Lunch

Use these 11 healthy soup recipes to fill your meal plan with warm, hearty, and filling meals with fewer calories. Whether you use your pressure cooker, a slow cooker, or your stovetop, soups are a great food to add to your meal plan in the winter and all year long! Between the warm broth and …

This Instant Pot Turkey Chili Soup Recipe is a healthy soup packed with protein, sweet potatoes, beans, veggies, and, most importantly, flavor! One of my favorite parts of the Instant Pot is that you can just throw in all of the ingredients and walk away. No watched pots, no worrying about it boiling over, no …

This Slow Cooker Curry Butternut Squash Soup Recipe is a great make-ahead healthy meal prep lunch or comfort food Fall dinner with sweet potato, apple, & curry. If you have never had curry and butternut squash together, add this soup to your meal plan ASAP! Trust me. This is a combination that should be right …

This Instant Pot Pasta Fagioli Recipe is packed full of meat, pasta, vegetables, and beans for a healthy and hearty soup. A good friend introduced me to this soup years ago and now every time I make this recipe, I remember the two of us hovered over a pot in her kitchen with tasting spoons …

This healthy 15 Bean Soup Instant Pot recipe is a meatless one-pot meal that cooks dried beans right in your Instant Pot with the soup. 15 Bean Soup Instant Pot Recipe This Instant Pot soup starts with a package of Hurst’s 15 Bean Soup. It comes with its own seasoning packet, but we’re not going …

These Quinoa & Black Bean Burrito Bowls make a great healthy lunch you can meal prep ahead of time or a meatless dinner, full of fresh veggies and protein. My oldest sister is one of those people who can’t stand to have her food touching. She very methodically eats one food off of her plate …

This Cilantro Lime Quinoa is a healthy, light, and fresh side dish full of protein, perfect for burrito bowls, taco salads, fajitas, and burritos. Pin This Recipe For Later! “Fresh” is my absolute favorite word this time of year (most of the year it’s “spatula”…what can I say? It’s a funny word!). But during the …

These Healthier Bread Machine Hamburger Buns are made more nutritious by using white whole wheat flour, but they are just as soft and fluffy as the original. One day, my brother-in-law was craving Red Robin hamburgers, but the family just didn’t have time to go to the restaurant. Fortunately, he is not easily discouraged, so …

These Salsa Verde Chicken Quesadillas are easy to throw together for a quick lunch and are packed full of flavor and protein. Confession – sometimes I make things for the sole purpose of using it as a medium to eat mango salsa. True story. Costco has always carried the best mango peach salsa. I used …

This creamy Southwestern Chicken Salad full of juicy chicken, black beans, and crunchy corn adds healthy and flavorful pizzazz to your salads, wraps, and sandwiches.  It has finally been warming up in Colorado this week! (Well…it was when I wrote the post, at least. Then it snowed.) I don’t know about you, but I definitely …

This warm, hearty Slow Cooker Ham & White Bean Soup is the perfect way to use that leftover ham bone for a bowl of comfort food on chilly evenings! Do you remember that old infomercial for some rotisserie where the guy emphatically exclaimed, “Set it and forget it!”? I never bought the product, but the catch …

This Harvest Quinoa Salad is full of butternut squash, walnuts, cranberries, and Parmesan for a healthy side dish, great for a party. Some friends of mine from church just threw their annual harvest party. Their story behind the party is actually pretty awesome! They just are really grateful for everything God has blessed them with, …

This lighter macaroni salad is made healthier by using whole wheat pasta, Greek yogurt, & lots of fresh veggies. The perfect healthy side dish for a picnic! “Pasta” is pretty much a magic word around my niece and nephew (6 and 4) these days. They are still in the stage where they are fairly picky …

These cheesy zucchini quinoa bites use shredded zucchini and mozzarella cheese it to make a bite-sized, protein-packed healthy snack. Pin This Recipe For Later! This is the recipe that won over my quinoa-hating sister. That in itself is a pretty big deal! She has been wary of my quinoa bites since the beginning since she …

These easy Baked Chicken Nuggets with a coating of Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs are a healthy dinner kids and adults will both love. In less than 30 days, I am moving out of my house and my stuff is moving to Colorado (thanks to my amazing dad who is flying out here and driving a …

Turkey Quinoa Bites are the perfect way to transform your Thanksgiving leftovers into a tasty and healthy, perfectly poppable protein-packed dish.  Controversial topic of the day – leftovers. Do you love ’em? Hate ’em? Eat ’em? Toss ’em? Re-purpose ’em? Growing up, we always had some kind of leftover in the fridge at all times …

A friend and I were talking recently about kale (because who doesn’t talk about kale regularly with their friends?) and she was telling me that she just isn’t a fan. I get it. I didn’t used to like the stuff either! And then I discovered the secret – the kale massage. Start with your bowl …

Break out of your salad rut with this healthy southwestern barley salad recipe. It’s an antioxidant-rich, nutty grain mixed with southwestern flair. Barley is a newer food to me. I think the only meal I had ever heard barley used in consistently was beef and barley stew (which I want to make once it cools …

This mango jicama salad recipe is a simple & healthy summer salad combining the protein pack of quinoa with crunchy jicama and juicy mango. One of the most common questions I get when I tell people I live in Tucson is, “How on earth do you deal with the summer heat?!” I’m not going to …

This sweet potato nachos recipe has taco seasoning, black beans, avocado, Greek yogurt, and melted cheese for a delicious healthy dinner choice! I grew up in a household where my mother limited “treat” foods to one serving. As in, she would actually read the label and count out “about 15 chips” to put on my …

This Broccoli Cheese Soup is packed with veggies & uses Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream for a healthier and protein-packed comfort food on chilly nights I read an article a few years ago that was discussing the things our fast food culture was missing out on by just grabbing and gobbling food. It talked …

These Barbecue Chicken Quinoa Bites bring the flavors of a barbecue chicken pizza into a healthy & protein-packed bite kids and adults will love. Pin this recipe for later! While most people were watching the Superbowl yesterday, I was watching the movie, “Chef.” I’m not much of a sports fan, though I do love the …

This delicious roasted cauliflower soup is packed full of roasted vegetables. It’s creamy but healthy, made without any cream! The perfect comfort food to warm you up on a cold winter evening. I am not a huge fan of the cold (I may live in Tucson, but during most of December and January, I wear …

This flavorful Indio Salad is topped with tangy goat cheese, crunchy cornbread croutons, sweet dates, & creamy avocado for a satisfying and healthy meal. On my recent visit to Colorado, I met up with one of my college roommates for lunch. First of all, when the heck did 10 years pass by since college?! Second …