Mushroom Quesadillas

Kaylee is so happy!  Today was her first day back to the swim team {they switched pools for the winter and it was too far away to take her and still take Mantha to practice also.}  I have a feeling I'm going to have one very sore 10 year old tomorrow.  As a fitness enthusiast and personal trainer I'd love to know how many calories she burns during one practice.  But no matter what, she burns a bunch.  And every athlete needs a nutritious meal after they exercise.  What's a better nutritious meal than QUESADILLAS???  

The kids and I have been craving Mexican for a few days and Vegetarian Times Magazine did a piece with various quesadilla recipes.  

One of the things I love about quesadillas is that they are so versatile.  There are over handful of different tortillas to choose from, dozens of different cheeses, hundreds of different filling options and thousands of different combinations you can put it all together with.  

But, in the fashion that my recipes for this blog have been going recently, something went wrong when I made this.   I opened up my bag of tortillas and they were moldy.  I had bought them the same day!  I was so annoyed.  But, today I wasn't going to let that get me.  I took one of the tortillas I bought for Ken and the kids and made this quesadilla into a quesadilla salad.  I baked the tortilla into a shell in my tortilla shell bowl that my mother gave me for Christmas.  If you don't have one you can always bake the shell flat.

Creamy Mushroom Quesadilla Salad
adapted from Vegetarian Times

• .5 small onion, chopped 
• 8 oz. white mushrooms, sliced 
• 1 tsp. ground cumin
• 1 oz. fat-free cream cheese, softened
• .25 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
• 1 8-inch fat free tortilla
• Fresh spinach
• Your favorite salsa 
• Fat free sour cream

1. Preheat oven to 450, spray tortilla bowl mold and fit tortilla inside
2. Bake for 10-15 minutes until lightly browned
3. While the tortilla is baking, saute mushrooms and onions.
4. Turn off heat and stir in cumin, cream cheese and cheddar until the cream cheese coats the mushrooms mixture and the cheddar cheese is melty. 
5. Take tortilla out of the mold and fill 3/4 of the way full with spinach
6. Top with mushroom mixture and garnish with salsa and sour cream.

What's one of your family's favorite after workout meals?

St. Patrick's Day Shephard's Pie

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Did y'all wear green today?  I made sure to!  I've always hated the tradition of pinching people.  I take no risks.

Ken loves the fact that St. Patrick's Day means he'll get a shephard's pie.  He adores shephard's pie.  Up until today I've always felt that my shepherd's pie has been missing something.  It never looked as pretty as all the pictures I've seen online.  I have found the perfect recipe though.  I guess I should say, I altered the perfect recipe.

Alton Brown never ceases to amaze me.  It is his recipe that I started out with.  I made very few alterations.  

Vegetarian Shephard's Pie with Green Mashed Potatoes
Adapted from:  Alton Brown's Shephard Pie
For the potatoes:
1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes
.25 cup skim milk
.25 cup fat free cream cheese 
2-3 cups chopped cooked broccoli (I used leftover.  You can either puree it in a food processor or chop it by hand)

Filling
2 medium onions, diced
2 carrots, diced
2 T minced garlic
1 bag of Boca Soy Crumbles
6 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons tomato paste
3 cup vegetable broth
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
2 teaspoons freshly chopped rosemary leaves
1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme leaves
.5 cup corn kernels
.5 cup peas


Directions

1. Peel and chop potatoes.
2. Place in a pot and cover with cold water
3. Bring to a boil and simmer for 15-20 minutes until soft.
4. Drain, put back into pot, add milk and cream cheese, and mash until smooth 
5. Mix in broccoli until combined evenly.  Set aside
6. Preheat oven to 400 degrees
7. Spray a large pan and heat over med-high.
8. Add onions and carrots and cook until slightly soft, adding a bit of water to keep them from sticking
9. Add Boca crumbles, tomato paste and flour. Evenly cover the crumbles and vegetables with flour
10. Add in broth, wocestershire, rosemary, thyme and stir together.
11. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce to simmer.  Let it go for 10-12 minutes or until the sauce is thick
12. Add corn and peas and simmer for approximately 1-2 minutes
13. Grease an 11x7 baking dish and pour filling in.
14. Carefully top with mashed potatoes, spreading evenly.
15. Bake for 20 minutes.  
16. When you remove it from the oven make sure to let it sit and cool for a while.

