Cocoa Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

I am always on the lookout for quick, healthy snacks... and the ones that I can bring with me "on the go" get bonus points! I don't consider my diet "clean" although I do try to eat as clean as possible when I can. Where am I going with this? Well I kept seeing these amazingly delicious looking cocoa almonds all over Instagram. All these health/fitness buffs were finding the huge canisters of them at Sam's Club and honestly, I think they are hoarding them because I can't find them there =( I did find the regular sized cans and 100 calorie packs at Target (my home away from home!). I snagged them the second I saw them...They taste like heaven. I figured if all of these health nuts on Instagram were hoarding them, they couldn't be too bad for me. To my surprise (because of how delicious they are) they had hardly any sodium or sugar which is AWESOME... but I decided I wanted to try to make my own.

I bought the cocoa and the cinnamon versions and both were REALLY good... but I thought a cocoa AND cinnamon version would be amazing... so that's what I made.

Cocoa Cinnamon Roasted Almonds

5-6 Cups RAW almonds
1-2 Tbsp coconut oil (just to coat almonds for coating to stick)
1/4 Cups unsweetened cocoa (I used Hersheys and I "eyeballed" it)
Cinnamon to taste (I was generous and used probably a couple teaspoons... I like cinnamon!)
1 tsp sugar

In a large mixing bowl I combined the almonds and coconut oil until the almonds were coated evenly. Add cocoa and cinnamon and mix well coating all of the almonds evenly. Bake at 400 degrees for about 15-20 minutes

This is another recipe you could have many variations of. Have fun with it!

Chicken Meatballs

As you know, I have been on a meal prepping mission any Sunday that I have the time. It gets really hard to come up with new things that will stay fresh since I prep for the week. Regular old chicken breasts are getting a little old, so this week I decided to try meatballs with ground chicken and I am definitely goign to do them again! They are delish!

Ground Chicken Meatballs

1lb ground chicken
1 cup fresh baby spinach
1/4 small red onion
1 egg
2 tbsp BBQ Sauce (I went light, but next time I will probably add a little more)

Mixed all ingredients in a mixing bowl and made into 6 equal sized meatballs. Baked at 400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

They don't look that appetizing in this picture, but I ate them with boiled broccoli and cauliflower and a little bbq sauce over the top and they were MMM MMM good! Totally making them again, I might try ground turkey next time!

My "famous" salsa

I call my salsa recipe "famous" because people LOVE it... I mean LOVE... its like crack salsa. People are always asking me to bring it to parties and raving about it. I am a salsa FREAK and I love it, but it makes me happy that other people love it too!

The original recipe is a "copy cat" of a Chili's salsa recipe I found online... I just added a couple of ingredients, so I feel like its my OWN!

http://www.copykat.com/2009/03/27/chilis-salsa/

"Famous" Salsa Recipe

1 handful of cilantro
1 jalepeno
1/2 white onion
2 tbsp lime juice (give or take, I am not really sure how much, I just squeeze a few times around the bowl)
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can diced tomatoes with green chilis and mexican seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp sugar

Blend jalepeno, cilantro, onion, lime and all of the spices in the food processor, add both cans of tomatoes, blend more and VIOLA... the best salsa ever!

Sunday Meal Prep

WHERE does the weekend go? Seriously… weekends at home are so busy anymore, it makes it hard to throw anything fun in the mix because everything at home seems to fall behind… but the fun stuff is worth it!
Last weekend was pretty busy, so I didn’t get to do as much of my meal prep as I like to do normally. Meal prep is great because it keeps me from blindly grabbing things out of the fridge in a rush in the mornings before work and better yet, it keeps me from eating out too much. So, while it’s a couple hours of WORK on a Sunday, I actually really enjoy doing it and it keeps me on track throughout the week.
I just started prepping my own food for the whole week at a time… so honestly, I don’t have a whole lot of variety just yet. Also, my little family doesn’t really like the same stuff I do, so I usually make them something quick and as healthy as I can get with them as they are pretty picky eaters : /
I normally prep snacks and my protein shakes (which I blend up w/ ice, strawberries and bananas) in the mornings as I go… so the stuff I do on Sunday is normally mostly lunches and dinners… and I keep it pretty simple.
This past Sunday I prepped ground turkey taco salads

With homemade salsa


Egg white cups

Spaghetti squash with chorizo chicken sausage


And roasted almonds with cocoa, cinnamon and a little coconut oil (recipe to follow!)

All with help from my little helper…

Baked Apple Chips

The worlds easiest, most delicious, HEALTHY snack...

Baked Apple Chips

Ingredients...

Apples

That's it.

You could season them up with cinnamon and even some brown sugar if you wanted, but these babies are delicious just baked on their own.

I sliced them on the thinnest setting on my mandolin and baked them on a cooling rack on a baking sheet at 250 degrees for 50 minutes... perfect!

Banana Oatmeal Chocolate Chip "Muffins"

I have to start off by saying these are the healthiest muffins I have come acrossed... they are basically a bowl of oatmeal baked in a muffin tin and they are DELICIOUS!!!!

