Burrito Filler/Taco Salad Topper

Happy (almost) Cinco de Mayo! Do you celebrate? I’m all about anything that involves tortilla chips, so I definitely plan to do a little celebrating. In preparation for the big day, I made a filler that can be placed in a burrito or on top of a taco salad. This is easy peasy, and you can adjust the ingredient list based on your taste.

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic, diced
• 3-4 tablespoons diced green chiles (canned)
• Olive oil (~2 tablespoons)
• 1/2 lb ground beef (or turkey)
• 2 tablespoons ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 1/2 cup corn (frozen, defrosted)
• 1/2 cup canned kidney beans (drained/rinsed)
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 cup cooked brown rice

Directions:

Add olive oil, garlic, and green chiles to either a pot or large skillet. Cook for ~ 5 minutes on medium-low. Increase heat to medium high, add beef, cumin, and chili powder. Cook meat through. Add corn, kidney beans, tomato sauce, and rice and cook until heated through.

What are you up to this weekend? I’m hoping to go strawberry picking, go to Body Step, spend lots of time with Josh & Kay, eat tortilla chips, and go for a few walks:

 

Mayo Free Crab Cakes & Asian Turkey Meatballs

I’ve been so bad about posting recipes lately. I’ve just been busy (in the best kind of way)! This week has involved work, teaching at the gym, spending time with the man, taking care of my favorite little lady:

spending time with friends:

trying new (and delicious) foods:

and cooking & baking! I made these crock pot Asian meatballs a while back. They were so good, that I re-made them using turkey (served with quinoa, peas & sesame seeds):

Yesterday, I threw together crab cakes. I despise mayo, and put together a batch without it. I had just finished teaching at the gym, was trying to feed Kaylin, and Josh was walking in the door from work….so this is the only (lame) picture I got. I assure you these are delicious!

 

Mayo-Less Crab Cakes:

Ingredients:

• 8 oz crab meat (canned)
• 1 egg (medium or large not extra large)
• 1/2 teaspoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1/2 tablespoon unsalted butter, melted
• 1/4 cup panko bread crumbs
• 1/2 teaspoon old bay

Directions:

Combine all ingredients except crab. Add in crab and mix with your hands. Form into 5 mini cakes. Place (covered) in fridge for a half hour (or longer).

Either spray a skillet  with non-stick spray, or add a little butter or olive oil. Heat over medium heat and cook each cake for ~3-4 minutes each side (they should brown up). Serve with your favorites sides or put on top of a salad.

So good! Love crab.

I fit in my workout this morning, so I am off to finish up work, pickup my Color Me Rad race packet, and meet Mandi for coffee! What are you up to? 

Burrito in a Bowl

Some nights require a quick and yummy meal. Here is one of my favorites.

Ingredients:

• 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/4 onion, diced
• 1/2 lb ground turkey
• 3/4 teaspoon chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/8 teaspoon ground red pepper
• 1/2 cup tomato sauce
• cooked rice, black beans, corn, peas, avocado, tortilla chips, cheese, Greek yogurt, anything else you want to add!

Directions:

Heat a skillet or pan over medium heat. Add olive oil and onion and cook until onion is fragrant. Add turkey and spices and cook through. Turn heat to low, add tomato sauce and let simmer ~ 5 minutes.

    

To make bowl, assemble taco meat and desired add-ins. I used rice, black beans, corn, peas, and added avocado and tortilla chips prior to serving. These RW Garcia chips are my new favorite:

Such an easy and delicious dinner!

How is your week going? Mine has been pretty good. Works been busy and my quads are feeling much, much better. I know its only Wednesday…but I’m already looking forward to the weekend ;)

More Football, More Chili

We had friends staying with us this weekend and had a blast touring them around Charleston. On Sunday, we had a football day at the house. We nibbled our way through lunch with vegetables and hummus:

Salsa, chips & guacamole:

 

And popcorn:

 

When everyone was ready for something a little more significant:

 

I pulled out beef chili:

 

and Lauren’s buffalo chicken (I used turkey) chili:

 

Toppings (jalapenos, cheese, Chobani):

 

Josh’s parents came over and brought amazing cornbread and un-pictured fruit and Asian slaw for sides:

Single the Eagles weren’t playing very well, we all got a little silly:

  

Did your favorite team win this weekend? If you’re not a sports fan, tell me your favorite chili topping!

Pre-Mama’s Day Dinner

Hope you’re having a wonderful weekend so far! My Saturday was pretty nice. On the upside, the weather was great and I was able to get out for a nice run and out for a walk with Kay and Josh. On the downside, Kay has an ear infection and pink eye. We figured this out on Friday- it came on fast and furious! Poor peanut! Luckily, her meds have worked quickly and she looks and is acting much better/happier.

