Gorgonzola and Butternut Squash Pizza

I have a nice collection of cookbooks- over 120 at last count. In the past, I used to read them like novel's. It seems though, that since so many recipes have become available over the internet, my cookbooks have gathered a little bit of dust. Sad, since there are so many amazing recipes available in them.

So, I sat down the other day and looked through some of my "least popular" books, and was happy to find this recipe for Gorgonzola and Pumpkin Pizza in a cookbook called Greatest Ever Baking by Parragon Publishing . I know, pumpkin is obviously different than my post title. Well, I don't know about you, but after the holiday season, I get a little burned out on pumpkin... So I substituted some butternut squash that I already had in my freezer, and was very happy with the results. While my photo doesn't quite show it, this pizza did brown well, and was quite pretty when finished.

This was a healthier alternative to traditional pizza. While it may not be everyone's cup of tea, it had rich flavor, and a nice chewy texture- perfect when your sick of "rabbit food" while dieting!

Gorgonzola and Pumpkin Pizza

Pizza dough:

1/4 ounce active dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup lukewarm water
1 1/2 cups whole wheat AP flour
1 1/2 cups white AP flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Topping:

14 ounces pumpkin, peeled and cubed (I used Butternut Squash)
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 pear, cored, peeled and sliced
3 1/2 ounces Gorgonzola cheese
1 sprigs fresh rosemary,for garnish

Place the yeast and sugar in a measuring cup and mix with 4 tablespoons of the water. leave the yeast mixture in a warm place for 15 minutes. Mix both of the flours with the salt and make a well in the center. Add the oil, the yeast mixture and the remaining water. using a wooden spatula, mix to form a dough.

Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and knead for 5 minutes. Return the dough to the bowl, cover with an oiled sheet of plastic wrap and leave to rise for 30 minutes or until doubled in size. Remove the dough from the bowl. Knead the dough for 2 minutes. Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough to form a long oval shape, then place it on an oiled cookie sheet (I used my pizza stone sprayed with Olive Oil cooking spray), pushing out the edges until even. The dough should be no more than 1/4 inch thick, as it will rise during cooking.

To make the topping, place the pumpkin (or Butternut Squash) in a shallow roasting pan. Drizzle with the olive oil and cook under a preheated broiler for 20 minutes. Top the dough with the pear and the pumpkin, brushing with the oil from the pan. Sprinkle over the Gorgonzola. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 for 15 minutes or until the base is golden. Garnish with rosemary.

Rambutan

Isn't this the funkiest little fruit you've ever seen..? It's known as a Rambutan. Of course this little guy isn't as pretty as a freshly picked one, but with a trek all the way from Indonesia, I guess a little change in color is to be expected.

I was bored last week, and decided that if I couldn't (ok, shouldn't) stuff my face with unhealthy things, I'd go in search of healthier stuff to snack on. One of my favorite places to go when I am bored is AJ's Fine Food's. I love the unique food items, the prepared meals, the gift items, and they also have a fabulous wine cellar.

While walking through, I came across this little critter. I honestly thought it had something to do with seafood, but then felt pretty stupid since I was obviously in the produce department. I was so intrigued by it, that I bought two of them. Only two. At $12.89 a lb. It was either going to be an expensive fruit that I hated, or a cheap, spiny looking pet.

After I cut the Rambutan open, I started to laugh. It was if it was staring at me. The color of the fruit creeped me out, too. It really looked as if an egg had gone bad.

But once I popped the little bugger out of his shell, he looked less like an egg and more like an eyeball. It even felt like what I thought an eyeball would feel like. Maybe I should have saved this for Halloween..?


I braved it though, and took a bite. I have to say, it was pretty tasty. It had the texture of a very smooth kiwi, it's taste similar, but not with the tartness that a kiwi can sometimes have.

