Healthy lunch after a long run...

Today, after a long work out, I was craving some meat and vegetables but wanted something refreshing (not just hot grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.) Looking at what I had in the fridge I had no clue what to pull together, then Ah-ha, a light bulb went out off, Pasta Salad. Although white starches aren't the best I figured "what the heck" the rest is healthy. So I have decided to name this one Pantry Pasta Salad... 

I apologize for the lack of images, I was too hungry. And now that I've eaten and relaxed from my run I am too tired to go take a picture of the leftovers, ha ha! 

Pantry Pasta Salad: (any vegetables can be used for this, whatever you have in your veggie drawer) 

• 2 cups pasta ( I happened to have macaroni, penne or spiral works well too)
• 1/4 of a cucumber chopped, skin on
• 1/4 tomato chopped
• handful of peas
• 1 green onion chopped
• 3 mushrooms, sliced
• 1 chicken breast
• 1/2 of an avocado
• Olive Oil
• 1/2 of a lemon
• Vinegar
• Dijon Mustard
• Salt and Pepper

Begin by getting your water boiling for the pasta, once that has began boiling toss noodles in and set your timer for 7 minutes. While the water is boiling/noodles are cooking get a pan hot and coat with a very small amount of olive oil. Once the pan is hot, begin cooking the chicken. While the chicken was cooking I seasoned it with salt, pepper, and garlic; on each side. Turn the chicken when necessary to cook the other side.

While the noodles and chicken are cooking, chop your vegetables. Again, ANY vegetables can be used. When your vegetables are chopped, toss them into a mixing bowl. *I topped mine with the avocado, you can also toss it in ahead of time. Once the noodles are done, strain them and rinse with very cold water. This stops the cooking and allows the noodles to cool quickly. Once the chicken is done, chop it and toss into the bowl. At this time you can shake out excess water from the noodles and toss them into the bowl as well. Place in the fridge while you make your dressing. This allows for the pasta salad to get cold quickly. Unless you have time... then no rush. I was hungry!

In a small bowl whisk together 2 tablespoons olive oil, lemon juice form 1/2 of a lemon, 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard, a few fresh grinds of pepper, and about three dashes of white wine vinegar (any vinegar works)

Once your dressing is to your liking, poor over the pasta salad and toss. Serve cold.

This dish was simple, healthy, quick, cheap, and allowed me to use vegetables I was gonna be throwing away soon.

Enjoy!

For the Health Nuts

Being that I was gonna be home alone for a few days and not wanting to cook for one person over and over, I decided to make something that could last me, something that wasn't unhealthy to eat at 10pm after a shift, something that would fill me up after a run, and something that was easy on the wallet. (Total groceries for this was about $15 and it gave me 8 meals) So I made Vegetable Soup. I actually cut this recipe in half and made some changes along the way. Half of this recipe which fed me lunch and dinner for three days (and I still have more) came out to only 580 calories. But, vegetable calories, in my mind, don't count. ha ha. Even if you did count them, cutting this huge amount of soup into 8th (which is about the serving size I've been having) that is only 72.5 calories a meal. That's NOTHING for something that fills you up and is full of nutrition. So here ya go... Ill explain what I did different through the ingredients and directions.

Vegetable Soup Recipe

• 6 large green onions (I used 3)
• 2 green peppers (1 green pepper)
• 1 or 2 cans of tomatoes (diced or whole) (I used Del Monte diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano and didn't drain them, just tossed in the whole can)
• 3 Carrots (1 Carrot)
• 1 Container (10 oz. or so) Mushrooms (I used fresh mushrooms, cut into thick slices)
• 1 bunch of celery (1/2 bunch, about 3 sticks)
• half a head of cabbage (stuck with the 1/2 head, I like cabbage)
• 1 package Lipton soup mix (1/2 package)
• 1 or 2 cubes of bouillon (optional) (I did not use this)
• 1 48oz can V8 juice (optional) (3 5.5oz. cans of 100% V8 Juice)
• Season to taste with salt, pepper, parsley, curry, garlic powder, etc. (I added about 2 pinches of salt and about three full grinds of pepper)

