A must-share recipe

I confess I am a health nut now. So, whenever I discover a recipe that is healthy and as yummy as dessert, I do a little happy dance. I am so ecstatic over this recipe, I decided you have to know about it too. This morning I made whole wheat pumpkin muffins, and boy howdy, did my family enjoy them.  Notice how we already ate half of them (there's a reason why this pic is cropped)?
So, why is this recipe a good fit for our family? Well, other than the obvious good taste factor, we don't eat white-flour products anymore since the body processes white flour like sugar. Also, the use of truvia allows something to taste sugary without actually using sugar.
And while pumpkin has natural sugars, I am able to offset the rise in blood sugar that would occur naturally with this fruit by adding walnuts (the oil and eggs also help with this). 

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Walnut Muffins (yields 12 large muffins):

1&1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 15 oz. can organic pumpkin
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup truvia
2&1/2 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line muffin pan with muffin cups.
In a medium sized bowl, combine wheat flour and baking powder. Stir and set aside.
In a large bowl combine pumpkin, oil, eggs, truvia, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, and salt. Stir together and then add dry ingredients, a third at a time. After all is mixed together, fold in walnuts. Fill up muffin cups 3/4 of the way. Bake for 20-24 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. 

My very own tomato sauce

For years, Brandon has asked me to make tomato sauce from scratch.  Every time he asked, I rolled my eyes and asked, "why would I make my own when it is so simple to just buy it from the store?"  I felt like I had better things to do with my time.
Well, ever since I have been on this health kick-thing, I realized that pre-made tomato sauce is incredibly high in sodium.  I suppose the companies have to use sodium to preserve the tomatoes, but it can get pretty ridiculous, some having upwards of 30% of your daily need in one serving.
As some of you know, I am half-Italian and was raised on Italian cuisine. So, the likelihood of ridding my diet of tomato sauce is next to impossible.  After looking over several sauce recipes, I have created my own concoction that I am ready to share with my readers. Although making my own sauce is much more difficult than just opening a jar, the taste is far superior and I feel happy to know some of my favorite dishes are contributing towards my health rather than a detriment.  

The finished product

 
Ingredients:
10 medium Tomatoes (I used a combination of Roma, Cherry, and Globe)
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
2 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
5 cloves garlic, diced
1 onion, diced
8 oz. mushrooms, diced
2 medium zucchinis, diced
1 tsp. pepper
1 Tbsp. Basil
1 Tbsp. Italian seasoning
1 Bay leaf
1/2 cup red wine
2 Tbsp. sugar
1 small can tomato paste
Canning jars as needed
Directions:
Boil a large pot of water.  Once boiling, place all tomatoes in the water and let sit for about five minutes.  Once skin is starting to peel, place tomatoes in a bowl of ice water.  Leave in water until able to peel tomato skin with bare hands (and remove seeds if you so choose).  Chop the peeled tomatoes into small pieces and then place them in a food processor/blender.  Blend until smooth.  Place tomato blend into a large pot and begin to heat on medium.  Meanwhile, in a larger skillet add oil, butter, garlic, onion, mushroom, and zucchini.  Cook for about 5 minutes on high heat.  Once onion is translucent, add vegetable mixture to the tomato sauce pot.  Then add the pepper, basil, Italian seasoning, bay leaf, red wine, and sugar to the pot.  Cook for 5 minutes.  Then stir in tomato paste.  Turn heat to lowest setting and allow to simmer for 2-4 hours, stirring occasionally.  Can sauce once cooked through and partially cooled (should make about two jars).

Busy cooking in the kitchen

I like to try new recipes for guests.  Wisdom would suggest that I try the recipe out once before I serve it to those who enter my home, but usually I am not very wise.  Well, this past week it has served me to be a fool and to try two new recipes.  One is a semi-original Pickett recipe and another one is out of a recipe book I checked out of the library.  Hope you will try these and enjoy!

