There are only 2 Wednesday’s left in August. Which means, fall is right around the corner. So I am going to do my best to soak up all that summer has to offer. Indulging in fresh fruit and veggies is one of my favorite things about the warm weather. Lots of summer staples including watermelon, peaches and zucchini found their way to my plate today and I scarfed down every last bit!
Breakfast:
3 egg whites, scrambled and sautéed with 1 tsp olive oil with 1 sliced zucchini
1 cup orange juice
Snack #1:
1/2 cup cottage cheese and 1 peach, pitted and chopped
Lunch: 
Tuna-Bean Salad: 3 oz tuna, 1 stalk celery (diced), 1 1/2 cups navy beans, 1/2 red bell pepper (diced), tossed with 2 tsp red wine vinegar and 1 tsp olive oil on 4 cups chopped Romaine
20 popchips!
Snack #2:
3 wedges watermelon
10 hazelnuts
Dinner:
1 serving of Italian Meatball Casserole (see recipe below)
2 cups peeled and cubed eggplant, misted with cooking spray and roasted at 450 degrees F for 10 minutes
Highlights: Dinner was delicious! The meatballs were juicy and tender. The arugula tomato mixture made a yummy sauce. And the roasted eggplant helped to round out the meal. Freddie and I agreed this will become a household staple.
Lowlights: I wasn’t a huge fan of the salad. It had a bit too many beans in it and I felt like it was missing a creaminess (from mayo or Greek yogurt). But the chips were a good addition and were delicious when dipped in the salad.
Italian Meatball Casserole
Ingredients:
1 lb extra-lean ground beef
3 cloves garlic, minced, divided
1 cup minced Vidalia onion
2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1/8 tsp each sea salt and ground black pepper
1 Ezekiel Sprouted Grain Burger Bun, sliced into 16 rounds
1 tsp olive oil
4 cups baby arugula
2 cups chopped tomatoes
3 1/2 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
Preparation:
1. Preheat broiler to high. Arrange 1 oven rack 8 inches from top heat source.
2. In a large bowl, gently mix beef, two-thirds of garlic, onion and Italian seasoning until just combined. Season with salt and pepper and form into 20 balls. Transfer to a large baking dish and broil on top rack, turning halfway, until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, toss bun with olive oil and remaining third of garlic. Spread on a baking sheet and broil, turning halfway, until light golden on both sides. Reduce oven heat to 400 degrees F.
4. Add arugula and tomatoes to meatballs and toss to combine. Nestle bun vertically amongst meatballs and sprinkle cheese over top. Bake in center of oven until cheese is bubbly and light golden, about 15 minutes.
Recipe from Clean Eating
Now it’s time to announce the winner of our Love With Food Giveaway! Drum roll please…Congratulations to Christa from Christa To The Max! I will be in touch with you via email with more details on how to redeem your prize. Thank you to the rest of the participants. Each one of you is super awesome and I appreciate all of your yummy snacking ideas. For a limited time, Love With Food is offering $2 off of your first box to ALL of my readers! So hurry over to their site and use the discount code CHUCKVIP at check out.
Happy Snacking!
