Making Pizza A Little Bit More Healthy

Hello Friends !  Since the last time I posted life has changed...for all of us with the Covid-19 Virus disrupting our lives, and for us personally.  In late February my WONDERFUL husband had a severe heart attack.  No health problems before, never smoked, eats healthy (most of the time), no medications other than an allergy pill and some eye drops, and good blood test results.  We were/are great walkers, love our new community where we have beautiful places to walk as well as great exercise classes and gym facilities...and each time we would go to the doctor for a check up he was told "well, your cholesterol is a little high, but that is because your GOOD numbers are so good.  Keep doing what you are doing.  Never expected this heart attack.   Luckily, we live in a great area with wonderful health care and he was whisked to the hospital where the cardiac team was waiting.  After three stents and damage to his heart we are home and learning to eat healthy ALL of the time.  And so grateful that he survived this "widow maker" heart attack.  So many don't and I am blessed to have him by my side.  

SO....how to make one of his favorite foods in a healthy way ?   For years we have had pizza each Friday night.  It is a tradition that started before we retired and made each Friday night so relaxing.   But, a few years ago I started thinking we should try to "healthy up" our pizza and began making it with a whole wheat crust, low fat cheese, lots of veggies.  Now I am making an effort to do that, and more...with more organic foods.   Here is my new pizza recipe - 

I found these pizza crusts at Whole Foods.  Not a Whole Foods shopper before, but it has become difficult to find whole wheat crusts.  Walmart used to carry a brand we liked, then discontinued.  Some crusts are whole wheat but loaded with other not so healthy ingredients.  I found these and they are pretty good.  No very thick at all, but healthy.

I use a pizza stone....this was a gift from a friend years ago and it is very discolored but it does a great job.   Since these photos I have started to put the stone in the oven at 450 degrees to heat up while I make the pizza, then transfer it to the stone to bake.

Upped my game with this organic sauce....I used to use whatever was on sale, but going for quality from now on.

Cheese !  I did a little research and found that mozzarella is pretty heart healthy...and I always choose the "part skim" reduced fat version.  I was thinking of going to the FAT FREE...but that seemed to have too many chemicals and not a great idea.

After I spread the sauce and cheese on the shell I put a layer of spinach.  I buy spinach when it is on sale, chop it , and then roll in plastic wrap in small amounts.  I always have a freezer bag of spinach in my freezer.  I use it for pizza, or to throw in other dishes.  This keeps me from finding spinach that is "past it's prime" in the back of the crisper drawer.

Also add mushrooms.  Whenever I am at Aldi I buy as many of these mushrooms as I can.  They are great in lots of recipes and Aldi has a great price.

I drain the mushrooms before putting them on the pizza so that the finished pizza is not too soggy.

Another topping is peppers.  I love to snack on these sweet little peppers and they are great on pizza.

I chop them into small pieces and make sure no seeds are left.

Once everything is on the pizza I slide it into the oven and bake for 

10-15 minutes.

The finished pizza is really tasty.  In full disclosure, my husband says

"it is delicious, but it is not pizza."   For now, it is!!!

Are you ready for Easter ?  What a strange Palm Sunday yesterday...and Easter is going to be just as strange.  No church ( except on Livestream), no family dinners, no egg hunts.   But we can do this and stay safe for future Easter holidays. I decided to decorate for Easter just to keep our home looking spring like and happy.  I did not put out all of our decorations - just enough to make it special.

A simple coffee table arrangement on a stray tray.  All of the silk tulips you see I bought many years ago on a great sale and love the way they look.

These are Ukrainian Easter Eggs, or pysanka.  These lovely eggs are made of wood and painted in these beautiful designs.  I treasure these.  They belonged to my mother-in-law who passed away shortly after we were married.  Everytime I put them out I think of here and know she is happy we are still enjoying them.

Some more eggs and flowers on the mantel.

I put this plate near a window to catch the sun through the colors.

A little picture of eggs in a nest on a side table.

This was a Christmas ornament from a dear friend...but since it has tulips on it I put it out for Easter and Spring.

Simple dining room decor...more eggs and tulips.

A little bit of color and inspiration in the foyer.

I love these chick salt and pepper shakers...from Hallmark, many years ago.

And this bunny perched near the wine rack....who looks like he is pondering what we will do when the wine runs out.  Here in our state the state run Wine and Spirit shops are closed .  You can purchase some wine and beer in some grocery stores, but supplies are running low.  

And last of all this cute little bunny dish I found at a charity sale last year.   Just made me smile.

Thank you so much for stopping by Our New Vista today.  How are you coping with the virus pandemic and are you staying inside and socially isolating ?  Any tips, tricks, or recipes to share ?  Please leave a comment below - I love hearing from people all over.  Until then, take care, be safe, and stay healthy !

 Sweetheart Salmon

Hello, Friends !   As we start the week of Valentine's Day I thought I would share a recipe that is red, good for your heart, and might be a dish to make for Valentine's Day dinner.  We do not go out to dinner on Valentine's Day...it has been just too crazy/busy in the past.   We prefer a quiet dinner at home - something easy to prepare.  Hope this gives you and idea your Valentine's Day ! 

