Fruit Dip

This recipe goes way back to Valentine's Day. :) I wanted to have a fruit plate with dip as one of our appetizers (for some reason I thought the two of us needed three appetizers...who knows what I was thinking!). I did a quick search on allrecipes.com, and found literally hundreds of options. I knew Paul wouldn't like anything that had marshmallow fluff in it, so that narrowed things down quite a bit.

I finally settled on this recipe. It was very easy, very quick, and very yummy! I just tried to find the original recipe on allrecipes so that I could link to it, but I couldn't find it. Sorry!

Fruit Dip

Ingredients:

1 box instant vanilla pudding mix (smaller size, 3.4 oz)

1 container (8 oz) frozen whipped topping (like Cool Whip), thawed

1 package cream cheese, softened

1 c. powdered sugar

1 c. whole milk

Directions:

Whip all ingredients together with an electric mixer until smooth and fluffy. Chill until ready to serve.

I thought this dip was especially good with grapes and tart apples. It's not exactly good for you--ha ha--but it is definitely fun! :)

Black Bean, Avocado & Chicken Wrap

I planned this on a menu I forgot to post. This was tasty (although the avocados weren't quite ripe). One was enough for me, but Eli did have two. He loved 'em. And although the recipe didn't call for it, we seasoned the chicken with a little bit of salt-free Cajun seasoning. Enjoy!

Ingredients:

1/4 avocado, smashed with a fork (I used 1/2)

1/4 c. salsa

2 oz. roasted or baked chicken breast, chopped

1/4 c. low sodium canned black beans, rinsed and smashed slightly

2 6-inch whole wheat tortillas

Directions:

Mix salsa with avocados.

Spread avocado-salsa mix on tortillas. Layer with beans, then chicken.

Roll it up and eat it!

This recipe is from Clean Eating Magazine May/June 2009.

Pizza Sauce

In the same post that I got the pizza dough recipe, this homemade pizza sauce was recommended. It only has a few ingredients and I was intrigued by that. I've always used store bought sauce, but I had to try this! It was very easy and delicious! I even preferred it to my usual store bought sauce.

Ingredients:
1 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes
1 small can tomato paste
1 tablespoon sugar
Oregano
Garlic powder
Italian seasoning
Crushed red pepper (optional)

Directions:
In blender or food processor add tomatoes, paste and seasonings to taste. Blend until desired consistency. That's it!

*I was very intimidated by the fact that there aren't any measurements for the seasonings. I'm not one to just add things to taste. But it wasn't bad...just add a bit of each. Be light on the crushed red pepper unless you want it spicy. I poured mine into a pot and simmered it for a while because I couldn't tell if I had enough spices (cold sauce just doesn't taste good).

Banana Bread Smoothie

I didn't take a picture of this, but it was SO good! It provided something sweet outside of my regular snack fruits. It's amazing! I believe Eli (he usually makes breakfast) added two bananas, halved the cinnamon and nutmeg, and added 1 tsp of vanilla. Just a few changes

Ingredients:

1 Cup Skim Milk
1 Teaspoon Nutmeg
1 Teaspoon Cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Packet Splenda (or 1/2 tsp of regular sugar)
1 Cup Ice
1 Banana

Directions:

Blend together milk and spices. Add in ice and blend. Then, blend in banana.

Pico de Gallo

I was just going to chop up some tomatoes and onions for our salads last night, but at the last minute, I decided that I wanted to find out how to make pico de gallo. I did a quick search on allrecipes.com. I found a recipe that was easy, highly rated, AND I happened to have all the ingredients on hand. It was supposed to refrigerate it for at least 3 hours before serving, and I only had 1 1/2, so I just threw it together as fast as I could.

