Reunited And It Feels So Good!

Hey! How is everyone this Cyber Monday? I guess we are officially into the holiday season. Did anyone participate in some online shopping today? The sales seem pretty good and I don't know about you, but I don't think you can go wrong shopping from the comfort of your own home!

I was inspired by this large container of tomatoes that I bought this weekend. I started searching out recipes that used tomatoes and was immediately taken by a recipe from the kitchen of thefrontburnerblog.com. She made a healthy tomato pie recipe that looked FAB! So I based my recipe on hers, only I ended up making a few changes to use what I had on hand. Now before I go any further, I want to tell you that I planned to get two dinners out of the "rice crust"(you will see in a minute what I am talking about)so you will have to check back tomorrow for the second recipe using the left overs from the tomato pie recipe. OK, so I was very pleased with how this recipe came out. If you do not have goat cheese, this would be great with Mozzarella cheese too! I may try it with Mozzarella next time.

What you need:
about 6 small tomatoes or 3 large
1/4 cup of marinara sauce
1 cup uncooked brown jasmine or brown rice
1 whole egg
2 tablespoons - You may want to use a tad more - Parmesan cheese - divided - you will use 1 tablespoon for the crust and the other tablespoon is for the pie mixture
1 red onion finely chopped
2 garlic cloves - minced
dried basil
Sea salt and pepper
1 & 1/2 tablespoon goat cheese -- or replace this with mozzarella cheese

Lay your sliced tomato out on a paper towel to allow the excess water to soak up.

You will want to cook your rice and let it cool just a bit.

Add in a small 2 or so pinches of basil and 1 tablespoon of Parmesan cheese and 1/4 cup marinara ( Put the rest of your jar of marinara sauce in the fridge - we will use this for the next nights dinner so there will be no waste) and mix well.

Next add 1 whole egg and mix together with your hands. Add a dash of salt and pepper. You will need just over one cup for the crust of your tomato pie. So use the rest of your crust mixture to line a separate casserole dish and bake it at the same time that you bake your pie crust for the tomato pie. You are going to use the casserole dish rice crust for the next nights dinner - I will post that tomorrow so this isn't the world's longest blog post! You will bake the pie pan and the casserole dish at 350 for 15 minutes allowing the rice crust to brown up a bit. While this is baking you will slice one red onion and two garlic cloves. Heat a small dash of extra virgin olive oil in a saute pan and saute your onion and garlic allowing them to brown up and soften a bit.

Once the 15 minutes is up pull out your pie dish and your casserole dish. The rice should be solid and browned up a bit. Let the casserole dish cool and cover with foil and put in the fridge for tomorrow night. Now we will put our tomato pie together. Put your sauteed onions/garlic on top of the rice crust. Then you will place your sliced tomatoes on top layering them so that it covers the crust.

Spray the top with a bit of olive oil spray. I just used my Misto to give it a quick spritz. Sprinkle a little salt on top and a dash of dried basil covering the tomatoes. Next you will sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and goat cheese (or mozzarella if you prefer). Bake at 350 for 40 minutes and serve! This smells so good while it's baking. It will make you want to enjoy a glass of wine :-}

The smells are fantastic! My kids even enjoyed this and ate it along side the chicken tenders I made.

Tomorrow night I will post the recipe using up the second rice crust and the marinara sauce so that you can see how to get two dinners out of this and not waste anything. So be sure to check back tomorrow for part II.

As for being reunited with a long lost love of mine...well that might be a little dramatic, but I have re-discovered a wonderful snack/cereal....Kashi Go Lean cereal. Have you tried this before? This cereal is sooo good! I love it! I eat mine with unsweetened vanilla almond milk and find it to be very satisfying and filling. If you haven't tried this I highly recommend it. This cereal is not only great for breakfast, but at night when I am craving something crunchy or good I will eat a bowl of this and it really keeps me satisfied!



I hope that everyone is off to a great week. I will be back tomorrow - hope you will too!

Totally Over The Turkey

Hello! How has your holiday weekend been so far? I hope everyone is having a great weekend. I have been in recovery mode and trying to drink a lot of water today. Boy, that sodium really hits you when you are not used to eating it. I wanted to go for a jog this afternoon, but I have yet to make it out the door. I may end up on the elliptical machine because we have some high winds today and it is f-r-eee-zing! I guess I am being a bit of a wimp..lol! I spent some time yesterday updating my ipod with some new songs; I find it always inspires me to move more when I have some new and good music to listen to while I walk/jog!

What I really wanted to talk to you about was the clementine! That cute little miniature looking orange fruit. I just love them and they are back in season. They are only 35 calories each and pack a mighty little punch, not to mention vitamin C. I love to grab a few and snack on them in the afternoon or in the evening after dinner. Really a great snack! So if you see them at the grocery store give them a try. They are really good!

I hope that you are all doing good and haven't overdosed on leftover turkey! I am so glad the rest of our leftovers are finished! OK, I will be back soon with some recipes. Enjoy the rest of your weekend :-)

Black Friday: The Official Start of Christmas Season!

