The Fit Girl's Kitchen

I had so many requests for the recipe for this healthy avocado alfredo sauce after I posted this picture on Instagram last week, so I thought I'd reshare it.


It's super easy to make, but be careful with the garlic! Two cloves is PLENTY. I'd almost recommend starting with one and then adding the other once you taste it.

If you add too much (like I did this last time) you can add some extra lemon juice, salt and an extra half of avocado to balance it out. But it doesn't keep well so you kind of waste the avo (sad face).

Healthy Avocado Alfredo Sauce

2 medium sized ripe Avocados, pitted
1 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish
2 garlic cloves, to taste
 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 cup Fresh Basil
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup Pine nuts (optional)
Grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional)
4 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta (I used whole-wheat linguine)

Original recipe can be found here.

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I made this yummy turkey chili during our deep freeze last week and it was sooo good. It tasted even better heated up a few days later.



Full disclosure, I just recently became a chili person, especially after I discovered how good it tastes topped with avocado and a pop of greek yogurt.

I was tempted to make vegetarian chili, which you can by subbing another can of beans for the turkey, but I was recovering from an aggressive bout with the flu and I wanted the extra protein. I adapted this from Eat Yourself Skinny, with some of my own additions like cocoa powder and avocado. She included calorie and point info if that interests you.

Enjoy!

Healthy Turkey Chili with Avocado

1 lb 99% fat-free ground turkey
1 yellow onion, chopped
5 cloves garlic, minced
olive oil

1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes, no-salt added
1 (15 oz) can petite diced tomatoes, no-salt added
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 tsp. hot sauce (optional)
1 (15 oz) can kidney beans, no-salt added, drained and rinsed
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 green bell pepper
Sea salt and pepper to taste
4 Tbsp chili powder
2 tsp. oregano
1/8 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 cup - 1 cup vegetable broth
1 tsp Ghirardelli cocoa powder (unsweetened)

1 avocado, sliced
Plain non-fat greek yogurt

Directions

Drizzle olive oil in a pan and saute half of the chopped onion and garlic until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add ground turkey and cook until crumbled and brown, draining excess liquid as necessary.


Add remaining ingredients to large pot while turkey cooks. Add turkey onion combo and half of the vegetable broth, salt and pepper to taste. Cook on medium/low heat for about an hour, adding additional broth if needed.

Top with sliced avocado and greek yogurt. YUM.



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Oh the avocado. An amazing superfood that can replicate so many things - including the cream in your favorite fettuccine alfredo pasta.

I made this dish this week for our Milwaukee Foodie Fitness Fete for the theme 'Indulgent Food Makeovers".

Prep for my cooking demo at the MKE Foodie Fitness event

I promise this will be your new favorite pasta dish! It's also super easy and only has a few ingredients. Add grilled chicken or prawns if you are missing the extra protein and make sure to eat right away – this one doesn't keep well.

Avocado Fettuccine Alfredo

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

2 medium sized ripe Avocados, pitted
1 lemon, juiced + lemon zest to garnish
2 garlic cloves, to taste
 1 tsp kosher salt, or to taste
1/2 cup Fresh Basil
3-4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
¼ cup Pine nuts (optional)
Grated fresh parmesan cheese (optional)
4 servings/6 oz of your choice of pasta (I used whole-wheat linguine)

Directions

Fill a large pot with water and a sprinkle of salt. Bring to a rapid boil. Add the dry fettuccine to the water and cook until al dente.

While the pasta is boiling, add 2-3 tbsp olive oil, avocado, garlic, salt and lemon juice to a food processor. Pulse until the ingredients are smooth and creamy.

Strain the pasta, and combine with the sauce in a large bowl, until all the pasta has been covered.

Sprinkle with lemon zest, parmesan and pine nuts. Add some salt and black pepper to taste. Serve immediately (and try not to eat the whole thing at once).


Check back next week for a new summer salad recipe and an update on my latest activities at IIN. Have a great weekend and #LiveHealthy!

As promised, here is my recipe for the Red Quinoa Avocado Salad that I brought to the MKE Foodie Fitness Spring Fete!

Photo Credit: Capture Life Moments

This is one of my favorite pre-race day salads. I cook up a whole batch and eat it with baked salmon or grilled chicken breast 1-2 days before my race.

It is also a great side dish for grilling out in the summer and fall - try grilling the avocados before putting them into the salad. The flavors of the cumin and coriander go nicely with the flavors picked up from a charcoal grill.

