Instead of making mashed Sweet Potatoes, I made baked potatoes and topped them with the Shepherd’s Pie mix. This saved me time peeling, boiling, and mashing the potatoes. It turned out great!

As you know, most of my dinner recipes are usually simple and easy to whip up… so this one comes together rather fast!

For the recipe: click on this link SWEET POTATO SHEPHERD’S PIE

When I was making the Shepherd’s pie this time, I used Ground Turkey instead of lean ground beef.

We didn’t have frozen corn to throw in the mix so I diced up a little red pepper for some added veggies and color. I like making substitutions to my recipes, it changes up the flavors!

Do you have any quick stove-top recipes with ground meat? 

If you have never had strawberries in a salad before, PLEASE try it. The sweetness of the strawberries goes great with the salty gorgonzola cheese, yum!!!

Strawberry & Avocado Tossed Salad with Gorgonzola Cheese

Ingredients:

• sliced strawberries
• about 4 cups spring mix salad blend
• 1/2 avocado, cut into chunks
• 1/2 cucumber sliced
• 1/2 cup shredded carrots
• 1/2 container of grape tomatoes
• 1/4 cup gorgonzola cheese
• balsamic dressing your choice (drizzled over the top)

Directions:

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl toss together and serve! (serves about 2) Simple & Easy!!

(this salad picture is without the dressing) Over the salad we had some Olive OIl & Herbed chicken thighs. It was so light, healthy, & tasty!

Do you have any favorite salad combos?? Please share!

When I got home from picking up Ava at daycare yesterday I had nothing planned for dinner. I literally opened the fridge and found a bag of kale and a pint of grape tomatoes in my vegetable drawer and thought, what can I do with this? Luckily I had some chicken sausage in the freezer that I quickly thawed and was excited I had something to throw together. While Ava napped I got to prepping… this meal literally took 20 minutes and was a huge hit. The flavors were on point.

We will definitely be making this recipe again.

Chicken Sausage with Kale, Chickpeas, & Tomatoes

Ingredients:

1 package Al Fresco Sweet Italian Chicken Sausage

1 bag of chopped kale

1 can of chickpeas, drained

1/2 pint of grape tomatoes, halved

1/4 cup sherry wine

1/2 cup chicken broth

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp onion powder

1/2 tsp oregano

salt & pepper to taste

2 tablespoons olive oil

Directions:

Heat a large pan to medium heat, add 1 tablespoon olive oil. Add in grape tomatoes and saute for 3-4 minutes. Add in kale, chicken broth, & sherry wine and cook for 5 minutes.

Drizzle remaining oil and seasonings, mix well. Remove kale mixture from pan and place into serving dish. Add chicken sausage to pan and cook 8-10 minutes or until cooked (as directed by package). Add the Kale mixture back to the pan and mix well. Return everything back to serving dish and eat!

This meal would also be great served over whole grain pasta or rice… or even on a sandwich!

If you are like me, on the go healthy recipes are clutch, especially when they are bite size. The protein helps to keep you full and with a few chocolate chips it can satisfy that chocolate craving!

This recipe is similar to my peanut butter protein bite recipe! Except with the cookie dough recipe we use vanilla protein instead of chocolate and of course I added chocolate chips.

COOKIE DOUGH PROTEIN BITES

Ingredients:

3 Tablespoons Peanut Butter

2 Tablespoons Honey

3 Tablespoons Water

1 cup quick oats (I used trader Joes Oats)

2 Scoops Vanilla whey Protein Powder (I used Myoplex Lite) about 1/4 cup

1 1/2 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

Mix all ingredients in a mixing bowl. It will get sticky and messy but trust me it’s worth it. Roll into 12-14 mini balls. Place in the fridge or freezer and enjoy!

Makes 14 bites, servings 2 bites: approximately 150 calories, 5.6g fat, 9.8g protein, 16.7g carbs. 1.8g fiber

I don’t like recipes that are too heavy before a workout so a turkey burger and some veggies does the trick!

Give this Turkey Burger recipe a try! It doesn’t take long, it is light, and has great flavor!

Turkey Burgers with Peppers & Mushrooms

Ingredients:

1lb Ground turkey

½ cup red pepper, diced

½ container sliced mushrooms, diced

salt & pepper

2 teaspoons olive oil

whole wheat buns

sliced tomatoes and lettuce

Direcions:

Heat a small skillet to medium heat, Saute peppers and mushrooms in olive oil for 5 minutes or until soft.

Mix ground turkey with veggies and sprinkle in some salt & pepper. Make 5 patties with the meat mixture.

You can either grill them or bake them in the oven. I baked them because it was freezing outside. Bake 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until cooked through.

Build your burger…  Serve on whole wheat buns with lettuce & tomato, avocado and your favorite condiment!