Blueberry Fruited Pizza

It was a delicious weekend.  Friday afternoon the hubby and I headed out for a bike ride.  Fun, but I was starving when we got back.  I didn't know what I really wanted, but then I remembered the beautiful chunk of blueberry cheddar cheese I had been waiting to try.  I know, it might sound a little strange, but it was wonderful!  I am a cheese fanatic - the more "out there" the better as far as flavor combos.  Cheese is one of the most delicious things in the world!  Well, at least as far as I know.

So, I thought about making something with the blueberry cheddar but was at a loss.  Hmmm....what do you make with a flavor combo like that?  Lightbulb!  Pizza, of course!  Not just any pizza but a fruit salad pizza.  Not fruit salad like big chunks of fruit in a bowl, but a salad topped with fruit and other yumminess.

First, a pita shell was coated with blueberries and shredded cheese and popped under the broiler for about 5 minutes.  I mean, really, doesn't this look good enough to eat right now???

I had to stop myself.  It looked amazing.  But I had other plans in mind for this little pita pizza of mine!

I topped that gooey mess of blueberries and melted cheddar with a huge helping of fresh from the garden salad and then diced some market strawberries as the topper.

Fresh, healthy and calling my name!  I shredded a bit more of the cheese on top and couldn't wait for my first bite.  It was heavenly.  I will admit to all of you that I finished this one and made another.  Don't judge.  I biked 26 miles.  It's all good.

I love spring and summer with it's beautiful fruits and salads and warm weather!  A dish like this just wouldn't taste as fresh in January! :)

Enjoy,

Sheri

Apple Cobbler Donuts

I love my donut pans!  They have quickly become one of my favorite items in the kitchen and I love creating new recipes for it.  The daycare kids are very willing subjects for tasting all of my creations...



See those anxious faces?  They can't wait for these yummy donuts to finish cooling either!  What a way to start the day!



These were pretty simple, but very delicious!  I wish I could share one, but they are all gone!  Yes, 5 children and I finished every last one of the dozen off this morning.  Well, okay, we did have two left but that became snack.  :)  Snacktime is a perk of my job.

Apple Cobbler Donuts

makes 12

Ingredients:

• 2 c flour


• 1 1/4 t baking powder


• 1 1/4 t baking soda


• 2 eggs


• 1 1/2 c plain yogurt


• 2 T oil


• 2 T honey


• 2 small apples, cored, peeled and diced


• 1 T cinnamon


• 4 T sugar


• Powdered sugar for dusting, if desired

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375F


2. Spray 2 donut pans with non stick spray or grease lightly.  Put diced apples directly in cavities of pan.


3. Mix all dry ingredients except powdered sugar, set aside


4. In separate bowl mix all wet ingredients, add dry mix to wet and mix until combined, but don't overmix.


5. Pour or pipe mixture on top of apples in pan.


6. Cook for 10-12 minutes


7. Remove from heat, flip out of pan to cool for a few minutes.


8. Dust with powdered sugar if desired.

I hope your morning starts off as good as ours did because of these delightful morsels!

Enjoy,

Sheri

Tropical Breakfast Cookies

Want to get kids excited for breakfast?  Tell them they're eating cookies.  Instant excitement.  Sometimes, a bit too much instant excitement, but still, excitement.  That was my morning.  Imagine how loud the excitement is when it's multiplied times 6.  Done?  And I'd still make the cookies again.  Not only were they pretty tasty (okay, yes, I got excited about cookies for breakfast too) they were filled with lots of good stuff.  Calling them healthy might be a stretch because they are, after all, still a cookie.  But they're awfully close to healthy and you might get away with that label - if only to convince yourself! I won't lie, I had 4 of them this morning without one ounce of guilt!



Since I love all things tropical of course my cookies have that "island flavor" but they could easily be adapted to be any flavor combo you wanted.  I can see a cranberry pumpkin cookie in my future... :)

Tropical Breakfast Cookies

Makes 2 dozen cookies

Ingredients

• 1 c whole wheat flour


• 1 c flour


• 1/2 c rolled oats


• 1/4 c diced dried pineapple


• 1 large ripe banana, mashed


• 1/3 c melted coconut oil


• 2 T unsweetened shredded coconut


• 1/2 c brown sugar


• 1 t baking powder


• 1 t vanilla


• 1 egg


• 2 T vegetable oil may be necessary if mixture is too dry

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350F


2. Mix all dry ingredients


3. Add remaining ingredients, except pineapple and extra oil,  to dry ingredients and mix well.  Mixture will be crumbly, but if too dry, add extra oil, 1 T at a time.


