easy.healthy.affordable.&maybe a little creative

mahi mahi madness

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:07:14 -0400

i have fallen in love with this dish!

panko crusted mahi mahi with a corn salsa (with heirloom tomatos, avocado, corn salsa, mint, lemon juice and chili paste)

as the side i made chili sauteed spinach with fresh green beans

pumpkin pie

Sat, 16 Oct 2010 01:04:00 -0400

i made the crust and the pie mix, so yummy!

filling (here), and all i substituted was low fat evaporated milk.

crust (and all i substituted was whole wheat flour, & evaporated cane juice:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

fall cookies

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:17:07 -0400

i found a yummy recipe today for some pumpkin spice cookies (since i failed at some last week). there were way better!

todays recipe: pumpkin spice cookies with pecans and chocolate chips (here)

bakin

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:14:00 -0400

andrew and i strolled through tj’s last night and i spotted rice crispy cereal and couldn’t think of the last time i made or had a rice crispy treat. so, we bought the stuff to make some.

they were so easy breezy and something quick and fun to make together. we just added some chocolate chips, since you can’t go wrong with chocolate chips!

1/2 c butter, bag of marshmallows, and 6 c of rice crispy cereal, 1 c of chocolate chips.

spicy thai

Fri, 15 Oct 2010 00:06:00 -0400

spicy thai tofu salad

so yummy and full of flava!

1 ts Black sesame seeds, toasted

1 ts Peanut or sesame oil
1/4 c Rice vinegar
1 tb Tamari
2 ts Honey
1 Garlic clove; minced
1 tb Fresh cilantro, minced
1/4 ts Red pepper flakes
1/4 lb Tofu steak; thinly sliced
1/2 c Fresh shiitake mushrooms

sliced

1 sm Red bell pepper

sliced into thin strips

1 c Fresh sugar snap peas

OR snow peas

1/2 c Green onion, sliced
1/2 lb Fresh spinach; washed, dried

PREP TIME: 15 Minutes MARINATING TIME: 30 Minutes To make dressing, combine sesame seeds, oil, vinegar, tamari, honey, garlic, cilantro and red pepper flakes in a medium bowl, stirring until well-mixed. Add tofu, shiitake, red bell pepper, snow peas and green onions. Toss with dressing until coated. Let marinate in refrigerator 30 minutes. Divide spinach between four plates. Top with marinated tofu and vegetables and serve. Calories per serving: 145 Grams of Fat: 5 % Fat Calories: 31 Cholesterol: 0 Grams of Fiber: 5 Source: Delicious! - May/June 1993 Typed for you by Karen Mintzias

granita

Sun, 10 Oct 2010 16:25:59 -0400

simple as that.

1 ripe cantaloupe, a little bit of sugar, and a magic bullet.

throw it in the freezer, and once it’s frozen use a spoon to shave off what you want to put in a little bowl.

i’m lactose intolerant, so this is a good little sub for ice cream.

you can do this with any fruit! berries, peaches, pineapple, watermelon…

i love breaky

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:42:53 -0400

so this is basically the same as this, however, no salsa and i topped it with avocado and goat cheese.

appreciate the matching nails and coffee mug.

butternut!

Fri, 08 Oct 2010 12:39:51 -0400

butternut squash enchilada yumminess!

everyone i told about these was flinching a bit, but they sounded too yummy to pass up!

recipe!

modifications: spelt tortillas from trader joe’s (instead of corn), no cotija cheese, no cilantro, and i added avocado and toasted pine nuts on top. yummmmmy!

do not, i repeat, do not, pass these up! perfect fall dish!

busy girl = 5 min healthy dinner

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 01:13:16 -0400

busy is an understatement m-th, so dinner has to be thrown together semi-quick those nights, if i’m not working.

anywayssss

frozen veggies, check.

garlic, check check.

fresh broccoli, check.

lil olive oil…tada

86 spag sub cheese x 2

Mon, 27 Sep 2010 01:02:00 -0400

tried out spaghetti squash tonight.

little interesting.

and by interesting i mean fail. i didn’t cook it long enough, but it was still alright.

not even worth posting a pic.

however, this cheese plate was nothing short of delicious…and last nights as well!

(left) seeded baguette, mac nuts, creamed honey, triple cream brie, smoked gouda, creamy white cheddar with grilled onions, artichoke & garlic tapenade, honey goat cheese, & chocolate sauce. yum.mee

& honeycrisp apples, our love affair will continue.

blog to blog dish

Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:44:51 -0400

this was a yummy night right here

mushies

Wed, 22 Sep 2010 00:51:00 -0400

this is my new favorite recipe!

* button mushrooms, chives, onions, lemon juice, s & p, and whole wheat bread crumbs. i sauté the goodies until they are golden brown, then add the crumbs, cook a little longer and ta-da!

you can use butter, which i use sometimes, but it’s not really necessary (but it is pretty good with it) .

this time (when i remembered to take a picture) i actually added some more veggies; zucchini and spinach, and it was still yummy!

and i made some coconut & ginger brown rice to go with it.

