Blueberry Banana Bread

Ingredients

1 cup flour
1/2 cup wheat flour
3/4 cup oats
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
3 TBSP canola oil
1 cup mashed banana
3/4 cup blueberries
2 large eggs slightly beaten

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine flours, oats, sugar, salt, baking soda and powder into a large bowl. Make well in the center. Combine oil, banana, blueberries, and eggs. Add to flour and stir until just moist. Bake for 35 minutes.

Butternut squash soup

Butternut squash soup is always very comforting. And not only is it great comfort food but it is really good for you as well.

Ingredients

1 butternut squash, peeled and cut into medium size chunks
1/2 onion chopped
4 stalks celery, chopped
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
4 cups chicken stock
2 cloves garlic
1/2 tsp cumin
salt and pepper
nutmeg

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cut and peel butternut squash and roast in oven for half a hour or 45 minutes until the butternut squash is tender and soft.

In food processor, pulse onion in processor until completely diced. Then add the butternut squash in the processor with the onion. After the onion and butternut squash are finely diced, transfer the squash and onion into a large or medium size pot and pour in broth, add carrots, garlic, and celery. Add cumin and salt and pepper and a touch of nutmeg. Bring to a boil and then simmer until the carrots and celery are soft. Transfer back into the pot and bring back to boil and simmer. Then it's ready!

Texas Pulled Pork

I decided to try a different pulled pork recipe for the crock pot.  I found a recipe for Texas pulled pork and it turned out pretty well.

Here is what the recipes calls for :

1  (4-5 lb) pork shoulder
1 cup bbq sauce
1/2 cup apple cider
1/2 cup chicken broth
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 TBSP  prepared yellow mustard
1 TBSP worchestershire sauce
1 TBSP chili powder
1 large onion, chopped
1 1/2 tsp dried thyme

I threw in the chopped onion in the crock pot first.

 Put in the rest of the ingredients in the crock pot and stir it all together.

 I put the pork shoulder in with the fat layer face up.  It will easier to take the fat off after the pork cooks. 

 I let the pork cook for six hours on low and then turned it on high for the last two hours. After eight hours, I took the pork shoulder out and shredded the meat and discarded the fat from the pork.

There was a lot of liquid remaining in the crock pot.  After shredding the meat, I ladled all of the broth into a medium size pot and reduced the sauce.  Ten minutes later, the sauce reduced in size and was thicker.

 

I poured the rest of the sauce back into the crock pot with meat and kept it warm until it was time for dinner.

I paired the pulled pork with cole slaw and corn and it made for a great summer night dinner.

Babaganoush

So after making the Falafel baked Eggplant, I had roasted eggplant leftover and I thought hey I could try making some babaganoush.  I looked up the recipe and found that Babaganoush only contains a few ingredients making it super easy to make. 

Here is what you need:

Inside of 1 roasted eggplant
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 cup finely chopped flat-leaf parsley
2 TBSP Tahini
2 TBSP fresh lemon juice

 I threw all of the ingredients into my blender (I don't have a food processor :( )  and blended it until all ingredients were pureed.  And that is it!   Makes for an awesome dip if you have some pita chips or veggies!

*I had leftover roasted eggplant but if you don't have any, all you need to do is cut an eggplant in half and put it in a preheated 450 degree oven and let roast until the insides are soft - about 15 -20 minutes.

Falafel Stuffed Eggplant with Tahini Sauce and Tomato Relish

I love falafel but I actually have never tried making it so when I saw this recipe in Cooking Light I was intrigued and thought well it is as good of a time as any to try this.  I was not disappointed, this turned out great and makes for a healthy and filling meal.

Here is what you will need: This is what the original recipe called for.  A little * denotes that I didn't have this and I used a substitute.

For Tahini sauce:
3 TBSP warm water
2 TSBP Tahini
4 tsp fresh lemon juice
1 tsp honey
1/2 tsp cumin
1 garlic clove minced

For Eggplant:

1 large eggplant *
Cooking spray
3/4 tsp kosher salt, divided*
1/4 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup fresh breadcrumbs *
1/4 cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 TBSP tahini
2 tsp olive oil
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp coriander
1/4 tsp freshly ground  blackpepper
1/4 tsp ground red pepper
2 large eggs
2 garlic gloves, minced
1 (15 oz) can no salt added chickpeas, rinsed and drained


For Relish:

1 cup chopped seeded tomato
1/2 cup chopped seeded peeled cucumber
1/2 cup vertically sliced red onion
1/2 cup coarsely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 TSBP fresh lemon juice
1 TBSP extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 475 degrees

To prepare eggplant, slice the eggplants in half lengthwise; score cut sides with a crosshatch pattern.

Place the eggplant halves, cut sides down, on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 475° for 7 minutes or until slightly tender and browned.

 Remove from oven; carefully scoop out pulp, leaving a 3/4-inch shell. Season cut sides with 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reserve pulp for another use. (Need an idea for what to do with the pulp...read my recipe for Babaganoush!)

   Combine remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt, onion, and next 11 ingredients (through chickpeas) in a food processor; process until smooth. Spoon 1/2 cup chickpea mixture into each eggplant shell. Bake at 475° for 25 minutes or until eggplant halves are tender and chickpea mixture is lightly browned.

To prepare sauce, combine first 6 ingredients, stir with a whisk and set aside.

To prepare relish, combine the tomato and remaining ingredients in a bowl; stir to combine.

 Place 1 eggplant half on each of 4 plates. Top each half with 1/4 cup relish and 1 1/2 tablespoons sauce.

