Margherita Pizza

It has been awhile since my last post, my apologies for that. It isn't that I haven't been cooking-I have. However finding the time to sit and do a small write up or remembering to take pictures has been a struggle. I refuse to write up something I made without pictures. People do not read food blogs to hear how good something looks or tastes..they want to see it!
I am also having some health issues where I am trying to adjust my diet and cut certain things out so that has also been a challenge.

So with that said I have some pictures of my version of margherita pizza. I have never made it before but its pretty simple mixture of basil, tomato, and mozzarella cheese.

The whole reason I made this pizza is because a couple of weeks ago we got a TON of the most delish fresh organic basil in our CSA. The aroma of it was simply amazing. I knew I had to use it and use it fast!

I used the basic pizza dough recipe I have mentioned in an earlier blog, again if you don't have time to make the dough grab a pre-made crust from the store. Roll that out to the desired shape/size. I made sure to get my crust as thin as possible in hopes it would be a tad crunchy after baking.

I grabbed a ball of mozzarella from the grocery store, drained it and sliced it into nice thick slices. You can cut it however you would like.

I cut a large beefsteak tomato into thick slices as well. Normally people will use roma tomatoes or plum tomatoes but this is what I had in the house so its what I used. In addition to the large slices of tomato I took a 1/4 of a tomato and diced it up.

For the basil I simply washed it, dried it, and removed the stems. I took a few basil leaves and minced them.
I had fresh garlic from our CSA so I minced up on clove of that as well.


In a small fry pan I placed the diced tomato, chopped basil, garlic, and a bit of extra virgin olive oil. I warmed it over low heat for about 20 minutes. It was long enough for the tomatoes to soften and for all of the ingredients to blend together nicely. It looked like a chunky sauce but not a lot of it.


I took that sauce and spread it on the pizza dough. Again there isn't a lot of it I just wanted to incorporate some of the great garlic I had.
Once I had that spread on the dough I gave a couple of splashes of extra virgin olive oil over the rest of the dough.
Then I simply layered the rest of the goodies-tomatoes first, cheese, and then basil.

Just make sure to spread everything out evenly. Don't have tomatoes overlapping each other and try to place a chunk of cheese on every tomato slice. Be as generous as you would like with the basil.


Pop it into an oven pre-heated at 500 degrees and cook for about 10 minutes. At the 10 minute mark I flipped the broiler on to get the cheese a nice golden brown.
Let the pizza sit for a minute or two before cutting and enjoy!


As I always recommend play around with it and add on or substitute ingredients. Its a simple pizza so there are many ways to jazz it up. Pancetta, red onions, black olives...I could go on and on!

CSA Deliciousness!

We received our first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) a few weeks ago. Very excited lots of great fresh organic goodness!
Once we laid it all out I realized that there were things in there I had NEVER seen before. In the share we have bok choy, chard, garlic snapes, head lettuce, Mustard greens, kohlrabi, radish, scallions, a salad mix, salad turnips, and spinach.



Since there is just SO much I wanted to get cracking on using it up so it doesn’t spoil.

Chicken breast with Garlic Pesto

Garlic Pesto Sauce:
4-5 Garlic Snapes
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
¼ cup of cheese grated (your choose I used Parmesan)
Salt & Pepper to taste (I used pepper and no salt due to the fact I used salted nuts)
¼ cup of nuts…a lot of pesto recipes call for pine nuts. I didn’t have them so I used some cashews its crazy sounding but it’s all we had and it was good!

I cut the snapes into 2 inch sized pieces discarding the hard dark green parts of the stem. I put the snapes, cheese, salt/pepper, and nuts all into the handy dandy Magic Bullet and mixed it all together until the snapes were broken down.
Then I added ½ of the olive oil mixed it up again and then added the remaining olive oil. Mix until well blended.
This turned out AMAZING! I was beyond shocked with the results. Most pesto’s have basil in them and this one had none so I was apprehensive but it was great!



I broiled two chicken breast 5 minutes on each side, brushed the pesto sauce on both chicken breasts then broiled for another 5-10 minutes until chicken is done. When it was done the chicken had a yummy pesto baked crust. We had leftover sauce that we drizzled on top or dipped chicken into.


