Pumpkin Chili

This recipe was DELICIOUS and kid friendly (at least in my house!). I adapted it from Katie Farrell's, "Devotions for a Healthier You." She is the author of a lovely cookbook called, "Dashing Dish!" I follow both Katie and her sister Sarah Robbins on Instagram!

I chose the slow cooker option and made it with ground chicken.  The original recipe calls for lean ground turkey or lean ground beef so if you have other preferences then go with what you enjoy! I personally try to limit my red meat intake to only 2-3x per week.

I did double the batch so that I can have some to freeze for a later date. I found this recipe so light!  Even if you aren't a pumpkin fan, I think you would like this dish.  It was like a lighter, creamier chili. The only complaint I had from my hubby was that it could have had a little more chili powder but I didn't want to over do it for my 4 year old son's sake.

Ingredients:

1 pound ground turkey
1 (15oz) can of pumpkin
1 (15oz) black beans
1 (14.5oz) can of diced tomatoes, drained (I actually forgot to drain them and it still turned out delish!)
1 cup of low sodium chicken broth
1 small-medium onion, diced
1 medium bell pepper ( I chose red! Original recipe calls for yellow)
1 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp garlic powder (or 2 tsp fresh chopped garlic)
1/2tsp pepper
1/2 tsp salt
2 Tbsp honey **optional ( I did add this!)

Directions:
Add ground chicken to slow cooker and make sure to break it up with a spatula.
Add additional ingredients to the slow cooker and stir until everything is well combined.  Put the cover on the slow cooker and cook for 4 hrs on high or 8hrs on low heat.

Garnish with mozzarella or cheddar cheese if you wish! Enjoy!

Taco Zucchini Boats

 Taco zucchini boats are going down in my recipe book as another family favourite in my household for many reasons!  A. The boys thought they were delicious and cleaned their plates and B. it was SO quick an easy that they took no time to make--so that made me happy! I found the recipe while doing meal prep on the road as the hubby was driving and made note.  I have to give credit to the author Gina Homolka of the "skinnytaste" website (www.skinnytaste.com) for this recipe!

Typically I use ground chicken or turkey in any recipe that now calls for ground beef but this night, I did choose to use ground beef.  We typically only eat red meat 2x a week since we have changed our diet so this was a nice treat!  I hope you and your family enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 medium zucchinis, cut in half lengthwise
1/2 cup mild salsa (I used my homemade salsa)
1b lean ground chicken, turkey or beef

Taco Seasoning:
1 tsp or each: garlic powder, chili powder, cumin, paprika and himalayan pink or sea salt ground (or to taste)
1/2 tsp oregano

1/2 small onion, chopped finely
2 tbsp green or red bell pepper, chopped finely
4 oz can of tomato sauce
1/4 cup water
1/2 cup grated cheese of your choice (I used marble)
1/4 cup chopped green onion (or cilantro would be good too!)

OPTIONAL INGREDIENTS for Toppings:
Greek yogurt in place of sour cream
Guacamole
Additional Salsa
Jalapeños

Before you get started:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
Place the 1/2 cup of salsa on the bottom of a large glass baking dish.

Directions:
Using a small spoon, hollow out the seedy centre of each of the zucchini halves. Make sure that you still leave a thick skin on each half.  Chop up the scooped flesh of the zucchini in small pieces reserve 3/4 cup of what you have chopped--this will be used to add to the taco filling. Either discard or save the rest of the zucchini flesh for another recipe.  Using a cheese cloth or even a paper towl, squeeze the excess water out of the 3/4 cup of zucchini flesh that you have saved.

Drop zucchini halves in boiling water and cook 1-2 minutes depending how thick they are and then immediately remove them from the water and place them in the baking dish on top of the salsa.

Brown ground chicken, turkey or beef in a large frying pan or skillet making sure to break it up as it cooks.  When the meat is no longer pink, add the spices, onion, bell pepper, reserved zucchini, tomato sauce and water and stir well.  Cover and simmer on low for an additional 20 minutes

Once the taco meat is finished then fill the hollowed zucchini boats with the meat mixture using a spoon and pressing firmly until all the meat has been used up.

Top each boat with 1tbsp of shredded cheese or to your desire.  Cover with foil and bake for approx. 35 minutes until the cheese has melted and the zucchini is cooked through.

