Rustica Greek Pizza

This pizza is quick and easy! I whipped this up after having a late soccer practice Tuesday evening, and the kiddos loved it! Now, don't fall over, but I didn't use whole wheat crust, can you believe it? ;) Hope you try this one out, it is so good and so quick, giving you more time to spend with your family :) Enjoy!

Ingredients

• Pillsbury refrigerated pizza dough (thin crust)


• 1 zucchini, cut down the middle and sliced


• 1/2 medium red onion, cut in thin slices


• Cherry tomatoes sliced in half


• Yellow bell pepper, sliced in thin strips


• Kalamata olives sliced in half


• Reduced fat feta cheese


• Part skim mozzarella


• Arugula
• Balsamic dressing/vinaigrette
• Olive Oil & Salt
• Pepper to taste

Roll out dough on a large baking sheet, fold sides over to form crust. Bake at 400 degrees for a few minutes, just until the crust begins to cook. Remove (do not turn oven off) and brush with olive oil. Saute bell pepper, onion and zucchini until tender. Arrange on pizza crust. Add olives, tomatoes and sprinkle with cheeses. Bake until crust is golden brown and the cheese is melted. Remove from oven, garnish with arugula and drizzle with balsamic dressing.

I loved this so much I am making it for my bestie Rach Saturday night! She is coming to visit me from San Antonio, so excited, love her!!!

Raid The Pantry!

I am trying to BBQ a little before it really is too cold to do so! Here in Texas you can still BBQ in October and it feels like summer! After Lexi's soccer game this morning we came home, watched movies and grilled...my kind of day ;) I didn't have this planned, I just grabbed whatever I had in my pantry and fridge and came up with this! I marinated my chicken in a coconut mango glaze I purchased from HEB, threw together some veggies (zucchini, onions, and yellow bell peppers) in a little olive oil & salt and mashed some sweet potatoes with a little reduced fat parmesan cheese, sea salt, pepper and smart balance butter. I encourage you to raid your pantry rather than going out to eat for lunch. We enjoyed just spending the time at home, and this lunch was great! Have a good weekend!

'Caprese' Chicken

I love caprese salads! I could probably eat them every day! However, my family would probably get a bit bored with them if I did ;) This is my version of a caprese salad, on chicken! I did sub out mozzerella for feta, but I think I like it better like this, adds more flavor and complexity! My family loved it and all went for seconds! I had gone on a field trip with Lexi's girl scout troop after school yesterday, and we didn't get in until a little after 7, and I whipped this up in about thirty minutes! Tasty, healthy and fast, what more could you ask for ;) Enjoy!

Ingredients

• 4 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts, butterflied


• Cherry tomatoes, halved


• Fresh basil


• Reduced fat feta cheese


• McCormick's 'Perfect Pinch Parmesan Herb' seasoning (or seasoning of your choice)


• Balsamic dressing (I use Litehouse balsamic vinaigrette dressing)


• Olive oil & salt


• Pepper to taste

Pre-heat a grill pan to medium/high heat. Season the butterflied chicken breasts with pepper, sea salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Sprinkle the parmesan herb seasoning on chicken. Grill chicken, once done remove from grill pan and immediately sprinkle chicken with feta cheese, cherry tomatoes and basil, drizzle with balsamic dressing, voila!

I served this dish with Near East whole grain rice pilaf with barley & fresh broccoli that I steamed and seasoned with sea salt, pepper, a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and a squeeze of lemon.

"Faux" Apple Pie!

If you know me, you know I LOVE sweets! I am always trying to find ways to still cure my sweet tooth, while avoiding all of the calories and sugar! This takes about five minutes to make, and you don't have to feel guilty at all!

Ingredients

• 12 reduced fat vanilla wafers
• unsweetened apple sauce
• cinnamon
• fat free whipped cream

Layer six cookies each in two bowls. Top with about 1/3 cup of the apple sauce, sprinkle with a bit of the cinnamon and microwave for about 30 seconds (this will not only heat the applesauce, but will soften the cookies, making it into a "crust"!) Top with a few dollops of whip cream and sprinkle with a bit more cinnamon, enjoy!

Vegetable Parmesan

My kiddos love their veggies! This is such a fun way way to serve them, especially if you have children that DON'T love their veggies! Cover them in marinara and cheese and they will gobble them up ;) This recipe is very versatile, use whatever veggies you have!

