Roasted Veggie Marinara and Meatballs in the Crockpot

What do you do when you have a garden and fridge full of vegetables that need using ASAP?! You throw them into every recipe you can think of! (Sneaky, sneaky... I know.) So this recipe was born out of necessity. And it far exceeded my expectations! It is delicous. The veggie hating husband (I do not know what the heck is wrong with him!) had no idea and scarfed it up as did the littles. The roasted vegetables lend the marinara a complex flavor that I loved. But you could certainly save a little time on the prep and skip that step too!

And then there is the meatballs. I, for one, hate standing over a hot pan and getting splattered with grease just to have my meatballs disintegrate! Grrr. So I thought I would just plop the meaty balls of goodness into the marinara in a crockpot and see what happens. They were perfection! I wanted to shout it from the rooftops.  But I contained my joy, so I shall share it here with you.

Roasted Veggie Marinara and Meatballs in the Crockpot

 

The stuff-

• 1 large can of tomato sauce
• 1 cup of sliced or baby bell peppers
• 1/2 cup sliced or baby carrots
• 1/2 cup broccoli and cauliflower florets
• 1/2 cup sliced or cherry tomatoes
• 2 tbsp onion powder- separated
• 2 tbsp basil, shredded (fresh or dried)- separated
• 1 lbs lean ground beef
• 2 cloves garlic, minced- separated
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley (fresh or dried)
• 1/2 cup italian bread crumbs
• 3/4 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste

• 1 box whole wheat thin spaghetti

and/or

• 1 large zucchini

What you do-

Turn your oven on broil. Lay vegetables in a single layer on a cookie sheet. Spray with cooking spray, and salt. Toss to coat. Place on top rack under broiler for 10 minutes. Turn vegetables, and put them back under the broiler for 5 minutes until charred.

Allow the veggies to cool a bit then place into blender.

Add the tomato sauce and blend in batches until smooth

Place the marinara sauce in a crockpot on low. Top with 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 clove garlic,1 tbsp basil, and salt/pepper to taste. Allow it to cook for a few hours to meld the flavors.

Start on the meatball mixture once the sauce has gotten hot.

In a bowl, combine the beef, breadcrumbs, parmesan, 1 tbsp onion powder, 1 clove of garlic, water, parsley, and egg. Approx 1 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp pepper- adjust to your taste.

 I mix it with my hands until it comes together.

Grab little handfuls and form into meatballs. I like mine about ping pong ball size. But whatever floats your boat. Nestle them right into the warm marinara. Cook on low for about 3 hours for ping pong ball size meatballs. Top with 1 tbsp basil ribbons

Substitutions-

Now, I do not like to "waste" all of my calories on pasta. Just how I roll. Feel free to wrap your roasted veggie marinara on some whole wheat thin spaghetti. That is how my fam likes theirs. You could leave out the meatball and this would be an amazing vegetarian dish.

I make myself a plate of zucchini noodles. Love them! Makes the dish gluten-free too if you are watching your gluten intake.

Here is how I make mine. First I slice a big zucchini in half. And grab my vegetable peeler.

Starting on the corner edge, I create ribbons of zucchini. I drop them straight into my skillet that has already been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.

Word to the wise- the zucchini will shrink up while sauteeing, so make about 1 and a half times the amount you need. Cook over high heat about 8-10 minutes until it is tender.

Top with your roasted veggie marinara and meatballs. Enjoy!

Nutritional Stats:

Per 4 oz meatballs and 1 cup of veggie marinara and 1 cup of zucchini noodles

• Calories-411kcal
• Carbs- 21g
• Fat- 26g
• Protein-23g



Growing into Venus- Nutrition

I have a new guest article posted today over at VenusIndex.com :)


Last time, we talked about age and training age- they should guide training and frequency. Today, we will discuss nutrition.

As a child, I ate until I was satisfied and only what tastes good. The pattern is to continue eating until satiated by feel- it is called eating intuitively. At some point I changed the way I ate in order to change my body. This is when I first dipped my toes into dieting or nutrition.

Eating Less

Most people understand that to lose weight the goal is to eat less calories. So the first step for many is to do just that- so I ate less. It is common to overdo it at first. I pushed too hard and I got burned out quickly. I was miserable, hungry, and ready for something else.

