Zucchini Noodles with Meatballs & Red Pepper Sauce

Have you ever heard of such a thing? Zucchini noodles!? Who would have thunk!? I got my inspiration to make this dish on Instagram. I love pasta, but I don't really like the way it makes my tummy feel after a big bowl for dinner. I was looking for new ways to fix my pasta cravings so I tried gluten free pasta. Not my thing. When I found out that you can make noodles out of zucchini and all I needed was a julienne peeler, I was sold.  I've never heard of a julienne peeler, but I went to Walmart and there is was! It peels the zucchini into little noodles so you can have this dish on the table in no time. 

the julienne peeler

Here's how you make the noodles:

1. Wash your zucchini, I used three in my experiment (yielded about 1.5 cups of noodles)

2. Start peeling. I used the skin and stopped peeling when I got to the middle where the seeds are.

beautiful peeled zucchini noodles

What you need to make the meatballs:

1. 97% lean ground turkey 

2. A dash of red pepper flakes

3. Salt

4. Pepper

5. Onion powder

6. Fresh parsley

7. 1/2 cup of Bread crumbs

Cooking the meatballs:

1. Heat pan over medium/high heat

2. Add coconut oil or coconut butter

3. Place 1 inch meatballs on skillet and brown all sides

4. Preheat oven to 350

5. Place in preheated oven for 10 minutes or until cooked

To make the red pepper sauce:

1. 1 Red Bell Pepper

2. Cut the red bell pepper into slices

3. Place red pepper into blender with salt, pepper, 1 tbsp garlic and 3 tbsp olive oil

4. Blend mixture until creamy

Enjoy!!

Snack Attack

Looking for ways to boost your metabolism? Easy! Eat small meals regularly throughout the day to keep your body running.  Breakfast, lunch, and dinner are usually pretty easy to figure out what to eat, but I am always stuck when it comes to snacks. These snacks will keep you going between meals and fill you up enough to keep you focused.

Snacks

*Hard-Boiled Egg: Easy to make and loaded with protein. Make these in bulk and store in a container in the fridge for a week. You can slice up the egg and put it on sprouted grain bread, like Ezekial bread, eat it on a salad, enjoy with chicken salad, or take one on-the-go. If cholesterol is of concern, take out the yolk.

*Hummus: Dip vegetables into hummus instead of pita chips for a more guilt free snack, like cucumbers, carrots, celery, red bell pepper, or snow peas. Put some hummus at the bottom of a container and then put the veggies right on top.

*Sliced cheese and deli meat roll-ups: Take two slices of low sodium deli-meat (preferably nitrate-free) and roll with one slice of low fat cheese. You can wrap this in lettuce and sprinkle some pepper on top or roll it up with a spinach wrap.

*Apple: The easiest on-the-go snack. If you have some extra time, dice up the apple and toss in a bowl with cinnamon for a nice treat.

*Nut Butter: Dip with with apple, celery, banana or spread on Ezekial bread.

*Greek Yogurt: Top with my homemade granola, honey, or fruit.

*Mixed fruit salad: I always enjoy my fruit better when I have more than one type at the same time. Specifically strawberries, blueberries, and blackberries or pineapple, mango, and banana.

*Avocado: Slice an avocado and sprinkle some red chili pepper on top or drizzle some sriracha over the top.

*Mixed Nuts: An easy snack, packed with healthy fats. Make sure you only grab a handful because they are dense with calories. Mixed nuts offer the type of variety to keep you happy.

*String Cheese: A reduced fat string cheese will be your best option. Pair with some grapes if you're feeling fancy.

*Kale Chips: Spread kale over a baking sheet with olive oil or coconut oil, add red pepper flakes and place in oven under high broiler. Broil for 5 minutes, watch closely as it cooks very fast.

*Cottage Cheese: Top with 1/2 cup on your favorite fruit. I enjoy mine with pineapple or mixed berries.

*Protein Shake: Try my all time favorite shake, Peanut Butter & Banana! 1 banana, 3 tbsp chocolate PB2, a scoop of protein powder, and 8 oz. almond milk! Or just mix up your regular protein powder with water or milk.

*Quest Bar: When all else fails, grab a quest bar. You won't be disappointed.  Cut up the bar into small pieces and heat up in the microwave for about 10 seconds to enjoy warm quest "cookies".

*Snack Bars: Larabars and Kind bars are my favorites because they are delicious and have many differnt flavors to choose from!


What are your favorite go-to snacks?

Grilled Shrimp, Broccoli & Sweet Potato

Kyle is out of town for the week working with Dad and I STILL haven't gone to the grocery store to do a full haul. Its already Tuesday and I doubt I will this week since I have chicken, frozen vegetables and now... shrimp. Yay! I went to Target after work and of course, I got way more than I needed. It's okay. I'm not complaining. I got a bathing suit for a total of $9.54 on the sale rack. It's so cute! Anyways, I picked up some Annie's Mac & Cheese white cheddar flavor, some bananas, cooked shrimp, steam-able broccoli, and wine! The fixings for a perfect night in with the pups. I heat up the shrimp, the broccoli, a sweet potato and bam, dinner in less than 10 minutes! I swear I need an award. Dinner doesn't always have to be a stressful event nor does it need to be so glamorous. Cook something easy once in a while and enjoy time with the ones you love, and tonight, it's with my sweet puppies...and my wine.

