Chorizo (C1)

Angela Scribner-Johnson

Oh my goodness! Angela's recipe for homemade chorizo sounds good and easy!


1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp salt
1 tsp pepper
1 Tbsp garlic
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp onion powder
2 Tbsp chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 cup water

Optional:
1 Tbsp crushed red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp cayenne powder

Cook it all together until done, then combine with your favorite veggies and fats! Yum!

Lemon & Feta Chicken (C1)

8 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
1/4 cup lemon juice, divided
1 Tbsp oregano leaves, divided
1/4 tsp pepper
3 oz crumbled Feta cheese
3 Tbsp chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray baking pan with nonstick spray, then place the chicken in the dish and drizzle with half of the lemon juice.  Sprinkle with half of the oregano and all of the pepper.  Top with the cheese ajnd green onion.

Drizzle with the remaining lemon juice and oregano. Bake, covere3d for 45 minutes, then enjoy!

Veggie Loaded Breakfast Bake (C3)

Simmie Sinow

This recipe is intended to make 4 good sized servings. You can make it into a much larger dish by simply doubling or tripling the ingredients. 

This is great after being refrigerated overnight (after eating one serving!) and warmed up in your microwave.

Gather up your ingredients:
1 cup cut mini sweet peppers (I chop the end off, slice it lengthwise and cut crosswise)
1/2 to 3/4 cup cut olives (cut in half crosswise is fine)
1/2 large zucchini chopped (not real small)
Other veggies of your choice

6 eggs
seasoning 

1 Aidells Chicken and Apple Sausage, sliced

How to put this together:
Combine in a mixing bowl and mix together well:
1 cup cut mini sweet peppers (I chop the end off, slice it lengthwise and cut crosswise)
1/2 to 3/4 cup cut olives (cut in half crosswise is fine)
1/2 large zucchini chopped (not real small)
Other veggies of your choice

Put the above in an oiled small baking dish.  I use one that makes 4 decent sized servings--fairly small baking dish as it's only me I'm cooking for.

In the mixing bowl you just emptied, combine:
6 eggs
seasoning

Whisk well, then pour the mixture over the veggie mixture, making sure the vegetables are covered by the eggs.

Then:
1 Aidells Chicken and Apple Sausage, sliced

Add these to the top, scattered, then push them down so they are covered by the egg mixture.

Bake in a 400 degree oven for 30-40 minutes.  Fork test at the end to make sure it's cooked through enough, then place on a cookie cooling rack to cool for about 15 minutes before cutting and eating.

I put some salsa on top and it's good to go.

Notes:
On the olives, you can use green or black or whatever kind you want. I found the green olive flavor to be a bit overpowering in this recipe, so the next time I make it, it will probably have black olives in it instead.

Split Pea Soup (C2)

Simmie Sinow

This is good for lunch in C2 or for any meal in C3.

1 lb dried green split peas, rinsed
2 carrots, diced
2 celery stalks, diced
1/2 med yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves minced
1 bay leaf
4 cups chicken stock
2 cups water
Kosher Salt
Italian seasoning or other seasonings of your choice

Arrange the split peas in the slow cooker in an even layer.

Arrange the carrots, celery, onion, garlic, parsley, and bay leaf over the peas in one even layer.

Pour the chicken broth and water into the slow cooker and season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until the peas are very soft, ~ 8 to 10 hours.

With a large spoon mix all ingredients thoroughly and use a potato masher or immersion blender to blend until this is at the consistency you desire.

Taste and season with more salt and pepper as needed.


OPTIONAL IDEAS
I also like putting some mushrooms in this for a bit of a different added flavor; not everyone enjoys that.

Crispy Bacon Chili (C3)

Modified from recipe on The Chew website

1 lb turkey bacon (chopped)
2 lbs ground beef
2 garlic cloves (chopped)
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 large red onion (diced)
1 jalapeno (diced; optional)
2 tsp dried oregano
56 ounces canned fire roasted tomatoes
Garnish
Scallions
Diced Red Onions
Hot Sauce

In a large dutch oven or heavy-bottom pot, cook the bacon over medium heat until crispy (about 5-7 minutes). Remove bacon and reserve for garnish.

With the bacon drippings in the pot, add the beef and season generously with salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until dark brown and crispy (about 10 minutes). Push the meat to the side and toss in the onions, jalapeno, and garlic.