I still have no idea what kind of recipe I could possibly make out of these. But the entertainment value was pretty good, and they did keep me from eating the Toll House bar cookies my daughter made. Have I mentioned I can't wait until this diet and fitness challenge is over..? Only 23 lbs more to go...

Asian Pears With Vanilla Poached Kumquats- Bookmarked Recipes

I was visiting over at Patsy's blog- Family, Friends, and Food, and saw the invite to participate in Bookmarked Recipes. She is hosting this coming Mondays event (where all recipes will be shown), and I thought it a great opportunity to try this recipe I've been thinking about for some time now.

I was looking through a small, free newspaper I had gotten on my way out of our local farmer's market, and was just about ready to throw it in the recycle bin, when I came across this recipe for Asian Pears With Vanilla Poached Kumquats. It sounded light, unique, and fit perfectly into my healthy eating of late- 14.7 lbs lost so far on a totally satisfying healthy eating plan, and daily exercise.

Another thing I liked about this recipe was that I already had most of the ingredients- I only needed some Kumquats, which were easily found at my local Trader Joe's. I called ahead, asking if they had any in stock (so that it wouldn't be a wasted trip), and mentioned that I had my 2 year old in tow, and they kindly put aside the amount I needed by the registers for an easy check out. I love that store!

This was such a refreshing alternative to traditional dessert items. The tartness of the kumquats, paired with the mellow vanilla- lime syrup, and the crisp bite of the Asian pears, left me feeling like I wasn't missing a thing at all in my quest for health. Now, I'm not saying this wouldn't be good over some rich vanilla ice cream, I'm just saying I didn't go there...

Asian Pears With Vanilla Poached Kumquats
1/2 vanilla bean pod, halved lengthwise
1/2 c water
3 Tbs fresh lime juice
1/2 c sugar
pinch of salt
1/2 lb kumquats, about 20, ends trimmed, seeded, and sliced crosswise, 1/3 inch thick
4 large Asian Pears, peeled, cored and sliced lengthwise, 1/4 inch thick

Combine water and lime juice in a small, heavy saucepan. Scrape seeds from vanilla bean pod and add beans and pod to the water, along with sugar and a pinch of salt. Bring to a boil, stirring until sugar is dissolved. Reduce heat and simmer for three minutes.

Add Kumquats, cover pot and simmer until they just begin to soften, three to four minutes. Arrange pears in a heatproof bowl. Pour kumquats and syrup over pears and toss gently, then cool. Chill fruit, covered, at least two to six hours. Serves 6.

Orange, Radish, and Mint Salad

I have been so good about planning my meals ahead, and making sure I have ingredients on hand to make healthy dishes. I have found that if you do a little cookbook reading, and plan your meals ahead of time, you are less likely to eat poorly and/ or cheat, especially when trying to eat to live, rather than live to eat. Yesterday though, was one of those failure to plan days. A family illness has redefined our priorities and brought relatives from far away places. Thankfully, our family member will recover, and hopefully be able to sit at the table with the rest of us before all make the trip back home.

With circumstances like these, the "old me" would have reached for the nearest Costco Chicken Bake, blissfully ignorant to it's nutritional information.

The "new me" however, reads this stuff, and can't believe I considered that to be one out of three of my daily meals. With calorie and fat counts like those, that is not far now from what I allow myself for an entire day!

Thank goodness I have been keeping healthy ingredients and fresh produce on hand. On my table I had placed a huge bowl of clementines, and in my fridge was an enormous bag of radishes. So I googled the two and found this recipe from Ellie Krieger. While the recipe calls for oranges, I substituted the clementines, and found this to be a delicious, satisfying, and refreshing dish. I was also able to use a gift, from my cousin, Steve, in the recipe- a touch of Pasolivo Olive oil. A perfect touch in this recipe. Thanks, Steve!


I'm at a 9.5 lb loss my friends, and feeling really, really, good.


