21 Day Fix: Spicy Hawaiian Burgers

So yummy...just watch out for that smoke detector in your kitchen :) I set mine off more than once the last time I prepared these indoors!!

Spicy Hawaiian Burgers

2 pounds of ground chicken or turkey
6 pineapple rings
6 whole wheat buns (or omit buns, save a yellow containers, and just use a lettuce wrap!!)
6 slices of pepper jack cheese
1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce
1 tsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 clove garlic, minced

*Sweet potato fries—homemade or frozen J

Preparation
1. Combine the chicken, soy sauce, 1/2 paprika, 1/2 chili powder, season salt, cumin, and garlic.
2. Mix with hands and form into 6 even balls.
3. Flatten into patties, slightly thinner in the middle.
4. Sprinkle with paprika and chili powder. 
5. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. Spray griddle and grill patties over medium heat for 6 minutes per side. They should flip easily. If they want to stick, let them grill for another minute. 
7. Add cheese slice the last 2 minutes. Remove patties to a plate and cover with foil.
8. Grill pineapple rings for 1-2 minutes over medium heat.

Assemble burger with patty and pineapple and enjoy!
Add a bit of sriracha on top for even more zip!

21 Day Fix Lemon Roasted Salmon

Great way to jazz up an otherwise "normal" dinner--plus, clean up is a cinch!

Lemon Roasted Salmon with Asparagus

4 (4oz.) salmon fillets

2 lemons, sliced into circles

2 tbsp butter

1-2 bunches Asparagus

½ tbsp EVOO

Salt

Pepper

1-2 cups Brown rice (Check suggested servings sizes on box JCook according to directions

Preheat oven to 425. Line baking large baking sheet with foil. Trim ends off asparagus, toss with EVOO and a little salt and pepper. Lay flat on one half of the baking sheet. On the other side, lay another sheet of foil across (this needs to be twice the length of the tray so we can make a little “pouch” for the salmon). Lay lemons slices on foil. Place salmon filets on top of the foil. Cut butter into small pieces and split evenly among salmon. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Roast everything in oven for 18-20 minutes (until both salmon and asparagus have reached a desired doneness!). Serve alongside brown rice.

21 Day Fix Mexican Shrimp Bowl

This meal always gets rave reviews in my clean eating groups..I'm embarrassed I haven't shared it yet!

Mexican Shrimp Bowl:

9 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined (I buy frozen, peeled and deveined shrimp to save time!)

2 tspn coconut oil (or EVOO), divided

½ onion (yellow or red), diced

3 garlic cloves, minced

¾ cup uncooked quinoa, rinsed

1 ½ cups vegetable or chicken broth

1 tbsp + 1 tspn ground cumin

1 tspn chile powder

¼ tsp cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (optional)

Kernals cut from one corn cob (or one cup frozen corn kernals)

1 15 oz. cans of black beans, drained and rinsed

½ cup of chopped fresh cilantro

Pico de gallo (optional)

1/2 Avocado sliced (optional)

Preparation: 

Heat 1 tspn oil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic, and saute until lightly browned.

Mix quinoa into the saucepan and cover with vegetable broth. Season with 1 tbsp cumin, ½ tspn chile powder, cayenne pepper, salt, and pepper. Bring the mixture to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes.

The last five minutes of the quinoa cook time, heat a small skillet over medium heat. Add remaining oil to pan. Add shrimp to pan, sprinkle with remaining cumin and chile powder. Cook for 2-3 minutes, then flip. Cook till shrimp are pink and tails have curled.

Stir frozen corn into the saucepan, and continue to simmer about 5 minutes until heated through. Mix in the black beans and cilantro. Stir in cooked shrimp. Top with avocado.

*Makes 3-4 servings. Plan on leftovers for lunch tomorrow.

21 Day Fix Spaghetti Soup

So quick to throw together--this will be an instant family favorite!

1 lb ground beef

1 bell pepper, chopped

1 onion, chopped

3-4 celery stacks, chopped

1 cup shredded carrots (or diced)

½ tspn salt

¼ tspn pepper

1/2 tspn basil

1/2 tspn oregano

1/2 tspn rosemary

1 tspn Italian seasoning

2 14 oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 jar sugar free spaghetti sauce

3-4 cups beef broth

6 oz spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces

Heat a little EVOO in a large soup pan. Add veggies, and saute till onions are translucent. Add beef, breaking apart with the back of your spoon. When beef is cooked through, stir in spices. Stir in tomatoes, sauce, broth and simmer for 10 minutes or so. Stir in broken spaghetti, and cook till noodles are al dente. Top with parmesan if desired.

And that’s it! Ha!

21 Day Fix Approved Mediterranean Salmon

Quick, easy and tasty--this salmon feels SO much fancier than a normal #21dayfixapproved dinner!

 2 4-6 oz salmon filets
2 tspn EVOO
1 tspn minced garlic (about two cloves)
½ cup canned diced tomatoes
1 tspn dried basil (could sub leftover fresh basil if you have any! Increase amount to 1 tbsp)
1 tspn capers
½ cup garbanzo beans
¼ tspn black pepper
Broccoli, steamed or roasted (let me know if you want roasting directions!)

 In a small saucepan, heat 1 tspn of EVOO over medium heat. Add garlic to pan, and stir for about 30 seconds. Add tomatoes and next four ingredients to pan and reduce heat to low. In a separate saute pan, heat 1 tspn EVOO over medium heat. Add filets to pan, skin side down and cook for two minutes. Flip filets over, and cook to desired doneness (2-5 minutes). Serve alongside steamed broccoli!

