Easy 3-Bean Salad

Always looking for new lunches for B man -- can you believe he eats this healthy crap hahahaha  He is 11!!!  He loved it :)  It was quick to make and he said it tasted great!!

Makes 6 cups 

Ingredients:

1 medium apple, peeled if desired, cored, and chopped (¾ cup)

½ tsp. lemon juice 

4 cups cooked chickpeas

kidney beans, 

black beans, rinsed and drained using canned

1 cup chopped green and/or red bell pepper

½ cup sliced scallions (mostly green parts)

¼ cup finely chopped celery

3½ Tbsp. apple cider vinegar

1 Tbsp. pure maple syrup

1 to 1½ tsp. Dijon mustard

½ tsp. sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Pinch ground cloves, plus more to taste* 

In a large bowl combine apple and lemon juice; toss to coat. (This will help preserve the color of the apple.) 

Add the remaining ingredients; toss to combine. 

If you like, season with additional salt and black pepper. *Tip Ground cloves add great nuanced flavor to this salad

Grilled Zucchini Nachos

This was super yummy AND healthy :)  I told the boys I was going to make it during the next Viks game :)  It felt like you were eating nachos and you don't feel bad hhahaha 

Ingredients

Zucchini, grilled

Black Beans

Corn, grilled

Roasted tomatoes, diced

Cheddar cheese

Lime

Red Onions

Avocado

Sour Cream

Everything Bagel Cucumber Salad

We needed a quick side and these cucumber salads are all the tiktok craze, so made one up -- it was DELICIOUS!!  It tasted like sushi hahaha  Evan just ate the salman hahahah  but the rest of us loved it!!

Ingredients:

1 cucumber, sliced

1oz smoked salmon

1oz red onion

1 tablespoon cream cheese

1 tablespoon everything bagel spice

Cheesy Tuna Casserole

 I keep trying to find a tuna casserole that I like hahaha  This was good ...my fam ate it and no one complained hahhaa but it wasn't awesome so probably won't make again :)  

Serves 14

Ingredients:

• 16 oz. box Barilla Whole Grain Pasta
• 24 oz. canned Tuna in water I used 4-6oz. cans from Costco
• 10.5 oz. can Cream of Mushroom 98% Fat Free
• 1 cup Frozen Peas and Carrots Mix
• 1/2 cup Frozen Whole Kernel Corn
• 1/2 cup cup Frozen Sweet Peas
• 2 cups Fat Free Milk
• 1/2 cup Plain non fat Greek Yogurt

• 3 cups 12oz. 2% Reduced Fat Cheese (I used Kroger Reduced Fat Mexican Style Blend)

• Cook pasta according to package instructions in lightly salted water.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, thoroughly mix cooked noodles, tuna, cream of mushroom, all frozen vegetables, milk, Greek yogurt, and 2 cups of the cheese.
• Pour mixture into lightly greased casserole dish and bake for about 30 minutes or until its bubbly.
• Remove from oven, top with remaining cheese and cook another 3-5 minutes until the cheese melts.
• Enjoy!

Green Olive Bean Salad

Looking for more lunch ideas for B and got this from his friend -- he tells me it was DELICIOUS :)

 Serves 4

Salad Base

• 1 can (13.4 oz) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
• 1 can (13.4 oz) butter beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 cup castelvetrano olives, roughly chopped
• 1 medium shallot, finely minced
• 1/2 cup finely minced cilantro
• 1/2 cup finely minced parsley
• 1–2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• Mozzarella pearls

Honey Dijon Vinaigrette

• 3 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp honey (a heaping tablespoon)
• 1 tsp dijon mustard
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (sub with 1 tsp red pepper flakes)

Instructions

1. Add the salad base to a bowl. Add the chickpeas, butter beans, olives, shallot, herbs, and garlic into a serving bowl. Set aside.
2. Make the dressing. Add all of the dressing ingredients to a jar or cup and whisk well until emulsified. 
3. Toss together and serve. Pour all of the dressing on the salad and toss together well. Adjust for salt as needed and let sit at least 30 minutes before serving. Enjoy on toasted sourdough, or just on its own. 
4. Store any leftovers in an airtight glass container in the fridge for up to 5 days.

Chicken Pesto Bakes

 Always looking for new meals and quick ones are even better!!!  This was great -- not enough food for dinner for my crew BUT works great to prep, bake, and then have the next day for lunch!!!

Equipment

• 5 Glass Bowls 4 cup capacity
• 1 Half Sheet Pan

Ingredients

• 10 tablespoons rice uncooked (Basmati)
• 25 ounces boneless skinless chicken breast diced
• 5 tablespoons pesto Classico
• 5 tablespoons plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1 & 1/4 cups chicken broth
• 10 ounces cherry tomatoes
• 1 & 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and arrange 5 oven safe containers on a cookie sheet.
• To each container add 2 tablespoons rice, 5 ounces chicken, 1 tablespoon of both pesto and yogurt, and 1/4 cup of broth. Stir well.
• Top each with 2 ounces of tomatoes and 1/4 cup of the cheese.
• Bake in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the chicken reaches 165 degrees and the rice is cooked.
• Let cool before covering with lids and placing in the refrigerator. Reheat in the microwave for 2-3 minutes.

Notes

• Search the Myfitnesspal or MacrosFirst app food databases for Stay Fit Mom Pesto Chicken Bakes to log in your food diary.
• Bulk up with some extra rice. For every extra tablespoon of uncooked rice you add to your bowl, add an additonal 8.8g of carbs and 0.8g of protein. Don’t forget to keep the 2:1 ratio of rice to broth.
• Add extra veggies to get in some extra micronutrients!
• Freeze a few if you won’t eat them in time. Store in the freezer up to 30 days. 

Patriotic Party Mix

This was super cute for our Olympic viewing party :)  Easy to make!!

Ingredients

• 4 cups Chex cereal
• 3 cups Cheerios
• 2 cups pretzels snaps
• 1–1/2 cups dry roasted peanuts
• 1 (16 ounce) package candiquik candy coating or 1 (20 ounce) package vanilla almond bark
• 2 (1.7 ounce) containers red, white and blue sprinkles
• 1 cup regular red, white and blue M&M’s
• 1 cup peanut red, white and blue M&M’s
• 
  

1. In a large bowl, combine the Chex cereal, Cheerios, pretzels and peanuts.
2. In a microwave safe bowl, melt the almond bark or candy coating according to package directions, usually 2 minutes, stirring every 30 seconds until melted and smooth. Be sure not to over melt the almond bark as it will burn and become too thick to stir and coat the mix evenly.
3. Pour the melted almond bark over the ingredients in the large bowl and toss to coat with a large spoon. Ingredients should be evenly coated in the almond bark.
4. Spread the mixture out in an even layer on parchment paper. Immediately sprinkle with the sprinkles and then the M&M’s. Allow mixture to cool completely. Break apart to serve. Store in an airtight container or baggie.