Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Top 5 Healthy Pinterest Recipes...

Pinterest... everyone knows what it is by now. An excuse to sit on the computer for hours searching for a new recipe, an idea for a gift, workouts to get fit... the list goes on. My time on Pinterest comes in waves. I'll get on it everyday for a while, and when I start seeing the same pins over and over I take a hiatus for a bit.
I've been using Pinterest a lot to find new, tasty and healthy recipes for my family. It seems between the 5 of us, finding something that everyone likes is rare. So I'd like to share my top healthy Pinterest recipes to date. And I'd like to note, I am trying to stray away from using the convenience of the creams ('cream of' soups and cream cheese that is). They make anything taste yummy, but let's face, they just aren't that healthy!! And, I don't own a fryer, I bake just about everything that should be fried, even my french fries!

So here goes:

1. Baked Chicken Fajitas

These are so easy and healthy! You don't have to precook the chicken, just throw it all in a dish and bake. It would also be a good meal to freeze ahead of time, you would just need to adjust your cook times. And you are using your own spices rather than prepacked seasoning, which can be packed full of sodium. You can find the recipe here, Eatin' on the Cheap, adapted from the Taste of Home magazine.

2. Bacon Wrapped Pork Tenderloin

This one does require a little time, but it's worth it in the end! The whole family loves it, and it's packed full of flavor and low calories! Watch your cooking times though. I end up having to cook longer than the suggested time. You can find the recipe here: Kraft Food & Family. There are a few alterations I made since I didn't have all the ingredients. I used apple butter instead of apple juice and nutmeg. The apple butter already contained nutmeg along with other spices. I made the apple butter myself, the recipe I used for that is here. And if you don't have Grey Poupon on hand, any spicy mustard will work! 

3. Cheesy Potato Rounds

A great alternative to french fries, these are like little baked potatoes! Simple to make, and yummy! If you don't want to cook bacon or don't have precooked bacon, you can always use Bacon Bits. You can find the recipe at All Recipes.

4. Chicken and Wild Rice Casserole

The whole family loves this one!! Because of a long preparation time and pre-cooking, I suggest dicing the veggies and cooking the chicken early in the day. I cut the veggies when the kids were napping, and cooked the chicken late in the afternoon so I wasn't rushing to do it all at once by the time 4 o'clock rolled around. This is also a good 'freezer meal'. Here's a quick tip: Do you have a stand up mixer? Use it to shred your chicken!! The recipe for the casserole is here, Picky Palate.
My suggestions: Don't make the same mistake and use 2 cups of UNcooked rice. My dish was over-flowing with rice the first time I made it! My very small, local grocer didn't have just plain wild rice, so I used the Uncle Ben's microwaveable pack of herbed wild rice. It fit along with this recipe very well and added some extra flavor! This is probably the best 'non-cream' casserole I have come across!

5. Lemon Garlic Spaghetti

This is the perfect alternative to spaghetti with red sauce, which is easy to get burned out on. I try to do a pasta/spaghetti or meatless night at least once a week, and this recipe has been a great addition! It's quick, easy and requires very few ingredients! I've started growing herbs this year, however, basil didn't make the list this time around. So it's ok to dash some dried basil if you don't have fresh! The recipe is at Cutesy Jingles.


So there you have it! Feel free to follow me and recipe boards on Pinterest! What are some of your favorite healthy recipes you've found on Pinterest??



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