chicken sausages with peppers

This meal is pretty much a staple in our house right now.  It meets almost all my requirements, tastes good, easy to make, and doesn't take too many ingredients.  The only negative is that Ryann won't eat it, but if I only made meals Ryann would eat, we would be having meatballs at least five days a week.  No thanks.

Another great thing about this recipe is that really, you can throw in whatever vegetables you want or have on hand.  The original recipe only calls for an orange pepper, a red pepper and an onion, but I frequently throw in mushrooms.  One time we had some asparagus that needed to be used up, no worries, just toss them in.

Chicken Sausages with Peppers
adapted from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine

Ingredients

• 1 small onion, halved and sliced
• 3 bell peppers, julienned
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 teaspoons minced garlic*
• 1 package (12 ounces) fully cooked apple chicken sausage links**, cut into 1/2 inch slices

Directions

1. In a large nonstick skillet, saute onion and peppers (and any other veggies you have) in oil until crisp-tender.  Add garlic; cook 1 minute longer.  Stir in sausages; heat through.

 *Use whatever amount works for your family, I may or may not put in a tablespoon of minced garlic.  But we're garlic lovers.  And I use garlic from the jar, not fresh.

**You can really use whatever flavor of chicken sausage you like, but we love the sweet and salty combo you get from the apple.

Enjoy!

crockpot chicken tacos and enchiladas

Crockpot chicken tacos have become a staple in our house.  They are simply too easy to make, and in general a taco always sounds good :o).

Now a lot of people usually will make crockpot tacos with just chicken and a jar of salsa I believe, but I rarely ever had salsa on hand (we aren't big chips and salsa eaters on a regular basis).  Canned diced tomatoes though, have become a regular pantry staple.  So my recipe looked a little something like this (which I believe could also resemble crock pot fajitas, but whatever)...

Crockpot Chicken Tacos

Ingredients

• 16 ounce can low sodium corn, drained
• 4 ounce can mushroom pieces, drained
• 2 bell peppers
• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 1/2 a packet of taco seasoning
• 10-16 ounce can diced tomatoes with mild green chilies

Directions

1. Add corn, mushrooms and bell peppers to your crockpot.
2. Lay chicken on top of your veggies.  Pour lime juice into the crockpot.  Season chicken breasts with taco seasoning.  Pour can of tomatoes over the chicken.
3. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or low for 4-6 hours.  Shred chicken with two forks, return to crockpot and mix everything together.
4. Serve with your favorite taco accompaniments.

They taste good, nothing crazy, but good.  And I usually have the taco version the first night, and then heat up some of the mix and toss it with some lettuce in a bowl for a taco salad for lunch the next few days.  Relatively light and oh so easy.

But you know how I said I don't usually keep salsa on hand?  I'm thinking of changing my tune thanks to these skinny chicken enchiladas.

My friend Katelynn had pinned the recipe a couple days before she was coming over for dinner, so I suggested we make it.  I love avocados and overall the recipe sounded delicious and easy.  The enchilada mix goes in the crock pot, and then you just have to roll up your enchiladas, bake for 15 minutes, and throw on the toppings.  Not hard at all.  So we did just that.

Christopher had bought a 2 pound package of chicken, and I used the whole thing, so we had a TON of the chicken mixture left.  Later that week I tried rolling it in some flour tortillas, throwing cheese on top, and microwaving it for a couple minutes.  Ummm, delicious.  I prefer a flour tortilla and microwaving it didn't seem to be all that different from baking it.  Instead of rolling his leftovers like an enchilada, Christopher microwaved the mix, and put it together with lettuce, guac and cheese like he would a taco.  Also great.  So now my chicken taco recipe looks a little bit like this...

Crockpot Chicken Tacos or Enchiladas
adapted from Pinch of Yum

Ingredients

• 1-2 pounds boneless skinless chicken breasts
• 1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 1 can corn, drained
• 16 ounces chunky salsa
• 3 tablespoons taco seasoning
• 1/4 cup water (optional, if your salsa doesn't have much liquid factor)

Directions (for Tacos)

1. Place all ingredients in the crockpot.  Cook on high for 2-3 hours or low for 4-6 hours. Shred chicken with two forks, return to crockpot and mix everything together.  Serve with your favorite taco accompinaments.

Directions (for Enchiladas)

1. Prepare chicken mixture as directed for tacos.
2. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Fill tortillas with a few tablespoons of filling, roll once and place seam-side down in a large baking dish.  Continue until all tortillas have been filled, rolled and placed in dish.  Be sure to pack them in tightly next to each other so that they don't come apart.
3. Sprinkle evenly  with one cup of shredded cheddar cheese and bake for 15 minute, until cheese is melted and bubbly and everything is heated through.
4. Remove from oven and top with fat free sour cream, diced avocado and fresh cilantro.  Or whatever your little enchilada hear desires :o).

For the record I would suggest using cheese with some fat in it.  I used fat free cheese when baking the enchiladas and it didn't get melty.  So sad.

My favorite flour tortillas are the low carb ones by Mama Lupe's.  They taste great and will only set you back 60 calories per tortilla, not too shabby.  When we made the enchiladas the first time we used Mission corn tortillas.  They were only 45 calories each, but I personally prefer flour tortillas.

Enjoy!

corn, bacon and potato chowder

Please please please go look at the photo on the site where I originally found the recipe.  It looks much more appetizing, and might make you actually want to make the soup!

