Teriyaki Turkey Rice Bowl

Got this recipe from a friend and it was so yummy!!  The whole crew ate it too and didn't pick out any green things hahaha 

Serves 5

Ingredients

Teriyaki Sauce

• 1/2 cup Less Sodium Soy Sauce
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons Red Wine Vinegar
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar or less as desired
• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar or less as desired
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons warm water

Ground Turkey

• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup diced onion
• 2 tablespoons minced garlic
• 1 pound Ground Turkey
• 1 cup finely chopped broccoli
• 2 large carrots peeled and grated
• 2 green onions diced, for garnish
• 4 cups cooked white or brown rice divided

Instructions

• Mix soy sauce, 1/4 cup water, red wine vinegar, sugars, garlic and ginger in a small saucepan over medium heat. Stir with a whisk until sugar is dissolved.
• In a small bowl, whisk together 2 tablespoons warm water and cornstarch until cornstarch is completely dissolved.
• Heat sauce over medium high heat. Slowly whisk in cornstarch mixture and simmer until thickened. Remove from heat and set aside.
• Heat vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add diced onions and cook until soft.
• Crumble ground turkey and garlic into the pan and cook until turkey is about half cooked. Add grated carrots and chopped broccoli and continue to cook until turkey is no longer pink.
• Pour teriyaki sauce over cooked turkey and vegetable mixture and stir. Simmer for about five minutes to combine the flavors.
• Spoon meat over rice or noodles. Garnish with green onions and serve immediately.

Notes

• Teriyaki Sauce is generally sweet. However, feel free to cut back on the amount of sugar in the sauce. 1 tablespoon of each would suffice if you prefer a more savory than sweet flavor. 
• The nutritional information is based on serving this teriyaki turkey over white rice. Use brown rice or just less rice to reduce calories and carbs.
• Feel free to customize this recipe with your favorite vegetables.
• A note about SERVING SIZE: A serving is approximately 3/4 cup of rice and one cup of the meat/veggies.
• The serving sizes are approximate and will vary depending on a variety of factors, like how much you cook your veggies down and what size your cuts of vegetables are. As a meal, this recipe will make 4-6 servings. 

Breakfast bowl

 Needed something full of protein for lunch and this was quick and easy!!  You could make this with anything, but the whole crew LOVED this!!!

Ingredients:

Scrambled eggs

Brussel Sprouts - roasted

Breakfast sausage

Avocado

Cherry Tomatoes

Goat Cheese

Buffalo Chicken Rice Bowls

 This was super yummy!!!  Love finding new meals that everyone eats!!  This was sort of build your own bowl so works perfect for picky eaters -- EVAN!!!  hahah

Ingredients

Buffalo Chicken

• 1.5 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• ½ cup Hot sauce I like Frank's Red Hot
• ¼ cup melted ghee or butter
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp salt

Ranch Dressing

• 1 cup plain non-fat Greek yogurt sub mayo for dairy free
• ⅓ cup unsweetened almond milk
• 1 tbsp fresh chopped dill
• 1 tsp dried chives
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp dried parsley
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• ½ tsp salt + more to taste

Remaining Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown or white rice uncooked
• 1 cup diced cucumber
• 1 cup matchstick carrots
• ½ cup diced red onion
• ½ cup Blue Cheese crumbles optional
• ¼ cup chopped green onions

Instructions

Slow Cooker Buffalo Chicken Instructions:

• Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of your slow cooker. Add the buffalo sauce, melted ghee, and spices on top. Toss everything gently to coat the chicken. Cook on low for 6-7 hours, or high for 2-3 hours. Shred and keep on warm until ready to serve.

Instant Pot Buffalo Chicken Instructions:

• Add the chicken breasts to the bottom of the Instant Pot. Add the hot sauce, melted ghee, and spices. Use tongs to rotate the chicken pieces so they get coated in the sauce. You want a layer of sauce on the bottom of the Instant Pot to ensure you don't get the burn notice.
• Cook on Manual High Pressure for 13 minutes, then quick release. Shred the chicken using 2 forks, then add it back to the pot with the sauce and toss to combine. Keep on warm until ready to serve.

