Chicken, Sweet Potato, Black Bean, and Corn Taco

Hello healthy lunch!

I'm embarrassed it's been a whole year since I last posted!! I'm going to straight up blame it on the kids, that's why I had them in the first place isn't it? I needed someone to blame for my laziness, messy house, lateness, and all out craziness and my husband wasn't letting me blame him anymore...

Avocado Chicken Salad

Avocado Chicken Salad in a romaine lettuce wrap

Today my son turns 1 year old and I'm sitting here with so many mixed emotions. Proud of the little boy he is becoming, nostalgic to the moment he was born, sad that my last baby is growing up, and so happy that he has made my family feel so complete and filled my heart with more love than I thought was possible. 

Roasted Veggie Wraps with Goat Cheese Spread



The players aka what's inside

 While it may still feel like winter here in Wisconsin, I know that swimsuit season is fast approaching. On April 1st I started a DietBet on DietBet.com. Basically every person that joins the DietBet game contributes $X and whoever loses 4% of their body weight in 4 weeks splits the pot. I'm about 60% of the way there and have about 10 days left. That said...I've been forced to eat healthy (and by forced I mean I'm too damn stubborn to lose even $1 in a bet)!

Stuffed Peppers

As 2013 hit, Kurt and I decided we really want to start taking better care of ourselves. As you can see from the blog, I'm a BIG fan of comfort food (like, big big BIG fan). Unfortunately for our waistline, comfort food is not very healthy and does not aid in staying in shape. I've made a big push lately to eat healthier foods and try to use fresh ingredients.

Portobello, Broccoli and Red Pepper Melts

Do not pass GO. Do not collect $200. Just make these melts! These melts are amazing for so many reasons and you will discover all of them when you make this sandwich! These sandwiches are chock full of veggies and flavor, are super duper easy to make, and there is hardly any clean up involved! To top it off, this sandwich can be modified in so many ways, add meat, switch up the veggies, change up the cheese, make it into a panini...possibilities are endless!

I was worried Kurt would not be a huge fan of this dinner because there was no meat and Kurt is sort of your "meat and potatoes" kind of guy. He seemed a little skeptical but after the first bite all I heard was "mmmm" and a muffled "disissooogooooood" so I'm pretty sure that just about anyone will like this sandwich. If that is not enough evidence that you should make this, I gave this recipe to my co-worker who made it for her family. Her 16 year old son grumbled as she was making it and after the first sandwich he ate another sandwich and told my co-worker that this should go into the rotation (he also said that I have given so many delicious recipes I should open a restaurant - I love this kid!!)!

Portobella, Broccoli and Red Pepper Melts
Souce: Adapted from Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1 bag broccoli florets (I used 1/2 bag)
1 tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and black pepper
1 pint baby portobellas, sliced (I bought the pre-sliced ones)
1 jar of roasted red pepper strips (or you can make your own)
1/4 cup light mayonnaise
1/4 tsp garlic powder or fresh minced/pressed garlic
1 tsp. balsamic vinegar
4 thick slices country bread
2-4 oz. muenster cheese, thinly sliced (whatever cheese you prefer works)

Directions:
1. Preheat a broiler with a rack placed 4-6 inches from the heat source. Line a rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil. Place the broccoli and mushrooms on the baking sheet, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Toss to combine. Broil 5-6 minutes then toss.

2. Add about 3/4 cup roasted red pepper strips to the mushrooms and broccoli. Broil another 6-7 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Set aside.

3. Meanwhile, combine the mayo and garlic in a small bowl, season with salt and pepper. Place the slices of bread on a work surface, drizzle each slice with some balsamic vinegar then spread each slice of bread with 1 tablespoon of the garlic-mayo mixture.

4. Top each slice of bread with the cooked veggies and then with a slice of cheese. Place the open-faced sandwiches on a foil lined baking sheet and broil until the cheese is melted and lightly browned.

**I made this sandwich again last night only added some goat cheese and used some buns that I had and made it into a normal sandwich. After the sandwich was assembled I put it in my George Foreman and made it into a panini for us....YUM-O!!!