What do you normally make for St. Patrick's Day?  Do you go with an Irish theme or a green theme?

Mushroom-A-Polooza

I love a reason to make a themed dinner.  Some examples are last Super Bowl, Or more recently our unbirthday tea party.

This time I'm don't a themed themed dinner.  It is found to be a mushroom themed Super Bowl dinner.   What is a Super Bowl dinner you ask?  Is honestly just a bunch of appetizers. 

Kaylee and I have a sick addiction to mushrooms.  We could probably eat a couple pounds each in one sitting.   In order to feed this addiction every dish tonite has mushrooms in it.

When I do a themed dinner I have a tendency to overwhelm myself.   So, for this dinner I stick to fairly simple recipes and I brought in my best sous chefs.  These recipes will be great for your next party {and I'll let you have my sous chefs for a small fee} 

Smokehouse Flatbread

My favorite burger at Ruby Tuesday's was always the smokehouse burger.  There is a layer of melty cheddar cheese over caramelized barbecue sauce. Pure heaven!  I recreate this burger in vegetarian form quite often.  I decided that doing it on a flatbread would be great. 

Ingredients
1 recipe pizza dough
2-4 T barbecue sauce
8 oz mushrooms, sliced and sautéed
1 onion, sliced
2 T minced garlic
.5 cup cheddar cheese

Directions
1.  Preheat oven to 450°
2.  Roll out dough and bake on a greased cookie sheet for 10-15 minutes until almost done
3.  Spread garlic on crust then drizzle on barbecue sauce. Place the flatbread back in the oven until the barbecue sauce gets slightly caramelized (2-3 minutes)
4.  Add mushrooms and onions and sprinkle cheese on top.
5.  Place back in the oven until cheese melts

Sautéed Mushrooms

Ingredients
1 lb mushrooms, whole
.5 cup vegetable broth
1 T minced garlic

Directions
1.  Heat a skillet on med-high and spray with pan spray
2.  Add mushrooms, cover and sauté until they release their juices about 5-6 minutes
3.  Remove top,  add broth and garlic. Boil until almost dry.

Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients

1 lb mushrooms

1 medium onion, diced

.5 c fat free ricotta

.5 c breadcrumbs made from reduced calorie bread

2 t parsley

4 oz vegan sausage

.5 c fat free mozzarella

Directions

1. Take stems off mushrooms, diced and saute with onions.
2. In food processor blend ricotta, half the breadcrumbs, half the mozzarella, the parsley and the sausage
3. Preheat oven to 425.
4. Mix mushroom stem mixture into ricotta mixture
5. Place a spoonful of ricotta mixture into mushroom caps.
6. Sprinkle mushrooms with remaining cheese and breadcrumbs
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes.

I think next year my Super Bowl dinner will be at regional menu.  Either famous dishes from each of the teams cities or what the state/area is known for.  Mario Batali always does an interesting menu every year.  Check it out on his blog

Chinese New Year

Every year I tell Ken that I'm going to make a Chinese dinner in honor of the Chinese New Year he replies with the same 4 words, "but we're not Chinese."  Yes Ken, I know, we're Korean.  Yes, he's half Korean.  He is the reason I love Korean food.

This year I told him that we were having Korean in order to celebrate Seollal, the Korean lunar new year.  Seollal is the first day of the Korean Lunar Calendar.  It falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice.  This day is about family and ancestors.  It's one of the most important Korean holidays.

