Baked Chickpeas

Chickpeas are a high protein and fiber food that is healthy while also filling at the same time. Great for vegans and vegetarians or just not huge meat eaters like myself. They are easy to incorporate into your meals, like in different salads and casseroles. These baked chickpeas are great just on their own as a snack too.

 

Yesterday I baked some in the oven with paprika, garlic powders and parsley sprinkled on them. Bake on 350 for about 20 minutes. Simple, easy, quick and something different than I normally eat.

 

 

I decided to put them into a whole wheat pita and added some lettuce, tomato and greek yogurt sauce. I had the yogurt sauce leftover from falafel I made a week or so ago. I love using what I have on hand instead of food going to waste, saves money and cleans out the fridge/cabinets at the same time.

 

This really was so simple yet satifiying. I had one for dinner last night with a lettuce wedge salad and brought another one for lunch today to work. A can of chickpeas is really cheap too so a bargain meal as well.

Flo's Chicken & Spaghetti

This is such a nostalgic dish for me. I haven't eaten this for MANY years and I have never cooked it before myself. It's a meal my grandma would make a lot. I always remember as a child, the chicken and sauce simmering in a pan, it would smell up her house and we would always have this meal with buttered bread. My grandpa loved buttered bread. I would often have dinner there or breakfast before school depending on my parents work schedule. They were such great times and I cherish them.

My mother gave me the most information on the recipe she could remember and it's not many ingredients, but the flavor is there. It's a simple dish, but so good. The chicken cooking in the sauce brings this significant taste I remember from many years ago. The recipe may not be exact but the moment I tasted the sauce on the spoon while cooking, I knew my grandma was there helping me make this meal.

The recipe calls for:

chicken thighs or breasts (I used breasts, but my grandma used thighs)
1 large can of tomato sauce
1 small can of tomato paste
variety spices: garlic powder, oregano, chicken seasoning
salt/pepper
1 tbs olive oil
whole grain spaghetti (My grandma would use regular spaghetti)

-- Heat the olive oil in a large pot/pan. Once heated, add the chicken. Add salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and chicken seasonings to both sides of the chicken and cook the chicken.
-- Add the tomato sauce and paste to the pot/pan. Let this simmer for an hour.
-- Cook the pasta and add it to the pot/pan once the hour of simmering is finished. Stir and serve.

Enjoy this special recipe!

Honey Garlic Shrimp

 

The recipe calls for:

 

1/3 cup honey

1/4 cup low sodium soy sauce

1 tbs garlic, minced

1 lb shrimp, uncooked, peeled & deveined

2 tsp olive oil

red pepper flakes

 

 

-- Combine the honey, soy sauce and garlic in a large baggie. Add the shrimp and mix it up so it is covered with the marinade. Let sit for however long you want/can. For me, I whipped this up quickly without much prep so it didn't marinate long, but you can marinate it during the day before dinner so more flavor is absorbed.

-- Heat olive oil in a pan on medium. Once heated, add the shrimp. Heat the shrimp until they are fully cooked through, make sure to mix it a little or flip the shrimp. Sprinkle some red pepper flakes on the shrimp while it's cooking.

 

I didn't get to go grocery shopping this weekend because I was away but next time I would add some sort of veggies. I think broccoli or edamame would go great with this. This time I just cooked a little quinoa and poured the shrimp over it.  7 pieces of shrimp was only 80 calories so I had 14 pieces.

 

This recipe takes only 10 minutes for prep and cooking. Can't beat that!

 

Enjoy!

Quinoa Caprese Casserole

I can't believe I haven't posted this recipe before. It's my absolute favorite quinoa recipe and I've made it many times or a family member has made it and we've split the recipe. Have you ever done that before? It is really helpful with food prep and keeps your meals more diverse. 

The recipe calls for:

olive oil

1 lb ground turkey

1/2 onion, chopped

red pepper flakes

8 oz frozen spinach

garlic, minced (I use quite a bit)

4 tomatoes, sliced

1/4 white wine

2 cups cooked quinoa

a bunch of fresh basil

fresh mozzarella, sliced or cubed

parmesan cheese

A substitute for the white wine could be chicken broth, you can also use the broth when cooking the quinoa instead of water for more flavor.

Another option is ground chicken or lean ground beef if you prefer.

-- Preheat over to 400 degrees. Spray a 9 x 13" baking dish or one a similar size with coconut oil.

