Naan Pizza with Asparagus

Our time is extra valuable to us lately, between working all day, marathon training, giving two dogs some quality time, and other personal commitments, we have very little time to squeeze in a healthy dinner once our day finally ends around 8-8:30pm (and that's if we're lucky)! When I found this recipe on runnersworld.com I knew it was going to be a hit! Not only did it sound delicious, it looked quick and easy, which it turned out to be both of those...bonus! With one taste of this yummy pizza, I guarantee it will become a favorite of yours as well.

Naan Pizza with Asparagus
adapted from Runners World
Calories per serving: 360
Carbs: 32g
Protein: 18g

Ingredients:
2- 9inch store bought naan (normally found in the bakery department at most grocery stores)
1 tsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup part skim ricotta cheese
salt and ground black pepper to taste
1/4 cup prepared pesto
3 slices Canadian bacon, cut into thin strips
8 asparagus spears, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/2 cup (about 2 oz) grated fontina cheese

Adjust oven rack to lower middle position and heat over to 425 degrees F. Place naan on a baking sheet. Mix ricotta and pesto in a small bowl and dollop onto breads. (Couple of notes: I only make 1 pizza at a time since there is just 2 of us and one naan is 2 servings. Also I like to spread the ricotta pesto mixture instead of just dolloping.)

Toss the asparagus with oil and a light sprinkling of salt and pepper. Evenly distribute spears along with Canadian bacon, over naan.

Bake until the bread is warm throughout and asparagus are bright green, about 10 min.

Remove from oven; divide the fontina equally and top each naan with a portion of the cheese. Return them to the oven and continue to bake until breads are crisp and cheese has melted, about 5 minutes longer. (Note: I did not have fontina on hand last time, so I used reduced fat feta crumbles instead and it was excellent!)

Cut each pizza into quarters, serving each person two slices. Serves 4.

Don't forget a good glass of wine and you'll have a perfect meal! I hope you enjoy this healthy and delicious dish as much as we do!

~Erica

My "Famous" Turkey Burgers

These turkey burgers are a go to favorite meal in our household. We typically have them a couple times a month. They never fail to disappoint us! This is a recipe that I created a couple years ago when looking for a good beef free burger. I hadn't found one that I just really enjoyed. It seemed like any recipe I tried was either too dry or too "sticky wet" and didn't form into patties very well. So I got in the kitchen and came up with this tasty little burger!

I say "famous" because it has become a favorite among a lot of my family (whom are all actually beef eaters). My grandpa has requested my "famous turkey burgers" on a number of occassions! The best part about everyone enjoying these burgers...they are sooo easy!!

"Famous" Turkey Burgers
Makes: 4 Burgers
Ingredients:
1lb ground turkey
1 tbsp olive oil
cooking spray
1/2 cup chopped onion
2-3 cloves chopped garlic
1 tbsp grated parmesean
4 slices swiss cheese
4 whole wheat buns
8 oz sliced mushrooms

In a large bowl, mix together ground turkey, (I use half 93% fat free and half 99% fat free because the patties form better this way. If you choose to use only 99% fat free, beware you may have a hard time keeping the patties together! You could always just use 93% if you choose or whatever your grocer has.) onion, garlic, and parmesean cheese. Be cautious not to over mix or the meat with cook up tougher.

Form into 4 patties. I have a handy burger press, but simply making 4 balls and flattening will work fine as well. Since there is only 2 of us, I will immediately, put two of the patties in the freezer for the next time! In the summer months you can put a piece of foil on your grill and cook them that way. (It is important to put foil down or spray the grates on the grill because turkey burgers will stick much easier than beef.) In the winter months I just put them on the stovetop over medium to medium high. They will cook 6-7 min on each side.

While the burgers are cooking, slice up your mushrooms. Put the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat and toss in the mushrooms. Cook until softened, 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally.

When the burgers are almost done, place 1 slice of cheese on each burger, let melt approx 1 minute.
Place 1 burger on each bun and top with lots of mushrooms! Feel free to use any other condiments of choice. We typically use a small amount of ketchup, but I'm sure your favorite condiment will make it that much better of a burger for you!

We normally have baked beans and/or chips and salsa with our burgers, but again, pick your side of choice with burgers!! These are so tasty! Hope you enjoy them as much as my family does!

~Erica

New Year, New Start!

So, as you can see I haven't posted in a month! Oh my goodness, I knew it had been awhile but hadn't realized just how long. The holidays came and went with lots of fun, traveling, and good quality family time! Now we have entered the new year and have been plenty busy the last couple weeks! I am not much of a new years resolution person. I normally stay firm with the idea that anything stated as a resolution is something I should be doing anyway! However, I think I have realized that I need to do better about blogging if I am going to continue having a blog, otherwise it kind of defeats the purpose, huh!? But again, not sure I am willing to say this is a resolution, as it is something that I enjoy doing! Hmmm, or maybe I just don't want to admitt to myself I have caved and made a "New Years Resolution"! Haha! Either way, I will do better!

I have always loved to cook, but as most people over the years I have fallen into the habit of cycling the same meals (for the most part) over and over again. This has changed in our household over the last month and I hope to keep it up. A couple months back, Adam and I decided to train for the Illinois Marathon coming up on April 28th. When we started training, both of us realized that we had gained a "few" pounds since our last marathon and it was making it hard to get through some of our long runs at the pace we wanted to be running at, sooo we took action. We decided to do a "juice diet" for a couple weeks to kick start our diet! We found some really great recipes, that were absolutely delicious! We ate a light breakfast, had a juice for lunch, and a light healthy dinner, with a couple healthy snacks in between meals when needed. It worked!! We both have lost about 10 lbs to date! As two people who eat fairly healthy on a regular basis, we had fallen into habits such as going out to eat too often (not fast food, which we never eat!!), just regular restaurants (like Houlihans), mostly ordering grilled chicken, salads, etc, with the occasional spinach artichoke dip for an appetizer! :) But you don't realize how many bad things can be hidden in restaurant food (preservatives, sodium, fat, etc). So we have been working really hard at making yummy healthy meals at home. Yes, I did say WE, I am so lucky to have a husbad, who not only likes to help me cook, but is actually pretty good at it! :) I will try to share as many meals as I can on here, so anyone else looking to reform their eating habits can join in. Please feel free to comment and share your blog with me and anyone else reading if you have some great healthy recipes! Lots of juice and meal recipes to follow soon!

~Erica