Thrown Together But Scrumptious 

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With my busy routine of eating six meals each day, getting to the gym, going to work, attending our son’s sporting activities, cooking, grocery shopping and more, I rarely cook daily meals.  Sunday is my meal prep day and also the day I cook for the week for my family.

Rarely do I have the luxury to cook in the middle of the week.

Yesterday I was craving a burger so bad, that I contemplated eating a beef burger!  Yowza!  That is insane for me.  December 1994 or 1996 (I forget) was when I gave up red meat.  I haven’t had a steak or hamburger since.

My craving led me to the grocery store.  I bought salmon and ground turkey.   Last night I cooked the salmon.

 

Slamon, Kale/collard mix, baked sweet potato

 
Tho I desperately craved biting into a thick and juicy turkey burger, last night I was too tired to season and make the ground turkey. 

Today I still craved the burger. 🙂 Lol!

Before you ask, I am listing the ingredients.  I did not measure.  Sorry. 😦

  • 3 lbs of ground turkey
  • 3 eggs
  • Olive oil
  • Spicy Brown Mustard (approximately 1/4 cup)
  • Minced elephant garlic – 1/2 of a large clove
  • 1 sweet red pepper
  • 1 orange bell pepper
  • Granulated garlic powder
  • Black pepper
  • Sweet Spanish Papirika ( a dash)
  • Lowry’s Season Salt (a dash)
  • McCormick Grillmates Brown Sugar Bourbon (PLENTY)
  • Kikkoman Panko Japanese Style Bread Crumbs (at least 1 cup but not 2
  • *I usually mix a small can of tomatoe sauce with 1 Tbs. of mustard, 1 Tbs. of brown sugar and 1 Tbs. of lemon juice together.  I add half to the uncooked turkey meat and then spoon the remaining over the top of each burger, but I was in a hurry so I skipped this.  This mixture keeps the turkey nice and moist)

I thoroughly mixed everything together and used my old plastic Tupperware burger thingies to make perfectly thick shaped burgers. 

Plastic tupperware burger makers

 

I used a foiled covered cooking sheet and sprayed with olive oil.

Depending on your oven, you may need to cook them longer or shorter.  I broiled the burgers on low for 30 minutes, flipped them and let them cook for another 15 min.  

The mixture made 11 burgers; six in one pan, five in the other. 

 

I was chomping at the bits for these babies to cook!  Lol!

Since I rarely eat hamburger rolls and I was all out of Ezekial McMuffins, I pondered for a minute on how to hook them up.

The result?

Place the burger on a bed of baby leaf spinach, add a half of an avocado and top it with fresh hot salsa!  Oh man!!  That was delicious.  I could have also made a guacamole dip to put on the burger, but I was in a hurry!   I took a spin class this morning and was due for my meal.  🙂 

This quick meal is just another example of no fuss yet nutritious meal.  There are enough burgers for dinner too! #Love

Give it a try, you might like it.  If you like what you see here, please follow Lexa’s Journal and share.  Expect more healthy living inspiration in 2016! 

Thanks for dropping in. 🙂

  

Snap Out Of The Recipe Rut

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When the mood strikes me to cook, get out of my kitchen!  Occasionally I get tired of eating the same food and have the time to try something new.

Sunday was the case. I cooked roasted peppers, quinoa stuffed peppers, brussels sprouts, broccoli, sea scallops, a small piece of salmon, baked drum sticks (for my family), center cut pork loin (for me), and plain oven baked sweet potatoes (for me).  Lol!  Was in the kitchen from 1:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.  On the brighter side- By 7:00 p.m., my meal prep was completed for the week.  High 5!!

If you’re stuck in a recipe rut, I don’t have the answers, but Pinterest does… at least for me.  On Pinterest, I can find everything, so if you’re stuck, just search a favorite ingredient like avocado, quinoa, yams, rice, or whatever you’re into.

How do I go about selecting a new recipe? I look for:

  • a nutritious recipe or at least one I can change & make healthier
  • a recipe that has at least one or two main ingredients that I favor
  • an attractive dish; something that is pretty to look at
  • prep time – How much time do I have to spend cooking and how much time do I want to spend on cooking the dish
  • unconventional usage of an ingredient

Here are few of my favorites:

Recently I tried this Quinoa Stuffed Peppers

red stuffed pepper

Stuffed pepper before baking

yellow stuffed pepper

After baking. See what I mean about looking pretty?  How could you not want to eat something so colorful and appetizing?!

To make food interesting, sometimes it’s just a matter of preparing the food in a different way or swapping out ingredients to infuse the dish with a new flavor.