Roasted Kohlrabi

Kohlrabi bulb(s) peeled
1 TBSP Olive oil
1 clove garlic (I used garlic snapes again minced)
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese
Preheat an oven to 450 degrees.

Cut the kohlrabi into 1/4 inch thick slices..or thinner its up to you, if you cut them thinner make sure to cook for less time! Combine olive oil, garlic, salt and pepper in a large bowl. Toss kohlrabi slices in the olive oil mixture to coat. Spread kohlrabi onto baking sheet.
Bake until browned, 15 to 20 minutes, stirring occasionally in order to brown evenly. Remove from oven and sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Return to the oven to allow the Parmesan cheese to brown, about 5 minutes. Serve immediately.

Sorry I only have pictures of the pesto because I had this meal completely prepped then after a run felt so sick I was unable to eat it. So my husband was able to enjoy it and then the next day I was able to enjoy mine

1st Attempt at Lasagna

After running 5 miserable miles in the heat yesterday and another 8 miles today I decided to make some comfort food for dinner.
I love lasagna but have never attempted to make one before. In the past I have purchased one that comes already prepared in a box where all I have to do is take it out of the freezer and pop it into the oven. Simple but not always the yummiest.

Below is the basic recipe that I used and I tweaked it a bit to my liking.

1 lb ground beef
1 onion chopped
1 can of mushrooms or fresh (sliced)
1 jar of your favorite spaghetti sauce
1 package of cottage cheese (16 oz)
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 pint of part skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs
1/2 package of lasagna noodles
2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese

In a large skillet brown the hamburger. Once browned add the mushrooms and onions. I also added some garlic for some extra flavor. Cook until the onions are transparent then add the spaghetti sauce. I also added one can of Fire Roasted tomatoes (Drained very well). Heat through.


In a medium bowl combine cottage cheese, ricotta cheese, grated Parmesan cheese and eggs.

As for the noodles I know they make lasagna noodles that don’t have to be precooked however I wanted to cook mine to ensure that my noodles we cooked all the way through. It’s up to you if you want to cook your noodles or not (and how much time you have to prepare it). It takes about 8-9 minutes to boil lasagna noodles.

Spread a thin layer of the meat mixture on the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish. Layer with noodles, cheese mixture, mozzarella cheese, and then meat mixture. Continue to do this until all is gone, keeping some of the mozzarella cheese reserved to put on top during the last 10 minutes of cooking. (1/2 cup-ish)

Cover with tin foil and cook for 35-45 minutes at 350-because I cooked my noodles before hand I only cooked mine for 30 minutes. Uncover and sprinkle remaining cheese and bake for an additional 15 minutes for the cheese to get nice and melted. Let sit for 10 minutes before serving…this allows the lasagna to set up nicely

Early Morning Get up and Go

I have started my full marathon training, my husband has as well. With our little one at home one of us usually has to get up early morning (5am-ish) to get our miles in.
The first day I got up early I just had a quick and easy 3 miler to do. I got dressed, laced up my shoes, stretched and out the door I went.

I quickly realized that I had forgotten to eat. After some thinking about this mistake I decided to make some strawberry banana muffins. A quick and easy thing to eat before heading out the door.

The recipe I used is pretty simple. I modified it slightly and just used one banana (it calls for two).
They turned out really yummy and after trying one before my 5 mile run this morning, they did the trick to keep my stomach happy while running.


Here is the recipe I used…remember you can add the 2nd banana if you choose too!

½ Cup (1 Stick) of Butter (melted)
¾ Cup Light Brown Sugar
2 Eggs
1 tsp Vanilla Extract
1 or 2 Bananas (Mashed)
1 Cup Fresh Strawberries (Cut into bite size pieces)
2 ¼ Cups Flour
1 ½ tsp. Baking Powder
¼ tsp Baking Soda
1 tsp Cinnamon
½ tsp Salt

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a cupcake pan or use cupcake liners.

In a medium bowl slightly beat the eggs, add brown sugar, vanilla, and the melted butter. Add the mashed banana and mix together.