Sprinkle in the seasonings and stir to coat. Cook for 2 minutes until softened then stir into the meat. Pour in the fire roasted tomatoes and adjust seasoning to taste.

Bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer. Cook, uncovered, for 30 minutes or until mostly thickened.

Serve with your choice of garnish and reserved crispy bacon.

Crockpot Ketchup (C1)

Modified from a recipe on BalancedBites website

This was taken in part from a recipe on Diane Sanfilippo's website, and modified a bit in both ingredients and the process.  It's still a bit of an in-the-works project, as it is a bit thicker than I like my ketchup -- but the flavor is to die for!

1 small onion, diced
2 green/granny smith apples, peeled and diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 pinches of cloves
1/4 teaspoon ginger
2 Tbsp apple cider vinegar (next time: 2.5 Tbsp, see note below)
1/4 cup water (next time: 2/3 cup, see note below)
6 oz tomato paste

Place all ingredients into a slow cooker and stir to combine. Set the slow cooker to low and cook for 4 hours.  I have a small crockpot (2 quart) that I use for making my own individual portions of food items, so I used my small crockpot.

After 4 hours, remove the crockpot from the heating element and let it cool just a bit and then put in your food processor or blender.  Be sure not to fill your blender too full, as warm items tend to expand. Blend until smooth. 

Since this is fairly chunky to begin with, what I did was I put it in my larger Ninja and blended the heck out of it, then transferred to my smaller one and blended until I thought it was ready, and then kept blending. 

Once blended, place the ketchup into glass containers and allow it to come to room temperature before refrigerating.

NOTE:

1. This was still fairly thick, and I'm thinking that it was because my small crockpot runs a bit on the warm side, so next time I will increase the water from the original 1/4 cup the recipe calls for, to 2/3 cup, and also add 1/2 Tbsp extra apple cider vinegar, possibly at the very end of the cooking process for the extra being added.  Another option is to cook less time, thereby keeping more of the water in the crockpot and not evaporating as much.
2. If you are making this in C3, you can also add 1 Medjool Date (that's what I did), but it really is not necessary, as I think it's sweet enough as it is.

Yogurts - Which Brands Are OK to Eat on the 17 Day Diet?

Simmie Sinow

After looking at ingredients in the yogurt brands listed below, we have been able to come up with a short list of which are ok and which are not.  If you like a brand that is not listed, please let me know the brand and, if possible, the list of ingredients so we can add it below!

How to Determine if Your Yogurt is OK to Eat:
Look at the list of ingredients and make sure there is no sugar, by any name, listed.

Look at the nutrition label and make sure that for a 6 ounce serving, you come in at or under 10g of sugar per 6 ounce serving.

Your yogurt will not show 0 sugars--ever! All dairy products have naturally occuring milk sugars, which are allowed.  It's the added sugars which are not allowed.

Any Greek yogurt that is flavored most likely got that way by having sugar added, which is not allowed.  Non-greek yogurts are not always the case with added sugar, so read your labels carefully.

Here is a list of what we know regarding brands of Yogurts.  If you have any others to add to this list, please comment on this post with the brand name and list of ingredients and other info and we will update this list as we are aware of changes.

COMPLIANT YOGURTS

"Regular" Yogurts:

• Activia Light, fat-free, flavored
• CarbMasters, flavored 
• Dannon Light & Fit Diabetic Friendly
• Mountain High Plain Nonfat
• Mountain High Plain Lowfat

Greek Yogurts:

• CarbMasters Greek Lite, flavored
• Chobani Plain Nonfat
• Chobani Plain 2%
• Dannon Oikos Plain Nonfat
• Fage 0% Plain Nonfat
• Fage 2% Plain Lowfat
• Kirkland (Costco) Greek Nonfat (this is basically the same as Chobani)
• Nostimo Nonfat

NON COMPLIANT YOGURTS

"Regular" Yogurts:

• Activia flavored (sugar, fructose)
• CarbMasters Lite (sugar)
• Dannon Oikos Fruit @ the bottom (sugar; fruit juice)
• Great Value (WalMart) flavored (fructose)
• Publix No Sugar Added flavored (Juice)
• Yoplait Light Flavored (Sugar)

Greek Yogurts:

• Activia Light Greek
• CarbMasters Greek (not the Lite)
• Chobani flavored (evaporated cane juice)
• Dannon Light & Fit (fructose)
• Light & Fit (fructose)
• Lucerne plain fat free: iffy (corn starch; high in natural sugars)
• Yoplait 100 calorie flavored (fruit blend with sugar)
• Yoplait 110 calorie flavored (sugar)

Chicken, Mushroom & Potato Tear Apart Meal - Crockpot (C2)

Simmie Sinow

This is listed as a C2 meal, but could easily be converted to a C1 meal by replacing the potatoes with another hearty C1 vegetable.

