Pesto Zucchini Noodles

I adapted this recipe from the Whole 30 recipe book. I am obsessed with my new Spiralizer! We are making noodles out of all kinds of vegetables!

Ingredients:
1/4 cup raw pine nuts
1/4 cup walnuts
7-10 organic basil leaves
2 handfuls of organic spinach
3 cloves of garlic
juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 cup olive oil
salt and pepper to taste

1-2 zucchini spiralized
grape tomatoes sliced (as many as you like)

Directions:

For the Pesto: Heat a dry skillet to med-high heat. Add walnuts and pine nuts and toast for 3-5 mins. Add to a food processor, pulse until ground. Add the garlic and pulse to combine. Add the basil and spinach and pulse until chopped. Add the lemon juice and pulse to combine. Keep the processor on as you drizzle in the olive oil. Finally add salt and pepper to taste, pulse a few more times. (This makes about a 1.5 cups)

Spiralize a large zucchini and put in a bowl. Add a few spoonfuls of the pesto to the "zoodles" and stir to combine, add more pesto to suit your tastes. Toss in grape tomatoes and serve.
Options would be to top this with Parmesan cheese, grilled chicken, steak or fish. Enjoy!

Greek Chickpea Salad

This is a simple summer salad that is super delicious and super easy. I love making it on a Monday and snacking on it all week!

Ingredients:
1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
1 cup natural black olives
1 cup tomatoes, diced
1/2 English cucumber, chopped
3-4 T fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 red onion, diced
1/4 cup feta cheese
1 t olive oil
1 T red wine vinegar
juice of 1 lemon
Salt and Pepper to taste


Directions:
Mix all ingredients in a serving dish and refrigerate for 1 hour. So easy and so delicious!

Veggie Tacos

We can just call tonight Meatless Monday. I really wanted to make these veggie tacos and am so glad I did!
They were awesome, my kids loved them, my husband ate them and said he liked them but that he definitely missed the 'meat', shocking right? So if you make these for someone who might really miss the meat, the veggie mixture would be a great topping on a cilantro-lime marinated flank steak. The veggie mixture would also be great in a quesadilla, on top of a grilled chicken salad or just eat it on a chip, it's yum! And if you can chop all your veggies early in the day then you can make this whole meal in about 15 minutes top.

Ingredients:

2 red bell peppers, diced

2 zucchini, diced

1 red onion, diced

2 ears of corn, kernels removed

1 can black beans, rinsed and drained

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 lime, juiced

1 T fresh cilantro, chopped

2 T olive oil

1 t salt

fresh ground black pepper

1/4 cup crumbled feta

8-10 corn tortillas

Optional toppings: 

Avocado

Sour Cream

Salsa

Fresh Cilantro

Squeeze of lime

Directions:

Heat oil in a skillet, add the veggies at once, (the bell peppers, zucchini, onion, garlic and corn) saute for about 5 minutes. Add salt, pepper, lime juice and cilantro. Stir to combine then add the black beans. Cook for about 5 minutes. Taste your veggie mix and adjust the seasoning as needed. Heat/warm the corn tortillas, add 1/3 cup of the veggie mixture sprinkle the top with feta cheese. 

Mmmm fresh corn! I'm getting so excited for summer veggies!

Saute the veggies then throw in the beans.

Warm the tortillas then fill em'

My little vegetarian was a happy happy camper with a mouth full of avocado!

Weight Watcher Friends: This recipe makes about 7 cups of veggie mix. Each cup of veggie mix has 2 points. My corn tortillas are 1 point each. I used about 1/3 cup of mix per taco so for 3 tacos it would be 5 points! But that's without any extra toppings, so just make your 3 tacos then add points for your toppings. Enjoy!

Zero-Point Vegetable Soup

I have been a Weight Watcher for over 10 years and have seen many recipes for 0-point Vegetable soup. I have made it so many times. I would always make it a little bit different but over the years I have perfected my recipe. One of the reasons I love it is because it is healthy, warm, hearty and filling without many points/calories. Before I was Lifetime I would make this on Sundays a couple of weeks during the month and snack on it when I was hungry. Now that I am Lifetime I just make it randomly when I am craving it. For those of you who aren't familiar with Weight Watchers just ignore this paragraph.