I'm glad I did it, though. It was delicious and just added to the authenticity of our whole makeshift "Cafe Rio" experience. :)

Pico de Gallo

Ingredients:

3 roma tomatoes, diced (I only had two, and we survived ;) )

1/4 onion, diced (the recipe specified red onion, but I had a white one and it worked fine)

1 1/2 T. fresh chopped cilantro

1/4 jalapeno, seeded, diced (I just stole a tiny bit of the jalapeno I used for the tomatillo sauce)

juice from 1/4 lime (I just used what I had leftover from the lime I used for the rice)

1 clove garlic, minced

1 pinch garlic powder

1 pinch cumin

salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl, and refrigerate until needed (at least three hours according to the recipe, but it was still good after 1 1/2). Feel free to taste and add spices as desired.

Next time I will take the time to dice the tomatoes and onion really evenly so that it looks prettier. I was in a big hurry this time. :)

Here's a link to the original recipe (notice that I halved it): Pico de Gallo.

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce (Cafe Rio)

Recipes for this dressing are pretty consistent around the internet. While I found huge variety in the recipes available for the other components of a Cafe Rio salad, this dressing was almost the same everywhere. For that reason, I was pretty confident that it would taste just right.

And guess what? It did! :)

Creamy Tomatillo Sauce (Cafe Rio)

Ingredients:

1 packet Hidden Valley Ranch dressing mix (TRADITIONAL not buttermilk)

1 c. mayonnaise

1 c. buttermilk

2 tomatillos, husks removed, diced

1/2 bunch fresh cilantro, chopped

1 clove garlic, minced

juice from 1 lime

1 jalapeno, seeded and diced*

*If you want your dressing to be spicy, you can leave the seeds in. We prefer the sauce to be mild.

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender and mix under sauce is smooth. Refrigerate until needed.

For me, this is what makes the salads so awesome. It's the component that ties it all together. I just love it! Oh, and this recipe makes quite a bit of dressing. I'm not sure what we're going to do with all of it or how long it saves, but I'm definitely going to try it out on pretty much anything we eat with a Mexican flavor over the next week or two!

Here's a link to the original recipe on Favorite Family Recipes: Creamy Tomatillo Sauce.

Pasta Toss

If we had a category that was easier than easy I'd almost want to put this one there. It's a very basic recipe that I got from the Hatrack Cookbook...which doesn't seem to be available online anymore. It was a collection of recipes someone put together from the people who post on the Hatrack Forums. Oh well. Anyway. You can really put whatever you want in it, as far as vegetables go. And it's quite good for you, since there's not much to it aside from pasta and vegetables.

Pasta Toss
Ingredients:
1 T. olive oil
1 onion, chopped
2 zucchini, chopped
2 yellow squash, chopped
2 c. mushrooms, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 t. oregano
1 lb. pasta of your choice (I used some whole grain fettuccine)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Directions:
Cook pasta according to directions given. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Add veggies and spices. Cook and stir for about 7 minutes (veggies should be slightly tender). Toss with pasta and Parmesan cheese.

I actually halved the recipe for me and Paul. And I didn't measure the Parmesan cheese. I just sprinkled it on our bowls. It was fast, simple, and yummy!

Tomato and Pesto Pizza

So, Paul and I switched around our meals for the week because we needed something quick last night. And oh my goodness. This pizza was so yummy! It has so much flavor! The pesto combined with the tomatoes and cheese just works. It's simple and fast, and it's DEE-vine. Seriously.

Tomato and Pesto Pizza
Ingredients:
pizza dough (I used the Pillsbury kind in the tube...it was very yummy!)
1/4 c. pesto (I think I ended up using more than that...I just spread a thin layer over the whole crust...I didn't measure)
2-3 c. mozzarella cheese, grated
2-3 fresh tomatoes, sliced
salt and pepper
parmesan cheese
dried basil


Directions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees (the original recipe says 400, but the pizza dough I used said 425). Roll out your pizza dough onto a greased cookie sheet or pizza pan. Spread pesto evenly on top of the dough. Sprinkle generously with mozzarella cheese. Place tomatoes on top of the cheese. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Next, sprinkle with additional mozzarella cheese (as you can see from my pictures we ran out of mozzarella, so I had to use cheddar), parmesan cheese, and finally, basil. Bake for 12-15 minutes, checking after 10. Ours was actually perfect after 10 minutes.


