Side Dish Alert!! Garlic Roasted Broccoli

I tend to focus on main dishes on here, but last night as I was making one of my faaaaave side dishes, it hit me: why the heck haven't I posted this on my blog??? Perhaps I find it "too easy" to be blog-worthy. Maybe I make it so much that I've completely overlooked it as being something people would be interested in reading about. But, I decided, let me give this thing the "15 minutes" it deserves, because it's definitely my favorite way to eat broccoli. Since my sister-in-law showed me how to do this a while ago, I actually don't think I've made broccoli any other way! It's crazy easy, delicious, and healthy. There really is no going wrong here.


Garlic Roasted Broccoli


Ingredients:

2         crowns of broccoli, chopped into florets
3 - 5    cloves of garlic, finely minced
1 - 2    tablespoons of olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

If you don't have a garlic press, get one! 

Broccoli cut into florets. Nomnomnom... I love broccoli!

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix salt, pepper, olive oil and minced garlic in a small bowl.

2. Put broccoli in a foil-lined baking sheet (I only use the foil for easy clean-up).

3. Pour oil, salt & pepper, and garlic mixture over broccoli. Massage mixture into broccoli florets, making sure you get those yummy garlic pieces in between the "branches" and the "canopies" (lol).

See the garlic on the branches? Don't let any of the garlicky goodness just sit in the baking dish.

4. Spread broccoli out on baking sheet. Pop in oven for approximately 30 minutes.

I love the edges a little crispy.

Are you wondering why the broccoli looks more scant than in the first photo??? Well, when I asked my husband to take the broccoli out of the oven, he decided to eat a quarter of the broccoli straight off the baking sheet. I guess that's a good thing??? Lol

Meatless Monday: Rice Noodle Soup

I try to let my step-sons each pick a meal from my healthy cookbooks that they want to have for dinner during the week. This way, they get involved in the process of food preparation--even if it's indirectly--which, hopefully, would get them open to eating new things. So far so good. A week or two ago, Giovanni had the honor of choosing the Meatless Monday dinner. He decided to go with a Soba Noodle Soup he found in a Vegetarian cookbook we have, since we're a house of soup lovers. I went to the store to get the soba noodles, but couldn't find them! So I had to settle for rice noodles, which, though probably not as nutritious, were damn delicious in their own right.


Rice Noodle Soup

Adapted from cookbook, "Vegetarian: Tasty Recipes for Every Day" by Helen Aitken

8 oz   rice noodles
4        baby bella mushrooms, sliced
64 oz veggie or chicken stock (organic or homemade)
4 oz   snow peas, cut into thin strips
3       small carrots, cut into thin strips
3       cloves garlic, finely chopped
6       spring onions, cut diagonally into 1 inch strips
1 inch piece of ginger, julienned
1/3 C  tamari (or soy sauce)
1/4 C  mirin (or saki)
1 C    bean sprouts
Fresh cilantro, to garnish

1. Combine veggie/chicken stock, mushrooms, snow peas, carrot, garlic, spring onion, and ginger in a large saucepan. Bring to a boil. Add rice noodles, then reduce heat to low and simmer for approx. 10 minutes, until veggies are tender, and noodles are finished cooking.
2. Add soy sauce, mirin, and bean sprouts. Cook for another 5 minutes.
3. Divide among serving bowls, and garnish with cilantro.

Serve with Sriracha sauce and be extremely cautious, as this much deliciousness from a 20 minute meal has been known to cause minds to be friggin' blown.

Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato Leek Soup

Hi there, friends! It's been a while since my last post, but I swear I haven't been neglecting you! I was finishing up the semester, and those last few weeks tend to be the most hectic part of the entire semester. Only two more to go, and I'm finished with my Master's! How exciting?!!?

Anty-way, I've completely dropped the ball on my meatless monday meal posts, so I may as well start with what I had today for lunch to kick this thing off. I wanted to work with what I had on hand, and figured I could do potato leek soup... However....I didn't want just potato leek soup. I happened to have a sweet potato on hand that I had zero plans for, so... why not? Sweet Potato Leek soup, baby! Now, this soup is crazy easy to make. It's not a complex soup, and honestly, I may do a little tweaking to this recipe over time. But, I found it delicious and a good accompaniment to the veggie sandwich I ate it with.

Adapted from this recipe .

Sweet Potato Leek Soup

1 leeks (dark green stems removed), sliced into rings
1/2  of a large white onion, chopped
1 medium sized russet potato, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 medium/large sweet potato, chopped into 1 inch pieces
1 Tbs butter
4 C chicken stock or veggie stock (organic or homemade)
1/2  C  Milk
salt & pepper


1. Fill a large bowl with water, add chopped leeks to the bowl. Separate the rings of the leeks and swish them around in the bowl of water. Let sit for 5 minutes or so for dirt to separate to the bottom of the bowl. Trust me, don't skip this step, unless you like your soup with a side of grit and earth. I'm not here to judge.

2. Melt butter in a medium pot over a medium flame.

3. Add leeks and onions. Let cook for about 2 minutes, stirring frequently.

4. Add russet and sweet potatoes, and chicken stock. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce heat. Let simmer for 20-30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender.

