Pesto Zucchini Noodles

I adapted this recipe from the Whole 30 recipe book. I am obsessed with my new Spiralizer! We are making noodles out of all kinds of vegetables!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
7-10 organic basil leaves
2 handfuls of organic spinach
3 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1-2 zucchini spiralized
grape tomatoes sliced (as many as you like)

Directions:

For the Pesto: Heat a dry skillet to med-high heat. Add walnuts and pine nuts and toast for 3-5 mins. Add to a food processor, pulse until ground. Add the garlic and pulse to combine. Add the basil and spinach and pulse until chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Keep the processor on as you drizzle in the olive oil. Finally add salt and pepper to taste, pulse a few more times. (This makes about a 1.5 cups)

Spiralize a large zucchini and put in a bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the pesto to the "zoodles" and stir to combine, add more pesto to suit your tastes. Toss in grape tomatoes and serve.
Options would be to top this with Parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, steak or fish. Enjoy!

Mexican Spring Salad

I'm sure anyone who used to follow this blog is certain that I had fallen off the face of the recipe earth! I have been so busy with yoga and my kids that getting dinner on the table has been quite the challenge. I have created several new recipes however getting the pictures and writing down the details have been another story.

This salad tonight was too good not to share and since I took the picture with my iphone....well here goes...

Ingredients:
1/2 English Cucumber, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/2 jicama, peeled and diced
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1 T fresh cilantro
2 T red onion, minced onion
3 T feta cheese
juice of 1 lime
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and gently stir. Enjoy!

Greek Chickpea Salad

This is a simple summer salad that is super delicious and super easy. I love making it on a Monday and snacking on it all week!

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup natural black olives
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
3-4 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 t olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a serving dish and refrigerate for 1 hour. So easy and so delicious!

Asian Sesame Chicken Salad

This a a great dinner or lunch salad. I made it a few weeks ago and it was too good not to share. Nothing crazy out of the ordinary just really good! I use the dressing from Trader Joe's and usually mix it with a little soy sauce because it's a little too sweet for me. Enjoy!

Ingredients:
4 cups romaine, chopped
4 cups cole slaw mix
1 cup edamame
1 cup sliced red bell pepper
1 cup sliced cucumbers
1/4 of red onion, sliced
1 lb grilled chicken breast
Asian Style Vinaigrette (amount to taste)
1/4 cup crunchy Chinese noodles

Directions:

Marinate the chicken in a bag with the Asian Vinaigrette for at least 30 minutes but could be as long as 8 hours. I use one from Trader Joe's that I like. Arrange the lettuce and vegetables in a large salad bowl, lettuce, cabbage, bell pepper, edamame, cucumbers  and top with onion slices. Grill or saute the chicken then slice and add to the top of the salad. Toss with 4 tablespoons of dressing then top with crunchy Chinese noodles.

Weight Watcher Friends: This salad serves 4 and has 5 Points Plus before you add the dressing. 

Bang Bang Shrimp (my way)

I have posted another remake of a Bonefish Grill dish on here before, Lily's Chicken. It is really good and gets a lot of action on this site. I also really like the Bang Bang Shrimp at Bonefish Grill but I hate the way I feel after I eat fried food, ugh! (note the emphasis on the worked after because I actually feel quite good while I am eating fried food). After researching several remakes of this dish online and tried a few the one this is closet to is Gina's from Skinnytase, love her site! But I made a few changes of my own.  This is so super yummy!! You can make it as an app, a salad, or a main course, but just go make it, I promise you won't be sorry!


Ingredients:
1 lb fresh shrimp, peeled & devained
1 1/2 t cornstarch
Salt and Pepper to taste
2 t canola oil
2 cups bib/butter lettuce
4 scallions/green onions, chopped

Sauce:
1 1/2 T Mayonnaise
2 T Sweet Thai Chili Sauce

Directions:
Toss shrimp in cornstarch, salt and pepper. Heat wok over high heat add oil then toss shrimp in and cook until done. Plate the lettuce, add the shrimp and top with green onions. Use the sauce to dip. (Really, does it get any easier than that?)

 

 

 

 

Weight Watcher Friends: Serves 4 and is 5 points plus per serving. It really is super yummy, if you use a low fat mayo you could probably save points but I hate low fat stuff, I'd rather eat good and count the points!

 

BBQ Chicken Salad

At my Publix there is always this cute little man cooking something up that my kids just have to try. A couple weeks ago he was making a BBQ Chicken Cobb Salad and it was great! He made it with breaded chicken tenders and lots of cheese and those fried onion things it was really good, but it wasn't a healthy salad! But I knew I could skinny it up, make it cleaner and healthier without losing any of the flavor. My kids never even noticed that mine didn't have the junkie ingredients that are full of additives, preservatives and artificial flavors. This was a great weeknight dinner for me, I prepped the salad and chicken while my son was at school, then just chopped the apple and added the chicken on top right when we were ready to eat.

