Recipe catch up: Kid friendly whole wheat pizza pockets, baked tilapia, pork tacos, plus much more!

This blog post will be mostly dedicated to catching up with you on some recipes I've been cooking lately.  Most of my meals have come from 100 Days of Real Food.  I really recommend her site for anyone who wants fairly simple kid-friendly recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.  She cooks with only "real food" (clean).  The only downside to some of her recipes is the amount of butter and oil many of her recipes call for.  Although it is all "real" butter, it is still super fatty and not a healthy fat, at that.  So when I cook her stuff in the future, I may try and sub out the butter for banana or applesauce (if it's a baked good).  So anyway, here are some of the things I've been cooking up:

Lunches

• baby spinach, carrots, zucchini, squash, cucumbers, mixed with fresh cracked pepper and my lightened up goddess dressing (recipe here on my FB page)

• 1/4 c cooked organic quinoa, sautéed chopped zucchini, squash, cherry tomatoes, red onion, mixed with lightened up goddess dressing

• Pasta salad (adapted from 100 days of real food)

Here is the recipe:

• 8 oz dry whole-wheat pasta like penne, rigatoni, or macaroni
• [Caprese salad ingredients]:
• 1 ½ cup tomatoes (any variety), diced
• 1 cup mozzarella, diced
• 2 handfuls fresh basil leaves, chopped
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• Pepper and balsamic vinegar, to taste
• [Pesto ingredients]:
  
  • 1 loosely packed cup fresh basil leaves, removed from stem
  • 3 tablespoons pine nuts
  • ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1 whole clove fresh garlic, loosely chopped
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil

1. Cook noodles according to package directions. Let them cool in fridge.
2. Chop and mix caprese salad ingredients. Combine and blend pesto ingredients together in mini chopper or food processor.
3. Mix everything together with noodles. Garnish with fresh basil leaves.

All the kids loved this meal.  And I was thinking it would be AWESOME to take to a barbecue as a healthy side dish!

Dinners:

Fettuccine Alfredo with sautéed onions & mushrooms (adapted from 100 days of real food)

 Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 lb boxed 100% whole-grain pasta
• 2 tablespoons butter, preferably organic
• 1 cup heavy whipping cream, preferably organic
• 2/3 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
• Salt and pepper, to taste

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, boil the pasta according to package directions
2. Meanwhile melt all the butter and 2/3 of the cream in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Stir with a wooden or other large spoon.
3. Once the cream and butter start to thicken (after a couple minutes) turn the heat off.
4. When the pasta is done drain it thoroughly in a colander and add drained noodles to the cream and butter mixture.
5. Turn the heat back on to medium-low and add the remaining 1/3 cup cream and all of the Parmesan cheese.
6. Toss the pasta around to coat until the sauce thickens slightly. Season with salt and pepper and portion out into pasta bowls. Garnish with extra Parmesan cheese and fresh sautéed vegetables (if desired) and serve immediately.

This kids LOVED this one....but again it is very high in fat.  So, I'm not 100% sure I'll be making this one again. 

Pork carnita (slow cooker) tacos (adapted from 100 days of real food)

 Here is the recipe:

INGREDIENTS

• 2 to 2 ½ lbs pork shoulder or Boston butt roast, cut into 5 or 6 small pieces (I got mine from Whole Foods and it was about $9 for 2 lb)
• 3 teaspoons dried oregano
• 2 teaspoons black pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 onion, cut into 6 or 8 chunks
• 3 garlic cloves, whole
• clean tomatillo salsa (found organic tomatillo salsa at Whole Foods)
• 1 pkg organic crunchy corn taco shells
• 2 avocados, sliced
• Fresh cilantro

DIRECTIONS

1. Mix together oregano, pepper, salt, and cumin and rub on outside of pork pieces in bottom of slow cooker.
2. Throw onion and garlic on top of pork.
3. Slow cook on low for 6 – 8 hours or until meat is falling apart.
4. When finished discard the onion and garlic. Drain meat and shred with a fork.
5. Serve warm with tacos, tomatillo salsa, avocados and cilantro

Um seriously the best pork I've ever had.  The whole fam scarfed these down!  I had to skip the tomatillo salsa for the kids since it was pretty spicy.  Oh and have I mentioned how much I love using my crock pot?  I threw this pork in around 11 am and it was ready after my son's t-ball game!

Lemon Garlic Baked Tilapia (adapted from skinnytaste)

• • 3/4 lb wild caught tilapia (found mine at whole foods)
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 2 tbsp butter
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • 4 tsp fresh parsley
  • salt and pepper
  • cooking spray
  
  Directions: 
  
  Preheat oven to 400°.
  
  Melt butter on a low flame in a small sauce pan. Add garlic and saute on low for about 1 minute. Add the lemon juice and shut off flame.
  
  Spray the bottom of a baking dish lightly with cooking spray. Place the fish on top and season with salt and pepper. Pour the lemon butter mixture on the fish and top with fresh parsley. Bake at 400° until cooked, about 15 minutes.

Whole Wheat Pizza Pockets (adapted from 100 days of real food)

Dough Ingredients

• 1 cup water
• 2 teaspoons dry active yeast
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 cups whole-wheat flour

Filling Ingredients

• 1 ¼ cups ricotta cheese
• 1 ¼ cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese, shredded
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Other fillings as desired: mild Italian sausage, half pack mushrooms, green bell pepper with onions and garlic. Other ideas include pesto, BBQ chicken, cilantro, pineapple, caramelized onions, olives, basil, roasted garlic, spinach, eggplant, goat cheese, figs, and zucchini.  
• Pizza sauce (I used my homemade easy spaghetti/pizza sauce, recipe found here)

For some of the pockets I used just the cheeses and sauce and others I also put in zucchini and onions.  You could really use just about any veggies you happen to have on hand.  

