Breakfast Smoothie w/ Hemp Protein

I love recipes that I can add to, subtract from & substitute ingredients. Smoothies are perfect for this kind of lax attitude in the kitchen. A little of this, a little of that... boom, deliciousness. On our vacation, Tim and I started making smoothies for breakfast and we noticed how awesome we felt afterwards. Lots of energy, our digestive systems were regular, we weren't hungry by 10 am. (I can't say the same about starting out with coffee & carbs).

[Love her]

Are smoothies still trendy? I know it's a little late to be jumping on this bandwagon, but oh well. I got the base of my recipe from Jenna Marbles' blog. You know, the delightfully sassy YouTube star? Sure she curses up a storm and loves saying penis but her messages are actually pretty substantial (like her new one about just texting people what you really mean). Plus, her dogs are hilarious.

[This stuff rocks.]

So here is my current favorite breakfast smoothie. Or whatever time of day smoothie, it doesn't really matter. Makes about 2 servings.


Ingredients
5 ice cubes
1 banana
1/2 avocado
2 cups frozen berries
1/2 c. greek yogurt
2 T. Hemp Protein Powder
2 T. coconut oil
1 c. OJ or Coconut Milk (then, keep adding until it reaches the consistency you want)


I drink mine on my way to work in a neat plastic tumbler like this one. Found it at my grocery store for $5 - score. Sorry, I don't have time to lay around in my bath robe sipping smoothies in the morning. Gotta drop off the little one at his Nana's house & get to work!

This morning I added liquid vitamin D to our smoothies because I've been a little stuffed up lately. If I have baby spinach, I'll also throw in a handful of that. Just get crazy with it! Whatever produce you like (that can be blended easily) will work in a smoothie.


Maybe I'll never go back to coffee...? That's a lie. When it starts getting colder out, I'll definitely crave something warm & autumny. Anyone know a good pumpkin latte recipe?

Whole Wheat Pizza Dough

I found this yummy and simple recipe for Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough on allrecipes.com and tried it out last night. It was my first time making pizza dough, so I was surprised how good it was!

After I rolled out the dough (note: use A LOT of extra flour to do this!) I topped it with marinara, baby spinach, onions, mushrooms, mozzarella cheese and a little sprinkling of salt & pepper. I was planning on using feta cheese, but after Flynn's grocery store meltdown on Sunday night, causing me to take him home & leaving Tim to do all the shopping by himself, it never found it's way into the cart. (It wasn't on the list... not your fault, sweetie!)


Baked it at 350 for 12 minutes and cut it in four pieces - the perfect amount for Tim and I. You could easily make 2 pizzas at the same time or make a few extra balls of dough to freeze.


I used to buy premade Boboli pizza crust, but I won't be doing that anymore. Let's do one of my favorite things.... an ingredient comparison!


Boboli Whole Wheat Pizza Crust: Whole wheat flour, water, palm oil, polydextrose, yeast, wheat gluten, molasses, milk casein, salt, mozzarella cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt and enzymes), sugar, preservatives (calcium propionate, sorbic acid), fumaric acid, modified food starch, sodium phosphate, whey, monoglycerides, lactic acid, natural flavor, garlic, artificial color. 


Whole Wheat and Honey Pizza Dough:Whole wheat flour, wheat germ, water, active dry yeast, salt, honey.

Which one would you rather eat? Yeah... not to mention the cost savings is significant. A Boboli crust is $3.79 at my grocery store and using what few math skills I've retained since high school, I figured out that this pizza dough costs $1.42 to make, giving me a cost savings of 63%. Not bad!

I'm afraid figuring out the cost of all the toppings would make my head hurt, so that one's on you. Have you ever made your own pizza dough before? Does everyone already do this and I'm late to the party? I'd love to hear your thoughts (and recipes!)

Amy's Homemade Granola Bars

My sister-in-law, Amy, e-mailed me this recipe and I immediately wanted to try it out. It's one of those rare baking recipes that doesn't have to be exact. LOVE. You can also customize it by substituting and adding ingredients. DOUBLE LOVE.

Ingredients

2 c. oats

1/4 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. wheat germ

3/4 tsp. cinnamon

1 c. flour

3/4 c. raisins

3/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. honey

1 egg, beaten

1/4 c. applesauce

1/4 c. olive oil

2 tsp. vanilla

1 brown banana

Directions 

Mix everything together and press into a greased 9x13 pan. Bake at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes. Let cool and cut into bars.

