Delicious Cheesesteak Cups!

Pennsylvanians love their cheese steak! I've seen foot-long cheese steaks, cheese steak fries, cheese steak pizza, you name it! So when my boyfriend came to visit this past weekend and was craving a cheese steak, I found this awesome recipe on Facebook for Bell Pepper Cheese Steak Cups and knew we had to make it. They are a lower carbohydrate option for someone who doesn't want a very heavy meal, but still wants tons of flavor and protein. You'll be able to whip this up on a busy weeknight in no time. Best part, it hits all the food groups so you won't need to come up with any sides! 

Here's how to make them!

INGREDIENTS

• 4 bell peppers, halved
• 1 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 1/2 lb. sirloin steak, thinly sliced
• 1 large onion, sliced
• 16 oz.  mushrooms
• kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 16 slices provolone

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven to 325º. Place peppers in a large baking dish and bake until tender, 20 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Add steak and cook about 1 minute per side. Set aside.
3. Add onions and mushrooms to skillet and season with salt and pepper. Return steak to skillet and stir to combine.
4. Add provolone to bottom of peppers and top with steak mixture. Top with another piece of provolone and broil, 3 minutes.
5. Serve hot.

Tots with a Twist! (Picky Eater Approved)

We love tater tots in my house. We could eat a whole bag of them if we didn't care about the nutrient content of them. This recipe I found makes tater tots, with a twist! Instead of potatoes, I shredded up some zucchini. Zucchini is a very versatile vegetable. It can be fried into chips, chopped into a salad, or sauteed as a side dish. My dad actually introduced my mom to zucchini when they first got married. My mom was a very picky eater when she was younger, and it didn't help that my grandma would mostly serve meat, potatoes, and corn or peas for dinner. Mom was pleasantly surprised by this dish, and went back for seconds and thirds! You, just need 10 minutes to prep and 20 minutes to roast in the oven, and you have a tasty and easy side dish even picky eaters will love! Its really important to get as much water as possible rung out of the tots to help them crisp up.

These are the tots before they went into the oven!

The recipe was adapated from Skinny Taste

INGREDIENTS:

• cooking spray
• 1 packed cup grated zucchini
• 1 large egg
• 1/4 medium onion, minced
• 1/4 cup grated reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese
• 1/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt and black pepper to taste

I added a little bit of chile powder to add a little kick to these too. Instead of the salt, you can substitute it for Garic Salt which will enhance the flavor as well

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400°F.  Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.
2. Grate the zucchini into a clean dish towel until you have 1 packed cup.  Wring all of the excess water out of the zucchini, there will be a lot of water. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients and season with salt and pepper to taste.
3. Spoon 1 tablespoon of mixture in your hands and roll into small ovals. Place on the cookie sheet and bake for 16 to 18 minutes, turning halfway though cooking until golden. Makes 16.

NUTRITION INFORMATION

Yield: 3 servings, Serving Size: 5 tots

• Amount Per Serving:
• Smart Points: 3
• Points +: 3
• Calories: 108
• Total Fat: 4.3g
• Saturated Fat: g
• Cholesterol: mg
• Sodium: 262mg
• Carbohydrates: 11.5g
• Fiber: 2g
• Sugar: 2g
• Protein: 7g
• 
  

Read more at http://www.skinnytaste.com/zucchini-tots/#5tkJbVtmdtR5W5wx.99

How to Meal Prep for Week Night Dinners!

Are you a very busy person and have a hard time putting together nutritious dinners fast on week nights? Do you turn to convience foods and fast food to just to grab a quick dinner and get on with the day? We can change that! Making a nutritious dinner for you and your family, or roommate if you're a college student like me, doesn't have to take hours to prepare. Making home cooked meals saves you money, and can become a family activity every one can take part in. Kids are more likely to eat and try new things if they help make the food and know how it is prepared. This could be the end of a picky eater! Another thing that helps assure you're eating more nutritious foods and getting family time is eating dinner around a table together at the same time. Step away from the TV and the couch and enjoy a meal together. Enjoy each other's coompany and converstation and help each other make healthy choices together.

Here is your 1 week meal plan, complete with entrees, along with great sides that will accopany the main dishes. Most of the meals can be prepped ahead of time and sit in the fridge or the freezer until it's ready to be cooked and ate.

Recipes are in the links provided

Day1- Spicy Turkey Meat Loaf with Ketchup Topping

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/spicy-turkey-meat-loaf-with-ketchup-topping

Meatloaf can be made ahead of time and popped in the oven when going to eat. Doesn’t have to be made the day before eating! 

