Ten Recipes That Made the Cut

One of my goals in my 40x40 quest this year was to find ten new healthy recipes to add to my recipe binder. This proved more difficult than I thought because A) pretty much, if it's healthy, and I like it, I already have a recipe for it, and B) there are a lot of not-great, healthy recipes out there. For every recipe I kept, there are probably 10 that I tried that didn't make the cut. I started to think I might not ever make it to ten, but here in the last moments of 2023, I have found them! 

Here they are:

1. Air Fryer Fish Tacos with Cilantro Lime Slaw - Scotty and I really like these (the kids don't), and I have started using the slaw recipe for other meals as well. It's good on hamburgers or pulled pork sandwiches, and I use it on Korean tacos, too. 

2. Cilantro Lime Grilled Chicken with Avocado Salsa - everyone in the family likes this chicken, but I'm the only one that likes the avocado salsa.

3 - 5. Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Blender Muffins - I make these all the time. I also make the Double Chocolate Banana and the Banana Chocolate Chip sometimes (using honey instead of sugar), but we all like the pumpkin the best.

6. Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Basil Soup - I have a winter's worth of this soup in my freezer. 

7. Garlic Butter Turkey Meatballs with Zucchini Noodles - I have haven't actually tried this with zoodles, but the meatballs are good and probably the most flavorful meatballs I've ever had. I had a small zucchini when I made this (not enough to make zoodles with), so I used spaghetti noodles and threw in some sauteed zucchini.

8. Anti-Inflammatory Chicken Soup - this one surprised me. I really wasn't expecting it to be good. I'm the only one who has eaten it, so I can't speak for my family, but I want them to try it sometime to see what they think.

9. Baked Drumsticks - I'm trying to be more open to dark meat because drumsticks and thighs are so cheap.

10. Grinder Salad - I don't make this exactly how the recipe states. I just use what I have (so I don't use all the meats listed, and I might not have olives or tomatoes). This is another recipe I wasn't sure I would like, but I was surprised. I occasionally make a variation of this salad for lunch (and I sneak in pieces of bread because I'm a rebel).

The only one I have a photo of

(I love how it looks like the salad is sitting directly on the counter)

(Lists of links to recipes bug me, so I'm sorry that's what I'm throwing out there today). 

Now that I've checked this goal my list, I'll continue my quest to find healthy recipes to add to my recipe binder... but without the added pressure of my 40th birthday.