Welcome!
Hi, I'm Tori! Welcome to Healthy Plate Happy Family!
I am a fun-loving, healthy-eating, wife, mom, holistic
nutrition student, aspiring yogi, SUP-enthusiast, living
and loving life on the beautiful coast of West Michigan.
Here you'll find all of the whole foods, clean-eating recipes
that I am cooking up to keep my family happy and healthy!
Thanks for stopping by!
Are you wondering what to do with all of the zucchini that is in season right now?? Try this stuffed zucchini on the grill!!!!
Slice up a few zucchini and hollow them out…..
Then, fill them up with a yummy mixture of chicken sausage, garlic, onion, summer ripe tomato, bread crumbs, and Parmesan…
Grill them up and serve alongside a green salad filled with garden veggies and you have a great little summer dinner!
Italian Stuffed Zucchini on the Grill
Ingredients
4 zucchini
3 links all-natural Chicken Sausage, chopped or crumbled*
1/2 onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 medium tomato, diced
2 slices Ezekiel sprouted grain bread, toasted and zipped through the food processor to make fresh bread crumbs
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese, divided
Extra virgin olive oil or grass-fed butter
Sea salt & fresh ground pepper
Dried seasonings – basil, oregano, or Italian blend
*I used these Sweet Italian chicken sausages from Al Fresco, but next time I may try these breakfast sausages instead. It is tough to find clean ingredient sausage in the grocery store!
Directions
We tag team in order to make this meal! Darren does the grilling while I make the filling!
Preheat grill to medium heat.
Slice zucchini lengthwise and use a spoon to scrape out the seeds, leaving a half-inch thick shell as shown in the photo above. Keep the zucchini insides and chop up to add into the filling mixture!
Brush with olive oil or melted grass-fed butter and season with sea salt and fresh ground pepper.
Place zucchini halves cut-side down and grill for about 5 minutes.
Remove zucchini from grill and set aside.
Heat a large skillet pan to medium heat and cook sausage, chopped zucchini insides, diced onion and garlic.
When sausage and onion is cooked, add diced tomato and season with 1 tsp dried seasonings (Italian blend, oregano, and or basil are all great) and some sea salt and fresh black pepper.
Remove mixture from heat and stir in 1/3 cup bread crumbs (keeping a few tablespoons aside for topping) and 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.
Divide mixture among pre-grilled zucchini shells.
Mix remaining bread crumbs and a couple tablespoons of Parmesan together to sprinkle on top of stuffed zucchini.
Place stuffed zucchini back on the grill for 7-8 minutes to finish cooking.
We all loved this awesome family summer meal outdoors!!!
Welcome to another What I Ate Wednesday, the one day during the week where I post everything that I ate for the whole day!
Ever since seeing some cute little baby bok choy at the Farmers Market last week, I have been wanting to give them a try. I know the logical thing would be adding them to a stir fry, but this Mango Dream Bok Choy Smoothie on Pinterest had my name all over it!!!
Into the blender went 2 heads of baby bok choy (bulb ends removed), 1 whole mango (peeled and diced), 1/2 of a ripe banana, a few chunks of frozen pineapple, 1 tsp of coconut oil, 1 and 1/2 cups water, and a handful of ice cubes. If you are not using a high powered blender, you’ll want to blend the greens and water first, and then add in the fruit and ice in order to get a nice smooth blended drink. If its not sweet enough for your taste, you can add more banana. There is definitely a bit of an earthy green flavor to this drink, but I LOVED it!!!!
Before heading out for the day, we snacked on these little blueberry baked oatmeal “muffins”. I like them because its like a little bowl of oatmeal you can eat on the go, but unfortunately they didn’t go over too well with the kids….
After a fun day downtown at the Coast Guard Festival, we came home STARVING!
Crafting fun at the Coast Guard Festival Kids Day!
Food Should Taste Good chips to snack on while making lunch…
I reheated some of the Lemon Butter Cauliflower Soup from yesterday and also made a Greek salad for lunch. I am so in love with this soup!!!!
For dinner, we made use of the ever-abundant summer zucchini and made these Italian Stuffed Zucchinis on the grill. If you follow me on Instagram, you may have seen a sneak peek. They tasted every bit as good as they looked!! I will post the complete recipe tomorrow!
We served them with a simple salad topped with balsamic vinaigrette. Hailey loved the filling and had a few bites of the zucchini. Jake still has pretty simple taste so he preferred just the grilled sausage and a few bites of the zucchini. Plus they both ate their salad, so overall I consider the dinner a WIN!
I had made these little frozen yogurt tarts last week and it seemed like the perfect night to enjoy them.
The crust was walnuts, shredded coconut, and a drizzle of honey in the food processor. I needed to do something with the raspberries that got smushed on the way home from the Farmers Market, so I threw them in the blender with some plain Greek yogurt and a little honey, then topped it all off with the few remaining whole berries, and froze them in a mini muffin pan. These need to sit out for 5-10 minutes to thaw a bit before eating them. The kids and I like them, but they definitely have that Greek yogurt taste and texture. I may try making these with the frozen fruit and banana “ice cream” for a little more of a traditional tasting dessert.
What summer meals have you been enjoying lately??
We have been making this Avocado Chicken Salad a lot this summer. I have even served it while entertaining, and everyone seems to really like it!
Clean Eating Chicken Salad made with avocado and Greek yogurt instead of mayo!
This is hardly a recipe – use what you have on hand and tweak it to your liking!! Mine tastes a little different every time! It’s also a great way to use up any leftover grilled, roasted, or rotisserie chicken.
avocado, Greek yogurt, red grapes, diced celery, and chopped walnuts
Clean-Eating Avocado Chicken Salad Wraps
Ingredients
About 2 chicken breasts, grilled, cooled, and chopped or shredded
1 small or 1/2 large avocado
1-2 T plain Greek yogurt
Salt, pepper, and dried tarragon (optional)
1/2 cup chopped red grapes
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup celery, diced small
1/4 cup red onion, diced small
Ezekiel sprouted grain, lettuce leaves, or whole wheat pita for serving
Directions
If you don’t have leftover chicken to start with, you’ll need to season 2 small chicken breasts with salt, pepper and garlic powder and bake or grill until done. Cool and chop or shred the chicken.
In a medium bowl, mash up 1 small or 1/2 of a large avocado. Add in 1-2 Tablespoons of plain Greek yogurt and mix well. Season with sea salt, fresh ground pepper and a sprinkle of dried tarragon if you have it.
Add in chopped grapes, celery, walnuts, and red onion.
Mix in chopped chicken and combine all ingredients. Taste and adjust ingredients as necessary.
Serve in lettuce wraps, in whole wheat pita pockets, or open face on toasted Ezekiel sprouted grain bread. Enjoy with a side of fresh fruit for a great summer lunch!!!!!
Summer Lunch! Avocado Chicken Salad served in lettuce wraps.
The Happy Family loves this Healthy Plate because:
avocado – full of heart-healthy fats that are anti-inflammatory and help the body to absorb fat-soluble nutrients. Avocados are high in potassium which helps reduce blood pressure, folate for healthy fetal development, and lutein for eye health.
red grapes – contain flavanoids which can help slow the build up of plaque build up in the arteries leading to heart disease. Red grapes are also full of antioxidants that prevent damage to your body from harmful free radicals. The skins of red grapes contain resveratrol, which helps to lower your blood cholesterol level.
walnuts – packed with Omega-3 fatty acids which are beneficial for reducing depression, ADHD, cancer and Alzheimers, and can also counter inflammatory diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and Crohns disease. Walnuts also contain antioxidants for heart health and reducing the risk of certain cancers.
