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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Stuffed Jack-O-Lantern Bell Peppers…

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Looking for a great way to create a Halloween themed dinner for your family? Or are you looking for a dish to take to an upcoming Halloween party? Here is a great (and simple) recipe for a Spoo-tastic dish for the upcoming holiday.

 

What you will need (This recipe will make 6 bell peppers):

  • 1 lb lean meat (you can use ground turkey, chicken, beef, deer, or whatever you would like!)
  • 6 bell peppers (any color will work! But Orange will be the best to imitate a real pumpkin)
  • 2 tablespoons of the olive oil
  • 1 cup of black beans
  • 1.5 cup or rice (I used Uncle Ben’s Wild Rice)
  • 1/2 cup chopped onions
  • 1/2 cup chopped mushrooms
  • 1tsp salt
  • 1tsp pepper
  • 1.5 cup low fat cheese
  • 1 clove of garlic

Instructions:

  • Heat oven to 350 degrees Ferinheight
  • WASH and Cut the tops off the peppers
  • Remove the inside content of the peppers and wash them again
  • Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat
  • Add the meat (for my peppers in the video I cooked chicken)
  •  Season meat with salt, pepper, garlic, and other desired seasoning
  • Add mushrooms, onions, rice, beans, and whatever else you would like to add to the skillet
  • Cook all off the contents, breaking up the lumps, until the meat is thoroughly cooked (approximately 8 to 10 minutes)
  • Once all contents are cooked stir in cheese
  • Evenly distribute contents of skillet into the bell peppers
  • Sprinkle a small portion of cheese on the very top of the peppers
  • Pour a small amount of water into the bottom of the baking dish
  • Cover  backing dish with foil and bake for 15 -30 minutes (the longer you cook it, the softer the pepper will become. If you want a firm crisp pepper cook it for a smaller amount of time)

Sever these stuffed peppers with your favorite side dishes and enjoy a delicious Halloween themed meal!

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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Bell Pepper Nacho Bites…

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Who does NOT love nachos?

OK… if you do not love nachos there is no way we can be friends. The savoy mixture of seasoned meat with cheese and fresh veggies…It is making my mouth water to just think about it!

I decided to create a simple, healthy, and cost effective alternative to one of my favorite dishes.

This would be a great dish to have as a finger food when you have people coming over OR it can be a great snack/meal.

Ingredients:

  • 1 package ground lean meat (turkey, chick, lean beef)
  • Assortment of Bell Peppers (red, orange or green and I made 4-6 “bites” per bell pepper)
  • 1 cup low fat Cheese
  • 1/4 cup Salsa
  • 1 tbsp Tomato Paste
Directions:

1. Cook meat thoroughly, add desired seasoning if desired

2. Drain meat and mix salsa/tomato paste to coat meat for flavor

3. Scoop out seeds from peppers and cut into boats (each pepper = 4-6 pepper boats/bites)

4. Scoop meat into pepper boats and sprinkle cheese on top of the meat

5. Either heat up in microwave for 2-3 minutes or stick bell pepper boats onto a non stick baking sheet in the oven at 300 degrees for 15-20 minutes (or until all of the cheese is melted)

6. Remove boats from oven (or microwave) and top with your choice of vegetable (such as minced onions, lettuce, etc.)

You can also top these bits with low fat sour cream or plain Greek yogurt.

By substituting the chips for the bell peppers you are able to cut out a huge overload of carbs without sacrificing the quality or flavor of this dish.

By using lean meat, this will also allow you to cut the amount of fat that is traditionally in this dish.  You can get creative and add diced tomatoes, olives, and other things that you will traditionally find in nachos.  Please be mindful when you add more items.  That can compromise the healthy nutritional value of this meal.

Bon Appétit

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Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: Chocolate and Cinnamon Breakfast Bites…

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There are a few ways that you can make this, but I decided to make mine in a unique way.

This is a GREAT breakfast option for those who need to grab food and GO in the morning.

Ingredients:

  • I tbsp. cinnamon
  • 1 scoop protein or 1 pack or 1/4 cup (*** PLEASE be aware that different protein powders will produce different results. For this Recipe I used the Advocare Vanilla Meal Replacement Shake***
  • 1/4 cup of honey
  • 1/2 cup of oat flour
  • 1/4 cup of Chocolate peanut butter (BUT you can use regular peanut butter)
  • 3/4 cup of whole oats
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

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You can MAKE your own oat flour! All you need is rolled oats and a food processor OR blender.  Put a few cups of rolled oat into the food processor/blender and mix it until it becomes fine like “Flour”. You can also purchase it BUT I just decided to make my own.

Directions:

Mix all ingredients together and a bowl.  Contents in bowl will start to clump together BUT it will not be a paste or batter.  You will want to grab small amounts of the mixture and roll them into small balls (about the size of a ping pong ball). Stick them in the freezer (Leave them in the freezer LONGER FOR BEST RESULTS! I stuck mine in the freezer overnight but around 4 hours should be good enough) and then enjoy.

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Like I stated in the video, I also dipped my breakfast bites with Greek Yogurt! You can use 1 cup of plain Greek yogurt and drizzle about 1 tbsp of honey to make a dip. You can also find caramel, chocolate, or other flavors at your local store and use those prepackaged yogurts to dip your bites.

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You can make these several different ways! You can use regular peanut butter with cinnamon. You can use other spices, you can use other types of nut butter, you can pretty much get as creative as you would like!