 Ingredients:
3 heads of Romaine, cleaned and chopped
1 large Granny Smith Apple, diced
2 tomatoes, diced
1 cucumber, sliced and quartered
2 ears of corn, kernels removed
1/4 cup red onion, diced
1/4 cup BBQ Sauce plus 2 Tablespoons
1/4 cup light ranch
3 cups cooked chicken breasts, diced

Directions:
Toss the diced chicken breast with 2 T of the BBQ sauce and set aside.  Next, spread the lettuce in the bottom of a large serving dish. Then in rows spread the following ingredients cucumbers, corn, chicken, apple, tomatoes, red onion. Next mix the ranch and BBQ sauce together and serve on the side.

You could use a rotisserie but I just took some chicken breast, seasoned them with salt, pepper and paprika and sauteed them in a pan.

Then I diced them up and tossed them with my sauce.

Once the chicken was cooled I added it to the salad.

Don't cut the apple until right before you are ready to serve!

Tips: I layered mine in a large Tupperware dish so I could save the salad and eat it all week. I pulled out part of it and tossed it in a separate bowl with the dressing for my family so the dressing wouldn't wilt the lettuce. If you want, add some lemon juice to the apple before you throw it on your salad to keep it from browning in the leftovers part.
Weight Watcher Friends: The salad without dressing has 4 points for 2 cups. The points of the dressing you use will depend on your BBQ sauce and Ranch. I make my own BBQ sauce and use Naturally Fresh light ranch. I need to post my homemade BBQ sauce recipe just need to take some pictures the next time I make it!

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Thanks goodness this is the last week of weeknight swim team! I feel like I haven't been able to feed my family as well as usual and it makes me crazy! Walking in the door at 6:15pm on a school night, having to feed and bathe two kids does not lend itself to eating well and especially not to blogging. This is what I wanted to post for Cinco de Mayo but since I hurt my back on May 3rd, I never got it together. I made this last weekend and it was so good. I got the idea from Pinterest and had pinned it on my recipe board but knew I could slim it down a bit without taking away from taste and flavor and I PROMISE you won't miss those extra calories with my version! I know I always rant and rave about the recipes I post but this one is a must-try. It really is fabulous, Enjoy!!!

Salad Ingredients:
2 ears Corn (yellow or white)
1 avocado, diced
2 cups tomatoes, halved
1/2  red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 English cucumber, quartered
1/2 lime, juiced

Cilantro Vinaigrette Ingredients:

2 T Olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t. Garlic powder
2 T. Fresh cilantro, minced
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill the corn. Just leave the corn in the husks and throw it on a hot grill, turning every 10 minutes, four turns. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove the husks and discard. Using a sharp knife remove the kernels from the cobs. Add to a larger bowl then add avocados, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and squeeze the 1/2 lime over the veggies and avocados. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the dressing whisk the olive oil and vinegar, then add garlic powder, cilantro, salt and pepper. Whisk well and drizzled over the salad, gently toss and top with feta and serve.

My number one way to eat corn!

It's so sweet and delicious doesn't even need salt or butter!

With these yummy ingredients, how could this not be good?!

Such a perfect marriage of flavors!

Look beautiful and tastes even better!

Weight Watcher Friends: This one makes 5 servings and each has 5 points. Not a low point side dish but a super healthy one that you can feel great about eating!!
Source: The Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Italian Vegetable Salad

Once again I have been MIA, after I got home from my trip I got sucked into the 50 Shades of Grey trilogy of books and have pretty much been neglecting all my wifely, motherly and household duties for the past week. But I am finally done with the books and life is getting back to normal. Except for the fact that we rescued a dog this weekend from Labrador Friends of the South he is a precious 2 year old sweetheart and we are totally in love with our new family member!

Barley and Grant!

Now let me get back on track...I have no idea what to call this one other than good! Nothing crazy just fresh, good Super, super simple! Tonight was spirit night at my son's school which means a local restaurant gives families at the school a discount and a portion of the money goes back to the school. I had plans to make Shepherd's Pie for my hubby at his request, the recipe is here. However I kept getting reminders, emails, Facebook updates and a note home in the backpack that tonight was Spirit night at Papa John's (not my favorite) but it just sounded too easy and it was a beautiful day. I wanted to let the kids play outside longer so I decided around lunchtime that a change of plans was in order... I would make Shepherd's Pie tomorrow night and tonight we would have pizza and a healthy salad. I ran into the grocery store to grab some lettuce but when I got home half of it was bad and it just grossed me out so I tossed it and made this salad, without lettuce. It was good stuff, we ate the whole bowl!!

Ingredients:
1 cup grape tomatoes, halved
1 medium cucumber, quartered
1 bell pepper, diced large
12 olives
1/2 cup artichokes hearts, quartered
4 T Italian Dressing (I use Good Seasons)
1/3 cup feta cheese, crumbled
Kosher Salt and Fresh Cracked Black Pepper to taste

Directions:
Combine tomatoes, cucumber, bell pepper, olives and artichoke hearts, toss with dressing, season with salt and pepper then top with feta. Serve right away.

