Classic Roast

Classic Roast

This is definitely not the prettiest picture I've taken since the gravy decided to spill all over the plate, but man was it delicious! I had been craving some good ol' roast and mashed potatoes, and my local grocer was having a fantastic sale on London broil so I decided it was time to try my hand at making a roast. 

Ingredients:

1 1/2 lb. London broil roast

5 whole carrots, peeled and chopped into 1 inch pieces

1/2 of a sweet onion, quartered

1 tbsp rosemary

1 tbsp parsley 

1 tsp garlic powder

S&P

1 Bay leaf

2 russet potatoes

1 tbsp butter

About 1/4 cup milk

3 tbsp corn starch

I put the carrots and onion in the bottom of a mini slow cooker (my meals usually feed just myself or myself and my boyfriend), then I cut the roast in half, sprinkled it with the seasonings, and placed on top of the veggies. I filled the cooker with water until the water just covered everything, threw in the bay leaf, and covered and cooked on high for about 5 hours. About 30 minutes before time was up, I peeled and sliced the potatoes and put them in a pot of boiling water. While those were cooking, i drained the slow cooker liquid into a bowl, scooped off the top layer of fat, and put the liquid in a pot and brought to a boil. I mixed together about 3 tbsp of corn starch and 1 cup of hot water, and added to the liquid to thicken into a gravy. Once the potatoes were tender, I used a hand blender to mash them until smooth, added the butter, milk, and some salt and pepper, and blended until smooth and creamy. Then I plated up!

Sarah's Review 

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Comments: It tasted like the roasts my mom used to make when I lived at home.  I was pleased with how it came out and I loved the flavor of the gravy! 

Parmesan Greek Yogurt Chicken

Parmesan Greek Yogurt Chicken

As unappetizing as the picture looks is as tasty as it was. Haha. So, here is my recipe. 

Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 cup plain greek yogurt

1/4 cup grated Parmesan

Pinches: salt, pepper,  garlic powder, Mrs. Dash lemon pepper

Mix everything but the chicken in a bowl. Place the chicken in sprayed or oiled baking dish. Top each breast generously with mixture. I baked @ 375 for 40-45minutes.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

Comments: I liked it very much! It was so cheesy and moist. By the end it was a little too lemony, even for me. My husband doesn't like lemon chicken, like at all. I thought it wouldn't be as lemony as it was. So next time I think I'm going to switch it up and instead of a lemon taste I'm going to use chopped spinach. 

Ground Turkey Shell-less Tacos, Take 2!

Ground Turkey Shell-less Tacos,  Take 2!

I finally got around to remaking my Shell-less Tacos described here: Take 1!

I did everything exactly the same, except I made my own salsa! I used the store bought salsa to flavor the ground turkey like before. I just wanted to make sure my salsa tasted good before I mixed it all up in my food. 

Salsa:

Extra virgin olive oil, heated

1 small onion chopped finely, sauteed

1 & 1/2 tsp dried cilantro

Pinches: salt, pepper, garlic powder, chili powder

2tbsp honey (in many recipes I saw people used sugar, so this was my substitute)

A splash of organic chicken broth

While I cut up 3 large Roma tomatoes I threw the squishy insides in the sauté pan.

I threw the chopped tomatoes in at the end and turned off the heat but left the pan on the warm burner while I mixed it all together and then prepared the other parts of the meal

Alana's Review

(salsa)

Ease: 5/5

Taste:3.5/5

Comments: less onions, more spice! 

