Mashed Cauliflower instead of Mashed Potatoes

November 26th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

I have mentioned my mashed cauliflower many times before, but have never posted the recipe for you guys. Well, it seems to be perfected, so here you go!

Everyone seems to love it, even my brother, Danny, who doesn’t like too many vegetables. And, it is a great healthy and light alternative to mashed potatoes. Especially, for those who want to eat more vegetables and a few less carbohydrates.

Mashed Cauliflower

Makes 4 large servings or 6 medium servings.

Ingredients:

  • 3, 12 oz. (36 oz. total) packages of frozen cauliflower (the frozen kind seems to get a little softer for mashing), thawed
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 2-3 tsp. minced garlic (or about 4 fresh cloves, minced)
  • 1 Tbsp. dried parsley (or fresh)
  • 1 tsp. ground rosemary
  • 4 Tbsp. light cream cheese or reduced fat
  • 1 Tbsp. real butter or Earth Balance
  • 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (sometimes I taste it, and end up adding more)
  • salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

  1. In a medium saucepan, steam your thawed cauliflower for about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Meanwhile, cook your onions and garlic in the olive oil on medium-low until caramelized a golden brown.
  3. Add your herbs and seasonings to the onion mixture.
  4. When the cauliflower seems soft enough to mash, empty the water from the pot, and put the cauliflower back in that pot over the warm stove-top. Add your onion mixture, cream cheese, parmesan, and butter to the warm cauliflower. Mash with a potato masher (works best) or large serving utensil until it becomes smoother. This will take about 3 to 4 minutes.
  5. Taste and see how you like it. At this point, I may add additional herbs or spices, or another pinch of parmesan. You can check your consistency as well. I don’t mind mine chunkier, but others may like it smoother.

You can see that my recipe comes out more yellow in color because I use caramelized onions. You could omit them, and try using some dried onion flakes instead or more onion powder to get a whiter color like a potato. But, I love onions!

I also tried to snazz-up my dining table with some holiday decor.

Picture didn’t come out so great this time, but you get the idea. Used white lights behind the drapes, and used leftover Christmas tree branches in the centerpiece.

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Holiday Festivities and The $4 Turkey

November 25th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Eats of the Week | Healthy Living - (0 Comments)

Yes, I got a turkey for $4! Craziness. All you have to do is buy the turkey 1 to 2 days after Thanksgiving. The turkey was supposed to be about $14 for 10 pounds, but it had a discount of about $10!

I should run back and get another!

We started this tradition of making a turkey after Thanksgiving because I never do Thanksgiving at my home, so I miss all the leftovers.

By the way, my bourbon vegan truffles came out fantastic. Recipe here.

I put these cute little leaf sprinkles on them for fall ;)

We got our Christmas tree safely home yesterday. I could have sworn it was going to fall off the car.

The kitties have been running everywhere around the tree. This morning, one even tried to climb it!

I underestimated their ability to jump, and had to move ornaments higher. They look sweet, but they are trouble makers! Haha.

Time to get ready to cook that turkey! Going to eat it with some mashed cauliflower instead of mashed potatoes. I have this amazing recipe that I will post later.

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Happy Thanksgiving!

November 22nd, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Eats of the Week - (0 Comments)

I want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. Hope you have a relaxing day full of good food and good company :)

Yesterday was full of food prep for today. Psycho Holiday Baker was at it again this year!

Haha. Cute. She made her famous turkey cookies again this year.

I helped with the artistic direction ;) Meanwhile, I made some vegan sweet potato biscuits and then baked my famous apple pie with the help of Betty Crocker.

I used this recipe from My Vegan Cookbook, and it came out fantastic. No yeast required! Pretty easy ingredients. The only thing I would mention is to make sure you use copious amounts of flour when rolling out because the dough is very sticky.

I also prepped my bourbon spiked vegan truffles (recipe from NY Times Well Blog). This is just the filling with pecans, graham crackers, maple syrup, brown sugar, vanilla, and bourbon. Then, you dip them in vegan chocolate.

We’ll see what they are like today!

Mister Matthew was making some fancy gourmet sandwiches that day.

And Dad cooked a healthy pre-turkey salmon dinner using a spicy Thai chile sauce with basil. It was delicious and nutritous!

You can find a similar recipe here. Just add a fresh basil garnish.

While he cooked us dinner, Psycho Baker and I went to step class to get our pre-turkey workout in.

Watching the Thanksgiving Parade now, then off to Thanksgiving dinner!

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Veggie Baked Pasta

November 15th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (2 Comments)

Baked ziti is one of my favorite pasta dishes. Pasta is not my favorite, but when you add ricotta, I instantly love it.

I went to the store in search of big ziti noodles, but could not find any! So, I resorted to some whole wheat shells.

Instead of traditional baked ziti, I loaded it up with lots of vegetables, fat free ricotta, and no additional cheese. Mr. Cyclist helped put this whole meal together while I did a workout. So nice ;-)

Veggie Baked Pasta

Fills one 9 x 13 casserole dish and you may have extra sauce.

