‘Healthy Recipe’ Articles at Sweetnicks

Recipe: Meat and Spinach Muffins

January 8, 2015 · Narrative

Savory meat and spinach muffins are easy to make and a healthy grab-and-go breakfast or snack.

Of all the things I’ve given up, I miss cheese the most.

Though, in fairness, I haven’t completely given up cheese.

Just tried to cut back on my consumption of it.

Way back.

And that’s exactly what I thought about when I first bit into these Meat and Spinach Muffins.

Cheese. It needs cheese.

But that kind of defeats the purpose.

So be strong and power through with me.

Don’t add cheese.

I have been using the Well Fed cookbooks a lot over the past few months, and have made a number of new, successful recipes. Thie recipe comes from the first edition.

With blogs, blogs, blogs still continuing to be the rage, I can’t tell you how nice it is to go old-school and cook out of a cookbook.

These muffins kind of remind me a bit of our beloved Spinach Cheese Squares.

Mostly because ALL THE SPINACH.

But this is a far healthier version.

Mostly because NO CHEESE.

With 48 (!!) ounces of spinach, coupled with eggs and ground beef, this makes for a healthy and filling … Snack. Quick Breakfast Item. Fill in the blank.

I liked them even more on the second day.

(just pop the cooked and cooled spinach cups into a sealed container or Ziploc bag and take them out and toast them as you want them)

Which meant they were the perfect grab-and-go breakfast item for me on busy weekdays. I popped two into my tote to eat for breakfast when I got to the office. Toasted until warm through in the toaster oven and I dipped each bite into mustard.

Delicious. Healthy. So good for you.

Make ‘em!

PS And if you love cheese as much as I do and want to add it to this recipe, they would taste fabulous with a bit of feta thrown in, which I feel is a happy medium. Cheese, but not super bad for you. Win/win.

Hungry for more healthy recipes?
This mayo is also from the Well Fed cookbook series, and I guarantee that once you taste it, you won’t ever buy off-the-shelf stuff again.
A kid-approved healthier version of mac and cheese that includes a bit ‘o broccoli. Ok, a lot of broccoli.
This Very Veggie Sloppy Joes recipe is perfect for our super chilly nights (and easy enough for a weeknight!).

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Recipe: Italian-Style Turkey Meatballs

October 20, 2014 · Narrative

Easy to assemble meatballs that are tender, flavorful … and everything they should be. Have Sunday Supper any day of the week.

Last week was a little touch ‘o crazy. Between dentist appointments, cheer, and Girl Scouts, followed by technology and leadership meetings for Nick, dinner all week largely felt like an after-thought. Like we were grabbing something on the fly and just not connecting the way we should. The way I needed to. The way families need to.

So while the kids were with their Dad this weekend, I made plans for a nice, peaceful meal with them upon their return on Sunday, going all out. Clearing off the dining room table from the massive amounts of Girl Scout paperwork, and frames and photos from a project I’m working on. Setting the table with place mats, napkins, and nice dishes. Turning on an iTunes playlist for some nice background music.

And cooking.

I left Sunday afternoon open for just this purpose. To cook.

I knew I wanted to make something Italian, because I feel I don’t do that often enough.

#ItalianMomguilt

And when I spied a new meatball recipe from Mario Batali, the plan quickly came together.

Meatballs with red wine-infused marinara sauce.

A side of whole wheat tortellini.

Brownies for dessert.

As soon as the kids walked in, they headed straight for the kitchen.

“Mealballs? Awesome! Who’s coming for dinner?”

Surely not helping with the #Momguilt.

But the end result was exactly what I wanted.

A nice meal at home, together. Talking about our weekend. Savoring a home-cooked meal. And thoroughly enjoying the moment.

The meatballs come together quickly, and by using ground turkey, instead of the usual ground beef, they are slightly healthier. Even more so once I swapped out the regular bread crumbs for whole wheat bread crumbs. Once the meatballs are formed, they head for the oven, so no frying in oil either. The marinara sauce is flavored with red wine and garlic, and, well, you can only go up from there. The flavors all come together during its one hour in the oven, and it made for a perfect Sunday supper.

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Recipe: Very Veggie Rice Bowl {Minute Rice}

March 5, 2013 · Ad-Free, Narrative

Brown rice is sometimes a tough sell. In fact, it wasn’t until 1998 that I started liking it. It was one of a handful of trainer-approved foods that I was eating, in a mad dash effort to lose weight before my wedding, and I made a ridiculous amount of stir-fries with it.

Because stir-fry is totally where it’s at.

With the somewhat tougher texture that brown rice has, I think it’s better when it’s paired with other items, rather than eating it alone. And with this dish, I went to town.

Minute Rice makes these ready-to-serve cups that makes it really quick and easy to cook the rice, and when you’re pressed for time, it’s a great short cut. No measuring, no adding water, no nothing. Microwave the cup for one minute. Done. Boom.

Roasted asparagus.

Sauteed mushrooms and garlic.

Mrs. Dash salt-free seasoning.

A dash of soy sauce.

And then the fun began. The plating.

I mixed my vegetables with the cooked rice, and that went down on the plate first. Topped by two deliciously runny eggs (protein!). A drizzle of hot sauce. A few crumbles of goat cheese. A side of avocado and a slice of wheat toast.

And, oh man, it was soooo good. Healthy. Satisfying. Filling. Deliciousness to the nth degree.

Zero guilt here.

I shared some of my leftovers with my Mom, and after she had a chance to try it, she came back to report in.

“I hate brown rice,” she said. “But I LOVED that. I did everything but lick my plate.”

And if that isn’t a ringing endorsement, I don’t know what is.

When I posted the pictures of this dish on Instagram last night, someone asked how I get my kids to eat this type of food. And this type of food, really, is the simplest. Because it can be easily deconstructed to account for individual likes and dislikes.

For example, Madeline doesn’t like eggs yet (except deviled) or avocado. So her plate is the vegetable rice mix and toast. Nick will eat all of this, but isn’t a fan of mushrooms, so I just include less on his plate.

A layered dish like this makes it easy to plate each dish accordingly, without feeling like a short order cook.

Which, on a busy weeknight, is pretty awesome.

Total start to finish? Less than thirty minutes.

Ready.

Set.

Go!

PS Visit Minute Rice for recipes, including Minute Ready to Serve Stir It Up recipes ideas and more information about the Minute Rice family of products.

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