If you like mediterranean food you're going to fall in love with this dish. This combination of flavors is mouth-watering and SO delicious! I used dark meat chicken for this recipe because it's obviously much juicier than white meat and it adds more flavor to the dish. The olives I used here are Kalamata olives, but you could also get away with using green, pimento, stuffed, etc. I served it on a bed of fresh baby spinach but you could also toss in some spinach while the dish is cooking and let it wilt. 

Ingredients:

2 lbs chicken thighs, fat removed

1 tsp salt, or more if preferred

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1 tbsp dried minced parsley

1 pint cherry tomatoes

1/2  cup pitted Kalamata olives

1/2 tbsp olive oil

Heat the olive oil in  a frying pan on medium fire. Lay the chicken thighs flat in the pan and cook until meat is no longer pink, flipping occasionally. While it cooks, add the salt, pepper, red pepper, cumin, & parsley and coat both sides of the chicken really well. When the chicken is done and beginning to brown, add the tomatoes and the pitted olives and cook on low heat until the tomatoes soften but before they burst. Serve on a bed of fresh baby spinach and enjoy. 

• 1 can chickpeas, drained
• 1 lemon, juiced
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tbsp tahini paste
• 2 tbsp plain yogurt
• 1/4 cup water
• salt, to taste

Blend until smooth, garnish with paprika & Parsley

• 1 cup sugar snap peas
• 1 bunch asparagus, halved
• 1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp sesame seed oil
• 2 tsp balsamic vinegar
• 3 tsp light soy sauce
• 1 tbsp minced ginger
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 tsp sesame seeds

Stir-fry the peas and asparagus in the olive oil for 5-7 minutes , add the ginger, garlic, soy sauce, sesame seed oil, and balsamic vinegar and cook for 2 more minutes. Toss with sesame seeds & serve. 

I bought one too many cartons of strawberries from the market last week and didn't realize it until today. I took all of them out of the fridge and stared at them for a good 10 minutes before I decided what I was going to do with them. By the way, when you buy strawberries, especially the organic ones, you have to be careful as they are full of dirt and can carry a lot of bacteria. The way I handle strawberries is I usually take the green tips off, place them in a deep bowl, and rinse them off really well with cold water. Finally I cut the top portion off where the leaves were attached and I let them soak in cold water for about 10 minutes to make sure they get squeaky clean. Once they're done being soaked I drain them in a colander and lay them out on some paper towel to dry. You shouldn't wash the berries until you're ready to eat them. 

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped strawberries

1/2 cup sliced blackberries

2 cups dry old-fashion oats

3 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tbsp organic agave nectar (separated into 3 and 1)

2 tbsp coconut/almond milk blend

1/2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

2 tbsp Light Kefir Cheese

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl; oats, unsweetened cocoa powder, and baking powder. Add the water, milk, and 3 tbsp of agave nectar to the dry ingredients and form a dough. Grease a flat baking pan with butter, spread the dough into a 9-inch circle (1/2 inch thick) and bake for 15 minutes. While it's baking make the yogurt spread. Mix together the nonfat plain yogurt, light kefir cheese, and 1 tbsp agave nectar. When the tart is finished cooking let it cool completely before adding the yogurt. Spread the yogurt mixture evenly and top with strawberries and blackberries. Drizzle some more agave nectar on top for taste. Place in the fridge for at least an hour, then cut into slices and serve :)

It was such a beautiful day today! I had my last final exam of the semester & the weather was just perfect. I hurried home to make these mushrooms so I could sit outside to eat them & watch the sunset on my patio.

Ingredients:

3 Portabella Mushrooms

1 cup Spinach

1 vine-Tomato, diced

2 tbsp Shredded Romano 

Sprinkle of Salt

Pinch of Crushed Red Pepper

3 tbsp Shredded Fat-Free Mozzarella 

1 tbsp olive oil

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Remove the stems of the mushrooms and gently scoop out the gills, using a spoon. Cook the mushroom caps w/ the olive oil in a frying pan until they are softened on both sides (about 5 minutes on each side). Gently transfer them to a baking pan lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with olive oil, inside facing up. Place the spinach in the frying pan and cook until wilted. Add the wilted spinach to a mixing bowl and toss with the diced tomatoes, Romano, salt, and crushed red pepper. Stuff the mushrooms with the mixture and sprinkle a tbsp of mozzarella on the top of each. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. 

You can now follow me on Pinterest.. I know I'm so beyond late in joining this social network lol I seriously don't know how some people keep up with all of this! Anyways, I'm going to be posting pics of my favorite recipes for you all to share with your friends :) Help me change the world one healthy recipe at a time, because that's obviously my goal here people... I'm a healthy hero on a mission to flip all the junk foodies. 

