Vegan Chick(en)Pea Salad

Ingredients:
1 can of garbanzo beans
2-3 stalks of celery, diced
1/2 bell pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
1/2 cup of diced dill pickles
3 cloves of garlic
Juice of one small lemon
1/2 cup vegan mayo (I use Just Mayo)
1 tablespoon of mustard
Seasonings to taste: salt, pepper, celery seed

Steps:
1. Rinse and roughly mash the chickpeas with a fork or potato masher.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, mix well.
3. Adjust the seasonings to taste.

Serve with crackers, on a sandwich/wrap, or top off a salad!

My favorite way to eat this is in a toasted pita and drizzled with balsamic dressing.

Turkey Quinoa Taco Bake

This is SO good! I didn't even have to go to the grocery to make this. Love it when that happens.

Here are the details...

Ingredients:

• 1 cup of quinoa
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 1 can of black beans, rinsed
• 1 onion (any kind), diced
• 1 can of chili beans/pinto beans
• 1 can of corn
• 1 can of rotel (spicy....if you like spicy!)
• 1 packet of taco seasoning (or make your own...google the recipe, you probably have the spices!)
• Shredded cheese (1 cup)
• 2 cups of plain tomato sauce
• Juice of 1 lime
• Optional: jalapeños (fresh or pickled) or cilantro to garnish, extra cumin (to taste). 
• For serving: hot sauce, salsa, sour cream 

Steps: 

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. 
2. Prepare quinoa according to instructions on packaging. 
3. In a large pan, saute onion with a little bit of EVOO until translucent. 
4. Add the turkey to the pan and cook through until no longer pink.  Add taco seasoning (I use a little extra cumin here).
5. In a large bowl mix:
1. Cooked quinoa
2. Turkey
3. 1/2 cup cheese
4. Canned beans, corn, and tomatoes
6. Once everything is thoroughly mixed, add tomato sauce (a little at a time) until you get a nice thick consistency (you don't want it crumbly and dry). 
7. Taste test and add salt/pepper as needed. I added an extra teaspoon of cumin. 
8. Pour the mixture into a lightly greased pan.
9. Pour lime juice over this and cover with cheese. (Add jalapeño here!)
10. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Cook uncovered for an additional 10 minutes. 

Garnish with cilantro and serve with hot sauce, salsa and/or sour cream!

Enjoy!

Or you could add jalapeños:

Miracle Soup Recipe

Ingredients:

• 1/2 head of cabbage (green)
• 1 onion (white/yellow/sweet)
• 1 small bag of carrots (5-7 small carrots)
• 1 bunch of bok choy
• 1 green pepper
• 4-6 celery stocks 
• Vegetable or chicken stock (1 quart)
• 2 Lipton French Onion Soup Mix packets
• 28 oz. of canned diced tomatoes (flavored OK) 
• Garlic - 6-8 cloves
• Salt and pepper

*You will need a very large pot for this...I used an 8 quart. 

Steps: 

1. Prep all of the veggies by chopping, dicing and slicing. 
2. Saute onion, carrot, celery, and bok choy stalks until the onion is translucent. Add the garlic in the last 30 seconds. 
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot: both seasoning packets, canned tomatoes, vegetable/chicken stock, shredded cabbage and bok choy leaves. 
4. Stir and add water until all of the cabbage is covered.
5. Bring to a boil, lower heat and cover. Cook until the cabbage is tender. 
6. Salt and pepper to taste. 

Notes: 

• Add crushed red pepper flakes for heat. 
• You're the boss, add whatever veggies you have on hand!
• I know it's doable, but I haven't tested this in the crock pot. If interested I would follow the above instructions through step 2. Then, add everything to the crockpot and cook on low for 4-5 hours. Check tenderness of the cabbage. If you need more time, turn the heat up and keep an eye on it. (If anyone tries this, please let me know!) 

Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili (Vegetarian)

This is another recipe from the healthy eating/working out "Challenge" Kerri and I are doing...and wow! It was a huge hit. Thank you Kerri for sharing, I will be making this again, and again, and again...

