Balsamic Roasted Veggies

Last night I grilled chicken, made balsamic roasted vegetables (on the grill!), and black bean spaghetti. It was delicious!

Olivia is away at camp, and Sophia had leftover pizza, so dinner was a breeze. Andy spent the week with my brother in Conway while he was attending classes in Little Rock, so I was happy to make him dinner. I was excited to serve a non-picky-eater when I remembered Andrew doesn't like brussels sprouts!

DANG.

Just kidding! I decided to mix it up a little bit. Normally I roast them in the oven and serve them with red pepper, pine nuts, balsamic vinegar, garlic, and parmesan cheese. DELICIOUS! Only, its just the sprouts and I think that may be why Andy doesn't like them very much. Too sprout-y. haha! I made little tin foil packets and roasted them on the grill with different flavors and he really liked them!

Balsamic Roasted Vegetables

12 brussels sprouts, halved

1 cup sweet corn

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp olive oil

crushed red pepper

sea salt

black pepper

local honey

Once you've halved your sprouts, peel off the first 2-3 layers from each, and lay everything on your tin foil. Roll up the edges of the foil to create a sort of "tray" to hold your liquids in. Add the drained corn, oil, and vinegar. Sprinkle with the spices to taste, and then drizzle the honey over the top (optional). Roast on the top rack of your grill for about 10 minutes, and then move to the bottom rack for 3 minutes, or until sprouts are desired level of "roasted," (I like mine pretty crispy). Once they're finished, you can drizzle with a bit more honey to make them sweeter if you wish.

Super Green Salad

Hello there!

Today I'm sharing a cute little salad (that I had for lunch)!

I love having people over for dinner & entertaining, and I love love love plating. Nerdy, right? Anyway, this salad is meant to be an appetizer, however after I took the photo I tripled the ingredients and had it for lunch. :)

This is a very simple salad with only a few ingredients. I like to have simpler lunches when I'm on the go/in a rush to get out of the house.

Since these are all healthy things, I didn't measure any of them!

Cucumber, thinly sliced the long way
arugula + spinach mix
grape tomatoes
avocado
pistachios
pink sea salt
black pepper
I used a high protein yoghurt avocado cilantro dressing

Salads are so flexible and easy! These are fun for appetizers, and you could definitely skip the cute cucumber bowl and make a larger version, and add red pepper flakes, grilled chicken, sharp cheddar cheese.

To make this cute appetizer version, you'll need some toothpicks. I have TONS of cute picks since BENTO! :) Take your cucumber slice and secure the ends together to create a circle. Fill the cucumber "bowl" with your greens, and garnish with the avocado, tomato slices, salt, and pepper. I crushed the pistachios with a spoon so I could sprinkle them, and then drizzled the dressing over the cucumber bowl.

I promise, having your friends over for dinner will be so fun when you wow them with a tiny elegant salad! :)

Spicy Chicken Soup

The weather is warming up but around here, strep throat is going around like its nobody's business! When I'm worried about getting sick, I make this delicious soup. I love it and since its pretty basic, you can add a lot to it to change it up.

I sliced up a couple of flour tortillas and made little chips to put in the soup for my family. They were easy, just spray with olive oil spray, crushed red pepper, cumin, and seasoned salt.

For the soup:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 jalepeno peppers

1 pablano (or omit this for an extra jalepeno)

7 small sweet peppers or 2 red/orange/yellow bell peppers

7 cloves of garlic

2 onions

1 can fire roasted tomatoes

1 cup (or one whole bunch) cilantro

1.5 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

1 tsp coriander

juice of 2 limes

2-3 large chicken breasts (about 1.5-2 lbs meat when cooked)

8 cups chicken broth

cilantro, avocado, lime for garnish

I prefer to simmer my chicken in a crockpot all day before shredding for the soup. I simmer in water, cumin, and crushed red pepper flakes.

When you're ready to create your soup, your chicken should already be cooked and shredded. 

Prep Time: 45 minutes

Cook Time: 45 minutes

In your soup pot, sauté the diced onions, peppers, and garlic in the olive oil until the onions are translucent and the peppers are tender. 

