Author: The Main Squeeze

Eggs?✔️Bacon?✔️ Burritos?✔️

I LOVE breakfast but I hate feeling rushed in the mornings. And let’s be honest, during the work week every morning seems to be rushed, no matter how early you get up! Insert: Breakfast burritos that you can freeze and have ready to heat up in the morning for a quick and easy breakfast.

Ingredients

• 10 eggs
• Cheddar Cheese
• 1/2 red bell pepper (or any color bell pepper you want/have on hand), diced small
• 4-5 green onions sliced
• salt and pepper to taste (I used kosher salt.)
• Bacon (i used precooked from Costco, but you can use your favorite bacon)
• 8 Burrito sized tortillas
• Aluminum Foil

1. Cook bacon in skillet (if using precooked, cook in microwave for 1 minute if you like your bacon crispy, like me)
2. If you are cooking bacon in a skillet reserve 1 teaspoon of bacon grease to cook the eggs in. (I just heated some of the precooked bacon in the same skillet that I was using to cook the eggs and that left a little grease.) This will give your eggs AMAZING flavor!
3. Wisk eggs, red pepper, green onions, salt, and pepper if a medium bowl and scramble the eggs in the reserved bacon grease.
4. After the eggs are done cooking, remove from the heat and assemble the burritos.

Burrito Assembly

• If you have a grill pan slightly char your tortillas before you assemble them. I found that medium/high heat worked best. Be sure to watch them carefully so they don’t burn! (I burned a couple!🥺)
• Lay the tortilla vertically on top 10 x 12 sized foil sheet.
• At the bottom of the tortilla put 1/4 cup of eggs, 2 tablespoons of cheese, and 1-2 pieces of bacon.
• Roll the burrito starting at the bottom and folding in the sides as you go. Once the burrito is rolled, roll it in the foil, the same way you rolled the burrito.
• Store in a freezer bag. I wrote on the bag with a sharpie the date that I made them. They will last for about 3 months in the freezer. Although I don’t think this batch will last three month…

To Reheat…

You can do it a few different ways…

1. Freezer to Oven: Take it out of the freezer and put in the fridge the night before. In the morning, preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Leave in foil and cook for 20 minutes, flipping halfway through. (This is the best way I have found, but it does take a little planning. I was able to just throw it in my purse and eat it at work during my meeting!
2. Freezer to Microwave– remove from foil and cook in the microwave.
3. Freezer to Oven (no overnight defrosting)- Heat oven to 425 and cook for 45 minutes.

One thing I love about this recipe is how versatile it is! It would be good with so many different veggies or various types of cheese (let’s be honest you couldn’t go wrong with any cheese)…

Try it with…

1. mushrooms
2. red onion
3. fresh herbs (parsley, cilantro, basil)
4. goat or feta cheese
5. If you have a bit more time in the morning, top with sour cream/salsa/avocado
6. broccoli
7. potatoes
8. spinach or kale

Perfect for snacking, breakfast and great for when you’re on the go!

Once you make these delicious homemade granola bars you will never go back to store bought! They are THAT good! And oh so easy to make! I got the basis of this recipe from one of my favorite food blogger, “What’s Gaby Cooking?” Check her out if you haven’t before. As always, I add my own flair to these, the most important part, “the glue” so to speak I kept the same as the original recipe.

Inredients

• 2 1/2 cups old fashion oats
• 1/2 cup raw whole almonds roughly chopped
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter
• 1/4 brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 tsp chia seeds
• 1/4 cup chopped golden raisins
• 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries
• 1/4 cup dried apricots

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cover a small cookie sheet (rimmed is probably best) with parchment paper. Add chopped almonds and oats to the cookie sheet and toast for 7-10 minutes.
3. While the oats are toasting… In a small sauce pan mix together honey, butter, sugar, vanilla, & chia seeds. Melt over medium heat, stirring often. When all the sugar has dissolved and the butter has melted, pour into a medium bowl and combine with the oats. Add your toppings and mix it all up!
4. Add the parchment paper to smallish-mediumish pan. This depends on how thick you want your granola bars to be. (Leave some of the paper sticking out on the sides so you can use it later to remove the oats.)
5. Add the oat mixture and flatten using a rubber spatula until the oats are even throughout the pan.
6. Put pan in fridge for 2 hours.
7. Using the sides of the parchment paper pull out of pan. Cut the granola into bars, squares, triangles, hexagons… (sorry got a little out of control there!)

To store, wrap individual bars in aluminum foil. Store in the fridge, but they do not need to be refrigerated, if that makes sense…. I like to throw a couple in my purse for the day to have on hand as snacks. They are very filling! If left out of the fridge they will not be hard.

