Mushroom Alfredo Pasta

This is my favorite pasta! I have made this recipe on my own and it every time i make it, it seems to be getting better and better! This is so yummy and it's super easy to make. I am pretty sure i eat this once a week! This is one of my ultimate favorite recipes ever! Not only have i enjoyed this recipe, but i have made this for my friends and they always are asking me when I will make them some more pasta again.

As you can tell this isn't my first dish with mushrooms. I used to not like mushrooms at all, but now that i am a vegetarian mushrooms seem to be part of my daily diet. You can add as many vegetables as you'd like in this recipe, like sometimes all also add broccoli. I am so proud of how delicious my pasta has turned out to be and I hope to keep improving it! 

Ingredients

1 pkg of cream cheese (soften)

3/4 of milk

6 tbsp butter

pinch of dill weed

pinch of parsley

as many mushrooms as you wish

1/2 box of pasta 

Directions

Clean and cut the mushrooms, then put them in a small skillet and add a tbsp of butter. Cook them until golden brown. Meanwhile put the 1/2 box of pasta in boiling (follow instructions on the box). In a large pot add 1/3 cup of milk and the cream cheese. When i say soften is that it had been out of the refrigerator for a couple of minutes so its not that hard. Stir until cream cheese is almost melted. When the cream cheese has almost melted add the rest of the milk, the rest of the butter (5 tbsp), pinch of dill weed, pinch of parsley. When the sauce seems about done add the mushrooms and the pasta to the large pot. 

You can serve this for dinner and its such a nice meal! Just add some warm french bread and Bon Appetite! I have learned a lot from cooking my own meals and searching for vegetarian recipes and it has helped me a lot in my health. I did go to the doctor to get my health checked out and I was low on iron, but I am now able to fix that and make sure i get enough iron in my protein.

Bon Appetite! 

Vegetarian Lasagna

I absolutely love this recipe! It is delicious and it is very healthy. I actaully like this recipe better than the original lasagna. This recipe is so much healthier and it is really easy to make. My mom and I made this recipe up or well at least just added what we wanted to it.

This is is easy to make, especially because I am the only vegetarian in the family when my mom makes lasagna half will be the regular lasagna and the other half will be my vegetarian lasagna. I followed the same recipe my mom usually makes, but instead of adding meat, I added vegetables. You can add any type of vegetables you'd like, but I added carrots, squash, red pepper, and potato. The lasagna my mom makes is a recipe that she has been making for years and so she will make it without a recipe, but this recipe is so similar to the recipe my mom makes.

Ingredients
2 potatoes
4 carrots
2 zucchini
2 red peppers
1 packet of lasagna noodles
1 can of spaghetti tomato sauce
1 large marble cheese block; shredded
Pinch of parsley
Pinch of basil
Pinch of oregano
Pinch of pepper

 Directions:
 Pre-heat oven to 375 degrees F
 Steam the carrots and the zucchini until soft. Boil the potatoes until soft. When the vegetables are ready, cut them into cubes along with the red pepper.In a bowl stir the tomato sauce with the parsley, basil, oregano, and pepper. Meanwhile cook the lasagna noodles as the instructions on the box explain it. When ready begin to prepare the lasagna by placing the noodles on the bottom of the pan, then the sauce, then the vegetables, and lastly the cheese. Repeat until desired (or until the ingredients run out). Top layer should be the sauce with cheese on top. Place foiled over baking dish and bake in the over for 40 minutes.

This is one of my favorite vegetarian recipes and will definitely be making this again and more often. It's easy and not that time consuming and very healthy!

 Bon Appetite!

Teriyaki Portobello Burger

This recipe has a very unique taste. I am not a big fan of the taste of teriyaki, but when I saw the picture and the recipe I just had the urge to try it. I really liked the recipe, especially when my parents are grilling hamburgers I can substitute a burger for a teriyaki portobello burger.

When I showed my mom the recipe, she was a little confused on the ingredients, but it was worth a try! I would have never thought of marinating a mushroom in a teriyaki sauce or putting pineapple in the same sandwich. It actually didn't taste that bad,but at the same time it didn't taste as good as I thought it would.

I have a couple of complaints on this recipe. First, the portobello does not have to be marinated in the teriyaki sauce for that long. Secondly, the teriyaki sauce made my hamburger bun get all soggy and gross. Lastly, this recipe takes way too long. I also got this recipe for the Seventeen Magazine, in the health section. This recipe was made for vegetarians. I don't think I will try another Seventeen Magazine recipe because they aren't that good. It took way too long to make this; I think it takes about 25 minutes. You also have to be really watching the time and make sure that nothing burns. I think it would be easier if you just put a veggie burger in the grill, which is what I will do next time.

