Tag: Recipes

S/F Chocolate Bark

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment

Okay, I was having one of my hankerings; you know, it’s 3 pm and I’m hungry but not sure what I wanted to eat. So I started searching the internet for healthy snacks. I found this one from Delish but made it my own by using pumpkin seeds and Stevia instead of pistachios and sugar.

What’s so great about this recipe is that you can add anything that suits your fancy as far as ingredients go. And the best part is, you get to lick the saucepan when you’re done and eat all the little pieces that don’t quite make a serving.

Let me know what you think?

S/F Chocolate Bark

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
8 oz Baker’s Unsweetened Chocolate
1 tbsp Coconut Oil
Pumpkin Seeds
Dried Cherries
Shredded coconut, unsweetened
Liquid Stevia to taste
Pretzels
Sea Salt

Directions:
Line baking sheet with parchment paper. On stove top in a sauce pan, melt coconut oil, chocolate and stevia until smoothe on medium low heat. Spread mixture onto parchment paper, add pumpkin seeds, cherries, coconut and sea salt on top. Freeze for 1/2 hour. Break apart into pieces with a knife. Freeze until ready to serve.

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Meatball, Spinach and Zucchini Soup

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment

Fall is in the air and soup is on! This is one of my favorite go-to soup recipes that is healthy, satisfying, and tastes great! You can switch out the zucchini for squash by halving a spaghetti squash, scooping out the seeds and placing each half on a baking sheet drizzled with extra virgin olive oil in a 375-degree oven for 40 minutes, then scraping the squash out with a fork after it’s cooled and adding as much as you’d like to your soup in place of the zucchini noodles.

[“Recipe title=”Meatball, Spinach and Zucchini Soup” servings=”4″ time=”30mins” difficulty=”Easy!”]

Ingredients:
8 meatballs (see meatballs and linguini post for meatball recipe)
1 onion, chopped
4 c. chicken broth (I use Knorr boullion cubes)
1 cup spinach
1 cup spiralized zucchini
1 tbsp butter
1 tsp garlic
Pinch red pepper
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
In a saucepan, melt butter on medium heat on the stovetop. Add onions, garlic, red pepper, salt, and pepper. When softened, add 3 cups of water and 3 bouillon cubes until low boil. Lower heat and add the meatballs and spinach and leave on heat until meatballs are cooked through (20 minutes). Add spiralized zucchini. Enjoy!

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Spiralized Sweet Potato and Brie Cheese

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment
I topped this with feta and lemon but I prefer it with just the brie or mozzrella

Sweet potatoes can be spiralized! Simply refer to my zucchini video here but use a sweet potato! The possibilities are endless with what you can make with a spiralized sweet potato (and what you can spiralize for that matter)! What recipe can you come up with that would work well with spiralized sweet potatoes?

Spiralized Sweet Potato with Feta Cheese

  • Servings: 2
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
1 sweet potato or yam, spiralized
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
1/2 tsp chili powder (optional)
1 c. chopped kale or spinach
1/4 c. brie cheese, cubed
1/4 c. feta cheese (optional)
2 tbsp water
lemon wedge (optional)
salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
Heat the spiralized sweet potato in a frying pan with a tbsp of extra virgin olive oil and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover the pan until sweet potato just starts to soften (about 5 minutes). Add brie cheese, salt, pepper, chili powder, and kale or spinach. Serve topped with feta cheese and lemon (optional).
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Eggplant Mozzarella

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment

This is such a satisfying meal for summer. The eggplant is light yet satisfying as it is fried in canola oil, and topped with part-skim mozzarella cheese, tomato sauce and served with a side of kale fried in garlic and extra virgin olive oil.

Eggplant Mozzarella

  • Servings: 6
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
1 large eggplant, sliced in 1/2 inch rounds
2 eggs beaten
1 cup panko bread crumbs
canola oil for frying
salt and pepper
16 oz part-skim mozzarella cheese, cubed
1 jar of tomato sauce

Directions:
Dip the eggplant slices in the eggs and coat with the panko. Fry the slices in canola oil filled up to 1/2 inch in the pan. Brown each side of the eggplant until all of them are fried. Drain the eggplant in a dish covered in papertowels. Assemble the eggplant in a row in a baking dish. Cover with sauce and a layer of the cubed mozzarella cheese. Repeat this process with the second layer. Bake in the oven at 425 until cheese is brown and bubbly. Serve with extra tomato sauce.

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Better than Almond Joy!

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment

A mid-day hankering for an Almond Joy led me to create this copykat recipe.

I enjoyed every minute of making this as I had to taste both the coconut middle and the chocolate outside coating to make sure the sweetness was just right. Oh the benefits of being the cook.

This is the bottom
After 30 minutes in the freezer I flipped it
Added almonds on top
Poured remainder of the chocolate over the almonds and topped it with course sea salt
I freeze these for whenever I have another hankering for an Almond Joy!

These are Fantastic!

SFE Almond Joy Copykat Recipe

  • Servings: 10
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
Coconut Filling:
1 c. unsweetened shredded coconut flakes
1/4 c. Silk oat/coconut half and half
2 tbsp coconut oil
10 drops liquid stevia
1/4 c. powdered Swerve
1/4 tsp xantham gum
1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Chocolate:
2 oz. Bakers unsweetened dark chocolate baking bar
4 tbsp coconut oil
20 drops liquid stevia
1/4 c. powdered Swerve

Other Ingredients:
Almonds, Sea Salt
Directions:
Line a loaf pan with parchment paper. On low heat, make the coconut filling by adding the coconut, half and half, stevia, Swerve, xantham gum, vanilla together in a saucepan until combined and thickened. Pour into the loaf pan a freeze for 1/2 hour. Make the chocolate by adding the unsweetened chocolate, coconut oil stevia and Swerve into a saucepan on low heat stirring until melted. Take coconut out of the freezer. Pour 1/3 of the chocolate on top of the coconut (this will be the bottom of the bars). Freeze another 15 minutes until chocolate hardens. Press almonds on top of the flipside of the coconut/chocolate in the loaf pan and pour the rest of the chocolate over the top. Sprinkle with course sea salt. Freeze another 15 minutes. Enjoy!

