Fast and FABULOUS Southwest Chicken!

I saw this on the Taste of Home Fb post today, and decided to try it for dinner tonight. It was quick, easy, healthy and flavorful. It was well received by the husband and the kids, and did I mention how EASY it was?

It's a perfect meal in a pinch, 20 minutes to tasty :)

• 4 Servings
• Prep/Total: 25 min.

Ingredients

• 3 teaspoons chili powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 4 boneless skinless chicken breast halves (4 ounces each)
• 2 teaspoons canola oil
• 1 can (15 ounces) black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1 cup frozen corn
• 1 cup salsa
• 2 cups cooked brown rice

Directions

• Combine the chili powder, cumin, pepper and salt; rub over chicken. In a large nonstick skillet coated with cooking spray, brown chicken in oil on both sides. Stir in the beans, corn and salsa. Cover and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes or until a meat thermometer reads 170°.
• Slice chicken; serve with rice and bean mixture. Yield: 4 servings.

Cooking for 2: Black Bean Chicken with Rice for Two

Nutrition Facts: 1 chicken breast half with 3/4 cup bean mixture and 1/2 cup rice equals 400 calories, 7 g fat (1 g saturated fat), 63 mg cholesterol, 670 mg sodium, 52 g carbohydrate, 8 g fiber, 32 g protein.

Microwave Popcorn.

Raise your hand if you have never looked at the ingredients or nutrition information on your bag of microwave popcorn.  Raise your hand if you buy the 100-calorie bags and think you are eating healthy because it is only 100 calories of whole grains.  Raise your hand if you HAVE looked and will not eat microwave popcorn due to the amounts of trans-fats in each serving. 

If you haven't looked, look.  Most microwave popcorn is saturated in partially hydrogenated vegetable oils, to the point where each serving can have several grams of trans fats.  Yuck.  So much for those 100 calories being "healthy". 

You could buy "organic" microwave popcorn bags, but then you have to be willing to shell out the bucks for them.  You could air pop it, but then you have to own and store an air popper.  Or you could do the old fashioned pop it on the stove method (which is what I like best for the kiddos), but then you have to have the time and energy to do it and clean up after it!  BUT, good old Orville now has a solution for those of us who are cash, appliance, and energy challenged: Gourmet Microwave Popcorn, Natural.  It isn't organic, and you are still buying into the corn chain (thanks for sticking that to me, Micheal Pollan), but, you are now skipping all the partially hydrogenated CRUD build up in your system.  Hooray.  And, are you ready for this???? Even the 50% less fat version tastes FANTASTIC!  It is really yummy.  The whole bag works out to just a little over 100 calories and 5 grams of fat (the whole BIG bag) of yumminess.  Oh yeah, and don't forget the whole grains! 

Final benefit?  Sign up for Amazon's "subscribe and save" deal on it, and you can get each box (3 big bags each) for about 2 bucks.  **warning: you have to be willing to store 12 boxes**  Once you get the delivery, you just cancel your subscription with no further obligation.

Healthy eating + discount = Happy Mandy!

Cookies on a (calorie) budget

These cookies are ridiculously good.  And a pretty decent size.  And have a pretty decent calorie count.  And did I mention they are ridiclously good?

Stats per cookie:
Calories: 137
Fat: 8.1g (sat 3.4g)
Carbs: 16.1g
Protein: 2.5g
Fiber: 1.3g

Ingredients:
1 cup of butter (you can save 15 calories per cookie if you replace 1/2 cup with applesauce or pumpkin)
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup stevia (I used 1/2 cup Sun Crystals blend of sugar and stevia)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 cup natural peanut butter
1 dollop (about 1/8-1/4 cup) greek yogurt
2 eggs
2 T vanilla
2 cups rolled oats
2 cups flour (I only had white on hand today, but the cookies would definitely take a 1/2 and 1/2 mix of white and wheat)
1/2 cup wheat germ (or wheat flour)
1 t baking soda
2 cups chocolate chips (you can save 37 calories per cookie by skipping these.  They will still be delicious, but, well, they are chocolate chips.  They are worth it.)

