Enticing Healthy Eating Blog

Fresh Blueberry Pie

10/5/2015

An easy, cool, fresh blueberry pie recipe that is sure to impress your friends and family.

Fresh Blueberry Pie; Enticing Healthy Eating

Pie is one of my most favorite things in the world. It's right up there with cats, lace dresses, and the smell of the ocean. It's by far one of my most favorite desserts, if not my very favorite.

At my upcoming wedding we are even having a pie bar, per my request. Yes, we will still have cake--a naked cake, at that!--but there MUST be pie on our wedding day.

Pie holds a special place in my heart. It's more than a dessert to me, it's a representation of a devotion of love. Baking a cake is pretty easy, baking cookies is even easier. But a pie? It's a lot more involved.

I went the easy route and used a store bought pie crust because my mother had always done the same with her blueberry pie. By all means, if you feel like making your own pie crust, go right ahead! Bonus points for you.

I used fresh blueberries for this pie as they tend to work better than frozen. If you can only find frozen blueberries, I recommend tossing the frozen blueberries in 1-2 Tbsp. of flour to coat them before adding them to the batter. The nuts are an optional topping and as you can see I did not use them. When it comes to baked goods, I prefer no nuts to be present. My mother always enjoyed chopped pecans as a topping on her pie, though.

This pie is a fairly simple recipe, especially for a pie. I recommend letting the finished pie cool on the kitchen counter for at least 30 minutes before putting it into the fridge to chill. This pie is best eaten cold. Want to add whipped topping or ice cream on top? Do it. It just adds to the deliciousness.

My friend, Sarah Shotts, from the Arkansas Women Bloggers recently started Project STIR to capture family heirloom recipes in video. STIR stands for Storytelling Through International Recipes, and Sarah is seeking to travel the world and capture the essence of family recipes through film.

I know the use of video is picking up in the food blogging world so I believe Sarah is jumping at this opportunity at just the right time. She’s launched a campaign to help fund this project, and I am a supporter. There are even some nifty gifts in store if you support her project, too! Please consider supporting Project STIR to help document family heirloom recipes around the world. Head on over to Kickstarter and support her project. Or to learn more about Project STIR, click here.

This particular blueberry pie is a creation of my mother and passed down to me as one of my most beloved homemade desserts. This pie holds a lot of memories for me. Memories of my mother making this pie was a sign to me that any day could be made more special with the addition of a special, homemade meal.

Since then, I am often trying to find ways to celebrate any random day of the year. National peanut butter day? You know I'm celebrating. Margarita day? Ole! Fifty cent corndogs at Sonic day? Sign me up for that too, I love those corndogs!

The point is, a family recipe such as this one taught me that as long as you're remembering to celebrate the days in life that aren't necessarily holidays you're doing alright. If there's one thing I've learned this past year with losing my father, every single day, every single minute, is precious. Celebrate every day.

Today, I choose to celebrate with pie.

Fresh Blueberry Pie

Serves: 1 pie; 8 slices

Ingredients:
For the pie:
1 cup sour cream
2 Tbsp. whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. salt
1 egg, beaten
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
1 unbaked 9-inch pie pastry

For the topping:
3 Tbsp. whole wheat flour
1 1/2 Tbsp. cold grass-fed butter
3 Tbsp. chopped pecans or walnuts (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Combine first 6 ingredients, beat in a large bowl for 5 minutes at medium speed of an electric mixer. Fold in blueberries. Pour into pastry shell. Bake for 25 minutes.

Remove from oven. Combine topping ingredients with a fork to form crumbles. Sprinkle topping over pie. Bake an additional 8-10 minutes. Chill before serving.

Linking up with Katie for Marvelous in my Monday, Mary for Delicious Dish Tuesday, and Amanda for Thinking out Loud

What is your favorite type of pie?

Do you have a favorite family recipe?

10 Comments

Healthy Baked Taquitos

9/21/2015

16 Comments

These healthy baked taquitos are easy to make and the perfect finger food to enjoy with sauces for dipping.

