Summer Fruit Salad

Oh my word where have I been? Whatever, this salad is so delish you'll forgive and forget my absence!!

I'm forgiven already, aren't I??

Okay so I was wandering around Wegmans, which is oh so dangerous...I usually make my list in the app and it tells me exactly where to go and I (usually) don't allow myself to get anything that's not on the list. And I usually go on Sunday. But I skipped yesterday and was just going to wing it this week, but I decided I really wanted a salad with fruit in it. So here we are! I found this gem of a dressing: 

Then I picked up my favorite berry trio - straw, blue, and rasp. They went on the bottom of the pile, atop of the dressing of course. Next I packed in the spring mix, then some goat cheese and topped it all off with some candied pecans! Simple right?

I candied the pecans myself, but you can buy them already done if ya like. I just liked controlling what went in them. Mmmmmmmm :)

Enjoyyyy!

Chopped Chickpea Salad

I am pretty excited about this week's lunches! I had a request to do something vegetarian - that's right, I take requests AND someone requested something. Pretty cool, eh? I mean, it was my cousin but I'm still putting a check in the cool column. Thanks Rach!

So, I don't really have a recipe, but I can tell you what I put in this jar! It all starts with my friend Annie:

 ^Seriously one of the best salad dressings I've ever tasted. But I can only find it at Wegmans. I've looked for it at Target, Giant, Safeway, Harris Teeter...but Weggies never lets me down. I made 5 salads, so after the dressing, the layers go like this in each jar:

1/2 cup chickpeas

1/8 cup dried cranberries

1.5 chopped peppers divided

1 chopped cucumber divided

2 oz goat cheese

Go crazy and swap out whatever you don't like with something you do! Some sort of nut would probably have been nice. Or maybe some sunflower seeds???? That could have been fun. Next time!

Shredded Chicken Tacos

It's my birthday and I'll cook if I want to [eat]...

So my 27th birthday was this past Thursday (yikes...late twenties). We had invited some friends and family over and I knew I didn't want to order pizza, but I also knew I didn't want to cook when I got home from work (yes, it was the only day I worked all week, but still...). So, I decided to pre-make dinner! Yayyyyy I'm so smart.

All I had to do was throw this in the crock pot to heat up!

So to start this party off, you have to throw your favorite taco seasoning on your chicken. I've turned into quite a snob in regards to taco seasoning (YES ONLY TACO SEASONING). I was on the hunt for a clean taco seasoning and stumbled onto this recipe from Pinterest. It's so super easy and you probably have everything in your spice cabinet already. I just make a huge batch and once and store it in a mason jar.

So, once you have your taco seasoning, go ahead and season your chicken. Then bake it in the oven at 425 for 25-30ish minutes.

Once it's done, throw your cooked chicken in the stand mixer to shred it. Once its cooled, put it in a freezer bag and then layer a jar of salsa, a can of black beans, and a can of corn.

This is the dream team I use

At that point, you can either freeze it for a lazy night when you don't feel like cooking, or put it in the fridge for the next few days. When you're ready, throw it in the crockpot on low until its heated through (if you froze it, make sure its thawed overnight). Then throw it on your favorite taco shells with your favorite taco toppings!

Lettuce and pico for me!

This is so easy to make in huge batches, too! I made 3 pounds of chicken in this batch. Just make sure you're using 1 each of salsa, black beans, and corn for every pound of meat you're using!

Make Ahead Lunches Volume 2

I am so excited for so many reasons this week:
1. I was stalking one of my favorite fitness instas (which happens to be run by one of my favorite people) and saw her weekly meal planner. I went straight out to the container store last night and bought one and I'm obsessed with it! Get one here...it will seriously make your life so much easier! Here's a peek at mine for this week:

This is amazing, right?!

2. I'm starting a new fitness program that involves some 2-a-days...hopefully this will be good! I'm feeling determined to become my best self, and the support that you all have given is insane! Like crazy insane! Thank YOU!

3. I am obsessed with Fitbit. I had an issue and their customer service is amazing. Something that could have been a setback just really turned around and I was so impressed with them! Yayyyyy Fitbit!

