Egg Roll in a Bowl

I stumbled on this beautifully easy recipe a few weeks ago, and now I make it entirely too often around here! It is ridiculously easy, and is another healthy one-pot dinner I can rotate through the meal plan fairly regularly without complaint from my "needier" eaters! 

What busy mom doesn't need more of this kind of recipe in her life?

The original recipe I tried called for pork sausage, but since we're trying to move away from pork in our diet, we found that lean ground beef or turkey works just fine as well. I'm also going to try it soon with shrimp as the protein center.

Here's how you make this entirely-too-easy family meal...

Ingredients:

• 1 package of shredded slaw or veggies (I use the super food shredded mixes)

• Handful shredded carrots

• Handful Chopped, rinsed kale

• 1/2 to 1 lb lean ground meat (your choice, amount to taste)

• 1 thumbnail-size fresh ginger root, minced or grated

• 3 fresh garlic cloves, minced

• drizzle sesame oil

• drizzle low-sodium soy sauce or liquid aminos

• sprinkle of crushed red pepper (only if you like a little heat)

• sprinkle of toasted sesame seeds (for garnish)

Instructions:

1. Place a large, deep pan over medium to high heat. Add ground meat and chop it up while it browns. Once browned and almost done (about 4-5 minutes) add in the fresh garlic and ginger.

2. Add in slaw or shredded veggies, stir occasionally for about 3 minutes or so.

3. Drizzle both the sesame oil and soy sauce, and add crushed red pepper.

4. It's DONE! Place in a bowl and top with a sprinkling of sesame seeds if desired.

Here's what I love most as a health coach about this recipe - there's NO need for a fried shell like a traditional egg roll. What I love most about this recipe as a mom? Way less mess, since there's no frying and it only uses one pan!

My family and I are getting a good amount of vitamins, minerals and fiber from this dinner and we're staying on budget! Win-win. 

Here’s a quick how-to video:

Tell us what you think of this recipe in the comments below after you try it with your own hungry loves. For more FRESH recipe makeovers to add into your healthy meal plan, have a look-see in the recipe box here on the site. 

Ahi Tuna Poke Bowl {FRESH Start Style!}

So per the usual, I was a little behind the healthy-times and it took me til this year to try a poke bowl!

Yes, I know, they’ve been the rage for a lot longer than that…but alas, it is what it is! Now that I’ve tried one and loved it (and coerced happy-hubby recipe-taster into loving it too!) it’s fast becoming a regular around here. Now to get the kids to love it…they’ll eat it if I serve a bit of grilled chicken in place of the tuna for them…still a fast and easy family dinner!

What I love about this dish is that it’s NO-cook - the kitchen and YOU stay cool while you make a filling, healthy, FRESH dinner dish! And hubby loves to take the leftovers the next day for work.

Ingredients

SAUCE:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce

• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar

• 2 teaspoons sesame oil 

• good shake of crushed red pepper flakes

• 3 green onions, thinly sliced

• good shake of sesame seeds, plus more for garnish

BOWL:

• 1-2 ahi tuna steaks (palm-sized) - depending on how many people you’re feeding - use one steak for each person

• cooked brown rice

• fresh spring greens or romaine or spinach

• fresh cucumber, sliced

• sugar peas, sliced thin (diagonally)

• shredded carrots

• avocado
  

Here’s how to make it:

Step 1: Mix up all the sauce ingredients to use as marinade for tuna.

Step 2: Dice up the tuna into 1 inch chunks. Marinate in sauce for about 15-30 minutes.

Step 3: While the tuna is marinating, chop and dice the rest of the fresh ingredients and begin plating (time-saving tip: I buy pre-packaged greens and pre-shredded carrots to save even more effort on this dish!)

Step 4: Once everything is chopped, spoon some rice into the bowl, lay some greens around it, then place the tuna and desired toppings over the bed of rice and greens.

I usually just lay out the ingredients buffet-style, and let everyone make their own bowl to their liking of amount and what’s in it…then they can drizzle more sauce over it!

I can’t wait for you to try this super-easy dish and then let us know if you are a converted poke bowl lover as well! Post a comment right here and tell us what you think of this fresh and easy dish!

Easy Beef and Broccoli Recipe {How To}

When the "takeout craving" for beef and broccoli hits, what to do, healthy eaters?

In my house? We make this easy, 15 minute one-pot dinner recipe - Easy Beef and Broccoli. It has quickly become a fast family favorite! Since it's made of ready-to-grab pantry ingredients, it's enjoyed often around here.