So What Is a Tear Apart Meal Anyway?

A Tear Apart meal is one that is cooked/baked/made all together but which can be torn apart and made into several different types of other meals.  Tear Apart meals do not always stay together as a unit for future meals.  i.e., in this case, only using the chicken and not the mushrooms or potatoes, or the chicken and mushrooms and not the potatoes, etc. in the future.

In the photo above, I cooked in a crockpot the following:
12 chicken thighs (skinless, boneless--but it doesn't really matter about the skin and bone)
1 large package of mushrooms
A smattering of small potatoes (the size I use, 3 fit in the palm of my hand)--I used about 6 or 7
28 oz can marinara sauce (I use Trader Joe's brand and added some vegetable stock to it)
14 oz can marinara sauce (you may or may not need this--this is to assure all items are covered)

Place just enough marinara sauce on the bottom of your crockpot to cover the bottom.

Put half of your chicken thighs on the bottom of the crockpot, followed by a little more marinara sauce on top, then the potatoes.

The final (top) layer should be the rest of the chicken thighs, and enough marinara sauce to completely cover them.

Set the crockpot on HIGH for 2 hours, then on LOW for about another 2 hours. After the 2 hours on low, dump your mushrooms on top and push down so they are soaking up the marinara sauce; if need be, add more marinara sauce, cover and cook for 1 more hour.

What Other Meals Can Be Made From This?

Just for some ideas:

• Spaghetti squash with the leftover marinara and cut up chicken (C3 due to Zucchini)
• Zoodles with the leftover marinara, cut up chicken, mushrooms, and potatoes on the side (C3)

Spinach Lasagna (C3)

Serves 8

1 lb. Lasagna noodles

Filling:
3 packages Tofu - Firm
3 bunches fresh spinach
1/2 cup chopped green onion
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 Tbsp. chopped parsley
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tsp. miso
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. black pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

Sauce:
No sugar added tomato sauce
2 cups sliced mushrooms
2 Tbsp. olive oil

Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Stir 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 Tbsp. olive oil into the water. Carefully add each sheet of pasta to the water and boil for 10-12 minutes. Rinse pasta in cold water and lay each sheet flat on a cutting board or counter covered with plastic wrap or wax paper.

Using the water from the pasta, blanch washed spinach for 1 minute until bright green, then shock in cold water. Drain in a colander and squeeze to remove excess water.

Saute green onions in 2 Tbsp. olive oil for 1 minute. Chop spinach and add to the onions. Combine with all remaining ingredients and set aside.

Saute mushrooms in 2 Tbsp olive oil until tender. Add tomato sauce and heat through.

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly oil a baking dish and spread one third of the sauce over the bottom. Put together several strips of the pasta so that they cover the bottom and hang over the sides of the baking dish. Later they will fold over the top to seal in the fillings.

Cover with half of the spinach filling and then add another layer of the pasta. Continue to add pasta, sauce and filling, ending with pasta and covering with sauce. Parmesan cheese or chopped fresh basil leaves may be lightly sprinkled on top.

Cover with foil and bake 20 minutes. Then, remove foil and bake another 15 minutes. Let the lasagna rest 15 minutes before serving.

Creamy Egg Salad (C1)

Tina Rawson

3 eggs (only 1 yolk)
1-2 Tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 tsp white vinegar
1 tsp acidophilus milk
Salt to taste

Combine all ingredients and enjoy!

Cheesy Salmon Casserole - Crockpot (C3)

Simmie Sinow

Serves 6

14 1/2 oz can salmon (do not drain)
4 oz can mushrooms, drained
1/3 cup eggbeaters
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp minced onion
1 diced bell pepper
1 cup grated fat-free cheese
1 1/2 cups whole wheat Panko (Japanese bread crumbs)

Flake fish into a bowl and stir in remaining ingredients.

