Peach-Mango Crisp

We're heading out of town for the rest of the week (again), but I wanted to leave you with a delicious treat to make this weekend: Peach-Mango Crisp.  The two of us went through a box of mangoes from Costco that was large and in charge, all by ourselves, and I think we're much better (and our tummies more satisfied) for it.  We ate them raw, put them in salads, with yogurt, on cereal, and in oatmeal - you name it, we ate it with mangoes.  We didn't have ice cream to top this little ditty, but it was still fabulous.  I even had some of the leftovers for breakfast the next morning!  Don't judge me - you'll probably do it, too.

Peach-Mango Crisp

A Get in the Kitch Original

Ingredients

2 c. ripe mango, peeled & chopped

2 c. fresh or frozen peaches, chopped

1/2 c. quick oats

1/2 c. brown sugar

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

1/3 c. melted butter or margarine

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Mix all dry ingredients together in a medium sized bowl. Add melted butter and mix until well incorporated.

2. Toss the mango and peaches together in a separate bowl to mix, then pour into a 9 x 9 inch greased baking dish.

3. Evenly spread the topping over the fruit in spoonfuls.

4. Bake at 375 degrees about 25 minutes, or until the fruit is bubbling and the topping is browning and getting crispy.

We're going to spend a long weekend on North Carolina Coast, and I can't wait to taste some real southern cooking!  Stay tuned for my report on the trip and food!

Pear & Walnut Rice Salad w/ Cranberries

I know it might be hard to believe that I work in the health field when you look at a number of the oh-so-unhealthy (but delicious) recipes I've shared with you, my foodie friends.  But believe it or not, I am a health professional.  You might think that I would feel guilt in flaunting the less than healthy treats, but I don't.  My mission is to live a life of balance where I can experience all of the physical activity I can get and enjoy eating all of the foods that I love in moderation.  Its a package deal - you have to practice both exercise and moderation for it to work - and I want you all to enjoy that same balance and happiness with me.  That being said, I expect people to be smart enough to eat only a small slice of the banana split ice cream cake, and not the whole thing on their own.  I won't feel guilty for someone else being a dummy.  Anyway, every week I post a "healthy recipe of the week" on a bulletin board at work for all to see, and this was one that I couldn't wait to test in my own kitchen.  Dick and I were both huge fans, and we fought over who got to take leftovers for lunch when it began to disappear.  So, if you had pizza for dinner last night, try balancing your menu out with this one tonight!  That way none of us will feel guilty.

Pear & Walnut Rice Salad w/ Cranberries

From EatingWell Magazine

Ingredients

3 c. cooked brown rice

1 large pear, cored & diced

3 medium green onions

1/2 c. chopped toasted walnuts

1/3 c. crumbled blue cheese

1/3 c. prepared raspberry vinaigrette

1/2 tsp. salt

1/4 tsp. pepper

handful of dried cranberries

Directions

Mix all ingredients until well-incorporated.

Serve warm, cold, or at room temperature - all taste great!

spaghetti + summer squash = delicious!

Looking for something quick & healthy for dinner tonight?  Well my friends, you've come to the right place.  And did I mention the time involved would be minimal?  Add that one to the pro's.  Summer is winding down, and the last thing you want to do is waste lots of your precious play-time slaving away in the kitchen.  Am I right?  Of course I'm right.  So, don't let me take up any more of your time, either.  Take 20 minutes to make this dinner, and enjoy the bounteous fruits of your SLIM efforts.

Spaghetti with Summer Squash

A Get in the Kitch Original

Ingredients

12 oz. whole wheat spaghetti

2 Tbsp. olive oil

1 small to medium zucchini squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces

1 small to medium yellow summer squash, chopped into 1-inch pieces

6 oz. button mushrooms, brushed clean & quartered

Your favorite pasta sauce

1/2 c. grated Parmesan cheese

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Cook spaghetti as directed until al dente.

2. Meanwhile, saute vegetables in olive oil in a deep skillet until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Drain pasta, then pour it into the skillet with the vegetables.

4. Add your favorite pasta sauce, and gently toss the pasta and veggies to coat them.

5. Dish up & top with grated Parmesan cheese.

The best part of waking up is...Oatmeal Breakfast Bread! {TWD}

Its time again for my post with the cooking club Tuesdays With Dorie, but I'm kinda breaking the rules a bit, so I hope you can keep a secret.  I was out of town with my Momma last week and missed this recipe that I'd really been looking forward to, so I'm making it this week (and that's where the rule-breaking comes in).  I'm out of order, but you're gonna be thankful for my rebellious ways the instant you taste this bread!  The thing that really got me swooning and wanting to try the recipe is in the book when Dorie describes the bread as "pudding-soft."  How could I resist?  Clearly, I could not.  I changed things up as follows with scrumptious results:  skim milk instead of buttermilk; 1/2 c. wheat flour & 3/4 c. all purpose flour; Craisins for the dried fruit; and no cloves. 

I can't wait to go to sleep tonight so I can wake up and have it for breakfast!  Don't worry about the fact that I just got done having a slice for dessert.

