Meals for the Week

Can you believe it's August? I seriously think summer gets shorter each year! This morning I harvested onions and cut a bunch of fresh basil to dry and use over the fall and winter. My tomatoes will be ripe in the next week or so and I can't wait to try my hand at canning fresh pasta and pizza sauces.

Enjoy these favorite FIVE meals!

1. First up is my Roasted Honey Dijon Potatoes with Chicken Pepper and Onion. I just posted the recipe this week and thought it was too good not to include in this week's meals. Healthy, budget friendly and easy prep; your family will love this tasty dinner.

2.  Vegetarian and delicious Healthy Mexican Sweet Potato Skins from Pinch of Yum. Serve with a  mixed green salad and you've got a complete meal.

3. We love this moist, flavorful and delicious Tomato Stuffed Chicken by One Sweet Appetite. Calling for six tomatoes this recipe is a fantastic way to incorporate your garden delights. Try serving this dish with my Roasted Asparagus with Lemon.

4. Dairy free Coconut Chicken Satay is divine and one of our favorite meals! Pair with a side of brown basmati rice and steamed broccoli.

5. And lastly, vegetarian Black Bean and Quinoa Enchilada Bake by Two Peas and Their Pod. Tons of fresh veggies and a little spicy kick easily make this meal a new family favorite.

BONUS!

Healthy Snack

These Key Lime Coconut Energy Bites by Spoonful of Flavor are simply incredible. Free from refined sugar, portion sized and super EASY. I added 1/2 cup quick oats and 1/2 cup rice crisp cereal for an extra crunch but either way they are delicious and the perfect grab and go snack.

No Bake Mini Key Lime Pies

So confession, growing up I wasn't really in to sweets, crazy right? I didn't like candy bars, wouldn't eat chocolate ice cream, hated frosting and usually requested angel food cake (no frosting or glaze) with strawberries for my birthday cake. Over time my dessert palette has expanded and while I'm still picky about my sweets (still not a frosting fan) there are a few treats I have a serious weakness for. One of them is the key lime pie.  In this picture, a buttery cinnamon crust meets creamy citrus with a fresh layer of whipped cream to marry all the flavors together. It's a beautiful thing!

A word of advice if you were hoping to find a healthy treat, you're looking at the wrong dessert. These aren't really healthy, not low carb and not even low sugar, but they are darn delicious and you will not regret eating one...or...two of these delicious summery treats.

I brought in a platter of these beauties to the Hubs work and they were gone in about 5 minutes flat. I think that means that they liked them?!?

Yield: 18 Mini Pies

No Bake Mini Key Lime Pies
1 and 1/2 sleeves honey graham crackers
3 tablespoons butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
12 oz cream cheese, set at room temperature for at least an hour or until very soft
1-14 oz can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh squeezed key lime juice
Zest from 2 key limes
Whipped cream
Additional lime zest, for garnish

Combine graham crackers in a food processor or blender and pulse until fine crumbs form. Toss graham cracker crumbs with butter and cinnamon.

Place liners into muffin pan and add 1 heaping tablespoon of the crumb mixture to each liner. Press crumbs down with the bottom of a small glass or measuring cup.

Using a hand mixer beat the cream cheese until smooth and then add the sweetened condensed milk and key lime juice, beating again until smooth. Stir in the lime zest. Fill muffin cups with cream cheese mixture. Refrigerate for at least 3 hours or overnight. When ready to serve, top with whipped cream and grated lime zest.

Roasted Honey-Dijon Potatoes with Chicken, Pepper and Onion

With gardens and farmer's markets bursting with fresh produce, this dish is the perfect meal for a mid summer dinner. I was thrilled to add my garden bell peppers to this easy and delicious supper. As I've mentioned before, our all-time favorite chicken sausage is the the Al Fresco Roasted Pepper & Asiago. I love that they are all natural, no msg and gluten free. But feel free to use you favorite or whatever you have on hand.