The sweet, spicy, cinnamon-y kick is so unique. The two people I was able to share this meal with absolutely loved it and went back for second helpings! And if you've never cooked with butternut squash, do not worry, neither have I! Just be prepared to work hard *that is one tough fruit!

Recipe adapted from: CLICK HERE

Warning: This is very spicy!

Butternut Squash Chipotle Chili (SPICY!)

Prep time: 30 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Servings: 6-ish

Ingredients:

3 tablespoons of olive oil

1 medium/large butternut squash, peeled and cubed

2 bell peppers (I used orange), chopped

2 onions, chopped

2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, diced *please use 1 for a milder version, or none if you don't like heat. If you don't want the heat just use the adobo sauce for the smoky taste

2 cans of black beans, rinsed

1 can of corn, drained

1 can of rotel (I used hot) or diced tomatoes

2-4 cups of vegetable stock (optional: chicken stock)

Salt to taste

1 tbsp of chili powder

1.5 tsp of cumin

1/2 tps of ground cinnamon

2 bay leaves

Avocado for garnish
Optional: Grilled/shredded chicken if you need some "meat"

Steps:

1. Over medium heat, saute (with olive oil) butternut squash, onion and bell peppers until the onion is translucent. 

2. Add beans, corn, tomatoes, chipotle pepper, vegetable stock (more or less, depending on the consistency you prefer) and all of the spices. Mix well and cover.

3. Cook on medium low heat for one hour, stirring occasionally.
4. After an hour, try it and make sure the butternut squash is cooked through; garnish with avocado and serve. 

 Step 1 (pictured below):

Steps 2 and 3 (pictured below):

The final product, just add avocado and you'll be in heaven!

Spicy Sriracha Salmon Glaze

Spicy Sriracha Salmon Glaze

Adapted from: RECIPE

Ingredients:

2 large or 3 regular salmon filets (skinless)

3 tbsp honey

3 tbsp sriracha

3 tbsp soy sauce or Dale's seasoning

Optional: splash of Worcestershire, garlic powder, chili powder

Steps: (preheat oven to 350 f)

1. Prepare salmon by rinsing and patting dry. Sprinkle w/ desired seasonings (garlic/chili powder) on each filet and place in greased baking dish. 

2. Mix honey, soy/dales, sriracha (and Worcestershire, optional) and brush on each side of the salmon, generously. 

3. Bake uncovered for about 20-25 minutes total. *Baste the remaining glaze on the salmon every 7-10 minutes until cooked through.

*For a serious flavor bomb, marinate the salmon in the soy/Dale's and sriracha for about 20-30 minutes before baking

As you can see I served this with a baked veggie medley: toss veggies lightly in olive oil and season to your liking, bake, uncovered next to the salmon. 

Enjoy!

White Bean "Alfredo" over Zucchini Noodles w/Mussels

Week two of our challenge, and Kerri shocks me with this awesome recipe: 

White Bean "Alfredo"

I decided to keep it healthy and served the "Alfredo" over zucchini noodles with sauteed mushrooms and mussels (in a red sauce). Let me start off by saying this vegan "Alfredo" was SO much better than I was imagining it was going to be. The meal took no longer than 20/30 minutes to prep and cook. Loved it! 

Servings: 2

Time: 20-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of garbanzo beans

1 cup of almond milk (or soy)

2-3 cloves of garlic

margarine/butter/vegan margarine

salt/white pepper/crushed red pepper flakes

2 large zucchinis

1 container of sliced mushrooms

Coconut oil

Optional: Seafood (mussels, scallops, shrimp) or blackened chicken

Steps: 

1. Prep the zucchini by rinsing, trimming the edges off, and using a spiralizer to create noodles. 

2. Make the sauce: Saute diced garlic with margarine for 2 minutes (until golden and fragrant). In a Magic Bullet or food processor add garlic mixture, 1 can of rinsed/drained beans, and 1/2 cup of milk. Blend. Add more milk, one splash at a time, until you reach your desired consistency. Transfer sauce into a small sauce pan, season with salt, white pepper, and crushed red pepper (to your liking) and heat over low/medium-low. 

