Healthy Banana Muffins
My family eats a lot of bananas; however, sometimes I buy too many bananas to use up in a week. I had a bunch of ripe bananas just sitting on the counter and they were calling to me, so I decided to whip up a …
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Pesto pasta with chicken, peas, and snap peas
If you need more green vegetables in your diet, then you absolutely must try this dinner. I used chickpea pasta to reduce the carbs and even my kids gobbled this up. I made a nut free pesto due to my sons allergy, but normally I …
BBQ Turkey and Veggie Meatloaf
If you are looking for a flavorful and healthy meatloaf, then I have the recipe for you. This BBQ meatloaf features lean ground turkey, sautéed carrots, onions, and peppers, and an incredible mixture of seasonings. I served this with roasted sweet potatoes and a parmesan ranch zucchini bake.
Ingredients:
1 pound lean ground turkey
½ cup carrots finely chopped
½ sweet onion finely chopped
½ bell pepper finely chopped
4 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons BBQ seasoning divided
½ teaspoon Old Bay
1 cup old fashioned oats
½ cup BBQ sauce plus more for topping
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
½ tablespoon reduced sodium soy sauce
1 egg beaten
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add onion, garlic, carrots, peppers, 1 tablespoon BBQ seasoning to a nonstick pan and cook on medium low heat for 10 minutes to soften.
- Mix BBQ sauce, Worcestershire, soy sauce, egg, and 1 tablespoon BBQ seasoning in a large bowl.
- Add the sauteed vegetables and mix in.
- Gently add in the meat and mix to combine.
- Add 1 cup old fashioned oats and mix in.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray a rack with nonstick spray.
- Mold the meatloaf using your hands.
- Bake for 45 minutes.
- Drizzle BBQ sauce over the meatloaf and spread.
- Bake for another 30-40 minutes until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees.
- Slice and serve.
- Enjoy!
Roasted Sweet Potatoes
When sweet potatoes are cooked properly, they taste amazing without any butter. I have a sweet tooth so I do enjoy a sprinkle of sugar and cinnamon on my sweet potatoes, but they honestly don’t need any extra sweetness. Ingredients: 1-3 sweet potatoes ½ – …
Baked Ham with Cherry Glaze
We often have ham on Christmas Eve. I have made many different types of glazes and this one was a keeper for sure.
Ingredients-
Spiral ham (mine was 10 pounds)
1 can Black cherries pitted in cherry juice
2 tablespoons honey
2 tablespoons cornstarch
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom
¼ teaspoon salt
1 lemon zested
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Pour ½ inch water in the bottom of a large roasting pan.
- Place ham on a rack over the water and score with a knife making criss-cross lines.
- Tent the ham with aluminum foil.
- Bake 15 minutes for each pound.
- In the last 30 minutes of baking prepare the glaze.
- Pour cherries, honey, brown sugar, cinnamon, cardamom, salt, and lemon zest to a food processor to chop the cherries.
- Transfer the mixture to a small saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer until it is thickened.
- Add cornstarch in two batches and stir in completely.
- Remove from heat.
- Remove ham from the oven and coat with half of the cherry glaze. Increase the oven temperature to 400 degrees.
- Bake for 15 more minutes.
- Let the ham rest for 15 minutes. Then slice and serve with the remaining glaze.
- Enjoy!
Chocolate Peppermint Cupcakes with Vanilla Sprinkled Frosting and Christmas Tree Pretzel Toppers
I made these for my son’s Christmas party at his preschool and they were delicious! Ingredients: Cupcakes- 1 cup granulated sugar ¾ cup all purpose flour ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder ½ teaspoon baking powder ½ teaspoon baking soda ½ teaspoon salt ½ cup buttermilk …
Sweet Potato Pie with Graham Cracker Crust
My son requested sweet potato pie with our Christmas Eve dinner this year. After researching several recipes I decided to combine a few to make this pie.
Ingredients-
Crust-
1 sleeve cinnamon graham crackers
2-3 tablespoons melted coconut oil
Filling–
2 large sweet potatoes
½ cup granulated sugar (I used truvia)
1 tablespoon extra virgin coconut oil
1 large egg
¼ cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
Directions:
Filling–
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Rub the sweet potatoes with olive oil and pierce several times with a fork. Place on a baking sheet.
- Roast for 60-90 minutes until potatoes can be pierced easily with a fork.
- Meanwhile make the crust.
Crust–
- Pulse graham crackers in a food processor until they are a fine crumb.
- Add the melted coconut oil and pulse until a wet sand like mixture.
- Press the crumbs into a pie plate.
- Bake 5 minutes.
Pie Continued–
- Let potatoes cool and then peel.
- Add potatoes to a stand mixer and mash.
- Add milk, eggs, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, coconut oil, and salt and blend until smooth.
- Pour the filling over the cooled crust.
- Bake for 50-60 minutes.
- Let pie cool on a rack.
- Enjoy! My son liked his pie with whip cream on top.
Zucchini Caprese Sliders
This is my favorite Christmas appetizer/side dish. We usually have stuffed shells and Italian sausage and this pairs wonderfully. Ingredients: 2 zucchini sliced into ¼ inch slices 12-16 cherry tomatoes halved 24 basil leaves ½ cup pesto (I make a spinach pistachio pesto I love) …