Friday Bowl- Pepino

I have been trying new fruits and veggies lately. One fruit I have learned to like is the Pepino Melon. It's a small acorn shaped melon with sort of a unique taste. I say it taste between a honey due melon and a pear. I added a couple more toppings to make a delicious and healthy breakfast that is low in calories and will not leave me feeling hungry. 

Pepino Melon Bowl

1/2 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
1/2- Pepino Melon
Blueberries
1 Tablespoon-Big Boss Blueberry Walnut Granola

139 Calories- 12g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Worlds Finest Chocolate Bar

If you are wondering what to do with those Worlds Finest Chocolate candy bars that you couldn’t resist buying from that cute little school kid. 

I have a solution. Eat them all, but save a square to add to the top of your yogurt. 

You can keep the girl scout cookies. I can hardly wait for those fund raiser candy bars to come around every year. 

World Finest Chocolate Bar Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt

1 Square- World Finest Chocolate Bar (grated)
2 Tablespoons- Natures Promise Pumpkin Seed Flax Granola
1/2 Cup- Raspberries

190 Calories- 16g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Papaya

I just tried Papaya for the first time. It has a mild melon taste. Papaya is good for your eyes and has a lot of other health benefits. The inside consist of seeds in the middle that you scoop out before you slice it up. They say the seeds taste like pepper and can be dried and added to recipes. I read that after I threw my seeds away. This Papaya was not too sweet but perfect combined with other toppings on this yogurt bowl. 

Papaya Yogurt Bowl

3/4 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Yogurt

1/4- Pomegranate Seeds (raw)
2 Tablespoons- Natures Promise Pumpkin Seed Flax Granola
1/4 Cup Blueberries
1/2 Cup Papaya

176 Calories- 16g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Sweet Potato

I love when a veggie can turn into a dessert. (Like grandmas sweet potato pies). To me, breakfast and dessert can be the same kind of meal. I mean, who hasn’t had a doughnut for breakfast or pancakes for dessert? Am I right? Well, I decided to make this bowl using some left over sweet potato from dinner last night. It was the perfect sweetness with the added walnuts and honey. So let’s just keep breaking the rules and have a veggie for breakfast that tastes like dessert. 

Sweet Potato Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 of a Sweet Potato

1 Teaspoon- Honey
2 Tablespoons- Crushed Walnuts

158 Calories- 13 g Protein

🥔🥜🍯

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Mandarin Orange

I have always loved Mandarin Oranges. They are a great low calorie snack full of vitamin C. 

However, I have never had any fresh. The only ones I can find here in NC are in a can. 

Tangerines come in at a close second. 

Mandarin Orange Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt

Dole Mandarin Oranges
Blueberries
 2 Tablespoons- BigBoss Blueberry Vanilla Granola

153 Calories- 13 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Pizza Pasta

This past Sunday my church celebrated Home Coming. My church has been around 70 something years. I can’t remember how many they said it was.(hey, no head shaking, I did listen to the service). I have been going to my church for 50 years. I’m one of the few that still attends after all those years. Some have left and came back.

When I was younger my parents made sure we went three times a week. Sunday morning, Sunday night and Wednesdays. I always liked going. Back then, we had a large youth group that would often gather outside the church and do fun group activities together. Now sadly, I only go to Sunday morning service.

Another thing us Baptist would do is eat. We always held a cover dish dinner (potluck) after church on special Sundays. Homecoming is one of those times. Though I am not a big fan of eating foods if I do not know who fixes them, I piled my plate anyway. I have never gotten sick from a church dinner. 

I needed a dish to make and share. I usually will do some kind of casserole but this time I decided on a Pizza Pasta. I guess you could call it a pizza casserole. 

This was the first time I made this dish and it was hit. It was one of the first dishes to disappear. However, I was able to snag a bite before it was gone. It was an easy dish to make. I was skeptical on how it would taste but it tasted just like, well, Pizza pasta. Kids will love it as it is not too spicy and easy eat.

I forgot to take a photo of the finished results before someone took a spoon to it. I guess the ladies in the kitchen preparing the table couldn’t wait for the service to end to do a taste test. 

The recipe can be found at Taste of Home.

Friday Bowl- Feeling Figgy

I just used up all the figs I had left over from Summer. I had them in the freezer and before they all get eaten, I wanted to use them for breakfast one more time. I had no idea they were so good straight out of the freezer as they do not freeze hard and never loose their sweet flavor. They have been such a treat. 

