Pumpkin Quinoa, Lemon Mustard Salmon and a Fall Mojito

After making last weeks pumpkin macaroni and cheese, I had some pumpkin left over so I decided to spice up my quinoa with it!

First I prepared 1 cup of quinoa with 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup water.  You can also choose to do 2 cups chicken stock or 2 cups water.  I personally think that the chicken broth added amazing flavor.  After the chicken broth and water begins to boil, mix in the quinoa and cook for 12 minutes.

While the quinoa was cooking I sauteed about a 1/2 cup of red onion.  Once the quinoa is fully cooked, mix in the red onion and pumpkin along with some cilantro and mint.  Let sit for 15 minutes.

I paired the pumpkin quinoa with a lemon mustard salmon.  I mixed olive oil, dijon mustard and lemon juice until the mixture thickened.   I then placed the salmon flesh side down into the sauce and cooked it at 350 degrees for 10 minutes.

I then turned the salmon skin down, added red onion, cilantro and freshly ground pepper on top and cooked for an additional 10 minutes.

The Fall Mojito we made last week was delicious, and it smelled amazing!  It takes about 30 minutes to prepare so plan accordingly.

Ingredients:

2 ounces apple cider

2 cups apple brandy

2 apples cut into chunks

6 cinnamon sticks

3 star anise 

2 ounces spiced dark rum (we used Captain Morgan)

1 ounce simple syrup

mint leaves to taste

1 lime

Step One:

Combine the apple cider, apple brandy, apples, cinnamon and star anise ans simmer for 30 minutes.  This mixture smells amazing and combines so many delicious fall flavors.

While this is simmering, take the mint and lime and muddle them in your glasses.

Once all of the flavors have combined strain and chill the liquid.  We put it in a martini shaker with ice.

 Then add ice cubes, some of the apple pieces and rum to your glasses, pour in the apple cider mixture and top with a cinnamon stick and sprig of mint for the garnish!

Yummy Fish Tacos

This weeks Taco Tuesday was on the healthier side with fish tacos served.  I used Alaskan Cod for the fish cooking it with butter, ( I used "I Can't Believe it's not Butter Light- this is actually the only butter I ever use) fresh lime juice, lime zest, fresh garlic, pepper, and a dash of salt.

The tacos alco consisted of corn tortillas, green cabbage, cilantro, corn, and cheddar cheese

I also made a special sauce to go with our fish tacos with included light sour cream, lime zest, lime juice, and hot sauce ( I used Tapatio) It was amazing!

All put together....

Some Thanksgiving highlights.....

For Thanksgiving my husband and I went to Sonoma to visit his parents.  I cooked the appetizers: Pumpkin Spice Dip and a baked Spinach Artichoke Dip.

The pumpkin spice dip was made with Cool Whip, Greek Yogurt, Pumpkin Puree, Pumpkin Pie Spice, Cinnamon, Vanilla Extract and Nutmeg.  I served it with sliced apples and figs.

The spinach artichoke dip was made with light sour scream, reduced fat cream cheese, reduced fat mozzarella, fresh spinach, artichoke hearts, fresh garlic, parmesan cheese, lemon zest, nutmeg, pepper, and a dash of salt.

It was such a hit, that I didn't even get a chance to snap a picture of the final product before everyone dug in!

I also made Green Bean Casserole, and Cranberry Pear Sauce for dinner.

This dish is VERY simple, but amazingly good.  Just follow the directions on the French's Fried onion container!

Unfortunately I did not get a picture of the cranberry pear sauce but it was made with fresh cranberries, fresh pears, sugar, and water.  This was a big hit, everyone wanted seconds and thirds!

I loved visiting in Sonoma, it is definitly a different expereince from Southern California.  While we were there we did some wine tasting, and drove around absorbing in the scenery.  The colors of the changing leaves are absolutely amazing.  This was a fun adventure!

*Recipes for the Pumpkin Spice Dip and Cranberry Pear Sauce are from http://www.skinnytaste.com/



Mini Thanksgiving

The other night I made a "Mini-Thanksgiving" dinner, using everyone's favorite dishes, and making them in less traditional ways.  The end result was all the yummyness of Thanksgiving dinner, without all the hours of cooking!

First Dish: Cranberry Pineapple Sauce

The first step was to chop up the cranberries and pineapple in a food processor.

Then I heated the pineapple juice and sugar to a boil, and then added the chopped up cranberries for ten minutes on medium heat, followed by the chopped up pineapple for 1 minute.  then I put it in the fridge to cool.

Second Dish: Rosemary Biscuits

I mixed 2 cups of Heart Smart Bisquick, parmesan cheese,a clove of garlic, and water.  Meanwhile I sauteed another clove of garlic and rosemary.  I spooned out the mix onto my baking sheet, and cooked them for ten minutes.

After the ten minutes were up I spooned the rosemary mixture and melted butter over each biscuit and cooked for an additional 5 minutes.

Added Rosemary Mix

Final Product right out of the oven

Third Dish: Corn Bread Stuffing Breaded Turkey

I initially wanted to use turkey cutlets for this dish, but could not find any at the store.  Instead I found strips of turkey breast meat.  This made the preparation a bit more difficult, but the end result was still delicious.

First I crushed up the corn bread stuffing, and then coated the turkey meat withthe stuffing.  I then fried the turkey on the stove with olive oil.

Fourth Dish: My famous brusselsprouts!

Unfortunately I forgot to take a picture of these, please see "healthy meets fall" for recipe.

Other Fall inspired meals from the week:

Autumn themed pasta!

Pumpkin spice scones paired with a pumpkin spice latte!

*Recipes for the cranberry pineapple sauce and rosemary biscuits came from http://www.skinnytaste.com/

Healthy Meets Fall

This week I decided to try some more new, fall inspired ideas!  I planned a dinner of pepita crusted trout, creamed cauliflower, and brussel sprouts!

First was the Pepita Crusted Trout.

Ingrediants:

Trout, pepitas (raw pumpkin seeds), panko crumbs, fresh garlic, salt and pepper, and olive oil.

First Step: I crushed the pepitas in a food processor.

Then I mixed the crushed seeds with the panko crumbs, salt and pepper, and set it aside.

My next step was to crush the garlic

If you do not have one of these plates for crushing garlic, I highly recommend it, they are amazing!



Then it was time to prepare the fish!

While the fish was cooking, I prepared my side dishes, the creamed caulifloer and brussel sprouts.

The creamed cauliflower is basically the same as mashed potatoes, only healthier!  Once the cauliflower is cooked and tender, add fat free sour cream, a little bit of butter, garlic, salt, and pepper, and mix it all up with a hand blender (another amazing tool!)   I used mine for the first time for this, and it was so easy, much easier than pouring it all into a blender.

I also chopped up come green onion to go on top.

Now for the brussel sprouts!  I know not too many people are fond of brussel sprouts, but I happen to love them!  My husband used to hate them, but one day I took a chance that he would like them the way  I prepare them, and he did!  Now he not only likes them, but he requests them!

First cut the brussel sprouts in half, pour olive oil on top, and then season with garlic salt and freshly ground pepper.

The finished products:

Now, some of you may be looking at this picture and think, "uh-oh she burned them!"  Yes, they are burned, but it was no accident!  I love it when they are burnt to a crisp!  I really think this gives them that extra flavor that may make you think twice about brussel sprouts!

The only down-fall of this meal was that the cauliflower did not retain it's heat for long.  It seemed to get cold quickly, and is definitly better when warm, but other than that everything turned out amazing!