5. Use immersion blender and blend soup until smooth, adding milk during the blending process.

6. Add salt & pepper to taste.


If you're looking to recreate my little lunch I have there, let me tell you, quickly, how I made this sandwich--it's a favorite of mine. Ok, Boom. Here's what you'll need:

whole wheat/multigrain bread, a few slices zucchini, sliced red pepper, thinly sliced onions, sliced mushrooms (about 2),handful of spinach, few thin slices of mozzarella cheese, slices of tomato, some balsamic vinegar, olive oil, and salt and pepper.

- mix together equal amounts of balsamic vinegar and olive oil to use as your sandwich dressing. VERY little goes a long way. A half a teaspoon of each should be fine. Add a pinch of salt and pepper if desired.
-put a frying pan on medium high heat, spray with cooking spray or olive oil, add sliced zucchini, and red pepper. Cook on each side for about 1 minute. Remove, and put in a dish until it's time to assemble your sandwich.
-add sliced mushrooms to pan. Cook for about 1-2 minutes, flipping halfway through to make sure each side gets browned. Remove from pan and add to same dish as other grilled veggies.
-Brush one side of each slice of bread lightly with oil and vinegar mix. Assemble grilled veggies, onions, spinach, tomato, and mozzarella cheese.
-(Optional) Wrap sandwich in parchment paper, tightly. Place it in the pan on medium heat. You can either press on the sandwich, or put a small saucepan on it to weigh it down. After 2 minutes or so, flip the sandwich over, and weigh it down again.
-Cut in half, serve with soup. Voila!

Blueberry and Strawberry Almond Flour Muffins!

Everyone loves a snack every now and then. And, though you're eating all clean now, it doesn't mean you should only munch on carrot sticks and edamame. No. You deserve something baked. Like a fudge brownie....
BUT, let's not get ahead of ourselves!

I recently discovered the versatility of almond flour. I've made pancakes with it before, and stumbled upon a blueberry muffin recipe on Pinterest (where else?) using almond flour. I followed the original recipe for the most part, but made a few changes to the it so that I could reduce the amount of sweetener I add to the muffins, as well as omit the oil.  Each of these muffins only adds up to 59 calories!! Whoop whoop!

Blueberry Almond Flour Muffins

2 C          almond flour
3              eggs
1 1/2 Tbs  brown sugar
1/2 tsp      baking soda
1 Tbs        apple cider vinegar
dash        salt
1 tsp       vanilla
1/4 C      overripe banana, mushed (about half a medium banana)
2 Tbs      applesauce (unsweetened)
1 C         blueberries (fresh or frozen)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan or use muffin pan liners.
2. Mix together almond flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt
3. Add in apple cider vinegar, eggs, vanilla, mashed banana, and applesauce. Mix until smooth.
4. Fold in blueberries.
5. Evenly pour batter into muffin tin.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Try not to singe your tastebuds off by eating a muffin right out of the oven.


YUMMY, right? Now this one I proudly came up with by myself, using the blueberry recipe as a base.

Strawberry Lemon Almond Flour Muffins

2 C         almond flour
3            eggs
2  Tbs    brown sugar
1/2 tsp    baking soda
grated peel from 1 lemon
juice from that one lemon
dash       salt
1 tsp       vanilla
1/4 C      overripe banana, mashed (about half a medium banana)
2 Tbs      applesauce
1 C         strawberries, chopped (fresh! don't use frozen or it'll come out soggy!)


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan or use muffin pan liners.
2. Mix together almond flour, baking soda, brown sugar, and salt
3. Add in lemon juice and peel, eggs, vanilla, mashed banana, and applesauce. Mix until smooth.
4. Fold in strawberries.
5. Evenly pour batter into muffin tin.
6. Bake for 25 minutes.
7. Try not to singe your tastebuds off by eating a muffin right out of the oven.



I had used frozen strawberries, because that's what I had on hand, so my muffins ended up a bit on the soggy side. They were deeellliiicioouuuss, but I will definitely use fresh strawberries next time! You can have these as just a snack during the day or make it a part of your breakfast. I'll continue to come up with more almond flour muffin recipes, as I really enjoy the simplicity of these.

Eating smart..On a budget!

People assume I spend a lot on groceries. After all, "eating healthy is expensive". They assume I go to Whole Foods and "ball out". Well, as an unemployed graduate student, housewife, full-time stepmom to 3 boys, living on one income, I can assure you that I. Do. Not. We've all been to the grocery store and witnessed people spending hundreds of dollars on one grocery trip! Yikes!

It doesn't have to be this way.

I spend $80 or less per family member (5 of us) per month. Yeah. You read that right. This includes breakfast and lunch for my husband and I, dinner for the entire week, and snacks and food for the kids during the week and on the weekend. And this is my absolute limit. I tend to spend less. When you go to the store and spend $300 per trip, besides wasting money, you waste time at the grocery store, and you waste food when the unused and spoiled portion goes into the garbage! Here are some tips to eat healthy without breaking the bank.

