Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Delish!

Spinach Artichoke Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 (16 oz) homemade or store bought pizza dough
• 6-7 oz fresh spinach
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 tsp onion powder
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 4 oz provolone cheese (I1 cup. I used deli slices and chopped)
• 2 oz shredded low-moisture mozzarella cheese (1/2 cup)
• 2 oz finely shredded parmesan cheese (slightly packed 1/2 cup)
• 8-12 canned artichoke hearts, drained well and sliced into bite size pieces (don't use marinated)

Directions

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
• In a large saucepan, heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot, add spinach and saute just until wilted. Transfer to a layer of paper towels and gently press some of the excess liquid out.
• In a small saucepan, melt butter over medium heat and saute garlic until fragrant. Then while whisking add in flour and onion powder and cook 2 minutes, stirring constantly. Then while whisking slowly stir in milk and increase temperature to medium-high heat and cook, stirring constantly until mixture has thickened well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Remove from heat and finely chop spinach and stir into mixture.
• To assemble pizza, spread the spinach béchamel sauce (the white sauce) evenly over pizza crust, leaving the rim uncoated. Sprinkle provolone, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses and chopped artichokes on top. Bake 10 - 13 minutes until crust is golden brown.
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Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

These muffins are really yummy and the glaze is fabulous!
The original recipe called for ground cloves, but I didn't have any so I added about 1/4 tsp allspice instead.

Healthy Maple Glazed Pumpkin Muffins

Ingredients

For the Muffins

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon each cinnamon, and nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 2 cups pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 3 tablespoons milk
• 3 eggs

For the Glaze

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1 1/4 cups powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoons vanilla
• 1/4 - 1/2 tsp maple extract
• 1-2 tablespoons water

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Mix the dry ingredients (flours, baking soda, baking powder, cloves, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and sugar). In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients (pumpkin, oil, maple syrup, milk, and eggs).
2. Combine the dry and wet ingredients in a large mixing bowl, stirring until just combined. Fill each muffin tin almost to the top with a scoop of batter.  Move oven rack to middle (bottoms burn easily).
3. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until tops are puffy and spring back when you press them. Remove from the muffin pan and let cool before glazing.
4. For the glaze, melt butter in saucepan. Add powdered sugar and vanilla - it will be thick and sticky. Stir in maple extract. Add water until desired consistency is reached.

Recipe by Pinch of Yum at http://pinchofyum.com/healthy-maple-glazed-pumpkin-muffins

Turkey Focaccia Club

This sandwich is really good.  I just made focaccia bread using the recipe from the Buckle Family cookbook (go easy on the kosher salt) and it turned out really well.  I forgot to shell pecans so we didn't add those, but I'm sure they would have been tasty.

Turkey Focaccia Club

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup whole-berry cranberry sauce
• 2 tablespoons chopped pecans, toasted
• 2 tablespoons Dijon mustard
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 1 loaf (8 ounces) focaccia bread (if homemade then go a bit light on the kosher salt)
• 3 lettuce leaves
• 1/2 pound thinly sliced deli turkey
• 1/4 pound sliced Gouda cheese
• 8 slices tomato
• 6 bacon strips, cooked

Directions

• In a small bowl, mix the first five ingredients until blended. Using
• a long serrated knife, cut focaccia horizontally in half. Spread cut
• sides with mayonnaise mixture. Layer bottom half with lettuce,
• turkey, cheese, tomato and bacon; replace bread top. Cut into
• wedges. Yield: 4 servings.

Skillet Baked Ziti

Delish!

Skillet Baked Ziti

Ingredients

• 6 garlic cloves, minced
• 4 teaspoons olive oil
• ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
• salt and pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) can crushed tomatoes (I like Hunts)
• 3 cups water
• 12 ounces ziti pasta (3¾ cups)
• 4 ounces (1/2 cup) part-skim ricotta
• ½ cup heavy cream or half and half
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tbsp basil, dried
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
  

Instructions

1. Combine 1 tablespoon oil, garlic, pepper flakes, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in 12-inch skillet and saute over medium-high heat until fragrant, about 1 minute.
2. Add crushed tomatoes, water, ziti and 1/2 teaspoon salt.
3. Cover and cook, stirring often and adjusting heat as needed to maintain vigorous simmer, until ziti is almost tender, 15-18 minutes. Make sure you don't cook it too much. It will continue to cook as you go.
4. Meanwhile, combine ricotta, remaining 1 teaspoon oil, 1/8 teaspoon salt, and 1/8 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Set aside.
5. Stir in cream, Parmesan, and basil into the skillet and season with salt and pepper to taste.
6. Add dollops of the ricotta mixture with a spoon and sprinkle mozzarella evenly over ziti.
7. Cover the skillet with a lid and melt the cheese.

