Goat Cheese and Arugula Pitas

First of all... I'm obsessed with the flavor combination of goat cheese and arugula  AND their versatility for add-in, toppings, and meals!

I'm the only one eating the arugula and goat cheese so I've enjoyed them in a salad for lunch with added pear chunks and a balsamic vinaigrette.  Actually mixed with any fruit would be lovely.  A simple but nutritious lunch on the go or a side to compliment a toasted sandwich.

Okay... back to reality from goat cheese and arugula dream land.  These pitas are super easy and make a great weekend breakfast for those who prefer savory to sweet or even for lunch.  They are filling and oh so satisfying.

Ingredients:
2 - 3 tbsps of Goat Cheese crumbled
3/4 to 1 cup Organic Arugula
1 Pita
Balsamic Vinaigrette for drizzle
1/2 tsp (or less) of  Organic EVOO

You know I'm a dumper from way back so these measurements are my best guess.  My mom and grandma are the guilty parties for teaching me how to prepare meals this way.  Ha ha.  I miss them so much.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Place Pita on cookie sheet and brush the EVOO on one side and then flip over

Place your arugula in the center of the pita and flatten a little, top with the goat cheese crumbles, then drizzle the balsamic vinaigrette on top.

Place in the 350 degrees oven and then bake for 10 minutes for a crunchy and savory breakfast, lunch, or snack!

I cut mine in thirds with a pizza cutter and served it with a side of organic whole cranberry sauce.

Oh my delish... was that nice topped on part of my pita.  I saved it for the last piece as sort of making it the sweet tart finish.

Enjoy!

Your turn! 

How do you eat your goat cheese or arugula?

Easy Taco Lentils

These go hand-in-hand in the EASY category with Easy Lentil Sloppy Joes (which has been a pretty big Pinterest hit and even got shared on someone else's blog!)

I'm all about the easy.  I've been working my normal job, I started a 2nd stay at home job for another ministry, I have a home based health and wellness business, and I help my hubby with his handmade business.  So easy and leftovers are a must at the moment.  But we still like tasty and try to stay on as healthy a track as possible.  I'll admit these aren't the super healthiest b/c the seasoning is a mix, but we do use the lower sodium in a pinch.  I haven't had the ambition to make my own taco seasoning... but feel free to sub your own preference of taco seasoning.

I love lentils.  They are super easy to cook (I hear you can buy them canned in a bigger city!), they taste great, and are so versatile!  They are a great substitute for ground meat but so far I've only used them, instead of meat, for sloppy joes, tacos, and in chili.


Easy Taco Lentils 
Ingredients:
Cooked Lentils
1 Packet Old El Paso low sodium Taco Seasoning
2/3 cup water

If you need to cook your lentils.  I cook about 1 cup of lentils in 2 cups of water.  This is about the equivalent of 1 lb and a half of ground meat.  (I always make too much for 2 people with left overs)

Instructions to cook lentils: 

• Sort 1 cup of lentils in a strainer to remove any stones or bad pieces
• rinse the lentils
• Add the lentils to 2 cups of water and bring to gentle boil on medium heat.  Lower heat to a simmer for 20 minutes or until desired texture.  If adding salt, wait until about 5 minutes left and lightly salt lentils.  
• When they are done, put back in strainer to drain excess water

Taco Lentils

• Put the cooked lentils to a frying pan
• Add the seasoning mix and 2/3 cup of water
• Follow the instructions on the seasoning packet.  (gently mix ingredients, bring to a boil, then turn temperature down to simmer for 3-5 minutes)
• Serve however you normally would with taco meat.

We can't stand store bought taco shells.  So last night, I put tortillas on a cookie sheet, added shredded cheese to half of the tortilla and melted the cheese in a 350 degree oven for about 5 minutes.  This put a light crunch on the tortilla to make it more solid for holding the fillings... (i.e. shredded lettuce, chopped tomatoes, onions, salsa, roasted pepper slices, sour cream).  I don't have pictures of our tacos from last night because we were starving and just dug in!  

I serve with either spanish rice or chips and salsa

Leftovers always make a great taco salad or nachos (pictured above)!

Husband approved!

Easy Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup

There are tons of variations of this recipe on Pinterest.  This is not an original recipe, but I don't know who to tell you who should get the credit.  Also, I read the ingredients on a recipe then did my own thing.  But this is a recipe share that I think you'll LOVE! 

I love that this basically takes about 14 - 20 minutes to make and although the tortellini absorbs a ton of broth, this soup is still fabs as leftovers.  BONUS:  This yummy soup freezes too!  I put the extra leftovers in single serve containers and freeze for work lunches.  Did I mention this is a BONUS?

I hope you'll love this.  Feel free to make this your own and then let me know how you varied the recipe!