Oatmeal Breakfast Bread

From Baking: From My Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan

Click HERE to find the complete recipe at Oven Love

Stuffed Zucchini

Are your fridge drawers overflowing with squash like mine are?  We don't even have our own garden, and they're coming out of our ears!  We are pretty lucky people to have such wonderful friends/neighbors/family to share the fruits of their labors with us, huh!  I know.  Hopefully next year we will be able to pay it forward.  For now though, you have someone else's green thumb to thank for this tasty dinner.  I've seen zucchini stuffed with a variety of things - meat, rice, veggies, greens, etc. - so I figured I'd just use what I had.  That's the greatest thing about recipes like these (aside from the fact that they're easy & pretty quick!) - you can substitute almost anything you've got in your fridge for something I used that you might be out of (or can't stand the taste of).  So, get busy making those little zucchini boats and set sail with stuffed zucchini for dinner tonight!

Stuffed Zucchini

Ingredients

2 medium zucchini, cut in half lengthwise & centers hollowed

1 1/2 c. cooked brown rice

1/3 c. sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped

1/2 c. artichoke hearts, roughly chopped

1/3 c. button mushrooms, chopped

3/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

garlic & onion powder to taste

salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or tin foil and place zucchini halves rounded side down on the tray.

2. Mix together all other ingredients & spoon the mixture into the hollows of each zucchini halve.  Be generous with the filling!

3. Bake 20-25 minutes at 375 degrees, or until cheese in filling is just starting to brown & zucchini is tender.

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

Hello, strangers!  Did you think I fell off the face of the blogging earth?  I did for a minute.  My camera was having technical difficulties, went out of town a couple days - oh yeah, and did I mention I got a little lazy?  OK, maybe not lazy (because I've been doing lots of other stuff!), but definitely distracted.  Don't think for a second that the distractions kept me from cooking, though.  Don't believe me?  Here's the first of my evidence:  Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes.

You'll never believe where I got this recipe.  I think it'd be safe to say that few, if any, of you have ever cooked a recipe from this same place.  Any guesses?  Nope.  You're right, I don't know what you said, but I bet it wasn't this: a Tupperware catalog!  My very lovely, and very hip grandmother (Shirl) sells the wonderful stuff, and I was just flipping through one of her magazines one day awhile ago, and I saw this.  Mouth started watering, yada yada yada, and now here are the pics from our "breakfast for dinner" that took place just last week.

They're very healthful, and very delicious!  I guess I have a lot of repenting to do after that ice cream cake, huh?!  Count this recipe as my first Hail Mary. 

Blueberry Oatmeal Pancakes

From a Tupperware Catalog

Ingredients

1 1/2 c. wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

pinch of salt

1/2 c. quick oats

2 eggs

1 3/4 c. buttermilk

1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

3/4 c. blueberries, fresh or frozen

2/3 c. sliced almonds or walnuts

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and oats.

2.  Mix in eggs, buttermilk, & vanilla until incorporated.

3. Fold in blueberries & almonds.

4. Pour 1/3 c. amounts onto hot, greased skillet and cook until the batter begins to bubble and bottom side is golden brown.  Then flip and cook about 2 more minutes, or until golden brown on other side.

5. Serve with your favorite pancake toppings.

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake for Dick's 27th...Mmmmmmm...

My hunka hunka burnin' love just turned another year older, and wiser, too!  When I asked what birthday treat he wanted he couldn't decide.  In fact, he couldn't even give me any options to choose from - may have been because he was glued to the Game Cube with his brother for hours on end - but I jumped at the chance to make something marvelous I'd seen online just days before: banana split ice cream cake.  Your blood sugar spikes just reading that, doesn't it?  I know.  With an Oreo crust, sliced bananas, 2 kinds of ice cream, a layer of gooey fudgey goodness, and perfectly sweet strawberries and toasted coconut to top it off, how could it not?  There may not be a birthday in your family or circle of friends coming up, but I'd strongly suggest you find some reason - any reason - to celebrate so you can make this cake.  They won't be screaming for ice cream, my friends.  They'll be screaming for you!

Banana Split Ice Cream Cake

Adapted from recipe found at Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients

1 package Oreos (I used double stuff w/ good results!)

1/2 stick (4 Tbsp) butter, melted

4 bananas, sliced into 1/4 inch pieces

1 pint strawberry ice cream

1 jar fudge sauce (loved special dark!)

1 pint vanilla ice cream

4 c. sliced fresh strawberries, sweetened with sugar

1 regular can whipped topping

1 c. coconut, toasted

Directions

1. Crush oreos in a food processor, or place them in a Ziploc bag & crush them with a rolling pin.  Mix in melted butter & press into the bottom of a 8-10 inch spring form pan.

2. Layer sliced bananas evenly over the cookie crust until it is completely covered.

3. Spread softened strawberry ice cream over the bananas.  This works best if you space individual scoops over the banana layer, then flatten and smooth them into each other with a rubber spatula.  Freeze for 2 hours.

4. Remove lid from jar of fudge & warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds.  Spread it evenly over the layer of strawberry ice cream & freeze for another hour.

5. Spread softened vanilla ice cream over the fudge layer the same way you did the strawberry ice cream layer.  Freeze until just before you're ready to serve. 

6. Remove the spring form.

7. Pile the strawberries onto the cake, leaving about 1 1/2 inch border around the edge.  If you put the strawberries on earlier and let them freeze, the cake will fall apart when you cut into it.  Trust me...that's why there are no pictures of individual pieces of cake.

8. Cover the edge of the cake with loads of whipped topping, and sprinkle with toasted coconut.