Italian Meatloaf

   I'm going to try a little experiment. In an effort to improve my homemaking skills, and get more familiar with Paleo recipes, I have picked out 30 that I want to try for the next 30 days. I will start with this one. I'll let you know what I think!


  

Italian Meatloaf

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 40 mins

Total time: 50 mins

Serves: 3-4

Ingredients

• For the meatloaf
• 1lb grass fed ground beef
• 1 yellow onion, diced
• 1 roasted red pepper, diced
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 egg, whisked
• 3/4 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste
• olive oil, for sauteing
• For the sauce
• 3/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• salt and pepper, to taste
• fresh basil, chopped (to top-optional)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Place a medium skillet over medium heat and add a tablespoon or two of olive oil. Then add your onions and roasted red pepper to the pan.
3. Cook until onions have become soft and translucent.
4. Once they are done cooking, add them to a bowl along with the rest of the ingredients for your meatloaf and use your hands to mix it all together.
5. Press ingredients into a bread pan and baking for 35-40 minutes.
6. Once your meatloaf is almost done cooking, add your sauce ingredients to a saucepan to heat up until slightly bubbly.
7. Let meatloaf cool slightly then add sauce on top. Top with some fresh basil.
8. Then eat it all up!

I got this recipe here. I love this girl! She is really funny and a really great cook. I am going to make 30 of her recipes for the next 30 days. Get ready for all here

Healthy Baked Chicken Nuggets

source: skinnytaste.com

I found this recipe on skinnytaste.com, a blog full of healthy and delicious recipes. These are so simple to prepare and I have more peace of mind giving these to my kiddos in comparison to the processed nuggets you can pick up at a fast food restaurant.

Ingredients:

• 16 oz (2 large) skinless boneless chicken breasts, cut into even bit sized pieces
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 6 tbsp whole wheat Italian seasoned breadcrumbs
• 2 tbsp panko
• 2 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
• olive oil spray

Preheat oven to 425°. Spray a baking sheet with olive oil spray.

Put the olive oil in one bowl and the breadcrumbs, panko and parmesan cheese in another.

Season chicken with salt and pepper, then put in the bowl with the olive oil and mix well so the olive oil evenly coats all of the chicken.

Put a few chunks of chicken at a time into the breadcrumb mixture to coat, then on the baking sheet. Lightly spray the top with olive oil spray then bake 8 - 10 minutes. Turn over then cook another 4 - 5 minutes or until cooked though.

PB and Apple Greek Yogurt

I love clean food. I am happier and feel better when I fuel my body with healthy foods. This is a delicious snack that satisfies my late night munchies.

Ingredients:

1 dropper full of liquid stevia
4-6 drops of caramel extract
1 tbsp natural peanut butter or 1 tbsp PB2
1 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
1/2-1 apple, diced. Any flavor, I like fuji or granny smith
honey (local-raw, or natural)

Directions:

Scoop  yogurt into a bowl. Add liquid stevia. Once I have added the stevia I use the same dropper to distribute my extract, otherwise the extract is hard to control because it comes out of the bottle too quickly. I wash the dropper and return it to the stevia bottle. Stir in the peanut butter until smooth. Top with diced apples and a drizzle of honey.

Skinny Sweet and Sour Chicken

Source: skinnymom.com

This is so yummy! I LOVE Chinese food but rarely eat it because I cringe when I think about how unhealthy it is.  This is a MUCH healthier alternative. It is a simple and delicious meal that I will be making often. We served this on top of brown rice.

Ingredients:
CHICKEN:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless, chicken breats
• 3/4 cup cornstarch
• 1/2 cup eggbeaters or 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup olive oil

SAUCE:

• 3/4 cup Splenda (many people steer clear of Splenda, but I think it is fine in moderation and we rarely eat it)
• 1/4 cup reduced-Sugar Ketchup, I used Heinz reduced sugar ketchup. I like to buy ketchup with no high-fructose corn syrup in the ingredients.
• 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy Sauce
• 1 tsp garlic salt

Directions:
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat

Cut the chicken breasts into 1-inch pieces

Place the cornstarch in a gallon-sized ziploc bag. Put the chicken into the bag with the cornstarch and seal, tossing to coat the chicken.