Okay, so this spinach and artichoke dip is SO delicious.. but it took SO long to make! I opted out of using canned goods and bought some beautiful fresh artichokes. The entire process is tedious but honestly so worth it. I made this for a huge get together with friends and family & we all enjoyed it so much. Everyone loved it but nobody knew how healthy it was ;) 

The chips were very easy to make and didn't take long at all. Just cut up your favorite tortilla wraps, spray both sides lightly with olive oil, spread them out evenly on  a lined baking pan, and pop them in the oven to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for about 10 minutes, or until crispy and gold brown. I bought Tumaro's whole wheat tortilla wraps for the chips, but you can use any brand you like, just try to stay away from pure white flour tortillas (they're not that nutritious and definitely not healthy). 

Ingredients:

3 artichokes

1 cup wilted baby spinach (about 4 cups fresh spinach makes 1 cup wilted)

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup Light Kefir Cheese

1 cup part skim shredded mozzarella

1/2 cup shaved parmesan

1/2 tsp crushed red pepper

1/2 tsp black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Remove outer layer of artichoke leaves and chop off the stem. Slice the artichokes in half and remove the inner fuzzy hairs. Place all the halved artichokes into a large pot and cover with water. Boil for 30 minutes, covered, and then let cool to room temperature. Transfer the cooled artichokes to a colander and drain. The leaves of the artichoke have softened meat on the inside of them and I scooped it out using a flat headed wooden spatula. I held each leaf by the tip, hard part facing down, and just dragged the spatula across the leaf removing the meat. This is the tedious part of the recipe. It takes a long time to scoop every leaf but boy oh boy is it delicious. In a food processor, add the artichoke meat along with the hearts, wilted spinach, garlic, red pepper, black pepper, & salt. Let everything process until the garlic is fully crushed and evenly spread throughout. Add the mixture to a bowl and fold in the light kefir cheese, parmesan, and mozzarella. Spray a baking dish with nonstick cooking spray and evenly spread the dip into the baking dish. Sprinkle with more mozzarella (optional) and place in the oven to bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit until the cheese is fully melted and the edges start to brown. Serve with your homemade baked chips. 

This crust was so easy to make and literally took me 5 minutes to prepare! I really don't know what possessed me to come up with such a weird concoction. I  kind of just looked around in my empty pantry and saw oatmeal and quinoa flour and hoped it would taste good. Hey, if it's pizza, and it's healthy... I'm all in! I should let you all in on a little secret... that pizza sauce that you see in these pictures, isn't really pizza sauce. I was SO lazy and didn't feel like making sauce so instead I opened up a jar of organic Newman's salsa and threw it on top. I'm telling you this really was just a random concoction of stuff in my kitchen. Do I suggest you use salsa instead of pizza sauce? Ehhh . If you're just as lazy as me then go for it. Just keep in mind this is a healthy pizza, so it's obviously not going to be ooey, gooey, greasy, and chewy.  

Ingredients:

1/2 cup oats, processed into flour using a food processor

1/4  cup quinoa flour

1/3 cup oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

less than 1/2 tsp salt (eyeball it to your liking)

2 tbsp water

2 egg whites

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. In a bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together; oat flour, quinoa flour, unprocessed oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Whisk together the egg whites and add them into the dry ingredients. Add the water, 1 tbsp at a time and knead with your hands to make the dough. You can always add more oats if you've added too much water and the dough is too sticky. Finally once you've made your dough, spread it out into about a 9 inch circle on a sprayed and lined pizza pan. I used olive oil spray on parchment paper. You may want to continue to wet your hands while spreading the dough because it has a tendency to get really sticky. Make sure the dough is around 1/2 an inch thick all the way around. Bake in the oven for 8-10 minutes. Remove it from the oven and spread your desired pizza sauce and toppings, then bake it again for another 10 minutes or until your toppings are cooked. Enjoy :)

I'm not sure what to really call these beauties. Are they burgers? Sliders? Open-faced 'bliders'? No clue.. any who.. they're so tasty and very filling! Ate them after a great workout to refuel on good carbs and protein. The tzatziki adds the perfect touch to these! I got lazy and ended up blending the cucumber and yogurt rather than chopping it by hand and wow was it yummy. Preparation-wise, this will take you a little bit of time if you don't already have cooked chicken. A light bulb just went off in my head -> perfect idea for leftover chicken... 

