#tastymakes

Breakfast, my favorite meal of the day! :D however i usually don’t have time to make something yummy in the morning so i grab some fresh fruit or a greek yogurt cup. So i needed something i could make in advance that is full of nutrients and will satisfy my breakfast cravings in the morning. Which is why i have jumped on the c-c-chia seed bandwagon. These little black seeds have been all over every health food website and i just haven’t gotten around to actually trying them. Until now! i ventured to my local Trader Joes and picked this up and once i got home i whipped up this Chia seed pudding.  It was quick, easy and ready the next morning when i woke up. I chose to do a basic vanilla flavor profile for my first attempt and it was pretty darn good, especially with the fresh fruit on top. The one downside is that with the plain non-fat greek yogurt i used it was a little bitter and i couldn’t taste the honey i had put it. But this was quickly remedied by using a nonfat vanilla greek yogurt instead, which immediately cut away at that bitterness. Now they do have a very earthy taste to them so if that isn’t your cup of tea, then i might stay away from this recipe. but other than that it is amazing. I used this recipe: http://www.simplyhappenstance.com/vanilla-chia-seed-pudding/ but i clearly strayed away from it a little bit by using honey instead of maple syrup and cutting everything in half so instead of 4 servings, it was just 2 and i used what fruit i had which happened to be blueberry’s and Raspberries. So overall it was pretty tasty, needed some tweaking but in the end it is definitely something i will be making again.

So i was craving something creamy and delicious after work, but i really didn’t want to spend hours cooking. Which is why i chose this little gem of a recipe. I made some tweaks to the recipe since it wasn’t very healthy to begin with but once i changed up some things i cut the calories and sodium count in half. It is creamy and delicious and i will definitely be making it again. At first i was worried that it wouldn’t be very flavorful but the little flavor bursts of cheddar cheese really made this dish to die for. So the changes i made to the recipe were as such: instead of homemade cream of chicken i used the fat free campbells cream of chicken, then instead of regular shredded cheddar cheese i used the part skim cheese i had. I also wanted to use whole wheat bowtie noodles but like i said this was something i whipped together right after work so i used what i had. One downside to this is that it is good for leftovers the day after but any longer than that it just doesn't taste the same to me. This is quick and east and delicious i highly suggest it! if you want to pursue this on your own here is the link to the recipe http://www.galonamission.com/chicken-broccoli-pasta-skillet-casserole/ and if you do try this i would love to hear your feedback! 

This here is Zucchini Lasagna, it is not a quick even if the prep time on the directions says 20 minutes, that my friends is a damn lie, but in the end it is well worth it. If you do not like Zucchini then this is most likely not for you because instead of layering the lasagna with carb filled noodles, we used thin sliced Zucchini. I was a bit apprehensive by this idea because a big part of a good Lasagna is the noodles, but if you cut them correctly you get the same texture as a noodle but with the taste of Zucchini instead. When making the fresh sauce i suggest giving it a little longer to simmer and get that strong tomato taste out, also give it a good bit of salt and pepper because the only other place you will get a pop of salty flavor is the cheese you are using. Another thing about this recipe i was not looking forward too was the reduce fat cheese, i LOVE cheese and all it’s fatty goodness so it’s like a sin for me to eat reduced fat cheese. However i was pleasantly surprised when i found that i couldn’t really taste the difference with everything else that is enhancing the flavors of the dish. The downsides to this is the amount of time it takes to make this dish and the recipe, in my opinion, doesn’t make enough sauce. But to fix this is to use a smaller dish than what is suggested, that way you get more layers and don’t have to skimp out on the sauce and cheese between each layer. If you think you may be interesting in making this delicious meal please this is the recipe that i used. If you make any adjustments or try anything different and it turns out great i would love to hear your feedback! http://www.skinnytaste.com/2009/02/zucchini-lasagna.html

Be Healthy! ~ Lizanna Pompa