Banumpkle Muffins

That's banana, pumpkin, and apple.....IF you didn't figure it out! HAHA

So my friend Nellie told me about this recipe. All I did was add a diced apple to mine, and they turned out WONDERFUL! I don't bake much, so if I'm going to, it's GOT to be easy, and these sure are!!!

Ingredients:
1 box Pillsbury Banana Quick Bread mix
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup water
3 egg whites
1 apple, diced into small pieces

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 375. Put pumpkin, egg whites, and water in a bowl and mix well.

2) Add apples to bowl and mix.

3) Add box of quick bread mix, and stir until combined, but NOT smooth. It's ok if there are a few lumps.

4) Spray muffin tin with cooking spray, or what I did: Put cupcake liners down, and then spray those. I'm big on easy clean-up. :)

5) Fill cups 3/4 up with the muffin mix. (Mine made 20 muffins!)

6) Bake for 25 mins and then check with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done! If not, bake for 5 more mins and re-check.

These freeze really well. Wrap each muffin in tin foil and then throw them all in a freezer bag. Thaw completely and then microwave for 20-30 secs. OR thaw completely and put in toaster oven for a couple of mins. Even better! :)

Click here for a larger view of the yummi-ness!

Click here for a larger view of the yummi-ness!

Each muffin:
Calories - 87
Protein - 2
Fiber - 1
Carbs - 18

Broccoli Cheese Soup

I wanted to make a broccoli soup that tasted like broccoli but had tons of other healthy veggies in it too. :) I also increased the protein by adding greek yogurt and milk instead of ALL milk. 

Ingredients:
6 c chopped broccoli
2 c chopped cauliflower
2 c spinach
1 c grated carrot
1 package baby bella mushrooms (8-9 oz)
1 c diced onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 1/2 tsp Mrs. Dash chicken flavor
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt substitute
1 can reduced sodium chicken broth
1 can water
5.3 oz container plain greek yogurt
1 c 2% milk
1 c shredded colby jack cheese 


Instructions:


1) Mix all veggies and garlic together in a bowl and put in crockpot.


2) Mix all spices, broth, water, yogurt, and milk together until smooth, and pour over veggies.


3) Cook on low for 8 hours.


4) Stir in cheese and let sit for 30 mins.


5) Carefully (it's hot!) use immersion blender until  the soup reaches your desired consistency.

Click here for a larger view of the yummi-ness!

Portion into plastic containers and put into the fridge if you're going to eat soon, or you can put them in the freezer. Mine made 6 servings, just under 2 cups each. :) So yummy!


Each serving:
Calories - 163
Protein - 15
Fiber - 6
Carbs - 18

Healthy Chicken Nuggets!

So.....there's this restaurant chain that makes AMAZING chicken nuggets... Don't know if I can say the name without being sued or something crazy, so I won't, but trust me...they're good. And tonight, I duplicated them. ACCIDENTALLY!

My husband and I wanted to have salads this week for dinner, so I decided to dice some chicken breast, throw in some seasonings, etc, and bake them. Just wanted to have some sort of protein to toss in our salads. Little did I know....oh. my. God. :)

Ingredients:

28 oz raw chicken breast (will end up being about 18 oz after cooking)

1/4 c italian bread crumbs

1/4 finely shredded parmesan cheese (or you could do grated...I crumbled up my shredded, haha)

1.5 tbsp Mrs. Dash chicken flavor

Instructions:

1) Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cut chicken into bite-size (nugget) pieces. Dry the chicken with paper towels....doesn't have to be completely dry.

2) In a bowl, mix all ingredients.

3) Line a sheet pan with aluminum foil and spray with cooking spray. Throw chicken on there and try to separate the pieces as much as you can.

4) Bake for 10 minutes, pull the pan out and toss chicken to separate.

5) Bake for 10 more minutes, pull the pan out and toss the chicken again. (They'll all stick together if you don't do this, haha.)

6) Bake for 5 more mins. The nuggets should bake for 25 mins total. You'll want to cut one open to make SURE they're done.
 

Click for a larger view of the yumminess!

I separated the nuggets into 6 baggies, each roughly 3 oz. Nutrition facts below are for each 3 oz portion. ENJOY!

Calories - 202
Protein - 42
Fiber - 0
Carbs - 4