I have found that when I make too much of it I end up throwing it away, I know you can freeze it but I don't like it after it's been frozen. So for me this is the perfect portion. Also I do not like mushy vegetables which is why I give so many time lines and the order to the directions of this recipe. Once the vegetables get too soft I won't eat it.

Ingredients:
3/4 cup onion, diced
3/4 cup carrots, diced
1 small red potato, diced
2 cloves fresh garlic
1 & half cartons of Chicken Stock (48 oz)
1 14oz can diced tomatoes
1 ear fresh corn, kernels removed
1/2 cup peas (frozen)
1/2 cup baby Lima beans (frozen)
1 cup green beans (frozen)
1 zucchini, sliced
1 cup of cabbage, sliced thinly
2 t fresh lemon juice
1 t salt
fresh cracked pepper to taste
1 T fresh chopped parsley
1 t olive oil

Directions:
Heat a large pot over med-high heat, add the oil. Next add the onions, carrots and potatoes and cook for about 5 minutes then add the garlic allowing the vegetables to sweat and soften. Turn the heat to high and add the chicken stock, stirring and scraping the bits of vegetables off the bottom of the pot, cook on high for 10 minutes to allow the soup to simmer. Next add the tomatoes, corn, peas, Lima beans and green beans. Simmer for about 5 minutes then add salt, pepper, lemon juice and parsley. About 5 minutes prior to serving add the zucchini. At this point, taste and adjust salt, pepper as needed. To keep the cabbage crunchy I add the cabbage to the bowls before I ladle in the soup.

Diced veggies ready for the soup!

I like  crunchy cabbage so I finally found that this method keeps the cabbage from getting soggy.

Top the soup with more fresh parsley and a squeeze of fresh lemon for a fresh taste! My husband and kids like to melt mozzerella cheese over the top. 

Tomato Vegetable Bake

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday and New Year! I know I have been completely MIA but I have had my hands super full with the opening our new yoga studio, Breathe Yoga. (check us out at www.breathyogaatlanta.com) like us on Facebook for a free class, yippee for free yoga!

I Feel like all have done over the holiday is cook but I haven't really made anything new, mostly just some of my family's favorites and some holiday staples. But I did make this yummy vegetable casserole for Christmas dinner and it was so delicious I am going to make it again soon! I first had it a girls night out dinner my friend Laura made it and I really could not stop eating it, thank God it was just veggies because I probably had four helpings! When she told me it was a Giada De Laurentiis recipe I was really excited because I don't make many of her recipes but I do like a lot that she cooks. So here's my version, hope you like it!

Ingredients:

• 1 medium potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 1 red bell pepper, seeded and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 2 carrots, peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 red onion, thinly sliced into rings
• 1 large zucchini or 2 small, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch-thick pieces
• Salt and pepper
• 2 large ripe tomatoes, cut crosswise into 1/4-inch thick slices
• 1/3 cup grated Parmesan
• 2 tablespoons Panko Breadcrumbs

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Toss the potato, sweet potato, bell pepper, carrots, and 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a 13 by 9 by 2-inch baking dish to coat. Sprinkle with salt and pepper and toss until coated. Spread vegetables evenly over the bottom of the pan. Next arrange the onion slices evenly over the vegetable mixture. Arrange the zucchini over the onion. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Finally arrange the tomato slices over the zucchini.

Stir the Parmesan and bread crumbs in a small bowl to blend. Sprinkle the Parmesan bread crumbs over the vegetables in the baking dish. Drizzle with the last tablespoon of olive oil.

Bake uncovered until the vegetables are tender, and the topping is golden brown, about 35 minutes. 

It is as easy as layering your veggies!

Topping with tomatoes...

Then adding parm, mmmm....parm!

I could eat this everyday!

Weight Watcher Friends: This serves 8 people and each serving has 4 points.

