I have been back to running this week and training for the Boston Marathon. Can you believe that it is less than two months away?!!!! I have my first 16 mile run this weekend. 
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Ok, I owe you all some really yummy recipes….
While visiting my friend Ronni in WA, she made me her Crock Pot Beer Chicken and it was one of the juiciest chicken crock pot recipes I have ever had. The best part is that I already had everything on hand. She also made mashed potatoes. Of course, when I made it at home, I made healthy version by using cauliflower instead of potatoes.
CROCK POT BEER CHICKEN
Ingredients
2lbs skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1 bottle of can of your favorite beer (I used Fat Tire)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tbsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp black pepper
Directions
Place all ingredients in the crock pot and cook on high for 4-5 hrs (or low for 6-8 hrs).
Feel free to change out the spices and herbs to be able to use your favorites.
Cauliflower Mash
Ingredients
1 large head cauliflower steam bag
1 tbsp minced garlic
olive oil
1 tbsp greek yogurt or cream cheese
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon pepper
Directions
Blend all ingredients in a food processor and pulse to your desired consistency.
I just love me some Cooking Light recipes!!!! I always have great luck with the dish actually tasting super flavorful and looking like what I was going for. These Salmon Fillets were just cooked in some EVOO with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and flipped over after 3 minutes. I couldnâ€
t stop raving about the orzo. There was so much flavor packed in and it was so simple to make.
Orzo Pilaf
Ingredients
5 teaspoons olive oil, divided
3/4 cup uncooked orzo
1 1/2 cups unsalted chicken stock
1/2 teaspoon salt, divided
1/4 cup bottled roasted red bell peppers, thinly sliced
2 tablespoons chopped fresh dill
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 ounce chopped pitted kalamata olives( I didnâ€t have any)
Directions
Heat a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add 2 teaspoons oil, then swirl. Add orzo. Sauté the orzo in the oil for 2 minutes or until toasted. Add stock and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 15 minutes. Stir in bell peppers, dill, juice, and olives. Keep warm until serving.
Lastly, I have been enjoying Green Monsters once again and I think RJ is ready for her own. (I’ll have a full post on making RJâ€s food coming soon.) This combination may be the best I have ever made by far! I love the addition of mango. It really made the smoothie PERFECT!
Green Monster Super Food Smoothie
Ingredients
1 cup coconut water
1 banana
1/2 cup frozen mango
2 tbsp Hemp Protein
1 tbsp flax seed
Directions
Put all ingredients in the blender and enjoy!
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I leave you with a collage of cuteness.Â
Question: Are you planner or do you live spontaneously?
P.S. Only three more days to sign up for the Mama Shred!
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The lack of recipes on my blog has come to an end! This mamma has been back in the kitchen and it feels so good. My beautiful friend and client gave me the book “Itâ€s All Good†: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great by Gwyneth Paltrow and I have embarked on a little fun challenge with Jen and some friends from IG.
Ok, so first off the cookbook has gotten a lot of FLACK and some not so great reviews. Mostly because a lot of the recipes are so simple and kind of not even recipes. Instead of going off with what everyone was saying, I thought I would do a little research myself and create a challenge called, “Itâ€s All Good 365â€. The challenge is to get through the whole cook book in a year! Yes, you heard it right…the WHOLE cookbook. I have never done anything like this before and when I opened the cookbook and most all of the recipes that I saw in it were things that I , A. Already eat or B. Have been dying to make and never have.
Itâ€s a lot of clean eating recipes that I have seen all over, (honestly nothing new or mind blowing) but I like that fact that itâ€s all in once place and there are some more labor intensive recipes that I donâ€t mind trying out, because I LOVE to cook. This challenge is kind of like the movie “Julia and Juliaâ€, except the cookbook is a lot shorter and healthier 
I actually kind of joked about Gwyneth writing this cookbook in the first place, because I always feel that when a famous person slaps their name on something that has already been written a 1,000 times over, it because a NOVEL idea! But if it makes one more person healthier and happier then that is all that matters in the end.
I am also a sucker for pictures in cookbooks and hers are beautiful! My goal is to make 4-5 recipes a week from the book, anything from breakfasts to dinners! She has all kinds of yummy juice recipes, smoothies and muffin recipes.
So far I have embarked on the following, more to come weekly:
Turkey Meatballs– Easy and Delish!
