Crockpot Zucchini Chicken Parmesan

During the Holiday season, I try to cook as little as possible. I want to leave all my kitchen time for making cookies. That I might not make this year. It's hard for me to avoid eating the cookies. And everyone loved the rainbow sprinkle cookie and I need to find like 7 pounds of sprinkles.

So a new crockpot dish I recently discovered is this one. And it's delicious. It came out a little more like a soup, but it works really well in the crockpot, sans the cooking of the noodles in a separate pot. It's also 21 Day Fix Friendly! 

Crockpot Zucchini Chicken Parmesan

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds (about 4) chicken breasts, cut into cubes
• 1 small onion, diced
• 2 large zucchini, diced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 4 cloves of garlic, pressed
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
• 2 tablespoon Italian seasoning
• 2 tablespoon oregano seasoning
• 15 ounces cups pasta or pizza sauce (or tomato sauce)

For after cooking:

• 24-30 ounces marinara sauce
• 16-ounce box of pasta (I used Mezzi Rigatoni), cooked to al dente
• 1 cup low fat shredded cheese (mozzarella or Parmesan)

Instructions:

1. Spray your slow cooker with non-stick spray. Line your crockpot with a crockpot liner. Combine first 10 ingredients and stir to combine.
2. Cover and cook on high for about 3-4 hours or low for about 6-8 (or until chicken is cooked through). 
3. In the last 30 minutes of cooking, add cooked pasta, marinara sauce, cheese and stir well.
4. Split into 6 servings. I added some extra cheese.

21 Day Fix Count: 1 Red, 2 Green, 1.5 Yellows, and 0.5 Blue

Notes: 

Get crockpot liners. They are lifesavers. They are made with a special heat resistant material that holds in even the heartiest ingredients without breaking or puncturing. -Reynolds. And they aren't kidding. And when you are done, you throw away the liner. And then your crockpot requires a quick scrub, no overnight or two-day soaking. They are perfect for potlucks. Tip - I still spray the inside of my crockpot with non-stick spray before putting down the liner. Just in case. 

Use whole wheat noodles instead of white. Any type of pasta would work. I liked the larger noodles. You won't be able to tell the noodle color once the pasta cooks in. 

Add extra veggies if you want. Mushrooms are great, or another pepper. Adjust the 21DF count accordingly. 

Turkey Meatloaf - 21 Day Fix - Revisited

Updated 11/4 - I first made this in January and it has turned into one of my favorite recipes. I even started making it in the crockpot. I added a few new steps in order to keep it from falling apart. 
This is also one of my most viewed recipes - so welcome to my page! I hope you enjoy this quick healthy recipe as much as I do. 

I originally got this recipe from the Team Beachbody website. Each recipe tells you how they "count" for each program you might be doing. This recipe for Turkey Meatloaf is loaded full of veggies and uses ground turkey instead of ground beef. And it is delicious. Even though it looks suspicious AND the first one fell apart. But, it is good and I would recommend it.

Turkey Meatloaf 

Yield: 10 servings
21 Day Fix - 1 Red, 1 Green

Ingredients: 

• 2.5 lbs. raw 93% lean ground turkey breast 
• 3 large eggs, slightly beaten 
• 1 medium onion, chopped in food processor
• 2 medium celery stalks, chopped in food processor
• 1 medium green (or any color) bell pepper, chopped in food processor
• 1 cup old­fashioned rolled oats 
• 1 (14.5­oz.) can petite diced tomatoes (drained)
• ½ tsp. sea salt
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper 
• dashes of other spices - garlic powder, paprika, chili powder, oregeno
• 1 cup all­ natural marinara sauce, no sugar added 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. (or see Crockpot instructions note below)
2. Chop everything really fine. In the picture above, things are not chopped with a food processor, and the meat loaf fell apart. I now use the food processor in order to chop everything into the smallest pieces possibly. However, this could result in extra "juice", so squeeze out the juice before adding the ingredient to the meatloaf mixture. 
3. Combine turkey, eggs, onion, celery, pepper, oats, tomatoes, salt, pepper, and spices in a large bowl; mix well with clean hands or a rubber spatula. 
4. Line two 9x5 inch loaf pans with parchment paper. Spray the paper lightly with non-stick spray. Divide the meatloaf mixture between the two pans.  Bake for 45 minutes; spread marinara sauce evenly on top of both loaves. Bake an additional 10 to 15 minutes or until cooked through.

Crockpot Directions:

1. Spray a large crockpot with non-stick spray. 
2. Line the crockpot with foil and spray with non-stick spray. 
3. Place the meatloaf mixture inside the foil. 
4. Turn crockpot on. Walk away. 
5. Come back! About 1-hour before done, spread the marinara sauce over the meatloaf. 
6. When done, cooked to an internal appropriate temperature, dish out. I haven't perfected how to *get* the entire meatloaf out of the crockpot. Expect another update when I do! 
7. It turned out super moist and very favorful. 

Leftover meatloaf is even better than the first day! I either heat it in the toaster oven or a skillet in order to give it a little more "crust". Every once in a while, I add an over-medium egg because I need more protein. 

Meatloaf Royale