Clean Eating Lunch for the Week: 3 Ingredient Crockpot Beans and Chicken

 Last Sunday I got back from [sunny, warm, beautiful] San Diego at midnight and was panicked because a) I was having a life-crisis figuring out why I live in cold DC;   b) I gained approximately 10 lbs eating and drinking my way through San Diego for 4 days;  c) I was on the verge of overdrafting my bank account from problem b; and d) because of problem b and c there was no way I was going to eat out that week. What to do what to do? All I had in the pantry was 1 can of black beans, 1 can of Rotel Diced Tomatoes (medium heat), and a pound of chicken breasts in the freezer. What's that saying? When in doubt throw everything in a crockpot? Is that a saying? K well that's what I did and came up with this gem for my lunch for the week!

 Servings: 5
Prep Time: 0
Cook Time: 5 [crockpot] hours

Ingredients:

• 1 lb chicken breasts, thawed ($3.50)
• 1 14 oz can black beans ($.99)
• 1 14 oz can Rotel Diced Tomatoes ($1.50)
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder

 Throw everything in the crockpot on high for 5 hours. Ha. How easy is that.

Ok I lied a little above, I also had a bag of wilted spinach and half a jar of salsa, which I topped my meal with each day. Other topping ideas: Greek Yogurt, onions, fresh tomatoes, jalapenos.

For 1 serving

PS Need a little Monday inspiration? Check out my fav Oscar acceptance speeches: Lupita's,  Jared's and Matt's. Really how perfect is Lupita? How lucky are young girls to be growing up watching women like Lupita and Jennifer Lawrence huh? Oh and was anyone else a little pissed that according to the Oscars you have to be a male to be a hero? I mean I guess putting 4 shots of J. Law qualifies.....


Linking up today with Motivation Monday and

Clean Eating Feta and Spinach Stuffed Turkey Sliders

Oh hey just got back from San Diego..could not be happier to land back in DC as we await another blast of winter, and of course return to work (sarcasm x 10). San Diego was so beautiful, and I don't even want to talk about the fact that my friend can see the beach from her house and pays less rent than I do in DC. We stayed right outside the city in Encinitas and soaked up sun (I even got to wear  new sunglasses) and got in quality time with my best friends from college. I'm proud of us because we even did a morning of triathalon training!

Anyway last week we ate this little tiny turkey sliders stuffed with spinach and feta and they were awesome! We put them on Udi's Rolls (one of my favorite gluten free bread options) and enjoyed a little Greek-ish supper.

Servings: 3 (2 sliders per person)
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 3/4 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 1 egg
• optional: 2 tablespoons panko breadcrumbs (helps hold the patties together- totally not necessary)
• 1/4 medium red onion, diced
  1/3 cup crumbled Feta ($2.50)
• 1 cup fresh spinach
• 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon parsley
• 1 tablespoon garlic powder
• 1 tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• For slider toppings: tomato slices, onion slices, lettuce and hummus (we used garlic hummus of course)

Chop the spinach and saute in a small frying pan- I do this by heating the chopped spinach with 1/4 cup of water over medium heat for about 3 minutes, stirring the entire time so the spinach doesn't get stuck to the pan.

Combine the ground turkey with the sea salt, black pepper, onion powder, garlic powder, 1 tablespoon of parsley, the egg and te panko crumbs (if you're using them) and mix together.

Using 2/3 the turkey mixture, form little bowls (see the picture below). Fill each bowl with feta, diced onion, parsley, and sauteed spinach.

Use the remaining turkey to make little "lids" for the turkey bowls. Make sure to pinch the top turkey piece and "turkey bowl" together so there are no openings or holes (gotta make sure nothing oozes out during the cooking).

Cook the sliders in a non-stick pan covered over medium heat, about 8-10 minutes on each side. Serve with rolls, tomato slices, onion slices, lettuce and hummus and enjoy!

Turkey Bowls!

Turkey bowls topped off

this nutrition information is just for the sliders- does not include the roll or any toppings

Bonus: Encinitas sunsets. I'm moving.

06691ec24e4459cc9334591ccc11f38d92d35f95b856fed8e3

Party Chili! Crockpot Tequila Lime Chili

I call this "Party Chili" because it has tequila- yes, actual tequila- in it. Even though I'm pretty sure the crockpot burns off the alcohol in the tequila, it just feels scandalous eating this chili at work every day. It's also delicious, filling, and clean (minus the tequila- but hey tequila is gluten free soo..)