Pour into a lightly greased crockpot; cover, cook on low 2 -4 hours.

Notes: If you want more mushrooms than just one tiny 4 ounce can:

• Use an 8 ounce can of mushrooms
• Increase the eggbeaters to just under 1/2 cup
• Add 1 to 1 1/2 Tbsp additional Panko

Canadian Bacon & Egg Pockets (C3)

Simmie Sinow

This is a great and filling breakfast for something just a little bit different!

2 slices turkey bacon
2 Aidells chicken sausage links (or any sausage with no sugar added to it)
2 slices Canadian-style bacon
3 eggs, beaten
1 pita bread, cut in half

Warm a medium skillet to medium heat; then put the turkey bacon, sausage, and Canadian-style bacon in a medium skillet over medium heat. Fry until brown, then drain.

Crumble the turkey bacon, chop the sausage into bite sized pieces, and cut up the Canadian bacon.

Mix eggs into the skillet, and scramble with the bacon and sausage until no longer runny.

Place pita bread in a microwave, and heat on High about 30 seconds, until warm.

Spoon the egg mixture into the pita bread halves, and serve warm.

BBQ Turkey Cutlets - Crockpot (C1)

Serves 6-8

1 lb turkey cutlets
Dark Agave equivalent to 1/4 cup molasses
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup no sugar added or low carb ketchup
1 Tbsp chopped onion
2 artificial sweetener equivalent to 2 Tbsp brown sugar
1/4 tsp pepper

Combine all ingredients and place in your crockpot. Cook for 2-3 hours.

Sweet & Luscious Curry Chicken (C1)

3 lbs of Chicken Breasts or Tenderloins
½ cup oil
4 Tbsp Stevia/Truvia
2 Tbsp mustard
2 tsp salt
3 Tbsp curry powder

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Lay chicken in 9×13 casserole dish.

In a bowl, combine the oil and the rest of the ingredients.

Pour over chicken to coat and bake for 1 hour.

Spicy or Sweet Chicken and Veggie Bake (C1)

Simmie Sinow

This is a super easy dish to make, and very yummy!

Layer a full layer of each of the following in a baking dish (from the bottom up):

• Pace Picante Salsa (you can also use regular salsa or marinara for a sweeter slant)
• Sliced mushrooms
• Baby Spinach -- you can leave it whole or chop it up
• Chicken breasts
• More Pace Picante Salsa or marinara

Place in a 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.

Randi's Chicken Meatza (C1)

Randi Leimsider Ferris

1 lb ground chicken breast
Small amount of Parmesan Cheese
FF Mozzarella cheese
Seasonings: Salt, pepper, garlic, oregano

Combine the above ingredients and press into a pie plate and bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes (10 on each side).

Then put it on a cookie sheet covered with marinara (homemade) and fat free mozzarella and baked another 5 minutes. Yum!

Simmie's Foolproof Mayonnaise

Simmie Sinow

This recipe is the result of trial and error with several different recipes online that didn't quite "cut it" for me.  This is now my 100% foolproof recipe using a stick/immersion blender.

The foolproof part of it, I believe, is in:

• the size of the egg yolk
• using egg yolk only and not a whole egg
• the temperature of the egg yolk and water
• Using a blender cup or the cup that comes with your blender and not your mason jar!

This recipe requires a stick blender. This method WILL NOT WORK in a regular blender.

Are you tired of struggling with making mayonnaise in a regular blender? How about the oil dribbling that has to be done so slow that it almost feels like you're not adding any oil to it at all? For about 3 minutes, no less!

Well fear not, this is a recipe that will take about 30 seconds start to finish, if that; probably closer to 10 seconds.

THE RECIPE!

Here we go.  First the ingredients:

Put the following in a blender cup. Do not use your mason jar for this unless you want failure!!

1 Jumbo egg yolk, cold
1 Tbsp water, cold (as in from the refrigerator door or ice cold)
1/2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 heaping tsp dry mustard

Swish it around a bit until you can see that it's well blended....no little bits of the mustard powder floating anywhere. Do not use your blender for this part!

Then add, all at once:
1 cup olive oil (in C3, you can also use walnut or canola oil)

Place the head of immersion blender at bottom of the blender cup and switch it on (set it to high, not low).
As mayonnaise begins to form, slowly tilt and lift the head of the immersion blender until all the oil is emulsified. Make sure you don't see any sneaky remnants hanging onto the side of your blender cup!