Easy Creamy Tomato Tortellini Soup 

Ingredients
6 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 20 oz. package of Cheese Tortellini.  I use Buitoni from the refrigerated section
1 pint grape tomatoes (halved)
1/2 cup heavy cream
2/3 cup sun dried tomato or tomato basil pesto
1 pinch of red pepper flakes
salt & pepper (optional)

Directions

Bring your broth to a boil (TIP:  I halved the tomatoes while the broth came to a boil)

Add the tortellini and simmer on low/med for 7 minutes

Add the tomatoes and simmer for 2 more minutes

Add the cream, pesto, and red pepper flakes.  I did add a tad of pink salt and pepper

Let simmer for about 5 more minutes to reheat.

Enjoy!

A few variations, off the top of my head, would be to add spinach or other veggies or maybe change up the pesto!

Don't forget to let me know your variations!

Southwestern Sweet Potatoes

This recipe is how I learned to like sweet potatoes.  I'm not much of a sweets eater and when I was ever at a dinner with sweet potatoes, they were served as a marshmallow goo or with cinnamon and sugar.  Not my thing.  I'm a savory girl.  Maybe a bit salty too.  ha ha.  Now I love sweet potatoes, but still not sweetened! 

Only 1 picture for this recipe.  I thought about sharing the recipe after they were almost done.  

Southwestern Sweet Potatoes

Ingredients:
2 sweet potatoes
1 large pepper or equivalent in sliced multi color peppers
1/2 large sweet onion
EVOO
Seasonings of garlic powder, pepper, onion pepper

• Bake your sweet potatoes in the microwave (firm)or use leftover baked sweet potatoes 
• Slice your peppers and onions while potatoes cook.
• Cut the cooked potatoes lengthwise in half, then slice through to make half circle cuts.
• Heat pan to medium heat with the EVOO 
• Add all to heated oil, season. 
• Stir and cook to desired texture

I like my veggies and potatoes browned. This photo was while they were 5 minutes away from done for me. 

Enjoy!

💚

Easy Roasted Grape Tomatoes

I never thought of roasting tomatoes and adding them to a meal or even making them the main attraction of a dish.  But I had a pint that got dried out a tad from being forgotten a few days.  They were fine, they were just slightly wrinkly in places.  So I decided I'd roast them and add them to pasta with pesto for an easy supper.

The hardest part of roasting the tomatoes is halving them.  And that's not even hard.  It's just tedious cuz, you know... short attention span Tracy was handling it.  ha ha.

These were lightly seasoned but the roasting infused the seasons and really brought out the sweetness of the tomatoes.  Wow, were they delicious!

In case you are like me, and didn't really know what to add to your tomatoes or how long and what temperature to bake your tomatoes, this recipe is for YOU!  I even measured this time and if you've read any of my recipes, you know this is like miraculous. 

Easy Roasted Grape Tomatoes

Ingredients:
1 Pint Grape Tomatoes halved
1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/4 tsp salt (I use pink Himalayan)
1/4 tsp pepper
4 cloves minced garlic ( I buy the jars of minced garlic and use the equivalent - this is a great short cut for any busy cook that's also wanting to visit with the family and have a bit of time for their side business)

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

Add your halved tomatoes to a small mixing bowl.

Add the EVOO, salt & pepper, and garlic.

Gently fold the ingredients to keep the tomatoes intact.

Place the tomatoes on the parchment paper lined cookie sheet.

Bake for 30 minutes.

Now add them to tonight's supper!  I added them to freshly cooked pasta, pesto, and some pre-cooked grilled chicken pieces.  Easy peasy yummy in the tummy supper!

Enjoy!

Your turn!  What do you plan to add your tomatoes to?

Sweet and Tangy Cucumbers

This is one of our favorite side dishes!  It's refreshing, versatile, and inexpensive!

My grandmother K and my mom used to make a similar cucumber recipe that I understood to be a common Polish side dish.  Well at least it was in my grandma's Polish house and my mom's 1/2 Polish home.  They added Miracle Whip and sugar to white vinegar to make theirs.  We enjoyed them growing up as they were sweet.  My father LOVED them.

I tried this mixture to eliminate the mayo and sugar but try to obtain a similar flavor.  I've tasted similar at our favorite Thai restaurant.

Sweet and Tangy Cucumbers
Ingredients
1 large cucumber (peeled and sliced per preference)
2 -3 tbsp of Rice Vinegar
2 stevia packets

I've always used a coffee mug to mix this.  I'm not sure why.  ha ha... but add your vinegar to a mixing cup or bowl then add your stevia.  Mix well.

(disclaimer - I'm guessing on the vinegar amount.  I'm a dumper from way back and I stink at remembering to measure.  Be brave and taste test a tiny amount before adding to your cucumber)

Pour over your cucumbers and stir.

If possible, make this about an hour or 2 prior to your meal so the cucumbers can marinate.  These are wonderful on day 1 but amazing day 2!