Here's the recipe for the party in a crockpot, that you can take to work with you (bwahaha)

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 6 hours (in the crockpot)
Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 1/4 cup chicken broth
• 1 large onion, minced ($.90)
• 1 green pepper, diced ($.90)
• 1 jalapeno, diced ($.80)
• 2 Tablespoons tomato paste ($.90)
• 5 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 Tablespoon ground cumin
• 2 Tablespoon chili powder (separated)
• 1 can (14.5 oz) diced tomatoes ($1.50)
• 1 large can (20 oz) crushed tomatoes($1.50)
• 1 can pinto beans ($1)
• 1/2 cup tequila
• 1/4 cup honey
• 1 baby can (5 ozs) green chiles
• 1 lime of lime juice ($.75)

In a large frying pan, saute the onions and pepper over medium heat for about 3 minutes. Add garlic and jalapeno for another  2 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the chicken broth and ground turkey and cook (still at medium heat) until browned.

Add in the tomato paste, half the cumin and half the chili powder to the frying pan and continue to cook over medium heat for another 5 minutes. Dump the ingredients into the crockpot. Add the diced tomatoes, crushed tomatoes, beans, tequila, honey, green chilis, lime juice and remaining spices. Cook on low for 8 hours or high for 5 hours.

P.S: Looking for a crockpot? I bought mine for $6 at Goodwill!! True story! If you don't trust used crockpots (no judgement), Amazon has great deals- here's what I would buy if I had a budget for kitchen items:

Snacky Saturday: Clean Eating CHILI CHEESE FRIES

Confession: I love fake cheese, especially fake cheese on top of fake chili on top of greasy fries- with lots and lots of fake cheese. Like, the faker the cheese the better. I hate baseball but you can find me at a Nat's game any day shoving through the crowd at the concession stand for some of that disgusting liquid nacho cheese. OMG and Velveeta! So needless to say chili cheese fries are a major point of weakness for me.

So I had lots of Turkey Chili leftover from the polar vortex weekend and came up with this. While there is no fake liquid cheese involved it truly hit the spot, and major bonus: not waking up in the middle of the night with heartburn, cramps, and horrible things going on inside my stomach. And you know what? It was really filling because of all the protein and fiber.

And just look how the nutrition facts stack up against each other:

Sonic Chili Cheese Fries

Broke and Bougie Chili Cheese Fries

Servings: 1
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients

• 1.5 cups leftover Crockpot Turkey Chili 
• 1/2 large sweet potato ($.50)
• 1 slice avocado ($.25)
• 1/8 cup mozzarella cheese ($.50)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1-2 scoops reduced fat Greek Yogurt
• Juice of half lime ($.30)

Make the sweet potato fries- this time I used the mandolin to make large slices of the sweet potatoes and cut those into fries. Took a lot less muscle.

Once the fries are cooked pile them together on the baking sheet, scoop the chili on top of the fries, top with cheese, and return to the oven (at 450 degrees) for ten minutes.

Top with lime juice, garlic powder, Greek Yogurt and avocado. Enjoy!!

Sliced these with a mandolin

And cut them into these!

Clean Eating SLOPPY JOES!

Really who doesn't love a good sloppy joe? I really thought the ole sloppy joe would be a distant memory when I started clean eating, but boy was I wrong. These were a hit- I loved them and so did the BF. Unfortunately I made these on New Year's Adam (aka the day before New Year's Eve) and I attempted to eat the leftovers on New Year's Day...big mistake due to a massive hangover that made my stomach unable to hold down any food. Or water. Or Powerade. So the moral of the story: these are great sloppy joes and make great leftovers, as long as you don't eat said leftovers on National Hangover Day.

Sidenote: These were really easy to make. I was really surprised. You know when you're little and you are eating something as good as sloppy joes and you imagine your parents spending hours giving it all these flavors? I mean maybe my mom did spend hours, but we don't have to thanks to this recipe!

Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 15 mins

Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 1 onion, diced ($.80)
• 1 green bell pepper, diced ($.90)
• 3 Tablespoons honey
• 1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder (if you don't love garlic as much as me definitely go for a little less)
• 1 can no sugar added natural tomato sauce ($1.50)
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste ($1.00)
• 1 Tablespoon Red Wine Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon hot sauce*
• 1 teaspoon soy sauce*
• 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar*
• 4 rolls (for clean eating I tried Gillian's Gluten Free  from Whole Foods, not the best but not too bad either) ($5.00)

*if you don't have these ingredients on hand you can replace with Worcestersire sauce. 