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. In a glass measuring cup heat 1-cup water until warm. Drop in 2 teaspoons yeast and let rest for a minute.
3. After the yeast foams up a bit add the salt and olive oil to the water mixture and gently stir if necessary.
4. In a food processor or mixer with a dough blade/hook add 3 flour. Pour in the water mixture and process until a dough ball forms.
5. Coat a large bowl with olive oil, add the pizza dough ball, and cover with plastic wrap while you prepare the other fillings.
6. In another bowl mix together the ricotta, mozzarella, and Parmesan. Chop and/or cook other desired fillings while dough rises on the counter (20 – 30 minutes). Alternatively you can make the dough earlier in the day and let it rise in the fridge or if you are short on time it will still work if you don’t let it rise at all!
7. Divide dough into 6-7 equal sized pieces. Shape each one into a ball and then flatten it out with a rolling pin. Don’t roll it too thin (see picture for recommended size).
8. Spread a spoonful of pizza sauce in the center of the dough. Add two heaping spoonfuls of the cheese mixture and one spoonful of filling (or 3 spoonfuls of cheese mixture if no other filling is desired)
9. Seal edges of the dough together as best you can with your fingers (see photo for two examples) and flip it over so seam side is down on a greased baking sheet. Make a couple of holes with a fork in the top (to prevent the cheese from leaking out the bottoms/sides) and top with raw sesame seeds if desired.
10. Bake in the oven for 12 – 15 minutes and once done let cool for a few minutes.
11. Serve with warm pizza sauce for dipping and enjoy!

A little labor-intensive and made a huge mess in the kitchen.  But the family really liked this one.  If I made it again, I would put some chicken sausage in there for my husband.  He was a little disappointed there was no meat...  

Snacks:

Whole Wheat Zucchini Bread (adapted from 100 days of real food)

INGREDIENTS:

• 3 cups whole-wheat pastry flour 
• 1 tablespoon cinnamon
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 eggs
• ¾ cup oil (I used coconut oil)
• ¾ cup honey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 3 cups grated zucchini
• 1 cup chopped nuts (optional) - I actually did not use nuts at all because my 2 y.o. gags on them.  Can't wait until she gets over that because I LOVE them!

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees F for small loaf pans or 325 degrees F for large loaf pan or muffins.
2. Blend the dry ingredients.
3. Make a well (or hole) in the center and pour in the eggs, oil, honey and vanilla. Stir just until mixed – do not overmix.
4. Fold in the grated zucchini and chopped nuts if using. Pour batter into greased loaf pan(s) or muffin holders and bake until a toothpick comes clean in the top/center of the loaf or muffin.

• If using smaller pans bake for 30 – 40 minutes. I was able to fill four of my small loaf pans.
• For one larger loaf pan bake for 50 – 60 minutes.
• For muffins bake for 15 – 20 minutes.

This made for a great afternoon snack with some fruit, a great breakfast (with our coffee) and even after dinner treat!  SO versatile and the whole family loved it.  I will keep this and the banana bread on the top of my snacking list.  

Homemade Popsicles

I bought my pop molds on amazon (found here), 6 for $12.  You can literally make any kind of real fruit popsicle with these:  watermelon, strawberry, strawberry banana, mango, etc.  Just process the fruit in the food processor and pour into the molds!  Mine came with a handy tray for storing in the freezer.

Yogurt, fruit, and granola

 My new favorite after-dinner (after the kids go to bed) treat.  I use 1/2 c organic plain non-fat greek yogurt, 1/2 c organic berries (such as blueberries, raspberries, or strawberries), 1/4 c granola, and 1 T agave or honey to sweeten it even more.  YUM!!!  And SO filling.

Homemade granola (adapted from 100 days of real food)

So after spending $4-5 on a teeny bag of granola, I decided it was time to make my own.  It is seriously SO SIMPLE.  

INGREDIENTS

• 3 1/2 cups rolled oats (if you want bars use steel cut oats so it will stick together better)
• 2 cup raw sliced almonds
• 1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I could only find unsweetened at Whole Foods)
• 1 cup raw sunflower seeds
• 1/2 cup raw pumpkin seeds
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon grated or ground nutmeg
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Also need – parchment paper

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees. Cover a rectangular baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Mix the dry oats, almonds, cashews, coconut, seeds and spices together in a large mixing bowl.
3. Heat the butter and honey together in a small saucepan over low heat. Once the butter melts stir in the vanilla.
4. Pour the hot liquids over the dry ingredients and stir together with a rubber spatula until evenly coated.
5. Spread mixture onto prepared pan in one even layer. Bake for 75 minutes.
6. The granola will become crisp as it cools at which point you can break into pieces (if making bars) or break it up into small chunks by pounding it in a zip lock bag (if making cereal). Store in air tight container at room temperature for up to 2 weeks.

This made 3 pounds of granola!!!  It will last me a little while for sure...  I also broke some up into little bars for an easy on-the-go snack!  

Ok well I will try to not go so long without writing a blog next time.  It's been a very busy summer!!  I will upload all of these recipes to my facebook page also.  Thanks for reading!!