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Athenian Fish with Cucumbers and Tomatoes

Saturday afternoon I was happily folding laundry when I realized, OH CRAP, I forgot to get Tally's pills.  Tally, my yellow Lab, is prone to seziures so she must take anti-seizure meds twice a day.  I called the vet who agreed to write a script and I brought it to our local Publix supermarket.  On the way to the pharmacy I passed by an Apron's booth where a lovely girl was making a fish dish that smelled amazing.

Apron's is a recipe index with in-store cooking demonstrations where you can taste the recipes and then buy the ingredients to make dinner.  (They also have a cooking school as well).  I snagged a taste of this dish and on impulse bought all the ingredients.  It was perfect because it wasn't turkey or ham or stuffing or anything to do with what I had for Thanksgiving. I had actually reached leftover saturation and fish was perfect.  I cooked it up last night and the flavor combo was perfect;  fish, white wine, artichokes, tangy tomatoes and Greek seasoning was excellent.

I changed the recipe up a bit to serve two.

Athenian Fish

Athenian Fish 
Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

2 Tilapia fillets
Pepper, to taste
Greek Seasoning, to taste
Extra virgin olive oil spray
1 heaping teaspoon of minced garlic
3/4 of a diced red onion 
1/2 (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained (reserve the other half for salad)
1/2 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained (reserve the other half for salad)
1/4 cup white wine

Directions

1. Spray a large skillet with EVOO spray and heat over medium high heat.


2. Add the onions and sauté untili caramelized a bit.  Season the fish with the Greek seasoning and pepper and then spray both sides with EVOO spray.  Add to the pan and top with the remaining ingredients. 


3. Cover and cook 8–10 minutes, stirring veggies and flipping fish halfway through.  Fish should be white and flakey.


Greek Cucumber and Tomato Salad

Greek Cucumber and Tomato Salad
Serves 4 (yay leftovers for lunch!)
Printable Recipe


Ingredients


1 cucumber, peeled and halved lengthwise
6 Campari tomatoes, rinsed, halved and seeded
1/4 of a diced red onion
3 Tbsp Greek salad dressing
1/2 teaspoon Greek seasoning
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
From above:
1/2 of the (14-ounce) can quartered artichoke hearts, drained 
1/2 of the (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained 


Directions


1.Thinly slice cucumbers and half the tomatoes again. 


2. In a large bowl mix cucumbers, tomatoes and remaining ingredients.  Let marinate for 10 minutes.


3. Serve with Athenian Fish.

Thanksgiving Soup

Here is another great use for Thanksgiving leftover turkey and ham.  I have been making different versions of the same North Woods Bean Soup just because it's so good!  

Thanksgiving Soup

Yield: 5 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups)

Ingredients

Cooking spray
1 cup baby carrots, halved
1 cup chopped onion
3 cups chopped turkey and ham
2 garlic cloves, minced
5 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
Dash thyme
Dash oregano
Dash paprika
Pinch crushed red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper to taste
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
Handful of lentils
1 (15.8-ounce) cans Great Northern beans, drained and rinsed
1 (6-ounce) bag fresh baby spinach leaves
Handful of green onions, chopped

Directions

1. Spray a Dutch Oven with EVOO spray over medium high heat. Add the onion and carrots and stir to mix initially but then let them sit for about five minutes until the mixture can get a bit of caramelization on the bottom. Lower the heat to medium, add the garlic and sauté continuously for about another two minutes.

2. Add the meat and sauté another 5 minutes, then pour in the chicken broth and scrape to deglaze the bottom.

3. Add the seasonings, bay leaf and lentils.  Bring the mixture to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.

4. Add the beans and simmer an additional 20 minutes.

5. Remove the soup from heat and add the spinach and green onion. Continue to stir until the spinach wilts down.

6. Serve with crusty bread or whole grain crackers.

Turkey Cranberry-Goat Cheese Egg Rolls and the Great Thanksgiving Tragedy

Little pockets of leftover deliciousness made two ways.

I have a secret to share.  Leftovers are my favorite part of Thanksgiving.  Granted I love the excitement of the day of Thanksgiving and how we all pause to be thankful.  But the leftovers just make me weak in the knees!

