Broccoli Galore! Part 2

So I'm back with another installment for broccoli! I feel like I'm giving so much love to this vegetable and it is just broccoli! Guess you could say it is one of my top vegetables. Roasting brings out this unique, nutty, toasty aroma of broccoli. It makes for easy eating not only by sight but by smell as well. Sometimes just steaming broccoli can leave a stench in the house that isn't so pleasant. Roasting doesn't have this and instead protrudes that nuttiness! So if you have guests coming over or your significant other they can appreciate that! My father always freaks out if we have steamed broccoli, he opens up all the doors and windows! It is quite funny to say the least. ;)

Over at Pam's wonderful blog For the Love of Cooking she made Oven Roasted Broccoli, and took it up a notch by adding toasted bread crumbs and parmesan cheese to the ending result. Normally I would just season with salt, pepper, garlic, cayenne pepper and olive oil up my broccoli and roast as is. The the addition of the bread crumbs and cheese added another wonderful flavor and texture to broccoli making it more fun to eat. Yes, broccoli can be fun to eat. ;) Click here to get the recipe for Oven Roasted Broccoli.  

Some adjustments I made:

• I only had plain panko bread crumbs, so I simply added my own Italian seasoning to the crumbs when toasting.

• I had a small crown of broccoli and a huge crown of cauliflower. So I combined them together. Roasted cauliflower is just as good as broccoli!

• Ahem, I may of added 2-3 cloves of garlic instead. ;)

You can pair this as a side with meat, chicken, fish, pasta, rice etc. Me on the other hand decided my broccoli slaw would make a great partner I really wanted to make sure I had a good dose of vegetables that day!
Have a wonderful Sunday,
Fallon

Broccoli Galore! Part 1

Hey everyone! Wow I can't believe a whole week has gone by since my last post! Just been really busy working and getting in my workouts. I'm behaving very well and as long as I don't bake then I'm good! Well except till this weekend. I'm baking one last care package for my boyfriend and it is a sweet one! So I gotta taste the goodies to make sure they are safe, and since I'm making something I LOVE I have to have several pieces set aside for me. Don't worry I'll share it with you guys later. Let's get to business now. Broccoli. Not only do I love this vegetable but I love have versatile it is. From steaming, sauteing, roasting, any flavor works with this vegetable! Plus it is green and it is healthy for you in many ways! The first recipe I have to share is my go to salad. Like this week I really had no time to fuss in the kitchen but I wanted a way to get my vegetables in, this is my salad. It is a broccoli slaw mix you can buy in the store and put together in no time! It tastes even better the next day. You can eat it salad style or put it in your favorite wrap for a quick lunch or snack on the go!

 
Fallon's Simple Broccoli Salad  
Ingredients
1 16oz bag of broccoli slaw
1/4 cup of Asian sesame dressing (Store bought or home-made)
3 tbsp nuts/seeds (almonds, sesame seeds, pepita seeds and/or sunflower seeds)

First empty the slaw into a large bowl so mixing won't be messy. Pour in the dressing and toss till everything is coated. In the mean time heat a skillet with nuts and/or seed selection. I like to mix it up and use several varieties in my salad. Today I used pepita seeds, sesame seeds, and almonds. Keep shaking the skillet and mixing the nuts/seeds till they are toasted but not well done. Basically once you start smelling the oils, they are done. Take off the heat and let cool for a few minutes. Then add to the bowl of slaw and mix everything together.

That is all. I use Newman's Own dressing because it is simple and I like how it tastes. A homemade sesame dressing or peanut dressing would taste really good as well because you can control the ingredients. Sometimes I like to add dried cranberries to the salad or I'll use a poppyseed dressing to make it a creamy broccoli salad. If I feel I need protein, I'll add a can of chicken breast (garbanzo beans for a vegetarian option) to the salad and toss it altogether. That is my favorite combo!


I have a part 2 to Broccoli Galore which will be posted sometime around Sunday!