Everything on this table came up to $25.77

1. PLAN
 Every Sunday I sit down and make a list of what I'll make for the week. I'll have my list of lunch and what I'll make for our dinner (my breakfast is always a smoothie), and a list of my husband's breakfast and lunch for the week. From this list of weekly meals, I write a grocery list that corresponds with it, and all the items I'll need for those meals. Also, I'll write down any necessities we've run out of (toiletries, milk, etc.)

2. BROWSE CIRCULARS 
 Always have more than one store you shop from. From each of these stores, browse the weekly circular. Many grocery stores have these online. Every Sunday, I browse the Shoprite, Pathmark, Trader Joe's, and Corrado's Market circulars to see which has the items on my list for the cheapest price. I write down how much the item costs next to the name of the item on my grocery list, and I also write down where I'll be buying the item (Shoprite, farmer's market, Corrado's, etc). The point of this is to keep me on track with my budget, and make my trip more efficient. For the farmer's market items, since there's no circular, I put down how much I think it will cost (from previous experience in going there). So, for example, my list would look like this:
     -wheat bread $1.99 (Shoprite)
     -almond milk $1.99 x 2 (Trader Joe's)
     -bag of spinach $1.79 (farmer's market)

3. DON'T BUY PRODUCE AT REGULAR GROCERY STORES. 
  Produce markets or farmer's markets always have produce for waaayyyyy less than your run of the mill grocery stores. This is usually my first stop on my grocery trip, because sometimes the prices are SO good, that I pay less for an item than I thought I would, and then that money can either be used up for something else at the grocery store, OR I can just save that money for another day!

4. SHOP WEEKLY
 It sounds annoying, I know. But set one day a week, and do your shopping on that day. When you buy only what you need for the week, you tend to eliminate the wasting of spoiled food.

5. BUY MANAGER'S SPECIALIS
  I will GLADLY purchase produce that goes on sale because it is close to becoming too ripe and unsellable. This week, I purchased 4 lbs of tomatoes for $1, and about 12 ears of corn for $1. All because they were becoming too ripe. I made the corn that night, and whatever part of it looked a little shriveled, I cut it off, and threw it into my compost bin. The tomatoes are all fine, though some are more ripe than others! If they become too soft and ripe, I'll make them into a tomato sauce, which I'll freeze until needed. Recently, I bought a 5 lb bag of bananas that were a day or two away from jumping into the grave,  brought it home, and immediately put it in the freezer. I use 1 banana in my smoothie every day, and haven't bought bananas in a month. For whichever portion of fruits/veggies that are too ripe to eat, I cut them up and throw them in my compost bin. It's a win win!

6. WHEN FOOD IS SEVERELY ON SALE, GO OVER BUDGET.
  I know it seems counterintuitive for saving money, but if something you normally buy is severely marked down for some special sale, go over your allocated funds for that item. Sometimes Purdue chicken is 40% off at my Shoprite, and during those times I buy more than I initially intended to buy. I'll spend more now, but I'll save more for the next week or two when I don't have to purchase any meat!

7. DO. NOT. STRAY. FROM. YOUR. LIST
  It seems contradictory from the tip above, but under normal circumstances, don't buy anything off the list. If you saved money on one item, and want to transfer those funds to use toward another item, GREAT. For example, If I see that lettuce is 99 cents, instead of the 1.99 I budgeted for it, I just saved $1 that can go towards something else, or I can just leave the money there for another day and count it as a penny saved. If I take my step-kids shopping with me, and I use less money than I budgeted, I'll treat them to an extra snack or something.

8. MARK EACH ITEM OFF YOUR LIST AS YOU BUY IT
  Just to keep you organized and on track. Plus, it feels really good to know you're sticking to your budget and getting everything you need!


Most of the foods I buy aren't coupon eligible. So, following these rules has saved me lots of money without the use of coupons. Not only that, but planning your meals for the week takes the whole guesswork out of "What am I making for dinner, tonight?". Also, if you plan to make healthy meals, you are more likely to stick to it. Don't give yourself the opportunity to choose unhealthy meals or spend unnecessary money on lunch Monday through Friday. Eating smart and healthy doesn't have to be expensive! Plan ahead!

Do you have any money-saving tips?? Share!

Meatless Monday: A Series

In the continual quest to eat healthier and take better care of myself, and my family, I try to find new ways to keep things interesting. Contrary to what many people think, healthy-eating isn't the monotonous consumption of iceberg lettuce, tomato, and cucumber drowned in blue cheese dressing. Healthy eating is freakin' delicious...especially if you're constantly finding ways to switch it up! One way I've been doing this is participating in "Meatless Monday" for the past month or so. Carnivorous Kimora would have never imagined a day when she had a meal without meat--on purpose! But, Meatless Monday has become sorta like a celebration to me now, and I look forward to the challenge of figuring out my yummy meatless meals.

Why go Meatless?? Meat is AWESOME!

Meat is, indeed, pretty awesome. However, according to Meatless Monday's website (yeah there's an actual website. I know! Thats what I said!) there's lots of benefits to going meatless for one day a week:

-Limit cancer risk
-Reduce heart disease
-Fight diabetes
-Curb obesity
-Live longer

Besides the obvious health benefits, you'll also be helping the planet, which is way in line with my conscientiousness!

