Crock Pot Balsamic Pork

This is a family favorite in my house! 

Serve it with your favorite steamed veggies and rice or quinoa OR serve it taco style with corn tortillas! YUM!

Ingredients: 

- 2 pounds boneless pork shoulder roast (sirloin roast)*

- Sea salt & black pepper to taste

- 1/2 tsp garlic powder

- 1/3 cup chicken broth, vegetable broth or water

- 1/3 cup balsamic vinegar

- 1 tablespoon honey

- 2-3 garlic cloves

- Optional - 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

Directions:

1. Season pork with salt, garlic powder and red pepper flakes (if desired) and place into the slow cooker.
2.  Cut small slices into roast and push garlic cloves into the meat.
3. Mix together the broth (or water) and vinegar and pour over the pork.
4.  Drizzle honey over the top of the pork.
5. Cook 4 hours on high or 6-8 hours on low
6. Once the pork is cooked and tender, remove from the slow cooker with tongs and into a serving dish. It should shred easily. Pour juice over top for delicious flavor.

*Same dish can be made with chicken. 

Crock Pot Turkey Chili with Beans

Ingredients: 

§  2 medium onions, chopped

§  2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced

§  2 tsp olive oil

§  1 bay leaf, crushed

§  ½ tsp oregano

§  1 lb ground turkey

§  2 T chili powder

§  1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes, do not drain

§  1 (14.5 oz) can kidney beans 

§  1 tsp sea salt

§  1 ½ T apple cider vinegar

§  1 tsp chipotle powder (more or less depending on how spicy you want it!)

§  Toppings:

o    Parsley (garnish; as desired)

o    Plain Greek yogurt (garnish; as desired) 

Directions:

1. Brown ground turkey in a skillet over med-high heat until no longer pink, drain and put into crock pot
2. Heat oil in the skillet over medium heat and cook onion and garlic until tender and translucent (about 10 min). Add to crock pot
3. Add the rest of the ingredients to crock pot; stir to combine
4. Cook for 8-10 hours on low or 4-6 hours on high
5. Serve hot and garnish with parsley and plain Greek yogurt as desired

Crock Pot Chicken Shwarma

Ingredients: 

§  1½ cups whole milk plain yogurt

§  ½ cup chicken broth

§  ¼ cup All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend**

§  ½ teaspoon Simple Truth cayenne - optional

§  juice of one lemon (about ¼ cup)

§  4 six-ounce Simple Truth boneless, skinless chicken breasts

§  whole wheat pita pockets

§  Cucumber Laban (Lebanese Yogurt Sauce), sliced tomatoes and sliced red onion - to serve

Directions:

1. Place the yogurt, chicken broth, spices and lemon juice in the slow cooker insert and whisk well.
2. Add chicken to the slow cooker and toss to coat with the spiced yogurt mixture.
3. Heat on low for four hours or high for two hours. Shred chicken and and stuff inside pita pockets. Serve with Cucumber Laban, tomato and onion slices.

*Original recipe from The Lemon Bowl.

** All Purpose Lebanese Spice Blend: Mix and store in an airtight container

§  1 tablespoon McCormick® Ground Cinnamon

§  1½ teaspoons salt

§  1 teaspoon McCormick® Ground Nutmeg

§  ½ teaspoon McCormick® Pure Ground Black Pepper

§  ¼ teaspoon McCormick® Ground Allspice

Crock Pot Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

§  1 ½ lbs chicken breasts

§  16 ounce jar of salsa (mild, medium or hot…you choose)

§  Juice from 1 lime

§  2 tsp cumin

§  Corn tortillas

§  Toppings:

o    Cilantro, chopped

o    Greek yogurt

o    lettuce

o    tomatoes

o    green onions, sliced

o    avocado  

Directions:

1.       Place chicken breasts into the crockpot with one jar of salsa, juice from one lime and 2 tsp cumin slightly stir. Set the crockpot for 4-10 hours (depending on the length of time you will be gone).
2.       Shred the chicken mixture with a fork
3.       Place chicken taco meat onto corn tortillas (2 tortillas = 1 serving)
4.       Top with cilantro, Greek yogurt, lettuce, tomatoes, green onions and avocado (all are optional, but make the tacos extra yummy)

Greek Yogurt Apple Dip

§ 2/3 cup plain greek yogurt (1 red container)

§  2 tsp PB (2 tsp)

§  1 tsp pure vanilla extract

§  cinnamon (to taste)

Directions: Mix and enjoy with sliced apples!

