Christmas Tree Appetizer

I had to bring an appetizer to a party this weekend so the first place I searched for a recipe was on Pinterest. I wanted the appetizer to be healthy and have a Christmas theme.  On Pinterest I found two wreaths, one was made out of brocolli and cherry tomatoes and another made out of Rosemary, olives and cheese. I also found a Christmas Tree made out of Thyme, brocolli, tomatoes and cheese. I decided to make a tree out of most of those ingredients and more. 

I put Christmas wrapping paper on a cookie sheet and covered that with parchment paper.  Then I  formed a tree with red peppers, cheese, broccoli, celery and cucumbers stuffed with roasted red pepper hummus. I outlined the tree with celery and topped it with a red pepper star. It was fun to make and was a festive crowd pleaser!

Veggie Fries

The only french fries I ever eat are the one or two I steal from a friend's plate while eating out. I can still hear Gram, my health food guru grandmother, telling me in the 1970s that french fries, soda, hot dogs and potato chips (among other things) are bad for my health. Even though I didn't want to hear it in my youth, I now credit Gram for instilling in me a passion for healthy food. What I love about these Veggie Fries from Voracious Vander's blog is that they are healthy, Gram would approve and I can eat them with my fingers, just like real french fries!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Cut carrots and zucchini (or any other veggie) into 3-inch sticks. Make sure they are all about the same size so they cook evenly. Put the veggies in a bowl and gently mix with a couple of tablespoons of olive oil and your favorite spices. Layer the veggies evenly on a cookie sheet and roast for 20 minutes, turning halfway through.

Spaghetti Squash Pie

Spaghetti Pie has been a favorite meal at our table since our grown children were little. Over the years I have tweaked this recipe to make it healthier; white pasta has been replaced by whole wheat pasta, meat and butter are grass fed and most of the ingredients are now organic. This autumn version of spaghetti pie makes it even healthier by replacing the pasta with spaghetti squash and it tastes as good as the original with no carbs!

1 spaghetti squash
2 Tbls butter
1 egg
¼ cup parmesian cheese
¾ cup low fat ricotta cheese
1 lb ground turkey/beef
1/2 cup onion chopped
1 garlic chopped
2 cups spaghetti sauce
spices to taste 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Poke the spaghetti squash with a fork a few times. Place the squash on a cookie sheet and cook at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes until a fork easily pierces the skin. 

After it cools a bit cut the squash in half lengthwise. Scoop out the center seeds and save for another time because they are edible just like pumpkin seeds. Using a spoon, scoop the squash out of the skin. Place in a bowl and add butter, a whisked egg and parmesian cheese. Gently combine these ingredients.  

Form spaghetti squash mixture into a "crust" in a 10-inch pie plate. Spoon ricotta over spaghetti crust. 

In skillet cook meat till browned and drain off fat. Add onion and garlic till tender. Stir in spaghetti sauce and spices. Turn meat mixture into spaghetti crust. 

Bake, covered, in 350° oven for 20 minutes. Sprinkle the cheese on top. Bake 5 minutes longer or till cheese melts. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Bride and Groom Mugs

Several months ago I pinned a pair of Bride and Groom Mugs onto "Ideas for my Pottery Wheel". I recently got a chance to make them when a friend called and asked me to make her a Wedding Bowl for an upcoming bridal shower. I showed her a picture of a bowl I had just finished and she realized that her bride and groom had the same names and she was going to the same shower! I then showed her the Bride and Groom Mugs pin which she loved. Today is the bridal shower and the bride will be getting both a Wedding Bowl and matching Bride and Groom Mugs. Maybe one day I will meet Chuck & Lauren, after all, we do have two friends in common!

Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers

Sweet Potato Quinoa Burgers ready to go in the oven

I love veggie burgers that are chock full of healthy ingredients instead of loaded with bread crumb filler and I found such a recipe at TheNakedKitchen.com.  I usually make lots of healthy substitutions to recipes but this was so delicious and healthy I only made a few minor changes to this one:

2 cups black beans (see below*)

3 cups cubed sweet potatoes, peeled (about 3 regular sized potatoes)   

3/4 cup sweet corn (organic is best to avoid GMOs)

1/2 med red onion, finely chopped

3 cloves garlic, minced

1/2 cup cooked quinoa (easy, just follow pkg directions)

1 tbsp olive oil

1/3 cup garbanzo bean flour (you can also use finely ground rolled oats or almond flour)

2 tbsp raw sunflower seeds

1/4 tsp sea salt

to taste fresh black pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp oregano

1 tsp chili powder

1/4 tsp cayenne (optional)

1 tbsp hot sauce (optional )

*Black Beans  I make my own from dried beans and it is super simple. Rinse the dried beans, soak in water overnight and cook in a crock pot the next day until soft. I always have some on hand in my fridge to add to recipes.

Put sweet potatoes in boiling water to cover and simmer about half an hour.  Drain and cool.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or non stick foil.

Mash potatoes to a mashed, not creamy!, consistency. 

In a large mixing bowl add half of the black beans and mash them with a fork.

Add the rest of the beans and the remaining ingredients.  Stir until just combined.

Form the mixture into 10 burgers about 1/2″ thick

Place each patty on your prepared baking sheet in the oven for 30 minutes, flipping the burgers over once at 15 minutes.

Serve just as you would a beef burger. 

Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade

Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade 

(prior to slicing into quarters)

I had a tube of polenta in my pantry and I wanted to try a new appetizer for an upcoming dinner party so I tried Delish.com's Polenta Wedges with Tomato Tapenade. Polenta is ground maize that you can make from scratch or buy in tubes. I buy them at Trader Joes or Mom's Organic Market. It is not hard to make polenta from scratch, just time consuming, same thing as buying versus making hummus. 

