Alfredo Sauce with a "healthier" spin

Disclaimer: This recipe is delicious, and yet please understand the goal.  This is not what I would call a "healthy" recipe.  This recipe is for moments we are intensely craving pasta with alfredo sauce, and this is a very tasty way to make it better for you, but I would not recommend this recipe often as being "good for you".  It's just better than the traditional recipe because of the added fiber and whole grain.  That said, let's make some yummy pasta alfredo!

Alfredo Cream Sauce

1 cube butter

3/4 C heavy cream

1/3 C parmesan cheese

1 scoop Blendfresh spouted fiber blend

Cook: 1/2 box Barilla whole grain spaghetti

Cook pasta.  In a separate pot gently melt butter, then add heavy cream and stir until very warm and blended (do not boil or cream may separate).  At the last moment quickly add parmesan and Blendfresh fiber and whisk to blend.  Pour immediately over cooked pasta and mix together.  The parmesan will melt and the fiber will begin to thicken immediately, so you want them on the pasta as that happens so it's easier to work with.  You can still add it after it thickens, but it will become very thick, not like a traditional sauce.

Serve with steamed broccoli.  To make a complete meal serve with a protein.  In this picture I show turkey seasoned with Blendfresh Orange.  As an alternate, try kidney beans added to pasta for a vegetarian meal.

Crustless Veggie Quiche or 29 veggies in 7 minutes

This can be breakfast or dinner!  My family likes to have breakfast for dinner anyway, so here's a healthy solution.  I like to make creative combinations that save me time, so this one uses the steamed potatoes and veggies from dinner the night before, but they won't be recognized as recycled!

Here's the text just in case you can't see the graphic.

10 eggs, or egg whites

2 Cups leftover dinner veggies

1 Cup leftover steamed potatoes

6 Slices crumbled Cheddar cheese

1/2 Cup milk

1 Scoop Blendfresh Green (optional)

1 Scoop Blendfresh Orange (optional)

Bake about 50 mins at 350 in an oiled 8x11 glass pan.

Serves 12 breakfast or dinner.

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Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup Recipe

Easy Broccoli Cheese Soup

This takes literally less than ten minutes from start to table, so you are hearing a chorus of "What's for dinner?" this could save the day!  Pair it with a hearty slice of whole grain bread and you have a nice light evening meal that satisfies.

4 Cups broccoli florets, steamed and divided

1 Cup chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarian)

1 Cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

1/3 Cup grated cheddar cheese

Add 3 1/2 cups steamed broccoli and the rest of the ingredients to the blender jar.  Blend on the Hot Soup setting if you have a Blendtec blender (the heat from the blades will heat the soup), or 90-180 seconds in a regular blender.  Add the remaining 1/2 cup of steamed broccoli and pulse about 3 times, until they are bite sized chunks.   You are done!  You may need to heat the soup in the microwave or on the stove if using lower end blender.  Pour and top with shredded cheese to make it pretty.

Is it good?  Yeah, they like it...

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Help! My family wants Mexican food!

Starting with this picture is like reading the last chapter of a book first; it takes all the suspense away.  But I really was proud of the solution I found ,so it's okay.

It was Sunday night.  Earlier in the day I had filled the crock pot with chicken breasts and the best intentions before we left for church.  Seasoned with just a little garlic and dried onion, I had planned to come home to enough chicken for a nice Sunday dinner and extra to help me stay on track through the week.  Perfect plan right?  I had even cleaned the kitchen so it would be so easy to make a nice Sunday dinner for the family.

The problem was I had planned nothing other than chicken breasts.  I make sure when I shop to stock up on lots of fresh veggies, so I had a number of things I could steam or make a salad from.  But I had made a salad the night before, and I've been looking at lots of steamed veggies lately, so neither one of those had much appeal.  Combine this weak spot with the family asking "what's for dinner?".  Uh oh.  This is where your metal gets tested.

Like a bunch of baby birds chirping, I keep hearing "Mom, I'm hungry..." (insert whine as you read).  I had made a good start, but now it was showtime and I didn't have a good finish planned.  With 11 days left until the Beachbody Classic physique competition, this was no time to be hungry and without a plan.  I stalled to give myself time to think.  First I would take care of the noise-makers in the room.

Enchiladas are a quick go-to (I'll give my super easy microwave recipe in an upcoming post), but we didn't have enough corn or flour tortillas to make a whole pan.  It is more dangerous for me to keep uncooked, fresh tortillas in the fridge to tempt me, so I opted for quesadillas to use them up first.  I was thinking I might make myself a corn taco, but wondering how to handle the cheese situation (corn and cheese are both off limits until after the show).

I had to get creative, and fast.  I can honestly say I would not have come up with this if I had not had a rock solid "why" or goal in mind.  I came very close to just having one quesadilla.  What's the harm?  It's only one.  It won't ruin everything, can't be more than 200 calories, right?  But for me I know this is a slippery slope, and I have made a commitment to myself to say no to those things TEMPORARILY for a greater reason.  It was hard.  I'm not saying this lightly.  I'm making food I like for everyone else and still don't know what I will be eating, but desperately trying to figure it out before my resolve wanes.  But then I realized, not only do I want to do my best and be proud of my choices - especially when they are hard - but I will be in this exact same situation again.  And so will the good people I coach.  And I had a chance under pressure to make myself think to the next level and find a solution that worked, and that I could advocate as a substitute.

So there you have it.  You can see the results in my picture above.  I did serve my family refried beans along with their meal (PLEASE give your family some fiber if you are serving white flour tortillas!).  I topped them with a few sliced orange bell peppers for color and so I wouldn't miss the cheese as much.  In the heat they softened and were really very good.  And as I had mentioned, I was not in the mood for a salad again on this day, hence the steamed broccoli.  And my own personal solution to not having a quesadilla?  I shredded some of the chicken, mixed the enchilada sauce with it and topped with avocado.  Absolutely delicious.  In the end I did not feel ripped off at all.  In fact, I came out last with my plate and there were a few envious eyes.  My husband even said "I would have eaten that instead if I had known you were making it"!  The most delicious part though, was knowing I had kept my word to myself and as a payday I not only am closer to my goal, but I have a new recipe to look forward to on Mexican night