Healthy lunch Archives

Quinoa Cornbread

Author: Sandra

Ingredients

Scale

1 bag Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Cornbread Mix
2 large eggs
2 cups almond milk (or any kind of milk!)
1/4 cup Greek Yogurt
1 cup cooked quinoa
1/3 cup of honey (optional…and necessary!)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. There are a couple of things you can make with this batter: A sheet of cornbread or cornbread muffins or both, like I did. It will make 24 muffins or a full cake sheet. I made 12 muffins and a circular cake.
Empty out cornbread mix into a medium size bowl. Then add in 2 large eggs and 2 cups of milk and stir until there are no lumps. Next, add in Greek yogurt, cooked quinoa, and honey and stir again.
If you are making cupcakes, fill each tin about 3/4 of the way full (it will make 24 cupcakes). If you are making a sheet of cornbread, spray a cake sheet with nonstick cooking spray and spread batter onto sheet evenly.
Bake at 375 for 25-28 minutes or until the tops of the muffins begin to brown.

Spiralized Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

February 25, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Spiralized Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

MY SPIRALIZER!

Davida bought herself a spiralizer (actually the same one that I have) and shipped it to my house, then realized she couldn’t carry it on back to Canada because of the blades. So now I have two spiralizers.

Just kidding She paid to have it shipped home.

I got a very specific request from the Blakester to: MAKE CUCUMBER SALAD.

His grandma makes a mean cucumber salad. I MEAN MEAN. I always get a little nervous when I’m asked to recreate something someone’s grandma made because, well, all grandmas are culinary geniuses.

Which is why I decided to put a tzatziki twist to my cuc salad

This is such a simple, easy recipe that the whole family will enjoy!

Perfect for a bbq, Sunday night dinner, graduation party, or even an afternoon snack.

Plus- spiralizing is so much fun.

I’m still amazed at how cool it is. Best $35.00 spent!

Ingredients for Spiralized Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

cucumbers
Greek yogurt, nonfat
garlic, minced
dill, fresh or dry
salt
lemon

4th of July Vacation

On Saturday Blake and I leave for our Annual 4th of July vacation. By annual, I mean second annual

We are flying to Boise to meet one of my best college girlfriends, Sam, and then road tripping to the coast. Sam and I did a similar road trip when we were sophomore’s in college, so we are going to re-live the fun with our guys! We’ll be staying in:

Bend, OR
Hood Rive, OR
Seaside, OR

We’re planning day hiking and fishing trips, but are really excited to just lay low. If anyone has ever traveled or lives near these places and has suggestions for sites to see, places to eat, etc. I’d love to hear fro you!

Spiralized Tzatziki Cucumber Salad

Author: Sandra

Instructions

First, prep tzatziki sauce by mixing together Greek yogurt, garlic, dill, sea salt, and lemon juice. Set aside.
Then, spiralize cucumbers. Use scissors to cut cucumber into smaller, eatable pieces.
Make sure to follow the step up soaking up moisture. This is important!
Pour tzatziki sauce on top of cucumbers and mix.

Keywords: cucumber salad greek yogurt

Copy Cat: Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

February 24, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

chipotle brown rice recipe

The day Chipotle started making cilantro lime BROWN rice was the best day ever! I was inspired to make this recipe for 2 reasons:

1. Blake and I got Chipotle 2 weeks ago and as we were waiting in line….one of the chefs was preparing fresh cilantro brown rice. With FRESH ingredients. You could actually watch her chop the the cilantro and squeeze the lime. Most other place would just use a batch of pre-made rice. This is why Chipotle is so delicious, because everything is FRESH, including their meat.

2. We had a departmental pot-lucked, which was themed Tacos. This gave me the perfect excuse to make Cilantro Lime Brown Rice And so I did!

I used fresh ingredients just like Chipotle. Who woulda ever thunk fresh food tastes so good? (uhhhh….joking!)

I actually did a report on Chipotle my senior year in college so I think I am a little bit biased at how amazing awesome this company is.

Here is what my Taco mosh pit looked like yesterday…We had all the fixings: taco meat that was actually a Mexican recipe, fresh guac, fresh toppings, etc. MMM! We decided we are going to do a monthly pot-luck. YES!

I will say I had a little trouble getting my rice to be “perfect.” It is so hit or miss with brown rice. I make it the same way every single time and sometimes it comes out perfect and others it comes out a tad bit crunchy. I heard that a rice maker is the trick to perfect rice every time. Any recommendations on a brand?

