Recipes

Healthified Gyros & Tzatziki Saucziki

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Tonight, I had a craving for gyros.  Mmmmmm…. Can’t remember the last time I had one of those.

The task at hand:  satisfy this craving as healthfully as possible.

I decided to go with ground turkey for the meat to stuff my gyro.  I combined the following ingredients and formed a meat “log” which I cooked on the george foreman grill for about 7 minutes.

  • 5 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
  • sprinkling of dried oregano, S&P, garlic powder, onion powder, dried parsley, red pepper flakes

Then I sliced the meat into long strips and placed atop a Joseph’s Low Carb Pita:

And topped it off with the KEY component of any gyro:  Tzatziki Sauce!  I mixed up the tzatziki sauce about an hour before grilling the meat.  It consisted of: 

  • 2 tbsp Oikos plain greek yogurt
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 2 tbsp grated cucumber
  • S&P, Dill weed
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

 

Tzatziki ingredients in the bowl:

All together now!

I used some of the leftover cucumber to make a small cucumber salad (sliced cucumber, dill weed, white vinegar):

YUM!!!  This really hit the spot!  I do want to note that the meat was a little on the dry side.  I personally didn’t really mind because I doused it in the yummy Tzatziki sauce.  Next time, I’ll either add some of the shredded cucumber to the meat or try shredded zucchini and/or onion.

Stats on the gyro:  278 calories, 24g carbs, 4g fat, 39g protein, 7g fiber

  

Despite this delicious dinner, the night did not end on such a happy note:

What’s that, you ask?  Ohhhh… that….  Whelp, that’s my iPhone, chilling in some rice, because I apparently dropped it on my way in the door and let it sit outside in the rain for three hours.  🙁

Hopefully this rice trick I found on google with do the trick and suck all the water out!

 

QUESTION OF THE EVENING:  What was the dumbest thing you did today?

P.S. to respond to this question click the little blue button that says “Leave a comment” … look right below this line… just a little further… You can do it! 😉

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Recipes

Hot Caprese, Jalapeno Turkey Burgers, and Dessert!

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One of my all-time favorite things to eat is caprese salad.  For those who have never had it, it usually consists of tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, and fresh basil.  It’s so simple and amazingly delicious.      

After my Jambalaya! success last night, I decided to try the recipe for Hot Caprese in the July/August 2010 issue of Clean Eating Magazine.       

I used their basic ingredients, but modified it to keep it a little healthier (and also to bring it down to a single–albeit it large–serving).      

  • 1 cup grape tomatoes
  • 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
  • 1/2 tsp olive oil
  • S&P
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 light babybel cheese
  • fresh basil

Mix all the ingredients (except the cheese and basil) in a bowl, then pour onto a piece of foil that has been sprayed with cooking spray.  Wrap into a pouch, taking care to ensure all edges are sealed so that no liquid seeps out.  Poke a few holes in the packet to let steam escape, then pop into a 350 degree oven for 20-25  minutes, until the tomatoes have started to burst and let their juices go.       

Next, I carefully poured the liquid out of the packet and topped the tomatoes with a cubed light babybel cheese round.  Close the packet back up and make sure to leave space between the cheese and the foil so that the melted cheese does not stick.  Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melty.      

When the tomatoes were finished cooking, I poured them out onto my plate and topped with fresh basil that I grew in my very own back yard!  🙂      

backyard herbs

 

To go along side the tomatoes, I cooked up two Jalapeno turkey burgers that consisted of:      

  • 10 ounces 99% lean ground turkey
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1/2 a small zucchini, grated
  • 1/4 cup white onion, chopped
  • S&P, RPF, Onion powder
  • 1/2 a jalapeno, seeds removed,  chopped

Once the burgers started cooking, my nose could tell that the little jalapeno was gonna add some kick to the burger.  So I decided to top the burger with some tomatoes, onion, and cool fat free sour cream atop a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.      

      

Sooooo tasty!       

Word to the wise — use more seasonings on the tomatoes than you think you need.  I’ll def bump it up next time.      

Also, I definitely want to add some fresh herbs to the jalapeno turkey burger next time.  Possibly cilantro or flat leaf parsley.      

Stats on Dinner:  387 calories, 46g carbs, 7g fat, 47g protein, 7g fiber     

Post-Dinner      

After dinner, I completed Day #2 of my interval running/walking plan.  I was able to complete all 5 intervals of running without any knee pain!  Yay! 🙂      

After exercising, I threw half of a peach onto the george foreman grill for about 6 minutes.  Then I topped it with some plain greek yogurt I had sweetened with 1/2 packet of truvia and a sprinkle of cinnamon and cloves.        

      

This was quite tasty!  But let’s be honest, I was thinking about ice cream the entire time.  Definitely need to give this a shot with the good stuff.      

Other thoughts before bed      

For those of you who have hopped on the Greek Yogurt train (gimme a whoop whoop!), and even for those of you who haven’t this FitSugar link gives a few different ideas on how to switch up your normal yogurt routine.      

I’m trying out some new things for breakfast and lunch tomorrow….  this should be interesting  🙂      

Oh yes!  I tried the Oatmeal Luna Bar today, and thought it was pretty darn tasty!      

