Winning Pinterest Recipes

I love Pinterest, don't you?

My favorite board on my Pinterest account is my Food & Recipe board. I love to cook and I LOVE to find amazing recipes. Today, I thought I would share FIVE of my favorite recipes from Pinterest!

1.   One Pot Andouille Skillet Pasta: This was SO good. I made this recently and it was not only extremely tasty but pretty healthy and ridiculously easy to make. Took about 30 minutes to make the entire meal. 

2.   Butternut Squash Mac 'n' Cheese: I loved this because it was still very cheesy but lacked all of the heavy cream. Next time, I probably won't bake mine because I found it to be a bit dry when cooked. I plan to just toast breadcrumbs and then add them once combined. Great comfort food recipe with a healthy twist!

3. Chicken & Avocado Enchiladas in Creamy Avocado Sauce: You want a crowd pleaser? This is the EASIEST, most DELICIOUS recipe. I make it at least once a week during the summer. My friends and family are always asking me for this recipe. Not only is it healthy but it's so dang good. The only alteration I've made to this recipe is that I use the Trader Joes Corn & Flour Tortillas--> it tastes so much better! 

4.  Pesto Pasta w/Chicken Sausage & Roasted Brussel Sprouts: This was super yummy, healthy and so easy to make! Plus, I could pretty much eat dog poo if it were covered in pesto. 

[Okay, not really...but seriously, pesto is the bees knees.]

5.   Salted Dark Chocolate Truffle Cookies: Okay, you want to die and go to heaven? I just DARE you to eat only one--these cookies are INSANELY good. They are a bit time consuming (you need to let the dough sit in the fridge for a few hours) but totally worth it! [My husband still begs me to make these often] :) 

The Accidental Delicious Pancakes

During the snow in, I became restless and immediately started baking up a storm. If I couldn't get out and exercise, I had to play with my food and come up with some delicious and healthy recipes!

I had a massive craving for some hearty pancakes. I get bored with pancakes easily. I am always trying to spice them up with various fruits, nuts and flavors. This particular morning, I stumbled upon a very overly ripe banana that either needed to go in a batch of banana muffins...or the garbage. Instead, I chose to mash it up & toss it in the pancakes mix. I scoured the kitchen to see what else I could add to it. I planned for a great morning workout and wanted to add some protein to keep me through it.

So here is what I came up with:

They were SO yummy and kept me full through my morning work out. I actually wasn't even hungry again until much later in the day. I even posted my horribly formed beautiful pancakes on Instagram:

Okay so I can't make pretty pancakes!  But I sure as HECK can make some tasty ones! 

(And for the record, thats chocolate on my pancakes, they aren't burnt) 

Give these a try! 

What a healthy and delicious breakfast in bed idea for Valentine's Day as well!

 (Just make sure you serve them in a much more presentable manner than mine!) :) 

Enjoy!

SBMR Protein Shake

Last week, I played around with a few smoothie recipes. I have been trying to find the perfect combination of ingredients that will keep me satisfied and help me get my daily required amount of fruits and veggies all at once. This week, I think I finally found it! After playing around with a few different ingredients, here is what I came up with:

1/4 cup of honey greek yogurt 
(or you could use plain greek yogurt & add a tbsp of honey to the mix)

handful of spinach

handful of kale (frozen)

1/2 cup of frozen strawberries

1/2 cup of frozen raspberries

1/2 of an overripe banana

1 scoop of garden of life protein powder (in vanilla)* 

8 oz of chocolate almond milk

*(An all organic, plant-based protein--you could supplement any kind of preferred protein powder)

Throw these bad boys in the blender, mix well...

Should look something like this (pretty, I know...)

(This mason jar holds 32 ounces)

Throw it into a mason jar, and off you go! 

When I buy fruits and vegetables around this time of year, I like to check the frozen food aisle to see if I can find better deals (depending on what I am using it for) i.e. if I'm going to use kale in a smoothie, I'll buy the $1.50 frozen bag, compared to the $2.00 bag of fresh kale since it will just be thrown in a blender anyway!) This is such a cheap and efficient way to get your vitamins in if you don't typically care for the taste of certain fruits/vegetables in their raw form. Mixing all of these ingredients together allow you to get about 12 ounces of nutritiously, tasty GOODNESS! 

ENJOY!

Do you have a favorite smoothie recipe?

Do you turn to smoothies to help you with your daily recommended amount of fruits/veggies?

Pumpkin Protein Bites

I love snacks that are readily available for grab-n-go occasions. I typically turn to snacks like granola bars that are made with whole food ingredients and packed with nutrients. This week, I scoured Pinterest for some homemade protein bar recipes. I came across this recipe and absolutely loved it because not only did I already have the ingredients in my home but the recipe was extremely simple.