-Reduce your carbon footprint
-Minimize water usage
-Help reduce fossil fuel dependence.

You can read more about it here.

What does this mean for Uncreatively Conscientious?

Meatless Monday meal ideas!! I'll post a few of the meals I've had in the past few weeks of participating in MM, and for the upcoming ones, I'll post recipes that I use. The point here is to inspire you to make better choices and discover the yumminess of healthy meatless cooking!

But eating meals without meat has to be hard! What am I gonna do about protein??

It's one day, buddy. You'll live without eating a chicken boob for 24 hours.

Past Meatless Monday Dinners

Remember that basil quinoa cake? Well here's another use for it! Quinoa cake topped with baby spinach, a bit of marinara, a slice of mozzarella, and a slice of tomato, baked like regular chicken parm. For the "pasta" I simply julienned zucchini and carrot.

 From my vegetarian cookbook: Homemade sweet potato ravioli with a garlic cream sauce. Here's the recipe.

I stole this idea from Instagram! lol! I saw someone posted something similar and I just had to recreate it. Baked acorn squash with brown sugar and walnuts, stewed lentils, and a yummy salad. 

  

 Another stolen idea from Instagram, with a few tweaks. Baked plantains, brown rice with cilantro and lime, cuban black beans, and a salad with avocado slices on the side. This was absolutely delicious.

Past Meatless Monday Lunches

 A vegetable tart with salsa verde recipe from my vegetarian cookbook. This was so yummy! I put the store-bought pie crust into the oven to bake by itself to bake and get nice and golden. The vegetables (zucchini, red pepper, onion, potato, capers, artichoke hearts, and probably some other things I can't remember) were sauteed in a pan with herbs. They were put into the baked pie crust, topped with chopped spinach and salsa verde. It didn't stay together well but it was another yummy recipe I'll be revisiting.

A veggie sandwich on whole wheat. Always a delicious staple meatless lunch. 

Homemade black bean burgers on whole wheat with various veggies, and a sriracha mayo. 

The naan bread "pizza" with black bean "hummus" from my previous blog post!



Experiment with your meatless meal options. Browse Pinterest, and Instagram, and steal those ideas! You'd be surprised the amount of delicious vegetarian or meatless meals you can find on there. Oh, and check in with Uncreatively Conscientious to get regular Meatless Monday meal ideas! You tell your friends, to get with MY friends, and we can BE friends! We could do this every weekend. Is that aight? Is that aight with you?? *Obvious Hip-Hop reference from the 90's*

Breakfast Smoothies!

We've all heard that "breakfast is the most important meal of the day". Even with this knowledge, many choose foods that aren't exactly healthy breakfast items, or they may just skip the meal altogether! I know that a lot of people don't feel like they have time to make breakfast in the morning, let alone one that's actually healthy for you. It's actually way easier than you think.

For the past 2 months or so I've been taking my breakfast "to-go". No I'm not at the Dunkin Donuts drive-thru every morning, I'm making smoothies!!

The thing I love about smoothies is that I'm able to get a large serving of fruits and vegetables in first thing in the morning. You can do any mixture of fruits and veggies to suit your tastes, but I've found this combination to be a winner.

Kimora's Breakfast Smoothie

1 banana (I freeze mine, because it adds volume to the smoothie, and also the bananas don't rot in the freezer! Winnnn!)

1/3 Cup blackberries

1/2 Cup strawberries

1/2 Cup blueberries

1 Cup spinach

3/4 Cup Vanilla Almond Milk

2 Tablespoons ground flax seed

Blend until smooth. Seriously. 5 minute breakfast thats delicious and nutritious. This tends to make around 2.5 cups.

Nutrition Info:

354 Calories

Vitamin C: 138% DV

Vitamin A: 71% DV

Calcium: 40% DV

Another benefit I've experienced since regularly making breakfast smoothies, my skin has been looking FAN-TASTIC, and my nails are a lot stronger. It may not be just the smoothies contributing to this, but the general increase in the amount of fruits and veggies I eat per day. Who's winning?? This chick!

Black Bean "Hummus"

Since I've chosen to eat less meat and incorporate more variety into my meals, I've come to love and appreciate the little protein-packed wonders called beans. Whether it's a black bean burger, stewed lentils, or a chick pea salad, I try to eat beans at least twice a week. Research has shown that by including beans in your regular diet, you can lower your cholesterol, reduce the risk of many cancers, and lower blood pressure, among other awesome health benefits. Like the saying goes "Beans beans they're good for your heart..." Well, you know the rest.

So a week ago, I was craving some hummus, but had no chickpeas! Well...actually, I technically did have chickpeas, but they were more useful as B.B. gun pellets than a food item in their current state, so what is a hummus-craving girl to do??? I did have a can of frijoles negros!! Is it even considered hummus if it isn't made out of chickpeas? I could be onto something revolutionary here, folks. I present to you, Black Bean Hummus.


Black Bean Hummus

1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained
2 cloves garlic, minced
juice of one lemon
1 Tbs + 2 tsp tahini
1 tsp salt
black pepper
2 Tbs extra virgin olive oil

1. Put all ingredients in food processor, and process until smooth.

That. Is. It!

