A fun way to give Spinach a little love!

I'm on a spinach kick lately...maybe it's being pregnant? Either way, my body is loving all the extra Iron I've been including in my diet. One of my favorite new ways to eat Spinach is on Pizza!!!

I do like to make my own crust...but these are my favorite brand when I need a quick option!

I cover the crust with olive oil, garlic salt and lots of fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

Chop 4-6 Green Onions (use whites and tops) and throw them in a large skillet.

To the onions, add 3 cups of chopped fresh spinach, a few cloves of grated garlic, a pinch of salt and about 1 TBS of olive oil. Cook until the spinach is all wilted.

I also love tomatoes on my pizza, but sometimes they make it soggy...so I slice my tomatoes and dry them on paper towels for a while before layering onto my crust.

This particular pizza is half spinach/tomato and half tomato/basil. I also love making my spinach pizza with canned artichokes! Just rinse them well, chop and throw into the skillet with the rest of the spinach toppings.

 Top the whole thing with shredded mozzarella cheese and put in a pre-heated oven (follow crust instructions).

This is my spinach/tomato pizza...delicious!

I love a tasty way to sneak in an extra veggie!

When I made Rice Balls ala Tim the other night, I knew I wanted garlic bread too. Looking at my meal for the night- I felt it needed a veggie bump!! I had purchased a bag of fresh spinach on my last trip to the store, so I started my search for recipes. The perfect combo...Rachael Ray's Green Gobble'ems!

I made a half batch of the spread, because all the reviews said it made a ton!! You need: Fresh Spinach, Parmesan Cheese, Garlic, Butter, salt and pepper.

Put two cups of the spinach, two cloves of garlic, half a stick of softened butter, 1/2 cup of Parmesan Cheese, salt and pepper in a food processor or mini Chopster and pulse until creamed.

Split a loaf of French Bread and spread liberally with the spinach mixture. I chose to top mine with a little shredded mozzarella cheese :)

I baked mine about 7 minutes and then under the broiler for 1 minute to brown the cheese.

And it was wonderful! A lot like pesto and a great way to add a veggie to your meal. I could eat a loaf of this as my meal!!  I think it would be great with hot pasta as well.

I love the change of Season...it means new meal options!

Every year, when the weather cools, I get so excited to break out my favorite cool weather recipes. Last night, I decided to make Black Bean and Salsa Soup....I never get tired of this one! The best part of this recipe, the ingredients are so easy to keep in the pantry for a quick and healthy meal!

This recipe is vegetarian as written, but I use homemade chicken broth instead. You need 2 cans of Black Beans (I use the reduced sodium), 1 jar of  salsa (I like Medium and I usually use whatever is on sale), cumin and stock/broth. I also like to add onion and garlic to mine.

Since I puree the whole pot when I am done, I never chop anything. Cook one onion and a few cloves of garlic in a little of the chicken broth over medium heat.  I cook until they are tender, about 10 minutes.

Rinse and drain both cans of beans and add to the pot with the salsa and cumin. I usually double the cumin because I love cumin!

At this point, throw the mix into your blender, use a potato masher or an immersion blender to puree. I season to taste with black pepper and salt. You can add more cumin or chili powder for a little kick!

I love this topped with cheddar cheese and crushed tortilla chips. Fresh tomatoes are a great addition as well. I don't like sour cream, but the original recipe calls for sour cream and sliced green onions. Any way you top it, this is one delicious dinner! ***Bonus- it freezes beautifully***

No- I don't love squash.

When I got nervous about the possibility of not getting my hands on canned pumpkin this year, I bought a couple of Butternut Squash instead to use in my pumpkin bars. Well, I am now the proud owner of 8 cans of pumpkin...so I had to find a new use for the squash. I'm not much of a squash person. I don't want it with sugar and butter, so I looked for a savory recipe. I came across Garlicky Baked Butternut Squash. It sounded promising!

First task...peel this awkward shape!

Mission accomplished! 

 Remove seeds and chop into small cubes.

In another bowl- mix garlic, olive oil, salt, pepper and I used sage.

Toss squash in garlic mixture and put in a greased baking dish. Top with fresh grated Parmesan Cheese.

It smelled good, but when I pulled it from the oven to sample a taste- I didn't like it :( Not wanting to waste it...I threw it in the soup pot.

I added chicken broth to thin it, more Parmesan cheese and LOTS more salt and pepper. I used my immersion blender to puree it.

This was my dinner- a bowl of soup with a slice of Whole Wheat Pretzel Bread. Not bad...but I will know better than to buy squash again. It's just not my thing!

Love at first bite

It's been a busy week with more baking than cooking. My first real bread sales this week (14 loaves) plus preparing for a garage sale left without a lot of cooking time. I did, however, find the time to use up some of the gorgeous tomatoes and zucchini from my garden!! This was one of the best new recipes I have tried!