2014 is the year of the Horse.  According to the Official Korea Tourism Organization,

"Every year is represented by one of the 12 zodiac signs, which take the form of animals known as Sibijisin. These signs change with every new year and rotate over a 12 year cycle. For a fun activity at the beginning of each year, people, especially elders, analyze the relationship between their birth year zodiac sign and the new year's sign to find out their fortune. 

The year 2014 is referred to as "Gaponyeon" or "The Year of the Horse." The horse is the seventh in the group of twelve guardian animal deities collectively known as the Sibijisin, which literally means "twelve (sibi) gods of the earth (jisin)." People born in the year of the horse are said to be open-minded and have a cheerful disposition with a good sense of humor. They are likely to achieve success in any activities they undertake. However, they can be somewhat self-centered and must beware of trifling away money on pleasures."

For more information on the Sibijisin check out the links at the bottom of the post.


So onto dinner.  I pulled out my tried and true Korean cookbook.  The Complete Book of Korean Cooking by Young Jin Song.  I love this book.  I have used it too many times to count to make myself many Korean meals.  {Buy it HERE}  I decided that I wanted my favorite noodle dish, Japchae,  and fried zucchini (hobakjeon.)  Unfortunately Japchae was the 1 recipe that is NOT included in the book.  So, I turned to the internet and found a recipe on Korean Bapsang.  Get the recipe HERE for the Japchae and the recipe for the fried zucchini HERE.

Japchae

HobakJeon

The most time consuming part of all of these dishes was the chopping.  I was in the kitchen for nearly an hour chopping, slicing and dicing.  After all that is done the meal comes together quickly

Everything turned out delicious.  Yet, it all paled in comparison to my mother-in-law's cooking.  Me making Korean dishes is alot like when I make a recipe of my mother's.  It doesn't have exactly the same flavor as my mother's or my mother-in-laws.  Maybe I'm lacking the same love that they made it with?  Ken raved about it to his mom, who was very impressed.

Below are some links about the Lunar New Year celebration in Korea.  Did you make anything interesting for the Lunar New Year?

KoreanTourism.org: Seollal (Lunar New Year) Celebrations in Korea

KoreanTourism.org: Sibijisin Story

Something To Go With The Smoothie....

Last nite I told you about the Spinach Smoothie.  Today I'm giving you the recipe for the muffins that were in the background of the smoothie photo.  I snuck vegetables in those too!

I adapted this recipe from Happy Herbivore Light and Lean cookbook.  My recipe isn't vegan but it's equally delicious and I'm pretty certain it has less fat.  

Orange Zucchini Muffins
Makes 12 regular or 30 mini muffins

Ingredients

1.5 c flour
1 T baking powder
1 small banana
.75 c skim milk
.5 c fat free Greek yogurt
zest and juice of a clementine/blood orange
1 cup shredded zucchini (about 2 small zucchini)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 and spray a muffin tin (I made mini muffins as you can see)
2. Squeeze all the water out of your shredded zucchini and set aside
3. Whisk together dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.
4. In a blender or food processor puree banana, milk, yogurt, zest and orange juice
5. Mix banana mixture into flour mixture.
6. Fold in zucchini
7. Bake 18-25 minutes for regular muffins and 15-20 minutes for mini muffins

These were delicious.  The orange stood out but didn't overpower.  The zucchini added a nice bit of moisture.  You can actually substitute the orange for any citrus probably.  The original recipe calls for lemon.  It would be nice to try with grapefruit.  

Finally!! A Perfect Veggie Burger...

Everyone has that dish that they can NOT seem to perfect.  I bet you can name one right now can't you?

Mine is a veggie burger.  I've altered every possible aspect of the recipe.  I've tried more online recipes than I can count but, none of them have seen truely delicious until this one.  

I used TVP as my base.  One of the biggest problems I've had with veggie burgers in the past was that they fell apart on me when I would take them out of the pan.  These stayed together very nicely.  

My binders were canned pumpkin and breadcrumbs.  The flavors comepletlly belend.  Nother pverpowers anything else.  They are all together harmoniously.  