Welcome Summer! Steak & Goat Cheese Salad

Today was B-E-A-UTIFUL!! Summer has finally arrived (at least for a couple days) and it was a breath of fresh air. When the weather finally gets nice here in Wisconsin, I get inspired. I am inspired because there are fresh fruits and veggies at the grocery store, the farmers market start up at the capitol and they have amazing fresh food there....and I realize that I will actually have to get into a bathing suit very soon. This morning I was sitting at work wondering what the heck I was going to make for dinner tonight (very productive, I know). I didn't want anything heavy because it was hot and humid today, I wanted something easy because I don't have much time to cook, and I wanted something different than I've been doing all winter (i.e. pasta and chicken). All of a sudden it hit me, a steak salad with goat cheese! Light, filling, and full of flavor. I did not miss the mark with this one either. Serve this with some crusty bread and a glass of red wine and you have yourself a perfet summer evening dinner!!

In case you were wondering, this was husband approved times 10! He raved and raved while eating and said that we definitely have to make it again.

Steak & Goat Cheese Salad

Source: Cristina Original

Ingredients:

2 four oz steak fillets (or whatever steak you have on hand)

1 bag romaine lettuce, or any lettuce you prefer

1/4 cup grape tomatoes, quartered

2 oz goat cheese, crumbled

balsamic vinegarette to taste

Lawry's seasoned salt

Directions:

1. Preheat grill. Season steaks with Lawry's and cook steaks on grill until they reach desired doneness (ours were medium rare). Once done, leave on plate to cool to room temperature (about 5-10 minutes).

2. Add salad dressing to salad while in bag. Close bag and shake to cover all lettuce with dressing.

3. Pour salad into bowls. Sprinkle tomatoes and goat cheese on salad.

4. Slice steak into thin strips, place on salad, and serve!

White Fish Tacos



It's that time of year again, time to start eating healthy so I can fit into my bathing suit (that I haven't worn for 2 years!). While breastfeeding did help me lose the initial weight, things are still a little.......soft :/. To combat this "softness" I started working out last weekend. Sadly, since it's been so long since I last worked out, I was sore from Sunday through Wednesday, completely preventing me from working out. I actually did so may push-ups that my elbows were so sore I couldn't straighten my arms! What?! I didn't even know that your elbows could hurt as bad as mine did!

Anyhoo, if I'm not going to be working out, I should probably start eating healthy. Enter fish tacos! Last week Friday I was craving some fish. We didn't want to get a fish fry (fry? that is not on the health food menu) so I suggested making fish tacos. Plus, I saw a few recipes that looked awesome. I decided to try this one from Annie's Eats, she hasn't let me down yet so I knew they'd be delicious!

White Fish Tacos

Source: Annie's Eats

Ingredients:

For the fish:

2 tbsp. freshly squeezed lime juice
3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil, divided
3 tbsp. minced cilantro
¼ tsp. cumin
2 cloves garlic, minced or pressed
1 lb. white fish (halibut, cod, tilapia, etc.)
Salt
(I'd personally add a few more spices before cooking the fish to give it more flavor)

For the cilantro cream sauce:
Juice of 1 lime
2 tbsp. cilantro, minced
6 oz. nonfat greek yogurt (sour cream is fine too)
1 clove garlic, minced
Pepper, to taste


For serving:
Cherry tomatoes, quartered
Green onions, chopped (I omitted)
Red cabbage, shredded (I used lettuce)
(Or whatever sounds good to you!)
6-inch flour tortillas

Directions:
1) Combine the lime juice, 2 tablespoons of the olive oil, cilantro, cumin, and garlic in a pie plate or shallow dish. Whisk together until well blended. Place the fish in the mixture, turning to coat. Let marinate 15-30 minutes.


2) Meanwhile, prepare the cilantro cream sauce. Combine the lime juice, cilantro, greek yogurt, garlic and pepper in a small bowl. Mix until well blended. Refrigerate until ready to use.

3)Heat the remaining 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat until shimmering. Place the fish in the pan and cook without disturbing, 3 minutes. Flip the fish and cook on the second side 2-3 minutes more. Remove to a plate, season with salt as desired, and let rest for a few minutes. Shred the fish into bite-sized pieces with two forks.


4)Assemble tacos on flour tortillas with shredded fish, cilantro cream sauce and toppings as desired.