You can use it as a dip for vegetables, a spread to replace mayo on your sandwiches and wraps, or just use a spoon to dig right in and go to town. I had some naan bread and decided to make a little veggie pizza with it, using the hummus as the pizza "sauce". Yummaayy!!!

Turkey Lasagna!

One of my favorite things to make (and eat) is lasagna. However, every time, I make it I come to the realization of two things:

        1. This is definitely not going to be the healthiest thing I eat all week.
        2. Why did I decide to make lasagna? It takes FOREVER!!

Well one of those things still holds true. Lasagna takes forever to make, but it's a labor of love, because its deliciousness is well worth the effort. Lasagna doesn't, however, have to be that unhealthy. Matter of fact, it can almost be kinda healthy. Imagine that? The trick is to use all clean or mostly clean ingredients, and stuff as many veggies as you can into it!

I was inspired by a friend who has a lasagna recipe using thinly sliced zucchini as lasagna noodles  for a low carb rendition of this tasty meal. However, I knew I couldn't use just zucchini as the pasta. My family would disown me. Therefore, I decided to alternate between the zucchini "pasta" and Bionaturae organic lasagna noodles.

My favorite marinara sauce!

It only has 7 ingredients and they're all natural, which I love!

Lower Carb Turkey (and veggie!) Lasagna


2 large zucchini, sliced lengthwise 1/4" thick (like a thick flat ribbon of zucchini)

1 rib of celery, diced

3/4 C diced bell pepper
1 C chopped mushrooms
1 medium carrot, grated
1 medium onion, chopped
4 gloves garlic, minced
1 Tbs olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1/4 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp italian seasoning

1 jar of your favorite marinara sauce or 25 to 28 oz of homemade sauce

1/4 C parsley, chopped

1/2 C frozen peas

Salt & Pepper

1 egg

1 3/4 C ricotta cheese

1/2 tsp dried basil

6 lasagna noodles (or as many as you need for 2 layers in your baking dish)

4 C mozzarella, shredded, and reserve 2 C for top of lasagna

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

2. Heat olive oil in pan over medium high heat. Add all vegetables, and saute until veggies start to let out moisture (Approx. 5-7 minutes). Stir frequently to avoid browning or sticking to pan.

3. Add ground turkey, red pepper flakes, and italian seasoning. Let cook for about 3 minutes, stirring constantly to incorporate turkey into vegetables and to reduce clumping.

4. Stir in tomato sauce, parsley, and frozen peas. Cover and reduce to low flame. Let simmer for as long as you'd like up to 45 min (I let mine simmer for about 30 minutes). Be sure to check on it and stir frequently to ensure turkey is well broken up, and nothing is sticking to the bottom of the pan. Add salt and pepper to taste.

5. While sauce is simmering, place thinly sliced zucchini strips on baking pan (or pans. You may have to use more than one) in a single layer. Let bake for 10-15 minutes until soft. Let cool.

Before baking

6. Cook lasagna noodles in boiling water until JUST BEFORE al dente (approx 6-7 minutes). If you're using no-boil noodles, then just sit on your pretty little ass for 6 to 7 minutes and take a few sips of that coffee you made to get you through this laborious task.

7. In a bowl, mix together egg, ricotta, and basil until well combined. 

LASAGNA ASSEMBLY AT LAST! I don't have measurements for this, as I tend to eyeball it, so here's the basics.

In your baking dish, spoon 1 cup of meat/veggie mixture and spread into an even layer.

1. Add a layer of lasagna noodles.

2. Ricotta mixture

3. Meat/veggie sauce

4. Mozzarella

5. Zucchini strips

6. Ricotta mixture

7. Meat/veggie sauce

8. Mozzarella

Nobody said this would be pretty

One cup of Mozzarella 

Repeat as many times as you have to. Make sure to press each layer down a bit with a spatula. 

Use 1 cup of your reserved mozzarella to top lasagna. Put into oven to bake for 30 minutes. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella, and bake for another 15 - 20 minutes.

I usually like the middle a little more brown, but we were in a rush and hungry. Still delish though! 

I have a tendency to not let my lasagna cool enough before cutting it, and it ends up being a blob of gooey deliciousness instead of a tower of deliciousness. If you want your lasagna to actually stay in layers, let it cool for at least 10 min. I didn't know this until a week ago. LOL! 

Bon apetite! 

I eat avocado with everything

Crustless Spinach Zucchini Pie

As usual, I was sitting innocently on my couch one morning, writing my daily to-do list, and I got an instant craving for something: spinach pie. I've never made a spinach pie before, but I knew that they tend to have crust and I definitely didn't want that. I'm making a more conscious effort to exclude refined carbs from my diet, and also excluding carbs where they're not needed. So I googled: crustless spinach pie. After several recipes that looked very "blah", I found one that seemed good enough to satisfy my craving! While getting the spinach from the veggie crisper drawer, I saw a stack--yes an actual stack--of zucchinis that I bought a few days ago. Not exactly sure what I intended to do with all of these squashes, but I decided they'd go just fine with my spinach pie!

Here's the original recipe.