What are you all making for dinner tonight?

strawberry & pineapple smoothie

When I forget to run to the grocery store because I'm consumed in school work (or because I am just a lazy little Jilly), I usually end up making a meal that I can throw any ingredient in, like stir-fry for dinner or a smoothie for an afternoon snack! After dinner was made last night, I looked in the fridge and saw some fruit that was looking less lively than when I first bought it, so I really needed to eat that before having it go waste. I woke up this morning knowing that I was going to need to use the fruit so of course the first thing I thought to make was a smoothie! They are so easy to make and it turned out so delicious!

the beautiful fruits

Ingredients

one. 1/2 cup strawberries

two. 1/2 cup pineapple

three. 5 sticks of celery 

four. 1 cup frozen spinach

five. 10 ounces of water

six. 1 serving of protein powder

Macros

Servings: 3
Calories: 72
Protein: 9g
Carbs: 7g

all blended!

nom nom 

meatless monday

Happy Earth Day! 

What better way to celebrate the earth than with a big bowl of Tofu Stir-Fry! This bowl is PACKED with all sorts of goodies that I am so happy to share with you. Once a week, we cut our meat from our diet (Meatless Monday). I think it's pretty cool that Earth Day and Meatless Monday are sharing the same day.

Here is the recipe

Ingredients 

one. one package of tofu (we prefer to use extra-firm in this house)
two. one cup of bell peppers, chopped (red, orange, yellow, green, whatever color you have will be beautiful).
three. 1/2 onion, chopped
four. 1/2 bag of frozen broccoli
five. one bag of frozen green beans

six. one cup of brown rice
seven. 4 tbsp liquid aminos (it is a substitute for soy sauce, if you don't have it use low sodium soy sauce)
eight. two eggs

Directions

one. preheat oven to 400, cook tofu on baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and sprayed with nonstick spray. the tofu needs to be cut up into little sticks. turn a timer on for 30 minutes and flip (they will stick a little bit, but that's okay) and then cook for another 20 minutes or until golden.

two. throw all the veggies into a skillet with your liquid aminos or low-sodium soy sauce.

three. cook the brown rice according to the directions on the bag or box.

four. scramble your two eggs.
five. once your veggies are cooked down add the brown rice and the scrambled eggs.
six. crumble the cooked tofu on the top of your brown rice, egg and veggie mixture, toss and enjoy!

pups.

Meet Molly and Zeke:

there is always dirt on his big nose

pancakes.

clean protein pancakes.

i freaking love love love pancakes. who doesn't? i had such a hard time digesting pancakes in the past because they are filled with sugar, flour, wheat, and butter. all of which do not settle well with me or my figure. ever since i found my passion to eat clean and workout i wanted to make sure that my body was getting the right kind of food.  i have made a change for a more healthy and active lifestyle that will help me achieve my own personal goals. 

these pancakes are super super easy to make and literally take 5 minutes (or less) to prep!! i love to make them and [devour] them after a hard workout. today i went to the gym early to get a leg and butt workout in and boy i was hungry after! the pancake batter has 3 necessary ingredients and you can add in cinnamon or vanilla extract if you want. this is not my first go around with these bad boys. i've had them topped with fresh berries, banana and peanut butter, and now my favorite combo: topped with cinnamon chia sauce and berry sauce! omnomnom 

ingredients for batter

one. 1/2 cup oatmeal

two. 1/2 cup cottage cheese

three. 4 egg whites

optional ingredients

four. splash of vanilla extract

five. dash of cinnamon

toppings 

one. heat up frozen berries in a bowl with 1tbsp water

two. for the cinnamon chia sauce: mix together 1/4 cup greek yogurt, 1tbsp chia seeds, 1 packet stevia, 1tbsp maple syrup, 2 dashes cinnamon

directions

one. blend all ingredients together

two. heat a pan (you can add nonstick spray or coconut oil if you want, i don't)

three. pour batter in pan

four. flip pancake when there are bubbles on the top

five. put the cinnamon chia sauce on top of pancakes

six. pour the berries over the sauce and pancakes

ENJOY!!

*original pancake recipe from @kelly_flab2fab on instagram. 

miles.

Looking for a way to support those affected by the bombing at the Boston Marathon?

My good friend and fellow runner, Stephanie Johnson (@fitandhealthymama), has created a blog so we can pledge our miles to help "support the victims, heroes, and those who couldn't finish the incredible journey they embarked on early morning April 15, 2013".

Currently, there are 116.9 miles posted and she is trying to reach 1000 miles!
Please visit her site for more information and show your support by pledging miles today!

http://milesforboston.blogspot.com/
or email her at fitandhealthymama1@gmail.com to get your story and pledged miles posted!