Pumpkin Pita Pizza People Pleaser

Pumpkin Pita Pizza People Pleaser....say that 5 times fast!

Have a hard time making a pizza for the whole family and pleasing the whole family with the toppings? Have no fear, Pita Pizzas are here!

I will set my oven around 375 and bake until toppings are melted. I like mine a little more on the crispy side.

This is probably one of the best meals for Halloween cause it literally is ready in a matter of minutes.

Throw some baby carrots and apple slices on there and you have a nutritious meal that hits on all food groups.

So fun to do for to do for Halloween or any day really! Scored some major "mummy" points on this meal.

Hope everyone had a fun and safe Halloween!

Greek Yogurt Chicken

My new favorite obsession.....chicken breasts lathered in plain greek yogurt and pretty much any seasonings you want. I have been trying to consume more protein in my diet lately and this one does a good job. I have 4 people in my family but you can adjust the recipe according to size.

 

4 chicken breasts
1/2 cup Plain Greek Yogurt
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
1 heaping TBSP Italian bread crumbs
Salt & pepper, to taste

Preheat oven to 400 F
Salt & pepper chicken to taste. Mix yogurt, cheese, garlic, & bread crumbs in a bowl. Spray a dish with cooking spray. Coat chicken with the yogurt mixture. Pop in the oven for about 30 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.

Ghoul-ash

This time of year is all about the Ghosts, Goblins, & "Ghoul"ash! Your family will scream (with delight) over this meal! This recipe is healthy and so freaky fast that it will scare you.

1 pound ground turkey
1 small sweet onion, chopped
1 zucchini, shredded
1 TBSP garlic, minced
3 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 cup carrots, chopped
1 - 15 oz can diced tomatoes
1 - 15 oz can tomato sauce
1 TBSP paprika
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp dried marjoram
Salt & pepper, to taste
10 oz pasta of your choice
Sour cream or shredded cheese (optional)

Cook the ground turkey with onions in a large pot. Add all other ingredients except pasta and sour cream. Heat through, stirring occasionally. Add the pasta and continue cooking until pasta is done. Serve with a dollop of sour "scream" and dig in. 

Jack Skellington Pot Pie

I live and die for Halloween dinners! I love being creative with food! I love theme dinners! I love Kodiak Cakes! Introducing Jack Skellington Pot Pie.......

You can use any Chicken Pot Pie recipe that will fit in a pie plate but here is my recipe of the filling and Kodiak Cakes crust topping. If you don't already know by my other recipes, I don't always measure my ingredients on most recipes but I'll so my best.

Filling:
2/3 cup chopped carrots
2/3 cup celery
1 small onion
2 small peeled diced potatoes
1 TBSP minced garlic
2/3 cup peas
2 - 12.5 oz canned chicken, drained
2 - 15 oz chicken broth
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup whole wheat flour
salt, pepper, thyme, & parsley, to taste

Saute carrots, celery, onion, potatoes, & garlic until almost soft. Stir in flour. Add in peas, chicken, broth, & milk. Incorporate and put on simmer will veggie cook through and you prep the crust. Add in seasonings. Preheat oven to 400 F.

The crust I use is from Kodiak Cakes

It says it makes 2 crusts but I use this recipe to make one because I like the crust thicker.
I roll it out into the size circle I need and then put it in the fridge for a few minutes to firm up so it's easier to cut out the face shapes. Then take it out, carefully cut out your face, and lay it over top your filling, sealing the edges. I lightly put aluminum foil on top just so the edges don't burn. Let it cook until golden brown or about 20 minutes.

Happy Halloween Dinners!

Zucchini Lasagna

Take a look at what I made for dinner today......

Take a closer look.....

It's Zucchini Lasagna!! 

That's right, no noodles! My kids complained for a minute but once they tried it they didn't seem to mind. They ate every bit they were given. But I will say they do like lasagna with noodles better but it was fun to change it up a bit.

I followed this recipe here and made a few minor changes. I used ground turkey and turkey sausage for meat substitutes. I did not use red pepper flakes but instead used Italian Zest FlavorGod seasoning (generously sprinkled all over meat/tomatoe mixture). Adds so much flavor (hence the name) without too much heat!!! Getting the moisture out of the zucchini was time consuming but I could definitely tell it was mandatory. It took me longer to prep than the given time.

 

If you have never tried something like this before I encourage you to do so!

Cheesy Quiche

Tasted as good as it looks!

