Wondering what you should serve for a delicious brunch? Here is a delicious quiche recipe that is perfect for brunch and it will become a family favorite! 


It is made with turkey sausage, roasted red bell pepper, scallions, eggs and cheddar cheese. I absolutely love the combination of the savory Italian turkey sausage and sweet red bell peppers! 


Italian Sausage Sweet Red Pepper Quiche

Ingredients:
3/4 cup roasted sweet red bell pepper, chopped ~ directions below (1 and 1/2  Greens)*
6 ounces cooked Jennie-O Sweet Italian turkey sausage links (1 Lean)
6 eggs (2 Leans)
1 cup unsweetened cashew milk or almond milk ~ I prefer cashew milk (1 Condiment)
1 cup shredded 2% sharp cheddar cheese (1 Lean)
1/4 cup scallions, chopped (1/2 Green)
1/4 tsp salt (1 Condiment)
1/4 tsp pepper (1/2 Condiment)
2 tbsp reduced fat grated parmesan cheese (1 Condiment)

Directions:
To Roast Peppers:
Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.
Line a baking sheet with foil.
Cut bell pepper in half and remove the membrane and seeds.
Place the pepper cut side down on foil and spray with cooking spray.
Roast for 20 min.
Let cool and then chop into pieces. 
Measure out 3/4 cup for the quiche and set aside.

To Make the Quiche:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Spray a 9 inch pie dish with cooking spray.
Remove sausage from casings. In a medium sized skillet, brown sausage over medium high heat until cooked. Drain and measure out 6 ounces. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and unsweetened almond milk together.  Stir in cheddar cheese, cooked sausage, roasted red pepper and green onions. Add salt, pepper and grated parmesan cheese stirring until combined. Pour egg mixture into the pie dish.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove and let cool in pie dish for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

4 Servings (1/4 of quiche) with
1 Lean, 1/2 of a Green, and 1 Condiment per serving
(You still need to add 2 and 1/2 more Greens per serving such as 1 and 1/4 cup broccoli or veggie of choice. )


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* Originally when I created this recipe, I used fresh bell pepper but I have found using roasted bell pepper allows the pepper to be sweeter and softer. Feel free to use roasted or not roasted peppers.

Other sausage substitutions that are plan approved:

5 ounces Jennie-O all natural bulk sausage; the Hot bulk sausage is higher in sodium.
6 ounces Jennie-O Sweet Italian turkey sausage
5 ounces Jennie-O Turkey Breakfast Patties
5 ounces Jennie-O Turkey Breakfast sausage Links
Johnsonville Fully Cooked Breakfast Sausage: 6 links = 1 lean
Gilbert Chicken Sausage: 2 links = 1 lean
Al Fresco Sweet Italian: 2 links = 1 lean
Al Fresco Smoked Andouille: 2 links = 1 lean

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Craving a Big Mac? Or pizza? Why not both?

Can you imagine how many calories and carbs you would be eating if you had a McDonald's Big Mac and say... a pizza from Papa John's? A HUGE amount!

 In the past... that was actually pretty common for me to have in any given day. Today it is all about making healthier choices so that I can live a healthier life, but that doesn't mean we have to eat boring foods! My mom used to say don't play with your food when I was little... well I am so glad I didn't listen! Otherwise, I wouldn't have been eating this Big Mac Pizza!

Using a pre-made cauliflower crust from Cali'flour Foods is what allows this pizza to be healthier than using a traditional pizza crust. These cauliflower crusts are made with only a few clean ingredients which include cauliflower, mozzarella cheese, egg and spices. No fillers like some of the cauliflower pizzas on the market! Not to mention they are an approved option on the 5 and 1 plan!

Check out the sales they are currently running and order your crusts HERE! Make sure you choose the Lite crusts since they count as 1/2 a Lean and 3 Greens for the entire crust!


These crusts can be stored in the freezer up until 9 months and they cook up nicely from frozen. No need to thaw.

For this recipe, I pre-baked the crust for about 9 minutes. Then I let it cool completely. Don't skip this step because cooling the crust helps the crust to firm up. It also helps to use a vented pan like the one I have above or a pan with holes in it (perforated pan). A vented pan allows the heat to reach the entire crust as it bakes which results in a crispier crust.


Add cooked ground turkey or beef and shredded cheddar cheese on top of the crust.


Bake for about 5 minutes until the cheese is melted.


Top the pizza with lettuce and tomatoes. Then drizzle the dressing over the top.


Lastly, add the chopped dill pickles! The pickles totally completes this pizza so don't leave them out!


Slice and serve! Share this yummy pizza with someone who is a fan of Big Macs and pizza! Enjoy!


Big Mac Pizza

Ingredients:
1 Lite Cali'flour Foods pizza crust *  (1/2 Lean, 3 Greens)
1.75 oz 99% ground turkey, seasoned and cooked (1/4 Leanest Lean)
1/4 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded (1/4 Lean)
1/2 cup lettuce, chopped (1/2 Green)
1/4 cup tomatoes, chopped (1/2 Green)
2 dill pickles, chopped (1 Optional Snack)

For Dressing:
2 tbsp Lite Wishbone Thousand Island Dressing (1 Healthy Fat)
1/8 tsp white wine vinegar
Light sprinkle of stevia, optional

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Bake for 10 minutes. Let cool completely at least 10 minutes.

Combine the ingredients of the dressing in a small bowl and stir until combined. Set aside.

Sprinkle ground turkey and cheese on top of crust.
Bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese has melted.
Add lettuce, tomatoes, and pickles.
Drizzle dressing mixture on top of pizza.

2 Servings with
1/2 Lean (still need 1/2 Lean more per serving), 2 Greens (still need 1 Green more per serving), 1/2 Healthy Fat, and 1/2 Optional Snack per serving
(Half the pizza)

 * The recipe calculations are based on the Cali'Lite crusts and not the traditional cauliflower crusts.


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I have been so in love with these sausage "biscuits"! Well, they aren't really biscuits but man oh man... I promise you... you will not miss the biscuits! These egg whites hold the sausage patties together like a sandwich and the flavor is all there minus the extra carbs and calories!


I topped this sausage biscuit with a tablespoon of guacamole (1/2 Healthy Fat) because guacamole tastes wonderful with egg whites! Another idea? Skip the guacamole and add a tablespoon of salsa (1 Condiment)! Spice up your life with salsa or cool it down with guacamole!


These egg white biscuits are so easy to make! Start off by placing two regular mouth mason jar lids with the center part removed in a medium non-stick skillet. Spray the pan and mason jar lids with cooking spray.


Place one egg white in each lid. Then pour a little less than 1/2 a cup of water or enough water to cover the bottom of a skillet.


Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for about 3 minutes or until cooked thoroughly.


Carefully remove egg whites from the lids. You may need to use a knife to loosen the edges if the egg whites stick to the lid, but I didn't find it necessary. Top with your favorite toppings or enjoy plain!


Egg White Sausage Biscuits

Ingredients:
2 regular mouth mason jar lids
2 large egg whites, separated or 1/4 cup egg whites from the carton
1 Jimmy Dean turkey sausage patty

Directions:
Place 2 regular mouth mason jar lids in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat.
Lightly spray the skillet and the lids with cooking spray. 
Place 1 egg white or 2 tbsp egg whites from the carton in each mason jar lid.
Pour a little less than 1/2 cup of water or enough water 
to cover the bottom of the skillet.
Cover the skillet with a lid and cook for 3 minutes or until egg whites 
are cooked thoroughly.
Remove the lids with egg whites from the skillet.
Carefully remove the egg whites from the lids using a knife to loosen the edges of the egg whites from the lid if necessary.
Place heated sausage between the egg whites. Enjoy!

Makes 1 Serving with 1/3 Lean
(You will still need to add 2/3 Lean such as 3.3 oz lean beef or 4 oz of chicken breast or 4.6 oz shrimp plus any required healthy fats and all your Greens for the day!)

Click Here to Print

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Let's Taco about this delicious meal! It is perfect for Taco Tuesday and super duper easy to make! Throw everything in the crock pot and let the crock pot do the cooking for you! Win win chicken din!


Crock Pot Ranch Chicken Tacos

 Ingredients:
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken, raw and trimmed (4 Leaner)
1 tbsp low sodium taco seasoning (6 Condiments)
1 tbsp ranch seasoning mix (6 Condiments)
1/2 cup water

Directions:
Mix water, taco seasoning, and ranch seasoning mix together in a small bowl. Add chicken to crock pot. Pour seasoning mixture on top of chicken. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs or high for 3-4 hrs. Shred chicken before serving. Divide chicken into 4 equal portions.

Makes 4 servings
Per Serving: 1 Leaner protein and 3 Condiments

 Don't forget to add your 3 Greens and 1 Healthy Fat such as 2 tbsp sour cream, 2 tbsp Guacamole, or 1.5 oz avocado per serving.