Thanks to everyone leaving me comments! Tell me if you try oats in your barely empty jar of nut butter!!!
Heres to a great weekend to everyone, including me. I'm off. I deserve it!

Adios,
Fallon

My favorite way to eat oatmeal

I love nuts but I love nut butters even more. It is always my go to for a quick snack or a quick dessert! It kills any craving I may be experiencing. I have tons of jars in my pantry/fridge, all kinds of brands, some flavored and some plain. I think my parents "think" I'm a bit crazy when it comes to nut butters! I keep ordering them online because the deals have been really good and I can't pass it up! Every day a new package is at my door. LOL. If I had to choose my favorite brand it is a toss up between Barney Butter and this new almond butter from Trader Joe's. Although Naturally Nutty has some really good butters too!


This TJ's Almond butter is creamy and a great nutty taste/texture. Some almond butters get really hard to spread when kept in the fridge, but not this almond butter. It is perfect! What is more perfect is when the jar is almost EMPTY and all you could really do is scrap it with a spoon.. Well someone by the name of Heather (I think she is the one that came up with it!), came up with a clever idea to eat your warm oatmeal out of your almond butter jar. How smart is that? Everyone is doing it now! I fell in love when I first tried it and always look forward to that barely empty jar. Maybe that is why I buy so many jars of almond butter, so I can have a lot of oats in a jar!



My oatmeal recipe is pretty simple: 40g of old fashion oats, 2/3 of almond milk, 1/3 water, 1/2 a sliced banana, tablespoon of flaxseed, and a dash of cinnamon.

Cook on a medium- low heat and stir frequently. The oats will become creamy once the liquid has cooked off and you know they are ready!

Sometimes I change up my add-ins like adding in brown rice protein powder, cocoa powder, pureed pumpkin, chia seeds, and/or dried fruit etc. It depends on my mood. My topping is ALWAYS a scoop of some type of nut butter, I love how it melts into the oats and makes each spoonful rich and tasty. Once the oats are cooked, I thought a spoonful of some apricot all-fruit preserves would be a nice touch with the banana in the oats and almond butter. It was a good choice! Once I finished this I thought some shredded coconut would of been nice as well but it was already too late!


I can't wait for my next oats in a jar! If you haven't tried it yet, do it! Guess who is working 7 days straight with probably only 1 day off?

Have a great week,
Fallon

Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Casserole

Lately I've been wanting to try some new flavors in my food. In particular Indian type cuisines. Just reading about it all over the blogs and how yummy everyone raves it is, makes me very curious! The spices and flavor sound real appealing to me. Plus must of them are vegetarian based meals and I have no problem with that! Vegetables can get boring, so it is always good to spice them up in a new way. I found this Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Casserole over at Ashley's blog The Edible Perspective. The dish was easy to put together and sounded delicious with the use of cinnamon added to the tomato sauce. I figured this would be a good start to my new flavors in food. I didn't have any naan bread but I did have my favorite pita toasted and topped with a gooey slice of mozzarella cheese! I had this dish again the next night and it tasted even better! They tell you it always better the next day. Gives a chance for the flavors to marry. If you don't like onions then I definitely wouldn't recommend this dish since it calls for a lot of onions! They are necessary since they make up for the sweetness with the sauce and pairs well with the use of cinnamon.

The recipe actually came from The New York Times Fitness and Nutrition section. There are some REALLY good recipes in there. You can click here for the Eggplant, Tomato and Chickpea Casserole recipe. (Sorry for the photo's poor quality, it was around 7:30pm when this came out of the oven for dinner.)