3. In a large pan, heat coconut oil and saute mushrooms for about 4 minutes, until semi-soft. Add the zucchini noodles and toss well to coat them with the coconut oil (I salted the noodles at this point). Cook for an additional 4-5 minutes. Drain and plate immediately. 

Optional: prepare your seafood of choice (or chicken) separately. 

4. Once the noodles are plated, top with the warm "Alfredo", and enjoy! 

Spaghetti Squash Aglio e Olio

I think I might be late in the game...but WOW, spaghetti squash is amazing! 

My first time ever making it was tonight, to serve with some leftover pasta sauce. I was so anxious to try it, once it was out of the oven I didn't even heat up the leftover sauce. I whipped out the olive oil, crushed red pepper, Parmesan cheese and few other odds and ends and created a masterpiece. Simple, and not masking the flavor of the squash, aglio e olio was a great idea. 

I never want to go back to traditional pasta, I am in love! 

Spaghetti Squash Aglio e Olio

Servings: 3-4

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

2 spaghetti squash

2 tablespoons of olive oil

1 tablespoon of diced garlic (or substitute garlic powder)

Crushed red pepper

Salt

Parmesan cheese

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 375f.

2. Prepare the squash: cut edges off first, then cut lengthwise. Seed the squash and place face down on a baking sheet. Bake for about 50-60 minutes. After the time is up, remove from oven, turn the squash over and allow to cool. Once you're able to handle it (I rushed and used an oven mitt), gently scrape a fork along the inside of the squash until all of the squash is removed (this is my favorite part). 

3. Heat the olive oil over medium heat. Once heated add garlic and a few dashes of crushed red pepper until the garlic is fragrant. 

4. Add the spaghetti squash to the pan, salt (to your liking) while tossing in the olive oil and top with Parmesan cheese.

5. Serve and enjoy, immediately!

Avocado-Tuna Cucumber Bites

Paleo Snack: Avocado-Tuna Cucumber Bites

Ingredients:

1 Can of Tuna

1 Cucumber

1 Avocado

1 Lime (lime/lemon juice works, too)

Salt & Pepper

Steps:

1. Peel and slice the cucumber no larger than 1/2-inch slices

2. Cut the avocado lengthwise, core, dice and scoop the avocado into a bowl

3. Add drained tuna, lime juice, salt and pepper to the avocado and mix

*Sometimes I add garlic or paprika for extra flavor

4. Top each cucumber slice with a spoonful of the tuna/avocado mixture

*Feel free to season the cucumber slices for an extra boost

Enjoy!

Corned Beef + Cabbage

Corned beef, cabbage, carrots, red potatos, and onions = MMMMmmmm

What you need:

crockpot

~10 pound corned beef brisket w/seasoning packet

4 carrots

1-2 onions

6-12 small red potatos

1 head of cabbage

12 oz. beer (we used Yuengling)

1/4 cup brown sugar

2/3 tablespoons yellow mustard

Steps:

1. Prep veggies (wash, peel, cut into chunks - quarter the cabbage after removing the core)

2. Place carrots, onions and potatos at the bottom of the crockpot

3. Rinse brisket with water, pat dry, and place into crockpot fat side up (rub seasoning over the top)

4. Empty beer into crockpot

5. Mix the brown sugar with some water (1/4 cup) and add into crockpot

6. Arrange quartered cabbage over the brisket.

7. Cook on low for 10 hours.

8. You are done - place everything into serving dishes (drained) and enjoy :)

Taco Salad

Taco Salad with homemade Guac

This is one of our "healthy" dinners!

Easy as can be: 

1 lb. of ground beef or turkey

shredded cheese of your choice

shredded iceberg lettuce

dice tomato and onion

tortilla chips

taco seasoning

two avocados+1 packet of spicy guacamole mix=the bomb

sour cream
your favorite hot sauce
and taco sauce...

BOOM!

1. Brown meat, drain, add seasoning with water and simmer
2. Grab a plate and add in ingredients in this order (or whichever works best for you my dear)
chips
beef
cheese
hot sauce
lettuce
tomato + onion
sour cream
guac on the sides
more cheese
more hot sauce
:)