If you want something easy and delicious to have as an appetizer for Thanksgiving or at any other gathering this is it. This goat cheese and chia cranberry crostini is very unique. If you don’t like goat cheese you can use ricotta cheese or any soft cheese of your choice, even cream cheese would work and if you want to make it vegan just use vegan cream cheese.

The chia seed cranberry jam in this recipe comes from a recipe I made a couple of days ago. It is also very easy to make and delicious so I hope you give it a try. No need to buy jams anymore.

Ok so I finally decided what we are having for thanksgiving besides a few appetizers. BBQ chicken with a veggie stir fry mixture, I know it is not turkey but we really don’t care for it. I am not much of a meat or poultry eater either and I don’t cook it too often so I am sure my family will be thrilled with this recipe.

Well I hope everyone has a great holiday. This is my short post right before the holidays. Stay safe my friends and be careful traveling places, the weather here in NJ is not too good thus far!

Enjoy!

I toasted my baguette under the broiler but you can do it on a toaster if you like. Just make sure you keep an eye on the bread because it burns really quickly.

Goat cheese and chia cranberry crostini

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 20-24 crostinis

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 oz chia seed orange cranberry jam
• 4 oz goat cheese, vegan cream cheese for a vegan version
• 1 whole grain baguette
• Orange zest

Directions:

Cut the baguette into slices. Toast the baguette slices under the broiler on both sides or on a toaster.

Place about 2 teaspoons of goat cheese followed by 2 teaspoons of orange cranberry jam and the orange zest. Serve.

The post Goat cheese and chia cranberry crostini appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

This combination for this sun dried tomato and kale grilled cheese sandwich, yet unusual, was still fantastic. My kids really liked it, especially with the olives in it. I wish I would have made more sandwiches because the two that I made was not enough. Next time I will though.

I used some sun dried tomato spread as well as Jalapeño stuffed olives from Mezzeta. The combo? Just out of this world. Me and my husband love spicy food and my 4 year old truly adores olives. I told her these olive were spicy but she didn’t care less, she still wanted to eat the sandwich, and she did. I couldn’t believe it because these olives were truly spicy!

Mezzetta is hosting a “Make That Sandwich” contest. Do you have a unique sandwich idea? The grand prize winner will come home with $25,000. You need to include at least two Mezzetta products in your original creation. Contest details are available here. I would love to see one of my readers win so let me know if you enter.

Well until my next post, I hope you get to make this amazing sun dried tomato and kale grilled cheese sandwich. It is going to blow your taste buds away!

Enjoy!

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mezzetta. The opinions and text are all mine.

sun dried tomato and kale grilled cheese sandwich

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 2 sandwiches

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 4 slices whole grain bread
• 2 tbs Mezzeta sun dried tomato spread
• 8 Mezzeta stuffed Jalapeño olives, sliced
• 4 slices cheese
• 1/2 cup fresh kale

Directions:

Spread 1 tablespoon of sun dried tomato spread over one slice of bread. Top with half the sliced stuffed Jalapeño olives followed by one slice of cheese. Top with some fresh kale, another slice of cheese and finish with the other slice of bread.

Repeat the same for the other sandwich. Over medium to high heat, heat your griddle or a non stick pan. Place the sandwiches onto your pan and heat on each side 3-4 minutes making sure they don't burn. Serve while still warm and the cheese is melted and gooey.

This is a sponsored conversation written by me on behalf of Mezzetta. The opinions and text are all mine.

The post Sun dried tomato and kale grilled cheese sandwich appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I used two different types of California Ripe olives for this mixed olive bruschetta and toasted my bread in the toaster instead of making it crispy in the oven. You can do either one. Toasting the bread in a toaster will make the bread a bit soft and toasting the bread in the oven will give you a crunchy consistency. Which ever you like best is fine.

I have been eating olives for the longest I can remember. I am from Spain and olives are extremely used in the Mediterranean diet. My family actually owns lots of land in which they cultivate their own olives and grapes to make extra virgin olive oil and wine. Funny I was asked to be a part of this project. So up my alley!

California Ripe Olives are very similar to the olives I have been growing up eating so eating this mixed olive bruschetta takes me back to those days in Spain when I was growing up. As a matter of fact, eating my family olives, extra virgin olive oil, and drinking their wine is what I missed the most. Hopefully I will next year when I go back for the whole summer!

I chose to use both garlic and sun dried tomatoes to spread on the bread to obtain a more unique flavor. Each were excellent. I just think having two different flavors is more appealing in case someone is not fond of garlic or sun dried tomatoes.

You can have the olive mixture ready the day prior to making these and get some prep out of the way. This mixed olive bruschetta is great as an appetizer for a dinner party or as a snack any time through the day. Everyone  likes bruschetta, or at least they do in my household. My samples were gone in less than an hour.