Click Here to Print

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I am a veggie lover and the veggie I am most in love with right now are sweet bell peppers! Could it be because they have the word sweet in their name? I do naturally tend to gravitate towards all things sweet! Possibly not, but they are really delicious!

I love to eat them raw, roasted, or in my newest kitchen appliance... the air fryer! These days it seems I have been using my air fryer more than my oven. I love it that much! Today, I stayed old school and used the oven and made these yummy stuffed peppers! That is another great thing about peppers! Stuff it with your favorite meats and you have a wonderful meal that includes both your Lean and Greens!


You can use any color pepper of your choice, but I love the red, orange, and yellow ones the most! All peppers start off being green and then they change color as they ripen. They turn yellow, then orange and then red as they ripen. Because the green ones are picked before they are ripe, they lack lots of nutrients and are not as sweet. I still love you green pepper!

Prepare your peppers by slicing the tops off horizontally. Then split the peppers in half lengthwise. Take out the seeds and membranes and lay them on a baking sheet.

Bake for 8 to 10 minutes if you like slightly crunchy peppers or 10 to 15 minutes if you like soft peppers. I baked mine for a full 15 minutes and it came out perfect! I prefer a softer pepper.


Combine your cooked chicken, celery, half the cheese, cream cheese, and ranch dressing.


As well as this amazing sauce right here! This stuff is life!

Mix all the ingredients together until everything is evenly coated.


Stuff your peppers with the delicious creamy mixture.


Then top each pepper with remaining 1/2 cup of cheese.


I added sliced green onions and a few fresh jalapenos as a garnish. 


As if it needed these stuffed peppers to be more spicy! They really weren't too spicy. The cool ranch dressing cuts some of the spiciness of the hot sauce. A marriage made in heaven!


Bake for an additional 10 minutes to get that cheese nice and melted! Enjoy because you will have leftovers... unless of course you have someone to share with!

You could also split each half pepper in half or in thirds and serve them at your next get together! Cutting them into thirds, gives you 24 pieces. You can have 8 of those peppers as a Full Lean and Green! Almost too pretty to eat! Almost!


Buffalo Chicken Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:
12 ounces cooked chicken breasts, chopped or shredded (2 Leaner Leans)
1/2 cup celery, chopped (1 Green)
1 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, divided (1 Lean)
3 tbsp reduced fat cream cheese (3 Condiments)
1/4 cup Frank's hot sauce (2 Condiments)
1/4 cup light ranch dressing (2 Healthy Fats)
4 bell peppers any color, each cut in half from stem to base, 
tops and seeds removed (8 Greens)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Slice the tops of the peppers, horizontally like a lid.
Cut the peppers in half from top to bottom. Remove the seeds and membranes.
Lay pepper halves on baking sheet and cook 8 to 10 minutes if you prefer al dente peppers, 
or 10 to 15 minutes if you prefer soft peppers.

Combine, chicken, celery, 1/2 cup cheese, cream cheese, Frank's hot sauce,  
and ranch dressing in a large bowl. Stir until combined.
Stuff your peppers with the chicken mixture.  Then top with 1 tbsp of cheese per pepper half.
Return the peppers to the oven and bake for an additional 10 minutes
or until cheese is melted.

Makes 3 Servings
Each serving provides
1 Lean, 3 Greens, and 2 Condiments

There will be a total of 8 pepper halves. Divide 2 of the pepper halves into thirds. You can have two pepper halves plus two of the 1/3 sections as 1 serving! That's a whole lotta food!

Click Here to Print

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Peanut Butter Crunch Cups! If you are craving chocolate and peanut butter, try this delicious fueling hack using the Optavia chocolate pudding and the Optavia peanut butter crunch bars. Change out the crunch bars for some other delicious flavor combinations such as chocolate mint or S'mores! These frozen treats are perfect during the hot Summer months!

Peanut Butter Crunch Bars or Cups

Ingredients:
1 Optavia Chocolate Pudding (1 Fueling)
3 Optavia Peanut Butter Crunch Bars (3 Fuelings)

 Directions:
Make pudding as directed in a medium sized bowl and set aside. 
Place peanut butter crunch bars in a separate bowl and microwave for about 20 seconds or melted. Pour melted crunch bars into prepared pudding and stir until combined. 