Top with scallions and serve with salsa and/or additional toppings!

21 Day Fix equivalents without any additional toppings
2 zucchini boats = 2 green, 1 red, 1 blue, 1 orange, 1/2 purple (if you added extra salsa on the side at your discretion).

Mini Mexican Pizzas

Good grief, I think I must be on a "muffin tin" cooking kick the last little bit! ha ha  But in all honesty, little "bite size" delights are so easy to serve and re-heat! PERFECT for moms who like to meal prep, or have meals prepared in advance before the crazy work week begins. I am sure they would be delicious after you froze them too.  This recipe came from the newest cookbook to grace my pantry shelves from Katie Farrell, creator of "Dashing Dish."  While my little delights didn't turn out as pretty as hers, they were delicious nonetheless.  So delish, I am making them again next week!

I did make modifications to the original recipe in the cookbook some things I would keep the same and others I would change.  For example I used Ezekiel wraps.  Here they can only be found in the frozen section at our local grocery store.  When they thawed I found them thin and they cracked a little when I tried to place them in the muffin tins.  I would opt for whole grain or whole wheat wraps next time.

I also used ground chicken instead of ground turkey. I don't know if it is this pregnancy or what, but I can't seem to stomach ground turkey so ground chicken it is!!!

I also stuffed each little pizza shell without having cooked the chicken first (only because I looked at the recipe much too fast).  If you decide to use this method, make sure you preheat the oven to 350 degrees and cook the pizza's for 40-45minutes.

Ingredients: 
~ 4 large whole wheat tortillas, or big enough to cut out 12 small circles.
~ 1 pound of lean ground chicken cooked (raw is fine, but you will have to cook longer. See notes above!)
~1/2 cup of salsa of your choice
~2 tsp of taco seasoning (I used the Epicure brand to avoid sodium but you can also make your own. I would avoid using pre-packaged taco seasoning).
1/2 cup refried beans
1/2 cup shredded marble cheese (low fat shredded Mexican blend was suggested)

Toppings: 
~Salsa
~Green onion
~Shredded lettuce (I am sure iceberg lettuce would "taste" better but I used romaine because there is no nutritional content in iceberg lettuce. I still found it great!)
~Greek yogurt
~Chopped tomatoes
~Avocado
~Sliced black olives (Yuck! ha ha, but what ever floats your boat. I did not use these!)
**If you are following the 21 Day Fix Program you will need to adjust how you use the toppings according to your meal plan. ;)

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with coconut oil cooking spray or a spray of your choice.  Lay tortilla on a flat surface and using a round cookie cutter or a glass, cut 3-4 medium circles out of each tortilla.  Press each circle into muffing cup using your fingers. If it doesn't cover the entire side of the cup, that is ok!

In a small bowl, mix together the "cooked" ground chicken, salsa, taco seasoning and refried beans. Stir until well combined.   Scoop approx. 2 Tbsp of the meat mixture into each tortilla. Top each mini pizza evenly with shredded cheese.  Bake for 12-15 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  Wait for tortillas to cook before removing from the muffin tin.  A knife is helpful to pop out each little pizza.  Serve with the toppings of your choice and voila!

This recipe is certain to be a family favourite! Please feel free to share or pin!!!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix program, here is how it breaks down according to my best judgement... 2 mini pizza's = 1 Red, 1 Yellow, 1/3 Blue (*Toppings are additional).

Chicken Parmesan Bites

Ok, this recipe was a show stopper!!!!  Honestly a family favourite!  Easy to make and SOOO good left over. I made these especially so that I could prep them in advance for my family's lunches last week.  The bites were perfect to have as left overs for 4 days!  I would give them hands down an "11/10!" A++!!!!!  This recipe came from my new "Dashing Dish" cookbook by Katie Farrell.  Love this book so far!