Some possible additions/substitutions include: pumpkin puree, chopped apple, coconut, chocolate chips, dried cranberries, chopped walnuts, sunflower seeds, flax seeds (instead of wheat germ), whole wheat flour (instead of white)... and whatever else your heart desires.

They are fantastic as a quick snack or to grab in the morning as you're heading out to work. Or (I'll put on my future mom hat) to give your kids when they're begging for a snack before dinner. Relatively healthy & not a total meal ruiner.

Frittata. Fun to say. More fun to eat.

This meal is great for when you're standing in front of your fridge after a long day thinking, "What the $%&# are we going to eat?!" Also excellent for entertaining guests over brunch. You can completely customize it to your tastes and it's pretty hard to screw up. If you can scramble an egg, you can make a frittata. It looks and tastes way more impressive than scrambled eggs, too.

So throw on your apron and let's get crackin'! Literally. Because you need to crack a lot of eggs.

Here is what went into my frittata last night.

Ingredients:
10 eggs
1/2 c. whole milk
1 T. butter
1/2 of a small yellow onion, diced
6 strips of uncured bacon, chopped into bite size pieces
1 large tomato, diced
Handful of fresh spinach, chopped
Shredded cheddar cheese
Salt & pepper to taste

Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- In a medium sized bowl, whisk eggs & milk together, season with salt & pepper, set aside.
- In a saute pan, cook your chopped onion & bacon together until soft/crispy, drain on a towel and set aside.
- In a deep saute pan (or an "everyday pan"), melt your butter, then pour in your egg mixture.
- Add everything else into the eggs: onion, bacon, tomatoes & spinach. Top with a generous amount of cheese and let everything cook on the stovetop for 5 minutes.
- After the sides have set, put the whole pan in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the center is firm.
- I opted to add more cheese in the final few minutes of cooking. Because I really like cheese.
- DIG IN!

IMPORTANT: if your entire pan is stainless steel, you're fine. If your pan has a coated or plastic handle, wrap it very well in tinfoil before it goes in the oven. It's not a very high heat and it won't be in the oven for that long. There are also ways to cook a frittata where you cook it entirely in the oven in a casserole dish and skip the stovetop step. You'd have to google that though!


Everyday Pan - perfect for frittatas!

 Other yummy ingredients to add or substitute: mushrooms, sausage, salsa, feta cheese, mozzarella cheese, green pepper, ham. It's a great meal to clean out the fridge.

Hot Soup on a Hot Day

This recipe is from one of my favorite cookbooks, The Food You Crave by Ellie Krieger (from Food Network). She's pretty rad and her soothing voice puts me into a trance.

It's pretty quick & easy. You don't have to let it simmer for an hour or anything lame like that.

Summer Corn & Vegetable Soup

Ingredients

4 cups fresh corn kernels or 2 (10-ounce) packages frozen, thawed

2 cups nonfat milk (I used almond milk)

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 large onion, diced

1 medium red bell pepper, diced

1 medium zucchini, diced

2 cups vegetable broth

2 plum tomatoes, diced

3/4 teaspoon salt

Freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, cut into ribbons

Directions

Put 2 cups of the corn and the milk into a blender or food processor, until smooth. Set aside.

Heat the oil in a large soup pot over a medium-high heat. Add the onion, bell pepper, and zucchini and cook, stirring until the vegetables are tender, about 5 minutes.

Add the remaining 2 cups of corn and the broth and bring to a boil.

Add the pureed corn and tomatoes and cook until warmed through, but not boiling.

Add the salt and season with pepper.

Serve garnished with the basil ribbons.

We enjoyed it with some garlic naan bread on the side.

Surprisingly refreshing, even on a hot day!

The first and best cheesecake I've ever made

Let's get one thing straight. I hate baking.

It's messy, time-consuming and by the time I'm done and the 3 bowls, 4 spoons, measuring cups and spoons, mixer attachments are washed & the counter is wiped clean, I don't even want what I just made anymore.

I much prefer the carefree-ness of cooking to the preciseness of baking.

However, my hankering for cheesecake over the weekend pushed my dislike of baking aside and I went to work.

