Zucchini Boats

Zucchini boats are a great side dish that accompany essentially everything! They're fast and incredibly easy to make. They're also a great way to get picky eaters to eat their veggies as the stuffing masks the flavor of zucchini very well. It's essentially a pizza made with an all zucchini crust! 

Ingredients:

1 zucchini makes 2 boats

Shredded mozzarella

Low sodium/low sugar organic marinara sauce

Directions: 

1.take a zucchini and cut it in half vertically. 

2. Scoop out the inside with a spoon in order to create a hollow crevice. Make sure to leave some "wall" room on both ends to stop any leaks (see in photo).

3. Stuff with whatever you desire! (or use ingredients above)

4. Stick on a baking sheet sprayed with EVOO and place in oven at 375F for 10-15 mins and voila!

I stuffed these with organic low sodium tomato sauce and topped then with some skim shredded mozzarella. I've also stuffed them with meat sauce and Parmesan with great results! So basically whatever you want should work great! Try them out they're so easy, delicious and fast to make!

Clean and Gluten Free Spaghetti and Meatballs

Sometimes, my Italian side of me takes over and all it craves is PASTA PASTA PASTA! During yet another of one of these attacks it was quite specific: spaghetti and meatballs! So I buckled down and throw together some ingredients on a whim and came up with something absolutely delicious and completely clean!

Ingredients: 

Meatballs: 

1/4 cup Mozzarella 

1/3 cup Parmesan 

1 egg 

1 lb lean ground turkey breast 

5-6 large basil leaves, torn 

1 teaspoon oregano 

Little under 1/8 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/2 medium onion diced 

5 organic baby carrots diced 

Pasta: 

1 bag of brown rice spaghetti - can substitute with whole wheat or quinoa pasta if desired

Tomato sauce - I used marinara (organic, low sodium, all natural) 

Parmesan 

Directions: 

1. Add all ingredients to one bowl. 

2. Mix with hand until well mixed. 

3. Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and then spray with no stick spray.

4. Form the mixture into balls and place on baking sheet. 

5. Bake for 25 mins at 375F or until they seem ready. The mozzarella will leak out around the edges a little and slightly brown. This is normal don't worry! 

6. In the mean time cook pasta following directions on bag/box. 

Once the meatballs are done scrape them off the sheet and then add them to the pasta with some tomato sauce and sprinkle on some Parmesan if desired. Enjoy!! 

I made rather big ones so this made a total of 10 meatballs which lasted a while as I use about 3 per serving. You can store the extras in the fridge or freeze!

Gluten Free Tostadas

These tostadas are super easy to make if you're pinched for time and perfect for beating that Mexican food craving. Coming from California, I used to always eat Mexican food so it's a common craving of mine. Thanks to this late night grocery shopping idea I now have a clean and gluten free option to turn too!

Ingredients: 

4 gluten free tostadas (I found mine at a grocery store)

1 lbs of ground extra lean turkey breast 

1 can of low sodium black beans, preferably organic

3 tomatoes diced

1 cup of brown rice 

1/2 onion diced

Italian seasoning 

Tiny tiny tiny bit of sea salt 

Italian 5 cheese shreeded blend 

Shredded cheddar 

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350F

2.Cook brown rice based on package directions 

3. Place diced onion in pan with some EVOO and cook until translucent. 

4. Add turkey breast and cook. Break it into little pieces with the spatula. Add Italian seasoning to taste as well as sea salt to taste. 

5. Drain and rinse black beans and cook according to directions. Once cooked, mash them to make them similar to re-fried beans. 

6. Place tortillas in oven at 350F for about 6-7 mins or until they're golden. 

7. Once everything is cooked and diced add all to tostadas. I did beans on bottom, followed by rice, followed by turkey, followed by tomatoes and then topped with cheese as desired! 

Delicious and actually very simple to make. Next time I'll add some shredded lettuce and some homemade guacamole if I have it!

Creamy Avocado Pasta with Lemon Turkey Tenderloin

Perfect for dinner or a lazy sunday lunch!

It's pasta topped with a creamy avocado sauce and some lemon turkey tenderloin. This avocado sauce is oh so creamy and oh so rich that you won't believe there's no cream in it! 

The whole meal took a total of 40 mins to make all this including prep so it's super easy. 

Lemon turkey tenderloin: 
4 small turkey tenderloin slices 
Juice of 1 organic lemon
 Pinch of Italian seasoning 
Pinch of garlic powder 
1/2 tbsp of EVOO per tenderloin 

Directions: 
1. Preheat oven to 350F 
2. Roll each tenderloin in lemon juice and EVOO 
3. Sprinkle both sides with Italian seasoning and garlic powder 
4. Place on a baking sheet covered in aluminum foil and bake for about 30 mins (may need to add more or less depending on thickness of the turkey) 

The recipe for the "Creamy Avocado Pasta Sauce" (direct link to recipe) is posted on ohsheglows.com. Only thing I did differently was only use 1 garlic clove cuz I'm a baby when it comes to garlic :P 

I cooked gluten free pasta based on package directions and then added the sauce to the pot after I drained the pasta of course and stirred it up real well and then plated it with the turkey on top! And voila! Oh so good and oh so healthy. Filled with healthy fats, good carbs and tons of lean protein.

Quinoa pasta with kale, mushrooms and tomatoes

Being on vacation is not an excuse for me to stop reaching for my goals. I 100% approve taking breaks and allowing yourself to indulge every once or in awhile or if desired. However, I indulged all of last week so I decided to keep this week as clean as I could. In order to do so, I made sure to go grocery shopping and pick up a few essential here and there so I could make my own clean meals.

For lunch today I was starving so I used up a few things in our fridge and came up with this DELICIOUS creation.

Ingredients:

Kale

Mushrooms

Tomatoes

Quinoa tri color spiral pasta

Dash of oregano

Tiny bit of EVOO (extra virgin olive oil)

Directions:

1. Cook pasta according to directions.

2. As pasta is cooking, start chopping mushrooms and tomatoes while warming up a pan with some EVOO.

3. Add mushrooms to pan and sauté until golden.

4. Add kale and continue cooking until its wilted. You can add a lot, it really shrivels up! I did not add nearly enough

5. Add tomatoes at the very end to just warm them

6. Add oregano and stir to make sure it is absorbed.

7. Top pasta with veggies and if desired add some freshly shaved parmesan and a drop of oil to allow it to all come together.

Voila! 

Takes a total of 10 minutes including pasta cook time to make and is packed with nutrients. Kale is a superfood and this is an easy way to add it to a daily dish to elevate it to the next nutrient level!

Oh and for all my gluten sensitive or gluten free friends this IS gluten free so dig in!