Italian meatballs

Took some ideas from different websites - iamthatlady.com, bunsinmyoven.com, tasteandsee.com, and cleanfoodcrush.com

Ingredients
-1 lb ground turkey (93% lean)
-4 cloves of garlic (Cuisinart-ed)
-1 egg
-1/4 cup bread crumbs (I used panko)
-1/8 cup of grated Parmesan cheese (didn't measure out, but could have used more)
-1/2 yellow onion, finely diced
-1 tsp Italian seasoning
-1 tsp Oregano
-1 tsp basil (used fresh from the garden) - Cuisinart-ed
-1 tsp dried parsley
-salt and pepper to taste (1/2 tsp of each roughly)
-1 jar marinara sauce 
-zoodles

Instructions:
1. Mix all into bowl with the ground meat
2. Use spoon (my TBSP) to scoop meat onto tray
3. Cook 15-20 min in oven at 400 F
4. Mix zoodles with half a jar of marinara sauce (use other 1/2 for second night) - also add some Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and generous amount of crushed red pepper
5. Serve zoodles, sauce, and meatballs

Notes:
-I also served with asparagus, one bell pepper, one onion that was cooked in the Air Fryer for more food.

-Eric said to add some FENNEL next time

*Italian

Chimichurri sauce

Eric didn't like it, so not sure if I will make again, but I liked it.
Recipe taken from Gimme Some Oven

Ingredients:
-1 cup fresh flat-leaf parsley, tightly packed 
-1 cup fresh cilantro, tightly packed
-1/2 cup diced red onion
-3 Tbsp fresh oregano (I used 1 tsp of dried oregano)
-3 cloves of garlic, peeled
-2 Tbsp fresh lime juice (I used juice of one lime)
-2 Tbsp red wine vinegar (thought this was too much)
-1/4 tsp sea salt
-1/4 tsp freshly-ground black pepper
-1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (I sprinkled generously and could have used some more)
-1/2 cup of olive oil

Directions:
-Add all ingredients except olive oil to a food process, and pulse a few times until chopped.  Slowly stream in olive oil, while pulsing the mixture a few more times until combined.

Notes:
-more red pepper flakes
-too much red wine vinegar
-I served with chicken and asparagus

-I think I made this before and should try using with flank steak next time instead of chicken

----------------------------------------------

Tried a NEW recipe that was kind of combination of two recipes for cilantro-only chimichurri (Brazilian Kitchen) + roasted garlic (from WonkyWonderful), and STILL was NOT right.  

Used on roasted veggies - mini potatoes, bell peppers, and onions with a turkey burger.  

Eric said tasted good, but too "wet" as in he would have preferred this as a dip and veggies be crispy.  Maybe next time:

-no red wine vinegar.  Try lime juice again.  Less olive oil.  Try raw garlic again.  Try shallot instead of red onion. Do the olive oil stream?

Ingredients:

-2 bunches of fresh cilantro (about 2 cups, not packed though)

-2 heads roasted garlic

-3/4 cup olive oil (added less than this and still too much)

-1/4 small red onion

-1 tsp dried oregano (recipe called for 2 tsp)

-1 tsp red pepper flakes (recipe called for 2 tsp)

-1 tsp red wine vinegar (recipe called for 2 tsp) - STILL TOO MUCH

-salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

-Used a blender instead of food processor (so didn't do the olive oil stream)

Skinny Pineapple Chicken with Cashews

Recipe taken from Bowl of Delicious.
Felt like making Asian last night.  I doubled the sauce because I added veggies (bell pepper trio) and onions.

Ingredients:
-chicken breast, 1.5 lbs cubed
-salt and pepper to taste
-Your choice veggies: bell pepper trio, red onions
-1 cup fresh diced pineapple (reserve juices if any to add to sauce below)
-1/2 cup of cashews

Sauce:
-2 (4) garlic cloves
-1 (2) Tbsp ginger
-2 (4) Tbsp rice wine vinegar - tasted too vinegary! use less next time
-2 (4) Tbsp soy sauce
-2 (4) tsp Sriracha sauce - used maybe a little more, had some kick
-1/2 (1) tsp toasted sesame oil
-Sprinkled red pepper flakes for more spice
-leftover pineapple juice if any
-2 tsp corn starch + 1/4 cup of water 

Directions:
1. Combine ingredients to make sauce + cornstarch/water - set aside
2. Cook chicken with salt, pepper, garlic powder - set aside
3. Cook veggies a little bit
4. Add sauce and stir
5. Add cornstarch/water mix - whisk with fork before adding
6. Stir until thickened
7. Add cashews and diced pineapple

Notes:
Served with rice.
As mentioned above, too vinegary, would add less than 4 Tbsp of rice wine vinegar.  Pineapple is already kind of acidic.

