dinner

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As much as I love holiday leftovers, this soup is too good to pass up and I always save the turkey and mashed potatoes for this hearty meal! Oh, and by the way, it's even better the second day! The broth gets thicker and creamier!

Thanksgiving Leftover Turkey Soup

Ingredients:

1 T butter
6 large carrots, sliced
3-4 celery stalks, sliced
1 small yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic

3 32 oz cans chicken broth
3 cups mashed potatoes

14.5 oz can stewed or diced tomatoes, undrained
3-4 small red potatoes, diced to ½” cubes
3 c cooked cut-up turkey
¾ - 1 package whole wheat egg noodles
1 t thyme
1 t sage
1 t salt
1 t freshly ground pepper

Instructions:

Slice carrots and celery in a food processor if you have one to speed the prep along! Switch the blade and chop the garlic cloves and onion together.

In a very large pot, over M-H heat, melt the butter. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté 4-5 min.

Add the broth & mashed potatoes. Stir until mashed potatoes are mostly dissolved & broth is smooth. Add spices, tomatoes, turkey, potatoes, and noodles; bring to simmer. Reduce to M-L heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until potatoes & noodles are soft, about 10 minutes.

Finally, a healthy side dish you can bring to that holiday pitch in that everyone will love! Sweet and savory, these roasted carrots will compliment the main dish beautifully! Prep is a breeze, especially if you use pre-cut carrots, which is an added bonus!

Holiday Roasted Carrots

Ingredients:

3 lbs cut carrots
2 T butter, melted
2 T olive oil
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 t thyme
Salt and pepper
Shredded Parmesan

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Stir melted butter, olive oil, thyme, salt, pepper, and garlic together.

Place carrots in a 9x13 Pyrex dish.

Drizzle with butter/garlic mixture.

Roast in oven for 40 minutes.

Occasionally rotate carrots with spatula for even cooking.

Sprinkle with shredded Parmesan cheese and roast for another 10 minutes or until carrots reach desired doneness.

TIP: use pre-cut carrots to shave off a ton of prep time!

These stuffed peppers are a go-to for a practically no prep meal option for those busy weeks! Just mix up the ingredients, stuff into the peppers and turn on the crockpot! The flavors are delicious and comforting, and the presentation is so impressive even guests will never know you barely put any effort into it! Recipe cred totally goes to my longtime friend, Katie Beisel.

Crockpot Stuffed Peppers

21 Day Fix container fulfillment:

1 RED

1 GREEN

1 BLUE

Prep time – 10 minutes
Cook time – 3 hours

Ingredients:

6 large bell peppers (I used a variety of colors)
1 lb. lean ground beef (go for leanest possible; it will be less greasy)
½ cup onion, chopped (you can buy prepackaged in the veggie section…this saved me a lot of tears)
14 oz. can Italian style diced tomatoes, drained
1 cup uncooked brown rice
2 Tbsp. Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 ½ cup shredded cheese, divided
¼ cup water (for bottom of slow cooker)

Instructions:

1. Cut off top of the peppers and scrape out the seeds and membranes – set inside crockpot
2. Combine ground beef, onion, diced tomatoes, rice, Worcestershire sauce, salt, pepper and 1 cup of cheese (optional). Stuff each pepper with mixture.
3. Cook on HIGH for 2-1/2 - 3 hours until peppers are tender and ground beef is cooked throughout.
4. About 15 minutes before serving, sprinkle cheese on top and let it melt.

5. Top with Greek yogurt and Enjoy!

TIP: Let excess water drain out of the pepper before plating them when you remove them from the crockpot.

When you want the comfort of a good Italian meal but you don't need the extra carbs, the miracle of spaghetti squash comes to the rescue! By now you've probably come to realize that I'm obsessed with spaghetti squash, and for good reason! It is so mild in flavor and versatile that it takes on the flavors of whatever you're adding to it. It's a veggie, for goodness sake, and you can't go wrong adding more veggies to your life! This recipe is so simple it will boost your confidence in how easy it is to eat healthy!

Spaghetti Squash Bake

21 Day Fix container fulfillment:

1 GREEN

1 RED

1/4 BLUE

Ingredients:

1 spaghetti squash
1 lb 90% lean ground sirloin
¼ cup onion, diced
3 cloves garlic - 1 in meat, 2 in dish
1 jar spaghetti sauce
¾ cup ricotta cheese
1 egg, beaten
½ teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
½ teaspoon pink Himalayan salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Cut spaghetti squash in 1/2 and scoop out the seeds.

Spray a microwave safe plate with olive oil and place the halves on it, facing up.

Microwave on high for 9 minutes.

Allow to cool.

Shred with a fork into a large mixing bowl.

While spaghetti squash is steaming/cooling, heat a large nonstick pan over medium-high heat. Spray with olive oil and saute the onions and 1 clove of the garlic until fragrant and semi-translucent. Add the ground beef and cook until brown. Drain any excess fat.