Fallon

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie

My parents recently celebrated their 26th anniversary this past week. My dad always expect something sweet from me, so I had to find something real good for their anniversary this year. I bought the Baked cookbook last year and read it right away marking my favorite recipes I wanted to try. Which was a lot! I went through it again a few weeks ago and remember about the Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie recipe I saw. The way it is described is a cross between a pecan pie and a chocolate chip cookie. Um yum??? Served slightly warm with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, now that is what I call an awesome dessert! This sort of reminded me of a pizookie dessert. Warm chocolate cookie and ice cream on top. This was my first time making a pie. Meaning I'd have to make my own pie crust and that scared me, at first. Basically like using yeast to make bread rise, I was scared to make a pie crust. So I said as long as the filling is really good, I'll just buy store bought crust. Well I wasn't very happy with the selections I saw, let alone the "scary" ingredient list. I mean butter is what makes a pie crust, not all these chemicals and hydrogenated fats. So I was against pie crust buying and sucked it up to make the own listed in the Baked cookbook. It was very simple to make actually. The dough was sticky but I was able to wrap it up and store for later. I was very proud of myself for making my first pie dough! (FYI, after I had already made my pie crust I noticed Trader Joe's carries frozen pie dough and it was acceptable to me ingredient wise, and I will keep in mind for future pie use.) The Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie called for whiskey and walnuts. Well I didn't have either of those ingredients in the house, and my goal is to always use up what I have and buy fresh when needed. I have plenty of liquor and nuts, so I was going to have to improvise. How about roasted hazelnuts and Frangelico liquor? Winner winner, cookie pie dinner! Okay that was cheesy but I went with hazelnuts for my pie! Best choice EVER. My family is huge fans of hazelnuts and it pairs well with chocolate. Hello nutella!!!


Everything for me was going so well with this pie. The filling came together beautifully and quickly. The smell of the liquor and roasted hazelnuts was phenomenal. I couldn't wait to try this pie. Again as stated earlier, this was my first time making a pie. And if you know me, I like to follow a recipe exactly like it tells me, and make adjustments the next time I make that recipe again if needed. In the cookbook they tell you to roll out the pie crust and work it into a pie dish, then freeze it. Once you have the filling ready, it tells you to pour it into the frozen pie shell and then bake. I was already having my doubts about this, but I went with it. The reputation this cookbook and bakery has, I wasn't going to question their will. After baking for 25 minutes, the pie crust still looked raw but I didn't want to burn it. So I followed the cookbook again and covered the edges of the pie crust to prevent burning. 25 minutes later, I checked back on my pie to see if it was done. I stuck a butter knife in the middle and filling was sticking to the knife. I did this for about another 15 minutes in 5 minute increments till the filling was cooked. Everything was smelling really really good but I noticed my pie crust was still raw. Oh no I thought to myself, what am I to do?? I didn't want to keep cooking the pie because the filling would become over cooked! I thought quickly and decided to cover the filling with tinfoil and bake till that pie crust was cooked. 10 minutes, then 20 minutes the pie crust was finally browning on top but the bottom was raw. I decided to take it out and let it be. If anything we could just scoop the filling out because it like a chocolate chip cookie anyways!

Cooked middle but look at the crust! This was after an hour of being in the oven.

Like my invention? LOL
 

All in all I learned my lesson. I will for now on when I fill an urge of doubt, I will question it and take authority. I really felt like I should of par-baked the crust first then add the filling. Makes more sense. I just don't get why the book explains in the beginning about pie weights and what their use is for to par- bake the crust, but yet all the pie recipes in Baked state to use a frozen pie crust???? I will never understand but that's okay. At the end of the day the filling was amazing, like a nutella cookie and vanilla ice cream, it couldn't get any better then that! At least we "saved" a few calories from taking the crust off. ;) FYI: Make sure you workout extra hard to enjoy a dessert like this, it is very, very rich. ;)  

Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie From Baked, By Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito  
Ingredients 
1 ball of Classic Pie dough (recipe towards bottom), chilled
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 granulated sugar
1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened, cut into cubes  
1 tablespoon of hazelnut liquor  
2/3 cup of hazelnuts, skinned, roasted and chopped
1 1/4 cups (about 8 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

