Tomato Slices topped with Avo-Tuna

Healthy and easy lunch option!

Serving: 1

Time: 5 minutes

Ingredients:

1 can of tuna

1 avocado

2 stalks of celery (diced)

4 tomato slices (1/2 inch)

Juice of 1/2 lime

Salt/Pepper

Optional: Greek yogurt

Directions:

Mix together the first three ingredients (adding one teaspoon/tablespoon of greek yogurt is optional; this will make the tuna fluffier). Add in celery, salt/pepper and lime juice (taste and season to your liking). 

Top the tomato slices with the tuna and serve with carrot sticks.

Enjoy!

Spicy Turkey Tikka

This meal may sound strange, and that's because it is! I've never heard of any Indian food that uses sausage, in this case, TURKEY sausage. Since we LOVE tikka masala sauce, and happened to have most of the ingredients, we decided to pair it with some of that sausage we had in the freezer. The outcome = genius. We absolutely loved the heat in this dish, and the flavor combination of the Indian spices with the turkey sausage was to die for. To keep things guilt-free, we skipped the heavy ingredients and went with a couple of "coconut" based replacements! 

This would be a perfect post-workout meal on a chilly evening! Kind of reminds me of an ethnic chili (minus beans)!

Hot Italian Turkey Sausage Tikka Masala 

Servings: 6

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 45-60 minutes

Ingredients:

1 package of hot Italian turkey sausage, casings removed

2 green peppers, cubed (about 1 inch)

2-4 jalapenos (leave seeds in for extra heat), diced

1 onion, cubed

1 package of sliced mushrooms

1 large can of tomato sauce (28 oz.) - we love Dei Fratelli Products!

1 large can of crushed tomatoes (28 oz.)

1-2 cups of coconut milk

1.5 tspn garam masala

1 tspn cumin

Salt & pepper, to taste

1/2 tspn crushed red pepper

1/2 tspn cayenne or chili powder (I used chipotle chili powder for the heat)

2 tbsn coconut oil

Steps:
1. Heat 2 table spoons of coconut oil over medium heat.

2. Pan fry the turkey sausage, casings removed, until browned all over. Remove from heat and slice thinly into disks. Return to pan and continue frying until browned (or until you reach your desired crispiness). Remove, drain, and set aside.

3. In the same pan, saute the onion, mushrooms, peppers, and jalapenos until onions become translucent. *Feel free to add minced garlic!

4. Add all of the dry spices and stir until fragrant (Be generous with the salt/pepper, maybe start with 1/2 tsp of each).

5. Pour in tomato sauce and crushed tomatoes. Stir occasionally until bubbling. (

6. Turn the heat to medium low, and slowly stir in the coconut milk until you reach your desired color. 

7. Taste the sauce with a bite of sausage to determine if you'd like to add any spices (remember, the sausage will add heat). 

Serve with bread, preferably naan; garlic naan :) 
Optional: Serve over rice.

Yum!

Spicy Shrimp Cacciatore

Spicy Shrimp Cacciatore

Servings: 4

Prep: 20 minutes

Cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients:

12 oz. shrimp (frozen, cooked, small or medium) - fresh shrimp is even better!

1 jar of Classico pasta sauce (we used the triple mushroom)

4 bell peppers (multiple colors, medium to large)

16 oz. of whole mushrooms (white or baby bella)

1 medium spanish onion

5 cloves of garlic

1 teaspoon Oregano 

1/2 teaspoon Crushed red pepper 

1/2 teaspoon of garlic salt or your favorite seasoning salt (we used Italian seasoning w/parmesan cheese used for dipping oils).

Optional: 

Pasta (vermicelli, angel hair, spaghetti)

Grated parmesan cheese

Garlic bread

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. and prep mushrooms by rinsing, trimming stems, tossing in olive oil and your favorite seasoning salt.

2. Prep onions and peppers by chopping into bite-sized squares.

3. Spread whole mushrooms on a foiled baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes. When finished, set aside.

4. Heat a tablespoon of coconut oil (or olive oil) on MEDIUM heat in a 12" or larger skillet (make sure it's deep). 

5. Saute chopped peppers, onions, crushed red pepper, oregano, and seasoning salt until they become tender. 

6. Next add minced garlic and allow to cook for one minute.

7. Now add the sauce to the peppers and onions, turn heat to MEDIUM LOW, and cook for five minutes stirring occasionally.

