Meal Plan: July 12th - July 18th

Wow! Is it already Tuesday?!  We have been having some major fun family time over the last couple days.  We had a pool day when my youngest is finally starting to conquer her fears of putting her face in the water.  Hubs introduced the girls to the first 3 Star Wars movies or the last three depending on how you look at it.  We went to the Nationals vs Orioles game at Camden Yards. And we went to the Taylor Swift concert!!  It has been a lot of fun.

Sunday: Dinner at the ballpark

Monday: Dinner at the concert

It was nice to see that both parks offered gluten free and vegetarian options.  I had a turkey burger one day and went for the single burger at Shake Shack.

Tuesday: Sweet Potato Buffalo Chicken Casserole
I added the hot sauce after cooking so it was not too spicy for the kids.  I would suggest cooking this in two dishes because the potatoes did not cook enough.  It makes a ton so it will be great for lunches.
Recipe from Paleo Leap

Wednesday: Pita Pizzas

Thursday:  Greek Chicken Kabobs w/ Tzatziki
Recipe from Cooking Classy

Friday: Dinner in the car - Taking the girls to stay with their grandparents
I figure that eating on the road happens frequently during the summer.  Here is a list of the Top 10 Healthiest Fast Food restaurant according to Health.com

Fixate

I am obsessed with recipes. I get tons of emails a day with recipes, I have pinned thousands of recipes on Pinterest, I read magazines and I LOVE cookbooks. So you can imagine how excited I was when I learned that Autumn was coming out with a cookbook to support the 21 Day Fix workout programs. Like, I'm probably going to treat this like Black Friday excited!

The cook book is going to include Paleo, gluten-free, vegan, and vegetarian recipes.  Recipes for Shakeology and COCKTAILS!  Perhaps I should not be that excited about the cocktails.  I tested the Sangria recipe and it was delicious.

If you are not doing the fix program, no problem.  Anyone can benefit from these recipes.  If you want to make sure you are getting the right portions you can purchase Portion Fix to go with it or even better a 21 Day Fix Challenge Pack.

I am anxiously counting down with every Beachbody Facebook post.  To order the cookbook when it releases you have to be a Team Beachbody member.  Make sure you register if you haven't already ready.  

I can not wait to Meal Plan!!!

Food Inspired: Tomato Pesto Grilled Cheese Panini

Inspired by Cooking Light: Fresh Food Fast Cookbook

I made these sandwiches and then headed to dance with my youngest daughter.  An hour later I received a text message from Hubs that simply said, "Dude, that sandwich."  Followed by an explanation that it was DA BOMB.  And he didn't even have the tomato on it.  We are big pesto fans in this family.  It was a nice change from a regular grilled cheese.  It reminded me of a pizza your find at a gourmet pizza restaurant.  Because I used a remade pesto this came together very quickly.  I had four sandwiches made in 15 minutes.  

Serving Size: 1 Panini

Ingredients:

2 slices whole grain sandwich bread
1 slice beefsteak tomato
1 thin slice provolone
1 Tbsp shredded mozzarella
1 Tbsp pesto
Spray Coconut Oil

Directions:

1. Top slice of sandwich bread with provolone cheese, pesto, tomato, mozzarella.  Top with other slice of bread.
2. Heat a grill pan on medium pan.
3. Spray grill pan with coconut oil.
4. Place sandwich on grill. Press down on the sandwich.  Spray the top of the sandwich with coconut oil.
5. Flip when the bread is browned (about 1.5 min.) and cook on the other side.
6. Remove sandwich from grill when second side is browned (another 1.5 min.) and cheese is melted.
7. Let the sandwich cool a bit before cutting so cheese does not ooze out.  

I packed two of the sandwiches and some prepped cucumbers for my daughter and I to eat during her break at dance.  It was still da bomb.  Make you dance good.  I can't wait to have one straight from the grill. 

Dance Mom dinner

Be Inspired!

With Love, 

Alli

Meal Plan: June 28th - July4th

I can't believe that July is here already!  Something told me this summer was going to go by fast.  Dance is back this week so we need quick meals but keeping them healthy.