1. Preheat oven to 350.  Cream butter and sugars.  Blend in peanut butter, yogurt, eggs, and vanilla.

2. Mix oats, flours, and baking soda (I also added a pinch of salt).  Incorporate into wet ingredients.  Stir in chocolate chips.

3. Drop by rounded tablespoons (really, they were bigger than tablespoons) 1 inch apart on baking sheets (to grease or not to grease is your choice... I grease when I don't have parchment on hand).  Bake 10-12 minutes (don't overbake: they will appear slightly unset in the middle when done).  Cool (if you can wait that long) and eat. Try not to eat all 5 dozen.  ;-)

Yogurt Pancakes

My weird kids do not eat grains or baked goods.  It is impossible to get whole grains into them.  They sometimes make me wonder if they are, in fact, MY children.  However, last night we had breakfast for dinner and these yummy, light, fluffy and HEALTHFUL pancakes got gobbled up.  I actually ran out and had to turn people away from the table wanting more (not a bad thing at all).  So, try this. 

Greek Yogurt Pancakes


Makes 12 4-inch pancakes

Indgredients:

•8 oz. Greek yogurt
•7 tbsp. all-purpose flour (instead of flour, I used Bob's Redmill Multigrain pancake mix, which is simply a lightly sweetened, lightly leavened blend of many wonderful whole grains.  I highly suggest it.  If you don't have it or don't want it, wheat flour will work just fine to keep them whole grain.)
•1 tbsp. sugar (I used half a T of Sun Crystals: a stevia/sugar blend)

•1 tsp. baking soda (reduce this if you use the pancake mix)

•1/2 tsp. salt

•2 large eggs

•1/2 tsp. vanilla extract (I used more like a Tablespoon)

And of course, add flavor: lemon juice, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, whatever you like.  I did fresh ground nutmeg and fresh ground Saigon Cinnamon.  Next time I will add lemon juice.

Directions:

Place Greek yogurt in a medium bowl. Add flour, sugar, baking soda and salt. Stir together very gently. Stop short of the mixture being totally combined. You want the pancakes to have some interesting texture.

Whisk eggs in a separate bowl. Add vanilla to eggs and stir to combine. Pour egg mixture into the Greek yogurt-flour mixture. Stir together gently. Don’t worry about the mixture being totally combined; a little white and yellow swirling is fine.

Pour the batter onto a griddle sprayed with cooking spray, ¼ cup at a time.  Keep plenty of room between the pancakes, as they will spread!  Cook for 1 to 1 1/2 minutes, then flip the pancakes. Cook for another 45 seconds and remove to plate. Repeat with the remaining batter. Top pancakes with fruit or desired toppings (you know, like good old Maple Syrup).

Fabulous

Because I said I would.

What I did with the first of my $.85 cans of organic pumpkin puree

Here is the recipe as found online.  I will give you my changes and comments in blue.  Because, really, who can pass up pumpkin waffles???  Not us.  Ella actually took a bite and said, "Mom, these are even good without syrup!!"

Ultimate Pumpkin Waffles Recipe


In my mind, the perfect pumpkin waffles recipe channels all the delicious flavor of pumpkin pie into waffle form. After 90 or so batches that have distilled the recipe through countless variations on ingredient proportions and mixing techniques, I’ve developed a waffle I think is truly exceptional. It uses more pumpkin than literally any other recipe available and is wonderfully rich in spices, thanks to a carefully-balanced blend of cinnamon, clove, ginger, and fresh nutmeg. I hope you love it.

It’s not meant to be a good recipe. It’s not meant to be great. It’s meant to be the best…

INGREDIENTS

makes 4 round “Belgian” style pumpkin waffles With my little waffle maker, we got 8 waffles

• 1/4 cup light brown sugar I doubled this and made them super sweet.  You could also do molasses or stevia

• 3 Tbsp. cornstarch

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour I think the recipe would hold up well with some wheat flour subbed in

• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder

• 1/2 tsp. salt

• 1 3/4 tsp. cinnamon

• 2 tsp. ginger

• 1/4 tsp. cloves

• 1/2 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg*

• 2 large eggs

• 1 cup whole milk I used "Royal Rich" which is skim milk with some of the water removed

• 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin I used a wee bit more to make up for the fat I didn't have in the milk

• 4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and warm  I think you could cut this down if you want to make them trimmer

*Grated and lightly packed into the spoon, use 1/2 tsp. Grated and loosely scooped, this is about 1 tsp. of nutmeg. If you have to use pre-grated, dried nutmeg, use 1/4 tsp.