-- Heat some olive oil in a pan. Add the ground meat, red pepper flakes and onion. Cook fully.

-- Add the garlic, white wine or broth and spinach (cooked/defrosted). Cook for a minute then add the cooked quinoa. Mix it all up.

-- Pour the mixture into your baking dish. Top with sliced tomatoes, slice mozzarella cheese and pieces of basil. Sprinkle some olive oil and parmesan cheese on top.

-- Bake in the oven for about 15 minutes.

I like to freeze leftovers into small containers and it's a convinent easy lunch to bring during the week.

Enjoy!

Clean Eating Baked Ziti

 

This dinner was a hit with this kid. :)  It's a 21 day fix approved recipe, Baked Ziti with ground turkey. YUM!

The recipe calls for:
1 pound ground turkey
1 pound whole wheat penne pasta
1 medium size part-skim ricotta cheese
1 tbs balsamic vinegar
2 cups organic/natural pasta sauce
1 tbs honey
1/2 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese
1tbs of each of these spices: garlic powder, italian seasoning, oregano, parsley, basil, black pepper

-- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
-- Cook the pasta al-dente.  While cooking, brown up the ground turkey in a pan. Drain any fat from the pan.
-- Mix in a large bowl all ingredients except the pasta and mozzarella cheese.  Combine the mixture with the pasta and put in a baking dish.
-- Sprinkle the mozzarella cheese, a little more italian seasoning and parsley on top of the ziti.
-- Bake for 20 minutes.

Black Bean Hummus Wrap

 

HUMMUS

 

The recipe calls for:

2 cans of black beans, rinsed

2 garlic cloves or a spoonful of already minced garlic

2 jalapenos

1 tbs honey

salt & pepper to taste

 

-- Put all the ingredients into a food processor and you have hummus! Super easy! :)

 

I actually didn't add salt to mine, but the recipe says to and also I used the seeds to the jalapenos so it was extra spicy. I love spicy food, plus it helps me drink more water.

 

I am using the hummus for wraps this week for my lunches. The wrap is only 100 calories, it has flax seed in it. I just cooked up some zucchini and red peppers in a pan. I am going to switch it up each day, one day all veggies, one day maybe add cheese or just some lunch meat and hummus.

 

My brother has made this a few times as a dip with healthy dipping options. So delicious!

Quinoa Pizza Crust...Genius!

I was skeptical and worried about this recipe. I thought the crust would be soft and not crisp up, but I was wrong. This recipe is pretty much genius. It is such a good source of protein without having to add meat and you save so many calories than if you ordered pizza or even got a premade crust at the grocery store.  The crust had flavor and was crispy, especially along the edges. It definitely satisfied my craving and in a healthy way. The prep didn't take long at all, very easy.

This recipe was a huge success and one I will be using over and over! :)

The recipe calls for:
1/2 cup quinoa (I used rainbow)
1 1/2 cup water
1/2 cup shredded part skim mozzarella cheese
dried basil, few dashes
dried oregano, few dashes
garlic powder, few dashes
1 egg, beaten
spray oil

-- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
-- In a pan, bring the water and quinoa to a boil, lower the heat, cover the pan and cook for about 5 minutes or until all the water is absorbed.
-- Add the basil, oregano, garlic powder and mozzarella cheese. Mix it all together then add the egg and mix again.
-- Put foil on a baking pan and spray with oil.
-- Create a ball with the quinoa mixture and place on the foil. Spread out the "dough" so it is even.
-- Bake for 10 minutes, remove from oven and let it cool for a minute.
-- Add any toppings of your choice! I used a little pizza sauce we had on hand, some dabbles of part skim ricotta cheese and sliced black olives.
-- Bake for an additional 10 minutes.

The original recipe used shredded parmesan cheese and italian seasoning, any cheese or herbs you like would work though.

I could not be more excited about this recipe and I think you would be too. Try it out!

 

Making homemade pizza is all about fun and can be a great way to cook together as a family, kids and all. My son can't help just yet but babywearing helped keep him involved. He was very interested in everything I was doing. Kids would love adding the toppings and they can make it their own. You could easily make this into two separate crusts too so their creativity can come out. This is a good way to make healthy eating fun for them.