I LOVE soup.  A lot.  I'm not sure why but there is just something about it.  Especially more of a creamy soup.  I'm the dork who will be ordering the broccoli cheese soup at Panera in July when it is 102 degrees.  I love soup that much.  I don't think Chris likes soup as much as I do, so we rarely cook it as a meal.  But this had potatoes and bacon in the title, so I figured it wouldn't be too tough to convince him to eat it.

I'll admit, when I first started putting the ingredients together, I thought, ok so I have a whole bunch of vegetables in some hot milk.  Stellar.  I'm sure that will be delicious.  But you know what?  It was.  The corn gives the soup such a nice flavor.  Don't mind the fact that we used frozen corn and not yukon gold potatoes.  I'm sure the yukons would have made the soup even tastier.  I actually wanted more potato in my soup, so maybe throw in an extra as well?  Or one that has just been chopped as opposed to mashed...

This chowder was good enough that our friend Chris, who generally gives vegetables and anything besides pizza or chicken tenders the side eye, ate two whole bowls.  I was astonished!  Did you hear that Jennifer??  Chris pretty much ate two bowls of vegetables.  Impressive!

Overall I highly recommend this dish.  It was incredibly easy to put together (just takes time to chop up your veggies) and was great leftover the next day.  The site also notes you can feel free to use your favorite fresh veggies like asparagus and broccoli instead of (or in addition to!) the red pepper

Corn, Bacon and Potato Chowder
from the Weight Watchers website

Ingredients

• 1 medium uncooked yukon gold potato
• 1/2 cup uncooked celery, chopped
• 1/4 cup uncooked onion, chopped
• 4 pieces corn on the cob, kernels removed with a knife (or 2 cups frozen corn kernels)
• 1 cup sweet red pepper, diced (or 1 cup frozen diced bell pepper pieces)
• 4 oz uncooked Canadian style bacon, diced
• 2 cups fat-free skim milk
• 1/2 teaspoon table salt
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/8 teaspoon hot pepper sauce, or to taste (I omitted this)

Directions

1. Pierce potato in several places with a fork; microwave on high power until tender, turning over once, about 8 minutes.  Allow to cool; peel and mash.
2. Meanwhile, coat a large saucepan with cooking spray.  Add celery, onion, corn and red pepper; saute over medium-high heat for 5 minutes.
3. Stir back and milk into saucepan; stir in mashed potato and mix well.  Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce; stir to combine.  Cover and simmer 10 minutes (do not allow to boil).

Enjoy!

crock pot hawiian bbq chicken

If you're on pinterest, I am certain you've seen this crock pot dish floating around (I saw it here and here).  I've mentioned it on the blog before as well.  The one problem I had with it, is that it didn't really seem like a complete meal to me, unless I made a vegetable side.  Also for some reason Ryann has something against chicken once it has been shredded.  Which led me to this...

Basically I diced the chicken before adding it and threw in some chopped bell peppers, making it more of a one pot meal to serve over rice.  It makes great leftovers for lunch the next day.  If you have any ideas of other vegetables that would be good in the mix, definitely share in the comment section!

Oh, and obviously this is no longer the worlds simplest crockpot recipe, since you would actually have to cut up the chicken and chop the bell peppers (GASP!) but I swear, it was easy.  So easy I think I'll make that for dinner this week, it sounds good... and I did just buy frozen bell peppers from Trader Joes...

Crock Pot Hawiian BBQ Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts (mine had 3), cut into bite size pieces
• 20 ounce can pineapple tidbits, drained
• 2-3 bell peppers, chopped
• 16 ounce bottle BBQ sauce

Directions

1. Combine everything in your crockpot, cover and cook on low for 4-5 hours.  Serve over rice (we used brown).

Ta da!  That was simple.  And tasty.

Enjoy!

crock pot turkey meatballs in italian sauce

Err...  More recipes.  I don't have a whole lot of other meaningful content prepared right now :o).  But I hope all of you lovelies had a wonderful Thanksgiving.  Christopher's aunt made an extremely delicious sweet potato casserole and now I should probably spend the rest of the day in the gym... moving on...

A couple weeks ago (I think) I mentioned that we managed to get Ryann to eat the same meal as us.  Well, this is it.  Minus the noodles, she acted like the noodles were the most disgusting thing she has ever tasted.  Seriously, she was freaking out about the stupid noodles.  BUT, this kid has CHOWED DOWN on meatballs lately.  She loves them.

I think this is a very family friendly recipe.  It is pretty much spaghetti and meatballs.  I've added LOTS of bell peppers to the mix because that is the one vegetable I can guarentee Ryann will eat.  So pretty much every meal we've had lately includes bell peppers...  I'm sure you could make this even easier (I used frozen meatballs) by just using a store bought spaghetti sauce, but I prefer it this way.  Oh and this filled my little crock pot to the brim.  I really thought the thing might explode.  Use a slightly larger one :o).


Crock Pot Turkey Meatballs in Italian Sauce
adapted from Healthy Eating Simplified

Ingredients

• 28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 tablespoon minced garlic  (we um, love garlic...)
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 3 bell peppers, chopped
• 2 ribs celery, finely chopped (sneaking in some more veggies)
• 1/2 teaspoon italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon dried basil
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 (28 ounce) bag frozen fully cooked turkey meatballs

Directions

1. Combine all ingredients except meatballs in crock pot.  Stir well.
2. Add (still frozen) meatballs and stir in.
3. Cover and cook on low for 6-8 hours (I've never gone longer than 6.5 hrs).

