Quinoa Chili {Vegetarian}

Ingredients

• 2 cups cooked quinoa
• 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large yellow onion, diced (1 3/4 cup)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 (14.5 oz) cans diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 - 2 cups water (or chicken broth if not making vegetarian)
• 1 (7 oz) can diced green chiles
• 2 1/2 Tbsp chili powder
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 2 tsp cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 1/2 tsp ground coriander
• 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper, or to taste (optional)
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 2 (15 oz) cans kidney beans, drained and rinsed (I used one dark red, one light red)
• 1 (15 oz) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn
• 1/2 cup cilantro, chopped
• Juice of 1 lime

Directions

• Heat olive oil in a large enameled cast iron pot over medium-high heat. Once oil is hot add onion and saute until tender, about 4 minutes, adding in garlic during last 30 seconds of sauteing. Add in diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, cooked quinoa, water (start with 1 1/2 cups then add more later if desired), green chiles, chili powder, cumin, cocoa, paprika, sugar, coriander, cayenne pepper and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer, cover pot and allow to simmer 30 minutes.
• Add in all beans, corn, cilantro and lime and cook until heated through. Serve warm with optional toppings and sides (cheddar, sour cream, diced avocados, saltine crackers or tortilla chips).

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Caprese Lasagna Roll Ups

Ingredients

• 8 lasagna noodles, uncooked
• 14 oz freshly shredded, low-moisture part skim Mozzarella cheese, divided
• 3/4 cup Ricotta cheese
• 1 large egg white
• 1/3 cup freshly, finely shredded Parmesan cheese (about 1 1/4 oz)
• freshly ground black pepper
• 3 - 4 medium Roma tomatoes, thinly sliced (about 1/6 inch thick slices)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh basil, plus more for garnish
• 1 cup marinara sauce, recipe follows
Simple Marinara Sauce
• 2 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 2 cloves garlic finely minced
• 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
• salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook pasta according to directions listed on package to al dente. Drain pasta (DO NOT rinse with water) and align lasagna noodles in a single layer on a large sheet of parchment or wax paper.
• For filling, in a large mixing bowl, whisk together ricotta cheese and egg white until well blended. Stir in Parmesan cheese. Mix in 12 oz. of the Mozzarella cheese and season with black pepper to taste (I wouldn't recommend seasoning with salt just because the cheeses already have plenty of salt).
• Place 1/4 cup of the cheese mixture over each lasagna noodle and spread into an even layer, going from one end of the lasagna to the other. Align 4 thin tomato slices over cheese mixture then sprinkle fresh basil over top. Snugly roll lasagna noodles to opposite end. Spread about 1/4 cup pasta sauce in the bottom of an 11 x 7 inch baking dish. Align lasagna roll ups, seam side down in dish. Top each roll up with about 2 Tbsp of the pasta sauce (covering edges of pasta so they don't dry out while baking). Sprinkle top with remaining 2 oz. shredded Mozzarella. Bake in preheated oven 30 minutes. Remove from oven, plate pasta and garnish with plenty of basil ribbons. Serve warm.
Simple Marinara Sauce
• Heat olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium high heat. Add onions to hot oil and saute about 3 minutes until soft, adding garlic during last minute of sauteing. Pour in crushed tomatoes and season with salt and pepper to taste. Bring mixture just to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer and allow sauce to cook for about 25 - 30 minutes (which will allow some of the water in crushed tomatoes to evaporate) while you prepare pasta and lasagna filling (you can freeze or refrigerate left over sauce in a small airtight container for later use, adding fresh basil if desired).
  
  
  Source: http://www.cookingclassy.com/2012/10/caprese-lasagna-roll-ups/

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Calzone Bites easy recipe

Ingredients
15 Athens® Mini Fillo Shells
15 slices of pizza pepperoni
¼ cup pizza sauce
¾ cup finely shredded mozzarella
5 ounces pizza dough (1/2 tube)


Directions
1 teaspoon Italian seasoningPlace the shells on an ungreased baking sheet. Press one slice of pepperoni into each shell. Evenly distribute the pizza sauce among the shells followed by the cheese.

Roll out the pizza dough to the approximate size of the shell tray. With a small, round cookie cutter that is approximately the size of the shell, cut out 15 pieces. Place each piece of dough on top of the filling.

Sprinkle the shells with the seasoning and bake for 8-10-minutes in a preheated oven at 350°F. Serve immediately.Yield: 15 appetizersTips:

Create a vegetarian version using your favorite vegetable toppings instead of pepperoni.