Step 1: Find an amazing recipe.

Step 2: Survey pantry & acquire missing ingredients. Plus a 9" non-stick springform pan. (Thanks, Devon & Paul!)

Step 3: Throw on a sweatshirt over my pajama shirt (it's 4pm...) and head to the grocery store.

Step 4: Pick up random things that are not on the list.

Step 5: Drag grocery bags 2 blocks to apartment because there were no close parking spaces.

Step 6: Unload groceries & haul out baking equipment.

Step 7: Follow recipe to a T and then...

Step 8: Have a minor meltdown when I read the last line of the recipe: chill in refrigerator overnight. Son of a bee sting!

[The aftermath]

Step 9: Eat cereal and a pint of blueberries for dinner since husband is out at the bar watching the Phillies game and I don't feel like cooking.

Step 10: Watch the rest of Season 1 of Dexter (amazing!) and go to sleep dreaming about eating an entire 9" cheesecake on Sunday.

[Drop in strawberry sauce]

[Get your swirl on]

[Bake & chill for an ungodly amount of time. Top with extra strawberry sauce & savor. Try not to make any weird, semi-sexual noises. Oh, you'll want to!]

The results? So worth the time & mess. Better than any cheesecake I've had at a restaurant. Yes, that includes Cheesecake Factory. In your face!

Uh, is work over yet? I really need another piece.

Go Back to Your Home on Whore Island (a recipe...)

My husband and I fell in love with this pasta on our honeymoon in Miami.

Cafe Ragazzi made it MUCH better than I did, but hey, they are professionals, I'm not gonna try to compete!

Pasta Puttanesca

(Adapted from The Food You Crave by Ellie Kriger)

Fun Fact: Puttanesca was given the nickname "whore's-style spaghetti" back in Italy. Legend has it that all the "ladies of the night" would make this pasta to lure in the men! Let me tell you, it worked with Tim.

But I ain't no hoe ;-)

Ingredients

16 oz. of thin spaghetti or angel hair pasta

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

4 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1/2 cup pitted Greek olives, drained & chopped

1/3 cup capers, drained

2 tsp. anchovy paste*

2 tsp. dried oregano

1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes

Two 14 oz. cans diced tomatoes**

1 1/2 cups chopped fresh arugula

Parmesan cheese

*Don't fear anchovy paste. It doesn't even smell or taste like fish, it just adds an awesome salty flavor.

**Get no-salt-added diced tomatoes. This recipe is SO flavorful, you don't need any added salt.

 I left out the fresh parsley, and it still turned out fine.

And I added a chopped red onion. I do what I want!

Directions

- Cook spaghetti according to package directions.

- While pasta is cooking, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat

- Add garlic (and onions) and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute

- Add parsley, olives, capers, anchovy paste, oregano & red pepper and cook for another 2 minutes

- Add tomatoes and simmer for about 5 minutes

- Stir in arugula until slightly wilted, about 1 minute

- Toss cooked pasta with sauce to combine

- Serve up & top with parmesan cheese

The best part about this meal?

372 calories & 8 grams of fat in 1 serving (2 cups)!

If Whore Island exists & serves really good puttanesca, I might need to take a trip there.

Smooth Move

I made this breakfast smoothie Saturday morning. I don't know if it was the new fancy shmancy Cuisinart blender or the perfect amount of ingredients, but it turned out sweet & refreshing.

Here's how I did it...

Ingredients

2 cups of whatever frozen fruit you choose (I used blueberries & peaches)

1 cup of organic vanilla yogurt

1 cup of orange juice

Place in blender in no particular order & blend until smooth - about 2 minutes. Makes a little over 2 glasses full. Save the extra smoothie for later in the day when you need a little pick-me-up!

I'm thinking about becoming a "smoothie for breakfast" girl... but I'm afraid I might miss chewing too much. Decisions, decisions.

Pasta Sauce from Scratch (but not really)

I feel terrible when I make pasta and just use sauce from a jar.

It seems so bland & generic, like I didn't even try.

I hate it.

Tim's dad always picks up fresh pasta from this place in Philly called Talluto's and generously gives us a whole bunch.

(Talluto's... it even sounds like it's from Philly)

And it is soooo good, especially the cheese ravioli.

It's the only non-whole wheat pasta that I'll eat.

It's that good.