In a small pot on the stove, made a glaze with honey and walnuts, poured the glaze over cut figs and baked for few minutes. This was so good and added the perfect sweetness that did not overpower the flavor of the figs. 

Figgy Oatmeal Bowl

1/4 Cup Quaker Quick Oats

4 Small Figs
Honey/ Walnut

206 Calories- 4 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Fall Maybe

It finally cooled down a little this weekend making it feel more like Fall. While temperatures tipped 100 degrees last week, we woke up Saturday morning to temperatures dipping into the 60’s. Fall maybe?

Temperatures are still too warm to bring out the sweaters but it did put me in the mood for some Autumn like recipes. 

Note: No pumpkin spice included. I am not a fan of pumpkin unless it’s in a pie hidden under a mountain of whip cream. 

I attempted to make blender Tortilla Soup. I did not read the recipe correctly and made it wrong. While the flavor was still there, the texture made it undesirable. I eat two bowls all the same. I didn't think it was all that bad, I just felt like I was eating baby food. Haha. 

Recipe Here

My husband surprised me by making some baked pear. He gets all the credit for this one. He even took a before photo. How thoughtful of him. 

These pears were easy. Just cut them in half, core out the center, stuff with cinnamon and walnuts and drizzle with honey. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes or until the pears are soft. Drizzle more honey on top right before serving. I topped mine with a little yogurt. These were so good!

I also got in the mood for this Fall favorite of mine. I have learned to love acorn squash. When cooked it has a similar flavor to a sweet potato. 

I wanted to see if I could make them in my air fryer. The air fryer did a perfect job in half the time as the oven. These are easy to make too.

Just cut in half and clean out the seeds. Rub coconut oil or butter on the inside and add some cinnamon and brown sugar. Place in air fryer at 400 degrees for 15 minutes. 

I added a little extra sweetness by adding some walnuts and placing a divided marshmallow on top. To brown the marshmallows, I put the squash in the toaster until the marshmallows were melted and had a nice crisp topping. Delicious. 

How is the weather in your area? Are you seeing Fall yet?

Friday Bowl- Bursting Blueberry

Feeling blue? This might cheer you up. This bowl is chocked full of blueberry goodness and lots of nutrition. I took only a few blueberries and microwaved them for about 20 seconds. This made the blueberries burst into a juice. Then I added some healthy Butterfly Pea flower and wha la. Not only was this bowl healthy and filling. It was full of flavor and fun to eat. 

Bursting Blueberry Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup Two Good Vanilla Greek Yogurt.

Blue Berries.
1 Teaspoon Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Powder.
1 Teaspoon Unsweetened Coconut Flakes.
2 Tablespoon- Big Boss Blueberry Walnut Granola.

188 Calories- 14 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🥣🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈🦋

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Sun Shine

This morning I started my day off with a little extra protein. The yellows in this bowl bloom out like warm sun shine. The center is an egg microwaved in a mug and placed on a bed of spinach to keep it warm while surrounded with cottage cheese and fruit. This is my least favorite bowl so far as I'm not a fan of cottage cheese. But I tried.

I love making eggs in a mug. Just coat the inside of a mug with butter and whip in an egg. You can add other items if you like. Microwave for 1 min and 30 seconds and you have a perfect little egg.

Cottage Cheese Bowl

1 Cup- Good Culture Simply Cottage Cheese 

1/2 Cup -Frozen Peaches
1 Medium -Strawberry
 1 Cup- Fresh baby Spinach (wilted)
1 Egg

211 Calories- 26 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Cantaloupe Crunch

Wow, can you believe it's September already? Where has summer gone? Today's bowl has the colors of  Autumn and blue skies. Notice the blue tinted yogurt? It was created with a natural food coloring from Butterfly Pea Flowers. I'm loving this stuff.

Cantaloupe as become my favorite add in to my yogurt bowls. It blends well with the tangy tingle of the yogurt. I added seeds, granola, and puffed quinoa for a sweet and nutty surprise with every bite.

Cantaloupe Crunch Yogurt Bowl.

1/2 Cup Fage 2% Plan Greek Yogurt

1 Cup Cantaloupe

1 teaspoon Blue Butterfly Pea Flower powder

 2 Tablespoon- Natural Almond Granola

1 Tablespoon- Raw Pumpkin Seeds

1/8 cup- Quinoa Pop

147 Calories- 16 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Kiwi Pear

Kiwi Pear is the taste of this Fridays Bowl. I am not a fan of pears as I think they have a soapy taste. But I gave it a try and totally enjoyed the fresh taste the combination with the yogurt. I’m starting to think everything taste good in yogurt.