* a little freshly chopped ginger root, 1/2 water, 1/2 light coconut milk

the rice could have used more of each, but whatever, it was still alright.

fall breaky

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 14:01:31 -0400

to welcome fall, i made a yummy breakfast and invited the girls over :)

cinnamon spiced apples - just a little brown sugar, cinnamon and butter & then sauteed them for about 10 min.

paige made a cinnamon and sugar fruit bowl that was unbelievably good!

i made pumpkin pancakes with toasted pecans, hot maple syrup [the real deal], and applewood smoked bacon.

the whole deal:

hot tea (because britt’s car broke down and she was the one bringing the pumpkin spice coffee)

aaaahmazing.

* buy a nutmeg and cinnamon candle - it puts you right in the holiday mood and makes your house smell so good!

birthday feast

Tue, 21 Sep 2010 13:53:00 -0400

it was my wonderful neighbors 24th birthday - any excuse to cook, right?

i made a cheese plate

triple cream brie, goat cheese, smoked gouda, macadamia nuts, creamed honey & toasted slices of sesame baguette. yummy x 95345802

i also made an artichoke with the lemon basil aoli that i spoke of in my last post (here). t’was delish!

then onto these babies! i didn’t get a great picture of them after being cooked - so this’ll have’ta do.

cooked the bacon, let it cool, then copped it up and mixed it with crumbles bleu cheese. lightly sauteed spinach in a tiny bit of the bacon grease, and laid in on the chicken, and then topped it with the bleu cheese and bacon mixture. i closed up the chicks and tooth picked them shut, then spread egg on the outside and rolled them in whole wheat bread crumbs. i only pan fried them for about 3 minutes on each side, then popped them in the oven for 40 min.

i also made lemon and chive sauteed mushrooms topped with shaved parmesan cheese full recipe and picture here

here’s the full dinner plate with the herb and butter rice, the lemon and chive sauteed mushrooms, blueberry and walnuts salad and the chicken:

then we had birthday cake and vanilla bean ice cream! the cake/cupcakes i mentioned in the last post (here) were alright…i probably wouldn’t buy them again, but it wasn’t too bad!

dinner was $40 for 4 :)

baking late night

Sun, 19 Sep 2010 04:19:05 -0400

for a wonderful neighbor who surprises me and washes my car, who takes out our trash, who sat with jaime for hours when she locked her keys, phone and wallet in the car, and shares his adorable puppy with us…i will defiantly bake late night for!

because of work, school, homework…life, basically, i knew i wouldn’t have time to bake up a storm and do something from scratch. so, i saw this little gem on the shelf and loved the box and decided to try a new box mix. yep, i just said it, i bought the mix based on the box. who says the packaging doesn’t make a difference?

we’ll see how everything tastes tomorrow. i have a slight tummyache from dipping pineapple in the leftover chocolate frosting. oops. healthy/not healthy at all.

the frosting gives the option of oil or butter, and i opted for earth balance vegan butter. a lot less fat!

i’ll have a lot to post after making dinner tomorrow night.

sneak peek - spinach, bleu cheese and bacon stuffed chicken breasts, breaded, and topped with a wine wine sauce.

we shall see though…

mayo fail

Tue, 14 Sep 2010 11:54:00 -0400

i usually make a lemon basil aoli for dipping when i have artichokes, and normally i have regular mayo. well, when i was at trader joe’s, i decided to try out the reduced blah blah blah mayo. you know, the healthy alternative? (i’ve already attempted veganaise for the aoli and it turns out awful!)

point of the story. get real mayo when making this!

* mayo, fresh basil, fresh lemon juice, sriracha (best), pepper…and any other seasoning you want to add.

the artichokes i get always vary in size = different length of boiling time.

my next challenge is to make a grilled artichoke…i just need a grill.

sweet love

Sat, 11 Sep 2010 12:20:31 -0400

it has to do with food <3

bananas & peanut butter

Fri, 10 Sep 2010 23:18:00 -0400

* trader joe’s black mt cab or black mt anything is yummy, especially for being $5.

* whole wheat toast, banana, peanut butter & honey … yummy.

modification: i get the better’n peanut butter from tj’s and it’s somehow 85% less sodium. it’s really creamy & delish.

maybe 4 minutes, maybe $6

easy breezy pasta

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 22:42:00 -0400

pasta with goat cheese, olive tapenade & veggies

* whole wheat pasta, a little goat cheese, a little homemade olive tapenade (which i actually discovered is way more expensive to make, rather than just buying it in a jar at the store - but so much yummier when i make it), sun dried tomatoes, artichoke hearts (frozen), spinach, onions, & a little olive oil

i sauteed the veggies while cooking the pasta. right before adding the pasta i threw in the goat cheese and tapenade. then, i mixed the pasta with all the goodies, and tada!

maybe 25 minutes, maybe $5

recipe of my own :)

scramble

Wed, 08 Sep 2010 02:29:00 -0400

before the eggies i sauteed the veggies…

* sun dried tomatoes, onions, spinach, broccoli, basil, & bells.

no oil, because the sun dried’s had a little on them.

* i added 1 egg & 1 egg white, 1/8 of an avo, some garlic salsa, because you can never have enough garlic, and put it in a whole wheat tortilla.

maybe 15 minutes, maybe $3. booya.