Pumpkin Pasta Bake - 21 Day Fix Friendly!

So, you've been warned.

Around this time of year, I'm a pumpkin - a - holic.

From savory to sweet, it's all about pumpkin for me.

So thanks to Mom getting me a little pumpkin cookbook, I found this recipe and realized it was really quite 21 Day Fix friendly!

It's from a cookbook called Favorite Brand Name Recipes - Pumpkin! (I'm pretty sure it's one of those checkout aisle at the grocery store books).  I really didn't change much except I used regular tomato sauce instead of marinara. 

I also measured out all of the ingredients in the fix containers so I could accurately (or at least as close as possible) give you the Fix container servings.

This recipe makes 8 servings, and I used the green container to measure a serving.  I figured that was what Autumn recommended for lasagna in the book, and this is a fairly close idea to lasagna.

One last note, turkey sausage isn't in the book, but I researched on the Beachbody website and the mods on the board there said it could count as a red if you checked the ingredients and it was clean.  The sausage I got was meat, water and spices so I figured we were good :)

So here goes!

Pumpkin Pasta Bake

Organic coconut oil spray
5 links of lean spicy turkey sausage out of casings ("fried up" those equaled three red containers)
1 minced garlic clove
2 1/2 greens of tomato sauce
1 1/2 greens of 100% pure pumpkin puree
1 blue of shredded parmesan
10 yellows of cooked whole grain pasta (I used a quinoa / brown rice blend!)
3 blues of shredded part skim mozzarella cheese


Preheat oven to 375.

First up, cook the pasta according to package directions.  Drain.  Measure out 10 yellow servings (the package made more, I saved the rest in a separate container).

In the same pasta pot, spray with coconut oil and "fry" up the turkey sausage until cooked through (I actually measured this out after it was fried for three containers, just in case, then put it back in the pot).  Add the minced garlic and let cook for about a minute.

Stir in tomato sauce and deglaze the pan.  Then stir in the pumpkin and half of the parmesan cheese.  Stir well, then add in the pasta. 

Spoon into a sprayed 9x13 baking dish.  Sprinkle with the rest of the parmesan and the three containers of shredded mozzarella.

Bake for 15 minutes (you can cover, but I found I didn't need to!) or until bubbly.

Now for the containers (this is as mathematically as close as I can figure out, it might be a little high on the red but if it is it's only a slight amount).

1 green container serving = 1 1/4 yellow, 1/2 blue, 1/2 green, 1/2 red

As a side note, I had this for dinner with a leftover green of roasted veggies and it was a perfect dinner!  Would also be great with a salad!

21 Day Fix: Breakfast for Dinner!

Honestly, I could eat breakfast all day every day and be quite happy.

So after a long day at work, breakfast for dinner sounded divine.

Mmmmm.  And can you believe 21 Day Fix friendly!

I took 1 small gold potato (1 yellow) and chopped it small.  I sauteed it in 1 tsp of olive oil and 1 clove of garlic.  As it cooked (about 10 minutes overall), I sprinkled some black pepper and smoked paprika (about a 1/4 tsp.)  on it.

In another pan, I had 1 green container of yellow squash and zuchinni slices "frying" up in some organic canola oil spray with a sprinkle of pepper.  I added two beaten eggs (1 red) and scrambled it all up, adding 1 blue of shredded reduced fat cheese at the end.

It was so filling and delicious!  Made me wish for breakfast all the time!

21 Day Fix - Peanut Butter and "Jelly" Overnight Oats

I love me some oatmeal.  Especially in the fall.

A few years ago I discovered overnight oats, and became an instant fan.  As I was mulling over recipes to try and "makeover" for 21 day fix, this one came to me and it's perfect.

This is just one of many variations you could do.  Overnight oats are basically whatever you want them to be.  To make them 21 day fix friendly, I simply swapped out the milk for water, and honestly you couldn't even tell the difference.

This is a great for a quick lunch on the go (especially if you have mason jars around, perfect container for it!), and it's really easy and fast to make.

Of course, there isn't really jelly, but I always loved peanut butter and strawberry jelly, so this is my little twist on that.

Not to mention, delicious and filling!

Peanut Butter and "Jelly" Overnight Oats

1/2 yellow of oats, uncooked (I do end up counting this as a full yellow though because of the way oats are measured on 21 day fix!)
1 red of greek yogurt
1 purple of chopped strawberries
1/2 cup water
2 tsp. natural creamy peanut butter
Stevia to taste (or a tsp. of vanilla extract)

Combine all ingredients in mason jar, close and shake!  That's it!  Put it in the fridge overnight and enjoy the next morning!

Toasted Coconut Pineapple Pie

What better way to end summer than a delicious, creamy, summery pie?

I had found this recipe on Pinterest, and did a bit of tinkering with it. 

And it was delicious!   And super easy to make.

One change I made was just using a storebought graham cracker crust.  In a perfect world, I would have had time to make my own.  Alas.

The consistency was a bit, well not as "set" as I would have liked (probably because I didn't use whole milk), but it was delicious.  I think next time I make it I would probably freeze it and serve it that way.  It would also be great as a parfait layered with graham cracker crumbs!

Toasted Coconut Pineapple Pie
(Adapted from Mostly Homemade Mom)

1 graham cracker crust
1 box of sugar free instant vanilla pudding
1 box of instant coconut pudding
2 cups of almond coconut milk
1 cup of shredded coconut
1 container of light whipped topping, thawed
1 8 oz. can of crushed pineapple, drained


Heat oven to 350.  Spread the coconut on a baking sheet and toast for about 2-5 minutes (keep an eye, it can burn pretty quickly!).

Pour the pudding mixes into a bowl and combine.  Then, add almond coconut milk and and stir until pudding thickens.

Fold in the drained, crushed pineapple, 3/4 of a cup of the coconut, and the whipped topping.

Pour into pie crust, top with the remaining coconut.  Allow to chill for at least an hour in the refrigerator.

Enjoy!