No Fry Salmon Patties with Spicy Corn

No Fry Salmon Patties with a Spicy Corn side dish

Yesterday I made three pizzas, one which had salmon as a topping. Fish is not a regular staple in my diet. Although I am told it is good for multiple reasons. Firstly, this is a very good source of lean protein. It has omega 3 fatty acids. <--Um what is that?? My doctor also suggested that adding more of those into my diet would help my arthritis in my elbow, so maybe I should try to eat more fish? The corn/Jalapeños did not turn out exactly how I thought it would, but it was still pretty good!

Except I didn't end up eating the corn with chips :p

Utensils needed:

Glass Baking Dish

Bowl

Wooden Spoon

Pizza pans

Fork

Ingredients for Spicy Corn:

1 cup Greek Yogurt

1/2 Teaspoon Chili Powder

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Dash of Tabasco

2 Jalapeños, Seeded and Minced

2 Cans Sweet Corn, Drained

1/2 Cup Monterey Jack Cheese

1/2 Cup Cheddar cheese

Ingredients for Salmon Patties:

14.5 ounce can of salmon

2 eggs

1/4 Cup Bread Crumbs

1/4 Cup Potato Flakes

1 Clove Garlic, Minced

Fresh Dill

1/4 Teaspoon Celery Salt

I think the spicy corn was supposed to be more of a dip, but mine turned out almost like a side dish. It was actually really good!

I think adding this much
yogurt is what made it thinner

1/2 teaspoon chilipowder

Spicy Corn Recipe:

Since the Spicy Corn takes longer to cook I started that first. Preheat the

oven to 420 Degrees.

 In a bowl mix 1 cup of Greek Yogurt with the seasonings. 

First add 1/2 teaspoon chili powder. Followed by 1 teaspoon of onion powder. Then 1 teaspoon garlic powder. Lastly you will want to add a dash or two of Tabasco sauce!

Next you need to make sure to drain the corn as best as you can, and slowly fold it in to the mix.

Make sure to drain the water completely out

My favorite and not so favorite part came next. I got to cut the jalapeños up. First you need to cut the main vein that the seeds connect to in the pepper. Then mince it!! 

Veined and Seeded

It was my favorite part because I love the smell, but I also itched my eye shortly after cutting them, and burned my eye. Always remember to wash your hands after garlic and jalapeños!!

2 Jalapeños, deseeded and minced

The next and final step in making the spicy corn, you want to add two kinds of cheese. I used half of what the original recipe called for. 1/2 cup monterey jack and 1/2 cup cheddar cheese.

1/2 cup of both cheddar and monterey jack

Fold it all together and place in a baking dish. I waited a few minutes before throwing it in the oven despite the oven beeping that it is ready.

Salmon Patty Recipe:

Grab your salmon in a can and open it up. I gotta be honest, I really dislike fish and as soon as I dumped that can out, it smelled of instant fish, or maybe it reminded me of the river we used to fish in with my dad..hmm… anyway fluff that fish up with a fork. Since I had a little bit of fresh salmon left over from yesterdays salmon pizza, I shredded that up and threw it in with the canned.

14.5 ounce can of salmon

2 eggs

1/4 cup bread crumbs

Next add two eggs, this will help everything stick together. Then add 1/4 cup of your favorite breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup potato flakes, this will add some density also helping as a sticking agent.

1/4 cup potato flakes

1 teaspoon garlic

Bunch of fresh Dill

Next on the list, seasonings!! It calls for dried, but I cut up fresh since I had some of both left. I wonder why my mom never turned me on to fresh seasonings. I cut up a bunch of dill and added about a teaspoon of minced garlic. Final step is to add 1/4 teaspoon celery salt.

1/4 teaspoon celery salt

My salmon patties

Mix all of this together. Once you get a good consistency, either create two inch balls and smooth those to flat patties, or grab some salmon mix like you are making a hamburger. I got about 8 patties out of this recipe, with a few being a bit on the small side.

