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  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees

  2. Put 1.5 cups of the shredded mozzarella, and all of the cottage cheese, spinach, Parmesan cheese, dried oregano, and salt into a medium-size bowl.

  3. Use a spoon to insert around 3 tablespoons of this mixture into each uncooked manicotti.

  4. Coat a 13 x 9 inch baking dish with PAM or other cooking spray.

  5. Pour half of the tomato-basil pasta sauce into the baking dish.

  6. Put stuffed manicotti shells over the sauce in the pan, and pour remaining sauce over the manicotti shells.

  7. Pour 1 cup of water into the baking dish.

  8. Spread the rest of the mozerella cheese over the top layer of sauce.

  9. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 1 hour or until the shells are tender.

  10. After taking the dish out of the oven, let the dish sit for 10 minutes before serving.

Easy Meatless Manicotti (Posted 8/20/2013)

  • 2 cups (8 ounces) shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese, divided

  • 1 16-ounce carton fat-free cottage cheese

  • 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, thawed, drained, and squeezed dry

  • 1/4 cup (1 ounce) grated fresh Parmesan cheese

  • 1.5 teaspoons dried oregano

  • 1/4 teaspoon salt

  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper

  • 1 8-ounce package manicotti (14 shells)

  • 1 26-ounce jar fat-free tomato basil pasta sauce

  • Cooking spray (Pam)

  • 1 cup water

 

Ingredients

Cooking Directions

Nutritional Strengths:  Protein, Carbohydrates, and Calcium

Crunchy Chicken Tenders  (Posted 8/27/2013)

 

Nutritional Strengths:  Protein, Vitamins B, C, and E, carotenes, chromium, iron, magnesium, manganese,  zinc, and fiber

 

Ingredients:

  • ¼ to ½ cup Orange Puree

  • 1 cup whole wheat bread crumbs (regular bread crumbs will work)

  • 1 cup wheat germ, unsweetened

  • 1 and ½  teaspoon salt

  • 1 pound boneless chicken tenders/chicken breasts cut into strips

  • ½ cup whole wheat flour (plain flour will work)

  • 2 large eggs

  • ½ cup grated Parmesan Cheese

  • PAM spray or olive oil

 

Orange Puree

  1. Fill a medium pot about half full of cold water and heat until boils.

  2. Once water boils, reduce heat and place carots and yams/sweet potatoes into pot and cook for 20 minutes

  3. Drain carrots and yams/sweet potatoes and place them in food processor with two tablespoons of water.

  4. Puree on high until content is no longer chunky.

  5. Stop occasionally to push contents from top to bottom of the food processor.

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Mix bread crumbs, wheat germ, and 1 teaspoon of salt in a bowl.

  2. Sprinkle salt over chicken tenders/chicken slices

  3. Put flour in a shallow dish or a plate.

  4. Mix eggs with Orange Puree (made before hand-see above instructions) in another bowl

  5. Put bread crumb mix and (See Cooking Instructions #1) Parmesan cheese in a third plate/dish and set it next to the eggs and Orange Puree bowl

  6. Lay down wax paper/parchment paper by the plate/dish with the bread crumb and Parmesan Cheese mix

  7. Dip each chicken tender/chicken slice into the flour dish/plate first, the eggs bowl second, the bread crumb mix third, and the wax paper last

  8. Turn on a stovetop between mid and high heat

  9. Spray a large skillet or frying pan with PAM or 2 tablespoons of olive oil spread around the skillet

  10. Put a few strips of chicken on the skillet or pan at a time, and let it sit on the stovetop for 2 to 3 minutes until the crumbs look golden

  11. After 2 to 3 minutes have passed, use tongs to flip each chicken piece over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes until crumbs look golden

  12. Reduce heat to low and continue to flip the chicken every 2 to 3 minutes for about 10 minutes.

  13. Once chicken is cooked thoroughly from the middle, remove chicken from the skillet, blot on a paper towel to remove extra and unnecessary oil, and serve.