Here is the recipe:

( Via Yummy Mummy Kitchen )

1 ¾  cups rolled oats (gluten free if needed)

3 scoops vanilla protein powder (gluten free if needed) 

1-2 tablespoons chia seeds

2 tablespoons hemp seeds 

¼  teaspoon sea salt

1 ½ teaspoons pumpkin pie spice

½ cup pumpkin puree (not sweetened)

2 tablespoons maple syrup or honey

2 tablespoons chopped dark chocolate (gluten free chocolate if needed) 

¼ cup chopped toasted pecans

1/4 cup additional chopped chocolate for drizzle (optional) 

First, I mixed the dry ingredients

I only used 2 scoops of protein powder in my batch. It seemed like a lot of powder to add for my liking.
I also used flaxseed instead of hemp seed (just because that's what I had at home).

Then the wet ingredients

Then I cut up some nuts and dark chocolate

I ran out of pecans but I had walnuts in my cupboard. Yay! So I substituted with walnuts.

Mix Well!

 Then roll them into golf-sized balls & place on a cookie tray

The recipe yields 16 but I ended up with 19 (perhaps I made them too small).

 Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes and drizzle with melted dark chocolate, if you so please. Then, it's time to CHOW DOWN!

 I chose not to drizzle them with chocolate (because I was lazy) but I bet they would taste even better with a little more chocolate ;)

These things tasted great! I'm excited to have them after a good workout or for a quick afternoon snack. Give them a try! I love eating food that I have prepared because I know exactly what I am putting into my body. 

I hope you enjoy the recipe! Give it a try this weekend and let me know what you think.

Do you have a favorite snack recipe? I'd love to hear it! Please share. 

Creamy Pesto Pasta

I love to cook. I also really, I mean really love to eat. Planning meals during the work week can become frustrating. There are a few meals that I tend to make over and over because not only are they good, but they are so easy to make! Those are the BEST meals. So for today's post, I wanted to share a runner's fav: Chicken and Pesto Pasta--it's seriously tasty.

I start with the chicken. I preheat the oven to 375 degrees. I season the chicken breasts with salt, pepper, a little olive oil and my secret weapon of flavor--Herb de Provence (it's a combination of Italian herbs and other delicious-goodness). After coating the chicken, I cover it in foil and toss it in the oven for a while.

Then, we move on to the tomatoes. I add some olive oil and a couple cloves of garlic to the pan on medium high heat. I let the garlic begin to sizzle (so that it flavors the oil) and then add some cherry tomatoes, some basil and again, hit it with a little salt. At this point, I turn the heat to low so that the garlic and the tomatoes don't burn. Cover the tomatoes with a lid! They will explode...and possibly take an eye out.

salt, garlic, olive oil, basil and some good ol' cherry tomatoes

Your pan should similar to this

Meanwhile, I begin boiling water for the pasta. I've used all types of pastas, for this particular demonstration, I was into the orecchiette look.

Throw those bad boys in the pot when the water starts boiling.

Now, check on the tomatoes. You will know that they are done when they are mushy and look something like this...

When the pasta is in, I start boiling water for the asparagus. Okay, so you may be thinking...um, weird...asparagus? Well, when I cook, I like to add vegetables to my meals wherever I can. It actually tastes pretty wonderful in the pasta. You could add another type of vegetable if you aren't a fan or you could even omit veggies all together. But, this is how I do it personally. So asparagus is not in season right now so, I like to use frozen asparagus--it's cheaper and quicker to cook as well!

Throw it in!

While everything is cooking, I check on the chicken (make sure there is no pink!), remove the foil  and stick it back in a for another minute or two. Should look something like this (I swear its amazing, just isn't the most beautiful when it comes out of the oven). Side note--this is even better Barbecued . It is pure summertime heaven.



When the pasta is done, the asparagus is warmed and the tomatoes are simmered, it's time to put this beautiful masterpiece together!

I chop up the asparagus into bite-sized pieces.









Then we add the good stuff: feta cheese, pesto and a little cream.
So here's the thing...
1. You could make your own pesto (probably healthier to do so) but I like the easy route and I chose to buy my pesto (thank you Whole Foods!)
2. I like to add cream because, well, it just tastes better. I actually, typically use creme fraiche (it's like a fancy sour cream) but again, for this demo, we went with the heavy cream.
3. Here's my thing about the cream--I add like a tablespoon, maybe less. I know this is a healthy living blog but I am all about indulging here and there (everything in moderation). And! I say that if you are going to make this meal with some cream, give yourself a harder workout that day. I like to work for my food. I don't eat heavy food or desserts if I don't work for it. This is my own personal motto. Imagine how hard I work out on Thanksgiving! : ) 
Okay, so that's my quick rant and side note for this meal. Let's continue...add the good stuff!!

Mmmm...

So now you plate the pasta and chicken together with a hefty glass of red wine to complete this meal.
It's so easy to make and tastes so good.
Plus, it's husband approved! : )



What is your go-to meal?