Sunday: American Bison Burgers
Bison burger with cheese, lettuce and tomato

1 red, 1 blue, 1/2 green (with bun 2 yellow)

Monday: Pesto Grilled Cheese Panini
Recipe inspired by Cooking Light
I will make these when I get home from work and pack them so we can eat in between classes.
1 blue (there is not enough pesto to count for a blue), 1/2 green, 2 yellow

Tuesday: Spaghetti with Sausage
Dance starts at 6:00 this evening.  What is quicker than pasta?
Recipe from Cooking Light

1 yellow (2 if you got em), 1 green (I count the tomato sauce as a green since it is not jarred), 1 red

Wednesday: Turkey Cobb Salad Wrap
Recipe inspired by two Cooking Light
Our family favorite salad taken to go.
1 yellow, 1 red, 1 green, 1 blue

Thursday: Travel Day

Friday: MexiKale Salad
Recipe inspired by Wegmans
Pretty much I kept the kale and the dressing and it with more Tex Mex flavors

Saturday: 4th of July!
Look at this fun dessert one of my BFF's made last year.

Meal Plan: June 21st - June 27th

There are a lot of carbs in this week's menu.  I must be craving them.  This week I have add the equivalent 21 day Fix containers.  Would you like to see more of this?

This is what we are having for dinner this week.

Sunday: Father's Day Dinner 

Monday: Chicken Philly Cheesesteak
Recipe from the Skinnytaste Cookbook
I'm going to make mine open face.
1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 yellow

Tuesday: Burrito Bowls aka Chipotle at home
Recipe from Damn Delicious with chicken from No. 2 Pencil.com
1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 2 yellow

Wednesday: Tuna Melts
I'm making my tuna with avocado instead of mayo and trying an organic mayo for the family.  First time not using Duke's.  Not sure how I feel about that.
1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 yellow

Thursday: Mediterranean Turkey Burger
Recipe from Cooking Light  Needed a recipe to use more of the pesto from last week.
1 red, 1 green, 1 blue, 1 yellow

Friday: Couples Wedding Shower

Saturday: Make your own pizzas

Recipe Inspired from Fits Simple

Food Inspired: Healthified Bacon-Wrapped Mozzarella Stuffed Burger

 

Inspiration: Foodbeast

I hate to even call this an inspiration because really I would file this under the"please don't eat that" category.  This burger has been shared all over Facebook and I challenged myself to clean it up.  It does have cheese it just melted into the burger.  I think my burger is the same size a the top portion of the original!  We grilled ours to perfection instead of deep frying.  Deep frying a burger, really?  I'm pretty sure even with the added homemade fries, made in our Actifry, my burger came way under the original calorie count.

Ingredients

1 pound lean ground beef

4 strips of cooked turkey bacon, crumbled or diced

1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Directions

1. Combine ground beef, bacon and cheese together in a large bowl.
2. Make 4 patties.  They will be bigger than usual because of the cheese and bacon.  Mine averaged between 5 and 6 ounces.
3. When the grill is hot, spray the grates with oil.
4. Grill the burgers on medium heat for 5 minutes on each side or until it is no longer pink inside.
5. Serve on a whole grain bun or make a lettuce wrap.

Food Inspired: Healthified Copycat Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap

  

Inspiration: Arby's

Ingredients

4 Flatout Light Original flatbreads or favorite wrap
8 oz 98% fat free roasted turkey deli meat
8 slices precooked bacon/turkey bacon
4 slices Cheddar Cheese
1 tomato, thinly sliced
Red onion slices
1/4 cup Ranch yogurt dressing
Iceberg or Romaine lettuce

Directions

1. Spread ranch dressing all over the center of the flatbread.
2. Top with turkey, bacon, lettuce, cheese, onion, and tomatoes. Fold the sides in, and then roll up.

Meal Plan: June 7th - June 13th

My husband and I are so excited that this week is recital week.  One dress rehearsal and the recital on Friday.  That means we can do whatever we want the rest of week!  There are two very happy parents in this house.

Weekly Meal Plan:

Sunday: Pineapple Chicken Skewers with Wild Rice
Sneak Peak recipe from Autumn Calabrese's new cookbook, Fixate.