Season to taste with salt.  Personally I think this tastes great without salt, but everyone's salt level is different.

Store in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

How long will this be good?  It should last at least two weeks.  Mine is usually good at 20 days and goes bad before it hits 22 days.  But then again, mine doesn't usually last long enough to find that out!

Almond Milk (C3)

Against All Grain

I absolutely love a good glass of almond milk.  But finding it without carageenan is next to impossible (but still possible!).

But Danielle of the Against All Grain website, has a great recipe!

HERE is the recipe for her homemade almond milk using a blender!

She also has a link on her website to making it with a juicer if you want to do it that way!

Baba Ganoush (C3)

Missing your hummus, are you?

Well have you tried Paleo Leap's recipe for Baba Ganoush? You simply must! It's wonderful!

HERE is the recipe from Paleo Leap!

All you'll need is eggplant, garlic cloves, lemon juice, tahini, EVOO, cumin, and salt and pepper! Easy Peasy, as the saying goes!

Ketchup - Oh! To Have Sweet Ketchup Again (C1)

Simmie Sinow

Have you tried making your own ketchup?  How has it gone, using recipes you find out on the internet?

Are the results coming up short in replicating the sweetness that you're used to in ketchup from the store, like Hunts Ketchup or Dole Ketchup?

Me too!!!

Would you like something like this?

This morning, I decided I was going to figure out why all the ketchup recipes that I've tried all come out on the tart side instead of the sweet side, and to come up with something workable. It only took me throwing out one batch to land on what satisfies my ketchup craving!

Don't get me wrong, there are some great BBQ and Ketchup recipes on sites just about everywhere, but they left me wanting that sweetness.

I discovered that the tomato paste was what made the ketchups and BBQ sauce recipes tart.  That was like manna from heaven, knowing that.  With that, I proceeded to look at other recipes I have where I've added sweetness, like the No-Nightshade Ketchup from the He Won't Know It's Paleo website. By the way, that stuff rocks big time -- it's really good, but more of a thick and very sweet sauce than it is ketchup. Good enough even to take a spoon and eat it out of the jar.

Keeping in mind that Pumpkin adds sweetness, I decided to head in that direction. Previously, I'd made ketchup and BBQ sauce and used applesauce for sweetening and that did not work. Then another time, I tried a little bit of coconut aminos (since they are more sweet than salty) and that didn't do anything. Oh and yeah, honey was one of my experiments too -- BZZZZTTT!

So the following is what I came up with.  Let me mention that this makes a lot of ketchup -- 1 quart. Also, make sure to use Vegetable Stock and not beef or chicken, as the vegetable stock is the lowest in salt and will not turn your recipe upside down.

15 oz can Tomato Sauce
1/3 cup Apple Cider Vinegar
3/4 to 1 1/2 cups Vegetable Stock (see note below on this)
15 oz can Pumpkin Puree
1 small onion diced small OR 1/2 Tbsp Onion Powder
3 crushed Garlic Cloves OR 1 tsp Garlic Powder/Granulated Garlic

If you want it a little on the smoky side as well: 1/2 Tbsp Smoked Paprika

Combine all ingredients in a saucepan and whisk well, until all ingredients are well combined.

NOTES:
Cooking? If you use the powder for the onion and garlic, there is no need to cook on the stovetop. If you use chopped onion and smashed garlic, you'll want to simmer for about 20 minutes, then throw in your blender and blend until smooth.

Vegetable Stock? I started with 3/4 cup vegetable stock and kept adding, 1/4 cup at a time, until the mixture was the thickness I desired. I wound up using 1 1/2 cups .

Is This Really Cycle 1? Yes, it is.  While it does have pumpkin puree in it, unless you're using a half cup of this, the amount you'd use on, say, a burger, you'd get so little pumpkin puree that it wouldn't even be measurable. So this is fine to use in small amounts for C1. If you're using 1/3 cup or more in a recipe, then I'd hold off and use that in C2 or C3.

All in all, it came out great! And made a lot!

While I'm not absolutely sure on the "ewww it's gone bad" date, I do know that it will keep fresh and usable for about 2-3 weeks.

Banana Bites (C3)

The Latin Kitchen

Does this look great? WOW!

If you don't have granola or aren't sure what's compliant, just crush some nuts over this -- walnuts, pecans, almonds -- whatever you enjoy!