4. Add pineapple and incorporate into mixture.


5. Roll into balls and slightly smash down onto ungreased cookie sheet.  They won't spread much, so they can be about 1" apart.


6. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until set and slightly browned.

I hope you enjoy them as much as we did!

Sheri :)

 

Rainbow Hash

An idea has to rattle around in my head sometimes before it can spring to fruition...which is exactly how this dinner came to be.  I love when I can have dinner ready early and it's just a matter of finishing the cooking or reheating by popping in the oven, but all too often, I get busy and sidetracked.  Coming home after running in the evenings, I'm a hot, sweaty mess and the last thing I want to do is cook.  That used to mean a quick call for pizza, Chinese, etc but I am really making a conscious effort to not eat take out that we've not planned on.  It just becomes a habit and before we know it, the pizza boxes are starting to pile up.  As we were headed home last night from running, the mental list of ingredients was in my head of what we could have...oh, the possibilities...and finally, I thought I at least had the beginnings of something healthy, quick and not take out.  And, so, Rainbow Hash was born.

My skillet became a dumping ground for all sorts of chopped fruits and veggies...sweet potatoes, russet potatoes, onions, chard, apples all splashed with just a touch of balsamic vinegar and cranberry juice. All served and topped with an egg.  It may sound crazy, but, trust me, it was good.  Really good.

Take a look for yourself...

I hadn't planned on adding any meat into the mix, but at the last minute decided to add some ground turkey.  I can't eat many meats, but for some reason, ground turkey gets a pass for me.  It was good, but unnecessary for the dish to work.

I will do my best to recount the ingredients for you, but take as many liberties as you like.  It's that kind of recipe!

Rainbow Hash

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 1 large sweet potato, peeled and cubed


• 2 medium russet potatoes, peeled and cubed


• 1/2 small onion, diced


• 3 c chard, roughly chopped


• Splash balsamic vinegar


• 1/4 c cranberry juice


• Salt & pepper to taste


• 1 c cooked ground turkey


• 1 large apple, peeled, cored & cubed


• 1 T olive oil


• 4 eggs

Directions

• Heat olive oil in large skillet, add sweet potato, russet potatoes and onion, cook until tender


• Add apples and cranberry juice, salt & pepper, cook until cranberry juice is absorbed


• Add ground turkey, stir, and then add chard.  Remove from heat and heat pan for eggs


• Cook one egg over easy for each serving of hash.  Put egg on top of hash in individual dish


• Serve and enjoy

The hubby and the boy looked very doubtful as I handed them their plates but they were more than pleasantly surprised at how deliciously it all came together.  I hope you'll give it a try.

Two Ways to a Healthy Cheesecake

Sometimes I get carried away with my love of dessert.  Running and biking can only undo so much decadence and I have to rein it in.  But I still want dessert - bad - so what do I do?  Well, first, I debate running a mile or so to undo the dessert I want, but more than often, I just think up something that fits the bill and doesn't require more exercise!

The night I made this up was just that kind of night.  I wanted cheesecake so badly and maybe even would have succumbed to the real deal if I'd had cream cheese in the house.  One plus of organic, whole food living is that there are fewer "bad" foods laying around, although whether or not that is a plus can be a point of contention at times.

Anyway, I wanted cheesecake.  But not the calories, fat or unhealthiness of it.  So, what's a girl to do?  On my third or so look into the fridge, I noticed the container of Fat free Greek Yogurt.  Hmm...this could work.  Couldn't it?  I decided to throw caution to the wind and go for it.  You'll be glad I did - I know I was.

Delicious looking, isn't it???  I had originally decided on making mini fillo shells filled with cheesecake, but had a bit left over.  I didn't want to make a traditional crust, so decided that some leftover Mexican hot chocolate flavor from a local vendor, Nuts About Granola, would make a great crust!  Because it had chocolate chips in it, I opted to just put the granola on the bottom of a mini souffle container and not use any binder.  Great choice because the moistness of the cheesecake mix coupled with the chocolate chips made a great crust!

But, since the title of the post is Two Ways...here's the real star of the show...

These little cuties were the best treat!!  So few calories but tasted like they were the real thing.  How do I know?  The boy popped 3 in his mouth in the span of about 2 minutes and then he spied the granola bottom ones and was headed there in a hurry too.  And he's quite the critic of my "healthy" recipes.  Speaking of recipes...this is the best part.  4 ingredients plus whatever you're putting it on top of (or in)!!