(Picture from Itâ€s All Good)
INGREDIENTS
- 10 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 1 cup arugula, coarsely chopped
- 1/4 cup Italian parsley
- 2 cloves garlic, coarsely chopped
- 8 fresh sage leaves
- 8 fresh basil leaves
- Leaves from 4 sprigs thyme
- Leaves from 1 sprig rosemary
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 teaspoon coarse sea salt
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 4 cups Go-To Tomato Sauce* or store-bought spaghetti sauce
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- *Check out Gwyneth’s book for her Go-To Tomato Sauce recipe.
PREPARATION
- In a food processor, pulse onion, arugula, parsley, garlic, sage, basil, thyme and rosemary until finely chopped. In a bowl, combine onion-herb mixture with turkey, salt and pepper; mix with hands. Roll turkey mixture into 24 golf ball-sized meatballs. In a large pot over low heat, warm tomato sauce. In a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, heat oil. Cook meatballs in skillet in batches, stirring, until browned, 10 minutes. Transfer meatballs to simmering sauce; partially cover pot. Cook meatballs, stirring occasionally, 30 minutes. Serve hot with gluten-free pasta or polenta or vegetables.
THE SKINNY
334 calories per 6 meatballs with sauce, 19 g fat (4 g saturated), 17 g carbs, 5 g fiber, 26 g protein
Recipe Source:
Adapted from “It’s All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great,” by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen (Grand Central Life & Style, 2013).
Chicken + Turkey Sausage Paella – Very good, but labor intensive and I added tomato sauce and spinach.
Turkey and Black Bean Chili With Sweet Potato –LOVED LOVED LOVED! I would make this next time with Kale!
MAKE AHEAD: The sweet potato can be roasted, cooled and refrigerated a few days in advance. The chili can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months.
Makes 6 1/2 cups (4 servings)
Ingredients:
- 14 ounces sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch chunks
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- Coarse sea salt
- 1 large yellow onion, diced (1 1/2 cups)
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin, or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon sweet Spanish smoked paprika (pimento dulce), or more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon mild chili powder, or more to taste
- 1 pound ground turkey, preferably dark meat
- 28 ounces canned, no-salt-added whole peeled tomatoes, plus their juices
- 1/2 cup water
- 14 ounces cooked or canned no-salt-added black beans (if using canned, drain and rinse; see headnote)
- Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving
- Chopped fresh scallions, white and light-green parts, for serving
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone liner.
Toss the sweet potato chunks with 2 tablespoons of the oil until well coated, then spread on the baking sheet in a single layer. Sprinkle with a good pinch of the sea salt. Roast for about 20 minutes or until softened, stirring a few times. Let cool.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-bottomed pot over medium heat. Once the oil shimmers, add the onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, chili powder and a big pinch of salt, stirring to coat. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes, until softened.
Add the turkey; cook, stirring a few times, until the meat is cooked through and its moisture has evaporated, which should take about 20 minutes. The turkey should be well incorporated into the onion mixture.
Add the tomatoes and their juices and a big pinch of salt; increase the heat to high and add the water. Once the mixture comes to a boil, reduce the heat to low and cook, uncovered, for 20 minutes.
Stir in the beans and the cooled sweet potatoes; taste, and adjust the seasoning as needed. Cook for 15 minutes to blend the flavors.
Divide among individual bowls; top with the cilantro and scallions. Serve hot.
Recipe Source:
Adapted from “It’s All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great,” by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen (Grand Central Life & Style, 2013).
Sweet Potato + 5 Spice Muffins: Easy and ok tasting, not my favorite, but not bad.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 large sweet potato
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 3/4 cup good-quality maple syrup or xylitol, plus 2 extra tablespoons for brushing the muffins
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 2 cups gluten-free flour (if the flour doesnt include xanthan gum, add 1 teaspoon)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 1/2 tablespoons Chinese five-spice powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
PREPARATION
Preheat the oven to 400F. Prick the sweet potato a few times with a paring knife or fork. Bake until soft (when a paring knife can cut through with zero resistance), about 1 hour. Set the sweet potato aside until its completely cool.
Peel the sweet potato, discard the skin and mash the flesh in a mixing bowl with a fork. Whisk the olive oil, almond milk, maple syrup or xylitol, and vanilla into the sweet potato. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, five-spice powder and salt. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and evenly distribute the muffin batter among the cups.
Bake at 400F for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean, brushing the tops with extra maple syrup during the last 5 minutes of baking. Let the muffins cool before serving.
Recipe Source:
Adapted from “It’s All Good: Delicious, Easy Recipes That Will Make You Look Good and Feel Great,” by Gwyneth Paltrow and Julia Turshen (Grand Central Life & Style, 2013).
Questions:
What is one cookbook you would love to make every single recipe?
Do you have “Itâ€s All Goodâ€? What is your take on it?