Cucumber Tomato Avocado Salad

Ingredients: 

-  1 + 1/2 cups cherry tomatoes, quartered

-  1 cucumber

-  1 or 2 ripe avocado

-  1 TBSP red wine vinegar

-  1/4 cup avocado oil or olive oil

-  juice of 1 lemon

-  salt and pepper, to taste

-  2 TBSP fresh cilantro or parsley (pick your favorite!)

Directions:

1.       Clean and chop tomatoes, cucumber and avocado.

2.       Mix vinegar, oil, and lemon in a bowl.

3.       Mix in tomatoes, cucumbers and avocado.

4.       Salt and pepper to taste, garnish with herbs.

Homemade Basic Tomato Sauce

I am not a fan of veggies. I tolerate green beans, broccoli and lettuce, but really need sauces or dressings to eat them. I like tomatoes and pumpkin, which technically aren't veggies, but as a Fixer they count as veggies in my nutrition plan. I struggle to eat enough veggies and since I am cutting out high fat and sugar dressings and sauces I needed to improvise. This recipe can be altered in a ton of ways to fit your tastes and different purposes, but the basics are the same.

Ingredients: 

- Tomato Puree (Make sure that it is no added salt or sugar!)
- Stevia (If you don't like stevia, you could use raw sugar, honey or maple syrup. This will increase the calorie count and can impact your blood sugar)
- Seasonings: For pizza or pasta sauce I use garlic powder, onion powder and Italian seasoning mix.

Tomato Sauces are really a matter of taste. We each have different preferences for different uses. So, this is how I start but I alter it for different uses. I would start with just a little of the seasonings and sweeteners and slowly add more to get the flavor you want. I typically use dried spices because I don't have the time to saute garlic or onion, but those and fresh herbs would amp it up even more!

Base: 

I usually start with 1 cup of tomato puree and 1 tsp of stevia. Put this on the stove and simmer for at least 20 minutes. The longer it simmers the more flavorful the sauce.

Pizza/Pasta Sauce: 

I typically add 1 tsp garlic powder, 1 tsp onion powder and 1-2 tsp of Italian seasoning. For pizza sauce, I add a little more stevia. I am not a fan of spicy foods, but you could add red pepper flakes to this for a more intense flavor. This is also great on spaghetti squash if you are cutting back carbs. Check out my quick lunchtime pizza recipe!

Taco Sauce: 

I use this for taco meat (instead of store bought seasonings full of artificial yuck).To this version, I add the 21 Day Fix Southwest Seasoning (minus the chili powder due to personal preference).  If I am making taco salad I add more sauce to the meat instead of using a dressing.

Simple Chicken Margherita Pizza

I LOVE pizza! Deep dish, thin crust, it doesn't matter, I LOVE pizza. We eat homemade pizza at least once a week in my house. I make the dough and sauce from scratch, but sometimes I really want pizza for lunch and my time is more limited with two little ones running around. So here is my 

Simple Chicken Margherita Pizza. 

Let's start with the ingredients:

-1/2 cup homemade tomato sauce**
-1/2 - 1 cup sliced Roma tomatoes or halved cherry tomatoes
-1/4 cup Mozzarella cheese
-3/4 cup shredded baked chicken**
-1 Low-In-Carb Ancient Grains wrap
-Balsamic vinegar

**I keep these on hand in my fridge so I can use them whenever. Today, however, I was ot of my tomato sauce and used the same recipe only zapped it in the microwave for about 30 seconds before putting it on the pizza. Not as amazing, but it will work when you are low on time and have your hands full.


Directions:
*Note that this is the quickest way to accomplish this as this is meant to be a quick meal. Nothing fancy here!

1. Place your wrap in a large skillet on medium heat to warm it and get it a little crispy. This pizza is supposed to have a thin crust consistency. When you add the toppings it can get a little mushy, so I like to toast mine in the skillet a little first.
2. While it is heating, warm up your chicken and tomato sauce in the microwave to take the chill of of them.
3. Assemble your pizza in the skillet. I like to add my chicken, then sauce. Follow it up with your tomatoes and cheese.
4. It takes about 5 minutes on the stove to get the cheese melty. (If your wrap is getting more crunchy than you want it, finish it in the microwave.
5. Put it on a plate and drizzle with a little Balsamic. ENJOY!!!





If you are a 21 Day Fixer like myself, this converts to 1-1.5 green, 1 yellow, 1 red and 1 blue.





Change up the toppings with what you like! I have also done this with sun dried tomato chicken sausage and it was AMAZING!