Fabulous Food Fridays! Pizza Re-Run

This is a post that I posted on an old blog, but it is a pizza that I loved and would recommend trying.  I am currently on a Shakeology Cleanse to help get me back on track and will be eating Salmon and steamed veggies tonight so I thought that I would share some of the typical Friday treats. I hope you have had a pleasant week and are ready to get your weekend started with a bang. I know I am and  will be finding immense fun as I get my car smogged and licensed tomorrow, oh well it may not be fun but I want to be square with the state for another year.  Have a fabulous evening and I will be back soon.

Another Meatless Monday.

I made Pizza! Some days I have a craving for pizza so strong I can hardly stand it and often contemplated calling up Domino's and getting their tasty veggie pizza. Though that thought generally is fleeting because I don't want to experience the pain of eating a gluten filled crust.  Tonight was one of those nights, partially in hopes that a pizza would magically appear. This didn't happen though so I set about making a new gluten free crust. I used the directions that were on the back of my Pamela's Bread flour mix, it turned out wonderfully, imagine that.

This was a simple crust, flour, yeast, water, oil and I put in some Parmesan cheese to add something to the crust.

While the crust was rising and cooking I sauteed up some mushroom and onions. I always think I need to venture out side my comfort zone of pizza toppings, but don't because Pizza making is done on a whim and these toppings are what I have on hand.

I could have eaten this crust just as it was dipped in ranch and tomato sauce, but alas I put all the toppings on so I would have a completed pizza.

Trader Giotto's Pizza sauce.

This is my favorite cheese. I use it for everything it has so much flavor I could eat it straight out of the bag.

Mmmmm...

I found some asparagus in the freezer and threw it on top, it added a good flavor and reminded me of a risotto I made almost every week last winter.

To ensure that I got some more greens I had a salad with Galeo's crack in a bottle. This is the only dressing I want to use anymore. If  I didn't love oatmeal so much I would have salad for breakfast, just so I can have this wonderful dressing.

And this was dinner last night, Chocolate Peppermint tea, salad, and pizza plus a seconds.

What was your Monday night meal?

What did you do this weekend?

Hike and Laundry:) The hiking was fun I don't know about the laundry but at least my co-workers won't complain about my stank.

Have a fabulous evening. See you Tomorrow!

Easter Sunday Meal!

He has Risen!

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter Sunday! Mine was about the norm, but I had some wonderful things revealed about my time management that provided a little less stress and helped me to prioritizes somethings differently.

 So anywho lets get on to this wonderful Meatless Monday Post. I had not really thought about what I was going to make for my Easter Meal and was even contimplating just serving Socca Pizza again even though that is totally a Friday meal and that would have been the same dinner twice in one weekend. But then I remembered a recipe that I had been wanting to try for several months actually now that I look at the post it has been almost a year. (How has time gone by so fast that it feels like I had just seen that recipe in my reader in September). The recipe was Rough Puff Pastry from The Gluten Free Girl and Chef. I highly recommend this site as it was the initial reason I started my own blog.
 Anyways I started the puff pastry and was shocked at using 3 sticks of butter, but knew from past experience this girl knew what she was doing and followed the recipe.

 The butter had to be cut into smaller pieces and re-frozen 

 The rice flours, xantham gum, guar gum, salts were mixed together and Aerated. 

 Into the stand mixer went the flours and butter and proceeded to make a noise like gravel and sand in my stand mixer. When the edges of the butter were soft 3/4cup of ice water was added until everything was wet. I turned it out onto my silicone mat which I quickly found must be nothing like a Silpat because my stuff dough stuck to it and had to be scarped off. 

 This is the first of 7 roll outs. All those chunks of butter I didn't figure that it would turn out at all. 

 I folded it like a brochure and rolled it out some more so everything was worked together 

 This dough was rolled so many times had it been human it would be relaxed beyond recognition. 

 MORE rolling after 2 hour break it was rolled out two more times, then rested 2 more hours and was finally ready to meet its new home in the Pyrex dish. 

 This produce shelve was the going to make its home in the new Rough Puff Pastry dish. The veggies were Sauteed then boiled until tender. With Broth added it cooked for about 15 minutes because I was impatient and wanted to get everything in the oven so I could enjoy this:

 Vegetable Pot Pie. We didn't have ham or chicken, but our light buttery crust filled with veggies was a delightful Vegetarian Easter dinner that I will be making again. 