*Pineapple

*Asian

Avocado Pesto

Recipe taken from Eat Yourself Skinny

Ingredients:
-2 avocados
-1 cup fresh basil leaves
-3 cloves of garlic (used 4 and had some extra bite)
-1/4 cup of pine nuts, toasted (no more than 1/4 bc can be too nutty)
-2 tbsp. lemon juice (used 1 whole lemon)
-1/2 tsp sea salt
-3 Tbsp olive oil
-cracked black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1.  Mix in large Cuisinart
2. Added a little water (1/8 cup) to thin it out a little

Notes:
-Served with veggies (red onion, bell peppers, broccoli) and chicken - seasoned with salt, pepper, garlic powder
-can do with zoodles as in the website recipe
-unfortunately, have to make separately each day because avocados can go bad - but could try pre-making and freezing afterwards.  I just pre-peeled garlic and set aside the toasted pine nuts for the next day's serving.

*Italian

*American

Barbeque sauce

Recipe taken from @cleanfoodcrush

Ingredients
-15 ounces organic tomato sauce
-1 Tbsp tomato paste
-2 tsp mustard (OMITTED FOR THE HUBS)
-1/3 cup raw honey (use a little less next time as it was pretty sweet)
-1/4 cup high quality balsamic vinegar
-1/2 cup of water
-2 Tbsp pure maple syrup (or unsulphured molasses --> maybe try next time?)
-1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (or coconut aminos --> maybe try next time?)
-1 tsp sea salt
-2 tsp smoked paprika
-1/2 tsp onion powder
-1/2 tsp garlic powder
-1/2 tsp ground black pepper (ADD MORE)
-Did not measure, but added a lot of white pepper for a spicier taste

Directions.
1. Add all ingredients to a saucepan
2. Bring to a nice simmer over medium-high heat (at least a 7)
3. Lower heat to low (1) and simmer while occasionally whisking for about 30 min (did it for 28 as it was starting to smoke)
4. Allow to cool completely
5. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to a week

Notes:
-Served with chicken strips (oven), cauliflower (oven), and mini-potatoes (air-fryer) that were all seasoned with the same spices as above + cayenne pepper for added heat.
-Would consider cooking the night before (Saturday) and then cooking it with the chicken the next day or in a slow cooker shredded chicken recipe

*American

Sweet Potato Fries in the Air Fryer

Depends on how you cut the fries, but was really good thinly cut by my husband.

*EDIT - I tried a recipe that added 3 Tbsp cornstarch to the spices, and it tasted BAD!!! Also only did for 20 min because looking at a different recipe, not the one on my blog, and it was NOT crispy.  There is another recipe that I didn't use that uses cornstarch on Instagram, but it is a lot of steps parboiling sweet potatoes and using the oven, so not sure if it's even worth it.  I guess I'll just stick with frozen if you want sweet potato fries. 

Ingredients:
-olive oil or avocado oil
-whatever spices you want

Tonight, I used combination of:
-garlic powder
-jalapeno salt
-cumin
-paprika
-onion powder

Directions:
1. Toss oil and spices with fries
2. Cook in air fryer for 15 min on 400 degrees
3. Shake in basket
4. Cook in air fryer for 10 min on 400 degrees

Note:
-More thickly cut slices for 10 min + 10 min on 400 degrees was UNDERCOOKED
-2nd round with thinly cut slices was 15 min on 370 degrees and was TOO CRISPY?

*Sides

*American

Korean Ground Turkey

I used 2 recipes for Korean Beef Bowls from Damn Delicious and Skinnytaste.

Used to be made with zoodles, but complicated dish too much.  Also, zoodles are either expensive or a lot more work, so just use chopped zucchini now.

Ingredients

-1 pound ground turkey

-fresh ginger (2 inches), cuisinarted

-garlic, 3-6 cloves cuisinarted
-VEGGIES: zucchini, onions, bell peppers

-TOPPINGS: green onions, sesame seeds

SAUCE:

-1 tablespoon of light brown sugar (or sub honey)

-1/4 cup of low sodium soy sauce

-2 tablespoons of water

-Crushed red pepper flakes

-1 tsp sesame oil

Directions

1. Mix sauce ingredients in bowl

2. Cuisinart the ginger and garlic

3. Cook ground turkey with ginger, garlic, and sauce
4. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds

*Asian