Today I'm sharing the version I have adapted for my family's tastes from one of my fave food bloggers, Chungah of damndelicious.net. (Check out her blog for more FRESH recipes using whole ingredients!)

Here's the recipe:

Ingredients

• 2/3 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/4 cup honey
• 2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch (optional - depends on how thick you want your sauce)
• 1 teaspoon hot sauce, to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger root
• 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
• 1 pound lean steak, thinly sliced 
• 2 head broccoli, cut into florets

Instructions

Stir together soy sauce, chicken broth, honey, vinegar, garlic, sesame oil, cornstarch, hot sauce, ginger, red pepper flakes and 1/4 cup water and place to the side.

Start a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Add the steak slices and cook, flipping once, until browned, about one minute on each side. It's ok if meat is still pink, it will be tender and cook to perfection later on.

Stir in broccoli florets and sauce mixture and cook until tender and sauce is slightly thickened, about 3-4 more minutes. Serve immediately over brown rice or rice noodles.

Note: You can easily turn this recipe vegetarian by using tofu or nuts in place of the beef. I make it with "toasted tofu" for my hubby and he loves it!

How do you make YOUR Beef and Broccoli? Have you ever tried cooking it at home? Tell us your fave way to enjoy this popular dish in the comments below!

Easy Oven-Baked Chicken Thighs and Rice

In our seemingly-endless search for gluten-free options for one very picky eater in my home, I have resorted to super basic dinners these days. 

So I was excited to create this easy recipe to add into the family recipe round-up:

easy oven-baked chicken thighs with my homemade rub, and served beside brown rice steamed up in low-sodium chicken broth...

quick, affordable and the whole family enjoyed them!

Several of us also had a luscious green salad taking up the other half of the plate (not pictured) ... but I can only get my super picky eater to eat a salad about once or twice a week. (True confessions of a health coach!) This is why we add smoothies into her breakfast routine as often as possible - to get those fresh fruits and veggies into her body that way.

Back to dinner - so here's how to make this simple fare...

Ingredients:

• 8 chicken thighs, skin on (you can pull it off after cooking and the meat will still have the flavor from the rub and juices)

• TO MAKE THE RUB - stir together 2 Tbsp garlic powder, 2 Tbsp onion powder, 2 Tbsp paprika, 1 tsp chili powder, sprinkle of cumin, sprinkle of crushed red pepper, 1/2 tsp salt, fresh grated black pepper

• 1 cup brown rice

• 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth

Instructions:

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees.

MEANWHILE FOR RICE: Place rice and broth in a rice cooker and cook until fluffy and done. OR if you don't have a rice-cooker - place broth in a medium saucepan over medium to high heat, and allow to begin boiling. Add rice, then turn the heat to low-medium, simmering the rice, covered, for about 30-40 minutes. Fluff with a fork, remove from heat, and keep covered.

MEANWHILE FOR THE CHICKEN: Place aluminum foil over a cookie pan, and pat the chicken thighs dry, then place on pan. 

Sprinkle the dry rub generously on the thighs.

Place in oven, uncovered, and bake for 25-30 minutes or until internal temperature of chicken is 180 degrees with a meat thermometer.

Remove the chicken from the pan with tongs and place on a paper towel to drain. Serve with the rice and a vegetable or green salad on the side.

Honey Garlic Chicken & Veggies in a Crock Pot

There's definitely a trend happening around my kitchen these days - I am looking for easy, delicious, FRESH meals that can be made in ONE POT or all together in the Crock Pot! This way, it's less mess and fills up the hungry tummies around here AND does it with plenty of nutritious foods!

Here is another one-dish dinner to make eating FRESH easier!

Seriously you guys, when you know you're feeding your family "right" and yet you do it in ONE POT, with only a few minutes of prep and a few dollars of ingredients - it's a busy-mom win! Who's with me? 

Here's how to make this simple dish the whole family will love.