Turkey Meatball Soup

Turkey Meatball Soup

My favorite thing to do is make a big pot of soup at the beginning of the week and take it to work for lunch throughout the week. Unfortunately, I'm super picky when it comes to soup so I usually stick to some variation of chicken noodle soup. Well, I decided I needed to jump out of my soupy comfort zone and try something new, so I decided on a turkey meatball soup (based off of this recipe: http://chefsavvy.com/recipes/turkey-meatball-vegetable-soup/). I'm not a big fan a ground turkey, but it's so much healthier than beef so went ahead and tried this soup anyways. I made the meatballs like the recipe says to but I also added some garlic powder to the meatball mixture to give it a little more flavor. My motto is you can never have too much garlic. After they were done, I added a head of chopped broccoli and 2 chopped carrots and sauteed those until they were tender. About halfway through I also added 4 big baby portabello mushrooms that I had sliced thin. Once the carrots started getting tender, I added the garlic, sauteed for a minute, then added 4 cups of chicken broth with roasted vegetables*, 1 cup water, and about 2 tbsp dried onion flakes. Once this started simmering I added a few dashes of black pepper, about 1 1/2 tbsp dried parsley, 1 tsp chili powder, 2 handfuls of spinach, and the meatballs I cooked earlier and let this cook until the spinach wilted. I then served with some fresh sourdough bread slices. 

This soup was quite tasty after I first cooked it, but it honestly was way better the subsequent days when I took it for lunch. The meatballs had soaked up more broth and all of the flavors had melded together beautifully. This soup is definitely going to overthrow my usual chicken noodle soup.

*So let me tell you about this broth. One day in Walmart I saw they had these cans of chicken broth with roasted vegetables on clearance, and since they hadn't expired I figured I'd give them a shot. These definitely lifted up this soup way more than normal chicken broth would have. It had a fantastic flavor and little bits of veggies in it. Now, a disclaimer, it's not really "clean" broth, but I'm not about to sit around making homemade broths so it will have to be a cheat. Feel free to add homemade broth to this soup, but I really think this broth is amazing and gave this soup a great flavor.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5

Taste: 5/5

Warm Bruschetta

Warm Bruschetta

The inspiration for this dish came from none other than Alana! My boyfriend and I wanted a snack to munch on while we binge-watched the new season of House of Cards, and I checked up on the blog to see Alana's new post and it looked delicious! If you haven't seen it, go to the next post immediately. 

I've never made bruschetta but had the basic ingredients on hand, so I figured I'd give it a shot. I'm not a fan of raw tomatoes or cold mozzarella, so this is a warmed up version.

I quartered yellow sun burst tomatoes, sprinkled them with salt, and roasted in the oven at 425 for 15 minutes. While that was doing its thing, I sliced a loaf of sourdough bread about half an inch thick and drizzled with olive oil. Once the tomatoes were done, I switched the oven to broil and put the bread in for about 2 minutes. I mixed the tomatoes, mozzarella cheese pearls that I cut in half, garlic powder, dried parsley, and dried Italian seasoning and spooned onto the bread. Then I put it back in the oven at 375 for 3 minutes so the mozzarella could warm through. Once I took them out, I sprinkled with a little pepper and dug in!

These came out wonderfully and were the perfect snack for our night of laziness.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

Spinach and Tomato Spaghetti

So, I need to use recipes more to spice up our meals, but in general I love to just wing it and come up with my own recipes. This is my first attempt at clean spaghetti. 

Just like brown rice and whole wheat bread, I cannot stand whole grain pasta... I know, it's kind of hard to eat healthy without liking such major healthy staples. But, in effort to make it clean and healthier, I used veggie pasta. It said it was made with carrot and tomatoes. I'll take it! 

This turned out much sweeter than I expected.I think the pasta played a role, but all in all, pretty good! 

Sauce:

Heated olive oil in a pan

Sautéed minced garlic (removed once cooked)

Sautéed approx 2cups chopped fresh organic spinach

2 1/2 tomatoes

3/4 cup organic chicken broth

Dried 1tsp: basil, oregano, thyme

Pinch: salt, pepper, cilantro

Cook until tomatoes are cooked.

Toss in cooked spaghetti, mix in Parmesan to taste. 

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 4/5

Comments: When I first tasted it, I liked it, but it seemed kind of boring. All the tastes in the dish were pretty much the same so nothing stood out. I attempted to put some balsamic vinegar in it, of course it'd be much better cooked in the first place still... but that wasn't quite it either. So I put more parmesan on it and that did the trick. Next time, I will put more cheese in the pasta and maybe a little vinegar while sautéing vegetables. 