Cook the onion and bell pepper over medium heat about 2 minutes. Add the turkey, salt, pepper, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, turkey, and honey and cook over medium heat about 10 minutes, or until turkey is completely browned (stir constantly).

Reduce heat to low and add red wine vinegar, hot sauce, soy sauce, apple cider vinegar and stir it all together. Now add the tomato sauce and tomato paste and mix until it is all completely mixed together. Cover and heat over low for 5 minutes.

And that's it! We ate these with my fav sweet potato fries.

And if anyone has suggestions for clean eating rolls please let me know! 

 

I mean look at that sloppy goodness

OH and on a really important note, I was singing the cafeteria lady song while I was making these and the BF HAS NEVER HEARD THE SONG. He thought I had made up a song about sloppy joes. I mean thanks for the cred but I'm not that funny. So here's a tribute to the cafeteria lady and the old slop slop sloppy joe:

Loaded Irish Nachos

  

"Man I totally thought this was going to be a punishment meal but it actually tastes like something we shouldn't be eating."  -The BF. Yeah y'all, it's so freaking good.

The other day while happy houring at Mighty Pint and as I used all my will power to avoid my all-time favorite bar food, the Irish Nachos, I thought to myself HOLD ON why don't I just MAKE these myself with a few clean foods swapped in? So I ran home (jk, I waited 30 minutes for the redline, then ran home from the metro), sliced up a sweet potato, threw some stuff together and voila! My OWN CLEAN IRISH NACHOS.

Servings: 4

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 35 mins

Ingredients

• 2 medium sweet potatoes, cut into wedges ($1.50)
• 1 Tablespoon coconut oil/olive oil/your cooking oil of choice
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 lb lean ground turkey ($3.00)
• 2 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder
• 3/4 Cup Chicken Broth ($.50)
• 1 Cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.00)
• 1 can black beans, drained ($.90)
• 1 Cup mozzarella cheese ($1.50)
• 1 red onion, diced ($1.00)
• 1 green pepper, diced ($.90)
• 1 large tomato, diced ($.90)
• 1/2 Cup cilantro, chopped ($.50)
• 3 small jalapenos, diced ($2.00)
• 1/2 Cup black olives, sliced
• 1 Cup clean salsa ($1.00)
•  Greek Yogurt- to taste

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Toss the sweet potato wedges with the oil, salt and garlic powder. Line them onto a baking sheet in ONE layer and heat in the oven for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, flip all the wedges over and throw them back into the oven for another 10 minutes. **lower the oven temperature to 375 degrees.

While the sweet potatoes are cooking, season the ground turkey with the cumin and chili powder. Cook the seasoned turkey with the chicken broth until the turkey is brown and the broth has absorbed. Add the mushrooms and black beans to the frying pan for the last 3 minutes.

Top the baked sweet potato wedges with the turkey/black bean mixture. Layer the mozzarella cheese on top of this. Place the concoction in the oven for 15 minutes, or until cheese is melted.

Now top it with pepper, onion, tomato, cilantro, jalapeno, olives, salsa and yogurt. We set it up buffet style and everyone scooped up some sweet potato/meat/cheese and topped it with whatever they wanted.

Yall, just do it. You won't regret it.

HOW GOOD DOES MINE LOOK WITH ALL THE TOPPINGS

Little toppings buffet. Like Chipotle for Irish Nachos.

Eggplant and Quinoa Parm Lasagna

Mmm sometimes I'm just craving some ooey gooey Italian food, and this experiment really hit the spot. The quinoa, eggplant and cheese really hold it together so it's more like a lasagna consistency.

The BF refuses to eat eggplant and thinks quinoa is "too weird" so told him this was lasagna and he ate 3 helpings. That was easy.

