I know what you are going to say, it has been a long time! I’ve missed you too. Things have been so chaotic! No matter how busy I’ve been though, I keep thinking of all the recipes I want to share with you! I’m totally hooked on these stuffed peppers. I have enjoyed theses so much that I have bought more ingredients for these at back to back shopping trips. I even look forward to leftovers.
I just signed up for a three month program at my gym that will focus on preparing me for a half marathon! Although I think I could do this on my own, I’m really excited to get out there with others who have the same goal. For me it isn’t even about “socializing” just their presence is motivating. It totally brings out the competitor in me. The program starts next month and is going to keep me busy for two nights (and one morning). So that dinners don’t become neglected, I’m going to have to really plan to have good “leftover” meals or crockpot meals. Some people hate leftovers but for me it is all about how much I really liked the dish the first time around. Hint: I really loved this dish the first time around…
Cajun Chicken Pasta! Normally, when pasta and creamy sauces are put together you get one heck of a calorie laden meal. Not with this recipe! A whole 11/2 cups of this pasta comes in at only 328 calories. Not bad! Also, I just love all the veggies packed into it!
I think the chicken is hiding in my pictures but don’t worry, there was just the right amount in each dish.
I followed the suggested recipe, however I added just a pinch of ground red pepper at the end just to make it a little more spicy! It was even a great leftovers meal for the next day which was great for today because my kids had a ton of homework and I needed to help them and not be busy cooking.
So do you have any favorite healthy leftover meals or crockpot meals? I’d love to hear about them!
The recipe for this yummy dish can be found at Skinnytaste.com.
Well the New Year is here. Did you make a resolution? Have you kept it? I’ve really not been much of a resolution person in the past, but between the family being sick, being busy with the holidays, eating too much “comfort food,” I used the New Year to get back into my fitness routines.
These helped too…
This, although it is super beautiful, did not…
The good news is, my gym is pretty close so I can cruise on over there until it’s not so chilly! Also there is always sled riding for some physical activity!
If you play outside, be sure to make this dish for when you come back in. Spicy Chicken Stew!
Yet another Christmas is coming to an end. Almost. We have one more get together this weekend. In my head I feel like things will settle down then, however we have New Years and my dad’s birthday before the festivities will actually be over. Long story short, I have all kinds of recipes to share with you right now!
These Avocado, Cream Cheese and Salsa Puffed Pastries were a hit! Next time I think I’ll let them cook a little longer, but I was so worried they would burn and I didn’t want to the the chance. I’m also interested in how they would be if you used wonton or egg roll wrappers in lieu of the puff pastry. If you try that out, let me know how they turn out.
I really liked how quickly these came together! I’ll be honest I just spooned the avocado, cream cheese and salsa onto each square without measuring. Whatever looked good seemed to work out just fine. The only thing I didn’t like was that my salsa was naturally a little too wet and leaked from a few of the pastries. Next time I think I’ll use my little mesh strainer or even a fork to add the salsa so it’s a little drier.
Aside from not measuring, I followed the original recipe pretty closely and it can be found here at Averie Cooks.
So if you celebrate Christmas, I hoped you enjoyed it! Here are a few picture of my favorite things.
The weather was terrible and we had to get a tree so this is our $20.00 purchase from Tractor Supply! Not bad huh? My kids decorated our cookies, clearly they love sprinkles. Also our Elf, George was a hit and will be missed very much.
Although I got loads of cool gifts, I’m happy to share that I got this…
Also I’m hoping that this gift will help with all the holiday indulging!
Do you have one of these gadgets? I haven’t used my Nike band yet but I’m hoping it is as neat as it looks!!
If you’ve been following me for any amount of time, you’ve probably noticed that oatmeal is one of my favorite breakfast picks!
It’s hearty, sticks to your ribs, and fun to dress up. Nuts, nut butters, fruit, dried fruit, Biscoff, chocolate chips, they have all visited my bowl of oats at one time or another. But recently, my mad skills of oatmeal creation got a big ol’ slap in the face.
The can be made bigger, creamier and packed with protein.
Today I want to share with you a totally comforting dish! This dish is cheesy, salty, filling, and of course eggy!!
But first I want to share with you an accomplishment I made yesterday!
I ran a 10.4 mile trail run!
Awww look how happy I look. Who knew how sore I would be today!! I don’t think I’m completely sore from the run (although it was extremely difficult), but more from all of the times I almost fell during the run. We had quite a few days of rain right before the race, so the trail was extremely muddy.
Exhibit A and B
I’m guessing I won’t be allowed to wear those shoes in the gym :(.
I looked for pictures of the race however the ones I found are completely misleading! They are all of these little flat spots of a beautifully wooded trails. Although the race was in a very beautiful setting, they failed to show pictures of all of the large hills you have to climb during the race (my husband counted seven). I’m pretty sure if there were seven, at least five of them were in the first five miles. A friend I was running with had asked me on the first hill if this was the “hill” I had been talking about (I had ran this course one other time in the past), I’m pretty sure that she didn’t like my response when I replied “it is one of them.”
