Healthy Sheppard's pie

Sheppard's Pie is one of those homemade comfort foods, but that doesn't mean it can't be somewhat healthy.  For me what really makes this meal delicious is the lamb you can however use any type of meat or even a meat substitute if that's your thing.  Lamb is packed with fats as well so if you are watching your fat you might want to choose something more lean.  Anyway back to the recipe

Prep time: 20 minutes  Bake time 20 minutes
-1 lb ground lamb
-1 cup kale
-1 cup broccoli
-1/2 cup shredded carrots
-tablespoon coconut oil
-1-2 sweet potato

1. Preheat oven to 350F and grease square baking dish
2. Peel, chop and boil sweet potato
3. Cook ground lamb until no longer pink (drain fat)
4. Saute veggies in coconut oil to soften a bit
5. Mix meat and veggies and place into baking dish
6. Cover (like frosting a cake) the veggies and meat with the sweet potato
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes
8. Cut into 4 servings

BREAKFAST BAKE

When watching carbs I find it easy to cut out quite a few carbs by having an egg based breakfast.  I would love to wake up every morning and make a fresh omlete, but it just isn't practical for me ( I need my sleep) This egg bake makes meeting your protein goals easy as well as making your taste-buds happy! Enjoy!

Breakfast Bake
6 Servings 156 calories per serving 

·         6 large Eggs
·         6 large Eggs Whites
·         1 cup raw Spinach 
·         6 ounce Turkey Breakfast Sausage 
·         4 wedges Creamy Swiss Light 
·         1 Roma Tomato

1.   Preheat oven to 350F 

2.   Grease glass 8x8 pan

3.   mix all ingredients in a large bowl except cheese

4.   pour mixture into greased pan

5.   "sprinkle" creamy swiss on top of mixture

6.   Bake until eggs are thoroughly cooked (they will brown a bit on the edges and no longer be runny)

The key to these is cooking slowly!

8 Fats//3 Carbs//16 Proteins

I sliced it up into 6 pieces, stored in airtight containers and reheated when I was ready to eat.

PROTEIN WAFFLE RECIPE

I recently went dairy-free (well, trying my hardest) because I want to improve my skin.  I've tried all the faces washes and all the creams.  I know better than anyone else your skin is directly related to your nutrition.  Going dairy-free has presented some problems as far as reaching my protein goal, so I have had to add outside protein sources.  I tried quite a few vegan proteins (the only proteins that don't have lactose) and they were well... BAD.  I'm not a huge fan of protein "shakes" so I had to find a protein that would bake well and Unico's Apollo Vegan Protein tastes amazing and bakes fantastic! Apollo has 20P/7C/3F so is macro friendly, and you can use it in just about everything. Protein can be expensive, but at 30 servings per container and a discount code: "SAMGFIT" you'll be adding protein to your day for less.

Ingredients:

1/4 Banana

1 Egg

1 Egg white

dash cinamon

dash vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 scoop Apollo Protein (use code "SAMGFIT")

Toppings of Choice

You can make these fresh, or ahead of time.  If you want them to be "crunchy" I would recommend freezing them and then toasting them when you're ready to eat.

Feel free to use the discount code for any Unico Product

SALSA CHICKEN

I couldn't decide what to prep this week until last night.  It was late I was exhausted and HANGRY.  I had a rotisserie chicken at home.... yuck. So I shredded the chicken threw it in a pan poured in some water, salsa, and taco seasoning and POOF chicken to put on a salad!

So I didn't use a rotisserie chicken, but yet again I prepped salsa chicken because it's literally so quick, easy, and good!









Salsa Chicken:
4 Servings

• Low sodium taco seasoning
• 1lb Chicken Breast (tenderloins or whole breast)
• 1 cup salsa 

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F
Grease baking dish (for easy clean up)
Trim chicken and place in baking dish
Sprinkle taco seasoning all over chicken
Pour salsa on top
Bake for 20-25 minutes until chicken is 165F through out

THAT'S IT
Easiest prep or meal 
Place with veggies and cheese in a taco, eat plain, or put on a salad

Slow Cooker Caribbean chicken:
Recipe adapted from Lexi's Clean Chicken
4 Servings

• 1 pounds boneless and skinless chicken
• 1/2 cup diced canned tomatoes drained
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 chopped diced pepper
• 1/2 cup diced red onion
• 1 tsp minced garlic
• Juice of 1 lime
• 1/2 cup chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon stevia
• Salt and Pepper to taste

Place all ingredients in crock pot cook on low for 2-3 hours

Drain liquid
Shred chicken

Serve with mango salasa and vegetable of choice

Mango Salsa

• 1 tsp chopped ciliantro
• 1 mango chopped
• 1/4 cup red onion
• 1/2 juice of lime

I placed all ingredients into a blender and blended on low

TURKEY MEATBALLS

Turkey Meatballs
4 Servings
16oz Ground turkey
1 egg
.5 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Paprika
Garlic Salt to taste (aka a lot if you're me) (optional)

Sauce (optional)
1 28oz can crushed tomato
1 clove minced garlic
.5 cup sauteed mushroom
.5 cup roma tomato
.25 cup diced onion

Meatballs:

• Mix all ingredients together in medium size bowl
• Form ingredients into 1 inch balls, usually makes about 16 or so depending on how big
• Place in greased baking dish
• Bake at 350 F for 20-25 mins or until temp is 165F
• Tip: ground turkey does NOT brown like beef 
• Serve with vegetables of choice add sauce if you'd like, I prefer no sauce.