Top with a dollop of sauce and garnish with strips of pepperoni.

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Healthy Mozzarella Sanduich

Give yourself a treat! This is healthy, but don’t eat it everyday; it still has cheese in it! It’s all about moderation :)

Ingredients

Whole grain bread

Low-fat Mozzarella cheese sliced thick

Tomato slices

White onion slices

Turkey Bacon (optional!!)

Green onions cut up

Directions

Pretty self explanatory but here it is. Put slices of thick mozzarella on bread and put in the oven on broil. Watch it (it won’t take long) until nice and slightly brown on top and melted. Make sure it is melted. Nothing is worse than almost melted cheese. Add bacon and sliced tomatoes, white onion and green onions. 

Serve with a small side salad with ranch dressing. Perfect lunch.

(Avoid eating this for dinner. Keep dinner light.)

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Easy Honey Mustard Mozzarella Chicken

Ingredients:

• 4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 3/4 cup honey
• 1/2 cup prepared mustard
• lemon pepper to taste
• 4 slices bacon, cut in half
• 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Place the chicken breast halves in a baking dish, and drizzle evenly with honey and mustard. Sprinkle with lemon pepper.
3. Bake chicken 25 minutes in the preheated oven. Top each breast half with 2 bacon slice halves, and sprinkle evenly with cheese. Continue baking 10 minutes, or until chicken juices run clear, bacon is crisp, and cheese is bubbly.

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DIY Sea Salt Body Scrub

This gritty DIY salt scrub turns your shower into a blissful beauty spa and leaves your skin clean and rejuvenated.

Put coarse sea salt into a bowl.

Stir baby oil into the salt until it thoroughly coats the salt grains.

Stir in almond or vanilla extract to add a scent to your DIY Salt Scrub.

• 1/2 cup coarse sea salt 
• 1/4 cup baby oil 
• 1/2 tsp. almond or vanilla extract 

Instructions

1. In a small bowl, stir the sea salt and oil together until the oil thoroughly coats the salt. Add the extract and stir it in completely.
2. Hop in the shower. When skin is thoroughly wet, apply with your hands, a washcloth, or a puff scrubber. Massage in and be sure to rinse off thoroughly.

TIP

Be good to yourself and the environment by taking a Navy shower (it was developed on ships, where fresh water is at a premium). This simple technique can cut the amount of water you use for a shower by up to 80 percent!

1. Turn on the shower.
2. Wet your body and hair.
3. Turn the water off.
4. Soap up your body, then shampoo your hair. (Save the shampoo for last so it doesn’t get in your eyes.)
5. Turn the water back on and rinse off.

DIY Salt Scrub Photography by Lori Foy.

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Portobello Mushroom Pizza

• 4 tomatoes 
• 4 large portobello mushrooms 
• 4 cloves of garlic 
• lemon 
• 1 leek 
• 1 onion 
• fresh basil 
• fresh parsley 
• Olive oil
• Salt 
• Spray pan;
• stuff mushrooms;

Top with cheese;

Bake at 400 F for 12 minutes.

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Strawberry Pizza

When you mix up the crust it will seem a bit crumbly but just use your hands and form it into a ball.  It will come together nicely.

Just roll it out with a rolling pin on an ungreased cookie sheet or a baking stone will work too.

Bake for about 12-15 minutes or until lightly golden brown.

While it is baking and cooling mix up your cream cheese mixture and your strawberry mixture.  Use 1 cup of smashed strawberries.  I do mine in the food processor.
Cook the strawberries with sugar and cornstarch until it thickens and is glossy – will take about 5-10 minutes.  Cool.

After the crust is cool spread with cream cheese mixture you mixed up.

Add strawberry mixture and sliced strawberries.

The crust ends up being a bit fragile so it can be a bit messy to eat.  I just use my pizza cutter to slice it up.

Ingredients

Crust:
• 1 C flour
• 1/4 C powdered sugar
• 1/2 C butter
Filling:
• 1 (8 oz.) cream cheese, room temperature
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/2 C granulated sugar
• 1/4 tsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
Topping;
• 1 C fresh strawberries, mashed
• 4 Tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1 Tbsp. cornstarch
• 8 - 10 strawberries sliced.

