Category Archives: Recipes

Sheet Pan Chile Lime Spiralized Hash Browns

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Sheet Pan Chile Lime Spiralized Hash Browns are baked, not fried, and make a yummy potato side dish for any meal of the day!

[Sheet Pan] Spiralized Chili-Lime Hash Browns . . . and easy, economical and nutritious potato side dish for any meal of the day! And, oh yeah, AMAZINGLY delicious.

Easy, economical, and a nutritious food choice to fuel an active lifestyle – plus bonus, this fun sheet pan hash brown recipes is a big hit with the entire family. The added flavor comes from a simple drizzle and toss with butter, olive oil, and spices before baking.

Making this sheet pan recipe is a time and sanity saver. There is NO standing over a hot, grease-spitting skillet flipping hash brown patties one by one.  

Plus, it’s fun to prep potatoes using a spiralizer to make long, twisty potato strands – get the kids to help with this portion of the chili lime hash browns.

[Sheet Pan] Spiralized Chili-Lime Hash Browns . . . and easy, economical and nutritious potato side dish for any meal of the day! And, oh yeah, AMAZINGLY delicious.
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Also, check out my Pinterest Story for video step-by-step.

Pro Tip #1: If you don’t have a spiralizer (I love my spiralizer attachment for the Kitchenaid Mixer), a similar result can be achieved with an inexpensive manual spiralizer, shredding potatoes with a food processor, or grating with a simple box grater. That last box grater option will give you an arm workout too!

Pro Tip #2: After spiralizing or grating, rinse off potatoes in a bowl of cold water to remove the excess starches. You can skip this step, but the potatoes will be gloppy and less crispy (but still taste just fine).

Pro Tip #3: Line the baking sheet with a silicone baking sheet or parchment paper. This recipe will stick to pan otherwise.

Pro Tip #4: You can adjust the chili spice level up or down depending on the preference of your family.

Pro Tip #5: Use an approximate 10” x 15” rimmed baking sheet and don’t overfill it.  Use the amount of potatoes called for in the spiralized potato recipe. Too many spiralized potato strands and the hash browns will not bake up crispy.

Pro Tip #6: Don’t try to flip or stir the potatoes during baking. They WILL get crispy on top and bottom and lining the pan with parchment will keep them from sticking.  

Pro Tip #7: Sheet pan potato recipes like these spiralized chili lime hash browns are very versatile and work for breakfast, brunch, lunch and dinner!

[Sheet Pan] Spiralized Chili-Lime Hash Browns . . . and easy, economical and nutritious potato side dish for any meal of the day! And, oh yeah, AMAZINGLY delicious.
Served for dinner with squash and shredded chicken.

Reduce food waste by roasting the “potato butts” that are remnants after spiralizing. They look so funny, but taste just as yummy!

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission on sales, however price to you remains the same. Proceeds are used to offset expenses to keep The Fit Fork going! Thank you!

Sheet Pan Spiralized chili Lime Hash Browns make an easy, economical and delicious side dish for any meal -- breakfast, brunch, lunch or dinner.
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Sheet Pan Spiralized Chile Lime Hash Browns
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 
Course: Breakfast, brunch, dinner, Side Dish
Keyword: potatoes, sheet pan, side dish
Ingredients
  • 2 lbs. Russet potatoes washed
  • 3 Tbsp. butter melted
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 Tbsp fresh lime juice
  • 1 Tbsp. chili powder
  • 2 tsp. salt
  • 1 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. dried parsley
Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

  2. Grate or spiralize potatoes with skin left on.

  3. Dunk prepped potatoes in cold water, drain, and pat dry on a dish cloth.

  4. Line approx 10"x15" rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking sheet. Spread out potatoes on pan.

  5. In bowl, melt butter and stir in olive oil, lime juice, chili powder, salt and garlic powder, parsley. Drizzle over potatoes and toss around with spoon or hands. Spread potatoes back out into even layer.

  6. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes (WITHOUT stirring or flipping), or until browning. If you would like them extra, extra crispy, turn OFF oven and let pan sit in oven for another 10-15 minutes.

Paleo Blackberry Almond Tart (Vegan, Gluten-Free, Lower Carb)

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Fresh blackberries, yum! Nothing says toes-in-grass summer dessert more than a berry tart and that’s what I did with a recent windfall of plump, juicy blackberries!

My Paleo Blackberry Almond Tart is also gluten-free, vegan-friendly, made lower carb with some sweetener swaps. It’s a healthy berry dessert recipe that fits with so many dietary eating patterns!