The only drawback I can think of about this pizza is that pesto is pretty expensive to buy. It seems that it would be cheaper to make your own, but that would make it ever so much more difficult. The recipes for pesto I looked at all take at least 45 minutes to prepare. I guess you just have to weigh your options...splurge on the store-bought pesto, or be adventurous and make your own!

Oh, and Mandy pointed out that you could add chicken to the pizza, and it would probably be delicious, too!

Thank you Favorite Family Recipes for this amazing pizza! Here's a link to the original recipe on their site: Tomato and Pesto Pizza.

What to do when your pitas grow mold...

It seems we are cursed when it comes to veggie pitas. Last week it was the sprouts and avocado that went bad. This week we got new sprouts and avocado. We chopped up all our ingredients, opened our bag of whole wheat pitas, and found MOLD! So sad! Instead, we had pita-less pitas!


We had salads (thank goodness we had a bag of spinach), and they were delicious! We grilled a chicken breast (that was marinated in zesty italian), and put it on top of all our delicious pita ingredients. The only thing we couldn't use was the hummus. I'm not sure what we'll do with the rest of it now.

Omelets

This isn't exactly a recipe, but I noticed that a lot of us make omelets on a regular basis, and I thought we could share some ideas for toppings or other ways to spruce them up.

Here's what we had on ours last night (it was actually our first time making them!):


Tomatoes, avocado, onions (lightly sauteed), red bell peppers, and cheddar cheese. My favorite part was the avocado. :)

I think next time we'll try using green bell peppers, mushrooms, and maybe some different types of cheese.

What are your ideas?

Veggie Wraps

I ended up having to work Saturday night, so the chicken and spinach penne never happened. And I was kinda sick today, so the sweet pork will happen Tuesday. However, I will post the quick wrap I made for lunch on Saturday. Eli loved it! It was also simple, quick, and a fast clean. Thanks to Chef Britta!

Veggie Wraps

Ingredients:
flour tortillas
1/2 cup hummus (I used raosted garlic)
1 yellow bell pepper (ribs and seeds removed), thinly sliced
2 plum tomatoes, halved and thinly sliced
2 cups alfalfa sprouts
1 avocado, pitted and thinly sliced
sliced colby jack cheese
homemade ranch for dipping

Directions:
Spread tortillas with a thin layer of hummus.

Pile on the veggies and cheese (everyone can put their own together with exactly what they like)...

Season with salt and pepper. Wrap them, slice them, and dip them in homemade ranch...

Salami Sandwich w/ Artichoke-Basil Spread

Another Chef Britta amazing recipe! This one is super easy and I've decided that you can use the sandwich spread as a pretty good cracker dip. Just warm it up. Again, I didn't have all the exact ingredients, so I'll include the orignial ingredients and in (these), I'll put what I used. Definitely goes well with chips and a fruit.

Salami Sandwich w/ Artichoke-Basil Spread

Ingredients:

1 can (14 oz) artichoke hearts in water, drained
about 15 leaves of fresh basil (2 TSP dried basil)
3 tablespoons mayonnaise
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon red-pepper flakes (crushed red pepper a la dominoes)
sandwich bread (whichever you prefer)
fontina cheese, sliced (colby jack)
dark leaf lettuce
hard salami, thinly sliced (italian dry, pre-packaged)

Directions:

In a food processor (or blender), combine artichokes, basil, mayonnaise, lemon juice, and red-pepper flakes; pulse until smooth.

Season with salt and pepper; pulse briefly to combine.

To make sandwiches, top bread with artichoke-basil spread, layer with salami, a slice of fontina cheese, and dark leaf lettuce.