I had a bit too much time on my hands so Sunny and I decided to make Naan bread to use as a bun.  

Naan
1.5 cups flour
.5 T active dry yeast
.25 cup warm plain nondairy milk
.5 cup plain nondairy yogurt
1-2 T garlic

Directions

1. Heat milk in microwave for 20 seconds until warm
2. Sprinkle yeast on top and let sit for 10 minutes until frothy and bubbly
3. Mix all the ingredients together and stir until combined
4. Let rise in a warm dark place (like the oven) for 60-90 minutes
5. Divide into 10 pieces and roll into either a circle or a square. 
6. Heat a skillet sprayed with pan spray on high heat.  
7. Heat naan for about a minute on the first side then flip and cook for another minute on the other side.  Both sides should be golden brown and bubbly.  
8. Cover with a lid and cook for another 30 seconds to 1 minute.
9. Use 2 per burger.  One on top and one on the bottom.

TVP Burger
2.5 cup TVP (I use Bob's Red Mill)
2.5 c boiling vegetable broth
1 cup pumpkin puree
1 cup breadcrumbs
1 onion, grated

Directions

1. Put TVP in a bowl, pour boiling water over it and cover.  Let sit for atleast 10 minutes
2. Mix all other ingredients into the TVP and mix thuroughly.  (I find using my hands is the easiest way but, make sure your TVP is cool enough before you do!)
3. Form into 5 patties.  
4. Heat a skillet sprayed with pan spary on medium high heat and cook for about 5-7 minutes each side until golden brown

You can also broil them 5-7 minutes each side

What is the dish that you have been having trouble perfecting?

Something It's Not

January 23rd, 1/23, 123.  Don't you wish everything in life could be as easy as 1,2,3?  I know I do.  But, you know what's easy?  Saying "happy birthday."  It's my mommy's birthday!  HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM!  She's the one who taught me how to cook.  She showed me nothing is hard and she's one of my biggest supporters.

Winter has finally settled in down here.  Mornings and evenings are in the 30's and the afternoons are only getting up to the low 60's (if we're lucky.)  I can honestly say I did NOT move to Florida for this weather!  It beats the winters in Virginia any day though.

Winters aren't easy for me.  I'm not a winter person.  My body wants to shut down.  Honestly I think in my previous life I was a bear.  I really wish I could start hibernating. Okay, enough about how cold I am.

I find that altering a recipe to taste like something else isn't easy.  But, I managed to make a pizza that has the same great flavors as lasagna.  Yes, LASAGNA!  I'd love to say that this recipe was born from pure creativity and that fact that I'm that awesome but honestly, it wasn't.  It was born from lack of time.

Lasagna Pizza

Ingredients
1 recipe of pizza dough
2 oz fat free ricotta
2 onions, sliced thin
16 oz mushrooms, sliced
.5 - 1 cup tomato puree
7 oz vegan sausage (I use Light Life Gimmie Lean Sausage)
16 oz fat free mozzarella cheese
3 cups spinach (optional)

Directions

1. Saute the mushrooms and onions separately
2. Roll out pizza dough and spread a thin layer of ricotta
3. Spread half the sauce on top of ricotta layer, cover with mushrooms and onions and the sausage, half the mozzarella, the other half of the sauce, put the spinach on now (if you're using it)  and the rest of the mozzarella.
4. Bake in a 450 degree oven for 25 minutes until the crust is brown and the cheese is melted.

