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Homemade Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

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Here is a fun homemade sun-dried tomato pesto for all of your pesto craving days!! Pesto is so fun to put on all sorts of different things, such as paninis, bruschetta, wraps, pizza, or on top of grilled chicken. It is an easy way to fancy up a meal! I don’t know about you but it is the little things like this that make a meal so much more tasty!

homemade sun-dried tomato pesto

Pesto seems to be my favorite thing lately. I just can’t get enough of it. Pesto is also fun because you can tweak it based on what flavors you like best.

This version is not the quick version of pesto, but this is what I prefer because boiling the sun-dried tomatoes, garlic, and basil helps the flavors come together. It has such a great taste and I already have a lot of plans to use this pesto in the future!! I only used 1/3 cup of the sun-dried tomatoes which turned out great, but I do think it would also work well to use the entire jar and get an even richer flavor.

homemade sun-dried tomato pesto

This pesto has lots of good stuff in it for you, and is gluten free for those of you needing or wishing to avoid gluten in your diets. Here are some specifics:
–Pine nuts: While they are high calorie, they are a good source of monounsaturated fats and Vitamin E.
–Garlic: Contains several health benefits especially in regards to its cardio-protective properties. Garlic has “blood-thinning” effects and can prevent the risk of a clot to occur. This is primarily due to the component allicin in garlic. If you are planning to saute or heat up your garlic, it is important to wait 10 minutes after chopping it before it is heated in order for the allicin to form.

homemade sun-dried tomato pesto

Besides this pesto being healthful, it is just so DARN TASTY TOO!!! I wish I was eating some right now! 😉

homemade sun-dried tomato pesto

Homemade Sun-dried Tomato Pesto

Print Recipe
Prep Time 25 minutes
Total Time 25 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
  • 3 garlic cloves
  • 1 cup basil leaves +6 leaves
  • 1/4 cup olive oil
  • 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup pine nuts
  • 1/3 teaspoon black pepper
  • 3/8 teaspoon salt

Instructions
 

  • Combine sun-dried tomatoes, 1 peeled garlic clove, and 6 basil leaves in a small saucepan and add just enough water to cover ingredients. Bring to a boil and then remove immediately from burner and let sit for 20 minutes.
  • In a food processor that is running, drop remaining garlic cloves, 1 cup basil leaves, olive oil and Parmesan through the feed tube. Drain the tomato mixture and reserve the liquid. Add tomato mixture to food processor and chop. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
  • Optional: add 1/3 cup of reserved liquid and combine.

Love,

3 Scoops of Sugar

Healthy Froyo Cups

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Hey there!

Froyo cups are where it’s at peeps! Yup yup! In my book, they are a highly underrated snack. The truth is they contain three of my favorite things. Not one, not two, THREE people! Let’s break it down…1) healthy and most importantly yummy granola (which I totally wish I had some of my homemade granola for this recipe!) 2) greek coconut yogurt ( I do not know where this flavor has been hiding all of my life because I live off greek yogurt, and for this I used the Chobani brand) and last but not least 3) fresh berries (enough said, they are simply wonderful) 😉

healthy froyo cups

It took a little longer than it should have to fill the cups because I seemed to enjoy this snack so much before it was even complete! Froyo cups…are they a kid snack? Well my kids sure loved them, but I did just as much and this is not a “eh, they aren’t bad” kinda snack. These little babies are so addicting. It is a good thing they don’t pack in the calories! 🙂 83 Calories for one froyo cup!

They are so easy and quick to make and that = GET OUT OF JAIL FREE CARD!! You deserve a couple of those every now and then!

So quick recap–once you add the tablespoon of granola to the bottom of your muffin liners, plop a tablespoon of coconut (or your personal fav) yogurt on top of the granola. Then for the fresh fruit–I used grapes, strawberries, and raspberries because that is what we had in the fridge. Feel free to add whatever fresh fruit you have in the house. Freeze your froyo cups for 1-3 hours and then dig in.

 

healthy froyo cups

NOTE: I do recommend letting them thaw for 10 minutes before biting into them because I had a MAJOR case of brain freeze. 😮 And I felt the taste of the yogurt was richer after thawing for 5-10 minutes.

