Tarragon Chicken Salad in Cucumber Boat Snack

Tarragon Chicken (or Turkey) Salad is one of my favorite Spring and Summer Salads!  I LOVE the fresh flavor of Tarragon and the compliment of the sweet grapes against the tangy dressing is divine!  My only issue is that when it's around, I have a rough time not eating it all!

The awesome thing about this is it's actually really simple!  I know that a lot of people who don't cook much, are intimidated by a whole chicken, but don't be!  It's actually super simple to cook and much cheaper that way!  I rinse it and toss it right into the slow cooker, nothing else, cook on high for 3-4 hours.  Pull the chicken out and let it rest for about 15 minutes on a plate, then pull all the meat off the bone and discard the rest!  It's a little messy, but perfect super moist and easily shredded for Mexican dishes, a variety of chicken salads, really anything!  Plus, you have all that yummy organic broth too!  I keep that to top dress the dog's food with, or allow to cool and put into a freezer safe ziploc, lay flat and freeze!

**But remember, you want to pull the chicken meat when it's still warm to maximize the amount of meat you get off the bones!**

What you need...
a couple of cucumbers, halved and the seeds scraped out with a spoon
Tarragon Chicken Salad
*I left out the apples in my normal recipe so I could make the snack more Zone Friendly, and so enough chicken would fit into 1 cucumber half for a perfect portion snack!

You could even cut the boats in half and serve them as a nice appetizer!

Zucchini Boats with Meat Sauce - a 2 block Zone SNACK!!!!

Since we've been back on a predominantly Zone/Primal diet, I have been on a mission to come up with lots of new snack and dinner options!  Most of the time our snacks are pretty simple, but every now and then it's nice to have a really yummy one to look forward to!  This definitely fits the bill!  Only 4 ingredients, took about 10 minutes of prep, and is fabulous!  **If you don't know/do Zone, just ignore that part - it's still awesome!

I do make most of our snacks ahead and pack the fridge full of little snack containers, so that when my husband leaves for work he can grab 2 options and go!  Or, so that when I get ready they are there!  I try to give us 3 or 4 choices per week!

This would work GREAT as a dinner too!  We have made these for dinner before and topped them with pizza toppings! YUM!!!!!

What you need... (2 servings/ 2 - Zone 2 block snacks)
2 medium zucchinis
2/3 cup tomato basil sauce (make sure sugar is not in the ingredients)
1/2 pound ground turkey (I cooked 1 lb. and used the rest for another snack)
1/4 cup feta cheese

Preheat oven to 400F.  Add turkey to a skillet and cook on medium heat, breaking apart frequently with a wooden spoon.  Cook turkey until cooked through, about 7 minutes.  Meanwhile, cut the stem off the zucchinis, and scoop out the seeds, leaving a little trough down the middle.  Add them to a lightly greased glass dish. When the turkey is cooked though, combine 6 oz. ground turkey with 2/3 cup of sauce, stir to combine.  Gently fill the zucchini boats with the meat sauce.  Top with feta cheese.  Cover with foil and bake at 400F for 30 minutes, uncover and cook 5 more minutes.  Serve hot or allow to cool and place into a microwave safe container for tomorrow's snack! EASY!!!!!

(2 boats = 1 snack)

I did 1 portion at a time so I could make all the proper calculations! ;)

Also, a single portion (2 blocks protein, 1 block carbs in this picture)!

Salsa Salad - Zone 2 Block snack portion

One of my husband's favorite snacks has ALWAYS been a cucumber, tomato, basil salad with oil, vinegar and spices.  Being the salsa lover that I am, one of my favorites is tomato, avocado, cucumber salad.  So....I thought I would combine the goodness of the 2 and this lovely little Salsa Salad was born! This is delicious - especially on a warm Spring day!

Of course you could always double OR TRIPLE the recipe a make a big batch for a Fiesta! ;)

What you need... (2 block Zone snack)

1 cup cucumber, cut into bite sized pieces

1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved

1/4 small avocado or 2 tbsp. avocado, diced

1/2 lemon

pink salt

fresh black pepper

1/4 cup pico de gallo (confession!!!! I bought mine today from Whole Foods to save time ;))

I added 2 oz. grilled chicken to make it a 2 block Zone Snack)

 Combine cucumber and tomato in a small container, generously salt and pepper.  Top with diced avocado, squeeze lemon over and top with pico.  Cover and shake well to combine.  Add in grilled chicken if you like!