A few Thanksgivings ago there was a great tragedy.   Don't get me wrong, the actual Thanksgiving Day went off without a hitch.  We were at my parent's house.  I had pre-ordered and purchased a free range, organic, humanely raised turkey from Native Sun.  He was expensive but he had a good life (I hope) and got to eat good food so I had less guilt about cooking him for our turkey dinner.  There was cranberry sauce, stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato pie, pumpkin and pecan pie...you name it we had it. 

This fateful Thanksgiving I had my plate and took some smallish portions and enjoyed myself knowing the best was yet to come.  I was saving myself.  After the meal I cleaned up, I packaged the leftovers neatly in separate containers and made sure to get it in the fridge before it had been sitting out too long so as not to spoil.  I went to bed that night satisfied and happy.  Eagerly waiting for the following day's bounty.

The next morning I woke early with one thing on my mind.  Could it be too early for turkey?  I think not!  I picked up the phone to tell my parents I was on the way over to eat some of my carefully packaged leftovers.  Here is a snippet of our conversation....

Phone rings and is answered...
Me: "Hey, I'm coming over to have some leftovers."

Mom: silence

Me: "Hello?"  "I'm on my way over, ok b-"

Mom: "Dad threw all the leftovers out."

Me: "HAHAHAAHHAhahhaahahHAHAh."

Mom: Silence

Me: "Hahahaa...woo.  You're kidding right?"

Mom: "No he didn't want them so he threw them all out."

Me: "What the *&^;@$#!?"  "I preordered that turkey months ago!  He was free range. Organic. Humanely raised.  And now he died for NOTHING?!"

And on and on for about thirty minutes the expletives went.  My poor, dear parents will never live this day down.   This outburst only to be rivaled by a fateful trip to the Grand Canyon as a teenager; a two week camping trip in the desert with my parents while experiencing boy deprivation and lack of showers and being eaten by no-see-ums as my parents disappeared to listen to a geology talk when I thought they were right behind me on the way to the car to get the hell out of there before I was eaten alive.

Turkey Cranberry-Goat Cheese Egg Rolls

Turkey Cranberry-Goat Cheese Egg Rolls

printable recipe

Ingredients

9-10 Egg Roll Wrappers

Extra virgin olive oil spray

Filling:

1 1/2 cups chopped cooked turkey (aka. leftover fried turkey from Thanksgiving)

1/4 cup chopped green onion

3/4 cup chopped fresh cranberries

1/3 cup canned cranberry sauce

2 oz crumbled plain goat cheese

Salt, pepper and onion powder to taste

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Mix the filling together.  These are all estimated amounts so add more or less to your taste.

2. Lay your egg roll wrappers in a diamond shape to you and put about two heaping tablespoons of filling in each wrapper. 

3. Fold the sides over the mixture then fold the bottom corner up.  Wet the top corner with a bit of water and roll the whole wrapper closed.  It will look like the below photo.

4. Spray a baking sheet with EVOO spray and place all the egg rolls evenly.  Spray the tops with more EVOO spray.

5. Bake for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.  See below. 

**Another variation I made was with some turkey that had been injected with Louisiana Hot Sauce.  I simply chopped some up, added goat cheese and topped the three egg roll wrappers I had left with this mixture.  It was excellent too.  You really can fill these things with anything!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Happy Belated Thanksgiving!

Getting up early to start frying turkeys has become a Thanksgiving tradition amongst my husband Chris and his friends.  They gather around the turkey fryer in our driveway overlooking the most gorgeous stand of ancient old oak trees.  They fire up the fryer at around 11:00AM and hold off as long as they can to crack open their first beer.  Hey, it's once a year and it's 5:00 somewhere!

While they were busy working their magic I attended a two our yoga intensive, to center, reduce stress, focus on what I'm thankful for and of course burn a couple hundred calories. About 75 people showed up and the energy in the room was amazing. I'm still sore from that class two days later.

This year I made just two recipes.  A vegetable casserole that came from Chris's Aunt Owney (I will post that recipe later) and an apple pie. 

