Homemade Baked French Fries

What You'll Need:
2 baking potatoes, peeled and sliced into french fry-style sticks
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/4 tsp salt, or to taste




What to Do:
Preheat oven at 425.
In a small mixing bowl, combine the spices and olive oil together.  Place potato sticks in a larger mixing bowl and drizzle oil mixture over potatoes.  Toss well until evenly covered.  Place in a single layer in a lightly greased (I used olive oil cooking spray) glass dish. Bake for 45 minutes, turning once 1/2 way through.

Tips:
*You can also sprinkle JD's hickory flavored Bacon Salt (low-sodium and vegetarian) to add a bit more flavor.
*If the fries seem like they are/almost cooked (will be soft) when you flip them, increase the heat to 425 and cook until golden brown and slightly crispy or broil on high for a couple minutes. 

Turkey Meatballs in Spaghetti Sauce

What You'll Need:
1 lb ground turkey breast (you can use ground chicken breast too)
3/4 c. seasoned bread crumbs (I prefer Italian style)
1 tsp. dried parsley
1/4 tsp garlic powder
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 Tbs crushed black olives
1 Tbs celery, minced
1/4 c. red bell pepper, diced (approximately half of a medium sized one)
1/4 c. egg substitute (such as Egg Beaters)
1 jar spaghetti sauce ( I used Whole Foods brand: Roasted Vegetable)
1 c water


What to Do:
In a large saucepan, heat the spaghetti sauce with 1 c. water over medium-high heat, until mixture begins to boil. While the spaghetti sauce and water are heating, mix all remaining ingredients together in a medium sized bowl.  Once it is well blended, form 25-30 meatballs and carefully drop into the boiling spaghetti sauce.  Reduce heat so sauce cooks at a medium-slow simmer (about medium heat). Cook for approximately 20-25 minutes, stirring and turning meatballs frequently.
*Note: be careful when stirring so the meatballs to not break.  You can also gently shake the saucepan instead of stirring.

Serve over pasta

Tips:
*I prefer either whole wheat pasta, quinoa spaghetti or black bean spaghetti
*To make with tofu instead of meat: omit the egg substitute, saute cubed tofu with 1 tsp olive oil and all spices and vegetables as called for in the recipe for about 10 minutes, or until golden brown. Simmer sautéed tofu mixture in spaghetti sauce for 15 minutes with 1/4c water.  
*You can also use the meatballs as a tasty sandwich filler  

Strawberry-Orange Smoothie

What You'll Need:
1/2 c fat free milk
1/4 c. orange juice
3 - 4 fresh and ripe strawberries, frozen (medium to large sized)
1" piece banana, frozen (optional)
1/2 -1 Tbs raw organic sugar (to taste; can use other sweeteners too)
1/4 tsp vanilla

What to Do:
Place all ingredients in a blender starting with the liquids, then sugar.  Add the strawberries last; blend until smooth.

Tips:
*To make a thinner smoothie, try unfrozen, fresh strawberries instead 
*The smoothie tastes much better when using fresh fruit (i.e. I don't use store-bought frozen fruit), I like to freeze little packets when I buy my strawberries so I can easily grab them and throw everything in the blender
*Don't add ice -adding ice will dilute the over all flavor of the smoothie