“Clean” Pizza

Sounds like an oxymoron but it is possible. When you take a Clean Cravings crust and top it with fresh, authentic sauce from Bella Cucina Artful Foods Pomodoro’s Pizza Sauce and then add some fresh mozzarella, veggies and a dabble of meat (or not). You come out with a very healthy, craving-worthy creation. So here is mine:

I loved, loved, loved the sauce on this pizza. I can not say this enough. It is a rare occasion when I make a homemade pizza and have pizza sauce to use that is an actual dedicated pizza sauce. The Pomodoro Pizza Sauce is a classic, handmade sauce that has the perfect mixture of Italian tomatoes and herbs. Not only does Bella Cucina have pizza sauce they have a bunch of other Italian blends to help you get creative in the kitchen. I have Artichoke Pesto Sauce of theirs next in my queue.

A little about Clean Cravings—they make crusts that are pure and simple—gluten free, vegan, soy-dairy-yeast free, no trans fat, whole grains, all natural and turn out totally delicious! They have a variety of “just crusts” for you to work with but they also have actual pizzas. I did sample the Perfectly Pesto Pizza and it was delicious! All it was—a thin, crunchy crust topped with pesto, mushrooms and pinenuts! Yummmmm!

Friday’s Lunch

The ultimate comfort food combo! Peanut butter and honey on a soft wheat bread. This sandwich was so good with just the right touch of sweetness. Peanut butter is always fabulous but what made the sandwich was the bread from Rudi’s Bakery and the smooth honey by Honey Ridge Farms. Rudi’s Organic Honey Wheat Sweet (say that ten times fast) is a regular on my shopping list as well as some of their other products like flax wraps and English muffins (the have tons of bread varieties to suit anyone). This was my first time having honey by Honey Ridge Farms. I love their honey because it is very sweet yet they add no sweeteners, honey does not need it! In addition to their gourmet honey they have – Honey Crèmes, Honey Balsamic Vinegars, Glazes, Grilling Sauces and gifts galore. They have an Asian inspired salad on their recipe page that will be making its way to my page in the next few days. It looks delicious.

Just say NO

To boring salads. They are no fun! Vino De Milo has a full line up of salad dressings that are armed with original flavors with a flare to them. Gorgonzola Pear, Sun Ripened Tomato and my favorite Artichoke Parmesan! Vino De Millo has other sauces beyond the salad dressings but the salad dressings are thick, creamy and make salads something to look forward to. The Artichoke Parmesan is so outrageously good—its my new go to dressing. I had it as a Cesar swap and it went perfectly with crunchy romaine lettuce, a few tomatoes and some chickpeas. That is seriously all this salad needed. Lucky for me I have spotted these dressings on the shelves now locally at Roundy’s Market. Don’t have a nearby Roundy’s? Hop on their website to order or find a retailer. Read the story about the start of Vino De Milo—loved it!

Award Winning Butternut Squash Pasta Sauce

Dave’s Gourmet has a very unique Butternut Squash pasta sauce that tastes fresh and amazing. Its definitely NOT just for pasta either! It is a blend of all-natural butternut squash ripened in Oregon, then paired with fresh garlic, onions and roasted red peppers. It is very different that your traditional pasta sauce and has a sweet, gourmet and robust flavor. I served mine over a heap of steamed veggies and they suggest it on top of pasta, tortellini, ravioli or to make a twist on lasagna! I love finding something new and fantastic!

Dulcet Sauces (Recipe Included)

Do you love ethnic dishes but don’t have all the spices to prepare them? I had always wanted to make a really great tofu-curry dish but did not have all the right spices or even know where to begin. I recently made a tofu-noodle-veggie stir fry using an Indian Curry sauce by Dulcet. Here is there description of the all natural, gluten free sauce:

