Cumin Lime Black Bean Lentil Salad

 

Cumin Lime Black Bean Lentil Salad

Terrible picture, I just wanted to save the recipe before I forgot. It's loosely based on the recipe linked below. I chopped up 4 little cucumbers, 2 bell peppers, 3 jalapenos, 1 pint cherry tomatoes, and 1/4 red onion. I also added 1 can black beans and 1 can of lentils. I forgot I wanted to add some corn, so I'll do that tomorrow. I also forgot to order cilantro so I added some squeeze tube cilantro to the dressing mix. 

For the dressing mix I did 1 tsp oregano, 2 tsp cumin, 1 tsp salt, pepper, a giant glob of jarlic, about a tbs of tube cilantro, 1 lime, 1 tbs dijon and some avocado oil to help it go a little farther. I might add a scoop of greek yogurt when I have a bowl of it tomorrow too just for extra protein.

The flavor is so good! I love the dijon and the extra seasoning. I find sometimes that veggie salads like this can be bland so this is the first time I doubled the seasonings, and I'll be doing that again. 

Click here for the Black Bean Lentil Salad with Cumin-Lime Dressing recipe by The Garden Grazer

Another pregnant bell pepper!

For snack I had some with a side of cottage cheese, really good and filling!

White Bean Pumpkin Turkey Chili

 

White Bean Pumpkin Turkey Chili

I made a few substitutions of what I had on hand. Instead of 2 lbs ground turkey, I used 1 lb and 1 roasted sweet potato. I also used 1 can of black beans in place of 1 of the white bean cans, and I threw in a few handfuls of kale. I also added salt and pepper because the recipe didn't call for it for some reason.

It's so good! You can't even taste the pumpkin, it really just adds a creaminess to it. I think some corn and chipotle powder would also be good. I've been trying to have high veggie & protein soup on hand for lunches lately. 

I also made a side of cornbread, I haven't tasted it yet but I'm sure it's good....it's cornbread lol.

Click here for the White Bean Pumpkin Turkey Chili recipe from Skinnytaste

Click here for the cornbread recipe from BudgetBytes

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Soup

 

Butternut Squash and Black Bean Soup

 This I improvised some. I used a bag of frozen butternut squash and 1 sweet potato instead of just 2lbs of squash like the recipe called for. I roasted the sweet potato with salt & pepper for 20 minutes in the oven first. I also added in a jalapeno, some chipotle in adobo sauce that I had extra from the meatloaf I was making for dinner, and a bay leaf. It's SUPER good, I really love it! Craig wont eat it because he doesn't do black beans, but I know Ethan will at least try it. I just wanted a quick lunch that I can grab that's super healthy. I've been way into sweet potatoes and beans lately.

Caesar Protein Chicken Veggie Pasta

 

Caesar Protein Veggie Pasta

   This is super good! 

I just used:

- 1 rotisserie chicken

- 1 bag of mini cucumbers

- 1 pint of cherry tomatoes

- 1 box Barilla protein pasta

- 1 bottle Bolthouse caesar dressing

- 1/4 red onion

- Juice of 1 lemon

- salt, pepper, garlic powder, dry dill

Not pictured:

- Chopped lettuce

I just chopped and mixed everything together. Next time for a higher protein/lower calorie option I might try half a bottle of Bolthouse with half greek yogurt and extra seasoning to make up for the loss of flavor. Bolthouse is already low calorie but more protein is always good. The lettuce I'm adding per bowl so it doesn't get soggy.

I love love love this and need this in my fridge at all times now. 

Sweet & Spicy Ground Turkey & Broccoli Bowls

 

Sweet & Spicy Ground Turkey & Broccoli Bowls

    This was delicious, and I got a thumbs up! lol. It will definitely be in our rotation. I did omit the honey since it was already pretty sweet, and we added a dollop of chili crisp.

Click here for the Sweet & Spicy Ground Turkey & Broccoli Bowls recipe by 5BoysBaker

High Fiber Gnocchi Skillet

 

High Fiber Gnocchi Skillet

     Delicious! I used ground chicken because I wanted to make it lighter, but of course it would be tastier with beef. I didn't even know that you could buy cauliflower gnocchi! Next time I'll make a veggie side, but this was kinda spur of the moment. I also used mozzarella because we already have a huge bag from making homemade pizza, I added an onion while cooking the meat, and I seasoned the meat with garlic and Italian seasoning. Definitely in our rotation!

 The recipe is from Miranda Galati | Dietitian's tiktok. Click here for the recipe. 

High Protein Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

 

High Protein Chicken Caesar Pasta Salad

  This was SO GOOD. I used Banza chickpea pasta for the extra protein, and you really can't even tell when it's mixed with the rest of the ingredients. The caesar dressing is also delicious, I'm picky with caesar and I'll definitely be making it again! Everyone loved it. I did just eyeball the ingredients for the dressing but it's very forgiving. Oh I also used a rotisserie chicken to make it even easier. 

  Click here for the caesar pasta salad recipe by Pound Dropper
  Click here for the caesar dressing recipe by Pound Dropper

Weight Watchers Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps

 

Weight Watchers Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps

   I forgot to take a picture of them but I wanted to save the recipe for when I'm looking for dinners next time. This was really good and we all loved it. The only change I made was I didn't mix everything together, I spread the Laughing Cow cheese onto the Flatout, then layered the ingredients. 

  Click here for the recipe for Weight Watchers Bacon Cheeseburger Wraps

Roasted Veggie Pitas with Avocado Cream Sauce

 

Roasted Veggie Pitas with Avocado Cream Sauce

   This was so good! I love all these flavors and this type of dish is my favorite.....the fresh flavored veggie type dishes. The recipe called for 2 avocados and mine were kinda small (I had grocery delivery), next time I'll make sure to get bigger avocados. I also didn't realize we were out of cayenne, but I was only going to put it on mine and my husbands pitas anyway, but son isn't too into spicy things. But it really didn't need it, it was perfect!

  Click here for the recipe from Pinch of Yum

  Edit:

   Made these again, so good! This time the store only had mini rounds which worked out fine, like a tostada almost. I had green onions already chopped so I just sprinkled some on too.

Winter Grain Bowl with Balsamic Dressing

 

Winter Grain Bowl with Balsamic Dressing

   I feel like my body has been asking for greens ever since all the heavy Thanksgiving food and leftovers lol. This was really good and I was worried my husband wouldn't like it but he did, he's been trying to eat healthier. My teenager just said "it's ok" which mean's he didn't care for it lol. I did two things differently though. The recipe called for beets to roast but the store only had canned and pickled beets and that sounded unappetizing so I got a butternut squash to roast along with the sweet potatoes. I think that worked really well because it cut the sweetness of the sweet potatoes. The other change I made was with the dried cherries, those are crazy expensive! I had a tiny little container of them and it was almost $5, so I also got a pomegranate which I think I actually liked better anyway...it tasted fresher. 

 Click here for the Winter Grain Bowl recipe by Pinch of Yum