For a side I made some cheesy orzo with broccoli.  While cooking the orzo, I microwaved some broccoli.  After the orzo was done cooking, I added 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, TBSP of milk, and shredded cheese to the hot orzo and simmered it on the stove until it all melted together.   It made for a very yummy and cheesy side.

  * I didn't have kosher salt so I just used regular salt * For the sake of time, I used store bought breadcrumbs instead of making fresh bread crumbs,

Dream Bars/Dolly Bars/Seven Layer Bars

I love dream bars....or whatever you call them.....you all know what they are...the bars that are loaded with shredded coconut, chocolate chips, butterscotch chips, doused in condensed milk on top of a graham cracker crust.  I had thought they were called dream bars but when I was looking for the recipe I found that there were several versions and names for these...

I tried to use the most "healthy" recipe I could find.   I used the recipe below and the bars tasted great!    Also if I had known how easy these things are to make...I would have made these a lot sooner in life!  oh well never too late right?


Ingredients:

1 package graham crackers (nine full crackers)
1/2 can low fat condensed milk
2 TBSP melted butter
1 TBSP water
1/2 cup chocolate chips
1/2 cup butterscotch chips
2/3 cup flaked sweetened coconut

Preheat over to 350 degrees

I put the graham crackers in a freezer zip lock bag and used my rolling pin to roll over the bag.  Worked like a charm!



See!  Nothing but crumbs!



Add melted butter and water and combine.

Loosely press crumbs into greased 9x13 pan

Add choc chips, butterscotch chips, coconut, and drizzle half the can of condensed milk over the entire pan.  Make sure the condensed milk is drizzled throughout the pan because this is what will help to hold everything together.   The recipe called for a whole can but I found that half a can worked just as well and made me feel less guilty!   Bake for 25 minutes.

As you can see, I couldn't even wait to eat one before taking a pic!

Pasta Fagioli

Ok I will be the first to admit, I really like the Olive Garden.  Not for their pasta dishes (gross) but I am a sucker for their unlimited salad, soup, and breadsticks.

One of my favorite soups there is the Pasta Fagioli soup and I was wondering could I make this at home. 
I looked up a couple recipes online and I decided to pick and choose between recipes and just do the steps that I liked :)


 My version was a little different but it wasn't too far off and I felt better knowing that mine was fairly healthy.

Ingredients:

3-4 cups chicken broth
1 cup pasta (I used macaroni, you can use any small pasta shapes)
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 onion, diced
5 celery stalks, diced ( I would have added more but that was all I had!)
2 cloves garlic minced
1 can diced tomatoes
2 links spicy turkey sausage
1 can cannelinni beans (drained and rinsed)
1 tsp italian seasoning
1/4 cup parmesan cheese or parmigano reggiano

In a large soup pan/pot sauteed garlic, peppers, celery, and onions.  Take off casing from the sausage links and add sausage and brown.  After sausage is cooked, add chicken broth, beans, and tomatoes and bring to boil.  Reduce heat and add in pasta.  Simmer until pasta is cooked.  You may want to add more broth as the pasta absorbs the broth - it is up to you and how soupy you like your soup :)

I paired the soup with some salad and garlic bread and it made for a very hearty and yummy dinner!

Cinnamon Rolls

There are few things that can rival the smell and taste of a homemade warm and freshly baked cinnamon roll. Cinnamon rolls are not typically the healthiest thing so I figured that using a cinnamon roll recipe from Cooking Light would make me feel a little better eating more than one cinnamon roll in one sitting ;)

Ingredients

1 cup warm fat free milk (100 - 110 degrees)
6 TBSP melted butter, divided
1/3 cup granulated sugar, divided
1 package quick-rise yeast
3 3/4 cups flour
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/4 tsp salt
cooking spray
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 1/2 TBSP ground cinnamon

Icing

3 TBSP butter, softened
2 TBSP heavy cream (I used skim milk)
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup powdered sugar

Combine milk, 3 tablespoons melted butter, 1 tablespoon granulated sugar, and yeast in a large bowl; let stand 5 minutes. Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups. Add egg and remaining granulated sugar to bowl. Stir in 1 cup flour; let stand 10 minutes.

Add about 2 1/2 cups flour and salt to milk mixture; stir until a soft dough forms (dough will be sticky). Turn out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead until smooth and elastic (about 6 minutes); add enough of remaining flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, to prevent dough from sticking to hands.

Place dough in a large bowl coated with cooking spray; turn to coat top. Cover and let rise in a warm place (85°), free from drafts, 35 minutes or until doubled in size. (Gently press two fingers into dough. If indentation remains, dough has risen enough.) Punch dough down; cover and let rise 35 minutes or until doubled in size. Punch dough down; cover and let rest 5 minutes.

Combine brown sugar and cinnamon.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured surface; roll dough into an 18 x 11–inch rectangle.

Brush remaining 3 tablespoons melted butter over dough; sprinkle evenly with brown sugar mixture.

Beginning at one long side, roll up dough tightly, jelly-roll fashion; pinch seam to seal (do not seal ends of roll).

Cut dough into 18 (1-inch) slices. Arrange 9 slices, cut sides up, in each of 2 (8-inch) square baking dishes coated with cooking spray. Cover and let rise 35 minutes or until doubled in size.

                                                             Yay for doubling in size!

Preheat oven to 350°.  Uncover rolls. Bake at 350° for 22 minutes or until lightly browned. Cool 10 minutes in dishes on a wire rack. Turn rolls out onto wire rack; cool 5 minutes. Turn rolls over.


To prepare icing, combine 3 tablespoons softened butter and cream; stir with a whisk. Stir in vanilla. Gradually add powdered sugar; stir until blended. Spread icing over rolls; serve warm.