Apple pie and ice cream was the crowning glory of my Northern Thanksgivings.  Down here in the South there is pumpkin pie and pecan pie.  Usually Leslie, my mother in law, generously makes all the pies.  This year I decided to go back to my roots and make a good old apple pie with ice cream.  I altered the recipe right off the Pillsbury box.  It really brought back some great memories of the Thanksgivings of my childhood with my Mom, Dad and my Mom's family.  I have two Uncles who always seemed like giants to little old me and I would be right in there with my fork fighting for the stuffing and my slice of apple pie.  Definitely not the civilized view of Thanksgiving from the commercials where everyone politely passes the plates of food around.  This was more of every man for himself but it sure made for a lot of laughs.   

Dawn's Easy Apple Pie

Ingredients

2 Pillsbury Pie Crusts

1 Tbsp Egg Whites

2 Tbsp Turbindo Sugar

Filling

6 Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced

2/3 cup Splenda and brown sugar mix for baking

2 Tbsp whole wheat flour

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1 Tbsp lemon juice

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.  Spray a glass pie plate with Pam for baking and roll 1 of the pie crusts over and press down evenly and gently.

2. Mix the filling and spoon into the prepared pie crust.

3. Top with the second pie crust and press the edges together with a fork.

4. Brush the top with the egg white and sprinkle the Turbindo sugar over the top.

5. Bake for 45 minutes covering with foil after the first twenty.  Cool two hours or more.

I am so thankful to have family and friends to share all this amazing food with.

Happy Holidays!

Ginger Bison Egg Rolls & Vegetable Rice

Browsing food blogs has become so addictive.  My two current favorites right now are Iowa Girl Eats and Closet Cooking.  

Closet Cooking is the reason I started blogging.  I googled "curry honey chicken" and Kevin's recipe for Curried Honey Dijon Roasted Chicken came up.  His photos were what captured me initially and then I tried the recipe and it was immediately added to our two week dinner roatation.  He is also the one who introduced me to the Lowel Ego light.  He was so right!  It makes all the difference no matter what camera you own. 

I later came across the blog Iowa Girl Eats.  From her blogging persona she is one of the sweetest, most charming people and has such a way with writing and photography that you want to return each day to see what she is up to.  These egg rolls and vegetable fried rice were her idea, I just changed up the turkey to bison and added some carrot.  Thank you Kristin!

Ginger Bison Egg Rolls

Ginger Bison Egg Rolls
Makes 12 (or 11 if you eat some of the filling while you are wrapping them)
Printable Recipe


Ingredients

 1 celery stalk
2-3 cups coleslaw mix
4 baby carrots
1 tsp minced garlic
1 inch peeled, fresh ginger
1 small onion, quartered
1 lb ground bison
3 Tbsp low sodium soy sauce
Couple dashes red pepper flakes, to taste12 NaSoya Egg Roll Wrappers

Apricot preserves (**optional, see note)



Directions


Before we start I'm just going to say if you make the filling the day before it is a LOT easier. Especially if you have a starving child on your hands and need to heat up some sweet potato fries and rotisserie chicken in the toaster oven to keep screaming at minimum.

1. Dice celery and carrot in a small food processor, add to the coleslaw and microwave for five minutes on high.

2. Heat a skillet over medium high heat and spray with EVOO. In the food processor put the onion and ginger. Sauté these for about three minutes, then add the garlic. Sauté another minute.

Optional: Sing a few rounds of Itsy Bitsty Spider to entertain daughter while you sauté. Don't be afraid to be generous with hand movements.

3. Add the Bison to the same skillet and sauté until just cooked through. Remove mixture from heat and add the coleslaw mixture, red pepper flakes and soy sauce. Allow to cool a bit. Take a few tastes here just to see if you need to add a bit more of anything.  Mmmm, yummy. (Tthis is where that egg roll #12 starts to lose some of his stuffing).

4. Heat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a cookie sheet with EVOO spray.
Serve daughter rotisserie chicken and fries. If this doesn't work try bribery with raisins and/or graham crackers.