Sodium Free Seasonings

I have been really cautious of the amount of salt I am consuming because I don't want to retain a lot of water weight during this pregnancy.  I found some salt free seasonings and have used them on steak and chicken this past week.  They have 14 different kinds: spicy, lemon pepper, italian, etc. 

Check out the website to see all the different flavor options:
14 Salt-Free Seasonings

When I grilled steak the other day I used the garlic and herb seasoning and yesterday I used the chicken seasoning for my chicken.  I don't taste a difference with the missing salt in the seasoning.  It worked great for both meats and I will definitely be getting some more kinds to try.  The chicken made great leftovers for a salad today...

Arugula Walnut Pesto

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY!

This isn't an irish recipe, but it's GREEN and delicious!

The recipes calls for:
1/4 cup walnuts
1 garlic cloves
1 1/3 cup arugula, packed
3 tbs olive oil
1 tbs water
2 tbs parmesan cheese
dash of lemon juice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper


-- Toast walnuts in a small pan on medium heat.  Make sure to keep stirring them so they don't burn.  Toast for about 5 minutes.  Let them cool.
-- Add the walnuts, garlic, arugula, olive oil, water, cheese, lemon juice, salt and pepper to a food processor or chopper.  Use what you have in your home.  I had a mason jar leftover from our wedding favors that were perfect to hold the pesto.


I used the pesto for a spaghetti squash meal.  Yum!

For this recipe just add a few more steps:

-- Cook a medium spaghetti squash.  See link.  Let the squash cool.
-- Scrape out the squash with a fork.
-- Mix the spaghetti squash and the pesto mixture in a bowl.
-- I heated up the spaghetti squash in the oven for about 5 minutes on 350 degrees and sprinkled a little extra parmesan cheese on top before putting it in the oven.  You could also just pop it in the microwave for a little.


Basil is one of my favorite flavors ever, but I must say this recipe and arugula substitute was really good and different.  The toasted walnuts gave it such flavor.

Cupcake Lasagna's

Great snack to make the kids instead of the processed frozen food like pizza bagels.  Pop them in the oven when they get home from school.  This is also a great party appetizer.

 

I kept the recipe simple because my husband doesn't like a lot of things, but it would be great with added ingredients.  Ground turkey meat to add some protein is a good option, then it's an easy dinner.  Also you could add chopped basil to the ricotta cheese mixture or your favorite spice/herb.

 

 

The recipe calls for:

wonton wrappers

marinara sauce

part skim ricotta cheese

part skim mozzarella cheese

garlic powder

 

-- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

-- Spray two cupcake pans with cooking oil.

-- Place two wonton wrappers in each cupcake hole, opposite of each other.

-- In a bowl, mix garlic powder and the ricotta cheese.

-- Add a little marinara sauce, a dabble of ricotta cheese, a little more sauce and a sprinkle of mozzarella cheese.

-- Bake for about 15 minutes or until the wrappers become crispy.



Baked Eggplant

The recipe calls for:
5 eggplant slices
1 can petite diced tomatoes, 14oz
1 can tomato sauce, 8oz
1 tbs olive oil
3/4 cup part-skim ricotta
3/4 whole wheat panko bread crumbs
1/2 egg substitute
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tbs garlic, minced
1/4 cup basil, chopped
1 tsp red pepper flakes
a dash of salt & pepper
cooking spray


-- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
-- Add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, olive oil, minced garlic, chopped basil, red pepper flakes and salt/ pepper to a small pot. Heat on the stove on medium for awhile so all the flavors are brought out in the sauce. Let it simmer.
-- While the sauce is simmering, dip the eggplant slices into the egg substitute then dip them into the bread crumbs.
-- Mix the ricotta cheese and garlic powder.
-- Spray a baking dish with cooking oil and place the breaded eggplant slices into the dish.
-- Top the eggplant with the homemade marinara sauce then spoon a little ricotta cheese mixture on top of each slice.
-- Bake the eggplant in the oven for about 35 minutes.

YUM!

Stuffed Tomato

The recipe calls for:

8 plump tomatoes

2 eggs

1 cup low-fat ricotta cheese

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1/4 cup fresh basil, chopped

2 tbs + 4 tsp grated parmesan cheese

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 cup corn

1 cup zucchini, diced + 24 thin slices

-- Preheat over to 350 degrees.

-- Cut the tops off the tomatoes, scoop pulp out of the centers, set aside. Discard half of the pulp and remove seeds from the remaining, finely chop.

