Vegetable Noodles!

Vegetable noodles sound very weird, I'll admit it! When I first thought about them I thought it was actual pasta made with vegetables as one of the ingredients, but its not! It's far from that.Vegetable noodles are vegetables that are spiralized using a spiralizer, and flash cooked on the stove. 100% vegetables and nothing else. Vegetable noodles are great for those trying to lose weight, or have a better source of carbohydrates than having regular pasta. Here I made zucchini noodles with homemade pesto and grilled chicken. Good source of heart healthy fats, vitamins and minerals, protein, and antioxidants.

How to make the Pesto-

2 Cups of Fresh Basil
1 Cup of Arugula
1/2 Cup of Parmesan
1/4 Cup Pine Nuts
1/2 Cup Olive Oil

In a food processor, combine argulula, basil and olive. Blend until smooth. Add parmesan and pine nuts, blend. Enjoy!

Store in an air tight container to keep fresh, freeze within 5 days of making.

Snack Time!

I'm a huge fan of munchy snacks, especially ones with a little heat in them. Over spring break, I made a delicious and addicting snack mix that everyone in my house enjoyed. It was Buffalo Ranch Snack Mix!

Here's the recipe so you can become addicted too!

Buffalo Ranch Snack Mix


Ingredients-

4c Chex Rice Cereal
3c Reduced Fat cheese crackers (cheez-its)
3c mini pretzels
1c shelled salted peanuts
1/2c Franks Red Hot
4Tbsp unslated butter
2 1/2 tsp dried dill weed
1tsp dried parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder


Directions-

Preheat oven to 225 degrees.

Combine rice cereal, crackers, pretzels and peanuts together in a large bowl.

Heat hot sauce and butter in a small pan over medium heat until butter mealts. Once melted, whisk in dill, parsley, and garlic. Pour hot sauce mixture over cereal mix. Toss until everything is coated.

Spead mix onto a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour stirring every 20 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool.

Colorful Lunch to Brighten Your Day

It's amazing what a great, healthy and tasty lunch can do to your day. Last week was such a rainy and dreary week and it called for a colorful lunch to brighten everything up. I got to thinking of what I haven't had in a while that would taste good and I immediately thought of Stuffed Peppers! Taco stuffed peppers actually, but they were very tasty and filling. A stuffed pepper can be made a variety of ways, taco style or Italian style, with lots of options for fillings too! These ones has rice, ground turkey, taco seasoning, tomatoes with chiles and cheese! They had something from every food group, how could you go wrong? They are also good because they portion themselves out. All I had to do in the mornings was grab one and put it in a microwaveable contained to be heated later.


The recipe is super easy and doesn't take much time at all. They can be made for dinner tonight or meal prep for the whole week!

Ingredients

• 5 - 6 medium to large bell peppers
• sea or kosher salt and black pepper
• 1 pound groung turkey
• 1 packet of taco seasoning
• 1 can (11 ounces) Ro-tel diced tomatoes & green chiles
• 1 cup uncooked white Minute Rice or 1 + ¾ cups cooked rice
• 2 cups shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
• shredded lettuce, for serving
• sour cream, for serving

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Slice the tops off the peppers and clean out the seeds.
2. Stand the peppers up in a casserole dish and sprinkle the insides with salt and pepper.
3. Cover them with aluminum foil and bake 15 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, make the filling:
5. In a large frying pan over medium heat brown the ground turkey, breaking it apart as it cooks. Drain off the grease.
6. Add the taco seasonings and follow the directions on the package.
7. Once the taco meat is ready mix in the Ro-tel with the juices and the rice. Simmer 5 minutes, stirring often.
8. Stir in the cheese. Fill the peppers.
9. Bake 25 minutes - uncovered.
10. Serve over shredded lettuce with a dollop of sour cream.