Day 30 - Healthy Happy Recipes

A number of people have requested I share some favorite recipes we've used while on our 30-day detox. So since today was our final day on the program and nothing super 'exciting' happened (other than Nick forgetting his lunch which required a trip to the office for Isaac and me to deliver it), I thought I would dedicate this post to sharing some of the recipes that made us 'happy' while on the detox.

Winter Squash and White Bean Stew

(Fix-it and Forget-It Crockpot Cookbook)

Ingredients:

1 cup chopped onions 

1 Tbsp. Olive Oil 

1/2 tsp. ground cumin 

1/4 tsp. salt 

1/4 tsp. cinnamon 

1 garlic clove, minced 

3-4 cups peeled, butternut squash, cut into 3/4-inch cubes 

1 1/2 cups chicken (or vegetable) broth 

19-oz can cannellini beans, drained 

14 1/2-oz can diced tomatoes, undrained

1 Tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro 

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker.
Cover and cook on high 3-4 hours (or until squash is soft enough to your liking).

Black Bean Vegetable Soup

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I actually used grapeseed oil) 

1 onion, chopped 

1 clove garlic, minced 

2 carrots, chopped 

2 teaspoons chili powder 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

4 cups vegetable stock 

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained 

1 (8.75 ounce) can whole kernel corn 

1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper 

1 (14.5 ounce) can stewed tomatoes 

In large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat; cook onion, garlic, and carrots, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until onion is softened. Add chili powder and cumin; cook, stirring, for 1 minute. Add stock, 1 can of the beans, corn, and pepper; bring to boil. 

Meanwhile, in food processor or blender, puree together tomatoes and remaining can of beans; add to pot. Reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes or until carrots are tender.
*(We served our's over brown rice.)

Turkey Jambalaya

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 pounds hot turkey sausage (We used sweet turkey sausage.)

3 stalks celery, chopped 

1 onion, diced 

1 green bell pepper, diced 

3 cloves garlic, pressed 

1 (14.5 ounce) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, undrained 

2 cups low-sodium chicken broth 

1 1/2 cups uncooked long-grain white rice (I recommend cooking the rice beforehand!)

1 bay leaf 

2 teaspoons Cajun seasoning 

Grill or fry sausage until almost cooked through. Drain and set aside. When cooled, cut into bite-size pieces.
In a large skillet combine the celery, onion, bell pepper, garlic, tomatoes, broth (you need no more than half-1 cup broth/water if you cook the rice beforehand), rice, bay leaf and seasoning. Mix well and bring to a boil over medium high heat.
Reduce heat to medium low and add sausage. Cover and simmer until rice is tender, about 40 to 45 minutes (Again, if you cook the rice beforehand, jambalaya will only need to simmer about 20 minutes or so).

Bernice's Favorite Chili

(Fix-it and Forget-It Crockpot Cookbook)

Sorry, no picture available.

Ingredients:

2 16-oz. cans red kidney beans, drained 

2 14-oz. cans diced tomatoes 

2 lbs. coarsely ground beef, browned and drained (I used ground turkey while on the detox.) 

2 medium onions, coarsely chopped 

1 green pepper, coarsely chopped 

2 garlic cloves, minced 

2-3 Tbsp. chili powder 

1 tsp. pepper 

2 1/2 tsp. salt 

Combine all ingredients in slow cooker in order listed. Stir once. 

Cover. Cook on Low 10-12 hours, or High 5-6 hours. 

Taco Seasoning

(allrecipes.com)

It's way better than any store-bought taco seasoning and doesn't have unhealthy ingredients like sugar in it!

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon chili powder 

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder 

1/4 teaspoon onion powder 

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano 

1/2 teaspoon paprika 

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin 

1 teaspoon sea salt 

1 teaspoon black pepper 

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.
(I never mixed it in a bowl. I just sprinkled all the ingredients directly over a lb. of pre-browned ground turkey, added 3/4 cup of water and heated it up over medium-high heat stirring to blend everything together and then turned it down to simmer and absorb all the flavors. Once the water was mostly absorbed/evaporated, it was ready to serve!)

Baked Tortilla Chips

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 

1 (12 ounce) package corn tortillas 

1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I used grapeseed oil.) 

3 tablespoons lime juice 

1 teaspoon ground cumin 

1 teaspoon chili powder 

1 teaspoon salt 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Cut each tortilla into 8 chip sized wedges and arrange the wedges in a single layer on a cookie sheet.
In a mister, combine the oil and lime juice. Mix well and spray each tortilla wedge until slightly moist.
Combine the cumin, chili powder and salt in a small bowl and sprinkle on the chips.
Bake for about 7 minutes. Rotate the pan and bake for another 8 minutes or until the chips are crisp, but not too brown. Serve with salsas, garnishes or guacamole.