Ingredients

• One large zucchini, sliced on a bias
• One large yellow squash, sliced on a bias
• One red bell pepper, sliced in rings
• One yellow bell pepper, sliced in rings
• One sweet yellow onion, sliced in rings
• One large portabello mushroom sliced
• One small bag shredded reduced fat mozzarella cheese
• Freshly grated parmesan cheese
• Reduced fat feta cheese
• 100% whole grain bread crumbs
• One large jar of marinara sauce (I use two small jars of Rinaldi's to be healthy tomato and basil sauce)
• Olive oil & salt ;)
• fresh cracked pepper
• Basil for garnish

Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees. Grill veggies on stove top grill just until softened, about three minutes. You can also roast your veggies until softened in a 375 degree oven. cover the bottom of a 13x9 baking dish with sauce, layer veggies, cheeses and more sauce. I usually make about three layers. Sprinkle top with bread crumbs and drizzle with olive oil. Bake for about 30-35 minutes. Sprinkle basil on top when you remove from the oven, allow to cool for a few minutes, Enjoy!! As you can see in the pic below, we obviously did ;)

Black Bean & Corn Quesadillas

I have been making these since my vegetarian days! So, now that I am no longer a vegetarian, I will dedicate this post to my little sister Cali, who is ;) However, this is still one of my favorite's to make! I still like to incorporate vegetarian meals a few nights a week. It saves money on the grocery bill and as we don't normally eat pork or red meat, it breaks up the monotony! My entire family love these, they love southwestern type foods of any kind really, as you can see in my last post with my tortilla soup ;) This recipe is full of fiber, protein and loaded with veggies! Plus some good carbs with those whole wheat tortillas ;)

Ingredients

• Whole wheat tortillas


• One can unsalted black beans


• 1/2 bag frozen corn


• 1-2 tbs olive oil


• 1/2 medium sweet yellow onion diced


• 1/2 red bell pepper diced


• 1 garlic clove minced


• 1 tbs brown sugar (or one packet of stevia or any sugar substitute)


• 1/3 cup salsa


• 1 tsp chili flakes


• 1-2 tsp cumin


• sea salt and pepper to taste


• 1 cup reduced fat monetary jack or cheddar cheese


• cilantro


• reduced fat or fat free sour cream


• homemade guacamole

Heat a skillet to med heat and saute the onions, garlic and bell pepper until softened. Add the black beans and corn and heat through. Add brown sugar, salsa, chili flakes, salt and pepper and cumin and allow the mixture to thicken a bit and then remove from heat. Heat another skillet (or heat your quesadilla press) and scoop several heaping spoon fulls onto one wheat tortilla, sprinkle with cheese and cilantro and cover with another wheat tortilla. Heat until the cheese is melted and the tortillas are a bit crisp, you will need to flip halfway through. Serve with salsa, sour cream and/or guacamole. Enjoy!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

This is one of my family's favorites! They go nuts when I make this, and I haven't made it all summer, I save it for this time of year, so when I surprised them with it two nights ago they were very excited! Noah even took leftovers for his lunch to school ;)

Ingredients

• One whole chicken or one pack of boneless skinless breasts (this is what I prefer, less fat!)



• Four cups reduced sodium chicken broth



• 2 cups water



• One can black beans (no salt added) undrained



• 3/4 bag of frozen corn (or you can use one can of corn or 3 ears of fresh corn, I use fresh if I have it!)



• One can diced tomatoes and green chili's (I prefer to use hot) undrained



• One bell pepper (roasted/broiled in the oven, seeded, skin removed and chopped)



• One small to medium sweet yellow onion chopped and carmelized in 1 tbs olive oil
  


• One hatch green chili pepper, or different pepper of choice (roasted/broiled, seeded and skin removed and chopped)


• Two cloves garlic, minced


• 1-2 tbs cumin


• 1 tbs chili powder


• tsp of chili flakes (put more if you like it spicy!)


• sea salt and pepper to taste


• Optional Toppings: I use them all! Diced fresh avocado, fresh lime slices, reduced fat cheddar or jack cheese, reduced fat or fat free sour cream, cilantro, crunched tortilla chips (I use sea salt blue corn, or whole grain baked tortilla chips, pita chips work great too!)

