I get a lot of people asking for my scrumptious salad recipe I've made for different things, so I am going to post it below. It is definitely yummy and easy to make. Make sure to add the dressing slowly because it usually doesn't need all of it- depending on the the amount of lettuce and your taste preferences.

Scrumptious Salad

Favorite Bag O’ Salad (We like Romaine or Spinach or both)

¾ Cup Craisins

1 Cup Almond Slivers

¼ Cup Sugar

Dressing Ingredients:

3 Tbsp. Sugar or Honey

1 tsp. Salt

¼ Cup Salad Oil

2 Tbsp. Vinegar

Mix up Dressing Ingredients, shake,  and refrigerate.  I  shake it whenever I get into the fridge.  For sugar to dissolve this should be done at least an hour before serving.

Sugar Covered  Almonds:

Place a piece of tinfoil down next to stove to pour the sugar covered almonds on immediately after cooking. Heat frying pan on high to medium high.  Pour Almond Slivers on hot frying pan to roast Almond slivers. This requires babysitting the entire time, use spatula to toss and turn for light browning on the edges. Dump ¼ cup sugar over the Almonds and continue to use spatula to help coat the almonds in the sugar.  You will see the sugar melt instantly and cling to the almonds. Pull off as soon as sugar is melted and clinging.  Pour onto the tinfoil and use spatula to help break up almond clusters. This will be immensely hot, let cool before popping

some in your mouth. I usually make several batches and then store in fridge for next time or for sheer pleasure.

Before Dinner,  Place Lettuce in bowl, coat with well mixed Salad dressing, (for a small bag – don’t use all salad dressing.)  Add portion of craisins and almonds. Stir. Cover top with remaining craisins and almonds.  Serve.

**Not good left over, the dressing dissolves the sugar in the almonds and wilts the lettuce, so make just enough to eat up.

Frosted Zucchini Brownies

Frosted Zucchini Brownies

½ cup vegetable oil

1 ½ cups white sugar

2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups all purpose flour

½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder

1 ½ teaspoons baking soda

1 teaspoon salt

2 cups zucchini (shredded)

--Chocolate Frosting--

6 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder

1/2 c margarine
2 cups powdered sugar
 a few tablespoons of milk
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
for the brownies add dry ingredients mix and set aside, add oil sugar , and vanilla and mix then slowly add dry mixture, then fold in the zucchini and put in a greased and floured 9x13 sheet, this will be very crumbly and dry (the zucchini adds the moisture as it cooks) so just kind of smoosh the batter into the pan evenly.
bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes, then let it cool as you make the frosting.

to make the frosting add all ingredients together EXCEPT milk, then a little at a time add milk the more you add the thinner the frosting.  If you want it to have the lemon flavor like it did last night then add a few drops of lemon extract to the frosting then keep mixing it up.
once brownies have cooled then you can frost them. WARNING:  THE BROWNIES ARE NOT YUMMY FRESH OUT OF THE OVEN, THEY STILL NEED SOME TIME TO LET THE ZUCCHINIS GIVE OFF ENOUGH MOISTURE FOR THE BROWNIES TO BE GOOD BUT IF YOU LET THEM SIT A FEW HOURS THEN THEY ARE YUMMY. I only warn you because the first time I made them I had one right after they came out and I was so sad that they where so dry and not yummy at all, but like 1 hour later I let Joe try them telling him they where not that good and he said they where great I tried them again and they where yummy, weird but true.

Zucchini lasagna

I made this for dinner and LOVED IT!  I got my lasagna fill without the carbs. So I did not follow a recipe I just made my lasagna same as normal (how ever you like to make yours) all you do is instead of adding noodles slice a zucchini to look like lasagna noodles and put them in place of the noodles, cook as normal and enjoy with much less guilt.

Cauli pizza and now zucchi pizza

cauli pizza

I found that you can also replace the cauliflower with zucchini and/or yellow squash just use about the same amount of zucchini as you would cauliflower and do everything else the  same.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza (adapted from here)

• 1 recipe of Cauli-Rice 
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella (I used part skimmed)
• 1/2 tsp fennel seed 
• 1 TBS. Italian seasoning 
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1/8 tsp. fresh ground pepper

Toppings of your choice, tomato, pesto or Alfredo sauce, cheese, precooked meats* & precooked veggies*
Preheat oven to 450F.  Line a baking sheet with either a Silpat or parchment paper.
Place the cooked Cauli-Rice into a tea towel and squeeze all the water out of the Cauli-Rice.  It is important to get the rice as dry as possible so that there won’t be extra moisture in the crust which will prevent it from crisping up properly.
In a medium bowl combine the dry Cauli-Rice, egg, 1/3 cup shredded mozzarella, fennel seeds, Italian seasoning, salt & pepper and mix to combine well.  Press the cauliflower mixture into an even thickness on the prepared pan, either into a round or rectangular shaped pizza.  I kept the crust pretty thin, about 1/4-inch thick.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the crust is firm and golden brown.  Remove the pan from the oven and turn off the oven and turn on the broiler and move the rack to up close to the broiler. Top the cooked crust with sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and melted
Enjoy!
* Meats and veggies need to be cooked before placing them on the pizza as after the crust is baked, the pizza is only under the broiler to melt the cheese, not long enough to properly cook meats and veggies.