5. Lay egg roll wrapper number one out in a diamond shape to you. Place 1/4 cup of the mixture in the center. (Better take another taste here of the bison mixture just to make sure it's still good.) Fold the two side corners in, fold the bottom corner in and then roll and place on prepared cookie sheet. This isn't rocket science here but I'll be honest, it might take you one or two to get them looking pretty.

6. Spray the tops of the rolls with EVOO spray and bake about 13 or so minutes until golden brown.

***Note:  I really wanted something sweet like duck sauce to dip these in. I had some sugar free apricot preserves and, OH MY, was it a perfect compliment. 

Vegetable Ginger Rice

Veggie Ginger Rice

Ingredients

1/2 bag broccoli, steamed (about two cups florets)
1 cup cooked brown rice (I used Annie Chun's Rice Express Sprouted Brown Rice)
1 cup coleslaw mix
Garlic powder, to taste
1 egg, beaten
Low sodium soy sauce to taste
1 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1 tsp fresh chopped ginger
EVOO spray

Directions

1. Using the same pan you sautéed the bison in (why dirty two pans?) spray some EVOO spray and heat over medium heat. Add the coleslaw and ginger and sauté until softened. I am not sure how long this took because I had to let the dogs out and find "baby doll" at the same time so I didn't time it. We'll say about five minutes.

2. Move the coleslaw mixture to the outer edges of the pan and add the egg in the middle. Scramble that around until cooked.

3. Add the broccoli and brown rice. Sprinkle everything with the garlic salt and soy sauce and mix until combined. Top with toasted sesame seeds.

Tuna Cauliflower Casserole

"This tastes like shit on a shingle", Chris said.  I heard a sound like a record scratch in my head.  HUH?  Wait....before I lose you, this is apparently a good thing.  At first my husband admitted he wasn't too excited about this dinner, but then he tried it. He said it brought back memories of a favorite recipe his mom would make that consisted of cream of mushroom soup and canned tuna on toast, hence, "shit on a shingle".  And then he went back in for seconds. 

Tuna Cauliflower Casserole is a modified Eating Well recipe I made last week.  If you haven't checked out the magazine yet I highly recommend it!  It has such a great balance of taste and health in mind. 

On these cold, cold days in Florida (the high was in the 70's...BRRRRR) I like a good hot casserole (they had the AC blasting at work so I was really bundled up).  The base recipe I used is the Skillet Cauliflower Gratin from Eating Well and I thought it would make a great tuna noodle-less casserole. 

Yay, low carbs AND you get your veggies in. I've done MY good deed for the day.  You can thank me later. 

Tuna Cauliflower Casserole
Serves 4
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

4 cups 1-inch cauliflower florets (about 1/2 large head)
1 1/2 cups low fat milk, divided
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup dry breadcrumbs, preferably whole-wheat
3/4 cup 2% shredded sharp Cheddar cheese, divided
1/2 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or whole wheat)
1 tablespoon chopped fresh chives
1 teaspoon Dijon mustard
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 pouch of StarKist tuna (3 serving size)
 
Directions
 
1. Preheat the broiler and in an ovenproof skillet add the cauliflower, 1 1/4 cups of milk and the salt.  Bring this to a boil then lower heat, cover and simmer for 8 minutes.
 
You're gonna have a few things going on here so bare with me.  For an easy recipe this is kind of complicated.
 
2. Bowl #1: breadcrumb, oil, 1/4 cup cheese.  Set aside.

 

















3. Bowl #2: flour and 1/4 cup milk.  Whisk till smooth and then add to the skillet with the cauliflower.  This is to thicken the sauce so stir it for about 3 minutes.  

 

4. Bowl #3: 1/2 cup cheese, chives, mustard, tuna and pepper.  Stir this together and then stir this into the cauliflower mixture. 

 

5. Top the cauliflower mixture with the breadcrumb mixture from bowl #1.  Have I confused you enough yet?

 

6. Put this under the broiler for a minute or two but for Pete's sake keep an eye on it.  You don't want all your hard work to burn!

 

p.s. it was much faster once I had everything portioned out.  It was seriously done in around 15 minutes.

Divine Meringues

Divine Meringues

Chocolate Cocoa Crunch with Bits of White Chocolate
All Natural.  Only 7 Calories per Cookie!