Servings: 8
Prep Time: 20 mins
Cook Time: 50 mins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa, cooked ($1.00)
• 1/2-lb ground turkey ($1.50)*
• 1/3 cup natural chicken broth ($.50)
• 1 medium white onion, diced ($.80)
• 1 large eggplant, cubed ($1.00)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced (if you're not as garlic-crazy as us use 2)
• 1 Tablespoon dried basil 
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
• 1 14-oz can natural, no sugar added tomato sauce ($1.00)
• 1 14-oz can crushed tomatoes ($1.00)
• 1 cup grated parmesan cheese ($2.00)
• 2/3 cup mozzarella cheese ($1.00)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil/coconut oil/your oil of choice

*optional- vegetarians leave this out

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the eggplant into cubes and put the cubes into a bowl of ice water. Let the cubes set in the ice water for about 20 minutes- I read somewhere that this pulls the bitterness out of the eggplant, and since I had to trick the BF into eating it I figured the less eggplant taste the better.

While the eggplant is setting, pour the broth into a small frying pan. Add the turkey meat and cook until the turkey is brown and the broth is absorbed.

In a medium frying pan, combine a tablespoon of coconut/olive oil with onions and saute for about 5 minutes. Add in the garlic and saute together for about 2 minutes. Add the eggplant cubes and saute for 10 minutes, stirring frequently (do NOT let that eggplant get stuck to the pan- that is the WORST).

Add the crushed tomatoes, sauce, salt, pepper, Italian seasonings and half the basil. Mix well, cover with a lid and reduce the heat to low and let it cook for about 25 mins.

After 25 mins, remove it from the heat and combine with the quinoa, red pepper, turkey, and half the parmesan cheese. Mix well and add it to a greased 9x9 baking dish (I only have my 9x13 so I built a barrier with aluminum foil). Top with remaining parmesan, mozzarella cheese, and basil.

Cook in the oven for 25 minutes.

Cut up and enjoy!

25 CLEAN EATING SNACKS! {perfect party foods}

Let me just say how difficult it is to stay healthy during the holiday season, especially for awkward people such as myself who find ourselves standing next to the food table stuffing our faces and chugging drinks in an attempt to "look busy" and not have to make awkward small talk.

Since I always bring food and booze to the parties I attend anyway, why not bring clean snacks? If I'm going to awkwardly binge, it might as well be healthy right? Plus I love when people are like "omg this is so good what is in it? Wait is it seriously clean??" Trickery at its finest.

Here's my rolodex of clean eating party snacks:

• Sweet Potato Fries
• Fruit with Sweet Yogurt Fruit Dip
• Mozzarella Sticks
• Crockpot Cinnamon Sugar Almonds
• Peppers and Hummus
• Cauliflower Bites with Bruschetta
• Crispy Sweet Potato Chips
• Pizza Potato Skins
• Greek Potato Skins
• Chili Stuffed Potato Skins
• Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Potato Skins
• Avocado/Greek Yogurt Stuffed Deviled Eggs 
• Faux Pokey Sticks (aka Cauliflower "Bread"Sticks)
• "Fried" Okra
• Pumpkin Feta Stuffed Zucchini Bites
• Faux "Fried" Chicken Fingers 
• Crockpot Turkey Chili
• Buffalo Chicken Lettuce Wraps
• Savory Italian Meatballs
• Crispy Chicken Wings
• Juicy Fall-off-the-bone Crockpot Wings
• PIZZA!!
• Pulled Pork Sliders

Sweet Potato Fries {seriously as good as the real thing}

 

ZOOOOmmmMMGGG. Ok, this is almost embarrassing to confess but last weekend we even ate these on our cheat day- we just wanted something to go with our greasy burgers and these are seriously so much better than real fries. So enjoy this. I mean, really really enjoy. 

Oh and PS, they take about 15 minutes to make. I mean this is just too good. 

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 16 mins

Servings: 4 (4 "servings" of these babies = 1 for me..not sorry- they're super low carb and low cal)

Ingredients:

• 1 sweet potato ($.88)
• 2 Tablespoons coconut oil (melted) or olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 475 degrees (I know, I didn't even know my oven goes this high). Slice the sweet potatoes into the inch thick fries (this takes some muscle, those sweet potatoes are tough!).

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. Combine the seasonings (you can use any seasonings you want) with the oil and mix well. Toss the fries in the mixture and spread out in one layer (CAUTION: DO NOT STACK THEM ON TOP OF EACH OTHER! YOU WILL RUIN EVERYTHING- I speak from experience) on the baking sheet and put on the middle rack of the oven for 10 minutes. Flip the fries and allow to cook for an additional 6 minutes.

Let them cook for a sec and enjoy something better than the real deal..

Feelin SNACKY on Saturday: CLEAN Mozzarella Sticks!!

