Chocolate Tofu Mousse

I truly believe that eating healthy doesn't mean having to sacrifice all the flavor in your diet, especially snacks that are sweet and tasty.  This quickly became one of the favorites in a Clean Eating Challenge Group I was running, and I've even had people tell me they doubled the batch and made pies with it.  Again, this has macronutrient counts for those people who are following the 21-Day Fix containers, or using macro counts as a way to control portions and caloric intake. When I put this on a meal plan, I had miscalculated the proper measurement for the peanut butter, so I adjusted it here for the appropriate count, and it's still just as tasty as it was with the over measured peanut butter in the original recipe. If you're looking for something to satiate that sweet tooth, or fill the void of your Hershey's Kisses, this one is for you!

CHOCOLATE TOFU MOUSSE

1 Protein, 2 Nut Butter

(Makes 4 Servings)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 (16 oz.) pkg. Silken Tofu
• 2 tbsp. Almond Milk, more for desired texture
• 1 tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/8 c.+ 2 tsp. Natural Peanut Butter
• 4 tbsp. Cocoa Powder
• 3 Stevia Packets

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place all ingredients in a blender or food processor and blend until smooth.  Add additional almond milk one teaspoon at a time if it is too thick. Taste the final product to make sure it is sweet enough for your liking, and add additional Stevia if you prefer it sweeter. Divide into four ramekins or cups and refrigerate for a minimum of 30 minutes. Enjoy by itself, or topped with fresh fruit. 

Again, this is an awesome way to get some protein in while also satisfying that need for sweets and chocolate, not to mention that peanut butter is so good for you in so many ways.  I hope you enjoy this as much as my challengers do, and feel free to share it with other 21-Day Fixers and health foodies alike! 

Maria 

www.MariasSuperFitTraining.com 

Cleaner Shepherd's Pie

A traditional shepherd's pie is made with lamb or beef, as well as corn and potatoes, with additional ingredients depending on what recipe you consider a "real" shepherd's pie. When I look over those traditional recipes, they often lack enough veggies and are pumped full of carbohydrates. In order to reach the right sized portion, with the appropriate amount of macronutrients, I took the traditional recipes, limited the carbs, and increased the vegetables. This cleaner shepherd's pie may be quite different from the recipe that your mother made, however I know that once you give this a try you will understand eliminating the extra fat and carbohydrates, doesn't mean you also eliminate the flavor. And, if you're someone who is looking for new recipes to add to your 21-Day Fix meal preparation rotation, I list your servings and macronutrient counts so you can easily track your meal.

Shepherd’s Pie

1 Protein, 1 Veggie, 1 Carb

(Makes 6 servings)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups Sweet Potatoes, peeled, cubed and steamed
• 1 tsp. Garlic, minced
• Salt and Pepper to taste
• 2 tsp. EV Olive Oil
• 1 ½ lbs. Lean Ground Turkey
• 1 medium Yellow Onion, diced
• 1 cup Peas, frozen – defrosted
• ½ Summer Squash, sliced into ¼ slices
• ½ Zucchini, sliced into ¼ inch slices
• ½ cup Mushrooms, sliced
• ½ cup Carrots, sliced
• 1 rib Celery, sliced
• ½ tsp. Garlic Powder
• ½ tsp. Onion Powder

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Steam sweet potatoes until soft, or a fork pierces through easily and place in food processor. Add garlic powder, onion powder, pepper to taste, and puree until smooth. Put aside. 

2. Heat 1 tsp. EVOO in large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add ground turkey, salt and pepper to taste, and stir often to break up meat. Cook until no pink remains, about 8 minutes. Drain and discard fat; set turkey aside.

3. In same pan, heat remaining 1 tsp. EVOO on medium-high heat. Add onion, summer squash, zucchini, mushrooms, carrots, celery, salt and pepper to taste, and cook, stirring occasionally, until veggies are soft; about 8 minutes.

4. Add turkey back to pan, and stir into vegetables. Add peas. Transfer mixture into a 13 x 9 in. baking dish and cover with whipped sweet potato, spreading out over entire mixture. Bake in oven for 30 minutes.

You may find that this is a bit different in texture from your traditional recipes, but the flavor is great.  It's also packed full of veggies, proteins, and the proper amount of carbohydrates per serving.  I hope you enjoy your cleaner version, and always remember that you can substitute different veggies per your preference. If you don't like mushrooms, substitute a veggie you do like.  There's no sense in eating foods that you don't enjoy!

Maria

Mixed Berry Baked Breakfast Cobbler with Greek Yogurt Topping

The Mixed Berry Baked Breakfast Cobbler is one of my all time favorite breakfast bulk recipes because in a lot of ways it's almost like dessert for breakfast.  Over the last year I have coordinated a lot of Challenge Groups around Clean Eating in combination with the 21-Day Fix portion control macronutrient counts in mind.  This has led to a lot of research on Clean Eating recipes, and how to modify their ingredients to appropriately meet particular macro counts with each serving.  I came across the idea for this recipe from The Eat Clean Diet Cookbook, but totally revamped it so it could be applied to the 21-Day Fix portion control plan.