Also, as I have continued to eat them over the last several days, I have added more toppings like chocolate chips and crushed pecans. So delicious! They are great in the morning, for an afternoon snack, or for a quick dessert! Love these froyo cups!!

healthy froyo cups

Healthy Froyo Cups

Print Recipe
Prep Time 5 minutes
Calories 83 kcal

Ingredients
  

  • 4- 5 oz cartons coconut yogurt
  • 1 cup granola- I used Bare Naked Triple Berry Granola
  • fresh berries

Instructions
 

  • Fill muffin tin with paper liners. Add 1 tablespoon granola to bottom of liners making sure bottom of muffin liner is completely covered. Cover granola with about 1 tablespoon of yogurt. I used Chobani coconut and mixed berry yogurt. Top with 2-3 pieces of small berries or sliced fresh fruit.
  • Freeze for 1-3 hours.
  • Notes: To store, place froyo cups in an airtight container and freeze.
  • Author: 3 Scoops of Sugar

Love,

3 Scoops of Sugar

Tomato Pesto Chicken and Angel Hair

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What’s up friends?! 🙂 I am glad to be here and it is crazy I have been at this blogging thing for 6 months now! Creamy chicken and noodles was my first post…definitely had some need for improvement and I still do but I have learned so much about photography and blogging and I absolutely love it! Today, I want to talk about Tomato Pesto Chicken and Angel Hair.

I may say this a lot but this is DEFINITELY one of my favorite meals so far. This was one of those recipes I had that I tweaked some things here and there and it certainly paid off because it was TOTALLY FANTASTIC!

And seriously the sauce is pretty much the deal maker in this recipe. All I was thinking when I was making it was okay, why in the heck don’t I have some french bread around to dip into this tomato pesto goodness? Tomato pesto has become a recent staple for me because it just has this clean eating sort of taste that leaves you feeling satisfied.
Tomato Pesto Chicken1

There are lots of fantastic things going on here…1) super juicy chicken from the oven 2) a fantastic creamy tomato pesto sauce, which is super easy by the way 3) did I mention the sauce?! 😉

The tomato pesto used for this recipe was store-bought and I personally like the Mezzetta brand tomato pesto sauce. But I am pretty certain you can expect a post on tomato pesto sometime in the future because it is like my new favorite thing. It is just crazy good in my book.

tomato pesto chicken and angel hair

I like to get this meal going as follows:

–Bake the Chicken Breasts. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and prepare the chicken by rinsing and patting it dry. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper and top with about a tablespoon of tomato pesto. Bake at 350 for about 18-20 minutes.
–Start the sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add sliced mushrooms, red pepper flakes, garlic and sauté until mushrooms have softened. Add milk and tomato pesto and stir. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Add stewed tomatoes.
–Cook the pasta. Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to manufacturer’s directions.
–Put it all together. Add some angel hair to a bowl, top with sauce and chicken breast strips. Eat some delicious tomato pesto chicken pasta and enjoy with family and friends.
–Tell your friends. Share your new pesto goodness with friends and family! 🙂

Tomato Pesto Chicken and Angel Hair

Print Recipe
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Total Time 40 minutes

Ingredients
  

  • 1-2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 1 pound chicken breasts
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 3 garlic cloves minced
  • 4 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
  • 1 cup stewed tomatoes drained
  • 1/2 cup tomato pesto + 2T
  • 1/8 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup milk
  • 8-10 oz angel hair pasta

Instructions
 

Bake the Chicken-

  • Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Rinse chicken breasts and pat dry with paper towel. Sprinkle with pinch of salt and pepper. Spread 1 tablespoon tomato pesto on each chicken breast. Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes and center is no longer pink.

Make the Pesto Sauce-

  • Heat 1-2 tablespoons olive oil medium heat in a large skillet. Add sliced mushrooms, red pepper flakes and saute 2-3 minutes or until mushrooms have softened. Add garlic, pesto, milk, and salt and combine ingredients. Bring to a boil and then reduce to simmer. Mix in stewed tomatoes.

Cook pasta-

  • Bring pot of salted water to a boil. Cook pasta according to package directions.

Assemble pasta bowls-

  • Add pasta to bowl. Top with pesto sauce and chicken strips. Enjoy!
  • Author: 3 Scoops of Sugar

Love,

3 Scoops of Sugar

tomato pesto chicken and angel hair