zucchini, tomato, pine nut pasta

First, cook some grape tomatoes (or cherry tomatoes) sliced in half with slices of zucchini (~1 cup of each) in 1tbsp. olive oil over medium heat.  Add some salt and pepper.  Also, add in 1 clove garlic cut in half. Cook until they are done to your liking; I left them on ~10minutes with occassional stirring.  Remove garlic pieces.  The garlic was just added for flavor, but if you like lots of garlic then add some chopped garlic with the tomatoes and zucchini!  This dish is really about using some veggies that you have on hand and that go together.  Also, the amount of each ingredient is not so important.

After the tomatoes and zucchini were done, I threw in about 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil and 1/2 cup pine nuts. 

Then, I tossed these veggies with ~4 cups whole wheat pasta and added another 1-2tbsp. olive oil.  You get the most benefits from olive oil when you do not cook it.

Top with some parmesan cheese.  Delicious, easy meal!



blueberry muffins and apple crisp

Both recipes are from Betty Crocker but with some alterations.

Blueberry muffins (made less sweet)

1 egg
1 cup milk
1/4 melted butter
2 cups flour (whole wheat flour works)
1/4 cup sugar
3 tsp. baking powder
1tsp. salt
1 cup well drained fresh blueberries

stir together wet ingredients.  add mixed dry ingredients and blueberries and blend just until all ingredients are mixed.  It's key to not over-mix muffin batter.  It should be lumpy.  Spoon into 12 greased muffin cups and bake at 400 degrees for ~20 minutes.

Apple Crisp - my favorite dessert (with vanilla ice cream, of course)!

4 cups sliced Granny Smith apples tossed in the juice of 1 lemon or 1/2 orange (I don't peel them because the skin has lots of nutrients)
2/3 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup flour (white whole wheat flour works)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. nutmeg
1/3 cup soft butter
pinch of salt (1/8 tsp.)

Put the citrus coated apples in a greased 8x8x2" pan.  Remember that granny smith apples are best as they are tart, giving you a delicious sweet-tart crisp.  Mix together the other ingredients until crumbly.  I do this with a fork first to break up the butter, but then switch over to my hands to break up the butter even more.  Pour over the apples.

 Bake at 375 degrees for 30-35 minutes until apples are tender and crust is golden brown.

Serve with vanilla ice cream.  Dessert does not get any better than this!  mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

10 worst cereals

These are the worst cereals, least nutritious, according to Dr. Mercola.

"According to Cereal FACTS (Food Advertising to Children and Teens Score), which was developed based on the best available science, in consultation with a steering committee of experts in nutrition, marketing, and public health, the 10 worst breakfast cereals based on nutrition score are:

1. Kellogg - Corn Pops (or Pops) - Chocolate Peanut Butter
2. Quaker - Cap'n Crunch - w/ Crunchberries
3. Kellogg - Special K - Chocolatey Delight
4. Kellogg - Special K - Blueberry
5. General Mills - Reese's Puffs
6. General Mills - Fiber One - Caramel Delight
7. Kellogg - Cocoa Krispies - Choconilla
8. General Mills - Golden Grahams
9. General Mills - Cinnamon Toast Crunch
10. Kellogg - Corn Pops"

Instead of eating these sweetened, preserved and colored cereals, try eating an all natural cereal, such as Barbara's cereal, or at least one lower in sugar!  Or, go for eggs and toast, yogurt (be careful...many yogurts are loaded with sugar) and granola, or a fruit/veggie smoothie (sugar in fruit is not the same as that added to cereal...however, you don't want to overdo it on fruit).  It's best to get a little protein with breakfast as it will fill you up longer.  I find it hard to include veggies (think omelettes) in breakfast, but that is best too!  You can also see the end of this article on cereals for other healthy breakfast options.  We have yet to make cereal an occasional breakfast, but I hope to be able to try and continue eating some new, healthy options soon.

beef n' potato burritos

Wash and slice one large russet potato into small chunks.  Brown in 1-2tbsp. oil (I used coconut oil) for ~10 minutes with stirring every 2 minutes.  Salt and pepper during cooking.  Place in separate bowl.

