and it turned out delightful! I simply mixed up some ricotta, Parmesan, herbs and turkey bacon, stuffed the peppers and baked at 350 for about 20 minutes!