We use the finest spices to blend our unique recipe of Madras Curry. Use as a finishing sauce on chicken, fish, pork, lamb or lentils or create a simmering sauce with tomatoes. Great as a stir fry sauce, especially with noodles. Use as marinade on pork ribs or grilled chicken. The best ever Curry Chicken Salad is on our website and there are lots of yummy serving suggestions on the label.
Using their very own Beef & Veggie Stir Fry Recipe from the website as an inspiration I changed it around a bit using the Curry and Tofu versus the beef. This was a hit! Here is my take on the recipe:
Tofu & Veggie Stir Fry
1 block of Firm or Extra Firm Tofu, drained and cubed
3 T plus 6 T Dulcet Indian Curry Sauce
½ t dried crushed chilies
1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 T vegetable oil
1 sm onion, thinly sliced
1 sm red pepper, thinly sliced
1/3 lb broccoli florets – (I added a bit more)
2 T sherry or water – (used water and it turned out great!)
1. Place tofu, 3T Dulcet Indian Curry Sauce & dried chilies in a glass bowl, set aside while preparing veggies.
2. Place wok or large sauté pan over med high heat for 1 minute.
3. Add the beef and cook for 30 sec, add garlic, cook additional 30 seconds, remove from pan & set aside.
4. Increase heat to high, add the oil & onion and stir fry for 2 ½ minutes.
5. Add the red pepper and cook 1 minute, add the broccoli and cook for an additional minute.
6. Reduce the heat to med high, add the sherry or water, cover the pan and cook for 1 minute.
7. Remove the lid, place the tofu back in the pan along with the 6 T Dulcet Indian Curry Sauce, cook 1 minute.
8. Serve over a bed of steamed rice. (I tossed with noodles and a bit more sauce)

Better than homemade

Occasionally I will make a passed down marinara recipe and save the leftovers for quick and awesome dinners. I will never have to slave over that tedious recipe again! I am a working woman with very little extra time on my hands people! I have yet to have a “jarred” sauce that I love. Maybe this is because I grew up in an Italian household with real sauces and authentic dishes.

So when I found out about Chicago based Couplaguys (LOVE the name clever and funny), I carefully read their ingredient list and it sounded like old fashioned sauce—how it is meant to be prepared. Last night, I was lucky enough to actually get to try Couplaguys marinara sauce. I could not believe how thick this sauce was (see it sitting on the spoon) and how hearty! I popped open the top and the aroma of the sauce literally filled the kitchen and made my stomach start grumbling. All I had to do was heat the sauce up and serve. The jar is perfectly proportioned to one pound of pasta but lucky for me I have some leftover waiting for me in the fridge, it will not make it to the weekend. Not only do they have a marinara sauce they have: Awesome Arrabiata, Buoy Base (read about this one—so cool), Crème de la Crimini (with sliced Cimini mushrooms), Perfect Puttanesca, Serious Sesame Sauce (this is right up my alley), and Terrific Tapenade (YUM).

I have to give a special shout out to my new friend Joe over at Couplaguys! I really enjoyed talking to him and he has a serious passion for food. I am on a personal mission for this sauce to be carried locally in Milwaukee, it is THAT good, but in the meantime you can order direct from their website.

Fiery Goodness

Benito’s makes a smoking hot- hot sauce! I mean it is HOT but still has a great flavor. I often has the dilemma when I have a really hot sauce I can hardly decipher the flavors but Benito’s has the perfect blend of hot and tasty! This red lava is chock full of organic peppers, spices and handmade in Vermont.

Hot DAMN!

I love hot sauce, okay I am obsessed with hot sauce and just had to try the ones by Sizzlin' Sauces-- why?! They have won just about every award possible for their huge array of fiery blends, their bottles are cool and their sauces are unique. I have three to sample but I had to try the original "Spittin' Fire" sauce first. Its their own secret recipe made with "a blend of fresh Red Savina, Neon Yellow, Golden and Chocolate habanero peppers, garlic, lime juice, carrot juice and a touch of honey" --- WOW!!!! Its hot, really hot but the flavor is so freakin' good! I had it on a broccoli cauliflower quiche and it was PERFECT!