In same pan, add 1/2 medium onion sliced and sautee 1-2 minutes until they begin to sweat.  Next, add 1 lb. ground beef and cook until no longer pink.  Next, add 1 clove garlic minced, 1/2 tsp. ground cumin, salt and pepper to taste, 1/2 tsp. red pepper flakes, and 4-5 small peeled tomatoes (to remove the skin you can either blanch the tomatoes or pull tomatoes out of the freezer, sit them in warm water for a minute, and the skin pulls right off).  Or, some tomato juice would work too...you just want to add some moisture to your burrito filling.  Mash up and mix in the tomatoes and simmer on low for ~10 minutes. 

Next, add some cheese on top of a tortilla, microwave for 30 seconds to melt the cheese, add the filling and fold up the burrito.  Fold the ends in first, then fold over one side and then the other.  Serve with some greens and you've got a great, simple dinner.

zucchini, tomato, mozzarella .....bake? gratin? casserole?

I made this up and it was yummy!  Thinly slice 4-5 medium sized zucchinis and layer bottom of a 9"x13" glass pan.  Salt and pepper and sprinkle some italian herbs (basil, oregano, thyme) + drizzle with olive oil.

Next, add a layer of of sliced tomatoes.  I used frozen tomatoes that had thawed about half way.  I squeezed some of the liquid out and then added these.  Fresh tomatoes would work fine.  Slice them the same width as the zucchini.

Then, add a layer of sliced fresh mozzarella.

Adding some chopped fresh basil here would be perfect!  But, I didn't have any.  Repeat these layers and seasonings one more time and then top with some browned bread crumbs.  (I previously browned the crumbs from 2 slices of wheat bread in ~2tbsp. butter for 5 minutes.  Put the bread slices in a food processor to make crumbs.)  Also, grate some parmesan on top. 

Bake at 350 degrees for ~40minutes for the zucchini to be very tender.

Serve with some protein and you have a wonderful, easy, and healthy dinner!

And, I had time to bake more pretzels....we LOVE these!  You need to make them!

BAGEL (pretzel) DOGS!!!

I made some more whole wheat pretzel dough...LOVE that recipe!  Again, I added about 1/8 cup less honey so they are not so sweet.  I rolled out the pretzel dough and instead of folding it up, just rolled it around a hot dog and baked for ~20minutes or until the pretzel was done.  I bought some high quality hot dogs from Trader Joes.  These were delicious!

Don't these look good?

holiday desserts

Gingerbread cheesecake

http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/gingerbread-cheesecake?backto=true&backtourl=/photogallery/holiday-desserts#slide_4

Definitely takes 20-30 minutes longer to bake than the recipe calls for.  Delicious, but may be better with less spices in the cream cheese filling.  May be a bit overpowering for some. 

And pistachio biscotti!  yum!

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/tyler-florence/pistachio-biscotti-recipe/index.html

I dipped some in dark chocolate and added cranberries to some.

pretty holiday flowers:)

stuffed pork chops

I followed this recipe for the most part http://www.food.com/recipe/stuffed-pork-chops-55919 and they were yummy!  I used heavy cream for the milk, but next time I would use 1% or 2% milk as it was a bit too rich.  Pictures in this post were taken with a less nice camera, so they are not as neat.  oh well...

After making the stuffing, you will need to make slits in your pork chops for the stuffing.

To do this, slide a small knife in the center of one side of pork chop.  You'll have to hold the chop on either side with your hands, so be careful not to pierce the knife through the sides and slice your hand.  Once you stick the knife in, just work your way around the pork chop to create a good hole for the stuffing to fill.  Here's a good video for cutting the pork chop http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2QbzFjr3Ik.



Next, brown the pork chops on either side for ~3 minutes per side.  The trick is to not touch it while it's browning.  Just flip it once and that's it.  I did not do the breadcrumb crust.

Then, pour the sauce over and bake it.

Serve with a starch and vegetable.  yum!