Fabulous Fish Taco Bowls

This was one of the best dinners I've had in a long time!  It was flavorful, filling and yet light all at once! 

The original recipe I found that inspired this dish used brown rice, but I decided to use Cauliflower rice for a change which also allowed me to use one less yellow container (21 Day fix meal plan "yellow container is a carb)!

I made mine with Halibut and Gord had chicken as did the boys.  The best part about a dinner like this is that the boys love to add their own toppings!  So I set it up for them to make their own burrito bowl and they just loved it.

As for my dinner, I simply coated the Halibut filet with cumin and chili powder with a dash of sea salt and cooked it in a frying pan for a few minutes on each side.  Remove it from the pan and let it sit. 

To the pan I added a mixture of red peppers, onions and black beans for the filling and simple heated them until tender and slightly golden brown.  

I cooked the cauliflower rice in a separate pan with a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. It doesn't take long to cook at all which is wonderful.  For my full tutorial on how to make Cauliflower rice, click here!

I know cauliflower has been quite pricey lately, but I was able to find a head of cauliflower for 3.29 at our local store!  I think they were advertising that their cauliflower was cheap to draw people in since last week it was 10.99!!!!  Insane!

I got home from the grocery store and got to work making up cauliflower rice to have in the fridge for the week.  It's so easy to do and I love how fast it is to cook compared to regular rice.

Asher had his Taekwondo progress check so when we got back home I got to work making our burrito bowls before Gord went to his class.  On Monday's I have about an hour to make dinner and feed everyone!  It was so nice to be able to make the cauliflower rice quickly in between everything else.  Although I still had to wait for the boys rice to cook since I didn't have enough Cauliflower rice for everyone!

In future I'm planning to make more for the week and use it in place of rice on busy week nights!  Love it!

Fabulous Fish Taco Bowls

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
2 Halibut Filets (or other white fish of your choice)
1-2 cloves minced garlic
1 red onion, diced
1 red pepper, diced
1 can black beans
2 cups Cauliflower Rice
fresh cilantro, avocado, shredded cheese or sour cream for topping

Directions

Mix the spices together in a small bowl and sprinkle evenly over both sides of the fish filets. Rub onto fish.

Add salt and pepper to taste.

In a large nonstick skillet over medium high heat, heat a drizzle of olive oil. Add the garlic and saute for 1-2 minutes.

Add the fish filets to the pan. Grill the fish on each side for several minutes, checking the middle for doneness (fish should be completely white and flake apart easily). Remove fish filets and set aside.

Add red peppers, and onions to the pan. Heat over high heat for several minutes WITHOUT stirring to get a brown roasted look on the outside. 

Let cook and stir until the peppers and onions are tender-crisp. Add the black beans and heat through.

Cook Cauliflower rice in small pan until done.  For instructions on Cauliflower rice click here.

Layer cauliflower rice, pepper mixture, and fish in a bowl - or mix everything together in the skillet. Top with any of the toppings listed above!

Recipe adapted from Pinch of Yum

How to make Cauliflower Rice

I've been wanting to make cauliflower rice for so long!  And for whatever reason it just hasn't happened!  

I've been following the 21 Day fix meal plan for the past 3 weeks and I'm onto round 2!  for me I'm not going to see massive weight loss but more toning and defining.  However for my size I am only allowed 2 carbs per day.  **Sad face.  I love carbs and I'm not much of a protein eater.  BUT that's why i'm following the meal plan because I know it helps me get to where I want to be.  

So with that said, the lack of carbs in my day means I need to be creative for at least one meal and have more veg and protein.  Often we will have lettuce wraps or salad but today I decided to make Cauliflower rice for my dinner rather than the brown rice which everyone else was having!  

Making Cauliflower rice is super simple and I made a big batch with a head of cauliflower and will store it in the fridge for the week to use.  Cooks up way faster than regular rice which is a bonus too!

How to Make Cauliflower Rice

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower
• 1 tablespoon olive oil or coconut oil
• Himalayan sea salt
• Ground pepper

Directions

1. Cut cauliflower into large florets.
2. Rice cauliflower using a food processor. Pulse cauliflower in food processor with chopping blade, or grate by hand on box grater.
3. Heat oil in large frying pan over medium heat. Add cauliflower rice and saute until just cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. 
   

Banana Oat Pancakes

Banana oat pancakes topped with Greek yogurt, a spoonful of homemade or natural peanut butter and a teaspoon of honey!  Gord and I are both following the 21 Day Fix meal plan which we loosely follow all the time but right now we are trying to stick as close to the meal plan as possible in preparation for our trip to Florida in March!  Summer Bodies are made in the winter after all right!  So we made these Banana Oat Pancakes for our breakfast for both the boys and ourselves!  We always strive to make one meal for everyone rather then mom being a short order cook for everyones taste buds!  

These tasty little beauty's were made in the blender this morning and were a massive hit! Asher are 3 with jam and Fraser ate 2! 

Gord and I topped ours with Greek yogurt and I added an extra hint of flavour by adding in a scoop of Homemade Peanut butter and a swirl of honey! 

If your following the 21 day fix then 2 pancakes equals 1 Yellow container and 1/2 a purple. If you add the topping and fill a red container with it then add 1 Red Container and a spoon.  

I doubled the batch so we had some for breakfast during the week and I'm glad I did since both boys enjoyed them SO much! 

Banana Oat Pancakes

Ingredients

For pancakes

1 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 large eggs

1 ripe banana

1 tsp vanilla 

1 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp Himalayan sea salt

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 tsp olive oil (for cooking)

For topping

1 cup plain Greek yogurt

1 tablespoon homemade peanut butter

Drizzle of honey

Directions

Place almond milk, eggs, banana, vanilla, baking powder, cinnamon, sea salt, and oats into the blender; cover. Blend until smooth. 