Now put both foods in the oven for about 17 minutes. Give or take a few minutes. We have always eaten salmon patties with either ketchup or tarter sauce! After that beeper goes off prepare to eat some yumtastic, heart healthy food!

YAMM BAMM THANK YOU MA'AM! This food is ready to devour! No frying makes this recipe even more heart healthy!! The spicy corn was more of a side dish vs. a dip! Still really good and has a good zip to the bite!

Healthy Pizza

3 Healthy Pizza Recipes

Pizza is a favorite amongst kids, college students, and adults alike. I will be giving unto you three versions of pizza, which I have made based on preferences of me and my family! I also made a cheese pizza for those who do not like meat! These are all good pizzas, my favorite is the pepperoni. Enjoy and leave me comments if you have any suggestions to make the recipes even better!!

Utensils needed:

Bowl for mixing dough

Medium pan

Whisk

Larger pizza pans (or several smaller pans)

Spoon

Grater/Knife

Rolling Pin

Fork

Platter

Ingredients for Pizza Dough:

2 cups of self rising flour

2 small containers (11.2 ounces) of plain greek yogurt

Olive Oil

Ingredients for Pizza Sauce:

30 ounces of tomato sauce

12 ounces of tomato paste

1 Tablespoon Italian Seasoning

1 Teaspoon Onion Powder

1 Tablespoon Dried Oregano

1 Teaspoon Garlic Powder

Ingredients for Pepperoni Pizza:

Above sauce

Mozzarella Cheese

Healthy Switch #1: Turkey Pepperoni

Ingredients for 3 Cheese Pizza:

1/2 Cup Ricotta Cheese

Mozzarella Cheese

2 Tablespoons Parmesan Shreds

2 Tablespoons Fresh Thyme

Ingredients for Smoked Salmon:

3 Tablespoons of Fat-Free Cream Cheese

1 HEAPING Tablespoon Fresh Dill (because I <3 Dill!!)

1 Tablespoon Fresh Squeezed Lemon Juice

A Serving of Salmon

Extra Dill for Garnish

Using some fresh seasonings in the recipe has definitely swayed my mind. I think I want to add these to my inside garden :)

No more wasting time, lets get down to making this pizza your family will be

begging for over and over! For this recipe the sauce takes the longest to prepare. Overall cooking time (for the sauce) needs to be around an hour or as close as the hungry mouths can wait!

Pizza Sauce:

30 oz tomato sauce

12 oz tomato paste

With a pan over medium heat mix together the tomato sauce and the tomato paste. Using the whisk, mix together the two until they are one consistency. Takes about 30 seconds to a minute.

(L->R; 1 T Italian Seasoning, 1 t onion powder, 1 T Dried Oregano, 1 t garlic powder)

Add seasonings to sauce

Once your sauce is one consistency, now is the right time to add the seasonings. Whisk in the seasonings and continue stirring until the sauce begins to boil. At that point you will want to turn the heat down to lo, cover, and you will want to stir it about 8 times over the next hour. I set my timer for 15 minutes the first time, but when I came back the tomato sauce had begun to stick to the bottom. So after that I set the timer down to about 8 minutes, the sauce was no longer sticking. So I would say set the timer for 8 minutes and stir it then over the course of the next hour. 

When the sauce is about 30 minutes into the cooking process, I would recommend starting the dough. Only because you need to cook the salmon crust before you top it, but it needs to cool before you top it. Then you can prepare/roll the other doughs to have them ready.

Pizza Dough:

This is literally the easiest crust I have ever made! Preheat the oven to 420 degrees.

Mix greek yogurt and flour

2 cups self rising flour

You will need self-raising flour, next time I try this recipe I am going to use whole grain flour! Mix that with the greek yogurt. And I know how gross this may sound/feel, but I found it mixes WAYY easier when you use your hands. I mixed it in the bowl until it was just flour on the bottom and I turned it upside down on the counter and mixed the rest of it by hand, literally. 