The only picture I took before we devoured these babies

So this happened, and it. was. everything. I had these with a winter beer with all the Christmas lights on and it felt just like being in a bar eating greasy food. Except that I didn't have to drive home, I got to pick what played on the TV, my beer didn't cost $10, and my food was in fact not greasy. Not only was it not greasy it was CLEAN! Sidenote: when did I turn 60 and start liking sitting at home instead of going to a bar with other humans?

Oh and also this was really really easy to make. So enjoy while you lounge at your home-bar.

Prep Time: 3 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins
Servings: 10 sticks (which equals 2 servings in our house- 8 for the BF, 2 for me)

Ingredients:

• 1 block fresh mozzarella cheese ($5.00)
• 3/4 cup stone ground cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 egg, beaten

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees. Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl and slice up your cheese block into rectangles, about 2 inches thick. Dip each stick into the egg, then roll the egg-coated mozzarella chunk in the dry ingredients until they are completely covered in a thick layer. Place them onto a baking sheet and heat in the oven for 8-10 minutes- check them right at 8 minutes to make sure they aren't melting!

"I'm feelin SNACKY" - Cauliflower bites with Bruschetta

So here's the thing about this snack- I have no idea what to call it. It's delicious, it tastes like bar food, it looks kind like mozzarella sticks but Cauliflower Sticks gives the total wrong idea, so what do we call it? After punishing an entire tray of them the BF came up with this list: sticks, crescents, swirls, twirls, nuggets, bits, bites, tots, tits (really?), chews. Um, ew. But, these nameless ditties are so delicious and make a great clean snack or party food. They store well and taste just as good reheated. Here's the breakdown:

Servings: 5 (3 per serving)
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

For the nameless cauliflower snack-
Ingredients:

• 1/2 large head of cauliflower ($2.50)
• 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese ($.50)
• 1/2 cup cornmeal ($.50)
• 1 egg (
• 1 egg white
• 3 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• 3 Tablespoons dried Basil
• 1 Tablespoon garlic powder
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• Click here for garlic bruschetta recipe

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut off the cauliflower florets and steam them (easier than it sounds- if you don't have the equipment, just put it in a pot with about an inch of water, boil the water, cover and let it sit on the stove on high for 5-10 mins or until tender). Allow the cauliflower to cool for a few minutes.

Take the steamed cauliflower and wrap it up in paper towels and SQUEEEEZE all that water out. I went through 7 paper towels doing this, gotta get rid of that excess water!

Now take your dried, steamed caulflower and finely dice it. Combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Pull out a chunk and roll together into an ovalish shape that is about 1 inch by 3 inches and place on a foil lined baking sheet. Do this until you have used up all the 'dough'- should make about 15 cauliflower snack things.

Cook for 10 minutes. Serve with bruschetta and enjoy!


PS anyone who went to high school with me may recognize this phrase from an old chemistry teacher. My brother still gets me laughing till I cry while he walks around the house flinging candy bars around yelling "I'm feelin SNACKY! Anyone else? SO SNACKY! Who got candy bars for me?" Anyway we always say "feelin snacky" instead of "hungry" or "snack time" or whatever.

Clean Feasting: Honey-glazed salmon, baked potatoes with CLEAN FRIED OKRA

 This. Supper. Was. Everything. Look, 4 years in Georgia was enough to get me hooked on fried okra and I miss it every day, but this little experiment yielded something just as amazing as that greasy fattening mixture. Here is the step-by-step for each part of the supper:

Honey-Garlic Glazed Salmon
Servings: 2
Prep Time: 5 mins
Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• .75 lb salmon ($7.00)
• 1 tablespoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 3 tablespoons honey

Leave the silver-skin part on the salmon and season evenly on both sides with the salt and pepper. Set the salmon, silver-side down, on a frying pan over medium heat. Let it sit on the pan until the whiteish brownish color gets about halfway up the salmon (see pix). Now flip the salmon with a spatula. At this point, remove the silver skin. Brush on the honey and sprinkle the garlic salt on top and allow to cook the rest of the way through. And that's it!

Placing it in the pan and waiting for the whiteish color to show up

See the white-ish color? Once it is about halfway up the thickness of the salmon, flip it, remove the silver and add the honey.