Here are some of my favorite toppings…

• dried cranberries
• dried apricots
• golden raisins
• dried cherries
• mini chocolate chips (how good would dark chocolate chips be?!
• chia seeds are optional, but they are tasteless and will keep you extra full
• chopped walnuts
• chopped pecans
• shredded coconut

Basically any dried fruit would be super tasty. I just happen to like the tartest of the dried fruit family and have a giant Costco sized bag of almonds I need to use up.

Enjoy!

If you love bagels and cream cheese you will LOVE these bagel balls. The best part? They are a healthier version of a bagel because they are made with greek yogurt! I had quite a few people ask for the recipe when I posted it on the Gram today, so here it is! (I got the base recipe from Skinny Taste! The jalepeño cheddar inspo was from my friend Erin Hartz. Have fun playing around with different versions!)

Ingredients

• 1 cup flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup non-fat greek yogurt (must be greek or it will be waaay too sticky)
• 8, 1 in. cubes cream cheese
• 1 egg white (or whole egg) beaten
• choice of toppings (everything bagel, sesame seeds, garlic flakes, onion flakes (if that’s your thing…),
• You can also mix in different ingredients to the dough. I love jalepeño/cheddar, I still want to try blueberry with frozen blueberries (another Erin Hartz idea)
• My friend Hillary said she wanted to add bacon to the cream cheese….um YUM! You could also add scallions, lox, etc. the possibilities are endless which is one thing I love about this recipe.

Directions…

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
3. Add in yogurt and combine with a spatula. It will look like small crumbs. (If you are mixing in other ingredients such as jalapeño and cheddar add during this step.)
4. Sprinkle your work surface with flour. and knead the dough until it is tacky (about 15 times) until the dough is sticky, but not sticking to your hands.
5. Separate the dough into 8 equal balls. I put mine on parchment paper on the baking sheet. Flatten balls and place cream cheese in center. Then form it back into a bowl.
6. Use a brush to add egg wash to the top of your bagel balls.
7. Add toppings
8. Bake for 25 minutes.
9. Let cool for 10 minutes before enjoying!

When I hear that the state fair had been cancelled this year I immediately felt like Ralphie from A Christmas Story when he is running through the list of all the turkey recipes his family won’t get to enjoy this Christmas because the Bumbas’ 785 dogs got to the turkey before Ralphie’s family did! My list went something like this though….

No corn dogs!

No milkshake or grilled cheese from the dairy barn!

No curly fries!

No corndogs!

No elephant ears!

No walking tacos!

No deep fried butter! (Not really- never tried it and never will.)

No kettle corn!

No apple cider slushy!

No pork tenderloin!

And worst of all….NO pulled pork bbq sandwich!!

Luckily I found a recipe on “Sugar Spun Run” that tastes EXACTLY like a state fair pulled pork bbq sandwich. The only difference is I used chicken because I didn’t have pulled pork. So if you are having woes about no state fair or county fairs for that matter…here is a little taste of Hoosier Fair Food Heaven! The best part (besides the taste?)- it’s made right in the crockpot! SO easy!!

Ingredients

• 3.5 lb boneless/skinless chicken breast
• 2 cups BBQ Sauce (I used original Sweet Baby Rays.)
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 Tablespoons of Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1 Tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp onion powder
• 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/4-1/2 tsp crushed red pepper (I just used a pinch.)

Directions

• In the crockpot add BBQ sauce, brown sugar, ACV, olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, smoked paprika, and crushed red pepper. Mix ingredients together.
• Add chicken and use a spoon to cover with the sauce.
• Cook on low for 6-7 hours or high for 3-4 hours.
• Shred with two forks and mix with sauce.
• Enjoy!

One of my all-time favorite summer dishes is Tabooley! Have you had it? If not, you’re missing out! It’s SUPER easy make (especially if you use quinoa instead of bulgar wheat). Typically this is a summer request if I am visiting Bloomington. My mom always makes it extra lemony! Now that my garden has been up and running and I have 90% percent of the ingredients growing out back, I decided to make it my self! You better believe when my Rutgers tomatoes finally ripen, I will be making it on repeat every week! Until then, Compari tomatoes are the closest thing to a ripe Indiana summer tomato!

Ingredients

Most of these ingredients are approximations. After you throw it all together, taste and add whatever will suit YOUR taste buds!

