Spicy Salmon and Veggies

Soooooo I was looking at the recipe I took this from and realized I actually totally changed the flavor and spice and made a super spicy version!!! Lol But hey, we are cleansing right now and I needed something full of flavor and filling and this more than hit the spot. Please note: it is SPICY!!!

I adapted the recipe from Fitness Magazine: http://www.fitnessmagazine.com/recipes/quick-recipes/dinner/dinner-in-20-easy-healthy-dinner-recipes/?page=3

Differences? I used red pepper instead of chili powder. I also added some cilantro because it rocks and I wanted a "cooling" factor to the spicy marinade.

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Spicy Salmon and Veggies

Nonstick cooking spray

1 big lime squeezed
4 garlic cloves - minced
2 tsp. red pepper
2 tsp. cumin
1/8 c. chopped cilantro
2 tbsp. olive oil
2-4 skinless salmon fillets

1 1/2 c. frozen corn, thawed
1/4-1/2 Red bell pepper, sliced thin
1/4-1/2 Yellow bell pepper, sliced thin
1/4-1/2 Orange bell pepper, sliced thin
1 Serrano pepper, sliced thin, seeds removed
1/2 small red onion, sliced thin
Dash of onion powder and garlic powder
Freshly ground black pepper


Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Cover a big baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray lightly with cooking spray. (Easy clean up, for the win!!)

In a small dish, mix the lime juice, garlic, red pepper, cumin, cilantro and oil. Dip the filets in the mix and place on the baking sheet.

In a medium bowl, toss corn, peppers, and onion. Pour the rest of the marinade over the veggies, toss, and spread on the baking sheet. Dash some onion powder, garlic powder and black pepper over the veggies for some extra flavor.

Place baking sheet in oven for 10-15 minutes until fish is cooked through and veggies are starting to brown. Serve and salivate!

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Much hotter than I expected but I ate it and liked it! Heck, we even convinced Alice to eat some ... With the promise of a Muscle Ball for dessert. It worked and she ate it! I'm good with that!

Challenge-Friendly: YES!

Crockpot Sesame Chicken Lettuce Wraps

I was totally not feeling it today but I was motivated enough by a clean kitchen counter to make my family food for dinner! So I took the easier route and dragged the crockpot out, chopped veggies, defrosted chicken and let it go. Yummy yummy yummy! The house was smelling awesome and it tasted pretty awesome.

My quicker trick today: Tastefully Simple's Toasted Sesame Teriyaki Sauce. Now, I never just pour a full bottle of a sauce into anything anymore so note that a bottle of this awesomeness will last me through 4-8 meals depending. And why am I ok with using TS pre-made "stuff?" Because they use all natural ingredients and no craptastic preservatives ... So using a little of this leaves me with very few qualms!

BTW I totally preferred this over the other Sesame Crockpot Chicken I had made a few posts down. More flavor even with using just a little of the TS sauce. Plus I didn't add grains to this so that helped.

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Crockpot Sesame Chicken Lettuce Wraps

2-4 big boneless skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. ginger
2 tsp. garlic powder
1 tsp. onion powder
Dash of Red Pepper

2 cups tri-colored peppers chopped
1/2 red onion chopped

1/8 c. Tastefully Simple Toasted Teriyaki Sauce
1/2 c. Water

1/8 c. peanuts (non-salted)
1-2 tbsp. sesame seeds

4-6 big lettuce leafs of your choice

Set the crockpot to low cook 8 hours. Chop up the veggies and place in the pot. Sprinkle the spices generously over the chicken breasts and place on top of the veggies.

Mix the teriyaki sauce with the water and pour into the pot. Sprinkle in the peanuts and sesame seeds. Cover and cook. No reason to really stir. You may need to add a touch more water towards the end to keep it moist and move everything around to keep it from sticking.

Shred the finished chicken with two forks while in the pot and mix everything together. Serve in big lettuce leafs. I added broccoli-cut cole slaw mix and rice noodles for some texture and crunch!