Every Day is a Good Day For Pizza

Recipe Redux day!  The theme for the January is Pizza Party.  If you type "pizza recipes" into Google, it finds 99,400,000 results.  Did you know that pizza is a $32 billion industry?  $32 BILLION!!  That's crazy.  Pizza is a $32 billion industry and you can't find a fat free pizza {I actually found a company that mail orders fat free pizza and I have contacted them to see if I can't review their product for you.  I'll keep you updated}  

I love pizza.  I love to eat it and I love to make it.  It's a blank slate that you can customize as much - or as little- ask you'd like.  You never have to eat the same pizza twice.  I watch alot of cooking shows and read alot of cooking blogs so, I've seen quite a few pizza combinations. But, really there are 4 main components to a pizza.  The crust, the sauce, the toppings and the cheese.  Here are just a few options for pizza:

Sauce
Alfredo
Tomato
Pesto
Minced garlic/garlic paste

Vegetable Toppings (honestly most vegetables work on a pizza)
Mushrooms
Onions
Olives
Green Peppers
Spinach
Jalapenos
Banana Peppers
Tomatoes
  
Protein Toppings
Pepperoni
Sausage
Chicken
Ground Beef

Cheese 
Mozzarella
Cheddar
Feta
Ricotta
Any hard cheese that you can grate


There are many ways to put these pizza parts together.  There's a traditional pizza, deep dish, a stromboli {basically a rolled pizza}, and a calzone {a folded over pizza}

I have many many pizzas {pizza night is a monthly thing in our house} and I have eaten many pizzas.  Ken's favorite when we were living in Virginia was a white pizza from Reynolds Street Bar and Grill in Alexandria.  CLICK HERE for a link to their website.  I've never actually had a favorite place for pizza but, before I became the Fat Free Queen my favorite pizza was a Barbecue Chicken Pizza.  {Which you can actually make VERY low fat using vegan chick'n}  

With 5 people in the house it's hard to decide on pizza toppings.  Luckily, we can all agree on mushrooms and onions.  On the days that we have time I like to let everyone make their own personal pizza.  A couple Fridays ago I had a serious craving for pizza.  Friday is one of our eat-on-the-run days.  We have to be at cheer AND swim at 5:00 so dinner is eaten in the car.  

Pizza isn't really a car food.  I made calzones so  that the mess would be minimized. Everyone in the house enjoys BFD (Breakfast For Dinner) so I made breakfast calzones.  Scrambled eggs, melty cheese, sauteed mushrooms and onions, vegetarian sausage and tomato sauces wrapped in crunchy, yet soft pizza dough.  Perfection!

Breakfast Calzones
Serves 5
Calories: 455
Total Fat: 1 gram
Cholesterol: 10 grams
Sodium: 1,053
Carbs: 70 grams
Fiber: 7.6 grams
Protein: 39 grams


Ingredients
10 egg whites (or equivalent egg substitute)
5-10 slices of fat free cheese
1 lb mushrooms, sliced
2 onions, sliced
1 recipe for your favorite pizza dough
1.25 c tomato sauces/pizza sauce/pasta sauce
5-10 oz vegetarian sausage (I used light life)



Directions

1. Preheat oven to 450
2. Saute onions until soft and translucent (7-10 minutes)
3. Saute mushrooms 5-7 minutes
4. Divide pizza dough into 5 portions and roll out into circles
5. Cook eggs
6. On one half of the dough layer: .25 cup sauce, eggs, cheese, sausage, mushrooms, and onions.  Fold other side over filling, crimp closed, cut 2-3 slits in the top (so it can vent), spray top with a bit of pan spray
7. Place on a greased sheet pan and bake for 20-25 minutes until golden brown

With the Super Bowl coming soon you could even make these mini and serve them as an appetizer!  

Christmas Eve Appetizer and Christmas Dinner Recipes

When I was growing up {and before I moved to Florida}  we would goto my aunt's house every year for Christmas Eve.  There was always a big spread of munchies on the table.  Christmas Eve dinner has now become a spread of appetizers that everyone can choose between.  You can find all the recipes HERE. I'm adding crab rangoons to the table, per Kaylee's request.  And I'm not doing a crust on the spinach pie.  

Crab Rangoons
Note:  This would also possibly make a good filling for jalapenos!

Ingredients
1 package wonton wrappers
16 oz crabmeat {real not imitation.  But imitation would work too}
16 oz fat free cream cheese
4 - 5 green onions, minced


Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425
2. Combine crab, cream cheese and green onions
3. Place about 1 T mixture into wonton wrapper, fold wonton wrapper over filling and pinch closed
4. Bake for 12-15 minutes until golden brown.