Vegetable- Sauteed Zucchini and Yellow sSquash. Slice zucchini and squash (can be done ahead of time), season with desired seasonings and saute with olive oil until translucent over medium heat

Starch- Garlic mashed potatoes

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/garlic-mashed-potatoes-6

Although they cannot be made ahead of time, simple and easy prep

Day 2- Black Bean Burger

http://theroadtobeinganrd.blogspot.com/2016/08/meal-prep-for-busy-days.html

Double recipe for 4 burgers

Can be made ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer till use

Fries can be made and cooked with burgers are cooking.

Day 3- Chicken Taco Salad

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ree-drummond/chicken-taco-salad.html

Chicken can be cooked ahead of time, along with the vegetables being cut and prepared. Dressing can be made ahead of time as well. Left over beans and corn from the burgers can also be thrown on the salad.

Pair with baked tortilla chips and salsa

Day 4- Sweet Orange Salmon with Steamed Green Beans and Brown Rice

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-orange-salmon

Spices for the salmon can be combined and set aside ahead of time and then rubbed onto the fish before cooking

Green beans can be trimmed ahead and stored in a refrigerator, and while fish is cooking, rice can be made. If salmon isn’t your favorite, any fish can be substituted

Day 5- Crock Pot Pot Roast

http://www.food.com/recipe/to-die-for-crock-pot-roast-27208

Throw everything into the pot before work and come home to a meal waiting for you!

  

All of the entrees can be prepped ahead of time and stored in the fridge or freezer until use. Maybe make this a sunday afternoon activity for the whole family! 

What's Cooking? Buffalo Wing Cauliflower

While on my break at work today, Dad and I were texting about what we were going to prepare for dinner. He said he had picked up some kielbasa to pan fry  with onions. It's a new year so I wanted to try a new recipe. I told him I would make buffalo wing cauliflower as a side. Dad and I are very adventurous with trying new foods and recipes, but Mom and my brother are very picky. I picked up a medium head of cauliflower after the gym today and started preparing dinner with Dad picked up my brother from baseball practice, and mom was at work. This recipe was super easy and had great flavor! Mom tried it and went back for seconds! That's crazy from someone who doesn't like vegetables. Vegetables don't have to be bland and tasteless anymore! Try this recipe, (adapted from food network), and let me know what you think!

Ingredients

Cheese Sauce:
1/3 cup nonfat sour cream
2 tablespoons crumbled blue cheese
1 tablespoon skim milk
2 teaspoons mayonnaise
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

Buffalo Cauliflower:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1/4 cup hot sauce, such as Frank's
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
Kosher salt
8 cups cauliflower florets (from about 1 medium head)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
For the cheese sauce: Whisk together the sour cream, blue cheese, milk, mayonnaise, 1/8 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper in a small bowl. Cover and refrigerate until chilled, about 30 minutes
For the Buffalo cauliflower: Meanwhile, microwave the butter in a small microwave-safe bowl on high until melted. Whisk in the hot sauce and lemon juice and set aside.
Mix olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 cup water in a large bowl. Add the cauliflower and toss until well coated. Spread the cauliflower on a rimmed baking sheet and roast until beginning to brown and just tender, 20 to 25 minutes. Whisk the hot sauce mixture again, drizzle over the cauliflower and toss with tongs to coat. Roast the cauliflower until the sauce is bubbling and browned around the edges, 5 to 7 minutes more. Serve hot with the cheese sauce.

Read more at: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchens/buffalo-cauliflower-with-blue-cheese-sauce.html?oc=linkback

Quick Dinner Tonight!

 

Trying to come up with something for dinner that the whole family will love and that is nutrient dense too? Check out this recipe! I was perusing Pinterest the other day and found this recipe. I love P.F. Chang's, especially their lettuce wraps. So when I saw that I could make them at home, I got very excited! My roommate and I headed to the grocery store after class to pick up the ingredients and get started. We are both nutrition majors, so we are both very health conscious individuals and love when we find tasty recipes that are very nutritious too! The only changes we made to this recipe was we used ground turkey instead of ground chicken, and we did not have any soy sauce (what travesty!), so we put a little extra of the hoisin and rice wine vinegar. We were going to use romaine for the wrap part of the dish, but we could not find any that did not look old. Some possible additions to the recipe could be chopped carrots or maybe some snow peas to add color. Pair it with rice and you have a balanced dinner!