 

I used Kodiak Cakes recipe for my crust. It (barely) makes 2 pie crusts so I made 2 quiches so we have left overs. My family of 4 almost ate 1 whole pie for dinner. I cooked the pie crusts @ 350 for 5 minutes BEFORE putting in the egg mixture just so there wasn't a soggy crust. TIP: After pre-baking put tinfoil strips around the crust edges so the edges don't get overly crispy like mine did.

For the egg mixture:

8 eggs

2 cups milk

1/2 cup parmesan cheese

1-2 cups shredded cheese

1 tsp minced garlic

Salt and pepper, to taste

Whisk everything together.

 

For the filling, the options are endless but this is what I put in mine:

1 head of broccoli, cut in bite size pieces (put in a bowl with water and nuked for a couple of minutes to help soften

6 slices of ham, cut in small pieces

 

Incorporate in to the egg mixture and disperse evenly into 2 pie plates. Cook at 350 for 45 min to 1 hour (or until set).

PIZZA PARTY!

I am going to share 2 pizza recipes with you today. I almost always use the same crust recipe when I make a pizza. Here it is....

1 1/2 cup warm water
1 TBSP sugar
1 TBSP active dry yeast
1/2 tsp salt
3-4 1/2 cups flour (I use white whole wheat flour)

In my Kitchenaid, combine 1 1/2 cups warm water, 1 TBSP, & 1 TBSP active dry yeast. Wait 10-15 min for it to proof. Add 1/2 tsp salt and start adding your flour 1/2 cup at a time until it doesn't stick to your fingers anymore.
Spray a medium bowl with cooking spray, plop your dough in the bowl and let it rise for about an hour.
Preheat your oven to 425 degrees F.
Lightly spray a pizza stone (I highly recommend one) with cooking oil and work the dough (with your hands) onto the stone to form your crust.
With a fork poke a few holes in the crust dough. Lightly spray the dough with cooking spray and lightly sprinkle with garlic salt.
Bake for 10-12 min. Take it out of the oven, put on your toppings and pop it back in for another 12ish minutes.

What do you get when you combine pizza and a taco? TACO PIZZA!

I cook 1 lb of ground turkey and half an onion. Season with taco seasoning of your choice. I use chili powder, cumin, garlic powder, salt, pepper, paprika, & oregano to taste. Chop up half a red pepper and toss that in once the meat is cooked through.

I warmed up a can of refried beans and spread a thin layer of it on the crust as my base later. Grate some cheese and evenly spread on top. Then, the cooked taco meat goes on top of that. Once it's done in the oven I add tomatoes, lettuce, and avocado on top.

My kids loved it!

Next pizza, same crust, different pizza. My kids didn't think they would like this pizza but they were proven wrong once their tastebuds touched the pizza.

PESTO CHICKEN BROCCOLI PIZZA  

I bought 1 head of broccoli, cut it in bite sized pieces and steamed it just until it starts to soften. Use pesto as the base. I, of course, use the Costco brand (see previous post). Grate moza cheese and spread evenly on the top of the pesto. To make my life easier I used canned chicken. Use 1-2 cans depending on likeness. Toss broccoli pieces on, sprinkle with minced garlic and pepper, & pop it back in the oven. Serve with a side of watermelon. 

Costco Dinner Finds

5 of my favorite Costco DINNER finds!

SOOOoooo Good! It can be used on/in so many dinners. Really yummy to use as your base for pizza and another good one is to spread it on chicken or tilapia before popping it in the oven.

We love breaded tilapia, parmesan crusted tilapia (I know that's frowned upon by some), pesto tilapia, blackened tilapia....it's all good!

The obvi is burgers. We also use this for stacks (toast, cheese, turkey burger, mashed potatoes, gravy). I will eat these for my own lunch topped with a little avacado and cottage cheese. EASY and FAST is my game.

Go grab these NOW! Don't let the FLAPJACK AND WAFFLE MIX fool you. These can be used to make so much more than just breakfast foods like the breading on chicken or the crust on a pot pie. Recipes to come soon.....

I wish these were whole wheat but I use them for my kids tacos and wraps which we eat pretty much every week!

That's it! I don't live near a Costco so when we go you will always find these in my cart.

 

Taco Tart Tuesday

Flaky outer crust from a Pop Tart but with a taco inner.

I got the idea here. I replaced the frozen corn in the original recipe with a can of diced tomatoes. Make sure to drain the juice from the tomatoes so it doesn't make the crust soggy. Throw a little lettuce under and some avo on top and you are bueno to go!

Happy Taco Tuesday!