Combine the ground beef with the spaghetti squash in the large bowl. I use a large serving fork to mix everything together more easliy.

Lastly, add the spaghetti sauce, ricotta, beaten egg, 2 remaining cloves of garlic and the seasonings. Look for clean spaghetti sauces without added sugar or chemicals like "firming agents" or preservatives!!

Transfer the entire mixture to a 9x13 baking dish, sprayed with olive oil to prevent sticking.

Top with shredded mozzarella cheese.

Bake at 375 degrees for 30-45 min.

Enjoy!

You'll feel like you're cheating x2 with this recipe! First of all you can whip it together in about 10 min and it tastes like you slaved away in the kitchen! Secondly, the rich, creamy, delicious flavor comes from Greek yogurt, which is packed with protein! I make enough for two meals and actually put it in two separate, smaller Pyrex baking dishes, so I can bake them individually on the nights we're ready for them! This is also a super handy tip for those of you who are cooking for one person!

Creamy Greek Yogurt Baked Chicken

makes 4 servings

21 Day Fix container fulfillment:

1 RED

1/4 BLUE

Ingredients:

10 boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins (defrost if frozen)
1 cup plain Greek yogurt (Chobani is our fave!)
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp basil
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
fresh ground black pepper and pink Himalayan salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, combine all ingredients except for the chicken breasts.

Place the chicken in a baking dish, coated with Pam with Olive Oil. Spoon the Greek yogurt mixture over the chicken, using it all to make a thick layer.

Bake for 30-45 minutes or until cooked through. The Greek yogurt sauce will be thick and start browning up!

Enjoy!

This meal idea came to me in a moment of panic when we were delayed getting back from vacation and came home to a house devoid of food! No time to meal plan for the week, no grocery store trip planned, exhausted and tired of going out to dinner, I opened the pantry and freezer and hunted up some ingredients to see what I could throw together for dinner for the week. I found a bag of frozen chicken tenderloins, a couple sweet potatoes, and a bottle of clean BBQ sauce. I think we have a winner!

The next morning I tossed the frozen chicken into the crock pot and cooked for 3 hours. Around lunchtime, when the chicken was done, I microwaved the sweet potatoes till they were almost soft, shredded the chicken and added the BBQ sauce, all while my girls were eating their PB&J.

Dinner time came around and I simply cut the sweet potatoes in half, scooped the BBQ chicken on top, and baked till it was all toasty and the flavors had a chance to meld.

Sweet, savory, healthy, delicious comfort food!

Twice Baked BBQ Chicken Sweet Potatoes

makes 4 servings

21 Day Fix container fulfillment for 1 sweet potato boat:

1 YELLOW

1 RED

serve with a side of mini bell peppers (1 GREEN)

Ingredients:

8 frozen boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins
3 large sweet potatoes
natural BBQ sauce, such as Famous Dave's

Instructions:

Toss chicken tenderloins tossed into the crock pot and cover about 1/3 of the way with low sodium chicken broth.
Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion power (powder, not salt!), fresh ground black pepper, and sea salt or pink Himalayan salt.
Cook on HIGH for 3 hours.
Remove, shred, and add BBQ sauce.

Scrub sweet potatoes and stab with a knife all over. Place on a microwave-safe plate and microwave on HIGH for about 15 min.

Cut in half, lengthwise, and fluff up the flesh with a fork.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray a Pyrex dish with Pam with Olive Oil, and place the sweet potatoes inside.

Spoon the BBQ chicken on top.

Bake for 30-45 min.

Drizzle with BBQ sauce before serving.

TIP: This made enough for two dinners, so I divided the sweet potato boats into two small Pyrex dishes, 3 halves in each, so I could bake them individually on the day I needed them. This made them freshly baked instead of heated back up in the microwave.

Enjoy!

This chicken salad recipe is my go-to for lunches all week long! The creamy texture from the Greek yogurt gives it an extra boost of protein, while the sweetness of the Craisens and the savory seasonings give it a light complexity! Serve on a bed of baby spinach and or roll it up into a whole wheat tortilla!

When I'm making any kind of chicken salad, I have two go-to methods for the cooked chicken:

#1 - CLEAN rotisserie chicken from a health grocery store like Fresh Thyme or Earth Fare. Trust me it matters. Don't believe me? Read more in my chicken story!

#2 - Crock pot method at home. Seriously, this is sometimes faster and easier than driving to the grocery store for a rotisserie!

8 frozen boneless, skinless chicken tenderloins tossed into the crock pot
Cover about 1/3 of the way with low sodium chicken broth
Sprinkle with garlic powder, onion power (powder, not salt!), fresh ground black pepper, and sea salt or pink Himalayan salt.
Cook on HIGH for 3 hours.
Remove and Shred

Once you have the cooked chicken you can mix it up with any ingredients you like, but my fave is the chicken salad recipe above!

Enjoy!

