Spontaneous Moment #31: Zucchini Fritters

I just purchased a mandolin and I'll find any excuse to use it. So on my journey to eat healthier, why not whip up some zucchini fritters.

The sound of this recipe made John want to gag, but he was changing his tune by the end of the night.

They were so incredibly easy to make and the entire process took less than 20 minutes!

10 minutes prep time
6 minutes cooking time
Serves 2 (to serve four: double the zucchini, garlic, onion & egg, but keep the rest the same)

Ingredients:
1 medium zucchini
1 medium red onion
10 sprigs of parsley, stems removed (or if you want to mix it up 5 green onions)
Lemon Zest (I zested one lemon then cut lemon wedges with the rest of it)
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
Pepper (to taste)
1 large egg
1/2 cup grated parmesan
1/2 cup flour
Olive oil

Grate zucchini and onion into a medium bowl. Add chopped parsley, lemon zest, garlic, salt, pepper, parmesan and egg. Mix well. Slowly add flour, stirring the entire time so that you won't have any clumps.

How it should look after mixing in the first 9 ingredients

John helping me slowly mix in the flour

How it should look after the flour is added

Heat up olive oil in a large pan on medium-high heat. Take a spoon full of the mixture and plop it into the pan. Repeat spacing the fritters evenly apart.

The size your fritter should be on the pan

Nom nom nom..cooking for about 2 1/2 minutes

Cook fritters until golden brown which is about 2-3 minutes on each side. Transfer to a plate.

Garnish with parsley or lemon wedges. Enjoy!

Spontaneous Moment #30: The Burger of all Burgers

Whenever I go to the counter at a burger joint and they ask what toppings I want... I tend to pick everything. Yes, I can't fit the burger in my mouth. No, I don't care. I call those kind of burgers SMASH BURGERS.

I love making turkey burgers at home and then cramming everything under the sun in between the buns. Tonight was no different.

Smash Burger ingredients:

Ground turkey
Lipton Onion Soup Mix
2 Garlic cloves
Potato bun
Sliced pickles
Sliced onions
Mushrooms
Lettuce
Tomato
Reduced fat Colby Jack cheese
Pepper
Sirarcha Sauce
Spicy Mustard

Preheat your onion to 350 degrees. Take out your ground turkey and put it in the bowl. Mince the garlic and then add it to your bowl. Pour one packet onion soup mix into the bowl and mix all three ingredients together. Make little turkey patties and cook on the stove top in a skillet.

Put your buns in the oven for 3 minutes. Take out the bun and finish toasting it a little bit on the stove top in the same pan you used to make your turkey burgers. Set aside.

On the same pan, toss in your mushrooms and sautee them until they're soft.  Set aside.

Put your spicy mustard and sirarcha sauce in a bowl and mix them together. Spread the mix on your bun.

Pop that burger on the bun and then slap on all of your ingredients. Once you've stacked everything up sky high, take your hand and just smash it all down!

Spontaneous Moment #29: Fall & Football

As that brisk weather comes in, those gorgeous yellow tomatoes are in full season. I'm sure you see yellow tomato gazpacho on every restaurant menu in town, but I'm going to mix it up.

To me, fall means football. When you watch football, you want to eat greasy food like chicken wings and pizza. So why not opt for a healthier option?

While checking my fantasy football stats (thank you Peyton Manning for all of those points), I decided to make a margarita pizza to munch on while watching Sunday football.

I purchased my fresh ingredients at the local farmer's market (Eastern Market) and cut basil from my herb garden.

Ingredients:
Pillsbury thin crust pizza dough
Grated 2% milk mozarrella cheese
1 yellow tomato
1 red tomato
mushrooms
a few leaves of basil
truffle oil
pepper (to taste)

 Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. Slice your tomatoes, mushrooms, and basil. Spray the cooking sheet with some Pam and then spread your dough out on a cooking sheet. Put it in the oven for 5 minutes so your dough fluffs up a little bit.

Take out your dough after five minutes and brush on a small amount of truffle oil. Sprinkle with cheese, layer your tomatoes then plop on the mushrooms. Even disburse the basil and sprinkle on some pepper. I like to drizzle a little extra truffle oil on top. Sprinkle a little more cheese on top and put back into the oven for 8-12 minutes.

John and I scarfed down the pizza before the end of the game. I can't wait to make this dish again..and again... and again!

Spontaneous Moment #28: Coffee Filter Flowers

I love peonies, but they only last so long. So how about replace the real flowers with something much longer lasting. So here's how to make gorgeous white peonies from coffee filters.

What you'll need:

Coffee Filters

Floral Wire

Floral Tape

Glue (any will do)

Scissors

Take out your coffee filters. Take two or three together and fold them in half.

Fold again towards the right.

Fold over once more.

Last time to fold over. Make sure it's nice and tight. Feel to trim off a little from the top if these are the inner parts of the flower.

Cut off the side of the filter that is folded.

When you unfold the first part, it should look like a heart.

Unfold all of your coffee filters and crinkle them a little bit.

Grab the floral wire and bend it at the top.

Poke a hole into your coffee filters.

Push your coffee filters to the bottom of the floral wire all the way to the loop.

Glue the coffee filter to the floral wire.

Twist the bottom of the of the coffee filters. Repeat steps with more coffee filters.

Once you're done with adding all of your coffee filters and twisting the bottom, wrap the floral tape around the stem and continue down the floral wire.

Fluff out your pedals and TA-DA!

This is what the final product looks like. I kept the background dark so you can just focus on the flowers.