Ingredients:
1 cup of frozen spinach, thawed and squeezed dry
1 small onion, finely chopped (I used a sweet onion)
1 tsp fresh garlic, minced
1 pound lean ground chicken
2 large eggs
1 cup canned diced tomatoes drained (I used Alymer, petite-cut tomatoes with celery & green pepper)
1/4 cup old fashioned oats
3/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese (divided)
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1/8 tsp salt
Pinch of black pepper
1 cup marinara or spaghetti sauce
Fresh or dried parsley for garnish (*optional)

Directions: 
1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
2.  Line a 12-cup muffin tin with parchment paper liners and spray lightly with cooking spray (coconut oil cooking spray is preferred).  Silicon liners lightly sprayed also work well.
3.  In a small frying pan, saute the spinach, onions, and garlic over medium heat until the onions are translucent.  Remove from stove and let mixture cool to room temperature.
4.  In a large bowl combine the ground chicken, spinach mixture, eggs, diced tomatoes (drained), oats, 1/2 cup Parmesan, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.  *Don't over mix or the meat will get tough.
5.  Divide mixture among the muffin cups.  You want about 1/4 cup of mixture into each muffin cup.
6.  Top each muffin with 2 TBSP of the marina sauce and sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup Parmesan among the 12 muffins.
7.  Bake for 35-40 minutes or until each mini muffin, reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees and is no longer pink in the middle. My thermometer is broken so I just did the old fashioned, "cut one in half."  Remove from the oven and allow the meat to rest for 5 minutes before slicing (oops!) or serving.  Garnish with parsley for fun!

***If you are following the 21 Day Fix program, I would count 2 of these mini muffins as (1) red container.  There wouldn't be enough spinach/onion or even marinara sauce to merit counting any part of a green, purple or even tsp container, but that is just my opinion. :)

Clean Eating Wonton Soup Recipe!

Every now and then I get in the mood to try a new recipe!  This weekend it happened to be Wonton Soup!  I can't take all the credit though, I actually created this rendition of a Wonton Soup based on a recipe I found in the, "The Looneyspoon Collection" cookbook by Janet & Greta Podleski.  I have heard rave reviews of this cookbook and finally invested in a copy for myself.  During the process I also discovered shopping on Amazon!  Whoa! Hello!!!

Back to the soup... did I make my own wontons?! Yes, I made my own wontons!  Sure, I could have cheated I suppose and found some already made but I wanted to do as the recipe as suggested for the most part and make my own.  Why?!  Well.. the less preservatives the better!   It didn't take that long to make and I got great satisfaction knowing I made it all from scratch (except for the wonton wrapper itself). I hope you enjoy! 

To make the filling:

8-10 oz of ground chicken 

1/4 c minced green onions

2 tsp Braggs Soya Sauce or Tamari (Or you could use a lite soya sauce with reduced sodium)

1 tsp fresh grated ginger root

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp cornstarch

1 egg white

30-45 wonton wrappers (these can be found near the produce section in the grocery store)

Combine the filling ingredients and mix well in a glass bowl.  Spread out wonton wrappers on the counter.  I usually lay out about 15 wrappers at a time as the wonton wrapper can dry out quickly.  Cover the rest with a damp paper towel until you are ready to use them. Once the wrapper is laid out, scoop 1 tsp of the filling mixture into the centre of the 15 wontons. Then taking a pastry brush or your finger, moisten the edges of the wrapper with water and fold one corner of the wonton over to the other corner to make a triangle. Once sides are folded,  pick up the wonton and press the other sides together so they look kind of like a mini purse and place in a bowl.  Then do the next 15 and so on.  

To cook the wontons, place them in a pot of already boiling water.  You will need to stir them at least once to make sure they haven't stuck to the bottom.  Cook/boil for 5-7 minutes. Once they are cooked drain the pot and remove them using a slotted spoon. Set aside until the soup broth is ready.

To make the wonton soup broth:  

Two boxes (900 ml) of chicken broth (reduced sodium is preferred) 

1/4 chopped green onions

1-2 tbsps Braggs Soya Sauce or Tamari (Or you could use a lite soya sauce with reduced sodium)

2 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp fresh grated ginger root

a pinch of Himalayan Pink Salt

To make the soup, bring the broth to a boil and add green onions, soy sauce, sesame oil and the fresh ginger root.  Simmer uncovered for at least 2 minutes.

To serve soup place 4-6 wontons in the bottom of each soup bowl and label the hot broth over wontons. Garnish with green onion! If following the 21 Day Fix plan, I would count one bowl of soup as: 1 yellow, 1/2 red and 1 tsp!  Enjoy!