It's ridiculously easy to boil water & pop open a jar. So of course I have to make it more complicated because I'm weird like that.
So I add things to the sauce to make it more homemade & healthy.

I sauteed an onion, garlic & green pepper for about 5 minutes & seasoned with s&p.

Then added the plain old marinara.

And wilted some spinach into it at the very end.



[This is a sneaky way to add spinach to your kids food! Or your husbands...]

[Generously topped with parm]

The only word to describe the filling is my most

hated food adjective & Giada's favorite...

CREAMY!

Ew. Ew. Ew.
Not the food... the word.

Recipe Wed: Curried Chicken

My husband and I have been spicing things up lately... in the kitchen!
Bow chicka bow wow.

Not only do certain spices make your meals taste amazing, they're also good for your health.

Turmeric (found in curry powder & mustard) is rich in antioxidants & fights inflammation.

Cumin is an excellent source of iron and helps digestion & bloating.

Cinnamon helps improve circulation, inflammation & has blood thinning properties.

Ginger contains antioxidants and helps with digestion, nausea & gas.

If you're like, "Golly gee, Meg, that sounds neat," you can read more about health & spices here.

My new favorite dinner helper is this little jar of curry paste above.

I  followed the handy recipe on the jar to make curried chicken . It was only for 2 people so I doubled it. We love our leftovers!

Unfortunately, my co-workers didn't feel the same when I reheated it at work the next day... it's pretty pungent.

It's also helpful for opening up the sinuses.
And it's supposedly the non-spicy "mild" kind. Yeah, right!

[Diced tomatoes, onion, water, curry paste & chicken.]

[It's traditionally served with rice, but we love our cous cous. Especially the plain Far East kind.]

You can find similar recipes on Patak's website.

Or just do what I did and read it right off of the jar!

This meal could become a new weekly staple. So so good.

 

Chocolate + Peanut Butter = Crazy Delicious

I'm just going to say it. 

If you don't like chocolate & peanut butter mixed together, you're insane. 

And to those of you with nut allergies, sorry you'll never know one of life's greatest pleasures. 

You probably shouldn't read any further. The risk of ignoring potential anaphylactic shock to make these is too great.

My husband volunteered to cook with me the other night (whoa, hold the phones, yes it's true) and we made these wonderful chocolate peanut butter cups.

The best part was licking melted chocolate off spoons, bowls, etc.

And etc. is not code for each other, ya pervs.

One is basically the size of 4 Reese's PB Cups.

GENIUS.

What's for dinner? Gourmet Pizza

Boboli Whole Wheat pizza crusts have made at least 1 dinner per week a breeze.

My only issue with them is the questionable preservatives & "artificial color." At least they've wised up and now use regular old sugar instead of high fructose corn syrup. Hey, nobody's perfect.

It sure beats ordering out or heating up something frozen. You at least feel like you're cooking when you add your own toppings & whip a snazzy pizza out of the oven.

[Slicing your thumb open also makes you feel like you're  actually cooking, but I advise against it.]

I've made these kinds of pizzas dozens of times before, but last night's was particularly impressive.

Just ask my husband, the wannabe professional food critic.

His comments usually make me a better cook. But sometimes I get frustrated and end up yelling something like Why can't you just tell me it's good!! I shed a few tears and then he feels bad and apologizes. I take dinner very seriously.

We are totally normal.

Sausage, Onion & Spinach Pizza

Ingredients

1 pizza crust (Boboli or make your own if you're bored)

3/4 c. marinara

2 c. shredded mozzarella cheese

1 c. spinach leaves, roughly chopped

1/2 of an onion, chopped

1/2 lb. sausage*, cooked & chopped into bite-sized pieces

*We use uncured sausage, bacon & hotdogs whenever possible to avoid nitrates. They are not cool.

Directions

Cook your sausage stovetop on medium-high heat for about 3-4 min. on each side. It's way easier to slice when it's cooked, so definitely do this first. I learned the annoying way.

While the sausage is sizzlin', preheat the oven to 425 and prep your veggies.

Then layer your ingredients like so:

Marinara

Spinach

1 c. mozzarella

Onion

Sausage

1 c. mozzarella

[Putting the spinach under the cheese helps to keep it in place!]

Bake for 12-15 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes before cutting & serving.

[It's not delivery, or DiGiorno.]