Add the chicken broth, spices, diced cilantro, tomatoes, lime juice, and chicken. Simmer for about 30-45 minutes to allow all the flavors to mix and steep. 

Top with sliced avocado, tortilla chips, fresh tomato slices, hot sauce, lime slices, pepper slices... pour over rice, add in noodles if you wish. This is a great soup that is so versatile!

Mediterranean Burgers {kandipie kitchen}

Grilling weather is here, y'all!

Fort Smith is experiencing those gorgeous, hot, drowsy summer days.. finally! All the rain has moved on, the Arkansas River is back in its banks, and the city pools are open! Helloooo summery summertime!

I love grilling. I love eating. I love a great burger! Who doesn't?! Today I'm going to share with you my spin on a Mediterranean burger. I love all things balsamic and feta, so these are easily some of my favorite burgers around.

You can always use ground turkey or chicken, but my husband has requested more beef in our lives, so these burgers are made with 93/7 ground beef. 

Measurements are kind of eyeballed, so use your taste preferences when adding ingredients.

2 pounds burger

1 egg white

1/2 cup ish crumbled feta cheese

1/4 cup ish kalamata olives, minced

1/4 cup pepperoncini pepper juice

1/3 cup ish balsamic vinegar

crushed red pepper flakes (optional)

Mix everything together, patty out, grill baby grill! I served mine on a bed of spinach and arugula with tomatoes, more kalamata olives and sliced pepperonicinis. I used parmesan risotto as a side, but I think home made potato chips or fries with a greek lemon dill dip would be fabulous!

Let me know how your burgers turn out! Tag me on social media with #kandipiekitchen! Also make sure you "like" my Facebook page, We Aren't Scared Of Sugar!

A rambling list

I love my neighborhood. I went for a run tonight (2 miles, 23 minutes, woo! I'm improving my time with each run!!), and you know what.. I didn't even feel scared when it got dark. I have to say that is something I love about where I live. And something that will make me a little sad when I leave (although, sleeping in the house alone is a totally different story, and I *have* called the police once because I heard a weird noise outside!).

We have been eating out *so* much. UGH. Andy is able to just eat everything he wants (I mean.. hot pocket after hot pocket after party pizza, frozen burritos, 2 dozen cookies, frozen sausage and biscuits, chips at bed time, and beer beer beer all day and a whiskey and coke at bed time)... and not gain a pound or lose a bit of muscle. My husband is ripped. He walks around flexing his muscles constantly and telling me to feel his abs/biceps/triceps... and those side muscles that are so big they resemble shark gills. It actually pisses me off. He does work out... a couple of days a week. At work I'm sure his workouts were consistent. But here at home, I think he's hit the weights once and he can still eat like that. I am so jealous. I don't work out like I should (although I should start since he is home to be a babysitter)... but I do typically eat super clean (not so much since he's been home).. Yeah. I just had to rant about that a little bit. I really want to stuff myself with all the yummy looking junk he eats. I did tell him (and the kids) that once this round of his junk food junkie groceries run out, thats it. He can keep beer in the house but I can't be around the rest of it. Its too hard for me. And I have goals. His junk isn't going to help me. Why I can't resist the junk, I'll never know. My willpower was amazing when I was a vegan. I had no problems watching him stuff his body full of garbage. Probably because I was eating garbage, too... just vegan garbage. Which can sometimes be even worse!

We are leaving for Disneyworld in ONE WEEK! I am very excited, but also stressed about it! I'm stressed because when we come home... the moving process is ON. THREE WEEKS until we're out of this house. EEK!

Summer Salad

Summer is my FAVORITE season. True story. I love the hot weather, the humidity, the can't breathe sultry air hitting you as soon as you walk out of your nice, air conditioned house! Summer in the South is amazing. I don't think you can beat the patriotic themed bbq's, the family gatherings, crazy days at the lake, fireworks displays... the mosquitoes! haha!

Tonight my grandparents grilled out, and I made a nice chickpea salad! It was inspired by a pin from OH SHE GLOWS on pinterest. My grandma didn't have all the ingredients for the salad I was drooling over, so we just threw together what we had and it ended up being AMAZING.

