Turkey Taco Boats

My family fell in love with this recipe this summer when my sister in law made these at our family reunion.  This is a healthier (and in my opinion, more delicious) option to regular ground beef tacos. You guys, seriously... I make this at least three or four times a month, it's one of our favorites!  They get devoured every time.  The recipe is from Skinny Taste. I revised it a bit simply because I'm lazy and don't feel like cutting green peppers and onions. I've actually never added green peppers, but sometimes add onions, or if I'm lazy will just add onion powder.  I also buy turkey in 2 lb. containers, so I just went ahead and did a new recipe using four pounds of turkey, and use just a little less water.  I also forego a tortilla and use romaine hearts to hold my taco.  My daughter even does it! I don't even miss the taco shell! You want to add this to your meal rotation - you won't be disappointed. Enjoy! 

Turkey Taco Recipe

Adapted from Skinny Taste

2 lbs. lean ground turkey

2 tsp. garlic powder

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. salt

2 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. paprika

1 tsp. oregano

1 tsp. onion powder (or 1 small onion diced)

1 c. water

8 oz. tomato sauce

1.  Brown turkey in large skillet until no longer pink.  

2. Add seasonings, water, and tomato sauce. Mix well. 

3. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.  

4. Serve in a lettuce wrap, tortilla, or taco shell. 

How I assemble my taco boats:

Clean Eating Chocolate Muffins

So, just ignore the ugly picture of this muffin, if you want to see a pretty picture of them, go HERE.  Here's  the thing, if you want to make a super delish, Fatty McFatterson chocolate muffin, don't make this recipe.   However, if you want to feel good about not feeding your kids Fatty McFatterson food and still let them feel like they are having a treat, then this is the recipe for you!

I've seen this recipe a lot on Pinterest and finally decided to try it. Mine is the smaller version versus their large muffin, and I didn't put the rest of the chocolate chips in half way through either because I was distracted by my ten kids, I mean four.  I would definitely remember to do that next time though, because the muffin was more delightful when each bite contained chocolate chips. 

I don't use artificial sweeteners, so I used agave and honey in place of the Splenda.  But, honestly, I'm not opposed to just trying sugar next time.  I also think quick oats would be better than using whole oats like I used.  Even I ground the oats up into a flour like consistency there were still little pieces in the muffins, and quick oats would be absorbed better I think. 

My kids gobbled them up.  (Though a neighbor boy didn't dig them.)

So, thanks Pinterest, for another (mostly healthy) recipe!

Clean Eating Chocolate Muffins Recipe 
Recipe from HERE

 Ingredients:
1 3/4 cup oats (I think quick oats would be better)
3 egg whites
3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (I used cinnamon flavored and couldn't taste it in the muffin)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)
 1/2 tsp cream of tartar (or 1-1/2 Tbsp. vinegar)
1-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup hot water
1 cup sugar substitute (like Splenda granular) OR 1/4 cup + 2 tbs stevia (I used 1/4 cup agave and 2 T. honey)
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
 
1.       Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line 2 (12-cup) muffin pans with foil cupcake liners, or spray muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.  

2.       In a blender, (or food processor), mix all of the ingredients together, except for the chocolate chips. Blend until oats are ground and mixture is smooth.  (I put the oats by itself in a food processor first and ground them until they were flour like consistency.)
 
3.       Place mixture in a bowl and gently stir in 1/2 of the chocolate chips (set the rest aside). Scoop mixture into prepared muffin pans.  

4.       Place muffins tins in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, remove muffins from the oven (but don’t shut oven off), and distribute the other half of the chocolate chips on top of each muffin.
 
5.       Place the muffins back into the oven and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. *Note, you could skip this step by putting all of the chips in the batter, and baking the muffins for 12-15 min straight, but this method gives the muffins the traditional ‘VitaTop Muffin’ look with the chocolate chips on top!

6.       Cool muffins before removing from pan. 

7.  Enjoy!

Continued Experiments with Recipes

This week I posted about my homemade granola bars.  Well, I made another batch but didn't have any honey, I had agave nectar, used that instead, and LOVED it!  It turned out great!  I think you could even sub agave nectar instead of the brown sugar.  Love!

Last night, I had some sauce leftover from my Polynesian Pork Tenderloin with orange curry sauce, and decided to try it over some salmon.  Delish!  Why had I never thought of it sooner?!?!?!  I actually think this sauce would go much better with a mahi mahi or other white fish.  The creaminess of this sauce would go better with those types of fish versus a salmon.  It was still great, but I would use on a white fish next time.  Seriously, this would make your regular ho hum fish not so ho hum anymore!!! 

