How to Make a Panini Without a Panini Press

June 14, 2013 by

This recipe and post is sponsored by Unilever.

Make a Panini without A Panini Pres

A few weeks ago I posted about my shopping trip to Walmart and the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® light spread I picked up. I was able to use an awesome website called It’s Good To Know and found some great recipes that used I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® in them.

Since then I’ve made a few dishes and have incorporated our secret ingredient -I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® – without any fuss from my husband. His favorite recipe so far has been a simple panini I made for him and the kids for lunch one day. And we don’t have a panini press.

Being able to use the I Can’t Believe It’s Not Butter!® spread instead of butter has made these paninis even easier to make! No crumbs everywhere or hard, cold butter stuck to one corner and not budging. Just smooth, easy spreading! If you’re interested in finding out how you can make a panini without a panini press check out my YouTube video tutorial below.

The kids like to call them “fancy sandwiches” and love that I can switch up the ingredients inside to make different combinations. Served with a tasty side of veggies or a nice garden salad and it’s the perfect healthy meal! Plus it takes less than 10 minutes to prepare!

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Sweet Potato Zucchini Latkes

June 11, 2013 by

 

Sweet Potato Zucchini Latkes landscape

So this morning I was pulling out all of the veggies in our raised bed to make room for new plants. Our swiss chard and parsley were taking over one side of the bed and a weird plant I couldn’t identify was taking over the other.

I had pulled out the swiss chard and parsley and was just getting ready to pull out the weird plant when I found something… a sweet potato!

Now that was pretty weird because we hadn’t planted sweet potatoes in like 2 years. Somehow this little guy was buried under there and the unidentifiable plant was indeed a sweet potato plant!

So I did what any good gardener would do and thought of the perfect way to consume this awesome find. Sweet potato zucchini latkes! These ones are pretty healthy and I made them fit into my Nutrisystem plan. How awesome is that?

Sweet Potato in the garden

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Peach Upside Down Cake

June 8, 2013 by

I recently held a playdate over at my house for my playgroup and one of the mamas came over with a large carton of peaches in tow to share with everyone. When she left she graciously left the remaining peaches.

Now there are a lot of foods I’ll eat without a problem but I’ve never taken well to peaches, nectarines and apricots. Something about them has never been very appealing. So I was very surprised when my son started asking to eat the peaches and could consume a whole, large one on his own for breakfast. But even though he showed an interest in them he couldn’t eat the peaches fast enough to go through the whole bunch.

I had to start thinking of a way to use up the excess peaches. And so I went off to Google in search of a good recipe to use for our upcoming 4th of July dinner at my brother-in-law’s house. As soon as I landed on this recipe by one of my favorite cooks, Alton Brown, I knew he wouldn’t disappoint me. But since I was feeding a larger group and also didn’t have the time to prep and bake this dessert at my brother-in-law’s house I tweaked the recipe a bit to allow for making larger cakes.

I tested the recipe out this weekend and whoa! It came out perfectly! The addition of vanilla bean ice cream took this dessert over the edge. Remember how I’m the one who isn’t so crazy about peaches? Well I even ate a piece for breakfast the next day! I’ll definitely be trying this with apples in the Fall.

Peach Upside Down Cake1

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Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread Recipe

June 5, 2013 by

I love summertime. For one we get to play outside later in the evening and secondly my mother-in-law is always sure to bring over some yummy (but very large) zucchini.

Figuring out ways to use up the zucchini is always fun and shredding it to put in baked goods and savory meals is usually the way to go. Especially since my son has a fascination with our food processor.

When searching for a recipe to use up some of our zucchini I stumbled upon a delicious looking muffin recipe. Chocolate and zucchini? Why it’s a match made in heaven!

This bread tastes exactly like a chocolate cake. My son would have had no clue that there was zucchini in it had he not been the one to help mix the ingredients together.

And the mini chocolate chips just add a bit of deliciousness and push this bread over the edge. Next time I might consider adding a few walnuts to the mix. Mmmm….

Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread

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10 Minute Dinners with Success® Rice

June 4, 2013 by

This awesome 10 Minute Dinners recipe and post is sponsored by Success® Rice

10 Minute Dinners Lemon Garlic Shrimp

While I love to cook and get enjoyment out of feeding my family delicious meals there are some nights when I just don’t want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. So I’ve come up with a few 10 minute meals to turn to on those nights I’m just too tired to cook a lot.

Luckily I don’t have to compromise flavor or nutrition when I make these 10 minute meals. I just use simple pantry staples like Success® Rice and whatever else I might have on hand to create different variations of similar dishes.

Last night we were in need of a 10 minute meal and I turned to my freezer and pantry. And that’s where Garlic Lemon Shrimp over Rice was created.

I pulled out the Success® Rice I had purchased on my last trip to the grocery store, some onions, garlic, lemons, cooking sherry, cornstarch and frozen shrimp, and got to making dinner. 10 minutes later dinner was served!

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Strawberry Muffins with Greek Yogurt Recipe

June 2, 2013 by

Strawberry Muffins with Greek Yogurt

I absolutely adore strawberry season. Being able to go to the farmer’s market each week and pick up a huge amount of fresh, ripe strawberries just puts a smile on my face.

