Mushroom pizza bites

Pizza, whats not to love? 

I know the best part of the pizza to me is the crust, but lets face it, its also the worst. So if you want to have all the flavors of pizza without the guilt this should work ( I have another recipe i'm wanting to try with my oopsie bread too)! I wasn't a big fan of the cauliflower "pizza" crust and way prefer this.

Super simple, and way low carb. You can use whatever toppings you'd like, I did a combination version.

My daughter made regular french bread pizza too for herself and daddy :)

Mushroom Pizza Bites

3 mini portobella mushrooms

1 small can of tomato sauce

Turkey Pepperoni

Chopped bell pepper

Chopped onion

Cooked Italian sausage (crumble)

Shredded cheese

Olives

Clean the mushrooms with a damp paper towel and remove the steam. Drizzle a little bit of olive oil over them and some S&P. Spoon in pizza sauce and gently press in a couple pieces of pepperoni into the space. Pile on the rest of the toppings and back for 10-15 min at 350.

Viola! 

Sloppy Squash

Sloppy Joes are a comfort food in my household. The sauce though isn't so health friendly so I went on the hunt for a good recipe that could pass the test. It was SO easy and so awesome knowing that you can make this from scratch and add in way more veggies to make it even healthier!

1 pack lean ground turkey

2 cups of water

1/2 onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 cup all natural ketchup 

(look for low sodium and low sugar)

2 tbls brown sugar

1 tbls mustard

1 dash Worcestershire sauce

Salt and Pepper to taste

Cayenne pepper to taste (if wanted)

Brown the meat and the onions together in a pan (about 10 min). Add in the bell peppers and garlic till the bell peppers are soft ( about 3 min). Mix in 1 cup of water and scrape the bottom of the pan for any bits of flavor that may be stuck. Add in the remaining ingredients and 1 cup of water, bring it back to a simmer- stirring occasionally until the mix thickens to your liking. We cooked it for about 15 min on low and we like it saucy! If you like it thick and less saucy let it cook longer.

We will never by a can of sloppy joe mix again. I served mine over some spaghetti squash with a little sprinkle of cheese. Delicious!

Chocolate Peanut butter frozen yogurt

If there's one thing in this world I wish I didn't have to cut out of my diet, it would be ice cream. I freakin love it. I could eat it every day for every meal and not get tired of it. But we all know that it has lots of stuff in it that isn't good for those of us looking to get fit. 

I think I found a nice little substitute to satisfy the cravings without undoing a day of healthy eating and intense workouts. 

This is the best yogurt I have found so far. Its really low in carbs and SUPER high in protein without any added junk.

When you mix these two ingredients with some unsweetened cocoa powder and a packet of truvia the magic happens!

1 Cup yogurt

1 tablespoon un-sweetend cocoa powder

1 packet truvia

1 tbls peanut butter

mix it all up in a bowl and place into a freezer safe container. Let it sit in the freezer for at least an hour. If its too frozen, let it thaw a little in the fridge. Super easy and yummy for when your craving something sweet

I love mexican food. But, when I used to make enchiladas with red sauce they were only half enjoyable because of the "twang" taste from the sauce. I really wasn't found of it so I decided to see what I could do about it :)

I came across a recipe for home made sauce, and oh my goodness it tastes  a million times better, is SUPER simple, and is a lot lower in sodium and other additives.

Red Enchilada Sauce

1 tbsp canola oil

1 small sweet yellow onion, diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tbsp chile powder

1 1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp ground coriander

1/2 tsp oregano

1 28 oz can of whole tomatoes

Sea salt and freshly cracked pepper, to taste

1 tsp honey

Heat the canola oil in a sauce pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5-6 minutes. Add in the minced garlic, chile powder, cumin, coriander, and oregano and stir constantly for 1 minute.  Put in the tomatoes (crushed by hand using either a wisk or a potato masher) and juice. Season with salt and pepper, to taste and add the honey then cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes.

After the sauce has simmered for 30 minutes, blend the sauce with an immersion blender (or regular blender) until smooth. Taste and re-season if needed.The end. Super simple and way tasty!!!

