Tangy Dill Potato Salad

You Will Need:

750g red skinned baby potatoes
4 eggs
1/2 cup light mayo
1/4 cup honey mustard
1/2 tsp curry powder
2 tsp lemon juice
20 gherkin pickles thinly sliced lengthwise
1 Granny Smith Apple
1/4 red onion
3 tbsp chopped dill

Boil potatoes until cook and the chill in fridge for roughly 40 min.
Boil eggs. Peel and slice.
Chop Red onion and apple.

Whisk mayo, mustard, curry and lemon juice. Add potatoes sliced eggs, gherkins, Apples, red onion and dill.
This is great side dish now that BBQ season is upon us :-)

Serving of 1 cup = 
calories 195
carbs 42g
fat 3g
protein 5g

Pineapple pulled chicken

So, I saw this recipe online for pineapple Chicken and I was drooling but once I saw the ingredients ( 1 cup of Brown sugar and 1/2 cup of Soy Sauce)I knew I had to find a way to make it healthier. I brainstormed for a bit and went to Safeway and this is what I came up with and I am rather impressed with the calories I cut out of this recipe.

You will need:
1 can of crushed Pineapple
2 TBSPN Garlic & Ginger paste
1/2 Cup of Mrs.Buttersworth (no sugar added) Syrup
1/2 cup of Ketchup

Mix all ingredients in a bowl and let sit in the fridge while you prep the chicken.
NOTE- I am doing slow cooker pulled chicken but you could also use this for a marinade and bake/BBQ the chicken and it would be great.

total Macronutrients  for the marinade
Calories-400
Fat-0
Protein-3g
Carbs-80

For us this should do 10-12 meals (average 35 calories) plus chicken
Good and good for you :-)

Energy Bites (Nut free)

You will need:
1 cup of pitted dates
1/4 cup of organic honey
1 serving of Arbonne chocolate protein (3 scoops)
1/3 cup of almond milk
1 1/4 cup of oats
1/2 cup of coconut

in a bullet or ninja mix Dates, honey, Milk and protein. Mix then transfer to a bowl and stir in coconut and oats. Put in fridge for an hour. 
Once chilled roll into  balls

I got 26 small balls.
each ball has:
46 Calories
1g of Fat
8.5g Carbs
1.5g Protein

 

Peanut Butter Energy bites

You will need:
1 Cup of organic crunchy Peanutbutter
1/2 Cup of Coconut
1/4 cup Pecans
1 serving of Arbonne chocolate protein meal replacement
1 1/4 Cup of Oats
1/3 cup of almond milk

Mix the protein and milk in a bowl. Add oats and mix. Add all other ingredients and mix well. Place in the fridge for an hour. Roll into balls.

nutrition per ball
Calories-109
Fat-6.5
Carbs-6
Protein-4

Chocolate banana egg white breakfast muffins

You will need:
2 Cups of egg whites
2 1/2 servings (6 scoops) of Arbonne Chocolate meal replacement protein
1 banana
2 servings (4 TBSPN) of PB2

in a blender mix all ingredients ( I did half in my ninja)
pour into 10 greased muffin moulds. 
bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Calories Per muffin-102
Protein-13g
Fat-2g
Carbs-9g

For me on serving is 2 muffins. Someone like Ryan would have 3 per serving.

SouthWest Egg White breakfast Muffins

Pre-heat oven to 350.

grease a muffin pan. I use coconut oil spray.
Fill 3/4  with egg white(approx 1/4 cup)
Spoon in Salsa( roughly 2 TBSPN). I use southwest but you could use any kind you like.

Bake for 20 minutes

I have 3 for a serving:
118 cal
8 carbs
21g protein

Egg White Breakfast Muffins

This is probably the easiest breakfast prep I have ever made.

Choose a filling. 

Spinach, Mushroom Onion and balsamic or Apple, cinnamon, caramelized  onion.

Saute' in frying pan until onions are cooked.

 Grease muffin tray. I use a coconut oil spray I found at safeway in the baking isle.

 Place desired amount of filling in the muffin tin and add egg whites. (I fill muffin  tin to the top with egg whites)
Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes. 

 

Turkey and Cranberry Meatloaf Muffins

Ingredients:
1 Onion finely chopped
1 8oz pkg of mushrooms finely chopped
1 cup of dried cranberries
3 cloves of minced garlic
1 lb of ground turkey
1 egg whites
1/3 cup of rolled oats
1 tsp of minced thyme
1 tsp of minced rosemary
1 tbsp of worecestershire
1 cup of pumpkin puree

mix all ingredients together.