Sauce:

• Sautee veggies on medium heat until tender
• pour in crushed tomato
• simmer on low while meatballs are baking

GLUTEN FREE OPTION:

Swap Panko for gluten free almond flour 

BEGINNER MEAL PREP 1

Three recipes from my prep this week! Something I get asked often is if the food stays good? number one you need to keep everything airtight.  I've also had a bit of experience in trial and error.  As you see here there is no lettuce involved in these recipes.  I have been getting my greens in through smoothies. Back to the food on hand chicken burrito bowls and meatballs reheat well.  Even my husband enjoys them.  The chicken is cooked in the salsa so it keeps it juicy and the meatballs are so fricken delicious you don't even need sauce!

Keep in mind proper cooking temps and storing.  Make sure you cook both meats to 165 F and let them cool completely before lidding and storing them !  

Breakfast:
Strawberry Protein Overnight Oats
1 Serving
.5 cup Oats
.5 cup Greek yogurt (I used strawberry flavored so it would be sweeter)
.5-1 Cup milk of choice (I used almond)
4-5 Chopped strawberries
.5 Scoop Vanilla protein powder (optional)

• Mix all ingredients together & refrigerate overnight
• Be sure everything is being covered by liquid

Lunch:
Deconstructed Chicken Burrito
4 Servings
16 oz Chicken Breast (~4 Breast)
2 Tbsp Taco Seasoning (low sodium)
6 Tbsp Salsa
1 Avocado
2 Roma Tomatos
2 cups Whole Grain Rice
(other veggies optional- corn, black beans, peppers whatever sounds good) 

• Rinse and trim chicken (I like to use the tenders)
• Place Chicken in baking Dish sprinkle seasoning & Salsa
• Bake uncovered at 350 Degrees F until internal temp reaches 165 (~20-25 minutes)
• Cook Rice while letting chicken cool (I used Uncle Ben's 90 sec rice = Time saver)
• Chop avocado & tomato
• Place rice on bottom, chicken and topping next
• You can put lemon/lime on the avocado to keep it from browning

Dinner:
Turkey Meatballs
4 Servings
16oz Ground turkey
1 egg
.5 cup Panko Bread Crumbs
2 Tbsp Italian Seasoning
1 Tbsp Paprika
Frozen Veggies of choice

• Mix all ingredients together 
• Form ingredients into 1 inch balls, usually makes about 16 or so depending on how big
• Place in greased baking dish
• Bake at 350 F for 20-25 mins or until temp is 165F
• Tip: ground turkey does NOT brown like beef 
• Serve with vegetables of choice add sauce if you'd like, I prefer no sauce.

* These are just meal ideas, not meant to be a meal plan, please discuss caloric goals with a healthcare professional.  I am not a doctor or licensed nutritionist 

CHICKEN SALAD RECIPE

A protein packed chicken salad is a great meal! You can throw it in a low carb wrap, you can eat it plain, or even throw it on a bed of lettuce if you are trying to add extra greens to your day!

Traditional chicken salad is full of mayo and sugar, but by tweaking the ingredients a bit you can get a healthy alternative that still tastes great!

For this recipe I used one of those pre-cooked rotisserie chickens, this was a time saver for me, you could of course roast your own chicken.  This is simply a time saver and it tastes great!

Prep Time: 20 Minutes      Cook Time: 0
Makes 3 Servings

Ingredients:

9 oz Rotisserie Chicken
1/2 Cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1 Cup Red seedless Grapes
1/4 Cup Miracle Whip Lite
2 Tbsp Dried Cranberries
1 Tbsp Pecans
3 or 4 Celery stalks

Directions:

1. Remove skin and shred chicken breast with fork while still warm.  (I didn't use the dark meat, but of course you could) I also "chopped" the chicken to ensure the shreds would be small.

2. Let chicken cool
3. While cooling chop the grapes and celery to desired size (I like them small)

4. When chicken is cool add Greek yogurt and miracle whip. Mix well with wooden spoon

5. Add nuts & fruit

6. Refrigerate until ready to eat

Approx calories per serving: 228
Fat: 7//Carbs: 9// Protein:30