Pour your eggbeaters into a shallow bowl. Dip the cornstarch-coated chicken pieces in the egg.

Place the coated chicken pieces in a single layer in the hot skillet. Cook for 1-2 minutes and then flip each piece over to cook on the other side until nicely golden brown but not cooked all the way through

Place browned chicken pieces in a baking dish

Mix the sauce ingredients together in a medium bowl and pour over the chicken in the baking dish

Bake at 325F for approximately one hour – turning the chicken once or twice while cooking to coat evenly with sauce. WARNING: the vinegar smell during the beginning of the baking time is SCARY. I promise you it does not taste like it smells while cooking.

Banana Cheesecake Smoothie

Serving size: 1 (can easily be shared with another person because it makes so much!)

This. Is. Awesome! A new favorite.

Ingredients:
*1/2 frozen banana, cut into chunks
*1 cup unsweetened almond milk
*2tbsp low-fat cream cheese (I used fat free)
*1 scoop vanilla protein powder
*6 tbsp pasteurized liquid egg whites
*1 tsp vanilla extract
*1/4 tsp butter extract
*stevia to taste
*1/8 tsp xanthum gum

Instructions:

1. Pour milk in blender. Break In banana and add in cream cheese. Add remaining ingredients. Add enough ice to get the consistency you want. If  you want it sweeter , you can add 1/4 banana or 1 tbsp sugar-free cheesecake and/or banana pudding powder mix. I did not need to add anything to mine

P.F. Chang’s Lettuce Wraps

I got this recipe here.

Serves 2-3
Ingredients:
1lb ground chicken breast
1/2 medium onion, minced
salt & pepper, a dash of each
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 inch nob fresh ginger, peeled & minced
1 Tablespoon sesame oil
2 1/2 Tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 Tablespoon water
1 Tablespoon natural peanut butter
1/2 Tablespoon honey
1 Tablespoons + 1 teaspoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons chili garlic sauce (or more if you like it hotter)
dash of fresh pepper
3 green onions, chopped
1/2-8oz can sliced water chestnuts, drained & chopped
1/4 cup peanuts, chopped
10-12 large outer lettuce leaves, rinsed and patted dry
Directions:
1. Heat a large, non-stick skillet on high. Add chicken, onion, salt & pepper, and cook until chicken is nearly done, stirring often to break up the meat. Add in minced garlic and ginger, and continue cooking until chicken is no longer pink.

2. Meanwhile, in a microwave safe bowl, combine sesame oil, soy sauce, water, peanut butter, honey, rice vinegar, chili garlic sauce and pepper. Microwave for 20 seconds, then stir until smooth. Add into the skillet and stir to combine.

3 Add green onion and water chestnuts into the skillet then cook for 1-2 minutes until the onions are soft and the water chestnuts are heated through.

4. Sprinkle with chopped peanuts, and serve with cold lettuce leaves

I die. I die for this dish! It is FANtastic, and so much lighter than PFC’s!

Salty, crunchy and crispy – fun too! Simply pile the chicken mixture onto a lettuce leaf,

roll,

and chomp. AWESOME. The fuller you stuff ‘em, the better, too. My first wrap was kind of weak sauce, so I really jammed the filling in with the others. Much better!

The water chestnuts in the mixture are a total must, in my opinion. They add a fabulous crispness and texture to the filling, that you wouldn’t get by just using ground chicken alone. You have to make these!

Banana Orange Protein Julius

Makes 2 smoothies
Ingredients:

• 1 banana
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1/2 cup egg white substitute (make sure they are pasteurized)
• 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
• 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1/2 tbs vanilla extract
• 1 tbs sugar-free vanilla pudding powder
• xylitol or stevia to taste
• 4-6 ice cubes

Directions:
Place all ingredients in the blender. Add ice and blend til it reaches a smooth consistency.

source:http://jen-fits-playground.com
photo: concord foods