Light Broccoli Salad

I have been meaning to post this recipe for over a month now - and in that time, I've probably made this 10 times and I'm not exaggerating. Will requests this for lunch ALL the time. It's an excellent lunch because half of the recipe is 310 calories. So I make one batch, we split it, and we each have a BIG bowl of this stuff for lunch.

1/4 c finely chopped red onion
1/4 c light mayo
1/4 c plain nonfat Greek yogurt
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
1 tbsp honey
1/4 tsp salt/pepper, or to taste
4-5 c chopped broccoli florets
1/4 c slivered almonds
1/4 c dried cranberries (or golden raisins)
2 tbsp real bacon bits

In a large bowl, whisk together light mayo, Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, honey, and salt + pepper. Add everything else and toss well. You can eat it immediately or put it in the fridge for later. The longer it sits, the better it is. But we usually eat ours right after I make it and it's delicious regardless!

Sauteed Garlic Broccoli

I have been making broccoli this way for-ev-er. I've just never gotten around to posting the recipe. Finally doing it! It's our favorite way to make broccoli, no doubt.

4 c broccoli florets (1 large bunch)
3 garlic cloves, minced
2 tbsp sesame oil
2 tbsp reduced-sodium soy sauce
1/2 c low sodium vegetable broth
1 tbsp cornstarch
red pepper flakes


In a bowl, add garlic, soy sauce, broth, and cornstarch. Whisk to combine.
In a large skillet over med-high, add sesame oil, a sprinkle of red pepper flakes, and heat for a minute.
Carefully add broccoli florets. Cook for about 4 minutes, stirring often to prevent burning. Reduce heat to med-low, then and add garlic sauce. Stir well to coat. Cook for about 3 minutes. Sauce will thicken and absorb into the broccoli.

Original recipe found here.

"Fried" Zoodles and Veggies

Once the prep for this dish was done, I had it cooked in less than 10 minutes! During the school year, it would be easy to prep all the veggies on Sunday, then make the stir-fry Mon. or Tues. This is so low calorie, healthy, and delicious! If you haven't bought a spiralizer yet, you need one!! (I have this one from AmazonPrime!)

4 c zucchini peels (spiralized, mandolin, peeled, etc.) (I had 3 medium zucchini & used my spiralizer)
1/2 c diced white onion
1 1/2 c broccoli florets
1 bell pepper, chopped
6-8 baby bella mushrooms, sliced
1 tsp minced garlic
2-3 tbsp light soy sauce
2 eggs
salt/pepper
olive oil cooking spray


Coat medium sized skillet with cooking spray and under medium heat scramble the eggs and set aside.

Spray a large pan with cooking spray, heat over medium-high heat, and add garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds, and add the onion and broccoli. Stir and continuing cooking for a few minutes. Add bell pepper and mushrooms, cooking 2-3 more minutes. Add in soy sauce, stir all veggies together. Add zucchini noodles, stir. Last, add in the scrambled egg. Give it a big stir, season with salt/pepper, and serve! YUM!!!

Original recipe found here.

Asian Beef & Vegetable Stir-Fry

This was the best! A favorite out of all the Asian stir-fry dishes I've made. (Click here for other Asian stir-fry recipes!) I found this super thin flat sliced sirloin at HEB. Side note - HEB is the best. Anyway, all I had to do was slice the thin, flat pieces into strips. The beef in takeout is always so thin, and that's one of the things I love. Most of the time I'm not able to get mine that thin, but thanks to HEB this was perfect!

The original recipe just included mushrooms and snow peas. I went ahead and added additional vegetables like bell peppers, broccoli, and then squash & green beans from my mom's garden! Steak delicious, sauce delicious, veggies delicious. Thumbs up big time!

Oh also - the original recipe called for serving over rice, which would be delicious. But trying not to cook with as many carbs right now. The extra veggies made it perfect and filling!

Homemade Asian Sauce:
1/2 cup light soy sauce (or low-sodium soy sauce)
5 tbsp brown sugar
6 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 tsp ginger (I use the tube kind)
2 tap rice vinegar

Beef:
10 oz snow peas
4 tablespoons olive oil
10 oz mushrooms, sliced thinly
* Add whatever veggies - I added squash, green beans, broccoli, and bell peppers
1 lb beef, thinly sliced (sirloin steak strips, flank steak, or any other steak)


Combine all the sauce ingredients in a bowl - whisk to combine. Set aside.