Source: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/giada-de-laurentiis/tomato-vegetable-casserole-recipe/index.html

Carnival Squash

Have you ever seen this funky looking guy in your grocery store? Well I always thought this was one of those "just for decoration" fall time items. I did not know they were full of such yumminess! If you like acorn squash then you will LOVE this! There are several ways to make it but I tried this way first....

Ingredients:
1 carnival squash
1 t olive oil
1/4 cup water
1 t butter
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

Heat the oven to 375 degrees. Cut the squash right down the middle. Clean out the seeds with a spoon and discard. In an oven-proof dish add 1 teaspoon of olive oil and spread around so it covers the bottom of dish. Place the squash flesh side down in dish, add 1/4 cup water. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven add the butter, salt and pepper and serve.

It's so pretty!

Such an interesting veggie...

Does not look so appetizing here, smells just like a pumpkin

Cut side down and bake for 30 minutes

 Yum, you can eat it right out of the skin.

Really is very similar to acorn squash, highly recommend it!

Weight Watcher Friends: This serves two and has 1 point per serving.

Bok Choy

This is a favorite side dish in our house when we have Asian style dinners which are quite common around here lately. The only problem I find is getting fresh, crisp bok choy, they have it at the grocery store often, it's just usually wilted and a little floppy which I don't like. However I have asked the produce man at Publix and he has gone to the back and gotten me a fresher bunch. I almost always buy it when I see it looking good. It takes less than 5 minutes to prepare from start to finish and is loaded with nutrients! Honestly it is practically calorie free, I think it has 13 calories per serving and chock full of vitamins. If you want to read about it's health benefits, click here. I also love baby bok choy but have to go to a specialty grocery store for that so I hardly ever make it but you can always find regular bok choy at Publix or Kroger.

Ingredients:
Bok Choy, 1 bunch
2 T soy sauce ( I use Tamari, gluten free)
1 T canola, oil

Directions:
Clean and chop the bok choy. Heat a large skillet or wok to high heat, add oil. Then add the boy choy and saute for 2-3 minutes, add the soy sauce. Toss to combine and serve when it's hot and still crunchy.

This is not my picture, I just found it online, I didn't think to blog this until after I had already chopped mine, but it looked exactly like this :)

All chopped up and ready to cook!

Add the soy sauce..

Then enjoy! So easy and super scrumptious!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes 4 half cup servings at 0 points! So enjoy!

Gazpacho

I love summertime for all the yummy veggies we grow right out of our garden. My mom's garden is so over-run with delicious cucumbers that we need to figure out something to do with them! My mom makes this and it is wonderful, I took her basic recipe and added my own touches.  My daughter and I can't stop eating this one!


 Ingredients:
4 ripe tomatoes
3 cucumbers, unpeeled
1/2 red onion
1 bell pepper, any color
1 shallot
3 cloves garlic
1 handful fresh parsley
2 cup tomato juice (I used V8)
Juice of a lime
1/4 cup vinegar (red or white wine)
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 t salt
Fresh cracked pepper to taste


Directions:
Roughly chop vegetables, (tomatoes, cucumbers, onion, shallot, garlic, bell pepper and parsley) in large pieces. Add them to your food processor and pulse so they are combined but not puréed. (I like it a little bit chunky, for the texture otherwise I think I would feel like I was just drinking tomato juice!) This may take a couple of rounds depending on the size of your food processor. Next transfer the vegetable mix to a bowl then add the tomato juice, lime juice, both vinegars, salt and pepper. If I wasn't going to be serving this to my kids then I would have added a jalapeno pepper but since I knew my 4 year old daughter was going to devour this one i didn't. place in the fridge and chill for at least 3 hours. This is best served the next day!

I love having homegrown vegetables available!

I took the seeds out of the cucumbers because they were so big and rough chopped the veggies

Throw them in the processor, how easy is that??

It looks frothy at first but once it chills and settles down it looks much prettier

Like this! Yummy!