You need:
1 can chickpeas, drained & rinsed
1 cucumber, peeled & diced
1/2 bell pepper (any color, we had a yellow/green one), diced
1 tomato, diced
fresh cilantro (we like a lot)
sea salt (to taste)
pepper (to taste)
2-3 tbsp olive oil
3 tbsp white vinegar

optional: diced jalepeno

Just mix, chill, enjoy! It paired great with grilled corn on the cob!

Turkey Muffins!

Oh so YUM! Tonight was my first time to make them! I looked around, then decided to throw together my own quick recipe!

You will need::
1lb ground lean turkey
2 egg whites
1/3c cooked quinoa (I used multicolor)
Cumin
Balsamic vinegar (or soy sauce)
Garlic powder
Spicy mustard
Chile powder
Crushed red pepper
Fresh chives
Poppy seeds
Dash of hot sauce (I prefer cholula)

For the spices, vinegar, & mustard... I didn't measure. I just sprinkled until I thought it looked like enough. So... "to taste."

Preheat your oven to 425. Coat a muffin pan with non stick spray. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl. Fill the tins almost full. Then bake until they're finished! I prefer my meat to be super well done, I'd say I baked mine about 40 minutes.

Strawberry Vanilla Protein Muffins

I keep on *saying* I am going to start baking again. Only.. I don't because I don't want to eat all the cupcakes and junk I used to bake. Believe me, I'm fantastic at creating sugary confections BUT they're not the best thing to eat if you're trying to eat clean!

So today I decided to attempt baking with protein powder. I have made pancakes and blueberry muffins from the TONE IT UP plan, and they turned out great. With the knowledge I have gained from various blogs about substituting healthy ingredients for not so healthy ingredients... I give you my first "recipe."

You will need:

1 1/4c vanilla (or strawberry!) protein powder
3/4c egg whites (or approx 4 egg's whites!)
1 tbsp chia
1 tbsp ground flax (unless your BETH, then you can leave this out!)
1 1/2 tsp unsweetened almond milk (or strawberry soy milk)
1tbsp water
1/2 banana mashed
1/4-1/2c strawberry chobani
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp cinnamon (next time I am going to leave this out and add 1tsp honey!)
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 (heaping) c chopped strawberries
sea salt (optional)

Mix all the ingredients together & bake at 350 until brown on top (about 12 minutes).

These are going to be FANTASTIC with a schmear of peanut butter in the morning!

Meet Amy!

starting weight: 163.6

We Aren't Scared Of Sugar: Tell us your favorite motivational quote.

Amy:  "There is no passion to be found in settling for a life that is less than the one you are capable of living." -Nelson Mandela

WASOS: What is your favorite healthy recipe?

Amy: I don’t really have any healthy recipes (just really started cooking not that long ago…everything I “cooked” would come from a box) 

Here is a recipe I found from Pillsbury and have adjusted some things in it. Pillsbury Grands Easy Taco Melts: 

Ingredients:

1lb. ground turkey, cooked and drained1

 ½ cups picante sauce (the recipe calls for chunky salsa but I don’t like the chunky stuff)

1 can (16.3 oz) Pillsbury Grands refrigerated biscuits (they have a low fat one)

½ cup Monterey Jack or Mexican blend cheese, shredded

Directions:In 10-inch skillet mix cooked beef and ½ cup of the salsa (I just a whole cup). Cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally until hot. Press each biscuit into a 6-inch round. Spoon 1/3 cup meat mixture and 1 tbsp. cheese into the center of each round. Fold dough in half over filling; press edges to seal.Place on greased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees for 9-14 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with remaining salsa. 

WASOS: What is your ultimate fitness goal?

Amy: To be healthy and happy for myself and no one else. Once I do that then it will trickle down to my boys and husband, but I’ve realized that if I’m not happy with myself then I can’t be the best mom and wife I know I can be!

You can follow Amy on twitter by clicking HERE.

And if you haven't already, you should go like the We Aren't Scared of Sugar facebook page by clicking HERE.