Ranch Dip for Veggies

I'm not the type of person who eats ranch dressing on salad, but I love to dip a cold, crunchy cucumber or piece of celery into it before taking a bite. I found a recipe online using sour cream and mayo, so I figured I could use Greek yogurt and olive oil mayo (one of my favorite inventions, as I, embarrassingly, LOVE mayo). I mixed one part olive oil mayo with two parts Greek yogurt, added a bunch of seasonings, and blended it up quickly with a spoon. It's super quick, and super delicious. And the best part--I don't feel guilty eating it! :)

Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup olive oil mayo

1 T dried chives

1 T dried dill

1 t garlic powder

1 t onion powder

1 t dried parsley

few grinds of salt

few grinds of black pepper

Turkey Stroganoff

I found this recipe for "Poor Man's Stroganoff":

http://www.melskitchencafe.com/2011/02/poor-mans-stroganoff.html

I changed it up a bit to make it slightly healthier, as well as gluten free, although it was almost gluten free without having to do much. I changed the following things:

ground turkey instead of beef

low fat Greek yogurt instead of sour cream

organic (no HFCS!) ketchup instead of tomato paste (only because I was out of tomato paste)

regular bacon instead of turkey (it's what I had on hand)

rice flour instead of flour

I doubled the garlic, as usual :-)

I served it to my kids (and myself) over egg noodles, and served it over rice pasta to my husband, who is trying a gluten free diet. It was absolutely heavenly all around. And an added bonus, the house smells like bacon and garlic. Two of my favorite things. Yum.

Chicken Cordon Bleu (my version)

This dish was quick, easy, and made the house smell delicious. Oh, and it tasted good. :)

Ingredients:

*Four chicken breasts, cut in half to make 8 thin breasts (or you can pound the four breasts flat, but that takes work)

*salt and pepper

*Canadian bacon (one slice per chicken breast)

*One fresh mozzarella ball, sliced

*1 T butter

*1 cup panko bread crumbs

Preheat oven to 350 degrees, and grease a glass baking dish.

Grind salt and pepper lightly on each side of each chicken breast.

Place a slice of Canadian bacon on each breast, then top with a slice of mozzarella.

Fold the breast in half, then secure with a toothpick.

Place a small amount of butter on the top of each breast, then place baking dish in oven for 2-3 minutes, or until butter is completely melted.

Remove dish from oven, sprinkle panko crumbs over the chicken, the place back in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

Check to make sure chicken is no longer pink, and serve immediately.

I served it with brown rice and a summer salad. (Mostly) healthy and simple! :)

Refreshing White Corn Salad

I found this recipe online, and it is simple and perfect for a summer dinner or get together. http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/fresh-corn-salad-10000001176261/

Ingredients:

7 ears of white corn, boiled and cut from the cobs

1 medium red pepper, diced

1 medium red onion, diced

1/2 cup parsley, finely chopped

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 cup olive oil

1/2 cup cider vinegar

1/2 cup sugar

Boil the corn for about four minutes, then immediately place it in ice water to stop the cooking process. Cut the corn from the cobs, and add the red pepper, onion, and parsley.

In a separate bowl, mix the olive oil, sugar, vinegar, salt and pepper. Add the veggies to the oil mixture and combine. Chill for at least two hours and serve. Simple, healthy, perfect.

Whole Wheat Spinach Feta Quiche

I haven't made quiche in quite a while, and had a ton of eggs to use up this week. About a dozen boiled eggs later, I decided quiche was the way to go to finish off the eggs. Here is a link to my last quiche post from about 17 months ago:

http://mommysmuffins.blogspot.com/search/label/quiche

This time, I used whole wheat flour for the crust, and used six whole eggs mixed with milk for the filling. I also used the following:

1/2 of a fresh mozzarella ball, sliced

2/3 cup frozen chopped spinach, defrosted on the counter for about 30 minutes

5 chopped up Trader Joe's frozen pre-cooked turkey meatballs

1 small chopped up tomato

1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese

After baking the crust for the initial 20 minutes covered loosely in foil, I topped it with the tomatoes and spinach, then added the feta and mozzarella before pouring the egg mixture over top. I baked it for another 35 minutes, uncovered, and knew it was time to remove it from the oven when the top of the mozzarella slices were slightly golden brown. I let it sit on the counter to cool for about an hour, and it sliced perfectly for lunch. Healthy and delicious!

Simple Homemade Whipped Cream

For dessert tonight I used some fresh berries from the farmer's market, along with a store-bought angel food cake (I'm enjoying the lazy days of summer a tad early!), and added some homemade whipped cream. Just like the recipe says, it took five minutes and couldn't have been easier. See ya later, Cool Whip!

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Easy-Whipped-Cream/Detail.aspx

Salad Season is Here!

It is no surprise to anyone that I enjoy food, but I wasn't always a huge fan of salads as meals. I've always loved a nice salad as a side, but the idea of only eating a salad as my entire meal always seemed like a horrible idea. I thought I would be hungry an hour later. What about the meat? The carbs? The protein? It turns out, those are what make a delicious salad delicious. The avocado, the cheese, the nuts, the dressing, the fruit, and of course the vegetables. :-)

I've gotten more into salads over the last year, and I came across the following recipe online. I've made it two nights in a row now, each time doing it a little different. I doctored it up a bit, and it turned out to be a very filling, satisfying, delectable meal. As the weather warms up, summer produce begins to sprout, and I crave more light, heart-healthy foods, I plan to make a version of this salad weekly.

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Harvest-Salad/Detail.aspx

Changes I made:

I left out the red onion and tomato, because I didn't have any on hand.

I added cucumbers, strawberries (hooray for delicious organic strawberries!), and slivered almonds (toasted for about 3 minutes in the toaster oven).

I added about a cup of shredded rotisserie chicken (picked up the cooked chicken at Whole Foods, and this is the second meal in which I've used it)

I also used a blend of organic mixed greens instead of just spinach.

Last night I made the dressing using raspberry preserves, as it calls for, and tonight I used strawberry preserves. I slightly preferred the raspberry, though both were pretty yummy.

Who doesn't love a super healthy meal you can make in 10 minutes?!? And the best part (for me, anyway), was that I could just chop up some avocado and chicken super fine for my 9 month old, and she gobbled it up. :-)