Ingredients:
 1 portobello mushroom
 2 tbsp. Teriyaki sauce
 2 tsp. Canola oil
 1/2 onion, thinly sliced
 1 slice of pineapple
 1 whole wheat hamburger bun

 Directions: (makes 1 sandwich)
 You start of by cutting off the stem and dunk the Portobello mushroom in a bowl with the teriyaki sauce. Let it marinate for 15 minutes. Heat oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add onion and stir for 10 to 12 minutes until soft. Pour teriyaki sauce from the mushroom into the pan and coo for 5 minutes,then remove onion and set aside. Add the mushroom to the pan and cook over medium heat for 6 minutes on each side, then add the pineapple and cook for 1 minute. Place portobello on the bun; top with pineapple and onion.

( I took the picture from the magazine because the one i took, the burger was falling apart and it looked very messy, so i chose to put this one.)

Like I said before I didn't think it tasted that bad, but i think for how long it took me to make it, it was just harder to make. I an not a big fan of teriyaki, but I think the taste of the mushroom and pineapple made it have a unique taste. I would also recommend coming the mushroom for a little over than 12 minutes because I thought it still needed some more time to cook.

Bon appetite!

French Toast

This recipe is probably my least favorite recipe so far to be honest. It just lacks so many flavors. Some people would say just add more syrup to make it sweeter, but the point is to make this recipe healthier.  I probably will not make this again, but if you are looking for a healthy breakfast, then this is the breakfast for you!

I got this recipe from the health section from the June/July Seventeen magazine.  Most of the recipes of that they usually put on this magazine look so easy to make and they are always good for your health. The recipe looks so good on the magazine, and it is just so simple, I decided to give it a try.  I have made this recipe before and instead of keeping it how it is, I added vanilla to try to give it a little more flavor. I have learned though that when becoming a vegetarian, or choosing a healthier diet you just have to try many things and even if you don’t like something, you have to eat it for the sake of your health.

One of my favorite breakfast meals is French toast sticks, so I thought this would be such a wonderful recipe to make because I could start making myself a healthier version French toast sticks. Next time I will look for another French toast recipe, as healthy as this one, and hopefully next time it will be better.

Ingredients

                                ½ cup of egg whites

                                2/3cup of milk

                                1 tsp. of sugar substitute

                                1 pinch of salt

                                1 tsp. of vanilla

                                2 slices of whole grain bread

                                Cooking spray

                                ½ cup of berries

                                1-2 tbsp of syrup

Directions

Whisk together egg whites, milk, sugar substitute, and salt. Soak bread in the egg-white mixture. Drain excess liquid. Coat a nonstick skillet with cooking spray and place over medium-high heat. Cook the bread until each side is golden brown. Place the French toast on a plate and top with berries and syrup.

This recipe came with a tip that said microwave the berries and syrup together for 30 seconds. It mashes them into a fruity syrup. It didn’t ask for a specific type of berries, but in the picture they put in the magazine it was of blue and black berries. I did not have either, so used strawberries. I did what the tip asked me to do, and I don’t if it was that I used strawberries instead of what was in the picture, but I didn’t like the flavor or the fruit and strawberries mixed together.  When I made this I only made it for myself, so I didn’t have anyone else try it to see if they would like it or not. I hope to find a better recipe and have it be as easy to make as this one. If you are willing to try anything and don’t really care if the French toast lacks any flavor, then I say give this recipe a try and try to make it your own!

Bon appétit!

Veggie Pizza

This is by far my favorite recipe I have made. I honestly cannot stop eating it! It is full of vegetables and yet it is delicious. I will definitely make this again. It isn’t even that time consuming. It will not be time consuming depending on the yeast you get for the pizza. When I went to get groceries, I could not remember what kind of yeast I needed to get, so I got the only yeast that had a pizza as the picture in the background. It came with a recipe in the back of the yeast, when it was that I noticed that the dough did not need time to rise, which is one reason why it isn’t very time consuming.

I used red and green bell peppers, a red onion, mushrooms, pineapple, tomato sauce, and lots of cheese. You could add anything else you would like, but with just few ingredients I have to say that pizza was so darn good. This was also so easy to make, and I didn’t make a big mess either. Although I do recommend reading the instructions before you make anything, because I did add a tad bit more sugar than I was supposed to.

Pizza Dough

Ingredients

                                1 ¾ to 2 ¼ cups of all-purpose flour

                                1 envelope of Fleishmann’s Pizza Yeast

                                1 ½ teaspoons of sugar                 

                                ¾ teaspoon salt

                                2/3 cup very warm water (120⁰ to 130⁰F)

                                3 tablespoons oil

               

                Directions

Preheat oven to 425⁰F. Combine 1 cup of flour, yeast, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add water and oil. Mix until well blended; about a minute. Add gradually, enough remaining flour until soft dough ball is formed. Dough will be slightly sticky. Knead on a floured surface adding additional flour if needed, until smooth and elastic; about 4 minutes. With floured hands, pat dough out to fill greased pan, or roll dough to a 12-inch circle and transfer to greased pizza pan. Tope as desired. Bake on bottom oven rack for 12 to 15 minutes until cheese is bubbly and crust is browned. 