Ingredients for chipotle brown rice recipe

brown rice, uncooked
water
lime
fresh cilantro, chopped unpacked
sea salt
garlic, minced

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Copy Cat: Cilantro Lime Brown Rice

Author: Sandra

Ingredients

Scale

2 cups brown rice, uncooked

4 cups water or (~1/4 cup lime juice)

1 lime

1/2 cup fresh cilantro, chopped unpacked

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon garlic, minced

Instructions

In a medium sized pot, on medium/high heat, bring 2 cups of brown rice and 4 cups of water to a rolling boil. Then, reduce heat to low and cover for about 35 minutes or until all of the water is evaporated.
Transfer brown rice to a medium sized bowl and let cool in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Once the rice has cooled a little bit, cut a lime in half and squeeze lime juice onto rice. Do this with both sides of the lime and mix.
Then, chop fresh cilantro. Add about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro to your rice. (I just grabbed a handful and that worked perfectly.)
Next, add in 1 teaspoon of minced garlic and 1 teaspoon of sea salt and MIX.
Serve warm.

Quinoa Pasta Salad with Chicken Sausage

February 23, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Quinoa Pasta Salad with Chicken Sausage

Make this quinoa pasta salad with seasonal veggies, homemade Italian dressing, and tons of spices for a delicious summertime salad that doubles as dinner!

One of my favorite summer dishes is a big ol, chunky pasta salad made with tons of veggies and a delicious Italian Dressing. I thought I’d throw in a little extra protein to make this into a hearty meal that the whole family will love!

In this recipe, I went for all the classic flavors, but feel free to use whatever veggies are in season or in the garden!

Who else finds it really hard to eat some sort of raw veggie every single day? I find I snack on raw fruit much more than veggies, which is what made me so happy about this recipe. All the veggies used in it are 100% raw, crunchy, and delicious. Yes please.

Check out this rainbow of deliciousness…

I kept things gluten-free by using Ancient Harvest Lentil and Quinoa Supergrain Pasta. It doubles as a noodle and a protein boost because of all the good stuff it’s made with.

Basic Ingredients

1 container of Ancient Harvest Proetin Power Gluten Free Lentil and Quinoa Supergrain Pasta Rotelle
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 cups broccoli, sliced into small pieces
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 chicken sausages (cooked), thinly sliced
2/3 cup Italian dressing

How to make Quinoa Pasta Salad with Chicken Sausage

First, cook your noodles by following the directions on the back of the box. Once your noodles are done, refrigerate for at least 2 hours so that the noodles can fully chill.
When you are ready to make the salad, slice veggies and chicken sausage (I used leftover grilled chicken sausage because I liked the grilled taste) and place in a large bowl. Add in noodles and Italian dressing and mix.
Serve cold.

Quinoa Pasta Salad with Chicken Sausage

Author: Sandra
Total Time: 25 minutes
Yield: 4 1x

Ingredients

Scale

1 container of Ancient Harvest Proetin Power Gluten Free Lentil and Quinoa Supergrain Pasta Rotelle
1 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
1/2 cup red onion, diced
2 cups broccoli, sliced into small pieces
1 yellow pepper, diced
3 chicken sausages (cooked), thinly sliced
2/3 cup Italian dressing

Instructions

First, cook your noodles by following the directions on the back of the box. Once your noodles are done, refrigerate for at least 2 hours so that the noodles can fully chill.
When you are ready to make the salad, slice veggies and chicken sausage (I used leftover grilled chicken sausage because I liked the grilled taste) and place in a large bowl. Add in noodles and Italian dressing and mix.
Serve cold.

Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes

The one tip I have with this pasta is DO NOT OVER COOK IT! That goes for any pasta

Easy Salmon Salad with Greek Yogurt Dill Dressing

February 23, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Salmon Salad with Greek Yogurt Dill Dressing

This delicious salmon salad is packed with flavor from grilled corn to fresh radishes to apple chunks and is topped with a healthy, homemade Greek yogurt dill dressing!