Adapted from Inspired Edibles

Yield: 4 Servings

Roasted Honey-Dijon Potatoes with Chicken, Pepper and Onion
4 large russet potatoes, cut into 1 inch x 2 inch pieces and skins intact
3 tablespoons olive oil
3 tablespoons course ground Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons honey
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
Salt
Pepper
1 large onion, roughly chopped
2 bell peppers, cut into 1 inch pieces
2-3 fully cooked chicken sausages, halved lengthwise and then cut into 1/4 inch slices

Preheat oven to 425 degrees with middle rack in the second to top slot in the oven. Prepare potatoes and place in a large bowl. Whisk together the olive oil, mustard, honey and rosemary until smooth and pour over the potatoes. Toss until potatoes are evenly coated in the mixture.

Line a large baking sheet with foil and spread the tossed potatoes in an even layer. Salt and pepper to taste and roast for 15 minutes on the upper rack. While potatoes are roasting chop your onion, peppers and chicken sausage. Flip the potatoes after the 15 minutes and add the onion and peppers. Continue roasting for another 15-20 minutes or until potatoes are soft and lightly browned. Turn the oven to broil and add the chicken sausage. Broil for about 5 minutes or until potatoes are golden brown.

Serve Warm

Whole Wheat Bagels

If there was one food that I could eat every day it would be the bagel. Breakfast bagels with cream cheese,  panini style sandwiches with pepper roasted turkey and Havarti cheese, pizza bagels. The possibilities are endless! Unfortunately, most of the "healthy" labeled store-bought bagels still contain processed ingredients and if you do find a good product they can be pretty pricey. I am in love with these soft and chewy whole wheat bagels and warm from the oven...yum!

An important trick to making that dense, soft, and chewy bagel goodness is to really work the flour into the dough. Your dough should be smooth, slightly shiny and elastic after it has been kneaded and fairly stiff, so if you have a heavy mixer and a dough hook this would be a great opportunity to pull that baby out. Or if you need a really good workout, kneading by hand is always a great option. We inhaled these healthy bites for brunch toasting them and then slathering them with cream cheese.

Adapted from Lovely Little Kitchen

Yield: 12-16 bagels

Whole Wheat Bagels

Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon honey or brown sugar
1 3/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon instant yeast
4 cups plus 3 tablespoons whole wheat flour (approximately)
1 tablespoon vital wheat gluten
1/4 cup butter, melted

10 cups water
2/3 cup baking soda

Optional Toppings
Poppy seeds
Sesame seeds
Ground flax seeds
Cinnamon sugar
Sea salt
Dried onion flakes
Ground flax & oatmeal

In the bowl of your stand mixture combine the water, honey and salt. Sprinkle the yeast on top and let mixture set for five minutes. Stir. With dough hook attached, add 3 cups of flour, gluten and melted butter. While mixing on low, add the remaining flour in 1/2 cup increments until the dough forms a ball and pulls away from the sides of the mixer. Increase speed to medium and mix for five minutes. Dough will be slightly stiff but still pliable.

Lightly oil a large bowl and let dough rise for 1 hour or until almost doubled in size (cover the bowl with plastic wrap while rising).

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Fill a large pot with 10 cups of water and bring to a boil.

Turn dough out onto a counter and gently knead the air bubbles out. Separate into 12- 16 pieces (depending on the size you like your bagels) and roll into smooth balls. Cover dough with plastic wrap as you prepare the bagels. Once you have rolled the dough into balls, gently poke a hole in the middle of each ball and stretch until a 1-inch in diameter hole forms. Place on a lightly oiled parchment lined baking sheet.

Add baking soda to the boiling water and drop 4-5 bagels at a time into the water, boil for 30 seconds and then remove to a drying rack. Sprinkle with desired toppings. Once all the bagels have been boiled, place on prepared baking sheets and bake 11-13 minutes or until golden brown.