I used the sauce to make Turkey enchiladas, below is that recipe.

Turkey enchiladas

1 Package of Jennie-O extra lean ground turkey

1 small can of diced green chilis

1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped

Chili powder

Cumin

garlic powder

S & P

Paprika

Mexican blend cheese

Olives if you like

Red sauce

Whole wheat tortillas

Cook the meat in a large skillet with the onions and spices. I don't usually measure my spices but I would go twice around the pan making sure to get enough so you have good flavor. Let the meat cook and cool slightly before trying to roll up the enchiladas.

Spoon some of the red sauce along the bottom of a 13x9 pan. Take one tortilla and lay it down in the pan, spoon in some meat, sprinkle of cheese and roll it up like a burrito. Continue to do this until you run out of room in the pan. You can squish them together to usually get one more in the pan if you'd like. Pour the red sauce on top and spinkly with more cheese. Bake in the oven at 375 for around 20-30 min until the cheese and sauce is bubbly.

I like to serve it with a corn and avocado salad :) 

Salsa pulled pork

So twice a week I go to the gym in the evening, so one of these days is a leftover dinner and the other is something made in the crock pot. The crock pot is your friend. If you don't have one, get one..now! If you work late, are in school late, or just like the idea of your food being done when you come home, the crock pot is the way to go! Like I said, I use mine at least once a week.A lot of people think that any meat cooked in the crock pot will have that "taste" that comes with it, well that's not true if you cook it right.

I made this to go into tacos, you could also use it for enchiladas, nachos, burritos, and one roast made enough for our dinner and a quart freezer bag for later. 

1 3-4 pound pork shoulder roast (boneless)

1 jar of chipotle salsa

1 can diced green chilis

1/2 yellow onion

2 cloves chopped garlic

1 lime, juiced

1 handful of chopped fresh oregano 

Slice the onions and put half the rings on the bottom and save the other half to put on top of the meat. Put just enough water in the crockpot to cover the bottom.

Brown the meat on all sides in a pan on the stove with a little of oil. Place into the crock pot.

Pour the lime juice and about a cup of the salsa on top of the meat ( you can add more if you'd like), then the chilis, oregano, and the rest of the onion slices. Put the lid on the crock pot and turn on high for 4-5 hours. If your going to be gone longer than that you can turn it on low for 8. Once the meat is able to shred turn the crockpot down to low, take the fat off the meat, then shred it up with a fork. Let it continue to cook on low for another 30 min. 

Oven roasted broccoli

 This is a super simple, way delicious, and nutritious side dish for any meal. My daughter gobbles this up like candy :). It crisps up on the outside but is soft at the same time. All you need is...

1-2 heads of broccoli

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup parm cheese (grated works best)

garlic powder

onion powder

salt & pepper

Preheat the oven to 375

*if you have something else in the oven at say 350, you can just put the broccoli in at that temp, no need to be fussy about how high the oven is with this dish*

Trim the broccoli and put it in a bowl. Pour over the olive oil and toss the broccoli to coat. Then add in the spices and cheese. Add however much garlic and onion you like, if you want it to have a little kick add in some red pepper flakes. Mix it all up so the broccoli is evenly coated. Spread it out in a single layer onto a cookie sheet-to make clean up easy, line the cookie sheet with tinfoil. Bake for 20-30 min depending on how crispy you like it.

Spaghetti squash w/home made Alfredo sauce served with grilled chicken and roasted broccoli

Alfredo sauce

Alfredo sauce

If you serve this sauce over spaghetti squash its a great low carb healthy indulgence. Its rich, creamy, and of course easy to make. 

1 cup heavy whipping cream

1/4 cup of unsalted butter

1 cup grated parm cheese

1/4 cup fresh chopped parsley

2-3 cloves chipped garlic

salt & pepper

Melt the butter in a medium sauce pan over medium-high heat. Add the cream and simmer on low for 5 min. Add in the garlic and cheese, stirring so they don't stick to the bottom. Stir in the parsley and serve!