Smokey Squash Casserole

What you need...
3 large yellow squash
3-4 medium zucchini squash
4 strips of bacon, cooked, drained, crumbled
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 yellow onion, chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 smoked gouda, grated
1/2 cup parmesan, grated
1/2 cup sun-dried tomato strips (I used California Sun Dry in a pouch, no oil)
3 eggs
cracked pepper

Trim the ends off the squash so it's easily spiralized.  Spiralize all those yummy squash, I used the larger noodle blade for this!  Of course, if you don't have a spiralizer, (you need to get one!) you can slice the squash for this recipe too, just make sure you slice it thin so it cooks through!

Using a pot large enough to toss everything in, add the bacon, butter, onion, garlic to the pot.  Turn to medium heat and sauté for about 2 minutes or until the onions begin to become soft and translucent.  Add the squash noodles and toss well to combine, allow to cook for about 2 minutes.  Remove from heat.

In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients and stir to make a loose paste.  Add the paste into the squash and stir very well.  Pour into a lightly greased/sprayed 9x13 baking dish and bake at 400, uncovered for 40 minutes or until set and golden along the edges! Enjoy!

Anti-Pasta Salad - Greek Zucchini Noodle Pasta Salad

What you need...
3 medium zucchinis
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 can quartered artichoke hearts, drained, rinsed, roughly chopped
3 cloves garlic, choppped
1/3 cup Kalamata olives, chopped
1 cup of cherry or grape tomatoes, halved (I used some NatureSweet Cherubs and some Zebrinos to get a variance of colors)
1/2 half of an English cucumber, chopped into bite sized pieces
1/2 cup feta cheese crumbles
6-8 fresh basil leaves, chopped
*drained and rinsed chickpeas would make a great addition!!!

for the dressing...
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon Greek Season Blend
1 tsp Dried Parsley
a few turns of fresh cracked black pepper
1 tsp red pepper flakes

First, trim the ends off the zucchini so they will easily spiralize, then slice about halfway through them length ways so that as they spiralize, you will actually get half rings instead of long noodles.  I used the larger blade for this, so that the noodles have some weight to them!
I spiralize them right into a huge bowl, then add in the next 8 ingredients and toss well.

Using a jar or shaker, add all dressing ingredients and shake well to combine.  Add the dressing to the salad and toss well to combine.  Cover and allow to marinade for 4+ hours.  Add the brush basil and feta cheese and stir to combine.  Serve!

Get it!  Use it!

Zone - 2 block snack options

So, this is kind of putting the cart before the horse, because I have not yet had a chance to finish my post explaining Zone Blocks, portions, meals and snacks!  But...I have had several people ask about snack options so I am getting a few out there!

In short, Zone blocks are 91 calorie servings of strategically balanced protein to carbs to fat.  A snack is usually 2 blocks of each.  So...approximately 180 calories, give or take a tiny bit depending on what protein you are including.  Obviously most proteins include some scant amount of fat, but for the most part, meat/fish/egg protein is simply counted as the protein in the meal.

For most animal proteins 1oz = 1 block, some outliers would include fish, shrimp, ground turkey where 1.5oz = 1 block
Fat and Carb blocks vary from item to item, this is where my charts are ALWAYS on hand.  You memorize many of the common items, but then thee are others that you have to check the chart for the proper quantity per block.

You can learn all about this, it's really not that tough, but most of my recipes are pretty true to those guidelines, so if you don't want to hear the chatter, you can just follow them! ;)

I like to keep several protein options, carb options and fat options on hand at all times for quick combos! I ALWAYS do a little weekend prep so these things are on hand, sometimes more and sometimes less!

