1.13.2016

Favorite Healthy Recipes

Like many others, we've been trying to start off the new year on a healthy kick after lots of snacks, sweets, and sugary drinks during the holidays. I was also excited to get back into the kitchen after being away from my usual dinnertime routine. I have learned to love spending time in the kitchen and use it as a release from the day and also as a great creative outlet. 

Venison Meatballs & Zucchini Noodles

The best part about deer hunting season is having a huge freezer of venison for the winter! I've made a few recipes with ground venison before and it's actually one of my favorite kinds of meat- lighter than beef but a little more flavor than just ground turkey. 

I made these venison meatballs based on this recipe and this recipe using our Dutch oven (hands down my favorite item in our kitchen and one of my favorite wedding gifts!) for the sauce and meatballs. Then I made the zucchini noodles with the spiralizer, which is a great tool to have in the kitchen for easy healthy eating! The trick to zucchini noodles is to make sure not to cook them too much, you don't want them to be mushy! I often will throw them in the Dutch oven on top of whatever sauce/veggies/meat I have in there to let them steam a little. For this dinner though I sautéed them with olive oil in a separate pan for just a couple minutes- I think mostly because I just wanted them to still look nice and green for the picture.

These meatballs turned out so good- I highly recommend trying this with your ground venison. We liked them so much that we had the above for dinner Monday night, meatball subs Tuesday night, and regular spaghetti with the meatballs tonight!




Along with a freezer full of deer meat, we also have a ton of shrimp leftover from this summer. Definitely something I'm not complaining about! ;) We had been craving sushi, so when I found this recipe for a spicy shrimp stack- it seemed like the perfect thing to make! I used this recipe from Skinnytaste, though I didn't have all the fancy things on top that she used. I will say, I was hoping this would have a little more flavor. I think next time I will season the shrimp a little bit or maybe just use more soy sauce. It was actually pretty simple to make and looked so cool when you flipped the cup over! 





There are so many great recipes for chicken chili but this has been one of my favorites lately because it is SO easy and SO good- always. So thankful for my Crock-Pot (another favorite kitchen item!) that I can program and come back hours later with dinner all ready. The only thing you have to do with recipe is just shred the chicken after it's cooked for a few hours. Also, I highly recommend serving with lots of avocado- because avocado makes everything delicious! Oh and this recipe is great for leftovers too (as you may have seen here) which is definitely another added bonus!



"Clemson" Thai Peanut Salad

I created this salad Monday night while getting ready for the National Championship game. I had originally wanted to make some kind of dessert of some sort that was purple and orange but, being on the health kick that we've been on, I decided a salad was more appropriate. It was so easy to throw together and actually turned out pretty good! All you need is: purple cabbage, orange bell peppers, shredded carrots, 1 Tbsp of Thai peanut sauce, 1/2 Tbsp sesame oil, 1/2 Tbsp olive oil. Just mix together the last three ingredients for the dressing and toss! 

Another recipe I haven't made lately but love is this One Pot Mexican Quinoa because it's easy, healthy, and so delicious! 


What are some of your favorite healthy recipes?

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2 comments:

  1. that chili looks so good! i made a vegetarian lentil chili last night and it was so good! xo jillian - cornflake dreams

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  2. I've been wanting to try spirilizing my zucchini! Looks so yummy!:) xx, Hayley www.dailydoseofdarling.com

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