Directions:
Slice green onions, put in a pot and start to saute with cooking spray, then add to pot.
Cut green pepper stem end off and cut in half, take the seeds and membrane out. Cut the green-pepper into bite size pieces and add to pot.
Take the outer leafs layers off the cabbage, cut into bite size pieces, add to pot.
Clean carrots, cut into bite size pieces, and add to pot.
Slice mushrooms into thick slices, add to pot.
Clean and dice the celery, add to pot.
Add Lipton's soup mix and the can of diced tomatoes to the pot.
If you would like a spicy soup, add a few pinches of red pepper flakes. (I did, it gave so much flavor)
You can use beef or chicken bouillon cubes for seasonings. These have all the salt and flavors you will need, so don't add any addition salt.
Use about 12 cups of water (or 8 cups and the V8 juice), cover and put heat on low. Let soup cook for a long time - two hours works well. (Since I cut this in half, I did the three cans of V8 Juice and three cups of water, the balance was perfect)


I cooked this soup in my Crock Pot, it's nice to set a timer and forget about something and just enjoy the smells. Once all the ingredients were in I put the Crock Pot on high and let it cook for two hours. When I had to leave for work, I unplugged it, left it there and came home to exactly what I was wanted!

Most vegetables soups are not very exciting, but this was awesome, the spices were perfect and all the vegetables stayed crunchy (I hate mushy cooked vegetables)!

Shrimp and Pork in Coconut Milk

"My favorite time of day is to get up and eat leftovers from dinner, especially spicy food."

My brother, who eats completely Paleo, introduced me to this dish and it has been one that will stick with me forever. I have made this numerous time, using different variations, depending on who I am cooking for. Although the recipe calls for pork sausage, I always use Hot Italian Turkey Sausage. I have also made it with only shrimp, for a vegetarian friend, and the spice amount depends on who is joining me for dinner. This recipe is truly so simple and it's always delicious, it never let's me down! I recommend EVERYONE attempt this one, you won't be disappointed, I promise!

Side note: If you make it vegetarian style and leave out the sausage, you need to add salt and spice. The sausage is what gives it the salt and spice needed. Otherwise, no need to add either!

• 1 lb. Italian pork sausage
• 1 lb. medium sized raw shrimp, tails removed
• 2 zucchini squash sliced
• 2 Japanese eggplants sliced
• 1 small red and yellow bell pepper, diced
• 1/2 can coconut milk
• Black pepper to taste

In a large soup pot brown Italian sausage over medium heat. While the sausage is browning, rinse and dry your shrimp and chop your vegetables. When the sausage is almost cooked, add shrimp and cook till pink. Once both are cooked add your vegetables. Cook mixture for about 3-4 minutes, then poor in coconut milk. Season with black pepper and if you like more spice throw in a few dashes of red pepper flakes. 

*After the first time making this dish I started using 1/2 lb. of mushrooms instead of the Japanese eggplant. (I felt the eggplant became too soft for my liking) Also, I use a whole can of coconut milk to give it more broth. You can use light or regular coconut milk. Remember, if you don't use the sausage, you will need to salt and spice it or it may be quite bland. This dish can easily be eaten alone for a light meal or with rice if you like.

Pictures definitely do not do this dish justice, the flavors are awesome!

Tuna Salad Lettuce Wraps

"Eat breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince, and dinner like a pauper."-Adelle Davis

I often make tuna salad and lay it on a slice of bread, like an open faced sandwich. Trying to stay away from too many carbs I thought of this. You could pretty much put anything in the tuna salad, or even leave it plain. The tuna over the lettuce was refreshing and healthy, and very easy!

1 can of tuna

1/8 cup red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/8 cup orange bell pepper, finely chopped

1 stick of celery, finely chopped

1 tablespoon of mayonnaise

1 dash of white or apple cider vinegar (options)

1/2 tomato chopped

1/2 avocado sliced 

romaine lettuce cups

Mix tuna, bell peppers, celery, mayonnaise, vinegar, and tomato

Lay slices of avocado on lettuce and top with tuna salad mixture.

*You could easily make extra tuna and store for lunch the next day. Also, instead of mixing all the ingredients together, you can make the tuna with only mayonnaise and then chop the lettuce and add the ingredients; creating more of a salad. Then just top with tuna mix.

*If you don't like mayonnaise or are REALLY watching your figure, use mustard and vinegar or salsa. Both are great!

Dinner for Two

Unfortunately I haven't been able to post anything due to my computer crashing. I had taken this picture a few weeks back of a simple dinner for two I made after a night of work. This dish is so simple and quick. I even had time to whip up some dessert. Using these basic ingredients I found in my kitchen, dinner was served! And delicious! 