Pistachio Pesto Pizza

Pistachio Pesto Pizza

My favorite pizza is at a small pizzeria in Tulsa. It has tons of cheese and a pistachio pesto on it, and oh man, it is delicious. I love pesto, especially interesting ones that are based on ingredients other than the classic pesto, so I fell in love when I ate this pizza. Tulsa is a bit of a drive from Oklahoma City, so I decided to try a version of this pizza at home, and it turned out pretty tasty.

I made the pizza crust by mixing 1 cup plain nonfat greek yogurt and 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, and kneading until a dough formed. I rolled it out to about 1/4 inch thickness and baked at 350 degrees for about 15 minutes, until it was cooked through. The toppings were a thin layer of all natural pasta sauce (not homemade, but it was made whole ingredients), small fresh mozzarella pearls, yellow sunburst tomatoes that I had roasted at 425 for about 10 minutes or so, and pistachio pesto (recipe below). I baked this at 375 for about 8 or so minutes, until the cheese melted. I was impressed with how the pesto came out and all of toppings tasted great together. It can't beat my favorite pizza in Tulsa, but it sure will hold me over in the meantime!

Pistachio Pesto

1/2 cup shelled pistachios

1/4 parmesan cheese

1/8 cup olive oil

2 tbsp water

1/2 garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp orange juice

Pinch of pepper (if pistachios are unsalted, add a pinch of salt)

Mix everything in a food processor or blender until smooth.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5

Taste: 4/5

Suggestions: Everything on the pizza was fairly soft, so adding some fresh chopped pistachios on top would be delicious for a little crunch.

Teriyaki Chicken

Teriyaki Chicken

Ok, so complete disclaimer... this is a healthier and cleaner version of my teriyaki chicken and may not fit your ideal clean eating standards. I am half Filipino and in my household we eat rice, a LOT of rice. Growing up we would eat rice with breakfast, lunch, and dinner. It's just how it is. So the fact that I haven't had rice since I started clean eating is a miracle. I know that brown rice is an option, but I cannot stand it. I don't know what it is about it, and I know some people love it and prefer it. But I just don't like it. I love and typically use jasmine rice. Brown rice is healthier but in this instance I just used my beloved jasmine rice. In the pre-cleaneating days I would sauté the chicken in butter, soy sauce, etc. And then would do the same for the green beans. So this is much much healthier! 

I salt and peppered two chicken breasts then dusted some garlic powder on top.  I prepared the sauce separately. After the chicken cooked I cut it up and tossed it with the chicken. I steamed the green beans, no butter or any thing else since the chicken with the sauce would be on top of the green beans. I put ginger powder in the water I cooked the rice with. 

Sauce:

1 cup organic chicken broth

1/4 cup soy sauce

2 tbsp light brown sugar

2 tbsp honey

2 tbsp white vinegar

1/2 tsp ginger powder

1/2 tsp garlic powder

A splash of balsamic vinegar

A splash of Worcestershire sauce

I let this simmer while the rest of the food was cooking. My thought with this was that instead of simmering the chicken in straight soy sauce mixture. I made the majority of the sauce be broth and just gave it teriyaki notes. Then by tossing the chicken at the end in it, it meant less of that sauce and sodium seeped inside. It was actually very delicious! I think I might even prefer this to my old way!

Alana's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Caprese Chicken

Caprese Chicken

I used the balsamic vinegar reduction from the link at the bottom. I accidentally reduced it a TAD too much, haha. But it still worked. I also waited a few minutes to take a photo, so the crisp fine lines of sauce had spread. But it tastes a lot better than it looks. And I think it looks pretty good!

This was amazing. I salt and peppered the chicken then seared each side, then baked it. I did the typical mozzarella and tomato topping and broiled them the last 3-5 minutes.  I kept it pretty simple, the only change I did from the traditional recipe is instead of fresh basil leaves, I used dried. I try to cut up our meals for our toddler and I thought it would be easier for him to eat and still get the taste. Anyways, it was great and will be on our meal rotation! I paired it with a simple tossed salad with Parmesan, no dressing. You're able to use the sauce from the chicken. I also toasted some cut bread with olive oil, dried oregano, dried basil, pepper, and garlic powder to serve sort of like a crouton.

