Tag: recipes

Fix Friendly Morning Glory Muffins

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Here’s a quick little snack that I promise doesn’t taste like a pathetic version of the real thing!  In fact, we cut the natural sweetener in these babies, and agree it could be cut even more.  WIN!  Bonus: Baby H absolutely loved them.  DOUBLE WIN!

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Fix-Friendly Morning Glory Muffins
NOTE: I refer to these as “fix-friendly”.  If this is your first ever round of the 21 Day Fix, do your best to stick to the meal plan.  If you are having one of these, I would count it as a 3x weekly yellow treat swap.
If you are in “sustainable lifestyle” mode like me (aka – you have done a few rounds and are in this for the long-haul!) these make a great option for a snack or dessert.
Ingredients
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼ teaspoon salt
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
  • 1/3 cup pure maple syrup (or honey) – or less!  It really doesn’t need much sweetener!
  • 1 large egg, beaten
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 cup finely grated zucchini
  • 1 cup finely grated carrot
  • ½ cup raisins
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350°F and place rack in the center of the oven, and coat a muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.
  2. Combine the flour, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda in a mixing bowl and whisk until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
  3. In a large mixing bowl, stir together the coconut oil, maple syrup (or honey), egg, and vanilla extract.
  4. Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together until just barely combined.
  5. Add the zucchini, carrot and raisins and stir gently until just distributed.
  6. Fill each cup in the mini muffin pan approximately ¾ full (I use a small cookie scoop slightly overfilled).
  7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

This recipe was adapted from the original mini muffin version found here at Cupcakes and Kale Chips

ENJOY!  Let me know how they turn out….modification ideas?  Comment below!

Sunday Dinner: Hearty Beef & Butternut Squash Stew

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I’m not a chef.  Like, at all.  Even though I went to hospitality school for four years and worked in the restaurant industry, I just didn’t get pumped about cooking.  But then baby H came along, I was home a lot more often, Christian and I focused more on clean eating, and we started meal planning.

Oh, and we bought a new house with the BIGGEST kitchen island ever.  Seriously, my kitchen makes my heart happy.

So, here is my first ever recipe post – something that I thought I would NEVER do.  Ironically, my hubby cooked this tonight so I could go shopping and have some me time, so he gets the credit.  But who’s counting, right?

This is recipe is from the 21 Day Fix Extreme Eating Plan.  It just felt so appropriate for a Sunday night dinner on a cold day.

Beef and Butternut Squash Stew

(Yields approximately 6 servings)Screen Shot 2016-03-20 at 7.20.19 PM.png

Sorry for the crummy photo…we couldn’t wait to dive in LOL
Ingredients

  • 1 tsp olive oil
  • 1 1/2 lbs raw lean beef stew meat, boneless (cut into 2-inch cubes)
  • 1 medium onion, chopped
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
  • 1 cup low-sodium organic beef broth
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 tsp sea salt or Himalayan salt
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 2 cups cubed butternut squash
  • 1/4 cup chopped fresh flat leaf parsley (we did 1/2 cilantro and 1/2 parsley)

Directions

  1. Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium-high heat.
  2. Add beef; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until beef is brown.
  3. Add onion and bell peppers; cook, stirring frequently, for 4 to 5 minutes, or until onion is translucent.
  4. Add garlic; cook, stirring frequently, for 1 minute.
  5. Add tomatoes, broth, bay leaf, salt and pepper.  Bring to boil.  Reduce Heat to medium-low; cook, covered for 40 minutes.
  6. Add squash; cook, stirring occasionally, for 8 to 12 minutes, or until sauce has thickened and beef is fork-tender **
  7. Remove bay leaf; serve topped with parsley.

**we found this wasn’t enough time to fully cook the squash, so would recommend either pre-steaming your squash, OR adding it in at least 15 minutes earlier than recommended above.

We added cilantro, and a bunch of Franks Red Hot Sauce (yep, we really do put that s**t on everything).
21 Day Fix Container servings (per serving):
1 x Green
1 x Red
This meal was delicious and I’m so pumped to enjoy it again tomorrow!  Why not give it a try this week?
Happy Spring and Happy Sunday everyone,
Melissa