Two things that don't mix well are 1) being a short person and 2) having a major sweet tooth.  That would be me.  This would be why I'm not a baker.  If I was 5'10 then maybe I could spread the weight around, however, being petite causes each cookie to make me look like I gained ten pounds.  At Fresh Market yesterday I was so excited to find these.  In fact they might be inspiration for me to try my hand at meringues.  They are so light and fluffy and will happily carry whatever you want to put in them.  What's not to love? 

Peppermint Crème Coffee

Peppermint Crème Coffee

A combination of cool, refreshing peppermint and sweet cream create the perfect holiday treat!

This is a food find I have to give credit to my friend Justine for as she was the one who found it at Fresh Market.  Last week I got am email that said I HAD to try this coffee and she had brought some in to brew. I took my behind right down to the third floor, looked at her and she pointed to the break room. I got in there and three pots were full of coffee. Hmm...this would come down to the sniff test. Would I even be able to tell? I sniffed the first, hmm...doesn't smell like anything special. Sniffed the second. EW! Work sludge (the facilities manager at work doesn't drink coffee) and the third.....

PEPPERMINT HEAVEN. It almost cleared my sinuses. Granted, I love peppermint in all forms but this is one of the best. They must put peppermint oil right in with good quality coffee. Drink this and you'll think Christmas!

New BFF Lowel + Peanut Butter Cookies = LOVE

Thursday when I got home from work there was a surprise. My recent eBay purchase had arrived! A Lowel Ego light. I was very excited to try out using my Nikonosaurus with it to see if it would make a difference. Needless to say it REALLY helped my whitebalance issue. The peanut butter cookies made lovely models don't you think?

Ok so now the confession. I baked. With white sugar. Technically I didn't add white flour or butter but I am sure it was in there since this recipe called for a premade roll of Pillsbury peanut butter cookies as one of the ingredients. I had to make something for my Thanksgiving feast at work, which unfortunately, I didn't make it to since I was out sick. Chris is really thankful. (For the cookies, not that I was sick.). The recipe I used was  Double-Delight Peanut Butter Cookies.  Technically I saw it on Iowa Girl Cooks first and I really love her directions so I would suggest going to her site if you want to make these! 

Comfy Chicken Lentil Barley Soup

So I'm home sick today.  I want some chicken soup with a bunch of veggies to make me feel better.  I can't say it has worked so far but the soup was definitely comforting.

Comfy Chicken Lentil Barley Soup

Serves 5 or 6

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 chicken breasts
1 onion, chopped onion
2 ribs celery, chopped 
1 tsp minced garlic
EVOO spray
5 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup dry lentils, rinsed and drained
1 tsp Italian seasoning mix
Dash red pepper flakes
1 cup julienned carrots
1/2 cup quick-cooking barley
1 can Northern beans, rinsed and drained
2Tbsp fresh basil, minced
1/2 cup green onion, chopped
3 or 4 cups fresh spinach

Directions

1. In a Dutch Oven spray the bottom with EVOO spray and add the chopped onion, celery and garlic.

2. Grill and cube the chicken.

3. Into the Dutch Oven stir in broth, water, lentils, and spices. Bring to boiling, reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes. Meanwhile place a bit of broth in a blender with the Northern beans.  Blend until smooth.

4. Stir in chicken, beans. carrots, and barley; simmer 20 minutes or until carrots are tender.

5. Remove soup mixture from heat.  Stir in spinach, green onion and basil.

Recipe Swap - Jerk Pork Loin

This post will be more of a recipe review.  Last night was my friend Justine's turn to do our recipe swap.  She chose to do the Jerk Pork Loin from Eating Well along with Green Beans with Creamy Garlic Dressing.  It was so nice to come home with a fully made meal and pop it in the oven! 

Look at this spread!  Veggies Galore.  (Ok so I could have gotten a better shot of the tenderloin but you get the idea.)

