Blueberry and Goat Cheese Empanadas

I wanted to make something different for the boys to enjoy tonight. Josiah likes most things with strawberries, but I am about sick of strawberry everything, so I went with a blueberry option. And in honor of Millie and Billy we went with a goat cheese empanada for the win.

This was super easy to make and absolutely delicious to taste.

Ingredients

• 2 cups blueberries
• goat cheese
• 1 T flour
• 1 T brown sugar
• 1 t vanilla extract
• empanada dough (freezer section in grocer)
• egg
• table sugar

Steps

1. defrost empanada shells
2. preheat oven to 400
3. pour blueberries in a bowl and add flour, brown sugar, and vanilla extract and mix it up
4. lay out empanada shells and use water to keep them sticky
5. place a spoon of goat cheese and a spoon or two of blueberry mixture in shell
6. fold shell over
7. use a wet fork to press edges tight
8. poke holes in top
9. use egg mixed with water to wash the top of the shell
10. sprinkle table sugar over nadas
11. bake for 15-20 mins or until browned shell
12. enjoy!

The Ultimate Chopped Greek Salad

So my sister and I have been obsessing over this chopped greek salad at our local greek eatery (Hungry Greek) and after repeating visits there much this month I decided to try and replicate it. We absolutely loved our version - though next time I would see if I can buy their dressing or try to make my own. Also would add the beets next time that we forgot this time.

• iceburg lettuce
• romaine lettuce
• tomato
• feta 
• 1/2 red onion
• 1 cucumber
• kalamata olives
• black olives
• chopped beets (optional)
• chopped gyro meat (optional)
• potato salad (we got a small container from Publix deli)
• greek dressing ( I just got marie's greek vinaigrette but next time I would pay more attention to this and possibly buy a bottle from the local greek restaurant)
• pita (who eats salad without bread?)

1. Wash, peel and chop the cucumber
2. Wash and Chop the lettuce, tomato, feta, onion, and olives
3. Place the potato salad at the bottom of a large bowl
4. Mix together lettuce, tomato, cuke, onion, and olives in the bowl
5. Sprinkle feta on the top
6. Pour dressing over the top
7. Mix it all up
8. Toast the flatbread or pita for the side
9. Serve and Enjoy!

PS Make sure you put the collossal olives on your fingers and eat some like that 

Mint Chocolate Chip Frozen Yogurt

The fact that my husband has a sweet tooth will not be a surprise to my readers, as is my continuous search for healthier alternatives for him. Perhaps his greatest temptation is Ice Cream. His two favorite flavors are Mint Chocolate Chip and Peanut Butter Anything. I decided to knock one of those out this week with an idea I found on Pinterest.

• 18oz chocolate chunk vanilla low fat chobani greek yogurt
• 1/4 teaspoon peppermint extract
• 5 drops green food coloring

1. Mix all ingredients together until all yogurt is evenly green
2. Put plastic cap back on and place in freezer
3. Freeze for 3-4 hours or until appropriately frozen
4. If frozen overnight place in fridge for an hour to soften
5. When you serve, mix it up a bit so its not icey but smooth
6. Enjoy
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   

Spaghetti with Red Lentil Sauce

• 1 package whole wheat spaghetti
• 2t brown mustard seeds
• 1C veggie broth
• 1/2 red onion
• 3/4 cup red lentil beans
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 6T lemon juice
• 1/2 bag fresh spinach
• 2 cans of artichoke hearts quartered

1. cook pasta and set aside to drain
2. heat mustard seeds over medium heat until they pop
3. add water, broth, onion, lentils, garlic carefully to pot
4. bring to boil
5. lower heat to simmer at low-med heat until lentils separate and turn mushy (15mins)
6. remove from heat
7. add lemon juice and stir until it is well blended
8. add artichokes to sauce and stir
9. add pasta to sauce and stir well
10. add spinach
11. serve and enjoy :)

Spicy Pepper Tofu Pasta

This was a dish that we were not ready for. Though I am told I have a mouth of steel, this was too much for me. Though I will share with you, if you can handle it, though I advise less black pepper. Note to self, next time use less black pepper.