I boiled about 2.5 cups of whole wheat pasta to serve with this.

Enjoy!

crock pot chili

Sorry, no day in the life today.  But you finally get my chili recipe, so its ok right?  Because I know you all have been dying to know how I make chili... ha ha... ok anyway...

Christopher and I definitely like a hearty chili.  I don't want any soupy business going on, so I looked through a lot of recipes before I found one that looks just right.  It would be great if I could remember/find where I printed this from, but I totally forgot to bookmark it or pin it.  Oops...

Really, this stuff is so good.  We eat all the leftovers every time we make it, and it makes a LOT of chili.  Not to mention Ryann won't eat it (I'll give her some credit, she tried it!).  The original recipe called for pork and beans in molasses.  Of course I accidentally stocked up on pork and beans in tomato sauce.  To compensate I add some brown sugar to the mix.  Honestly I kind of like it that way, I add some while I'm cooking, and then you can add a little bit to your bowl if you want, allowing it to be as spicy or sweet as you want it.  Because we all know I hate spicy.

Crock Pot Chili

 Ingredients

• 1 (15 ounce) can red kidney beans, drained
• 1 (15 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 (14.4 ounce) cans diced tomatoes with green chilies, mild
• 1 (6 ounce) can tomato paste
• 2 pounds lean ground beef, browned and drained
• 2 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 ribs celery, coarsely chopped
• 1 (4 ounce) can mushroom pieces, drained
• 2 bell peppers, coarsely chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 med size can baked pork and beans with tomato sauce
• 2 to 3 tablespoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• salt to taste
• brown sugar to taste (I used at least 1/4 cup)

 Directions

1. Combine ingredients in slow cooker.  Cover and cook on low for 10 to 12 hours, or 4.5 to 6 hours on high.

I didn't specify the color of bell pepper, but thought I should mention the original recipe only calls for one green bell pepper.  I've always added two and just used whatever we've had on hand.  I prefer a green and a red!  The original recipe also didn't use tomatoes with green chilies.  Again, it is what I had on hand, and have just continued to make it that way.

I repeat, this makes a LOT!  Don't try and cook it in a little crock pot.  I believe we comfortably served 8 adults with it one night.

*I wanted to add that I have made this chili with ground turkey as well, and it turned out equally wonderful!

Enjoy!

crock pot chicken taco chili

I've developed a pretty good bond with my crock pot these days.  Really it is the best way for me to cook dinner for both Christopher and I.  I can eat at a normal time, he can eat whenever he manages to make it home, and we both get a hot meal.  Of course I'm terrible at finding crock pot recipes, because, well, I'm picky and I want them to be healthy.  Not always the most fun search.  Thankfully I'm slowly but surely expanding the things I'll try.  This week we enjoyed some chicken taco chili that I found on skinnytaste.com.

I opted to serve it over rice, and we decided personally, we felt it would be strange to just eat it like chili.  I have no idea why but I felt like it needed the rice.  Nonetheless it was pretty good.  Chris wasn't wowed, he said it wasn't a meal he would request for dinner.  But he said he would definitely eat it again and would most likely eat the leftovers.  Because quite frankly that is the real test, a lot of times he will eat stuff I make, but won't touch the leftovers.

I'll include the recipe exactly as she has written it, but we didn't use cilantro, cheese, chilis or sour cream.  And it tasted just fine.  I am curious as to how it would taste with cheese and cilantro.  Maybe if I make it again...  Oh, and I think my cans of beans were only 15 ounces, but does that really matter?

If you're on the hunt for some healthy recipes you should definitely check out Gina's Skinny Recipes (skinnytaste.com).  She has a slew of healthy ones and includes the weight watchers points if that is a bonus to you.

Crock Pot Chicken Taco Chili
from Gina's Skinny Recipes

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 16-oz can black beans
• 1 16-oz can kidney beans
• 1 8-oz can tomato sauce
• 10 oz package frozen corn kernels
• 2 14.5-oz cans diced tomatoes w/ chilies
• 1 packet taco seasoning
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• 1 tablespoon chili powder
• 24 oz (3-4) boneless skinless chicken breasts
• chili peppers, chopped (optional)
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

Directions

1. Combine beans, onion, chili peppers, corn, tomato sauce, cumin, chili powder and taco seasoning in a slow cooker.  Place chicken on top and cover.  Cook on low for 10 hours or on high for 6 hours.
2. Half hour before serving, remove chicken and shred.  Return chicken to slow cooker and stir in.  Top with fresh cilantro.  Also try it with low fat cheese and sour cream.

Enjoy!

turkey taco salad

This salad is PERFECT for having delicious healthy leftovers on hand.  My mom put it together while we were staying with her, and sent me home with the leftovers.  I ate it the following three days (once for dinner, twice for lunch) and would have happily ate it several more.

I'm going to include the recipe exactly as written, but I didn't eat it that way.  Personally, I didn't need the tortilla chips.  The first night we had it I made my own 'chips' from a La Tortilla Factory tortilla in the oven.  But the next three days I did just fine without them.  Also, the first night I just used some fat free sour cream as my 'dressing' (no salsa), but with the leftovers I used Trader Joe's cilantro salad dressing.  I also used Monterey Jack cheese with the leftovers.  Seriously, amazing.  Oh and I didn't have any avocado in my leftovers, and I was totally ok with that too.  So more or less this is a recipe you can easily tweak to your liking, but the base is a great healthy thing to have on hand!