8. Thaw your shrimp by running cool water over them in a colander. If you are using fresh shrimp, peel and devein. 

9. Stir thawed shrimp and baked mushrooms into the sauce and cook for an additional 5 minutes until everything is heated through. If using uncooked shrimp, cook the shrimp separately before adding to sauce (pan fried works fine. Be careful of overcooking.).

You're ready to eat your Spicy Shrimp Cacciatore over a bed of pasta, with garlic bread, or on it's own - just top your serving with grated parmesan cheese and VOILA!

Enjoy!

The Famous: Chicken Tikka Masala

Chicken Tikka Masala

This is probably my favorite thing to make. What started as an experimental dish, now is a staple in our home! The "go-to" meal for dinner parties!

It's a bit of a process, but worth every second of work. And don't get me wrong, I've managed to come home at 5:30 and have the meal ready by 8pm!

I've made this recipe a number of times by now. I have followed several different recipes, and still don't have a SET recipe I will use each and every time. However, for the sake of this blog and sharing with friends, I found one recipe that I think is a great start!

Link: http://www.food.com/recipe/chicken-tikka-masala-25587

 Tips:

• Serve with GARLIC naan
• Over rice is good, but in my opinion QUINOA is the way to go!
• USE garam masala, it's amazing.
• Don't be scared to play around with the spices, if it doesn't taste right, add some curry powder, just not too much. When in doubt, I add garam masala!!!
• I also double the sauce, everytime - love dipping the naan in it! This will change the amount of spices you need- be mindful of this...it's a tasting game!
• If you don't have a grill, broiling the skewered chicken works just as well. Don't skip the skewering part.
• I always add an extra pepper or two...jalapeno, poblano, and/or serrano!
• Double or triple the garlic; it won't hurt!

MARINATION

and the sauce....





Today's free lunch...

Starving and on a serious budget! Good thing I had these ingredients at home!
Here is another pita sandwich...

Super simple! It was delicious! 

What you need:

2 eggs

Pita

Turkey

Smoked Gouda

Slice of tomato

Salt n peppa

Splash of milk

Butter!

How to:

1. Mix eggs with milk, salt and pepper

2. Melt a teeeny bit of butter (or use Pam to spray the pan) and scramble the eggs (I don't really like mine too dry...)

3. Place the cheese on top of almost done eggs and cover with a lid for about a minute, until the cheese is melted

4. Heat pita in toaster oven for about 2-3 minutes.

5. Cut pita in half and stuff with egg & cheese, turkey and tomato!

I think Sheba wants some!

Spicy Tuna Salad Pita Pocket

Omg...

So good!

This is what happens to me when I don't have someone to cook a "real" dinner for! 

(above) The final product

...in the making!

Tuna salad recipes are very quick, easy, and not THAT bad for you...right? Well, I take that back, I've been known to make a pretty amazing tuna melt (ask Trey)!  

On another note, I've recently discovered my love for pepperoncinis, which resulted in this "spicy" creation. I've always liked them on my greek salads, or with my Papa John's pizza...but I've never actually purchased a jar of sliced pepperoncinis until now! (PS- If you live in Sarasota, please try a pepperoni & pepperoncini pizza from Patellini's or Mama Leone's-you will not regret this!).

In my opinion, this recipe is a tasty no-brainer! Lunch or dinner! 

Ingredients (keep in mind, I DO NOT MEASURE most of the time, so please make sure to measure to your liking...or just trust me!) for 1 serving

1 small can of tuna

2 tablespoons mayo

1 teaspoon mustard
1 teaspoon of lemon juice

pepper, ground red pepper and minced onion (a few dashes of each)

1/4 tomato (diced)

A fork-full of sliced perpperoncinis (mmmmmmmmm)

1/4 onion (diced)

1 pita

Note: The line up (with the exception of tuna, pita, tomato & onion).

STEPS

1. Drain tuna and mix with mayo, mustard, lemon juice, and all spices

2. Dice tomatoes & onions and add to tuna

3. Add peppercini (option: cut the slices into even smaller pieces)

4. Heat the pita pocket in a toaster over for about 3 minutes, cut in half and stuff with tuna salad

VOILA!

MMMmm...

Good luck!