2 weekends ago Team Fit Foodie had a little retreat at Linley’s family’s river house on the St. Croix. If you’re from Minnesota, you know there is a debate as to which side of the St. Croix is better, Wisco or Minnesota. Being a Wisconsin girl, I’d have to vote East side on this one

Being away from city life for an entire weekend was really nice. The river house (what we call it) is nestled away in the bluffs of the river and is absolutely gorgeous. If you follow FitFoodieFinds on snapchat, you may have seen some glimpses of the property! Lin and I decided to make our Fit Foodie Retreat a mixture of work and play…insert recipe creation…and this salad.

We picked up an amazing piece of salmon from the local IGA- Ptacek’s. I love love love IGAs, especially because they are run locally. They always have THE best local meat and produce selection. YES PALEASE.

0519im_/http://fitfoodiefinds.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/06/ingredients1.png" alt="This delicious salmon salad is packed with flavor from grilled corn to fresh radishes to apple chunks and is topped with a healthy, homemade Greek yogurt dill dressing!

This salad features…

fresh greens
apple
radish
grilled corn
purple onion
blue cheese
grilled salmon
homemade Greek yogurt dill dressing

Flavor blasttttt.

This salad would be great to sneak into the #SummerSWEATSeries meal plan if you wanted to sub one of the lunches/dinners 😀 #justsaying

Basic Ingredients

½ pound salmon, grilled
2 ears of corn, grilled
½ small red onion, sliced
3 radishes, sliced into rounds
½ medium apple, chunked
¼ cup blue cheese, crumbled
4 large handfuls of your favorite greens
squeeze of lemon
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup plain Greek yogurt, 2%
3 tablespoons EVOO
1 tablespoon fresh dill
⅛ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon minced garlic

How to make Salmon Salad with Greek Yogurt Dill Dressing

First, begin by preheating your grill to about 375ºF. Then, prep salmon by generously seasoning with salt, pepper, and a squeeze of lemon. Place a piece of foil on your grill and the salmon on top of it. Let cook, covered, for about 20-25 minutes. Make sure to continuously check on your salmon. Once the salmon has cooked. Let cool for about 5 minutes before shredding. Set aside.
Prep salad by using a sharp knife to cut the corn kernels off 2 grilled pieces of corn. Then, slice 3 radishes into thin rounds, ½ small red onion into thin slices, and ½ medium apple into chunks.
Make dressing by mixing all ingredients together. This is a thick dressing. If you’d like it thinner add more EVOO or lemon juice.
Prep salad in a large serving bowl by placing greens on the bottom, then sliced veggies/fruit on top, then shredded salmon, then dressing!

Honey Balsamic Roasted Veggies

February 21, 2023 by Lee Hersh Leave a Comment

Honey Balsamic Roasted Veggies

Meal prep at it’s finest.

Roasting veggies is something I do very often, but don’t talk about much. I think it’s one of those monotonous things that I do daily that gets forgotten about. In winter time, Blake and I roast pretty much everything because our grill in buried underneath snow. Plus- asking Blake to go flip the burgers in -10 degrees is asking a lot.

Seriously- It was a low of -10 degrees F yesterday WITHOUT the windchill.

Hot damn it calls for something warm.

I’d have to say one of my all time favorite flavors is balsamic. I love that when it is heated to a certain temp it gets sweet and thickens. I am also a big fan of sweet and savory flavors combined. A little bit of salt with a balsamic glaze is “lick my chops” delicious.

I found this bunch of gorgeous carrots at Trader Joe’s for all of $1.99.

SCORE.

And this red onion. No deal on that guy- but how cute is my new Minnesota cutting board? Props go out to Sister and Sister Boy for the great Christmas gift! I didn’t hesitate for a second using it in a photo

Along with the red onion and rainbow carrots are brussels sprouts and sweet potatoes. All of my favorite veggies in a single dish. #TRUEDATSISTA

Really. These are my top 4 favorite vegetable…in order starting at the top- 1. Sweet Potatoes 2. Brussels Sprouts 3. Red Onion 4. Carrots.

Ingredients Honey Balsamic Roasted Veggies

winter veggies
balsamic vinegar
honey
sea salt
virgin olive oil

Soooooo gorgeous. And perfect for meal prep. Now I have a boat load of veggies just waiting to be eaten in my fridge.

Veggie eating (especially leafy greens) is at the top of of my “goal” list for 2014. I need to eat more veggies. It’s true, I don’t eat enough of them and I am going to make it a priority from here on out!

Pin for later!

What’s are you going to eat more of in 2014?

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Honey Balsamic Roasted Veggies

Author: Sandra