4. I discovered that Silk makes Dark Chocolate Almond Milk. Yes, it really is as good as it sounds. Go get some right now (well after you finish reading, because maybe you need some other ingredients, too. Don't be so hasty)!

5. The Bachelor is on tomorrow. Those girls...

Okay, but lets be serious. We are all here for the food. And this week does not disappoint! Look how cute it is:

Just stop!

You'll need: 2 avocados, 1 lb of pasta, 4 cans tuna in water, 1 bag of frozen green peas (thawed), celery.

I didn't end up using the tomatoes...sorry for misleading you!

Okay, prepare your pasta. I added about 1/4 cup of chopped onion when I threw my pasta in. It was a great spur of the moment decision. So, I guess add some chopped onion to the above list. I guess I could have just gone up and added it. But it's not in the picture. Whaaaaaaatever

While your pasta (and onions) are cooking, mash your avocados. After you've drained your pasta, mix in the avocado.

Then add in your tuna, chopped celery, and peas. That's it! It's ready! Soooo yummy :) Let me know if you make any changes!! Enjoy!

Ready for another week!

Want more? Check out @kathryncleansup on Instagram for more frequent updates :)

Snowflakes for the Snow Day!

This morning school was canceled due to SNOW! I love a good snow day. It definitely went in the pro column when I was deciding about careers. I love making pancakes on snow days and I had recently discovered Immaculate Baking! If you've never tried it, you should. Target carries most of their stuff and I've seen some products at Wegmans.

Making them on my snowflake pan was a bonus. I got the pan for Christmas from a friend who clearly knows me well! They turned out super cute! I sprinkled some raw cane sugar and berries on them and voila:

Berry delicious!

So when my December box from The Honest Company came in, there was a surprise! Organic sugar cookie mix and a really cute snowflake cookie cutter. I meant to bake them over the holidays, but I just never got around to it. Today seemed like the perfect day! So I dragged out the old Kitchen Aid and got to work!

They taste as good as they look

2 posts in 2 days...maybe I'm a blogger after all? 

“Isn’t that seaweed?”

…”no, that’s kelp. This is kale.”

“Oh. Okay, I’ll try it.”

That was the theme of today’s Roasted Kale Salad with Goat Cheese and Lemon Dressing. But let’s go back to the beginning…

It all started at Wegmans (shocker). I was browsing the greens and I saw this big bag of kale and immediately thought of The Bachelor. If you watch, you know why. So, I was like okay I can do something with kale, right? And today, I found out that I totally can! I can do something amazing with kale. Which means I get to share it with YOU so you can do it too! Yayyyyy!

So when I got home, I divided it up into 2 baking dishes just so I could do it all at once:

Then, I drizzled about 1 tablespoon of EVOO over each pan and sprinkled some pepper and minced garlic:

I popped them into the oven at 350 for 15-20 minutes (18 if you really want specifics). When I took them out, I combined them into one pan and sprinkled some goat cheese over the top:

Seriously...could this look any more delicious?

Then I opened the fridge, saw a lemon, and had a glorious idea (don't be so surprised). I juiced half a lemon and sprinkled? Can you sprinkle a liquid? Whatever, I need a thesaurus. Anyway, I sprinkled the lemon juice over the salad. 

It was amazing! This is my new favorite salad. It was so, so good. My grandfather even ate some. He didn't want to, like at all, but I made him and he said it "wasn't that bad." So he basically loved it. And you will too, so go make it!

Caprese Quinoa Salad with Chicken

Okay so by popular demand (aka someone mentioned in passing that I should blog), I'm restarting this thing! I'm a TERRIBLE blogger as proven by my 5 month absence, so don't expect much! And since I'm writing this and watching the Bachelor instead of getting ready for work, we best get a snow day tomorrow...

So I've recently become obsessed with Wegmans. It used to overwhelm me, but since discovering their iPhone app (what??! you don't know about it?! DOWNLOAD NOW), I feel much less stressed! You build your grocery list online and it sorts it by aisle - ahhhhmazing!!