Chicken in Garlic Sour Cream

Jeff gives this 4 (out of 5) stars.  It's really easy, too, which is always a bonus!  And for those of you who don't like sour cream...don't worry.  This doesn't taste like sour cream.  Or Jeff would have hated it.  : )

Chicken in Garlic Sour Cream

Salt and pepper to taste
2 large potatoes, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 1/2 Tbsp. butter
1 1/2 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 1/2 to 3 pounds chicken pieces (legs, thighs, breasts, etc...whatever you like.) trimmed of excess fat
4 garlic cloves, minced
2 tsp. fresh chives, finely chopped
1/2 C. sour cream

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and add salt.  Add the potatoes and cook until tender, about 15 minutes.  Drain and set aside.
Meanwhile, put the butter and oil in a deep skillet, preferably non-stick.  Turn the heat to medium  and wait a minute or so, until the butter melts.  Add 3 or 4 pieces of the chicken, skin side down, and brown it well, rotating and turning the pieces as necessary, 20 to 25 minutes.  Repeat with remaining chicken.  Remove the chicken from the skillet and place on a tray in a warm oven.  Drain all but 3 tablespoons of the fat.  Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the garlic and chives.  Cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is softened and the mixture fragrant, about 1 minute.  Add the potatoes to the skillet and stir to coat with the herb mixture.  Turn the heat to low and add the sour cream.  Stir to coat; add the chicken and turn the chicken in the sauce until well coated.  Season with salt and pepper to taste, if necessary.  Simmer very gently for another 10 minutes until the chicken is cooked through.  Garnish with whole chives (optional) and serve. 

Recipe clipped out from the newspaper a long time ago. 
The original recipe called for 1/2 C. chopped fresh dill leaves, but Jeff would have gagged - he hates dill.  So of course I left it out.  I think it was quite tasty this way, but if you like dill you could give that a try!  : )

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

These are SO scrumptious!  They're my new favorite waffles!  The coconut oil makes them smell sooo yummy while they're cooking and it just adds a tiny coconutty aftertaste.  Delish.  We didn't have enough ground wheat flour so we did half white and half wheat - but I'm sure all wheat would be good too.  You can get away with 100% wheat when you're topping it with maple syrup haha.

Whole Wheat Buttermilk Waffles

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs
• 2 cups buttermilk
• 2 cups whole wheat flour (or half white, half wheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 Tbsp melted butter
• 3 Tbsp melted coconut oil
  

Method:
Beat eggs well, then add buttermilk to eggs and beat.  In a separate bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.  Stir into egg mixture.  Add butter and coconut oil and beat just until smooth.  Use a hot waffle iron.  Makes about 12 waffles, depending on the size of your waffle iron.

BLT Bow Tie Pasta Salad

This was a yummy salad and it was definitely different from the norm.  I think I left the chicken breast out, but I can't remember...

BLT Bow Tie Pasta Salad

Ingredients

• 3 1/2 cups uncooked bow tie pasta
• 6 cups torn romaine
• 1-1/2 cups cubed cooked chicken breast
• 1 medium tomato, diced
• 4 bacon strips, cooked and crumbled
• 1/3 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 1/4 cup water
• 1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
• 1-1/2 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1/4 teaspoon pepper

Directions

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Drain and rinse under
• cold water. In a large bowl, combine romaine, chicken, tomato, bacon
• and pasta.
• 
  
• In a small bowl, whisk mayonnaise, water, barbecue sauce, vinegar and
• pepper. Pour over salad; toss to coat. Serve immediately. Yield: 8
• servings. 

Simple and Delicious