Spinach Zucchini Pie

1 1/2 C     Spinach, chopped
1/2 C        Zucchini, chopped
1 C           Ricotta cheese
2              Eggs
2              Egg whites
1/4 C        Parmesan cheese, grated
1              Small onion, finely chopped
2              Garlic cloves, finely minced
 Salt & Pepper    (Use your judgement here on how much you want. I used about 1/2 tsp of salt)
1/2  tsp     Tabasco or other hot sauce
1/2 tsp      Nutmeg
1/4 C        Mozzarella cheese, shredded


1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Cook spinach and zucchini in pan until wilted, let cool.
3.  In a bowl, mix ricotta, eggs, egg whites, parmesan cheese, onion, garlic, salt and pepper, hot sauce, and nutmeg until well incorporated.  Add spinach and zucchini to bowl.
4. Spray pie pan with cooking spray and pour mixture into pie pan.
5. Sprinkle with shredded mozzarella.
6. Bake for 40 min or until knife comes out clean.


Yield:  8 slices
Calories per slice: 95 measly calories per slice!

Mm... bubbly cheesy goodness...

Seriously, thats it. It's THAT easy. Now you have a yummy breakfast, or brunch, or lunch for a week! You're welcome.  :)

Served with chopped avocado and tomato salad

Kale Chips! My Beloved!!

       Soooo.....I attempted to make kale chips earlier in the week. All of the recipes I read involved baking them for 10 minutes or so at around 300 to 350 degrees. Pssshhh! That sounded so easy! Well, I tried that method, and it tasted like the inside of a forest fire. Needless to say, I wasn't impressed with these kale chips everyone keeps raving about. But, I bought a gigantic 3 to 4 lb bag of kale this week that was on sale for $2 (Seriously, would you walk away from that?), so I had to make SOMETHING of it! I wanted to try to make the chips again.. But I wanted to do it right. So back to Google I went.

     After some intensive Google research, I deduced (<---college education right there) that the best method of making these chips was by dehydration. I don't have a dehydrator so back to the Google I go. You can totally use your oven to dehydrate things! Jerky! Fruit! Chips! The possibilities are endless!

     One of the really cool things about kale chips is that you can essentially season it with any flavors you love. I decided to roll with parmesan and garlic.


Parmesan Garlic Kale Chips

Here's what you'll need:

Kale          I'm not sure how much. I probably used a pound.
2 Tbs         Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1-2 Tsp      Garlic powder
2-3 Tbs      Parmesan cheese
                 Salt and Pepper to taste

1. Put oven on "Warm" setting. This setting is less than 200 degrees, so that the food isn't baked, but we're creating a "dehydrator-like" setting. Let warm up for at least 10 minutes.

2. In the meantime, clean the kale. I mean REALLY clean it. I used curly kale, which has very curly leaves that dirt often gets trapped in. I filled my sink with water, soaked the batch of kale, and individually rubbed each leaf. I know it's tedious, but I didn't want to take any chances crunching down on sand that was stuck in the curly leaves.

3. Once properly cleaned, wrap the bunch of kale in a towel and squeeze/pat dry. Remove stems from each kale leaf, and tear leaves into "chip-sized" pieces. Place into a large bowl.

4. In a small bowl, mix together garlic powder, parmesan cheese, and salt and pepper. Add olive oil to mixture, and mix well until incorporated.

5. Add dressing to kale chips, and massage it into leaves, making sure each chip gets a little bit of love. Trust me, this will be worth it in the end. Each chip will be coated with awesomeness.

6. Arrange chips on a baking sheet, making sure they don't overlap each other. I had to use 2 baking sheets for this.

7. Place into oven. LEAVE OVEN SLIGHTLY CRACKED. This is imperative in making the oven act as a dehydrator. While the oven door is ajar, the moisture that leaves the kale leaf will exit the oven. The kale leaves will stay beautifully green, but get very crispy and crunchy.

8. Leave in oven for 40 minutes to 1 hour, occasionally checking it's readiness by sneaking a chip or two out of the batch for a "taste test". The chips will get a little more crispy once you remove them from the oven.

9. Enjoy your delicious healthy snack!!

See how they maintained their gorgeous green color?

I was actually surprised at how insanely delicious these are. Play around with more flavors. I know I will!

                         

Breakfast Bites!

             Mornings for me typically start around 5:30 am every day. I don't work, but I intern at a school for children with autism three days a week. You're probably thinking, "School doesn't start until around 9am. What the heck are you doing up that early?!?!". Two words: My. Husband.


              If he's up, I'm up. Partly because he puts every light in the house on while getting ready for work. Also, because he never gives himself enough time to make anything for breakfast or lunch, and ends up eating unhealthy crap 6 days a week for 2 meals a day. That's no bueno, so I tend to have to make breakfast shakes for him. I was intent on figuring out a way to make him a portable, relatively healthy breakfast. One day I was sitting on the couch, doing God knows what, and it hit me: BREAKFAST BITES! Breakfast items that could be baked in muffin tins for easy transportability (Wow...no red squiggly lines under that word? Thought I made that one up. hm.. ). I decided to make two of my favorite breakfast items: veggie omelets and whole wheat pancakes.