Ingredients:

  • 1 large can crushed tomatoes
  • 2 cans diced or stewed tomatoes
  • 1 yellow onion, chopped
  • 1 zucchini, diced
  • 1 eggplant, diced
  • 1 small carton of sliced mushrooms
  • 1 red pepper, chopped
  • 4 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 Tbsp. parsley
  • 1 Tbsp. basil
  • 1 Tbsp. oregano
  • 1 large container fat free or low fat ricotta (I think it is 15 oz. container)
  • salt and pepper
  • 1 box of your favorite whole wheat pasta (shells, penne, rigatoni work well)
Directions:
  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
  2. Prepare your sauce by sauteing the onions and garlic, then added the tomatoes and herbs. Cook for about 20 minutes. We add anchovy paste and about 1/4 cup grated Parmesan for some pizzazz! To save time, you could use a jar sauce.
  3. While cooking the sauce, lightly saute the remainder vegetables in a large saute pan with the olive oil.
  4. To assemble: In a 9 x 13 pan, add a layer of uncooked pasta. Then add a thick layer of sauce. The sauce will soften the pasta during baking. Add the vegetables on the next layer. Add a thick layer of ricotta next. Top with the rest of the sauce. You can lightly stir to combine the layers slightly.
    If you have too much sauce, save the extra for another meal. You can also freeze the sauce for the future.
  5. Bake about 30 minutes until the pasta is al dente. The pasta on the edges may be a little hard, but that is OK. Some love the crispier pieces!

I didn’t add any meat to this, but you could add some grilled chicken or lean ground turkey. The fat free ricotta is also a good protein source at 6 grams of protein per 1/4 cup! For those who love cheese, you could top with mozzarella cheese. But, I didn’t think it needed it!

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Recipe Round-Up: A Vegan Thanksgiving

November 13th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (2 Comments)

I am going to make some vegan recipes this year for Thanksgiving, and it has got my family raising their eyebrows. They don’t seem to understand.

When you say vegan, a lot of people think, “eww… gross”. But, this is not the case. Just because something doesn’t have milk or butter or eggs… or meat doesn’t mean it is nasty.

I am not vegan, but I also want to show them that they can enjoy all types of food, and want them to expand their taste horizons!

Vegan Thanksgiving Recipe Round-Up from around The Blogosphere:

Appetizers:

Main/Sides:

Desserts:

You can find more ideas on my Pinterest board here!

Do you have any great Thanksgiving recipes?

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Caturday!

November 11th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Eats of the Week - (0 Comments)

This weekend we adopted two precious kitties from Angels Rescue! We had been planning to adopt them, and we got to pick them up Saturday!

Brother and sister kittens that we re-named Liz Lemon aka “Lemon” and Jack Donaghy aka “Jack”. Silly, I know, but for some reason it fits them.

Earlier that day I stopped by the farmer’s market to pick up some goodies.

Mostly kale, sweet potatoes, and lots of carrots.

They had some really good looking lettuces:

When your veggies look pretty it makes it more exciting to eat them.

And turn into pizza! Haha!

Cooked some of the kale with onions, and added a dollop of fat free ricotta. Tasty.

Have a healthy weekend and happy Caturday!

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Food Bloggers Support for Sandy: Monkey Bread

November 9th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Blogging - (1 Comments)

Sometimes it is easy to get sucked into your own little world, and forget about others.  But, this is important to me as I am a true New Yorker at heart. I grew up in New York until I was 16, then moved here to the South. So, this post is dedicated the relief effort for anyone who wants to find out more info about donating or helping out!

Ways to Help:

I decided to re-post a comforting dessert recipe. Everyone has done many entree recipes, but why not the most “comforting” sinful dish I can think of! At least my version is trans fat free, and improved ingredients :-)

I used Immaculate Baking Company’s cinnamon bun dough and biscuit dough which contains no trans fat.  

Trans Fat Free Monkey Bread Recipe
Ingredients: 

  • 2 cans cinnamon bun dough (see above)
  • 1 can non-flaky biscuit dough (Immaculate Baking Co.)
  • 1 stick Earth Balance
  • 1 stick butter (you can use 2 sticks Earth Balance, total, instead of butter if you like)
  • 1 tsp. cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice
  • 3/4 cup white sugar (you could substitute 2-4 Tbsp. stevia substitute and 1/2 cup real sugar–you need real sugar for the caramelization)
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed when measuring

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. Open all the biscuit dough and cut each biscuit into quarters. See Pioneer Woman recipe for monkey bread to get a better idea of the step-by-step.
  2. Toss all the biscuit dough pieces into a gallon zip top bag with the white sugar and cinnamon. Shake around to coat the pieces.
  3. Heat the butter and brown sugar in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat until the mixture turns brown and the sugar melts more. *You can do this in the microwave if you like
  4. Dump the biscuit dough pieces into a bundt pan (you do not need to grease the pan). Press down gently on dough in the pan.
  5. Pour the butter/brown sugar mixture over top of the dough. Place in the oven.
  6. Cook for about 35-42 minutes until it looks dark brown and the edges look crispy.
  7. Cool 15 minutes, then turn out, and see warm. The bread will stay warm for a few hours if you keep it covered.