3 pizza dough balls

This will make about 3 personal size pizzas. I made one of the pizza balls smaller, because I was unsure if I would like salmon, but I added that dough to the pepperoni dough ball because I knew I would love that one! No way you can screw up pepperoni pizza!! After that take whichever dough ball you want for the salmon pizza and set the other two to the side for now. 

Make sure you are still stirring the sauce!!!!! 

Using the rolling pin flatten out the first dough ball until desired thickness, just remember the thicker the dough the longer cook time will be needed. However, after you have flattened the first dough ball, place it on a olive oil greased pizza/cookie pan. Prick the flattened dough to prevent air bubbles. Place this pan in the oven on the lowest shelf. Set timer for 15 minutes and start preparing the other pizzas.

Thickened Pizza Sauce

Cook this crust, while rolling out other crusts

By now the pizza sauce should be thick. Put it on a platter or just remove from heat and allow to cool before adding it to the pizza. While this is cooling roll out the other two dough balls to desired thickness. 

Do not forget about the pizza crust in the oven!

Pepperoni Pizza:

Turkey Pepperoni before being cooked

Pizza sauce on Crust

Next step: Mozzarella

Start with the uncooked pizza crust. As you can tell by the picture, my crust are not exactly round, who cares!! Add as much cooled sauce as you would like. I added about 4 tablespoons to this pizza. Then instead of using regular shredded mozzarella, I got a ball of fresher mozzarella. This was a true experiment. "How the heck do you even cut a ball of mozzarella?" was my immediate thought. I tried the grater, ended up basically shredding it, so I just used a sharp knife, just so you know, in my experience, I squished the cheese once it started getting closer to room temperature. So after I added the right amount (depends on your personal preference), then I switched regular pepperoni for turkey pepperoni! COULDN'T EVEN TASTE THE DIFFERENCE! The only two differences I could tell was that I did not get heartburn immediately after. This pizza was also FAR less greasy than normal.

3 Cheese Pizza:

3 Cheese before baked

Grab that last pizza crust you have rolled out. While this may not be the best choice because cheese is basically fat, but it does provide you with calcium, protein, and Vitamin B. And this is something easy to make for your friends who may not like meat!

Maybe check your pizza crust in the oven, I think mine may have been going off by this point. You will know when it gets closer to being done, because the edges will begin to brown and look yummy! If it is ready pull out from oven, however leave the oven at 420 for the other pizzas, and set that aside.

You will want to gather all your cheeses at this time! 

Spread evenly over crust

Put ricotta on crust

First spread out 1/2 cup ricotta with the back of a spoon as the "sauce" we could call it. 

Then cut up some more chilled mozzarella, I used my trusty knife again. Then add 2 Tablespoons parmesan shreds.

After adding mozzarella, add parmesan shreds

Then add the fresh thyme

After I feel like I have precisely put every piece of cheese on every slice of pizza, I began to work with the thyme. Let me just say if you have never worked with this before, it smells like springtime! I just want to cut this shit up to smell it!! I think I was watching Rachel Ray one day and I remember her dealing with thyme. I think she said the way to prepare it was to take it from the bottom of the stem and pull the leaves off. So thats what I did anyway until I had 2 Tablespoons. Then I spread/sprinkled that our over the cheese.

I warmed up about a cup or so, to allow for dipping the cheese pizza in.  I had quite a bit of leftover pizza sauce (so I may cut it in half, unless you are making pizzas that have all this sauce) 

Smoked Salmon Pizza:

The recipe I feel has the most anticipation!

2-3 tablespoons Fat-Free Cream Cheese

1 tablespoon lemon juice

Once your crust has been allowed to become cool, much like me, you will want to prepare the "sauce"

for this pizza. It consists of mixing 2-3 tablespoons of fat free cream cheese, 1tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice, 1 tablespoon freshly chopped dill. 