1. 1 cup cooked quinoa (makes plenty!)
2. 1/4 cup torn mint (always tear mint, cut mint will become bitter)
3. 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
4. Juice of 2 lemons (1 lemon if you want less lemony)
5. 1 tsp citric acid (leave out unless you want it extra lemony)
6. 1 cucumber diced
7. 1.5-2 cups chopped and seeded tomatoes (I think Compari are the best!)
8. Grapeseed Oil or other neutral oil (start with about 1/4 cup, add more as needed. You want the quinoa to be covered but not drenched)
9. kosher salt to tast

Directions

Add all ingredients together and mix! Taste and adjust! Chill for 1 hour. Enjoy!

Notes:

You could also add onions if you like!

Are you a meal prepper? If not, maybe you should be! It’s easier than you think.

When I am meal prepping on Saturdays or Sundays the first thing I do is make a list of what I want for dinners that week. I make it a goal to cook at least 3 dinners throughout the week. The days when I do not cook I reserve for left overs, or maybe carry-out. I also look at the weather for the week and my schedule. This helps with planning what meals I want to cook on certain days.

First I decide what I want for dinners and then what I want for lunches and snacks. During the week, I have protein smoothies pretty much everyday. On the weekends you will find me making a more variety of breakfast foods.

When brainstorming what I want I go to my top 3 favorite websites for meal prepping to see if they have any meals that sound good on their weekly meal plans. My go-to food blogs are

1. Skinny Taste
2. What’s Gaby Cookin’
3. Gimme Some Oven or Damn Delicious

If nothing that they have on their meal plan sounds enticing, I go to my cookbooks or my favorite meals that I have made in the past.

The next step is grocery shopping. First, I go through each recipe to determine if there are any ingredients that I do not have on hand.

Then its off to the grocery.

When I get home I unpack right away. Obviously putting away refrigerated items and then pantry items.

Then, I decide if there is anything I can do to make cooking for the week easier.

Lunches are made and separated into 5 glass container.

For dinners, I try to go ahead and chop veggies and rinse fruit. Depending on the meal, it might help to go ahead and brown turkey or ground beef. One of my other go-to’s is to cook 2-3 chicken breasts in the crockpot for 3-4 hours and then shred it. Cooked chicken breast is so versatile and super helpful for throw together meals.

I store all of my precooked food in glass containers. That way they won’t stain if there is tomato based product (which let’s be honest…I eat A LOT of tomatoes!).

The last step is to enjoy your easy meals throughout the week!

Here are some ideas on how to make your life easier throughout the week by meal prepping:

• cut veggies
• quickly chop veggies or garlic in your mini food processor (if you don’t have one, you need one!)
• cook chicken in crock pot for 3-4 hours and then shred
• rinse fruits/cut up (depending on the fruit)
• brown ground beef or turkey
• make any marinades you will be using
• make homemade salad dressing
• if using kale, pull leaves off of stems and massage in Extra Virgin Olive Oil

One pot, two seasonings, any veggies you have on hand?! This is the “Turkey Taco Skillet”!

The most tedious part of this recipe is chopping all the veggies. But if you already have veggies chopped, just toss in and go! It’s a great way to clean out your fridge/freezer/pantry!

Basic Ingredients:

• 1 lb 93% lean ground turkey
• 1 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 1/2 tsp kosher salt

The rest of the ingredients are up to you! Here’s what I added:

• 1/4 cup onion
• 1 zucchini
• 1 red bell pepper
• black beans
• leftover pico de gallo
• 1 jalapeno
• 1- 14.5 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1/2 cup frozen corn
• 1 can diced tomatoes
• 1 Tablespoon tomato paste
• 1/4 cup of water
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro
• lime on the side

This is one of those recipes where you can basically use any veggies you have that need to be used up. However, if you want to keep the taco flavors I would NOT use…

• carrots
• celery

How to make…

1. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet
2. Brown turkey until cooked through, push to one side of the skillet
3. Cook onion on the cleared side of the skillet until soft and then mix with the turkey
4. Add chopped veggies, and let cook until heated through and soft
5. Add tomato paste and stir
6. Add beans and cook until heated through
7. Add cilantro and lime if using

This recipe is literally impossible to mess up. It’s basically just cook, stir, eat! Leave out anything you don’t like or add anything you do! To add some spice you could leave jalapeno seeds in or add red pepper flakes.

Ways to enjoy this meal

• Eat it sort of like a thick stew right out of bowl. Add a squeeze of lime and avocado on the side. Eat as is or with Donkey Chips (they won’t break when you dip them!)
• Make it into nachos. Add cheese, sour cream, black olives, lettuce, whatever you like on nachos! This makes a great base.
• Eat for leftovers all week!
• Make into tacos.
• Use for meal prep. This recipe makes enough for lunches all week!