DIRECTIONS

1. Lightly oil the waffle iron with vegetable oil I used butter for better flavor, but the waffles came out a little soggy, and set it to the desired temperature.

2. Combine brown sugar and cornstarch in a large bowl. Whisk together to break apart the cornstarch. Add the remaining dry ingredients, and whisk to blend.

3. Separate eggs: yolks go in a medium sized bowl and whites get set aside in a smaller bowl.

4. Add pumpkin and milk to the egg yolks. Whisk to blend and set aside.

5. Whip egg whites with a hand mixer on high until stiff peaks form – about 1 1/2 – 2 minutes. Set aside.

6. Pour melted butter into the yolk/milk/pumpkin mixture. As you pour, whisk to combine.

7. Add the pumpkin mixture to the dry ingredients, and mix them together until just combined. A little lumpiness is fine. That will smooth out when the egg whites are added.

8. Slide the whipped egg whites out of the bowl and onto the mixture you just prepared. Gently fold them in until no white bits are obvious.

9. Once the waffle iron is heated, you’re ready to pour the batter! In my Presto FlipSide waffle maker, cook time is exactly 2 minutes 30 seconds.

These really were super yummy.  I couldn't get the boys to stop eating them.  Me either, for that matter!  They were a super good "breakfast" form of pumpkin pie.  Yum.

Awesome Chai Tea

I just found a fabulous chai tea, that you all should look for. It's pre-made, in a jar. It's called Bhakti Chai Tea, and it's made in Boulder. I found it on clearance (which blows because they probably won't carry it anymore) in my refrigerated section. It's amazing, spicy, steamy deliciousness in a mug. It puts all other chai tea to shame. Even mixed with almost half milk, it's got a serious kick. If you like chai tea with a personality, look for this brand!

Chicago Italian Roast Beef

I am posting for Gail.  She made this over Thanksgiving and it was DELICIOUS and easy. 

Chicago Style Italian Roast Beef Sandwiches


3-4 pounds beef chuck roast

6-8 cloves garlic, whole, peeled

1 TBSP crushed red pepper ( I use more like 2+ tsp)

1 TBSP dried oregano leaves

1+ TBSP salt

2 bay leaves

¾ cup water

2 loaves crusty baguette or buns or whatever bread you like



Make several slits in the beef roast and poke the garlic cloves in the slits.

In a large Dutch oven or heavy pan, spray with Pam. Place roast inside. Sprinkle the roast with the crushed red pepper, oregano and salt. Add bay leaves and water.

Bake, covered, in a preheated 275 F oven until tender (3-3 ½ hours). Baste if needed and add more water if needed.



Remove meat from the pan, slice at an angle in thin slices across the grain, or if it is tender enough, it will just fall apart. De-fat the juice.

Serve with sauted onions and peppers and horseradish sauce if desired.  We also put provolone cheese on the sandwiches.  Super yum.

Serves 8-10

Lemon Banana Muffins

Yes, these are carbs, but if you make mini muffins, they are 27 calories and .3g fat each (the large version has 143 calories and 2g fat).  A nice, sweet, healthful way to curb that craving for sweets!  Bonus: the kids LOVE them. 

Ingredients:
1/2-3/4 cup agave nectar (you can also use honey or sugar)
2 T canola oil
4 egg whites
1 T vanilla
zest of 1 lemon
juice of 1 lemon
6oz fat free plain yogurt
2 cups flour (I haven't used wheat in this yet, but I am quite sure it would be wonderful)
2 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
4 mashed bananas

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 F
2. Mix sugar, oil, egg, vanilla, lemon, and yogurt
3. Add flour and leavening
4. Fold in bananas
5. Fill greased or lined muffin tins about 3/4 full (should make 8 dozen mini muffins or about 18 regular)
For mini muffins, bake 12 minutes.  For regular, bake 25 minutes.