Last night, we had Josh’s parents, sister and her boyfriend over for a little pre-Mama’s day dinner. Simple table setting:

I pulled out my sweet water pitcher:

I made turkey burgers (with and without cheese- Josh did the grilling). We put the burgers on top of tortillas instead of buns:

A shredded lettuce and sunflower seed salad (both Josh, his Mom & I are huge shredded lettuce fans):

I put all of the salad toppings on the side since everyone likes different toppings. Corn, peas and lima beans:

tomato, cucumber and red onion:

Plate of fruit (very necessary. Love the bottle drying rack in the background.)

10 grain chocolate chip cookies!:

And pickles and roasted green beans (un-pictured). My plate:

Yum! We also all sampled Artic Zero for the first time. Janetha turned me onto this light, protein packed ice cream. We had the coffee flavor and it was very yummy (in my opinion!!).

A happy birthday to the fabulous Ms. Julie!!! And a happy Mother’s day to all the Mom’s out there (especially my Mom and Josh’s Mom!!!!)

What are your Mother’s day plans? We’re going to brunch. Otherwise- I have cleaning plans (hot) and I am teaching Body Pump.

Turkey Pineapple Jalapeno Meatballs

 

This recipe has gone through an evolution! A while back, I made these turkey pineapple jalapeno burgers. As a part of the Secret Recipe Club, Megan made them into beef meatballs. I adjusted them again and made them into these turkey pineapple jalapeno meatballs:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 lb ground turkey 
• 1/4 cup crushed pineapple 
• 2 tablespoons low sodium teriyaki sauce
• 2/3 cup bread crumbs
• 1 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Caribbean Citrus seasoning

Directions:

1. Mix together all ingredients and form into balls.
2. Place on foil covered baking sheet (or on top a cookie sheet, sprayed with non stick spray on a baking sheet).
3. Bake at 400 degrees until cooked through

I served my meatballs on top of brown rice mixed with soy sauce, additional crushed pineapple and chopped & cooked jalapeno:

 

What are you up to this weekend? Tomorrow, we’re celebrating my FABULOUS Aunt Lori’s birthday. Other than that? I have yard work and a run planned.

Important note: Help fellow blogger Lynn from The Actor’s Diet raise money for her next film The Man’s Guide to Love

Cornmeal Jalapeno Turkey Meatballs

Oh yes! Its secret recipe club time again. As a part of the club, each month you’re assigned another Secret Recipe Club blogger to make a recipe from. If you want to join, click here to sign up.

This month, I was assigned the blog The Recipe Taster. The blogs author has lived in Florence and is just an amazing chef. His recipes look flawless. I ended up going with one of his simpler dishes, polenta burgers.  I made a few adjustments to the recipe so that I could make the burgers into meatballs, and baked them in the oven instead of pan frying them.

Ingredients

• 1 lb ground turkey or beef
• 3 tablespoons marinara sauce
• 1 small onion, diced
• 1/2 jalapeno, chopped
• 1 egg;
• 1/4 cup cornmeal
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs (note: you made need to adjust the amount of bread crumbs based upon your meat choice)
• Cooking Spray

Procedure:
In a large bowl, mix together marinara, onion, jalapeno, egg, cornmeal, and panko. Add in meat and mix until just combine. Form into meatballs a little smaller than a golf ball (I got approximately 25 meat balls). Place a cookie cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and spray with pam.

Bake for ~20 minutes or until cooked through.

Serve with vegetables or pasta and sauce.

These SMELLED like Thanksgiving while they cooked. The jalapeno was an interesting flavor add in, but I might do without it next time.

Have you tried any fun new recipes lately? Are you a fancy chef? Or do you stick to simpler recipes?

Chobani Pineapple Turkey Chili

Sunday was a really wonderful day! I got a lot done around the house and spent time with my family. My parents came down for a little brunch action (Kaylin was more interested in Frank than the camera):

Kaylin and her Ami (my Mom looks MUCH too young to be a Grandma):

I also made a really yummy dinner! Based on this recipe, I made a chili using ground turkey, pineapple and chobani! It was sweet and spicy!! Both Josh and I really enjoyed it.

Ingredients: 

• 1/2 Tbsp canola oil
• 1/2 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 clove garlic, minced
• 1/2 lb ground turkey  
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon can chopped jalapenos (or ~ 1/2 fresh jalapeno, chopped)
• 1 15-oz can mixed beans
• 1/2 14.5-oz can low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup chopped pineapple
• 1/2 C (8 ounces) Plain 0% Chobani Greek yogurt

Directions:

Heat oil in Dutch oven/larger pot. Add onion and sauté until translucent. Stir in garlic, ground turkey, cumin, oregano, and cayenne and cook, stirring regularly until turkey is cooked through (no longer pink).

