Cooking What I Plan.

I’m always so pleased with myself when I actually follow through on a recipe I said I would. Last week I mentioned this Smoked Salmon Pizza made with Leeks and Pesto. I got Leeks last week in my Door To Door Organics box, and searched Food Gawker for ways to use them. There were a ton of Leek Soup recipes, but Spring is coming so no more soup! Pizza is year round friendly, and I had Salmon.

So like usual I made a few changes to the recipe. Like always I used a Whole Foods 365 Organic Wheat Pizza Crust to start off. The recipe called for a heavy cream Pesto sauce, but homie doesnt use heavy cream, so I made my own Cream Pesto Sauce! I used 2 Pesto Cubes (I made Pesto last summer and froze it in ice cube trays) melted in a sauce pan, added a teaspoon of Olive (just to make it more runny) and a large dollop of Fat Free Cream Cheese. stir on medium low until smooth. Spread evenly over crust.

Oh ha! Before I made the sauce I actually baked a Salmon Steak. I didn’t have smoked salmon, and although I love Smoked Salmon sometimes its too intense for me. Any way  I only have one Salmon Steak left, so this was a great way to use it up. I basically just sprinkled some seasoning on it and baked it at 350 for 20 minutes. Set aside to cool.

Ok back to the stove top. I cut up my Leeks (to be honest I have never used Leeks so I really didn’t know how to cut them, so I just did thin slices off the end) and tossed them in a little heated Olive Oil with Mushrooms. When those got nice and cooked I threw in some Kale, because let’s be honest, I’m a little MAD FOR KALE! Let it all cook down.

To put it all together I layered it like this

-Pizza Crust

-Pesto Cream Sauce

-Light Sprinkle of Mozzarella

-Sprinkle Salmon evenly

-Glop sautéed veggies generously

-Sprinkle more Mozzarella

Bake at 400 for 10-12 minutes.

Ok I know I keep saying this, but this is the BEST pizza I have ever made! Ha! Mr. Gaunt LOVED this! Im so glad I did regular Salmon and not smoked. It was beautiful!

On a side note this past weekend in Washington I made Kale Chips! Whoohoo! These are all the rage on food blogs and Food Photography Sites. I was waiting to make these with my mom for her Birthday, and we did just that! They turned out pretty darn good, shockingly crispy and chip like. They are also very easy. I bought Purple and Green Kale just to mix it up. You can read how to make them here. I was also shocked how much people liked them! Even the guys, so definitely try them.

Hoisin Salmon and Pearl Couscous

Mr. Gaunt is back from New Mexico..yay! My weekend without him was actually pretty ok, I went out with friends on Friday and Saturday and did some house work and grocery shopping on Sunday. I also hit up Savers and got some cute dresses that I will share tomorrow. I also made a huge pot of this soup which I ate all weekend, so yummy, and not too bad for yah.

Tonight we are just keeping it low-key, I got a pretty nasty cold this weekend that seems to only be getting worse, boo. This weekend I picked up this Basil and Herb Pearl Couscous. I’ve never made Couscous but it looked pretty yummy, and nutrition wise it’s not too bad, a little high in calories but also high in fiber and protein.

Mr. Gaunt LOVES weird things like Italian Wedding Soup and Gnocchi so I figured he would like the little pearls. He did. I also made Hoisin Salmon which is super easy. I literally rub Hoisin Sauce all over a salmon filet and bake for 20 minutes at 350. We are really trying to do more salmon and less Tilapia. Anyways food was on the table by 5:30!

For desert I had Fat Free Raspberry Sorbet with honey (honey on sorbet is sooo good! It gets chewy!) and a Vanilla Pizzelle cookie. I buy these at Whole Foods and they are the BEST! They taste like a fresh waffle cone, and they are only 23 Calories and 1 gram of fat per cookie. Be careful though, they are addictive.

Weekend Meals

POACHED EGGS & TOAST : Protein (22g) Fiber (4g) Calories (242) Fat (11)

MACARONI & CHEESE : Protein (18g) Fiber (10g) Calories (309) Fat (6g)

SALMON DINNER : Protein (47g) Fiber (11g) Calories (582) Fat (23)

DAILY NUTRITION CONSUMED: (please note I only counted the large food and did not count oils, seasonings, and drinks)

CALORIES: 1133  DAILY REQUIRED: 2000

PROTEIN: 87 grams  DAILY REQUIRED: 46

FIBER: 25 grams DAILY REQUIRED: 25-30

FAT: 40 grams DAILY REQUIREMENTS : 65

These werent actually eaten in one day, they are parts of two days meals. The above chart also does not include any snacks or beverages I consumed. This is just a good way to show you what kind of nutrition my main meals have.

Looking at this though, it shows that I am in fact lacking in FRUIT! Grrr I cant wait for summer! Today I am planning on getting a big bag of Grapefruit and peeling them all and putting them in Mason Jars to eat throughout the week. I love fruit, and I get sad when I don’t have it. Other than that each meals includes Whole Grains (the toast, the Orzo, The macaroni) and a healthy Protein (Organic Eggs, Low fat turkey Sausage, salmon) I also managed to get veggies in two of the dishes (Kale in the Mac-n-cheese and Asparagus).

Obviously all the meals do include carbs.  I usually do at least one meal a day without carbs, but the carbs were all whole wheat. The Mac-n-cheese is a “were too lazy to cook and we want comfort food” meal for Mr. Gaunt and I. I get the Back To Nature 100% Whole Wheat macaroni and White Cheddar at Sunflower market or Whole Foods. We almost always add a lean chicken sausage to give us a little protein, and yesterday I chopped up some kale and threw that in (I’m pretty much convinced you can throw Kale in anything). As soon as I did this (added the Kale) it got me thinking about Kids and feeding them vegetables. Teaching my children good nutrition is really important to me, and I plan on doing a post on this at a later date.

The Salmon is also a new thing. I have been purchasing Tilapia because its cheap and easy and lower in fat, but have recently heard poor reviews on its nutritional values. As a kid growing up in Washington I was always the odd man out because I hated Salmon and people cook a ton of it there. As I’ve gotten older my taste buds have changed greatly and now I really like Salmon. The cost is a lot higher (almost twice as much) for frozen Salmon Filets at Costco versus Tilapia, but investing in my health is what this year is all about! So Mr. Gaunt and I bought the Salmon and we attempted to grill it (on our cooktop grill) last night. Things started out well but then flipping the steaks caused them to break apart, so Mr. Gaunt just chopped them all up. It was actually quite yummy because it has a bunch of crispy parts. We put it on a bed of Orzo with some sesame asparagus, delish.

Anyway I just wanted to show some good healthy meals that are pretty damn easy if I do say so myself. Now Im off to get Grapefruit!