Hot Honey Chicken Bowls

 

  This dinner was amazing. If you like spicy, you'll love this....the spicyness of the sriracha and peppers with the sweetness of the honey just melds to perfection. Drizzled with ranch sauce to cut the heat a bit and add some freshness is the chefs kiss. 

 Click here for the recipe for Hot Honey Chicken Bowls by JarOfLemons.com. The only thing I did differently was I tossed the chicken in Kinders Cali Blackened Seasoning. I also added 2 handfuls of spinach before I put it in the oven because more veggies. Also I used half white rice, half cauliflower rice that I cooked with veggie broth and garlic just to give it a bit more flavor.

  One of my new favorite dinners!

Vegetarian Nachos with Homemade Vegan Cheese Sauce

 

   I made the nachos for superbowl, and the next day we had the toppings over air fried potatoes. So so good! I know vegan cheese sauce sounds weird, but it's actually really good and all together this dinner was super delicious. 

  I used Plantiful Kiki's cheese sauce recipe. The only change I made is that instead of a 1/2 cup cashews, I used white beans since my son is allergic. I also poured a little bit of the jalapeno brine from the pickled jalapenos we have in the fridge. It makes a bunch of sauce so later this week I'm going to make lentil chili cheese fries with the leftovers.

  I used these toppings for nachos:

- 1 lb ground turkey cooked up and mixed with a can of pinto beans and taco seasoning.
- chopped fresh jalapenos
- cilantro
- onions
- salsa
- homemade guacamole
- sour cream
- hot sauce
- cheese sauce

  I had some bell peppers that I was going to chop up but forgot. I also used blue corn chips because they have more fiber then regular tortilla chips. 

Bacon Turkey Burgers with Air Fried French Fries

 

  This "Best Ever Turkey Burger" recipe by Delish is our new favorite.  Most Saturdays we grill up some burgers, but we've been trying to cut calories so in comes the turkey burger. We've made this recipe for the past 2 weeks now, and it's delicious! The ingredients are everything we keep on hand, except the ground turkey. I know the bacon isn't low calorie, but it was leftover from breakfast :)

  We also cut up a few potatoes, sprayed them with vegetable oil and sprinkled them with "french fry seasoning". I air fried them for 7 minutes at 400, shook the basket around, then for another 8 minutes and they were perfect. 

Skillet Lemon Rosemary Turkey Meatballs with Roasted Garlic

 

  These were really good, the lemon was a light flavor and it pared well with the rosemary and garlic in the meatballs. The recipe didn't call for garlic, but garlic makes everything better. I did air fry them for 5 minutes after they browned in the skillet, they still weren't quite done and the outside was getting pretty browned so I didn't want them to burn. I also accidentally simmered away most of the sauce lol. There was juuuuust enough, but it would have been better with more sauce. In the second pic I topped the plate with parm and red pepper flakes.

  Click here for the Skillet Lemon Rosemary Meatballs by Recipe Runner

  The broccoli was just air fried for like 8 minutes, it's quicker and tastier then roasting in the oven. Click here for the recipe for Air Fryer Roasted Broccoli by JZ Eats.

Jackfruit Carnitas with Pintos & Cheese and Buttery Corn

 

  Jackfruit is such a great meat substitute, it's texture reminds you of pulled meat and it's flavor is so mild that it tastes like whatever spices you use. I've mainly used it for bbq pulled "pork" sandwiches, but I thought I'd try something different this time. They were excellent! My son didn't even know it wasn't meat, my husband did but only because I told him :) We topped them with cilantro, cheese, salsa, jalapeno and sour cream. I would have used avocados but they were like rocks. 

  The sides were just some fat free refried beans and corn that I mixed with a little bit of Truvia and I Can't Believe It's Not Butter Spray. Fantastic dinner.

  Here is the recipe for Jackfruit Carnitas by Nora Cooks.