My cucumber tip.  I'm not an expert on veggie storage but I normally store cucumbers in the fridge.  I go ahead and peel and slice my cucumbers and let them sit a while on the counter tossed in extremely light salt before I pour this mixture on them.

If you have any cucumber tips, please share in the comments!

Roasted Garlic Parmesan Chickpeas

Roasted chickpea pita with sliced cucumber, red onion, tomato, lettuce, and homemade tzatziki sauce

I mentioned in my Veggie Enchilada Lasagna recipe that we are trying to eat more "plant based" and less meat.  In an effort to maintain proper protein levels but incorporate great flavor and satiety, I found chickpeas and black beans may be our go-to protein during the week as we get started.

Roasted chickpeas are super easy and very versatile.  This recipe is for a Garlic Parmesan flavor but you could totally get creative with this on your seasonings, double the batch for a larger family, and the kids can help you mix the chickpeas and decide on the seasonings.

I don't have great pictures as putting these on a blog was a thought part way through.  We ate these with pitas, veggies, and homemade tzatziki sauce the first night.  I ate leftovers on a baked potato the next day.

Leftover roasted chickpeas on a baked potato with tzatziki sauce.  YUM!

This recipe is super easy, has minimal ingredients, fairly easy clean up, and minimal time.

Roasted Garlic Parmesan Chickpeas

Ingredients: 
Chickpeas - 1 Can (I used organic no salt added)
Olive Oil - 2 tbsp
Garlic Powder - 1 tsp
Onion Powder - 1 tsp
Grated Parmesan - 2 tbsp
Salt & Pepper to taste (optional)   I only used pepper as the Parmesan is salty to me

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and prepare a 9x13 glass baking dish or lipped baking tray.  Maybe lightly coat with spray oil to prevent some of the sticking I had or use more Olive Oil.

Drain and rinse the chickpeas and wrap them in paper towels to dry some.  After they are ready, put them in a small mixing bowl and add the olive oil, garlic powder, onion powder, grated parmesan, and salt and pepper if desired.

Mix gently and then put in your baking dish.

Place them in the 400 degree oven and time 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, give them a gentle stir and then let them bake 10 more minutes.

Enjoy!



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Veggie Enchilada Lasagna Recipe

Veggie Enchilada Lasagna

Say that 3 times fast!

You know I'm always on this better health journey!  I've made better overall health a lifestyle.  We have cheat moments, as we are not perfect.  But I am pleased that 95% or more of my diet is healthful.

Before I got sick with the flu, I made this dish.  This was after seeing a documentary on a plant based diet and I got a "bug up my butt" about trying to eat more plant based.  Not vegan and I will partake in the occasional burger  or steak because they taste amazing to me (no judgement zone, okay?).

At any rate, I look at my diet.  I ate a small handful of M & M's yesterday.  I am pretty sure I eat sugar or chocolate 3 times a year max!  I hardly eat carbs and when I do, it's whole wheat or whole grain of some sort.  I eat lean chicken but I will admit, if bacon is on the table, I'll eat it.  I don't eat much fish as it sometimes makes me feel puny, but I love a good shrimp cocktail now and then.  I try to eat lots of veggies and hardly any fruit b/c I'm afraid of sugar.  I also have a texture thing and struggle to get a banana down sometimes but I love strawberries.

I got a treadmill in mid November and prior to getting sick, I have been on that thing or my mini elliptical 5 or 6 days a week!

So there's my boring diet.  I lost 16lbs last year with supplementation and trying to improve my health but I'm still pre-diabetic and my cholesterol is creeping up.  All of this making me high risk for type 2 diabetes and heart disease.  NO!

Long story short (too late!)... there's not much else to eliminate from my diet or add to with the time available that I have.  It never occurred to me to try a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diet.

We're in the experimentation stage.  Translated, that means I need to come up with some yummy ways to disguise veggies so hubby will eat them and make sure the meals are satisfying and filling for him so later snacks aren't "needed".  I love veggies.  Almost all of them.

Here was the first trial run.  It was delicious, filling, and not disturbing to our tummies as veggies sometimes can be.  This was fairly easy.  The most time consuming was the veggie chopping, but once everything was mixed together, assembly took no time.

This made 8 servings.  It's fairly low in calories but it is not low carb (but not all carbs are created equal).  On a plus side it has a decent amount of protein and fiber!  I will alter this recipe on the next go.  I will use more like 6 tortillas and no salt.  There's plenty of salt in the cheese and salsa.

So here you go!

