Easy Prep Recipe: Spinach Salad with Sweet Potato, Chicken & Goat Cheese

Ever shy away from prepping ALL of your food for the week because you want something FRESH -- instead of endless containers of "left overs?"

While I don't personally relate to that.. gimme ALL the PREPPED food & left overs.. I DO love adding in some fresh salads to our weekly menus!!

What's sneaky about this recipe though is that some of it IS prepped ahead & the rest can be thrown together in a snap.

You're going to LOVE this!!

Spinach Salad

with Sweet Potato, Grilled Chicken & Goat Cheese

You can keep this super simple OR dress it up.

You can always make tweaks to YOUR taste & depending on the foods you have on hand!

This recipe was actually inspired by a couple of salads I ordered on our most recent trip to New Orleans last month. We has LOADS of yummy treats while we were there, so once a day I tried to squeeze in a load of greens to keep my tummy happy.

I made a couple of adjustments to make it simpler to throw together and healthier - stuff like less dressing, a lighter dressing & fewer "extra" toppings. You could certainly make this more rich though by dressing it up for a special occasion.

Okay here it is!

& I'm T E L L I N G you.. it's just too easy!

Ingredients:

Spinach

Sweet Potatoes

Chicken

Goat Cheese

Lite Raspberry Vinaigrette

(or a vinaigrette of your choice)

Coconut Oil Spray

Dried Spices of your choice + Salt & Pepper

Prep/Assembly:

Start by grilling your chicken.

This is where part of our prep ahead came into play. We grilled enough chicken for the two of us plus our 11 month old daughter to eat for dinners all week! All we had to do each day was dice our servings, heat & top our salads!

We seasoned with himalayan salt, pepper, garlic & dried rosemary. Then grilled to perfection.

I think some other DELICIOUS protein alternatives would be grilled shrimp or salmon, depending on what you have or have the taste for! We'll be trying these soon for SURE.

While the chicken was grilling, I prepped a week's worth of sweet potatoes. I washed each potato very well & the cubed them into small, bite-sized pieces. I decided to leave the skin on for added texture, but you could certainly peel them (I only peel them for my daughter, Raegan). I sprayed our potatoes lightly with coconut oil & seasoned them with himalayan salt, pepper & dried garlic.

BEWARE: roasted sweet potato bites are like CANDY & you WILL want to snack on them while they're cooling.

When it came to the day OF & it was dinner time, assembly was easy peasy.

Make yourself a pretty little bed of spinach.

Layer a warm serving of grilled chicken & diced sweet potatoes.

Crumble goat cheese ALL over.

Drizzle with vinaigrette!

I personally LOVE this Skinny Girl Raspberry Vinaigrette

Some other tasty topping ideas?!

Toss on some chopped, toasted pecans or walnuts!

You could even sprinkle a few dried cranberries over the top.

OR a fresh alternative.. dice up some strawberries!

Not a huge fan of sweet potatoes?

Go for butternut squash.. also DELICIOUS!

Lastly, switch up your dressings & try another vinaigrette.

Anyone else hungry yet??

Alrighty, friends. That's all!

I TOLD you it was too easy.

If you try something different, be sure to share it with me.

I'm always on the hunt for anything quick, healthy & easy to prep a little ahead!

I hope you enjoy this prep ahead but fresh SALAD!

PS: For any of my followers who are on the "fixate" meal plan, this recipe as I have shared it before substitution suggestions is: 1 red, 1 yellow, 1 green, 1 blue & 1 orange if you measure out each ingredient before plating!

Turkey Chili Taco Soup: Skinny Taste Recipe Share

Today's recipe share is coming to you from SKINNY TASTE. If you haven't check that blog out before, go ahead and take a detour. That blog is SUCH an awesome resource for diverse simple & healthy recipes that are 21 Day Fix Approve, Gluten Free, etc.

It CERTAINLY isn't the weather down here in FL making me feel like fall has arrived.. you know, being that it's still 90+ degrees outside.

But something in the air {my air at least} has definitely changed. And well, the pumpkin candles are burning & my autumn wreath is on the front door!

So I might have to put my hair up and wear a bathing suit while I cook/eat this until things finally cool down around, but it's TIME to break out the FALL chili recipes again.

