Graveyard Taco Bake

Halloween Themed Recipe #7- Countdown to Halloween!

Happy Halloween! We have reached our final day in this countdown to Halloween. 

Tonight's recipe brings us back to when we were kids. When we were younger we would dare each other to walk through cemeteries, especially since there was one really close to school. Cemeteries are creepy enough as it is, but on Halloween night they become even scarier. It's one of those places that is intriguing, but there is almost an invisible fence around it keeping you from entering. 

As I was putting dinner together, trying to figure out what spooky name to call dinner, I thought about this childhood memory all the while I was watching Tim Burton's A Nightmare Before Christmas. My boyfriend looks at me and goes it kind of looks like a graveyard with the meat and chunks of peppers on top. And walah! We had our name!

This recipe is extremely easy to make and perfect for Halloween night! Between getting home from work and getting the kids dressed up for trick or treating, you can throw this in the oven and in 20 minutes you have a healthy dinner to feed your family before getting out the door. What you will need is brown rice, ground turkey, multicolored peppers, an onion, and cheese. 

Cook the brown rice according to the package instructions. I made 4 servings of rice. You are going to want enough to cover the bottom of your pan. Next, in a skillet I drizzled olive oil and tossed in the chopped onion and 1/2 of a red pepper and 1/2 of a yellow pepper, just to give it more color. I sauteed the onions and peppers for a few minutes. Then I added in the ground turkey meat. Stir occasionally until cooked all the way. I like to use my stirring spoon and chop the meat into smaller pieces that way is spread evenly over the rice. Having big chunks of meat won't do the trick. 

Once the ground turkey is cooked I add in my taco seasoning and dried cilantro. Stir and let simmer for 2-3 minutes to allow for the meat to soak up the flavors, then remove from heat. Your kitchen will smell delicious by this point!

Using a 9x13 pan spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of the pan. Next, layer the turkey meat on top of the rice. If you are planning on eating this graveyard taco bake the same night as you are making it the next step is to top with a Mexican cheese blend and throw it in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. If you are prepping this meal the night before, allow the dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and putting it in the fridge. When you are ready to bake it, remove the aluminum foil, top with cheese, and place it in the over for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Serve with warm tortilla on the side and some roasted vegetables. Optional topping include: salsa, greek yogurt (or sour cream), jalapenos, extra cheese, avocado, etc. Serve immediately and enjoy! 

Ingredients:

1 package of ground turkey meat (or ground beef or shredded chicken)
2 cups of brown rice 
1/2 yellow pepper
1/2 red pepper
1 small onion
2 tbsp of olive oil
1 cup of Mexican cheese blend
2 tbsp dried cilantro
1 packet of McCormicks taco seasoning
Additional toppings. 

Directions:

1) Place skillet over medium heat with olive oil. Dice onions and peppers and add to skillet. Stir occasionally.
2) After 5 minutes, or until onions & peppers become translucent, add in the turkey meat. Stir frequently and use your stirring spoon to break up clumps of turkey meat. You want the meat to be in small pieces, kind of like Taco Bells' meat (don't worry this is just for visual purposes!).
3) Boil water according to the package instructions of rice to water ratio for cooking your brown rice. Follow the cooking instructions on the box.
4) Once rice is done, spread the rice out evenly on the bottom of your pan. Next, layer the meat mixture on top of the rice. Allow dish to cool before covering with aluminum foil and placing in the fridge.

On the day you are ready to bake this, preheat oven to 350. Top the dish with cheese and place in oven for 20 minutes. Serve with any additional toppings and serve immediately!

Recommendations:

~I found taco bake to be a little dry, due to the rice soaking up the moisture, top with a jar of salsa before placing in the oven, or while cooking the meat add a jar of salsa.
~Another idea is cover the bottom of the pan with a large can of refried beans, then layer the rice on top, and then finish by layering on the meat mixture. 
~If you want to make this dish scarier, cut gravestones out of tortillas. Bake on a sheet in the oven for 10 minutes at 350, or until edges are brown. Before serving stick the tortillas into the dish as if it was an actual graveyard. 