What do you call taquitos that are actually a little bigger than your average sized taquito? Because these are more like a cross between a burrito and a taquito due to their size...

A taquirrito? Sure!

In other words, you could choose to called these baked taquitos or taquirritos. Whatever makes you happy.

You know what makes me happy? When I surprise Wade with a great dish that he was expecting not to like. Going off of last week's topic when I mentioned how much of a picky-eater Wade is, he did not seem impressed when I first suggested making baked taquitos for dinner one night.

The man likes tacos and he likes burritos. But he figured he would not be impressed with these yummy, rolled, hot Mexican masterpieces. Guess who won that night? Kaylin did. Mmm hmmm. In fact, Wade declared them one of the best dinners I've made him lately.

Considering how easy these are to throw together I think these are going to frequent our menu more often at our place. These healthy baked taquitos are SUPER easy to make. Take two chicken breasts that have been pounded out to thinner pieces, season them, cook them on a skillet, cook some peppers and veggies in a skillet, assemble taquitos with shredded chicken, roasted peppers and onions, cheese, and bake!

That was a long sentence but this is definitely not a long cooking process, people.

After the taquitos/taquirritos are all baked and crispy they are perfect for dipping in salsa, sour cream, or guacamole. Take your pick!

Give these healthy baked taquitos a try. Maybe your significant other will be saying "muy bien!" just like mine did.

Healthy Baked Taquitos

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
1 - 1 1/2 lb. chicken breasts, pounded thin
1 tsp. chipotle pepper
1 tsp. turmeric
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. pepper
1 tsp. cumin
3 Tbsp. coconut oil (or olive oil), divided
2 large bell peppers, diced
2/3 cup diced onion
3/4 cup shredded cheese (I used monterey jack)
6 - 7 tortillas
Salsa, guacamole, or sour cream for dipping

Directions:
Pound the chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness throughout. Season chicken breasts with chipotle pepper, turmeric, salt, pepper, and cumin. Heat a medium skillet with 2 Tbsp. coconut oil over medium-high heat.

Add chicken breasts to hot skillet and reduce heat to medium. Cook chicken breasts on one side for 3 minutes. Flip and continue cooking until no longer pink in the middle and juices run clear, roughly 7 more minutes.

Remove chicken from skillet and set aside. Add 1 Tbsp. of coconut oil to skillet the chicken was cooked in. Add diced peppers and onions and continue cooking over medium-low heat until vegetables are tender and onions are just starting to turn translucent and golden brown.

While veggies are sauteing in skillet, roughly shred or chop the chicken breasts after allowing them to rest for 5 minutes. Make sure you allow the chicken to rest first! This allows the chicken to stay more juicy and tender. Preheat oven to 410 degrees. Prepare a baking pan with foil and lightly spray the foil with cooking spray.

Once veggies are done, remove the skillet from the heat. Start assembling your taquitos. Add 2 heaping Tbsp. chicken, 2 Tbsp. veggies, and 2 Tbsp. shredded cheese. Roll the taquito and place it seam side down on the prepared baking sheet with foil. Continue making taquitos until you run out of filling ingredients.

Lightly spray the assembled taquitos with cooking spray. Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes. Remove from oven, allow to rest for a couple minutes. Best enjoyed fresh with sauces for dipping.

Linking up with Katie for Marvelous in my Monday.

What is your favorite Mexican dish?

What is your favorite topping for tacos or burritos? Guacamole, salsa, or sour cream? I'm a guacamole girl.

16 Comments

What my Picky-Eater FianceTaught me About a Healthy Diet

9/11/2015

19 Comments

How a picky, not-so-healthy eater taught an over-healthy eater how to love food even more.

Hamilton Pool in Dripping Springs, TX

I have no idea how to insert the fancy letter "e" with the little accent over the top on the word "fiance". I Googled it. I tried a couple of suggestions. It did not work. #fail.

What is not a #fail in my life lately is my work life. Did I mention I finally found a job I can look forward to waking up to every day? Sometimes I feel like pinching myself because it seems too real that I would end up working for a company that makes me this happy. The people I work with definitely help with that.