Source

The salad is also not too heavily dressed and will keep for several days in your fridge; the lemon juice acts as a preservative for the avocado which prevents it from getting brown.

Red Quinoa Avocado Salad with Lemon-Cumin Vinaigrette

(Adapted from Fine Cooking Magazine)

Ingredients

3 Tbs. raisins (preferably a mix of dark and golden)
2 Tbs. dried apricots, thinly sliced
1 cup red or white quinoa, rinsed well
1 large lemon
3 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. sweet paprika
2 medium firm-ripe avocados (6 to 7 oz. each), pitted, peeled, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks
2 medium scallions, white and light green parts only, thinly sliced
2 to 3 Tbs. coarsely chopped toasted almonds
Freshly ground black pepper & kosher salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, soak the raisins and apricots in hot water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside.


In a 2-quart saucepan, bring 2 cups water, the quinoa, and 1/2 tsp. salt to a boil over high heat. Cover, reduce the heat to medium low, and simmer until the water is absorbed and the quinoa is translucent and tender, 10 to 15 minutes.

Immediately fluff the quinoa with a fork and turn it out onto a baking sheet to cool to room temperature. (FGK note: Make sure to do this step - if you don't and try to mix it all right away, the quinoa becomes sticky and mushy.)


Finely grate the zest from the lemon and then whisk the lemon zest and 1 Tbs. lemon juice with olive oil, coriander, cumin, paprika, and 1/4 tsp. salt. In a large bowl, toss the vinaigrette with the quinoa, raisins, apricots, avocado, scallions, and almonds. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve.

Red Quinoa Avocado Salad

Yum! I think I need to make more of this right now.

Some people have asked me why I use red quinoa instead of white - I find that the red quinoa is heartier and more nutty, which is a nice base for this salad. You can find the red variety at both Trader J's and Whole Foods.

Lots of big stuff on the way this week - stay tuned for a fun surprise on Friday!

Last week I had the amazing opportunity to get together with some fellow foodie fitness bloggers (which I was excited to learn is actually a thing!) in Milwaukee and share healthy recipes and fitness tips. It was so great to meet so may other people who share my interests and get some great recipes out of it too!



We were lucky enough to have an amazing space donated by the Mandel Group to not only be able to bring food to share, but do some live cooking demos as well!


That's our fearless leader & organizer, Shelia Wordell, cooking up a Blue Cheese Walnut Spinach Pasta Salad with Avocado (be still my heart).


We all brought a dish that fit into a theme like pre-race meal, post-race snack, etc.; I made a Red Quinoa Avocado Salad, which is one of my go-to dishes on any race week.


This is one of my favorite pre-race day meals. I cook up a whole batch and eat it with baked salmon or grilled chicken breast 1-2 days before my race.

Here is a list of all of the great bloggers I met and what each brought:

Sheila: Blue Cheese Walnut Spinach Pasta Salad with Avocado, Mint Cantaloupe Granita & Orange Blossom Lemonade
Maressa: Pizza Casserole
Sara: Indian Carrot Soup
James: Chicken & Slaw Salad
Nicole: Southwestern Veggie Soup
Laurie: Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
Sun: Peanut Butter Mounds Bar & Baked Southwestern Egg Rolls 
Kaylie: Profiteroles filled with Mousse
Kat: Red Quinoa Avocado Salad.
Alysha: Cowboy Cookies
Brittany: Oatmeal Peanut Butter Cookies
Melissa: Stove Top Salmon Patties
Michelle: Power Scones

A big thank you to Ly Nguyen and her wonderful photography skills for all of these great photos! Thanks again to the Mandel Group for Donating the space. Looking forward to our next event in June!





And finally, HUGE PROPS to all of the dedicated runners in the group heading to Boston this weekend and who have been training in this nasty "spring" and winter weather! You guys are so inspirational, best of luck to all!

So after my fabulous spin class at SoulCycle last week, I proceeded to eat and drink my face off for the next five days. While I have no problem indulging in a Sprinkles cupcake from time to time, this was excessive. I was exhausted, lethargic, crabby - it was time for a cleanse.

I try to do a cleanse 2-3 times a year just to get out all of the bad stuff and detox - it's like pushing a big red RESET button for my body.


Full disclosure, the cleanse I am talking about is not a juice or water + cayenne pepper + maple syrup only for 5 days (where you start hallucinating about bread and donuts or lose your will to live) - this cleanse combines supplements with 7 days of "clean eating".