Creamy Mushroom Vegetable Rice Soup with Ham & Cheese Sliders

 

  We had a big snowstorm and I had no particular plans for dinner since we stocked up on food before it hit. I've been loving The Natural Nurturers recipes and we had everything on hand for this soup. We're not big mushroom people, but they are so good for you so I've been looking for recipes that we might like. This soup was a hit! It didn't taste to "mushroomy" and it's so super full of veggies that makes me happy. I loved that the creaminess came from pureed beans!

  The sliders were because I thought the Superbowl was this weekend lol. I'm not a sports person can you tell? Oh well they went perfect with the soup for a nice filling meal after playing in the snow. Plus, everyone loves these sliders!

Recipes:

-  Creamy Mushroom Vegetable Soup by The Natural Nurturer

-  Ham & Cheese Sliders by Averie Cooks

Tomato Spinach One Pot Pasta

 

  I've been making this Tomato Spinach One Pot Pasta by Budget Bytes for yeeeeeaaaarrrrrssss. It was the first one pot meal that I ever made and one of my earliest recipes that I made when I was learning to cook. It used to be named "Italian Wonderpot" but it looks like it was changed because of some comments under her recipe complaining that it wasn't real Italian food. 

  It's delicious, everyone loves it and it has veggies so that makes me happy. I served it with fresh out of the oven homemade bread. Normally I'd serve it with garlic bread, but warm melty butter on fresh bread was perfect. I use this Bread Machine French Bread recipe by Breaddad and it always comes out  perfect.

Easy Fish Tacos with Cumin Lime Slaw and Rainbow Salad with Lime Crema

 

  I made these Easy Fish Tacos with Cumin Lime Slaw and as a side I made Roasted Sweet Potato Rainbow Salad with Lime Crema.  

  Everything was so so good! It took forever because I'm a slow cook but I'll definitely be making these again. Lots of veggies and clean ingredients covered with a lime crema? Yes please! This was a big hit in our house.

Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo and Cornbread Muffins

 

  I love chorizo and eggs for breakfast, but unfortunately no one else in my family does. So I had some chorizo left and I was searching for recipes to use it up and came across the Instant Pot Pinto Beans with Chorizo recipe by Budget Bytes. I always keep dried pinto beans around because if all else fails, it's easy to make homemade bean and cheese burritos for dinner. 

  I wasn't super impressed with this recipe, I probably wouldn't make it again. It was a little dry and you could barely taste the chorizo. But I doctored it up with cheese, onions, sour cream and jalapenos. We also had some plain 'ol boxed cornbread muffins which are always delicious.

Quick Red Beans & Rice

 

  Quickie Red Beans and Rice recipe by Budget Bytes!

  I've made this a few times throughout the years, sometimes it just sounds good and I'm not sure why since I don't particularly care for sausage. Maybe because beans and rice are just healthy filling comfort food, high in protein and fiber. It always comes out a little on the dry side for me, maybe I cook it to long or something....but a splash of beef broth fixes that right up. 

  Everyone likes it and it's super budget friendly!

One Pot Chicken Con Broccoli

 

  One Pot Chicken con Broccoli from The Skinnyish Dish. This was good, not my favorite thing ever but it was good. My husband doesn't particularly care for one pot meals.....he likes his food separate. I like to mash mine together, I don't know how we make it work, but we do ;) My son liked it a lot but he loves chicken and he loves broccoli so that makes sense.

Kale and Salmon Caesar Salad

 

  I am obsessed with this Kale and Salmon Caesar Salad from Budget Bytes. I love salmon, but we hardly make it because it's so expensive. So this was my first time trying canned salmon and it's perfect in salads and since then I've used it to make salmon cakes. I found a few different healthy caesar dressing recipe I wanted to try out but I couldn't find anchovy paste! So I just bought a bottle from the refrigerated section and it was still good. My family loved it and I'll probably be making it again this week, maybe with a brown rice or higher protein pasta.