-- Whisk the eggs and ricotta cheese in a bowl. Stir in onion, basil, 2 tbs parmesan and garlic. Add the corn, diced zucchini and chopped tomato pulp. Stir well.

-- Fill the tomatoes with the mixture to the top of the tomato. Sprinkle some parmesan cheese on top of the mixture, add zucchini slices and then the tomato top.

-- Bake for 45 minutes. Let it cool for about 10 minutes.

Delicious Baked Sweet Potato

 

The recipe calls for:

1 sweet potato

cooking oil

salt/pepper

garlic powder

spray "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter"

olive oil

 

-- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

-- Spray cooking oil on a baking dish.

-- Thinly slice the potato, but not all the way through.

-- Place the potato into the baking dish and drizzle it with some olive oil.  Spray some butter on the potato as well and then add as much garlic powder as you like and a little salt/pepper.

-- Bake in the oven for 40 minutes.  The top of the potato will be a little crispy.

 

Let it cool for a little and enjoy!  It will melt in your mouth. :)

 

Other options could be like I made the sweet potato slices on the grill, instead of garlic powder, salt and pepper use some sugar substitute and cinnamon.  I wouldn't add the brown sugar until the last ten minutes in the oven to prevent it from burning.

Best Part of Warm Weather: Grillin'

Shoprite got their first corn of the season!  They were on the smaller side though.  I should've took a trip to the farm, it would've been local and probably bigger.  Oh well, next time for sure!  The farmers market by me opens on June 23rd so I can also go too.  I can't wait for it to open!  That will be a nice Sunday tradition when I need good produce.

Decided last night was a good day for grilling.  We always grill burgers and that type of stuff, but I wanted to grill some fish this time.  We put a spice of our choice on the flounder, I picked cajun seasoning and grilled them up.  The corn was also cooked on the grill and I made a little salad to top my flounder.The salad just has chopped tomato, garlic and basil and the grilled corn.  I also added a little olive oil, salt and pepper.  I really wanted to add avocado to the salad but unfortunately I couldn't find a ripe one.

My Very First Homemade Hummus

And it surely won't be my last!

Quick, easy, delicious homemade Buffalo Hummus.

I am never buying hummus again!  I will forever make it from now on.  Making hummus homemade helps you skip from consuming all the added preservatives that is in store bought.  It's fresh and you know what your eating without any questions.  All homemade hummus will have one main ingredient, CHICKPEAS!  Chickpeas are high in protein, fiber and other good nutrients.

This recipe was just a few ingredients.  It is made up of 1 can of chickpeas, about 3 tablespoons of buffalo hot sauce, 3 garlic cloves, a few dashes of cumin, some garlic powder, a couple splashes of olive oil and a little bit of water.  Blend them all together in a food processor and you have hummus!

Hummus is something you can easily make in a lot of different flavors.  Always use a can of chickpeas, some sort of liquid and whatever else you like!  You can make it your own and it tastes much better than store bought.

Friday Night Pasta

Simple.  Easy.  Delicious.  Healthy.

What more could you want?

This pasta dish is made up of just a couple ingredients that mostly everyone has at home.  Whole wheat pasta, olive oil, garlic, red pepper flakes, pepper and a little bit of grated parmesan cheese.  Watch your portion control, skip the bread and ENJOY!

Spaghetti (Squash) Arrabbiata

The recipe calls for:
2 tbsp olive oil
fresh basil
4 garlic cloves, chopped
4 cups spaghetti squash
1 cup Giada's Spicy Arrabbiata sauce
grated parmesan cheese (optional)

-- Heat the olive oil and chopped garlic cloves in a big pan.  Once the garlic is a little brown add the sauce.  Heat the sauce for awhile then add the fresh basil leaves.  Lastly add the spaghetti squash and mix.

This recipe is abosolutely delicious!  One of my favorite recipes I have created.  It's like you are eating at an italian restaurant when you enjoy this dish, but without all the extra calories and fat, but still with the great taste!  Pasta doesn't have a lot of flavor, neither does spaghetti squash.  It is all about the flavors that you add to them to make the dish special.

Only about 3 Weight Watchers Points for half of this.  The only thing that is points is 2 points for a cup of sauce, the olive oil is a probably a couple and if you add cheese.  The grated cheese I have is 1 point for a tablespoon.

ENJOY!!!

