Chicken Mango Habanero Sausage and Veggies! "Pizza"

I love pizza!! Unfortunately, Pizza Hut and Dominoes don't help my waistline, so here's a pretty healthy version of a pizza you can make at home. 

Ingredients:  

Veggies galore

F&E Mango Habanero Chicken Sausage

Pesto as a base instead of tomato sauce

 Naan bread (or Pita)

Shredded Parmesan 

Low Fat Ricotta cheese

Ingredients

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Chop the veggies.  It's really up to you what veggies you want to use, I just happened to have most of these in my fridge.  And you can choose how thick or thin you would like them, but I think the thinner the better.

Veggies Chopped

2.  Next you get the chicken sausage and chop it up.  This one has a bit of a spice, so beware if you don't like spicy things!  Fresh & Easy has other delicious flavors, but this one is my favorite.

3.  Next you get a spoonful of Ricotta cheese and spread it on the Naan.  Depending on how big the Naan bread is you can use about a spoonful and a half.  Afterward I got about a tablespoon of pesto and spread it over the Ricotta and slightly mixed it together, so it becomes a delicious mixture of pesto and Ricotta.

4.  Start layering your veggies and chicken sausage on top of the Naan bread.  I started with the chicken sausage on the bottom, added the veggies on top, and ended with a bit of Parmesan cheese. 

5.  Get a cookie sheet and cover it with aluminum foil and spray with some olive oil spray or butter spray.  Place the pizzas on cookie sheet and spray the top of them as well.  Pop them in the oven for approximately 20-25 minutes depending on how toasty you want them.

Ready to be Baked

6.  Take out of the oven carefully and enjoy!!!

Ready to Devour!

Hearty Kale & Mushroom Soup

I hate being sick, even if it is just a sore throat.  A sore throat means I can't thoroughly enjoy the food I usually eat, which puts me in a crappy mood :-/

Whenever I start to feel remotely ill I get to the market ASAP and throw a ton of veggies in my basket.  I get home, start choppin', and pretty much just come up with some kind of hearty veggie concoction.

Last week's concoction consisted of the following:

1 bunch Kale

1 package Shiitake mushrooms

3 carrots chopped

3 celery stalks chopped

2 small golden potatoes

1/4 red onion diced (chop more if desired)

2 Roma tomatoes

1/4 cup chopped cilantro

2 garlic cloves thinly chopped 

Juice of 2 1/2 limes

Himalayan pink salt to taste 

1 teaspoon ground ginger

Step 1 - Grab a fairly large pot throw in about 2 tablespoons of olive oil and sauté mushrooms with diced garlic cloves.  After about 5 minutes throw in the celery and carrots and sauté for an additional 5 minutes.

Step 2 - Throw in chopped kale to the pan of sautéed veggies.  When it is wilted after a few minutes I put in about 3 1/2 cups of water (add more or less to your liking).

Step 3 - Add some Knorr Chicken Bouillon, about 1 tablespoon (again, more or less to your liking).  I also added some salt free Fresh & Easy herb and spice mix, about two teaspoons (Mrs. Dash would work as well, and ground ginger.

Step 4 - I added the diced gold potatoes just a few minutes after I added all the seasonings.  I should have sautéed them along with the other veggies, but I was just going with the flow and forgot that I had potatoes.

Step 5 - Let soup simmer for about 15 minutes or so, until potatoes are soft.  While you are waiting on the soup to simmer, you can start on the aji (which is a similar to a pico de gallo, except I married a Colombian and they call it aji).

Instructions for Aji

Dice tomatoes, red onion, chile

Chop cilantro

Juice the limes and mix all together

 Add salt to taste

Step 6 - Serve a bowl and add as much aji as your heart desires (but don't hog it all! ;-) ... Enjoy!!

Yum!!

Beef Stir "Fried Rice"

First things first, you should know I am not a huge fan of red meat.  I enjoy a nice juicy burger or some carne asada, but the thought of eating a fat steak doesn't sound appetizing to me at all.  I even dislike preparing and cooking red meat, but I'm learning and trying because my husband is a carnivore!  I grew up eating beans, cheese, and tortillas.  Maybe I should start doing that again since my 95 year old grandma has been living off that since I can remember, so she must be doing something right!

Anyway, I got the idea for this recipe from an Instagram fitness guru @Mankofit!  If you need some fitness inspiration, she is sure to inspire you!

So on to the delicious healthy twist on Beef Stir Fried Rice!  I was really surprised that it turned out quite delicious for a non-red meat lover, yay!

Ingredients I used:

1 cup uncooked white Quinoa 

Lean Beef Strips for Stir Fry (6-8 oz)

1/4 cup of Diced Shallots 

1 cup Broccoli Florets

3-4 Diced Sweet Mini Peppers

1 package of White Mushrooms (Chop them Up!)

1 handful of Baby Kale and Baby Spinach 

2-3 Tbls Briggs Liquid Aminos (Healthy alternative to Soy Sauce)

2 Tbls Kikkoman Ponzu Citrus Seasoned Dressing Sauce

Season to Taste - Mrs. Dash Salt Free seasoning (Original)
2 Tbls Extra Virgin Olive Oil

For the Beef:  Lemon Pepper and Peruvian Chile Lime Seasoning

Tools:  Spatula and a Wok (If you do not own a Wok, a large pan would work just as well)

You need these in your kitchen!

Check out Savory Spice Shop!!

The first step is cooking the cup of quinoa and setting it aside.  I used a rice cooker to make it, so just follow the directions on the back of the quinoa package.  2 parts of water for every one part of quinoa, pretty much the same as cooking rice.  Feel free to use any kind of quinoa you have on hand, from tri-color to red quinoa.  I put one garlic clove in the rice cooker and about two-three pinches of Goya seasoning.

When the quinoa is almost done cooking you can start chopping up the veggies.  Heat up the olive oil and start sauteing the shallots until a bit translucent (you can also use red or white onions).  Next add in the peppers, mushrooms and broccoli.  Next add 2 cups of the cooked quinoa.  Sauté it all together for a few minutes and add the liquid aminos, ponzu, and Mrs. Dash.  In the meantime you can cook the beef in a separate pan.  I seasoned the beef with lemon pepper and a Peruvian Chile Lime seasoning from Savory Spice Shop (Feel free to use any kind of rub you have on hand, but this one is definitely delicious!!)  Cook beef until all the pink is gone, unless you like the pink :-)

Once veggies and quinoa are all sauteed, which you only have to do for a few minutes, you can turn off the heat for the Wok and add in the kale and spinach, and it will slightly wilt from the steam.  And instead of tossing it all with the beef, I just placed some beef on top when serving so that any leftover quinoa mixture you can enjoy on its own later.  Enjoy!

And don't feel like you need every single veggie I listed, if you want to use what's in the fridge go ahead, I was just thinking that celery would give it a nice crunchy texture.  Have fun and get creative!

If you have any questions, please leave me a comment and I'll respond as soon as I can.  Thank you!