Chili is literally one of my FAVORITE meals to make ahead for prepped meals & even to freeze for later! Am I right, ladies??

Y'all have got to try this simple, healthy chili-type recipe from Skinny Taste!

Turkey Chili Taco Soup

INGREDIENTS:

cooking spray

1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey

1 medium onion, chopped

1 bell pepper, chopped

10 oz can rotel tomatoes with green chilies

15 oz canned or frozen corn, drained

15 oz no salt added kidney beans, drained

8 oz tomato sauce

16 oz fat free refried beans

1 packet low-sodium taco seasoning

2 1/2 cups less-sodium chicken broth

DIRECTIONS:

-Spray a large pot with cooking spray then brown the turkey over medium heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, add the onions and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes.

-Add tomatoes, corn, beans, tomato sauce, re-fried beans, taco seasoning and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer about 10-15 minutes.

-Serve with your favorite toppings such as low fat sour cream, jalapeños, reduced fat cheese, chopped scallions, onions, or chopped fresh cilantro. Freeze leftovers in individual portions for future meals.

Source: Skinny Taste

#HealthyRecipes #FallRecipes #ChiliRecipes #GracefullyBalanced

Healthy Sweet Potato Puppy Treats

The wait is over...

My puppies are my babes (for now) & while I love giving them treats, I want to keep them as healthy as possible. My husband and I feed them certain SAFE fruits and veggies all the time, depending on what we have in the fridge. But I wanted to come up with a snack for them that was more like a crunchy treat! So I checked out pinterest, but wasn't feeling spunky enough to make my own dough. SO I decided to make baked chips of one of their FAVORITE "table scraps".... SWEET POTATOES. Here's how I did it!!

Wash a your sweet potatoes WELL if you're planning to keep the skin on like I did.

Cut thick slices.. maybe 1/4" or more and place on a cookie sheet or stone, like I used.

Decide what temperature you'd like to cook them at, depending on how much time you have available. I've heard some people will cook these around 100+ degrees for 8 hours. I simply didn't have that kind of time. I ended up deciding to cook these at 225 degrees for 3-4 hours. 

*Go off your visual and how they feel for doneness*

Watch them while they bake, this is what ours looked like about half way through- notice the corners are curling up a bit. I decided to flip mine halfway through so they'd cook evenly!

Don't freak out, some pieces will end up darker than others but for the most part, they'll look like this! Be sure they cool completely for the pups and give them maybe half so they can explore the crunchy texture!

I hope your babies are as happy as mine with this recipe & give it two paws up.

Find me on Facebook and share a photo of your happy pooch!

White Chicken Chili

Fall means cool evenings, SEC football, warm blankets, woodwick candles, thick socks, oversized sweaters & .....HOT soups.

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Not only are soups seasonally appropriate during autumn and winter, but they are also SUPER easy to make & are great lunch/dinner options throughout the week!

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I got this white chicken chili "recipe" from my momma. I use the word recipe pretty loosely because we don't measure & often just use what we have at home!

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This particular pot of soup was made something like this:

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Boil 2 chicken breasts in a half {ish} full, large pot of water. Once chicken is cooked, remove from water to shred. Use a hand-held strainer to remove fat, etc on the water's surface. Dissolve TWO chicken bouillon cubes - this chicken broth will now be your soup's base!

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To chicken broth, add  ::

2 (drained) cans of great northern beans + 1 can of rotel tomatoes and green chilis + 1 tbsp of minced garlic + chopped onion + frozen corn + minced jalapeño + shredded chicken + {optional} taco seasoning

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Let this pot simmer until all the flavors are combined. Depending on what you have on hand, serve solo //OR// with tortilla chips, quinoa or brown rice!

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Happy Fall, Y'all!

21 Day Fixed Approved: Chocolate, Peanut Butter OATS

Today's recipe is a special one, folks. This tasty treat is straight out of Autumn Calabrese's new cookbook called Fixate; for those of you who don't know who Autumn is, she's the creator of the 21 Day Fix that gave me these results in 3 weeks. Yeah, she's one of my heroes. Ha!

ANYWAYS, this recipe is an awesome breakfast option for the days I save my shake for a quick lunch or on the weekends when Nate and I want to eat a yummy, guilt free breakfast together! 