Orange, Radish, and Mint Salad

4 navel oranges
1/2 red onion, thinly sliced into half-moons
8 radishes, cut in half, then thinly sliced into half-moons
1/4 cup torn fresh mint leaves
2 tablespoon olive oil
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Cut the top and bottom off each orange. Stand the orange on one end on a cutting board and, following the curve of the fruit, cut away the skin and woolly white pith of the orange. Cut each orange section away from the membrane.

In a medium bowl, toss together the orange sections, onion, radishes, and mint. Drizzle with the oil and season with salt and pepper. This salad will keep in the refrigerator in an airtight container for about a day.

Makes 4 servings
Serving size: 1 cup


Per Serving:
Calories 145; Total fat 7g (Sat fat 1g, Mono fat 5g, Poly fat 0.5g); Protein 2g; Carb 20g; Fiber 3g; Cholesterol 0mg; Sodium155 mg

Wow, 100th post today! Giveaway, too!

Wow, I can't believe it- my 100th post. I look back to my first one and just laugh. I had no direction and just a stock blogger template. Now, a custom blog design, and everything I see has the potential to be a post, so I snap pictures of everything these days.

I am also amazed, no, stunned, that I actually lost 4 lbs this past week! There is truth to diet AND exercise, and it seems when you find the right plan of action, it doesn't feel like diet and exercise. It just feels good. I have energy. I'm not hungry. I eat at least 1000 less calories a day than what I was prior to beginning my journey, but now, eating the right foods, feel like I am cheating every day. This feels good.

I've relied a great deal on the recipes from the Hungry Girl cookbook. It is not gourmet by any means. It is, however, simple everyday fare that leaves you content, and not feeling like you have been gypped- you know- when you buy a box where the dessert looks like this
and what you really end up with is this


That is just wrong. Purely sale-intended evil in a box.

Hungry Girl, however, delivers. When you see a photo in the book that looks like this:

You can feel confident that yours will look like this:

and this:

and this:



At only 108 calories and 2g of fat per cupcake, that's pretty sweet (pun intended).

Caramel Pumpkin Pudding Cupcakes

• 2 cups moist-style yellow cake mix (1/2 of an 18.25-ounce box)
• 1 cup canned pure pumpkin
• 1/3 cup fat-free liquid egg substitute
• 2 tablespoons sugar-free maple syrup
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons Splenda No Calorie Sweetener (granulated)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt

Ingredients for topping

• 3 cubes (about 1 ounce) chewy caramel
• 2 teaspoons light vanilla soymilk

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine all cupcake ingredients in a mixing bowl with 1/3 cup of water. Whip with a whisk or fork for 2 minutes until well blended.

Spray a 12-cup muffin pan with nonstick spray or line with baking cups. Evenly spoon batter into muffin cups.

Place pan in the oven and cook for about 12 minutes (until cupcakes have puffed up but still appear a little gooey on top- I actually cooked mine for 20 minutes).

Once cupcakes are cool enough to handle, arrange them closely on a plate so that the edges are touching. Place caramel and soymilk in a tall microwave-safe glass or dish (mixture will bubble and rise when heated).

Microwave at medium power for 1 1/2 minutes. Stir mixture vigorously until smooth and thoroughly blended. (Return to microwave for 30 seconds at medium heat if caramel has not fully melted.) Immediately drizzle caramel sauce over cupcakes.

** Be VERY careful with caramel topping in microwave- I burned my first batch! I'd do 30 second increments until thin and pourable!

ENJOY!

Oh yeah, I forgot, there is a giveaway! One lucky winner will receive their very own HungryGirl cookbook!

Just leave a comment with your favorite diet tip or trick. Remember to LEAVE YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS! You have until Wednesday, the 18th of February, 8 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, to win! Good Luck!

Winners will be chosen using Random Integer Generator

Diet Margarita's!!

Well, you don't have to tell me twice! Diet Margarita's that are so good, you won't mind the switch!