Other ideas: you could make this into a yummy main dish by adding some cubed pepperoni, salami or other Italian meat along with cubed provolone. I have done this before for parties, it's a crowd pleaser!

Weight Watcher Friends: As is, this recipe (using full fat cheese and dressing) makes five, 1 cup servings and each has 3 points.

Cheeseburger Slider Salad

All things cheeseburger on a salad??? I'm all in!! Since I try to steer clear of gluten products, I am always trying make dinners gluten free! I have eaten many burgers wrapped in lettuce instead of a bun. My kids love little sliders, they think a 'mini hamburger' is so cool. So I have been making them for dinner lately with sweet potato fries, my new obsession! And this recipe is definitely my favorite way to eat a burger these days! You take all the goodies a cheeseburger has to offer and put it on a bed of lettuce! Here goes:

Ingredients for the salad:
1 lb lean ground beef
3 hearts romaine, chopped
4 deli style pickles, sliced then quartered
1/2 cucumber, sliced then quartered
2 small tomatoes, chopped
1/2 red onion, chopped
2-3 slices of cheese

Ingredients for the dressing:
2 T mayo
2 T ketchup
1 T mustard
1 T sweet pickle relish
2 T white vinegar

Directions: 

First, make the dressing, whisk together all five ingredients in a bowl and set aside.

I use all 'real' ingredients, no low fat stuff for us, I'd rather enjoy the real thing and have a little less then eat added ingredients used as fillers to replace fat. (just a personal preference)

At only 2 points per 2 T serving I think it's well worth it on this yummy dressing!

Similar to thousand island just a little more tangy, very tasty!

Salad and Burgers:

Next make the salad, in a large bowl layer the chopped lettuce, cucumbers, tomatoes, onions and top with the pickles.  Form your ground beef into small patties season with salt and pepper. Place on the grill and cook about 2-3 minutes per side. Once they are cooked, top with a 1/4 of a cheese slice.
Assemble salad in bowl, top with 2 sliders and use 2 T of dressing per salad, enjoy!

I love these pickles!

Isn't it so pretty!

This is my hubby's trick, cover a plate with a piece of plastic wrap then when you take them to the grill just remove the plastic and you can use the same plate when the burgers are done.

Grilled to perfection, then quick top with cheese, so it gets gooey!

Crumble on the salad and drizzle with the dressing!

A cheese burger in a bowl!

My daughter's plate, that girl loves her bread!! See those sweet potato fries, baked in the oven of course!

Weight Watcher Friends: Each salad has 6 points (with 2 sliders and 2 T of dressing).

A Great Start... (Planning Ahead)

It's hard to have a bad week, health wise, when you start it out so well!! I have been a Weight Watcher member either active or lifetime for the past 10 years so I have a little bit of experience in how my weeks go. When I put too much on my plate (of life) I have a harder time making good food choices. (Figuratively and literally) However when I plan ahead, I do much better. All WW members who attend meetings know -planning ahead- is a big topic.
When I first started this blog a year ago my intention was to post my weekly menu. At the time I was on a role, <I had a rough Fall (the season) I lost my father-in-law (whom I loved dearly) and my dog (Bella, AKA, my first child) within a month it was hard times around my house. I was so busy taking care of my husband, mother-in-law and everyone else, I quit taking care of myself and gained 15 lbs from October 14 to January 25. It was not cute! On January 25 I headed back to WW where I had to start paying and start working again. But by mid March I was back to my goal weight, ahhh free again! I worked hard and planning was a huge part of it.> I digressed, like I was saying, I was on a role, menu planning and using what was on sale to plan my menus, creating healthy meals on Sunday mornings then heading out for a big grocery shop then coming home and prepping my meals which made my weeknights much easier. I was doing all this and wanted to share it others. Clearly after a year of blogging this has never happened. Maybe one day soon I can start a Sunday post that has the week of recipes.

Well this weekend my husband is on a ski trip with his buddies and having a blast! I am at home with the kids and far more organized than I usually am, not sure how it is happening with me running this ship solo. But I tell you my kids have been fed, bathed and in bed earlier than normal and my house is clean. I even cut the grass  weeds today.  And I did all this....

I have a giant chopped salad made (some will be for dinner tonight, the rest as I want it during the week) fruit chopped and veggies.

Chopped salad, full of all the veggies I had in the fridge! This one has three hearts of Romaine, one English cucumber, red bell pepper and grape tomatoes. Lots of yummy and healthy with 0 points!

I like to save and re-use these salsa containers to put individual servings of veggies in so I can grab and go as I need them during the week!

I know the 30 minutes I spent cleaning and chopping up all the veggies will be key to a great and healthy week for me and my kids! We have already been munching on them throughout the day. You may wonder if this is how I start all my weeks, well heck no! I wish it was however the reality of kids and life just happens and good planning doesn't always; but when I can make it happen, it's a good thing!

Cheers!! I wish you all a happy, healthy and organized week!