Heat a large skillet until hot, add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, let it sizzle. Immediately add thinly sliced meat. You might want to do this in 2 batches, because you will want each slice of meat to touch the bottom of the skillet and for meat slices not to be crowded - I was able to do all of mine in a really large pan. This will ensure that meat will brown on high heat. Cook meat on one side until it browns nicely. Turn over all meat slices to the opposite side, and cook more, on high heat, until all slices brown nicely. Remove this batch to a bowl. Add a second batch of meat, and repeat (if needed).

With meat sitting aside, add a little oil to the pan. Add in garlic and let cook for about 30 seconds. Then add your veggies you have - first I added the broccoli and green beans, cooked those for about 2 min. Next I added in the squash and snow peas, cooked those for maybe another 2 minutes. Last I put the mushrooms in, continued stir-frying for about 1 minute.

Return all of the cooked meat back to the skillet. Add in your prepared Asian sauce. On high heat - stir everything to combine, for about 1 minute. Turn off heat. Cover the skillet with a lid.
Serve over rice (if you want to!),

Original recipe found here.

Summer Veggie & Shrimp Stir-Fry

I can't think of a much better way to use all these amazing summer veggies! My mom is kind of notorious for making meals out of stir-frying a ton of different veggies together... except she usually likes her stir-fry with pasta! So this reminds me of her, I just wish I had the veggies from her garden to use! No pasta for us though - trying to reduce those unnecessary carbs. ;) This yummy recipe idea comes to you from The Pioneer Woman.

2 tbsp light butter
2 tbsp olive oil
2 tsp garlic, minced
12 whole jumbo shrimp, peeled/deveined (I just buy these frozen and thaw)
2 whole zucchini, sliced
2 ears corn, kernels sliced off (can also use frozen or canned)
1/2 c grape/cherry tomatoes, sliced in half
salt/pepper, to taste
chopped fresh herbs, if desired

After I thawed my frozen shrimp, I sprinkled salt, pepper, & garlic powder on them before cooking.

Heat 1 tbsp light butter and 1 tbsp olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add minced garlic. When oil/butter is hot, add shrimp and cook for 3 minutes. Remove to a plate. Do not clean skillet.
Add the rest of the butter and oil and heat over medium heat. Add zucchini slices in a single layer and cook for one minute, tossing once. Scoot the zucchini to the edges of the pan, then add corn kernels to the middle of the pan. Cook for one minute. Add grape tomatoes, salt, and pepper, and toss around, then add shrimp. Cook for an additional 30 seconds, then remove from heat. Serve on a big platter.

Original recipe found here.

Broccoli Cauliflower Quinoa Bites

These are the best! Super easy and delicious. I like to make good use of my mini muffin pan too!

16 oz frozen chopped broccoli florets
12 oz frozen cauliflower florets
3 eggs, beaten
½ c grated part-skim mozzarella cheese
⅔ c grated Parmesan cheese
½ c cooked quinoa
½ tsp salt/pepper, each

Steam the broccoli florets and set aside to cool. Steam the cauliflower florets then place into a food processor and pulse until the size of crumbs. Allow to cool.
In a large bowl, combine the remaining ingredients. Toss in the cooled broccoli and cauliflower florets and mix until combined. Spray or grease mini muffin pans and press mixture into muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes until golden. Makes 3½ dozen.

Original recipe found here.

Beef & Broccoli Stir-Fry

Beef and Broccoli is my favorite Chinese dish. This is healthy, delicious, and Will claims he's never had any take-out better. I agree - it's perfect! I also have a Crock Pot Beef and Broccoli recipe, and the only difference is the beef stays in the thin strips in this one. In the crock pot it kind of shreds a little, still delicious of course. Perfect for school days when there isn't much time. Oh! I also doubled the sauce, because I like it saucy!

1 lb boneless round steak or sirloin steak, sliced thin (I used flank)

2 tbsp cornstarch

2 tbsp water
1 tsp garlic powder

2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided (I used olive oil spray instead)
4 c broccoli florets

1 small onion, diced

Sauce:

1/3 c lite soy sauce

2 tbsp brown sugar
1 tbsp cornstarch
2 tbsp water
1 tsp ground ginger

2 c cooked rice (optional)

In a bowl, combine 2 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp water and garlic powder until mixed. Stir the sliced beef into the mixture. In a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat, stir-fry beef in 1 tbsp oil (or olive oil spray) until the beef reaches desired color. Mine was really thin, it only took 2-3 minutes. Remove beef from the wok into a bowl.

Stir-fry the broccoli and onion in 1 tbsp oil (or spray) for 4-5 minutes. Return the beef to the pan with the vegetables. Combine soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, 1 tbsp cornstarch, and water into a small bowl and stir until smooth. Add to the pan and cook and stir for 2 minutes. 

Original recipe found here.

The were the original pictures from this recipe...