But there are only so many yummy bowls of strawberries and yogurt one can eat without wanting to do more. So when I brought back my latest batch along with some fresh, homemade greek yogurt I had the genius idea of putting the two together and baking!

Strawberry Muffins with Greek Yogurt square 1

Strawberry muffins with greek yogurt were created. And they were delicious.

Good thing too because I tested the recipe out on my girlfriends for our monthly book club. They’re such troopers. They’ll try anything I make and honestly give feedback. Luckily these muffins passed the test.

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Root Beer Pulled Pork Slow Cooker Recipe

May 21, 2013 by

My absolute favorite way to make pulled pork is in the crock pot. With a can of rootbeer.

Yup! You heard that right. I absolutely love that I can realize that I forgot to pull meat out of the freezer the night before, grab a pork loin, put it in the crock pot with a can of root beer and just let it simmer all day for a delicious and tasty meal in the evening.

What makes them even better? Some amazingly fresh and yeasty homemade hamburger buns!

If you haven’t already tried this way of cooking your pulled pork then you need to! It’s the perfect dish for the coming summer months.

Root Beer Pulled Pork

Root Beer Pulled Pork

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Delightfully Diet Ginger Ale Lemon Cake

May 13, 2013 by

Ginger Ale Lemon Cake

Sometimes I dread going to birthday celebrations. I always know there are going to be really delicious but entirely too calorie laden foods, drinks galore and – of course – birthday cake.

So whenever I can, I try and take control. I am the one hosting the party and I have control of the menu. So when we celebrated my dad’s birthday last week I made sure that everyone came over to my house and I served all of the foods I felt good about eating.

Including cake!

That’s right… a cake that I can enjoy without guilt. Plus it’s super easy to make and very, very tasty! The guests had no idea and kept talking about how moist it was. How? By using a few simple ingredients…

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The Ultimate First Street Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich Recipe

May 11, 2013 by

I am a member of the Collective Bias™ Social Fabric® Community. This shop has been compensated as part of a social shopper insights study for Collective Bias™ and Smart & Final.

First Street Ultimate Ice Cream Cookie Sandwich #ChooseSmart

Mother’s Day is all about mom’s favorite things, right? And I know that my mom – and mother in law – loves sweets. Since it’s been so warm lately I knew she’d appreciate something cool if she were down here (don’t worry mom, we can make these again!).

So when I headed out to Smart & Final to pick up some ingredients for an awesome dessert to serve on Mother’s Day, I knew that First Street ice cream would be the perfect base for any dish.

I thought bringing my husband along with me as we shopped would be a bad idea but he inspired this dish when he asked if he could pick up some chocolate chip cookies too. Genius!! Why not make ice cream sandwiches?

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Nutrisystem Recipe Ideas: Baked French Toast Casserole

May 9, 2013 by

While on Nutrisystem I learned to really experiment and explore new possibilities when it comes to Nutrisystem food and started to really search for great Nutrisystem recipe ideas. Sometimes the food the way it’s packaged doesn’t taste the best to me or isn’t the most filling portion size for me. So I did a little doctoring up (within the plan!) and create new dishes from Nutrisystem foods.

One of my favorite recipes that I make at least once a week is this Baked French Toast Casserole. Not only is it very filling, it also reminds me of my favorite Overnight French Toast Casserole recipe that definitely isn’t Nutrisystem friendly. And I love that I can sub other Nutrisystem items like the blueberry muffin, cinnamon bun or cinnamon streusel muffin if I don’t have any frozen french toast on hand.

Now, you do not need to prepare this overnight if you don’t have the time. There have been many mornings where I wake up and realize I didn’t prep this the night before. But sometimes it tastes a bit better when all of the flavors can meld together before baking. Either way, it’s still going to be delicious and very filling.

Nutrisystem Recipe Ideas: Baked French Toast Casserole

Nutrisystem Recipe Ideas Baked French Toast Casserole

Nutrisystem Baked French Toast Casserole

  • Nutrisystem frozen french toast
  • 1/2 cup egg beaters or egg whites
  • 1 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 turkey sausage link (cut small)
  1. Cut the frozen french toast into pieces and put it into a small baking dish sprayed with butter flavored PAM. I’ve found a small ramekin to be perfect.
  2. Mix 1/2 cup egg beaters, 1 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon vanilla, 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, and turkey sausage link together.
  3. Pour the mixture over the french toast pieces and squish it down until all pieces are covered. Place it, covered with plastic wrap, in the refrigerator overnight.
  4. In the morning, take the dish from the fridge, remove cover, and bake at 350 degrees for about 30-35 minutes until cooked through. This bakes up REALLY high, and then it collapses a bit when it’s out of the oven – totally normal.

I love to serve this with a couple sprays of light spray butter, or Walden Farms (or equivalent) syrup. It counts as one Nutrisystem breakfast and a PowerFuel. I can even add a strawberry or two for a limted extra too!

What healthy dishes do you love to make?

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