I had an eggplant I needed to do something with as well.  And I was REALLY hungry so I also added a salad.  I decided to broil the pork and the eggplant at the same time since the grill was out of juice.  I sliced it and salted it first to bring out some of the moisture for about 10 minutes and then wiped that off, sprayed some EVOO spray and some Tastefully Simple "Garlic Garlic" seasoning.  I put this under the broiler for about six minutes a side.  Well, I meant to do it six minutes a side.....

My husband was working late on a job so my parents came over to help with my daughter. In the craziness of the evening (a typical evening) I was running around like a chicken with its head cut off and the timer for the broiler went off. I yelled to my mom "can you turn that off!" The timer went off and I finished what I was doing.  I came back to the oven, flipped the pork and the eggplant, reset the timer, and went back to whatever I was doing.  Six minutes later I went to check on everything. "Man, this is taking a while" I thought.  "And here I was worried about it burning under the broiler."  I reset the timer for five more minutes.   STILL no lovely crust on the pork.  "This thing must be made of kryptonite or something".  I went to reset the timer again and waaaaaait a minute.  I looked a little closer.  Everything was turned off.  Even the broiler.  My mom thought I meant to turn everything off.  So after the first six minutes nothing had been cooking.  Luckily, I was able to salvage everything and we all had a good laugh about it. 

Jerk Pork Loin: I loved the blend of flavors in this.  There was habanero for a little heat, aromatic garlic, brown sugar for sweetness and an amazing mix of spices....cinnamon, allspice, thyme.  Delish! 

Green Beans: Personally, I am a fan of Al Dente veggies.  I don't like them limp and cooked to death.  These were a crisp, creamy and garlicky and paired well with the garlic in the pork loin.

Good choices Justine!  Pfew!  I was close to ruining that one.

Spider Pose

Spider Pose.

After Body Pump yesterday I followed up today with a light yoga class to stretch out. Granted light is a relative term. One of my co-workers was very surprised to see that even though it wasn’t a heated class I had built up a good deal of internal heat and was therefore sweating. I constantly hear “easy” and “boring” to describe yoga.  Easy? Maybe, if that is what you are up for that day.  Boring?  As long as you put into your practice what you want to get out of it, then never.  Until one experiences the benefits for themselves they will not understand.

What I love about yoga is it is a practice. As my teacher Alyson states, “We are all students on the mat.” Never static, it ebbs and flows tailored to each person however they are feeling that day. Vinyasa Flow is my preference. It moves swiftly and smoothly like a ballet, tying breath into each movement thereby becoming a meditation in motion. No two classes or teachers are the same. The sequence, intensity, temperature and form can change. There are so many benefits; stress relief, flexibility, increased lung capacity, strength. Even though there are many people that do this type of yoga purely for the caloric burn, that is just a wonderful side bonus. It has been so interesting to watch the evolution of my classes over the years as all the students become stronger and more willing to take risk.

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Muffin

Could this be the easiest dessert ever?  AND as a bonus it might be one of the lightest.  Last night I wanted dessert, something cakey and nutty.  This fit the bill perfectly.

Peanut Butter Banana Nut Muffin

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 banana nut Vitamuffin

2 Tbsp PB2

1 Tbsp black coffee

3 Tbsp whipped topping of choice

Directions

1. Warm the Vitamuffin in the microwave for 20 seconds. 

2. Mix the PB2 and coffee.  Top Vitamuffin with PB2 mixture.

3. Top with whipped topping.

 

Recipe Swap Spinach Chicken Tortilla Bake

Assemble your own meal places are popping up left and right. In fact, prior to discovering my love of cooking I did partake at a place called Super Suppers. My main problems were 1) I like to buy certain things organic, such as spinach, apples and sweet potatoes and 2) I am not a huge proponent of white sugar, flour and full fat dairy. I do, however, love the idea of the pre-prepped meals. What is better than having a light, delicious home cooked meal prepared to pop right in the oven when you get home from a long day of work?........If someone else makes it and you get a night off! (I love cooking mind you, but it IS nice to take it easy every now and then.)

The idea of a weekly or bi-weekly break is what prompted the idea of recipe swaps between me and my best friend Justine (who gave me the Roasted Vegetable Meatloaf recipe). What is great about Justine is she is a superb cook, she likes to lighten things up like I do and we pretty much know what the other one (and their husband) would like and dislike.