Turkey Taco Salad (serves 8)
from Weight Watchers 20 Minute Recipes, spring 2009

*Prepare and measure all of the components first, and assemble the salad just before serving to keep the lettuce and chips crisp.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground turkey breast
• 2 tablespoons 40%-less-sodium taco seasoning
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1 tomato, chopped
• 1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 (2.25 ounce) can sliced ripe olives, drained
• 1 small avocado peeled and diced
• 1 cup refrigerated fresh salsa
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat sour cream
• 8 ounces light tortilla chips
• 1 (10-ounce) package torn romaine lettuce (about 8 cups)
• 1/2 cup (2 ounces) preshredded reduced fat 4-cheese Mexican blend cheese

Directions

1. Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat until hot.  Add turkey; cook 7 minutes or until browned, stirring to crumble.  Drain, if necessary, and return turkey to pan.  Stir in taco seasoning and 2 tablespoons water; cook 1 minute.
2. Combine turkey mixture, tomato, and next 4 ingredients in a large bowl.
3. Combine salsa and sour cream in a small bowl.
4. To serve, place 6 chips on each of 8 plates; top chips evenly with lettuce, turkey mixture and cheese.  Serve with sour cream mixture.

One serving had 355 calories.  A serving includes 6 chips, about 1 cup lettuce, 3/4 cup turkey mixture, 1 tablespoon cheese, and 3 tablespoons sour cream mixture.

So basically, we just did steps one and two (minus adding avocado to the mix, my mom doesn't like it, so I just put it on mine), and kept that mix separate.  From there you can pretty much make your taco salad however you like it.  And I just heated up the mix in the microwave when eating it leftover, then mixed in my lettuce, cheese and what not.  So good!!

Enjoy!

crockpot chicken and artichokes

EDIT:  Thanks to a lovely reader I've been informed that the artichokes (in the chicken and ARTICHOKE dish) were missing from my recipe.  Uh, sorry about that.  They've been added!

When I made chili last week, I bought several extra cans of beans so I'd have ingredients to put it together again in the near future.  While putting away the cans I found two jars of marinated artichoke hearts.  The idea of chicken, mushrooms and artichokes sounded really good, but I wanted to have a crockpot dinner.  These days that is definitely my preference, especially things that can cook in 5 hours or so.  I can throw everything together right after I put Ry down for a nap, and dinner is ready without any drama.

Anyway, looked for some recipes, pulled a little from here, a little from there, and more or less threw some stuff in the slow cooker.  And this is what I came up with.

At first I was a little disappointed.  I intended to come up with more of a creamy sauce, but it didn't happen.  But by the end of the bowl I was loving it.  And have loved it some more like four times this week.  Also, I was going to serve this over brown rice, but we didn't have enough for both Chris and I.  So I made pasta a little bit of pasta instead (1.5 cups dry to mix in with the whole recipe).  I didn't exactly write it down while I was going, but here is my attempt at a recipe for you.  

Crockpot Chicken and Artichokes

Ingredients
1 package boneless skinless chicken breasts (I think mine was just under 2lbs)
1 medium onion, chopped
1 bunch asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
6-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 small jars marinated artichoke hearts, drained and chopped
1 can petite diced tomatoes, drained
1 can low-fat cream of mushroom soup
2 teaspoons minced garlic from a jar
2 tablespoons lemon juice
salt and pepper to taste
parmesan cheese

Directions
1.  Cut your chicken into pieces the size you prefer.  Add the onion, asparagus, mushrooms, artichokes and tomatoes to your crockpot.  Then the chicken.  Some salt and pepper.  Throw in the lemon juice and garlic, and dump your soup on top.  Cook on low for 4-6 hours.  I turned my crockpot to 'keep warm' after about 5 hours, and probably should have done so a little bit sooner.  Oh, and since I'm home when my dinner is cooking, I stir every hour or so.  Just for the record.

Serve over whole wheat pasta, brown rice, or whatever you want.  Top with some parmesan cheese.

Yep, I'm a master chef.  I know it.

Enjoy!

a whole lotta this & that

I've got lots and lots of things rambling around in my head, so I decided to just go ahead and throw it all in to one post.

::  If I was just posting a recipe today (have you noticed that trend?  I've started trying to post a recipe every Friday) it would have been this one.  Chocolate Avocado Muffins.  Sounds a bit strange, yes, but they taste pretty dang good.  Chris said he preferred them over the banana oatmeal bites.

::  My house looks nice.  It is put together, the furniture coordinates, it is designed well (I know, tooting my own horn, whatever, it's true.  My house IS put together).  But nothing in it really makes me smile.  Well except the hubby and the baby of course.  But my house looks very 'model home'.  Not comfy, cozy and personal like I would like.  I really need to work on that.