Remaining Instructions:

• Cook the rice according to package directions.
• Make the ranch dressing: Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and whisk well until combined. Store in the fridge until ready to serve.
• Assemble your bowls: Add some rice, shredded buffalo chicken, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, and red onion to a bowl. Drizzle with the ranch dressing and top with blue cheese crumbles and green onions. Enjoy!

ASIAN WONTON SALAD

I had a work dinner so the boys tried this one -- they said it was "Eh".  They really liked the wontons but didn't love the rest of it.  Dang -- I had high hopes hahaha

Ingredients:

Dressing

2/3 cup rice vinegar

1 cup canola oil
2 tablespoons sesame oil
4 cloves garlic, pressed or very finely minced
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/2 cup sugar
4 tablespoons sesame seeds

Salad
2 heads romaine lettuce, or a combination of greens (romaine, shredded cabbage, spinach etc)
2–3 chicken breasts, cooked and shredded (or 2 cups shredded rotisserie chicken)
large handful cherry tomatoes sliced in half
1 small red onion, sliced thinly
1 cucumber, sliced
1 package wontons
vegetable oil for frying (canola or peanut work great)

DRESSING
Place all dressing ingredients into a quart jar (or something equivalent) and shake vigorously. If desired, make ahead of time and store in the fridge.

WONTONS
Heat about 2 inches of oil in a pot on the stove top. Use pizza cutter or sharp knife to cut wontons into thirds (about 1″ strips). You may not need the entire package, depending on how much salad you’re making. I usually use about half of the wonton wrappers. You’ll want the oil at about 375 degrees. Test by dipping a wonton in and seeing if it bubbles up quickly. Fry wontons a few at a time and set on paper towels to dry. These can be made ahead of time and kept in an air tight container.

SALAD
Tear clean lettuce into chunks and place in a large salad bowl. Top with cherry tomatoes, sliced cucumber, and red onion. Add shredded chicken and top with Sweet Sesame Dressing. Toss salad together. Once everything is well coated, add wonton strips and gently toss to combine.

Jalapeño Popper Stuffed Pork

The boys made this while I was in Wichita and they said it was DELICIOUS!!  It looks so good - I can't wait to try it myself!!  Ro said it was easy to make too!!!

Ingredients

• 2.5 – 3 pounds of pork loin (or 2 tenderloins)
• 12 ounces bacon (I used 12 slices of Kirkland bacon)
• 1 package 1/3 less fat cream cheese (8 oz.)
• 2 teaspoons ranch seasoning
• 1 cup reduced fat shredded cheddar cheese (6g fat per serving)
• 1 jalapeño, diced
• salt & pepper
• 

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven or pellet smoker to 450 degrees.
2. Butterfly the pork. With the pork on a cutting board, hold a knife blade parallel to the board and carefully make a lengthwise cut about 1/3 of the way from the bottom, stopping about 1 inch from the opposite end, being careful not to cut through. Continue slicing until you have a flat, rectangular piece of pork. Optional: cover the entire cut of meat with plastic wrap and pound to make it all even. (I skipped this step)
3. Season both sides with salt and pepper and top with the cooked bacon strips.
4. In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and ranch seasoning. Add a layer of the cream cheese mixture on top of the bacon.
5. Top with shredded cheese and the jalapeños.
6. Tightly roll the pork loin to completely enclose all of the fillings.
7. Using cooking twine, tightly secure the roll and place in a casserole dish.
8. Cook for 25-30 minutes or until the pork loin reaches an internal temperature of 145 °F. Use your meat thermometer for this one.
9. Slice and serve warm.

