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Recipes

Pico de Gallo

I really like Mexican food, always have.  If you are anything like my Mom or I, we really just go out to Mexican food for the chips and salsa, and of course the Coronas and margaritas too!  We usually just order a small taco so it doesn’t look like we just came there for the chips and salsa.  At one of our favorite Mexican restaurants, they have amazing Pico de Gallo – which is one of the reasons we like going there! My Mom decided to recreate it so we could make it at home.  So the credit of the recipe goes to her!

This recipe is pure vegetables so it is gluten free, dairy free and vegan! When I make this recipe, I never measure the ingredients out, I just guess.  But today, I decided to measure everything out so I could give you all a recipe!

INGREDIENTS
 

  • 4 cups of Cabbage – finely chopped (about half of one head of cabbage)

  • 1 large Tomato – chopped (only use outside of tomato – do not use seeds)

  • 1/2 cup of white Onion – finely chopped

  • 2 tbsp of Cilantro – finely chopped

  • 1 tsp of Lime Juice

  • 2 Jalapenos – chopped (optional)

  • Salt and Pepper

DIRECTIONS

  1. Chop up all ingredients and place in a large bowl.

  2. Mix and place in refrigerator for 30 minutes before serving.

  3. Enjoy!

I like to eat my Pico de Gallo with tortilla chips and use it as an appetizer.  This pico de gallo is great on tacos, fajitas and salads!

 

Hope you enjoy!

Recipes

Chicken Tostada

I got the idea for this recipe from Skinny Mom’s Kitchen. I made a few changes to it and they came out fantastic!  I found that these tostadas are very easy to assemble and you really don’t need to measure out each ingredient for it to taste great!  These are gluten free, can easily be made dairy free if you substitute the cheese with soy cheese and you can substitute the sour cream with Tofuti sour cream.  Also, these can be made vegetarian if you leave off the chicken.

Total Time: 20 minutes
Makes 4 Servings

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 chicken breasts

  • 1 tbsp taco seasoning

  • 4 small corn tortillas

  • Pam cooking spray

  • 1 cup of refried black beans

  • 1/2 cup shredded low fat cheddar cheese

  • 1/2 cup shredded pepperjack cheese

  • Shredded lettuse

  • 1 avocado, chopped

  • Plain greek yogurt

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat broiler.

  2. Place chicken in boiling water for 10 minutes or until fully cooked.

  3. Meanwhile, spray both sides of each tortilla with cooking spray and place in frying pan over medium heat. The goal here is to make the tortillas a little bit crispy. Cook for 1 minute on each side, or until the tortillas start to brown. The tortillas will cook in the oven, so they do not need to be fully crisp.

  4. Drain the chicken and let cool in pan. Shred chicken and add taco seasoning and 2 tbsp of water. Heat on medium low for two minutes.

  5. Heat refried black beans in small bowl and cook in the microwave for one minute.

  6. On a baking sheet, place all four tortillas. On each tortilla, spread 1/4 cup of refried black beans, 1/4 cup of chicken, 2 tbsp of cheddar cheese and 2 tbsp of pepper jack cheese.

  7. Place under broiler for 6 minutes. I set my timer in one minute increments to be sure that they did not burn. I took mine out after 6 minutes when the edges of the tortillas were crisp and the cheese was browning.

  8. Add toppings, lettuce, chopped avocados and greek yogurt.

  9. Enjoy!

I boiled and seasoned the chicken the day before, so this recipe from start to finish took me less than 10 minutes to crisp the tortilla, assemble and broil.  This is a great recipe to use with leftover taco meat. 

Recipes

Turkey Meatballs

These have been adapted from the 21 Day Fix Extreme booklet.

INGREDIENTS

  • 1.25 lbs of 99% fat free ground turkey

  • 3/4 cup quick cooking oats (or gluten free oats)

  • 1 tsp sea salt

  • 1 tsp paprika

  • 1 tsp dry mustard

  • 1 large egg

  • 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

  • 12 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped

  • 2 tbsp tomato sauce (no sugar added)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

  2. Lightly coat large baking sheet with cooking spray.

  3. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well by hand.

  4. Roll mixture into 30 1 inch meatballs and place on baking sheet.

  5. Cook for 15-20 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

These meatballs are great to cook ahead of time or to make a double batch and freeze some! They serve great over spaghetti squash and tomato sauce, on a salad or with some brown rice and your favorite veggies!

If you are following the 21 Day Fix, 21 Day Fix Extreme or Insanity Max: 30:
5 meatballs = 1 red and 1/2 yellow.

Recipes

21 Day Fix Pizza

When on this meal plan, it is so important to get creative with your favorite foods! I LOVE pizza, but I usually feel like I can’t eat it. I found a great way to make it max 30 approved!