Yogurt has always been a food I've ignored because I always thought it was bitter and tangy, but adding fruits and other flavors has made me learn to like it more every day. 

Kiwi Pear Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup -Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt 

1/2 Kiwi
1/4 Fresh Pear
 Tablespoon- Oat & Honey Granola
Tablespoon- Raw Pumpkin Seeds

180 Calories-  16 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Fridays Bowl- Super Blast

While I love to eat yogurt bowls for breakfast, I sometimes make a nutritious smoothie bowl for Sunday dinner. I know, I know, It’s a far cry from grandma's fried chicken and gravy but those kind of meals are so good make me sink into the recliner for a fat nap. With this smoothie, I feel satisfied and loaded with energy. It even has a serving of veggies thrown right in. 

Super Blast Fruit Smoothie

1/2 Packet- Great Value Super Blast Acai Berry Blend ( Mango, Dragon Fruit, Acai and Passion fruit).

1 Cup- Frozen Riced Cauliflower

1 Cup- Unsweetened Soy Milk 

1 Tablespoon Chopped Walnuts

1 Tablespoon- Big Boss Honey Almond Cranberry Granola

1 Tablespoon- Unsweetened Coconut Flakes

1 Tablespoon- Kapok Quinoa Pop.

350 Calories- 14 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Sweet and Sour Tofu

This past weekend I had a little extra time in the Kitchen to cook up something instead of our normal quick meals that we come up with each night. The fridge and pantry were low on foods because we have been trying to just go to the grocery store once a week instead of 4 times a week. We are always going back to get stuff we want instead of making do with the things we already have.

I decided to make sweet and sour tofu. We didn't have any chicken!
I had a pineapple on the table that was looking pretty, but seriously needed to be used. I have never cut a pineapple before so this was all new to me.

I got creative and decided to make pineapple bowls. I cut the pineapple in half after trimming the crown. Then cut the pineapple into chunks. "Isn't there suppose to be a core in the center?" I didn't see it, so I kept cutting. Later I realized some of the chunks were hard. "Ah, that must have been the core". Oh well.

Cutting the pineapple was the hardest part, but even that was easy.
It turned out pretty, dontcha think? In just 30 minutes and 4 easy steps, dinner was served...Fancy.

Sweet and Sour Tofu.

First:
1 block- Firm Tofu drained very good and cut into chunks
Put in Air Fryer at 400 for 12 minutes. (toss around half way).

Second:
Make sauce
1/8 Cup of ketchup (don't worry it wont taste like ketchup).
1 Tsp- Soy Sauce.
1/4 Cup Corn Starch.
1/4 Cup Sugar.
1/2 Cup Water
1 Tbsp.- Rice Vinegar (or apple cider vinegar).

Third:
Fry to a medium crisp.
1-  Chopped Green Pepper
1- Chopped Onion

Fourth:
Add sauce, cooked tofu, pineapple chunks and toss till covered and sauce thickens.
(this happens almost instantly due to the cornstarch).

That's it.

Enjoy with a side of rice or noodles.

You can also add cherries for more sweetness and color.

Friday Bowl- Toasted Marshmallow

Happy National Toasted Marshmallow Day.

Everyone loves sitting around a campfire with a stick and a marshmallow. Dipping the sugar pillow in the fire just enough to char the outside creating a unique taste with a melted gooey center. If you have never done this. You must do it!

This morning I did not build a fire to create this yogurt bowl. I just chard the marshmallow over the flames of my gas stove. The marshmallows cut easy with a spoon so I was able to get a piece of the flavor with every bite. I was a little iffy about the flavors this would create but to my surprise, the combination of the plain yogurt, sweet marshmallow and crisp topping was delightful and for just a moment I felt like I was sitting by the campfire.

Toasted Marshmallow Yogurt Bowl

1/2 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt
2 Toasted Marshmallows
2 Lotus Biscoff Cookies

185 Calories- 13 g  Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Air Fryer Steak

OK this one is for all my meat eating friends out there. No veggie bowls or smoothies today. I wanted to share with you a nice juicy steak I made in the air fryer the other day.

We met some friends at the beach that recommended putting a steak in the air fryer for eight minutes and it was as good as grilled and faster too.

While shopping for some dinner the other night, Nick and I decided to have just a simple salad and baked potato. As I was passing the meat counter, I remember the steak idea my friends suggested and grabbed a nice little sirloin steak and placed it in the buggy.