This is my portion, I add honey to the top of mine because I love the sweet with the salty veggies. 

The Veggie Pot Pie recipe was found on allrecipes.com here. 

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 8 ounces mushrooms
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 2 large carrots, diced
• 2 potatoes, peeled and diced
• 2 stalks celery, sliced 1/4 inch wide
• 2 cups cauliflower florets
• 1 cup fresh green beans, trimmed and snapped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 cups vegetable broth
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 recipe pastry for double-crust pie

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
2. Heat oil in a large skillet or saucepan. Cook onions, mushrooms, and garlic in oil for 3 to 5 minutes, stirring frequently. Stir in carrots, potatoes, and celery. Stir in cauliflower, green beans, and vegetable broth. Bring to a boil, then turn heat down to a simmer. Cook until vegetables are barely tender, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
3. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch, soy sauce, and 1/4 cup water until cornstarch is completely dissolved. Stir into vegetables, and cook until sauce thickens, about 3 minutes.
4. Roll out 1/2 of the dough to line an 11x7 inch baking dish. Pour the filling into the pastry lined dish. Roll out remaining dough, arrange over the filling, and seal and flute the edges.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes, or until the crust is brown.

I hope everyone had a wonderful Easter and was able to with loved ones. 

Meatless Meatballs

Good Monday! First day of the week and Hundreds of tasks to complete, but that is life. Normal with craziness and 100's of things to do, see, and find. When I get ridiculously busy and have tons of things to do or when I have had a really crappy day I turn to Buffy The Vampire Slayer. Not the Movie, but the show

I am a huge nut when it comes to Buffy, I have all the seasons on DVD and I am embarrassed to say how many times I have watched the series through. Just know it is enough to repeat the lines verbatim. But when I am down there is only one episode that cheers me right up, Once More with Feeling, the musical episode.(Season 6 Episode 7)


Sometimes life is just better with a little musical in your life and I think Mondays are one of those days. That is probably one of the reason's I like Glee so much. I can belt these songs out on Tuesdays and feel 100% better at the end of the 45 minute episode.
The other thing that I find helps with a stressful day is discovering a recipe that replaces something that use to be frequently eaten in our house before we became gluten , dairy, meat free family.  Once such thing was the Meatless meatballs that had been added to our spaghetti, but these have wheat in them and the visit to our local Natural Foods store I couldn't find a replacement.  So when I got home I began hunting, online hunting and like fate the first I found Enlightened Cooking blog that had a gluten free option and strangely enough I had TVP (Textured Vegetable Protein) hanging out in the cupboard waiting for a recipe.  One of the reasons that this was in my cupboard is I didn't know what to do with it and I was a little scared that It would be difficult to cook with, but really it was as easy as making nut butter.

 Hello TVP, Please be kind to me I never imagined us working together and here we are. 

 One onion chopped and then Sauteed. 

 These are the spices that are used to flavor the Meatballs. Next time I will used more Cumin, Soy Sauce and add some Chipotle Pepper (I like spicy foods:))

 All the spices were added to the sauteed onions and garlic and cooked for about 30 seconds to bring out the flavor. 

 Add the boiled water to the TVP and mix so all the TVP is wet. 

 Put the TVP, Onions mixture, and Two eggs in the food processor and process until the mixture sticks together and is easy to scoop out. Use a cookie or small ice cream scoop to form balls.

I forgot to take a picture of them cooked, but they were quite good and looked a lot like the ones that we had purchased from the supermarket, but they were healthier since I didn't fry them. With the scoop that I used I made 24 plus a patty. Next time I make them I will experiment with different spices since they weren't as flavorful as I would like.  If you don't do meat or are looking for an alternative to meatballs I think you should try them because they do add more protein to an other wise carb filled meal. We had ours on top of pasta with Marinara, and steamed vegetables.