Pre-heat over to 400 and grease muffin pan. roll mixture into 12 balls. bake for 20 minutes

You could also do regular meatloaf ( not in cupcake pan) Bake at 350 for 55 minute in meatloaf pan. 

per muffin:
calories-102
fat-3g
carbs-10
protein-9g

zucchini Roll ups

You will need:
3 Zucchini
2 carrots cut into 2 inch match sticks
1 cucumber cut into 2 inch match sticks
1 red bell pepper cut into 2 inch match sticks
2 green onion diced
pesto

 Chop ends off of your zucchini so they are about the same length. Use a wide vegetable peeler or a sharp knife to cut wide planks of the zucchini lengthwise. Think lasagna noodle for the shape and the thickness. You should get 7-8 from each , depending on the zucchini.

Now to assemble....Lay a plank of Zucchini down with the short end toward you. Add one tablespoon of the pesto to the 1/3 of the plank closest to you. Add a few matchsticks of the veggies and onions perpendicular to the plank, keeping then even with one side of the zucchini and letting the extra hang out on the other side. Roll it up away from you and stick a tooth pick through it to hold it together and make a nice handle for people to grab with. Keep going until you run out of zucchini.
 

Roasted Beet Hummus

You will Need:
1 1/2 Pounds of beets Roasted, Peeled and chopped
3 cloves of Garlic
2 Tablespoons of Tahini
2 Tablespoons of olive oil
2 Tablespoons of lemon juice
2 tablespoons of orange Juice
1/2 teaspoon of salt

Walnut-herb Crumble
1/4 cup walnuts toasted
3 tablespoons minced fresh Dill
3 tablespoons minced green onion
pinch of salt

Throw all the ingredients in the top list into a food processor and mix until smooth. If its chunky add a tablespoon of water.

To make the crumble chop up walnuts into tiny bits and mix them in a small bowl with the dill, green onion and salt. sprinkle mixture over the beet hummus and serve.
 

Goes great with vegetables, crackers or pita. I even topped my egg whites with it :-)

Mango Habanero Pulled Chicken

This is an easy meal prep Idea

I package of Lilydale Chicken (roughly 8 pieces)
1 1/2 cup of Mango peach habanero salsa ( from Costco)

Cut the chicken breasts into 4 and layer in slow cooker with salsa. cook for 4 hours turning at the 2 hour mark. once cooked pull apart with a knife and let it sit in the juices for another hour.
Perfect for any salad.

Prime rib Roast

I have never been able to make a perfect roast so I decided to make it a mission this year. It went rather well :-)

 You  will need:
Roast (ours was 2 pounds)
2 TBSPN Rosemary
2 TBSPN Thyme
3 Cloves of garlic Minced
1 TSPN pepper
1 TSPN kosher salt
1/4 cup of Melt butter (or real butter if you like)

Pre heat oven to 500 degrees.
Mix all ingredients into a small bowl. Spread evenly over roast. Place roast in oven and cook for 5 minutes a pound. This was 10 minutes for us. Then turn the oven off and leave the roast in the un-opened oven for 2 hours. 
 Slice and serve.
 We made sautéed green bean and pepper along side steamed yam with cinnamon.
 Great for family dinner or meal prep. 

Orange Sage Turkey

So, this is a new one for me. My mom always seasoned the turkey with spices so thats what I have always done. This will be my first attempt doing a marinade on a turkey.

This is an over night turkey. Low and slow they call it. Set the oven to 200 degrees.

Marinade:
1/2 cup of Marmalade
4 TBSPN of melt vegan butter
4 TBSPN of dijon mustard

you will also need:
Fresh sage
2 oranges
1 cup of low sodium chicken broth

Start by rinsing the turkey and placing it in roasting pan. then fill it with oranges (cut into 4 pieces) and sage.
Mix all ingredients of the marinade and massage it all over the turkey. Place chicken broth in the bottom of the pan. This will keep the meat moist. I put the turkey in the oven over night for 8-9 hours. Make sure the breast meat temp in 170 degrees before taking the turkey out of the oven. This frees up the oven for the day. Once the turkey has sit for 30 minutes we carve it and place it in a crock pot on warm with the juices until we are ready to serve it. 

 

Garlic Mashed potatoes (Dairy Free)

Ever since Ryan found out about his dairy allergy we have tried to make sure he doesn't miss out on all the goodies at big dinners.  Everyone knows a good mashed potato has butter and milk. We had found 2 great substitutes that you can't even tell it's dairy free. 


Ingredients
8 potatoes
1/2  Cup of almond milk (Kirkland makes a great one with little sugar)
1/4 Cup of Vegan Butter (see pic below)
2 cloves of Garlic minced
a pinch of Crushed black pepper
1/2 a stock of Green onion finely chopped


Boil potatoes in a large pot until soft (20-25 minutes). Drain water and add all other ingredients and mix with a mixer. I use my kitchen aid. You can garnish with extra green onion.