Blackberries are rich in antioxidants, fiber, and a variety of other health promoting nutrients. If this, plus their sweet taste, isn’t enough motivation to eat them, check out the blackberry macros: just 6.1g of carbs 0.7g of fat, and 61.9 calories (plus, surprise – 2g protein)!

This is a super simple recipe, and starts with super-fine ground almond flour and coconut flour crust made without dairy, egg, or high calorie sweeteners (instead I used granulated Monk Fruit sweetener to moderate the carbohydrates and make it a (not LOW) but lower carb blackberry tart).

After baking the crust in an 11” Tart Pan, the fresh berries are simple tossed with a little more sugar substitute along with lemon juice and lemon zest. It’s popped back into the oven for 30 minutes until the berries are nearly bursting with juices.

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Or, check out the Pinterest Story on how-to make this paleo blackberry tart with video demonstration.

Best served warm, as is – or with the creamy topping of your choice. I used a non-dairy yogurt mixed with lemon curd.

Each serving of this Paleo Blackberry Tart has 309 calories, 22g fat, 24g net carb (39 total with 15g fiber), and about 7g protein.

Do you have a favorite healthy berry dessert or Paleo blackberry recipe?! Please share – in need inspo for the rest of my fresh blackberries (which, BTW, were about $0.80 per pound where I picked them up!!!! A super deal!)

Also, another perfect blackberry recipe for summer entertaining: Skinny Blackberry Nectarine Margaritas!

Skinny Blackberry Nectarine Margarita and Virgin Smoothie Option

This post contains affiliate links. I earn a small commission on any sales, however price to you remains the same. Proceeds help to offset operating expenses for The Fit Fork — thank you!

5 from 8 votes
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BLACKBERRY ALMOND TART (PALEO, GLUTEN-FREE, VEGAN, LOWER CARB)
Prep Time
10 mins
Cook Time
40 mins
Total Time
50 mins
 

This delicious berry recipe is simple and perfect for summer entertaining!

Course: Dessert
Keyword: blackberry, blueberry, gluten free, paleo, tart
Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 309 kcal
Ingredients
  • 1 ½ cup super fine almond flour
  • ½ cup coconut flour
  • 1/3 cup cup-for-cup sugar substitute like Monk fruit or stevia
  • ¼ tsp baking soda
  • ¼ tsp salt
  • ½ tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup coconut oil melted
  • ½ tsp vanilla extract
  • 4 to 5 cups fresh blackberries
  • ¼ cup cup-for-cup sugar substitute like Monk fruit or Stevia
  • 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
  • 2 ounces toasted almond slivers
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F degrees.
  2. Mix together dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, sugar substitute, baking soda, salt, ground cinnamon. Mix in coconut oil and vanilla. Mixture will be crumbly, use hands to shape into ball.
  3. Set ball into middle of non-stick tart pan (11”) and press down and around with fingers until flattened and going up sides of tart pan. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes until turning golden on top.
  4. While crust baking, in bowl toss together blackberries, sugar substitute, lemon juice and lemon zest.
  5. Remove crust from oven and pour fresh berry mixture over rust. Return to oven and bake for 30 to 35 additional minutes, or until fruit starts to bubble.
  6. Remove at top with toasted almond slivers. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes

Procrastinator’s Guide to an A+ Graduation Party — Fast & Cheap

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What a school year it has been! Whether college, high school or even just kindergarten, celebrate your special 2021 graduate with a hearty congratulations, keepsake mementoes and a really fun graduation party – whether virtual or in-person!  

Don’t let the fact that graduation 2021 is sneaking up on us limit your party planning. Check out my Procrastinator’s Guide to an A+ Graduation Party and get going!

Procrastinator’s Guide to an A+ Graduation Party – Fast & Cheap

Get Quick Customized Gradation Announcements & Party Invitations: Let the world know that you are celebrating the accomplishments of your scholar with a custom graduation invite – not those generic, cookie-cutter ones through school ordering.  I always head over to BasicInvite.com where, I can better show off my personal style while quickly creating high-quality but inexpensive cards using their trendy to traditional templates. Simply tweak the text, color and layout as needed, and upload cherished photographs of your own. The whole process takes minutes, no more than 7 days to ship, and nothing puts a personalized touch to a 2021 graduation announcement more than a photo of your own graduating Senior smiling ear-to-ear.  