Let bagels rest on cooling racks for at least 30 minutes before freezing.

Meals for the Week

Welcome to Friday! I don't know about you, but I'm ready for the weekend and some quality time with my family.  Enjoy these top FIVE meal ideas.

1. Easy Healthy Breakfast Crepes- These may say breakfast in the title, but make a delicious light summer dinner. One of the best parts of this recipe is how FAST and EASY these are to whip up.

2. Keeping in line with the breakfast theme are PW's Breakfast Burritos by Ree Drummond. If you're short on time, use frozen hash browns instead of russet potatoes. This recipe makes a bunch and the leftovers are an easy lunch for the next day.

3. For those who don't want to eat breakfast foods every night, this Kale Pasta Salad also by Ree Drummond is delicious and made for a yummy meat-free meal. We substituted the white pasta for whole grain wheat and found it tasty warm or cold.

4. These Spring Vegetable Potstickers by The Smitten Kitchen may be a little time consuming but well worth the effort. I couldn't believe how delicious the fresh asparagus was in the filling. My family isn't a huge fan of tofu so I used chicken instead. Fill these potstickers with your favorite veggies and serve with basmati rice.

5. And lastly, Zucchini Quinoa Fritters with Parmesan by The Scrumptious Pumpkin. We ate these with a fresh garden salad for a satisfying meal. Grilled chicken would also be a tasty accompaniment.

~Enjoy~

Easy Healthy Breakfast Crepes

We love eating breakfast for dinner at my house and one of our favorites are crepes. This recipe is a healthy variation of my Crepes recipe and a cinch to make. These are incredibly light and have the perfect crisp on the edges. Serve with your favorite seasonal fruit and a dollop of whipped cream.

Easy Healthy Breakfast Crepes

Yield: 2-4 Servings

1 cup cottage cheese
6 eggs
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup melted coconut oil
1/4 cup milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place all ingredients in a blender, and blend on high for 1 minute (you may need to pause and scrape the sides half-way through). Scoop out the batter in 1/4 cups onto a non-stick heated griddle or skillet. If using an electric griddle turn your heat to about 375 degrees or if using a skillet on the stove, turn your heat to medium-high. Tilt the griddle to spread out the batter until thinned, cook until browned on the bottom and then flip. Serve Warm.

Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls

We love Asian inspired cuisine at my house, from the stir-fries, egg rolls, sushi and soups, we love it all. Having made a number of different egg roll recipes, I wanted to change it up a bit and try some fresh spring rolls. Filled with fresh veggies, herbs, rice noodles and cold shrimp, these taste fantastic! And after a weekend of some unhealthy eating choices (like Ghirardelli Caramel Turtle Brownies ) I needed to start the week off right.

Yield: 4 Servings

Fresh Shrimp Spring Rolls

10 spring-roll wrappers
Sweet and sour dipping sauce

Filling
1 cup raw spinach
2-3 ounces dried rice sticks
12 ounces cooked shrimp, thawed
1/2 English cucumber, cut match-stick style (skin and seeds removed, if desired)
1 carrot, cut match-stick style
1 cup red cabbage, shredded
2 green onions, thinly sliced
Handful of fresh cilantro
Handful of fresh basil
Handful of fresh mint leaves

Fill a medium sized pot with water and bring to a boil. Place rice sticks in a metal bowl and pour boiling water over the rice sticks. Gently stir every minute until noodles are cooked. Watch the noodles carefully, as they can become mushy very quickly. Drain noodles and run cool water over them. Set aside.

Prepare veggies and set aside.

To make rolls, fill a large bowl with warm water and submerge one spring-roll wrapper in water until it becomes pliable. This will only take a few seconds. Place softened wrapper on a plate and layer filling ingredients down the bottom-middle of the roll. Fold bottom and sides in and tightly roll. Repeat with remaining ingredients. Serve immediately with your favorite sauce or refrigerate until ready to eat.