Vegetariain Spring Rolls

Spring rolls have always intimidated me. To clarify, making them has intimidated me - eating them has never been a problem. Something about actually having to roll various ingredients together just scared me away. And rice paper, that stuff is just a disaster waiting to happen. Or so I wrongly thought. After trying these, I'm not sure why I was so afraid. They're ridiculously easy to make once you get past all the vegetable chopping. (So. Much. Chopping.) And they're completely customizable, leaving you free to put in whatever veggies you like. I made these vegetarian, but shrimp or chicken is fantastic in here as well. 

Spinach Bianca Lasagna

So apparently it's cold in the rest of the country? It's finally beautiful here, mid 80s during the day and 60s at night (and this, my friends, is why I moved to Arizona). It's finally cold enough to start thinking about warm comfort foods. For a somewhat healthier take on casseroles and lasagna, I like making a white lasagna so I can feel healthy eating spinach and chicken, while really I'm in it for the 3 cups of cheese. Whatever. 

See? Spinach. It's healthy. 

Cheeeeeeeese. More cheese, always. 

Ingredients:

2-3 chicken breasts

1 package of no boil lasagna noodles 

1 small bunch of green onions

1 bunch of spinach 

6 cups chicken broth 

3 cups of grated mozzarella 

salt and pepper to taste

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

Start by cooking up the chicken in a frying and shredding it. 

Put a layer of lasagna noodles on the bottom of a 9x13" pan. Then layer, layer layer. Start with a layer of chicken and sliced green onions, then add a layer of spinach, and then mozzarella. Top with a sprinkle of salt and pepper and then add 3 cups of chicken broth.

Then repeat - chicken and onions, spinach, mozzarella, 3 cups of broth. You may not use all the broth. You want the broth to completely cover the upper layer of noodles or they'll get hard and crispy/chewy which isn't what we're going for.  Bake in the oven for 30 minutes covered with tinfoil. Remove tinfoil for the last 10 minutes to make sure the cheese is a melty golden brown.

Remove from the oven, spoon into a bowl, and eat your heart out. Mmmmm, cheesy goodness


*This recipe was originally posted on my now retired blog, Neroli Blossoms. 

Protein Raw "Cookie" Bites

I'm going to admit something - I love raw cookie dough. Yes, I understand that supposedly it could be contaminated with salmonella from the raw eggs, but I just can't help it. Once when I was in grade school, my best friend and I made cookie dough for the sole purpose of eating it raw. We took it upstairs with us, had a great sleepover, and left it out overnight so we could eat it for breakfast the next morning. Needless to say, my mother freaked out when she realized we were eating raw cookie dough which contained eggs and butter that had been sitting out all night. (We were fine, and it was delicious.) 

Unfortunately, I hear that consuming large amounts of unbaked cookie dough is bad for you. Fortunately, this recipe sort of gives the taste and texture of cookie dough with much healthier ingredients! 

These snack bites are made of ground nuts and oats, and sweetened with honey and cinnamon. Throw in a few chocolate chips and it's basically a healthy uncooked cookie!  I love taking a few of these to work with me and eating them during the afternoon lull where I'd normally fill up on chips or actual cookies. It tastes like you're filling up on junk food, except you're actually getting a protein boost from all the nuts. Much better than a bag of Cheetos (although I do love me some Cheetos). 

Ingredients:

1/2 cup almonds

1/2 cup walnuts

1/2 cup pecans

1/2 cup oats

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup honey

2 teaspoon vanilla

1/4 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Mix the almonds, walnuts, pecans, oats, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor until ground to a meal. Add the honey and vanilla and pulse to combine. Add the chocolate chips and pulse again until just mixed together.

Drop a tablespoon of the dough onto a cookie sheet lined with freezer or parchment paper. Wetting your hands will help keep the dough from sticking. Freeze for an hour to harden and then store in an airtight container in the freezer.

Note - I'm using the word "raw" in the generic uncooked way, not the specific Raw Diet way. I don't know much about the Raw Diet, but I'm sure this recipe could be altered to fit the requirements and become a raw Raw cookie dough snack.



This post was originally posted on my now retired blog, Neroli Blossoms. 

Cilantro Lime Fish Tacos

Mmmm, tacos. The southwest has definitely turned me on to these delightful dinner options. They're so versatile! I found this fantastic fish taco recipe on Skinny Taste and it's the perfect mix of quick, easy, healthy, and delicious. I don't do spicy so I didn't add in the jalepenos when mixing, however, Kace lives for burning his tongue off so we had bottles of hot sauce nearby for a kick. The best thing about this recipe is that it makes enough for leftovers the next day! 

Perfect Summer Salad

I have a tendency to bookmark every site I think is informative/useful/pretty for future reference and then never go back to look at them. While cleaning out my bookmark menu, I found this New York Times list of Simple Salads from a few years ago. I decided to make #2 - Tomato, Peach, and Onion salad, topped with lime juice, cilantro, and olive oil.

I decided to add an avocado (because what goes better with cilantro and lime?) that I had on hand and added few shakes of hot sauce.

It was incredibly easy to prepare. Cut the tomato, peach, and avocado into chunks. Slice the onion into thin strips and chop the cilantro. Toss in a bowl. 

Drizzle some olive oil, lemon juice, and lime juice over the top and mix well. Add some red pepper flakes or a few shakes of hot sauce for a little extra heat. The result is a perfect blend of sweet, savory, and spicy, with the flavors complimenting each other wonderfully. (Bonus - if you have leftover salad, blend it into a salsa. It's amazing as a sauce on grilled chicken!) This tomato, peach, avocado salad is definitely a new summer staple in our house.