Skinny Bird

I have been waiting all week for this one! I absolutely looooove to eat! I love good food with good flavor. What I love even more is good food that is good for you. One of my goals for 2013 is to develop healthier eating habits to go along with my fitness goals which I've been a little slack on. On Instagram I started following a Canadian health and fitness guru by the username pjsquared. She happens to be a BeachBody coach and has shared one awesomely skinny recipe with us. These babies were super easy to prepare, super easy to make and super easy to clean up. Best of all they were super skinny and delicious! I finally got the chance to go by Whole Foods and grab my ingredients. While I was there I spotted a super cheap Vitamix that I will be purchasing later this week. Stay tuned for recipes and preparations for that!

So today I bring you....

Turkey Muffins

Ingredients

2 pounds of ground turkey (or chicken)                                          

3 egg whites

1 cup quick oats

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp garlic powder 

1/2 tsp onion powder

2 tsp black pepper

1 tsp salt

1 small onion chopped finely

2 stalks of celery chopped fine- regretfully I forgot my celery so I used 1/2 tblsp of celery salt

1 medium zucchini grated and squeezed of its juice

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Preparation

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

chop zucchini and strain all juice from it.- I threw mine in the Ninja and then squeezed all juice out of it

Spray muffin tin with canola cooking spray or olive oil

  

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl Roll meat, seasonings, onion, etc into a large meatball and then place into muffin pan. 

Bake for 30-40 minutes

Enjoy!

Honey Lemon Dressing

While they were cooking I whipped up a quick and easy dressing for my salad.

4 Tblsp 100% pure honey 

2 Tblsp 100% pure lemon juice

whisk or shake together well and pour over salad

I must say that when I first started the preparation I wasn't sure if I was going to be successful. Switching out ingredients isn't something I like to do. As they cooked the aroma of perfectly seasoned turkey filled the air. When I tasted it... these things are the bomb!

This recipe makes roughly 12-16 muffins depending on the size of your muffin tin. Serving size is 2 muffins for most women. I prefer the pan! And get this: only 180 calories per muffin! 

Peristera, thank you so much for sharing this with me.  I look forward to you sharing more healthy food with us! 

*You can click the links above to connect with this BeachBody babe!

In the Kitchen with Sandra

My mom has always been a very good cook. From following recipes to creating her own masterpieces she has always managed to roll out some awesome grub. Right now she’s finishing up a Culinary Arts degree. Born with the skill of cooking good food I personally think she’s in it more for the professional knowledge of the business. For whatever reasons I am proud of her and I can’t wait to help manage her business one day.

Today I requested that she start sharing some recipes for me to blog. My plan is to try this every Saturday (preferably earlier in the day). I will invite her over to cook and share with us a recipe of her choice. I’ll give you the ingredients and the recipe and any other information I feel is important for your consumption. Don’t expect nutrition facts because Saturday is usually my cheat day unless we specially request a healthy meal. My mom is Diabetic so it may be some motivation for her to cook more heart healthy selections. And without further ado here is the first entry for…

	In the Kitchen with Sandra

Mom’s Mozzarella Meatballs

Ingredients                                                                              glass casserole dish

1 pound lean ground beef                                                       non-stick frying pan

3 oz. fresh mozzarella

2 cups pasta sauce of your choice (Classico- tomato with Basil)

1 pinch of Oregano

1 pinch of garlic powder

1 pinch of onion powder

Salt and pepper to taste

Cooking Instructions

Always remember to wash your hands before preparing any meal. (We don’t want to spread the germies!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put olive oil in frying pan over medium-high heat

Cut mozzarella into ½ inch to one inch squares

In a large mixing bowl mash all seasonings into the ground meat until well mixed

Pull away enough ground beef for a medium to large size meatball- you want the meatball to be large enough to contain the cheese without it melting out in the process

Once you've formed a ball, press your thumb into the center of the raw meat to create a nest for the cheese. Insert the cheese square and fold the meat over to roll it back into a ball. **

Slightly brown the meatballs and place them in the casserole dish

When you have put all your meat in the cooking dish cover completely with sauce

Cover your dish with aluminum foil and bake for approximately 20 minutes depending on the size of your meatball. If you made them large it may take a little longer to cook thoroughly

Serve with pasta of your choice. My mom loves angel hair pasta but I’m into the whole wheat ziti myself. I’m also a big fan of my mom’s Parmesan meatballs, but these babies did turn out to be quite delicious! Try it!  Let me know how you like it. And also if you have any suggestions for recipes just send me an email.

Time to eat y'all! (Paula Deen voice)