A tip for success and recipes!

A faithful reader of this blog requested some tried-and-true homemade recipes, and so this post is dedicated to that! These are all healthy recipes that I have tried in the past few weeks and have really enjoyed. They are all extremely easy, too, so like I said, get some practice and start cooking! Try them out and let me know what you think, and please feel free to add any recipes of your own in the comments section below or share them with me using the contact link in the upper right-hand corner of the main homepage. :) I will offer one piece of cooking advice before I let you loose with these delicious recipes...if you don't have all the ingredients or don't want to necessarily buy all of the specialty ingredients (like the dried mustard in the hawaiian chicken recipe below), do some substituting! I personally used a little yellow mustard in place of the dried mustard, and it still turned out perfectly. I also didn't put the Hoisin sauce in the potstickers recipe...it was expensive, and I had no idea how I would use it again, and that recipe turned out perfectly as well. Don't be afraid to leave something out that doesn't seem like a really "key" flavor or ingredient in the recipe...it will probably still be great. I do this with almost every "complicated" recipe I make, and I haven't had an insanely bad failure yet! Anyway...onto the recipes!

This one pan spinach-and-artichoke pasta is to die for! When I made this, I added a few tablespoons of pesto as well, and It was delicious. The recipe can be found here:

http://www.playpartyplan.com/2015/10/one-pan-spinach-and-artichoke-pasta-recipe.html

Normally, I am a definite believer that meat should not taste sweet in any way, shape, or form, but this recipe definitely changed my perspective (a little) on that opinion. This Hawaiian Baked Pineapple Chicken was SO good, and we ate several different veggies as sides to go with. Here's this one:

http://diethood.com/hawaiian-baked-chicken-100-target-gift-card-giveaway/

This next recipe is definitely somewhat time-consuming, but it's really not complicated. This was another really big favorite that we made a while back. I love Asian food but can't eat it at restaurants very often because it disagrees with me, so I make it at home! These homemade potstickers are a recipe to be reckoned with...

http://damndelicious.net/2014/03/01/potstickers/

How many of you buy taco seasoning in the little packets from the store? NO MORE will you do this--this INSANELY easy homemade taco seasoning mix is SO much better (tasting and health-wise) and is a lot cheaper! I haven't bought taco seasoning in almost two years since I discovered this. :)

http://thehumbledhomemaker.com/2011/07/homemade-homemaking-taco-seasoning

Another favorite in our house is homemade pizza...there really isn't an excuse not to make it with how easy it is! I also love the fact that we can enjoy something that not only tastes yummier than restaurant pizza, but it's also cheaper(!) than eating out...did you read my last post? You should!! Anyway, here is the dough recipe that I use (original source unknown...I got it from my dad).

This is enough dough to make two 16# pizzas.  Bake pizzas at 550 degrees for about 7 minutes.

4 1/2 cups bread, or all-purpose flour (I do half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour)

1 3/4 teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon yeast

1 3/4 cups water, (110°F)

1 Tbps. Italian seasonings 

Stir 1 tablespoon of sugar into the warm water then stir in yeast and let that sit for at least 10 minutes- should get 'foamy.'  Stir the other ingredients into the yeasty water and mix for about six minutes.  The dough should be just sticky enough to not stick to the sides of the mixing bowl and only sticks to the very bottom a little.  If you have time let it rise for 30 mins to an hour; if not, just roll it out and use it- works for me either way.

Our favorite version of homemade pizza uses these as toppings: alfredo sauce, mozzarella cheese, a little parmesan cheese, fresh spinach, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, olives, and occasionally a little bit of diced steamed chicken. Enjoy!!

Finally, this was a super easy dessert that I made for a little family dinner a couple of weeks ago. I have an uncle who can't eat a lot of sugar (and we try to avoid too much sugar, anyway), and so I looked around until I found something healthy and fresh that was still a little fancy. These fresh fruit and ricotta phyllo cups fit the bill perfectly! In contrast to the picture on the recipe website, I put strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries on top of mine. Kiwi and grapes didn't sound appealing, but it's totally up to you, and that's part of the fun! Here's the recipe for this one:

http://notenoughcinnamon.com/2014/05/09/fresh-fruits-ricotta-phyllo-cups/?utm_source=Not+Enough+Cinnamon%27s+Recipes&utm_campaign=c205142da6-RSS_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_081ed45e4e-c205142da6-98674173&goal=0_081ed45e4e-c205142da6-98674173&mc_cid=c205142da6&mc_eid=ae5123d823

Photo Cred: Google Images