Tuna Veggie Casserole......I love old school food!!

There is just something about old school classic meals that makes me feel warm and fuzzy inside. Things like tuna casserole, meatloaf, mac & cheese, beef stroganoff, and sooooo many more. I feel like Mrs. Cleaver or Wilma Flinestone.......ok maybe not Wilma....but you know what I mean. They just feel like authentic classic American fill you up kinda meals. That is a great feeling to have after making a meal. So I'm gonna giving you my version of Tuna Casserole, I threw in some veggies....you know cuz I can. :)

Here is just a few of the ingredients I used. Take note...I used whole wheat noodles!!
1 12-16 oz pkg of noodles of your choice
2 stalks of celery, chopped
1 onion, diced
1 T capers
2 cups broccoli, chopped
2 cans tuna, drained
2 cups grated cheese, any kind you like
3 cloves garlic
3 T butter
3 T flour
2 cups milk or broth and milk or heavy cream
salt and pepper to taste
a pinch of nutmeg

Chop your veggies like so........and while you are chopping your veggies you should be boiling your noodles. Once the noodle have boiled drain them and set them aside to make your sauce.

     In your pan combine your butter and flour and mix around for about 2 min to cook out the flour taste.

Whisk in your milk, cream or combo of both and whisk until all the lumps are gone. Add cheese and whisk until smooth. Now add salt and pepper to taste, nutmeg, all veggies, grated garlic and capers, and tuna. Cook until sauce is very thick and veggies are tender, about 5 minutes. Toss in noodles and stir until everything is coated!! Serve

Zucchini Pizza.......who needs crust when you can use zucchini!!!!!

I <3 pizza.....but living a healthier eating lifestyle....pizza isn't exactly on the menu. But did I mention I LOVE PIZZA????? So I got to thinking.......how can I have pizza without having pizza??? I already have the most amazing wonderful delicious recipe for marinara sauce. Then I thought what could be my crust substitution?? Well, I was looking through the frig and I had bought the Trader Joe's giant pack of organic zucchini......there's like 50 pieces of zucchini in there. (Ok maybe I slightly over exaggerated) Seriously there is probably like 10 pieces.

That's when I got the idea to use it for the base of my pizza. Um.....I think it's kinda genius!! Ok Ok.....so I'm sure I'm not the first person to think of it......but if Ive never seen it then it doesn't exist.........right???? That's what I thought!!

5 good sized zucchini's, washed
1 cup marinara sauce, jarred or homemade
1 cup shredded mozzarella
pepperoni, salami, sausage, mushrooms, olives or any other topping you like

Preheat oven to 450. Cut off ends of zucchini and slice long ways into 4 pieces. Place on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper to taste. Lay flat on pan. Spoon about 1 T of sauce over each zucchini until entire slice is covered. Sprinkle with approx 1-2 T of mozzarella. Top with any toppings you like or none at all. I had salami so I used that. Bake for 15-20 minutes, until brown and bubbly!! Serve, but be careful not to burn your tongue.

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

Ok first off I must say, I only subscribe to 2 magazines!! Cooking Light and Food Network....and I love them both!! So every month I get my magazines in the mail and I sit down and go through all the recipes and cut out the ones I am pretty sure I will use. When I was going through Cooking Lights Jan/Feb issue I came across this little gem!!

This soup......or chowder as they call it has an absolutely lovely flavor to it. It is packed with healthy things and even looks beautiful. I made a few changes to adapt to what I had on hand. It came out so good and even my teenage boys loved it. That is a hard enough task to accomplish!!

Caribbean Spicy Sausage and Sweet Potato Chowder

2 tsp olive oil

3 peeled and cubed sweet potatoes

1 chopped red bell pepper

1 onion, chopped

3 stalks celery, diced

4 cloves garlic, grated on micro plane

2 tsp peeled fresh ginger, grated on micro plane

2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp ground curry

1/2 tsp allspice

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbls brown sugar (I used agave, because I don't use sugar)

4 cups chicken broth

2 tsp dried thyme

2 bay leaves

1 cup frozen corn

1 can diced tomatoes

1/2 cup chopped fresh cilantro

2 packages Turkey Italian Sausage, chopped

Heat oil in dutch oven over medium heat. Add sausage and cook for 5 minutes until cooked almost completely. Add next next 6 ingredients through ginger. Cook for 5 minutes. Stir in next 4 ingredients through cinnamon and cook for 30 seconds. Add broth and agave or sugar. Add thyme and bay leaves. Bring to boil. Cover and simmer for 12 minutes or until sweet potatoes are tender. Stir in tomatoes and corn and simmer for 5 minutes. Add cilantro and stir. Discard bay leaves. Yield six servings