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…Infinite Life Fitness Recipe: FroYo Bites…

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Seeing as there are only a few weeks left of summer (insert cheering from parents who have had to stay home with kids all summer) it can get hard to find health and fun treats for the family to enjoy.  I do my best to try to find treats that will be healthy, affordable, and fun for every member of the family to help create.

For this recipe I decided to make FroYo bites.  This is a simple, easy, and tasty treat that can be enjoyed by all members of the family!


Ingredients:

  • 1 cup Any flavor of Greek yogurt that you like. (you can even use plain unfloavored Greek Yogurt).
  • 1/2 cup Fresh fruit/berries
  • 1/2 cup Granola crumbs (you can even use graham cracker crust)
  • 1 tbsp honey
  • 1 tbsp coconut oil

Directions:

  • In a mixing bowl mix the granola, honey, and coconut oil. This will make the granola clump together
  • In cupcake paper (you can use actual paper of silicon cups) pack in a thin layer of the granola/honey/coconut oil mix.
  • Once you create a small base layer dollop on top of the layer your favorite flavor of Greek Yogurt.
  • This is where you can get creative! You can mix in nuts, chocolate chips, fruit, berries, or pretty much anything you want into or on top of your Greek yogurt.
  • Fill your FroYo cup to the top (making sure that it DOES NOT overflow).
  • Place your FroYo cups in the freezer and freeze for about 4 hours (sometimes it does not take as long and sometimes it will take longer! I froze mine over night to make sure they would freeze completely.)
  • Once frozen peel the treats out of the cupcake wrapping.
  • ENJOY!!

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Like I stated above you can get as creative as you would like with this treat! And, it is quick, not very messy, and great to allow kids to help you make.  You can make a whole batch of them and everyone can have their very own unique FroYo Bite.

As a disclaimer: YOU WANT TO WATCH WHAT YOU ADD TO YOUR FROYO BITES! If you add a ton of sugar and added things, it can quickly decrease the health value of this snack. You will also want to use GREEK YOGURT. I tried making this treat with regular yogurt. Yes it was good, BUT having the thick consistency that Greek Yogurt offers makes the treat better (in my opinion).  

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE REMEMBER TO REMOVE THE CUPCAKE WRAPPING BEFORE YOU EAT IT. You do not want to get a mouthful of paper/plastic/rubber while trying to enjoy these treats.

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…infinite life fitness recipe: turkey meatballs…

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When it comes to clean eating you have to find recipes that will accommodate your busy lifestyle.  the best way to do this is to prepare meals in advance that you can just grab and go!  This will allow you to have meals ready for you at home so you are not tempted to “grab something on the go” from you local fast food place.

There are SO many recipes for food items that you can make in only a short amount of time! Just think, cook a few things on Sunday evening and you will have meals that will last you all week! That is exactly what I do.  I will prepare meals that I can keep in the fridge (and I will honestly freeze the other half of the items that I cook so they will last me longer than a week if needed).  As the saying goes:

Fail to plan….Plan to fail!

Today I will share with you something that can be made in LESS THAN an hour and this meal can last you for a few days! You can make these type of meatballs with any type of ground lean meat (ground chicken, lean beef, bison, venison, or any other type of meat of your choice!

What you will need:

  • 1 package of lean ground meat (in this recipe i used 99% lean ground turkey)
  • 1 whole egg
  • 1 egg white
  • 1/3 cup of oats (you can add anywhere from NO oats to a full cup of oats.  Adding more will increase the macro-nutrients of your meal)
  • 1 tsp cilantro
  • 2 tsp of low sodium meat seasonings (Mrs. Dash is a GREAT option but McCormick and other generic brands also offer various good options as well) OR you can use any other type of spices that you would like (get creative and throw in a different variety of things)
  • You can add diced onions, peppers, tomatoes, or any other veggies that you would like!! For this batch i did not add any of those items

What you will do:

  • Set the oven to 350 degrees
  • get a cookie sheet and line it with a sheet of foil
  • Mix all of the above ingredients in a mixing bowl
  • mix all of the ingredients together
  • get a 1/3 measuring cup and scoop the mixture into the cup and slightly pat it down to get any air pockets out.
  • You can make the scoop somewhat level (this will yield 8-10 balls depending on how much you level off your scoops
  • Drop the contents of the measuring cup evenly throughout the baking sheet (make sure to spread them out somewhat so they are not directly touching each other.  You can also use a muffin tin if you do not have a cookie sheet.  Spritz the muffin pan with olive oil so they will not stick.  Just place the contents of the measuring cup in each slot in the muffin tin)
  • After all of the mixture is scooped up and evenly distributed place them in the oven.
  • It will take anywhere from 20-35 minutes for them to cook. You will have to watch them to see how quickly they start to brown on the outside and cut one to make sure they cooked thoroughly.
  • Sit and let cool
  • ENJOY!!!!

With each meal I will suggest eating 2-3 meatballs.  This will yield approximately 4-6 oz of meat per serving.  You can pair these with veggies, rice, sweet potatoes, or any other sides of your choice! In the morning I will grab a few of these, toss them in a container with some veggies and other side dishes and have a full quick meal ready for lunch (or dinner!).  You can garnish these with salsa or any other sauces that are your favorites.  As with any sauces be careful how much you drizzle on them! Some sauces pack a lot of calories so try to stick with lower calorie options to keep your meal healthy and low on calories.

Like I said previously you can get creative and add/substitute other things to this to make this dish how YOU like it.

 

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