What is Clean Eating?

Clean eating focuses on organic foods, lean meats and non-processed foods (i.e. anything that comes in a package or a box). Many people who want to do a cleanse or detox plan end up cutting out important nutrients by cutting out too many foods. This cleanse still allows you to eat, while taking supplements to aid in healthy digestion.

What Cleanse Do You Recommend?

For the past few years, I've been doing the GNC "Be Cleansed" detox. I love this cleanse because it is gentle, straightforward and doesn't cost $300. I've recommended it to multiple friends, so you can imagine my despair when I walked into GNC on Monday and found out they had discontinued it.

Not. Cool.

The consultant there recommended going with the GNC Complete Body Cleansing Program.

GNC Complete Body Cleanse

We even pulled out a list of the supplements in both to compare (thanks Shane!) They were virtually identical except for this one had AM and PM packets, and no premixed drink in the morning. I decided to give it a shot.

Guide to a Cleanse

Timing is key with a cleanse. It is really important to try and stick to the clean eating program, so if your upcoming week schedule is full with dinners, parties or travel, it will be much harder to incorporate. That said, you will almost always have SOMETHING planned. Just try to make smart decisions  - if you tell your friends you are on a cleanse, they may even be nice enough to go to a raw or vegan restaurant with you (love you girls!)

Yes, I made this someecard

Again, clean eating is key. If you "cheat", it's like pouring yourself a glass of filtered water and then topping it off with tap. What was the point of that?

I eat pretty "clean" to begin with, but the hardest part for me is cutting out snacking, cheese, and bread. I love crackers, pretzels, cheeses and big, fat, sandwiches. However, rice is allowed and there are plenty of rice cereals, rice wraps and rice crackers to get your "crunch" fix.

Sample Detox Meal Plan

I'm going to be real with you and share what I ate this week.
Shopping tip: go to the grocery store and shop only on the outside aisles.

Monday

Breakfast: Banana smoothie with almond milk
Lunch: Green Dream Juice (Apple, ginger, celery, kale) with small salad (spinach, chickpeas, red pepper)
Dinner: Asparagus and Salmon stir fry over Trader Joe's Rice Noodles

Tuesday

Breakfast: soy yogurt with fresh raspberries
Lunch: Protein Bar Veggie Quinoa Chili Bowl (add avocado)
Snack: Raw Almonds
Dinner: IdiotProof Salmon and sauteed garlic spinach (made by my fabulous friend Scoops!)

Wednesday

Breakfast: Protein Bar Fruit Loop'd smoothie - vanilla protein, almond milk, blueberries, banana
Lunch: Winter Veggie Quinoa Salad from Pret
Dinner: Lettuce Taco wraps with ground turkey, avocado, tomatoes and greek yogurt

Thursday

Breakfast: Fresh squeezed blood orange juice and rice cereal with almond milk
Lunch: Awesome Avocado Salad (see recipe below)
Snack: Sesamark rice thins and hummus
Dinner: Seared whitefish (I used monkfish) with sauteed mushrooms and watercress

Friday
Breakfast: soy yogurt with fresh blueberries
Lunch: Bean burrito (black beans, onion, tomato, cilantro, soy cheese)
Dinner: Baked chicken (marinated in balsamic and herbs de province), brown rice and steamed asparagus

Awesome Avocado Salad

This was one of my favorite meals of the week and was so quick and easy! If you are making it at work, make the dressing at home and mix everything else there so nothing gets soggy.

Salad
Spinach
Butter Lettuce
Alfalfa Sprouts
1/2 an avocado
Marinated Cooked Shrimp (I got mine from the seafood bar at Whole Foods)

Dressing
Fresh Lime Juice
Olive Oil
Balsamic
Salt & Pepper to taste

Mix equal parts lime juice, olive oil and balsamic. Whisk together. (I actually use lime infused olive oil from Oro Di Oliva but this works just as well).

Final Thoughts...

This is a very gentle, inexpensive cleanse that can easily be done multiple times a year to reset your body. It gets easier every time to cut out processed foods and always inspires me eat cleaner after I am done.

Many of the recipes on this site are cleanse-friendly (my spaghetti squash is the result of a cleanse recipe and is great to make in the summer or fall when it is in season!)

It is also important to drink at least 8oz of water with each meal on your cleanse to flush everything out. I supplement tea for coffee in the morning. If you have any questions or want more detailed recipes, let me know!

Happy cleansing!
Kat