I have always thought making a homemade pizza would be so hard, but this recipe was perfect if it ia your first time making homemade pizza. As I said I loved the taste, and my dad also enjoyed the pizza very much and he is picky when it comes to pizza. I did put it in the oven for about 7 more minutes after I took this picture, and I did go over the time than what the recipe said. I think this would be a fun recipe to make with my friends on a movie night instead of making anything else. I will have to say I would not change anything about this recipe!

Bon Appétit!

Heather’s Cilantro, Black Beans, and Corn Salsa

This recipe involves quite a few of ingredients and it takes about 20 minutes to prepare, although you aren’t really cooking anything. It is time consuming because you have to cut up all those vegetables, but other than that the directions are very easy to follow. I got this recipe from a website called allrecipes.com, while I was searching for vegetarian recipes a couple weeks ago, but did not try it until now. I really like this website because it has every recipe you can look for, for any meal, and even ideas for what to make depending on the holiday.

I really enjoyed this recipe because its fresh and it made of all vegetables. I personally think it would be so much better if you used vegetables from like a farmers market. This would be such a great dip for a barbecue, picnic, or any other event during the summer. I also enjoyed this recipe because it has so many colors and it is as delicious as it looks.

I did not change the recipe much, but what I did change was the kind of corn and tomatoes I used. Instead of using canned corn, I used corn that we had from a couple night before that was boiled and I just cut the kernels off. For the tomatoes I didn’t use canned tomatoes, but I used a fresh tomato. The only other thing I changed was that I did not add any olive oil because I liked the taste without it.

                Ingredients (72 servings)

                                1 (15 ounce) can yellow corn, drained (or 3 large corn)

                                1 (15 ounce) can white corn, drained

                                2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed

                                1 (14.5) can Italian-style diced tomatoes, drained (or 1 large tomato)

                                1 bunch finely chopped cilantro

                                5 green onions, finely sliced

                                1 small red onion, finely sliced (or half of a large red onion)

                                1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

                                1 tablespoon of minced garlic

                                ¼ cup lime juice

                                1 avocado- peeled, pitted, and diced

                                2 tablespoons of olive oil, or to taste (optional)

                Directions

Stir the yellow and white corn, black beans, tomatoes, cilantro, green onion, red onion, bell pepper, and garlic in a large bowl. Gently mix the lime juice and avocado. Drizzle with olive oil to serve.

What i like about this recipe is that this could be something I can pack for lunch with some

tortilla chips. I would not change anything about this recipe because all the ingredients made it delicious. My mom thought it tasted so fresh and it would be a good snack during the day instead of grabbing some cookies or chips. This recipe is great for the summer and I will eventually make this again!

Bon Appétit!  

Mushroom Bruschetta

This recipe is very easy and not very time consuming. It is great for an appetizer or for a little snack. Instead of using tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella, I used mushrooms and cream cheese. The main sources of nutrition in this recipe would be the calcium in the mushrooms, and cream cheese, and the protein in the French bread. 2 main sources of nutrition in just one little appetizer and all the ingredients are helping me somehow in my nutrition. I saw this recipe in the magazine, “Everyday with Rachel Ray.” The recipe I found on here was what got me the idea to make this, but I did add things and change it a bit to make it my own.  

The recipe on the magazine asked for any kind of mushroom and to sauté it in butter; season it will salt and pepper. After to pile it on a grilled piece of bread and put shaved Parmesan on top. To make it my own I did everything the same, but instead of grilling the bread I put it in the oven, and I put cream cheese on the bread before I piled the mushrooms on the French bread.  

Ingredients (makes 4 brushetta)

·         2 tablespoons of butter or margarine

·         12 small fresh mushrooms

·         Salt

·         Pepper

·         4 pieces of French bread

·         6 tablespoons of cream cheese

·         Parmesan cheese (optional)

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees. In a skillet sauté the mushrooms in butter until golden brown. While sautéing the mushrooms cut 4 pieces of French bread in any size you’d like. Put it in the oven for about 8 minutes or until golden brown.  When the bread is out of the oven, spread about 2 tablespoons of cream cheese onto each piece French bread, after pile the mushrooms on top.  You can also choose to put some Parmesan cheese on top of the mushrooms.

My mom and I really enjoyed these mushroom bruschettas, but we also thought that it needed a little more seasoning to make the brushetta have a little more flavor. Next time I think I will add either basil or oregano to give it a little more of a flavor, but other than that I thought it was very good! I would definitely make this when we have people over and serve it as an appetizer.

Bon Appetite!