Mushroom and Spinach Tacos

Ingredients:

Mushrooms, sliced (doesn't matter what kind, I chose crimini)

Spinach, about 2 handfuls, finely chopped

2 cloves garlic, or 1 if they are pretty big, chopped 

Extra virgin olive oil

Corn tortillas

Lettuce (I had butter lettuce, it was soooooo good!)

Salsa (can be homemade, but I'm a busy girl, so I just bought some fresh salsa)

Pinch of black pepper 

Sauté the garlic up in the EVOO. I swear to this day that eating garlic every day is why my parents are so healthy. Boosts up the immune system, that stinking rose!

Add the mushrooms and sauté about 4-5 minutes, keep the heat at medium. Add chopped spinach. And a sprinkle of black pepper. You don't even need salt, trust me.

Take off heat after another 3-4 minutes. Warm tortillas and layer up. Mushrooms, salsa, lettuce.

Yummy!

Eat up! Maybe with a glass of Pino Grigio, if that's your thing ;) sure is mine!

Now if you'll excuse me...I have a glass of wine and a handsome man waiting for me!

Much love, everyone! 

Baked Tofu Quinoa Wraps

Good morning!

So now that I'm working a real job again (at least I hope so!), I like to find easy, portable lunches. Here's one I found a basic recipe for and made it my own, which typically means easier and with less ingredients.

I'll start with the baked tofu. I didn't think it ever mattered to drain the liquid out or not, turns out it DOES! Anyway, get some extra firm tofu and place the block in between a paper towel. Put something heavy on top to press the liquid out.

So you start with this plain, blah block of tofu.

And here's my creative way of putting weight on it. You can use a book or recreate my balancing act :)

Ha! Ok preheat your oven to 400 degrees. After the Tofu has been under some weight for 30 minutes, cut into cubes and sprinkle with some extra virgin olive oil and some pepper or garlic powder if you'd like. Bake for 30 minutes until brown and delicious. I always wondered how to make restaurant-like tofu, well this is it folks! Yummy yummy yummy.

Ingredients for Wrap:
Your Baked Tofu
Cooked Quinoa (cook according to package)
Hummus (any flavor you'd like)
Green Onions
Spinach (mine is missing this because I forgot to buy it, but add it in for that extra crunch and iron and all the goodness spinach packs!)
Whole Grain Wraps (Got mine at Fresh and Easy, but Trader Joes has awesome wraps too)

MMmmmmmm Hummus... (I'm saying that the way a healthy Homer Simpson would say it)

Add Quinoa and Baked Tofu. See that lovely brown on the tofu? That's what baking will do, along with giving it an awesome texture.

Protein packed lunch!

Some Salt and Pepper bakes chips and I'm set! Happy Lunching!


From my heart to yours, stay healthy!

:)

Snackable Baked Chickpeas

Super easy, yummy, healthy, protein filled snack :)

Ingredients:
A can, or more, of Garbanzo Beans/Chickpeas, preferably organic and preferably canned without salt.
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Spices (I just used a tiny bit of salt and black pepper but you can use any spice blend you like!)

Preheat the oven to 400.

Drain the Chickpeas, wash the water over them for a few seconds to get out the film that's left over from the can.

Some of the little skins will come off, just toss those. Then drain and dry pretty well on a paper towel or regular towel. More skins might come off, just throw them out.

Put into a baking dish with some Olive Oil, toss to coat the beans, just a little.

Bake at 400 for 35-45 minutes or until crispy. Coat with spices, let cool and snack away!

Not bad for a 98 cent can and some spices! Happy Snacking :)

Apricot and Arugula Grilled Cheese

Happy New Year! Among my resolutions this year are the usual, to run more, more Yoga, less sugar, etc. And BLOG MORE! So hopefully my recipes get healthier as the year goes on, but right now I wanted to share my favorite recipe (well, one of my favorites) for Grilled Cheese. I mean, we all know that basically anything can go on a grilled cheese, but something about this combination is just magnificent. Try it!

Ingredients:
- Thick sliced bread. I used Whole Wheat Tuscan style from Trader Joe's, but any thick, harder slices will work.
- Cheese. I used Grass-fed Aged White Cheddar from Trader Joe's.
- Apricot Jam
- Arugula. Fresh and Organic from the Farmers Market! 
- Butter or Vegan Butter. No margarine please. And you don't need much, just a very thin layer on each side.
- Patience! This takes longer to make. Let it. It's worth it ;)
- A good red wine. This is just my recommendation for most meals, I'm sure this would go well with White Wine too....

I'll explain this, even though I don't really need to. Spread the Jam on your bread, slice up the cheese and then place in a buttered skillet. Keep the heat low and turn often. Keep an eye on it, it takes a few minutes for the cheese to melt because the bread is so thick, don't skimp on this! You want crispy bread and melted cheese, trust me.

When the cheese is all gooey and delish, open the Sandwhich and stuff some Arugula in there.

I think it wants a close up...

Super simple, super yummy, and something about the Apricot, Cheddar, and Arugula all together just makes me happy :)


From my heart to yours, Happy 2013!!