Click HERE for the full recipe on The Latin Kitchen
website.

Corn Salad with Tomatoes and Avocado (C2)

The Latin Kitchen

Oh my! This is a great summertime recipe from The Latin Kitchen!


Click HERE for the full recipe and instructions/ingredients!

Smoky Chicken Saute (C1)

Recipe Author: Brittany Simpson

Chicken
Onion powder
Garlic powder
NuSalt (salt substitute)
Pepper
Smoked Paprika
Spinach
Mushrooms
1 Tbsp fat free cream cheese
1 tsp Parmesan Cheese

Season your chicken with the spices, garlic powder, nusalt, pepper, & smoked paprika. Cook on your stovetop with the spinach and mushrooms; then mix in the cream cheese and sprinkle the parmesan on top.

Guide To Storing Fruits and Vegetables

What a great roundup post on TheKitchn's website on storing fruits and vegetables! Be sure to check it out!

Creamy Carrot Hummus (C3)

Recipe Author: Simmie Sinow

While traditionally, hummus is made with chickpeas, this is a great alternative for those that don't want a starchy dip or for those (like me) who don't like chickpeas.

This is the full recipe. I made half of this and it was more than enough to be a good evening snack option.

4 cups mashed carrots
1/4 cup tahini (make sure there's no sugar in it)
1/4 cup lime juice
2 garlic cloves, minced or 2 tsp granulated garlic
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
2 tsp ground cumin

Mix all the above ingredients together well and enjoy either hot or cold.

Use veggies or strips of pita for dipping


Notes:

• 4 cups of mashed carrots is approximately 12 cups of raw carrots sliced/diced.
• In place of the cayenne pepper, you can use any hot spice -- cracked red peppers would work; I used Tony Cachere's herb blend, which has a slight "bite" to it, but since this only calls for 1/4 tsp of the cayenne, most likely you won't even notice that bite.
• This could also be made with a yam; keep in mind this would be a starch.

This is going to be my new Go To Snack in the evening after dinner in C3!!!

Shredded Crockpot Salsa Chicken (C1)

Recipe Author: Jennifer Borruso

8 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 cups salsa (watch for compliance)
1 packet taco seasoning (I usually make my own)
1/4 cup water

Put it in at 9 am, set to low for 6 -7 hours, shred and turn on warm.

Taco Soup (C3)

Recipe Author: Marsha Cassara Hoffman

1 pound ground beef or Turkey
1 envelope taco seasoning (check ingredients for sugar and high sodium)
1 can (11oz) whole kernel white corn,undrained
1 can (15 oz) pinto beans
1 can (15 oz) black beans
1 can (14 oz) diced tomatoes,undrained

Crushed tortilla chips, shredded cheese, whole wheat tortillas, warmed (all optional depending on cycle).  Watch the ingredients in the tortilla chips or make your own!

In cast iron skillet, cook meat over medium heat until no longer pink; drain. Stir in taco seasoning, corn, beans and tomatoes. Cover and simmer for 15 minutes or heated through, stirring occasionally.

Place tortilla chips in soup bowls; ladle soup over top. Sprinkle with cheese. Serve with tortillas. Yield 8 servings.

Stuffed Chocolate Drizzled Strawberries (C1)

Recipe Author: Mandy Connolly

Each strawberry is stuffed with:

• 1 tsp of fat free cream cheese
• 2 Tbsp Greek yogurt with a splash of vanilla

Scoop out your strawberries and fill!

You can melt 1 Tbsp sugar free dark chocolate and drizzle over the top if you want!

Italian Spaghetti Squash Casserole (C2)

Recipe Author: Rosalena Andrews

Spaghetti Squash
1 lb ground turkey, lean
Marinara sauce
Italian Seasoning
Mushrooms

To make the spaghetti squash:
In the oven: Poke holes in the spaghetti squash and bake at 375 for 1 hour.
In the microwave: Cut spaghetti squash in half, put plastic wrap over the open side of the spaghetti squash and place, face-down, on a dinner plate that has about 1/4" of water in it, then microwave for about 10 minutes.

After cooking is done, remove the seeds and shred the spaghetti squash with a fork.

To make the casserole:
Cook turkey meat with your favorite spices.

Spray the bottom of baking pan then layer with spaghetti, meat, sauce, and 1 can of mushrooms. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.