The other “fun” part of this run was all of the creeks you had to get across (with no bridges). There were a few times my shoes got wet and that water was COLD!
But we made it! And I’m sure everyone felt proud!
Today however, I’m taking it easy because I’m so sore!
So let’s get back to cooking shall we?
We have been having a heck of a time keeping up with the chickens and all of the eggs they’ve been laying. So when I came up with this dish, I wanted to make sure that I would have lots of the couscous mixture for leftovers.
Here is what I used:
whole wheat couscous
frozen spinach, thawed and squeeze dry
parmesan cheese
goat cheese (not shown)
butter and olive oil (also not shown)
bacon (entire package)
eggs
chicken broth or chicken bouillon
salt and pepper
When I made this, I had doubled the couscous and made roughly four cups cooked. I would suggest only making about two cups cooked because it is just so filling and let you dish have more bacon and spinach. But that is just me!
So here is what I did:
1. Boil couscous according to package. Instead of water I used chicken broth for extra flavor. I didn’t add salt because of the broth base having plenty of sodium (plus your adding bacon later!). Once couscous is cooked, add in a little fat. I used butter (about two tablespoons) and just a bit of olive oil.
2. While couscous is cooking, fry your bacon until crispy.
3. Combine couscous, bacon, spinach, and goat cheese (I used what was left in my fridge probably about 11/2-2 ounces.
4. Fry eggs over easy and add a little sprinkle of salt and pepper while cooking.
5. In a bowl, add couscous mixture.
(This may have been a little too much for one serving.)
6. Top with an egg (or two and parmesan). Serve!!
Oh chicken wings, it has been a while!
Typically, I don’t venture far from the traditional flavors of buffalo and blue cheese when it comes to wings. However words like brown sugar, goat cheese and roasted red pepper perked my ears right up. This recipe looked amazing when I saw it on Pinterest and I was expecting to be disappointed with my own wings when I actually made them (some things on Pinterest just look too good to be true). I was proven wrong! They not only looked good it tasted great!
It may not be fancy, but when it comes to flavor, this can hang with the best! My husband was so pleased with this meal, he asked if we could please have this again soon (before we were even done eating). Trying to keep up with the chickens and their egg production, we will being have this again for sure. Speaking of the chickens, we have started quite the bartering system with their eggs. So far we have traded for homemade noodles, homemade applesauce and goose breasts (which I have never had nor know how to cook).
I had seen those flat breads at the grocery forever and had been interested in trying them out, but I held off until I could think of some use for them outside of pizza.
Here is what you’ll need for this dish:
flat bread (I used one for two people)
provolone
avocado
tomato, chopped
lime
center cut bacon
eggs
salt and pepper
1. Start by frying your bacon until it is thoroughly cooked.
2. While bacon is cooking, mash avocado (I used a little over half to serve two people). Stir in chopped tomato (I used about 1/3 cup of a large tomato). Add a squeeze of lime juice from 1/4th lime. Add salt to taste (I went easy since I was adding bacon to this sandwich.)
3. Fry eggs over easy, in a lightly oiled skillet (salt or pepper optional on eggs). While cooking eggs, toast flatbread with provolone on top until cheese melts.
4. Once cheese on flatbread is melty, top with bacon.
5. Top with avocado mix.
6. Top with eggs.
Serve!!
I’m certain that typical combinations that come to mind when pairing up this chicken enchilada bake would have been rice or some sort of tortilla. However, when making this dish, I was heading out of town for a week and didn’t want to let these potatoes go to waste!
I have no regret! These potatoes were tasty and satisfying!
If you read my blog often, you know I’m not much of a fast food person. Not that I don’t enjoy a burger or the convince of having a meal for four in less than five minutes, but the regret of the calories that come with that sandwich (amongst other concerns) make me avoid it for the most part. But sometimes, I really want something fast and fast food-ish. Lately, it has been tacos.
Luckily, this dish made a yummy, fast, fast food compromise.
Skinny Doritos Taco Bake
I originally saw this recipe on Pinterest (your shocked, I know). My husband LOVED this meal. Like three servings in one sitting love. I may have been slightly jealous that I didn’t come up with it on my own :(.
The only change I made to this recipe is that I added some ranch seasonings along with the taco seasoning. I can’t tell you how simple this was to put together so I’ll show you pictures instead!
Told you it was easy! The best part, one serving is an entire 1/8th of that casserole dish and it comes in at only 320 calories! Good luck getting that at a fast food joint.
The next time I make this, I think I would like to top it with some lettuce, tomatoes and taco sauce (after cooking it of course). I might also consider using regular Doritos just because I’m not a huge fan of the baked (obviously this swap would add more calories per serving).
Speaking of baked chips, why haven’t they made baked Fritos?!
My thanks goes out to Mama Laughlin for this awesome dish!
...so I did it myself 