 

Hummus-Spinach Dip

This is so good, it's dangerous. Like, I almost feel sorry for posting it. How easy and how delicious, it just shouldn't be allowed! I apologize in advance. The original recipe made the hummus from scratch, but until I get a food processor, I won't be doing that.

Ingredients:
Hummus (16 oz container)
Spinach (about 2 big handfuls, roughly chopped)
3/4 cup Cheese (I used mixed Mexican, but you can use your favorite)
.......That's seriously it. I told you, I'm bad!

I am eating this with middle eastern-whole-wheat flatbread but you can use chips or lavosh or pita or veggies, the sky is the limit here. Let's get started!

Hummus in the bowl, check!

Spinach in the bowl, check!

CHEESE in the bowl, CHECK! (oops sorry, I get so excited when cheese in involved!) Only put 1/2 cup in now. The rest goes on later.

Now mix it all up like your life depends on it. While singing Tegan and Sara. Oops, nope that's just me again :)

Press in a casserole or baking dish. Use the rest of the cheese sprinkled on top.  Bake at 350 for about 20-25 minutes.

I'm sorry.

I really am...

Potlucks will never be the same again! Muahahaha. And in the grand scheme, this DOES have less fat then the typical artichoke-spinach dip made with cream cheese. Right? Forgivable?

Yea, forgivable. :) Eat up!



From my heart to yours, enjoy!

End of the world Latkes! (Baked)

So today, the world was supposed to end, or something. It was actually a beautiful day here in Long Beach, but alas, no Apocalypse. 

Truth be told, if it WAS the end of the world, I'd deep fry these like there was no tomorrow! (Ha, excuse my geeky humor) But I baked these, to make it healthier.

Also I want to dedicate this post to my Daddy, who taught me about Latkes, and Challah, let me light a Menorah next to the Christmas tree when I was kid. I had an interesting, mixed childhood. 

So here goes!

Ingredients: (this recipe makes a muffin tin with 12, you can double or triple it if you have more hungry people!)
1 large potato
1/2 Onion
1 TBS Flour
1 Egg
Salt and Pepper to taste

Applesauce to garnish
Plain Greek Yogurt for garnish (typically sour cream, but this is a HEALTHY.....ish blog)

Peel the potato and grate it up along with the onion Drain the water out best you can. Then add flour, egg, salt and pepper. 

 Olive oil up a muffin tin and distribute evenly.

Bake at 350 for 40-45 minutes. Then let them cool for about 5 minutes before taking them out. I couldn't decide between Apple Sauce and the Yogurt.....so I picked both!

YUMM.

Ready for another close up?

And that's it. Thanks Mom and Dad for feeding me delicious things from your backgrounds, and exposing me to all kinds of delicious foods.

Happy Holidays everyone, from my heart to yours, take care!!

<3

Alex's Pre-Spartan Race Lasagna

I know I've made lasagna before, but this one is better. So I don't care :) I'd blog lasagna everyday if I could!

Tomorrow the boyfriend is running in the Spartan race. Is he crazy? Probably. Am I going to watch? YES!

So to help him carboload before the big event, I made lasagna (his fave). Only whole wheat. With veggies. Mmmmm.

Ingredients:
Whole wheat, no boil lasagna noodles
Grated Mozzarella cheese
Skim-Ricotta
About 2 cups veggies (I used mushrooms and yellow squash. Why? They were in the fridge)
About 2 cups spinach (optional)
About 1 cup Morningstar veggie crumbles
Marinara Sauce (whatever kind you'd like)
1/2 onion
Garlic
Olive Oil (surprise, surprise)
Butter, dairy or vegan, doesn't matter because this recipe isn't vegan, but I prefer vegan butter. 
About a tablespoon of pesto (I threw this in last minute so it isn't pictured, sorry!)

Preheat oven to 450. Then gather your ingredients.

Heat up the butter and Olive Oil

Chop up onion and garlic...

Throw in to heat up, this is always my favorite part because it smells sooooooo good.

Chop up veggies..quick! You can do this earlier, but I like the suspense..

When super fragrant, throw these in too. And the morningstar crumbles. Stir for a few minutes, then put in spinach. And Pesto.

Maybe I'm a cheater because this makes everything delicious, shhhh.

Back to the cooking!

Warm until barely wilted. Barely.

Take off heat. Start layering up! Little bit of Olive Oil at the bottom and then noodles, then sauce.

Veggies.

Cheeseyyyyy

Continue until out of veggies, I don't want to say how many times because maybe your pan is wider than mine. I don't know. Finish up with cheese on top!

See you later, gorgeous! Bake for 40 minutes, covered, then uncover and bake for another 20. Oh boy.

The lighting isn't that great, but here it is plated, with a glass of sparkling apple cider (can't drink before running a race!)

This is my way of wishing the very best of luck to my crazy love in the Spartan Race tomorrow!
(By the way, I got the Spartan stamp of approval!)


From my heart, to yours!

-Sharon Jeanette