For the Zucchini and Tomato Gratin, you will need:

    * 2 tablespoons olive oil

    * 4 zucchini, sliced

    * 1 large clove garlic, crushed

    * 4 ounces thinly sliced mozzarella cheese

    * 4 large tomatoes, peeled and sliced

    * 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

    * 1 tablespoon chopped fresh basil

    * salt and freshly ground black pepper

I made a half portion of this recipe- but could have eaten lots more!!

I sliced my zucchini into rounds and browned on both sides. I didn't use much oil and I added my garlic after I flipped the zucchini so it wouldn't burn. I cooked mine for about 6 minutes, total.

I sliced two yellow tomatoes from my garden.

And then layered the zucchini, tomatoes and mozzarella into an 8x8 baking dish.

Top with fresh grated parmesan cheese, fresh basil, salt and pepper.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 30 minutes. NOTE- It is very important to turn your oven on in order for this to cook. It took me 30 minutes to realize I hadn't!

I ate the whole pan for dinner- and then realized the full recipe was only 2 servings, so I didn't feel so bad :) 

The author of this recipe does recommend using salt to draw some moisture from the zucchini before cooking. I didn't do that, but will next time as I did have a lot of water in the bottom of my baking dish. Delicious- just the same :)

I love foods that remind me of Fall!

One of my favorite Fall meals growing up was my mom's Beer Cheese Soup. I get the itch to make it every Fall as soon as the temperature starts to drop. I've already made my first pot for the season...and I served it in a homemade Pretzel Bread Bowl. YUM!

For this recipe, you will need:

1 cup of shredded or chopped carrots

1 cup of shredded or chopped celery

2/3 cup of shredded or chopped white or yellow onion

2 beers

3 cups of milk

1/3 cup of flour

2 chicken or veggie boullion cubes

1 lb of sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

The easiest way to make this is using your food processor (Shredder). I feed in the carrots, celery and onion just eyeballing amounts and let it fill the bowl of the processor.

Dump veggies into a soup pot with two beers and the boullion cubes. Cook for about 15 minutes over medium heat until the veggies start to soften.

Mix 3 cups of milk with 1/3 cup of flour and pour into the pot. Cook for another 15 minutes- or until the mixture begins to thicken.

I use the same food processor bowl and blade to shred my cheese. 

Slowly stir in cheese and then adjust seasoning with salt and pepper.

For a fun new twist, I served mine in a fresh baked Pretzel Bread Bowl!

Trying to love a meatless taco.

I kept seeing the recipe for Tasty Lentil Tacos...and the reviews were always the same. "These are so good. I'll never make regular tacos again." My review, "These were ok...a healthy alternative, but I won't be giving up my beef tacos any time soon!"

To make it appeal to my hubby, I used our regular taco seasoning in place of the spices listed. I also used Beef Broth instead of Chicken Broth, but you could also use Vegetable Broth.

Begin by cooking a diced onion and a few cloves of grated or finely minced garlic in a TBS of vegetable oil. Cook about 5 minutes.

Add in 1 cup of dried lentils and stir for about one minute. Add in the stock of your choice and cover. Cook over medium-low. The recipe says for 25-30 minutes...mine took a little over an hour! I also had to add another whole cup of stock over the cooking process. They are done when they are soft enough to mash.

Add in seasoning and mash with your spoon. 

Load into taco shells and top as you would a regular taco. Again, not bad...but not going to replace real tacos in our house.

I love the flavor of fresh herbs and homegrown goodies!

With an overflowing garden this year, I decided to try and preserve some of the wonderful garden flavors. I did this by making homemade tomato sauce with my tomatoes and green peppers, as well as some of my fresh garden herbs! I didn't follow a recipe for this...just tasted as I went :)

I started with 7 tomatoes from my garden...red, yellow and orange!

I made a cross on the bottom of each tomato and dropped them into a pot of boiling water to remove the peels. Boil about 1 minute.

Remove from the boiling water and put into an ice bath. Once cooled, remove the skin, stem and seeds. No need to chop, just squeeze out the seeds.

Peel two carrots and dice. Peel and cut one large onion, a few cloves of garlic (I  love garlic so I used about 7!), and one bell pepper. Cut everything into about 1 inch chunks.

Throw into a large pot with 2 TBS of olive oil and cook over medium low for about 1 hour. I also added a handful of grape tomatoes that were needing to be used up. I didn't peel them, just threw them in whole.

After one hour, use an immersion blender or regular blender to puree to desired consistency. I made mine very smooth.

Simmer for another hour and season with black pepper, red pepper flakes, oregano and basil. I used fresh oregano, basil and thyme in mine. Check for seasoning before removing from the heat.

This made 4 jars of sauce, which are now happy residents of my freezer for a taste of summer this winter :)