 I keep all the recipes I have printed out or copied over the years in this binder.   Someday soon I will post about how I have my recipes organized...

Here is a copy of the recipe...it was from a 2004 Cooking Light magazine and was sent in by a reader to "Reader Recipes".   I have been making this dish on a regular basis since then and we really enjoy it.  It is perfect for Valentine's Day because it serves 2 ! I will put the full recipe at the end of this post.

Start with a small sheet pan. Cover with foil ( easy clean up ) and spray with nonstick spray.   Rinse two cups of cherry tomatoes and place on pan.  Now, the original recipe calls for fresh thyme, chopped garlic, and I don't use those.   I don't usually have fresh on hand and feel the dish is wonderful without the fresh ingredients. 

Sprinkle dried thyme over tomatoes...a nice amount...

Then I sprinkle with garlic powder...as much garlic as you like...

1/4 teaspoon of salt....

Freshly ground pepper....

Then 1 teaspoon of olive oil.  I use a bit more...

Put the pan in a 400 degree oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile...I had one rather large salmon fillet from the frozen pack at Costco.  

Since it was on the large size I cut it into two pieces for easier serving.  If when I open the package of salmon the pieces are smaller, I use two.

After 15 minutes add the fish to the pan and

Bake for an additional 10 minutes more, or until the fish flakes easily. Sprinkle lemon juice over the fish.

Serve with the tomato mixture over the fish.

You can see that I serve with pasta.  I had some leftover angel hair pasta in the freezer...I just reheated it and spooned some of the tomato mixture over the noodles.   This is also good with brown rice!

Salmon with Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

2 cups cherry tomatoes

1 and 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme

1 teaspoon olive oil

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2 cloves of garlic, minced

Cooking Spray

2 Salmon fillets

2 tablespoons fresh (if you have it ) lemon juice.

1.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2.  Combine first 6 ingredients on a pan coated with cooking spray, toss to coat tomatoes.

3.  Bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

4.  Add fist to pan and bake for another 10 minutes or until fish flakes

5.  Serve with tomatoes over fish, sprinkle with lemon juice.

*Can be served as is or with pasta or rice.

Hope you enjoy this recipe.  What are your plans for Valentine's Day?  Do you celebrate the day ?  Thanks so much for stopping by Our New Vista - please leave a comment below !

Noodles and Memories

January in Pennsylvania...cold !   And the perfect time for soup.  You may remember in my October post I talked about how I cannot throw out the bones from a Costco chicken...the memory of my mother never wasting anything compels me to make soup.  If you missed that post, you can read it here .       

Yesterday was another bitter cold day and I planned soup for supper.  As you can see from the list of blogs I follow on the right side of this page - I stopped in at 320 Sycamore and saw that Melissa had a great post about making home made noodles for chicken soup.   I love reading her blog - when I first found it I was thrilled with the "It's A Wonderful Life" themed title as that is our favorite movie.   When I read the post about noodles it took me back to visiting my aunts....Annie and Katie.  Especially when my Aunt Katie would make her wonderful homemade noodles.    I am not sure WHY I never attempted to make noodles before this time.  And I don't know why I did not corner Aunt Katie and have her teach me how to make those delicious noodles.

  

Here is a photo of my mom and her sisters - 

The Elencik Girls!

That is my Aunt Katie on the left, my mom Mary in the middle, and my Aunt Annie on the right.  I get a kick out of how they all seem to have the same glasses...and every time I see a rerun of All In The Family I think of them...I swear my mom had a dress just like Edith Bunker.  They were all fabulous women...my mom was the baby.  My mom was a FABULOUS cook and baker, but I don't remember her ever making noodles.   We would visit Aunt Katie and her husband, Uncle Johnny, for some delicious soup and noodles.   So yesterday, while making the noodles, I was sending a little prayer of thanksgiving to my mom, my aunts, and all the generations of women in my family who made great soup and noodles.   

Were they easy to make ?  YES !  Here you go...

Start out with a cup of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, a beaten egg, and 3 Tablespoons of milk.  I did not have milk in the house, so I used half&half and that seemed to work fine.

Put the flour and salt in a bowl, mix well, then make a little well in the middle and pour in the egg and milk.  Mix to make a dough...add a little more milk if needed.  

Mine looked like this when I used my hands to form a ball, kneaded a little, then formed a ball.

On a floured silicone pad I rolled out the dough to a very thin layer.  Then according to Melissa's recipe you should let it rest for at least 20 minutes.  If you read her blog you will find she often lets it rest for 2 hours while her soup is cooking.  Since my soup was made last week and was stored in the freezer, I let the dough rest while I took the soup out of the freezer, put it in a pot and slowly defrosted and brought to a simmer.

Using a paring knife I cut out the noodles...and tried to make them very thin.  I was not too successful and then I remembered that Aunt Katie's were not very thin, so I went with it!  I think I probably could have used more flour under the dough as some of the noodles stuck to the pad.  But most came up easily and I was surprised at how fast the whole batch came together.