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Ranch chicken cheddar soft pretzel!

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment
I literally just made this up with what I had in my freezer

I came home from my walk on Sunday morning and chicken flatbread pizza was calling my name. However, after checking and rechecking my freezer, there was no flatbread to be found. So I had to get creative. Soft pretzels, course salt, chicken, cheddar cheese, and ranch dressing, that’s it! This was SO delicious with a broccoli slaw salad, dried cranberries, apples and italian dressing on the side.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment
Here’s a picture of my last bite

Okay y’all, (no, I’m not from the south but just felt like writing that) I was having a hankering for brownies ever since we had Domino’s for family night last Friday and my 18 year old ordered a side of them with our pizza.

Well, I politely declined that sugar-laden dessert that does me no good and opted for some popcorn instead. But day after day, those brownies sat on the counter beckoning me to eat one so I had to make a sugar-free version and came up with this. These are rich, not sweet but very satisfying.

Salted Caramel Chocolate Chip Fudge Brownies

  • Servings: 16
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
3/4 c granulated Swerve
3/4 c all-purpose flour
2/3 c cocoa powder, unsweetened
1/2 c Extra Virgin Olive Oil (yes, it’s a healthier alternative to canola or vegetable oil)
1/2 c Lily’s dark chocolate chips (I combined 1/4 c Lily’s dark chocolate and 1/4 c Lily’s salted caramel chips)
2 eggs
1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
1 tbsp water
1 tsp vanilla

Directions: Preheat oven to 325 and spray an 8 X 8 baking dish with cooking spray or parchment paper. With a wire whisk, combine all of the dry ingredients together in a mixing bowl. Add eggs, olive oil, water and vanilla, stirring until just moistened. Add chips and pour into baking dish. Bake for 30 minutes.

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Meatballs and Zucchini!

Published on by MaryAnn Kasper1 Comment
Piping hot meatballs and tomato sauce poured over zucchini spaghetti

This lighter version of spaghetti and meatballs tastes AMAZING! I was actually thinking about this meal in the middle of the night when I couldn’t sleep. I used my spiralizer to make these zucchini noodles and the video can be seen here.

You really can get creative with meatballs as they can be made in so many ways. Below is an Asian inspired meatball recipe that I like. It is baked instead of fried in oil. For a more traditional meatball recipe, I would encourage you to add what you like/omit what you don’t like to it.

Favorite Meatball Recipe

  • Servings: ?
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
1 lb of ground beef, chicken, or pork
2 tsp soy sauce (adds moisture, flavor and helps bind everything together)
1/2 c. panko
salt and pepper to taste
Handful of chopped scallions
Optional: bunch of chopped cilantro and 1 tbsp chopped ginger

Directions:
Mix together all of the ingredients and form round meatballs the size of golfballs placing them on an oiled baking sheet. Preheat oven to 425 and bake for 10 minutes until cooked through.
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Zucchini Spiralizer!

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment
Low carb zucchini noodles replace any kind of noodle in your pasta recipes!

I am so excited about this kitchen gadget that I had to make not only it’s own post but a video, to boot! You know what I’m going to be eating for the rest of the summer!

When I first got this spiralizer I was about ready to throw it into the garbage or at least return it. But then I figured out how to use it. For some reason, I thought it was electric because it had 3 buttons. It turns out that these buttons manually adjust the blades so you can make spaghetti, fettucini or ribbon noodles. I like the spaghetti noodles best. I think they’re actually more like linguini noodles :).

If you’re not pouring something hot on top of them like meatballs and spaghetti sauce, I recommend that you place them in a collander in a sink and pour boiling water over the zucchini noodles so they become “al dente” like pasta.

Definitely recommend this tool for the kitchen. Do you know the possibilities here, folks? Endless possibilities!

Summer Farro Bowl

Published on by MaryAnn KasperLeave a comment
Add lime and cilantro for a healthy and satisfying meal

Okay, this summer farro bowl is SO good! It tastes even better than it looks from the picture. I never knew how delicious roasted chick peas were! Oops, I forgot the cilantro. Let me run to the garden and get some…

even better but it was still good without it. I also wanted to add lime but I didn’t have one on hand (oh, the possibilities if I could only grow a lime tree in my backyard).

I think the lime juice would have brought in all the flavors together along with the avocado. I’ll have to try that next time. I think I’ll have seconds.

Summer Farro Bowl

  • Servings: 4
  • Difficulty: Easy!
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Ingredients:
1 red onion, sliced
1 zucchini squash, chopped
1 can chickpeas
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and pepper (I used seasoned salt)
lime wedges
cilantro
Avocado (optional)
1 cup farro prepared according to package directions
1 1/2 tsp chicken bouillon

Directions:
Drain the chickpeas and empty can onto the baking sheet. Cut onions and zucchini placing them onto the baking sheet. Add Olive Oil and seasoned salt and mix. Preheat oven to 425 and bake for 25 minutes until browned flipping vegetables once midway through the cooking time.
Add 1 1/2 tsp bouillon to the 1 1/2 cups of water used to make the farro.
When vegetables are browned, make individual plates of farro, vegetables, topped with lime, avocado and cilantro. Oh, so delicious and so satisfying.
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