This is so easy, it's actually funny it took me so long to think of it.

Omelet Bites

5      eggs
salt and pepper to taste
various chopped vegetables
bacon, cooked and chopped (optional)
shredded cheese (optional)

For the love of all things sacred, use silicone muffin pans (and spray with cooking spray or oil) if you have them. Otherwise you'll end up with 1/4 of your omelet stuck in the pan. Trust me. I'm picking up some silicone bakeware over the weekend, because scrubbing muffin pans sucks. If thats not a viable option, use foil muffin liners and spray the hell out of them with cooking spray or oil.

Yield: 6 Omelet Bites

One of my eggs was a twin! 

Zucchini, mushrooms, spinach, bacon, green onion, red onion, yellow pepper

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin pan (Silicone pans!! Don't make the same mistakes I did! Save yourselves!!)

2. Add chopped veggies to the bottom of each muffin..uh..crater? muffin cup?? 

No liner was used. Muffin pan was almost thrown in the trash because of how much the egg stuck to it.

3. In a glass measuring cup, whisk together eggs, salt, and pepper.

4. Pour whisked eggs on top of vegetables until full. If using cheese, sprinkle on top.

5. Bake 15 minutes. Voila!

Let cool, then remove egg from pan, place into air tight container. Put in the refrigerator, and reheat as many as you need in the morning. 20-30 seconds should be ideal for reheating 2 omelet bites.

Whole Wheat Pancake Bites

-Your favorite whole wheat (or regular flour...nobody's here to judge) pancake recipe. Here's mine.   I halved the recipe, since I didn't need to make that many pancake bites, however, I added 1/2 tsp more baking powder, since I wanted them to rise a bit more.

-Maple syrup (as much as you choose. I used 2 Tablespoons since my recipe was halved)

-Chopped fruit (I used sliced banana, and blueberries), or chocolate chips, or anything else you love to add to your pancakes.

Yield: 6ish pancake bites (since I halved the recipe)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make pancakes according to recipe.

2. Add 2 Tablespoons of maple syrup  and fold into pancake batter.

3. Pour a small amount of pancake batter into pan just to form a barrier between the fruit and the bottom of the muffin pan. Add some of your fruit or other toppings on top of this.

I made my omelets and pancakes in the same pan. Clearly I didn't pour any pancake batter at the bottom of the muffin tin. Lesson learned.

4. Pour batter into each cup until full or almost full. Pancake batter doesn't rise much so don't worry about that. 

5. Add more fruit or other toppings and drizzle more maple syrup on top of pancake bite.

6. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

7. Let cool, remove, and place in air tight container. Microwave for 30 seconds or so until warm. Voila! Breakfast on the go! 

I'll totally do the whole breakfast bite thing again. This time with silicone pans, liners, and doing it the correct way! Lol! Also, I'm going to try to experiment with more breakfast options so that it doesn't become monotonous and boring.   Enjoy!

Chicken Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

Often, at the end of the week, I have to scrape up ingredients to make a meal of whatever I have available. Yesterday (Thursday) was no different from other weeks. The only meat I had in the freezer was chicken breast, but not enough for everyone to have their own. I decided to make meatballs, but I didn't have any pasta sauce on hand--and quite frankly, tomato sauce is getting "old"--so I'd have to get creative here! I've made a mushroom sauce to go with pork chops before, so it should work for chicken meatballs as well! With my meat grinder ready to go, and my notebook on hand to write it all down, I came up with this tasty meal. Even though it LOOKS indulgent, chicken meatballs are very lean, and the recipe is mostly clean!

If you've never ground your own meat, and have a Kitchenaid mixer, get the meat-grinding attachment. I can't even explain how much it expands your cooking options--especially when you have a few pieces of meat here and there--and saves you money!


Chicken Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce

Meatball Ingredients

1 lb           ground chicken
1/2            medium onion, finely chopped
3               cloves of garlic, minced
2 tsp          parsley
1 1/2 tsp    Herbs de Provence
1/2 tsp       kosher salt
                 black pepper to taste
1/4 C         parmesan cheese
1/2 C         italian bread crumbs
1               egg

Mushroom Sauce Ingredients

1 Tbs         unsalted butter (don't substitute with margarine. trust me)
1/2             medium onion, thinly sliced
2 C            sliced mushrooms
2 C            chicken stock
1 tsp          thyme
1 tsp          dried parsley
1                bay leaf
1 1/2 tsp     soy sauce
1/2 C          whole milk
1 Tbs          corn starch


1. Meatballs: Mix all ingredients with a fork or by hand until all are thoroughly combined. Form into 1" meatballs.

Clearly I didn't finely chop my onions. Ain't nobody got time for that. 

2. In a large non-stick pan, heat 1-2 Tbs olive oil over medium-high heat.

3. Add meatballs. Brown on all sides. You may have to brown the meatballs in batches, unless you have a ginormous pan. Once adequately browned and almost cooked through, remove and set aside.

Browned but not all the way cooked through, as chicken breast can easily become too dry. 