Ingredients:

1 thick sweet potato cut into 1/2 inch slices

1 cup shredded chicken, cooked

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into rounds

1 cucumber ~6 inches, peel-on

1/2 cup nonfat plain yogurt

1 tsp salt

2 tsps dried crushed mint

2 small cloves garlic

cherry tomatoes, sliced for topping

Place the sweet potato slices in a toaster oven (or in a  regular oven) and bake for 30 minutes at 400 degrees, flipping half way. Once they're cooked but still firm, take them out and set aside to cool. Meanwhile, add the cucumber, yogurt, salt, crushed mint, and garlic, to a blender and pulse a few times until the cucumber breaks down. Then you're ready to put your sliders together. Lay the sweet potato slices out on a plate and top with red onion, Tzatziki, chicken, more Tzatziki, and a slice of cherry tomato. Serve the rest of the yogurt and cucumber mixture on the side because it's absolutely delicious and you're going to want to dive into it with a spoon :)

Ingredients:

1 cup Yams, cooked & mashed

1 ripe banana, mashed

2 cups oats, pulsed into flour in food processor

1/2 cup oats

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

2 tbsp unsweetened cacao

2 tsp vanilla extract

2 whole eggs

2 tbsp chia seeds, soaked in 4 tbsp boiling water

2 tbsp vanilla almond milk

2 tbsp any natural syrup (honey, maple syrup, date syrup, or agave nectar)

1/4 cup granulated sugar substitute (if preferred)

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl: oat flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, cacao powder, and sugar substitute (if preferred). In a separate bowl, mix together the yams, banana, vanilla extract, eggs, chia seeds soaked in water, almond milk, and natural syrup. Combine the wet ingredients with the dry ingredients and fold everything in together really well until your cookie dough has formed. Spray or grease a lined baking pan (I used parchment paper and greased it with butter), and evenly spread out cookie dough as shown in picture above. I formed each cookie using about 2 tbsp of cookie dough, rolled it into a ball, and flattened it with my hands. If you like you can top the cookies with mini dark chocolate chip morsels to give it that extra sweet crunch. Bake in the oven for 10-12 minutes, or until cookies have browned. I was able to make 26 cookies from the dough that I made. Nutritional information depends on the way you prepare the cookie (adding morsels or not). 

I mean, seriously.. Can you believe that these were made out of turnips? And that they were baked?? They look so heavenly and taste amazing! I will never use potatoes to make french fries ever again! My husband and I have made these turnip fries 4 days in a row. They're just the greatest snack and compliment any dinner dish! Let's not forget about that beautiful avocado dipping sauce I made. The combination of these two will give your taste buds a run for their money. I never really understood what that analogy meant but hey why not.  Recipe makes 2 servings of fries and 4 servings of dipping sauce. 

Nutritional Information Per Serving: 80 cals for fries, 50 cals for sauce. 

Ingredients for Fries:

4 turnips (rutabaga's) peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch french fries

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 tbsp chili powder

1/2 tbsp oregano

Ingredients for Sauce:

1 medium avocado, pitted

2 tbsp light miracle whip

juice of 1/2 lime

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Put the sliced turnips in a mixing bowl and toss really well with the chili powder, oregano, and olive oil. Lay them out flat onto a lined and greased baking pan (I sprayed olive oil spray onto parchment paper. Bake 15 minutes, take the fries out and flip every one of them then bake for another 15 minutes on the other side. While the fries are baking, add the avocado, miracle whip, and lime juice to a food processor. Pulse until smooth. Serve the two together and voila :).  

Typically if you were to order sesame chicken at a local joint you're probably going to end up with deep fried chicken soaked in sesame oil and layered with globs upon globs of brown sauce, right? Not here you won't! This chicken has all the flavors you're looking for just without the artery-clogging additives. I served it with a side of brown rice and layer the chicken on  a bed of parsley stems, which I have to ask why it's so inherent for people to toss these stems away? When you pick off the leaves, save the stems- they're just as beneficial as the leaves! Plus they add a nice little crunch to the dish. Recipe makes 2 servings. 

Nutritional Information per Serving: 300 calories, 30g protein, 2g fat, 4.5g carbs, 4g sugar

Ingredients:

2 chicken breast halves, cut into cubes

1 tsp sesame seed oil

1 tbsp honey teriyaki marinade

1/2 tbsp soy sauce

1/2 tbsp sirracha

1/4 cup water

1 thumb-size piece of ginger, grated

1 clove garlic, minced

In a frying pan, add the teaspoon of sesame seed oil along with the chicken and cover the pan. Cook until the chicken is white and no longer pink on the inside, flipping occasionally. Once fully cooked, place everything into a strainer, removing any excess water & oil, and set the chicken aside. In the same pan, add the teriyaki, soy sauce, ginger, garlic, water, and sirracha and whisk everything together really well. Cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until the sauce begins to reduce and the water evaporates. Add the chicken back to the pan and cook for another few minutes while folding the chicken in with the sauce. You'll know it's done when all the ginger and garlic begins to stick to the chicken and the sauce has thickened. Serve it up with some fresh brown rice and your healthy sesame chicken is ready to eat. :)

How Gorgeous does this smoothie look? I'm obsessed with the colors and even more obsessed with the taste! It's so good for you too! You're getting the antioxidant benefits from the spinach, blueberries, and the chia seeds (triple threat)! For those of you who prefer sweet smoothies, the blueberries in this drink give it just the perfect amount of sweetness, you will love it. This recipe makes two generous servings that are sure to keep you full and give you loads of energy. Have it in the morning to wake your spirits up or have it after dinner to curb those late-night cravings. 