2 chicken breasts
1 regular or sweet potato
2 handfuls of green beans
1 cup mushrooms
1/2 cup white onion
4 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce
Salt
Pepper
1/2 tbsp butter
1 tbsp olive oil


Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line a cookie sheets with foil. While oven is preheating slice your potatoes,  the white onion as thick or thin as you would like them, and your mushrooms. (I like my mushrooms meaty so I got for thicker slices) 


Place chicken breasts in a baking dish. Take your 1/2 tbsp butter, cut it in half and place halves, one on each chicken. Season the chicken with salt and pepper, again as much or as little as you like. Poor about 4 tablespoons of Worcestershire sauce over the chicken. Place the chicken in the oven and bake for 20 minutes. If chicken is thick, go for 25 minutes.


While chicken begins to bake, place potatoes on foil lined cookie sheet and cover with 1/2 tbsp olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Using your hands, toss the potatoes to evenly coat with olive oil. Place in oven, below the chicken. They will be done with the chicken.


Using a large saucepan heat remaining olive oil. When hot add green beans, onions, and mushrooms. Again, sprinkle with salt and pepper to your liking. (optional: sprinkle with garlic powder or garlic salt) Saute for about 5 minutes, this will leave vegetables still crunchy yet hot. 

For dessert, I made this simple and light dish. After seeding a pomegranate simple poor seeds over a spoonful of cool whip, whipped cream, or ice creams. I used cool whip, it's what I had in the freezer, and it was delicious! 


Note: I also took extra pomegranate seeds, placed them in a zip block bag and smashed them with my hand. Once all the juice is released, cut a small hole in the corner of the bag and poor into a cup. Add a little ice and it is a wonderful juice.

Halloween Treats

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and caldron bubble."

Call me Martha Stewart... When I first heard of Kelly and Veronica's Halloween party planning I knew immediately I had to bring something creative and fun. After spending hours online researching recipes I stumbled upon a Cheesecake Brownie recipe that were shaped as pumpkins. After reading the whole recipe I found it was also layered with Apricot Jam (my Mom's favorite)! Then, I wanted to bring something savory. I immediately thought about the Lil' Smokey appetizers I made for Ryan's 30th, everyone was crazy about those. Of course, I slaved for hours on end and the one appetizer I used canned dough and little hot dogs, everyone loved! Anyways, I found this scary Lil' Smokey appetizer recipe, where the dough is wrapped to around the dog to create a mummy look. Fun! When Friday came and I had all of the ingredients, I began! Well, not all the ingredients. I could not find Pumpkin Butter ANYWHERE! I went into a panic until Lisa came to my rescue (Shaun's sister) and told me how easy it was to make my own. Though you can add as many spices as you want, I only had pure pumpkin, sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg to work with. So, in a small pot heat 1 can pure pumpkin, 1/2 cup water, 1/2-1 cup sugar, and as much cinnamon and nutmeg you like; depending on the spice you want. (I did about 1 tsp each) Once your pumpkin butter is done, refrigerate it till needed. Follow the recipe as is, they are great! Note, if you want to cut them using a cute cookie cutter let them cool for a few hours. Trying to cut them when they're still warm was tough, they are still too gooey. In addition, the creepy mummy dogs are pretty easy, however, the mustard seeds as eyes are nearly impossible. No one has enough time to sit and set those individually. All in all, the recipes were a hit and the brownies tasted even better the next day! Enjoy!

Cheesecake Brownies

Yields: 3 dozen

Cook Time: 40 min

Oven Temp: 325

Ingredients

1 1/2 cup(s) (3 sticks) butter

3/4 pound(s) bittersweet chocolate, chopped

8 large eggs

1 1/2 cup(s) dark brown sugar

2 cup(s) granulated sugar

4 teaspoon(s) vanilla extract

1 1/2 teaspoon(s) salt

2 1/4 cup(s) flour

3/4 cup(s) cocoa

1 pound(s) cream cheese, softened

2 tablespoon(s) cornstarch

1 cup(s) apricot jam

1 cup(s) pumpkin butter

Directions

Heat oven to 325 degrees F. Line an 18"x13" baking pan with parchment paper and lightly butter.

Melt the butter and chocolate. Whisk 6 eggs, brown sugar, and 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar together. Stir in 3 teaspoons vanilla, salt, melted chocolate, flour, and cocoa. Pour into the prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese using a mixer on medium speed until fluffy. Add the remaining 2 eggs, 1/2 cup sugar, and 1 teaspoon vanilla and the cornstarch; beat until smooth and spread over the chocolate batter.

Combine jam and pumpkin butter. Drop in spoonfuls onto cream cheese and draw swirls using a knife.