Homemade Meatless Meatballs

Preheat oven to 375F
Makes 3 dozen meatballs (Per meatball: 30 calories, 3.3 g protein, .28 g fat)

2-1/3 cup texturized vegetable protein (TVP)
1 3/4 cups boiling water
1 cup finely chopped onion
2 tbsp olive oil or other neutral vegetable oil
1 tbsp minced fresh garlic
2 tbsp soy sauce
1-1/2 tsp ground cumin
1-1/4 tsp dried oregano
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 cup packed fresh basil leaves, chopped
2 eggs or 2 flax eggs (see below for flax egg)

1. In a large bowl, combine the TVP and boiling water. Let stand 10 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large nonstick skillet set over medium-high heat. Add the onion and garlic; cook and stir 5 to 6 minutes until onion is translucent. Add the soy sauce, cumin, oregano, salt, and black pepper and cook and stir 30 seconds longer.
3. Place the TVP mixture, onion mixture, basil, and eggs or flax eggs in bowl of food processor. Process until mixture just begins to hold together.
4. Mold into 1 inch size meatballs ( a small cookie scoop works perfectly).
5. Arrange balls on a large rimmed baking sheet. Optional, give balls a quick spritz with olive oil cooking spray (it promotes browning). Bake 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned.

Use as a replacement for meat meatballs in the favorite recipe of your choice, or just eat plain as a snack--yum!

Flax Egg: To make the equivalent of two eggs, process 1/2 cup water with 3 tbsp ground flaxseeds (flaxseed meal) in a blender for 1 minute or until thickened and frothy.

Storage: Cool meatballs completely then place in heavy duty zipper top bags. Store in refrigerator for 3 to 4 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.


Have a fabulous Monday and I will see you later with another post. 

Pancake Sunday

Good Afternoon, Yes seriously Good Afternoon! I slept until almost 10am this morning, this is something I haven't done in such a long time I feel almost guilty about it. I really don't like sleeping in so long, but sometimes listening to your body is the only thing you can do, but sleep is also the way I know that I am truly sick. If I can't wake up or take a unplanned nap I know that my body is trying to fight something and with my recent sinus infection I know that I need to get a little extra sleep then I would generally give myself (typical for me is 7-8 hours).
Anyways I didn't start his to tell you about my ailments, I wanted to share with you the resurrection of Pancake Sundays. Ok well strictly speaking I was actually doing Pancake Saturdays, but since I had never made this recipe before I made it twice just to make sure that I really enjoyed it. Well the first time was to make sure I liked it the second time is because I wanted it.
Since I had recently started drinking Shakeology for breakfast I have felt great and will generally stay full for 3 to 4 hours until I can get my next snack or meal. But sometimes I have cravings for something warm for breakfast. So after a little trolling I found a recipe for Shakeology Pancakes that were on Carl Dailkler's  blog.

As a side note it is not recommended that Shakeology be cooked because heating it can damage the nutrients that are in this product.

Since I was ready to try some pancakes I whipped up a batch yesterday then again today so I could share with you what a delicious meal this makes.

As far as a form of Protein Pancakes go this has the fewest ingredients and turned out far better then some that I have consumed.

There were just a few ingredients and surprisingly I had them all in my house except for the Almond butter that I had used up the day before. (I also forgot to picture the coconut butter I used as a replacement.) 

 Mix it all up and I would recommend adding a little bit more water to thin out the batter.

 Throw then the greased  batter in the skillet and wait patiently or pace back and forth impatiently like I tend to do when I wait too long to eat breakfast. 

 But alas it really didn't take that long. I had four delicious pancakes to top with delicious homemade smashed strawberries.

 That smashed strawberries were delicious and were 100 times better then maple syrup.

Chocolate Shakeology Pancakes 

1 chocolate Shakeology pack 
1/4 cup skim milk 
1/4 cup eggwhites 
good dash of cinnamon powder 
2 tbsp all natural almond butter 
1/8 teaspoon baking powder 

Whisk together in a bowl. 
Use a relatively small frying pan unless you want 1 large pancake. I found it was easier and I made 2 medium size ones. Spray the pan first with olive oil spray. Only takes a minute or two so watch it and cook on low heat so it cooks through and doesn't burn! 
According to myfitnesspal.com this meal has recipe has 384 calories. Both days I attempted to eat all the pancakes and found that I had two left over. I think that I will probably continue making them so it comes out with four and plan on having two for snack later in the morning with a little PB&J as a bread replacement. 
If you haven't tried Shakeology message me and I would love to send you a sample and if you would like to buy a box go to here for more information and store. 
Until tomorrow! Have a wonderful evening, day, or afternoon. 