I season my chicken with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder, sea salt, fresh cracked pepper and lime and usually grill it for that added smoky flavor, you can prepare as you like! Dice the chicken once cooked. Combine all ingredients, bring to a boil, and allow to simmer for about 45 minutes to let the flavors combine!

This soup is fabulous! I use the no salt added items because I want to control the salt that goes into my food! This soup is very low in fat and calories and is packed full of veggies and protein! Remember to season to taste with all spices, I make this from heart and season as I taste it, this is just a general rundown of about how much you should use! Enjoy!

Double Chocolate "Cupcake Muffins"

Ok so, I actually don't know whether to call these muffins or cupcakes? They taste and smell like cupcakes, but have no frosting...either way, they are absolutely divine! I love sweets, I mean, I really love sweets! I love finding ways of curing my sweet tooth, while also getting something out of it! This is really hard to do, but these bad boys do just that! They are moist, chocolaty and honestly taste sinful! I felt guilty eating one today, but remembered that I didn't have to! I really hope you will take the time to make these, they are great for breakfast, dessert or as an afterschool snack. My kiddos got these as their treat after their dentist visit this afternoon, where they had a perfect check up ;) so proud! My kiddos can't tell the difference and absolutely loved these "cupcake muffins" so did James, who is my picky eater & toughest critic!

Ingredients

• 
  1 3/4 cup of oats (blended in food processor or blender, it will resemble flour when finished)




• 3 egg whites




• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa




• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce




• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract




• 1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (or regular plain low fat yogurt)




• 1 1/2 cream of tartar (or 1 1/2 tbs. vinegar)




• 1 1/2 baking soda




• 1 1/2 baking powder




• 1/4 tsp salt




• 1 cup water




• 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (I actually used dark chocolate because it is what I prefer and for the antioxident boost, but use what you like! White choclate chips would be good too! Or even peanut butter chips, my son is allergic, but this would be a yummy alternative!)




• 1 cup sugar substitute (I use splenda granulated, it measures cup for cup of sugar)




• Foil cupcake liners (I take the paper out, they will not stick if you do this)

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Mix all ingredients, reserving half of the chocolate chips, until well blended. Line 2, 12 cup muffin tins (makes 24 in all) with foil liners, fill 1/2 of the way full. Bake for 10 minutes, remove and sprinkle remaining chocolate chips on top of muffins (this takes the place of the frosting!) and bake for an additional 2-5 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean (remember there are chocolate chips inside too, so it may not be "clean", look for batter not chocolate). Allow the "cupcake muffins" to cool completely, and enjoy!!!

The best part, THEY ARE ONLY 85 CALORIES EACH!! YAY!!

The worst part, finding empty cupcake liners scattered around my house ;)

At last...

I am starting a food blog! It is no secret to those that know me I have a passion for cooking. I also have a passion for nutrition and exercise. I love being able to create a dish, that is not only delicious but healthy! I don't enjoy boring food, I need it to be exciting, colorful, beautiful and tasty! I love creating healthy alternatives to the foods we all know and love, with it being just as good or better than the original! I believe that a lot of people run from the faintest mention of health food! It doesn't have to be this way! Someone once said to me "You should really live a little." Assuming that I was missing out on something, or depriving myself. However, that is exactly what I am doing, LIVING! I am filling my body with the things it needs, as well as satisfying any craving I might have, by simply using alternatives and a little creativity ;)

I started this because I get lots of calls from those that know me for recipes, alternative ideas etc. I thought it would be fun to document it! I figured if anything, it will be a great place to store all of my recipes ;)

For those of you that do not know me, I will give a short Bio! I'm Nichole, I have the most beautiful little family ;) two kiddos Lexi 8 and Noah 5, I have been married for 9 years to my high school sweetheart James. I have my B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Nutrition as well as my teachers certification. I currently work at my childrens school, Trinity Lutheran, teaching three days a week, and I LOVE it! I have the best job in the world! I obviously love to cook, I love being with friends and I love spending time with the fam...you can usually find us in the kitchen ;)

Here is a recent pic of me and my family, I love my son's face here, I wasn't going to use this pic at first, but, this is just typical Noah, he was trying to look angry ;)