Beet and "Fried" Goat Cheese Salad

I've never been one to crave beets. I've never even been one to particularly like beets. I just kind of tolerated them. But now this has totally changed.

Every other week, I get a delivery of organic fruits and veggies from a company called Boston Organics. It is a great way for me to get more fruit and veggies in my diet. One week, in the delivery, we got a delivery of beets and beet greens. I really had no clue what to do with them. I never made beets myself before and didn't even know what my preferred method for eating them was. I decided I would try to roast them. While it took way longer than I was expecting, I really enjoyed putting them on my salads.

Then a couple days later, my dad came home with something called Love Beets, and I really did fall in love. They were the perfect size for snacking, and that's what I did. I also used them in this recipe, but you can also roast your own beets or prepare them in any other way. To roast, just rub the scrubbed clean beets with some olive oil and salt and place in a foil packet in a 375 degree F oven. When the beets are done roasting, you should be able to pierce them with a fork. I would start checking for doneness around 30 minutes, but it can take upwards of about an hour. The skin should come off easily when done.

 I found this dish to be filling enough for a main meal, but you can also make it smaller for a side dish.

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Spice Sweet Potato Muffins

The weather here in Boston has been downright cold compared to just a few weeks ago. I'm not complaining, though. It has started to remind me of fall, which is by far my favorite season. I love when the leaves start to change and the weather gets cool and crisp. Sweaters become necessary and apple season arrives! I love, love, love apple season. I could probably live off Honeycrisps if necessary.

These muffins remind me of fall. I know most people are not ready for it yet, and to be perfectly honest, I'm not quite ready for it yet. I still have a vacation to go on and I'm not ready for nursing school to take back over my life. I'm also moving at the beginning of September and we all know just how torturous  fun moving is.

These muffins are seriously delicious. The first time I made them, they disappeared within two days and were a huge hit with my family. The sweet potatoes make them incredibly moist and I love biting into the little bits that weren't completely mashed. The spices are reminiscent of gingerbread, another one of my favorite things when the weather turns cooler.

Regardless of the weather, you should make these muffins ASAP. They are the perfect breakfast/snack/dessert any time of the year!

Apple-Cranberry Crumble

I know it's been almost three months since I last posted, but here are the apple and pumpkin posts that I promised. School got extremely busy and I just didn't have time to make many recipes. I did make some and they didn't turn out how I wanted. Now I am on break, so I have some time to get this blog up and running again and hopefully I won't disappear again when the new semester starts in January.

This crumble is from Skinnytaste and really delicious. I first made it a couple weeks ago and knew that I had to share. I didn't get a chance to take any pictures the first time I made it but I finally got around to doing that. 

Chicken Paprikash

I was actually kind of nervous to try this recipe out. I'm not sure why, it is actually really simple to put together. I have had this on my "to make" list for a few months and finally decided to go with it. I think my hesitation came from being completely unfamiliar with Hungarian cuisine. Absolutely no experience. But I like chicken, paprika and onions, so I figured I would like this. And I did! I love how the chicken nearly falls off the bone after it is done cooking. Also, the sauce over the egg noodles was delicious. It kind of reminded me of Swedish meatballs, which is another favorite of mine.

Cracker Topped Baked Tilapia

Whenever I make tilapia, I tend to make it the same way. By the way, I fully plan to get around to re-photographing that picture one day along with a bunch of others, including the ones this week. I was looking around for a way to change up my routine and saw this recipe on Recipes.com and I thought it was perfect. I served it with some couscous and spinach.

I try not to keep crackers around my house because I must admit, I have a thing for Ritz crackers. Or any type of cracker, really. I can go through a whole sleeve of saltines in one sitting.  Having the box sitting around the house was a temptation that was way too hard to resist. The crackers came out on the drive home from the supermarket. Oops. If your like me, I warned you.

A note about the nutrition information and the Points+: I only used about 1/2 (if that) of the cracker mixture. The nutritional information is for the entire thing, which you may or may not need to use.