Continue reading

Cinnamon Protein Crepes with Banana Greek Creme

Ya'll. This is seriously good eats.

 The kids wanted some too...

And they licked their plates clean!

Cinnamon Protein Crepes with Banana Greek Creme

 

For Cinnamon Protein Crepes

Makes 7
The Stuff-

• 1 cup liquid egg whites
• 1/2 cup Non-fat cottage cheese
• 1/2 cup Vanilla whey powder
• 1/2 old fashioned oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon

What you do-

1. Dump it all in the blender and give a whirl to incorpate it all.
2. Heat a medium nonstick pan over high heat. (I used my 10" Orgreenics pan)
3. Spray pan with nonstick cooking spray and pour in 1/2 cup of batter.
4. As soon as it hits the pan, lift the pan and swirl it to all the sides and turn the heat to medium.
5. After about 60 seconds, bubbles will form in the center and pop. Loosen the crepe with a spatula and turn it.
6. Allow the other side to cook for 60 seconds.
7. As the crepes finish, stack them with towels in between to keep from sticking and keep warm.

 

For Banana Greek Creme

The stuff-

• 1/2 banana (can be frozen
• 1/2 cup Plain nonfat Greek yogurt
• 1/2 box Sugar Free Jello Cheesecake Pudding
• Splash of almond milk if needed

What you do-

1. Put all the ingredients into the blender, splashing with almond milk to loosen as needed..

I topped my Cinnamon Protein Crepes with Banana Greek Creme with Walden Farms 0 calorie syrup, a few toasted pecans, and a dollop of whip cream. Enjoy! (These will freeze beautifully by the way. Just layer in a bog ziploc with wax paper between the crepes.)

 

Nutritional Stats-

(for 2 Crepes and a quarter of Banana Greek Creme Recipe)
Calories- 193
Carbs- 17 g
Fat- 2 g
Protein- 29 g

Growing into Venus: Age and Training Age

 

Hey guys, I have an article featured over on the Venus Index today I would like to share!



Upon listening to the recently released Uncensored Podcast- Fitness Trends 2013, I got to thinking about my specific age, training age, and my nutrition age. I have been at this for longer than a decade even though I found Venus a short year ago. Man, I have come a long way in a year.

Today we will discuss age and training age, next week we will look at the evolution of nutrition as you grow in your training.

Age and training age

I just turned 29. I have been weight training on and off since I was 15- making my training age 10 years if I take out the periods that I was not doing anything. My training was certainly never for specific for a look before I found Venus. Continue reading

Lower Calorie Hawaiian Dream Cake

My birthday was a few days ago, gaaa... I am getting old! And I wanted CAKE! But wait, most cakes are 500 calories a serving. That takes a big hit out of a girl's daily calorie budget!

So, I made my lower-calorie Hawaiian Dream Cake. People do not believe me that this cake is half the calories of a normal cake with frosting.

My Hawaiian Dream Cake is my go-to recipe when I have to take a dessert to a gathering.

Speaking of... that is one of my tools in my arsenal that I am not sure that I have shared before! I am pretty social. We have work friends and family that require eating at social gatherings at least twice per week, usually more frequently. It would definately throw a wrench in my physique goals if I just threw caution to the wind and ate whatever that frequently.  My tool is to take one or two things to the gathering that I know I can eat and plan them in. Usually one of the items needs to be very filling but lower calorie- so like a vegetable tray with Greek ranch dip or a shredded chicken salad. That way I will not be crazy hungry.

If we are eating out, I find a menu online in advance and pick out my order ahead of time. Family owned restaurants usually have "fall-back" items on the menu depending on what type of food they serve- a lean protein with a vegetable. I find that most protein topped salads do not have enough meat on them, so I usually order a steak or grilled chicken (or fajitas) with a side of lettuce and make my own salad with salsa.

Anyway- I think you are going to love this recipe.