Crispy Bang Bang Salmon Bites Bowls

 This was delicious!!!  New family favorite!!!  Even Evan ate it :)  

Ingredients

Bang Bang Sauce:

• 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt or mayonnaise
• 4 Tbsp sweet chili sauce
• 2 tsp sriracha

For the Salmon Bites:

• 1 Tbsp avocado oil for cooking
• 1 lb salmon filet chopped into bite-sized chunks
• 1/2 cup coconut aminos *
• 1 Tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 large cloves garlic minced
• 1 tsp sriracha optional
• 2 tsp toasted sesame oil optional

For the Bowls:

• 1 Batch Asian Cucumber Salad
• 3 cups cooked brown rice
• 1 large head broccoli chopped into florets
• 1 large ripe avocado sliced

Instructions

• Prepare the cucumber salad by adding all of the ingredients to a small bowl and allowing it to sit for at least 15 minutes (ideally at least one hour if you have the time).
• Cook the rice according to the package instructions. Gauge the amount of rice you make based on how many people you’re serving. For two people I usually make one cup of dry rice, which cooks to about 3 cups of cooked rice.
• While the rice is cooking, prepare the bang bang sauce. To do so, stir together the ingredients in a small bowl until everything is well-combined. Refrigerate the sauce until you’re ready to use it.
• Steam, saute, or roast the broccoli according to your preference. I sauté the broccoli in about 1 teaspoon of avocado oil and ¼ cup of water in a nonstick skillet.

Prepare the Salmon:

• In a small bowl, combine the coconut aminos (or soy sauce + pure maple syrup), rice vinegar, minced garlic, sriracha and sesame oil and stir together until the sauce is well-combined.
• Place the raw salmon filet on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut it into bite-sized cubes. If you don’t like salmon skin, you can remove the skin but I absolutely love it so I leave it on. You can also purchase skinless fillets.
• Heat 1 tablespoon of avocado oil (or your favorite high-temperature cooking oil. I don't recommend olive oil because it burns easily at high temperatures) in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Wait a few minutes for the oil to heat up and become sizzling hot.
• Carefully place the salmon chunks on the hot skillet skin side down (if the skin is still on). Allow the chunks of salmon to cook undisturbed for 2-3 minutes, or until the skin is golden-brown. Use tongs to carefully flip the salmon to another side and continue cooking another minute or two. Pour the sauce for the salmon into the skillet. I should immediately boil - this is normal. If it appears as though the sauce is evaporating too quickly at any point, reduce the heat to medium as you want the boil to be under control. Continue cooking and flipping the salmon every few minutes until it is fully glazed and cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. The exact cooking time depends on the temperature of the salmon going into the skillet and your desired level of doneness.
• Salmon is fully cooked once it has reached an internal temperature of 145 degrees F. You can use a meat thermometer to verify the temperature by inserting the thermometer into the largest chunk of fish. You can also tell salmon is fully cooked when the center is fully light pink without any darker pink rawness to it.

Make the Crispy Salmon Bowls:

• Add your desired amount of rice to two large bowls. Add desired amount of cucumber salad, sauteed broccoli, and avocado. Divide the cooked crispy salmon bites between each bowl and drizzle with bang bang sauce. You can also drizzle the bowl with coconut aminos or teriyaki sauce if you like your bowls to be saucy (I do!). You can also sprinkle chopped green onions and sesame seeds over the bowls if you like them.
• Enjoy this flavorful, nutritious meal!

Notes

*You can replace coconut aminos with 1/4 cup of liquid aminos or low-sodium soy sauce + 1 tablespoon of pure maple syrup or brown sugar. If you're using soy, be sure to use low-sodium soy sauce or the salmon will turn out pretty salty.

Drizzle the bowls with teriyaki sauce, extra coconut aminos or soy sauce if you like your bowls saucy.

Store any leftovers in separate airtight containers in the refrigerator for up to 5 days.

Asian Cucumber Salad

We had this with Salmon bowls but you could totally have it on it's own too!!  It was yummy and had a strong taste!!

Ingredients

• 1 large English cucumber sliced* about 4 cups
• ½ cup rice vinegar
• 2 tsp sesame oil
• 1 Tbsp liquid aminos soy sauce, or coconut aminos
• 1 small clove garlic minced
• 2 tsp pure maple syrup

Instructions

• Stir together the rice vinegar, sesame oil, liquid aminos (or soy sauce or coconut aminos), garlic and pure maple syrup in a mixing bowl.
• Run a vegetable peeler down the side of the cucumber in 3 or 4 strips and slice the cucumber thinly.
• Add the sliced cucumber to the mixing bowl and stir well to combine.
• Allow the salad to marinate at least 1 hour before serving - ideally 12 to 24 hours. The longer it sits, the more flavorful it will become!