healthy pizzas

i made two AWESOME pizzas last night.

and they're pretty healthy, too!

pizza #1:



whole wheat crust (boboli, not homemade)
light alfredo sauce
sliced zucchini
fresh mushrooms
roasted chicken
small amounts of mozzarella, romano cheeses
sprinkle bacon crumbles

pizza #2:



crust brushed with garlic olive oil
medium-rare steak
red and green peppers
fresh tomatoes
feta cheese


the hardest part of the night? picking a favorite! i thought the steak would be my fave, but they were both so amazing.

Skirt steak salad

how's this for a recipe:

1) make a salad
2) add steak strips, cooked to your liking
3) eat and enjoy

but really. i made an awesome salad tonight, with romaine, cucumbers, green and red peppers, tomatoes, carrots, medium-rare steak, and feta cheese. topped it with balsamic vinaigrette, and it was a great dinner!




healthy, delicious, and filling.

menu plan, week of june 6

i planned my whole month's menu again. but to avoid seeming as prepared as i am, i'm just going to post one week at a time. if it's a novel recipe, i'll post about it this week also.

all of my meals are SUPER easy, and i'll be making the "healthy" versions if the actual meal itself isn't really healthy. for example, for the weekday enchiladas, i'll be using fat-free sour cream, and less than the recipe calls for. for the pizza? we'll use lots of leftover veggies from the enchiladas and the salad, and less cheese in both the enchiladas and on the pizzas.

sounds good!

monday: weekday enchiladas
tuesday: skirt steak salad
wednesday: homemade pizza with leftover veggies from monday and tuesday
thursday: leftovers
friday: peanut chicken with pasta and green peppers
saturday: posole
sunday: leftovers

using what you have

have you been to the kraft recipes site? it's super convenient when you're sitting on your lunch break wondering what you're going to do with the chicken that is thawing, and hoping you can use at least one of the five cans of black beans you have in your pantry. but really, who has five cans of black beans? it's one of those items i buy all the time (like canned tomatoes) but don't use often (unlike canned tomatoes). all you do is input what ingredients you have, and it brings up some recipe options.

so, i went to the site and it gave me this great idea for a mexican chicken dish over rice.

i cooked two chicken breasts that i'd cut into bite-size pieces, and added about half of a diced onion. when it's all done, i added a can of rinsed black beans, a cup of salsa (or, if you're low on salsa, some salsa mixed with the leftover rotel that's in your fridge), and about a cup of frozen corn (or a can of corn, drained. i didn't have a can).

serve over rice (which was cooking in your rice cooker the whole time you were cooking the chicken), and be prepared to enjoy a delicious supper! i like mine a little spicier, so i added some red pepper flakes. but really, other than that, i didn't add any seasonings at all. the rotel/salsa mix had just what it needed. oh, and the chicken was marinated, but i don't think that made much of a difference.

stuffed chicken with bacon

well, talk about a hint!
i was cleaning the house with my husband, and he set out a new cookbook on the stand, open to the dish he hoped i'd make next. it just happened to be this delicious meal, which is extremely unhealthy, and also one of our new favorites. quite the dilemma.



here's the quick how-to:
cut a slit in the chicken breast and fill with goat cheese (per the recipe) or brie (what i did). sprinkle the outside with italian seasoning, then wrap with two or three slices of bacon, depending on the size of the chicken, and tuck the ends under. using the dutch oven with a little oil in it, cook the chicken just until the bacon is browned, about 3-4 minutes per side.

for one of them, i turned it before the bacon was cooked, and it started to fall off. no big deal, just serve it all together once it's done with the oven cooking. 

add thick slices of tomato (grape tomatoes would be good, too), garlic, and a sprinkle of olive oil, then move the dish to the oven (350 degrees) for 30-ish minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. serve with a side salad.



see, easy! and, well, it's BACON so your house smells amazing while it's cooking. i'd recommend serving it with some crusty bread, cause there's an amazing sauce in the pan that you'll surely want to soak up!

Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Hi! I'm Scarlett, I'm new to the blog, so I guess I should tell you a little about myself, huh? I'm a vegan, (meaning I don't consume anything that is either an animal product or a by-product - dairy, honey, meat...not a part of my diet). I also LOVE LOVE LOVE food and figuring out how to take traditional recipes and making them vegan. I'm always up for being experimental and trying something creative and new in the kitchen - sometimes the flavours you should NEVER put together wind up being the absolute best!

The first recipe I want to share is my creamy mushroom gravy. This stuff is absolutely amazing; it's perfect for topping vegetables, meatloaf (or wheatloaf, in my world)...anything. It's rich and flavourful, and you won't even be able to tell that it's vegan!

My favorite way to serve this up, however, is turning it into a stroganoff. Add your favorite cut of beef, pour over noodles, and top it with a little bit of sour cream, and you've got the makings of a delicious meal! (I prefer meatless meatballs, mini rotini, and Tofutti's Better-Than-Sour-Cream.)

Creamy Mushroom Gravy

Ingredients:

Yes, I'm a setter-outer when it comes to my ingredients.

3T olive oil
1/2c minced onion (I use red, but whatever floats your boat)
2 garlic cloves, minced (I found a fabulous roasted garlic in a glass jar; works great!)
1 1/2c chopped white mushrooms 
2T soy sauce (low sodium is an awesome substitute for the regular)
1t dried thume
1/4t salt
1/4t black pepper
1 1/2 c vegetable stock (I have fallen in love with Better than Bouillon!)
1/4 c plain soy milk (Westsoy is a good brand to start with, if you're not a soy person)
2T nutritional yeast (found in the bulk foods section of most supermarkets)
2T corn starch 

• Warm the olive oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add in the onion and stir, cooking until it's soft and just beginning to get translucent (about 3-5 minutes). 

• Add garlic and mushrooms, and heat until softened, stirring often. I usually wind up adding a little more oil at this time, just to keep things nice and juicy. When soft, stir in the soy sauce, thyme, salt and pepper.

• Pour your veggie/spice mixture to a blender, add vegetable stock, soy milk, nutritional yeast, and cornstarch. Blend on high until your gravy is smooth and creamy. It will be pretty thin at this point, but don't worry! The gravy-consistency is brought on in the next step.

•  Pour the gravy back into the saucepan, bring to a boil. Stir constantly, making sure it doesn't stick! After it just barely starts to boil, reduce the heat and simmer the gravy. It will thicken up in a few minutes.

• Add meat and noodles for a delicious stroganoff, or simply pour over your favorite vegetables!

Enjoy!

Recipe inspired by Vegan on the Cheap, by Robin Robbertson

[menu plan] week of feb 07

i have a new favorite website. have you been to $5 Dinners? it's great. cheap, easy meals. and if you don't use their recipes, at least you'll get some ideas for what you want to make.

i've been really slacking in the meal planning department lately. and i'm sick of going to the store every day, not knowing what i'm going to make for dinner that night, and then buying something easy, not so healthy, and not so cheap. so i've made a weekly meal plan today, and will stop by the store on the way home today to get food for the whole week. i'm so excited.

here's the meals. i still have no idea what order i'm going to make them in, but i imagine things like the pilaf will wait til the end of the week, because it's not so much fresh produce in it. the ingredients can sit around for a little bit.


mushroom quinoa pilaf
sloppy joes with mac-n-cheese
croissant hot dogs with pasta salad
cashew chicken
tacos with mexican rice