Alana's Review

Ease: 4.5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comments: No changes needed! I can't wait to make this again!

http://damndelicious.net/2015/05/02/baked-caprese-chicken/?m

Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs

Pasta with Garlic Breadcrumbs

Recipe: https://lasvegasfoodadventures.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/pasta-with-garlic-breadcrumbs-pasta-con-pangrattato/

I'm always looking for new ways to eat pasta, it is my number one food group after all. I stumbled upon the recipe above and though, "Oh how fancy!" and had to give it a try. Pasta with toasted bread crumbs, parmesan, and garlic? Sounds like a match made in heaven! I substituted whole wheat pasta and whole wheat panko breadcrumbs, and also used only about a tablespoon of oil. 

I took the first bite: Mmm, delicious! I could taste the garlic, parmesan, and the toasty breadcrumbs. This recipe is getting a 5/5, for sure! Then I took the next bite: Alright still pretty good! And then I took a few more: Wow my mouth is getting awfully dry, I need some water with this. A couple more: So I'm not tasting much besides bread crumb anymore. And I'm so thirsty! Aaand a few last bites: Well, I had to drink a glass of water to get through it, and the bread crumbs started getting stuck in my throat while also flying everywhere as I ate....maybe 5/5 is a little generous.

So what I thought would be a winner turned out to be a dud. The first few bites are great, but then you should just stop because all of those bread crumbs really dry you out. It's quite messy as well, and I'm not a messy eater. As you twirl your fork, those bread crumbs really fly! I think it would be better to make another type of pasta and then sprinkle some of these bread crumbs on top. The texture was nice, there was just too much of it.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 2/5

Chocolate Chip Scones

Chocolate Chip Scones

Recipe: http://amyshealthybaking.com/blog/2015/05/05/clean-chocolate-chip-scones

This morning I wanted a special treat for breakfast, so I decided to try my hand at making scones. Not just normal, fruity scones, CHOCOLATE CHIP scones. Can you tell I'm a chocoholic? I found a clean eating recipe on Pinterest and figured I'd give it a shot. They were pretty easy to make, although they were a bit smaller than I was imagining they'd turn out. The scone dough itself isn't a sweet one which provided a yummy contrast with the sweet milk chocolate. (I know, still not using dark, but I have to get rid of these chocolate chips on hand!) The only thing I'd recommend is baking these at 400 degrees instead of 425 like the recipe suggests. I baked them at 425 for 17 minutes (the shortest amount of time the recipe said) and they came out very browned and some of the chocolate chips on top had scorched. They still tasted good after I scraped off the burnt chocolate, but scones aren't meant to be as brown as they turned out so next time I'll turn down the temperature and watch them more closely. Otherwise, a tasty recipe to make!

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5

Taste: 4/5

Homemade Chocolate

Homemade Chocolate

Recipe: http://www.bakerita.com/paleo-chocolate-chunks/

I've done it. I have found the most amazing recipe ever. Nothing can ever trump this recipe. It's two wonderful words: chocolate. chunks. And not only is it delicious chocolate chunks, it's CLEAN chocolate chunks! Whaaat?? 

Yes, I was as shocked as you are when I found it. I always thought, "I guess I'll have to either give up chocolate altogether or cheat on my diet" (which of course I chose the latter.) But then I stumbled upon paleo chocolate chunks, and my life has been changed. Now, a disclaimer, I don't know if you can really cook with this recipe. The gal I got it from says she does, but the recipe she took inspiration from says not to (plus it being oil based is telling me not to). So, feel free to attempt it, but don't hate me if it doesn't work. I warned you! 

I was afraid while I was making it that it would have a weird, possibly oily taste. Well, thankfully it does not. It just tastes like delicious dark chocolate! The recipe also couldn't be easier, all you do is melt the coconut oil in a sauce pan, whisk in all of the other ingredients, and chill in a mold in the fridge (I used a small baking pan lined with wax paper.) 

