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The Easiest, Tastiest Roasted Vegetables

By on July 22, 2016 in Side Dishes

I love to roast vegetables. It doesn’t make them mushy, but rather crunchy on the outside, warm on the inside and gives them a great smoky flavor. Plus, you can use whatever vegetables you want. In our house, we have to separate them into rows in the pan because my husband is convinced if certain vegetables touch the food he eats, he’ll die. Since I don’t want him to die from zucchini contact, we do ours in rows, but you can just as easily toss all the vegetables together.

Just cube up what veggies you want, drizzle them in avocado oil and season them with salt and pepper. Rather than do this in a bowl, I just toss the whole thing right on the pan.

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Then bake them in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes. I like to go with 40 minutes because I like them to have some black char on them. If you’re not a fan of that, go with 30 minutes.

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Below I’ve listed the vegetables we used, but feel free to use whatever you like.

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Easy Cinnamon Apple Stir Fry Lunch

By on June 3, 2016 in Main Dishes

As I’ve mentioned several times, I love stir fry. Even though it’s May, today I was in the mood for the flavors of fall. That’s what I love about stir fry. You can eat the flavors you’re craving whenever you want.

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As usual, start out by cooking the vegetables in salt and pepper. Rather than take the time to cook and dice sweet potatoes on my own, I used these:

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These are one of the most convenient things I’ve found. Eating healthy often requires a lot of chopping, so these pre-cooked make it much easier.

Because I used pre-cooked sausages, I just had to cook them long enough to brown the outside and warm the inside. These chicken apple sausages are great to have on hand. We use them in salads, in eggs for breakfast and, of course, in stir frys.

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Who says you can only have cinnamon and sweet potatoes in the fall? Not me!

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Healthy BBQ Beef Kabobs

By on May 20, 2016 in Main Dishes

My husband hates most vegetables. I on the other hand, love vegetables. This makes it very hard to cook dinners, especially when I’d like to make them a bit healthier with added veggies. We found a great solution to our problem: beef kabobs.

Beef Kabobs

I load mine full of vegetables, and his full of meat.

The first thing to do is pick a meat. I pick whatever is cheapest at the grocery store. I looked at beef stew meat, stir fry beef and flank steak. That day, stir fry beef was cheapest (I used one pound). If steak is on sale, ask the butcher to cut it up into stew meat for you. They always say yes.

I cut the pieces in half so they were about 2 inches long each. I then marinated the meat using the same marinade I use on my Round Steak

Then, I picked the vegetables. I used only tomatoes, onion and beef on my husband’s, but loaded mine with tomatoes, onion, mushrooms, green pepper, pineapple and beef. I originally wanted to buy cherry tomatoes, but decided not to when I saw how expensive they were. Good grief! Instead, I halved roma tomatoes and cut each half into quarters. It worked just as well. I then assembled the kabobs on skewers. Soak your skewers for at least half an hour in water before assembling the kabobs. This keeps them from burning and your beef kabobs probably won’t taste all that great if they go up in flames.

My wonderful husband grilled them on the barbecue on medium-high for about 10-ish minutes. All grills are a bit different, so grill them until your vegetables are roasted and a bit black on the edges. Roasted vegetables are, in my opinion, the best way to eat vegetables. YUM!

The best part about this dish is how versatile it is. Load it up with whatever you like. I made my husband one kabob that was purely meat. Enjoy your beef kabobs!!

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Egg and Veggie Breakfast Hash

By on February 19, 2016 in Breakfast

It’s kind of ridiculous how much I love breakfast. It’s really my favorite part of the day. So I’m not going to have a tiny breakfast that leaves me hungry an hour later. I’m going to eat a hearty meal that takes at least 15 minutes to eat.