As a perfectionist regarding quality and content (yet also someone prone to typos), I really appreciate how Basic Invite allows me to order a printed sample of my actual invitation before placing the final order – I can ensure everything is spot-on perfect before ordering the hundreds I need to share with my world. 

Promo Alert: BasicInvite.com is offering 15% off graduation invitations (really popular right now is the nurse graduation announcement – go future nurses!), party invitations, thank you cards and most all products with coupon code 15FF51 

Give Yourself Permission to Use Non-Professional Photos: This is a huge graduation party hack that will save you so much time, money and stress. Instead of forking over a small fortune in sitting fees and then still having to order the photos and digital rights, just simply snap your own! With the camera quality of the latest cell phones these days, you don’t even need a fancy DSRL camera and studio set up. Plus you have senior photo access instantly when making cheap graduation announcements and other keepsake memorabilia.

Serve Food Graduates Really Want: The great news is that most graduating seniors and their young adult and teenage guests don’t want fussy, gourmet food. They just want good eats, like the meals they enjoy on the weekends with their friends when socializing. For graduation party food themes, think pizza, sub sandwiches, tacos or a burger bar that can provide additional options that satisfy a variety of diet types (like plant-based or gluten-free). All of these simple graduation food ideas can be pulled together quickly by ordering out or even pulling it all yourself with simple hacks like you can find in my past post on Burger Bar Tips & Tricks. Also, I think it’s fun to serve non-alcoholic mocktails, the kids feel grown up and I know everyone is safe. Since my son is heading to Texas Tech University this fall, I created this virgin Michelada – aka, Red Raiderade!

Do-It-Yourself DJ: No need for a live band DJ . . . or boring parent “elevator music.”  Put your graduate to the task of putting together his or her own playlist for the graduation party Your son or daughter likely already has a huge collection of music enjoyed by their peer group – just ask for them to use the “clean” lyric versions to be friendly for all age-groups and temperaments. Blast it from the home entertainment center, a portable pull-around speaker by the pool or in your Zoom session, whever you are!  

Zoom Everyone Together: For those who can’t make it to the party due living far away or the need to still remain social distanced, can still attend the party via Zoom, Google Hangouts or other virtual meeting services. Use the chatroom functions to break out in to smaller conversations, or play big party games! You can even use a far-away guest to make a special speech via one of these meeting services, and play it on the big screen.

Sentimental Slide Show: Search through your digital photos and pull photos from your graduate’s life, from birth to current day – choose a selection of snapshots that are sentimental, milestone-marking, silly and maybe even a little embarrassing. Use Windows Movie Maker or even a phone app to upload photos, make transitions, add text and music. This is always the most popular graduation party entertainment around – grandparents “ooh and ahh,” parents tear up, and the teenage guests always get a good chuckle with the “vintage” photos. Success Tip: include as many photos as you can with your graduate and guests you know are coming to the party.

In-A-Flash Party Favors: Graduation party favors are a thoughtful way to let guests know you appreciate their stopping by to share in the graduate’s big day and accomplishments. There is no need to spend hours or big bucks on these takeaway trinkets, I prefer to make it a little treat they can immediately enjoy. In the past, I’ve done tiny mortar boards made out of a mini peanut butter cup with a cardstock square and tassel on top or “Commence-Mints” (above) made with mints and a simple printout made at home.  

Thank You Cards: To many teens, the “thank you” requirement for a graduation gift or money might must mean saying, “Dude, thanks,” or sending out sentiments of appreciation via text or email. Take your son or daughter’s etiquette to the next level by ordering custom thank you card for them to personally write out and hand or snail-mail deliver their appreciation to the gift-giver. They may even want to drop a note of thanks to special teachers, mentors, coaches or individuals who wrote letters of recommendation for their college applications.  Again, I order mine from Basic Invite because they are quick, high-quality and customizable. (Don’t forget to use their 15% off Promo Code: 15FF51)

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by BasicInvite.com, however all opinions, comments, and enthusiasm remain my own.

Pan-seared Lingcod with Creamy Burst Tomato Sauce

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Winner, winner easy fish dinner! Pan-seared Lingcod with Creamy Burst Tomato Sauce is brilliantly delicious, so easy to make, low-carb on its own, but a family favorite with that creamy sauce sliding over into rice, potatoes or noodles. I’ve noticed that even the non-fish fans in my family are licking the plate!

Pan seared lingcod with creamy burst tomato sauce recipe

This easy fish recipe takes less than 30 minutes to make and is perfect for quick, weeknight meals – but also snazzy enough to serve on a special occasion.

