Crock Pot Hawaiian BBQ Chicken

Everyone loves crock pot meals, right?  The more simple the better.  Because we ALL are busy.  This one has only a few ingredients yet is full of protein and veggies.  It's easy AND delicious!

Ingredients:
2 chicken breasts (or more)
1 can pineapple pieces
1/2 zucchini diced
1/2 purple onion diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1 bottle BBQ sauce

Directions:
- Put chicken in a crock pot
- Add the entire can of pineapple, including the juice.  Make sure you get pineapple that is in natural pineapple juice and not syrup
- Add veggies
- Use the entire bottle of BBQ sauce, especially if you're using more than 2 chicken breasts.  There will be extra, but this will prevent it from burning!
- Cook on low for 6-10 hours
- Before serving, remove chicken and shred with a steak knife.  Return shredded chicken to the crock pot and mix well with the sauce and veggies.
- Serve over rice or with veggies like broccoli

Left overs heat up or freeze well.  Enjoy!

Snack Break: Roasted Garlic Sea Salt Chick Peas

Snacking is always my downfall.  Luckily I found a yummy recipe for roasted chick peas!  They're full of protein and are a healthy carb. 

Pre-heat your oven to 250F.  Then all you have to do is take a can of chick peas (also known as garbanzo beans), drain, rinse in a colander, and dry on a towel for a while.  Then toss them in 2 tsp of EVOO.  Lay them on a cookie sheet covered in a layer of tin foil, and spread the chick peas on the foil.  You can season however you'd like.  My favorite is to sprinkle garlic sea salt lightly over them.  Bake for 10 minute increments, stirring in between.  After 30 min I will start testing one here and there, until they're no longer super soft.  They will dry a little harder as they cool, but you want them to be more solid when baking.  It can take around an hour. 

Enjoy your snack as much as I do!

Beachbody Cloud Bread

My friend Ashley found this super yummy cloud bread recipe on the Beachbody blog.  Her young children LOVED this with cinnamon for breakfast!  I've tried cloud bread before but didn't bake it long enough.  Ashley said make sure to bake it until it's brown or else it will be soggy inside.  Great tip, Ashley!  I will be trying this again!  My kiddos need protein and this hopefully will be a way to trick my carb-loving family into getting more protein in their diet.

https://www.beachbody.com/beachbodyblog/recipes/cloud-bread-recipe

Healthy Spaghetti Alternative

Spaghetti Squash has intrigued me for a while.  I'm not a huge squash fan, but the health benefits of this were interesting.  I'm also a huge pasta fan and it's been hard to give this up.  A while back we switched to the veggie pasta, but it still has a lot of carbs.  This weekend we had some friends over and we decided to try spaghetti squash!  I was shocked at how easy it was, and how similar the texture was to regular spaghetti.  I couldn't tell the difference!  Topped with crock pot turkey pasta sauce, it was delicious, filling, and healthy!  This sauce should freeze well too so we can have the leftovers later on a night where we don't have time!

**Update: it heats up very well and even 3 days later tastes great!  The texture wasn't compromised which was my biggest worry.  I mixed in the pasta sauce after heating both, and it was a fabulous dinner! 

Spaghetti Squash: Serves 2-3 adults

Ingredients

1 Spaghetti squash

2tsp olive oil

Garlic powder

Sea salt

Pepper

Directions:

• Heat oven to 425F
• Using a sharp knife, make small cuts around the squash as if to halve it lengthwise
• Put squash in the microwave for 2 minutes
• Remove from the microwave and use the sharp knife to carefully cut the squash in half lengthwise, along the cuts you made earlier
• Scoop out all the seeds and dispose of them
• Drizzle the flesh side of the squash with olive oil.  Season with the garlic powder, sea salt, and pepper to taste
• Lay each half of the squash flesh down (with the hard shell facing upwards) in a glass dish
• Bake for about 40 minutes
• Remove, and turn over to show the flesh.  Use a couple of forks to pull the flesh out of the husk.  It will automatically shred into spaghetti-like pieces
• Top with your favorite topping and enjoy!