Blueberry Chocolate Chip Muffins

I made these when Sarah swung by to pay a visit to Noah and I.  She wanted to go out for ice cream, but since it was only 10:30 in the morning I decided sweet, sugary muffins might be more appropriate for the time of day.  I found a recipe in one of my wedding gift recipe books for blueberry muffins and decided that chocolate chips were a must-add.  The recipe book I used, How To Cook Everything: Simple Recipes for Great Food, is an awesome resource and  I would recommend it to anyone.  The book really does cover how to cook just about anything.    
Ingredients:
3 tablespoons melted butter or a neutral oil ( I used veggie oil)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk, plus more if needed
1 cup blueberries
1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease muffin tin.
Mix dry ingredients in bowl and in a separate bowl beat the egg, milk, and butter/oil.  Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour wet ingredients into it.  Use a large spoon to combine the ingredients quickly- folding rather than beating-batter will be moist but still lumpy (add a little more liquid if dry, should be moist). 
Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling them two-thirds full.  Bake 20-30 minutes (mine only needed 22 minutes).  Remove from the oven and let rest for 5 minutes before removing from tin.  Serve warm. 

Cream Cheese Pound Cake (serves 10-12)

Kara, Collin, and Annie Sunshine are staying with us this week.  They needed to come to Pittsburgh for a conference, so we were more than happy to have them into our home.  I decided that I would test out a new recipe on them for after dinner since it is too big to make for just the Pickett household.  We all enjoyed it and although I did not make it to perfection, I can now see my errors and am confident that the next time I make it, this pound cake will be even more delicious.  There is absolutely nothing original about this recipe from my side.  I took it from Southern Living: 40 Years of Our Best Recipes: Over 250 Great-Tasting, Tried-and-True Southern Recipes

Ingredients:

1.5 cups butter, softened

1 (8 oz.) package cream cheese, softened

3 cups sugar

6 large eggs

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/8 tsp. salt

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy.  Gradually add sugar, beating well.  Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just as yellow disappears.

Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at a low speed until blended.  Stir in vanilla.  Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch bundt or tube pan.

Bake at 300 degrees for 1 hour and 45 minutes.  Cool in pan for 15 minutes and then cool completely on a wire rack.

Personal Calzones

Calzones are yummy but messy and often are so large that one ends up eating too large of a portion.  My solution?  Personal Calzones!  Now I can have all the cheesy, saucy goodness without the mess and the over-eating. 

Ingredients (serves 4-8):

1 frozen dough ball, thawed, rolled out, and broken up into eight equal peieces

2 cups ricotta cheese

1 cup mozzarella, shredded

1/2 cup parmesan, shredded

1 10 oz. bag frozen spinach, thawed and drained of liquid

1 egg

1 T oregano

1-2 cups tomato sauce

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Combine cheeses, spinach, egg, and oregano in large bowl.  Mix together.  On a greased pan, lay 8 dough pieces down on pan and then fill center of dough pieces with a heaping tablespoon of the cheese mixture.  Take corners of the dough and wrap around the cheese mixture, making a pinwheel.  Cook for 20 minutes or until cheese is bubbling and dough is golden brown.  Warm tomato sauce up in microwave and dip calzone pieces into sauce as desired. 

Almond butter

Did you know there is such a thing as almond butter?  Usually, after I write posts about food, I find out that you all know everything already and I am just catching up on the health food train.  But, just so you know, there is such a thing as almond butter!  Yeah!  I had my first expensive bite last night and I am hooked.  Almond butter is twice as expensive as peanut butter, but twice as healthy.  If you are looking for another outlet for a healthy protein alternative, take a look at almond butter.  I figure the more we all pitch in and eat almond butter, the lower the cost will become.  So stop eating peanut butter already so I can save a few bucks!     

Short and sweet love sonnets to my favorite health foods

I didn't know about Greek yogurt until last year and I didn't know about flax seed until about four years ago.  But, they are both amazing.  Flax seed is this amazingly nutritious ingredient that can be added to just about anything and will help with cholesterol and so many other things.  If you haven't researched flax seed before, now is the time to look into it. 

Greek yogurt is the yummiest yogurt on earth is the healthiest yogurt on earth.  We use plain Oikos Yogurt very often as a substitute for sour cream.  Now, Greek yogurt is rather pricey.  Sour cream is about 1/5 of the price, but I am telling you that Greek yogurt is worth every penny.  I haven't tried the flavored Greek yogurts yet, but I hear they are yummy too!   

Do you love flax seed and Greek yogurt as much as me?  If you haven't tried any, go out and get some and tell me about your impressions about these ultra-health foods. 

