Crockpot Chicken Fajitas - 21 Day Fix

I found this recipe somewhere -- and it's not a difficult recipe to follow. Unless you're doubling it. And you double it, and you get to the end of the recipe and it says "Divide among 2 bags.". UGH! I doubled an already doubled recipe? Crud. So lots of leftovers.

Crock Pot Chicken Fajitas
Ingredients

1.5 – 2 lbs. Chicken Breasts, boneless and skinless 

1/2 medium – large white onion, sliced vertically 

3-4 Bell Peppers, any color, sliced into strips 

2 cans (10 oz.) Rotel diced tomatoes, undrained (I used “Mild”) 

2 cloves garlic, diced or pressed

2 tsp. chili powder 

2 tsp. cumin

2 tsp. paprika

*Divide all ingredients into 2 large freezer bags

Directions
Cut things up. Put in crockpot for 8 hours on low or 4 hours on high.

Dish out 1 cup of veggies and 3/4 cup of chicken for 1 green and 1 red.
Add some whole grain torillas (yellow), and lettuce and homemade salsa (green).

Here's what mine looked like. They were SUPER filling. It counted as 1 Red, 2 Green, 2 Yellow, and 1 Blue (Cheese). I can't wait to eat them again!!!

Crockpot Chicken Taco Soup - 21 Day Fix

I made this last week and it doesn't even feel like a "diet". You can add cheese and greek yogurt to it. Eat it with a salad for a very filling dinner or by itself as a nice lunch. If you're not on a diet, indulge with some tortilla chips! 

Chicken Taco Soup

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 (16 ounce) can chili beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn, drained
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1 (12 fluid ounce) can or bottle beer (or broth)
• 2 (10 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, undrained
• 1 (1.25 ounce) package taco seasoning
• 3 whole skinless, boneless chicken breasts
• shredded Cheddar cheese (optional)
• greek yogurt or sour cream (optional)
• crushed tortilla chips (optional)

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients and cook on low for 8-10 hours or high for 4-6 hours (can we say Super Bowl!).
2. Once it's done cooking, pull out the chicken and shred. I used the Mix 'n Chop to do it. Add the shredded chicken back to the crockpot and let cook another 15-minutes. 
3. Serve topped with shredded Cheddar cheese, a dollop of greek yogurt (or sour cream), and crushed tortilla chips, if desired. 

Approx 6-7 1-cup servings. 

Measure 1.5 cups and count as  1 Green, 1 Red, 1 Yellow 

Make sure if you add greek yogurt and cheese you count those in addition! 

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers

I love Stuffed Peppers. Jason LOVES LOVES stuffed peppers. It's what he brought to the relationship, actually. I tried to make them healthier with ground turkey. He didn't care for the change. Because I love him, I went back to beef. 

I had to change up this recipe a bit from the 21-Day Fix SUPER friendly one I found online. We don't have lean beef in our house. We have a quarter of a grass fed, non-hormone raised cow. So while not the leanest meat, it can still be healthier than store bought beef. 

She also premade a lot of things and then measured. I'm all about "throw in a whole can of corn and see how it turns out." Turns out I made 10 peppers, so I'm not completely sure on the containers. I have probably overestimated the containers. However, I kept this recipe as if the mixture divides nicely into 6 containers. It would also depend on the size of peppers you are able to find. 

I cooked six and froze four for later. I prepped these the night before so they just had to be put in the oven. It is not an easy prep process!  

Note - when making stuffed peppers - you *must* boil the peppers to soften them up. Otherwise the peppers don't cook thoroughly and still have a little crunch to them. 

Stuffed Peppers
Ingredients

• 6 Sweet bell peppers of your color choice
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, seasoned with 21 Day Fix Southwestern Seasoning 
• 1/2 Cup Dry/1.5 cups cooked brown rice or quinoa, cooked just shy of done
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Black Beans, drained/rinsed
• 1 (15 ounce) can of Corn, drained/rinsed
• 1 pound lean ground turkey or beef, seasoned with 21 Day Fix Southwestern Seasoning 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of petite diced tomatoes 
• 1 (15 ounce) can of tomato sauce 
• 1 cup of your favorite shredded cheese

Directions

1. Cut the caps of the peppers and clean out. Pre-cook the peppers by placing in boiling water for 5-10 minutes. 
2. Cook brown rice, or quinoa according to directions 
3. Brown ground meat and season with Southwest seasoning (See 21 Day Fix book). Set aside to cool.
4. Drain and rinse black beans and corn.  
5. Combine in large bowl meat, tomatoes, corn, rice/quinoa, beans, and sauce.
6. Stuff peppers with filling.
7. Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 40-45 minutes. 

I counted it as 1 Red, 2 Yellow, 2 Green, 1/2 Blue. As mentioned above, that's per 6 peppers. It's probably less since I split the filling into 10 containers. 

21 Day Fix Stuffed Peppers

Salmon Patties & Tzatziki -- 21 Day Fix Friendly

My mom used to make salmon patties and I always loved them. Usually I ate them on a bun with tarter sauce. Can't do that, but it is an item loaded with lots of protein. Eat it with some homemade Tzatziki sauce and veggies.

Salmon Patties

Salmon Patties

Note - these are best made the night before!

Ingredients

• 10 ounces canned salmon
• 3/4 cup whole grain panko bread crumbs
• 2 eggs
• 4 tbsp diced onion
• 2 tsp parsley 
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili powder
• 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together. (The Mix N Chop does this very well!) 
2. Form into four patties. 
3. Place patties into sealed container -- otherwise they will stink up your fridge! 
4. Let rest at least 20 minutes. I prefer overnight. 