Weight Watcher Friends: This makes about 7 cups of soup, each cup has 1 point! Actually individually there are 2 points in the whole recipe but when I put them all in on the point builder on the WW site it says it has 1 point per serving, regardless whether it has 0 or 1 points, eat up it's super healthy  and delicious! I love making weight watchers 0-point soup in the winter, so this is my summer version!!

Grilled Vegetable Salad with Cilantro-Lime Vinaigrette

Thanks goodness this is the last week of weeknight swim team! I feel like I haven't been able to feed my family as well as usual and it makes me crazy! Walking in the door at 6:15pm on a school night, having to feed and bathe two kids does not lend itself to eating well and especially not to blogging. This is what I wanted to post for Cinco de Mayo but since I hurt my back on May 3rd, I never got it together. I made this last weekend and it was so good. I got the idea from Pinterest and had pinned it on my recipe board but knew I could slim it down a bit without taking away from taste and flavor and I PROMISE you won't miss those extra calories with my version! I know I always rant and rave about the recipes I post but this one is a must-try. It really is fabulous, Enjoy!!!

Salad Ingredients:
2 ears Corn (yellow or white)
1 avocado, diced
2 cups tomatoes, halved
1/2  red onion, sliced thin
1/4 cup feta, crumbled
1 English cucumber, quartered
1/2 lime, juiced

Cilantro Vinaigrette Ingredients:

2 T Olive oil
2 T white wine vinegar
1 t. Garlic powder
2 T. Fresh cilantro, minced
Salt and fresh ground pepper to taste

Directions:
Grill the corn. Just leave the corn in the husks and throw it on a hot grill, turning every 10 minutes, four turns. Let cool about 5-10 minutes, then remove the husks and discard. Using a sharp knife remove the kernels from the cobs. Add to a larger bowl then add avocados, tomatoes, red onion, cucumber and squeeze the 1/2 lime over the veggies and avocados. Set aside until ready to serve.

To make the dressing whisk the olive oil and vinegar, then add garlic powder, cilantro, salt and pepper. Whisk well and drizzled over the salad, gently toss and top with feta and serve.

My number one way to eat corn!

It's so sweet and delicious doesn't even need salt or butter!

With these yummy ingredients, how could this not be good?!

Such a perfect marriage of flavors!

Look beautiful and tastes even better!

Weight Watcher Friends: This one makes 5 servings and each has 5 points. Not a low point side dish but a super healthy one that you can feel great about eating!!
Source: The Authentic Suburban Gourmet

Coconut-Almond Macaroons

A dessert post, shocking, I know! I am not a huge macaroon person, my Grammy loved them, she died a month ago at the age of 90. I have been thinking of her a lot lately and she would have loved for me to bring these to her. I was flipping through the new Rachel Ray magazine and came across this and felt compelled to make them. It didn't hurt that they had such few ingredients and the recipe seemed like a cinch. Plus anytime I can find a gluten free recipe that is a dessert I am all in :) These were so easy it was ridiculous and my kids loved them!

My grandparents June and Burt Rose, I miss them so much!

Ingredients:
3 Egg Whites
1/4 t salt
1/4 cup sugar
2 cups Sweetened Coconut(recipe calls for shredded, I used shaved)
1 cup sliced almonds

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together egg whites and salt. Gradually add sugar continuing to whisk until thick and fluffy, about 2 minutes. I used my standing mixer for this with the paddle attachment on high and it worked great! Next fold in coconut and almonds. Drop rounded tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet and bake for 16-20 minutes. They burn fast so watch carefully after 16 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool for 1 minute before moving to a cooling rack.

My sweet boy was helping me in the kitchen today and he let me take his picture, big deal for me!

Adding the sugar here, not sure why but I just loved this picture, but I do.

After beating the egg whites, salt and sugar it should look like this.

After being folded together.

Little mounds of sweetness, now quick get them in the oven, but don't forget them!!!

They were great on day one and two but by day three they got chewy so eat them up!

Weight Watcher Friends: This recipe makes 20-22 macaroons they are 2 points a piece. I wish you luck eating just one :)

Source: Rachel Ray Magazine