Bake until center tests clean, about 40 minutes. Cool and punch out shapes using Halloween-themed cutters.


Creepy Mummy Dogs

1 (11 oz) can refrigerated breadstick dough

*I used 1 can Pillsbury sheet dough and cut it into long strips 
2 slices cheddar cheese, quartered (optional) (I didn't use cheese)
8 hot dogs
black mustard seeds

Instructions: 1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

2. If desired, place one cheddar cheese slice on your hot dog. Then wrap each dog to look like a mummy, leaving a open area for the eyes.

3. Cut two tiny slits in the exposed hot dog and insert two black mustard seeds for eyes. If you'd like to give your mummies entire faces, you can cut a little slit for a mouth, which will gape open a bit during cooking.

4. Place mummy dogs on an ungreased baking sheet and bake around 15 minutes, until golden.

5. Serve with plenty of ketchup and mustard

Shrimp Fried Rice and Grilled Romaine with Creamy Soy Dressing

"I don't eat snails, I prefer fast food,"

Using some left over white rice and what few ingredients I had to in my refrigerated I was able to create an improvised version of a "traditional" fried rice. What I had to work with was white rice, eggs, white onion, chili oil (instead of sesame oil), and garlic. Using these few items... Dinner Was Served! Note, I added extra egg and red pepper flakes for spice. 

The grilled romaine is something I make quite often. Quickly grilling the head of romaine give such flavor to some thing so simple. Nothing else is needed but a grill, romaine, and your favorite dressing. 

All together this dinner took about thirty minutes, I used what I had in the fridge, nothing was wasted, and no money was spent. Enjoy!

Shrimp Fried Rice

Serves 4

8 ounces small uncooked shrimp, shelled and deveined
1/4 teaspoon salt (or 1/2 tsp kosher salt)
freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons cooking oil (divided)
3 eggs, beaten in a small bowl
2 stalks scallion or green onion, minced
4 cups previously cooked leftover rice, grains separated well
3/4 cup frozen carrots and peas, defrosted
1 tablespoon soy sauce (use gluten-free soy sauce if you are making a gluten-free version)
1 teaspoon sesame oil

In a bowl, toss the shrimp with the salt and pepper. Let the shrimp marinate for 10 minutes at room temperature. Heat a wok or large sauté pan on high heat. When the pan is hot enough for a bead of water to instantly sizzle and evaporate, add only 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and swirl to coat pan.

Now add the shrimp, quickly spreading out around the pan so that they are not overlapping. Let the shrimp fry, untouched for 30 seconds. Flip over and let the other side fry for 30 seconds, or until about 80% cooked through. Remove the shrimp from the pan onto a plate, leaving as much oil in the pan as possible.

Turn the heat to medium and let the pan heat up again. Pour in the eggs, stirring in a quick motion to break up and scramble the eggs. When the eggs are almost cooked through (they should still be slightly runny in the middle), dish out of the frying pan onto the same plate as the cooked shrimp.

Use a paper towel to wipe the same wok or sauté pan clean (no need to wash) and return to high heat with the remaining 1 tablespoon of cooking oil, swirling to coat. When the oil is very hot, add the green onions and stir fry until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add in the rice and stir well to mix in the green onions throughout. Spread the rice all around the wok surface area and let the rice heat up, untouched until you hear the bottoms of the grains sizzle, about 1-2 minutes. Use the spatula to toss the rice, again spreading the rice out over the surface of wok or pan

Drizzle the soy sauce all around the rice and toss. Add the peas and carrots, the cooked eggs, shrimp and sesame oil, tossing to mix the rice evenly with all of the ingredients. Let everything heat back up again, until the rice grains are so hot they practically dance! Taste and add an additional 1 teaspoon of soy sauce if needed.


Grilled Romaine with Creamy Soy Dressing
Serves 2
Grill (I use a counter top one)
Head of Romaine

Directions
Cut head of romaine in half lengthwise, making two halves.

When grill is hot, spray with nonstick spray, lay romaine halves open face down.

Grill for 2 minutes, remove and serve face up.

Dressing Ingredients
Makes about 3 1/2 cups

3 cups mayonnaise
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/4 tsp freshly ground pepper
1 1/2 Tbsp sesame seeds
1 Tbsp sesame seed oil
*I added about 1 tsp. of white wine vinegar and a dash of red pepper flakes

Directions
Add all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and whisk using a wire whisk until smooth and creamy. If the sauce is too thick, add 1/2 tsp of water at a time and stir, until you get the desired consistency.

Drizzle over grilled romaine, serve immediately.