Cookie Dough Fro-Yo

serves 5-6 people (about a 3/4 cup serving each)

Ice Cream Ingredients
1 frozen banana, ripe (mine was speckled with brown spots)
1 1/2 cup almond milk, orginial
1/3 cup oats, ground into a flour
1/2 tsp + 1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 container (16 ounces) Chobani Vanilla Chocolate Chunk Greek Yogurt
3 Tbsp dark chocolate chips, roughly chopped (optional, I didn’t add)


Frozen Oatmeal Cookie Dough Bites Ingredients
2/3 cup oats, ground into flour (use a coffee grinder)
1/3 oats
1 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
4 Tbsp applesauce
2 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp honey


Frozen Cookie Dough Recipe
Mix together oat flour, oats, cinnamon, and salt.  To these dry ingredients add applesauce, peanut butter and honey.  Stir together until it resembles a cookie dough.  Roll into 35(ish) small balls and place in the freezer while you mix together the ice cream ingredients.


Ice Cream Recipe
In a blender, combine frozen banana, almond milk, oat flour, and cinnamon.  Pour this mixture into a large bowl.  Add in Chobani Greek yogurt and chocolate chips (if using).  Mix until everything is well combined.  Pour mixture into an ice cream maker and churn until thick and creamy, about 10 minutes.  Add in your frozen cookie dough bites, one at a time, while your ice cream is still churning.  Serve immediately or scoop mixture into a container and freeze until ice cream consistency is reached, approximately 1 hour.  If freezing longer, allow ice cream to thaw at room temperature for 30 minutes to 1 hour before scooping.


NOTE: Because this frozen dessert is low in fat, it is not as creamy as ice cream is.  My suggestion is to NOT freeze the frozen yogurt overnight because it will get too icy.  Churn the frozen yogurt, put it into a container, freeze for 1 hour and then serve! This will give you the best possible creamy consistency.

Turkey Sasuage-Stuffed Acorn Squash

 

 

 

Ingredients:

Servings:

4

• 2 acorn squash, halved and seeded
• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 lb turkey sasauge  
• 1/2 lb sliced fresh mushrooms 
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 4 ounces mushrooms, chopped
• 1 med apple, cored and chopped (macintosh)
• 2 tsp. caraway seed
• 2 tsp. fennel seed
• 1/2 teaspoon dried sage
•  3 cups fresh baby spinach
• 1Tbsp. minced fresh thyme
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. pepper 
• 8 oz. of mozzarella cheese, chopped  
• 1Tbsp. red wine vinegar

 

 

 

 DIRECTIONS:

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut squash in half; discard seeds. Cut a thin slice from bottom of each half to allow them to lie flat. Place in a roasting pan, hollow side down; add 1/4 in. of hot water and halved tomatoes. Bake, uncovered, 45 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet, cook sausage, mushrooms, apple, onion and dried seasonings over medium heat 8-10 minutes, breaking sausage into crumbles; drain. Add spinach, thyme, salt and pepper; cook and stir 2 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Carefully remove squash from pan. Drain liquid, reserving tomatoes. Return squash to pan, hollow side up. Stir cheese, vinegar and tomatoes into the sasuage mixture. Spoon into squash. Bake 5-10minutes or until squash is easily pierced with a fork.

Per Serving: 302 Calories, 10g fat, 42 g carbs, 7g fiber, 15g protein

 

 

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Slow Cooker Salsa Chicken is perfect for nachos, burritos, tacos, and quesadillas.  I like to double the recipe and freeze some for later.  It just doesn’t get any easier than this.

Fall is here and for me that means I get to start using my slow cooker.  I love being able to start a meal in the morning and eliminate some of the stress of the evening. This is one of my all time favorite recipes. If there is one crockpot recipe you need in your repertoire, this is it. But truthfully, after making it once you won't even need the recipe because it's just so darn easy.

Three ingredients and almost zero work. The result is a juicy, flavorful shredded chicken that makes some killer tacos. I like to load up my tacos, so they look a bit messy in the pictures. They were like that in real life, too. Messy and delicious. I've been told before I have a knack for ordering the messiest foods on any menu. Why? Because the messiest foods are the best foods. It's a fact.