I now favor my broccoli roasted with fresh garlic and olive oil. I‘ve fallen in love with it oven cooked, plus it is less likely to overcook in the oven than stove top. This method is no fuss, quick, nutritious, and delish!  Once you go “oven style,” you won’t go back!  🙂

This Caribbean Salad is beautiful!  I can’t wait to try this one!!

Image & recipe courtesy of bestrecipes.com

Image & recipe courtesy of bestrecipes.com

Lastly, be open to try new foods.  I’m eating food that I didn’t know existed a few years ago.

One of my favorite easy go to is baked spaghetti squash.  First of all, it’s no fuss cooking. Second, it’s mild in flavor so you can mix it with just about anything.  Third, it’s like eating FREE FOOD!!  Lol!

1 Serving ( 250 ml/ 1 cup) of Spaghetti Squash is 33 calories and only 5 grams of calories from fat!

Protein:  .6g

Fat:         .6g

Carbs:    6.9g

Come on!!  Why wouldn’t you eat this!  Add grilled shrimp, salmon, sea scallops, or whatever else you chose and you’ll have the most delightful meal!

Wait one more!! I don’t eat ice cream and haven’t for many years now.  Recently I tried a new recipe and Lawd!!   I’m in trouble!!

Frozen Bananas
Organic Cacao Powder
Organic Coconut Milk
Nutritional Information
Ice-Cream!

I couldn’t wait for my “Healthy” ice-cream to completely freeze, but it was OUTSTANDING!!  My version of chocolate ice-cream is from, where else but Pinterest.  I ran out of peanut butter, so I added a two teaspoons of the coconut milk.  There’s a lot of fat in the coconut milk. 

  

Delicious!!  🙂 

I hope that I’ve inspired you to try and to seek out new recipes.   If you are on a journey to improve your lifestyle by getting fit and eating smarter replacing your old recipes with cleaner and more nutritious ones is an excellent first step.

Be encouraged and make it a fabulous day! 🙂

Try This Dish For Dinner

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My kitchen was a mess but the food was well worth the time. I’ve said it before, Pinterest is one of my favorite sites to discover new recipes.  Being a visual person, I’m attracted to the pretty images of food.  I scroll through boards looking for pretty dishes.

Today I made two new dishes and they were wonderful! The Mexican Quinoa Burger immediately snagged my attention.  I’m no professional photographer, but to me, the photo was picture perfect. Once I read the ingredients, I pinned the recipe to my Healthy Eating board, but it found it on cookingquinoa.net’s board.

The ingredients..

black beans

The recipe called for cooked black beans.  I used Shoprite organic can beans and rinsed them in cold water.

chilli seasoning

I forgot the “taco” seasoning, so I used “chili” seasoning instead.  I hated using the processed package, but used less than half the package.

onions peppers garlic

Onions, red peppers, and fresh minced garlic

panko box

I’m so glad I learned about these bread crumbs!

pepper jack

Mmm.. the flavor and kick of Pepper Jack Cheese!

salsa

Shoprite has a fresh hot salsa that is the best.  If you don’t have the time to make salsa, this is the next best thing.  It doesn’t have preservatives and spoils quickly.  It’s good on any kind of crackers or bread with cheese.

quinoa

Cooked Quinoa

smoked paprika

Gorgeous right! Lol!  Smoked Paprika! Your mouth should be watering about now.

bowl mixture

Mixing all the ingredients together.

burgers

The recipe made six hearty meatless and delicious burgers exactly like it said.

The other recipe has my mouth-watering just thinking about it.

Avocado Cilantro Lime Rice! I know where I found the recipe, but I don’t know who first came up with it.  I am just thankful that I discovered this dish on Cooking Classy! If you like avocados, limes, and cilantro… this recipe is for YOU! You have to try it; it’s so easy.  All you need is:

brown rice

Day old brown rice, but I had to cook a fresh pot of rice.

Avocado

ripe avocados and fresh lime juice.

cilantro

Fresh Cilantro

I got so excited that I forgot to take pictures of the cumin and minced garlic, but you know what that looks like.  Anyways, the final product is the most delightful and refreshing rice that I have ever eaten.

I also cooked grilled bourbon flavor chicken drumsticks for my family and grilled curry chicken breast for me.

Yeah, the hazard of eating different from your family is cooking two sets of meals (not always, but sometimes).

While cooking and making a complete mess in the kitchen, I danced to the beat of calypso and reggae music. I call it happy music because, the rhythm and lyrics are upbeat and keeps me dancing… making cooking so much more fun.  Before I know it, time has slipped by and I’ve cooked a bunch of food.

So here is what I ate and it was AMAZING!

dinner

Please visit both websites and try the recipes.  Who says eating healthy is boring? “They” haven’t tried it yet, I suggest you give it a shot.

I can’t wait to eat tomorrow’s leftovers.  🙂