Another original recipe

Five cheese baked macaroni

Ingredients:

1 lb. medium shells

1/2 cup cheddar cheese

1/2 cup mozzarella

1/4 cup Parmesan

1/4 cup Colby-jack

1/2 cup cream cheese

1 cup milk

1 cup bread crumbs

pinch of oregano and pepper

Warning: THERE IS NOTHING HEALTHY ABOUT THIS DISH!!!  This is meant to be a side dish to a main course.   

Boil water and cook shells.  Once cooked, drain water, remove pasta, and place milk and cheeses in the same pot.  Heat on low, add more milk if consistency is not as desired.  Once melted and blended, return pasta to cheese pot and stir.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place cheesy pasta in a casserole dish.  Top evenly with bread crumbs, oregano, and pepper.  Baked for 20 minutes.  Let sit for about 5 minutes.  

Veggie left-over pizza

Having a smaller family often times means vegetables go to waste before they can all be used.  Especially since I shop at Aldi, I don't have a choice as to how many onions or green peppers I can buy, for instance.  However, buying a bulk bag of onions at Aldi is usually as cheap as buying a single onion at Giant Eagle.  So, I've learned to be creative so I do not to waste food.  

One of my latest inventions is this yummy combination of veggies atop a nearly home-made pizza.  I realize that many of you make your own pizza dough, but my recipe starts with a pre-made dough, but not a pre-made crust.  I've used pre-made crusts before, and I find making your own is much more fun and tasty.  I am guessing the same is true of making your own dough, but I just honestly wouldn't know since I'm from the burbs.

Veggie left-over pizza

Ingredients:

1 ball of frozen pizza dough

2 cups of favorite tomato sauce
4 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup ricotta cheese
1 medium zucchini, diced
3 plum tomatoes, diced
4 oz. portabella mushrooms, diced
1 small onion, diced
1 small green pepper, diced
olive oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. kosher salt
optional: 1 cup ham, julienne cut
Take one frozen pizza dough ball out of freezer and defrost for 4 hours on a plate covered with plastic wrap.  Once thawed, using a rolling pin, hand, and flour, stretch dough into a circle.  Place circular dough on a pizza sheet and let it sit for 10 minutes covered w/ plastic again.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Once 10 minutes has passed, poke the dough with fork holes all over, paint dough with a thin coat of olive oil and sprinkle with kosher salt.  Place in oven for 10 minutes.
While dough is cooking, place in a skillet a tad of olive oil, garlic on high heat.  Place all veggies in skillet and cook for about 5 minutes.  Remove from heat.
Once dough is cooked for 10 minutes, take it out of the oven.  Spread tomato sauce all over dough.  Don't be skimpy w/ sauce as it will taste too dried out if you use too little.  Place half of the veggies and half of ham on top of the sauce.  Then sprinkle all the mozzarella on top of those veggies.  Take a teaspoon and plop little globs of ricotta on top of mozzarella.  Then finish by spreading the rest of the veggies & ham on top of the cheese.  Place back in the 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Let sit for 5-10 minutes before serving.    

Summer squash penne alla vodka

I am half Italian and half Irish.  My mom's mom (my grandma) emigrated from Italy when she was a teenager to America and brought all the great cooking of Italy with her.  I grew up eating Italian cuisine most nights as my Dad had no particular fondness of Irish cuisine and what kid doesn't like pasta?  So, there is no secret as to why many nights pasta is part of the dinner ensemble at our home.  Most of my pasta dishes are actually ones I make up myself or take parts of ideas of recipes and combine them with other recipes.  I must admit some nights my dinner risks are a bit yucky.  But, many nights I hit a home run.  This recipe is one of my favorite Momma Bear original meals.  I really do prefer this meal with shrimp, but chicken will do if you are opposed to seafood.  I've made it both ways before.  Or, for my vegetarian friends, this meal is heavenly minus seafood or poultry as well.     

Summer squash penne alla vodka (serves 4)

 Ingredients:  

1 lb. penne

1 large yellow (crookneck) squash, diced 

1 large (or 2 medium) zucchini, diced

1 medium onion, diced

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3 tablespoons butter (you can use olive oil, but butter tastes better w/ vodka sauce)

1 lb. chicken, cubed or shrimp, shelled and deveined

2 cups vodka sauce                                                                                       In a large pot, add 6 cups of water and a pinch of salt, bring to a boil.   Add penne for approximately 10 minutes or until al dente.  While water is coming to a boil, in a large skillet, coat with butter and add garlic, chicken/shrimp, summer squashes, and onion.  Cook on medium-high heat until meat is cooked through and vegetable texture is to your liking.   Add vodka sauce to veggie skillet to warm.  Drain pasta and plate.  Then top with the vodka sauce mixture.  Enjoy!   

