Friday, June 21, 2013

Summa.. Summa .. Summa TIME :)

Phew - I am not even sure where to start! It is the FIRST day of summer, I am a new mom, and boy is life crazy!

Since having my beautiful son, I have been crazy crazy crazy - basically feeding the baby and that's it :) along w/ not sleeping, and trying to learn the new normal in our household, things are finally starting to settle down and BOY do I miss my old hobby of healthy eating and cooking. I finally feel like I have my new schedule under the control and I can begin cooking again and exploring new foods - and what better time, but SUMMER! The perfect time for healthy fruits and veggies!

I know all of you joined a CSA this summer so that you get all those healthy fresh local fruits and veggies - Listen to me talking, I actually didn't join one this summer and the reason is b/c we have a new farmer's market right in my town - about a mile away from my house. This market is every Saturday morning and all of the vendors are local farms within miles of my house - so needless to say, my CSA is right here in my town! its perfect - I am able to go every Saturday and get fresh fruits and veggies for the week. Its also a great way to get out and get some fresh air w/ the baby!

In honor of the first day of summer, I am making a healthy fresh meal for dinner tonight - grilled veggie pitas w/ corn on the cobb (we are obsessed w/ corn on the cobb in the summer - we may eat too much of it :))

This meal is so easy to whip up and its soo delicious.

Grilled Veggie Pitas 

Ingredients:

1 pack of whole wheat or whole grain pita bread (usually comes w/ 4)
1 red bell pepper
1 zucchini squash
1 cup of cherry tomatoes 
2 tbsp of EVOO 
salt & pepper to taste 
1 cup of shredded cheese of your choice
2 tbsp of hummus 

**Note: You can use any veggies you choose. I often use asparagus, broccoli, any other green veggies - you can also use Romaine Lettuce (it grills great!) 

Method:

Cut up all the veggies into small pieces and toss with olive oil and salt and pepper 
Heat grill to high and put the veggies on grill either right on, using tinfoil, or a grill basket and cook until tender. I like ours a little brown on the outside - I usually cook them for about 20-25 minutes - depending on the type of veggie. Stir frequently throughout those minutes so they are evenly brown :)

Once the veggies are complete, place the pitas on the grill just to get warm. 

Once heated, spread the hummus on the pita and place the cheese inside first, and top w/ veggies!! 

VIOLA! - a grilled veggie pita! 

I serve this w/ salad or corn on the cobb. We also do our corn on the cobb on the grill and its delicious. Its super simple: husk the corn, rinse it off, wrap in tinfoil, and place on grill. Cook on grill for 20 minutes - turning every 5 minutes! It comes out delicious!! 

So here is my first of many easy summer meals! Enjoy!

Live Well xoxo

Thursday, January 17, 2013

A yummy winter vegetarian meal..

These vegetarian meals are hard to come by in the winter months.. especially when you live in PA and it is about 20 degrees everyday! Those fruits and veggies just can't grow, but there is a way to still eat healthy winter and all.

The meals in general have kind of gone by the way side for my hubby and I in the last few weeks b/c we are completely off schedule.. My hubby is off work until March so he is always home and spending most of his time working on our basement renovation - which is almost done :)) - and we are just on the go getting ready for this little baby G to arrive - May can't get here soon enough !!!

BUT through it all - I have managed to cook some pretty good meals and on the other days - we each left overs, cereal, breakfast for dinner, and often my momma's home made raviolis - an italian favorite. :)

Another favorite of winter is my crock pot! I seriously don't know what I would do without that machine - it does wonders and it is SO SO SO easy to use - its like AMAZING! At least once a week I use the crockpot - probably more like 3-4 times a week. I convert every meal into a crockpot meal - what is easier than throwing everything into a pot and turning it on and when you get home from work its done? its seriously the best. So last week, I made a delicious vegetarian meal for my brother and his girlfriend and of course my husband and I - vegetarian stuffed peppers!!

Of course, I made the meal - it was delicious and I FORGOT TO TAKE A PICTURE! Ugh - I totally forgot to take a picture for my blog - so I don't have a picture for you, but I do have a delicious EASY recipe..

Vegetarian Stuffed Peppers

Ingredients:

4 bell peppers (any color works) cleaned and cut in half
1 and 1/4 cup of cooked couscous (I used the whole wheat couscous from trader joe's)
1 14oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained (organic is best)
1 bag of organic frozen corn (not the large bag - I think they come in lb. size - 16 oz.)
3/4-1 cup of tomato sauce (any kind works and use as much as you want - not less than 3/4 of a cup, but not more than 1 cup - you be the judge :))
1/4 cup of graded parmesan cheese
and..
Season with - a dash of salt, pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and season salt

1 container of sour cream (organic, fat free)
shredded cheddar cheese

Method:

Mix all the ingredients together in a bowl - except for the peppers, sour cream, & cheddar cheese
Fill your peppers with the veggie/couscous mix and place them in the crock pot. (I layered them on top of each other since they didn't all fit in one line, and it worked out perfectly, they all cooked great). Put a little water in the bottom of the crockpot before turning on - Put on the lid and cook those peppers on low for about 6-8 hours.

Serve topped with sour cream/cheddar cheese and with a fresh romaine salad :)

YUMMY! This recipe really turned out great. Everyone loved it and it was SO easy - it took me about 15 minutes to put together and then all I had to do after work was make a salad which is super easy and thats it. We had so many left overs as well and they were delicious - Cort and I ate them for lunch a few times!!

Enjoy & Live Well xoxo

Friday, January 4, 2013

Back in Action :)

well well well.. I cannot believe I have abandoned you all for this long - seriously I am SO sorry!! BUT so many exciting things have gone on in my life in the last few months - the first major thing is I am having a baby! :) so yes - needless to say, my eating habits have changed a little bit - especially in the beginning, but I am getting back on to my normal diet and ready to tackle the rest of this pregnancy with healthy eating instead of the carbohydrates that were comforting me in the beginning!!

I plan to come back to you with some fun stuff in the next few days.. I have already made my meal plan for next week which I will be typing up and loading on here in the next couple of days so that you can see how I plan for the week and then I will be back to posting some healthy recipes!

I am glad to be back - stay tuned for the upcoming year of healthy blog posts!

xoxo Live Well