PARTY PIZZA (Posted 9/6/13)

 

Nutritional Strengths:  Fiber, Vitamin C, Lycopene, Selenium

 

Ingredients:

  • ½ teaspoon dried yeast

  • 1 cup warm water

  • 1 teaspoon brown sugar

  • Heaped ¾ cup gram flour

  • ¾ cup cornstartch

  • 1 ½ Tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 teaspoon chili powder

  • 1 teaspoon celery salt

  • ¾ cup tomato paste

  • ½ red bell pepper, seeded and sliced

  • ½ yellow bell pepper, seeded and sliced

  • 2/3 cup mushrooms

  • ¾ cup grated cheese

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Heat oven to 425 F

  2. Put yeast in a small bowl, then add half of the warm water, all of the brown sugar, and stir.

  3. After stirring the yeast and sugar mixture, set the bowl aside for 15 minutes.

  4. Put the flour in a different bowl.

  5. Add to the flour bowl the yeast mixture, cornstarch, olive oil, chili powder, and celery salt, and beat using a wooden spoon.

  6. Add the rest of the warm water a little at a time as you continue to beat the mixture until it is consistently thick.

  7. Remove and knead the mixture, which is now dough.

  8. Flatten the dough over a nonstick baking sheet, and bake on the top rack of the oven for 5 minutes.

  9. After 5 minutes, take the pizza out of the oven and put the tomato paste and toppings on top.

  10. Return the pizza to the oven and cook until the pizza is brown, which is typically 20 minutes.

BBQ BEEF AND WHITE BEAN TACOS (Posted on 9/13/13)

 

NUTRTITIONAL STRENGTHS: Protein, Folate, Tryptophan, Magnesium, and Iron

 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 1 pound ground beef, extra lean

  • ½ cup dry breadcrumbs

  • ½ cup chopped onion

  • 1/3 cup barbeque sauce

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 2 large egg whites

  • 1 15 ounce can white beans

  • 2 tablespoons honey

  • 2 tablespoons sugar

  • 1 minced scallion, white part only

  • 1 clove garlic, minced

  • ½ cup soy sauce

  • PAM cooking spray

  • Hard or soft taco shells

 

COOKING INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

  2. Put beef, breadcrumbs, onion, 1 tablespoon bbq sauce, salt, black pepper, and egg whites into a large bowl

  3. Mix the ingredients in the large bowl using hands and form the mixture into a loaf about 9 x 5 inches

  4. Pour the rest of the bbq sauce on top of this loaf and spread using fingers

  5. Spray a cooking pan with PAM and place the loaf in the cooking pan.

  6. Place the cooking pan into the oven for 1 hour or until meat temperature is 160 degrees F

  7. WASH HANDS THOROUGHLY

  8. Rinse and drain the beans.  If beans are dry, soak them overnight.

  9. Empty the beans into a blender or food processor.

  10. Pulse the beans on and off until smooth, adding two tablespoons of water when necessary

  11. In a medium saucepan, mix sugar, minced scallions, garlic clove, soy sauce, and honey.

  12. Cook the saucepan mixture over low heat, stirring every once in a while, until the mixture is warmed through

  13. Once mixture is warmed through, take it off the heat, set it aside, and check on the ground beef

  14. Once the beef is cooked, let it sit for 10 minutes

  15. After the beef has set for 10 minutes, chop the beef into small pieces

  16. Put the saucepan with the mix onto the low heat again, this time adding the beef pieces

  17. Stir the beef pieces in with the mixture; keep warm until ready to serve

CORNMEAL CATFISH (Posted on 9/18/13)

 

Nutritional Strengths:  Protein, Omega-3 fatty acids

 

Ingredients:

  • 3 bacon slices

  • 1/3 cup yellow cornmeal

  • 2 teaspoons salt-free Cajun seasoning

  • ½ teaspoon salt

  • 4 (6-ounce) catfish fillets

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Turn a stovetop to medium heat and spray a skillet or pan with cooking oil

  2. Cook bacon on the skillet or pan over the medium heat

  3. Remove bacon from pan, dab excess grease from bacon off with a paper towel, and let the bacon sit for a couple of minutes

  4. Crumble the bacon using hands so they are in bite-sized pieces

  5. Put cornmeal, seasoning, and salt in a shallow dish, and stir

  6. Dip each catfish fillet into the dish so that both sides of the fillet is covered with the content in the dish

  7. Turn the heat up to medium-high, add the covered fillets to the pan or skillet, and place the pan or skillet over the heat.

