Weekend Eats and Treats

This weekend consisted of eating a lot of delicious food and preparing dishes for the upcoming week.  Note, every little thing was not the most healthiest but it is ok to indulge (in moderation of course). That said- I wanted to share the different recipes and photos from my weekend.

First up was a sweet treat I saw online. It is not the healthiest but it is tasty, flaky, fruity, and one won't send you over the deep end. This recipe calls for apples, puff pastry, preserves, cinnamon, and powdered sugar. 

Apple Rose Pastries

::Ingredients::

• 3-4 apples cored
• juice from 1/2 a lemon
• 3 tbsp fruit preserves
• 2 tbsp water (in addition to whats needed for apple soak)
• 1 sheet of puff pastry
• cinnamon (to taste)
• optional powdered sugar

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a muffin pan (you can use a cupcake pan if you don't have a muffin pan handy).
2. Put apple slices in microwave safe bowl. Fill bowl with water and juice from half a lemon. Use enough water to make sure apple slices are covered by water. Microwave for 3 minutes. This will soften the apple slices and make them more pliable for rolling up. You can also heat the apples in water on a stove top, this will add to the cooking time. When using this method be sure to watch apples for change in color/texture to indicate when ready.
3. Flour a board and roll out the puff pastry enough to make 4-6 strips at 3 inches wide.
4. In a bowl mix together 3 tbsp of your favorite fruit preserves (we chose strawberry) and 2 tbsp water. Use this mixture along the center of the strips (lengthwise).
5. Place the apple slices along the top half of the strip. Be sure to place them arch facing downward. Place the slices along strip until the end. Add  a dash of cinnamon (to taste) over apples and preserve mixture.
6. Fold bottom half of pastry over the preserve mixture and apples. Roll from one end to the other Be sure to keep an eye on the apples, they can move around due to the preserves so you may need to hold them in place so they do not fall out of the pastry. Gently sit the 'rose' into the greased pan.
7. Bake for 35-45 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes upon removing from the oven.
8. Garnish with a little powdered sugar (or go bare)

We used Cortland apples because I know that they hold up well in baking and taste delicious. We made 4 (two of them were HUGE). I would have LOVED to add a dollop of ice cream (vanilla bean perhaps) to them but we didn't have any and decided to behave.

For Sunday morning breakfast we decided to try our hand at breakfast pizza. Yes, you read that correctly. I am not talking cold left over pizza that you eat as a breakfast. I am talking eggs and bacon on a warm and scrumptious flaky crust. Here is the picture and recipe!

Breakfast Pizza

::Ingredients::

• 1 sheet puff pastry
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese
• 5 pieces of bacon. cooked
• 3 eggs
• 1 tomato, sliced
• salt & pepper
• optional basil garnish

::Directions::

1. Roll out the puff pastry on the counter
2. Cut a large circle. Tip: We used one of my glass pyrex bowls and cut around it to ensure we had the proper size circle for our pizza. Try using a bowl as an outline so you don't have to worry about the sizing or shape of your circle.
3. Sprinkle on the cheese as the bottom later. Do this in the middle of the circle as you want to leave the edges free to create a crust later.
4. Lay bacon as second layer. We created a border so that later we could control how far out the eggs spread onto the pizza. Form a crust with the rim/edges of the pastry.  Bake for 5-10 minutes.
5. Remove from oven and lay tomatoes near the edge of the crust and place 3 cracked eggs in the center of the pizza. I recommend cracking in a bowl or cup to ensure no shells get in your pizza!
6. Bake pizza for additional 10-20 minutes (depending on how runny you like your egg). 
7. Remove from oven and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and basil.

