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).

Clean Chicken Quesadillias

After a lunch date with a friend to a Mexican Restaurant I have been craving quesadilla's like crazy!  I wondered how I could make these the cleanest way possible and discovered it IS possible!  For starters, I invested in the smaller sized whole wheat tortilla (approx. 7") to avoid making something so big that I of course would have to eat it.  I went online to find a recipe that would work with the ingredients that I had at home.  Allrecipes.com is a great website with a variety of recipes for any taste bud.  Not all the recipes are clean however, depending on what you want to make they can be adapted.  Most proud of myself was the fact that I made my own fajita seasoning!  No more packaged seasonings for this girl!

Chicken Quesadillas (Makes approx. 10)

~3 large chicken breasts

~1 white onion

~1 Green Bell Pepper

~1 Orange Bell Pepper (any colour would work, this is just what I had)

~1 c. white mushrooms

1 TBSP olive oil

Fajita Seasoning
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tsp chili powder
1tsp salt
1 tsp paprika (for a smokey flavor Victorian Epicure sells a Smoked Paprika)
1 tsp raw sugar
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4-1/2 tsp cayenne pepper (adjust to how hot you want your fajitas)
1/2 tsp cumin

1.  Cut chicken into small strips.  Toss chicken strips and fajita seasoning in a ziploc bag and place on a lightly greased foil lined cookie sheet. Use a fork to separate the chicken so it isn't all in a big clump.

2.  Broil chicken for 5 minutes until no longer pink.  Add to frying pan with vegetables and saute for approx. 10 minutes.

3.  Place open tortilla on cookie sheet and fill each half of tortilla with chicken mixuture. About 1/4 cup.

4.  Put small amount of shredded Montrey Jack & Cheddar Cheese on the mixture. 

5. Fold the tortilla over the mixture and bake at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes or until the cheese has melted.

6. Serve with fresh salsa, jalapeños and a small amount of greek yogurt if you desire.