Add jalapenos, beans and stock. Bring to a simmer, cover and cook 30 minutes. Uncover and stir in Chobani and pineapple. Serve! Top with more tortilla chips, cornbread, cheese or more Chobani if desired.

Genius:

A great shortcut (especially if you won’t be using the jalapenos right away- they go bad so fast!):

Final product:

Yum! Thanks Chobani for all of the yummy samples (disclaimer: I received the chobani used in this recipe for free)! Have you tried any of their new flavors yet?? We have them all in the fridge and I can’t wait to dive in (especially the Cinnamon Apple!!).

Mish Mosh

I haven’t been cooking a lot. The holidays meant a lot of time away from the kitchen. On one hand, it was nice to not have to make a lot of meals! On the other, I missed cooking.

When I finally got back into the kitchen, I didn’t want to follow a recipe, I just wanted to cook. What resulted was a yummy mish mosh.

 

Ingredients:

• 1 medium sweet potato, diced
• 8 oz. Brussels sprouts
• Olive oil spray
• 1/2 lb. lean ground turkey
• 7.5 oz. tomato sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon chili powder
• VERY light sprinkle of ground red pepper- less than 1/8 teaspoon

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with non stick aluminum foil. Place sweet potato and Brussels on sheet and spray with cooking spray. Roast for ~25 minutes

Meanwhile, brown up lean ground turkey until cooked through.

Add vegetables, tomato sauce and spices to turkey and cook for ~10 minutes.

Top with cheese! Would be yummy served with pasta, rice or scooped up with tortilla chips (if using tortilla chips, may want to dice up the Brussels a bit).

Weekend plans? We have our Body Pump launch tomorrow (whoop, whoop!). Other than that, a date night with the man and baby and brunch with my parents!

Chickpea and Turkey Meatballs

I had one of those nights where I just DIDN’T know what to make for dinner. As I was doing some blog reading, I came across Teresa’s recipe for Turkey Chickpea Burgers and knew I’d hit the jackpot! I adjusted her recipe a bit and made meatballs instead:

Ingredients:

• 15-oz can low sodium chickpeas, drained
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1/4 cup onion, chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1/4 lb ground turkey
• 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. In a food processor, combine chickpeas, Worcestershire, onion, cumin and water and pulse until smooth.

In a bowl, combine chickpea mixture, turkey & panko. Form into meatballs a little smaller than a golf ball (I got approximately 16 meat/bean balls). Place a cookie cooling rack on top of a baking sheet and spray with pam (see picture here). Bake for ~20 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with vegetables or pasta and sauce.

 

AND…I finally got the Christmas tree decorated. Notice the tilt to the right…I kind of love that its totally not perfect :

Green Giant Stir Fry

Happy Friday!!! First, excitement in our house- Kaylin slept through night for the first time! It was absolutely wonderful to wakeup after solid sleep!

The rest of my week has been great. I finally got all of the cleaning done, took Body Combat Wednesday, and got in a nice run on Thursday. I also met up with Mandi for Starbucks. Oh, and worked. Today will include teaching Body Pump, running errands, and a date night ALONE with Josh! Whoop, whoop. Whats going on with you?

Recently, I received a coupon to try out a sample of Green Giant vegetables (disclaimer: a stipend was provided for free as a part of the Foodbuzz taste testers program). I choose one of my favorites, sugar snap peas:

I used them in an easy stir fry. First, I browned up a pound of ground turkey. Meanwhile, I cooked the sugar snap peas and a side of corn according to the package directions. I added the vegetables to the ground turkey

and then added my favorite pre-made stir fry sauce (I like to make my own sauce, but this stuff is great in a pinch):

I topped the stir fry with sesame seeds and served it with a side of pineapple. Its also delicious on top of greens:

Thanks Green Giant and Foodbuzz! The snap peas were awesome in this stir fry.

Last, I just wanted to let you all know that I am taking part in the Green Works Community. As a part of the community, I received a number of Green Works products to try (disclaimer: I received these products for free). I used the all purpose cleaner first and loved it. It did a great job cleaning the counter tops in my kitchen and smelled fresh, but not overpowering. I like that, unlike other cleaners, you don’t need to rinse your kitchen counters with water before they come in contact with food.

Do you use green products? I have used a few green cleaning products and love using easy/peasy homemade cleaners as well (i.e. white vinegar).