Zucchini Pizza

I've been lowering my carbs as we get closer to pool season. Although I've been wondering if this cold weather is ever going away?!  I don't mind ditching bread and sugar but there is one thing I definitely still crave and that's PIZZA.  So how can I make this without the dough???  My solution is zucchini and it works great!  Low carb, low calorie ...bring on the sunshine & bikinis because my belly will be ready! (well, as long as I don't eat all the homemade peanut butter eggs I just made for Easter)

INGREDIENTS (for one serving)
1 small to medium zucchini
1/4 teaspoon Italian seasoning
3-4 teaspoons pizza sauce
1 mozzarella low fat string cheese stick, shredded (Or about 1 oz shredded mozzarella)
7 slices pepperoni cut in half

Preheat oven or toaster oven to 400'.  Slice the zucchini into three pieces lengthwise. Poke a few holes in the zucchini pieces with a fork and microwave for 1 1/2 minutes (90 seconds).  Remove from microwave and sprinkle with Italian seasoning. Top each slice with pizza sauce then cheese and finally pepperoni.  Bake for about 5-8 minutes or until cheese melts. Enjoy!

Shrimp Pizza

I really like shrimp and I really like pizza so it makes perfect sense that I like shrimp pizza.  This pizza tastes like garlic bread topped with shrimp....mmm!

INGREDIENTS

1 pizza shell (Boboli thin crust works well for this recipe)

3/4  lb raw shrimp, deviened and shelled, tails removed

4 oz mozarrella cheese, shredded

1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese

2 tablespoons ricotta or cream cheese

2 teaspoons olive oil

1 garlic clove, pressed

1 teaspoon Johnnys Garlic Seasoning 

1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning

tomato slices (optional)

Preheat oven to 400'.  Prep pizza shell according to package directions (some require to be baked a few minutes before adding toppings).  Chop shrimp and saute in the olive oil in a small frying pan with the garlic & Johnny's Seasoning.  Spread a thin layer of ricotta or cream cheese over the pizza shell. Remove any excess oil/water from the shrimp.  Evenly distribute the chopped shrimp on the pizza shell.  Top with mozarella and parmesan cheese.  Sprinkle with Italian seasoning and tomato slices if you wish.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the cheese is bubbly.  Drizzle with balsamic glaze (optional).

this one was made on flatbread

Stuffed Peppers

I felt like I broke some rules with this recipe.  Typically, stuffed peppers are made with green peppers and I used red & yellow.  Also, I sliced my peppers in half sideways versus cutting the tops off.  I really liked the results.  The red & yellow peppers have a much milder flavor than the green and cutting sideways made the presentation nicer and avoided the pepper tipping over when serving.  The ground turkey absorbed the flavor of the sausage and garlic making the stuffing taste like it was a big Italian meatball ... YUM!  I made a total of 12 peppers, baked 2 of them for dinner and divided the rest of them into containers and put them in the freezer for another day.  I love making extra when I cook and freezing it so the next time all the work is already done.  You can serve these alone or with a side of spaghetti.  Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
6 bell peppers (red, orange, yellow or green)
1/3 cup finely chopped onion
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp olive oil
1 cup cooked brown or white rice
1 lb Italian sausage (remove casings, cook & drain fat)
1 lb ground turkey
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp Italian seasoning
2 cups spaghetti sauce, divided
1 egg
4 oz mozzarella cheese
Makes 12 stuffed peppers

Prep Peppers ...Slice peppers sideways remove stems and white membrane.  Put in a pot, cover with water, add a dash of salt and bring to a boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from pot and rinse with cold water.

Prepare rice according to package instructions.  1/2 cup dry rice will make 1 cup cooked.

Remove casings from sausage and cook over low heat until browned. Drain fat.

ready for the freezer

Preheat oven to 350'.  Sauté onion & garlic in olive oil until the onion is softened.  Mix meats, seasonings, rice, egg, onion/garlic, and 1 cup of the spaghetti sauce in a large bowl.  Stuff pepper halves with the mixture.  Top with additional spaghetti sauce. Cover with foil and bake 50 minutes.  Remove foil, top with shredded cheese and bake an additional 5 minutes or until cheese melts.  The peppers may have juice around the bottom of the pan ... make sure to drain off before serving. Serve alone or with a side of spaghetti.

St. Patrick's Day Treats

Tomorrow is St. Patrick's Day so I thought I would share a few links to some festive desserts you can make to help celebrate. 

May your pockets be heavy, your heart be light. May good luck pursue you each day and night.

Slainte!

Irish Cupcakes

Peanut Butter Balls

Cake Mix Cookies

Crab Cakes

I've made crab cakes bunches of times.  I've tried recipes on the crabmeat container, the old bay container, online, cookbooks, etc. but they always turned out to be ... just okay.  Some had too much seasoning, some had too many breadcrumbs and so on.  Then I stumbled upon this seasoning packet in the seafood section of the grocery store.  LOVE IT!!!!   It makes the perfect crab cake!  Top it with my favorite spicy tartar sauce and your mouth will be in heaven.

INGREDIENTS
1 package of Old Bay brand Crab Cake Seasoning Mix
1/2 cup mayo
1 pound lump crab meat

Mix first two ingredients in a bowl.  Fold in crabmeat.  Shape into 4 large patties.  Bake in the oven at 350' for about 20 minutes.  Finish by broiling for the final 2-3 minutes until slightly browned.  Makes 4 servings.  Enjoy!