One of my favorite cookbooks these days is by Lisa Lillien, aka Hungry Girl. I've subscribed to her site for a couple years now, receiving daily emails with tips and tricks , as well as fabulous recipe "makeovers". When her cookbook came out a few months ago, it was a must have. The recipes are simple, the ingredients easy to find, and really delicious. It was fantastic to be able to have a low-cal, low-fat version of my restaurant and fast food fav's show up in my inbox every day!

I made these this afternoon, tripled the recipe over ice in a large pitcher, and shared them with my Sister-in-law and Mother-in-law... it was a happy afternoon!



So get the book, and drink one of these fabulous Margarita's while you're perusing the recipes!

HG's Magical Low-Calorie Margarita

(Entire recipe: 105 calories, 0g fat, 58mg sodium, 2g carbs, 0g fiber, 0.5g sugars, 0g protein = 2 Points)

Ingredients:

6 oz. Sierra Mist Free (or Diet Sprite Zero, or your other fave no-cal lemon-lime soda)

1.5 oz. tequila

1/2 tsp. Crystal Light powdered drink mix, Lemonade

1 oz. lime juice
Optional: lime slice for garnish and salt or no-calorie sweetener for rim of glass

Directions:

If desired, run some lime juice along the rim of the glass and dip into a dish of salt or sweetener. Mix all ingredients together. Pour over 1 cup of crushed ice. Optional: Garnish with lime slice. Enjoy. Serves 1!

Deceptively Delicious

Mom's night out with my exercise group, Stroller Strides, was at my house last night. I love having people over to my house... it gives me incentive to really clean... and to pretend that my house is always that way. Oh, I love a good snow job...

I'm sure that many of you have heard of Jessica Seinfeld's cookbook, Deceptively Delicious. The idea being that you won't have to beg your child to eat their veggies because you, the parent, has deceptively slipped them into the everyday foods they already know and love. Good idea, huh..? At the risk of some negative comments, I think I just may have to slightly disagree.

I am a "Foodie", a lover of all things food. I love to cook food, bake food, shop for food, search for good food recipes, write about food, and last, but most importantly, encourage a healthy love of food. That includes vegetables. While I understand the need to covertly slip in a veggie or two, in my heart of hearts, it is more important to me that my child knows what they are eating, that it is good for them, and that in and of itself, is simply delicious. I think all too often we send out these negative food vibes, based upon our own experiences, forgetting that whoever prepared those vegetables for us as a child just simply looked in the wrong cookbook that day. Vegetables are nutritious, yes. But prepared the right way, are fabulous, and sometimes a meal in their own right.

With that said, our mom's night out was still a great time for all! We made 3 recipes from the book: Pancakes (with Sweet Potato), Pita pizza, and Brownies (with Carrot & Spinach) .

The pancakes had pretty good flavor- not so much sweet potato as it was the spices. I do think the sweet potato greatly contributed to it's texture though. A concern I have though is that the recipe calls for pancake mix- which to me is not necessarily all that healthy. I'm not sure if the veggies will nutritionally make up for any random box of pancake mix. I did notice that the batter was a tad bit runny, so we did add an extra 1/4 cup of mix.

The Pita Pizza's, I have to say, were somewhat tasty. Personally I would add a bit of nutmeg and garlic to the spinach before adding it as a topping, and maybe change up the cheese a bit. But overall, not too bad. However again, nutritionally, jarred sauce concerns me with it's sodium content.

The Brownies... well, I did not taste the spinach nor the carrot puree. But I beg of you, use the best brownie recipe you have and add the puree's to the mix. My husband will eat just about anything, but he took one bite of these and threw it back in the pan. If you are craving chocolate, her recipe will not do the trick. We used semi-sweet chocolate, and AP flour, following the directions to a "T", however John Belushi's "Rubber Biscuit" came to mind upon first bite.

By nights end though, a good time was had by all. If anything, being able to "speak adult" was worth any bite of a Rubber Biscuit, any day.