Pig Pita Pizza...say that 3 times fast

If you are looking for an easy lunch for your kids or an even easier dinner for your family....Look no further! We went to the fair over the weekend and saw some pigs and got inspired to make some HAM pizza. I make pita pizzas all the time! Sometimes I'll use the pitas to make garlic bread as well.

I buy these on sale at Smith's for around $3 and something cents for a pack of 6. You can also buy something similar at Costco. Makes for a cheap meal. I will take them straight out of the freezer before baking them sometimes too and they turn out great!

Slop it with marinara sauce, Italian seasoning, moza, & toppings of choice. I will always have a side option of sliced apples, carrot sticks, a salad like the one found in this picture (easy recipe found in another post), garlic bread, etc. Spray a baking sheet or line with parchment paper. Bake at 400 until cheese is melted. Watch closely so the bottoms don't burn!

 PIG OUT!

I was sweating like a pig at this point of the fair!

Omelette Bar

For the month of June Mondays dinners are Most Important Meal of the Day (Breakfast)
Omelettes made in a ziploc bag are so easy and so fun! Your ziploc (quart size) bags MUST BE FREEZER!! BAGS! The rule in our house for omelettes is you must pick at least 3 vegetables as your filling. It doesn't have to be many, just at least 3. Here's the line-up......

Cheese, green and red peppers, chopped asparagus, chopped squash, olives,
avo, mushrooms, spinach, tomatoes, cubed ham, & cooked sausage in onions and garlic

Step 1: Boil water in a large pot

Step 2: Crack your egg(s) into your ziploc bag. I had 2 eggs, my kids had 1 but we all added a little egg white just because there was a lot of solids in there.

Step 3: Put your filling in the ziploc with the egg. We reserve the avocado until after your omelette is done.

Step 4: Get as much air out of your bag before you seal it shut then gently mush your bag with your fingers to incorporate everything together. This is fun for the kids to do!

Here is my baggie with my initial on it so I know which one is mine.

 Step 5: Drop the bags into the boiling water. Cook with the lid on. The more bags the longer they take to cook. 4 bags took about 20-25 minutes. You can always take them out of the water to check the level of doneness. If it's too squishy,runny,liquidy in the center just toss it back in.

Step 6: Salt & Pepper before devouring!

It's HUGE I know. My kids were not able to eat all of theirs so they will finish theirs in the morning for breakfast. Yum!

Sundays are Sweet

Today we decided to make Sunday Sweets. Here is a "Caramel" popcorn recipe that's healthier than regular caramel popcorn.

Pop enough popcorn to fill a HUGE bowl (mine is a 5 1/2 quart bowl). I used a healthy version of bagged popcorn so it has less butter and salt. 
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/2 cup honey
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp sea salt

Melt coconut oil. Mix in honey. Add in vanilla and salt. Stir to combine.
Very slowly drizzle the sauce mixture over the popcorn. I filled my bowl to the top so it was a little hard to mix together. So I drizzled then mixed, drizzled then mixed until the popcorn was coated.

Within a matter of minutes you have a healthy(er) and easy Sunday sweets.

Enjoy!

Dinner and a Movie

Our Dinner 

Our Movie

We went with a Swedish theme and had Swedish meatballs over brown rice for dinner and watched a movie that takes place in the Swiss Alps. If the meatballs look huge it's because they were. I was too lazy to roll them any smaller. Here's my recipe for homemade meatballs and the sauce:

Meatballs:
2 lbs ground turkey
4 or 5 slices of bread, torn into small pieces
1 small to medium sweet onion, diced very fine (you can saute if you want but I didn't)
2/3 cup milk
2 eggs
2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground nutmeg
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp black pepper

Sauce:
6 TBSP butter
1/3 cup flour
1 quart beef broth
3/4 cup sour cream
Salt & pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
In a medium bowl, mix the bread pieces with the milk. Wait for the bread to soak up all the milk. Hand mix the rest of the meatball ingredients until combined. Make meatballs to the size of your liking and place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. This makes a lot of meatballs!  I ended up using 2 sheet pans cause I couldn't fit them all on one. Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

While the meatballs are cooking, melt the butter in a LARGE saucepan. Whisk in the flour to make a roux. Slowly whisk in the beef broth until smooth.  Turn the heat to LOW and stir in the sour cream and add the cooked meatballs. Simmer for about 10-15 minutes. Serve immediately over rice. 

Summers Secret

For 30-minute Thursday let's start with what I made my kids for lunch. I don't like to buy a lot of processed/boxed foods for my family but every once in awhile I will give in but try to make it a little more healthy. So I started with a box like this....