::  Well actually there is one room in my home that makes me almost smile.  Ryann's room.  It still isn't 'finished' (by her second birthday maybe...) but I put a lot of love into that room.  Lately I've seen it on pinterest a couple times.  But when I follow the link it goes to someone else's blog, and generally I'm not credited at all.  It isn't like I think it is the best room in the world and I want all the credit or anything, but I'm a little (A LOT) bummed when I don't get a little pat on the back for my hard work.  I know I could remedy the situation a little bit by watermarking my photos, but I just haven't wanted do that.  So do me a favor, if you ever share anything from my blog, or anyone else's, give the originator credit.  It is the right thing to do.

:: I got a new phone cover this week.  It makes me smile :).

::  Have I talked about what Ryann is going to be for Halloween yet?  I honestly can't remember, and don't feel like browsing the archives to find out.   Nonetheless, Ryann is going to be a penguin.  How did we end up with that?  She requested it, of course.  Originally the plan was for her to be Jessie from Toy Story, Chris was going to be Woody and I was going to be Little Bo Peep.  Randomly one day I asked her what she wanted to be for Halloween.  "Pain-gun."  Wait what?  I waited a little bit, "Ryann, what do you want to be for Halloween?"  "Pain-gun."  I've asked her multiple times across various weeks and I always get the same answer.  It is a little tougher for me to pull together a cute penguin costume, but when a one year old specifically requests a costume, I suppose I better get on it!  Now I just have to figure out what Chris and I will be...

::  I've been getting comments or e-mails here and there, asking to be a part of the 'day in the life' series.  Currently I'm scheduled through the first of the year.  In December I'll ask for volunteers again.  It is easier for me to just do it all at once, so if you've tried to contact me about the 'day in the life' series and I haven't responded (I'm of course incredibly sorry), be on the lookout in December!

::  I NEED TO GET MY CRAFT ON.  Seriously.  I'm having craft withdrawls, but I can't narrow down something I want to do/have the supplies for.  Someone kick me in the creative butt please?

::  All you mommies out there, do you have any suggestions for music for toddlers?  Preferably that I can purchase on iTunes?  We need some appropriate jams to listen to around this place.

::  I am TERRIBLE at responding to comments all you lovelies leave me.  I feel horrible about it.  Just know that I do read EVERY SINGLE ONE.  One way to help me respond to those comments?  Make sure your e-mail is available through blogger.  Also, if you have questions about stuff, feel free to ask them over on the facebook page!  I would love to have a little more sense of community over there.  Suppose it would help if I posted more than just links to posts over there too :).

::  I made chili in the slow cooker yesterday, based on this recipe.  MMMMMMMM.  It was good.  And I had it again for lunch today.  So good!

::  Finally, some pictures that I haven't shared but wanted to.  First up, Ryann playing in my parent's pool a few weeks ago.  She was having so much fun filling up the bucket in the hose, and I caught a picture just as she was dumping it on herself.

::  Have I mentioned that my dad is a pretty cool dude?  He is a rock star business man, he rides a Harley, is a pretty good piano player, has a drum set... his most recent addition to his one man band?  Some guitars.  Ryann likes to play too :).  For the record, this is his travel guitar.

::  When we went to Omaha a couple of weeks ago, one of the first things we did was set up the pack 'n play.  Chris tossed the mattress aside while he was setting up the base, and Ryann immediately laid down on it like that was exactly what she was supposed to do.  That little blurb doesn't really do it justice, but it was pretty adorable.

overnight meatball and pasta casserole

Just go ahead and mark this one as quite possibly the easiest (and incredibly delicious!) casserole dish you will ever make.  I won't pretend its healthy.  But man.  Easy and oh so good.

please excuse my completely unappetizing photo of the dish

My mom and I put this dish together, as well as this make ahead chicken casserole, for the 4th of July.  This one 100% tastier than the chicken dish that took much much longer to prepare.  She put it together again this past weekend, along with this chicken dish.  The meatball casserole was still the clear favorite (although I actually liked the chicken dish too this time).  If you don't want to spend a lot of time in the kitchen this dish is a great go-to.  Seriously, you throw everything into the dish FROZEN.

Overnight Meatball and Pasta Casserole
from Pillsbury's Casseroles & One-Dish Meals, October 1999

Ingredients

• 1 (14-ounce) jar spaghetti sauce
• 1 (10 3/4 ounce) can condensed Cheddar cheese soup
• 1 cup water
• 6 1/2 ounces (3 cups) uncooked mini lasagna noodles (mafalda)
• 1 cup frozen bell pepper and onion stir-fry, larger pieces cut up
• 1 (16 ounce) package frozen precooked Italian meatballs
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) shredded mozzarella cheese
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions

1. In an ungreased 12x8-inch (2-quart) baking dish, combine spaghetti sauce, soup and water; mix well.  Stir in uncooked noodles, and bell pepper and onion stir-fry.  Add meatballs; turn to coat with sauce.  (Noodles should be completely covered with sauce.)  Cover tightly with foil; refrigerate at least 8 hours or overnight.
2. When ready to bake, heat oven to 350 degrees.  Bake covered for 45 minutes.
3. Uncover baking dish; sprinkle with cheese and parsley.  Bake uncovered for an additional 5 to 10 minutes or until casserole is bubbly and cheese is melted.

Enjoy!

parmesan tilapia and edamame succotash

Stay with my mom rocks for many reasons, but one I really love?  I can find recipes and say "will you make this?"  She almost always says yes.  So I handed her a recipe for broiled parmesan tilapia.  She combined that, with a recipe for succotash that she found flipping through a Parents magazine at my house.  Dinner was FANTASTIC.