I love this recipe because it is SO easy and versatile! I typically follow the recipe to a T the first time I make it and then decide how I would change it for next time. So here, I will give you the basic recipe and and then give you some other ideas on how you can customize this meal to make it your own!!

Ingredients:

1. Precooked Chicken sausage (I used Italian flavored) (typically come in packages of 4 which is perfect for this recipe)
2. 1 lb brussel sprouts
3. 1 med. butternut squash
4. Fresh thyme sprigs
5. Extra virgin olive oil
6. Salt and pepper to taste

You will also need about 4, 18-inch foils sheets.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Slice chicken sausages, cut brussel sprouts in half or quarters (depending on their size), and peel and cut butternut squash into one inch cubes (removing seeds from inside). Add all ingredients to a large bowl and toss with 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. (My favorite salt to use is Diamond Kosher Salt.)

Place about 2 cups of the mixture onto each foil pack. Add about 2 sprigs of fresh thyme on top of the mixture.

Then, bring the tops togethers and fold over. then fold in either side. Make sure it is folded nice and snuggly so that no moisture leaks. However, be sure it isn’t wrapped so tightly that air will not be able to circulate.

Cook in oven for 25minutes at 425 degrees.

Before opening, make sure the foil is cook enough so you don’t burn yourself!

Make the Recipe Yours!

Choose your favorite flavor of chicken sausage:

There are SO many different flavors! I think any of them would be yummy! You could also make this vegetarian by leaving out the meat!

Choose your favorite veggies:

I think asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, bell peppers would all be great here! You could also do any type of potato variety. I think baby potatoes would be best. Sweet potatoes would also be good!

Choose your herbs:

I love thyme (and it is convenient because I still have it in my garden. Thyme and rosemary are both cold weather herbs and can last pretty long. Rosemary would be good in this recipe too! And I’m always a fan of adding garlic to anything!

Need another simple, healthy, delicious meal?! This Quinoa Buddha Bowl is it!

My favorite recipes are ones that can easily be customized to your flavor preference and are not ruined if you are missing an ingredient or two. For instance, this recipe is adapted from my new Skinny Taste Meal Prep cook book which has become one of my new favorite cookbooks!

The original recipe called “Barley Buddha Bowls”. It called for veggies like roasted carrots (which I don’t like) and barley which I don’t have. (I looked for it quickly at the grocery but decided to use quinoa since I buy it in bulk at Costco!). I also made the sauce my own as well. It called for scallion and basil, both of which I forgot to pick up at the grocery today. However, I think it turned out even better! Let’s just say, I cannot wait for lunch tomorrow!

Directions:

First, choose your base. I love quinoa and always have it on hand so that’s what I used. Other good “base” options:

• white or brown rice
• barley
• farro
• couscous

Next, choose which veggies you want to use. I used broccoli, cauliflower, & mini peppers. I’m not a fan of roasted carrots so I left those off. You could also use…

• brussle sprouts
• asparagus
• carrots
• broccolini
• beets
• mushrooms
• sweet potatoes

Once your have chosen what you would like to add to your bowl…

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

1. Chop veggies into bite size pieces. Spread out on 1 or 2 baking sheets. Try to make it so the veggies are not touching (if they are too close together they will steam, not roast).
2. Spray with an olive oil spray and lightly sprinkle with sea salt and fresh ground pepper. (I think it’s easier to spray than trying to drizzle olive oil, but you could toss with olive oil first. Cook for 20 minutes, flipping half way through.
3. While your veggies are cooking, cook your base. I cooked the quinoa with chicken broth and then added the juice of half a lemon after it was done cooking.
4. If you are making this for lunches this week, portion into meal prep containers. 1 cup of cooked quinoa allowed for 3 days. Once cool, add the veggies on top. I also added about 1/4 cup of canned chick peas for some extra protein.

Lastly, make your sauce.

Like I said before, I was missing scallions and basil. I had dill on hand so I used that and it turned out to be more like a greek sauce, which was delicious too!

Here’s how I made it…

In a small blender or food processor add all the ingredients until well combined.

1. 1/4 Cup 2% Fat Greek Yogurt

2. Juice of 1/2 a lemon

3. Pinch of Kosher Salt

4. 1/2 tsp fresh dill

5. 1/4 tsp black pepper

6. 2 Tablespoons chickpeas (reserved from the can used on the buddha bowl)

The first official day of summer called for a Tri-Delta get together! Everyone brought treats and it was the perfect night to sit outside with some of my favorites and just chat and enjoy the beautiful weather on the longest day of the year. Below is what I brought!