Instructions

Crust:
• In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar and butter.
• Form into a ball with hands and press into a 14 inch ungreased pizza pan (I used my Pampered Chef pizza stone)
• Bake at 325 degrees for 15 minutes. Cool.
Filling:
• In a medium bowl, combine cream cheese, vanilla, sugar and lemon juice.
• Spread on cooled crust.
Topping:
• In a saucepan over medium heat, combine strawberries, sugar and cornstarch.
• Simmer until thick and glossy. Cool.
• Spread on top of cream cheese filling.
• Cut fresh strawberries crosswise to make rounds that resemble pepperoni, place on pizza and serve
  
  
  Source: http://www.yourhomebasedmom.com/strawberry-pizza/

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Mexican Black Bean Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups shredded Mexican Blend cheese
• 1/4 cup shredded Monterey Jack cheese
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 8 (6-inch) flour tortillas
• 1 small onion, chopped
• 1 (15 ounce) can BUSH’S® Black Beans, drained
• 1/2 cup salsa, mild or spicy
• 2 ounces canned chopped green chiles
• 2 ounces pulled chicken

Instructions

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Mix half the Mexican Blend cheese with the Monterey Jack cheese in a bowl; set aside.
2. Brush a baking sheet with 1 tablespoon of the oil and arrange tortillas in a single layer. Puncture each tortilla a few times with a fork. Sprinkle remaining Cheddar cheese evenly over 4 of the tortillas, then cover each with a remaining tortilla. Bake 5-6 minutes or until browned slightly.
3. While tortillas bake, heat remaining oil in a skillet and cook onions until browned. Add beans and partially mash with a potato masher or the back of a fork.
4. Remove tortilla pizzas from oven and top each with bean mixture, spreading evenly. Top with salsa, green chiles, pulled chicken and cheese mixture.
5. Return to oven. Bake until cheese melts, about 10-20 minutes.
   
   
   Source :http://tidymom.net/2013/mexican-black-bean-pizza/

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Pumpkin Dessert Bars

Ingredients:

• 1-3/4 cups graham cracker crumbs
• 1-1/3 cups Imperial Sugar® / Dixie Crystals® Granulated Sugar, divided
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened
• 5 eggs
• 1 can (15 ounces) solid-pack pumpkin
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 envelope unflavored gelatin
• 1/4 cup cold water
• Whipped topping and ground nutmeg, optional

Instructions:

1. In a small bowl, combine graham cracker crumbs and 1/3 cup sugar; stir in butter. Press into a greased 13-in. x 9-in. baking dish.
2. In a small bowl, beat cream cheese and 2/3 cup sugar until smooth. Beat in 2 eggs just until blended. Pour over crust. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until set. Cool on a wire rack.
3. Meanwhile, separate remaining eggs and set whites aside. In a large saucepan, combine the yolks, pumpkin, brown sugar, milk, salt and cinnamon. Cook and stir over low heat for 10-12 minutes or until mixture is thickened and reaches 160°. Remove from the heat.
4. In a small saucepan, sprinkle gelatin over cold water; let stand for 1 minute. Heat over low heat, stirring until gelatin is completely dissolved. Stir into pumpkin mixture; set aside.
5. In a large heavy saucepan, combine reserved egg whites and remaining sugar. With a portable mixer, beat on low speed for 1 minute. Continue beating over low heat until mixture reaches 160°, about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat; beat until stiff glossy peaks form and sugar is dissolved.
6. Fold into pumpkin mixture; spread evenly over cream cheese layer. Cover and refrigerate for 4 hours or until set. Garnish with whipped topping and nutmeg if desired. Yield: 15 servings.

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Low fat oatmeal- chocolate chip cookies

Ingredients:

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon allspice
2 Tablespoons butter, melted
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup granulated white sugar
1/2 cup light brown sugar, packed
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 2/3 cups oats
2 Tablespoons mini chocolate chips

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Slightly spray cookie sheet with nonstick spray, or line with parchment paper or silpat mat.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and allspice.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together melted butter, applesauce, sugars, egg and vanilla until well blended. Add flour mixture to applesauce mixture. Mix well. Fold in oats. At this point, you can decide if you'd like to mix in the chocolate chips or save them to sprinkle on op of each scoop of cookie dough.

4. Drop rounded Tablespoonfuls onto cookie sheet 2 inches apart. You should end up with about 22 cookies. Bake 8 to 10 minutes, or until set. Remove from oven and cool on cookie sheet for 5 minutes; remove to wire rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Information per serving:
Serving size: 1 cookie
Calories per serving: 101
Fat per serving: 2.1g
Saturated Fat per serving: 1.1g
Fiber per serving: 1.5g
Protein per serving: 1.6g
Cholesterol per serving: 11.2mg
Carbohydrates per serving: 24.6g

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