I'd never had succotash before, nor did I really know what it was (from Wikipedia: "Succotash (from Narragansett msíckquatash, "boiled corn kernels") is a food dish consisting primarily of corn and lima beans or other shell beans).  But this stuff was amazing.  I can't tell you what it was about it that I loved so much, but I couldn't get enough.  Thankfully there were leftovers, because the next two days I mixed in some grilled chicken strips and sauteed mushrooms for my lunch.  Such a great little bowl of happiness.

Broiled Parmesan Tilapia
from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine, August/September 2011

Ingredients

• 6 tilapia fillets (6 ounces each)
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese (my mom only had mozerella, it worked)
• 1/4 cup reduced-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon butter, softened
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh basil or 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon of seafood seasoning

 Directions

1. Place fillets on a broiler pan coated with cooking spray.  In a small bowl, combine remaining ingredients; spread over filets.
2. Broil 3-4 inches from the heat for 10-12 minutes or until fish flakes easily with a fork.

 Such an easy recipe, even I could make it (but it is more fun when my mom does it for me, right?).  I wonder if you could swap greek yogurt for the mayo...  One serving has 207 calories.

Edamame and Sweet Corn Succotash
from Parents Magazine, August 2011

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 3 green onions, sliced, white and green parts separated
• 1 cup corn kernels (2 ears of corn)
• 1 cup shelled frozen edamame
• 1/2 cup chopped red sweet pepper
• 2 teaspoons finely chopped fresh marjoram or oregano (my mom used oregano)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• freshly ground black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 cup low-sodium vegetable broth
• 1/2 teaspoon cornstarch
• 2 teaspoons unsalted butter

Directions

1. Heat oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Add white part of green onion and cook until fragrant and starting to brown slightly, about one minute.  Stir in corn, edamame, sweet pepper, marjoram, salt and black pepper.  Cook, stirring often, until the vegetables are crisp-tender, 4 to 5 minutes.
2. Stir together broth and cornstarch; add it to corn mixture along with remaining green onions.  Cook and stir until thickened, bubbly, and liquid almost evaporates, about one minute.  Remove from heat and mix in the butter until melted.

My mom said this recipe would have been really easy, if she didn't use corn from a cob, and could find edamame already shelled (does that exist somewhere?).  One half cup serving has 149 calories and 7 grams of protein.

Enjoy!

sausage pasta skillet

This is another recipe adapted from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine (the April/May 2011 issue).  Originally we made the recipe as it was written (kind of) and used chicken.  But this week we had turkey sausage in our fridge, and I was craving mac & cheese with turkey sausage (Chris and I used to eat it all the time, but it had to be the shapes mac & cheese, I won't eat the plain elbow noodles), so this was a happy medium between the two.  I am happy to report that we think this recipe is way better with the turkey sausage.

Personally I feel like this should be a pretty family friendly recipe, but that assumes your family loves broccoli and asparagus.  Which I absolutely love.  Ryann of course wouldn't touch it, but it's fine, she is just going to eat veggie tots and salmon stix for the rest of her life.  No biggie.

The only negatives to this recipe that I see are for one, the process cheese.  Personally I'm a little grossed out by Velveeta, but I don't have any better ideas.  So if you do, let me know.  Two, boiling the veggies, which causes them to lose some of their nutritional value.  I know you could saute those in the skillet as opposed to the boiling, but it sure does make it quick and easy.  You win some you lose some, right?

Sausage Pasta Skillet

Ingredients

• 2 cups uncooked whole wheat spiral pasta
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 pound asparagus, cut into one inch pieces
• 16 ounces smoked turkey sausage, sliced
• 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 2 tablespoons butter
• 2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup fat-free half-and-half
• 4 ounces reduced-fat process cheese (Velveeta), cubed
• 1 teaspoon garlic-herb seasoning blend
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1-2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce

Directions

1. In a large saucepan, cook pasta according to package directions, adding the broccoli and asparagus during the last 3 minutes of cooking; drain.
2. Spray a large skillet with nonstick spray.  Saute mushrooms and sausage until cooked to your liking.  Remove from skillet and set aside.
3. Melt butter in the skillet.  Combine flour and broth until smooth; stir into pan.  Add half-and-half.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 1 minute or until thickened.  Add the process cheese, seasoning blend, salt and Worcestershire sauce; stir until smooth.
4. Stir in pasta mixture, sausage and mushrooms.  Heat through. 

Enjoy!

cilantro-lime chicken with avocado salsa

I am proud to say my taste buds are changing and my food selections are expanding.  Ask my close friends, I seriously used to be the pickiest eater.  Just go back through my recipes, towards the beginning all of them used pasta, chicken, broccoli and mushrooms in some sort of white cream sauce.  I still LOVE those ingredients, but I am finding more things I like just as well.

A surprising one for me?  Avocado.  That is not something we had growing up, and if my mom didn't make it, I wouldn't try it.  But now I am loving guacamole and things that have avocado in them.  I found this chicken recipe via pinterest, and it definitely didn't disappoint.  Even Christopher, who is still a bit skeptical of avocado, liked it.  We both wanted more of the salsa though, maybe we will double that part next time.

