Well, the holidays are officially over and it’s time to start cleaning up the diet again. Every single year I tell myself this will be the Christmas where I turn down sweets all together. It never happens, not even close. I said this in my prior post but I’ll emphasize again just how much of a sweets person I am. You can give me salads for dinner every single night if that means I’m getting a piece of chocolate after. So with the holidays it’s not really the meals that get me in trouble as much as it is the delicious baked cookies and cakes that are always available and ready to be eaten. My mom actually packed us up a box full of different cookies to take back home with us and we just decided tonight to throw them away because both my husband and I know that we don’t have the best self control when it comes to that stuff. So our strategy to not eating sweets and other bad things is to not buy it and not have it around the house. It’s worked pretty well for us so far! Until I get an undeniable chocolate chip cookie craving.. and all bets are off. But luckily that doesn’t happen too often.
We got back into town yesterday and within an hour of being home I had all the Christmas decorations put away. I think you’re ‘supposed’ to wait until New Years to take the decorations down for some reason. So I kind of feel like Scrooge for immediately wanting them gone once Christmas was over but I just felt like there’s no reason having them up when it’s not Christmas. It just feels weird to me for some reason. Also, I didn’t realize how much space the decorations were taking up! It was kind of relieving to take them down and see how much simpler our house looked and less cluttered. Wow I really sound like I hate Christmas decorations or something. Totally not the case. I absolutely love the holidays and everything that comes with it. However, once the big day passes, I’m ready to move on and get back to normal.
Speaking of getting back to normal, I’m sure you’re probably like me and want to get back into a healthy routine after indulging for the past few days. I know I’ll be focusing on lighter, more healthy dinners this week for us as somewhat of a post-holiday cleanse. This dish is a perfect example of a light, healthy meal that is very low-calorie and won’t weigh you down one bit. But by no means does it lack any flavor. Did I mentions it’s super easy to put together and only takes a handful of ingredients? It doesn’t get better than that! These also reheat very well so you can make a big dish of them and eat off of them for lunches the following days. The fresh basil is a fantastic touch so I wouldn’t leave that off if you can. It really does a lot for the dish. Enjoy!
- 4-5 medium size zucchini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1 pound ground turkey
- 1 jar of your favorite pasta sauce (I prefer Classico, Bertolli or Newman's Own)
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (more or less if you prefer)
- 1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Spray a large 9x13 baking dish with olive oil or cooking spray.
- Cut the zucchini in half, lengthwise. Use a spoon to scoop the seeds and center out of the zucchini halves. Leave about 1/4 inch thick in the zucchini boat.
- Place the zucchini boats, cut side up in the baking dish.
- Place a large non-stick skillet over medium high heat.
- Add the olive oil and garlic and allow to sauté for a minute or two.
- Add the ground turkey and break apart and continue to cook until turkey is cooked all the way through.
- Remove the skillet from the heat and stir in the pasta sauce.
- Spoon the meat and sauce mixture into each zucchini boat equally and sprinkle with the cheese.
- Cover dish with foil and bake for 35 minutes.
- Once they are done, remove from oven and sprinkle with the fresh chopped basil
December 28, 2016 at 9:12 pm
These look so yummy and simple!
December 29, 2016 at 10:17 pm
Mm these look so delicious and healthy!! I will absolutely try to make these!
xo,
Kristie
http://www.kristiesreverie.com