We always plan our Christmas dinner after my parents get to my house.  It's always a production.  We go back and forth debating on what we should have.  Every year it gets easier though.  They got here Friday nite and it only took us only an hour to get the menu put together.  Here it is:

Family's Main

Roast Chicken

My Main Dish:

Stuffed Pumpkin or Squash
I'm going to use this recipe as my base. How to make Suffed and roasted squash. {the Kitchn}  The vegetables are going to be onions, carrots, celery, and mushrooms.  I'm going to skip the proteins and grains and add more vegetables.  

Sides

Green Bean Casserole
Alton Brown's Best Ever Green Bean Casserole


Corn on the cob
Mashed Potatoes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Gravy
Cranberry Sauce
Rolls

Dessert

Christmas Cake
Christmas Cake {The Fat Free Queen}

Kitchen Sink Stew

Normally my family isn't very helpful when it comes to dinner.  When I ask what they would like they normally respond, "it doesn't matter", "whatever you want", "I don't know", or "I don't care."  So, when I actually get requests I love it.  The other night I recieved a request for stew.  Coincidentally enough I was already planning on doing stew the following nite.  We ended up getting into a conversation of what should be in the stew and the following recipe is what we came up with.  I actually added vegetarian sausage into it.  I didn't calculate it into the nutritional information but, I added a whole roll of it.  It shouldn't add very many extra calories but, it does up the protein and sodium some too.

To go with it I made some cornbread (one of Kaylee's favorite things.)  The recipe came from Happy Herbivore's new book Light & Lean.  It is really good.  I normally don't like cornbread and I found that I could tolerate this one.  Yet again, I didn't get a photo.  

These recipes were so go we all went back for seconds {and thirds and fourths...}   

Kitchen Sink Stew
Serves about 10
Calories: 153.7
Fat: 0.6 grams
Sodium: 325 grams
Protein: 6.4 grams
2 lbs Mushrooms, quatered
2 onions. diced
2 ribs celery, diced
2 cloves of garlic, minced
3 medium carrots, chopped
3 radishes, sliced
2 large sweet potatoes, cubed
1 package Lipton onion soup mix mixed with 4 cups water
4 cups vegetable broth
1 cup frozen peas
2 T cornstarch mixed with 2 T water

Directions

1. In a large pot saute onions, radishes, celery and carrots until onions are translucent.
2. Add mushrooms and saute until they are soft. 
3. Add sweet potatoes, onion soup and broth.
4. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer for 20 minutes
5. Add peas, bring back to a boil and simmer for another 10 minutes
6. Whisk in cornstarch mixture and boil until thickened (about 2 minutes)

Cornbread Muffins
Adapted from: Happy Herbivore Light & Lean

Ingredients
1 cup cornmeal
1 cup flour
1 T baking powder
1 cup skim milk
.25 cup sugar free maple syrup

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Spray muffin tin (do NOT use cupcake liners or they will stick)
3. Mix the dry ingredients together
4. Add in wet ingredients
5. Bake 15 minutes

Is your family helpful when it comes to making decisions about what's for dinner?

Recipe Redux October 2013 Slow Cooker Recipe

Sorry for being gone for so long.  School and life has been kicking my butt, AGAIN.  Seems like it happens every few months.  But, I'm {hopefully} back.  I have some new posts planned and I'm super excited.  

My slow cooker is a very under-loved piece of kitchen equipment.  But, for this month's Recipe Redux I was supposed to make a slow cooker dish.  The slow cooker is a great piece of equipment if you are short on time.  

Kaylee has told me before that she loves soup, stews and chilis.  The weather turned chilly for a while so I decided to make this chili.  But, of course, with my luck, the weather was a humid 90 degrees the day I made this!  This recipe was still delicious. 