An ugly washed out version.

The final product.

Spontaneous Moment #27: Easter EGGS

I wanted to make a little something special for Easter. So instead of making your typical deviled eggs, I made some festive deviled eggs. Not just festive, but HEALTHY.

Hard boiled eggs

My ingredients: Greek yogurt, honey, mustard, chives, paprika and chili powder.

Slice dem eggies

My pink and green eggs soaking

The final product!

Healthier Deviled Eggs:

6 hard boiled eggs
6 teaspoons of Greek yogurt
2 teaspoons of Dijon mustard
2 tablespoons of honey
2 tablespoons of paprika
chili powder (to taste)
2 teaspoons of chives (optional)

Peel the eggs and then cut them in half.

Put the egg yolk into a bowl and mash them up.

Mix in the Greek yogurt, mustard, honey, and paprika.

I like to chop up chives and mix those in as well. 

Sprinkle the top with chili power and stir.

Then place your egg mixture in a piping bag or use a plastic bag with the tip snipped. Put about a teaspoon full in your hard boiled egg whites.

Sprinkle the top of each egg with paprika and chives.

Serve!

Spontanious Moment #26: Warm on a Cold Night

On cold nights like these, nothing is better than a warm cup of soup. When I was little, my mom solved that problem with a nice bowl of French Onion.

I like making this delicious soup in a slow cooker. Not only is it easy to make, but it smells up the entire house. When you walk in the door, it instantly hits your nose.

SLOW COOKER FRENCH ONION SOUP

Ingredients:

• 4 tablespoons butter
• 4 large onions, sliced
• 1 packet Truvia
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup cooking sherry
• 5 cups reduced-sodium beef broth
• 2 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 bay leaf
• 2 tablespoons chives
• (Optional) sea salt to taste... I use 1/2 teaspoon
• Loaf of French bread
•  Gruyere Cheese
• Parmesan Cheese

Recipe:

Melt the butter in a large pan. I've found a large Le Creuset cast iron skillet on medium-high heat does just the trick. Put in the onion rings and cook for 10 minutes or until they've loosened up a bit.

Sprinkle the little packet of Truvia on top of the onions for caramelization. Reduce the heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes, stirring constantly until the onions are soft.

Stir in garlic and cook an additional 2 minutes.

Add sherry and 1 tablespoon of chives to the onions and cook for one minute.

Transfer onion mixture into the slow cooker. Pour in beef and chicken broth. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, dried thyme, black pepper, and the bay leaf. Add the sea salt if you want.

Cover the slow cooker and cook on low for 8 to 10 hours. If you need the soup to be ready sooner you can cook it on high for 4 to 6 hours, but for best results, cook it on low.

20 minutes before you serve the soup. Pre-heat the broiler. Slice French bread.

I always enjoy a glass of wine while prepping dinner

Pour soup into oven-safe bowls. Place French bread slices on top of the soup. Sprinkle the Gruyere and Parmesan cheese on top (I like A LOT of cheese on mine).

Getting ready to go into the broiler

 Place in the broiler for 2 minutes. Make sure the cheese looks completely melted before you take them out.

After taking them out of the broiler

Mmmm Melted Cheese!

Add the rest of the chives to sprinkle on top. You can also add a little black pepper on top to taste.

I always go back for seconds and thirds... and fourths...


Optional:

If you want to mix it up a little bit, add a 1/3 cup of Malbec wine in the slow cooker with the beef broth. Replace the chicken broth for two additional cups of beef broth. It will give the soup a little bit of a sweet taste to it.

If you don't want to put the wine in the slow cooker, you can pour 1/4 cup of wine on top of the onions when caramelizing them. Enjoy!

Spontaneous Moment #25: Brilliant Breakfast

The breakfast bundle

Almost everyone enjoys a delicious breakfast of eggs and cheese, bacon and a side of bread. Sometimes, it can get a little old after awhile. You feel like you've made yourself the same breakfast day in and day out. Well... let's shake things up, shall we?!

Using the same ingredients, you can put together this simple meal in a cinch!

Bundled Up Breakfast

Ingredients:

5 eggs

1 cup Pepper Jack Cheese

1 cup Cheddar Cheese

10 strips of bacon

Pillsbury Crescent rolls

Sriracha sauce

Pepper

(Optional) Salt
(Optional) Chives

First I cook my bacon. I like to cook it the day before so that I can just throw it on. Another easy way is to buy already cooked bacon. Then, I prep my eggs. I sprinkle a little pepper jack and cheddar cheese in the bowl along with a dash of milk and a few squirts of Sriracha sauce. (Optional) Toss some chives in the bowl too before mixing.

Mix up your eggs and then cook them on the stovetop. While the eggs are cooking, lay out your Pillsbury crescent rolls on the cooking sheet.

This is how I like to lay out my crescent roll

The fluffy eggs are cooking while the bundle is prepped

Lay the bacon on the crescent rolls and then sprinkle the pepper jack and cheddar cheese on top.  Add a few pinches of pepper.

Take the scrambled eggs and put them over the bacon and cheese. Then add another layer of bacon strips and cheese.

Sprinkle some chives on top, give it a squirt or two of Srircha sauce and then slowly pull the crescent roll tips to the center, one at a time.

(Optional) Sprinkle cheese on top of the  breakfast bundle.

Bake in the oven for 375 degrees for 15-17 minutes or until golden brown. Once out of the oven, I like to sprinkle some chopped chives on top. 

Slice in between each crescent and serve!