The way this works is, we each come up with a recipe we want to make and send it to the other person for final approval. It must be one where each of us can keep half and freeze half or bring it to the other person fresh, prepped and read to go so they can cook it that night and skip the freezing part if they want to. This idea is terrific because we can try twice the number of delicious recipes!

We went through a phase where, I swear, we tried every recipe from Holly Clegg’s Trim and Terrific Freezer Friendly Meals (which rocks by the way) and would bring in a sample for each other to taste, but this way we will get a different full meal plus leftovers and will not have to cook that night!

My first recipe was actually found on Stylish Cuisine.  I adapted it a little to make it a bit lighter, to serve 8 and I used rotisserie chicken so I could skip the step of cooking the chicken.

Recipe Swap Spinach Chicken Tortilla Bake

Serves 8

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

EVOO Spray

1 rotisserie chicken, meat removed and shredded
pepper, to taste
3 cups store-bought salsa verde (green salsa)
1 1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
6 large 100 % whole wheat flour tortillas, cut into wedges
2 large flour tortillas, cut into wedges
3/4 red onion, thinly sliced
5 cups baby spinach 
2 cups shredded 2% Mexican Blend cheese
Tony Chachere's Cajun seasoning, to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 450°. 

2. Mix the ricotta, salsa verde and pepper to taste.  Spray two 9 inch square baking dishes with EVOO spray and layer about 3/4 cup of the ricotta mixture on the bottom of each dish, top that with tortillas, chicken, onion, spinach, cheese, repeat this three times but with the top layer end with tortillas (instead of putting them on top of the last ricotta layer.) 

3. Spray the top with EVOO and sprinkle some Tony Chachere's Cajun Seasoning.

4. Cover and bake (your half) for 15 minutes, remove foil, bake for 5 minutes more.  Remove from oven.  Let rest 10 minutes. 

5. Give the other half to a friend!

***Please note, next time I would cook the onions a little beforehand.  Even though they are being cooked in the dish, they still came out fairly crisp and pungent.

Fresh Fish Taco

Asana, according to Wikipedia, is a body position, typically associated with the practice of Yoga, intended primarily to restore and maintain a practitioner's well-being, improve the body's flexibility and vitality, and promote the ability to remain in seated meditation for extended periods.  Saturday, I was very excited to get my (gently used) book of Asanas so I could begin reviewing the form on my current poses and learn new ones. In fact I should probably focus more on Asanas to vent some of the frustration I built up from working with my Nikonosaurus (point and shoot camera). Grrrrr.....No matter what setting I choose for white balance the photos come out blue, pink or yellow. Earlier I was shooting with natural light and was able to change the aperture to around f/2 which gave fairly nice depth of field but the camera automatically focused on the background rather than my soup. I did order a Lowel Ego light so I am anxiously awaiting that. Hopefully it helps

Sunday, my dear husband went fishing with his dad and came home with quite a catch! We decided to make fish tacos and lo and behold I had just bought fish taco seasoning earlier that day. I mixed half a packet with ¼ cup of milk and marinated it for about an hour. I, personally, am not a huge fan of cabbage on my fish tacos. I love tomato, lettuce, cilantro and hummus. It came out as more of a fish quesadilla but I figured it would taste just as good and I was right. 

Fresh Fish Tacos

Serves 2
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

3 white fish fillets
2 whole wheat tortillas
½ packet Simply Organic fish taco seasoning
¼ cup milk
1 lime, juice divided
4 Tbsp cilantro
4 Tbsp hummus
1/8 cup sliced red onion
2 Campari tomatoes
Handful of baby lettuces
EVOO spray

Directions

1. In a medium size bowl whisk the milk and seasoning and add the fish fillets. Turn to coat. Marinate about an hour.

2. Preheat broiler to high. Spray an oblong baking dish with EVOO spray. Place the fillets along the bottom; squeeze half a lime over the top of all the fish and broil for 6 to 7 minutes per side.

3. Chop the cooked fish into small bite size pieces. Spread the hummus on the tortillas. And top with the fish, tomato, onion, lettuce, cilantro and the juice of the other lime half.