This is one of those recipes I always have time for because the prep is so minimal due to the large size of the chopped veggies and meat! The larger pieces also ensure that the veggies stay crisp instead of turning to mush! And my husband likes that he can pick out the onions easily once it's served up on his plate!

The flavoring comes from my Clean Mexican Seasoning recipe and is out of this world! Of course you can tailor this to your taste specifications, substituting different meats and veggies. Bottom line, it's gonna be fast and easy to make, have a great Mexican flavor and be super healthy for you! The hardest part will be keeping it to one serving!

Oven Baked Chicken Fajitas

makes 4 servings

21 Day Fix container fulfillment for a 1 cup serving:

1 RED (protein)

1 GREEN (veggies)

1 YELLOW (carbs)

1 tsp (oil)

1 BLUE (healthy fat)

Ingredients:

8 chicken tenderloins, fresh or defrosted
3 bell peppers, (1 green & choice of 2 red/orange/yellow)
1 small white onion
2 tomatoes
mild olive oil
corn tortillas
shredded cheddar cheese
guacamole or Greek yogurt

Clean Mexican Seasoning
1 Tablespoon chili powder
1/2 Tablespoon paprika
1 tsp onion powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp Himalayan salt
1/2 tsp fresh ground black pepper
1 Tablespoon cornmeal

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Using large kitchen scissors, cut up the chicken into about 1-1/2" cubes and add to 9x13 Pyrex baking dish.

Slice up your bell peppers into 1-1/2" ribbons, or cut them again into 1-1/2" cubes. Add them to the 9x13 dish.

Quarter the onion and separate layers, sprinkling over the chicken and peppers.

In a small bowl, stir together the seasonings with a fork or small whisk.

Drizzle contents of Pyrex dish with mild olive oil. Sprinkle evenly with Mexican seasoning. Toss to coat.

Add tomatoes and gently toss again to coat evenly.

Place Pyrex in oven and bake uncovered for 20-30 min on 350 degrees.

Serve on corn tortillas and sprinkle with cheese and guacamole!

ENJOY!

These creamy stuffed peppers are so sneaky! Why?? Because the source of the creaminess comes from protein-packed ricotta cheese! If you're following the 21 Day Fix nutritional plan, this is music to your ears! You get rich flavor without sacrificing!

Creamy Stuffed Peppers

21 Day Fix container fulfillment for 1 pepper:

1 RED

1 GREEN

1/2 BLUE

Ingredients:

6 large bell peppers of varying colors
1 lb turkey sausage
15 oz container ricotta cheese (about 1-1/2 c)
1 c spinach, chopped
½ c shredded Parmesan cheese
½ t garlic powder
¼ t crushed red pepper
Himalayan salt & fresh ground pepper
Shredded mozzarella to top

Instructions:

Brown turkey sausage over medium-high heat until cooked through. Drain the excess fat and transfer meat to a medium mixing bowl. Add the ricotta and mix thoroughly to coat. Add the raw spinach to the mixture along with the Parmesan and seasonings.

Cut the tops off of the bell peppers, dump out the seeds, then reach inside and carefully tear out the ribs. I love using this tool to get a nice, even cut. It makes the job faster and easier!

Spray the inside of your crock-pot insert with Pam with Olive Oil and place the peppers inside. It will be a tight squeeze!

Spoon the mixture into the peppers, splitting it evenly between the six of them. Add 1/4 cup of water to the bottom of the crock-pot and set on HIGH for 2-1/2 - 3 hours.

Top with mozzarella cheese and replace the lid for 5-10 min just to melt the cheese.

ENJOY!

You know those little 1 oz packets of Mexican seasoning? The ones loaded with tons of sodium and possibly a few other unwanted ingredients? Well, this recipe will rival anything you can pour out of a packet, but this time you'll know exactly what you're getting - a ton of flavor without all the salt! Whew!

Seriously, who doesn't LOVE pizza?! And when you can make them super fast and individual for each family member, how does it get better than that?! Well, how bout if they're healthy too, but still taste like a cheat meal?! Now do I have your attention?? This is an absolute family favorite at my house. Everyone gets to pick their toppings for a totally customized meal, but it doesn't take mom any longer to put together! Yea! This is the grown-ups version, (cause let's be honest, the kiddos just want cheese only!).

Pita Pizza

21 Day Fix container fufilment for 1 pizza:

1 RED

1 YELLOW

1 GREEN

1 BLUE

Ingredients per pizza:

1 whole wheat pita bread
9 shrimp, deveined, and no tails (frozen is okay, but just defrost!)
1 cup veggies, finely diced - tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli
natural pizza sauce (I like Dei Fratelli)
1 clove garlic
crushed red pepper
fresh basil if you've got it
cheese - feta and mozarella

Instructions:

Spray cookie sheet with Pam with Olive Oil. Place pita bread on the cookie sheet and spoon on some pizza sauce. Add sliced garlic, crushed red pepper, and basil or any other seasonings you desire.