Cilantro-Lime Chicken with Avocado Salsa
a Cooking Light recipe from April 2009, found here

Ingredients
Chicken

• 2 tablespoons minced fresh cilantro
• 2 1/2 tablespoons fresh lime juice
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 (6-ounce) skinless, boneless chicken breast halves
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• cooking spray

Salsa

• 1 cup chopped plum tomato (about 2)
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1 avocado, peeled and finely chopped

Directions

1. To prepare chicken, combine first four ingredients in a large bowl; toss and let stand for 3 minutes (I think we let it go 10-15 minutes).  Remove chicken chicken from marinade; discard marinade.  Sprinkle chicken evenly with 1/4 teaspoon salt.  
2. Heat a grill pan over medium-high heat.  Coat pan with cooking spray.  add chicken to pan; cook 6 minutes on each side or until done.  (Chris grilled our chicken, we really liked it that way.)
3. To prepare salsa, combine tomato and next four ingredients (through pepper) in a medium bowl.  Add avocado; stir gently to combine.  Serve salsa over chicken.

One chicken breast half + a quarter cup of the salsa is about 289 calories.

Enjoy!

honey-soy broiled salmon

This salmon recipe is great.  Especially if you don't love a fishy taste.  The flavor of the marinade is strong and good.  I found the recipe here.  Chris grilled the salmon as opposed to broiling it, but I'm sure it would be fine either way.

I've decided to start including the recipe in the post, even if it is already listed elsewhere online.  I figure when I maybe possibly actually print a blog book, I'll enjoy being able to use the recipe straight from the book.  You know in case the internet explodes or something like that.  Entirely possible of course.  So here you go!

Honey-Soy Broiled Salmon

Ingredients

• 1 scallion, minced
• 2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger
• 1 pound center-cut salmon fillet, skinned and cut into four pieces
• 1 teaspoon toasted sesame seeds

Directions

1. Whisk scallion, soy sauce, vingar, honey and ginger in a medium bowl until the honey is dissolved.  Place salmon in a sealable plastic bag, add three tablespoons of the sauce and refrigerate; let marinate for 15 minutes.  Preserve the remaining sauce.
2. Preheat broiler.  Line a small baking pan with foil and coat with cooking spray.
3. Transfer the salmon to the pan, skinned-side down.  (Discard the marinade)  Broil the salmon 4 to 6 inches from the heat source until cooked through, 6 to 10 minutes.  Drizzle with the reserved sauce and garnish with sesame seeds.

One serving of salmon has 234 calories, 13 grams of fat and 23 grams of protein.

Enjoy!

sausage and pumpkin pasta

Yeah, I know.  It is July.  Not exactly pumpkin recipe time.  But when my grocery store ran out of pumpkin, I bought six cans somewhere else when I found it.  So I had some left.  I came across this recipe in the Healthy Cooking magazine, it sounded easy enough, and Chris agreed to it.  So we had pumpkin pasta in July.  Deal with it.

Honestly, I was a little worried about adding pumpkin.  I thought it would be like eating pumpkin bread with mushrooms and sausage, and that sounded a little strange.  But it doesn't have cinnamon or nutmeg or any of the other things that make pumpkin bread taste the way it does, so there really wasn't a strong pumpkin flavor in my opinion.  Just tasty goodness.  Maybe in the form of glorified hamburger helper, but I liked it.

Sausage and Pumpkin Pasta
(from Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking Magazine)

Ingredients
2 cups uncooked multigrain bow tie pasta
1/2 pound Italian turkey sausage links, casings removed
1/2 pound sliced fresh mushrooms
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup white wine or additional reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 teaspoon rubbed sage
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon dried parsley flakes

Directions
1.  Cook pasta according to package directions.
2.  Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, cook the sausage, mushrooms, onion and garlic over medium heat until meat is no longer pink.  Drain.
3.  Stir in the broth, pumpkin, wine, sage, salt, garlic powder and pepper.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, for 5-6 minutes or until slightly thickened.
4.  Drain pasta; add to the skillet and heat through.  Just before serving, sprinkle with cheese and parsley.

Enjoy!

easy grilled lemon chicken

For reals.  It is really easy.  Well the original recipe is anyway.  And how we adapted it doesn't really make it difficult, just adds a couple of things.  I found the recipe here.

I really love allrecipes.com, just because I enjoy being able to read the reviews and see how everyone made changes to the recipe.  One reviewer suggested adding brown sugar, garlic and green onion to the marinade, and since we like all of those things we decided to go for it.  We did a tablespoon each of the brown sugar and garlic, and chopped up two green onions.

Even though we love soy sauce, I felt like the flavor was a bit strong in this recipe.  If we were to make it again I might cut the soy sauce amount in half.  While he was grilling, Chris boiled the marinade and added a little cornstarch to make a sauce.  I think that would have been really good, had the soy sauce flavor not been so overwhelming.  The chicken stayed really moist and the recipe is easy, so I think we will give it a go again sometime.

Enjoy! 

pineapple-rum turkey kabobs

This recipe is also coming at ya from 1999.  When I was copying the ginger glazed shrimp recipe, I made copies of a few others that seemed like they might be good.  This one included.  Really, we had this a few weeks ago, and I don't remember exactly what it tasted like, but I do know I was mad that I forgot to eat the leftovers before we went out of town.