Dust a work surface with a sprinkling of flour. Unwrap the ball of chilled dough and put it directly on the work surface. Roll out into a 12-inch round. Transfer the dough to a pie dish and carefully work it into the pie dish, folding any overhand under and crimping the edge as you go. Wrap and freeze the crust until firm, about 2 hours. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a medium bowl, whisk the flour and sugars together until combined. Set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the eggs on high speed until foamy, about 3 minutes. Remove the whisk attachment and add the paddle attachment. With the mixer on low, gradually add the flour mixture. Turn the mixer to high and beat for 2 minutes. Scrape down the bowl and add the butter. Beat the high speed until the mixture is combined. Scrape down the bowl, add the hazelnut liquor, and beat the mixture on high speed for 1 minute. Fold the hazelnuts and 3/4 cup of the chocolate chips into the filling. Pour the filling into the frozen pie shell and spread it out evenly. Top the filling with the remaining 1/2 cup chocolate chips.


Bake in the center of the oven for 25 minutes, then cover the edges of the crust loosely with aluminum foil and bake for another 25 minutes (this will prevent the crust from browning too quickly). Test the pie by sticking a knife in the center of the filling. If the knife comes out clean, the pie is done. If the knife comes out with clumps of filling sticking to it, bake for another 5 minutes and test again. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool before slicing. The pie can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 2 days. To serve, in the book they mention to microwave for 15 seconds to warm the pie slice up and place with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. This step is mandatory!

After my tinfoil invention, cooked the top crust but still remained raw on the bottom.

I also microwaved it for 30 seconds.. OOPS. So the pie ended up falling apart and was super HOT!

The chocolate was so melty and oozy. Yum!

 
Classic Pie Dough From Baked, By Matt Lewis and Renato Poliafito
  Ingredients
3 cups of all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon fine salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cubed
3/4 cup ice cold water

In a medium bowl, whisk the flour, sugar, and salt together. Cut the cold butter into cubes and toss the cubs in the flour mixture to coat. Put the mixture in the bowl of a food processors and pulse in short bursts until the pieces of butter are the size of hazelnuts.

Lots of butter!

While pulsing in quick, 4-second bursts, drizzle the ice water into the food processor through the feed tube. As soon as the dough comes together in a ball, remove it from the food processor and divide it into two equal balls. Flatten to a disk and wrap each disk first in parchment paper and then in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the disks until firm, about 1 hour. (The dough can be refrigerated for up to 3 days or frozen for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator before proceeding with the recipe.) I probably shouldn't post these next 2 pictures because it will just show how much my father and I can eat at times. Definitely felt real sick after eating this. I know I can't handle so much processed sugar anymore and a small slice with a scoop of ice cream would of just been perfect for me. Lesson learned. Sometimes chocolate gets me a little too excited. ;) It was also the season premiere of Survivor Heroes vs. Villains. Which is a BIG deal for my father and I. We LOVE Survivor. So it was a good night but we both felt so sick the next day. Never again!

My bowl. We took the pie crust off and ended up eating it like a smashed up cookie.

My dads in a pasta bowl. LOL Reminds me of a pizookie!

Phew glad this post in finally over! FYI, you can google Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie and read from other blogs that have made it. I notice only 1 person had crust problems and no one else mentioned it. One blog did par-bake their crust. Smart smart!! Don't worry I haven't miss the gym yet and I'm feeling MUCH better from that day. Portion control, portion control!

Have a great week,
Fallon

Happy Valentine's Day!

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone! As much as this holiday is somewhat overrated, I still think it's just a cute day! If anything it is just a good excuse to overdose on good red wine and eat lots of chocolate. :) I received a lovely 2 dozen roses, 12 red and 12 white from my boyfriend. He is the first man to EVER buy me roses and so many of them. I feel so blessed. I never thought I'd like getting roses but I love it. It just shows that someone actually does care for you. Such a great feeling. Ahhh :) I decided to save my pie post for this week, it is taking longer then expected. I rather just enjoy this beautiful day. I'm spending it with 2 of my girlfriends. One of them her husband is currently deployed in Kuwait and asked me a while ago if we could go out on Valentine's Day since our men won't be here. It sounded good to me! We have plans to eat lunch at Wholefoods (YUM!) and see Valentine's Day movie. I hope I see chocolate in my day tomorrow. :) Have a great Sunday, Fallon

Yummy fruit dip!