This is my go-to breakfast. I eat it at least three times a week. I feel guilty calling this a recipe. It’s more of a delicious hodge-podge of things thrown together. I’ve listed approximate measurements for the ingredients, but I don’t measure. I just add the amount I feel like at the moment. I also change up the ingredients based on what I have on hand. I generally add zucchini, but I was out this day. So the point is, add what you have and what you like. This recipe looks very different for me than it does for my husband.

I sautee 2-3 cups veggies in avocado oil. This may sound like a lot, but because veggies have so much water, this shrinks down as it cooks, especially if you add leafy greens.

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I also try to pick an array of colors. Vegetables get their colors from the vitamins and minerals they contain so if you eat more colors, you get a bigger variety of health benefits.

I always add one half an onion and one clove of garlic, but then it’s open to whatever sounds good. I often add zucchini, peppers, cherry tomatoes, broccoli, cauliflower, sweet potatoes spinach and kale.

I heat a pan with 2T avocado oil and add all the veggies except the garlic, cherry tomatoes and kale, seasoned with a good amount of salt and pepper. I let this cook until I see charring on the onion and peppers. This takes about five minutes. Then I add the garlic and tomatoes and let this cook for another minute. Then I add the leafy greens and let them wilt down for another minute or two.

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Scoop this all into a bowl and then add more avocado oil to the pan and fry two eggs.

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Once the eggs are done, put them on top of the veggie mixture. The veggies taste fabulous on their own but when you break the egg yolks over them, it’s heavenly.

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If you make this, breakfast is likely to become your favorite part of the day too.

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No-Bean Chili

By on November 6, 2015 in Main Dishes

I don’t like beans. It’s not the taste or the texture; it’s the after effect. The night I eat beans, I’m groaning on the couch, my stomach churning. The problem is, I love chili. I love it on chips, I love it on fries, and I love it in a bowl with avocado and sour cream. But every no-bean chili I’ve tried is usually just glorified Sloppy Joe meat. So I decided we needed to come up with a healthy no-bean chili that still has that great chunky chili texture. Here is what we came up with.

Start by cooking the meat and onion, just as you do in every chili.

The great texture comes from a bunch of vegetables. Add a chopped carrot, red, green and yellow peppers and a can of diced tomatoes.

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Then add the great flavor with your seasonings. Stir in your seasonings and flavored liquids and let this simmer in the slow cooker for 6-8 hours.

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Eat this in a bowl with your favorite toppings or spoon it over hot dogs, sweet potato fries or veggie chips. Better yet, freeze half and reheat it to use in a fun, new way.

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Power Breakfast – Egg and Veggie Stir Fry

By on October 2, 2015 in Breakfast

I don’t understand people who say they’re not breakfast people. How can you not be a breakfast person? After not eating since dinner, doing a workout, taking the kids to school, and having to do a very picky 4-year-old’s hair, I’m starving. Breakfast time is pretty much the best time of day. So I don’t want to waste this fabulous meal on a sugary, processed cereal. I want something healthy and delicious that will give me the energy to make it through the rest of the day. This hearty stir fry is the key.

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Start by heating up some avocado oil in a large skillet. I use avocado oil because it performs great at high temperatures and is good for you. Brown the onion and garlic first. Add in the pepper, zucchini, mushrooms, cauliflower and saute until the veggies are tender but still have a bit of crunch. Make sure to season your veggies with plenty of salt and pepper.

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Add the halved cherry tomatoes last and cook them until they are slightly shriveled and have released some of their juices.

Because I’m lazy and don’t want to dirty extra dishes, I just push the cooked veggies to the side before adding the eggs. I like to keep the two separate for a while so I still have distinct pieces of veggies and eggs. If you just toss the eggs in and mix it all together, it’s a bit mushy and just not as good.

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Once the eggs are cooked, stir it all together for a bit.

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This recipe is easy to customize. Add any seasonings or vegetables you like. Leave out any you don’t like. Even add leftover chicken or sausage. Either way, I’m sure this recipe will make anyone a breakfast person. If not, go ahead and make it for lunch.

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