  - 3 Minute Skinny Caesar Dressing by Laughing Spatula
  - Caesar Dressing Recipe by Simple Healthy Kitchen

20 Minute Creamy Tuna Pesto Pasta

   It's not the prettiest dish, but this 20 Minute Creamy Tuna Pasta by Homemade Mastery is delicious! My favorite part is that it's all pantry staples! If you like tuna melts or really anything with tuna that you'll love this. The pesto adds so much flavor, and it's full of veggies so that makes me happy. Everyone loved it so I'll be making it again for sure.

  As a side I just steamed up some broccoli and tossed it with a little lemon juice, garlic, salt/pepper, and butter.

Vegetable Barley Soup with Garlic Toast

   Here is another wonderful Budget Bytes recipe. Vegetable Barely Soup topped with Swiss Cheese. With a side of garlic toast. I really liked the barley in this, it added a nice chewy texture and it's high in fiber. The whole family liked this, and I like soup that is an easy way to fill up on veggies :)

Turkey Chili Smothered Potatoes

   I used this Turkey Chili Smothered Sweet Potatoes recipe by Budget Bytes. I subbed regular potatoes for the sweet, and pinto beans for the black beans because that's what I had on hand. We also had caesar salad. I love Budget Bytes, I've literally been making recipes from her site for at least 10 years....it's one of my favorite recipe sites. 

  Very filling and budget friendly!

Italian Crazy Bread

 

  This Italian Deli Crazy Bread (by Bacon Butter Cheese & Garlic Blog) is to die for. Seriously it's so amazing. I made it over Christmas break and I will be making it for holidays again. It calls for a loaf of store bought Italian bread, but they were out so I just used my trusty French Bread recipe by BreadDad. 

  It's stuffed with a few different meats, cheeses and pepperoncini. Then slathered with a mayo that's mixed with all kinds of herbs and seasonings. Then baked at 350 for like a half hour. Then you just slice and serve. So so so good!

Trader Joe's Frozen Mushroom Chicken and Mini Wontons

 

  This was the last of the frozen dinners that I had got at Trader Joe's a few months ago. Trader Joe's is like 40 minutes from my house so I don't go there often. It's the Frozen Mushroom Chicken that I served over rice and topped with sriracha. I did add extra broccoli because I wanted to stretch it more. I also air fried up some frozen mini wontons that we got from Costco. I made a dipping sauce with soy sauce, sriracha, sesame oil, garlic, and a pinch of brown sugar.

"Mom's Chicken and Rice Casserole" by The SkinnyishDish

 

  I love the SkinnyishDish recipes, but we did not care for this "Moms Chicken and Rice Casserole" at all. I don't think it's anything against this recipe, but none of us seem to really like recipes that call for soups or onion mixes in it. I'm sure if you liked those things then you'd like this. I just served it with a side of frozen green beans that I cooked in some chicken broth and tossed with garlic, parm and butter.

Veggie Turkey Skillet and Mashed Potatoes

 

  I've actually made this Veggie Turkey Skillet (by Clean Food Crush) a few times, we love it. I love that it's all "clean" ingredients and it's super quick to make. Just saute your meat then veggies then combine with seasonings. Perfect. I have loved every recipe I've made from Clean Food Crush!

  Those are just regular instant mashed potatoes because yum.

The Best Chicken Marinade Endless Summer Salad and Air Fryer French Fries

 

 This chicken marinade (by KristinesKitchenBlog) claims to be the best marinade, and it is! My family LOVED it! Plus you probably already have everything you need for it in your pantry. 

 We also air fried up some french fries! They would be zero points if you have free potatoes on WW! Delicious! Super easy too, I've already made them several times since this dinner. 

  Finally we have Dole's Endless Summer Salad Kit which in theory sounds delicious, but it's really bland and artificial tasting. I would probably only buy it again if it's on sale for like $2, it's definitely not worth the $4 I paid for it. 

  Easy budget friendly meal that is full of pantry staples!