In a larger bowl add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add the strawberries a little at a time and make sure the pieces are well coated so that they don’t sink to the bottom of the muffin while cooking.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until blended but DON”T over mix the batter, it will cause the muffins to be chewy.

Fill up 12 muffin liners with the batter and cook for 20 minutes (or until toothpick comes out clean). Remove from pan and let cool on rack.
Enjoy!

A Quick and Easy Meal

Tonight I wasn't feeling the best, after spending all afternoon at my Drs office I was looking for a quick and easy meal.
So here it is, nothing fancy just worked with what we had.
One can of refrigerated biscuit dough
1 lb of ground hamburger (or turkey)
1 can of Manwich (Or make your own for a healthier version...Manwich is LOADED with sodium and preservatives!).
1/2 cup of shredded cheese.

I took the refrigerated biscuits and flattened them out on a cookie sheet and built up the sides using my fingers to make little "bowls".

Make hamburger and Manwich as instructed too on can...brown hamburger, drain fat, add the Manwich and heat through.

Once hamburger and Manwich is heated through spoon some of it into each little "biscuit bowl". Top with shredded cheese pop in the oven at 400 degrees for about 10-15 minutes. The cheese should be melted and the biscuits should be brown.



Simple meal that didnt take much prep work!

Our Take On Alice Springs Chicken

We rarely go to Outback Steakhouse. We find the food to be mediocre and slightly overpriced. However the one dish we have enjoyed there was the Alice Springs Chicken.
It’s a chicken breast topped with sautéed mushrooms, bacon, melted Monterey Jack and Cheddar and topped with honey mustard sauce.
It’s a very delicious dish and I am glad that my husband and I have found a way to make it home. For less money and for fewer calories!

We take 2 chicken breasts and cook it in a pan with light oil and cracked pepper once it’s cooked set aside. Fry up 2 slices of bacon (one slice for each chicken breast). If you want to make it even healthier use turkey bacon! Once bacon is done frying saute some mushrooms, once they are done its time to put it all together.

Slightly grease a baking dish. Take a slice of bacon cut it in half and lay it on the chicken making an “x”. Lay some sautéed mushrooms on top of that. Then add some honey mustard (IF you like it) we normally make our own honey mustard. Just add honey and yellow mustard together until you find your perfect mixture.
We also like to mince up some onion and add that to the honey mustard mixture. You can also add a couple teaspoons of your favorite BBQ sauce if you like.
Then we top it off with 1/4 cup of shredded cheese. We used a cheddar jack.
Here is what ours looked like before putting it into the oven:



Pop it in the over for 10-15 until its all heated and cheese is melted!




For those of you who are interested here is the nutritional information for the dish as prepared at Outback Steakhouse:
Calories: 1327
Carbs: 20.3
Fat: 92
Protein: 102

YIKES! 1327 calories and 92 grams of FAT?! That is insane! Here is the nutritional information for our homemade version

Calories: 488
Carbs: 22
Fat: 18
Protein: 58

Morning Goodness

Saturday mornings are usually reserved for waking up early and heading downtown to the Farmers Market. However since my husband had his hernia surgery a week ago we are laying low yet again this week to make sure he recovers properly and in good time.

This morning I decided to make some Cinnamon Coffee Cake. So I took a regular recipe and modified it a tad, usually when I modify things I make it healthier…not this time my friends!

Here is the recipe for the batter:

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3/4 cup milk
Combine dry ingredients for cake. Beat together egg, oil and milk, then add to dry ingredients.

Here is the recipe for the filling/top crumble-I doubled this recipe but kept them separated.
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon


I put 1/2 of the batter into a greased pan then put spread one bowl of the crumble mix over the top of the batter. Then I took the remaining batter and place it over the crumble. Lastly take the remaining crumble and place it on the top of the batter.



Bake for 20-25 minutes in a preheated 375 degree oven...beware depending on the type of pan you use it may take longer. Mine took about 35 minutes to cook. Always use the toothpick trick. Insert a toothpick into center of cake and if it comes out gooey it’s not done, if the toothpick comes out clean you are good to go!

It was very good, will for sure make again another time!