4. Reduce to medium heat. Add butter to pan. Constantly move it around until melted.

5. Add onions and mushrooms. Cook on medium until onions and mushrooms are soft, and browned (approx. 2-5 minutes). Stir occasionally.

6. Pour chicken stock into pan and stir. Add thyme, parsley, bay leaf, and soy sauce.

7. Put meatballs back into pan, and whatever juices they may have leaked while resting on plate. Stir so that meatballs are covered with sauce. Cover and let cook for 3-5 minutes.

8. In the meantime, whisk cornstarch into milk until smooth. After meatballs and sauce have been cooking for 3-5 minutes, whisk cornstarch/milk mixture into sauce until smooth. Reduce heat to low. Cover and cook for 15 minutes. Add salt and pepper to taste.

9. **had to come back and add this step** REMOVE BAY LEAF! Because chomping down on a bay leaf while eating isn't exactly my idea of fun.

You can serve this with egg noodles, couscous, brown rice, or any other side. I chose to stick to veggies and served it with roasted broccoli and a salad. For my step-sons, I served it with rice. The chicken meatballs were way more moist than I thought they would be. I'm glad I wrote this one down!

Yield: Approx. 20 meatballs
Calories per serving: 158 calories (2 meatballs with 1/4 C sauce)

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

There's nothing better than a fresh, fluffy stack of pancakes on a Saturday morning. The beauty of pancakes is that you can honestly do just about anything with them! In the same week I made a batch of chocolate chip pancakes, and these beauties--Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes. The chocolate chip pancakes were the manifestation of my husband refusing to go to the grocery store at 10pm to get me the chocolate chip cookies I wanted. But these...these bad boys were the result of a mind in conflict: "Should I make oatmeal pancakes? Or whole wheat pumpkin pancakes?"   Why not make both?!

This recipe-writing thing is new for me. I usually just wing it and forget how I made it. But just for you, Uncreatively Conscientious, I wrote this one down.

Pumpkin Oatmeal Pancakes

1    C        Quick Oats

1/4 C        Whole wheat flour

2    Tbs     Brown sugar

1/2 Tsp     Baking soda

1/2 Tsp     Baking powder

1/8 Tsp     Salt

1-2 Tsp     Pumpkin pie spice (at 2 Tsp, the spice gets overpowering to me, so adjust to taste)

3/4  C       Pumpkin puree

2     C       Milk, divided

1              Egg

1/4  Tsp    Vanilla extract 

1. In large bowl, mix oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice.

2. In a smaller bowl, whisk together pumpkin puree, 1 CUP milk, vanilla, and egg.

3. Here's where it gets personal: Add as much milk as you need to get the consistency of pancake you want. Keep in mind that the whole wheat and the oatmeal make this a thick pancake to begin with, so thin it out as you see fit. I ended up using the entire 2 cups.

4. Heat skillet or pan over medium fire. Spray pan/skillet with cooking spray. Use 1/4 Cup of batter for each pancake. When bubbles appear on top, flip. Keep in mind these will take longer to cook than your basic pancake, as they are more dense. So make sure the fire isn't too high! 

5. Don't do these pancakes an injustice by serving them with "Pancake Syrup". Get the real stuff please!

Enjoy!!

Where's the beef??? Not here! Chicken/turkey burgers!

 Don't let the title fool you. I'm not anti-beef. I'm not anti-meat. I'm just pro-alternatives. I. LOVE. BURGERS. Hamburgers, turkey burgers, chicken burgers, sweet potato burgers, veggie burgers..As long as it's "burger-esque", I'll more than likely try to make it.
   Last week one of my friends posted a Facebook status about wanting a big juicy burger. Naturally, I began craving one too, but since I'm making an effort to eat more cleanly, I decided to make one myself. When it comes to ground meat, I prefer to grind my own. Especially with my deliciously sexy hot pink Kitchenaid mixer with grinder attachment. Anywho, I scavenged through the contents of my freezer, and found some undedicated (not reserved for a future meal) chicken! I searched some more and found ONE.. yes, ONE, whole wheat burger bun (My freezer has everything. I know if I looked deep enough, I'd probably find a portal to the land of Narnia). I'll make chicken burgers!!! I Googled and found a recipe for chicken burgers. This was all coming together so perfectly, as if orchestrated by the burger lords themselves!!...

Undedicated chicken breast

Sexy Kitchenaid with meat-grinder attachment

....Except the amount of undedicated chicken I found was barely enough to make 4 burgers. So back to the freezer I went. I found undedicated turkey breast cutlets!!! Turkey/chicken burgers were born.

  The beauty of non-beef burgers is that you can often shove as many chopped vegetables as you can into the mix.

Here's the recipe I used.  The only changes I made were using the turkey breast to make up for the   lack of chicken breast. Also, I think I added some chopped up zucchini.

NomNomNom... non-beefy deliciousness.

With the excess burgers I don't cook, I cut wax/parchment paper into squares, place each burger on a wax square on a baking sheet or some other flat surface. Transfer to the freezer, and leave until solid. Then take each burger and its wax paper, stack them and place them into ziplock bags for later use. Now, you have a 5-10 minute lunch in your freezer. :)   You're welcome.



Do you have a favorite non-beef burger recipe? Share it here!