Happy Friday to everyone!! I know I'm a bit late but as soon as I got off of work today, I waited to eat dinner and been getting all my chores done before my weekend! I usually don't go out Friday nights, I think it is overrated. Everything is always busy, people getting crazy, I play it safe and stay home. ;) Last weekend I was over at my best friend's house to watch the UFC pay-per-view. We had ordered in pizza, wings and chicken fingers. Couple of desserts and I brought over a fruit platter. Usually we don't do anything "healthy" for these affairs but I really wanted to make this fruit dip I had tasted during New Years. The house I was at with my boyfriend had some great food but this amazing fruit dip was my favorite. I asked the hostess what was it because I couldn't stop dipping my strawberries into it! She said she used whipped cream cheese and marshmallow fluff. That was all. Simple! Before attempting this recipe I googled to see what I could find on this dip. Surprisingly it is a pretty popular dip and there were several variations on how to make it. I kept it simple with the cream cheese, marshmallow fluff and pure vanilla extract. Do you know about this dip? Share with me!
   
Marshmallow Fruit Dip
Ingredients
16 oz jar of marshmallow fluff
8 oz container whipped cream cheese, room temperature
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
Fresh fruit: berries, melons, apple, grapes etc.

Simply mix the cream cheese and fluff till well incorporated. I recommend using a hand mixer to make it extra smooth and fluffy. I was short on time and used a spatula to mix the ingredients together. It wasn't as smooth but still tasted good! Add the vanilla extract and mix until everything is incorporated and smooth. Place in the middle of a platter filled with delicious fruit! If you use apples make sure to squeeze lemon juice on top to prevent any browning from happening.


It was a good treat after eating a piece of pizza and a chicken finger! ;) Everyone else really liked it. I may of been heavy handed on the lemon juice, so try to just drizzle a little and not the whole half of a lemon, like I did. ;) Definitely a dip I will always keep in the back of my mind because it makes fruit a little more interesting and is a yummy treat. Umm hello marshmallow fluff!!! My pie post will be up on Sunday and will be a dooozy! Just thought I give you a small warning. ;) Always, Fallon

I'm back!!

*UPDATE ON BOTTOM* (2-11-10) I will make this short, maybe. ;) I'm currently baking a pie for my parents anniversary! I went to my Baked cookbook and decided it was time to make my first pie. I went with the Tuscaloosa Tollhouse Pie. I changed a few things and I can't wait to tell you about it. Let me just say it is baking in the oven now and it looks AWESOME! It smells really good too. Can't wait to dig into that bad boy later on. Just a quick recap of whats been going on these last few days:

• My computer CAUGHT a worm. I've never had this happen to me before and was so scared I was going to lose everything. I didn't even download anything. I visited a website I always go to and all of a sudden this "antivirus" which was the worm was downloaded into my computer and started running its own scan. I had tons of warning pop-ups and how I needed to download this program. It was also changed my lovely desktop wallpaper to this scary warning! I'm glad I just needed a system restore and it didn't do any major damage.
• My internet cable soon after the worm was cleared went out on me. Had the cable company at my house twice in the last 2 days. Looks like the problem is finally fixed because I'm here posting this quick update ;) That was very stressful.
• Several of you have asked about my 5k experience! Well it was great. I had a lot of fun. My mom also ran it with me! The only downfall was the weather. It started raining just as the race started and then it continued to pour! I was absolutely freezing afterward but I was glad I did it for the kids (Make a Wish Foundation) and myself. I didn't take as many pictures as I wished because I didn't want to run with my camera. Any tips for running and holding my phone/camera? Please just don't say fanny pack ;)

I'm READY!!!

Warming up with a nonfat latte and sprinkle of cinnamon on top! Seattle's Best makes the BEST lattes.