So let's start with the main ingredient: Steel Cut Oats.

For those of you who aren't familiar with anything other than instant, old fashioned or rolled oats:

"Whole grain oats provide a healthy start to your day. Steel-cut oats, also known as Irish oats, are a type of whole grain oat cut from the center portion, or kernel of the oat, called the groat. Although steel-cut oats undergo less processing than rolled oats or instant oatmeal, all whole-grain oats have essentially the same nutritional value, as long as the finished product contains no added sugars. Steel-cut oats do take longer to cook than rolled or instant oats and have a chewier consistency."

Personally, I prefer steel cut oats because I'm a texture gal! Take the extra time to try them, I bet you'll like them! Go ahead and make these bad boys start to finish before you move onto the other ingredients.

Next, you're going to need some shakeology. This is going to give your oats a CREAMY sauce to bathe in & that desert-like chocolatey taste! PS, the shakeology is also adding a protein element to this meal.

If you aren't sure what Shakeology is, check out my blog post about it here; it's a nutrient dense shake that costs about $4 a day to drink and replaces a meal, vitamins and supplements. It's a game changer in healthy eating and the pursuit of fitness goal, I highly recommend you try it risk free for 30 days.

Now you need to stir in some all-natural peanut butter! My household is 100% crunchy, but you could of course go the creamy route.

SO this is where my rendition of this recipe gets comical. My hubby and I moved on Friday.. who cares, you just want the recipe.. WELL, most of my food items were either packed, discarded or misplaced. A few lucky ingredients made it over here to my two burner, no oven kitchen. SO, when the cook book says himalayan sea salt, caramel extract and cinnamon- I say no biggie!

All I had here was vanilla extract, so I used that and went without the cinnamon and sea salt. You know what? This stuff still turned out to be AMAZING! I can only imagine how much richer the other ingredients would make it.

Okay, so here's the recipe!

4 Cups Water

1 Cup Steel Cut Oats

1.5 Scoops of Chocolate Shakeology

4 TBSP All Natural Peanut Butter

Dash of Cinnamon (omitted above)

Dash of Pink Himalayan Sea Salt (omitted above)

1/2 TSP Caramel Extract (substituted pure vanilla!)

Optional: Mixed Berries for Topping (or in my case- I had like 2 strawberries left in my mini fridge) 

Top this treat with some mixed berries & you're SET!

Bon Appetit, My Friends!

xo, Lindsey

Blueberry Spinach Muffins

I'm always on the hunt for healthy, no-guilt treat recipes that are easy to whip up, as I am by NO means a baker. Tonight, I was paroozing pinterest, while standing hungrily in my kitchen post-workout, & found my inspiration for this recipe.

{recipe found here, but my recipe includes adaptations}

My Ingredients:

1.5 C Whole Wheat Flour

2 Tablespoons + 2 Teaspoons of Truvia

1.2 C Unsweetened Applesauce

"Palm-ful" of Fresh Blueberries

1 Large Egg

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

1 C Fresh Spinach

2 Tablespoons of Coconut Oil

1 Teaspoon Baking Powder

1/2 Teaspoon Baking Soda

Dash of Salt

[[I also ended up using a splash of unsweetened almond milk]]

Directions:

1. Turn on your favorite iTunes station or the latest episode of The Bachelorette.

... THEN, Pre-heat oven to 350° F :)

2. Combine Truvia, Egg, Applesauce, Vanilla Extract, Oil & Spinach in a blender or food processor and give it a whirl! Pour blended spinach liquid into a large mixing bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking soda, baking powder & salt.

4. Mix the wet & dry ingredients together with a spatula- the duo will form a thick dough.

**To loosen mine up a bit, so I could fold in my blueberries, I added a splash of unsweetened almond milk.

5. Fold in said blueberries

6. Spoon dough into a greased muffin tin & place in over for 15-18 minutes.

7. Eat a muffin IMMEDIATELY after baking (just kidding, watch out for burning your mouth!). Then, portion the rest of the muffins into baggies so you can freeze or refrigerate the perfect amount.

**This recipe makes about 9-10 large muffins**

If your sweet tooth is super cray-cray & you need to take these bad boys to the next level, try drizzling a small amount of honey or agave while hot!