On another note, California Ripe Olives has supplied this amazing prize for anyone that will pin a snack olive recipe to my olive snack pinterest board. I will pick a winner from all the pinners a week after today and announce it on my social media channels.

How to enter and win a California Ripe Olives gift pack (AV: $50 USD):

• In the comments below, request to be added to my Olive Snack Pinterest board. Please tell me your Pinterest name so I can find you easily.
• You must be following me on Pinterest in order for me to be able to add you.
• Once I’ve added you , you must then add at least one pin featuring California Ripe Olives to the group board during the sweepstakes period. (You can pin from the California Ripe Olives Pinterest board if you’d like.)

If you would like more information about California Ripe Olives, be sure to visit their website, or on Facebook or Twitter.

I leave you with this amazing recipe, mixed olive bruschetta that I hope you like. Let me know what you think.

Enjoy!

Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by California Ripe Olives. This post contains affiliate links. All opinions are my own and I speak from personal experience. The end :-)

Mixed olive bruschetta

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 6 servings

Total Time: 15 minutes

Ingredients:

• 6 oz green California olives, sliced
• 6 oz black California olives,sliced
• 6 oz cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1/2 red onion, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves
• 2 tbsp sun dried tomatoes, packed in oil
• 3 oz feta cheese, crumbled
• 8-10 slices of whole grain bread

Directions:

Place the slices of bread in your toaster and toast for 2-3 minutes. Alternatively you can toast them in your oven at 375F degrees for 10-15 minutes.

I chose to use my bread toaster since it was easier and faster, however, the bread will become soft after you place the olive mixture on the bread. If you like your bread crunchy I suggest you use your oven.

Place the sun dried tomatoes in your food processor and pulse until smooth. Spread the sun dried tomato spread over half the bread slices and rub the garlic over the other half of the bread. Set aside.

In a large bowl add the rest of the ingredients and mix throughly. Add about 2 tablespoons of the mixture over each slice of bread and serve.

The post Mixed olive bruschetta appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

This grilled cheese spinach sandwich was extremely simple to prepare. I choose a thick multigrain bread, which I spread some fresh pesto sauce and tabasco, and then placed the provolone cheese and fresh spinach in there!

The trick that I found when making stuffed grilled cheese sandwiches is to place cheese slices in between the greens, which makes it easier for the veggies to be held into place.

For grilled sandwiches you can pretty much use any stuffing of your choice. With grilled cheese sandwiches you can get creative. Using sun dried tomatoes and goat cheese will be my next choice. Stay tuned for that version because it is going to be the bomb.

Do you have any unusual grilled cheese sandwiches you and your family enjoy? I would love to know about it. The more ideas I get the better. You can’t really go wrong with grilled cheese sandwiches. I have seen sweet variations using blueberries and cream cheese…yum.

Well, there is not much to say about this grilled cheese and spinach sandwich. I leave you with this quick variation that I am sure everyone will love. It is simple, tasty and super delicious and go ahead and make your own variations.

Enjoy!

Grilled cheese and spinach sandwich

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 4 sandwiches

Total Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:

• 8 slices whole grain bread
• 8 slices provolone cheese
• 2 tbs tabasco
• 4 tbsp pesto sauce
• 4 oz fresh organic spinach
• 2 tbs olive oil

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.

Divide the olive oil over the outside of each slice of bread. Spread the pesto sauce over the inside of four slices of bread and the tabasco among the other four slices. Place one slice on the provolone cheese on four slices of bread followed by the spinach. Place the other cheese slice on top of the spinach and top with the other slice of bread.

Add the sandwiches to the pan and grill until golden brown and the cheese has melted, about 2-4 minutes on each side. Serve them while still warm.

The post Grilled cheese and spinach sandwich appeared first on Eat Good 4 Life.

I have made two different kinds of pumpkin bread this past week that have been equally good. The difference between them was that one used no fat and the other one actually did.

To be honest I don’t know which one I liked better, but the one with no added fat was, to my surprise, super moist and spongy like. I think with some sort of crumble topping it would have been even better, however, for that part I would have probably had to use some sort of fat to make the crumble stick together. Maybe next time.

I am planning on making some sort of pancakes as well, as I have some pumpkin left over. Pumpkin is actually classify as one of the super foods, so I am glad to use it as much as I am since it is in season. Granted you can use canned pumpkin if you like, but I am sure making your own pumpkin puree is much better.

Have you tried to use pumpkin puree instead of fat on some of your cakes, brownies and muffins? It is suppose to work rather well. For those people counting calories, or on low-fat diets pumpkin puree is ideal for baking certain baking goods. I have tried a couple of recipes using apple sauce as well, but I the pumpkin puree has given me better results. Perhaps because the puree being of thicker consistency.