Ingredients:

• 8 bone-in chicken thighs (can remove skin or cook with it on for flavor and then remove before eating)
• 1 lb baby red potatoes, halved or quartered
• 1 lb organic carrots, peeled and quartered
• 1 lb organic green beans, trimmed
  
  For the sauce:
• 1/2 cup low sodium soy sauce or Bragg's Aminos 
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup ketchup (I buy the low-sugar variety)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• sprinkle crushed red pepper (if you like a little heat)
• fresh ground black pepper

Instructions:

1. Whip together all the sauce ingredients, and set aside.
2. Place the chicken thighs into the crock pot, set it to high heat (to be done in 3-4 hours) or low heat (to be done 7-8 hours)
3. Lay the potatoes and carrots on top and around the chicken. Drizzle the sauce over all of it.
4. Cover and leave it be for desired time. Remove lid and spoon the juice inside the crock pot over the top of chicken and veggies a couple of times during cooking.
5. In last 30 minutes of cooking, add the green beans in. Baste the whole dish.
6. Serve immediately with chopped fresh parsley over the top, if you like.

If you prefer the chicken skin on, try this delicious trick - put the oven on broil, place the thighs and some of the veggies on a cookie tray, and broil for about 3 minutes, until the skin is crisp and the sauce is caramelized!

Tell us what you think in the comments below - is this a good recipe to try to round out your easy FRESH meal plan at home?

This recipe was originally found on one of our FAVE blogs for FRESH eating - http://damndelicious.net/. It has been "remodeled" a bit, as we like to cut down on sugar and sodium as much as possible in cooking for our family and testing recipes out for YOU! 

Healthy Salmon & Quinoa Dinner Recipe {With Step-by-Step How-To!}

Ready for a healthy salmon & quinoa dinner recipe that you can whip up in 15-25 minutes?

This one works well, if you use cooked-ahead quinoa and grilled salmon! This dinner is a favorite quick choice around here because we ALWAYS have cooked quinoa on hand from our Sunday meal prep for the week, and usually leftover grilled salmon or the type that comes already cooked in a can.

Plus, this is a fun "ritzy" meal for the family, that feels WAY fancier than it actually is. {It's just so darn easy!} The spicy lemony sauce adds a special touch, too, and drizzling it over the patties makes us feel “fancy.”

Salmon & Quinoa Patties Recipe

Ingredients Salmon Patties: 1 to 1½ cups flaked, cooked salmon ¾ cup cooked quinoa 1 egg 1 clove garlic, mashed or minced Shake of salt & fresh cracked pepper Your choice fresh herbs (half handful, chopped small) Spicy Lemon Sauce: ½ cup plain Greek Yogurt ½ squeezed lemon (juice) with ½ tsp fresh grated peel ¼ to ½ tsp chili powder or southwestern seasoning (to taste) Shake of salt

Instructions:
Combine the flaked salmon, cooked quinoa, egg and seasonings together with hands or wooden spoon in a medium bowl.

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Form 4-6 small patties (palm size) out of mixture and place them on a flat plate.

Turn a small nonstick frying pan on medium heat, and drizzle a small amount of olive oil into pan.

Once oil is heated, gently slide in the patties and allow them to brown on each side (about 3 minutes per side.) Once completely browned to a golden crisp on each side, remove the patties and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.

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While patties are cooking, stir together Greek yogurt, seasoning, ½ lemon juice and grated peel.

Serve lemon cream sauce over patties along with your favorite side!

This recipe is a sampling of the resources we share here to help you eat FRESH, healthy and whole! We would LOVE to hear how you like it–so stop by our Facebook Page and let us know what you think of this Salmon Quinoa Patties Recipe!

Salmon Quinoa Patties Recipe {With Step-by-Step How-To!}

Ingredients

Salmon Patties:

• 1 to 1 1/2 cups flaked, cooked salmon
• 3/4 cup cooked quinoa
• 1 egg
• 1 clove garlic, mashed or minced
• Shake of salt & fresh cracked pepper
• Your choice fresh herbs (half handful, chopped small)
  
  Spicy Lemon Sauce:
• 1/2 cup plain Greek Yogurt
• 1/2 squeezed lemon (juice) with 1/2 tsp fresh grated peel
• 1/4 to 1/2 tsp chili powder or southwestern seasoning (to taste)
• Shake of salt

Instructions

1. Combine the flaked salmon, cooked quinoa, egg and seasonings together with hands or wooden spoon in a medium bowl.
2. Form 4-6 small patties (palm size) out of mixture and place them on a flat plate.
3. Turn a small nonstick frying pan on medium heat, and drizzle a small amount of olive oil into pan.
4. Once oil is heated, gently slide in the patties and allow them to brown on each side (about 3 minutes per side.) Once completely browned to a golden crisp on each side, remove the patties and drain on a paper towel-lined plate.
5. While patties are cooking, stir together Greek yogurt, seasoning, ½ lemon juice and grated peel.
6. Serve lemon sauce over patties along with your favorite side!