Monday: Tacos with Baked Crunch Shells
Make your own taco shells recipe from Eating Well

Tuesday: Healthified Copycat Turkey Bacon Ranch Wrap

Wednesday: Spaghetti with Sausage and Simple Tomato Sauce
Recipe from Cooking Light

Thursday: Flank steak with Asparagus and Sweet Potatoes

Friday: Pulled Pork, Mustard Potato Salad and Cole Slaw

Saturday: Dinner Out

Be Inspired!

With Love, Alli

Food Inspired: Cheesesteak Burgers

                       

Inspiration: Cooking Light Magazine

I loved the idea behind this burger but I wanted to make it closer to the original.  Everyone loved them. The best part was that they didn't need mayonaisse or ketchup. They were great on their own.  

Ingredients

1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

2 teaspoon extra virgin olive oil

1 green pepper, thinly sliced

1 yellow onion, thinly sliced

4 slices provolone cheese

4 whole grain hamburger rolls (or go sans roll)

1 lb lean ground beef (I use 90/10)

Directions

1. Combine onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper and beef. Shape beef mixture into 4 patties.  Put to the side.
2. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat.  Add onion and pepper; sauté 6 - 9 minutes.
   
3. Once the onions have browned remove from heat.
   
4. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add patties to pan; cook 3 minutes. Turn patties over; cook 2 1/2 minutes or until desired degree of doneness.
5. Top patties with onions and peppers. Cover the onions and peppers with cheese; cook 1 1/2 minutes or until cheese is melted.
   

Be Inspired.

With Love, Alli

Food Inspired: Clean Eating Cracker Barrel Chicken Tenderloins

Inspiration: Cracker Barrel

Cracker Barrel's chicken tenderloins are one of my favorite items on their menu.  There are many copycat recipes online.  The ingredients usually include store bought Italian dressing, lime juice and honey.  I wanted to clean the recipe up a little bit and make it more 21 Day Fix approved so I made my own Italian dressing.

Ingredients

1/4 cup Extra Virgin Olive Oil

2 tbsp white vinegar

1/8 tsp garlic powder

1/4 tsp onion powder

1/4 tsp dried oregano

1/4 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp dried thyme
1/4 tsp dried parsley
1/8 tsp pepper
1/8 tsp sea salt
2 tsp fresh lime juice
1 tbsp honey
1 lb Chicken Tenderloins

*Italian seasoning could be used as a substitution for the dried herbs.

Directions

1. Combine the first 12 ingredients to make the marinade.
2.  Place chicken in a container or large zip lock bag to marinate.
3.  Pour the marinade over the chicken.  Let the chicken marinate for an hour up to 24 hours.
4.  Cook the tenderloins at medium heat in a grill pan or skillet.  Brown the chicken on both sides.

Complete your Cracker Barrel meal with a clean Mac and Cheese and green beans.

Food Inspired: Egg Roll In a Bowl

Inspiration: Dani Stout and Gluten Free with Southern Charm

My family loves egg rolls but I'm not always a fan of the deep fried greasy wonton.  I came across these recipes on Pinterest and new it would be a hit.  I did a little combining and threw in some of my one flavors for my version of Egg Roll in a Bowl.

Ingredients

1lb Ground Pork

1 - 10oz bag of Asian Slaw (Napa Cabbage, Carrots and Celery)

1 tbsp Sesame Oil

1 medium onion, chopped

2 cloves garlic, chopped

1 tsp fresh ginger, finely chopped

4 tbsp tamari or low sodium soy sauce

1 tsp rice vinegar

sea salt

Directions

1. Cook the pork in a sauté pan.  Season with a pinch of salt and pepper.

2. Remove the pork from the pan.

3. Add the sesame oil.

4. Add the onions.  Cook for 2 mins then and garlic.  Sauté until the onions are cooked. (I like to give the onions a head start so the garlic does not burn.)

5. Add the slaw mix and ginger.  Cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.  The slaw will cook way down.

6. Add the ground pork back to the pan.

7. Pour in the tamarin or soy sauce and vinegar.  This is a great time to scrap the bottom of the pan for great flavor. Simmer for 5 minutes.

Serve over brown rice or lo men noodles for a heartier dinner.  

Side Dish Idea

Quick Broccoli Slaw - Combine broccoli slaw with a ginger sesame dressing.

Be Inspired.

-With Love, Alli