*Cauli-Rice

• 1 head fresh Cauliflower

Remove the leaves and hard center core of the cauliflower.  Cut into florets.  Wash and then allow the cauliflower to dry completely.  (You want the cauliflower completely dry and you will NOT be adding any water when cooking, this helps to cut down on the boiled cauliflower taste and smell.)  Once dry, fill the bowl of a food processor about half full and using the chopping blade and the pulse action, process the cauliflower until it looks like the size of grains of rice.  Add the processed cauliflower to a microwave safe bowl and repeat with the remaining cauliflower.  Once all the Cauliflower has been processed and added to the microwave safe bowl, cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap or a lid.  Microwave on high for 7 minutes.  Remove from the microwave and fluff up the Cauli-Rice with a fork and if desired add a pat of butter, salt & pepper.

I found the basic recipe here

Farro Flour Tortillas finally found a tortilla recipe

I have been looking for years for a tortilla recipe and I think I found it, but a few things I want to mention are first I just used all white flour and it worked fine, farro is just a special type of wheat I am sure it is good I just did not have any when I made it, finally one way to get your tortillas to be softer: right after you cook each tortilla take it off the skillet, spray it with a mist from a spray bottle, like 1 spray on each side, then place it in a covered container i.e. a big container with a lid, I just used a plastic bag and fold it over to keep the air out, and stack each tortilla on top of the last in that same container, they stay soft that way.

Ingredients

4 cups fresh ground Farro
1 cup white flour
2/3 cup shortening or butter
2 teaspoons salt
2 cups warm buttermilk
1 Tablespoon baking powder
2 T. smoked paprika

Directions

Cut shortening into flour, salt, baking powder, and paprika in the Bosch bowl using the cookie beaters. Change to dough hook and add the buttermilk until it pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Knead for 3 minutes. Divide into small balls. Roll out and cook in a tortilla press or cast iron skillet.
I found this recipe from here his web sight looks like a place I will visit again.

Mango rice dessert

Ingredients:

 1 cup  rice

 1 can coconut milk

3 tablespoons sugar 

1 teaspoon salt 

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger 

2 ripe mangoes.

pour 1/3 can of coconut milk in with the rice then 1 2/3 c water cook the rice like normal.

with the rest of the coconut milk add the sugar, salt and ginger. mix this all in a pan and warm it not hot just warm you could microwave if you wanted. cut up the mangos into bite size pices. once rice is done cooking scoop into 4 bowels then top with mango and drizzle the rest of the coconut milk on top of the 4 bowels of rice and serve.

Top Of The Morning Fruit Salad

 This is a recipe a woman in my ward recently shared with me. It is really yummy and a good one to take to a pot luck activity as well. Also it is packed with lots of great nutrition.

Ingredients:

Blueberries

Apples

Strawberries

Pineapple

1 can mandarin oranges

2 sliced bananas

1 cup pecans or sliced almonds

½ cup quinoa, cooked

½ cup farro, cooked

(can also use kamut, barley, spelt, wheat)

Mix all together.

Dressing:

¼ cup:

Flax oil

Olive oil

Honey

Golden Balsamic Vinegar

Add dash of salt, nutmeg, ½ tsp ginger

Shake up in jar and pour over salad.

Naan Bread

Makes about 8

2 tsp of dry active yeast

1 tsp sugar

1/2 cup of water

2.5 – 3 cups of flour (add bit by bit, some of it will be used later to roll the dough in)

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 cup of vegetable oil or canola oil

1/3 cup of plain yoghurt (Greek or regular, I’ve tried both and both work well.)

1 large egg

Directions:

If you have a bosch or kitchen aid this process goes a lot faster, if not it is still not bad- In a big bowl, combine the yeast, sugar and water. Stir it and let it dissolve until the top is frothy (yeast has activated). Once it looks like that, start adding the other ingredients. Add in the egg, vegetable oil and yoghurt and mix it all together. Then add in the salt and slowly start mixing in the flour. Keep adding until it becomes hard to stir. At this point is when you start to get your hands dirty (not necessary with bosch/kitchen aid). Make sure your hands are clean and dig in. Once it’s formed into a nice doughy ball, place it on a floured counter top. Start kneading. Add more flour as necessary to keep the dough from being too sticky. Place the ball of dough back in a bowl and loosely cover it for about 45 minutes to an hour, allowing the dough to rise. Once it’s risen, place it back on your floured surface and cut it into 8 pieces. Grab a piece and start rolling it out. I can never get a consistent round shape with my naans, but it will taste just as good no matter what shape it is.