This recipe is super flavorful and healthy.  I add sweet potatoes to give it a bit of chunkiness and due to my stomach problems I don't add very many beans.  If you love beans in your chili then you can add 1 or 2 more cans. 

Sweet Potato Chili
1 onion, chopped
2 T minced garlic
1 sweet potato, chopped into 1 inch cubes
8 oz mushrooms, chopped
1 carrot, chopped small
1 rib celery, diced
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp pizza seasoning
2 bay leaves
1/3 cup TVP
2 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp cocoa powder
12 oz beer or 3/4 cup vegetable broth
1 can (28 oz)  crushed or diced tomatoes
1 can black beans, rinsed and drained


Directions

1. Stir everything together in crockpot except beans
2.  Cook on low 6-8 hours or high 3-4 hours
3. Add in beans during the last 30 minutes of cooking

Recipe Redux -- No Bake Banana Bites

So I had my first blogger vs mommy internal debate while making these.  But my debate went something like this.

Sunny -- "Mommy, can I help you?"
Mommy Brain -- "Of course you can help!"
Blogger Brain -- "No!  These are for Recipe Redux!  They have to look perfect!"
Mommy Brain -- "These are perfect for Sunny to help with.  Nothing too hard and they're simple."
Blogger Brain -- "But I have to take a photo of them.  They have to be pretty."
Mommy Brain -- "We haven't done our weekly baking project.  She'll be content making these."
Blogger Brain -- "Pretty pictures!!  Perfection!!"

And as you will be able to tell from the photo, Mommy brain won the battle.  Funny thing is, I ended up putting too much yogurt in the first batch so, I had to go back and redo them.  But, I'm still using Sunny's for the photos since she is so proud of them.

The Recipe Redux this month was No-Cook Desserts.  These delicious banana sandwiches take about 5 minutes to prepare.  Waiting for them to freeze is the difficult part.  They are addictive.  You could also add about 1/2 a tablespoon of cocoa powder to make them even more addictive.  Or, if you're not too worried about fat, dip them in chocolate.  

Frozen Banana Rounds
4 servings

Ingredients
4 medium ripe bananas
2 T PB2 
2 oz. yogurt

Directions

1. In a food processor, or with a fork mash 1 banana and yogurt then stir in the PB2.
2. Slice the bananas into rounds and put a small dollop of the yogurt mixture onto half of the bananas.
3. Freeze for about 2 hours

   

    An InLinkz Link-up

   

What Says Summer Better Than Tomatoes (and a giveaway)?

As an unknown blogger there are a few things that make me happy.  

1. People leaving comments on my posts
2. The idea that companies will send me things to try.

Well, number 1 has happened a handful of times.  And a few weeks ago number 2 happened!  I got an email from Christi at Red Gold Tomatoes.  She sent 6 different varieties of tomatoes, a couple cool tomato aprons, and a bottle of jalapeno ketchup for me and the family to try.  

All the yummy samples Red Gold sent me

Red Gold has been around since 1942.  They have focused on growing local in the Midwest, where true seasons positively impact the flavor of tomatoes. The Midwest, while it's cold in the winter, has the perfect growing season for tomatoes, perfect angle of the sun, perfect temps -- and even the winter is good for tomatoes, as it breaks up the soil for tiny root systems.

Links to Red Gold's webpage and Facebook are located at the end of the post.  Plus, Red Gold is running a contest until August 23rd.  Go to their Facebook page and register to win a Big Green Egg and a bunch of other prizes!


Not only do these tomatoes taste great there are also some added benefits of using canned tomatoes. Canned tomatoes have more lycopene than fresh tomatoes.  The cooking process causes more lycopene to be released and makes it easier for our bodies to use.  What is lycopene?  Lycopene is an antioxidant.  It reduces our cancer and cardiovascular disease risk. 



Since my parents were in town I decided to make burgers.  Plus, tomatoes are an essential part of summer. Everyone loves burgers and they went wild over these. Moist and juicy, filled with flavor, simple yet awesome. 