Orange Curry Sauce Recipe
3 Oranges juiced
1 T. minced fresh garlic
1 bunch green onions (only the whites and pale green parts at the bottom) minced
1 c. chicken broth
1/2 c. bottled roasted red bell peppers, chopped or pureed
1 T. fresh ginger finely grated
1 T. red curry paste
1/4 c. chive and onion cream cheese

1. Add the ginger, peppers, broth, ginger, curry paste, and orange juice.

2.  Bring to a boil and cook for about 12 minutes or until mixture is reduced by half.  Cool.

3.  Process sauce in food processor or blender.  Return sauce to pan over low heat whisk in cream cheese until melted.

Coconut Milk Mint Chocolate Ice Cream

Here is a healthier alternative to chocolate ice cream!

Remember how I love making my own egg nog ice cream from already prepared egg nogg?  You can just do the same with Coconut Milk!

Just pour your Mint Chocolate Coconut Milk into your ice cream maker and turn it on!  In about thirty minutes you have some ice cream!!!  If you turn it off sooner you have a shake - you choose!

This is not creamy like ice cream it is more of an ice-y consistency like a soft serve or something.

I don't buy chocolate milk for my kids, but I was so impressed with this So Delicious Coconut Milk, and the sugar content was only 6 grams that I would totally buy this for my kids to drink!!  (Not to replace their milk, but for sometimes!)  It has the same amount of sugar as regular milk, but cows milk has more protein.

You could definitely consider this ice cream a "healthy (ier) treat!"

The container says this is a limited edition, but I hear the regular chocolate coconut milk is super yummy too!

Enjoy!

Tuna Romaine Salad

I think this was a South Beach diet recipe that I found when I did South Beach a few years ago. It's simple, yummy, and HEALTHY!

Tuna Romaine Salad

Romaine Lettuce (fresh, or bagged)
Cooked Edamame (I've used both the steamer bags in the microwave, and cooked and shelled my own)
Canned tuna (6 oz. can per person)
Green Goddess Dressing

Dressing Recipe:
Put the following in a food processor and mix:

1/2 avocado (average sized)
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
3 T. mayo
3 T. non fat plain yogurt
1 T. water
1 T. milk (I wanted to try buttermilk this past time, because I think it would taste good, or even 2 T. buttermilk instead of the water too.)
2 scallions chopped (This time I grated an onion and used 1 T of the onion and juice combined)
1 small clove garlic minced (I also grate garlic on the micro plane grater)
2 T. chopped fresh basil (1 tsp. dried)
1 T. chopped fresh parsley (1 tsp. dried)
1 T. chopped fresh tarragon (didn't use because I didn't have)
2 tsp. fresh lemon juice


Put tuna, edamame, and dressing over Romaine.

Enjoy!

Healthier pumpkin bread pudding

I remember watching my mom make bread pudding more than once, and I don't remember her measuring her bread. The first time I made this pumpkin bread pudding recipe, she tried to add other bread, besides the french bread that I had purchased. She didn't think I had enough bread it it. My poor mother. I gave her such a hard time about substituting and experimenting, and now I totally do it. She'd be proud. Or she could be saying, 'I told you so..." (though she was never really and 'I told you so' kind of person...)

I recently made bread pudding using all the old packages of wheat bread that were in my refrigerator. I'm not sure why I had so many packages almost empty in there, and was a little leery about using only wheat bread... but it turned out great! Really, it was quite a healthy dish, because I only buy the double fiber, high in protein, low in sugar wheat bread. So, a dish of this stuff was very filling! But, also very tasty! So I felt little guilt while eating this for breakfast. (and still lost weight the week I made and ate it...)

This is also a great dessert to bake in ramekins. (You do know of my love for things served in ramekins, right?) I did bake mine in a square pan though, and just cut out circle servings.

So, you can totally make your bread puddings healthier by not only using wheat bread, but by cutting back on the cream, and using half and half and regular milk. Mine still tasted wonderful!

A "healthier," festive treat!

Coooking with wheat flour

Last week, I was going to go shopping, and was looking forward to getting a pretzel at Auntie Anne's in the mall. I ended up not going shopping, and came home and made my own pretzels. (Recipe HERE.)

Well, I've been trying to eat better, and so to justify eating pretzels, I thought I'd add some wheat flour to the recipe, to make it a tad bit healthier. I substituted one cup of whole wheat flour for white flour, and the pretzels were still wonderful.

I do this often to most recipes. Even in my baked goods. Even my chocolate chip cookies and brownies. Really, you can't even tell in some recipes.

I usually start off small the first time I add wheat flour to a recipe, just to see how much it changes the taste. Then, the next time I make a recipe I can adjust accordingly.

I personally prefer white whole wheat flour. It isn't quite as dense, but still the same health benefits. The only downside is it's more expensive, so if it ever goes on sale I buy a lot. But, it rarely does.

Anyway, if you haven't already, don't be afraid to try it! The only thing I haven't liked it in was crepes! It turned crepes into pancakes.

Do you have good recipes using your whole wheat flour? Feel free to share them with me!!