Yogurt "Cheese"cake

Ingredients

• 1 16 oz cup greek yogurt, I used plain but vanilla would work too


• 1/2 c sugar


• 1/2 t vanilla


• 3 eggs

Directions

1. Heat oven to 350


2. Mix all ingredients until smooth


3. If you're using fillo shells, you'll need 5 boxes to fit all of the mix.  It should take about 20 minutes to cook through and set


4. If making a crust, follow a recipe for a graham crust, or think of something out of the box like my granola.  I'd love to hear what you come up with!!

 

Vanilla Rooibos Scones

I love the Vanilla Rooibos Tea Latte at Starbucks.  It's sweet, but has some bite to it from the spice, but not quite as spicy as Chai.  I love the smoothness of it.  Once I found the concentrate on sale at our local store, and I bought six - yes, six, containers of it.  As these things go, having it on hand whenever I wanted it quickly led to me not wanting nearly as often and four containers have been in the pantry for a few months.  Today, while I was destroying my kitchen grinding flour mixes, I noticed them sitting there.  As the day progressed, I kept thinking about them.  Knowing I wanted a latte but thinking there had to be more usefulness to them than that.  And it hit me...scones.  It's been a month or two since I've made scones and I've been craving one badly.  It seemed like the perfect marriage of ideas!  Of course, as soon as those scones hit the oven, I made an iced Vanilla Rooibos latte too.  :)  A few months apart makes for a delicious reunion!

Scones are one of those baked goods that look (and taste) like they're difficult to create but, in reality, they're a cinch.  If you can make biscuits, you can make scones.

Aren't they beautiful fresh out of the oven?  You can just tell how flaky and light it's going to be and I always have trouble waiting to glaze them. I mean, I guess I could skip glazing...wait, what?  Skip the glazing?  Sheer madness in that statement.  I'll wait.  Just very impatiently.

That's better.  All dressed up and ready to go.  Now that I've sufficiently teased you...time for a recipe, I guess!

Vanilla Rooibos Scones

Ingredients

• 1/3 c organic vegetable shortening


• 1 c all purpose flour


• 3/4 c whole wheat flour


• 2 1/2 t baking powder


• 1/4 t salt


• 1 egg, beaten


• 4 T Vanilla Rooibos concentrate, or if you don't have that, strong, steeped tea will work


• 2 T, more or less, whole milk

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 F


2. Mix all dry ingredients and cut shortening in until mixture is small crumbs


3. Stir in egg, tea and add milk 1 T at a time until consistency is a wet, but workable dough.


4. Turn mixture out onto a floured surface and gently knead about 10 times


5. Form on a cookie sheet into a round shape and cut into wedges using a pastry scraper or sharp knife.


6. Cook for 10-12 minutes.  Place on cooling rack until no longer hot and drizzle glaze over.

Glaze is super simple.  I mixed about 1/4 c powdered sugar with a splash of milk and tea concentrate.  Mix until smooth and drizzle over warm scones.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I think it's time for another tea latte with a scone on the side.  Great afternoon pick-me-up!  :)

 

 

Pineapple Tofu Fried Rice

I think I have some issues.  When I look back over my posts, it seems a large portion of them involve pineapple, peanut butter, and rice which really makes sense when you consider that this recipe is one of my absolute favorite take out foods!  Pineapple Fried Rice is something that I used to get really regularly at this little Chinese/Thai place a few miles away called Yummy Yummy.  I guess traditionally it is made with shrimp and chicken, but I always asked it to be swapped out and tofu added.  I love tofu.  I love the texture, and I love when it's fried and crispy, which is it is for this recipe.  Alas, there is a new cook at Yummy Yummy and I don't enjoy his rendition of it as well, and nobody else serves it, so I decided that I've gone long enough without it and made it myself.

It was pretty easy and the taste was pretty close to Yummy Yummy's but not as oily.  I think that does add an element, but I'd like it to be healthy too.  :)  Sacrifices!

So, here's what I did...and it was a bit on the haphazard side and I did stray a bit from the traditional, so remember, this is MY version!

Pineapple Tofu Fried Rice

Ingredients

• 1 lb extra firm organic tofu, either pre-diced, or dice into small cubes, drained and dried


• 1 c mushrooms


• 3 T peanut butter


• 3 c precooked and cooled rice


• 2 T sesame oil


• 1/4 c onions


• 2 scrambled eggs, cooked.


• 1 c pineapple chunks

Directions

1. Heat oil in wok until sizzling, add tofu.  Cook until tofu is crisp, remove from pan.


2. Add onion, mushrooms and pineapple to pan.  Cook through until onions are translucent.  Add peanut butter to pan and let melt.


3. Add rice to the vegetable/fruit mixture and toss to coat.


4. Add tofu and eggs into mixture and heat a few more minutes.


5. Serve. Feel free to add chili sauce for more heat.