Spicy Tartar Sauce
1/4 cup mayo
1 tablespoon pickle relish
1 teaspoon siracha sauce

Mix and serve on top of a broiled crab cake.

Triple Chocolate Bundt Cake

You had me at "triple chocolate."  This cake turned out so good I had to share it with you. I made this for a dessert for Saturday night's dinner and its Tuesday and we're still enjoying chocolate cake that's just as delicious as it was on Saturday.  It is the opposite of dry, does not require frosting, melts in your mouth and fulfills all your chocolate cravings.  It makes box cake taste like it came from a bakery.  Seriously, if you like chocolate you have to try this cake! Get baking!!!

INGREDIENTS
1 package devil's food chocolate cake mix
1 package instant chocolate pudding (3.9 oz)
1 cup sour cream
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs
1/2 cup warm water
1 cup chocolate chips (semi-sweet or milk chocolate)

Preheat oven to 350'.  Grease and flour a 12 cup bundt pan.  Mix ingredients (except chocolate chips) with a stand or hand held mixer for 3 minutes on medium-high speed.  Add in the chocolate chips and mix an additional 30 seconds.  Pour batter into pan.  Bake for 50 minutes or until top is springy to the touch and a wooden toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool cake in pan for at least an hour before inverting onto a platter.  Dust with powdered sugar if you'd like.

FROSTING (optional)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder
1 cup powdered sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

Mix together and drizzle over the cake.

Cake recipe adapted from Too Much Chocolate Cake

Tuna Salad / Tuna Melts

I have been posting a new seafood recipe every Friday during Lent.  Of course you don't have to be Catholic to enjoy a fish dinner.  This week's "Fish Eater Friday" recipe is for tuna salad.

"Anyone can make tuna salad," says my husband.  "You're not planning on blogging this are you??"  (as if tuna salad would be the worst recipe I could possibly blog)  Then later during dinner I hear ..."wow, this tuna salad is better than Jimmy Johns."  So I have that going for me, lol.

My chicken salad recipe had a ton of views so why not blog my tuna salad recipe?!

I looked up a few recipes online and discovered that none of them were like mine.  They all had the same main ingredients ...tuna, mayo and onions (way too many onions in my opinion). Mine is different.  I use salad dressing (Miracle Whip) and a hard cooked egg.  It really does have a great flavor.  You can use this to make sandwiches, wraps, eat on top of a salad, on crackers, stuff in a tomato, or use for tuna melts. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
3 cans water packed tuna
2 tbs celery, finely chopped
1 tsp onion, finely chopped
1 hard-cooked egg*, peeled & chopped
1/2 cup salad dressing/Miracle Whip or generic
1 tbs pickle relish
small dash of salt & pepper

Mix all ingredients.  Refrigerate until ready to serve.  Makes apptoximately 2 cups.

Tuna Melt Ingredients (1 serving)
1/3 cup tuna salad
2 slices cheese (I used American but any kind you like will work)
2 slices of tomato
1 English muffin

Split the English muffin in half.  Place on an oven safe pan nooks/crannies side up.  Bake in a toaster oven or conventional oven at 375' for a few minutes just to get a little toasted being careful not to brown.  Remove from oven and place about 2.5 tablespoons of tuna salad on each muffin half.  Place back in the oven for about 3 minutes.  Remove from oven and top each half with a tomato slice and finally a slice of cheese.  Place back in the oven and bake until the cheese melts.  Serve immediately.

*To make a perfect hard-cooked egg, place egg in a small pot and fill with water until it covers the egg.  Place on stove on high heat until the water comes to a boil. Once the water comes to a full boil, cover with a lid, turn burner off and time for 15 minutes.  Drain water immediately and cool egg with cold running water.  Peel immediately or store in the refrigerator unpeeled for up to 1 week.  -via "Deviled Eggs" book by Debbie Moose

Minestrone

Minestrone is an Italian vegetable soup and my favorite choice if I ever find myself at the Olive Garden for soup & salad.  I like this recipe because I get to use my Wolfgang Puck enameled cast iron dutch oven ... the amount doesn't quite fit in my 3 quart pot and the next size I have holds 8 quarts which is too big so the 5 quart dutch oven seems to be the perfect size (any pot 4 quarts or larger will work great).  I also like the fact that it gives me a few extra servings I can keep in the frrezer for another time.  The aroma of this soup makes your kitchen smell like an Italian restaurant.  I love the flavor and with the beans and pasta its filling enough to be a meal. Enjoy!

INGREDIENTS
2 tbs olive oil
1/2 cup finely chopped onion
1 stalk celery, chopped
2 carrots, peeled & chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
3 cans chicken broth
1 cup water
2 cans diced tomatoes
2 cans kidney beans
1 medium zucchini, chopped
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 cup pasta (ditalini or orzo)

In a large pot (4 quart or bigger), saute onion in olive oil for about 4 minutes.  Add garlic, celery and carrots.  Cook until the celelry is soft.  Add chicken broth, water, diced tomatoes, beans and seasonings.  Bring to a boil.  Turn to simmer, cover and let cook 1 hour.  Add zucchini and pasta.  Cook an additional 30 minutes or until pasta is ready.  Serve with grated parmesan cheese.
Makes about 12-13 cups.