Nutritional Information Per Serving: 140 calories, 28g good carbs, 14g good sugars, 4g protein

Ingredients:

1 large and ripe banana

6 oz. container blueberries

2 cups packed spinach

1 cup coconut/almond milk blend

1 tbsp black chia seeds

1 cup ice

1/2 cup ice cold water

handful of fresh blueberries to toss in at the end 

Simply add all the ingredients into a blender, and blend on high until smooth. Toss in a handful of fresh blueberries to give it an extra crunch. It's a sweet little surprise. 

Tumaro's multigrain wraps are just the greatest creation ever (amongst others, like the light bulb, and the automobile, & what not)... Seriously thought they're pretty much the best tortilla wraps I've come across! Low in carbs and calories which, in my world, translates as, "why of course I'll have seconds and thirds). I should be getting paid for advertising them, but I'm not, so let's move the conversation elsewhere shall we? How about this gorgeous quesadilla that will make your taste buds dance? The entire quesadilla the way I prepared it, is just under 300 calories.

Ingredients:

2 Tumaro's multigrain 60-calories wraps

1/2 red onion, diced

1/2 spanish onion, diced

1 scallion, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

1 large egg white

2 cups whole leaf spinach

1 tsp extra virgin olive oil

2 tbsps Light Kefir cheese (or low-fat sour cream)

1/4 cup reduced-fat Feta cheese

Pinch of spices: Salt, Black Pepper, Crushed Red Pepper, & Oregano

In a frying pan add the olive oil and the three diced onions. Sauté until the onions are softened (about 3-4 minutes). Add in the garlic and the spices and cook for another few minutes. Finally add in the spinach and cook until it's wilted. While that is cooking, place the egg white, feta, and kefir cheese (or sour cream) in a large mixing bowl and whisk it all together really well. When the spinach and onions are done add them to the egg and cheese mixture. Stir everything together and set it aside. Clean out the frying pan and spray it with nonstick cooking spray. Lay 1 wrap in the pan and top it with all of the filling. Lay another wrap on top to create a sandwich. Spray the top of the 2nd wrap with some cooking spray to prepare it from sticking once you flip the quesadilla. Let one side fully cook for about 10 minutes on low fire before flipping it. You want to make sure the egg white is almost fully cooked before flipping so that nothing falls out. I used a large circle spatula in order to flip this and I didn't run into any issues. Cook the other side for another 10 minutes on low fire.  Once it's done, slide it out onto a lined baking pan and slice it up into desired portions. 

So while I was in Germany last month I found a little market near my hotel and purchased 6 huge bags of Muesli. Each one was a different brand and had different dried fruits in them. Obviously I had no clue what the ingredients were because I don't speak the language but they looked absolutely amazing and I couldn't pass them up. So naturally I had to buy them all! It was a struggle trying to shove all of those bags into my suitcase but I managed lol. Now I have all this muesli hanging out in my pantry so I figured I should start using them for something...

These muesli bars are perfect for the workaholic, on-the-go in the morning, no time for breakfast kind of person. You can make them at night and store them in the fridge for the morning. Just wake up and grab a few for breakfast and you're good to go! Actually,  grab a few more for lunch too! They're only 100 calories so don't feel guilty! For those of you who have more free time in the morning they taste absolutely delicious fresh out of the oven. Serve warm and pair it with a good tasting cup of coffee. And for those of you who know me, you know I'm a fan of baking anything that makes the house smell like heaven. These beauties definitely live up to my heaven-smelling kitchen standards. And I'm pretty sure they're the most moist cake bars I've ever had in my entire life!

Ingredients:

2 cups muesli w/ dried fruit 

2 tbsps unbleached white flour

1 cup unsweetened almond milk 

1 cup diced bananas 

1 cup diced strawberries 

1 tsp baking powder

1 large whole egg 

1/4 cup pitted dates, microwaved to gently melt

extra strawberries, sliced for topping

Mix all of the wet ingredients together; the diced bananas, diced strawberries, almond milk, egg, and melted dates. In a separate bowl mix together the baking powder with the muesli. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir them up really well (I used my hands to mash everything together really well).  Line a baking pan with parchment paper and spray it with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly spread the mixture out into the pan and lay out the strawberry slices on top of desired sections. Bake in the oven for 45 minutes at 350 degrees. Take out and let cool before slicing! Serve warm or store in the fridge for the next morning. When they completely cooled down, I individually wrapped each bar with parchment paper before putting them in the fridge so I can preserve the freshness and snack on them throughout the week.