Swiss Steak

Is there anything more comforting than coming home to a house that smells like delicious food? I don't think so, and this recipe is sure to deliver. By about two hours into the cooking time, I was ready for it to be done. Sadly, I still had about six hours to go, but the smell was sooooo good! As soon as that timer went off I was sticking my spoon in to take some out. The steak nearly melted as I was pulling it out it was that tender. Which, of course, is what swiss steak is all about. The name does not refer to the country at all, but the process of cooking it. Basically, the process involves taking a tough cut of meat and slowly cooking it to make it tender. The perfect job for a slow cooker!

I served this along with the Dijon and Herb Roasted Potatoes I posted earlier and some steamed broccoli. It was very delicious and very filling.

Greek Turkey Meatloaf

Ladies and gentlemen, introducing the most un-photogenic recipe ever. Seriously, I tried. But there was just no getting around how ugly this is. Don't let the looks fool you, though. This meatloaf is delicious. The flavors all blend together to create something wonderful. My favorite parts were the little slightly burnt pieces of feta sprinkled throughout. Can you say flavor??

I'm hoping to get back to blogging on a more regular basis. I've been in a bit of a funk recently due to a set of bum knees and even more recently seemingly constant migraines. I'm not working until I have surgery to correct my knees and I finally think I have a solution to the migraines. Since this semester is almost over and I'm not working, I thought it was a perfect time to focus even more of my blog so I don't just spend my days sitting around and feeling sorry for myself.

Back to the meatloaf. I served this with an Orzo and Spinach Salad (recipe tomorrow!) and it was perfectly filling. Seriously, you need to try this meatloaf out quickly. I swear it tastes nothing like the picture looks.

Lemon Pepper Pork Chops

 

These delicious pork chops are the perfect dinner. Most of the time when I have a craving, I don't often crave sweets, I crave protein. Large, meaty, juicy pork chops definitely fit the bill. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Joyful Abode. I made very few changes to keep it light and it is really delicious. I used Mrs. Dash lemon pepper seasoning because there is no added salt (or MSG) to it. You can use whatever lemon pepper seasoning you like.

When I bought my chops there were three in a package, so this recipe yields three servings. It is easy to adapt for more or less. It is basically 1 1/2 teaspoons of lemon pepper seasoning, 1 teaspoon butter, 1 teaspoon olive oil and 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce per foil packet.

Ham and Egg Pita

Need something to do with the leftover holiday ham? I did, and that's when I threw together this meal. I ended up eating this for dinner, but it can also be a great breakfast or lunch. Luckily Christmas dinner was at my aunt's house and not at my house. We hosted Thanksgiving dinner and had a truly unbelievable amount of leftovers. This time we just took what we wanted back home with us, and the ham was the only thing that made it back.

I use Joseph's Flax, Oat Bran and Whole Wheat Pitas. They are low in carbs, low in Points+, high in fiber and they taste delicious. I have even been known to eat them alone, sans any filling (shhh...I love carbs).

Also, I made this for myself, but it can be easily doubled or tripled.

Pork Chops with Cider Sauce

This dish puts a spin on the traditional pork chops and applesauce. Instead, the chops are simmered in apple cider to give them a very unique flavor. The pictures of this really do not do it justice, it's really good. If you like pork chops and applesauce, then this recipe is definitely for you.

 

Pumpkin Pie Ice Cream

All the delicious flavors found in pumpkin pie, just frozen! This is another recipe that I made for Thanksgiving dinner and was a big hit. If you can't indulge a bit during the holidays, when can you? This recipe certainly fits the bill. Once again I had the difficulties of making ice cream light. I got the inspiration for this recipe from Christie's Corner. I made a few alterations in an attempt to make it lighter. The result tastes just like real ice cream so my mission was accomplished.

I added crushed graham crackers to act like the crust. The ice cream tastes perfectly fine without them, so you can leave them out if you wish.

Making ice cream can sometimes be a long process, but I promise the results are worth it.