Spicy Chicken Breasts

(allrecipes.com)

A lot of marinades have vinegar, soy, and/or sugar in them, so we decided to try a 'dry rub' so we wouldn't have to go out and purchase a bunch of substitutes to make a marinade we could have. We love SPICY food! And this really has a kick to it, but it's so flavorful - absolutely delicious! This was our very favorite meal! We would have tried some more dry rub recipes, but we liked this one so much I didn't feel the need to find a different one.

Ingredients: 

Original recipe makes 4 servings 

2 1/2 tablespoons paprika 

2 tablespoons garlic powder 

1 tablespoon salt 

1 tablespoon onion powder 

1 tablespoon dried thyme 

1 tablespoon ground cayenne pepper 

1 tablespoon ground black pepper 

4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves 

In a medium bowl, mix together the paprika, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, thyme, cayenne pepper, and ground black pepper. Set aside about 3 tablespoons of this seasoning mixture for the chicken; store the remainder in an airtight container for later use (for seasoning fish, meats, or vegetables).
Preheat grill for medium-high heat. Rub some of the reserved 3 tablespoons of seasoning onto both sides of the chicken breasts.
Lightly oil the grill grate. Place chicken on the grill, and cook for 6 to 8 minutes on each side, until juices run clear.

Sautéed Asparagus and Baked Sweet Potatoes

(allrecipes.com)

Sautéed Asparagus

I found a video clip on allrecipes.com and just followed it. 

You basically just heat a little cooking oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat, add a couple cloves of minced garlic and the asparagus and cook until tender.

I didn't have great success with it the couple times I tried it. They did say to heat up the oil first, but the garlic always burned when I did that. So I personally think it would turn out great if you heated it all up together. I have some asparagus now. So I will probably try it again soon.

Baked Sweet Potatoes

(allrecipes.com)

Ingredients: 

3 Large sweet potatoes, cut into 2 in wedges 

2 Tbsp Olive Oil (or grape seed oil) 

2 pinches of dried oregano 

Salt and pepper to taste 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread the oil in a non stick bake pan. Add the potatoes and toss to cover with the oil. Sprinkle the oregano over the potatoes and toss some more. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Bake for 60 minutes. To crisp up the potatoes, increase the temp to 400 degrees for the last 15 min.

Oven-Roasted Vegetables

Ingredients:

1 med. zucchini, cut into bite-size pieces 

1 med. summer squash, cut into bite-size pieces 

1 med red bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces 

1 med yellow bell pepper, cut into bite-size pieces 

1 pound fresh asparagus, cut into bite size pieces 

1 red onion 

3 TBS extra-virgin olive oil 

2 Tsp of Mrs Dash Original Blend

Heat the oven to 250. Place the zucchini, squash, peppers, asparagus, and onion in a large roasting pan. Toss with olive oil and spices to mix and coat. Spread in a single layer in the pan. Roast for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally until the vegetables are lightly browned and tender.

Remember that 1/2 your plate should be veggies, 1/4 of your plate a lean protein, 1/8 of your plate healthy carbs, and 1/8th of your plate healthy fat. We didn't follow this rule for every meal, but we sure tried! 

It's real easy to throw together a green salad! And we'd mix 1 tsp of EVOO with 3 tsp lemon juice in a spritzer and spritz our salad. I never found a store-bought salad dressing that we could have while on the detox, so we just stuck with oil and citrus juice. 

I learned on Day 1 that I really struggle eating a salad by itself when it doesn't have dressing on it! But if I have a tasty piece of grilled chicken or some delicious soup, I can alternate between bites and it isn't so bad!

The program we used was the Arbonne 30-Day Detox. It's possible to eat healthy without buying into a program like Arbonne, but the supplements we paid for through Arbonne were definitely worth the cost in our opinion! And when you pay for and commit to the 30-Day Detox Program through Arbonne, you are receiving more than just a few supplements. You are also receiving coaching, instruction, and a ton of great information and resources!

And here's how easy it became to meal-plan while on the program:
Every morning, we had a protein shake for breakfast made from Arbonne's protein shake mix, fiber booster, and digestive enzymes along with Almond milk, frozen berries, and spinach. Almost every day for lunch, we'd have leftovers from the dinner before. So really, the only meal I had to think or even worry about was dinner. As long as I made a large dinner each night, we had plenty of leftovers for the next day's lunch. And sometimes, we even had extra leftovers for another dinner or two!

When it came down to it and we were just too tired to prepare a 'big' meal, we'd throw together an easy Taco Salad or have Omelets! Chicken and Vegetable Stir-Fry is also another easy one!

So there you have it! Are you ready to start making healthy meals and create better habits? 

We've come to the end of our 30-day detox program through Arbonne. Today was our last day, but tomorrow begins the first day of the rest of our lives! And now that we've been educated and have had this amazing experience, my hope is that we'll continue to routinely make healthy choices even if we treat ourselves to a cookie every now and then!