And it ended up looking like this......

Can anyone see the "secret ingredient"? It's not ground turkey or peas. I add the ground turkey for more substance to the meal and I add peas cause I tell my kids they need to eat at least 1 vegetable with lunch and they like peas. Summer Squash just happens to have a very similar look and color to the cheese and noodles. It's not really a secret anymore but the first time my kids had this it took them awhile to figure out what it was. SECRET= I grate 1 yellow squash about the size of the mac n cheese box to the ground turkey when it's almost done cooking just to soften it up. I recommend gradually adding in things to mac n cheese if you don't already. I have almost always made mac n cheese with peas and/or cubed ham so my kids are used to more than just the mac and the cheese and 1 box will feed more mouths this way.

For dinner I made SPAGHETTI! I know there's nothing new or special about making spaghetti in 30 minutes. But another little summer secret is I add ZUCCHINI to our spaghetti. My kids don't even notice with the other green(Italian seasoning) in there. If I make a smaller batch of sauce that will only feed my family of four for that night I will only use 1 large zucchini. If I want to be able to refrigerate or freeze some for a later date than I will add 2 zucchini's to the  sauce batch.

I enjoy sharing this SUMMERS SECRET and hope someone can benefit from it.

Most Important Meal of the Day

Frittata's are so great because the add-ins are endless. Here is the base I use for a frittata and then you add in your family's favorites.

In a large bowl whisk 8 eggs and 1/2 cup egg white, 1/2 cup milk, 1 tsp salt, & 1/4 tsp pepper.

Here is what I added in:
8 oz sausage, cooked
4 slices ham, cubed
3 green onion, chopped
1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1/4 red, orange, yellow bell peppers, diced
Small broccoli head, chopped small, I boiled mine just for a few minutes to slightly soften

Started with the sausage and then throw everything else in there to soften. Then remove everything to a separate bowl. Drain broccoli and add with everything else. Preheat oven to 350.

Grease the same large/deep skillet (I used a 4 QT) really well. Put the egg mixture in the skillet on medium heat and let it firm up for a few minutes. Dump your veg/meat mixture evenly into the eggs. Cook in the oven until eggs are set in the middle, mine took almost 30 minutes.

I think this paired well with my favorite summer salad. I promise it's so easy! I grabbed a 10 oz container of spinach from the grocery store and put half or maybe a little over half in a large bowl.
1-1/2 cups sliced strawberries
1/2+ cup chopped almonds (I like using whole slightly salted almonds and chopping them up)

For the dressing:
1/4 olive oil
2 TBSP red wine vinegar
2 TBSP honey
1-1/2 tsp poppy seeds
Whisk together
Toss everything together and VIOLA you have a yummy easy salad for summer that works as a "breakfast" meal because spinach, almonds, & strawberries are things I put in a morning smoothie quite a lot.

Heart(rate) Healthy

I may not have a closet full of race medals because I have put my time and attention elsewhere. Don't get me wrong I do love trying to be fit, strong, & healthy but a large part of that comes from the food we eat. I have never been one for diets of any sort. I am a firm believer in variety and moderation and that includes the occasional sweets. And that's hopefully what you will find in my blog. I enjoy cooking for my family and the satisfaction that comes from it. Speaking of satisfaction, your belly will be satisfied with this CHICKEN MARINADE recipe I used for Saturday Salad or Sandwiches. It deserves a medal!

Take a look...

It's so juicy and tender! It makes for a great Summer "Cool-Down" meal combined with pretty much any vegetable under the sun. 

I have yet to marinate mine overnight and it's still my pb (personal best) marinated chicken! Enjoy!

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

"The sun will come out tomorrow, betch your bottom dollars that tomorrow there'll be SUN!!" IT'S SUMMER! I LOVE THE SUN!!
Our Fun Family Flick Friday was......

My girls love the new version of Annie but I lean more towards the original.
So when choosing our food I stuck with the original and went with WARM MUSH aka MAPLE-BACON GRITS PUFF with a side of sweet potato hashbrowns baked with chopped bell peppers and zucchini. I did have to substitute the bacon with breakfast turkey sausage because apparently we ate all the turkey bacon. The recipe I used can be found on my Pinterest under Yummy Food or here.

For dessert we took a little bit of the new Annie mixed with the old and came up with these cookies...

Leapin' Lizards, these are so good! Cookies & Cream Cookies

Summer Meal Planning

Summer is here! To make my life easier I (with the help of my family) come up with a monthly meal plan. Everyone chips in and lets me know one thing they would like to eat every day of the week this month. I also thinks this helps with the grocery budget because I am buying a lot of the same foods in bulk.