1 overfilled tablespoon of fresh dill

OMG I also found out I loved this! So I added a HEAPING tablespoon HA. It may be hard to mix, depending if you left the cream cheese in the fridge to harden. If you let it sit out on the counter for a minute or two it becomes more soft and easier to mix. 

Smoke Salmon Pizza Sauce

This "sauce" has a strong lemon taste. So if you are not one who is in to sour things, I would not recommend this, however, it pairs very well with the smoked salmon which has a strong flavor in and of itself.

Spread over the cooled crust

After you evenly spread out the "sauce" you will add salmon to the top of it. Followed by a slight dusting of dill to garnish. 

Turkey Pepperoni Pizza, 3 Cheese Pizza, and Smoked Salmon Pizza

WHAMM, BAMM, THANK YOU MA'AM! It is done!! 

I will be definitely making these pizzas again and again!!

Each pizza can be cut into six slices/pieces.

6 servings per pizza, personal style

Healthy Version of Chicken Carbonara

Healthy Chicken Carbonara!

YUMMY YUMMY IN MY TUMMY!     

This dish is an all time favorite for some, yummy carb-o loading for others. I personally have never tried it, so why not give it a whirl. I asked my mother for the recipe and I tweaked it just a bit to make it more than healthy. 
I have five healthier switches in this recipe. 
The first healthy switch that was made was switching regular bacon to turkey bacon. I switched over to buying Jennie-O's Turkey bacon about 4 years ago. I think it tastes leaner and it is far less greasy! 3 slices of bacon is considered one serving. When comparing bacon with turkey bacon side by side, there are some noticeable differences. 

• Regular Pork Bacon has 60 calories as compared to Jennie-O which has almost half that, 35. 
• When comparing fat, regular bacon has 5 grams of fat and 1.5 grams of that is saturated fat,  Jennie-O it has 3 grams of fat and 1 gram of saturated fat. 

All of these show, Jennie-O is better.
The second healthy switch that was made changed regular noodles to whole grain noodles. It is important to use whole grain because it provides you with key vitamins and are a source of complex carbs. Whole grains are typically low in fat as well. They are also a good source of fiber. You probably eat all types of grains everyday, but making sure they are whole grains are even better. If you are unsure whether or not something is whole grained take a quick peek at the nutrition label. The word "whole" should appear in the first of the ingredients list.
The next healthy switch that was made was switching from 2% milk to skim. Comparing an 8 ounce glass of 2% and skim:

• 2% has 5 grams of fat, 3 of which are saturated and contains 130 calories.
• Skim has 0 grams of fat and 110 calories

Clearly the better choice is skim milk! NO FAT!

The fourth change I made was to not use heavy whipping cream, but instead use cottage cheese. Cottage cheese is packed with calcium and potassium. Calcium helps with muscle function as well as playing a critical role tooth and bone density and function. However there is a downfall when using cottage cheese, it tends to be high in sodium. But when comparing this to heavy whipping cream there is no doubt you will want to use cottage cheese. There is 821 calories in just one cup! Cottage cheese only has 222, nearly 1/4 go heavy whipping cream!

The final switch that was made to this yummy carbonara was using low-sodium chicken broth instead of regular. 1 cup of low sodium chicken broth has 15 calories  and 570 mg of sodium. Regular broth is even higher in sodium with 763 grams of sodium and 38 calories. While both are high in sodium, the best bet would be to go with lower sodium intake. 

Utensils needed:

1 large non-stick skillet for chicken and sauce

1 smaller non-stick skillet for bacon

Sharp knife

Spatula or a fork (used for turning and cutting chicken, so whichever you prefer)

Medium sized pot

Colander

A whisk

A wooden spoon

And a big bowl for serving

Ingredients include:

2-3 Chicken breasts, depending on how many you are feeding and the size of the chicken boob

3 Strips of turkey bacon (Healthy switch #1; Turkey bacon not regular bacon)

1/2 Small box of noodles (Healthy switch #2; I switched regular for whole grain)

4-6 Quarts of water (boiling noodles in)

3 Cloves of garlic, minced

3/4 Cup skim milk (Healthy switch #3; Switch 2% milk for skim)

1/8 Cup fat free cottage cheese (Healthy switch #4; use cottage cheese vs. heavy whipping cream)

1 Cup low sodium chicken broth (switch #5; low sodium, not regular broth)

3 Tablespoons of flour

3/4 Cup Parmesan shavings

2 Tablespoons Parsley

Salt & Pepper to taste

Not a huge list of things, some of which you probably already have and if you don't you should consider having!!