Veggie Enchilada Lasagna
Printable version

Ingredients
1 Red Pepper - chopped
1 medium sweet onion - chopped
1 can no salt added black beans - rinsed and drained
1 cup of additional veggie of choice ( I would have liked to have added chopped sweet potato but hubby doesn't like them so I chopped up some very lightly steamed fresh cauliflower.  I also added fresh spinach to my portion)
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp salt ( I used pink salt but if I make this dish again, I will not use salt)
1 1/2 cups of shredded cheese (optional)
2 16 oz jars of salsa (per choice).  We didn't have salsa but a large jar of picante sauce (same thing?)
about 15 corn tortillas

Chop your red pepper, onion, and additional veggie(s) and place in a medium or large mixing bowl.  Add the black beans, seasonings, and 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese.  

Mix them together.

Begin lasagna assembly

Add about 1 cup of salsa to the bottom of a 9x13 glass baking dish and spread a thin layer on the bottom.

cut your tortillas in half and line the pan on top of the salsa.  ( I had about 5 rows)

Scoop about 1/3 of a cup of the veggie mixture on top of each row of tortillas, then spread it around more evenly.

add 1/2 cup of the shredded cheese

add another layer of tortillas and then add salsa on top of the tortillas

add the remainder of the veggie mixture on top (this is where I put spinach on my 1/3 of the lasagna)

add 1 more layer of tortillas and then more salsa on top of the tortillas

Bake on 400 degrees for 20 minutes (tent foil over the top while baking)

After 20 minutes, add your last 1/2 cup of shredded cheese and put back in the oven, uncovered, for 10 more minutes.

after 20 minutes

cheese added and ready for 10 more minutes

Enjoy!

cheesy out of the oven

my piece with spinach

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Super Easy Garlic Dipping Oil for Bread Recipe

We made a light summer supper tonight.  We included dipping oil for our bread.  It was so easy to make... but I might add, that although many Italian restaurants serve this with their bread (and it's oh so yummy) I don't think it's actually an Italian custom.  I think proper bread etiquette is to eat bread with your meal and use it to dip into the delectable sauces... but I've never been to Italy, so what do I know!

So, since we're in Georgia, USA... we had sort of an appetizer supper.  Cheeses, fruit, crusty garlic bread with dipping oil, and cocktail sausage... because there just wasn't enough to share with Baby dog if we didn't have them.  =)

Garlic Dipping Oil

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons of Olive Oil 
• 5-6 cloves of fresh garlic, chopped 

Add about 1 teaspoon of Olive Oil to a small fry pan and warm on medium heat.  Add the chopped garlic and stir until brown.  

Oh the fragrance is fabulous! 

This made about 2 teaspoons of garlic (maybe a tad more).  

Add 1 teaspoon of the roasted garlic to 2 tablespoons of olive oil in dipping bowls.  Let the dipping oil sit for about 30 minutes to infuse the flavor.

This was sooooooooooooo good and sooooooooooo easy!

Enjoy!

Oktoberfest in My Mouth - Sauerkraut and Turkey Kielbasa One Pot or Crock Pot Meal

My honey spent about 1 year in Germany performing in West Side Story.  He found that he liked the Chinese food while he was there.  Ha ha.   Basically, if he wanted a salad that wasn't pickled, he had to get it at a Chinese or Italian restaurant while he was in Germany.

He does enjoy some German food and this is one that he inspired me to make as he likes all of the ingredients and is such an encouragement to my "experiments" in the kitchen.

This recipe can be made in a stock pot and cooked slowly for a few hours or it can be prepared in your crock pot. I prefer to make this on the stove top so the potatoes don't get too mushy.  If you do decide on the crockpot, I'd cook it on low only and for about 6 hours.

I also prepared this with plain sauerkraut (no caraway seeds) and turkey smoked sausage or kielbasa (whichever one is on sale).   I experimented with sweet potatoes for me in an effort to keep this lower carb. They were surprisingly good in this recipe.  They took on the flavor of the broth and sauerkraut and honey, who hates sweet potatoes, took a bit and said they WERE good!

Of course, I do not know how to cook small, so my ingredients probably made 6 - 8 portions.  But I love leftovers.  Dinner is made for tomorrow and possibly Wednesday's lunch.

One Pot Sauerkraut & Kielbasa (low fat & low carb options)

Regular potatoes option

Ingredients
2 cans of plain sauerkraut
1 large sweet potato chunked
3 medium potatoes chunked
1 medium sweet onion sliced
2 packages turkey or plain kielbasa (smoked sausage) chunked
1 tbsp better than bullion (chicken)
1 mug of warm water to dissolve the bullion a bit.
1 bottle of beer
1 tbsp EVOO

Drizzle the EVOO into the stock pot and add the onion and kielbasa.  Cook on medium heat for a few minutes to soften the onion slightly brown the kielbasa.

Add the potatoes, sauerkraut, beer, and bullion.

Place a lid on your pot and cook on low for a few hours (until the potatoes are firm but cooked) or on medium low for about 30-45 minutes.

Serve and Enjoy!

Low carb option with sweet potatoes