Sundays this month we will eat something Grilled.
Mondays this month we will eat The Most Important Meal of the Day (Breakfast)

Tuesdays this month we will eat Tacos (of course)
Wednesdays this month we will eat wraps (My kids love wraps, there are easy to make, and great for hot summers)
Thursdays I'll make up a 30-min meal
Fridays this month we will have Fun Family Flick & Food (The food will coordinate with the flick)
Saturdays will will be a Sandwich or Salad

We won't be following this if we happen to go out of town or go out with friends but it's all planned for when we eat at home.

Last Friday was my girls last day of school so we celebrated by having an early FUN FAMILY FLICK & FOOD FRIDAY.

Throw back to the 80's! Anyone remember this movie? It's rated PG but does have a few swear words. My kids really liked it and our dinner too. We had HARRY STEW.....

SPOILER ALERT! At one point in the movie the Henderson's try to entice Harry into the car to take him back to the forest by throwing sacks full of hamburgers and fries into the car. So we put ground turkey and potatoes in our stew. BUT Harry wasn't that interested in this because....he is a vegetarian! So we loaded lots of veggies in here.

2 pounds hamburger or ground turkey
1 medium onion
4 cans (14.5 oz.) diced tomatoes
A handful of baby carrots chopped up
2 small celery ribs cut very fine
2 medium red potatoes, peeled and diced small
1 large zucchini shredded
1 heaping cup of peas
2 cups beef broth
1/2 cup uncooked long grain rice (helps to thicken it up)
1 -2 TBSP salt (I used a little over 1 TBSP seasoned sale)
1 - 2 tsp pepper

Cook meat and onions until cooked through.
Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil
Reduce heat; cover and simmer until veggies are cooked through.
Sprinkle each serving with Parm on top

We ended our night with "HARRY" gingerbread cookies that my girls decorated earlier that day.

Disclaimer: I am not a foodographer (someone who is good at taking pictures of food).

POST RACE meals

The week after a race I usually try to get in a good amount of protein to hopefully help my muscles repair themselves. I also splurge a little on what I want to eat cause I feel like I should be burning calories for at least a week. I do don't I? Anyway, I was craving Chicken and Waffles so I used this recipe here

A family favorite at my house are STACKS. It's like an open faced hot sandwich. It's comfort food for me. There are a variety of ways to stack it but this is how we do it (I just sang those words as I typed them). Remember that song? Back to the stack. Pick your choice of bread. Next, I buy my turkey patty from Costco. Cook it. Stack it. Plopped on some mashed potatoes. Then smothered it in homemade gravy. I used this gravy recipe . Healthy it up with some veg on the side.

CARB Loading

Here are 4 carb loading meals I made and ate the week I ran the Ogden Marathon.

First up, Sweet Potato Turkey Chili
Original Recipe Found Here
I didn't put in a jalapeno and didn't add quite as much chili powder or cumin. I did put in one 14 oz can of CHILI READY tomatoes and one 14 oz. regular diced tomatoes. A little more kid friendly. As you can see I cooked it in the crockpot so I didn't have to babysit it.

There are 2 things missing from this picture. One, I haven't added the cheese in yet. And second, my favorite......

These chips are so good, especially when crunched on top of this chili! I found mine at Smith's. And don't forget a dollop of guac/avo on top as well.

My kids enjoy Tater Tot Casserole so I thought I would make it a little healthier and make my own tater tots out of sweet potatoes. I found a recipe of homemade tater tots so I used it but made them from sweet potatoes. Took me longer to make these buggers than I thought. I thought the sweet potato tots would shrink when baked but they didn't.

I used this recipe but added peas & green beans to the casserole.

I love to eat rice the week of a race and my kids love that I make white rice rather than the usual brown rice. So last but not least Grilled Hawaiian Chicken Teriyaki Bowls errr...plates.

I eliminated the pineapple because I cut out most of my fruit the week of a race and didn't put in any crushed red pepper. But I did add in peas cause that's how I roll.

What do you get when you combine a bagel and a pizza? A Pizza Bagel or is it a Bagel Pizza? Whatever it is, it's yummy! I love the bagels from Smith's bakery! I try not to eat them too often except when it's race week. A bagel pizza or any mini pizza is great because everybody picks their own toppings. We chose the cheese bagels, cut them in half, topped with marinara, cheese, italian seasoning, and any favorites.