Tag: healthyfood

Healthy Oatmeal Cups

New Year, New Me- am I right?! This last year we made every excuse to eat refined sugars, fried foods and processed snacks. This year, instead of just developing a new year’s resolution we came up with a plan to meet our goals. Anyone can write down a goal- but the plan is what gets you there. I’m excited to be working with Nutrasweet Natural to create some fun, healthy recipes to share with you all. If you haven’t had Nutrasweet before- now is the time to try it! It doesn’t have that bitter taste that artificial sweeteners have because it’s 100% natural and comes straight from the stevia leaf. The best part- 1 packet is equivalent to 2 tsp of sugar but with zero calories.

  • Ingredients (makes two .25L Weck Jars)
  • -1 1/4 cup Old Fashioned Oats
  • -2 packets @NutrasweetNatural
  • -2 cups Plant Based milk (I used Oat/Flax milk)
  • -1 tbs Vanilla
  • -1 tbs favorite healthy nut butter
  • -1/4 cup Chia seeds
  • -1 tbs Cinnamon
  • -1 smashed banana
  • -fresh fruit (raspberries blueberries, bananas)
  • -honey drizzle

Start by bringing your plant milk to a boil in a small saucepan. Next, add in the nut butter, banana, vanilla and Nutrasweet. Combine until smooth. Lower the heat to simmer and add in the oatmeal and chia seeds. I don’t like my oats mushy so I only let them simmer for a couple of minutes. Add your fresh fruit, drizzle with honey and sprinkle a few more chia seeds. Enjoy!

 You can also use these ingredients to make overnight oats. 

As always- tag me @katiescariokitchen on Instagram if you make one of my recipes!

Happy Eating! #katiescardiokitchen

Easy breakfast pizzas (3 ways!)

Is it just me or does it feel like every time you ask someone what their favorite food is they say pizza? But what’s better than pizza? BREAKFAST PIZZA… the correct answer is breakfast pizza 😉

Here are 3 simple ways to make breakfast pizza in the comfort of your own home! Or you can do it like me and make mini pizzas so there is something for everyone!

  • The healthy (ish) breakfast pizza
  • The original breakfast pizza
  • The southwest breakfast pizza

I bought a large square pizza dough in the deli section of my grocery store and cut it into 6 equal (ish) squares, drizzled them in olive oil and garlic salt and baked them per the package instructions or until they were just turning golden brown. While the crusts were baking, I cooked each meat- you only need a little bit of each if you are making the smaller pizzas, so I separated them in a large skillet. I also sautéed my onions and sweet peppers.

The healthy (ish) breakfast pizza

Garnish-green onions, olive oil drizzle or hot sauce

The original breakfast pizza

  • Scrambled farm fresh eggs
  • Cheddar cheese sauce (I made the sauce homemade by making a roux with 1 tsp butter, a pinch of flour, and a splash of milk then add a handful of cheddar cheese) but you could also sprinkle shredded cheese or use a store-bought spread.
  • Bacon crumbles
  • Sauteed onions
  • Original Yep seasoning

Garnish- green onions, hot honey

The southwest breakfast pizza

  • Scrambled farm fresh eggs
  • Sauteed sweet peppers
  • Mexican cheese sauce (I made the sauce homemade by making a roux with 1 tsp butter, a pinch of flour, and a splash of milk then add a handful of Mexican cheese) or you can use queso!
  • Sauteed onions
  • Fresh corn
  • Cooked chorizo- crumbled
  • Southwest Yep seasoning

Garnish- avocado slices, Mexican crema, or sour cream

Once the crusts have baked, pull them out of the oven and assemble your pizzas. Bake for another 5-8 minutes at 350 (or until everything is melted and hot!) Garnish and enjoy! To reheat leftovers- toss them in your air fryer for 6 minutes and the crust will be crispy again!

As always, tag me on instagram @katiescardiokitchen if you make them!

Zucchini Taco Boats!

Who doesn’t love a good taco?! I mean.. if you answered “me!” – are you even human?!

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But for real… tacos are life… and these Zucchini taco boats sure hit the spottt, you know what spot I’m talkin’ about right!? The one that makes you close your eyes, sit back and just say “mmmmm” that was good.

The best part- they are low carb and SUPER easy to make!

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Here’s me perfect low carb recipe- just in time for Cinco de Mayo!

What you’ll need…

  1. 2 zucchini
  2. Beef
  3. Taco seasoning (I used Twang chile lime and Daks sodium free taco blend)
  4. Corn bean salsa
  5. Avocado
  6. Mexican cheese
  7. Tomatoes

Slice the 2 zucchini’s in half and scoop out some of the zucchini forming little boats. Drizzle them with olive oil and a sprinkle of Twang chili lime seasoning then toss them in the toaster oven at 350 for about 8 minutes.

Meanwhile cook your beef and season it up with some taco seasoning! Now mix in the salsa.

When your zucchini is semi-soft layer them with a little Mexican cheese blend and load the boats with the meat and salsa mixture! Now- back in the toaster oven for about 5-6 minutes.

Garnish with diced avocado, a drizzle of Ole white queso, and a sprinkle of Chile lime seasoning and BOOM! Dinner is served!

