Zesty Noodle Soup

Tonight I wanted to make soup, but nothing in my pantry looked good to me so I decided to make up something completely new.  Here's what I came up with!

Zesty Noodle Soup

1 Tbs Olive Oil
1 package of 95% lean turkey sausage sliced in hale lengthwise and then sliced again.
1 chopped onion
1 cup frozen tri color pepper slices
1/2 cup frozen corn
28 oz can of diced tomatos
8 cups of water
6 oz dry whole grain rotini pasta
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp smoked paprika
1 Tbsp roasted ground coriander
1/2 cup lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste

Saute in a large pot the sausage and onion in the olive oil on high heat until the edges turn black on the sausage.  Add the frozen veggies and 1 cup of the water.  Heat it for 5 minutes.  Add the tomatoes and the rest of the ingredients.  Boil uncovered for 10 minutes or until the pasta is al dente. 

Healthier Pumpkin Bread

About a month ago I was craving pumpkin bread so badly!  I went online to find the absolute best recipe I could find. I came across the Downeast Maine Pumpkin Bread Recipe from allrecipes.com    It has been reviewed by 4600 people and it received 5 stars. I decided to make it my own and I'm pretty happy with my results.  I like to pig out on pumpkin bread and since I've been really making a strong effort to be healthier I made a few changes.

I switched out two of the cups of flour for whole wheat and instead of vegetable oil I used half olive oil and half applesauce.  The first couple of times I didn't do anything to change the sugar, but this time I took out an entire cup of it.  I think next time I'll leave the sugar in because it tasted a little bit to bland this time. 

Ingredients

    1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
    4 eggs
    1/2 cup olive oil
    1/2 cup applesauce
    2/3 cup water
    3 cups white sugar
    2 cups whole wheat flour
    1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
    2 teaspoons baking soda
    1 1/2 teaspoons salt
    1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
    1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
    1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
    1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

Directions

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease and flour three 7x3 inch loaf pans.
    In a large bowl, mix together pumpkin puree, eggs, oil, applesauce, water and sugar until well blended. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves and ginger. Stir the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture until just blended. Pour into the prepared pans.
    Bake for about 50 minutes in the preheated oven. Loaves are done when toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Hungry anyone? Just looking at this picture makes me want to go make more!

Pear Gorgonzola Flatbread with Balsamic Drizzle

I stumbled across this recipe when I googled "the best pizza dough" I was intrigued, I had all the ingredients, and so I tried it. It was very different and VERY delicious! I ate way too much that night! And if you're wondering the pizza dough was whole wheat and yes it was the absolute best I have EVER made. It was actually the best I've ever eaten period.