4. Fold or wrap tortillas and enjoy with fresh steamed veggies.

Magic Rum Cake

THREE WARNINGS:

1) BAD BAKER: I call this the Magic Rum Cake because, magically, even though there is no butter or oil and I don't consider myself the best of bakers, it still comes out good.  Really good.

2) SHODDY PHOTOGRAPHY: So I won't win any awards for my rum cake photography skills.  (However, you should see my nunchuck skills).  Yes, the horror, I used a flash with this one because I was rushing. 

3) USE OF PREPACKAGED INGREDIENTS: Real bakers, when I start to tell you the ingredients....just remember.....EARMUFFS.  I used a boxed cake mix. AND two packages of sugar free, fat free instant Jell-O.  Ok go ahead and read me my rights.

Magic Rum Cake

Ingredients
1 Box chocolate cake mix
2 boxes 4 serving chocolate Jello-O (sugar free, fat free, instant)
1 cup pure egg whites
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups strong black coffee
1/2 semisweet chocolate chips
Handful pecans or almonds, chopped
6oz Malibu Coconut Rum (Kahlua also works)
EVOO spray (yes, I even use it for baking)

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

2. Spray a bunt cake pan with EVOO spray and in a large bowl or KitchenAid mixer add the cake mix through the coffee.  Mix until smooth (I had the mixer on for about five minutes give or take).

3. Fold in the chocolate chips.

4. Evenly spread chopped nuts on the bottom of the bundt pan and pour the batter over the nuts.

5. Bake 45-50 minutes until knife or wooden skewer comes out clean. 

6. Pour rum over cake evenly. Allow to soak in for at least an hour.

7. Flip bundt onto a plate and serve with low fat vanilla ice cream.

Pumpkin-Pie Acorn Squash with Roasted Chickpeas

I feel like I accomplished something tonight for dinner. For one, I made roasted chickpeas which I have been dying to try and secondly I had an acorn squash that has been staring at me for over a week patiently waiting for me to cook him. Looks like I made both of us happy (that would be me and the acorn squash). After dinner I plan to get my recipe photos loaded and then practice a few rounds of Vrschikasana (Scorpion Pose) or at least Pincha Mayurasana (forearm stand or Feathered Peacock Pose) to get ready for my Saturday yoga class.

This is a good one. It was like a healthy pumpkin pie. I don’t suggest sitting around taking photos of it if you make it though. Eat it right away so the chickpeas stay nice and crunchy. I added more before I ate and OOOO they were good.
 
Pumpkin-Pie Acorn Squash with Roasted Chickpeas

Pumpkin-Pie Acorn Squash with Roasted Chickpeas
Printable Recipe

Roasted Chickpeas
Ingredients

1 can chickpeas rinsed and drained
EVOO spray
Pinch cayenne pepper
Pumpkin pie spice, to taste
2 packets Splenda or 1 Tbsp organic brown sugar

Directions

1. Mix everything in a bowl. Bake 450 degrees. Start checking at 30 minutes to make sure they don't burn.

Pumpkin-Pie Acorn Squash
Ingredients


1 Acorn squash, halved, seeded, holes poked over top (to prevent exploding)
Water
1/2 cup apple juice (optional)
¼ cup pumpkin puree
2 Tbsp apricot preserves, divided
1 tsp pumpkin butter
Pumpkin pie spice, to taste
Cayenne pepper, to taste
Pinch Sea Salt
EVOO spray

Directions

1.  Place the acorn squash, cut side down in a microwave safe dish.  Pour water until about 1/2 inch of the bottom is covered and add the apple juice.  Microwave on high for 12 minutes.

(that's one happy squash right there)

2. Mix pumpkin puree and 1 Tbsp apricot preserves through the cayenne pepper in the same bowl you mixed the chickpeas in. (Why mess up two bowls here?)

3. Stuff the acorn squash with the puree mixture. 

4. Top with the remaining apricot preserves, additional pumpkin pie spice, pinch of salt and EVOO spray.

5. Broil on high for 7 minutes.

6. Top with crunchy chickpeas and serve immediately.