I have many plans for these yummy delights (some of which I'll post soon), but they're fabulous just on their own. I portioned some in small plastic cups to pop in my lunch bag for a delicious, perfectly portioned snack to satisfy my sweet tooth.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 5/5
Taste: 5/5

Swedish Meatballs

Swedish Meatballs

So, while scrolling through Twitter last night, I scrolled past a picture of Swedish Meatballs. I scrolled past but couldn't get them out of my head, so I tried to find the tweet to give credit today but I couldn't find it. I had never made swedish meatballs before so I did a bunch of research, threw out my other dinner plan, and put together my own recipe, I also tried to make it clean.  So, here you go! 

Meatballs (measurements are approx.)

1lb Extra Lean Ground Turkey

1 Cup Plain panko bread crumbs with crushed saltine crackers (1. Bc I like to use them & 2. I ran out of panko)

3/4 cup Chopped spinach

1 Tsp Garlic powder

Pinch Salt&pepper

1 tsp Dried rosemary

1 tsp Dried basil 

One small chopped finely onion (I usually use the use the mini chopper, but the babies were sleeping in the other room)

2 Splashes of Worcestershire sauce

2 eggs

Make them into meatballs, and spread them out on a non stick sprayed baking dish

Baked @ 350 for 35 minutes

Sauce

3 cups organic free range chicken broth

1 cup water

1/2 cup soy milk

1&1/2 Tsp rosemary

2 dashes of soy sauce

1&1/2 tsp honey

Salt&pepper

3 heaping tablespoons (the kind you eat with) flour

Mix it up

Put the baked meatballs into a pot, pour the sauce over it. I simmered it for about an hour and a half, but you can adjust to your preference and needs. 

The side was nothing crazy, baked potatoes and green beans coated in olive oil topped with salt, pepper,  and Parmesan

Alana's Review

Ease: 2.5/5

Taste: 4/5

Comment: Use wheat flour instead of white for the sauce, I didn't have any on hand (I know... shame on me) just to make it more clean. Also, while I think the honey did add something special,  I kind of want to try maple syrup, worse case scenario I have to redo the sauce. But I think it turned it really well considering I've never made it before  (and actually only have eaten it once, maybe twice? But for some reason I just HAD to have it). It was a great first attempt and my toddler kept asking for more, so it must have been pretty good! 

Leftover Gnocchi with Leftover Meat Sauce

Leftover Gnocchi with Leftover Meat Sauce

Sarah's Review

Ease: 5/5. 

Taste: 5/5. 

Comments: I'm surprised by how well the Gnocchi reheats, they're great to make in large batches and then just throw them and a sauce in a bowl for lunch. Easy and delicious!

Lemon Butter Chicken w/ Parmesan Zucchini and Green Beans

Lemon Butter Chicken w/ Parmesan Zucchini and Green Beans

http://www.fivehearthome.com/2014/06/21/baked-parmesan-zucchini-rounds/

http://wonkywonderful.com/lemon-butter-chicken-thigh-recipe/

If you know me, you know I love butter. I put an embarrassing amount on my baked potatoes, butter and parmesan pasta is my favorite go-to meal...I just can't get enough. So I got just a little excited when I saw the above recipe for lemon butter chicken thighs. Pro #1: I already had all of the ingredients on hand. Pro #2: It involves butter. Sounds like a winner to me! It was pretty easy to make and had a nice garlicy lemon flavor. But here comes the twist in the story: it wasn't the star of the dish for me. No, not the buttery braised,  moist chicken, but the parmesan zucchini! That stuff was delish. That cheesy, crispy bite was flavor heaven. And only two ingredients? Winner winner zucchini dinner.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5

Taste: chicken 4/5. Zucchini: 5&5

Comments: I'd recommend lightly spraying whatever you bake the zucchini on, they like to stick. Also, I used skin-on chicken thighs, but I'd recommend skinless as the skin gets very soggy in the braising.

