Butternut Squash Pizza

One of my resolutions for the new year is to lose 30 pounds. To lose that weight I have to make healthy decisions in terms of the food I put in my mouth. The meal I had tonight was definitely a healthy choice. It only took about a half hour to make too, so not only was it healthy, but it was also easy! The best of both worlds, yeah?

I really enjoyed the taste of these little squash pizzas. They were also really easy to eat and could be made for lunch or even a snack.

Butternut Squash Pizza

Ingredients
1 butternut squash
1 chicken sausage
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 cup kale, chopped
4 cherry tomatoes, sliced
Olive oil, salt, and pepper

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 400.

2. Slice the neck off of the squash. Set the body aside. Slice the neck of the squash into 1/4-inch pieces (mine made 11 slices.)

3. Place the squash on a baking sheet. Brush a small amount of olive oil on both sides of each squash. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place in the oven for 15 minutes.

4. Remove the squash from the oven and flip each piece over. Cover each squash with some sausage, cheese, kale, and tomatoes, splitting the ingredients evenly above your squash pieces. Bake for 15 more minutes.

* serves 2
* about 333 calories per serving
* this post is being shared with Bake with Bizzy at Bizzy Bakes

Pizza Margherita

I meal plan for 6 out of the 7 days a week. This means that on Sunday rather than buying ingredients to make a meal, I use whatever is leftover in the house to make my meals. This reduces how much I end up throwing away due to things going bad.

Last weekend I went through the fridge and noticed among other stuff:

1. An excess of cherry tomatoes
2. A Boboli pizza crust
3. Mozzarella cheese
4. Fresh basil leaves

I used the website supercook to show me recipes I had the ingredients for and I found this pizza margherita recipe.

I decided to use my premade crust and my cherry tomatoes to make this recipe. It came out so delicious. I’ve never made a pizza without putting sauce on it before and I have to say, it didn’t need it a bit!

You could of course make your own crust. It doesn’t take a whole lot more effort.

Pizza Margherita

Ingredients
1 Boboli pizza crust
20-30 cherry tomatoes, cut into small slices
2 tbsp olive oil
salt and pepper
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup thinly sliced basil leaves

Directions

1. Heat oven to 475.

2. Arrange the tomatoes on the top of your pizza crust, overlapping them slightly. Drizzle with oil and season with salt and pepper.

3. Bake the pizza for 10 minutes. Remove and top with cheese and basil. Return to oven for 5-10 more minutes, until as crisp as desired.

 * one pizza serves 4
* roughly 387 calories per serving

Baked Cheesy Ravioli

Sometimes I wish I had a little rat to help me around the kitchen. There are days when I feel so uninspired, when everything I make just turns out wrong. There are other times when I get home from work and my feet hurt so badly, my head feels like it’s full of bricks, and I just want to lay down. On those nights I usually order pizza, or get some other carry in. But what if I had my own little rat to cook for me?

This month the Food ‘n Flix movie is Ratatouille, hosted by The Seventh Level of Boredom.

When I was deciding what to make this month, I knew I could make ratatouille. While I’ve never made the dish before and it would have been an opportune time, to make the dish that the movie is named after, I just felt like it was too predictable. My motivation in determining what food I should make this month required me to think like a rat.

Now, Remy is a pretty high-class little rat. He knows what’s good and he likes it to be perfect. However, if I was a rat, I think I would have more simplistic tastes. I mean, that’s not different from now. I like my food simple, to the point, and quick to make. I have no reason to believe that the rat version of myself would want anything different.

I always think that mice and rats like cheese. Who knows if this is actually true, but this is how I decided what to make. This cheesy baked ravioli was incredibly easy to make. It kind of tasted like lasagna, but was a lot easier to make.

Baked Cheesy Ravioli

Ingredients
2 cups baby spinach
2 1/2 cups cheese ravioli
1/2 cup ricotta cheese
1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 1/2 cups pasta sauce
1 tomato, sliced
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
handful of shredded Parmesan cheese

Directions

1.  Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Spray a casserole dish with cooking spray. Layer the bottom of the dish with 3/4 of the baby spinach.

3. In a large bowl combine the ravioli, ricotta,  and pasta sauce. Toss with your hands and make sure it’s mixed well.

4. Pour the ravioli into the casserole dish and top with the remaining baby spinach. Top with both the shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses. Place the slices of tomatoes on top and then sprinkle with basil, oregano, and Parmesan cheese.

5. Cover with aluminum foil and bake in the oven for 1 hour. After the hour is up put the casserole dish under the broiler, until brown and bubbly.

* serves 2 hearty sized servings