  • 1 yellow whole wheat tortilla or gluten free tortilla

  • .5 green of pureed tomatoes (If you buy these from the store, look at the label!!! So many have added sugar and salt which are NO NO’s on this plan!) You can easily blend up your own tomatoes into a paste and use! I add a packet of stevia to mine to make it a little more sweet!

  • 1 green of sweet onions and roma tomatoes

  • 1 red of turkey pepperoni – be careful with these, lots of brands have a lot of extra junk in them! You could also use ham, turkey or chicken instead!

  • 1 blue of mozzarella cheese

  • Italian seasoning

Turn the oven on to 350. Bake the tortilla alone for about 5 minutes, flipping it half way through. You want to make it crispy!  Take it out of the oven and add your tomato sauce, pepperoni, onions, tomato and then your cheese and italian seasoning. Put it back in the oven for 5 minutes and…ENJOY!

This is one of my husband and I’s favorite meals. We used to eat out ever single friday for our date night. This pizza makes us feel like we are eating comfort food, even though its totally max 30 approved!

Recipes

Sweet Potato Turkey Burgers

This recipe is a keeper in our household! This recipe is 21 Day Fix and Insanity Max: 30 approved! It is gluten free, clean and it tastes like a cheat meal!

INGREDIENTS

  • 1 pound of 99% fat free ground turkey (or 4.5 red containers)

  • 18 slices of cooked turkey bacon, chopped (I cook mine in the microwave until crispy)

  • 2 medium sweet potatoes (or 4.5 yellow containers)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Peel sweet potatoes and boil them until you can easily poke a fork through them. I like to cut my sweet potatoes in smaller cubes so they cook faster!

  2. Once cooked, put them in a mixing bowl and mash them until there are no large chunks.

  3. Add in chopped turkey bacon and ground turkey.

  4. Mix ingredients. I like to use my hands to make sure everything is really mixed together, seems to stick together better.

  5. Roll tightly into patties. This recipe makes 9 21 Day Fix approved burgers.

  6. You can either grill these or cook them on a stove top. I cooked mine on a stove top on high for 4 minutes on each side. NOTE: Key to them not falling apart is to not flip them too early and to spray the pan good with a non-stick spray.

  7. Add 1 slice of cheese, or one blue container of cheese if desired.

  8. Garnish with romaine, tomatoes and red onions. These taste great with mustard too!

  9. Enjoy!

Each burger is 1 Red and .5 Yellow.

UPDATE: If you are following the 21 Day Fix Extreme plan:

  • 1 red of ground turkey

  • 1 yellow of mashed sweet potato

This makes 2 burgers and is counted as 1 red and 1 yellow! Great with a little avocado on top!

Breakfast

Egg Nests

I am in the middle of meal prepping this evening, but I absolutely had to share this recipe. I have been looking for breakfast recipes lately.  I love to eat breakfast for dinner and I have been looking to change up my morning breakfasts from the usual shakeology and organic banana.  I love eggs, but I rarely have time in the morning to scramble up eggs before work.  So I found the perfect solution! Ham and cheese egg nests.

All you need is:

  • Muffin pan

  • Pam non-stick cooking spray

  • 6 slices of deli ham

  • 1/2 cup of shredded low fat cheddar cheese

  • 6 eggs

  • Salt and Pepper to taste

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Spray muffin pan with Pam non-stick cooking spray.

  3. Place each slice of deli ham in one muffin hole.

  4. On top of each slice of ham, place a pinch of cheddar cheese.

  5. Crack an egg over each slice of ham.

  6. Salt and Pepper to taste.

  7. Place in oven for 15 minutes.

  8. Enjoy!

I was planning on wrapping each of these up to take for breakfast this week.  I took a bite of one and wow, I was impressed with myself.  So, rather than having leftover chicken tacos for dinner, I had these.  Thankfully I made extras for leftovers!  Very good!

*Update: Took these to work today.  The ham keeps the eggs in place, so they aren’t messy. Reheated for 30 seconds and they tasted great!

Hope you enjoy!

Jess

Recipes

GLOP

This is not the most visually appealing meal and the recipe name certainly doesn’t help, but I promise, it tastes so good! I found this recipe on Bodybuilding.com.

G.L.O.P. stands for Get Lots of Protein.  This meal is very low in fat and contains a lot of protein.  Great all by itself but could also be used in tacos!

INGREDIENTS

  • 16 oz. fat-free ground turkey breast

  • 1 boil-in-bag instant long-grain brown rice packages

  • 16 oz. jar salsa

  • 8 oz. fat free cottage cheese (small curd)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Cook ground turkey over stove top.

  2. One minutes before turkey is fully cooked, add in salsa and simmer until fully cooked.

  3. Meanwhile, cook rice.

  4. Add rice and cottage cheese to turkey mixture.

  5. Enjoy!

This makes about six servings and is delicious!

Breakfast

2 Ingredient Pancakes

Looking for a super simple healthy breakfast or a pre-workout snack? I have the perfect thing for you! Two ingredient pancakes. Yes, two. That is not a typo.