Non-Fancy Sandwich

Sandwich

I'm going to just post what I ate today, even though there's nothing too special about it. I was trying to make lunch while trying to get my toddler fed. And it just so happened that my baby woke up about 10 minutes too early! I would have just skipped it, but I had already skipped breakfast because, well, you know... baby stuff. Just an fyi, health-wise, that is a super big no-no! So I had to eat something! Anyways...

It's super important to have healthy food staples on hand for times like this where you're in a pinch. While this isn't what I would consider ideal clean food, it was better than grabbing a burger. 

100% Whole Wheat Bread (to be honest, I am not a fan of whole wheat bread, but maybe eventually I will be)

Ham

Gouda Cheese Slices

Cherry Tomatoes

Alana's Review:

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 2/5

Comments: It was eh - If I had more time, I'd have put on some lettuce, tomato, and other toppings. I also need to pick up some less processed deli meat. 

Homemade Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Walnut Pesto

Homemade Gnocchi with Mushrooms and Walnut Pesto

While I was searching the internet for clean recipes to try, I came across the one listed 

above and was so excited. It looked and sounded amazing and I couldn't wait to try it, it looked so easy! Boil some pre-made gnocchi, blend some simple ingredients, saute all together, and presto: a delicious dinner. I instantly ran to the grocery store to get all of the ingredients, but my heart sank when I picked up that package of gnocchi: there were quite a few ingredients that I had no idea what they were. I couldn't use the gnocchi if I wanted to make this meal a clean eating one, and I REALLY wanted to make this meal. What's a gal to do in a situation like this? Put on her chef hat and make her own gnocchi, of course! So there in the grocery store I scoured the internet in search of gnocchi recipes and came up with one that seemed to use the best aspects of all of the recipes I looked at. I won't lie, I was very nervous while making these gnocchis as I had no clue how the dough should look, how long I should knead the dough, or pretty much how the heck one was to make gnocchis, period. But i persevered on. I made the dough, cut them into (not so pretty) pieces, threw them in the water, and said a prayer or two. Once they rose to the top of the pot, I tried one and couldn't believe my taste buds. They tasted like gnocchi! Didn't look so much like them, but I can get over that. I was surprised by how easy it actually turned out to be, and that's coming from someone who didn't know how to make gnocchi at all yesterday. It's a messy task, but well worth it to know what all exactly is in your gnocchi and get delicious, and clean eating, yummy little dumplings.

Here's how to make the gnocchi: peel and slice one big russet potato, and boil until they're easily pierced with a fork. Drain really well, then put in a bowl and mash with a fork until there's no lumps. Take 1 cup of this and mix with 1 cup all purpose flour and 1 egg. Once the dough starts looking really lumpy, dump onto a well floured surface and start kneading until the dough comes together. It'll be a little sticky, but if it's too sticky just keep kneading in flour until it's the right consistency. Then take a small chunk and start rolling into a log on a lightly floured surface. Roll until it's about 3/4 inch in diameter, then cut into half inch pieces (if you want prettier gnocchis, roll on a flour fork to get the pretty grooves.) Then toss in salted boiling water and wait for the gnocchis to float (this takes about 2-3 minutes), then drain. I did my gnocchis in small batches, make sure to not overcrowd the pot. And that's it, you now have beautiful, homemade gnocchis you can brag to your friends about! (Feel free to tell them it was a laborious process, they sure do taste like it 

Sarah's Review

Ease: 3/5 

Taste 5/5 

Comments: next time I'd like to try using whole wheat flour and flavoring the Gnocchi dough with spices

Baked Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Asparagus Saute

Baked Chicken w/ Sweet Potato Asparagus Saute

I had a pack of chicken thighs left over from a big freezer meal prep session, so I thought I'd use it. I lightly salted the chicken and and baked it in the oven. During which I mixed together a little sauce I basted the chicken a couple times and then poured the remainder all over for the last 5 minutes. The veggies, I sauteed onion with some extra virgin olive oil, then threw in the sweet potatoes and asparagus. I hit it with some balsamic vinegar then let covered it and let it cook on medium heat. I then put in the roma tomatoes, put another dash of balsamic vinegar and topped with some honey and pepper. This was to mimic the mixture for the chicken. 