So I think that the best way to eat clean and be successful in whatever plan you're on, preparation is key! So, I like to do a bunch of prep at one time. And lately that prep has been school lunches for the week, which brings us to today's post...Caprese Quinoa Salad with Chicken. Here we go!

So I grabbed all the ingredients you need for caprese salad. Obviously the Harris Teeter glaze is not clean, but I'll use it until it runs out. And since it doesn't expire until March of 2020 (gross), I have some time to find a replacement...

Okay, along we go. I seasoned the chicken - just dusted it with cumin, garlic powder, onion powder, and pepper (NO SALT FRIENDS). Bake it at 425 for 25-30 minutes.

While the chicken was baking, I made my quinoa - 1:2 dry to wet ratio. I just cooked it in water, nothing fancy today. But so fluffy!

Then I let both the chicken and the quinoa cool and started chopping. Let me just show you one of the best kitchen tools...

This thing is AMAZING! Buy it here!! You just put the tomato (or grape if that's what you're into) in the slot and it quarters it for you! Saves sooooo much time!! And it's super convenient! Sorry for all the exclamation points! Including that one...but seriously I'm a sucker for kitchen gadgets. You'll see (if I keep blogging) :-/

Okay, back to chopping. Chopped the chicken, mozzarella, and basil.

Then, I just layered them into the jars and squirted some glaze on the top. Voila!

So there's a shelf in the fridge that I dedicate to lunch stuff. The past few weeks its been the main dish and then berry parfaits and yogurts.

And then I clean, chop, and divide all the other fruits and veggies that find their way into my cart and put them in the crisper. That way when I get home, I can just grab and snack. Its mostly about convenience my friends...

Yay! Next week, I'm thinking of a tuna avocado pasta salad, so that should be a good time :)

8 words that will change your life:

WEGMAN'S ORGANIC CHICKEN SAUSAGE WITH SPINACH AND GARLIC

Okay, so maybe it won't change your life, but it will certainly change your pasta. I picked this up on a whim the other day and it was ah-mazing! I was going to put it on a whole wheat pizza...I got everything - dough, cheese, sauce, toppings and I was PUMPED to make pizza. Then I got home and remembered our oven was broken...wompwomp

So I heated it up in a dry skillet the next morning and had it on a whole wheat English muffin with an egg and it was delish! I had a hankering for pasta that night (recipe below - look at me, healthy recipes to share) and decided that the leftover sausage would be great with pasta! Per usual, I was right :)

Okay, so I had no idea how to make pasta sauce. I just bought some stuff that I thought would be good in it, and did a little chopping, sauteing, heating, and simmering, and it was delish!

^These are the veggies I decided on: 1 onion, 1 organic bell pepper, 1 pound mushrooms, 10 vine-ripened tomatoes, basil (fresh from my garden, thank you very much!), 1 stem of rosemary, garlic, and parsley (which was accidentally cilantro at first because I was rushing and didn't smell it until I got home...don't worry I went back).

1. I washed all my fruits and veggies with The Honest Company's fruit & veggie spray!
2. I cored my tomatoes and chopped them into 1-inch chunks. (FULL DISCLOSURE: I attempted to peel them and then decided it was too much work and stopped after "peeling" 1/4 of my first tomato...) These went into a big pot on med-low heat to start stewing.
   
   
   
3. Chopped the onion, pepper, and 3 cloves of garlic and sauteed them in 1 tablespoon of EVOO until they were soft. Then I added my sliced mushrooms in and sauteed for another 3-5 minutes until the shrooms were softened.
   
4. I dumped that business in with the tomatoes and simmered it for about an hour and a half. Then I chopped up the basil, rosemary, and parsley and threw that in to simmer for another half hour.
   

So easy and so, so delish! I even had some leftover. I threw 2 in the freezer (don't worry, I didn't actually throw them because, duh glass) and put 1 in the fridge for later this week. YUM

I think I'll double or triple the recipe next time so that I'll have enough to get me through winter with delicious, fresh, summer tomatoes! Who knows, maybe I'll even get crazy and learn about the actual canning process!