Ingredients for Lingcod with creamy burst tomato sauce

 I used mild, white lingcod from Sitka Salmon Shares for this skillet fish recipe  (it reminds me a lot of halibut). This fisherman’s co-op reels in the BEST wild Alaskan seafood (salmon, cod, sablefish, king crab, and more) and ships it straight to your door, it’s been my go-to fish source now for two years. Visit them at sitkasalmonshares.com and use my code FITFORK to save $25 on a premium share!

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Other firm white fish will work too like halibut, cod, pollock, haddock, and such. It’s really up to your preference.  Pan sauté skinless filets that have been seasoned simply with salt and pepper. After just cooked through, remove from skillet temporarily while making the sauce.

The sauce is fresh and simple. In the same unwashed skillet that the fish was cooked in, add whole grapes and sauté until they start to pop. Then finish bursting tomatoes with a fork – piercing the skin to let the juices out and then mashing down before, pouring in a little veggie stock to deglaze the pan. Season this sauce for the lingcod fish recipe with garlic, Italian seasoning and a little paprika – then stir in some heavy cream to give this sauce that rich and luxurious mouthfeel.

Gently add back in the cooked fish, spoon sauce over top of filets to coat and sprinkle with chopped fresh basil.

Also, check out another healthy lingcod recipe of mine using wild Alaskan fish from Sitka Salmon Shares: Paleo Coconut Fish Sticks with Spicy Peach Dipping Sauce.

Paleo Coconut Fish Sticks with Spicy Peach Sauce – Paleo, Gluten-free
Sitka Salmon Shares: Save $25 on most shares with code: FitFork

This post contains affiliate links, I earn a commission from sales generated. Earnings help offset operating expenses for The Fit Fork – thank you!

5 from 6 votes
Pan seared lingcod with creamy burst tomato sauce recipe
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Pan-seared Lingcod with Creamy Burst Tomato Sauce
Prep Time
8 mins
Cook Time
12 mins
Total Time
20 mins
 
Servings: 4 servings
Calories: 307 kcal
Ingredients
  • 16 ounces skinless lingcod filet or other firm white fish like halibut, cod, etc.
  • 1 tsp. salt divided
  • 1 tsp. black pepper divided
  • 1 tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 pint cherry or grape tomatoes
  • ½ cup vegetable stock
  • 6 oz. heavy cream
  • 1 tsp. Italian seasoning
  • ½ tsp. garlic powder
  • ½ tsp. ground paprika
  • 2 tbsp. shredded fresh basil
Instructions
  1. Cut fish into 4 portions, season with ½ tsp each salt/pepper.
  2. Add oil to skillet over med-high and sear fish for 3 to 4 min each side; remove to plate.
  3. In same skillet at grape tomatoes, heat in pan over med-hi for several minutes until softened. Then use fork to pierce tomatoes and them mash lightly.
  4. Add vegetable stock and simmer for 2 min longer.
  5. Add Italian seasoning, garlic powder, paprika and remaining salt/pepper along with cream. Stir until combined and heated, a couple minutes.
  6. Gently place fish into sauce, garnish with basil. Serve with noodles, zoodles or rice.
Recipe Notes

Watermelon Benefits for Athletes + Easy Pre- and Post-Workout Recipes

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This post is sponsored by Watermelon.org. However, all opinions, content, comments and extreme watermelon enthusiasm remain my own.

Watermelon is a wonderful food for runners, athletes and every BODY with an active lifestyle, plain and simple! Over the years, I’ve shared so many healthy benefits of watermelon and creative ways to use watermelon in recipes AND workouts!

As we burst into spring and soon enough into summer, and fill our hours with more outdoor activities and recreation, I just wanted to touch on the fitness-focused nutritional benefits of watermelon.  These include 1) hydration, 2) natural energy, 3) workout recovery, 4) important vitamins and antioxidants

watermelon puree

HYDRATION: Watermelon is a fruit you can eat and DRINK! You can actually drink watermelon by making watermelon juice, but eating it is a drink in itself – watermelon is 92% water. For example, 16 ounces of watermelon hydrates your body with about 14 ¾ ounces of water! I think that’s why it tastes extra refreshing after a summer run or day working in the yard. There are many other ways to “drink” your watermelon, these are some of my favorites:

Watermelon Electrolyte Ice Cubes: Watermelon juice and lime juice mixed with Himalayan sea salt, baking soda and maple syrup, frozen and meant to be melted straight in the mouth or dissolved in water. A great way to prevent cramping in high sweat-output athletes.