Hello! How did everyone make out yesterday? I hope that everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. One of my traditions is to start Thanksgiving morning with a newspaper so that I can look through all of the Black Friday ads while I drink coffee with my Sister and Mom. Now, we don't look through these ads because we will participate in the Black Friday shopping, ummm, no thank-you! We wouldn't consider that and nothing about that sounds fun to me, but we do love looking at all of the sales and of course we have to discuss everything!

I thought I would give you a quick recap of some of the favs from yesterday. Oh there was a beautiful big turkey

My Sister made an 8 layer mac & cheese...straight into heaven's gate with a bite of this

My Grandma Dee's Sweet Potato Casserole(one of my favorites!)
This is her holiday salad... now this is my kind of salad cool whip included...


I like to call these three dishes the trinity of Thanksgiving :-} The mashed potatoes, stuffing, and green bean casserole. Let's face it these are standard for T-day dinner!





Some of my favorite desserts included this ah.maz.ing pumpkin cheesecake and old fashioned banana pudding


What are you favorites? You know the dishes you dream about!

In honor of black Friday, I thought it would be fun to give you the "Cooking Enthusiasts Christmas Wish list guide". A few gift ideas for the ultimate foodie! Oh, and these are all available online (Amazon has everything listed) so no need to go through the brutality of waiting in those long lines and fist fighting your neighbor trying to grab the last one on the shelf.

French rolling pin







microplane

Giada's hand held strainer


So what's on your Christmas list this year? I hope you all enjoy your day today. I am getting ready to put up the Christmas decorations. See you soon!

One More Day To Go!

One more day until Turkey day! I am sure everyone is busy today getting ready for tomorrow. What are you thankful for? I have many things I am thankful for this year! I am thankful for Jesus, my health, my family, good food, good wine and of course you-my readers :-)

I want to wish each one of you and your families a very Happy Thanksgiving!

Quinoa...or....Keen-Wa!

Hello my foodie friends! How's it going? We are only 2 days away from Thanksgiving! Is everyone ready? I have a philosophy about eating on the holidays and that is to just relax and enjoy the day. I eat the pie and mashed potato's and gravy and I just enjoy! My thoughts are all about healthy balance. If you are eating healthy and exercising the majority of the time, the one day will not hurt you. I always think 80/20! It's what you do the majority of time. Being consistent and balanced is key! OK, just my two cents on the issue :-}

I came across a Quinoa recipe here and it reminded me of a recipe that I used to frequently make. I thought to myself, "why did you stop making the recipe?" I used to eat this about 1-2 tx a week. So I decided to make my old faithful side dish and was so glad I brought it back. I will have to bring this back into rotation for awhile. First, let me tell you about the health benefits of Quinoa. (Oh, actually if you have never heard of this grain it is pronounced Keen-wa, but no worries if you mis-pronounce it, its all good) Quinoa is the highest in protein of all grains! So this could actually stand in as your protein if you wanted a nice meatless lunch or dinner. Quinoa provides necessary essential amino acids,is gluten free,and easy to digest! I am able to find this at most grocery stores with the other grains and of course Trader Joe's carries this also! So enough of that talk, lets get to the recipe!

What you need:
1 onion - cut into slices
1 8 oz. package of Bella mushrooms - washed & sliced
2 cups of organic chicken broth
1 cup of Quinoa
2 cloves of garlic
Sea salt for flavor
Dash of extra virgin olive oil

Place one cup of Quinoa and 2 cups of chicken broth to a pan and heat to a boil. Once it boils cover and simmer for 15 minutes. Then you will cut your onion, mushrooms and garlic. Place a dash (about 1/2 tsp or so) of extra virgin olive oil in a saute pan and heat on medium. Add in your onion and cook for about 1-2 minutes and add in the mushrooms. You will let this cook for a total of about 15-20 minutes allowing all of the flavors to come together and to caramelize. You will want to give this a stir about every 3 minutes or so allowing it to cook evenly. Right at about 10minutes toss in the garlic so that the garlic and cook for the last 5 minutes or so.




This is what your Quinoa will look like after it is done cooking!



Put your Quinoa and onion/mushroom/garlic into a large bowl and mix together. Add a dash of sea salt and a sprinkling of Parmesan cheese to the top and mix. Serve and enjoy!

Chili & Sun Dried Tomato Corn Muffins!

Good Evening! How has your weekend been? I hope you were able to do everything you wanted this weekend. I made some good progress and was able to get all of my shopping done, including getting the turkey...YA! It has been cold and rainy here all weekend - I love it! It has really put me in the mood for the Holidays. I knew today would be hectic and I didn't want to have to think too much about dinner tonight so I decided it would be a perfect day for crock pot chili. This recipe can be made in a regular pot if you do not own or use a crock pot, but I love being able to start this in the morning and know dinner will be ready and waiting for us. I made this particular batch of chili really spicy, but all you need to do to make it less spicy (if you are not a spice person) is to use the seasoning packet that is mild or regular. I use the HOT! I love spicy food and of course I love my chili to be hot! I paired this with a sun dried tomato corn muffin. I got the recipe from Giada off of food network. These are tasty! I ended up popping it on top of the chili and decided it was a good pair. I personally like a little sour cream in my chili, but you can top your chili with whatever you want. Red onion, shredded cheese, sour cream...these are all very good and suitable toppings depending on your preferences. Oh and in case you are wondering why in the world I would use a seasoning pack instead of just seasonings, well it's quick and convenient and I love the flavor it gives.

Chili -
1 can of black beans
2 cans of chili beans
1 can of pinto beans - drained
1 can of kidney beans - drained
1 small can of tomato sauce
1 can of diced tomatoes
1 packet of McCormick's chili seasoning - Regular, Mild, or Hot
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. cumin
1 lb. of organic beef or you can use lean ground turkey
3-4 cloves of garlic - chopped and minced
1 onion - diced

Add all of the ingredients - except for the meat, the onion, and the garlic- into the crock pot and turn to low. Add a little bit of extra virgin olive oil in a pan and turn the heat on to medium. Add in your diced onion and let saute a minute or two and add your meat. Allow the meat to cook for a bit and start to brown and add in the garlic. Just be sure to stir often so that your garlic doesn't burn. Allow your meat to brown and cook for about 10-12 minutes or so. You just want the meat to cook through. Pour that into the crock pot and stir. Keep it set on low and leave it to do its thing! You can turn it on high for an hour or two before you are ready to eat, but this is not necessary.





For the sun dried tomato corn muffin - recipe from Giada
2 boxes of Jiffy Corn muffin mix
2 cups of corn (1 can)
3 cloves of garlic
2/3 cup diced sun-dried tomatoes (from an 8-ounce jar)
2/3 cup buttermilk
2/3 cup of low fat sour cream
2 eggs

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease 2 muffin tins. ( or you can use the muffin liners if you prefer but they do tend to stick a little to the paper)In a large bowl combine the muffin mix, corn, garlic, and sun-dried tomatoes. Stir to combine. In a small bowl whisk together the buttermilk, sour cream, and eggs until well blended. Add the buttermilk mixture to the muffin mix. Stir to combine. Spoon the mix into the muffin tins, filling up the cups about halfway. Bake until golden brown on top, about 15 minutes.

More Left Over Pumpkin Ideas & A Quick Dinner Idea!

Hello my foodie friends! How has your Saturday been? I hope fantastic and productive. I have gotten a lot done today and for that I am grateful! I can't believe how packed the stores were today. I guess everyone decided to shop early for Thanksgiving day rather than waiting until the day before.

I saw a recipe for Sweet Potato Biscuits here. I have been thinking about this recipe every since. So this evening I made a quick batch only I tweaked the recipe a bit to use up the left over opened pumpkin. I made some changes and they turned out good. I love that these are like a biscuit. I think these would be delicious with sweet potato so I am gonna hang on to this recipe and try it again with the sweet potato rather than the pumpkin. I had a little bit of pumpkin butter on mine and so did the kids and it was really tasty! You could even put jelly on these for a nice little morning treat! These were mixed up and baked in about 20 minutes and I came out with about 12 biscuits.

So here is the low down:
1/2 cup almond milk * I used the unsweetened vanilla at only 40 calories a cup. You could use regular milk here too
1 cup pumpkin
1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour * I used whole wheat pastry flour
3 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 t salt
3 packets of stevia * these biscuits are not too sweet so if you prefer sweeter biscuits you may want to add 1-2 more packets
1 tablespoon of butter

Preheat oven to 375. In a bowl add flour, salt, baking powder (make sure this is aluminum free baking powder- I feel this is a healthier option) stevia and mix well. Add the butter in small little bits to the flour mixture and crumble together with your fingers working the butter into the flour mixture. Next add the pumpkin and milk and stir together. I covered the counter with saran wrap and poured the flour mixture onto the counter. Roll the mixture out and cut your biscuits out with a biscuit cutter (or a glass will work beautiful too). The thicker the easier it is to work with. If you need to, cut your first round of biscuits out and pull all the bits back together again and re-press it down and cut again. This will allow you to get more out of your mixture. Bake for 10 - 11 minutes (mine took 11 minutes) until the biscuits are golden and ready! These would be great with butter, honey, jam, apple butter or pumpkin butter as I prefer! Quick and tasty!

I also wanted to share with you what I made for dinner. I rarely have a night where I can just cook something up for myself, but tonight I had that chance. My husband was having dinner with the fellas (they are watching UFC tonight) the kids had already eaten earlier. By the time I got home from shopping I was really hungry. I popped a regular Naan (from Trader Joe's found in the freezer section right by the garlic Naan)out of the freezer and began to build. Next spread on some enchilada sauce and top with refried black beans (or regular refried beans - but I love the refried spicy black beans)tomatoes and red bell pepper and a light coating of shredded cheese. The great thing is that a little shredded cheese goes such a long way! Bake at 400 for about 8-10 minutes. Top with low fat sour cream and a few dashes of hot sauce! This rings Taco Bells bell! It reminds me of their Mexican Pizza only healthier and far better for you!