Heat a skillet and spray it with whatever kitchen spray you use. When the skillet is hot, place your rolled out naan on it and let it cook until you start to see big bubbles form in the dough. That’s when you flip it around. Don’t pop the bubbles! They give the naan that authentic look! Just flip it and let it cook on the other side for a couple minutes.

Now your naan is ready to enjoy! It is great with lentil soup, hummus, as a wrap with yummy goodness inside... whatever you want.

indian lental soup

Lentil soup
1 C lentils
1/2 C rice (white or brown, or any grain type texture is fine)
1 C onion (chopped)
2 C carrots (chopped)
1t Turmeric (be careful this stuff stains yellow)
1t cumin
1t coriander
2t salt (and more at the end if you wish)
1/2 t pepper
4T olive oil
10 C water
1 C parsley
1 lemon juiced
(you can add chicken chunks if you do not want it to be vegetarian)

fill  pot with all ingredients except parsley and lemon (they should go in right before you serve the meal)
let soup reach a boil then let it simmer for about 30 minutes.  Then add cut up parsley (fresh is best) and lemon serve up and enjoy.  keep lemon juice or cut lemons on the table as a choice to add more flavor if you like.

this serves 12 and 1 serving is 1 cup and 1 serving is 139 calories.

no dough pizza this looks intresting, but not lo cal that is for sure

I saw this on FB and may try it out, just to see how it tasts.
NO DOUGH PIZZA!!!!!!! This one is a WINNER!!!!
Gluten Free, Low Carb, Diabetic Friendly!!!!!!
For when you absolutely want pizza but not all the carbs!!!!!!!

Crust
1 (8 oz) package of full fat cream cheese, room temperature
2 eggs
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

Topping
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
toppings - pepperoni, ham, sausage, mushrooms, peppers
Garlic powder

Preheat oven to 350.

Lightly spay a 9×13 baking dish with cooking spray. With a handheld mixer, mix cream cheese, eggs, pepper, garlic powder and parmesan cheese until combined. Spread into baking dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes, our until golden brown. Allow crust to cool for 10 minutes.

Spread pizza sauce on crust. Top with cheese and toppings. Sprinkle pizza with garlic powder. Bake 8-10 minutes, until cheese is melted.

how to use your whey

here is a sight that gives a bunch of ways to use left over whey, and a link on how to make some different cheeses, I will so be trying this.
 http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2011/06/16-ways-to-use-your-whey.html

cinnamon rolls with a twist

I love pintrest I found this yummy recipe on pintrest and here is a link to the blog that it came from.

Ingredients

• Your favorite sweet roll dough

For the Filling

• 24 oz fresh blueberries
• 1 cup plus 6 Tbsp sugar
• 1½ tsp cornstarch
• ½ cup lemon zest
• 2 Tbsp lemon juice
• 10 Tbsp butter, melted

For the Glaze

• 2 pounds confectioners sugar
• ½ cup lemon zest
• ⅓ cup milk
• juice of 1½ lemons
• 6 Tbsp melted butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375º.
2. Generously grease whatever pans you are using with butter. (I used 9×13 bakers) You don’t want to be spartan here. The butter is half the magic of these sweet rolls. Slather the pan.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine blueberries, 6 Tbsp sugar, cornstarch, 2 Tbsp lemon juice and zest. Gently stir to coat berries well. Set aside.
4. For the sweet roll dough, I divide the dough in half, place it on a floured surface and roll out two long rectangles. In Ree’s recipe she suggests 30×10 inches. I just sort of eyeball it and roll it quite thin.
5. Brush the dough generously with the melted butter. Sprinkle 1 cup of sugar over top the melted butter on both rectangles.( ½ cup sugar over each separate rectangle) Spoon the blueberries out evenly over the top of the buttered/sugared dough.
6. Roll the dough tightly toward you to form your dough logs. Once the log is rolled up, gently press the seam into the dough to seal.
7. I like my sweet rolls to be on the taller side, so I slice my rolls in 1½ inch slices. Make three rows of three if you are using a 9×13 baker. You need to give them room to spread.
8. Cover them with a towel and let sit for a half of an hour.
9. Bake in a 375º oven until golden. About 18 to 20 minutes.
10. For the glaze, mix all ingredients until smooth. Slather over sweet rolls as soon as they come out of the oven.
11. This recipe makes a lot. Two full 9×13 pans when sliced in 1½ inch slices.   makes 25 and 1 roll is 175 calories.