These are also delicious with some fresh or frozen blueberries tossed in.  Yum.

Butternut Squash and Creamed-Spinach Gratin

My brother made this as a vegetable side one year for Thanksgiving and it was a hit. I made it last week and then volunteered to make it for Thanksgiving this year:

3 pounds fresh spinach, stems discarded, or 3 (10-ounce) packages frozen leaf spinach, thawed
5 tablespoons unsalted butter plus additional for greasing pan
3/4 cup finely chopped onion (1 small)
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3/4 teaspoon black pepper
Rounded 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 cup heavy cream
4 pounds butternut squash (2 large), peeled, quartered, and seeded

If using fresh spinach, bring 1 inch water to a boil in a 6- to 8-quart pot over high heat. Add spinach, a few handfuls at a time, and cook, turning with tongs, until wilted, 3 to 5 minutes. Drain in a colander and rinse under cold water. Thoroughly squeeze cooked fresh or thawed frozen spinach in small handfuls to remove excess moisture, then coarsely chop and transfer to a bowl.

Melt 3 tablespoons butter in an 8-inch heavy skillet over moderately low heat, then cook onion and garlic, stirring, until softened, 3 to 5 minutes. Add onion mixture to spinach along with salt, pepper, nutmeg, and cream and stir to combine.

Put oven rack in upper third of oven and preheat oven to 400°F. Butter a 3-quart shallow baking dish (13 by 9 inches).

Cut squash to separate bulb section from solid neck section, then cut pieces lengthwise into 1/8-inch-thick slices with slicer (I bought a $10 slicing mandolin from Target and it is worth every penny. I also have to wear plastic gloves while I handle the peeled butternut squash- otherwise it zaps all of the moisture from my hands. If you experience the same reaction, get gloves or use a little olive oil to return the moisture to your skin).

Layer squash and spinach mixture in baking dish, using about one fifth of squash and one fourth of spinach for each layer, beginning and ending with squash. Sprinkle top layer of squash evenly with cheese and dot with remaining 2 tablespoons butter, then cover directly with a sheet of parchment or wax paper. Bake until squash is tender and filling is bubbling, 25 to 30 minutes. Remove paper and bake gratin until browned in spots, 10 to 15 minutes, or broil 3 inches from heat, 2 to 3 minutes.

Better than Starbucks Salted Hot Chocolate

It certainly doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this one out but I thought I'd share anyway...

Milk- cows, soy, almond, whatever you prefer
Hot Chocolate Mix- I make mine with cocoa, sugar and salt according to the cocoa box directions (eyeballing it of course- God forbid I should measure something)
Carmel Flavored Coffee Creamer- of course there's always alternatives, but I'll admit, I'm not stringent about coffee creamer
Kosher Salt- because that's what makes it salted.

Directions:

Heat milk, add hot chocolate mix, creamer and a dash of salt. Stir well, pour into mugs and enjoy!

Skinny Women Don't Eat Quiche

Or do they? 

Yes, yes they do.  Now, the new and improved pastry-less but tasty-ful quiche! (Don't be afraid of the non-traditional crust.  It isn't a pastry, but it is really nutty and yummy!)

Crust:
1.5-2 cups cooked brown rice
.5 cups of your favorite cheese, shredded (I used a mix of lite swiss, 2% cheddar, and parm)

Mix rice and cheese.  Press into quiche pan and up edges to form a crust.  Bake at 400 for 5 minutes.

Quiche:
3 eggs
2 egg whites
1 cup plain fat free yogurt (I used greek)
3/4 cup grated cheese (I used the same mix as above; use flavorful cheese like feta, pepper jack, swiss, parm, asiago, etc)
salt to taste
pepper to taste (I use white)
1 t paprika
1.2 t granulated garlic
pinch of fresh grated nutmeg
about 10oz steamed and squeezed dry spinach
chopped green onions

Mix all ingredients and pour into baked "crust".  Bake at 385 for about 25-30 minutes until set.  Top with diced tomatoes. 