Low Carb Meatless Spaghetti Dish

2 packages Shiraki Noodles
1 small can No Salt Added Tomato Sauce
1 shallot or onion (I used Melissa's brand)
Handful of mushrooms
Galaxy grated Parmesan topping (YUM!)

Boil noodles for about 5 minutes, rinse, pat dry and set aside. Saute the shallot* with the mushrooms, then add sauce. Let simmer and season. Add the noodles to the pan and let it get hot with the lid on stirring frequently.Top with Galaxy Foods grated Parmesan topping (2 tsps only 15 calories).
*As a member of the onion family, Melissa’s French Shallots are tender intexture, mild in flavor (less pungent than the onion), and quick-cooking. (From Melissa's website)

Tastes like............. Honey! Check me for recipes!

I usually avoid honey in my recipes for a few reasons but Nature's Hollow honey tastesjust like the real deal, acts like the real deal but is made with a naturalsweetner, honey flavor and spring water. When I got mine in the mail theoptions just started flooding into my head! In my green tea, coffee,yogurt, cereal and RECIPES! Here are a few I made, they all turned outwonderful tasting-- thanks to the honey. You get a big tablespoon servingsize for a measly 21 calories, no fat, sodium and 0 effective carbs.Natures Hollow also makes sugar free jams, syrups and low carb ketchup. Oh the opportunities. Now order some and try my recipes!

High Protein Sugar Free Honey Balls (No Bake)
The first time I made these I made a big batch to supposedly be treats fora couple of days. They were SO good that they all went down the hatch sothis is for a single serving of protein balls or one big one!
1 teaspoon Sugar Free Honey
1 teaspoon Naturally More Almond Butter OR peanut butter (any nut butter will work)
1/2 scoop vanilla protein powder
1/8 cup fiber cereal
Mix together and leave in fridge a few hours until completely firm. So simple, so good!
Variations on the recipe: add seeds, nuts, chocolate nibs, sub vanilla ppfor chocolate, sub cereal for granola, add raisins or flax! The key ingredient in this recipe is the honey, it adds a sweetness and acts as a binder. If you add optional ingredients you will need to use more of the honey.

Pro-oat Cookies or Oatloaf
1 cup rolled oats
1 heaping scoop vanilla protein powder
1/4 cup carb countdown milk
1 egg (or equivelent)
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 cup sugar free honey
Blend wet ingredents mixing very well. Add to oats and protein powder. Stiruntil all ingredients are binding like a sticky dough, then form into miniballs and place on Pam sprayed baking sheet. Bake at 400 for about 10 minutes. Let cool and store in airtight container. You can also pour batter into sprayed loaf pan and bake a bit longer-- add some baking powder and let stay in oven until knife comes out clean.
Optional add ins: dried fruit, cinnamon, PB powder, chopped nuts MORE coming soon!

Peanut -Thai Inspired Noodles!

Yum! Anything with a hint of peanut butter is good! For this dish you will only need a few products then add away with just about any veggies. First off, prepare your noodles. I generally use Shiraki noodles but some people use a high fiber noodle, wheat noodle or miracle noodles. Just about anything will work for this dish! Then make your peanuty sauce:

4 tablespoons Bragg's Liquid Aminos or Low-Sodium soy sauce of choice
1 tablespoon melted peanut butter or PB2 reconsituted in a dab of water
1 packet sweetner of choice

MIX! I added some broccoli and scallions but whatever you want to add would work great. If I had some spouts I would have tossed those in. Next time I will be adding tofu to my peanuty goodness.

Bragg's Liquid Aminos

Bragg's is a versatile cooking ingredient and sauce. Use it on your steamed veggies, brown rice, tofu, shiraki noodles or on anything else that you would use standard soy sauce on! YUM!

Crustless Spinach Quiche

This is one of those versatile, fix and forget dinners/ lunches or even for breakfast. Gently spray a baking dish with Pam and dump veggies of choice. I usually pre-heat and drain some frozen spinach, broccoli or fresh mushrooms, onions -- anything and then cover in egg beaters. Bake in oven for about 20 minutes depending on the thickness and enjoy. Top with Franks Red Hot!