Garlic Turkey Stuffed Balsamic Portobello Mushrooms

Last week I decided that I was REALLY craving stuffed mushrooms. I wanted them and I wanted them now. Since I’m doing this wonderful Health and Happiness Cleanse, it became a challenge for me to come up with a really great and healthy way to indulge my craving. I’m making a concerted effort to eat as many veggies as possible as well as lean protein, with the least amount of additives! So I focused on veggies stuffed inside of veggies! And it truly came out to be one of the most flavorful and decadent dinners I’d ever made.

Grocery List:

• Big Portobello Mushrooms (for stuffing)
• 99% lean ground turkey breast
• 1 bag of baby spinach
• Crushed/Minced garlic
• Diced white onions
• Fresh Parmesan
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Garlic Powder
• Worcerstshire sauce
• Olive Oil
• Coconut Oil Spray
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper

Directions:

Prep and Marinate the mushrooms first. This will make them taste the absolute BEST! Remove the stems and then drizzle about 1 to 2 tablespoons  of extra virgin olive oil over the mushrooms, then douse them in balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle them with garlic powder, sea salt and black pepper and put them aside for now.

Now add 1 teaspoon of olive oil to a big saucepan, and a heaping amount of crushed garlic on medium heat. Saute that for a minute, then add the diced white onion. Cook that for 5 to 7 minutes, until the onions cook down and become soft and translucent. Next add the ground turkey, season with sea salt and black pepper. Break the turkey up with a big cooking spoon or spatula. While this is cooking, drizzle with a heavy hand worcestershire sauce and balsamic vinegar. Season with a bit more salt and pepper. Turn the oven on and pre-heat to 425 degrees fahrenheit.

Now add the bag of spinach, cook for a few minutes until it’s cooked down but not too soft. Grate some fresh parmesan cheese into the turkey and stir until it melts into it. Remove from the heat and let cool slightly. Once it’s cooled, stuff the portobello mushrooms with the mixture and grate some additional parmesan cheese on top. Pop them in the oven and cook until the mushrooms are soft between 15 to 20 minutes. Voila! I had a lot of leftover stuffing so I ate that for lunch too!

Marinated Mushrooms Pre Bake

Sauteeing the spinach with the turkey and onions

Grating fresh parmesan cheese

The amazing stuffed final product

Lemon and Dill Spiced Chicken

So call me crazy, but most of us know that grilled chicken is one of the best and healthiest forms of lean protein out there. The only thing that it can lack is flavor. So I whipped this recipe up when I was in need of a good, healthy protein but I didn’t want to spend forever cooking (chicken is incredibly easy and fast to cook on the stove). The dill and the lemon give this chicken phenomenal flavors, and the spices are divine.

Ingredients:

• Coconut Oil Spray (I use this instead of PAM, and most of time, instead of olive oil or any butter and it’s DELISH) Got mine at Trader Joes but most Grocery Stores carry it
• Organic Chicken Tenders (I find these by far and above the easiest to deal with in terms of chicken)
• Fresh Dill
• 21 Seasoning Spice or Poultry Spice
• Sea Salt
• Fresh Lemon

Directions:

Cube the chicken tenders so they’re more manageable (and easier to saute). Spray a big pan with the coconut oil spray and turn the heat on medium. Add the cubed chicken. Heavily season with sea salt and the 21 seasoning spice (If you don’t have this or can’t find it, just use as many flavors as you like like garlic powder, paprika etc.). While the chicken is cooking, add the juice of half a lemon, continue to cook. Shred as much fresh dill as you’d prefer (I used almost half a cup cause I’m a huge flavor girl). Continue to cook until the chicken is fully cooked and somewhat brown. Serve! This chicken is honestly the most flavorful chicken I’ve ever made, it goes great with veggies and would definitely be a wonderful salad topper!

Cacio e Pepe Kale

This recipe is incredibly simple, flavorful and filling, it actually makes you totally enjoy eating your greens! It’s great on it’s own or can be served with chicken or fish. Something so light and healthy is a great way to improve the health and happiness of your body and soul. (And the fresh grated parmesan at the end doesn’t hurt).

