Light & Healthy!

Well it is January and we have yet to have a "big" snow storm. It has all been East of us :( I can not wait for that big storm to hit us, I have been waiting for it all season long. The forecasters say that there is a storm coming, but im not getting my hopes up....Anyways, here's what we cooked today ~

Mexican Lasagna ~



Ingredients:
Left over Turkey Chili from last week plus
1 pound ( more ) of ground turkey
2 taco seasoning packets
Tortillas ( White Flour )
Shredded Cheddar
1 Can Re-fried beans

Directions:
In a 9x13 pan layer 2 tortillas, spread re-fried bean and shredded cheese
layer 2 more tortillas, some meat mixture and cheese..and so on and so forth.
We left a meat layer on the top and topped that with shredded Cheese.
Bake at 350 for 45 min. enjoy with a splash of salsa and sour cream.

Healthy Puff Peanut Butter Balls ~



This is one of my absolute favorite things to make and eat :) So healthy and yummy. Plus my kids LOVE them. Please see August of 2010 for recipe.

Mediterranean Tuna Wrap~



Ingredients

* 2 (6-ounce) cans chunk light tuna in water, drained well
* 1/4 cup finely diced red onion
* 1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
* 1/4 cup chopped calamata olives
* 3 tablespoons olive oil
* 1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
* 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
* Salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 6 cups pre-washed mixed greens (about 3 ounces)
* 4 whole-grain wrap breads (about 2 ounces each)
* 2 large tomatoes, sliced
Directions

In a medium bowl combine the tuna, onion, parsley, olives.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, zest, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Pour about 2/3 the dressing over the tuna mixture and toss to combine. In a separate bowl, pour the rest of the dressing over the greens and toss to combine.

Place some tuna salad onto each piece of wrap bread. Top with 1 1/2 cups of greens and a few tomato slices. Roll the wraps and serve.

We had this for Dinner tonight ~ OMG the flavor is outrageous! I love it!!

Perfect Roast Chicken~




Ingredients
nocoupons

* 1 (5 to 6 pound) roasting chicken
* Kosher salt
* Freshly ground black pepper
* 1 large bunch fresh thyme, plus 20 sprigs
* 1 lemon, halved
* 1 head garlic, cut in half crosswise
* 2 tablespoons (1/4 stick) butter, melted
* 1 large yellow onion, thickly sliced
* 4 carrots cut into 2-inch chunks
* 1 bulb of fennel, tops removed, and cut into wedges
* Olive oil

Directions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Remove the chicken giblets. Rinse the chicken inside and out. Remove any excess fat and leftover pin feathers and pat the outside dry. Liberally salt and pepper the inside of the chicken. Stuff the cavity with the bunch of thyme, both halves of lemon, and all the garlic. Brush the outside of the chicken with the butter and sprinkle again with salt and pepper. Tie the legs together with kitchen string and tuck the wing tips under the body of the chicken. Place the onions, carrots, and fennel in a roasting pan. Toss with salt, pepper, 20 sprigs of thyme, and olive oil. Spread around the bottom of the roasting pan and place the chicken on top.

Roast the chicken for 1 1/2 hours, or until the juices run clear when you cut between a leg and thigh. Remove the chicken and vegetables to a platter and cover with aluminum foil for about 20 minutes. Slice the chicken onto a platter and serve it with the vegetables.

Holy Cow the house smells like Grandmas house while this was cooking ~ When we took it out of the oven I stole a carrot and the flavor OH MY GOODNESS...im in heaven!

We hope you are having a wonderful January :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Happy New Year, Everyone! We hope you had a fabulous Holiday Season...I can not believe how fast it goes, all the preparation and anticipation and in literally 5 minutes its all over :( Today was rough getting the kids back to school ~ I could have used 2 more weeks off. But today is Monday and it's a new year! This year we are going to cook healthier...I swear it!

So lets get right to it!