This meal is a great way to start breakfast, for several different reasons. First off, it has carbs, fruits, and proteins, which means that your going to feel satiated longer, have sustained energy over time, and you'll reach a large amount of marcros in one swoop. Secondly, this recipe is on the sweet side, so if you're someone who misses sweets while you're trying to eat clean, this recipe will help you satisfy some of those cravings.

Mixed Berry Baked Breakfast Cobbler

1 Protein, 1 Fruit, 1 Carb, 1 Seed

(Makes 4 Servings)

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 cup 1% Milk
• ½ tsp. Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 cup Slivered Almonds
• 1 ½ cup Fresh Strawberries, sliced
• 1 ½ cup Fresh Blueberries
• 1 large MacIntosh Apple, unpeeled, grated
• 4 packets Stevia

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Coat a 9 x 9 baking dish with non-stick spray.

2. Combine all ingredients in a large bowl. If you are preparing this the night before, don’t add the liquid ingredients such as milk and grated apple until the morning.

3. Place mixture in baking dish and bake uncovered for 45 minutes.

GREEK YOGURT TOPPING

(1 Serving)

• ¾ cup Plain Fat-Free Greek Yogurt
• ½ tsp. Cinnamon
• 1 packet Stevia

Mix all ingredients together and top cobbler with your yogurt mix.

A few things to note about this recipe; if you're someone who prefers to use agave, maple syrup, or cane sugar, you're more than welcome to.  I would suggest using about 2 tablespoons of any of those in place of the Stevia. Also, you can control how sweet you want the recipe.  I'm someone who really enjoys sweet food, so I put 1 Stevia per serving of oatmeal, as well as the yogurt topping, but feel free to decrease the sweetener to your taste.  Lastly, the Greek Yogurt Topping recipe is for one serving, so if you want to bulk it in order to have enough for each serving, you need to quadruple the recipe.  I prefer to make it fresh every time I heat up the oatmeal bake, but if you're more successful being totally prepped, you should just plan on making enough for each serving of oatmeal bake. I feel like this is an amazing recipe, so I hope you enjoy it as much as I do!

Maria

I NEED CHOCOLATE!!! Clean Chocolate Brownies with Chocolate Almond Frosting

We all know that you can still over eat when you're eating clean.  Although I acknowledge this entirely, I also realize that when we have a sweet craving, it's going to need to be satiated, with either something good, or something bad.  So let's discuss here, the something good.  I was inspired by an Instagram post by @drcharo that was a zucchini brownie with frosting, and man did it look delicious.  My versions didn't come out quite as thick as hers, as I chose to use maple syrup as a sweetener rather than a stevia or coconut sugar blend, but they were super delicious all the same.  I will admit here that I certainly licked the spoon more times than I should have, and this probably led to some extra calories I didn't need.  Hey!  At least it was all natural sugars!!!

INGREDIENTS:
Brownies:
- 1/2 cup Almond or Peanut Butter
- 1 whole Egg and 3 Egg Whites
- 1 tbsp. Baking Powder
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 2 cups Shredded Zucchini
- 1/2 cup Maple Syrup

Frosting:
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Vanilla Almond Milk
- 1/4 cup Unsweetened Cocoa Powder
- 1/4 cup Honey
- 1/4 cup Chopped Almonds




DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Combine peanut butter (or almond if that's what you chose), eggs, cocoa powder, baking powder, zucchini and maple syrup in bowl, and beat on medium speed until well combined.  If you choose to use a powdered sweetener the batter will be on the thick side. If you used maple syrup, it will definitely be thinner in consistency.
3. Place batter into 13 x 9 greased (or parchment lined) pan. Spread the mixture around to make it even throughout the pan.
4. Place in over at 350 for 25-30 minutes, or until center is cooked through.  Remove from the oven and let cool.
5. While the brownies are cooling, put coconut oil, almond milk, and cocoa powder in a microwave safe bowl.  Place in microwave and cook for 1-2 minutes, or until coconut oil is melted.  Remove from microwave and add the honey to the bowl.  Whisk well, until all ingredients are combined.  Add chopped almonds and mix well.
6. When brownies have completely cooled, pour frosting over the top and allow to set.
7.  Enjoy!

All of these ingredients are all whole, there is no refined flour and every sweetener is natural.  This is not to say that they do not contain a decent amount of sugar, but as long as you don't overindulge, you're getting your sweets fix and getting awesome super foods like coconut oil, zucchini, peanut butter and cocoa.  Dr. Charo's recipe has a little less sugar than mine, but she claims that her version has 89 calories, 8g of fat, 3g of carbs and 6 g of protein per brownie with 15 total brownies.  I cut mine into 18, and didn't factor in the additional sugar here, but it's certainly not a lot higher than what she posts (as long as you don't eat the whole pan).