You can change the quiche a lot by playing with the cheeses, spices, and vegetables.  Make it Mexican or Italian night if you don't want plain old quiche! 

Anything cooked with this is better:

Boulder Sausage Premium Italian Sausage Merlot Wine, Asiago Cheese & Sun Dried Tomatoes.

City Market/King Soopers used to stock it but it didn't sell fast enough. Lucky for me, I could often find it with a $1.00 sale sticker and I'd buy 'em up. Unfortunately, I haven't found it on the shelf for almost a year. I special ordered a case (6pkgs) from the meat manager and picked it up Wednesday. I'm not sure any of the packages will actually make it to the freezer.

I made a huge pot of Italian Sausage soup Wednesday night, spaghetti last night and will use it as pizza topping tonight.

Italian Sausage Soup as I make it:
-One box of Organic Chicken Broth
-One bag of Organic Carrots
-2 Organic Zucchini
-2 Organic Yellow Squash
-2 t. minced garlic
-2 cans Muir Italian roasted diced tomatoes (full can, not drained)
-Approx 2 T. Italian Herb Seasoning (I'm not good with measuring when it comes to herbs. I generally start shaking the jar until it *looks* right and then add a little more and then grab two or three other herbs for a few shakes).
-2 pkgs Boulder Italian Sausage Merlot Wine, Asiago Cheese, & Sun Dried Tomatoes
-Sometimes I add Spaghetti Squash or small pasta wheels.

I try to use Organic as much as possible. If you haven't made the switch because it's too expensive, it's probably because you're still buying too many processed foods at the grocery store. Take away all those $3-$4 processed items and you can definitely afford a few more cents for the organic.

I take the point of a sharp knife to slit the casing around the sausage and remove prior to sauteing the sausage in bite sized chunks. I also rinse the sausage after cooking so the extra grease doesn't go into the soup. Dump your sliced veggies, cans of tomatoes, garlic and herbs in a large pot with the chicken broth and let simmer until tender. Add the sausage at the end. I portion the soup into 6-8 tupperware containers and top with an Italian blend of cheese.

If serving immediately, you should probably have some sort of warm crusty Italian bread to go with it!

Oddly delicious pot roast

Ok, so I made this tonight. It was one of those, "what do I have in my kitchen?" kind of meals and it was DEEEEElicious and very well received by Mom, Gramma, husband and neighbor. Now again, because I don't measure I can only give approximates, but here it goes...

Chuck Roast 2 lbs (or your favorite cut of meat)
1 TBS each- onion powder, garlic powder, season salt, pepper
Few cloves of garlic
One Onion
Chili Sauce approx half a bottle
Guinness Bear 3/4 bottle

Combine spices and apply to meat as a dry rub
Sear the roast in a hot pan with some oil on both sides
Move meat to crock pot
Slightly saute onion and garlic in remaining oil from the pan in which you seared the roast and then place on top of meat in crock pot.

In a bowl, combine chili sauce and beer then pour over roast.

Set temp according to crock pot directions and when it's done you will have a fall-apart, slightly tangy, extremely savory roast!

I served it with mash cauliflower and mixed veg. SOOOOOOOO good!

Meatless Monday- Green Chile and Egg Breakfast Casserole

My mom picked this recipe up from my cousin and I picked it up from Googling a few of the ingredients. LOVE IT!

Serves/Makes: 8 Difficulty Level: 3 Ready In: 30-60 minutes

Ingredients:
10 eggs
1 pint cottage cheese
1/2 cup melted butter
1/2 cup unsifted flour
1 pound shredded Sonoma Jack or Monterrey Jack cheese
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cans (4 oz. size) diced green chilies

Directions: Preheat oven to 350. Beat eggs and add remaining ingredients. Bake in buttered 9" quiche dishes or 9x13" baking dish. Bake for 35 minutes or until eggs are firm and inserted knife comes out clean. This dish can be made ahead of time, refrigerated and baked just before serving. It is also good with spinach and mushrooms.