 

Lower Calorie Hawaiian Dream Cake

The Stuff:

• 1 box (18.5 oz) of white cake mix
• 1 can (12 oz) Fresca (or Diet 7up or Sprite Zero)
• 1 can (15 oz) of manderin oranges (in Splenda)
• 1 box (1 oz) of Sugar Free Jello Banana Cream Pudding Mix
• 1 can (20 oz) crushed pineapple (in juice)
• 8 oz container of sugar free cool whip, thawed
• 3 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
• 1/4 cup chopped pecans
• 12 maraschino cherries

What you do:

Preheat oven to 350F. Lightly spray a 9x13 dish with cooking spray. Mix cake mix and fresca until just blended and pour into 9x13 dish. Cook for apprx 20-25 minutes until toothpick comes out clean from center. Cool on rack. Poke about 10 holes throughout cake with the end of a wooden spoon.

Mix undrained can of oranges and pudding mix. Pour over cake evenly. Drain pineapple, then evenly pour over cake. Top with container of cool whip. Lightly toast coconut and pecans in oven for about 5 minutes. Pour over cake. Decorate with cherries on top and enjoy!

We ate this cake UP!

Nutritional Facts per serving:

• 12 servings
• 275 cals
• 51 g carbs
• 8 g fat
• 1.5 g protein

(Compare that to the same portion of a 9x13 carrot cake with frosting at 650 cals, 99.5 carbs, 25 g fat, 9.5 g protein... winning.)

My face in random places

Summer has been crazy, but I have been soaking up family time. I promise to be back soon with some great new low-cal recipes! There is a dessert one that I am perfecting too- sugar free and chocolate! Yes!

Anyway my mug has been popping up in random places lately...

The first one is a feature in the new Venus Factor 12 Week Fat loss System. JB asked me to write a paragraph on the Venus Mindset- what it meant to me.

Here is a screen shot of it-

Venus also released a new promo video for the Venus Factor where my before and after photos are featured. This time fully clothed!

Here is a screen shot of my video debut-

Kind of weird to see yourself in a promo video, but I was glad to help. Love Venus! (Quick shout out!)

Texas Oven Fajitas

Fajitas are one of my weekly go-to healthy dinner menu options that the whole family enjoys. I also frequently entertain with them- they are easy and quick. Everybody enjoys them! And they feel decadent but are perfect for anyone who is watching what they eat and fit into almost any diet plan.

Texas Oven Fajitas

Serves 8

The stuff
1 lbs boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 lbs lean skirt steak (or flat iron steak or lean stew meat)
4 large onions
4 bell peppers
2 jalapenos (optional)
8 oz Claude's Fajita Marinade
Cooking spray
2 limes (optional)

What you do

Put the meat into a large bag with the marinade. Allow the meat to marinade several hours, I generally allow it to sit overnight while the chicken thaws in the fridge.

Preheat the oven on broil (mine is 500 degree F when on broil), this is basically setting the top element to max temp which turns your oven into a grill more or less. (side note- I love to broil everything- veggies, meat- it keeps the temperature more even than the grill and my husband does not have to help cook! Ha!) Line two large cookie sheets with foil and spray with cooking spray.

 

Cut the onions and bell peppers into strips. Cut the jalapenos in half. Place on bottom rack of oven for 25 minutes, tossing halfway through the cooking time. They are done when the onions are turning translucent.

Meanwhile, place the chicken breasts on a cookie sheet. Place into top rack of oven. When you pull the vegetables to flip, add the beef and cut the chicken breasts into strips. Both pans should be ready in 25 to 30 minutes from the start. Watch the beef especially- you do not want to overcook it.

I cut the beef into strips and throw all the meat on top of the vegetables on one pan.

How to serve-

I squeeze a couple of limes over the top of everything and salt and pepper it generously.

I serve fajitas with some or all of the following accompanyments-
*Corn and flour tortillas (warmed)
*Tortilla chips
*Black beans and/or fat free refried beans
* Salsa
*Sour cream
*Guacamole
*Shredded Lettuce and cheese

 

How we eat it-

Me- over a huge bed of lettuce with black beans, salsa dressing, and a dollop of sour cream
The husband- on flour tortillas with cheese and guacamole
The son- on flour tortilla with refried beans, salsa, and cheese
The daughter- on flour tortillas (or over tortilla chips) with refried beans, cheese, and sour cream

Nutritional Stats (for 1/8th of recipe)

• Calories- 196
• Carbs- 11g
• Fat- 5g
• Protein- 27g