 

Turkey Burger Twist

My husband loves meat.  When we were first married, he would go through the freezer daily just to make sure we always had meat on hand (and no, poultry doesn't count).  One day in our first year together as man and wife, he had realized something very distressing and I thought he might hyper-ventilate.  "Honey, we have to go shopping.  We've run out of food!" Bewildered, I replied, "Run out of food?  I just went grocery shopping a couple days ago.""Yeah, but there's no meat.  We won't be able to eat anything for dinner."  Luckily for him, we lived right across the street from a Marsh.  I walked over and picked up some ground beef.  Phew!  Crises averted.  In the almost five years that we have been married, Brandon has learned to calm down about our dinner options.  I can even mix our recipes up so we don't have to eat meat every night...WOW!  So, to be creatively healthy, I try to include ground turkey in our dinners at least once a week.  This is one of our favorite simple recipes.  I hope you enjoy.     

 Even Healthier Turkey Burgers

Ingredients:  

1 lb. ground turkey (makes 4 quarter-pounders)

1 medium onion, diced

1 cup grated mozzarella

2 tablespoons flax seed (this is will add no taste, but is incredibly healthy for you)
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons whiskey (may be omitted, but adds a little kick)
4 buns

 In a medium skillet, heat olive oil and then add onion and whiskey.  Cook for approximately 5-7 minutes or until edges are browned. 

While onion is cooking, in a large bowl combine ground turkey, mozzarella, and flax seed.  When onion is cooked, add this to the bowl as well (if you are cooking on an outdoor grill, you may want to add 1 egg and a cup of bread crumbs so the mixture holds together better).  Mix together ingredients in bowl thoroughly. 

Make into four turkey burger patties and cook in a large skillet on high heat for 3-5 minutes on one side, then flip for 3-5 minutes on the other side.  After, browned on both sides, turn to medium-low heat and cover with lid with middle is brown, flipping intermittently.  Don't be afraid if the outside may look a little charred, but that is only from the cheese.  It will still taste yummy!
While the burger is cooking, toast your buns.  I toast them in a toaster oven on 350 degrees for about 4-5 minutes.  Once all is complete, garnish as desired.  I made a little side salad for this meal, so I did not garnish the burger itself.

 

What I made for dinner last night

This is my own original recipe that I concocted last night.  My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our dinner.  I know the picture doesn't look incredibly appetizing, but I assure you our meal was scrumptious.  I used store-bought Pesto Rosso, but I have included a recipe to make your own if you enjoy making things from scratch.  I bought all the ingredients, except the pasta, from Aldi!    

   

Pesto Rosso Acini Con Gamberi E Verdure

(In English: sun-dried tomato pesto on acini di pepe pasta with shrimp and vegetables)

Ingredients:
Acini di Pepe (or substitute your favorite pasta), half of the bag
30 medium shrimp, peeled and deveined
Pesto Rosso (recipe to follow; or buy pre-made)
1 medium onion, diced
1 cup portabello mushrooms, chopped
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
4 tablespoons butter (or olive oil)
1-2 garlic cloves
2 tablespoons lemon juice

Bring 5 quarts of water to a boil.  Add Acini di Pepe for 8 minutes, then remove water.  While the pasta is cooking, place in a large frying pan butter, garlic, and lemon juice.  Once butter is melted, add shrimp and cook for about 4 minutes on high heat.  Then add onion, and mushrooms.  Cook for another 5 minutes before adding tomatoes.  Continue to cook until veggies and shrimp are done.  Once complete, turn frying pan heat on low and add Pesto Rosso (see recipe below).  Simmer for 2 minutes.  Plate pasta and place Pesto Rosso atop the pasta.  Add Pesto Rosso as needed for preferred taste.     

Pesto Rosso ingredients:
3 Tbsp. Parmesan cheese

2 cloves of garlic

20 basil leaves

olive oil

3 sun dried tomatoes

2 Tbsp. pine nuts

Put all the ingredients except the oil into the container of a food processor and grind all the ingredients together.  Add the oil in as needed with the processor on high speed. Add pesto to pasta to taste.