Baked Falafel

I have never eaten falafel let alone made it before.  I honestly didn’t even know what it was when I heard of it until I looked it up online.  It is a middle-eastern dish.  Foodie Nick recommended falafel at one of his favorites places in NYC in my interview with him.  The version he loves isn’t the healthiest version, it’s more so the cheat day kind, when calories just don’t matter.  Most falafel is deep fried so that is why it’s more of a fatty dish usually, but I researched and found a lot of healthier baked recipes.  I picked out the one the best suited the amount of time I had to cook and the flavors I wanted.  This recipe doesn’t take too long and it was a great dinner.  After seeing the ingredients I was a little skeptical of how it would come out, but not only was it healthy, it also had tons of flavor and was so delicious!  Instead of patties you could make them in to small balls and this would be a nice appetizer dish instead of a meal.  There are so many different ways you could eat this.  A lot of what I saw was in sandwich pitas with lettuce and some sort of dressing.  I used what I had and had it over some arugula and sprinkled a little bit of ranch dressing on it.

Try something new! ENJOY!

The recipe calls for:

1/4 cup onion, chopped

1 can (15 oz) garbanzo beans, drained & rinsed

1/4 cup parsley, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 tsp ground coriander

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp baking soda

1 tbls flour

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp olive oil

-- Squeeze the chopped onion in a paper towel to get out the water and put it aside,

-- Add the beans, parsley, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and baking soda in a food processor. (I used a food chopper though.)  Process the ingredients until it is coarsely pureed.

-- Mix the onions and bean mixture together in a bowl.  Stir in the flour and egg to the bowl.  Shape the mixture into four patties and let them sit for 15 minutes.

-- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

-- Add the olive oil to a large pan.  Once the patties sat for 15 minutes add them to the pan and cook them on each side for about 3 minutes.

-- Place the patties on a baking pan (sprayed with a little oil) and transfer them into the oven for about 8 minutes or until they are heated through.

Healthy Baked "Eggplant Parm"

This recipe came from one of Gordon Ramsay's cookbooks.  I changed it a little bit based on preference & a couple healthy alternatives.  No breading or frying in oil required to still keep this classic dish delicious.  It obviously looks like a very different dish then the classic version you see in restaurants.  The taste & texture are also different, but it's just as flavorful.  It's a great unique version of eggplant parmesan.  I think it would make a great side dish as well as a full meal maybe paired with some homemade garlic bread.  I have never eaten eggplant without it being fried or topped with lots of marinara sauce & cheese on it because of course it's so good that way, but this recipe really came out great.  I highly recommend it for vegetarians or lovers of eggplant.

The recipe calls for:

2 medium eggplants

10-12 oz container cherry tomatoes

fresh basil

4 cloves of garlic

spray oil

spray butter

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

-- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
-- Peel then cut the eggplant into thin slices & place them on a baking pan sprayed with oil.  Bake them for 5-8 minutes.
-- Spray a medium sized saute pan with oil.
-- Cut the cherry tomatoes in half & mince the garlic cloves.
-- Add the tomatoes, garlic & butter to the pan.  You can use about a tablespoon of regular butter if preferred, but I used "I Can't Believe It's Not Butter" spray butter. Saute in the pan until the tomatoes start to make some liquid & the garlic brown a little bit.
-- Once this is cooked, rip the fresh basil into pieces & add it to the pan. Mix!
-- Put wax paper into two round 8 inch baking pans & add a layer of baked eggplant until it covers the bottoms.
-- Then add 1/4 of the tomato, basil & garlic mixture onto the top of the baked eggplant in each pan.
-- Sprinkle the layer with some grated parmesan cheese & then continue adding another layer of eggplant & the mixture.
--The last layer should be baked eggplant with some parmesan cheese on top.
-- Bake for another 10 minutes then let it sit for a few minutes before serving.

ENJOY!

White Pizza: Final Product

Here's a photo of the yummy, but healthy white pizza I made the other day.  It smells & tastes just as good as it looks.  It's become one of my new favorites. It's easy & quick to make.  I admit I have made it three times already. If you like white pizza you will love these english muffin pizzas, I promise!  For me, pizza is a huge weakness & it's something I definitely crave a lot.  Now with this healthier recipe I can enjoy pizza guilt free & so can you!  Want to know the ingredients & how to make it?  See blog post "White Pizza With A Healthy Twist".

What do you crave?