Daves Killer Stuffing in slow cooker

Ingredients

12 cups of cubed bread (we use saves killer bread in the green bag)
1 Cup of vegan Butter
2 cups of diced celery
2 cups of diced yellow onion
1 granny smith apple diced
1 TBSPn poultry seasoning
1 1/2 TBSPN Sage
1 TBSPN Thyme
4 1/2 cups of low sodium vegetable broth
2 eggs beaten


Cook butter and vegetables in a sauce pan. Add seasoning to bread cubes. Pour cooked vegetables and broth to bread cubes and mix until all bread is moist. Transfer mixture to slow cooker and cook for 6 hours. I do this over night with the Turkey. I cook the Turkey low and slow over night too. (that will be coming up later in the week :-))

Cranberry sauce

We will be trying to post all of our favourites for Christmas dinner throughout this week. 
 Cranberry sauce is the easiest and tastes 100 times better when it's not from a can. 

Ingredients
1 small bag of frozen Cranberries
1 cup of sugar (I like using Brown sugar)
1 cup of orange juice
A sprinkle of orange zest
A dash of cinnamon (not too much because it will take over)

Throw the sugar, cinnamon, orange juice and zest in a sauce pan over medium to high until the sugar cooks down. Add the frozen cranberries and cook until they all burst(about 10 minutes)  remove from heat. Let it cool before serving. I usually make it the day before. For big dinners of 10 ppl or more I double up on everything. It never lasts :-)

Apple Cranberry Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients:
1 Pound of Ground Turkey
1/2 of a small onion
1/2 cup of Oats
1 TBSPN Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1 egg
1/2 Cup of dried Cranberries
1 Cup Granny Smith apple Shredded (leave peel on)
1 1/2 TBSPN Fresh Sage
1 TSPN Garlic Powder
1 TSPN Onion Powder
3/4 TSPN Kosher Salt
1/2 TSPN Black Pepper
Chopped Parsley for Garnish

Roll into 1 1/2-2 inch balls and bake at 425 for 12-14 Minutes on a greased cookie sheet

Cranberry Sauce:
Cook one cup of whole Frozen Cranberries
1/4 cup unsweetened apple sauce
2 TBSPN of pure maple syrup
Orange zest
1 TBSPN of Orange juice
1/4 cup of sugar

cook frozen cranberries until they burst. Add all other ingredients and reduce to simmer.

Place meatballs in a crock pot on warm and add sauce.

Great for holiday parties
 

Slow Cooker Cauliflower, Ginger, Turmeric Stew

Ingredients

1 Tspn Cumin Seeds
1 Medium onion, finely chopped.
1 Medium Cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces
3 tomatoes, finely chopped
1 Jalapeno chopped
1 cup of Kale
2 cups of butternut squash
1 pkg of lilydale ground turkey
2 tspn of ginger paste
1 TBSPN cumin powder
1 TBSPN Coriander powder
1 can full-fat coconut mile
2 TBSPN chopped Cilantro

I throw everything into the slow cooker for 6 hours.
Stir at the 2 and 4 hour marks.

 

My Bread solution

so, everyone loves bread. It tastes great and goes with almost anything.
  I love it with eggs in the morning. 2 slices with 2 eggs will cost you close to 400 cal....then most people add butter, jam or even peanut butter which is closer to 600 cal.  If you're like me and always tracking your calories this is very important.
 My co-worker mentioned a brand to me that uses sprouted wheat which is easier for the body to digest. (I have been troubles with digestion every since I got a bug in Cabo this year and finding things that don't upset my stomach is hard) I tried this bread and didn't have any of my regular side effects PLUS it's only 110 calories for 2 slices. That is half of regular bread.  
So, for all you calorie counters like me who enjoy bread now you can have it and not feel as guilty (or sick) after having it :-)

 You can find it at Costco and safeway.

Spaghetti Squash Mac and Cheese

You will need:

2 Spaghetti Squash
2 Yellow onion Diced
2-3 TBSPN of desired oil ( we use coconut oil)
1 Cup of plain greek yogurt
2 cups of Shredded organic cheddar cheese
1/2 cup parmesan cheese
3 handfuls of baby spinach
1 TBSPN onion powder
Salt and pepper to taste
Paprika (optional)

Instructions:

Cut Spaghetti Squash in half and de-seed. One half at a time, place face down on a plate with enough water to cover the surface of the plate. Microwave on high for 11-13 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat oil in a large saucepan. add onion and saute'.
Once spaghetti squash is cooked, scrape out of the shell and place in a pot. add onion and spinach and stir until wilted.
Now add Greek yogurt, cheeses and spices. Stir until fully combined and cheese is melted.
Serve

Makes 6 servings.

Calories-338
Carbohydrates-27
Protein-21
Fat-19
Sugar-5
Fiber-5