 I had some filling left (remember, we didn't quite make 6 of the roses) and I also had the edges from what didn't make the cut (pun intended) for the pizza. I decided to get the creative juices going, pick up a smaller pyrex, and create my own pasty.  Steve is a good sport--he tries all of my food and allows me to take pictures of him. He taste tested my creation and then I had one and can attest, they are delicious. What I came up with is as follows:

Sugared Fruit Sandwiches

::Ingredients:

• Left over dough from pizza and roses above
• You could also make these from fresh pastry sheets :F
• Left over apple mixture from roses above (or create a new mixture with jam and water)
• Oat clusters (I used 'Kind' brand 'Maple Quinoa Clusters with Chia Seed')
• Brown sugar (to taste)
• Cinnamon (to taste)

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Place the apple mixture in a glass pan and sprinkle with the oat cluster. Bake for 10 minutes and allow to cool enough for handling.
3. Take remaining pastry dough from the outskirts of the pizza round and roll out to form a new sheet. Use the smaller circle to form 12 smaller circles.
4. Lay 6 of the circle in a greased muffin or cupcake pan.
5. Place one table spoon of mixture atop each circle.
6. Place remaining 6 pastry circles on top of the mixture. Seal with fingers or a fork.
7. Sprinkle each with desired amount of brown sugar and cinnamon
8. Bake for 35 minutes. Remove and allow to cool

These would also be lovely with a dollop of vanilla bean ice cream (again we behaved so this was not a luxury we participated in). I am also wondering if they may accompany flavored yogurt well but am not entirely sure. Try it out and let me know.

Lunch on Sunday was a recipe that Steve found and wanted to try. In these do it yourself hot pockets you can substitute a lot of the salt and chemicals from the pre-frozen version. You can also use brown or wild rice instead of the normal white rice. 

D.I.Y Cheesy Chicken Broccoli & Rice Hot Pocket

::Ingredients::

• 1 lb organic chicken breast
• garlic powder
• sea salt
• 1 tsp olive oil
• bunch of broccoli florets, steamed
• 1 cup brown rice, cooked
• 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 4 large tortillas

::Directions::

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Trim chicken of fat and cut into strips. Season with garlic powder and salt to taste.
3. Heat oil in a large skillet and cook the chicken strips on high heat for about 4 minutes on each side or until cooked through and juices run clear.
4. Remove chicken from pan and chop into bite size pieces.
5. On a large flat surface lay out the 4 tortilla. 
6. Place cheese in the center first, followed by cooked chicken, then broccoli, and finally the rice. Fold in the right and left sides and tightly roll up.
7. Place the tortillas seam side down onto a baking sheet. Bake for 5-10 minutes or until outside starts to turn golden brown.

These were extremely filling. We made 4 but I only managed to eat 1 of mine. The other will be my dinner for tomorrow evening. Just going to pop it back into the oven for a few minutes and wa-lah instant yummy and healthy quick meal. 

For a mid day snack I made him the Butterfingers Shakeolology (previously featured on my Facebook page). I decided to try the Smores Shakeology. See the picture of this yummy concoction along with the recipe below!

The finale of our feast on Sunday was a Pot Roast served with potatoes, onions, and carrots. In this we used Jack Daniels Honey Barbecue Sauce. This was surprisingly healthier than a lot of the recipes we found. Many called for packaged soups and flavor packets from Campbells or other large scale manufacturer's. I didn't want an assortment of prepackaged flavors so we simply added a cup or so of the barbecue sauce with water. We used 3/4 of the mixture in the veggies and 1/4 atop the roast.

We laid the carrots on the bottom followed by the potatoes. We layered the onions last before placing the roast on top. We used 3/4 of the mixture in the veggies and 1/4 atop the roast before adding the top. We chose to cook on high for 4 hours rather than low for 8. 

Items not shown but prepped for the week:

• Steak tips; Broccoli; and Zucchini
• Zucchini was baked with fresh lemon juice; olive oil; and minced garlic
• Steak used a Brown sugar bourbon marinade that contained red vinegar, water, and a seasoning blend (Steve added mushrooms to his steak)
• Broccoli was cooked with a little garlic and oil
• Buffalo mashed cauliflower
• Zucchini noodles with sweet basil and garlic marinara
• For Steves, he again chose to use mushrooms which he sauteed with spices prior to adding to the mixture
• Fresh salad with spring mix and european cucumbers
• Chicken and broccoli mac n cheese (made with whole wheat pasta)
• Batch of my chocolate almond oatmeal cups

Needless to say we ate well all weekend and with the left overs and meal prep above, I am sure my week will consist of easy to grab filling and nutritious meals. I just need to ensure I don't eat ALL of the left over pastries :D

Until next time, happy eating!

Tiesha