  8. Cook each side of the fillets for 5 minutes until they easily flake with a fork.

 

SLOPPY JOES (Posted on 9/25/13)

 

Nutritional Strengths: Protein, Vitamin C, Fiber, Folate, Manganese, and Potassium

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 cups cauliflower, cut into florets

  • 2 small medium zucchini, peeled and roughly chopped

  • 1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

  • 3-4 tablespoons water

  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

  • 1 medium onion, finely chopped

  • 1 pound extra lean ground beef

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • 1 10 ¾ oz can tomato soup, condensed

  • ¼ cup ketchup

  • 4 to 6 hamburger buns

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Microwave the cauliflower in a bowl with water on high for 8 to 10 minutes until tender

  2. Pulse the peeled zucchini with the lemon juice

  3. Drain the cauliflower and add it to the zucchini

  4. Add two tablespoons of water to all of the content, and puree on high

  5. Once pureed content is smooth, set it aside

  6. In a different pot, heat the olive oil over medium heat

  7. Put the onions in the pot and cook until they are slightly clear

  8. Add the ground beef, cook and stir until beef isn’t red (about 5 minutes)

  9. Add the salt, tomato soup, ketchup, and pureed mix into the pot

  10. Reduce the heat to low and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring every once in a while

  11. Pour content from pot onto hamburger buns using a ladle

 

CHICKEN, CORN, AND TOMATO (Posted on 10/30/13)

 

Nutritional Strengths: Protein, B vitamins, Vitamin E, folic acid, iron, chromium, zinc, manganese, magnesium, and Lycopene

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup bread crumbs

  • 1 cup wheat germ

  • 1 teaspoon salt

  • 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts

  • ¼ cup flour

  • 1 large egg

  • 1 can of corn

  • 2 medium tomatoes

  • 1 small onion

  • 1 lemon

  • Salt and pepper

  • PAM spray/cooking oil

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees

  2. Pour the wheat germ, bread crumbs, and salt into a mixing bowl and stir.

  3. After stirring, pour content in mixing bowl onto a plate or shallow dish.

  4. Pour egg into a bowl and beat, then, set the bowl next to the plate or shallow dish with the wheat germ and crumbs/breading mix

  5. In a separate bowl, pour the flour and set that bowl next to the other two containers (egg bowl and breading mix).

  6. Dip each chicken breast in the flour first, the egg second, and the breading mix third.

  7. Oil a baking dish with PAM spray or cooking oil, and place the chicken breasts on this dish.

  8. Bake chicken breasts in the oven until thoroughly cooked; about 30 minutes.

  9. Turn a stovetop to medium heat and cook the corn in a saucepan over this stovetop until heated; about 5 minutes.

  10. Once corn is heated, turn stovetop heat off and set the saucepan aside.

  11. Dice the tomato and onions, and put them in a bowl.

  12. Cut the lemon and squeeze to pour lemon juice over the tomato and onion.

  13. Once the chicken breasts are thoroughly cooked, pour the corn, tomato, and onion over the chicken breasts.

  14. Add salt and pepper, and serve.

BBQ PORK CHOPS (Posted on 11/22/13)

 

Nutritional Strengths:  Protein, lower sodium

 

Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup packed brown sugar

  • ¼ cup ketchup

  • 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

  • 1 tablespoon lower-sodium soy sauce

  • 6 6-ounce bone-in center-cut pork chops (about ½ inch thick)

  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme

  • 1 teaspoon garlic salt

  • ¼ teaspoon ground red pepper

  • Cooking spray

 

Cooking Instructions:

  1. Preheat grill or broiler

  2. Put brown sugar, ketchup, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce in a small bowl.

  3. Pour ¼ cup of content from step 2/the previous step, into another small bowl and set aside

  4. Trim fat from pork,

  5. Mix thyme, garlic salt, and pepper together in a small bowl

  6. Sprinkle thyme and salt mix over pork

  7. Spray grill rack or broiler pan with cooking spray, and set pork chops on rack or pan.

  8. Cook each pork chop for six minutes on each side

  9. Remember to baste or pour the sauce from the small bowl (the bowl with more than ¼ cup) onto the pork chops while they are cooking on the grill or broiler.