I'm sorry I keep mentioning my new job! Here I am, three weeks into it, and I'm still excited. That's all. Thank you for all of those who have been supportive in my job search when I first moved to Austin and for the congratulatory remarks on my last blog post. I appreciate you all.

Pizza at St. Philip in Austin. AMAZING!

But what you really came here for was to read up on how the hell Wade could possibly teach me anything about a healthy diet. For those who know Wade and have met him in person, I'm sure you're all kinds of skeptical. But hear me out! This man has actually taught me some things over the years about a healthy balance of food in my life.

First, a little back story for those who do not know Wade on a more personal level. I have mentioned his picky-eating in the past. I could make a list a mile long of thing he will not eat. But I will keep the list brief for today and give you some highlights:

What Wade Will Not Eat:
1. Sandwiches
2. Burgers
3. Most cheese, unless it's on pizza or pasta
4. Any sort of baked good with chocolate chips, raisins, nuts.
5. Turkey
6. Mustard
7. Orange or yellow Starbursts. Pretty much any orange, lemon, or lime flavored candy.
8. Most raw fruits except apples (with skin peeled off), cantaloupe, or sometimes grapes
9. Broccoli, cauliflower, carrots
10. Salads

That's a start. Yes, I love to cook. Yes, he has made my home cooking life for the two of us since we have moved in with each other a challenge. But, yes, I still love him.

Wade, our good friend Medgar, and I this past weekend.

To be fair, Wade has come far in expanding his taste bud horizons. I often tell people the only major food groups that he ate when I first met him Freshman year of college were pizza, chicken strips, cereal, candy, and meat (except turkey).

Here's a random fact: I fixed Wade and I his first homemade pancakes last night when we had breakfast for dinner. He had only ever eaten pancakes from the pre-made mixtures out of a box. And he liked them! #notafail

So what could Wade have possibly taught me about a healthy diet over the years? I realized he had contributed to my healthier mindset on foods just about a month ago. We were eating Papa John's pizza and it hit me. The realization, not the pizza...

Wade has taught me to relax more in my diet. Yes, I'm a healthy eater most of the time but life is full of unexpected events, parties, date nights, etc. In my previous life when I was a bit to obsessive about my clean-eating diet (during my orthorexic times), I would have NEVER touched a Papa John's pizza with a twelve foot pole.

Since moving in together and starting our lives in Austin we have ordered Papa John's pizza twice while having movie date nights. And I've enjoyed that Papa John's pizza wholeheartedly. Just as I would enjoy a slice of wedding cake at a wedding or an Auntie Anne's pretzel at the mall occasionally. Yes they aren't the healthiest foods, but who cares? I'm happier eating some Papa John's pizza than I would be making my own salad and having to watch Wade eat the pizza without me.

Fish night. My plate vs. Wade's plate.

The other thing he has taught me about healthy eating is not to eat things I do not like. Belonging to the clean plate club is something I have been guilty of for years. Even if I'm stuffed or I don't even enjoy the food that much I can't stand to waste the food so I will undoubtedly clean my plate at every meal. But not anymore!

Wade is picky. But you could also say he's selective in his food choices. The man really does only eat what he likes and what he things tastes good. Oh, and he stops when he's full. There's a concept!

So yes, Wade is by far the pickiest eater I have ever met. When I spend an hour cooking us a lovely homemade dinner only to find out he doesn't really love a new side dish I decided to try it crushes my heart. When I'm looking for restaurants I can never pick a simple cafe with soups, salads, and sandwiches because it's likely he will not be able to eat there.

Yes, it's frustrating at times. And yet, the man has actually taught me a thing or two about how to live a healthier, happier lifestyle when it comes to my food choices.

Thank you for expanding my horizons on my eating habits, honey. Much love.

Linking up with Heather for Friday Favorites, Katie for Marvelous Monday, and Amanda for Thinking out Loud.

What's one food you cannot/will not eat?

Who is the pickiest eater you know?

19 Comments