Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Thai Vegetable Pizza

This recipe originated from Rachael Ray but I have changed enough things in it to now call it my own.  
You may want to follow her recipe if you want to use chicken.  
She does a few random and complicated steps in hers though.

I have made Rachael's version of the pizza many times and I prefer mine over hers.  
You may like hers better though :)



Biggest prepared the kid pizza while I put together the Thai Pizza.  It is nice having a helper in the kitchen to save me some time.


1 pkg whole wheat pizza dough (I get mine at TJs)
1/2 c. plum sauce
1/2 t. red pepper flakes
2 c. shredded Jack cheese
1/2 orange bell pepper, thinly sliced
1 c. shredded red cabbage (very thin)
1/4 cucumber, cut into matchsticks or quarters
1 carrot, grated
4 scallions, chopped
1 c. bean sprouts
palmful of cilantro, chopped
1/4 c. chopped roasted peanuts

Peanut Sauce:
1 T. vegetable oil
2 T. soy sauce
1 rounded T. peanut butter
2 splashes Tabasco
2 T. honey
2 T. rice vinegar
squeeze of lime
salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.  Roll out pizza dough and form onto pizza stone.  Spread on plum sauce; sprinkle on red pepper; top with cheese and bell peppers.  Bake until golden and bubbly, 15 minutes.

I like to prepare all of the vegetables while the pizza is cooking.  Put them in a large bowl.
In a small bowl (I use a 2-cup glass measuring cup), whisk together all sauce ingredients until smooth.
Pour on vegetables and toss to coat.

When pizza comes out of the oven, top with tossed vegetables and scatter on peanuts.
I hope you say "mmmmmm" as many times as we did last night!

Week of February 27- March 4

My cleanse is over and I am back to the regular schedule.

MONDAY- Thai Vegetable Pizza and Cheese Pizza for the kids
TUEDAY- Heyman Enchiladas and Jaryn's Mexican Rice
WEDNESDAY- Avocado Egg Rolls, Wontons, and Brown Rice
THURSDAY- Lasagna, Salad, and Garlic Bread
FRIDAY- EAT OUT!!!
SATURDAY- Warm Lentil Salad
SUNDAY- Vegetarian Taco Soup and Corn Bread


Sunday, January 29, 2012

Week 1, Day 7

Today I enjoyed leftover gazpacho for lunch.

For dinner, I made roasted vegetables and brown rice for me and Lover Boy.
The kids enjoyed brown rice, roasted carrots, and Cheez-It Chicken.  
Cheez-It Chicken is something that my mom used to make all the time when we were little.  Our kids LOVE it!


When I make roasted vegetables, I chop up my vegetables evenly in size and toss them on a baking sheet with olive oil, coarse salt, and cracked pepper.
Tonight we had:

-sweet potatoes
-carrots
-onions (my favorite when they are roasted)
-zucchini
-asparagus

I cooked the sweet potatoes, carrots, and onions at 425 degrees for 15 minutes, then added the zucchini and asparagus to the pan and cooked them for another 10 minutes.  The zucchini and asparagus are softer, so they don't need as much cooking time.




My Mom's Cheez-It Chicken


I am not going to use measurements because this recipe depends on how many chicken tenders each person in your family will eat.  Biggest ate 2 tonight, Bigger ate 1, and Big ate 1/2 of one.  I dip each chicken tender in sour cream and then in Cheez-It crumbs.  Then I lay them in a greased baking dish and drizzle with a little melted butter.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 20-25 minutes.

A good tip: Crush or process a box of Cheez-Its to get crumbs.  Save remaining crumbs in an airtight bag in the freezer for the next time you want to make Cheez-It Chicken!



Friday, January 27, 2012

Week 1, Day 5

for breakfast


snack

Quinoa Salad
for lunch

This week does not call for quinoa; however, I am adding it in today to get some extra substance.
I had a salad similar to this a couple days ago at Whole Foods, but I altered it a little and made my own version at home...which I think is actually better than theirs.  So here we go...

Jaryn's Tricolor Quinoa Salad
1 1/2 c. tricolor quinoa (I got a bag from Trader Joe's)
3 c. water
1 mango, peeled and diced
1 avocado, diced
1/2 red bell pepper, diced
1/4 c. slivered almonds
1/4 c. cilantro, rinsed and chopped fine
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut chips (or shredded coconut)
3 T. thinly sliced red onion
2 splashes balsamic vinegar
1 lime

Cook quinoa and water according to package (I do it in a rice cooker).  Meanwhile, prepare remaining ingredients.  Toss cooked quinoa and remaining ingredients in a large bowl.  Squeeze over with lime juice.  This is SO amazing!  Enjoy my new recipe.



for dinner




Week 1, Day 4

for breakfast

snack

for lunch


Cuties, Strawberries, Raspberries, and Marcona Almonds 
for dinner


Week 1, Day 3

for breakfast

snack

quinoa salad from Whole Foods
for lunch

 acai bowl from Whole Foods
for lunch

for dinner




Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Week 1, Day 2

The day consisted of:

for breakfast

as a snack throughout the day

for lunch
(This was DELICIOUS!!)

for dinner
(This was also very tasty, but I had to add some brown rice to give me a little more substance...I was starting to feel tired and weak by the end of the day.)
with dinner