Easy Clean Holiday Party Recipes

So if you don't know by now, I love to plan and host parties!  I love every aspect from the cooking to the decorating, invites, favors etc!! The best part about HOSTING parties is that I can control the food, how it's made, what goes into it, etc. So I wanted to share some amazing recipes with you that are not only clean but they are de-lish!! Think about making these and bringing them to your holiday parties this year, no one will even know they're healthy!! 

Chocolate Shakeology & PB Oatmeal Bars

• 3 cups oatmeal
• 1/2 cup Peanut Butter
• 1 cup skim milk
• dash cinnamon
• splash of vanilla
• 1 tsp unsweetened cocoa powder
  4 scoops chocolate shakeology

 Mix all dry ingredients, then add skim milk and vanilla to blend.  Add peanut butter and mix with hands.  Put mixture into an 8x8 pan, press flat, refrigerate for 2-3 hours and cut into squares.  I kept them in the fridge until I was ready to serve them.

Clean Chili Nachos (makes 10 cups and freezes well for up to 6 months)

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large red onion, chopped
•  1 large green bell pepper, chopped
• 6 cloves garlic, diced
• 1 1/2 lbs. ground turkey meat
• 4 tbsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp. ground coriander
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced
• 1 vegetable bouillon cube, dissolved in 1 cup of water
• 1 (16 oz) can of tomato paste
• 1 (15oz) can of kidney beans
• 1 (15oz) can tomato sauce, no sugar added

Crock pot directions:

• In a large pan, saute the red onion, bell pepper and garlic cloves in the oil.
• Once the onions are translucent, stir in the turkey meat.  Continue to stir until meet is cooked.
• Stir in cumin, coriander and chili powder
• Pour in the water with the dissolved bouillon cube
• Then combine the rest of the ingredients as listed and cook on low for 6-8 hrs. 

After chili is made then pour a cup of chili over some "food should taste good" chips and top with tomatoes, avocado and plenty of fresh cilantro.  I also had shredded low fat cheddar cheese for others.

 Sweet and Sour Meatballs

• 1 lb. lean ground turkey
• 1 cup cooked brown rice
• 1 8oz can crushed pineapple in juice, drained
• 1/2 cup green onions
• 1 tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. ginger
• Sauce:
• 3/4 cup reduced-sodium, low fat chicken broth
• 1/3 cup chili sauce
• 3 tbsp. rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp. brown sugar
• 2 tsp. cornstarch
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Combine meatball ingredients in medium bowl and mix thoroughly.  Line a baking sheet with foil.  Place cooking racks in foil lined baking sheet.  Shape meatballs and place on the racks.  Bake for about 25 minutes or until thoroughly cooked.  Transfer the meatballs to a serving dish and cover to keep warm.

Combine the sauce ingredients in a small saucepan and stir until cornstarch is dissolved.  Place sauce over medium heat and stir intermittently until mixture comes to a boil.  Reduce heat to low, and stir for another minute or until mixture thickens slightly.  Pour sauce over meatballs, and gently toss to coat meatballs and serve warm with toothpicks.

Cookie Dough Dip Recipe-

This is absolutely delicious and no one will ever know it is made with chickpeas unless you tell them!

1 1/2 cups chickpeas (1 can, drained) (250g)

1/8 tsp plus 1/16 tsp salt
tiny bit over 1/8 tsp baking soda
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup nut butter (You can get away with using only 3 T. If you use peanut butter, it’ll have a very-slight “pb cookie dough” taste, so if you don’t want this, you can sub oil.)
up to 1/4 cup nondairy milk (Start with 1 T, and add more as needed)
Sweetener (see note below, for amount)
1/3 cup chocolate chips
2 to 3 T oats (or flaxmeal) (You can omit, but also omit the milk if you do)

Add all ingredients (except for chocolate chips) to a blender or food processor, and blend until very smooth. Then mix in the chocolate chips.

Sweetener Notes: I used 2/3 cup brown sugar when I first made this for the party. Liquid sweeteners (agave, maple, etc.) are fine as well. You can easily get away with less sugar– some people will be perfectly fine with just 3 T for the whole recipe! And if you don’t want any sugar, be sure to check out the “no-sugar” version linked above. (You can also use stevia, if you like the taste of stevia-sweetened desserts. Try 2-3 packets of NuNaturals stevia, and add more sweetener if needed. I wouldn’t recommend serving an all-stevia version to party guests, though.)

For the party, I served it with graham crackers. But fresh fruit might also be nice.



  

Enjoy!!!