Healthy 21 Day Fix Approved Chicken Tortilla Soup

In Houston, we keep getting glimmers of fall...but then the temps climb to 90 and we take the kiddo to the splash pad AGAIN...in October. I threw a fit last night and stomped my feet and finally did something I've wanted to do for a while....make this amazing HEALTHY Chicken Tortilla Soup I'd heard SO MANY good things about. And y'all...alllllll the things were so true!!!

Healthy Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:
8 corn tortillas, divided use
EVOO
1 poblano pepper, seeded and diced
1 onion, diced
3 celery stalks, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tomatoes, chopped
6 cups chicken stock (low sodium or homemade)
1 tspn chile powder
1/2 tspn chipotle chile powder
1/2 tspn oregano
2 1/2 cups shredded chicken (I made crockpot verde salsa chicken last week--worked great here!)
1 1/2 cups sliced carrots
1/2 cup cilantro, chopped (divided use)
1/4 cup chopped green onions
Toppings: cheese (I loved feta on this!), avocado

Preparation:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slice tortillas into strips and lay on a foil lined baking sheets. Spritz with a little cooking spray and bake for 4-5 minutes, then stir to flip a bit. Bake for another 4-5 minutes (or until crispy).

Heat EVOO in a large soup pot over medium heat. Add onions, poblano, and celery for 5-6 minutes (until softened a bit). Stir in garlic and cook for another 60 seconds. Add tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes, or until tomatoes have softened. Place tomato/onion mixture in a blender (or food processor) with 2 cups of the stock and half of the tortilla strips. Blend until smooth.

Return blended mixture to soup pan and stir in chicken, carrots remaining broth, and spices. Bring soup to a boil, then reduce heat to medium low. Cook for 15-20 minutes until carrots have softened. Stir in 1/4 cup of cilantro (save remaining for a topping) and green onions.

Serve topped with cilantro, avocado, cheese, and remaining tortilla strips.

(Serving size = 1.5 cups and according to the cookbook, equals 3 green--I don't believe that, lol--1 yellow, 1 red, and 1 1/2 blue (if topped with cheese and avocado)

{recipe adapted from Autumn Calabrese's cookbook, FIXATE}

Margarita Style Portobello Pizzas

You know those recipes you read and think, "OMG I can't wait for my husband to go out of town so I can make that???" ...what? That's only me?? Lol! The hubs HATES pesto. He will grimace if he even senses I may have used it on a dish. He tolerates mushrooms, but that's only been in the last ten years or so. FUN FACT: We've been together for more than half my life! Crazy, right???

Anywho, when I read this recipe originally I knew I would love it but for the two reasons listed above PLUS the fact that it was a vegetarian dish, I knew this was going to be a cooking-for-one sort of night. Who would have thought I would have two back-to-back posts about cooking for one??

This recipe is a great way to use up those end of summer tomatoes. It's also a really great way to satisfy the cravings for a hearty Italian meal when you are trying desperately to stay on track and be good (or...in the land of my 21 Day Fixers, you are trying to save a yellow container for wine!!). 

One of my FAVORITE successes EVER from a
21DF challenger!!!

Speaking of 21DF, I'm so PUMPED to start my next challenge group on Monday! It's a crazy time of year for our family with school starting back up, but that is all the more reason to have a fabulous accountability group making sure I get my workouts in and stay on track nutritionally. My last group just ended and the ladies lost an average of 5.5 inches each--and that's during the summer (aka the season of never ending pool parties and vacations!!). Everyone also reported some great "non scale victories" too--fitting in pants they hadn't worn in years, getting back into prepregnancy clothing, feeling confident, noticing the program become lifestyle not "diet."

 ...AND 21 Day Fix is on SALE through tomorrow. If you commit to giving Shakeology a shot for one month (and you know you're curious!!), you get 21 Day Fix for just $10. That's a no brainer, y'all!! Comment below if you want more info about the challenge group or the sale!! Ok, back to business!! I loved how quickly this recipe came together and how yummy my kitchen smelled! This recipe is a stretch on 21DF, but I would look at it as probably two green containers, a red container, a blue container, and 1-2 of your gray teaspoons. 

Margarita Style Portobello Pizzas 
(yields two servings)

Ingredients:
2 large portobello caps, stems removed and gills scraped out
2 tbsp prepared basil pesto
1 roma tomato
4 slices of fresh mozzarella (from the little ball; not a "Kraft" package ;) )
Salt and pepper
EVOO

Preparation:

You're going to LOVE everything about this.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. While over is warming prep mushrooms by wiping with a wet paper towel, removing stems, and gently scraping gills (the blackish part inside the cap). Rub each cap with a small amount of EVOO and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Place caps gill side down on a foil-lined baking sheet (clean up is SO EASY this way!) and roast for 5 minutes. Flip mushrooms over (now gill side up) and roast for an additional 5 minutes.

Meanwhile, use a serrated knife to slice the tomato and mozzarella. Remove mushrooms from oven (if any liquid has formed inside the cap, drain this off in the sink before "stuffing" the pizzas). Top each cap with 1 tbsp of pesto, 2 slices of fresh mozzarella, and 2-3 slices of tomato. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the top of each pizza, and return to the oven for 5-8 minutes (or until mozzarella has reached your desired state of melty goodness).

 Serving suggestion: I enjoyed my pizza over a bed of quick sauteed spinach to add some "green" to the plate...and my belly :) I just heated a small amount of EVOO in a pan with red pepper flakes and garlic. Careful not to burn the garlic! Add 3-4 handfuls of baby spinach and use tongs to turn it over in the oil. Add a few tbsps of water to the pan and allow spinach to wilt. This whole process seriously takes no more than 3 minutes!!