Healthy Chicken Fajita Salad

February Week 4 - Whip Up A Packed With Vitamins Salad!
Senorita Ferren back at ya with another M-Azing recipe!

Now I'm pretty sure I didn't exactly follow the instructions of the challenge this week (Mel don't kill me ;) But I did find a great recipe off of the LiveStrong Website and since it's a pretty healthy looking website I figured it should count at least a little :) 

Here It Is: Healthy Chicken Fajita Salad

 

I rate this recipe 2.5-3 stars out of 5!

(And bonus this time my picture looks better than the one on the blog!)

Reasons: This was a delicious salad and I really liked it. I like salads that have lots of different ingredients to keep things interesting and this salad kept it interesting. 

My 18 month old LOVED it! He had 2.5 bowls of it! I mean what kind of 18 month old likes salad so this one has to be good, right!?

Notes: Be careful, I don't know if our fajita marinade was just super spicy or if that is how all fajita marinades are. It packed a punch! 

I also sneaked in some freshly shredded carrot! Even healthier! 

The mushrooms add an interesting texture and taste, not bad, just not expected in a mexican salad. 

The contributor says that you can add rice or a whole wheat tortilla to make this into a great recovery meal after a workout! Bonus!

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 10-15 minutes

Ingredients: 

• 2 chicken breasts, sliced
• 1 cup red onion, sliced (I chopped it)
• 1 bell pepper, sliced
• 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 bottle fajita marinade
• 1, 8 oz package pre chopped Romaine Lettuce 
• 1/4 cup pre-shredded cheese
• 1 T fresh guacamole (super easy to make, this is the recipe I used: Link)
• 1 T fresh salsa

For instructions go to the blog: http://www.livestrong.com/recipes/healthy-chicken-fajita-salad/

Turkey Fennel Meat Sauce

February Week 3 - Try Cooking With Fennel
At first I thought this week was going to be easy, then as I searched recipes Google came up with some really weird looking recipes. I LOVE to try new foods, but these just looked CraZy! I choose a meatball recipe at first but oh man: Ain't Nobody Got Time Fo That Recipe! I was blessed to come across an amazing pasta sauce found on the blog: Cookin' Skinny and as the name implies she has a ton of amazing looking recipes that are healthy to boot! I will definitely be checking out her blog for more recipe ideas!

Now onto what you have been waiting for...drum roll please!

Turkey Fennel Meat Sauce

 

I rate this recipe 4 out of 5 stars!! 

Yes, you read that right. This recipe was awesome!

Reasons: My husband and son loved it so much they had seconds! My husband hates...okay strongly dislikes normal boring ol' red pasta sauce and my son hates pasta recipes in general...so them liking this recipe is a HUGE deal!

The spices were a perfect blend of amazingness! 

And it was super duper easy! I love simple recipes, they are perfect for my schedule!

Notes: She lets her simmer in a dutch oven, I don't have one of those so I just let it simmer in a pan on my stove top and it turned out great! 

Although SUPER simple to prepare, I would start preparing a head of time to let it simmer, the ground turkey tastes so much better if you let it simmer!

This made great leftovers! 

Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 Minutes Cook Time: 1.5 Hours

Ingredients: 

•  1 tsp olive oil
• 1 tsp fennel seed
• 1/4 tsp red chili flakes
• 1/2 cup chopped white or yellow onion
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp dried parsley
• 1 lb lean ground turkey
• 1/4 red wine
• 1 1/2 cups roasted garlic marinara
• 1 bay leaf
• pinch cinnamon
• 1/4 cup fresh basil, chiffonade

For instructions visit the blog: http://cookinskinny.com/2012/11/turkey-fennel-meat-sauce/

Black Bean Chili with Chocolate and Coconut

February Week 2 - Incorporate Chocolate Into A Meal!
Ferren here again! Moving onto this interesting challenge of incorporating chocolate into a meal. At first I was thinking of taking the easy way out and making waffles or pancakes for dinner but after googling some recipes I decided to give one a try. I kept it a secret from my husband until after he had tried it. 

This week's meal was found on the blog Gimme Some Oven a blog full of tons and tons of recipes!

Black Bean Chili with Chocolate and Coconut

I'm not going to lie, I stole this picture from the blog. 

I rate this recipe at most 1.5 stars...

Reasons: My chili didn't look very appealing.

It took longer for me to cook it so that the beans weren't all hard and crunchy. 

It was bland, it was spicy but it didn't have much flavor. 

I have had a much better tasting black bean chili

It wasn't gross but it wasn't good

Notes: The chocolate and coconut barely affect the taste so don't worry!

Make sure to test the beans, to make sure you cook them long enough. 

About 6-8 servings. 

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 2 Hours 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• 1 TBS olive oil
• 1 large white onion, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup good-quality chili powder
• 1 Tbs cumin
• 8 cups water
• 1 lb dried black beans, rinsed
• 1 (4 oz) can diced green chilies
• 1/4 cup coconut flakes
• 2 Tbs unsweetened cocoa powder 
• 2 tsp dried oregano
• 1-3 tsp minced canned chipotle chilies in adobo, to taste
• toppings: chocolate chips and additional toasted coconut flakes

For the instructions visit: http://www.gimmesomeoven.com/black-bean-chili-with-chocolate-and-coconut/

If you dare to try this, let me know what you think. Perhaps give me some tips to make it taste better :) 

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

February Week 1 - Chinese Food!
Hello, My name is Ferren...I love to cook new recipes and thankfully my husband and 18 month old son love trying out new things. Thankfully this first challenge wasn't too difficult and I was able to find a simple recipe that easily fit into my busy schedule. 

I found this meal on Pinterest of course, from a blog called Pinch of Yum Lindsay and her husband Bjork work together to create a wonderful blog that is full of awesome looking recipes!

Hoisin Pork with Rice Noodles

 

I would rate this recipe 3.8 stars! 

Reasons: I would like to add more ingredients, I get super bored fast if my meal is just mostly meat. 

I should have soaked the rice noodles longer, they were on the crunchy side. 

I also rarely rate things above 4.5 stars because I believe that 5 is close to perfection. 

Notes: This recipe can get spicy depending on what hot pepper you use. I just diced the pepper and so every once in a while your mouth would get this burst of spiciness that was hard for my 18 month old to handle. 

Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 15 minutes 

(she does recommend marinating the meat so I would plan on preparing this the night before or that morning!)

Ingredients: 

• 1/3 cup soy sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 3.5 T sesame oil or canola oil
• 2 T honey + 1 T sugar
• 1 dash fish sauce
• 3 T vinegar + a squeeze of lime
• 5 cloves finely minced garlic
• 1 piece fresh grated ginger (1-2 T)
• 1 minced hot pepper (i.e. jalapeno, chili pepper, etc)
• 3 T hoisin sauce
• 3 T peanut butter (optional)
• 1 1/2 lbs pork cut into thin strips
• 9 oz. rice noodles
• grated carrots, chopped scallions, chopped peanuts, cilantro etc. 

For the instructions visit the blog: http://pinchofyum.com/hoisin-pork-with-rice-noodles

This recipe was delicious!! And we will be repeating it for sure!