For this pumpkin bread I used my old recipe for pumpkin spice squares I made a long time ago. I just played around with the recipe to make it low-fat and it turned out quite well. I just added a pinch of cardamon for my pumpkin bread but you can omit it if you like. I have used cloves before as well, and that gave the bread with a really good flavor, so use it if you have some on hand.

Well, I hope you can try this low-fat pumpkin bread sometime soon. It was delicious and no body noticed it was low-fat!

Enjoy!

Here you can see the before and after baking this low-fat pumpkin bread. To my surprise this pumpkin bread was super moist. I think the pumpkin puree works wonders :-)

I hope you get to make this low-fat pumpkin bread version. I think you will be pleased. If you like, a crumble topping will compliment this bread very well but plain with a cup of coffee or tea is just perfect!!

Low-fat Pumpkin bread

Miryam's original recipe

Yield: 8-10 servings

Total Time: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 3/4 cup low fat milk
• 1 cup unrefined sugar
• 2 organic eggs
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 tsp aluminum free baking powder
• 1 tsp aluminum free baking soda
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1 tsp  ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

Directions:

Butter and flour a loaf pan and set aside. Preheat oven to 350F.

In a bowl, with a wire whisk, combine first 4 ingredients. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix through.

Pour batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50 to 55 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

Let pumpkin bread cool in the pan for about 10-15 minutes, remove it and let it cool completely on a wire rack. Serve as desired.

Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 8 servings.

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I am in love with these rolls. I have actually made them twice in the span of one week and tried to experiment with the whole wheat content of the dough. While both turned out good the one that used a mixture of whole wheat and all purpose flour worked best. The texture was more spongy like.

I am actually going to try to make them again just all whole wheat because I really hate having all purpose flour in the mixture. I like them to be 100% whole wheat so I am trying once more and if they are as good or better than the last batch I will change the recipe to 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour instead :-)

Anyhow, I know that these rolls require a little bit of time but they are worth every minute. If you venture and try them out I suggest you try to get 12 little rolls out of each circle instead of 8 like I did. Either way they will be good, I just think they will be better being a bit smaller.

By the way these rolls are not that sweet at all. They are just perfect!!

Enjoy!!

Dough pictures before and after rising. It took about 2-3 hours. If using all 3 cups of whole wheat pastry flour it will take longer. If choosing to use 3 cups whole wheat flour for the bread, add 1 teaspoon of gluten if you have it. It will help with the rising of the dough as well as the texture.

Place 2-3 tablespoons of marmalade, 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 tablespoon of shredded coconut over each circle. Then with a pizza cutter divide each circle into 12 if you can. I did into 8 :-)

Left picture depicts the rolls before rising which probably took about 1-2 hours. The right picture was after the rolls risen. I baked it that night and the next morning half the batch was pretty much gone :-)

The dough itself is not that sweet even with the marmalade and all so the glaze complements these rolls very good. You can omit it if you like but I do recommend it!!

You can add what ever marmalade you like to the rolls. I had raspberry on hand but any would work perfectly.

Raspberry and orange sweet rolls

Yield: 16-20 rolls

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons instant yeast
1/4 cup warm water
1/3 cup unrefined sugar
1/3 cup olive oil
2 eggs
1/2 cup Greek yogurt
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all purpose flour, I am going to try to get rid of this in the recipe next time, I was just experimenting

Filling

4-6 tablespoons raspberry marmalade
2 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
4 tablespoons sugar
zest of two organic oranges

Glaze

1/2 cup confectioner sugar
2-3 tablespoons orange juice

Directions:

In a bowl add sugar, oil, eggs, yeast and yogurt. Add 2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour and 3/4 cup of all purpose flour, mix well. (I do all of this with my hands). If the dough appears too sticky, add the remaining 1/4 cup all purpose flour.

Cover dough with plastic wrap or a kitchen towel and let rise until doubled in a warm place, about 2 hours. Divide dough in half and, on a lightly floured surface, roll out each half into a 12-inch circle.

Spread 2-3 tablespoons of marmalade on each circle and sprinkle 2 tablespoons of sugar plus 1 tablespoon of coconut on each circle. Divide the orange zest among both circles.

Using a pizza cutter, cut the circle into 12 equal slices. (I cut mine into 8 but 12 would work a lot better). Starting on the wide end, roll up each slice like a croissant.

In a greased 9x13-inch baking pan, lay the rolls pointed end down. Cover with a kitchen towel and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. Alternatively, cover with foil and allow to rise in the refrigerator overnight.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush (you can also use your fingers) each roll with egg wash (1 egg mixed in with 1 tsp of water or milk) and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Mix the glaze ingredients and pour over the rolls. Served while still warm or completely cooled.

adapted from the pastry affair

 Nutrition facts calculated based on the recipe giving 18 rolls.

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