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Yummy for sure! I made the mistake of thinking I picked up organic lettuce but instead picked up organic white cabbage ... Needless to say I dumped the stuffing out, added regular lettuce and enjoyed LOL Note to self: don't go grocery shopping for dinner essentials when you aren't having a "with it" day!! Ugh, yes next time it will be lettuce or big ole romaine or something ... Not cabbage leaves. It looks pretty but the cabbage leaves are tough.


Challenge Friendly: Yes. No rice noodles, especially on the cleanse.

Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

I wanted to do some meatballs tonight for pasta instead of my plain ole pan cooked ground turkey. And, of course, I hid veggies in that meaty deliciousness. ;) Birdie even saw me putting the broccoli in but promptly forgot when it came to eating them. WIN! Please note: she also stole about 6 slices of orange bell pepper off my cutting board before dinner; DOUBLE WIN!

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Turkey-Broccoli Meatballs and Pasta

1 lb. Lean Ground Turkey
1/2 c. Broccoli
1/4 red onion - diced fine
3 cloves garlic - minced
1 tbsp. oregano
1 tbsp. basil
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. paprika
Black Pepper

1 c. Whole grain rotini
1/2 c. Tri-peppers - diced
1 clove garlic - minced
1/2 c. Spaghetti sauce

Put the broccoli in the food processor and get it down into little pieces. I like to cut mine down, freeze them, then process so they don't juice themselves to death when processing. Add all the meatball ingredients (Turkey through black pepper) in a bowl and work the mixture like you would prep for meatloaf (really well so it compacts well).

Roll out 1" meatballs. Place directly in a big frying pan - not heated. When they are all placed, turn the heat on medium, cover and let cook about 10 minutes (no oil needed if it's a non-stick pan). You can start turning them after they've been cooking for 5 minutes. There should be lots of liquid built up in the pan from cooking them covered.

Throw in the peppers, rotini and garlic. Add about 1 cup of hot water and cover. Let cook, stirring occasionally, until the pasta is cooked through. Add the spaghetti sauce (and I sliced the meatballs in half to make sure they were cooked through at this time) and cook another few minutes while everything combines with the sauce. Dish and serve!

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You can also do carrots, cauliflower, whatever veggies you want to add to the meatballs. In the future, I also would add spinach leaves to the whole thing when I throw the sauce in to warm and cook just for extra greens. Goooooood stuff!!


Challenge friendly: YES. Max Phase only due to pasta content. Try meatballs over spaghetti squash for Cleanse Phase.

Sweet Potato Hash with Chicken

Well, I made up my Sweet Potato Hash recipe but added chicken instead of sausage this time. Didn't brown the potatoes as much as last time and it still turned out AWESOME. And yes, that is a dollop of BBQ sauce you see on top there ... because that's how I roll! This was Meal #3 out of my 4 chicken I made earlier this week.

Sweet Potato Hash

Mmmmm I LOVE roasted sweet potatoes. As "sweet" as a sweet potato is, there's something to be said for the savory flavor that erupts from combining them with garlic and spices versus butter and brown sugar.

I made this hash up to go with some grilled Spinach & Asiago Chicken Sausages (Artisan Fresh brand from Sam's Club - 140 calories per sausage).
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Sweet Potato Hash

2 sweet medium sweet potatoes
1/2 an onion
1/2 cup tri-pepper mix
2+ cloves of garlic, minced
1-2 tsp. onion powder
1 tsp. Cajun seasoning salt
1 tsp. Red Pepper
3 tbsp. EVOO

Warm a frying pan on high heat with the EVOO. Cube the potatoes into about 1/4 in. cubes (cooks faster in the pan). Throw the potatoes, garlic, and spices in the pan and stir/toss around to get them coated in oil. Turn the heat down to medium and cover, stirring every few minutes. After about 5 minutes, add the onions and peppers. Cover and cook (stirring occasionally) another 5ish more minutes until the largest potato cubes are cooked and soft.

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Don't be afraid of the garlic! It makes it more savory! Also, I threw a dash of Worcestershire at the end to flavor it up more and added Dijon mustard to the whole shebang. Mmm mmm mmm!