Down to making this pasta dish!!

Preparing the meat: You are going to start by, simultaneously, cooking the chicken breasts and bacon. The chicken can take about 6-9 minutes on each side depending on size. The bacon on the other hand takes like, 4-6 minutes on each side, depending on if you like it more crispy or soft, I went for a bit crispy because I figured the sauce would soften it up a bit. So I cooked it for 5 minutes on each side. While this is taking place, put the water in a pan with a tiny bit of olive oil (to prevent the noodles from sticking. I was taught this from an early age and never questioned it)

Preparing the noodles/sauce: Once the water is boiling; put the noodles in and set the timer for 9 minutes. I would say make about half of the box, depending on how many people you plan on serving this too. The recipe feeds six, but I only used about ½-2/3 of the box and then had a lot of cooked noodles left over. Depending on what you want. Then begin to make the sauce. I thought omgosh this sauce is going to be done wayyy before the noodles, but that was not true, I was still actually making the sauce when the noodles got done! 

Anyway, I digress, start by frying up the 3 cloves of minced garlic (I actually have a jar that is already minced, so I don't have to get the smell on my hands. There is a conversion on the jar, 1/2 teaspoon per clove. So I added 2 teaspoons, because I love garlic!!) You only want to fry this for 2-3 minutes on LOW heat, otherwise the garlic will brown to quickly and turn into a bitter taste, took me a few tries before I nailed it!

After the garlic is cooked, add skim milk (3/4 cup). The garlic is a bit brown in the picture because I got organic garlic in a jar, and it comes in a darker shade. However make sure to keep an eye on it, so it does not get any darker and turn bitter!

Then, instead of adding heavy whipping cream, which is LOADED with saturated fats, I switched to fat free cottage cheese. The original recipe called for 1/4 cup of heavy whipping cream, but when using cottage cheese as a thickening agent you only want to use half of what the original calls for, so I added 1/8 cup. The brown things floating around in the picture are the garlic floating in the milk. J

Then whisk in 1 cup of chicken broth, Low Sodium! At this point there will now be white clumps floating, do not worry. When on medium heat the cottage cheese did not curdle, it is just the curds; they will disappear as they melt.

Continue whisking while you add the 3 Tablespoons of flour. This will again be used as a thickening agent. Continue whisking for about 2 minutes or until you can feel the sauce starting to thicken. (Believe me, you will be able to tell!) This shows a better picture of the curds in the milk! Not curdled, just not melted yet.

Once the sauce just begins to thicken, add 3/4 cup of the Parmesan shavings. It will quickly thicken as the cheese melts. This a good time to tell you the rest of the time will go by quickly, so continuing to whisk the sauce will help keep it from sticking to the bottom of the pan.

Then add 2 Tablespoons of parsley. I didn't have any fresh, so I used dried leaves we had in the cupboard. But if I were to make it again, I would try it with fresh parsley instead.

Then add the salt and pepper to taste!

By now my timer has beeped at me twice, so I take the noodles, run them through a colander.

I turn around and the sauce is real nice and thick. Add the noodles, with a SMALL amount of the water and mix the noodles with the sauce.

Toss the two together until the noodles are completely covered, then pour sauce over the chicken/bacon mix (which is already in the serving bowl). Toss a bit more until everything is covered. 

AND WAMM BAMM THANK YOU MA'AM! It is done!! This was really yummy and may just make its way into the dinner rotation!