• tofu
• spray butter
• shallots
• onions
• fresh red chiles
• garlic cloves
• fresh ginger
• soy sauce
• sweet soy sauce
• splenda
• crushed black pepper
• green onions
• Feta
• whole wheat pasta

1. cut tofu into cubes
2. saute the tofu in 1T evoo, turning until all sides are cooked
3. take them out and sit them in a bowl with papertowel at the bottom
4. coat pan with spray cholesterol free butter, or pam
5. cook the shallots, onions, chiles, garlic and ginger for about 15 minutes until the shallots are shiny
6. add the soy sauces and splenda and stir
7. add the crushed black pepper and stir
8. add tofu back to warm it for a bit
9. stir in green peppers
10. Serve over pasta, crumble feta over the top

Vegetarian Moussaka

I have been drooling over the idea of making a moussaka for the past few weeks. I have been making all kinds of things with eggplants lately and figured this would be a fun new twist. I found a recipe and modified it for my purposes. It was amaaazing. We can't wait to have leftovers for lunch tomorrow. This makes enough for a full tray.






Ingredients:

• 2 eggplants, peeled, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
• 2 baking potatoes, cooked, peeled, sliced in 1/2 inch slices
• boca crumbles
• 1 onion
• 4 garlic cloves
• veggie broth
• parsley
• cinnamon
• cajun spice
• salt
• pepper
• evoo
• splenda
• tomato puree
• tomato paste
• breadcrumbs
• egg whites
• parmesan cheese
• 1 stick of butter
• 1/2 C flour
• 2 cups milk
• pinch of nutmeg

1. Dip eggplant slices in egg, coat in breadcrumbs, and place on baking pan
2. Bake slices at 400 for 20-30mins
3. Lower the oven to 350
4. Saute crumbles, onions, garlic in evoo in pan
5. After cooking properly, add tomato paste, puree, broth, spices, sugar
6. Melt butter over stove, slowly wisk flour in, add milk slowly
7. Simmer and stir until it thickens
8. Stir in 4 eggwhites and a pinch of nutmeg
9. Return to heat and stir until it thickens
10. Lightly grease the baking pan
11. Sprinkle the pan with breadcrumbs
12. Coat first layer with potatoes
13. Layer eggplant over the potato layer
14. Add meat sauce over the eggplant layer & Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese
15. Layer another eggplant coat & Sprinkle with 1/3 of the cheese 
16. Pour the thickened béchamel sauce over the top layer, allowing it to drip down the edges, smooth it out
17. Cover with the rest of the parmesan
18. Bake at 350 for 35-45 minutes or until the sauce is browned on top
19. Let it sit and cool for 10-15 minutes
20. Enjoy!

Linda's Greek Pasta

This is a family favorite. My mom's friend Linda Larsen visited us on our sailboat for a week and made this for us. I am not sure if she knows my family often has what we can Linda's Pasta or that we even call it that. Anyhow its yummy, quick to make, great hot or cold, tastes even better after a day or two, and is a staple food in all our houses now.

Ingredients

• pasta (we go with any pasta that has a hole in it to get yummies stuck in - and always whole wheat)
• two packages of frozen spinach
• plum tomatoes
• pine nuts (can be left out if you like but bring a nice crunch)
• 2 packages of feta cheese
• garlic
• evoo

Steps

1. We start by microwaving the spinach to defrost it, and then straining the water out of it by putting it into a cloth and compressing.
2. Then we go about boiling the pasta in water, draining, and returning to the pot with some evoo
3. In a pan saute garlic, pine nuts, spinach, salt, pepper and spices to your liking, then tomatoes in that order.
4. Then we put the spinach mixture into pot with pasta, mixing well.
5. Slowly crumble feta into pasta mixture and serve.
6. Enjoy!

Pita Chips

So this may be super obvious, but I had never thought about it until recently. You see my favorite snack on the planet is Hummus and Pita. Particularly roasted red pepper sabra hummus on flat bread. However, to get my husband to enjoy this snack rather than his suggestion (always ice cream) we have to eat our hummus on pita chips. My first problem with this is that I always assume the more you do to a food the unhealthier it often becomes. My second problem with this is that a bag of pita chips costs somewhere between $3 and $4 and a pack of pita/flat bread (that goes further) is $1-$2.  I recently found this very obvious solution.

Ingredients:

• pita bread (of any sort - we prefer whole wheat)
• evoo
• spices of your choosing (i like red pepper or pepper or cinnamon)

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 300
2. Rip/Cut pita into pieces the size you want to dip with
3. Brush the pita with evoo
4. Cook in the oven 10-20 minutes depending on your choice of crunchiness
5. Voila pita chips :)