S'mores Bar

My boyfriend's nieces were in town and are always bored despite a full day of activities.  So I decided to do a camp fire in the back yard and let them roast some hot dogs and make s'mores for dessert. 

I bought whole wheat hot dog buns and of course, we needed some vegetables to make this meal complete!  

I made a quick green bean salad but made some changes, as I wanted to make it kid friendly!  So I took the onions out and added some chopped black olives.

For the s'mores bar I dressed it up a bit to make it fun and special and I added milk chocolate, dark chocolate and cookies and cream chocolate.  Most importantly, remember everything in moderation!

You can make dinner fun & healthy!

Enjoy!

Garden Update 2

Everything is staring to grow!

I cannot wait to share some recipes from these yummy veggies!

Broccoli Pesto

I was going to make pasta with chicken and broccoli and I felt bad about wasting the broccoli stems so this recipe developed from me not wanting to waste and it turned out amazing!

Start by washing your broccoli and cut the florets off  then set them aside

Chop the stems

Add the chopped stems to your food processor and grind.  Once the broccoli is ground there will be more room for the other ingredients.  

I used 4 broccoli stems and about 1/4 cup fresh basil, 1/4 cup pine nuts, 2 Tbsp parmesan cheese 3-4 minced garlic cloves, juice from 1 lemon, and extra virgin olive oil to consistency (about 3 Tbsp)

Blend all ingredients together in the food processor

I then incorporated the pesto into my pasta.  I included whole wheat linguine, chicken, and the broccoli florets

Enjoy!

Baked Parmesan Green Beans

This is an easy one (I promise!!) 

Start by washing your beans and cut off the ends of your green beans

cover cookie sheet with tin foil and place prepared beans on the pan.  Sprinkle with a small amount of olive oil, fresh ground pepper and preheat oven for 350 degrees.

Bake until beans are tender when you stab with a fork.  They shouldn't be crunchy and they shouldn't be mushy.  (this should take around 15 minutes)

Once tender sprinkle with parmesan cheese & serve

Enjoy your veggies!

Whole Wheat Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Sorry for the week hiatus!  I missed you and I missed my kitchen but I'm back and with a great recipe for you!

First you mix:
1lb low fat ricotta cheese
1 egg yolk (save egg white in a separate bowl)
1 & 1/3 cup non fat milk
1/4 cup sugar
zest & juice from 1 lemon

Then mix:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 Tbsp baking powder

1/8 tsp salt

1 Tbsp ground flax seed

Incorporate dry mixture into wet mixture slowly

Wisk the egg white you set aside earlier until foamy/frothy

Then add 1/8 tsp salt and wish until you get soft peaks

Then fold the egg white into the pancake batter (1/2 at a time)

Once fully incorporated, heat a lightly oiled pan on the stove and once warm begin to add the batter to the pan (my pancakes were about 4 inches in diameter)

Once they start to bubble around the edges (like below) they are ready to flip

The second half will cook quicker than the first side.  

Once the other side is browned they are ready to serve

Recipe makes around 14 pancakes

each pancake contains: 120 calories, 3.3 grams total fat, 1.8 grams saturated fat, 24 mg cholesterol, 204 mg sodium, 17 grams total carbohydrate, 1.3 grams fiber, 4.9 grams sugar, and 6.6 grams protein

Veggies for lunches

One of the biggest things I see with my clients is that they eat vegetables but usually it's in the form of a salad and that's it!  Here is a very quick and easy way to pack your veggies for a meal on the go or a healthy quick lunch at home on the weekend.  

These are very easy to prepare and carrots cut into carrot sticks taste SO much better than the pre-made carrot sticks and they're cheaper!

First wash your veggies

peel the carrots and cut the ends off your radishes

Cut your carrots in half

Then cut each half in half again length wise

You may need to cut the fatter portion of the carrots in quarters which you see here

Then cut the radishes in half and then into quarters as well

Enjoy your healthy snacks & get your veggies in!!

Whole Grain Pizza Dough

I came up with this one night when I literally had nothing for dinner and both my boyfriend and I had been working really late!  I was amazed how easy and quick it was so I hope you are too!!

Mix:

1 cup all purpose flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

2/3 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil (I used olive oil)

Knead for about 2 minutes 

Then  roll dough thin (I used a rolling pin)

I have a pizza stone but you don't need one!  You can use a cookie sheet too.  spread a generous amount of cornmeal on either the pizza stone or the cookie sheet

spread a small amount of olive oil over the pizza dough and then add toppings.  

I didn't even have tomato sauce so I made a white pizza with mozzarella cheese, black olives, broccoli and a few minced garlic cloves

I couldn't preheat my oven because when you use a pizza stone your stone needs to heat up with your oven so once my pizza was ready I put it in the oven and set it for 425 degrees F and the pizza was cooking for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Homemade Whole Grain Sandwich Bread

Just by reading the title this sounds difficult, time consuming and pointless! 

But 

This bread is so good and you know what you and your family are eating and surprise! it's very easy to make and not time consuming at all!!

Combine:

3 cups bread flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tbsp ground flax seed
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp honey
1 tbsp brown sugar
2 tsp yeast
1 & 1/4 cup luke warm non fat milk

Knead for 5 minutes in mixer (10 minutes by hand) and allow dough to rise in oiled bowl for 1 hr.

shape and place in a 9"x5" loaf pan and allow to sit and rise for another hr.

then bake for 35-40 minutes at 350 degrees F

When ready, remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing.  As you can tell, it doesn't matter what your bread looks like on the outside (it's difficult to shape!) the bread still slices for sandwiches just fine!

One loaf usually lasts me about 1 week for the two of us so make more if needed or make a few a freeze them for the month

Enjoy!

Cinnamon Latte Cupcakes

This is my attempt to make a healthier version of a cupcake and they turned out pretty good!  I had 3 taste testers who don't eat healthy at all! and they all loved them!  They are definitely not a healthy food by any means, but they are a healthier alternative to cupcakes.

Start with preheating your oven to 375 degrees F.


Then cream together:

1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup vegetable oil (i used olive oil)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar

Add 1 egg and beat well.

Mix together in a separate bowl:

1 & 1/3 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp of cinnamon

In another bowl combine 1/2 cup low fat milk and 2 tsp of vanilla extract

Alternately add the dry and wet mixtures to the creamed butter, oil, sugar, and egg mixture until everything has been added.  

Lastly, add 1/2 cup hot coffee and mix until well incorporated.

I have silicone cupcake liners so I sprayed them with a nonstick spray and lived them up on a cookie sheet.  If you have paper liners you will need to use a cupcake/muffin pan.

Then fill each liner almost to the top

Bake for 18-20 minutes & until when poked with a toothpick the toothpick comes out clean, then

allow to cool 

Once cooled and at room temperature they are ready to frost.

I made a vanilla cinnamon frosting

First mix:
1/2 cup butter (melted)
3 cups confectioners sugar
1 tsp cinnamon

Then mix in:

1/4 cup non fat milk
2 tsp vanilla

Add up to 5 cups of sugar, as needed to get mixture to a good frosting consistency 

Even the dog wanted some...maybe doggy cupcakes are next!