Quinoa-Cranberry Salad with Pecans


Ingredients


* 1 cup quinoa, rinsed and drained
* 2 cups water
* 1/2 cup chopped toasted pecans
* 1/2 cup dried cranberries
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 2 tablespoons lemon juice
* salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the quinoa is tender, and the water has been absorbed, about 15 to 20 minutes. Scrape into a mixing bowl, and cool to warm, about 20 minutes.
2. Once the quinoa has cooled, stir in the pecans, cranberries, olive oil, and lemon juice; season to taste with salt and pepper to taste. Let stand at room temperature for 1 hour before serving.

** This is so yummy ~ it may not look it but it will satisfy your sweet tooth while
also having a good grain.

Asian Glazed Drumsticks





* 8 medium chicken drumsticks, skin removed
* Pam spray oil
* 1 cup water
* 1 tbsp Sriracha hot sauce (more or less to taste)
* 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
* 1/2 cup soy sauce
* 4 tsp agave nectar (or sugar)
* 3 cloves garlic
* 1 tsp ginger, grated
* 2 tbsp chives or scallions, chopped
* 1 tsp sesame seeds

In a heavy large saucepan, brown chicken on high for 3-4 minutes with a little spray oil. Add water, balsamic, soy sauce, agave, garlic, ginger, hot sauce and cook on high until liquid comes to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for about 20 minutes. Remove cover and bring heat to high, allowing sauce to reduce down, about 8 minutes until it becomes a thick glaze, turning chicken occasionally. (Keep an eye on glaze, you don't want it to burn when it start becoming thick) Transfer chicken to a platter and pour glaze on top. Top with chives and sesame seeds and serve.


Caramelized Onion, Mushroom and Gruyere Quiche with Oat Crust



Ingredients
For the crust:

* Cooking spray
* 3/4 cup rolled oats
* 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
* 1/4 teaspoon salt
* 3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
* 3 tablespoons cold, lowfat buttermilk

For the filling:

* 4 teaspoons olive oil
* 1 large onion, sliced thinly into half moons
* 8 ounces sliced mixed mushrooms, such as cremini, oyster, shiitake
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
* 1/4 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme leaves (or 1 teaspoon dry)
* 3 large eggs
* 3 egg whites
* 1 cup evaporated fat-free milk (not condensed milk)
* 2/3 cup grated Gruyere cheese (about 1-ounce)

Directions

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Spray a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray.

To prepare the crust, put the oats, flour and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 times to combine. Add the butter and pulse about 12 times, until you get a pebbly course texture. Add the buttermilk and pulse 3 to 5 times more to combine. Form the mixture into a ball and place it between 2 large pieces of waxed paper. Roll out into a circle about 10 inches in diameter.

Remove the top sheet of waxed paper. Transfer the crust, still on the other piece of waxed paper to the pie dish, then remove the waxed paper from the top. Press the crust gently into the dish. Bake for 9 minutes, then let cool.

To prepare the filling, heat 2 teaspoons of oil in a large nonstick pan over a medium-low heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden brown and caramelized, about 20 minutes. Transfer the onions to a bowl. Add the remaining 2 teaspoons of oil to the pan and heat over a medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until they have released their water and begin to brown, about 6 minutes. Add the onions back to the pan, stir in the salt, pepper, mustard and thyme.

In a medium bowl whisk together the eggs, egg whites and evaporated milk.

Sprinkle the cheese into the pie crust. Top with the mushroom-onion mixture and pour the egg mixture on top. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees F. Bake for 35 minutes or until knife inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before cutting into 6 wedges and serving.

***Note: Gruyere Cheese is freaking 21.99/lb so uhhh yeah we used mozzarella!!


We also made Marinated Vegetables with broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, peppers, zucchini, sugar snap peas and grape tomatoes covered in lite Italian Dressing.




Turkey Chili ~ Ground Turkey - a heavy pound, a can of diced tomatoes, a can of tomato sauce and chili beans, season with salt, pepper and chili powder then cook and simmer several hours.





Last was Mango Salsa. It was to have sweet potato chips with it but we got lazy and decided bagged whole grain jalapeno chips work fine and are already in the house! The salsa was a mango, cherry tomatoes, red onion, red chili and mint. The dressing on it is rice vinegar, olive oil and lime juice. Smells like summer :)