This is what it should look like when you take out of the oven, and then (below) when you turn it upside down. Delicious! …not so nutritious, sorry. Everyone loves it though. A definite crowd pleaser.

The goal here was not to make health food. So that is not what this is. It’s just a slightly healthier alternative to the traditional treat. Small tweaks and changes help without having to sacrifice flavor. And, it’s all about moderation and getting comfortable with that moderation. If you have a few bites of this–it won’t hurt you.

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Superfood Dinner: Romano Crusted Salmon & Sliced Brussels Sprouts

November 6th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

I was tired of salmon stinking up my house, so I decided to bake it! Fish smell-free!

This recipe turned out delicious! And, the cheese “crust” is really not bad for you. I used olive oil mayo (a little better than regular mayo because it has less fat and more olive oil), gluten free almond crackers for the breading, and romano cheese! Romano cheese is pretty strong, so you don’t need a lot.

Romano Crusted Salmon

Makes extra breading. I put what I don’t need inside a zip-top baggy, and save for chicken another night!

Ingredients:

  • 1 box blue diamond nut-thins (any variety is fine–I chose almond for a nutty flavor)
  • Approx. 3.5-4 oz. Romano cheese (can use Parmesan if that is what you have), sliced
  • 1 Tbsp. dried parsley
  • 2 tsp. garlic powder
  • 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes
  • Pepper
  • 4 Tbsp. olive oil mayo *Use just enough to combine the cracker crumbs/cheese together
  • Juice of half a lemon
  • 1 lb. wild salmon or steelhead fish

Directions:

  1. Preheat the oven to 400.
  2. Combine the first 6 ingredients in a food processor. Pulse until you have what looks like bread crumbs.
  3. Pour half the “bread crumbs” into a bowl and combine with the mayo. Reserve the other half of the “bread crumbs” for another night.
  4. Line a baking sheet with foil for easy clean-up. Place the fish skin-side-down, and squeeze half a lemon over the fish.
  5. Press down your cheese/cracker topping on top of the fish with a spoon, and you can use your hands (just make sure to wash well after).
  6. Bake about 15 minutes.

For the brussels sprouts, slice them up length-wise. Saute them lightly (with about 1 Tbsp. olive oil) in a large saute pan. Add salt, pepper, and dried minced onion. Cook on medium for about 8-10 minutes. If you like, you could grate some leftover romano over top of the sprouts!

The reason I call this a superfood dinner is from all of the healthy omega-3′s in the fish, and the potent antioxidants in the brussels sprouts! An added bonus is that brussels sprouts are coming into season now.

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Reduced Sugar Pumpkin Banana Bread

November 5th, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Recipes - (0 Comments)

The fall leaves were gorgeous this weekend! It got me in the autumn spirit. I decided to make a fall wreath:

When I went to Michael’s to get supplies, I had trouble finding fall decor. There was Christmas stuff everywhere! No more fall decorations even though we still have a whole month left. Oh well, I love my DIY wreath projects!

Next, I made some healthier pumpkin bread, mainly because I wanted the house to smell nice. I didn’t care too much about eating the bread… it was more like another craft for me to do!

Anyway, I reduced the sugar by using some stevia/xylitol blend and it turned out amazing. Doesn’t taste “healthy”. So you could trick kids to eating it for sure. And it uses a whole 1/2 can of pumpkin so you can get some squeeze in some veggies!

Reduced Sugar Pumpkin Banana Bread

Makes 1 loaf. Double for 2 loaves. Inspired by Spark Recipes.

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup all-purpose flour (helps to keep it light and airy). You could try cutting this in half further (1/2 cup white; 1/2 cup oat or whole wheat)
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 Tbsp + 1 tsp pumpkin pie spice
  • 2 Tbsp. granulated sugar *You could cut out the rest of the white sugar and just use more stevia. Depends on preference.
  • 1/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 Tbsp. honey
  • 1 Tbsp. molasses
  • 3 Tbsp. stevia/xylitol blend
  • 2 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten
  • 1/2 cup 1% milk (or skim or almond milk)
  • 1/2 (15-ounce) can pumpkin
  • 1 ripe banana, mashed

Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350
  2. Combine dry ingredients in one bowl. Combine wet ingredients and sugars in another bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients until combined. Do not over-stir!
  3. Spoon batter into 1 (9 x 5-inch) loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Check with a toothpick.

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Pumpkin Apple Protein Bake… Attempt 1

November 2nd, 2012 | Posted by Nicole in Kitchen - (0 Comments)

I tried to create a no sugar added, high protein bar. It turned out more like a bread pudding…

At least it looks pretty. Tastes similar to a french toast almost.

I used quinoa flakes, brown rice flour, milk, 1 egg, egg whites, stevia, chopped apples, applesauce, pumpkin, spices, and walnuts. It really wasn’t too bad, it just turned out too moist.

Back to the kitchen!! When I figure it out perfectly I will post the recipe.

Does anyone have any suggestions?

 

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