• Not sure on my official time from the race either. When I passed the line it said 32:07 and that is pretty normal for me. My time has improved tremendously, so I was very happy to see those numbers. Especially with it being cold and rainy! The site apparently has been "attacked" whenever I try to get my time results, so I emailed someone to see if they could guide me in the right direction. I'll keep you posted!

With my mom after the race warming up ;)

• I already picked my next 5k. May 1st, Susan G. Komen!! Can't wait :)

I will definitely get that pie post up sometime this week. Looking at it now.. I'm wondering if my crust is even cooked??? Oh oh!!! We shall see what the pie verdict is for later. Thanks for the comments and being patient while I get back up and running. I'm so behind on many of the blogs I read but don't worry, I'm going to catch up right now!! ______________________________ The results finally posted!! I'm pretty happy with my results. I didn't set any time goals for myself, except just to finish the race! I was just training with a treadmill, so to keep my same pace on land I thought was pretty good, especially since it rained the entire race! Can't wait for May 1st to come around for my next race.

Check out Heart Healthy Recipes at Big Red Kitchen!

Hey guys. Thanks for all the great comments recently. Love it and I see some new faces which is REALLY cool! As we all know today is National Wear Red Day® to support women getting healthy and fighting off heart disease! If you head on over Robin Sue's blog Big Red Kitchen she has several heart healthy recipes that were submitted from other blogs! Which you will also notice I was featured on there for my Pita Pizza! Check it out, there are some great submissions like the sweet potato with kale and ricotta. Can you believe I've never tried kale? I'm kind of scared of that dark leafy green but I hear great things about it! There is also this recipe for freezer cookies that you should check out. The ingredient list is so simple that I can definitely find time to make some of those and store in the freezer for those emergency sweet tooth cravings! I need to go find something red to wear today! Oh and I just remembered, it's FRIDAY!! Tomorrow morning (Saturday) I'm running my FIRST 5k! It is to sponsor the Make a Wish Foundation and I'll be participating in the Run For a Wish. I didn't set any goals for a time I'd like to make because I don't want to disappoint myself. As long as I cross that finish line I will feel more accomplished and knowing I did something for a great foundation! Lots of great things going on here, I love it! I will update you on my progress sometime this weekend! Have a greattt Friday, Fallon UPDATED: I found a red scarf I own. Accessories count right? ;)

National Wear Red Day®

Logo is from NHLBI website.

February 5th is National Wear Red Day® hosted by The National Lung and Blood Institute. It is to encourage women to understand how to take care of themselves, be heart healthy, take control of the risk factors, and to decrease heart disease. It is time to get healthy and it all begins by taking care of yourself. Being stressed out, smoking, drinking, lack of sleep, poor diet are factors that lead to an unhealthy lifestyle and can increase the chance of heart disease. One of my favorite blogs, Big Red Kitchen is making an event for this special day for women to make a heart-healthy meal and to share with other bloggers! Right away I knew I had to be part of this because I thrive to make heart-healthy meals and to live a healthy lifestyle by working out, having a clean diet, less stress and just being happy! Who loves pizza? It probably one of the best meals because it an easy meal made up of bread, cheese and sauce! It may be easy but not the most healthiest option. Some pizzas are loaded up with grease, too much cheese, fatty meats that all adds up to a whole lot of calories and unhealthy fats. Definitely all leading to an unhealthy lifestyle and can increase the changes of heart disease. I'm a huge fan of pizza but I had to find a way that would satisfy my pizza craving but without all the fat and calories. 