      

Not my all time favorite flavor, but overall I was very pleased with my afternoon snack. It definitely tasted like an oatmeal cookie.  I went to a grocery store by work tonight rather than my usual store, and they had a huge selection of Lara Bars.  So I picked up a few of those to try out 🙂      

QUESTION FOR ALL YOU SILENT READERS OUT THERE:  Have you tried overnight oats yet?  If so, did you love them as much as I do?  If you haven’t tried them, what’s holding you back?

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Recipes

Jambalaya!

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Ever since I saw the recipe for Cajun Jambalaya in the July 2010 issue of Clean Eating magazine, I’ve been dying to try it! 

Luckily, I already had some leftover grilled chicken from last week and leftover turkey sausage from the “corn dog” I made over the weekend, so there wasn’t a ton of prep work for me to do.  You could definitely use raw meats though–everything is chopped into bite size pieces so it cooks through pretty fast.

I can’t believe how ridiculously easy this was!  Basically, I mixed the following list of items together in a bowl:

  • 4 raw medium size shrimp, tails removed
  • 1/2 link Jennie-O Hot Turkey Sausage
  • 2 ounces grilled chicken
  • 1/2 medium green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1 plum tomato, chopped
  • 1/4 cup white onion chopped
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
  • Sprinkling of S&P, onion powder, red pepper flakes
  • 1/2 cup dry brown rice
  • 1/4 cup low sodium chicken broth

Then I layed out a big piece of foil, sprayed it down with olive oil cooking spray, and dumped everything onto the foil:

Then you just wrap it up like a Chipotle burrito — making sure that the edges are sealed tight so the liquid doesn’t leak out.  Pop into a 400 degree oven for 25 minutes, and VOILA!

 JAMBALAYA!

This was spiiiiiiicy!  I loved it!  And it made a TON of food.  One note for next time — some of the rice that was sitting on the top of the pile got a little crunchy.  I think this can be fixed by either soaking the rice in water before putting it in the mix, or by adding more liquid to the pouch. 

I’m in love with this foil pouch cooking method!

Stats on the Jambalaya:  384 calories, 46g carbs, 8g fat, 30g protein, 5g fiber

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Recipes, What I ate

The best guacamole recipe EVER

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Jarrod and I wanted something delicious for dinner, so we decided to try this recipe for Chicken Fajitas.  We followed Skinny Taste’s recipe to a T, except we also made some brown rice to mix in.  The recipe doesn’t say how long to marinate the chicken, so we let it go for about 30 minutes.

We both felt what threw this meal over the edge to amazingness was the guacamole we made to go with it.

My recipe for guacamole adapted from my Chipotle days in college:

 

 

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Recipes, What I ate

Fajitas & Guac succeeded by Cold Oatmeal

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Jarrod and I wanted something delicious for dinner, so we decided to try this recipe for Chicken Fajitas.  We followed Skinny Taste’s recipe to a T, except we also made some brown rice to mix in.  The recipe doesn’t say how long to marinate the chicken, so we let it go for about 30 minutes.

We both felt what threw this meal over the edge to amazingness was the guacamole we made to go with it. 

My recipe for guacamole adapted from my Chipotle days in college:

 

I kid you not, this recipe post-it has been on my fridge for over five years.  I’ve moved from apartment to apartment to house, and this puppy is ALWAYS displayed on the fridge 🙂

We each had 1 Mama Lupe’s low carb tortillas that I had ordered from Netrition, and we threw everything that couldn’t fit into the tortilla atop a bed of lettuce.  We also had some fresh salsa we had picked up last week, so we drizzled a little on top.

One giant plate of food: 

Yes, I cleared my plate.  Yes, I contemplated licking it clean.

Skinny Taste chicken fajitas + chipotle inspired guac = best dinner we’ve made in a long friggin time!

BTW, I told Jarrod he is now required to plate all foods before photo sessions.  That plate looks absolutely beautiful!

Side Note –

Yesterday on the way home from the hair stylist, I tried the Chocolate Raspberry Luna bar.  The bar had been in the hot car for a little while, so it was slightly melty and absolutely divine tasting!

Breakfast

I hadn’t had cold oatmeal (or “overnight oats” as food bloggers call it) in quite a while.  After reading about Leashieloo’s recent success with overnight oats, I decided to make some up last night.

Here’s what I threw in:

  • 1/2 cup quick oats
  • 1/2 cup almond breeze unsweetened vanilla almond milk
  • 1 tsp peanut butter
  • 1 tsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp choc chips (which was like 4 chips, but I figured what the hay that’d give me four chocolately delicious bites)
  • A sprinkling of cinnamon

I stirred up the oats and popped them into the fridge to hang out for the night.  This morning, I added some chopped up strawberries.

Oatmeal is great for you, but who the heck wants a steaming bowl of oats in the hot summer months? Most people think cold oatmeal sounds appalling.  To those people I say quit being so cantankerous and give it a shot!  What’s most fun about overnight oats is you can mix in ANYTHING you want.  Seriously, just give it a shot already!  And let me know how they turn out!

Stats on overnight oats:  233 calories, 36g carbs, 8g fat, 7g protein, 6g fiber

On the agenda today:

  • Day 1 of walking/running interval training
  • Father’s Day!
  • Wine, food, family time!
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