What’s one of your favorite foods that you feel like you need to give up when you’re trying to be healthy?

My mind immediately goes to pizza. Whether I’m hungover, having a movie marathon, or just finished a hard workout, I want pizza. Sometimes ordering a pizza is just an automatic response when you don’t have anything in the pantry for dinner.

Once in awhile, it won’t kill to you indulge and eat an entire pizza by yourself. But wouldn’t it be nice if you could have your pizza and eat it too?

Enter: Quinoa Pizza Bites. These bites are great on their own as an appetizer or atop a spinach salad garnished with tomato and mozzarella.

This recipe was adapted from Fit Sugar.

Makes 30 bites

Ingredients:

• 1 cup quinoa
• 2 cups water
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1/2 cup diced cherry tomatoes
• 2 tsp minced garlic
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp salt
• pizza sauce for dipping

Directions:

Bring quinoa and water to a boil in a covered pot. Turn town the burner to low and let simmer for 20 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 350°F.

Mix all of the ingredients together (excluding the pizza sauce) in a mixing bowl.

Spoon the mixture into a greased muffin tin. Fill each cup to the top and press down gently to compact.

Bake for 20 minutes. Make sure to cool for at least ten 10 minutes before removing from the pan. I used one muffin tin and made several batches.

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!

Whenever people ask me whether I have a sweet tooth or a salty tooth, I look at them in disgust.

Who would choose cake over potato chips? When I was little (OK…maybe I did this last week) I would snack on dill pickle after dill pickle. The thing I probably crave most when I’m eating clean is potato chips. BBQ Utz Ruffles are my kryptonite.

I’m not a huge fan of kale, so I haven’t caught on to the kale chip craze. But I do like the idea of a healthy snack that is crunchy – and most importantly, salty .

These Old Bay Zucchini Chips will do the trick!  My version of the chips were inspired by Mary at 17 Apart.

Makes 2 small servings

Ingredients:

• 1 fresh zucchini
• Old Bay seasoning
• Salt
• Cooking Spray

Directions:

Let the chips cool for awhile – this will dry them out and make them crunchier!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday! 

Do you have a sweet tooth or a salty tooth?

When my mom asked me if I wanted her George Foreman grill a few months ago, I said, “ummmm yes, please.” 

I like meat (my favorite food is filet mignon), but it can often be labor intensive to cook. Though I do eat a lot of protein rich food from non-meat sources, I do love me some chicken once in awhile – especially since getting enough protein is essential to the Eat Clean Diet.

For some reason, I always have a hard time baking chicken in the oven. I can never seem to get the timing right, and my meat always ends up being dry and chewy.

But with my new hand-me-down grill, cooking chicken is actually fun! Most importantly, it makes my chicken taste wayyyy better.

Now the only annoying part is grill clean-up….

Grilled Chicken Kabobs

Makes 2 servings (6 skewers)

Ingredients

• 1/2 lb chicken breast
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1/2 tsp dried oregano
• ground pepper
• 1/4 large red onion
• tzatziki sauce

Note: skewers are needed for this dish

Directions

Place chicken breast in a gallon sized ziplock bag. Add all of the ingredients except the onion into the bag, zip closed, and shake. Slip your marinated chicken in the fridge for a few.

I only marinated the chicken for about half an hour, but the longer you marinade it, the better! This will make it more flavorful.

Cut up the marinated chicken and the onion into pieces and skewer.

Spray the grill with non-stick cooking spray. Place the skewers on the grill for about 6 minutes, rotating occasionally.

Serve with tzatziki sauce and enjoy!

Thanks as always to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday! 

What’s your favorite way to cook meat?

Do you know any good recipes for tzatziki sauce? I cheated and used a store-bought kind.

You’ll have to forgive me for jumping on the pumpkin bandwagon with this one. But come on, jump on it with me.

These pumpkin bars are my absolute favorite clean eating snack. Not gonna lie, they’re one of the reasons I’m excited it’s getting chilly out. Wrap these up and bring ’em to work or to a fall gathering – they’d even be a healthy hit at Thanksgiving!

This recipe is adapted from Jamie Eason’s LiveFit recipe.

Ingredients:

• ½ C brown sugar
• 1 4oz jar of baby food applesauce
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp ground ginger
• 3 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 4 large egg whites
• 1 15oz can of raw pumpkin (sub for pumpkin pie mix for a dessert version)
• 2 C oat flour
• 2 scoops chocolate whey protein
• ½ C almond milk
• ½ C almond slivers

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 350° F.
• Spray a 9 X 13 pan (I used a Pyrex one) with non-stick spray.
• Combine the first 11 ingredients in a large bowl and mix well.
• Add the final ingredients, and mix until smooth.
• Pour the batter into the dish and spread evenly.
• Bake for 30 minutes.

Makes 24 squares.

Because each square is only around 60 calories, I usually eat two for an afternoon or evening snack in place of a store bought protein bar or Larabar.

These savory bars are especially delicious as a late night snack with a few scoops of vanilla bean ice cream.

What is your favorite pumpkin dish?

Do you have a special baked good you like to make in the fall?

Thanks to Jenn for hosting What I Ate Wednesday!