Protein: Grilled chicken, tuna/mayo, cooked ground turkey, hard boiled eggs, egg muffins

Carbs: apples, berries, roasted asparagus, roasted sweet potatoes, roasted brussels sprouts, baby spinach, cherry tomatoes (we eat a ton of tomatoes), salsa, cucumbers, broccoli

Fats: almonds, avocado, mayo, olive oil, coconut oil, ghee (I sauté/roast all my veggies in olive oil or coconut oil and count that as the fat in my snacks)

Some of our favorite snacks are:

Tuna/mayo/apple - 2 oz. drained chunk light tuna on a bibb lettuce leaf wrap (1-2 leaves to wrap it in), 1/2 tsp. mayo stirred into tuna, 1 small apple

Spinach berry salad- 60 grams baby spinach (about 2 cups), 144 grams strawberries (about 1 cup), 36 grams blueberries (about 1/4 cup), 2oz. grilled chicken, 6 almonds, Maple Grove Farms Sugar Free Balsamic Dressing

Egg Muffin with Sweet Potato and Brussels Sprouts or Asapargus - 1/2 cup egg white muffin, 51 grams sweet potato (about 1/3 cup), 12 asparagus spears OR 117 grams brussels sprouts (about 1/2 cup)

Egg Muffin Recipe here - then you can add more or less veggies to these as your snack depending on what's already in them!  I made some yesterday with 1.5 oz. ground turkey (cooked), 1 egg, 51 grams of sweet potato.  Fabulous!  But then I only add 12 spears of asparagus for the perfect snack! OR 180 grams of tomatoes is a fantastic addition! The awesome thing about egg muffins is that they are SO easy, and you can use just about any veggie that needs using and clean out the fridge when you make these!

We love them with 1/4 cup egg whites, 1/2 link sliced chicken sausage (Al fresco, Gilberts, Aidell's)

Hard Boiled Egg & Apple - 2 hardboiled eggs, 1 tsp mayo, salt & pepper mixed + 1 small apple

Chicken / Apple /Almond - 2 oz. grilled chicken, 1 small apple, 6 almonds (we keep several grilled chicken breasts on hand for quick snacks)

Ground Turkey w/ Sweet potato and Asparagus - 3 oz. ground turkey, 75 grams sweet potato, 6 spears of asparagus

Broccoli Salad with 1 oz. grilled chicken

Ground Turkey Stuffed Poblanos - my post workout GO-TO!

Tarragon Chicken Salad Cucumber Boats

Ground Turkey Meat Sauce Zucchini Boats - 2 servings!

Salsa Salad w/ Grilled Chicken - so quick and easy!

Spaghetti Squash Bowls

Talk about endless possibilities and EASY!!!!!  This is always a good one because really anything works!  I can play the "clean out the fridge game" as long as I have a spaghetti squash on hand....and it always turns out yummy!

Most nights, we feed the kids early so we can sit with them and talk about their day, and then we eat together.  Sometimes it's hard to get much one on one time when there are 4 little people fighting for the floor! Lol...but this meal is nice because I can roast the squash while we do the bedtime routine for the kids and it's done and ready to rock when I come back down!

I roast up a couple pounds of brussels sprouts every Sunday for the week...just keep them around to add to things for a little power packed green thing!  They work perfect in this but you could also use wilted spinach, broccoli or peas!!!  Just trim them, cut them in half, toss onto a large pan and drizzle with a bit of olive oil, then roast at 400 for about 25 minutes!

Really....anything that works with pasta, works with this!  Honestly, there are a million combinations! It's fabulous with a good old meat sauce or just add fresh basil, cherry tomatoes, feta and grilled chicken slices!  Even sautéed peppers and salami!  We like it with sliced sautéed Caprese Chicken Sausgae, fresh basil, cherry tomatoes and a few pieces of fresh mozzarella! Lemon, dill, feta and grilled shrimp! Quartered artichoke hearts & diced tomatoes...ANYTHING!!!! But here's the basic!

What you need for this Chicken Carbonara with Brussels Sprouts Version...

1 spaghetti squash

1 cup roasted brussels sprouts

1 cup grilled chicken, sliced (I grill a bunch of chicken on Sunday so it's on hand to cut time)

2-3 pieces of bacon, rough crumbled

1/3 cup smoked gouda, chopped into cubes

1/4 cup half and half

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

Preheat oven to 400F.  Sliced the spaghetti squash in half, be careful!!!  Scoop out all the seeds with a spoon, discard.  Place the 2 halves face down in a lightly greased baking dish.  Roast for about 35 minutes, or until the meat is easily scooped out with a fork.  Clean all the meat out into a large bowl, reserving the 2 empty shells.  Make sure not to poke through the shells!  Add all remaining ingredients to the meat and mix well.  Carefully divid the filling in half between the two shells and return to the oven at 350F.  Bake for about 15 minutes or until warmed through!  Enjoy!

*I did sprinkle these with a teeny bit of parmesan!