I mentioned to Nick that I would like to try the air fryer trick and only purchased one steak to share. That way, if it was not good then we only wasted one steak. Besides, we were not in the mood for a big dinner anyway.

By golly it worked!

Set heat to 400 and let the air fryer heat up for 3 minutes then just throw the steak(s) in there and cook for 8-10 minutes, flipping it once. No need to add any oil. Just add the spices you normally use with the grill. 

I cooked mine for 10 minutes and it came out medium-well. It was nice and tender with lots of flavor, just like grilled.

Friday Bowl - Apple Cinnamon

They say, "An apple a day will keep the doctor away". I have always believed this but have not been eating enough apples lately. I just always felt like they are full of sugar. Then I realized that it contains natural sugar which includes fructose. Fructose is not harmful when it comes to fruit. With this bowl I found a new way to enjoy apples and plan to add them more to my diet.

After I took a photo of this bowl, I swirled in the cinnamon and mixed the apples around. I loved the two flavors together and the granola added that extra crunch. I closed my eyes and pretended I was eating apple pie.

Apple Cinnamon Yogurt Bowl

2/3 Cup -Fage 2% Plain Greek Yogurt

1/4 Apple

2 Teaspoon- Cinnamon

2 Tablespoon- Oat& Honey Granola

179 Calories- 17 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Friday Bowl- Blue Butterfly

I could hardly wait to share this bowl creation with you today. I am not a fan of artificial coloring so I was excited to find some 100% natural food coloring. The blue color comes from Butterfly Pea Flower. The flowers are dried and turned into a powder. It's tasteless and can be added to any food or drink. 

Not only did it add some fun color to this yogurt bowl but it has some great health benefits such as, boost brain health, boost immune system, great for skin and eyes, enhances mood and vitality and stabilizes blood pressure. 

And then there is all the other good stuff thrown in to make this breakfast bowl a win for the day. 

I purchased my Suncore Brand blue butterfly pea flower powder from luckyvitamin.com.

Blue Butterfly Yogurt Bowl

2/3 Cup- Fage 0% Total Greek Yogurt

2 Tablespoons- Unsweetened Coconut Flakes
 2 Tablespoons- 100 % Natural Bear Naked Granola
10- Blueberries
1 Teaspoon- Blue Butterfly Pea Flower Powder

202 Calories- 19 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 3 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.

Home Made Falafels

After being on vacation all of last week, I need to get back to my healthy eating. For the most part, I did eat healthy in portion but I did not let anything hold me back from a plate of seafood or fried bologna sandwich from Hamburger Joe's. Then I had to enjoy an ice cream cone during our afternoon stroll. OK maybe two afternoon strolls. OK OK, I had a cone of ice cream almost every night! I will not lie. It’s my favorite thing to do at the campground.

We need to go to the grocery store and stock up but I never go to the grocery store hungry. It's a bad idea. We needed to eat dinner first. I had a craving for something meatless. Falafels are a great option. I can't seem to find them anymore where I shop so I just decided to make my own. I went to Pinterest for a recipe. I found an easy one that called for all the ingredients I already had in the house. Supper was saved.

Falafels are a Middle Eastern food made with Chickpeas (Garbanzo Beans). The taste is pretty bland so it's important to find a dipping sauce that brings out the flavor. We like eating these sometimes as they are quick, filling and nutritional.

Falafels are great added to a salad or wrapped in Pita bread topped with cucumber sauce. I skipped the bread then added Tzatziki sauce for dipping and a side of cilantro rice.
I like how they turned out despite how ugly they look. It was the perfect nutritional meal.

Original recipe can be found HERE.

Friday Bowl- Extra Protein

I do a lot of walking while I'm here at the beach. So I knew I would need a little extra protein for breakfast for extra energy and also so I don't get hungry before lunch time. This yogurt bowl is loaded with protein for the save. Sometimes it’s hard to make a tablespoon of peanut butter go a long way. The trick is to melt it in the microwave for about 20 seconds and drizzle away. 

Peanut Butter Banana Yogurt Bowl

1 Cup- Fage 0% Plain Greek Yogurt

2 Tablespoon- Oat& Honey Granola

1/2 Banana

1 Tablespoon- Jif Natural Peanut Butter (melted)

Honey Drizzle

303 Calories- 27 g Protein

🍓🍌🍉🍊🍒🍏🍅🍈

I have decided to reserve each Friday to share some of my creative food bowls. I have been eating these at least 4 times a week and I feel great. They are easy, healthy and fun. This is part of my new "Clean Eating" Plan. Wish me Luck.