What's For Lunch...Healthy Taco Wrap!

What's for lunch today: Turkey, black bean, brown rice, Mexican wrap on whole wheat tortilla with spinach, Greek yogurt taco sauce and a 40 cal slice of cheese...yum-o! This is one of my favorite lunch wraps!

Rice/Bean/Turkey mixture directions:
Brown 1 pound of extra lean ground turkey and add a box of uncooked brown rice, two cans of black beans (drained), two packages of taco seasoning and water per rice directions. Cook as per rice box directions. 


Greek yogurt taco sauce directions:
Add a couple of tablespoons of taco seasoning to 1 cup of plain non fat Greek yogurt and stir...add more seasoning if you like a stronger taco taste.


Garnish with spinach and I used a slice of ultra thin Sargento colby-jack cheese

4th of July Pasta Salad

 Pasta salad is an all American favorite, perfect for the upcoming 4th of July holiday! I originally had this salad at a friends house I was visiting for a playdate and I couldn't wait to try making it myself! See how I made this beautiful healthy salad by watching my video below.

CHEESE TORTELLINI PASTA SALAD:

1 package grape tomatoes
1 can whole pitted black olives
1 cup part skim mozzarella cubes
1 family size package prepared light cheese tortellini (I used Bertoli)
1 bottle of your favorite Italian dressing (I used Ken's Light Italian)

Prepare the tortellini per package directions and drain and cool by running cold water over it. Place tortellini in large bowl and add tomatoes, olives, cheese and dressing and stir to mix. Chill in refrigerator for 1-2 hours before serving.

Healthy Banana Muffins

It's the first day of summer break and our goal this summer is to eat healthy and exercise more. These banana muffins are the perfect start because they are made with applesauce, honey and raisins.

Banana Muffins:

1 cup of flour
1Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
2 medium mashed bananas
1/3 cup raisins
1/4 cup honey
1 large egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup applesauce

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan or line with paper muffin liners.

In medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together.

In separate bowl, combine banana, honey, egg and vanilla extract. Blend until well mixed.

Add applesauce. Slowly combine dry mixture to banana mixture and add raisins. Blend well.

Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool before serving.

Makes 6 servings
Adapted from Spark Recipes

Happy Father's Day!

For Father's Day I am making mini frittatas! I made a practice batch to make sure I got the recipe right. Here is what I used and how I did it:

4 slices of pre-cooked thick cut bacon cut into small pieces
1 cup baby spinach chopped semi fine
1/2 cup fresh mushrooms chopped
1/4 white onion diced
2TB butter
Cooking Spray
salt and pepper to taste
6 eggs
2 TB grated sharp cheddar cheese for each muffin tin (12 TB total)

In a skillet saute the bacon, onion, spinach, and mushrooms in the butter until soft. Spray muffin tins with cooking spray and add a couple of tablespoons of veggie mixture to each tin. (I used a six muffin pan) Add one egg to each tin and mix with veggie mixture in each tin using a fork. Top each one with cheese and bake in a 350 degree oven for 20 minutes.

Yummy! I am going to serve it with strawberries :)

I love comments!

Happy 7th Birthday Sophia!

Today is my 7th birthday! The first thing I wanted to do is make my birthday cake.  My mom and I decided to start with a box cake mix and instead of the eggs and oil, substitute 1 cup Greek yogurt and 1 cup water.

We also topped it with strawberries before baking to add a little surprise when you take a bite.

I like licking the spatula because since there are no raw eggs in the batter, my mom says it's safe.

 After the cake cooled I used regular canned frosting and sugar sprinkles because I have a weakness for both of those (wink). When I was done decorating, it kind of looked like the sprinkle monster attacked it, but that's the way I like it!

Healthy Birthday Party

This year for my 7th birthday my mom and dad decided instead of having the usual pizza and cake party at the nearby CEC, we would have a Build A Bear party. At Build A Bear my friends and I were so busy picking out outfits for our new bear friends we were not even thinking about food.

Since every party needs goodie bags, my mom came up with the idea of healthy cupcakes and water bottles for all my friends. She did such a good job of making the packages cute my friends didn't even realize that the cupcakes inside were good for them! I will share the recipe for my Pinktastic cupcakes in another post, stay tuned!

To make the cupcake goodie bags she used a small solo cup inside a goodie bag and tied it with a tulle bow. She also make the sticker for the front in Photoshop, cut it out with a 2.75" round punch and ran it through her Xyron machine to make it into a sticker.

To make the water bottle stickers she just measured the label that came with the bottle and made a new one in Photoshop and attached it with Glue Dots.

These would be great for a birthday party at a park also!

Healthy Playdate Recipes

Healthy Fruit Kabobs, perfect for playdates with friends. You can use any fruit that will fit on a toothpick so you can place it next to a cute teacup! For this tutorial I used grapes and blueberries. Please leave me a comment and tell me what fruits are your favorite.

Healthy Tortilla Rollups, easy to make ahead to have ready when friends get hungry.

Healthy Banana S'mores Muffins, low in fat with just a little bit of icing for flavor.

and only two ingredients!