1 Tube            (16 to 18 oz) prepared polenta (ends trimmed and cut into 12 slices)

2/3 cup         soft sun-dried tomatoes

4 tsp             extra virgin olive oil

1Tbs             lightly packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

2 tsp             rinsed capers

1 small            clove garlic, chopped

1 pinch            freshly ground pepper

Olive Oil Cooking Spray. (my friend, Mike, gave me an awesome gadget, an olive oil mister. You put olive oil in it and pump it so the liquid oil is now aerosol) 

Preheat broiler. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Slice the polenta roll into about 12 pieces, place on the prepared baking sheet and coat with cooking spray. Broil in upper third of oven until starting to brown, 8 to 12 minutes. Turn and broil until lightly browned, 3 to 5 minutes more.

Meanwhile, pulse sun-dried tomatoes, oil, parsley, capers, garlic and pepper in a food processor until coarsely chopped.

Cut each polenta slice into quarters. Top each quarter with 1/4 teaspoon of the tapenade.

I made this recipe near dinnertime so, instead of having it as an appetizer, I changed it up a bit by adding hammered locally raised pork and my husband and I had it for dinner. It was different (don't like "same old, same old"!) and very good!

I did not make this appetizer for the dinner party because it was too much prep time for someone else's house but I will definitely serve it next time I am serving apps at my house.  In case you are wondering, the appetizer I brought to the Vickie's dinner party was Rock Fish Balls. There were a couple of filets left in my freezer from fall fishing...Yum!

Coconut-Lemon Meltaways

Coconut-Lemon Meltaways, 

the name alone made me hungry for these cookies so I gathered up all the ingredients and made this very easy recipe. AddictedToVeggies.com's pin was delicious so I did not make any changes to these adorable cookies, which is unusual for me because I love the challenge of taking a recipe and adjusting it to make it healthier yet still delicious. 


1 1/2 cups Almond Flour
1 1/2 cups dried shredded unsweetened Coconut
1/3 cup Coconut Flour
2 big pinches Salt
6 Tbsp Agave
1 Tbsp Lemon Zest
4 Tbsp Lemon Juice
2 tsp Vanilla
1/3 cup plus 1 Tbsp melted Coconut Oil

Mix the first four dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl and set aside. In a small bowl combine Agave, Lemon Zest, Vanilla and Lemon Juice. Using a mixer, add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. While your mixer is on, stream in the melted Coconut Oil. Form the dough into small balls and place on a cookie sheet covered with parchment paper. Warm the balls in the oven set at its lowest heat, leaving the door cracked open for one hour (or use a dehydrator). Your finished cookie will be dry on the outside and melt-in-your-mouth moist on the inside. Place your cookies in the fridge after they have cooled down, letting them chill and set before you eat them.
Makes 22 to 24 cookies.

Chocolate Covered Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites

I love peanut butter and my husband loves pretzels so when I saw a pin from TwoTinyKitchens.com for Peanut Butter Pretzel Bites I couldn’t wait to make them and knew they would be beyond delicious. I adapted one of my favorite recipes for Peanut Butter Balls from Terry Walters’ cookbook, Clean Start, to make this a healthier recipe:

1 cup fresh ground peanuts

½ cup pure maple syrup

½ cup crispy rice cereal plus more if needed

12 ozs dark chocolate

1 bag small round pretzels

Place peanut butter and maple syrup in a food processor and pulse to combine. Fold in crispy rice cereal. If your peanut butter is particularly runny, add more cereal until mixture holds together in balls. Use a teaspoon measure to scoop the filling.  Roll each portion into a small ball, then sandwich them between two whole pretzels.  Place on a cookie sheet covered w/parchment paper. When all the balls are rolled and successfully sandwiched, stick the whole tray in the freezer for about half an hour. Melt chocolate in double boiler or in small pot over very low heat. Remove the pretzel sandwiches from the freezer and quickly dip each half-way into the melted chocolate.  Return to the tray and repeat with remaining sandwiches.  When all are dipped, return the tray to the freezer to set up completely.  Store the sandwiches in the refrigerator until serving time.

Salad in a Jar

A whole shelf in my fridge is dedicated to delicious ready to eat salads!

   I found Salad in a Jar on a Pinterest board from LifeHacker.com and I couldn't wait to  try it. I love salads, they are so healthy, and this idea will get me to eat more of them. According to LifeHacker.com, "Here's an ingenious way to make sure you eat salad everyday: Make jars of salad on Sunday night that you can just grab to bring to work. If you layer the ingredients correctly, the salad stays fresh for up to four days. Julia writes on the Fat Girl Trapped in a Skinny Body blog that the most important part of the layering is keeping the dressing and the salad leaves from touching. She layers her ingredients with the dressing on the bottom, then onions, mushrooms, tomatoes, quinoa, and spinach. Naturally, you would adapt her salad recipe to your own tastes". 
   I have been making Salad in a Jar for the last several weeks and it is true, the contents have been fresh and the lettuce crisp for up to five days! There are never any jars that go to waste because my hubby and I love eating them. I brought some to my son's house and he immediately shook one up and ate it right out of jar before I even had a chance to get them in his fridge!
    PS I don't buy canning jars, I just re-use glass spaghetti sauce jars! PS

Welcome to Grace's Interests!

A couple of months ago my daughter introduced me to Pinterest, an online bulletin board where you "pin" your interests and "repin" other people's interests. Since becoming a "pinner" I have seen fabulous new recipes and wonderful craft projects, have found new books to read, new styles to love and have learned many clever tips to make life easier. Pinterest has inspired me in so many ways that I have decided to blog about my pinning adventures. Welcome to Grace's Interests!