Give this recipe a try and let me know what you think.

Bon Appetit

xo

Healthy HOTCAKES

I found this recipe is from the 21 Day Fix Extreme Food Plan book and thought.. WOAH, pancakes!?!? If you're looking for a TASTY breakfast option to switch things up during the fix, try these!!

Ingredients:

2 c. rolled oats

1/2 c. raw cashews

dash of himalayan salt

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 large egg (I used egg whites)

1 tbsp. coconut oil

1 1/3 c. water

1 tsp. vanilla extract

5 cups of your fruit of choice (I used strawberries)

coconut cooking spray

Directions:

-pulse in food processor oats, cashews, salt and cinnamon until ground

-add egg, oil, vanilla and water and pulse until the batter is thick (add a little water if it seems too thick)

-spray a warm skillet with coconut spray and spoon 1/4 c. batter for each pancake. cook on each side until golden!

-you can serve with fresh fruit, OR you can warm the strawberries in the same skillet until they make their own syrup and spoon over

PS, this recipe comes out to 1 yellow container, 1/2 purple, and 1 teaspoon per serving

Blueberry Banana Bread Muffins

With my mom and youngest sister coming to town in a few days (YAY!), I decided to make a few things ahead of time.. as we usually keep busy doing things like bike rides, card games & playing with the pups.

I started paroozing for a healthy banana bread recipe, but the last few I've tried have been BAD.. with mushy/gooey insides. YUCK! I found this one through allrecipes.com and only made a couple of small changes that turned out great. Oh and I prefer muffins over bread loaves, so I switched that up too. Next time, I will find a substitution for the brown sugar!

Ingredients:

2 c. of flour (I used 1 cup of whole wheat & 1 cup of gluten free all-purpose)

1 tsp. baking soda

3/4 c. brown sugar

1/4 tsp. salt (I used himalayan salt)

1/4 c. butter (I used 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce)

1/8 c. non-fat greek yogurt (I used 0% greek)

2 eggs

2 1/3 c. mashed bananas

2 palmfuls of blueberries (yep, palmfuls)

cinnamon

coconut oil cooking spray

Directions: 

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees and spray muffin tins

-Combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon & salt in a large bowl

-Beat butter (or applesauce), yogurt, & brown sugar with an electric mixer in a large bowl until smooth

-Add eggs one at a time and beat until smooth

-Stir in mashed bananas until well blended

-Pour banana mixture to flour mixture; stir until moist

-fold in blueberries

-pour batter into muffin tins

-bake for 20 minutes or until tops are golden & muffins are baked through.. let cool before storing!

*you can opt to make this in a 9x5 bread pan, but you will need to bake it for about an hour*

This recipe was adapted from:: http://allrecipes.com/recipe/healthier-banana-banana-bread/

Try this recipe and let me know what you think.. I accidentally ate 2 already! Time to go burn those carbs off.. Enjoy!

Blueberry-Oat Yogurt Muffins

Enjoy these moist, warm muffins with sweet, gooey blueberries sweetened oh so lightly & baked to a golden perfection with a melt in your mouth center and crisp top..

*insert SWOON here*

Good ole pinterest comes thru again for this recipe inspiration {from domesticatedacademic.wordpress.com}.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
{I used gluten-free baking flour)

1 cup oats–quick or regular oats

1/4 cup + 1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon Truvia Baking Blend

{OR 2/3 cup sugar.. I use truvia}

1 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 & 1/2 cups honey nonfat Greek yogurt

{I used plain chobani}

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and slightly cooled

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup fresh blueberries

*if you're feeling spicy, try adding some lemon juice OR ground cinnamon*

Directions:

Heat oven to 350°.

Coat muffin tin with cooking spray or liners.

Combine flour, sugar, oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl.

Combine yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla in a second bowl.

Fold yogurt mixture into dry mixture; stir to combine completely.

Gently fold in blueberries.

Spoon mixture into muffin tins {don't be afraid to fill them full}.

Be aware that this becomes more of a dough than bater.. see?

Bake until top is golden and springs back when you touch it,  about 25 minutes.. but keep timer and monitor after minute 22-ish.

Bon Appetit! 

xo, linz