Chicken basting mixture (just an fyi I do everything to taste and hardly measure anything):

olive oil

balsamic vinegar (just a splash)

honey (a tbsp or two)

pepper

salt

chicken broth (about 1/4 cup)

Alana's Review:

Ease: 4/5
Taste: 3.5/5
Comment: So I definitely enjoyed this one, I liked the chicken, and I liked the veg. mix, but I think I would add maybe another vegetable to the mix, and the chicken I think  I would use a couple more spices. It was good, very traditional, and I prefer it to be a little zestier!

Faux Spaghetti aka Faux-s'ghetti

Faux Spaghetti aka Faux-s'ghetti

I LOVE pasta. Italian food is my favorite food, I could eat it every day (and there have been plenty of periods in my life where I have). I always buy whole wheat pasta because it has way more nutrition than normal pasta, but I still want a healthier choice. Cue the spaghetti squash: the fun to eat, nutritious, perfect spaghetti alternative. If you're unfamiliar with it, which you should change ASAP because it's delicious, it's a type of squash that shreds into thin spaghetti-like strings when cooked. Usually I eat it as a side dish with butter and parsley, but I wanted to make it the star of my meal so I decided to treat it like real spaghetti and fill it with meat sauce. Wowza. I wasn't sure what to expect, but it came out fantastic! The squash has a nice little crunch and an oh-so-slightly sweet flavor that tastes delicious with the meat sauce. Dare I say, it was even better than the real stuff! (Sounds crazy, I know, but I'm totally serious.)  Here's how I made it: I cut the squash in half and put the flesh side down in a glass baking dish, filled the dish with 1 inch of water, and microwaved for 18 minutes (cooking time will vary depending on the size of your squash,  mine was small). It's done when a fork easily pierces the flesh. While that's going,  I browned about 1/4 pound ground beef, drained, then added about 2 cups of pasta sauce (I used an all natural kind from a jar, but I'll use homemade next time.) Let the sauce heat through then spoon into the squash half, and done! Seriously, it's that easy. And seriously delicious.

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

Comments: Sprinkle on a little parmesan cheese and parsley at the end to finish it off. For an even healthier version, sub ground turkey for the ground beef.

Orange Garlic Salad w/ Steak and Croutons // Leftovers & Fruit Salad

Leftovers: Balsamic Chicken & Cheddar Broccoli Quinoa //  Fruit Salad, lunch

I'm posting mine first because it's super boring (but still amazingly delicious) and I don't want to follow the tough act below. =). I set aside some of last night's dinner for lunch today. I ate that with the pictured fruit. It looks like a lot, but I had planned to eat half at lunch, half later. But the raspberries were a little on the wrong side of ripe, so I had to throw those out.

Alana's Review

Ease: 5/5

Taste: 5/5

Comment: Leftovers are the best!

Orange Garlic Salad w/ Steak and Croutons 

There are only two types of salad I like: Caesar salad and dry salad. I've never been a sauce gal, I hate condiments, dressings, and everything of the like. Recently though I've been trying hard to branch out and try new sauces, like the lemon garlic aioli I made with the fish tacos. Well today I made a salad dressing. And not just any dressing, I made a vinaigrette!  (I HATE vinegar with a passion, can't stand the taste). With that in mind, this vinaigrette is lighter on the vinegar so you may need to add more than I did. 

Description: romaine salad with steak bites, croutons, and orange garlic vinaigrette. Recipe: 1/4 cup orange juice (I used fresh squeezed ), 1/4 cup olive oil, 4 tsp white wine vinegar, 1/2 tsp orange zest, 2 tsp dried parsley, 1 tsp garlic powder, pinch of salt and pepper. 

Sarah's Review

Ease: 4/5

Taste: 5/5

I thought the vinaigrette came out fantastic,  it had a light orange taste with a hint of garlic and a nice bite from the vinegar.  And you can never go wrong with steak, mine was a ribeye from my boyfriend's uncle's cattle farm, can't get fresher than that!