Ingredients:

1 1oz Envelope Taco Seasoning*
3-4 Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts, frozen
1 16oz jar Salsa*

Dump all ingredients into a crockpot and give it a little stir to blend the seasoning with the salsa. You do not need to add any water to the taco seasoning. Cook on high for 4 to 6 hours or on low for 6 to 8 hours. When done, the chicken should shred easily when stirred with a fork.

For tacos, serve the chicken with soft flour tortillas, guacamole, lettuce, shredded cheese and/or sour cream. This is very versatile and can be used for enchiladas, nachos, tostadas, quesadillas, etc. Any leftover chicken can then be used for tortilla soup (make it the next day or freeze the chicken to use at a later time).

Kale Chips

Kale chips

Yes it took me forever to actually jump on the Kale bandwagon.  I'm not going to lie, but I thought it was creep and weird at first. But, everyone kept raving about these Kale chips and how awesome they were, so I decided what the heck!  The worst thing that could happen is that I waste a couple of bucks on a bunch of Kale!

Surprisingly, I ate the whole bunch in one sitting and I would make it again and again. Even the fam tried it and liked it!!!

Ingredients:

1 bunch of kale
Sea Salt
Sprinkle Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Preheat an oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
2. With a knife or kitchen shears carefully remove the leaves from the thick stems and tear into bite size pieces. Wash and thoroughly dry kale with a salad spinner. Drizzle kale with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.
3. Bake until the edges brown but are not burnt, 10 to 15 minutes.  Sprinkle with parmesan cheese!

Cinnamon Apple Chips!

Cinnamon Apple Chips

Ingredients:
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large apples
2 tsp pumpkin spice Optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 250
Thinly slice two apples
Arrange in a single layer on baking sheets
Sprinkle with cinnamon
Bake, turning every half hour until dry (About 2 hours)
Remove and transfer to cool

Clean Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

 Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

I am so grateful for this journey; for the people I’ve met (and those I have only virtually met), and for the opportunities that have come my way. I never would have imagined that my passion could grow and impact so many of you in just a short year. Today, I am thankful for all of you; for continuing to read, try recipes, and communicate with me on a daily basis. Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I hope my little blog continues to impact you and help you on your clean eating journey, or whatever journey you may be on. 

Now, let’s talk muffins. Seriously, these are the best way to sneak zucchini into your picky child/husband/partner/family member’s food. Grab one when you are running out the door, or for a guilt-free mid-day snack. 

Ingredients

1. 2 cups almond flour
2. 1 tbsp coconut flour
3. 3 tbsp tapioca starch
4. 1/8 tsp Himalyan sea salt
5. ¼ tsp baking powder
6. 3 eggs
7. 4 tbsp raw honey
8. 1 tsp organic vanilla extract
9. 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
10. 1 cup grated zucchini
11. 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Instructions

1. 1. Preheat oven to 350
2. 2. Place 12 baking liners in muffin tin or simply directly on a baking sheet
3. 3. In a mixing bowl combine almond flour, coconut flour, tapioca starch, salt, and baking powder
4. 4. Add in eggs, honey, vanilla, and applesauce and mix well
5. 5. Fold in grated zucchini and dark chocolate
6. 6. Bake for 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean

Pumpkin Protein Bars

 Just got done baking these amazing pumpkin protein bars!  Every once in awhile we need to spice things up with our diet and nutrition.  My grandma and I made the bars and as we speak I am sitting here with my evening cup of coffee and munching on my 4 protein squares!  YUMMO!!!

This is a great add to your morning or afternoon snack!

Nutrition Facts:
Nutrition (without walnuts): 1 square = 47 calories, .7 g fat, 8 g carbs, 3.7 g protein
Nutrition (with walnuts): 1 square = 63 calories, 2.3 g fat, 8 g carbs, 4 g protein
Ingredients:
½ C Xylitol Brown Sugar Blend (Ideal)
1 - 4 oz. jar baby food applesauce
2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 ½ tsp. ground ginger
½ tsp. ground clove
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
4 large egg whites
1 - 15 oz. can of raw pumpkin
2 C oat flour
2 scoops vanilla whey protein
½ cup almond milk
½ C chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350.
Spray a 9 X 13 Pyrex dish with non-stick spray.
Combine first 11 ingredients and mix well.
Add the final 3 ingredients (4, if adding walnuts), and mix until incorporated. Spread batter into the Pyrex dish and bake for 30 min.
Makes 24 squares.