Veggie Packed & Budget Friendly Recipes ! Happy New Year

Hello everyone and HAPPY 2015! The holidays were busy and brutal to my workout and clean eating attempts and I thought now would be a great time to share some of my favorite recipes. I have been working hard over the past year or so to trick myself into eating vegetables, sneaking them here and there, making them carb replacements. I can finally say that I LIKE what I'm eating and I'm enjoying it guilt-free. Heres what I'm going to share with you today - A super easy crock pot Steel Cut Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal, Egg and Spinach Breakfast Puffs, Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti, and a Zucchini Alfredo in that order. Total Disclaimer - I cook like a grandma with no precise measuring or recipes but I will do what I can to explain these as concisely as possible.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal

Ingredients: 2 Apples, 1 cup steel-cut oats, 1 1/2 cup Almond Milk, 1 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional), 1 t. cinnamon, sweetener of your choice - I like Brown sugar or honey. You can also throw in other nuts, raisins, frozen berries (instead of apples). 

Spray your slow cooker with a non stick cooking spray. Add all the ingredients, stir, cover and cook on Low overnight. All slow cooker temps vary so the first time I made this I made during the day and just kept an eye on it. 

This recipe yields about 5 cup servings that I individually portion out and freeze if needed. I dont focus too much on calories but I know this is roughly 150 calories a serving depending on toppings and less if using almond milk :) Enjoy!

Next yummy breakfast is Egg & Spinach Puffs

Ok this recipe really doesn't get any easier and it is a VERY budget friendly option. 

First - Choose your egg option. Some people prefer an egg white substitute while others want the real deal of whites and yolks in their diet. This recipe can adapt to whatever, mix it up! For this one I used a dozen eggs with the yolks.

Next Choose a leafy green! Yummm Choose from Spinach, Kale, Arugula, maybe small chops of Broccoli. Go Crazy

Finally - Some shredded cheese, if desired and a protein of choice. I've seen this done with Canadian ham, Turkey Bacon, Bacon.. for this batch I went Sans Meat. 

Take all your ingredients and mix them in a mixing bowl with some salt and pepper or other spices as desired. Preheat the oven to 350f and spray a muffin pan with the non-stick spray. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full. As you can see in this pic, I overfilled them a bit which just means the puffs will larger on top. 

Dont you feel healthier already just looking at those green veggies! Throw this muffin tin in the oven for about 10-12 minutes. You'll wanna pull these out of the oven when they are light golden brown. You dont want to overcook these bc they will taste like the overdone bites of scrambled eggs.. unless thats your thing. Than cook them how you like! 

 Oh my they are just so pretty! I let them cool and they easily pop out of the tin. I then seal them in a ziploc bag and then every morning before work I take them out of the bag, put them on a paper towel and reheat for 40-50 seconds and eat them on the way to work. They are seriously the easiest and total mess free eating in the car :) YAY

Spaghetti Squash Spaghetti

(or anything else you want to make with Spaghetti Sqash, its a great pasta substitute)

So like many people that I talk to, I was intimidated by the idea of cooking spaghetti squash. Here's how I conquered it. Cut the squash length-wise and remove all seeds. You can remove these with a spoon or cut the seed area away with a knife. I then drizzle it with Olive Oil and sprinkle with spices, for me its usually garlic salt and pepper. Sit the squash FACE DOWN in a casserole dish and roast for 30-45 minutes until soft.  Again, time depends on oven and size of squash so just use common sense. You'll want to be able to spoon the flesh away from the skin, if you cant, its not done. As you can see in the pic, scraping the squash top to bottom creates noodle-like strings.

While the squash is cooking, I will brown ground turkey with an onion and add my fav sauce just like you would regular spaghetti. Combine the two and enjoy. 

** I've found that more large grocery carriers are now carrying all kinds of squash so this should not be too hard to find :)

Ok guys, one more! This is another recipe chocked full of veggies as carb substitute. For this one, I'll be making zucchini noodles for a Shrimp Alfredo Alternative. This recipe is a loose interpretation of a Weight Wathchers Zucchini Alfredo recipe and I HIGHLY recommend looking that up and trying it (and to get more exact measurements haha)

Ingredients needed: 2-3 Zucchini, half and half, parm cheese, frozen shrimp, sprinkle of flour to make a rue and veggie of choice. for this one I used steamed brusselsprouts and mushrooms. 

First I start a rue by adding flour to about a cup of half and half. Add salt and pepper and desired spices. Keep this on a simmer and add water until the sauce is the desired texture. I take the ends of a zucchini and remove the peel. I then take a veggie peeler and julienne the zucchini into thin strips. 

I add the Zucchini into the cream sauce with the Parmesan. The noodles will cook rather quick so I add the veggies and frozen shrimp. Whenever the shrimp is cooked, my meal is done. This dish takes little time at all and is far less complicated than it seems. Its also good reheated!  Sorry that I didn't take a pic of the finished product, clearly it was delish and I ate it allll up.

My goal is to provide new ideas to create old recipes in yummy and budget-friendly ways! Hope that these have been helpful in giving you new ways to sneak veggies into your diet! 

xoxo Kristen