To Cook

1. Place 1-2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in a saute pan. 
2. Place Salmon Patties in pan and cook on each side approximately 5-6 minutes. The salmon is already cooked so you're just trying to warm them up and cook the egg. 

Note - as you can see from the picture, one of mine fell apart. I wasn't concerned because I wasn't eating these on a bun. It also shows I don't have enough binder. I might add a tablespoon or so of greek yogurt next time, or milk. Usually you add some mayo to salmon patties to help bind them. That's a no-no on the 21DF.

Each Salmon Pattie counts as 1 Red and 1/2 Yellow.

This Tzatziki recipe was shared on facebook and is very delicious. If you grind up the cucumber a little more, it'll make a great dip for veggies! And on the 21 Day Fix it counts as a protein, so you can indulge in it!

Tzatziki:
Ingredients
2 cups Greek yogurt
Juice from 1/2 a lemon
1 tsp chopped garlic
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
1 tbsp chopped fresh mint
1/2 English cucumber, seeded and finely chopped
Pinch of salt and pepper (optional)

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients together.



Ugly Beans, Peas, Parmesan Breaded Tilapia, and Tzatziki

2. Store in air-tight container. The longer it sits, the better it is!!! 

Fill up the Red container (3/4 cup), and it counts as 1 Red. 

It was noted that you could add more lemon juice and make it into a salad dressing.
Edit - I use my immersion blender to mix it - it finely grinds the cucumber chunks.
Also, I have found this lasts through the expiration on your yogurt - so look for a longer expiration if making this, and note it on your storage container. 

If you look at my picture, you can see cucumber chunks. I wish I would have finally chopped those up - but I got a little lazy, and hungry. 

Recipe for the Ugly Beans can be found here. I'll post my own blog soon too!

Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Stuffed Chicken - 21 Day Fix Friendly

Now that we are into Week 3 of doing the 21 Day Fix, I've been trying to branch out and find some new recipes. I found this recipe on pinterest but it was slightly different. I like my version better -- I was better able to incorporate the cheese without worrying about it melting out. 

I didn't do a great job pounding out the chicken breasts so mine didn't roll as well as it should. 

Roasted Red Pepper & Spinach Stuffed Chicken

Ingredients

• 4 - 6 ounce chicken breasts
• 1 cup spinach
• 1 Roasted Red Pepper (or a 7-8 ounce jar.)
• 2/3 cups mozzarella cheese
• 2 gloves garlic
• 3 Tablespoons Whole Wheat Panko Bread Crumbs
• 3 Tablespoons Grated Parmesan Cheese

Directions

1. Filet the chicken breast and pound it flat
2. Dice/Chop/Use magic shears* to cut up the spinach, Dice the Roasted Red Pepper, Crush/Dice the garlic
3. Mix the Spinach, Pepper, Garlic, and Mozzarella cheese together. Add some pepper. 
4. Place 1/4 of the mixture on each pounded chicken breast. Roll up and secure with toothpicks. Place in a 9x9 glass dish. 
5. Mix together the Panko bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese and place a heaping tablespoon on top of each rolled chicken breast. 
6. Back at 375 for 40 minutes or until chicken reaches an internal temperature of 160 degree. 

Counts as 1.5 Red/Protein, 1/2 Green (Veggie), and 1/2 Blue (Healthy Fat)

Magic Shears - I *love* these herb scissors I got from Crate & Barrel. They are great to have in the kitchen to avoid the tediousness of chopping up any herbs. Cilantro, Parsley, Chives, Spinach -- I use them for lots of things! 

Grilled Chicken & Homemade Salsa

Keeping it moving with the 21-Day Fix. I love Salsa. Especially restaurant salsa. I could drink it. Since jarred salsa is not allowed on the plan, I had to dig up a homemade recipe. 

Homemade Salsa by the Pioneer Woman

Salsa Chicken with Broccoli, Sweet Potatoes, and Brown Rice

Ingredients

• 1 can (28 Ounce) Whole Tomatoes With Juice
• 2 cans (10 Ounce) Rotel (diced Tomatoes And Green Chilies)
• 1/4 cup Chopped Onion
• 1 clove Garlic, Minced
• 1 whole Jalapeno, Quartered And Sliced Thin
• 1/4 teaspoon Sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon Salt
• 1/4 teaspoon Ground Cumin
• 1/2 cup Cilantro (more To Taste!)
• 1/2 whole Lime Juice (I used 1/4 cup juice)

Preparation Instructions

Note: this is a very large batch. I used my 14-cup food processor.

• Combine whole tomatoes, Rotel, onion, jalapeno, garlic, sugar, salt, cumin, lime juice, and cilantro in a blender or food processor. Pulse until you get the salsa to the consistency you'd like. 
• Refrigerate salsa for at least an hour.

I used this to marinate and bake chicken in. The cilantro really helps with the flavor. 

I did some other marinades last week. I particularly love the non-oil one. 

Lemon-Oregano Marinade

Grilling Chicken - Inside! 

2 tablespoons Lemon Juice

1 teaspoon oregano

1 teaspoon garlic (or 1 fresh squeezed clove.) 

Multiply it a few times to make what works. It has a great flavor though and it can be strong. 

Asian Marinade

Note - 21-day friendly, but very delicious and adds an amazing sweet flavor to the chicken. 

• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinger
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic (or a couple cloves) 
• 2 tablespoons EVOO
• Squirt of Honey
• Dash of Worcestershire

Mix well together (I shake in a bag), add the chicken and let it marinade for 2-3 hours. 

Note - I cut my chicken breasts into 4-ounce pieces and then I "filet" them open since the breasts can be so thick and they would cook unevenly. Or dry out before the inside was completely cooked.