Unstuffed Cabbage Recipe

This is a quick and easy recipe that tastes delicious. 
Unstuffed Cabbage
Ingredients:

1 1/2 to 2 pounds lean ground beef or turkey (I always do ground turkey)
1 tablespoon oil
1 large onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 small cabbage, chopped
4 diced tomatoes
1 can (8 ounces) tomato sauce (no salt  or sugar added)
1/2 cup water
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 teaspoon sea salt

Preparation:

In a large skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat. Add the ground beef and onion and cook, stirring, until ground beef is no longer pink and onion is tender.
Add the garlic and continue cooking for 1 minute.

Add the chopped cabbage, tomatoes, tomato sauce, pepper, and salt. Bring to a boil. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes, or until cabbage is tender.

Yield: Serves 6 to 8

Clean Eating Tips

EAT CLEAN PRINCIPLES

1.      Eat six small meals a day.  Eat every two-and-a-half to three hours.  It keeps you full and less likely to binge from being so hungry.
 

2.      Eat breakfast everyday, within an hour of rising.  So give or take when you exercise.  I exercise first thing in the morning and I don't eat before hand.  I workout and then drink my Shakeology.  I always have a warm glass of lemon water each morning as my wake up and detox!  I squeeze 1/2 or a whole lemon into a glass of warm water.
 

3.      Drink half your body weight in water each day.  I make this a MUST!  If you want to lose weight then you must drink a lot of water each and everyday.  If you do not drink enough water you body actually holds onto water weight.  Drinking water speeds up your metabolism and helps you lose weight.

 
4.      Carry a cooler packed with clean foods.  I seriously cannot leave the house without my  cooler bag.  Even if I am pretty certain that I am going to be home before my next snack or meal I still throw in an apple and a handful of unsalted almonds and a bottle of water.  It is super easy to throw in a packet of Shakeology and your shaker cup.  Then you are never left scrounging for a meal or a drive through to go to.  You always have a healthy snack or meal to hold you over! 
 

TOP 10 THINGS TO AVOID
1.       Sugar, white flour and over processed foods.  Bread at the bread table when you are out to eat.  Especially when I was trying to lose the weight I would avoid bread at all costs. 
 

2.      Artificial sugars- NO STEVIA OR EQUAL OR SWEET N LOW ARE NOT GOOD FOR YOU!  I reccomend Agave nectar and honey if you need to sweeten something.  Even then I still think you should use it sparingly.  Again, sugar is addictive and the more you have the more your body will crave it!
 

3.      Sugar-loaded beverages such as soda and juice- NONE, ZILCH ZERO!!
 

4.      Super sizing your  meals or portions- If you are at a restaurant always ask for a box and take half of it home!  Restaurants are known for their oversized portions.  Even if it's a healthy meal that does not give you permission to throw your rules out the window!  You can eat the right kinds of foods and have too much and still not see results.
 

5.      Alcohol, try your best to limit.  My rule of thumb is for every alcoholic drink that you consume you must have 1 full glass of water! 
Alcohol is full of sugar and empty calories so you need to ask yourself,  is this short term sacrifice of drinking worth the long term results of me feeling amazing in my body and having the confidence to put myself out there!
 

6.      Chemically charged foods- So this mean smart ones, lean cuisines or any other processed meals.  Take a look at the labels on your food.  If there are more than 3 ingredients and you don't understand what they are then you probably shouldn't buy it!
 

7.      Foods containing preservatives
 

8.      Artificial foods such as processed cheese slices- I very rarely eat a piece of cheese.  I tend to choose feta cheese if I go that route!  Once again your body holds onto bad fats!  

TOP 5 WAYS TO MAKE EATING CLEAN EASIER FOR YOU

 1.       Pack a cooler everyday
2.      Carry a water bottle everywhere 
3.      Make a shopping list and stick to it
4.      Prepare planned leftovers
5.      Keep your pantry stocked with staples.  Staples in my pantry are plain unsatlted rice cakes, all natural peanut butter, almonds, cashews, raisins, flaxseed, and olive oil!  If I run out of fresh fruits and veggies I turn to rice cakes with peanut butter and raisins!

Buffalo Turkey Burger

Buffalo Turkey Burger

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground turkey

½  zucchini shredded (use your cheese grater)

1/2 cup shredded carrots (chop a little to make pieces smaller)

½ cup green onions, sliced

1 egg, beaten

1 tbsp EVOO or coconut oil

½ cup Frank’s Red Hot or Frank’s Buffalo sauce

Lettuce (for “buns”)

Carrot sticks

Celery stalks

Preparation: 

In a large bowl, combine turkey and next four ingredients till mixed (careful not to over mix, or you’ll end up with tough burgers!). Form into four patties. Heat oil over medium heat in nonstick skillet. Cook burgers for 4-6 minutes per side, until cooked through (inside no longer pink and/or reached internal temp of 165 degrees). Pour sauce into pan, and flip burgers to coat. Turn temp to low and let sauce “cook” into burgers for 2 minutes.

Serve wrapped in a lettuce leaf with carrots and celery.

