Easy Recipe: Healthy Veggie Pasta Dinner

I used to love a big plate full of pasta. Sure, the starch-filled noodles were tasty. But what I came to realize was that the juicy sauces were what made the meal. So, once I learned how-to use a spiralizer, I went to town creating my own veggie pasta dishes.

Now that I’m vegan and eat largely plant-based foods, a veggie pasta meal nightly using different beans, green leafy vegetables and sauces provides a variety of nutrients and dinners. (I use two-zucchinis for each individual dinner.) I feel incredibly full and satisfied without the bloat of heavy carbs. For my family, if I buy an additional six zucchinis, two potatoes and two sweet potatoes, I have side dishes for the entire week. Here’s my favorite recipe for an easy veggie meal or side dish. Enjoy!

Healthy Veggie Pasta – How to Use a Spiralizer

I was a huge carb eater. I steered clear of Italian restaurants for years because I was afraid I wouldn’t have willpower when a huge, creamy and savory bowl of pasta was delivered to my seat. Now I love little Italian bistros because they often keep in store many fresh veggies and cook with extra virgin olive oil. In fact, one of my favorite local restaurants makes a special dish of sautéed zucchini pasta with veggies in garlic and oil for me.

Easy Recipe: Carrot Cake Muffins

For as long as I can remember, my mother touted the health benefits of carrots. She’d remind me how she used to eat them as a baby until her nose turned orange. Wanting to insert my own independence, I naturally stayed away from root vegetables for years. Then one fancy dinner in adulthood, I sampled a carrot cake and never looked back. I thought the creamy sweet cream cheese frosting perfectly balanced the cinnamon spiced cake. Now in my quest to eat clean, I’ve stayed away from frosted cakes. But while recently attending an open house at my son’s school, I was introduced to baked spice muffins that reminded me of carrot cakes. So inspired by the creation, I spent a few snow days in the kitchen to find my own sweet spot muffin recipe.

Clean Eating Recipes: What I’m Eating Now

As a “student of life,” I love to analyze what’s being talked about in the health category and whether it can benefit my own as well as the general public’s well-being. The past four years, creating simple clean recipes has been a focus in my life. The more I read about eating a whole food, plant-based diet, the more I’m convinced I feel great because I’m taking care of myself. Many people diet, eliminate the “bad guy” aka sugar and refined carbs, only to find after a few weeks they go back to their normal eating patterns. I’m here to show others how to take small steps toward healthier living.

Easy Recipe: Healthy Meatloaf aka Meat Muffins

When I first started dating my husband, he shared a story about how he detested meatloaf as a child and would nearly cry every time his mother served it. His sour relationship with meatloaf continued into adulthood. So when my larger-than-life grandmother first met him, served her favorite meatloaf recipe and he actually ate it, I knew he was a keeper. But it still wasn’t something either of us prepared, until a few years ago. Once our son started eating, I looked to find wholesome food that I could prepare in advance and reheat ranging from zucchini muffin bites to homemade applesauce. It was then I tested a few healthy meatloaf recipes and changed the name. Guess what…now my husband even eats the meat muffins.

Easy Recipe Healthy Meatloaf Meat Muffins

Easy Recipe: Healthy Meatloaf aka Meat Muffins
 
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Individual sized mini-meatloafs aka meat muffins
Author:
Recipe type: Healthy Meat Muffins
Cuisine: Meals
Serves: 10
Ingredients
  • 1 lb ground turkey
  • 1 cup steamed carrots
  • 1 cup panko (or bread crumbs)
  • ¼ cup garlic powder
  • ½ cup ketchup
  • 1 tsp sea salt
  • 4 eggs
  • Non-stick spray
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
  2. Steam carrots prior and cut into small pieces (size of a pencil eraser)
  3. Combine carrots, panko, garlic powder, eggs
  4. Mix combination with ground turkey
  5. Use non-stick spray to coat muffin pans
  6. Place approximately ½ mixture into each muffin tin
  7. Place a spoonful of ketchup on top of each meat muffin
  8. Bake at 375 degrees for 40 minutes
  9. Pull pan out of the oven, and place another spoonful of ketchup on meat muffins
  10. Bake for another 10-15 minutes
  11. Take out of oven and cool for 5 minutes

Are there any foods that your family hates that you wish you could re-invent?

Easy Recipe: Healthy Egg Frittatas for Kids

I’ve been known to motivate my child with a little “mommy marketing.” I’ll tell him that we’re not just running errands, we’re going on a scavenger hunt. This usually results in my son searching through the grocery store to find missing items needed in our home. We’ve also been known to train for our own Olympic games. We’ll run around the block timing ourselves in an effort to gain superhero strength. So it’s fitting that I often create food with this marketing spin. This week, I took a few simple ingredients for a healthy egg frittata and baked them in a train muffin tin. Obsessed with Thomas the Train for years, my son was thrilled to eat his very own healthy egg train frittatas. The clean-eating recipe is easy, wholesome and definitely kid approved.

Easy Recipe Egg Frittatas

 

Easy Recipe: Egg Frittatas for Kids
 
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Author:
Serves: 8
Ingredients
  • 4 eggs
  • 1 cup of milk
  • ½ cup of mozzarella cheese (or cheese of choice)
  • 1 cup frozen butternut squash cubes
Instructions
  1. Combine eggs, milk and cheese in a bowl and beat the mixture
  2. Pour mixture into a muffin pan
  3. Drop in butternut squash cubes (3 for each muffin)
  4. Bake at 400 degrees for 25-30 minutes
  5. Remove and cool for five minutes
Notes
Baking time may differ depending on the pan used.

How do you make breakfast healthier?