CLEAN OVEN BAKED OKRA!!!
Servings: 4
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 1 bag of frozen okra ($2.00)
• 1/2 cup stone ground corn meal ($.50)
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 3 sprays canola cooking oil
• 1 ziploc freezer bag

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Coat the inside of the bag with cooking spray. Dump the okra into the bag, shake it up well and let it set for about 5 mins. While it's setting mix together the corn meal and seasonings. Add the cornmeal mixture into the bag and shake really well, until the okra is coated. Allow to set about 10 mins. Pour the contents of the bag onto a foil-lined baking sheet and cook in the oven for 20 minutes. The coating should be nice and crunchy. Yall, I died when I tasted these.

Baked Potatoes:
Servings: 2
Prep Time: 2 mins
Cook Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 2 russet potatoes ($1.00)
• 2 Tablespoons Greek Yogurt ($.50)
• 1 teaspoon sea salt

Stab the potato all over with a fork (this allows them to steam)- I stabbed mine about 12 times each. Wrap the potatoes in foil and bake for an hour. Cut down the middle and top with Greek Yogurt (just as good as sour cream!) and sea salt.

Clean Eating Pumpkin Ravioli AND Italian Ravioli!

Welp I'm finally joining the choir of white girls that sings pumpkin's praises from the mountaintops from September to November. Somehow in these 20-some years I have just never gotten into the whole "all pumpkin everything start pinning recipes in July!!!" thing- until now. Until now, when I was experimenting with Italian-y clean stuffed ravioli, ran out of ingredients, so reached for the can of pumpkin (honestly it's probably been in the pantry for a few years..) and thought hmm let's try something.

I love love love the pumpkin raviolis (perhaps because they were so so easy to make?), the BF hated them but loved the Italian-y raviolis, which I hated. Aren't we just a match made in heaven huh?

CLEAN PUMPKIN RAVIOLIS:
Servings: 6 raviolis
Prep Time: 10 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 medium sized zucchinis, sliced REAL thin- I use this NoPro Slicer from Amazon for $15  ($2.00)
• 1 cup of pumpkin (I used canned pumpkin- $1.50 for the can)
• 1/2 cup Feta Cheese ($2.50)
• 1-2 teaspoons Parsley- fresh or dry 
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix together the pumpkin, feta, parsley and cumin. Take 2 slices of zucchini and place one on top of the other in a cross shape (see the pix at the bottom) on a baking sheet. If they seem too stiff to fold, throw them in the microwave for about 45 seconds and they'll be nice and pliable.

Scoop a spoonful of pumpkin mix onto the  center of the cross (where the 2 slices intersect- see pix below). Fold the zucchini up so all the ends overlap in the middle and flip over (so they don't come unfolded in the oven). Repeat for the others.

Throw your raviolis into the oven for 20 minutes. Top with a little tomato sauce and ENJOY!


Italian Stuffed Raviolis (I didn't love them as much so they don't get caps lock title SORRY):
Servings: 6 raviolis
Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

• 2 medium sized zucchinis, sliced REAL thin- I use this NoPro Slicer from Amazon for $15  ($2.00)
• 3 pieces of clean eating chicken sausage ($3.50)- when you're shopping for these check the natural foods aisle of the grocery store and remember the golden rule: No more than 3 ingredients
• 1 cup butternut squash, cubed ($3.00- I bought mine pre-cubed) 
• 2 cups spinach ($1.50)
• 1/2 medium white onion, diced ($.50)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced

Put the onion and garlic in a medium frying pan and heat over medium until the onion is translucent. Now add the sausage and butternut squash and cook about 10 minutes. Add the spinach and mix everything together (still over medium heat) until the spinach is wilted (like 2 minutes, spinach is like me- fades fast).

Throw all this into a food processor or blender (This Osterizer 10 speed has lasted me a solid 2 years) and pulse until it your mixture is pureed. This got a little difficult with the blender, but it worked out.

Follow the same directions above to assemble and cook the raviolis!

Having a party? I suggest serving them with toothpicks (below) with tomato sauce on the side for dipping. My friends who tried these raviolis thought I must have worked so hard to make these (LOL!) so I imagine they'd be a party hit.

Party fooood!

The pumpkin concoction. Looks funky, tastes amazing

And how pretty is the Italian stuffing cooking?

I doubled up because my zuc slices were so thin. Worked either way.

Spoon the stuffing onto the intersection. And stop judging my raggedy baking sheet

I've never been good with origami. If I can do it, you can do it.

Flipped and ready!

Goin in!

Topped with some sugar free tomato sauce. Mmmm mmmm.