Tomato Burgers
Serves 4

Ingredients
1 lb ground beef
1 can Red Gold Tomatoes, drained
1 egg
1/4 cup breadcrumbs

Directions

1. In a bowl combine all the ingredients
2. Form into patties
3. Grill until done

The second recipe I did with the tomatoes is what I call Triple S Salsa {the first two S's are for Super Simple}  I served this with some homemade tortilla chips.  Then we realized that it would be great warm so, I mixed it in with some rice.  Voila!  A second meal to make with your leftovers!!  Double duty foods, I love them.

Triple S Salsa
Serves 8
Calories:  82
Fat:  0.6g
Carbs:  18.1g
Protein:  4.2g

Ingredients
1 can Red Gold Tomatoes with Lime and Cilantro
1.25 cup corn kernels
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
1 onion, diced


Instructions

1. Mix ingredients together
2. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour so the flavors can deepen
3. Serve with tortilla chips

And what's a better way to start a weekend but with a giveaway???  The Red Gold has generously given me a gift pack to give away to one lucky reader!  The gift pack will include a sample of Red Pack goodies (ketchup, Red Gold w/Green Chilies, Red Gold Lime Juice & Cilantro), as well as coupons and recipes for a Spicy Tomato Burger and Caribbean Chicken Burger.  

 Enter using the form below between now and September 1st.  




Links
Red Gold Website
Red Gold on Facebook 

Raising an Olympian -- Take 2 -- Gymnastics

After 7 long months and hearing the question, "When are you going to sign me up?" Mantha has finally started gymnastics.

I think it's interesting how the mind of an 8 1/2 year old and her mother differ.  She starts looking for Olympic gold, I start looking at colleges.

Please don't call me crazy.  I just want to find out where the top ranked collegiate gymnastics tearms are and which ones have her degree. Currently she wants to be a veretinarian or a meteorologist.  Plus, I need 10 years to wrap my head around the fact that she could be going to college in Michigan or Oklahoma.  Ranked 7th and 2nd respectively.  {Too see all the rankings click HERE}  

But. this post isn't about my obsession with planning things really early.  Thiis is a post about nutrition.  

The 2 main nutrients that gymnasts need are carbohydrates and protein.  Carbs are important because they are the main source of energy for the muscles.  
Good sources of carbohydrates include:  Whole grain bread, whole wheat pastas, cereal, beans, and nuts

As I said before protein is another important thing that a gymnast's body needs.  It helps repair muscles and tissues, as well as aiding in muscle growth. 
Good protein sources include:  Meat, fish, chicken, quinoa (1 cup has about 18 grams), beans, tofu/soy, eggs/dairy products, spinach, and broccoli.

The days when she has practice and the day after are the most important days to make sure she gets all the necessary nutrients.   

This meal that I fixed for Mantha before her practice was rich in all of the important nutrients.  (This recipe can easily be made vegan by switching out the cheese and getting vegan tortillas)

Please pardon the horrible photo.  My sandwich wasn't wrapped well.  I overstuffed it.  :(

Black Bean and Mushroom Wrap
Adapted from: Live Better America's Black Bean Veggie Wrap
Serves 5
Calories: 325
Fat: 1 g
Carbs: 47.2 g
Protein: 31.1 g

Ingredients

5 fat-free flour tortillas (for a healthier option substitute whole wheat)

16 oz sliced fresh mushrooms

2 medium onion, sliced thin

1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained, rinsed

16 oz  fresh spinach leaves

10 oz shredded fat free Cheddar cheese

Directions

1. Saute mushrooms and onions
2. Add 3/4 of the spinach and saute until it wilts
3. Heat tortillas
4. Lay out tortillas, sprinkle a fifth of the cheese on each of the tortillas, add some of the raw spinach, then top with the mushroom mixture and  roll.
5. Enjoy!

I'll be posting the nutrional needs of another Olympic sport soon.  Kaylee decided to switch sports this season.  Can you guess what she decided to do??

Resources
USA Gymnastics article on weight and nutrients