  10. Serve the pork chops with the ¼ cup of sauce

LEMONY FRESH SALMON (Posted on 8/29/14)

 

Nutritional Strengths: Protein, Omega 3 Fatty Acids, Vitamin C, Fiber

 

Ingredients:

  • 4 6 ounce Salmon fillets

  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice

  • 3/4 cup Panko Bread Crumbs

  • 2 small zucchini

  • 2 tablespoons Coconut Oil

 

Directions:

  1. Place the Salmon with the 4 tablespoons of lemon juice into a zip-lock plastic bag, seal the bag, turn and toss

  2. Place the bag in a refrigerator for about 20 minutes

  3. Pour the Bread Crumbs into a bowl

  4. Take the bag out of the refrigerator and remove the salmon from the bag

  5. Place Coconut Oil onto the skillet

  6. Heat Coconut Oil in skillet on low to medium heat until melts and coats skillet

  7. Place the breaded fillets onto the skillet

  8. Turn the heat up between Medium and High

  9. After 3 minutes, flip each fillet over and cook for three more minutes

  10. If the salmon fillets don’t flake easily with a fork, continue flipping and cooking each fillet for 3 minutes until they do.

  11. Remove the salmon fillets from the skillet and keep it warm by covering it with a lid to trap heat escaping from the salmon fillets

  12. Slice Zucchini onto the skillet and sauté them for 3 to 4 minutes

  13. Remove the Zucchini from the skillet, place them on top of the salmon, and serve

Cauliflower Crust Pizza (Posted on 12.1.14)

Nutritional Strengths: Vitamin C, Manganese, Vitamin K, Calcium, Protein, Vitamin A, and B Vitamins

Ingredients:

  • Organic cauliflower with 8” diameter

  • Wax or parchment paper

  • Pizza-cooking pan

  • ½ cup shredded mozzarella cheese

  • ¼ cup Parmesan cheese

  • ¼ cup shredded cheddar cheese

  • 1 cage-free egg

  • 1 small handful Parsley

  • ¼ teaspoon salt

  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

  • 8 to 10 slices of Large, Hard Salami-Margherita

  • ¼ of a 4 oz. block of goat cheese

 

Cooking Directions:

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

  2. Cover the pizza-cooking pan with wax or parchment paper.

  3. Wash cauliflower, separate or cut so is able to fit in a food processor, and process until it has the same texture as rice.

  4. Empty processed cauliflower into a microwavable bowl and microwave for 4 minutes.

  5. After microwaving, empty cauliflower from bowl into a towel (can use the wax or parchment paper for this). CAREFUL-WATER WILL BE HOT!

  6. Once the cauliflower is cool enough for you to touch, or once you get your hands on a pair of cooking gloves that you don’t mind getting a bit messy, form a ‘ball’ of cauliflower using your hands.

  7. Wrap up the cauliflower ball in a towel and squeeze the towel into a sink to drain all of the liquid from the cauliflower; the more liquid, the better. 

  8. After the cauliflower has been drained of liquid and is mostly dry, place it into a large bowl with the egg, ¼ cup (half of the) mozzarella cheese, Parmesan cheese, parsley, salt, black pepper, and mix these ingredients.