I hoped you enjoyed this healthy recipe countdown to Halloween! Thanks for following along and have a spooky evening!

Gluten Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Halloween Themed Recipe #6- Countdown to Halloween!

There is nothing better than waking up on a Saturday morning and making pancakes, am I right?!

A few weekends ago one of my girlfriends, Annie, was in visiting from out of town. Whenever I have friends over I always like to make a fun and delicious breakfast, one because I am Italian and that is how my mom taught me to entertain and two because I like to make elaborate breakfasts on the weekend. 

So we started prepping everything. Before I go on any further I should preclude that my friend Annie doesn't cook a lot nor does she know how to cook {these are her words not mine!} so it was fun teaching her how to make pancakes. We made the batter and I showed her how to make pancakes on the stove. We were making chocolate chip pancakes for her and my boyfriend.  

Funny Story. About halfway through cooking the pancakes I had to use the restroom and I knew the pancakes were going to need to be flipped, remember she doesn't really know how to cook. So she says excitedly "go ahead! I will watch the pancakes." I had this overwhelming sense on panic because all I could think was "oh my gosh she doesn't know how to flip the pancakes...they are going to get ruined!" But I walked away and let her do her thing. A few seconds later I hear "Uh oh!" and then an excited scream. So I rushed back into the kitchen only to find that she accidentally flipped one of the pancakes on top of another one, but she had also successfully flipped her first pancake. It was a great moment :-) 

While the pancakes were finishing up I realized I wanted to try and make a batch of healthy pumpkin pancakes. So I threw some ingredients together and hoped it worked! Which it did by the way and that is how you have come to be blessed with this delicious recipe!

Gluten Free Protein Pumpkin Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 tablespoon of Libby's Pumpkin Puree
1 egg
1 scoop of Vanilla Shakeology
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 dashes of pumpkin pie spice

Directions:

1) Whisk all ingredients together until everything is wet.
2) Set skillet on stove top and turn dial to medium heat. Spray pan with cooking spray.
3) Using a small serving ladle make 3 silver dollar size pancakes.
4) Cook 2 minutes on each side or until edges begin to bubble. Repeat process until all the badder is gone.

Recipe should yield 6-8 silver dollar pancakes. Serve with fresh fruit, a little maple syrup, or pumpkin butter! 

Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie

Halloween Themed Recipe #5- Countdown to Halloween


I love having smoothies for breakfast. It's quick, it's easy, it's simple. 

I don't have a lot of time in the morning to make a nice breakfast, as I am assuming many of you reading this are in the same boat! I can throw everything in a blender and in less than 5 minutes I have a delicious breakfast. 

Since it is fall time I use a lot of pumpkin puree in my recipes. Costco sells big cans of Libby's Pumpkin Puree in packs of 3, which definitely last me through the season. Now when you buy pumpkin puree make sure it is the real stuff (like Libby's) and not just pumpkin pie filling. The pumpkin pie filling can have extra sugar and preservatives in it compared to the pure puree. 

One of the ingredients I love adding to my smoothies is cold coffee because I am able to get my caffeine for the day without adding the flavored creamer or half and half, which equates to extra calories. Another ingredient I add to my morning smoothies is a nutrient dense protein powder called Shakeology. It is packed with my daily dose of vitamins, minerals, fruits, and vegetables. By adding it to my smoothie it helps me stay fuller longer throughout the day as well as makes my smoothie more substantial.

The Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was created on a morning when I couldn't make up my mind of what to put in my smoothie, I know we have all been there before! I wanted to add coffee, pumpkin puree, chocolate Shakeology, Vanilla Shakeology....so I decided why not throw it all together?! And that is exactly what I did. 

And the Pumpkin Coffee Swirl Smoothie was born.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup of iced coffee (I use Starbucks brand)*

1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk

1/2 scoop Chocolate Shakeology**

1/2 scoop Vanilla Shakeology**

1/4 cup Libby's Pumpkin Puree

1/2 banana (not pictured)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Dash of cinnamon

Add everything into the blender along with 4-6 ice cubes. Blend until smooth. Pour into your favorite cup and whalah! You have an amazingly nutritious breakfast!