I popped them in the soup and let them cook for a few minutes until tender.

It was cold outside, the wind was blowing, and I had two big bowls of soup for us to enjoy !

Thank you, Melissa....my meal was a success!

I served the soup with some bread, butter, and a glass of white wine.

Our little snowman butter spreader seemed to approve!

What great memories that meal brought back...I remembered all the time my mom and aunts got together.

We are enjoying a cozy winter and all the snowy decorations scattered around the apartment...

Our front door

In the foyer

The coffee table

A cozy chair to lounge in...

And our favorite spot...a table between our chairs to hold hot tea and a treat while we read the winter away.

Thank you so much for stopping by Our New Vista - please leave a comment below.  Let me know if you decorate for winter, or do you go right to Valentine's Day ?  How about noodles...are you a noodle maker?  What is your go to winter comfort food?

Whatever is may be...take the time to burrow into the coziness of winter !

Goodbye 2019....Hello 2020

New Year - and a fabulous close to 2019.  I am setting my intentions for 2020 - seems like this intention idea is taking over resolutions.   But before I get really started on the New Year

(even though we are almost halfway through January!) I wanted to share photos and thoughts from our holiday on the Viking Star cruise of the Mediterranean.

This was our first time being away from home at the holidays - for both of us.  I was excited and wanted to make it special.

Before we left I picked up a plastic wreath at Dollar Tree and put it in the bottom of my suitcase.  A simple suction hook attached it to our cabin door.   A small bell on the wreath gave a tinkle each time we left the cabin.

The ship was amazing!  Viking really does everything they can to make your trip magical. 

We enjoyed all the history in Athens, Ephesus, and Crete.  Then the Star left Crete for two days at sea.  We were anxious to explore and enjoy the wonderful ship.

While enjoying afternoon tea as the ship sailed out of Crete, the captain announced rough weather ahead.  He was NOT kidding.  There were 50-60 mph wind and 15 foot waves predicted.   Our cabin steward secured all loose items in our cabin and while it did get very rough - we weathered the storm. 

Christmas Eve is my wonderful husband's birthday and Viking left this wonderful cake and bubbly in our room.

We met new friend for dinner and took the cake to share with them.  We also packed "oplatiki" - and Easter European tradition that is a communion like wafer that you share with peace and goodwill at Christmas Eve dinner. We also grabbed another bread plate and setting to observe our tradition of setting a place for the Baby Jesus at our table.

Late that Christmas Eve the storm stopped and Christmas Day dawned bright and calm.  Even Santa took a break after a hard night of work and stopped for breakfast on the Star! ( This man was a fellow passenger...everyone was festive for the holiday.)

Dress code on the ship was casual - and not many people got very dressed up.  We did - and were glad we did, too.   Christmas day we passed the volcanic island of Stromboli and enjoyed a great dinner and beautiful dessert.

The next day was our stop near the port for Rome.   Since we had been there before we took the tour that included free time and after being dropped in Vatican Square we roamed Rome ( sorry!) and enjoyed a great pizza, then tossed a coin in the Trevi Fountain to insure a return to Rome someday.

The next day was Florence and once again we spent the day wandering back streets, enjoying the weather and this amazing and beautiful city.

Pisa came next - surely something to see, but it was very crowded the day we were there.

We headed back to the ship and took time to enjoy the fabulous Spa on the ship.

The spa is included in the price of your cruise.  This hot water spa pool is so relaxing.   After soaking you can go in a snow grotto

(with real SNOW), do an ice bucket, or visit a steam room.  There are comfortable lounge chairs, blankets, water, and you can read or nap while you enjoy a tranquil setting.

Monaco was next...one of my favorite places in the world.  The gardens are so beautiful and smell so fresh.  I loved seeing the cathedral decorated for Christmas and thought the hanging Christmas trees were beautiful.

Some photos of our cabin - very spacious and easy to live in for the two weeks we were there.   

Food and drink were amazing - this is our Lobster Thermador entree on New Year's Eve.  Every meal was great...and the service was outstanding.

After a fabulous New Year's Even celebration that the crew made so special for all us...the next day they prepared this fabulous brunch and had stations all around the pool.   The handmade pasta with pesto made fresh to your order was my favorite...and I enjoyed more than one Bloody Mary !

Last day of trip was spent in Barcelona...such a beautiful city. Then it was time to fly home.  Would we travel at holiday time again - YES!  It was different and very relaxing!

Here is a toast to everyone reading this - wishing you health, happiness, love, and PEACE in 2020!

And now...this is my plate served in our home.  Salads and more water and healthy eating...those are some of our intentions for 2020.

Some others: make more time for reading good books, get more sleep, make a date to do something/visit someplace we have never been or done at least once each month, and to be EXTRA kind to everyone.  EVERYONE.  Because you never know what burdens others are carrying.

How about you ?   Do you make resolutions or intentions ?   What are they?   Let's all make this the best year ever!!!