Roasted Cauliflower

Another healthy, yummy vegetable:) Oh, and EASY!!

• 5 to 6 cups cauliflower florets, about 1 1/2 inches in diameter (from 1 medium cauliflower)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sliced garlic
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper

optional:

• 2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
• Chopped chives, for garnish

Preheat the oven to 500°F.

Place the cauliflower florets in a large saute pan or a roasting pan. Drizzle the olive oil over the cauliflower, and season with the garlic, lemon juice, salt and pepper. Place the saute/roasting pan in the oven and cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure even roasting.

optional:

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the Parmesan. Garnish with chopped chives and serve immediately while still warm.

Afternoon Snack with My Picky Little Man!

Which picky little man......Logan, of course! Its hard to find things that Logan gets excited about helping with in the kitchen, but he thought this sounded pretty good!

Chocolate and Sprinkle Bananas

3 large bananas

1c chocolate chips

sprinkles

wax paper

popsicle sticks

Peel and cut bananas into halves. Insert popsicle sticks into the cut end. Melt chocolate chips int he microwave for 30 sec on High. Stir and repeat until chips are melted. Brush melted chocolate over bananas.

Add sprinkles!

YUM!! Logan picked the Jayhawk colored sprinkles:)

*I forgot to get popsicle sticks so we skipped them. A little messy, but it worked!

Making Vegetables Yummy!!

We struggle with vegetables. Most of the time if I do anything I put a steam in the bag package of vegetables in the microwave and call it good. So, I'm trying to find easy, healthy things to do with veggies:) These two recipes were both good and easy!!

• HONEY ROASTED CARROTS
• 
  
• 3 to 4 bunches (depending on size) fresh carrots, peeled
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons agave nectar or honey
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Cut the carrots into thirds, crosswise on a sharp diagonal.

Bring salted water to a boil in a large pot fitted with a steamer basket. Let carrots steam until just tender, about 5 minutes. Drain and place in a bowl. Toss with the oil, agave nectar, salt and pepper.

Place the carrots on a baking sheet in a single layer and bake for 25 minutes. Loosen them from the baking sheet with a spatula. Adjust the seasonings and remove to a serving bowl.

Steamed Broccoli with Olive Oil, Garlic, and Lemon

1 small bunch broccoli (about 3/4 pound)

1 garlic clove

1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Cut broccoli into 2-inch florets.

In a steamer set over boiling water steam broccoli, covered, until crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes.

While broccoli is steaming, finely chop garlic and in a small skillet combine with oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Heat garlic mixture over moderate heat until garlic is fragrant.

In a bowl toss broccoli with garlic mixture.

17 Day Diet

Any Dr Phil or The Doctors fans know what I'm talking about. They are having a 17 Day Diet challenge. Intrigued I of course bought the book:) It sounds like how I'm pretty sure I'm supposed to be eating. So I suggested that Chris and I do this together as he isn't seeing the results from P90X that he did last time. Hopefully I'll be healthier and he'll see more of the results he wants. Check out his take on the situation at http://blossoming-apathy.blogspot.com/

It starts with mainly lean proteins and veggies with a little fruit and yogurt for the first 17 days. So, as we get creative with our veggies, tuna, eggs and chicken I'll post anything exciting we come up with. Chris started his diet today as he texted me a picutre of his hard-boiled egg (mostly whites) with a little tobasco, apple and water. I'll start tomorrow- for real! I had to eat some of the food in the fridge that isn't on the plan for the next 17 days:) Sooooooo goodbye cheese, milk, deli meat, potatoes, corn, etc............

Raspberry Pecan Blondies

Even more exciting than this delicious dessert is the pan! The "Edge Brownie Pan"!!!! Now we have less fights over the edges- and I don't mean the kids, I'm talking about Chris and I fighting over edges:)

If you don't have the pan, this recipe should work in a 9x13 pan.

2c whole wheat flour

1t baking powder

1/4t baking soda

1/2t salt

1/4t nutmeg

12T unsalted butter, room temperature

2c brown sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2t vanilla extract

1T lemon zest

1c pecans coarsely choppes

1c raspberries (I used blackberries because the grocery didn't have any raspberries)

Preheat oven to 350°. Lightly spray pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a bowl.

In a lg bowl beat the butter and brown sugar with an electric mixer until light and fluffy. Add each of the eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Then add the vanilla and lemon zest. Add the dry ingredients and beat until just combined. Stir in the pecans.

Spread the dough in the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of the dough with the berries.

Bake for 40-45min or until the top is golden and a toothpick inserted into it comes out clean. Cool the blondies completely in the pan.

Pork Pozole

1 can (15oz) yellow or white hominy, drained

1 can (14.5oz) mexican style diced tomatoes

2 can (10oz) mild green enchilada sauce

1 lg onion, chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

2t cumin

1 1/2 lbs boneless pork loin

1/2c cilantro, chopped

1T lime juice

baked tortilla chips

diced avacado and lime wedges

Combine hominy, tomatoes, enchilada sauce, onion, garlic and cumin in 4qt crock pot. Top with pork, spooning hominy mixture over the meat. Cover and cook on HIGH 2-2 1/2 hours.

Shred meat with two forks. Add cilantro and lime juice to the crock pot. Stir well. Serve with tortilla chips, avacado slices and lime wedges.

**My pork was no where near done after 3 hrs so I turned it down to LOW and cooked it for another 4 hrs.

**We love cilantro so I put in 1/4-1/2 c at the beginning of cooking also

Slim-Style Hummus

1 (15 oz) can chickpeas, rinsed and drained

1/2c nonfat Greek yogurt

juice of 1 lemon

1 clove garlic, minced

1T tahini

1/4t kosher salt

black pepper, to taste

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth:)