Heat olive oil in nonstick pan over medium heat. 

Pour 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet; cook for 2-3 minutes or until bubbles form around the edges of the pancake. Flip with spatula; cook for an additional 90 seconds. 

Continue with remaining batter. 

For topping

Mix together Greek yogurt, peanut butter and honey in a seperate bowl until well mixed. 

When pancakes are ready top with a large scoop of topping and 3 sliced bananas. Cause it always tastes better when it looks pretty right! 

Note

If you want to make these pancakes gluten free, look for certified gluten free oats. Oats are naturally a gluten free food, however they are easily contaminated with gluten during harvesting. 

Leftover pancakes can be reheated in the toaster for a quick weekday breakfast. 

Thai Veggie Rolls with Peanut Sauce

If your looking for a healthy and simple dinner then look no further!  I purchased a package of rice paper many months ago, tried a single recipe with them and then they sat in the back on my cupboard.  Until last night that is, when I used up almost every last one making these tasty bites for our dinner!  Even the boys loved these and enjoyed picking their fillings for mommy to roll up.  

Gord and I are following the 21 Day Fix meal plan and workouts so this meal was perfect and I even added some cooked chicken into his for added protein!  

After we enjoyed a few rolls each we even made dessert rolls with fruit.  What a fresh sweet treat to end our fun meal.  This are going to be a staple for us this summer for sure.  And I can even see making a batch of these when we are on vacation as you really don't need many supplies and there is no cooking involved.  

I also made a couple extras for lunch today and it was the perfect weekend lunch for me when I'm busy and find it hard to make time for lunch.  I could see making these for work week lunches too. 

Thai Veggie Rolls with Peanut 

Serves: 8 rolls 

Ingredients

For the Veggie Rolls:

8 rice paper wrappers

1 medium cucumber or 4-5 mini cucumbers

1 medium Red bell pepper
1 Medium Yellow Pepper

2 medium carrots

1 avocado

For the Peanut Sauce:

3 tablespoons olive oil

2 cloves garlic, peeled or a dash of garlic powder

2 tablespoons low sodium soy sauce 

1-2 tablespoons homemade peanut butter

1 tablespoons water

1 tablespoons white vinegar

1 tablespoons honey

a big squeeze of lime juice

Instructions

Place the ingredients for the peanut sauce in a food processor or blender. Pulse or blend until smooth. Add more peanut butter if needed/desired for thickness. 

Slice the cucumber, pepper, and carrots into thin strips about 3 inches long. Slice the avocado into pieces.

Soak your rice paper in warm water, not too long....

Soak one rice paper wrapper at a time into a bowl of warm-ish water for about 30 seconds. When you see or feel the wrapper getting loose and elastic-y, remove it from the water and set it on a damp towel. Pat it dry gently and dry your hands.

Wrap it up!

Arrange a few of the vegetables in the center of the wrapper horizontally, starting with the veggies and ending with the avocado. Fold the left and right sides towards the middle; fold the top flap over the vegetables, tuck everything in, and tightly roll it all up. The wrapper will be very sticky and delicate so work carefully.

Cut the rolls in half and place on a serving platter or leave whole.  Drizzle with the sauce or dip in the sauce or both! I cut mine in half and dipped them in the sauce (which is amazing BTW).  

We also made fruit rolls for dessert.  Any kind of fruit you have on hand will do.  Just repeat the instructions above and enjoy on their own or dip in melted chocolate!  YUM!

Fresh Fruit Rolls

Peanut Butter Apple Baked Oatmeal

After I shared the Cranberry Apple Baked Oatmeal recipe last week I decided I wanted to test out some other baked oatmeal flavours.  I found a Peanut Butter apple recipe from twopeasintheirpod Blog and modified it to be a bit more ‘clean’. Everyone knows my Favourite evening snack is peanut butter and apples so this recipe was right up my ally!  

I made this tasty baked oatmeal last night for a weeks worth of breakfasts to go. Coming out of the oven it smelled SO GOOD!! 

This recipe is super quick to make and it tastes like a peanut butter oatmeal cookie. Pairing this with Greek yogurt and warming it up is the perfect winter morning breakfast especially if your on the go🍴 

If your following the 21 day fix I'm counting it as 1 yellow container. There are apples and peanut butter, almond milk and honey all in there but it's mainly oats and not enough apples for a purple container or even half, as well not enough peanut butter per serving for a single spoon.  So just like you would a treat it's 1 Yellow container.  

Apple Peanut Butter Baked Oatmeal

SERVES 8

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups old fashioned oats

1/2 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon baking powder 

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 3/4 cups almond Milk (or milk of your choice) 

1 large egg 

3 tablespoons unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 cup Homemade Peanut Butter (or creamy natural peanut butter)

1 1/4 cups diced apples (I leave the skin on)

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease an 8 x 8 square baking dish and set aside.

2. In a large bowl, mix together the oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.

3. In another small bowl, whisk together the almond milk, egg, honey, applesauce, and vanilla extract.

4. Pour the liquid mixture over the oat mixture and stir to combine. Let it sit for 5 minutes. Stir in the peanut butter and mix until combined. Add the apples and stir again. Pour mixture into prepared pan.   Top with sliced apples and cinnamon

5. Bake for 35 minutes or until the top is golden and oatmeal is set. Let cool for 5 minutes and serve warm.

Note-this baked oatmeal is great reheated in the microwave. We like to make a pan and eat it throughout the week. This recipe can easily be doubled for a 9 x 13 pan. Use gluten-free oats to make this recipe gluten-free. You can serve with a drizzle of honey or maple syrup, an extra splash of almond milk, cinnamon, or raisins if desired!