 

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 eggs

  • 1 large banana

     Optional:

  • 1 tsp of flour (or gluten free flour) – this will help the pancake stick together more

  • Splash of vanilla extract

  • Pinch of cinnamon

DIRECTIONS

  1. Combine all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

  2. Place skillet over medium heat and spray with Pam.

  3. Cook pancakes and flip halfway through.

  4. Enjoy!

I am not a banana fan, but I surprisingly loved these! I did not add flour to my first batch of these and they were a little messy and tough to flip. Second batch, I added a dash of flour to and it helped the pancakes hold together more. If you are ok with ugly pancakes, I would go without the flour! The entire batch is less than 260 calories and completely guilt free. Perfect combination of protein and carbs for a little pre-workout fuel. These taste so good that they don’t even need a topping!

1 red, 2 purple

Salad

Chicken & Rice Salad

IMG_20150219_122709.jpg

This has been my go-to salad this week at work! This recipe makes ONE! I cook in bulk and make 5 of these at a time.

INGREDIENTS

Optional

  • Avocado

  • Greek Yogurt (acts as sour cream)

DIRECTIONS

  1. Mix ingredients together!

I like to have this salad cold and only warm up the chicken. I precook everything in advance and put each salad into a tupperware for each day’s lunch!

 

If you are following Insanity Max: 30 or the 21 Day Fix:

  • 1 Red

  • 1 Yellow

  • 1 Green

  • 1 Orange

Side Dish

Sweet Potato Hashbrowns

Ingredients

  • 1/2 sweet potato, grated (I used a cheese grater)

  • 1 tsp coconut oil

  • Pinch of sea salf

Directions

  1. Combine ingredients in a skillet over medium high heat

  2. Flip/stir once every minute or two. I cook mine about 8-9 minutes total.

  3. Cook until desired texture.

These aren’t going to get super crispy or anything, but they taste AMAZING.

If you are following the 21 Day Fix or the 21 Day Fix Extreme, measure grated sweet potato in a yellow container before cooking.

1 yellow, 1 tsp.

Salad

Thai Peanut Sauce Salad

 

Recipe Adapted from: Pinch of Yum.  I made some changes to the ingredients and also made this salad gluten free and I made the dressing a little more sweet.  If you a vegetarian, feel free to substitute the chicken for tofu.  

I absolutely love Thai food and often crave it.  I have been waiting for a recipe to satisfy my Thai and peanut sauce cravings.  This recipe did the trick for me! Love it because it was crunchy from the cabbage and the peanuts and the dressing gave it so much flavor!  I usually try to stay away from peanut butter because it contains so much fat, but I found I didn’t need to use too much of the peanut sauce dressing on the salad because it was thin and so flavorful.  I ate this salad for dinner and I have enough for about three more meals. Looks like I know what I will be having for lunch tomorrow!  I really enjoyed this salad and I hope you do too!

Serves: 4

Time: 30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

  • 2 chicken breasts

  • 1 small head of cabbage

  • 2 carrots

  • ½ cup of cilantro

  • ½ cup of peanuts

  • 2 cloves garlic

  • 1 tbsp sriracha

  • 2 tablespoons tamari (or soy sauce)

  • 2 tablespoons vinegar

  • 2 ½ tablespoons sugar (or stevia to make it clean!)

  • 1 tablespoon lime juice

  • 1 tablespoon oil

  • ½ teaspoon fish sauce

  • ½ cup natural peanut butter

  • ½ cup water

DIRECTIONS

  1. Bring pot of water to a boil. Add chicken breasts and boil for 15 minutes. Once chicken is cooked thoroughly let cool and shred the chicken.

  2. Meanwhile, chop cabbage into thin pieces and place in large bowl.

  3. Peel the outside of the carrot and discard. Peel the entire carrot and then chop the carrot strands in smaller pieces. Add to large bowl.

  4. Chop cilantro and peanuts then add to large bowl and mix.

  5. In a small bowl, add garlic, sriracha, tamari, vinegar, sugar, lime juice, olive oil and fish sauce. Whisk until mixed well.

  6. Add peanut butter and water. Whisk until smooth.

  7. Add cool shredded chicken to salad mixture, toss.

  8. Top with peanut sauce dressing.

  9. Enjoy!

Salad

Cobb Salad

Wanted to share one of my favorite Max 30 and 21 Day Fix approved meals!

  • 1 green of romaine

  • .5 green of tomatoes and red onions

  • 1 red of two turkey bacon slices (I microwave mine) and 1 hard boiled egg

  • 1 orange of the dijon vinaigrette

  • 1 blue of part avocado and part cheese

I keep chopped lettuce, tomatoes and onions in my fridge at all times along with hard boiled eggs. I make a double batch of the dressing too! This is SO quick to whip up and it tastes really good!!! This will probably be one of my go to lunches when I go back to work!