 

 

Italian Turkey Bake

 

  This Italian Turkey Bake was just a quick clean out the pantry meal.  I just used a pound of ground turkey, a pound of pasta, a jar of Prego, mozzarella and parmasean. Not my favorite dinner because I don't care for pasta bakes, but my family liked it. The green beans were just steamed and tossed with butter, garlic, lemon juice and salt and pepper. 

  Easy cheap dinner just to use up what you have on hand.

Baked Pasta with Eggplant and 30 Minute Vegetable Sauce

 

  I recently found The Natural Nurturer. I love that her "thing" is veggie loaded recipes. No Points, no low carb.....just fitting as much veggies into your meal as you can :)

  I made the Baked Pasta with Eggplant and I personally thought it was just fine, I really don't care for baked pasta stuff but my family loves it was a hit with them. I peeled and sweated the eggplant before roasting and it really took away any bitterness that it might have, eggplant seems to be hit or miss with that sometimes. 

  But my favorite thing about this dish was that I made her 30 Minute Vegetable Sauce instead of just using my family's favorite of Prego. It tasted phenomenal and you honestly couldn't tell that it wasn't just regular pasta sauce! The sauce is made with tomato sauce, carrots, spinach, zucchini, and bell pepper. So much veggie goodness in this dinner! I did add a tbs of sugar to the sauce and I used my favorite "Pizza & Pasta Magic" seasoning. I will definitely be using this recipe to make sauce for now on.

Asian Turkey Meatball Bowls

  I had originally planned to make these Egg Roll Meatballs (by The Natural Nurturer) to use up a half a cabbage I had leftover from cabbage soup, but I waited to long and it was bad. Bah. So I ended up looking for a different recipe.

   These Asian Turkey Meatball Bowls (by Recipe Runner) were a big hit! They were simple to make and chock full of veggies. Next time after baking the meatballs I'll probably throw them in the air fryer for a few minutes to try and crisp them up....they were really soft and barely together. But the flavor was phenomenal. I used a mixture of brown rice and cauliflower rice that I had seasoned with salt/pepper/garlic. The veggies I used in the bowl were carrots, cucumber, jalapeno, green onion, cilantro and edamame. I had some small bell peppers I meant to chop up but I forgot, oops. I topped it off with a drizzle of sriracha mayo. 

  Oh the sauce recipe for the meatballs called for hoisin and I didn't realize I was out until it was to late. So I just added extra soy and then some gochujang sauce and it worked fine. 

  I love that this recipe is also budget friendly, a pound of ground turkey is less then $4!

Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes and Mashed Instant Pot Potatoes with Cauliflower

 

  This was a really delicious veggie filled dinner! I don't know how many points it is, right now I'm focusing on veggie loading dinners without counting points to see how that goes.

  I used this 15 Minute Sweet Potato Salmon Cakes recipe from Ambitious Kitchen. Mine came out a little crumbly, I don't know if I over mixed it or maybe my sweet potato was huge....so I added another egg and then more panko and it was fine. We dipped it in srirancha which is just ranch and sriracha mixed together. My husband dipped his in tarter sauce since he loves it and we don't get to use it enough. I will definitely be making this again! It's very budget friendly, a can of salmon is under $4 and sweet potatoes are about .70 cents right now. 

  For the side I made Mashed Instant Pot Potatoes with Cauliflower by The Natural Nurturer. They weren't my favorite, but they weren't bad or anything...I just need to mess with the recipe I think. It was very heavy on the cauliflower flavor, but I didn't weigh my potatoes, I just used the last few up that I had so maybe it wasn't enough. I did add garlic/salt/pepper but next time I might add some rosemary or dill and more sour cream so it would be creamier. I liked how fast, easy and veggie filled it is! Even though cauliflower is about $3 a head, with the potatoes it makes a lot.....enough for at least 2 meals for all 3 of us. So it's also a budget friendly recipe.