Turkey Pasta Sauce

Ingredients:

1 lb ground turkey (lean)

1 red pepper

Any desired seasonings

1 jar pasta sauce (I look for homemade ones)

Directions:

• In a large frying pan or a cast iron skillet, brown the ground turkey.
• After the meat is cooked, use a strainer to drain the grease into the container the meat came in. Dispose of this.
• Return the meat to the skillet.  Add the red pepper (dice prior to this step) and any other seasonings you may choose.  I like to use garlic powder, oregano, and italian seasoning.
• Heat these for a few minutes then let cool and store in a container if you’re not using it immediately.
• You have two options for the sauce.  You can either add the jar of sauce directly to the ground turkey in the skillet after you added the seasonings, or you can save the meat for later in the week and use the crock pot.
• Crock Pot option: During the workweek I like to have the meat pre-made then I toss it in a crock pot with the sauce, on low.  Add some water if you’re cooking it for longer than 4 hours.  Otherwise cook 4 hours on low then set it to turn to warm.
• Use the sauce to top your favorite pasta or the spaghetti squash

Recipe: Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

This recipe has become one of our all-time favorites for dinner!  We make it regularly, and it's easy to swap out the protein with a different type of meat, or to tweak other ingredients and make an entirely new dish!  Also key for us: the leftovers taste just as good, if not better!  We ALWAYS plan one night a week for left overs to clean out the fridge, and there is usually a battle over who gets this dish!

Parmesan Crusted Pork Chops

•3/4 c parmesan cheese

•1/4 tsp basil leaves

•1/4 tsp garlic powder

•1/4 tsp dried orgeno

•1 dash black pepper

•1/4 tsp thyme leaves

•1/4 cup dijon mustard

•2 tbsp olive oil

•2 lbs pork chops

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper or wax paper.

- In a small bowl whisk together mustard, oil, and spices.

- Season the 4 pork chops with pepper, then brush both sides of the chops with the mustard mixture.

- Press the grated cheese into both sides of the chops.

- Place the chops on the prepared baking sheet. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes. The coating should be browned and slightly crispy and the pork should be cooked through.

Enjoy Dinner!

21 Day Fix Chicken Tortilla Soup

Containers: 1 1/2 cup – 1/2 RED 1/2 GREEN 1/2 YELLOW

Serves about 6 (1 1/2 cup servings)

Ingredients:

1 lb raw boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 3-4 Breasts)

10 oz. diced tomatoes with green chilies

14.5 oz. diced tomatoes (no salt added)

1  cup frozen corn

1 medium onion, diced

1 jalapeno, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

4 cups of organic, low sodium chicken broth or stock

1 tsp. ground cumin

1 tsp. chili powder

1 tsp. Himalayan salt

1/4 tsp. black pepper

Topping Options: avocado, cheese, lime, cilantro, or anything else you like in moderation

Directions:

1. Toss all the ingredients for the soup into your crock pot.  Stir, turn on low, and let cook for 6-8 hours
2. After the chicken is cooked, remove and cut/shred using a steak knife. I've found this works best! Add back to soup.
3. Enjoy with toppings!

Don’t forget to count the toppings!

Meal Prep Mini Challenge

Great news, tribe!  To continue keeping everyone on track as we get into 2017 I thought it would be fun to do a meal prep mini challenge.  What is this?

- 4 days
- Each day focuses on a specific challenge nutritional eating
- Share and engage to get the most out of it!
- FREE and open to anyone!!

What do you need to do?
- Find the link on my profile
- Join my tribe!  Just ask and I'll get you in
- Share with your friends and family!  The more people who participate, the more variety we'll get!

This kicks off Sunday 1/15.  Can't wait to see you there!