Watermelon Coconut Cream Soda: Cure your cravings for bubbly without drinking sugary, chemical-laden soda with this easy-to-make fountain-style drink made with watermelon juice, coconut cream, sparkling water and stevia.

NATURAL ENERGY: Watermelon is also a source of natural sugars to fuel your adventures. Most runners go further and farther fueled with carbohydrates! Some mistakenly avoid watermelon thinking it is too high in sugar, but really, it’s quite reasonable and most everyone can eat it as part of a balanced diet. To understand this more, you need to realize that the watermelon Glycemic Load (GL) is actually low at 2 for 100grams of watermelon . . . even though the Glycemic Index (GI)  which everyone seems to get stuck on is considered higher at 72 on a 100 scale (BTW, GI isn’t everything, calories vitamins and other nutrients are important too – not JUST the GI number and that’s why you need to consider the GL number too). In fact, many nutritionists feel Glycemic Load (GL) gives a more realistic value of how different foods affect blood sugar than GI because it also takes into consideration the amount of carbohydrate in the food, not just how quickly it turns to glycogen. For reference, foods with a low GI level (under 10 considered low, over 20 considered high), are less likely to raise your blood sugar levels.

WORKOUT RECOVERY: Not only does watermelon replenish your body’s glycogen stores after running and rehydrates with fluids, but it also contains L-Citrulline. Exciting new areas of study suggest that L-citrulline (286- 1266 mg per 2 cup serving) in watermelon may help to support vascular health and help maintain healthy blood flow. With respect to athletic benefits, the optimized blood flow created by l-citrulline may help performance and accelerate recovery. Here are a few post workout watermelon beverages I like to enjoy after a run or workout.

Watermelon Beet Workout Recovery Smoothie: A satiating treat after a hard workout – a protein boost for muscles from cottage cheese and the l-citrulline helps lessen next-day soreness.

Hot Spiced Watermelon Lemonade with Collagen:  In cooler weather, I can be chilled to the bone – especially once I stop running. This hot drink is a watermelon workout recovery treat that warms me up, provides all the benefits of watermelon but also with some collagen for joint and muscle management,  plus turmeric for anti-inflammatory relief.

jennifer fisher thefitfork watermelon lake austin

LYCOPENE & OTHER IMPORTANT NUTRIENTS: Lycopene is a carotenoid in watermelon that makes the hue so beautifully red. In fact, watermelon is the “lycopene leader,” containing higher levels of lycopene than any other fresh fruit or vegetable (12.7 mg per 2-cup serving) – even tomatoes that get a lot of attention. Researchers linking lycopene to benefits in positive cardiovascular health. Also, great news for outdoor lovers! While not a substitution for sunscreen, lycopene in watermelon is an antioxidant that is being studied for its role in sun protection when eaten.  A 2-cup serving of watermelon is also a good source of vitamin C (21% RDI) and Vitamin A (18% RDI) and also some b-vitamins, magnesium and potassium.

Here are a couple of my favorite watermelon and tomato recipes, for a double-dose of lycopene and so many vitamins! 

Watermelon Veggie Reviver Drink: watermelon, tomato juice, cucumber and a bit of lime and cayenne pepper blended smooth into a tonic that does the body GOOD!

Watermelon, Tomato & Jicama Salad with Tajin Dressing: enjoy the double-punch of lycopene in tomatoes and watermelon (and crunchy jicama) paired with a spicy-sweet dressing.

HOW TO EAT WATERMELON: The easiest way to eat watermelon is to slice it up and enjoy cold! A good watermelon is even delicious room temperature, and some science shows that it could maintain more nutrients that way. One thing to know about watermelon temperature though is that if you buy it cold, it should stay cold. But if it is room temperature, it can last about three weeks from harvesting (so I would say 1 week at home, before cut open, just to be safe).

watermelon wedge salad thefitfork.com

I also think watermelon is amazing with simple seasonings (check out these 4 Ways to Season Watermelon that will Blow Your Mind) or even grilled. Also, another way I add watermelon to my day is just to use as an ingredient in salads (like this quinoa watermelon salad) or no-recipes “throw everything together” watermelon salads (see above) with whatever I have on hand! Today it was watermelon, oranges, avocado, spinach, kale, Marcona almonds, coconut, and dandelion flowers (yes, they are edible)!

How are you incorporating watermelon into your active lifestyle?

Take this fun Quiz!