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Great paired with some blue corn LateJuly tortilla chips and guacamole!

Tag me on Instagram if you make ‘enough! Can’t wait to see! @kburg21

Sweet tater toast!

Who doesn’t love a good slice of toast?! I feel like millennials have taken toast to a whole new level- I mean come onnnnn, avocado toast y’allll! But what’s better than a perfectly ripe avocado smashed onto a slice of bread…a perfectly ripe avocado smashed onto the perfected baked slice of sweet potato! Trust me- it’s even better than it sounds. I hated sweet potatoes for virtually my entire life…and this last year they have become one of my staples in my refrigerator. However, I’m still not a fan of a baked sweet potato…there’s nothing like the real thing there if I want a juicy loaded tater I’m going all in!

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Back to sweet potatoes…they are utterly delicious and I eat them for breakfast at least 3 days a week. So today I was craving some good sweet potato toast… I’m never really sure what I’m going to use for toppings because you can literally put anything on them and it’s a flavor burst in your mouth. I usually just dig through my refrigerator and grab some ingredients that need to be used up anyway and toss them on a slice.

First and most importantly you’ve got to pick the perfect sweet potato that’s worthy of toasting. I typically always have at least one potato that I keep on hand just for toast! It’s got to be long enough but not too skinny and not too fat…but also it has to be about the same size around throughout the whole potato! None of those- fat in the middle skinny on the ends kinda sweet potatoes. I feel like the people at the produce stand definitely judge me as I dig through the sweet potato crate in search of the perfect tater but hey! a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do! Right!?

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Now, in order to slice the potato evenly and without cutting off one hand I toss mine into the microwave for 1-2 minutes (just long enough to make it not feel like a total brick.) Then I slice the potato into 3-4 slices depending on the size of the potato.
Now drizzle with your favorite oil- I use LaTourangelle Artisian garlic oil and season mine with Primal Palate breakfast blend because -YUM. Now toss them on a rack in the toaster oven for about 10-12 minutes at 400, then broil for about 3-4 minutes to crisp them babies up! While those are toastin’ away –prep some toppings!

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Like I mentioned before you can top yours with any of your favorite toast toppings! But here’s was I scavenged up to top mine with today…
Slice 1
1 scrambled EgglandsBest egg with @fairlife milk
Ole choizo
Cacique queso fresca
Chopped green onions

Slice 2
½ avocado smashed
1 sliced grape tomato
Feta
Chopped green onion

Slice 3
President CheeseGarlic herb cheese spread
1 slice crumbled ButterBallTurkey low sodium turkey bacon (this is my ABSOLUTE favorite bacon)
A handful of frozen roasted corn from TraderJoes
Cacique queso fresca
Chopped green onion (are you seeing a trend here 😉 )

Slice 4
Soom Tahini
Strawberries
Blueberries
Drizzled with original Sunbutter
And sprinkled with Salba chocolate covered chia seeds

And of course I had to have a fried egg  seasoned with  FreshJaxto dip my toast in the runny yolk because what’s toast with a runny yolk for dippin’?!

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Enjoy!
Simple, healthy, and oh so satisfying!
Tag me if ya make ‘em!
#katiescardiokitchen @kburg21

The keeper of my heart- Caprese Salad!

For yearsssss, like…27.75 years to be exact, I thought I hated Caprese salad- to be honest, I’m not sure why I thought that! I have always loved cheese, and who doesn’t like mozzarella? I know I sure do! Growing up I hated tomatoes, now ketchup- that’s an entirely different story. But I totally fell in love with fresh, juicy, tomatoes a couple of years ago and there has been no turning back since! But yet- I still thought the idea of Caprese salad was just awful.

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During my recent travel to Italy, my friend Natalie suggested we share a Caprese salad…considering we were in Italy…how could I say no?! Total.Game.Changer. My first Caprese salad on the island of Capri, Italy won my heart forever. We continued our travels and ate many, many more Caprese salads all over Italy and my love only grew!

 

Then today- while picking up from fresh produce at the local produce market I saw these beautiful tomatoes-rich in color and knew exactly what I needed them for! If you’re from Florida- you know tomatoes here are just not the same as Midwestern tomatoes. Most of them are barely red and have zero flavor- I’m sure these tomatoes were shipped in from somewhere else because hot damn they were full of color and they definitely did not disappoint!

Caprese Salad for the win!

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This is what you’ll need!

Gathering the ingredients is probably more difficult than the assembly!

Slice the tomatoes into thick slices and arrange them on a plate with mozzarella in between. Then, tuck fresh basil leaves between the tomatoes and cheese slices. Next- it’s time to drizzle! Lightly drizzle the tomatoes and mozzarella with your basil oil and sprinkle with seasoning and salt! I added a spash of balsamic to mine- but next time I think I will make a balsamic reduction to drizzle!

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Healthy, low carb, fresh and satisfying! This salad is a great appetizer to take to parties or to serve at home while dinner is cooking! Or if you’re like me- it’s the whole meal because YUM!

I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! As always- tag me on instagram @kburg21 if you make it so I can see it!

#katiescardiokitchen