PF Chang's Lettuce Wraps

Yield 4 servings                    Prep Time- 10 Minutes               Cook Time- 10 Minutes

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground chicken
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 onion, diced
• 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon freshly grated ginger
• 1 tablespoon Sriracha, optional
• 1 (8-ounce) can whole water chestnuts, drained and diced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 head butter lettuce

DIRECTIONS:

1. Heat olive oil in a saucepan over medium high heat. Add ground chicken and cook until browned, about 3-5 minutes, making sure to crumble the chicken as it cooks; drain excess fat.
2. Stir in garlic, onion, hoisin sauce, soy sauce, rice wine vinegar, ginger and Sriracha until onions have become translucent, about 1-2 minutes.
3. Stir in chestnuts and green onions until tender, about 1-2 minutes; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
4. To serve, spoon several tablespoons of the chicken mixture into the center of a lettuce leaf, taco-style.

This recipe was obtained from damndelicious.net

Whats on my Plate?

Ever wonder what a nutrition major eats? Wonder if its healthy or if I practice what I preach? Well the answer is, I do eat nutritious foods most of the time but, I have no problem with treating myself. One thing nutrition majors hate to hear when they sit down for a meal is; "Why are you eating that? Aren't you supposed to be eating only nutritious and healthy foods and staying away from the bad things?". My response is always, "I consciously made the decision to put this food on my plate and if I want to treat myself every once in a while, then why not!"  Just because you are watching what you are eating, doesn't mean you can't treat yourself or make it so you can't have anything that tastes good.

This is what I ate for the day and the justification in the choices I made:

Breakfast (9 am)
For breakfast I had an 8 oz glass of chocolate milk, an apple and whole wheat toast with peanut butter. I chose the toast because it is whole grain and it is very important to fuel your body with carbs and protein at the beginning of the day. Whole grains contain some protein which can help you feel fuller longer and provide energy for the body to get going in the morning. The peanut butter contains protein as well, but also has healthy fats. These fats are monounsaturated and polyunsaturated. These types of fat can help lower cholesterol and reduce the risk of heart disease. I had an apple in order to get some vitamins and minerals that may be lacking from just having toast for breakfast. Apples are also high in fiber which can aid in digestion. The chocolate milk was chosen to provide 9 essential vitamins and minerals that the body cannot make and have to get from food sources, and to provide more protein in my breakfast.

Lunch (12:30 pm)
For lunch, I had the leftovers of a sandwich that I got a few days ago. However, this is an easy sandwich anyone can make and it is full of protein and nutrients. It was a hard roll with presto, which is full of healthy fats due to the olive oil and pine nuts in it, lettuce, tomato and mozzarella. The mozzarella is a great source of protein and is lower in fat than other types of cheeses. I knew I would need more than just a half a sandwich, so I paired it with carrots and honey mustard. Carrots are high in Vitamin A, K, dietary fiber, and biotin, and I added the honey mustard just to spice up my carrots a little. I had a glass of green tea with it, which has been shown to provide antioxidants to prevent illness and help boost metabolism!

Snack (2:30 pm)
 I had class all afternoon and knew that I would need something to hold me over until dinner time, so I grabbed the single serving pack of dry roasted almonds on my way out of the door. I love the way they taste and they are full of heart healthy fats and protein to keep me feeling full until dinner time.


Dinner (5:30 pm)
I was in a time crunch to get something to eat before class and going to the gym later so I decided to throw some chicken on the George Foreman Grill we have at my apartment, steamed up some broccoli, and made couscous. After the chicken was grilled and the broccoli was steamed, I threw them into a frying pan with olive oil, garlic and cheese and made a simple skillet meal with couscous as a side. Couscous is one of the 7 Mother Grains and a whole grain which are needed in a daily diet. The broccoli is full of antioxidants and vitamins, and the cheese gave me another serving of dairy and protein on my plate. Chicken is one of my favorite meats just because it is so versatile and easy to prepare. Its a really good source of protein, and a very lean meat. Milk again accompanied this meal.
 

Post Workout Snack (10:30 pm)
After a tough workout, I was feeling a little hungry and needed a pick me up to replenish carbohydrates burned during cardio and take in protein to help me build more muscle after a weight lifting circuit. My snack included a piece of bread and a tall glass of milk. The key to post workout snacks is to have it be a 2:1 Carb to Protein ratio. Your body really needs to replenish the carbohydrate stores after burning many of them off during exercise.






This is basically what the jist of my diet is daily. It is really important to make sure that meals are balanced between carbs, protein and fat, and that you are getting vegetables and fruits in your diet to get all the vitamins and minerals needed to function in our daily lives.