 Pour mixture onto a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper and spread evenly to desired thickness into a rectangular shape to make bars. You can also use 4 silicone muffin cup holders and divided the mixture evenly between the cups. Freeze for at least 2 hours. Cut into 4 equal portions if freezing on a cookie sheet or peel back silicone cup and enjoy!

Makes 4 Servings
Each serving provides
1 Fueling

Click Here to Print

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Usually Friday night is reserved for pizza night, but tonight my family wanted something different! Different? I can do different! 

We were all in the mood for chips and dips! Normally I would never let my kids get away with eating just chips and dip for dinner but these chips are kind of special. I don't feel guilty giving my kids these chips because well... they are made from a veggie! Eat up little one! Eat up!


They had their chips with some grilled chicken and melted cheese but Mom had her chips with a yummy dip made with Trader Joe's Everything But The Bagel Seasoning!


This seasoning is EVERYTHING! 
It is extremely delicious on so many things and I am so in love with it! If you have a Trader Joe's by you, go buy it right now! You won't regret it!


Mix this seasoning with plain Greek yogurt and you have a quick and easy dip made with only two ingredients! I had the jalapeno crust and the spiciness paired perfectly with this cool dip. It kind of reminds me of a french onion or sour cream and onion type dip.

If you are interested in the crust, you can purchase at the link below! The ENTIRE crust counts as 1/2 a Lean and 3 Greens on the Medifast/ Optavia plan! That's pretty amazing! As you can tell, they are so versatile! They aren't just for pizza!



Cali'flour Crisps

Ingredients:
1 Lite Cali'flour Crust * (1/2 Lean, 3 Greens)

For the EBTB Dip:
1/4 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt (1/6 Lean)
1/2 tsp Trader Joes Everything But The Bagel Seasoning (2 Condiments)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Cut the crust into desired shape. I cut them into small triangles.
Put the pieces on a vented pan. Using a vented pan means no flipping required.
Bake for 10 to 12 minutes depending on how crispy you want them to get.
Bake longer if you want them crispier, but watch them to make sure they do not burn!
Let cool for at least 10 minutes. Serve with your dip of choice!

1 Serving with
2/3 Lean, 3 Greens, and 2 Condiments per serving
(still need 1/3 Lean more)

 * The recipe calculations are based on the Cali'Lite crusts and not the traditional cauliflower crusts.



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I don't know about you guys, but I love zoodles!  They are such a great alternative to pasta. They are the most brilliant noodle base for healthy gluten free pasta! I will say that if it wasn't for Medifast, I would have never gotten any of these yummy veggies in my diet. In the past, I would have turned up my nose at the word squash! Now I love squash! Almost as much as cauliflower! Almost!


Any time you find a delicious recipe using pasta, switch out the pasta with zoodles for a healthier version! Besides, with zoodles you can have bigger servings without worrying about your waistline. One cup cooked spaghetti has about 220 calories and 43 grams of carbohydrate. One small zucchini made into "zoodles" (zucchini noodles) has 20 calories and 4 grams of carbohydrate. More zoodles for me please!


Zoodles are so easy to make. I have a spiralizer that I picked up from Amazon a few years ago which makes spiralizing squash ready in minutes! You can also purchase them already spiralized, but I have so much fun playing with my spiralizer that I won't be buying them already prepared! I have had this spiralizer since 2013, but there are so many different ones to choose from nowadays.

This dish is so meal to make! You probably don't need a recipe, but I posted it anyways... more for the measurement breakdown for those following the Medifast/ Optavia plan. If you don't prefer shrimp, decrease the oil to 1 tsp if you want to use cooked chicken. Enjoy!


Shrimp Marinara Zoodles

Ingredients:
2 tsp Stacey Hawkins Roasted Garlic Oil or olive oil (2 Healthy Fats)
7 ounces thawed, cooked shrimp (1 Leanest Lean)
1 cup spiralized zucchini and yellow squash (2 Greens)
1/2 cup Great Value Italian diced tomatoes, blended (1 Green)
1/4 tsp Garlic Salt (1 Condiment)
1/2 tsp Italian Seasonings (1 Condiment)
1 tbsp Grated Parmesan Cheese (1 Condiment)

Directions:
Heat oil in a medium sized skillet over medium high heat. Add spiralized squash and cook for a few minutes until slightly tender. Add shrimp, tomato sauce, garlic salt and Italian seasonings. Cook for about 2 minutes or until heated thoroughly. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese.

1 Serving with 1 Leanest Lean, 3 Greens, 3 Condiments and 2 Healthy Fats


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