  9. Placed the mix ingredients onto the wax/parchment covered pizza pan and flatten out using your hands.

  10. Bake crust in the oven for 15 minutes.

  11. Take crust out of the oven and place the pizza sauce on top, spreading it out evenly.

  12. Place the salami on top of the pizza crust.

  13. Cut the block of goat cheese into small pieces and drop them over the salami-covered pizza.

  14. Cover the pizza with the rest of the mozzarella and cheddar cheese.

  15. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

In Venezuela, a traditional holiday dish that is served is Hallacas.  Families will often make massive amounts of this delicious dinner and serve it every day in December to the 25th.  It is a very popular Venezuelan dish on Christmas Eve (How ironic, that is today!).  They are often made using plantain/banana leaves.  However, since those are scarce in the frozen tundra of my home state, I shall be posting a recipe that I made where the leaves are absent. : )

 

Nutritional Strengths:  Protein, Vitamin A, Vitamin C, Beta Carotene, Lycopene, Iron, Zinc, Magnesium

 

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sized pots or saucepans

  • 2 large sized frying pans

  • 1 baking dish about 3 quarts

  • 1 large baking pan that baking dish can fit inside of

  • 1 lb. boneless skinless chicken

  • 2-3 cups of water

  • 1 lb. strip steak

  • 2-3 cups of water

  • 1 red pepper

  • 1 banana pepper

  • 4 large tomatoes

  • ½ teaspoon chili powder

  • 3 tablespoons white wine vinegar

  • 2 tablespoons garlic powder

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 3 teaspoons capers

  • 1 teaspoon dark brown sugar

  • 1 tablespoon ground cumin

  • 1 tablespoon ground turmeric

  • 1 tablespoon minced onion

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil

  • 1 cup seedless raisins

  • 4 cups water

  • 1/3 cup butter

  • 3 cups corn meal

  • 2 tablespoons water

  • 2 eggs, beaten

  • 2 tablespoons

  • 2 tablespoons coconut oil

  • 6-8 cups of water

 

Directions:

  1. Add 2-3 cups of water to a deep enough frying pan, add the chicken, cover, and place over medium heat for 20 minutes flipping each chicken breast every 5 minutes

  2. Add 2-3 cups of water to a saucepan, chop up the steak strip into small pieces about 1x1-2 inches, place into the saucepan, cover, and place over medium-high heat until water boils

  3. Once water in the saucepan boils, reduce heat to low and cook steak over low heat for 15 minutes, stirring occassionaly.

  4. Wash and slice the tomatoes and peppers into small pieces and place into a small bowl.

  5. Add the chili powder, white wine vinegar,garlic powder, salt capers, dark brown sugar, ground cumin, ground turmeric, and minced onion to the large mixing bowl with the tomatoes and peppers, and stir together using a large, wooden spoon.

  6. Spread 2 tablespoons olive oil over frying, place frying pan over low-medium heat, pour ingredients from large mixing bowl into frying pan, and stir occasional cooking for 12-13 minutes.

  7. After 12-13 minutes of cooking the veggies, seasoning, and spices, set aside, mix in the raisins, and leave over no heat (or low heat if it is taking longer than expected to prepare other ingredients).

  8. At this point, preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

  9. In a separate saucepan, bring 4 cups of water to a boil.

  10. As the water in the saucepan is boiling, add 3 cups of corn meal to a medium sized mixing bowl.

  11. Add 2 tablespoons of cold water to the mixing bowl and stir in with the corn meal.

  12. Once water in saucepan is boiling, turn down heat to low, add butter and corn meal to saucepan, and cook over low heat for 12-13 minutes stirring occasionally.

  13. After 12-13 minutes, scoop out corn meal into medium sized mixing bowl, add two eggs, and stir until get doughy texture.

  14. Add two tablespoons of coconut oil to the baking dish and heat in the oven for 5 minutes to melt and spread coconut oil out across the dish.

  15. While coconut oil is melting in the oven, place 8 cups water in large baking pan.

  16. Take out baking dish and place inside of baking pan.

  17. Add 2/3 of cornmeal mixture from medium mixing bowl onto bottom of baking dish (the one with the coconut oil at the bottom, NOT the water at the bottom).

  18. Pour meat and veggies over the cornmeal, spread the remaining 1/3 of the cornmeal on top, and cover baking dish with aluminum foil

  19. Place dish inside of water filled pan inside of oven for 1 hour.

  20. After 1 hour, remove and let cool for 5 minutes before serving or placing it in Tupperware and storing it in the refrigerator.

HALLACAS!!!! (Posted on 12.24.16)

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