I bring to you, Pita Pizza! I came up with this pizza 3 years ago when I started losing weight and was watching my calories. Mind you I don't count calories anymore but it is always good to be aware of calories being consumed in some meals. This pizza helped with my craving the saucy and cheesy goodness. Not only that but the healthy benefits were even better. This was also when I started to realize counting calories didn't mean what I was eating can be considered healthy. I started learning more about nutrients in foods and how to stay satisfy by using healthy fats lean proteins, fruits and vegetables. It started with using whole wheat pita bread. I got my fiber and benefits of using whole grains. I used tomato paste as my "sauce" and gave me amazing flavor and extra lycopene when heated up in the oven! I used part-skim mozzarella which was lower in fat and good source of protein. To bulk it up I would add vegetables like spinach, mushrooms, broccoli, zucchini, red bell pepper etc. If I had some lean turkey sausage or grilled up chicken breast, I'd add that to my pizza as well. To enhance the flavor and get that Italian pizza taste I use seasonings like garlic powder, basil, oregano, and red pepper flakes. I would serve this with a green salad and it was my perfect go to meal. My Pita Pizzas would range from 250-300 calories with a side salad, making for a very satisfying meal.

It gets even better. People are usually always in a "rush" so ordering pizza would be an easier alternative. Well pita pizza is great for when you don't have much time and need a quick meal. It comes together very quickly and it is healthy at the same time! I have taken photos of the steps to constructing a pita pizza, so next time you are in a rush this can be your go to meal! It also be great way to get children involved in the kitchen because they can learn about healthy ingredients and they can build their own pita pizzas!  

Pita Pizza By Fallon  
Ingredients
100% Whole wheat pita bread
Tomato paste
Cheese (I use part-skim mozzarella or goat cheese)
Pizza toppings (vegetables, fruit, and/or lean protein, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil, olives etc.)
Seasonings (Salt, pepper, dried basil and oregano, garlic powder, red pepper flakes)

First preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line a small baking sheet with tin foil and spray with a little olive oil so pita pizza doesn't stick, just in case! 1. Take a 100% whole wheat pita and lightly pat with water. This helps create moisture and forms a perfect crust for the pizza.

This is the brand I use. I've only seen it at Wholefoods in the 
refrigerated section with the other breads and wraps.
 

Love the nutritional stats!100 calories and has 4g of fiber and 7g of protein. 
Ingredients like fresh carrots, barley flour, millet flour, lentil flour and 
spelt flour that you can't find in other 100% whole wheat pitas!
 

2. Take a tablespoon of tomato paste and spread around. Season with garlic powder and basil.

3. Next take your toppings of choice and pile on top. I used spinach and mushrooms. Season with salt and pepper.

This great big tub of organic spinach came from 
Sam's Club and only cost around $3.00.
 

4. Top with cheese of choice, I used mozzarella. I then decided to add sun dried tomatoes and sprinkle the top with oregano and red pepper flakes.

They are packed in olive oil and you can simply just pat the oil off 
on a paper towel. Just a few will add a lot of flavor!
 

5. Place into preheated oven and let cook for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes set the oven to broil and let the pizza form a nice bubbly, brown top for 1-2 minutes. Next, cut into 4 sections and ENJOY!

The perfect serving, a whole pita pizza for oneself!
  Look at the deliciousness from the broil! 

I couldn't just stop there. Since pita pizza is a meal I consume about 2-3 times a week I thought I'd also share a quick dessert I consume often as well. I usually keep a granny smith apple cut up in a plastic baggie in the fridge that has been sprinkled with cinnamon. Great for quick nibble or snack for work since it all ready to go!
I also have many jars of nut butters opened and my choice for this dessert was Nuttzo! A great source of Omega- 3 which are healthy fats and are very good for you! Just one serving gives you 50% of your daily needs. This particular nut butter is a mixture of Valencia peanuts, flaxseed ground and whole, hazelnuts, cashews, almonds, Brazil nuts and sunflower seeds. Plus everything is 100% organic! To learn more about the nutrition in Nuttzo check out this page on their website.

Sadly my last jar!
 

Granny Smith apple with cinnamon + nut butter= pure satisfaction!

Thank you to Robin Sue at Big Red Kitchen for coming up with this exciting event. This post has shown a different side to my blog and kind of lets you know my healthy lifestyle I do live. I hope this meal is heart-healthy enough for the The National Lung and Blood Institute. I also hope that you've enjoyed this post and try Pita Pizza as soon as possible! You won't be disappointed!!

Have a heart healthy day!!
Fallon