Greek Nachos

Okay... here's the story: Kevin has been wanting nachos for weeks which has been so funny to me because it isn't something we eat often... or like ever... But he kept telling me we would make them more topping and less chip, so I was starting to be on board with the idea.

On Sundays we try to mix it up and do something different and fun for dinner, so we were trying to think of what, and of course nachos were suggested. I knew we had leftover pitas that we had to use...so the idea of Greek Nachos was born! We made pita chips out the of the pitas and created Greek Nachos!

Here's the recipe:

Pita Chips:

Ingredients

• pitas

• olive oil or avocado spray

• salt, pepper, garlic powder

How to:

1. Preheat the oven to 400F

2. Cut the pitas into chip sized pieces

3. Place chips on a baking sheet and lightly spray the pita chips with oil. Season with salt, pepper and garlic powder

4. Cook for 5-7 minutes on each side or until they are crunchy

Falafel:

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 400F

2. Combine all ingredients in a food processor and process until it becomes a paste

3. Let the paste sit in the refrigerator for at least 15 minutes

4. Using 1/4 cup, scoop and form into patties and place on a baking sheet

5. Bake for 20 minutes on each side

6. *forming and flipping the patties will be a lot easier if the paste has more time to cool in the refrigerator

Ingredients:

• 2 cans chickpeas, drained and rinsed

• 1/2 red onion, diced

• 1/2 cup parsley

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1/4 cup lemon juice

• 1 TBSP cumin

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 tsp ground coriander

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1/4 tsp cayenne

• 1/2 tsp pepper

• 1/4 cup flour

Meat:

How to:

1. Mix ingredients into meat and cook in a saute pan until cooked through. Break it into pieces as you cook the meat.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound lean ground beef

• 1 tsp garlic powder

• 1 TBSP fresh mint OR 1 tsp dried mint

• 1/2 tsp onion powder

• dash of salt, pepper and cayenne

Greek Salad:

How to:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well

Ingredients:

• 1/2 red onion, chopped

• 2 bell peppers, chopped

• 1 cucumber, chopped

• 1 pint cherry tomatoes, chopped

• 1/3 cup Kalamata olives, pitted and chopped

• 3 TBSP lemon juice

• 3 TBSP olive oil

• Dash of balsamic vinegar

• 1 tsp thyme

• salt and pepper

Tzatziki Sauce:

How to:

1. Combine all ingredients in a bowl

Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup Greek yogurt

• 2 tsp lemon juice

• 1 tsp dill

• 1 clove garlic

• salt and pepper

To make the nachos:

Combine vegetables and meat and top with falafel and tzatziki sauce. Top with feta. Enjoy with pita chips. 

Chili and Cornbread for Halloween!

We always had chili the night of Halloween when I was a kid. Thinking back, I don't think it was a spoken tradition, but we did it every year. My mom made a good choice to fill us up with a warm and hearty meal because we would refuse to wear jackets over our costumes on the frigid October night. Kevin and I have stuck with that tradition and I wanted to share one of our favorite chili and cornbread recipes with you to eat this Halloween or anytime this winter!

The chili can be made in the crockpot or all at once. And the cornbread can be made into muffins or squares!

Sweet Potato Chili

Ingredients

• 2 lbs lean ground turkey

• 1 red onion diced

• 5 cloves garlic, minced

• 1 29 oz can low sodium tomato sauce

• 1 15 oz can low sodium petite diced tomatoes

• 2 15 oz can low sodium kidney beans, drained and rinsed

• 1-2 cups low sodium chicken broth

• 1 cup carrots, sliced

• 2-3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cubed

• 1 TBSP thyme

• 1 tsp salt

• 2 tsp black pepper

• 1/4 cup chili powder

• 1-2 TBSP adobo chilis in sauce, dice the chilis (do less if you don't like spice)

• 1 TBSP oregano

How To

1. In a large saucepan, brown ground turkey, onion, and garlic. Drain off extra fat.

2. Meanwhile, combine tomato sauce, petite tomatoes, kidney beans, sweet potatoes, carrots, thyme, salt, pepper, chili powder, adobo chilis, and oregano in the crockpot.

3. When meat is cooked through, add to crockpot. Stir all ingredients together and add chicken broth accordingly. Start with 1 cup and add more if you want more liquid.

4. Set crockpot for low for 6-8 hours or high for 4-5 hours.

5. If you are not using a crockpot, follow the same directions, except cook in a large saucepan. Once ingredients are combined, bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 30-40 minutes, or until sweet potatoes are soft.

Cornbread Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 cup whole wheat flour

• 1/2 tsp salt

• 1 TBSP baking powder

• 1 cup cornmeal

• 1 egg

• 1 cup milk

• 1/4 cup butter

How to:

1. Preheat oven to 425 F. Sift flour, salt, and baking powder into a bowl of mixer.

2. Add cornmeal and mix.

3. Add egg, milk, butter and mix until combined (no more that 1 minutes)

4. Grease 9 muffin tin slots and fill each evenly with batter.

5. Bake for 15 minutes, or until browned and toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the middle.

6. Can also make cornbread squares by using a 8x8 pan and baking for 20-25 minutes.

7. Serve with honey butter

*Cornbread recipe from Bob's Red Mill cornmeal package. 

Serve with salad, steamed broccoli or sautéed green beans to make a complete and nutritious meal!