*Starbucks iced coffee can be swapped for any cold coffee. Do NOT add hot coffee to the smoothie, it will cause the smoothie to not blend smoothly.

** If you do not have Shakeology this can be swapped with any protein powder you have at home, although I do have to say it might not be as delicious! Or if you don't like protein powder you can omit it all together!

Happy Blending!

Candy Corn Bark

Halloween Recipe #3- Countdown to Halloween!!

Remember when I said I was going to make healthy Halloween recipes and I put in parenthesis next to it that MOST of them would be? Well.....this is one of the exceptions!

I love baking. A lot more than I used to. My love of baking interferes with my desire to stay healthy. :-) So what do I do with everything I bake?? I take it to work with me of course!!! My co-workers love it and it means I don't have to eat all of the baked goods. But on a serious note, I love baking and taking it into work, people get so excited and I feel like it brightens their day! Try it! 

Anyway, this recipe is SUPER EASY to make! I love this recipe because you can make it so many different ways and even coordinate the toppings with the holiday or season you are in. Cook time is probably about 5 minutes and then you stick it in the freezer for a few hours.

Supplies:

You will need a baking sheet with a rim, wax paper, milk chocolate chips, candy corn, and orange frosting (preferably the kind that is in a tube with a point so you can drizzly it over the chocolate like in the above picture). 

Directions:

1) Melt 2 cups of chocolate chips in a microwave safe bowl for 45 seconds. Stir chocolate with a spatula. If it's not melted all the way microwave for another 15 seconds and stir again. Continue until chocolate is melted, but you shouldn't need to do it more than twice.

2) While chocolate is melting, lay wax (parchment) paper on baking sheet. Overlap 2 pieces to cover the whole pan, but don't have the pieces overlap in the middle to prevent chocolate from seeping through.

3) Once chocolate is melted, pour onto covered baking sheet and spread evenly over pan with a spatula. You may need to hold the wax paper while you do this since the paper will move around since it's not attached to anything (Make sure you move fast before the chocolate cools!).

4) After you spread out the chocolate to your desired thickness, top with candy corn and drizzle with frosting!*

5) Pop the whole tray in the freezer for 2 hours. Then break into pieces! You can make the pieces as big or small as you want. I used the handle of a metal knife to help break up the pieces so I wasn't manhandling the chocolate!

**You can modify this recipe by adding whatever toppings you want, such as nuts, peanut butter, pretzels, and other assorted candies. You can even use dark chocolate or white chocolate for the base if you want.**

Enjoy and Happy almost Halloween!!

Sweet Potato Witches Fingers

Halloween Recipe #2- Countdown to Halloween!

As I looked on to what I had pulled out for dinner I thought "How can I possibly make ANY of this Halloween-ish?!" I had talapia, green beans, and a sweet potato in front on me.... 

And then it hit me! Sweet Potato Witch Fingers! Witches are known to have pointy nails, so if I can cut this potato into fries and then give them a pointy tip to resemble witches pointy finger nails I could be in luck!

Instructions:

Step One- Preheat oven to 350. Wash and dry the sweet potato.

Step Two- Cut the ends of the potato so it can sit on the cutting board without falling over.

Step Three- Cut the potato into slices approximately 1/2 inch thick. Make sure the potato is vertical so you can make the fries long.

Step Four- Cut the potato slices into thirds. Then use your knife to add a point to the top of the fry (see picture to the left). You will take a little off each side of the top.*

*Waste Alert!-Don't throw away those little pieces of potato. Throw them on the pan to cook or save them to mix in with a breakfast scramble.

Step 5- Drizzle olive oil (or coconut oil) over the fries and whatever seasonings you would like. I topped mine with chili powder to add some kick! Cook for 25 minutes. 

Step Six- Once done, allow to cool for several minutes. 

Step Seven- Place wax paper in a cup and stack the witches fingers inside, almost as if they are coming out of the cup, and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!




P.S. Stay tuned as I bring more healthy Halloween recipes your way over the next 5 days!