1 burger = 1 red and 1/4 green

Turkey meatballs

21 Day Fix Extreme Turkey Meatballs

Ingredients   

• 1.5lbs raw 93% lean ground turkey breast
• 1 tsp. sea salt or Himalayan salt
• 1 tsp. dry mustard
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup quick cooking oats
• 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 12 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped
• 1 Tbsp. tomato sauce, no sugar added

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
2. Lightly coat large baking sheet with spray; set aside
3. Combine turkey, salt, mustard, paprika, egg, oats, garlic, parsley and tomato sauce in a large bowl; mix well by hand.
4. Roll mixture into 30 1-inch meatballs. Place on prepared baking sheet. (I used a small cookie scooper — kinda looks like a mini ice cream scooper)
5. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until no longer pink in the middle.

5 meatballs = 1 red and 1/2 yellow

Slow Cooker Creamy Mexican Chicken

I'm going to try this at some point during the week.  It looks delicious. 


Easy Slow-Cooked Creamy Mexican Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 small boneless, skinless chicken breasts (may be frozen)
• 15 oz. can black beans, drained
• 7 oz. canned chopped green chilies
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 large onion, diced
• 3 bell peppers, chopped
• 15 oz. can diced tomatoes
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tbsp. chili powder
• 1/2 tbsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tbsp. garlic powder
• 1 tsp. paprika
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 red container plain Greek yogurt
• Fresh cilantro

Add chicken breasts to slow-cooker.  Top with remaining ingredients, except for Greek yogurt and fresh cilantro.

Cook on low for 8 hours, until chicken breasts begin to fall apart easily.

Remove chicken and shred. Add back to crockpot. Add Greek yogurt, cover and continue to cook on low for 30 minutes.  Stir well, top with fresh cilantro.

Serve with tortillas, or over quinoa or rice.  Top with avocado or cheese with your blue container!

(21 Day Fixers:  This makes 6 servings, and each serving counts as 1 red, 1 green, 1/2 a purple, and 1 yellow.  Count additional "yellows" for tortillas and/or rice and quinoa.)

Clean Eating Grocery List

There are tons of things you could get from the grocery store that will help you with your clean eating mission.  This list will give you some of the basics.  It's a great starting point.  Don't forget that when shopping, the edges of the stores have the best, unprocessed food for you!!!

Vegetables  - I try to buy organic whenever I can.

I could list soooo many things here.  Vegetable are incredibly good for you.  I’ll list the ones that give you the most bang for your buck but you can’t go wrong with vegetables! (Unless you are looking to lose weight too and in that case, avoid the starchy vegetables - corn, potatoes etc.)

• Kale
• Collard Greens
• Spinach
• Brussel Sprouts
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Beets

Fruits - I try to buy organic here too.  If you are looking for lower sugar fruits, stick with these.  While fruits are great for you, they do contain natural sugar so you need to be aware of that too. Here are some that are lower in sugar.  Some of these tend to spoil quickly

• Raspberries
• Blueberries
• Blackberries
• Strawberries

Do you see a pattern here? Stick with the berries!!

 Protein - I recently started getting my meat and eggs from a farm.  The taste is unbelievable.  You might think it is far fetched to do this but do a little research, there are places to get it.  This group is important to keep you full!

• Boneless, skinless chicken or turkey breast.
• Lean ground chicken, turkey, bison or beef
• Eggs
• Plain Greek yogurt
• Fish - look for wild caught and not farmed. 

 Carbohydrates (bread, grains etc.)

• Sweet potatoes and yams
• Quinoa
• Beans
• Brown rice
• Oatmeal (steel cut is my favorite)
• Whole grain (make sure it says Whole Grains in the ingredient list)
  • pasta
  • bread
• Ezekiel bread ( I LOVE this)

Cheese
Anything produced locally and not flavored, prepackaged, shredded (I still do this….one of the last things to go. The package of shredded cheese is just soooo easy) or lowfat. 

This and That

• Avocado
• Nuts (unsalted) Raw is better but I still haven’t acquired a taste for this yet. 
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil
• Nut butters (check the ingredient list.  It should have ONE ingredient. Salt is okay only if it is a small amount)
• Maple syrup  - The REAL kind
• Honey

Want to see what I'm eating this week?  Here it is! 21 Day Fix Meal Plan

21 Day Fix Approved Stuffed Peppers

This is always such a hit in our house that I make them at least once a week.  

21 Day Fix Approved Stuffed Peppers
Serving size 1 pepper = 1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Yellow and 1/4 Purple
Ingredients
4 Bell Peppers (I use red)
1 pound ground turkey
8 ounces tomato sauce (no sugar added) + enough to coat bottom of oven dish
8 ounces cooked brown rice
Spices to taste - I use Trader Joe's Everyday seasonings, onion powder and garlic powder

1) Bring a large pot of water to boil

Turkey filling

2) Preheat oven to 350 degrees
3) Cut tops off peppers and save and take out seeds
4) Parboil peppers and tops for 3 minutes and set aside
5) In a separate pan, brown ground turkey
6) Add tomato sauce, rice and spices to taste
7) Fill peppers evenly with turkey mixture
8) Pace in oven safe dish with some extra tomato sauce on the bottom
9) Cook, uncovered for 30 minutes or until heated through
10) Serve with grated Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top.

Final Product