Spinach and Ricotta Calzones

These were really easy and good. I got the original recipe from here, but I changed/added a few spices from the original. Also, you could easily omit the meat from the recipe and make it vegetarian. I served mine with marinara on the side and roasted asparagus.
Ingredients
1 cup part-skim ricotta
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon dried basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1 (10-ounce) package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry
1/2 cup cut up cooked ham, sausage, chicken, or ground beef
6 oil-packed sun-dried tomato halves, drained and chopped
1 (13.8-ounce) can refrigerated pizza crust dough or homemade
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°.

Combine first 9 ingredients.

Divide dough evenly into 5 pieces; pat each dough piece into a 5-inch circle. Spoon about 1/2 cup spinach mixture onto half of each circle, leaving a 1/2-inch border. Fold dough over filling until edges almost meet. Bring bottom edge over top edge; crimp edges of dough with fingers to form a rim. Place calzones on a baking sheet coated with cooking spray. Bake at 400° for 14 minutes or until browned.

Sweet and Spicy Chicken

I found this recipe off another blog, but I altered it just a little. It was originally called Bourbon chicken, but it doesn't have any Bourbon in it, so I decided to rename it! :)

Ingredients
2 lbs boneless chicken breasts cut into bite-size pieces
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1-2 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove crushed
1/4 teaspoon ginger
3/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 cup orange/apple juice
1/4 cup agave nector or brown sugar
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup soy sauce


I usually prepare this the night before and let it marinade, but the recipe will work if you don't let it sit overnight. Cut the chicken into bite sized pieces and then mix all of the ingredients below the olive oil together and pour into a ziploc bag and add the chicken (you can make a double batch so you have one for later and put it in the freezer!) .

The next day remove chicken from marinade, but reserve the marinade. Cook chicken in olive oil until done. Remove chicken from pan and set aside. Add reserved marinade plus cornstarch to the same pan. Once this mixture comes to a simmer add the chicken back in. Bring to a hard boil, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve over rice. I also served this with steamed broccoli and carrots

Dark Chocolate and Oat Clusters

This is a recipe I found online from Health Magazine. Dark chocolate is rich in heart-healthy antioxidants, oats are filled with fiber, and peanut butter gives you a delicious dose of protein. I told Todd they were "no bake" cookies. He thought they were good, but he is not a big oatmeal kind of guy. He also informed me that his mom makes the BEST "no bake" cookies! I guess I must get that recipe! Regardless, this satisfied my urge to make cookies and eat lots of cookie dough/cookies so I was happy!

Ingredients
2 tablespoons peanut butter
2 tablespoons 1% low-fat milk
1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
Preparation

Place peanut butter, milk, and semisweet chocolate chips in a saucepan; cook over low heat until chips melt (about 3 minutes). Stir in oats; remove from heat. With a spoon or melon baller, drop 8 ball-shaped portions on a wax paper-lined baking sheet; let set in refrigerator 10 minutes before serving.

4 servings (2 clusters each)
CALORIES 160
FAT 8g (sat 3g, mono 3.5g, poly 1.5g)
PROTEIN 5g
CARBOHYDRATE 19g
FIBER 3g
CHOLESTEROL 0.0mg
IRON 0.0mg
SODIUM 40mg
CALCIUM 0.0mg

Balsamic & White Wine Roasted Vegetable Pasta

I have enjoyed following this blog lately and found this post that looked so good. I made it for dinner tonight and we all really enjoyed it.

Ingredients:
1 head of broccoli(cut into florets)
1 lbs brussels sprouts(halved)
1/2 t garlic powder
1/2 t montreal seasonings
olive oil
1/2 of a yellow onion, chopped
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 T butter
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 cup white wine
1/2 cup sundried tomatoes, chopped
12 oz penne pasta, cooked

Preheat oven to 425. Place brussels sprouts on baking sheet and toss with a little olive oil and the garlic powder. Roast for 30 minutes, turning after 15 minutes. Place the broccoli florets on another baking sheet and toss with olive oil and montreal seasoning. Add to the oven when you are turning the brussels sprouts and roast for 15 minutes. So the brussels sprouts end up roasting for 30 and the broccoli for 15. While the veggies are roasting cook the onions until soft( about 5 minutes) and then add the garlic. Cook for a couple of minutes and then add the wine, balsamic, and butter. Simmer and reduce. Add roasted veggies, sundried tomatoes to wine sauce and toss with cooked penne. Sprinkle with parmesan and enjoy!

Sour cream muffins with poppy seed streusel

I came across this recipe last night and realized I had all the ingredients on hand. So this morning James and I made them since we had a lazy snow day today. They were also the perfect thing to deliver to our neighbors for shoveling our driveway. :)
James and Todd gave them 2 thumbs up! Todd asked, "When can you make these again?" I subbed yogurt for the sour cream and I bet you could use lemon rind rather than orange and that would be good too!


Sour cream muffins with poppy seed streusel, by Cooking Light
Ingredients
Streusel:
3 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon butter, melted
1 teaspoon poppy seeds
Muffins:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free buttermilk
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 tablespoon grated orange rind
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 (8-ounce) container reduced-fat sour cream
Cooking spray
Preparation
Preheat oven to 375°.

To prepare streusel, combine first 4 ingredients in a small bowl; set aside.

To prepare muffins, lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine 2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl, stirring with a whisk. Make a well in center of mixture. Combine buttermilk and remaining ingredients except cooking spray in a small bowl; add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Spoon batter into 15 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Sprinkle streusel evenly over batter. Bake at 375° for 18 minutes or until golden brown. Remove muffins from pans immediately; place on a wire rack.

Caramelized Onion & BBQ Quesadillas

This is one of our favorite uses for leftover chicken or shredded beef.
Ingredients:
1 onion, sliced
your favorite bbq sauce. We like Sweet baby Rays with these.
leftover meat, chicken or shredded beef
shredded cheese of your choice
whole wheat tortillas

The most time consuming part of this recipe is caramelizing onions which takes about 25-30 minutes. I start out with a little olive oil in a skillet at med-high heat. Add the onions and stir frequently. As they start to caramelize you can turn down the heat and add a little honey/sugar to increase the caramelization. Once they are done, set aside and let cool for a few minutes. You can even make these ahead and store in the fridge for a few days in advance.

Now it is time to build your quesadilla. Start with a tablespoon of bbq sauce. Then add your meat, cheese and caramelized onions. Cook in a skillet or quesadilla maker.

Coconut Bread

This recipe is from Tyler Florence. It yields 1 loaf.

Ingredients
1/2 cup butter, melted
3 cups flour
1 T baking powder
1 t salt
1 t ground cinnamon
1 cup brown sugar
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 t vanilla
zest of 1 lemon, finely grated
1 1/2 cups coconut milk
1 1/2 cups shredded coconut, toasted

Preheat oven to 350. Toast the coconut on a cookie sheet for 15 minutes stirring frequently for even browning. Let cool.

Increase oven temp to 375. In one bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. In another bowl combine melted butter, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and lemon zest. Pour in coconut milk and whisk together. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold together. Gently folded in the toasted coconut. Pour into greased loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes.