Greek Veggie Pizza

I always wonder if I’ll ever run out of pizza toppings ideas. So far so good! I came up with this Greek pizzas as a meatless dinner idea. It was a hit!
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Ingredients:

2 zucchini
1 cup artichokes
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 tsp dried oregano
pizza dough
⅓ cup pizza sauce
8 oz shredded mozzarella
1 tomato, sliced
¾ cup feta, crumbled
2 cups spinach, chopped

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400-degrees (also preheat pizza stone if using one)
Saute zucchini, artichokes, and garlic over medium heat for about 5 minutes or until zucchini is softened, but not squishy.
Add salt, pepper, and oregano.
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Pre-bake the pizza dough for 5-10 minutes until it starts to puff, and begins to cook around the edges.
Top with pizza/marinara sauce and mozzarella
Spread tomato slices across the base.
Sprinkle the zucchini/artichoke mixture on the top.
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Finally top with feta before baking the pizza.
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Bake 10 minutes in the preheated 400-degree oven.
After baking for the first round, top with spinach to bake for another 10 minutes (or until golden brown).
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I loved the freshness of the veggies, and the textures of the 2 cheeses. The feta gives the perfect salty component.

There’s very little sauce on this pizza, but the tomatoes provide some moisture too. There are so many veggies on here but I think the quantities were just right. They make it feel filling. The spinach was gently wilted but still had life to it. I was afraid of being “too much” but Mr. J said he’d like even more artichokes.
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Birthday Roundup

I looooove birthdays! This was the first time in forever I didn’t have a big themed party. It did make me sad, but I just had to put on my big-girl-pants and deal. It just wasn’t in the cards this year. Next year will be a big one so hopefully that’ll work out. Mr. J made me feel special and loved and my family celebration was just perfect. This round up of my birthday wonderfulness is hot of the press. My birthday was just yesterday!

Work is crazyyy right now but the office took time out on a busy Friday, while prepping for an event, to throw an afternoon snack for me. Just wait for the theme. Are you ready? Boston gangster: Whitey Bulger. I’m fascinated by Boston gangster and mobster history and super curious about the trial (which should have been today).
bday_office_creampuff_590_390It was such a fun theme and I loved it. Well done ladies.

Mr. J had such an awesome birthday extravaganza day for me on my birthday-eve. I prefer to celebrate for days on end. We went to dinner at the it-spot in our town, Isabella. This place is so renowned that when we went the first time on a weeknight, there was a 2 hour wait. We had a gift certificate and a groupon so we went. to. town. I started with crab cakes. Mr. J started with steak and cheese eggrolls. Then I had duck breast, on duck confit, on pumpkin ravioli with some cherries. Wow is right. Mr. J had the pork chop with sweet potato puree and apple/sausage stuffed zucchini. It was amazing, but not photo-quality light. It was the best meal I’ve had in a very long time, maybe ever.
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Then we went to the movies and saw Identity Theft (jk, Thief. I messed that up all weekend so I wanted to keep it going for Mr. J). It was very funny and going to a late-night movie felt very special.

On the morning of my actual birthday, there were flowers and a card just waiting for me even after our late night out. That is love.
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We went to brunch with a very beloved couple. I love brunch and I was just so touched that they wanted to make a plan happen even when my party plans hadn’t worked out. I love seeing my old roommates so much and I’m thankful that the spouses know how connected we’ll be forever.

The fam dinner party was great. Mum made a really amazing dinner. Crepes! I loved them and am obsessed with planning a trip to Paris…stay tuned. We had chicken and spinach crepes in an decadent creamy sauce with just a few delightfully crisp edges. There were stuffed mushrooms, carrots and fruit.
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Of course we had the cake. THE cake. Chocolate ring of coconut fudge. This is no other cake for our family birthdays. It was the gooey-est that it has ever been. YUM.
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Peanut Butter & Jelly Smoothie

It is almost my birthday and I’ve been trying to eat sensibly in preparation, or in general I guess. Calories don’t count on birthdays. Also since I have to get up uber early on Saturday for a work event, I forsee a dunks bfast sandwich in my future. Weekend wake-ups shouldn’t start with a 6, but then again the actual work event days start with a 3, which is just gross, so this 6 am is peanuts.

Something delicious to start the day is necessary, but healthy to start the day is the norm. I’m still riding out my smoothie obsession for breakfast and getting ready while sipping a smoothie is just somehow relaxing. I liked the banana peanut butter  and nutella smoothie I made, but this time I was thinking PB&J!

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Ingredients:

6 oz vanilla Greek yogurt (or blueberry yogurt would be good too)
1 cup frozen blueberries
2 tbs reduced fat peanut butter
splash of milk (optional)

Directions:

Assemble & blend!

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I like the berries/fruit to be frozen, or semi-frozen so that the smoothie is thicker. Fresh berries would work too, but frozen are also easier to have on hand.

I prefer the taste of reduced fat peanut butter, and why not shave a few calories where you can? I go for chunky but I mooch from Mr. J’s creamy reduced fat pb when making smoothies (shhh!)

This one was good and very flavorful. I don’t know if it was my favorite so far, but a good change up from my normal yogurt-fruit-only smoothies.

February In Review

Happy end-of-February (and also, almost-my-birthday)

I don’t know why I haven’t given you a little “favorites of the moment” recaps except for on my blogaversary. Here you go!

annnnnd you’re welcome.

February has been a snowy & busy month. Mr. J and I (along with all New England residents) got about 2o” of snow in one sitting. We’ve been back and forth to Maine a few times to see the C family. I hosted our February R family dinner.

Work is bananas in February. As in, it is so frenzied that I have the “I feel like I came to class without my homework” feeling. Did that feeling paralyze you? I’ve had the pleasure of dealing with some incredible difficult personalities within my local bureaucratic permitting agencies. #EventLifeIsntSmoothSailing #CitiesHateNonprofitEvents

What else happened this month? I got hopelessly addicted to Downton Abbey. I’ve completed season 1 and I can’t wait for more. Thanks to all who haven’t ruined season 2 & 3 for me. We “adopted”/brought home/took custody of the C family dog, who got her Three Bite Rule debut here.
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Anywho, moving on, and into the kitchen…

I made foolproof French Bread Pizza
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I got the sweetest gift ever…literally.
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I had fun checking out a new-ish local chocolate shop with some fellow bloggers. And I enjoyed cooking up a storm during the Blizzard of 2013.

Success! I attempted a Chinese dish in the crock-pot that was awesome!
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I baked. I rarely do, so savor it!
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I whipped up a few smoothies so be sure to check them out and recommend other smoothie ideas for me!

I stuffed meatballs too. The fam enjoyed them at our Red Themed February Dinner.
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This weekend is my birthday so buckle up. I LOVE birthdays and will have lots to share. Happy almost March!

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs

For our February Monthly Family Dinner with the R family, I chose red as the theme, for Valentine’s Day. Originally I thought maybe eggplant/chicken parm. Then I thought meatballs would be fun and even more fun when stuffed with mozzarella. I haven’t made meatballs in a while. This is my basic meatball recipe‎ and I loved my Greek meatball recipe.
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I started with a pretty basic meatball base then stuffed them with mozzarella before baking them. Yup, I don’t like to fry things.

Ingredients:

¾ pound ground pork
¾ pound ground chicken
2 eggs
⅓ cup grated Parmesan
½ cup breadcrumbs
½ cup panko
¼ cup milk
2 tsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic powder
¼ cup red wine
salt & pepper
1 head of garlic (or 2 tbs chopped garlic)
mozzarella cheese sticks

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Cut off ¼ inch off the top of the garlic bulb and remove a few outer papery layers leaving only 1.
Drizzle olive oil and a pinch of salt onto the exposed garlic before roasting for 30 minutes (45 to make pure paste without any texture).
Mix breadcrumbs, panko, and milk together.
Mix ground pork, chicken, eggs, Parmesan, spices, and wine together by hand.
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Pop garlic cloves out of the head. Chop or smooth into a paste.
Add garlic and breadcrumb mix to the meat mix. Combine by hand until combined.
Cut cheese sticks into about 5 cheese chunks per stick.
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Form meatball mixture into disks, add a cheese chunk and mold meat around it.
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Bake meatballs on a sprayed cooling rack on top of a sprayed baking sheet.
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Bake 20 minutes, rotating once.
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These were fun! I left them in too long (shoot for 20, not 30 minutes like I did. The meatballs were super moist and flavorful, but the cheese started to escape! I’ve used cheese sticks to stuff arranchini because it is much easier to work with then shredded cheese.
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I served the meatballs with penne in a creamy marinara, salad. Sis brought garlic bread and Mum brought cherry pie and vanilla ice cream.
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It was a fun dinner and we caught up after a busy month. I’m glad I paired the meatballs with other easy elements. I made sure not to overcook the pasta. All I did for the sauce was add some cream cheese into the sauce. It added a great creaminess and extra extravagance to the meatball dinner. I make my own croutons but was glad not to also tackle dessert.