The Easiest (and Tastiest!) Meatballs

 I have made other meatball recipes but these are so easy and everyone loves them so we keep coming back to this staple! We eat them with pasta, on a roll with sauce and cheese as a sandwich, or as a side with veggies. It's just meat and spices - no egg or breadcrumbs - but they come out great!

Ingredients:

1.5 pounds of lean Ground Beef

1.5 pounds of lean Ground Turkey 

3 Tbsp dried parsley

2 tsp garlic powder

1 1/2 tsp onion powder

1 1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a large cookie sheet by covering with parchment.  With clean hands mix the beef and all the spices together until combined, without over mixing.  Roll into similar size meatballs (ours are usually about 2 inch diameter) and provide a little separation on the baking sheet. Cook for 15-20 minutes depending on size.  Ensure that the meatballs are cooked through. Enjoy!

Amazing Broccoli Cheese Soup

 This soup is delicious, family approved and is actually low calorie! It has a bunch of added veggies upping the nutrition and the flavor. We add fun toppings (bacon, sour cream or plain greek yogurt and a bit more cheese) and it makes a tasty, satisfying meal on a cold or rainy day!  

Before it's blended - look at all those veggies!

Ingredients:

2 Tbsp Unsalted Butter - 28g

1/2 large Onion, chopped - (150g)

2 1/3 cups Carrots, chopped - (300g)

2 garlic cloves

1 cup Celery, chopped - (100g)

2 1/2 cups chicken stock (we used Fat free)

2 Tbsp white whole wheat flour 

1 cup 1% Milk

6 cups (or more) Broccoli, chopped - (I use mostly florets) - (550g)

2 Tbsp parmesan cheese

2 cups (1 package) Shredded Mexican 4 cheese blend - 2% milk (235g)

Directions:

In a large pot, heat the butter until melted.  Saute the onion, carrots, celery and garlic until softened, stirring so it does not burn.  Sprinkle flour, salt and pepper over veggies and stir to combine.  Add milk, chicken broth and potatoes.  Turn up heat, bring the soup to a boil, then simmer (turn heat to low and cover) and cook until potatoes are softened, about 10 minutes.  Add broccoli, parmesan and cook until broccoli is cooked, with lid off.  Use an immersion blender to process to the desired thickness. Add salt and pepper to taste.  This stores well in the fridge and everyone loves the leftovers! We serve with bacon, sour cream or greek yogurt and chives. 

Based off Skinnytaste's soup with some Erin modifications

https://www.google.com/search?q=skinnytaste+broccoli+cheddar&rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS855US855&oq=skinnytaste&aqs=chrome.2.69i57j46j35i39j0l3j46j69i65.6890j1j7&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8

Chocolate Bread

This Chocolate Bread took a few tries to get right.  I wanted it to taste good but wanted to minimize the amount of added sugar.  It's important to use both kinds of cocoa. The dark cocoa gives it a deep chocolatey flavor but if you only use the dark it will give the bread a bitter flavor (unless you offset with more sugar).  The split works well.  I like this bread because it has more protein, satisfies my sweet tooth but my kids also love it. We all like to eat it with a bit of Peanut butter and cool whip. I often double the recipe and we eat it all week.  We keep it in the refrigerator.

We like to eat it with peanut butter and some cool whip!

Other than the two cocoa powders, this recipe is flexible. If you don't have collagens just add a little bit more flour.  You can add an extra egg instead of using the egg whites. I've used buttermilk instead of milk and didn't notice a difference. 

Wet Ingredients:

2 medium ripe Bananas (244g)

5.3 oz Greek Nonfat Yogurt, Plain (150g)

3 tbsp Liquid Egg Whites

1 egg

2 tap Vanilla Extract

1/3 cup Maple Syrup (I use Anderson's) 

1/4 cup 1% Milk

1/3 cup Unsweetened Applesauce (99g)

Dry Ingredients:

1 3/4 cups White Whole Wheat Flour (we use King Arthur) - 220g

2 scoops Collagen Peptides (I use Vital Proteins) - 20g

1/3 cup (about 6 Tbsp) Special Dark Cocoa - Dark (30 g)

1/3 cup (about 6 Tbsp) Regular Cocoa - Regular (30g)

1 tsp Baking Powder (we always use Aluminum free)

1/2 tsp Salt

Baking Soda

7 Tbsp Chocolate Chips - (We use Nestle!) - 100g

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Prepare your loaf pans or cupcake tins (whatever you prefer to use).  I just sprayed mine with cooking spray. Set aside. Combine all the dry ingredients in a large bowl, whisk together, and set aside.  In another bowl, add the bananas and mash with a fork.  Add the remaining wet ingredients to the bananas and stir to combine.  Slowly add the dry ingredients and stir to combine.  Mix in the chocolate chips. Pour or scoop the batter into the prepared pans, careful not to overfill.  Cook until a tester comes out clean - times will vary between ovens and whether you are making loaves, muffins and whether they are mini or full size. Our loaves took about 24 minutes. Put on a cooling rack to cool for several minutes, then remove from pan and allow to completely cool on the cooling rack. We store ours in the fridge and it's good for about a week. 