I got the recipe from Pinterest (seriously an addiction... but that's a whole other post!)

Here's the link to the website w/ the recipe itself.

Banana Chocolate Chip Baked Oatmeal Cups

3 cups Old Fashioned Oats (I used quick cooking)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 egg whites
1 whole egg
1 1/4 cup milk
2 mashed bananas
1 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup semi sweet chocolate chips (you could also use raisins, dried cranberries, etc)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly mist a muffin tin with cooking spray.
2. Combine oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl and stir until mixed well.
3. In a seperate bowl, whisk together egg whites, egg, mashed banana, milk and vanilla. Add mixture to dry ingredients and stir until blended together. Mix in chocolate chips.
4. Use measuring cup to pour mixture evenly into muffin tin. Bake 18-22 minutes or until oatmeal is lightly browned and a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

These things are freaking DELICOUS! I definitely want to try different variations... apple cinnamon comes to mind =)

Baked Cranberry Brie

I made this Baked Cranberry Brie the first time for a little impromptu wine party I had with a few of my girlfriends… I found it on Pinterest! (I LOVE PINTEREST!)

It was so easy to make and everyone absolutely loved it! I’ve made it twice for parties since then. It’s definitely a crowd pleaser!

Toasting the pecans

The maple glaze

MMMMMMM!

The finished product! It would also be really good with a baguette or pita chips!

Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake

I started making Paula Deen’s Pumpkin Gooey Butter Cake… gosh, it had to be over 5 years ago. I found the recipe on the Food Network site and everyone has been raving over it and requesting it ever since.
This cake is NOT healthy, by any means, but it’s well worth the splurge!

Sorry, TOTALLY spaced on taking a pic of the end product with Cool Whip before inhaling it!

Two words - Spaghetti Squash

I am loving this stuff! I haven't done anything exceptional with it, usually I just season it up with olive oil, salt and pepper, roast it in the oven for about 30-45 minutes, break up with a fork and/or tongs and viola!

I'm the only one that will eat it in our house, so there's always tons leftover. I like to sauté onions, bell pepper, baby spinach and a chicken sausage and throw it on top... Sometimes I add spaghetti sauce or feta cheese too. So good and good for you.

I've been seeing some recipes for spaghetti squash on Pinterest that I'd like to try as well... Spaghetti squash and zucchini bake... Yes please! That recipe includes pasta sauce and mozzarella! So versatile!

Here are some of my recent "creations"...

Pumpkin Oatmeal

As promised, here's my Pumpkin Oatmeal "recipe"

1/2 C quick cooking oats
1/2 tsp brown sugar
1/4tsp cinnamon (that's just a guess... use your best judgement here, I like a lot!)
2 tbsp pumpkin puree
1 C water

Mix ingredients and microwave for 1 1/2 - 2 minutes.

Fall in a bowl!

You can even add goodies like chocolate chips, almonds, pecans, etc.

Mexican Pizza

Tonight I wanted to make something delicious, but still healthy! Especially since I didn't work out.

I was stalking Pinterest looking for something good and I stumbled on a "Copy Cat Mexican Pizza", I knew it was something I could easily lighten up, so it was a winner!

Ingredients:
1lb lean ground beef
Taco seasoning (I just threw my own spices in with the meat, way less sodium that way. I used cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, chili powder, salt and red pepper flakes)
Whole grain tortillas (I used one for mine)
Vegetarian refried beans (just a thin layer spread over the tortilla)
La Victoria salsa in a jar
Grated cheese
Lettuce (all I had was iceburg, but romaine would have been my first choice!)
Tomato (I was out of fresh tomato)

For fun I threw thinly sliced red bell pepper, red onion and avocado on mine.

Preheat the oven to 425.

Brown the ground beef
Layer the beans, salsa, meat, cheese, onions and peppers on the tortilla and bake for 8-10 minutes or until the tortilla is crisp around the edges.
Add lettuce, tomato, avacado and salsa and VIOLA!

A delicious, easy weeknight meal!

Healthy Brown Rice Salad

Hi there! I guess I better start posting over here, huh?

Over the weekend we had a little impromtu Labor Day BBQ with some friends. My hubby was dying to make bacon wrapped chicken breasts smothered in bbq sauce on the grill. I wanted to make something healthy to go with the chicken, but something other than a green salad, which we almost always have.

I thought a cold brown rice salad sounded absolutely perfect. I wasn't quite sure how it was going to turn out, but to my surprise, it was delicious!

Ingredients:
2 cups brown rice
1 chicken bullion cube
1 green bell pepper
1/2 medium red onion
1 can of black beans
1 can of corn
1/4 cup of fresh squeezed lime juice
1/4 - 1/2 cup olive oil
salt and cracked black pepper to taste

I cooked the rice per the instructions on the bag. I threw the bullion cube in once the water came to a boil, covered with foil and the lid and let simmer for 50 minutes. I let the rice cool before adding the dressing and veggies.

Definitely making this again!