All I want is a Fabulous Taco!

Good Friday to everyone! I know I haven't posted all week which is a total bummer because I had a post plannned out for each day.  But I had a sinus infection and by the time I got home from work or school I was so exhausted that it was all I could do to get out of the car  and into the house.  One day I even took a 2 hour nap, well that make it sounds willing, but really I fell asleep for two hours and couldn't open my eyes if my life had depended on it. So for my Fabulous Food Friday I am going to post my Meatless Monday Post that never got written or posted.

On Sunday I made some delicious Lentil Tacos prior to teaching a friend how to make sushi. I am not a Sushi pro, but it is surprisingly simple to make and really could be made by anyone who knows how to make rice and read. I didn't really intend to have to large meals on Sunday but I have been craving a good Taco for quite awhile now and since I haven't been eating meat I wasn't sure what restaurant around here would serve this.  So I searched high and low on the internet for the perfect recipe. Ok that is not true I simply typed in Lentil Tacos and picked the first thing I found. Ok, Ok the Second recipe I found which was on Epicurious.com. This is a really great site probably the one I turn to most when I am not sure what to cook, because they have such a wide variety of meals and Ideas. So after very slight hesitation I started cooking the Lentils, only to realize that I had just thrown out my taco Seasoning so I had to do a little search again and mix Taco Seasoning.
So the First recipe I give you is
Homemade Taco Seasoning

Ingredients

1 tablespoon chili powder

1/4 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 teaspoon onion powder

1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes

1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon sea salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Directions

In a small bowl, mix together chili powder, garlic powder, onion powder, red pepper flakes, oregano, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper. Store in an airtight container.

 It was super simple to mix all the ingredients together and only took me maybe 3 mins. It was spicy enough but didn't have that extra bite of the too much salt that I find to be true in most store bought seasonings. 

Here it is all mixed together and I was finally ready to start my cooking of the Lentils. 

 1 onion chopped and Sauteed with one garlic clove

 In went the seasoning

 Then Lentils and they cooked until there was a fabulous aroma filling the house. Even at this point I could hardly wait to start eating this. But I resisted knowing that cooked lentils would be 100 times better. 

 In went the Broth and it simmered for about 30 minutes or until the broth was gone. 

 Here is some of the Goat Milk Yogurt that I had made the day before, I didn't have sour cream so I figured plain yogurt would do just as well. 

 It really did quite well and didn't separate or curdle like yogurt has done in the past when I cook with it. 

 Then I had to decide how I was going to get it to my tummy in the fastest manner. So I tried using some corn tortillas that were too soft and the fried tortilla method failed horribly. We had to run to the Fresh and Easy so I could pick up some taco shells as the ones I had thought about using had expired a year prior. (oops I am not good about cleaning out my cupboard.)

 Here is the final result topped with Dutch Goat Cheese, Romaine and Tomatos

 I ate 3 in total they were so Good and I would recommend trying them yourself! I know this will be a staple in my recipe binder.

Lentil Tacos

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 cup finely chopped onion

1 clove garlic, chopped

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup dried brown lentils, rinsed

1 package (2.25 ounce) taco seasoning

2 1/2 cups vegetable broth

1/2 cup fat-free sour cream

1 chipotle chile in adobo sauce, finely chopped (use half for less heat)

2 teaspoons adobo sauce

8 taco shells

1 1/4 cups shredded lettuce

1 cup chopped tomato

1/2 cup shredded reduced-fat (2 percent) cheddar

print a shopping list for this recipe

Preparation

Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook onion, garlic and salt until onion begins to soften, 3 to 4 minutes. Add lentils and taco seasoning. Cook until spices are fragrant and lentils are dry, about 1 minute. Add broth; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer until lentils are tender, 25 to 30 minutes. Mix sour cream, chile and adobo sauce in a bowl. Uncover lentils and cook until mixture thickens, 6 to 8 minutes. Mash with a rubber spatula. Spoon 1/4 cup lentil mixture into each taco shell. Top with 2 heaping teaspoons sour cream mixture, lettuce, tomato and cheese.

OK, well I am off to do some Yoga since that will be on the agenda until these darn Antibiotics are done with again. Look the puppies are even ready for me to get my stretch on, Guess I better not keep them waiting. 

Have a wonderfully Spicy Weekend!