Healthy Turkey Meatballs

I'm not going to lie, the part of me that's Italian feels a little guilty about taking the meatball and turning it clean, but I got this recipe from when I did 21-Day Fix Extreme, and they are honestly very good.  This is a great way to substitute bread crumbs with oatmeal, and red meat for ground turkey.  Just remember that meatballs do not make an entire meal, so pair it with some whole grain pasta, or some veggies, or both, but make sure you make it a meal! (And Dad, if you read this, don't be upset that I turned the meatball into a health food...please???)

Ingredients:

- 1 1/2 lbs. 93% lean ground turkey
- 1 tsp. Sea salt or Hymalayan salt
- 1 tsp. dry mustard
- 1 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- 3/4 c. quick-cooking rolled oats
- 2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
- 12 fresh parsley sprigs, finely chopped
- 2 tbsp. tomato sauce, no sugar added







Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

2. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper, or lightly coat with non-stick spray.

3. Combine turkey, salt, mustard, smoke paprika, egg, oats, garlic, parsley and tomato sauce in a large bowl, and mix well.  (I used a Kitchen Aid mixer, but you can mix by hand.)

4. Roll mixture into 30 1-inch meatballs.  Place on prepared baking sheet.

5. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle.

Makes 6 servings, 5 meatballs each.

The great part about these meatballs is that you can freeze them, and then defrost and reheat them whenever you want, so you're not committed to eating meatballs three days in a row.  Just remember that if you're pairing these with pasta, you should really only be eating about three servings of carbs per day, around 1/2 cup serving, so don't throw them on top of half a box of pasta and think you're eating healthy.  Portion control, and meal planning are the key to success, so make sure you're aware of what you're putting in your mouth, and also try to get your carbs in early in your day so you have time to burn them.

If you have any questions or comments please contact me at:

www.beachbodycoach.com/mlbarclay
or
mariassuperfittraining@gmail.com

EAT CLEAN. TRAIN MEAN.

Maria

Healthy Lasagna Roll Ups

I love lasagna, but the classic lasagna is typically weighed down with whole-fat cheeses, and is very rarely portion controlled. I stole this from the Clean Eating Mag site, and what I love about this recipe, outside of the taste, is that it allows you to easily portion control your meals, and helps fill that craving for pasta and cheese.  I come back to this recipe time and time again, sometimes using ground bison, and sometimes using turkey.  Each will create a different texture and flavor, but they are equally delicious.

When it comes to whole foods, and clean foods, I always tell people that you need to know what you're willing to compromise in your diet.  I use low-fat and fat-free cheeses, however, other clean eaters would argue that these are over processed and not a healthy solution.  You have to be your own gauge when it comes to what you put in your diet, and what you choose to leave out.  If you prefer whole-fat, you can still make this recipe, it will just clearly have a higher fat content.

Ingredients:
- 8 Whole Wheat Lasagna sheets (cooked to pkg. directions)
- 1 15 oz. pkg. Low-fat Ricotta
- 1 pkg. Frozen Spinach, thawed and drained
- 1 Egg
- 3/4 c. Low-fat Shredded Mozzarella, divided
- 2 tbs. Fresh Basil (chopped)
- 1 tsp. Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1 small Onion, chopped
- 1 clove Garlic, chopped
- 1 lb. Ground Bison
- 1 28 oz. can Whole Tomatoes
- 1 tbsp. Smoked Paprika
- 1 tsp. Garlic Powder
- 1 tsp. Cumin
- Salt and Pepper to taste

Directions:
1. In a skillet or saute pan, heat EVOO on medium. Add onions, lightly salt, and cooked for 3 minutes.  Add garlic, and cook for additional 2 minutes.
2. Add bison, salt, pepper, smoked paprika, garlic powder, and cumin to bison and break up meat, cooking until very little pink is left.
3. Add whole tomatoes to pan, cover, and allow ingredients to simmer on low for 25 minutes, occasionally stirring in order to break up tomatoes.
4. While the meat sauce is cooking, cook lasagna noodles to package directions.  In a medium bowl, combine egg, ricotta, fresh basic, salt, pepper, spinach (squeezed of all excess fluid), and 1/4 cup mozzarella and mix well.
5. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spread 1 cup of cooked tomato sauce into the bottom of a 9 x 10-inch casserole dish.  Lay a cooked lasagna noodle flat in front of you.  Use a spoon to spread 1/8 of the ricotta mixture across the noodle, and roll it up.  Place the rolled pasta seam side down, into the casserole dish.  Repeat with the remaining noodles.  Spread the remaining tomato sauce over the roll-ups, then top with the remaining 1/2 cup of mozzarella.
6. Bake, covered with foil, for 20 minutes.  Remove foil and broil for 5 minutes or until roll-ups are browned and bubbly.

If you find that you are someone who doesn't know how to eat lasagna without overeating, you'll greatly appreciate how each roll-up is an individual serving running around 234 calories (this is not a solid number as it will change depending on what type of meat you use). And like any pasta, the next day leftovers taste almost better than the fresh out of the oven product.  So, good luck and enjoy!