Pineapple-Rum Turkey Kabobs
from Better Homes and Gardens Simply Perfect Grilling magazine, 1999

Ingredients
1/3 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
3 tablespoons rum or unsweetened pineapple juice
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon finely chopped lemongrass or 2 teaspoons finely shredded lemon peel
1 tablespoon olive oil
12 ounces boneless turkey breast
1 medium red onion, cut into thin wedges
2 nectarines or 3 plums, pitted and cut into thick slices
1 1/2 cups fresh or canned pineapple chunks
hot cooked rice (optional)

Directions
1.  For the marinade, combine the pineapple juice, rum, brown sugar, lemongrass and oil.  Cut turkey into 1-inch cubes and place in a plastic bag set in a shallow dish.  Add the marinade; seal bag and turn to coat turkey with marinade.  Refrigerate for 1 to 4 hours, turning bag occasionally.
2.  Drain marinade into a small saucepan.  Bring to boiling; cook for 2 minutes, remove from heat.  Alternately thread turkey and onion onto four 12-inch-long skewers, leaving 1/4 inch of space between pieces.
3.  Grill for 12 to 14 minutes or till turkey is tender and no longer pink, turning once and brushing occasionally with marinade.
4.  Alternately thread nectarines or plums and pineapple onto four 12-inch-long skewers.  Place on grill the last 5 minutes of grilling, turning and brushing once with marinade.  Serve kabobs with rice, if desired.  Makes 4 servings.

This recipe has 229 calories per serving (not including the rice).

Enjoy!

ginger-glazed shrimp kabobs (or chicken breasts)

This is seriously one of my favorite recipes.  My mom used to make it all the time, because well, we requested it all the time.  For some reason it had disappeared for a while, but thankfully is has resurfaced.  The recipe was originally intended for shrimp kabobs, but Chris and I are cheap.  And chicken is easier.  So we use chicken.  But I'll go ahead and share the recipe as originally written.

We only grilled three chicken breasts, and the recipe definitely makes twice as much glaze as you actually need.  Also, we rarely actually grill any pineapple with this.  I just LOVE the glaze on chicken and shrimp.

Ginger-Glazed Shrimp Kabobs
from Better Homes and Gardens Simply Perfect Grilling magazine, 1999

Ingredients
1 cup bottled barbecue sauce
2/3 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
2 tablespoons cooking oil (we used olive oil)
4 teaspoons grated gingerroot or 1.5 teaspoons ground giner
1.25 pounds fresh or frozen large shrimp in shells
1/4 of a fresh pineapple, cut in to wedges

Directions
1.  For the glaze, combine the barbecue sauce, pineapple juice, oil and ginger in a medium bowl; set aside.  (You may make the glaze up to 1 week ahead and store, covered, in the refrigerator.)
2.  Thaw shrimp, if frozen.  Peel shrimp, leaving tails intact, and devein, if desired.  Thread shrimp onto six 12-inch-long skewers; brush with glaze.  Thread pineapple onto three 12-inch-long skewers; set aside.
3.  Grill shrimp for 10 to 12 minutes or till opaque, turning once halfway through grilling time.  Add pineapple skewers to the grill for the last 5 minutes of grilling, turning once and brushing with sauce halfway through.  Brush shrimp with glaze again the last 2 minutes.
4.  Heat remaining glaze to boiling to serve as a dipping sauce.  Makes 6 servings.

One serving  (with shrimp of course) has 180 calories, 2 grams total fat, 26 grams of carbs and 14 grams of protein.

Enjoy!

carribean chicken tenderloins

It's a good thing I rarely turn off my computer or close internet pages.  When blogger exploded yesterday I had already written this draft, but thankfully I could just back arrow to it and copy & paste.

Well we found another great recipe in Taste of Home's Healthy Cooking magazine.  It was nice and light, and the pineapple juice seemed perfect for the couple of 90 degree days we have had.

We did switch up the recipe a bit, because I am terrified of even slightly spicy food.  Chris made his own Caribbean jerk seasoning, and left out the cayenne pepper.  Instead of spicy brown mustard we used dijon.  Based on our results, I'd say if you like a little kick, make the recipe as is and it should be fantastic.  Our version was a tiny bit bland, but still had a good amount of flavor thanks to the pineapple juice.  I also made Chris throw in some mushrooms, because I freaking love mushrooms :o).  I add them to anything I can.  Also, I think it would work to grill the chicken if you prefer it that way, but it is up to you!

Caribbean Chicken Tenderloins
from the June/July 2010 issue of Healthy Cooking

Ingredients
1 pound chicken tenderloins
2 teaspoons Caribbean jerk (Jamaican jerk) seasoning
3 teaspoons olive oil
2.5 cups cut fresh asparagus
1 cup pineapple tidbits, drained
4 green onions, chopped
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1 cup unsweetened pineapple juice
1 tablespoon spicy brown mustard
2 cups hot cooked rice

Directions
1.  Rub chicken with jerk seasoning.  In a large skillet cooked with cooking spray, cook chicken in 1 teaspoon olive oil over medium heat for 3-4 minutes on each side or until juices run clear.  Remove and keep warm.
2.  In the same skillet, saute the asparagus, pineapple and onions in remaining oil for 2-3 minutes or until tender.  Combine the cornstarch, pineapple juice and mustard until smooth; gradually stir into the pan.  Bring to a boil; cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened.  Serve with chicken and rice.

3 ounces of cooked chicken with 1/2 cup asparagus mixture and 1/2 cup rice equals 314 calories.  It doesn't say what kind of rice, we used brown.

Enjoy!