Healthier Mac and Cheese

 

We were all craving Mac and Cheese but I wanted some too! This recipe is super simple but ups the protein and lowers the fat and is still kid (and parent!) approved!

Ingredients: 

Whole Wheat Pasta - I used 1 box Harris Teeter Whole Wheat Penne = 433g

Plain Greek Nonfat Yogurt - I used Harris Teeter - 150g

Shredded Cheddar Cheese - I used Harris Teeter - 282g

Milk 1% - 1/2 cup

Make the pasta per the directions on the box, being sure to salt the water.  Drain and leave in colander. Meanwhile in the hot pot you used to cook the macaroni, stir together cheese, milk and a little salt until the cheese is melted.  Mix in the greek yogurt and stir until the sauce is hot.    Stir in the pasta until combined. Feel free to add chicken or ham or broccoli, peas, spinach or kale!

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread

I love giving my kids this recipe because it's full of healthy stuff and my kids love it because it has chocolate chips in it!! My good friend visited and even her picky kids ate this! They called it "chocolate bread".  These are more work than some of the other muffins so make a double batch and freeze some for lunches or quick breakfasts or snacks!

Wet Ingredients:
2 cups zucchini, shredded and drained of extra liquid (I don't peel mine but you can if you want)
1 cup carrot, shredded and drained of extra liquid
2 eggs
2 small bananas, smushed
1/2 cup greek yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 cup sugar (adjust up or down to preference)

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white wheat flour
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground cloves
chocolate chips, to preference

Ingredients:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Prepare your muffin or loaf pan by spraying, butter and flouring or using liners.  Then I chop my zucchini, put it in the food processor, and pulse until small pieces.  I then squeeze it out with a cheese cloth and repeat with the carrots (the carrots hold a lot less water so I do them separately).  Do squeeze out the water so you get fluffy muffins or loaves.  Then I put the zucchini and carrots in a bowl and combine with the rest of the wet ingredients.  In a separate bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (we don't add the chocolate chips until the end - my kids like to put them in each well).  Combine the two by hand so as not to overmix with a mixer and pour the batter into your prepared pan.  For muffins these took about 18 minutes but check for doneness with a cake tester which should come out clean (minus the chocolate!) once they are cooked.

Adapted from:  https://www.geniuskitchen.com/recipe/incredible-carrot-zucchini-muffins-368242#activity-feed

Banana Carrot Bread

Banana Carrot Bread

My kids love these for breakfast (add peanut butter and a side of fruit), plain as a snack or with a little butter on them straight from the oven! They are nut free so I can send to school as a guilt-free, safe for the classroom healthy snack.  There are always complaints when the last one is gone!

Dry Ingredients:
2 cups white wheat flour
1/2 cup oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Wet Ingredients:
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla

Other:
2 medium bananas, ripe
2 cups grated carrots (I buy shredded and throw half to 3/4 of the bag without measuring into the food processor.  Whatever that makes is what I add to the recipe).

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray/butter and flour/or use liners to prepare a loaf or muffin pan.

Whisk dry ingredients together: flour, oatmeal, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl.

In another large bowl whisk together the yogurt and honey. Add the eggs and vanilla and mix until combined.

Add 1/3 of the flour mixture and stir to combine.  Add 1 banana and stir until combined.  Continue alternating, ending on the flour mixture.  Then add grated carrots and finish stirring with a wood spoon.

Cook for 15 minutes for mini-loaves - checking for doneness with a tester until it comes out clean. Cooking time can depend on the oven.

I have much better luck with this bread as muffins or mini loaves than as large loaves (the inside tends not to fully cook).  For mini loaves these took about 15 minutes - but check yours after 12 and every few minutes for doneness.  A full loaf takes almost an hour.  Remove from oven and allow to cool in pan for several minutes before removing to finish cooling directly on a cooling rack.  These can be kept at room temperature for several days or frozen and defrosted later.

Adapted from: https://www.cinnamonspiceandeverythingnice.com/carrot-banana-bread/

Turkey meatballs

I haven't been a fan of too many homemade turkey meatball recipes.  These are tasty, easy and kid approved!

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs ground turkey

2 eggs, beaten

1/2 - 3/4 cup panko breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat)

2 Tbsp tomato sauce (I used Victoria since I was opening it for something else)

parmesan cheese - I didn't measure - 1/2 - 3/4 cup grated

3 large cloves garlic, minced

1/2 onion, diced

2 Tbsp fresh basil, chopped

1/2 - 1 tsp dried parsley

seasonings: onion powder, garlic powder, salt, pepper, and oregano (I didn't measure these)

Mix all the ingredients except turkey and eggs.  Stir to combine, then add the beaten eggs and then turkey. Combine until even distributed using clean hands.

On a tray lined with parchment roll meatballs similarly sized and place about an inch apart.  Put in a 400 degree pre-heated oven and cook for 15-20 minutes.

Serve with sauce and spaghetti, with veggies, on a salad or a sandwich.  These are so versatile!