Ingredients:

• Tuscan Kale, destemmed
• 1 tbsp Butter and 1 tbsp of EVOO
• 2 cups of chicken broth (I use bouillon cubes)
• Red pepper flakes
• Sea Salt
• Black Pepper
• Fresh Parmesan Reggiano

Directions:

Destem the kale, rinse it and put it aside. Melt the butter in the olive oil in a big saucepan. Add the kale, stirring while it cooks down, then add the 2 cups of broth. Cook it until little to no juice remains on medium heat, while generously seasoning with cracked red pepper, sea salt and black pepper. Remove kale from the heat once it’s cooked down significantly, serve hot and grate 2 tablespoons of fresh parmesan reggiano over it.

Welcome 2015! The Health and Happiness Cleanse.

Join me in the a Health and Happiness Cleanse this January!

 Almost Faymous is back! And while I’m woefully behind on my fabulous dining out and #OOTD posts, I’m ready to start something new! (Though I promise you I’ll be doing at least a post on that fabulous day trip I took to Nantucket and the amazing clothes I wore from Kerry Corcoran Clothing).

 So for the next month, I’m going to be doing a health and happiness cleanse, which is something I’ve kinda made up and amalgamated for my own purposes to give my body a chance to recover and kick start a really healthy year heading into my first NYC marathon! First thing I want to share is that I’m not doing this to be rigid or so incredibly strict by the rules that I can’t have fun, I’ve created guidelines for myself rather than a strict set of “to do” and “not to do”. (Cause hey I’m a girl who loves truffles).

 Basically I’m focusing on what’s good and what’s not, and allowing for occasional indulgences in between, (like tonight I’m going to get hot cocoa when I go to Bryant Park to watch the ice skaters.

 For my own personal reasons and sake, I am going to be cutting out all alcohol and coffee/caffeinated beverages until the end of January. Don’t feel you need to do that, really the focus should be more on adjusting the reigns; having a glass of wine vs. a bottle of champagne (or like 20 bloody mary’s at brunch, yes I’ve been there).

 

Here are my goals/guidelines during this time:

1. Limit unhealthy carbohydrates such as processed white flour, unnecessary breads, white rice and pastas etc. to no more than 3 times a week, but do have healthy beans, greens and sweet potatoes and squash!
2. Try to make each meal consist of 3 parts: lean protein, veggies/fruits and FLAVOR! (Trying to make that 80:20, where 80% of what I’m eating is that).
3. Eat as many vegetables as possible each day, and a lot of fruit too! But not too much fruit that I make myself diabetic.
4. Eat things I enjoy that I know are good for me (I’m such a savory girl and I really just don’t like eggs!).
5. Buy organic whenever possible.
6. Minimize processed foods, added sugar and chemicals to as little as I can.
7. Limit dairy to parmesan cheese, plain greek yogurt and some skim milk for herbal teas.
8. Drink at least 8 glasses of water a day.
9. Don’t get mad at myself for indulgences (looking at YOU Lobster Mac and Cheese!) really try to keep “indulgences” to once or twice a week at the max.
10. Experiment and enjoy myself with cooking!
11. Do/Make/Create/Burn things in my joy to try things out!
12. Not consider myself a failure if I’m not perfect, or if I can’t keep it up. This is really just about trying to help improve my heart, health and soul! Which we ALL deserve.

I’m not a nutritionist or a dietitian but I’ve read a lot of information and I think this is a good fit for me. I’m going to attempt be post all the food I’m making/creating each day online! A lot of you asked me about recipes and I’ll be honest, I find them everywhere (and make them up!!!). So I figured this is a great way to share with everyone. Listed below is my first shopping list! I’ll explain later what I plan to do with everything but if you want to purchase some of them, to cook along with me, it’s shared below!

Want to join in the fun? Follow along and hashtag with me #HealthandHappinessCleanse

Shopping List for 1/5/2015:

1. Bag of Organic lemons
2. 4 Macintosh Apples
3. 1 Box of Heirloom Tomatoes
4. Fresh Basil
5. Fresh Dill
6. Organic Tuscan Kale
7. Organic Chicken Tenders
8. 21 Seasoning Spice
9. Mushroom and Asparagus Pre-Chopped Stir Fry
10. Pre-Cut Butternut Squash
11. Fresh Parmesan Reggiano
12. Sea Salt
13. Cracked Black Pepper
14. Fat Free Greek Yogurt