Bean Salad

Trying to come up with something new for a cookout recently, I stumbled across this delicious recipe for bean salad.  It's very easy and it's sure to be a big hit at your next get together.  

Ingredients:

-1 (14.5 ounce) can green beans, drained

-1 (14.5 ounce) can wax beans, drained

-1 (15.5 ounce) can garbanzo beans, drained

-1 (14.5 ounce) can kidney beans, drained

-1 (14.5 ounce) can black beans, drained

-1/2 cup chopped green pepper

-1/2 cup chopped onion

-1/2 cup chopped celery

-1/2 cup salad oil  (I wasn't sure what salad oil was. I found helpful information here. I ended up using canola oil,)

-1/2 cup vinegar (I used white wine vinegar.)

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

• -3/4 cup white sugar

*To aim for less sodium, look for cans labeled "no salt added" or "low sodium."

Original recipe makes 12 cups.

Combine the green beans, wax beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans, green pepper, onion, and celery in a large bowl; toss to mix.

Whisk together the oil, vinegar, salt, pepper, and sugar in a separate bowl until the sugar is dissolved; pour over the bean mixture.

Refrigerate 8 hours (or overnight) before serving.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I was in the mood for soup and wanted something with chicken. What I found was chicken pot pie soup. Although I do love the crust topping on my original chicken pot pie recipe, this is a nice change. And, it's fairly healthy, especially if you use low sodium ingredients if you can. We decided to make bread bowls as well. It was perfect for a chilly Spring night.

Ingredients: 

• 1/4 cup flour (to make gluten-free use 2 tbsp cornstarch instead)
• 2 cups water 
• 4 cups fat free milk
• 1 large celery stalk, chopped
• 1/2 medium chopped onion
• 8 oz sliced baby portabella mushrooms 
• 2 chicken bouillons (I used vegetable broth because it has less sodium  1 cup broth = 1 bouillon cube.)
• fresh ground pepper
• pinch of thyme
• 10 oz frozen classic mixed vegetables (peas, carrots, green beans, corn)
• 2 potatoes, peeled and cubed small
• 16 oz cooked chicken breast, diced small
• salt

Directions:

Create a slurry by combining 1/2 cup of the cold water with flour in a medium bowl and whisk until well blended. Set aside. (What the heck is a slurry, I wondered. You basically mix the water and flour until well combined is what I figured but I created a link to the Wikipedia page if you want a more technical explanation.)

Pour remaining water and milk into a large pot and slowly bring to a boil. Add celery, onion, mushrooms, chicken boullion, thyme, fresh pepper, frozen vegetables and return to a boil. Partially cover and simmer on low until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Remove lid, add potatoes and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add chicken, and slowly whisk in slurry, stirring well as you add. Cook another 2-3 minutes, until soup thickens, adjust salt and pepper to taste and serve. Cooking time will vary slightly.  It took mine a little longer. 

I didn't add much pepper and salt when cooking so it was added before eating and it was the perfect touch to a delicious meal.

This is something you can make in advance, whether it's the whole meal or just prepping the vegetables (celery, onion, mushrooms.) You could use rotisserie chicken but I chose to buy raw chicken. I boiled it, cut it up and  threw it in.

Enjoy!

Crock Pot Eggplant Parm (with a twist)

First, gather your supplies.  

The ingredients:

1 large eggplant

1 bottle of pasta sauce

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup bread crumbs

2 tbsp Italian seasoning

1/2 tsp kosher salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 brick of feta (crumbled) - I bought regular crumbled feta and just used as much as I thought looked sufficient. This worked just fine.

Shredded Parmesan cheese. I chose to add this to the recipe but it is not in the original ingredients.

Pasta of choice

Wash eggplant (don't peel) and slice in 1/2 inch thick pieces. Pour 1 cup or so of the sauce into the bottom of your crock pot.

Combine bread crumbs and seasoning in a shallow dish. I forgot the salt and pepper but it was fine because of the Italian seasoning. Paint both sides of each eggplant slice with olive oil and dredge slices with the bread crumb mixture.

Stagger eggplant pieces in layers into the crock pot on top of the sauce that you already poured in the pot.

Cover the slices with the rest of the jar of sauce and sprinkle cheese on top.If you want to add a little feta and Parmesan cheese to each layer before pouring on the remaining sauce, it's quite tasty. I have a real love for cheese so I like to have more rather than less. It would be good just layered on the top though.  :-D

Cover crock pot and cook on low for 4-6 hours or high for 3-4. I cooked mine on low for about 3 hours and this was plenty. It does not take long to cook.

Serve with your favorite pasta and some bread.

My husband does not like eggplant so I made this while he was away. I tried it with my almost 8 month old and he loved it. My toddler even took a few bites! He's a picky eater so I would have been happy with just one bite. :-D  

This is another very easy, very delicious meal. Enjoy!

For original recipe, please click here.

Raspberry Vinaigrette Salad

Here's a salad that is both tasty and easy to put together. It has spinach, goat cheese, blueberries, strawberries, almond slices, cucumber and croutons. All this was topped with the Dove Chocolate Raspberry Vinaigrette that I mentioned in my last post but you could use any brand of Raspberry Vinaigrette. This would also be great with some rotisserie chicken. 

Menu for the week of 5/20

I'm not sure what I used to do before I came up with a running list before going grocery shopping. I still end up having to throw some things away.  However, it is far less waste than before when I'd just go and wing it. Things definitely changed after I got married and more so after having children. Frozen dinners and ordering out aren't the best options anymore. It gets expensive! So now I come up with a weekly dinner menu and I make sure to add what I need to the list I've been keeping since my last trip to the grocery store. I kind of like knowing what the plan is for the week. One less thing to think about.  

I don't do it by day. I do it based on how many days until I plan to go to the store again. It's not easy to come up with a weekly menu and I some times stray. Maybe I don't feel like having what I was planning on or I just want good old greasy pizza or Chinese food. Or, I'm just lazy and we'll be doing a "figure it out yourself" night and my toddler will have the tried and true peanut butter and jelly.

Some times, I will try to be adventurous. Usually though, I try to figure out what I can make that could last two days, what I can use up that is already in my house, or not take much time since my patience might be shot by the time making dinner rolls around.  It's also good to have things I can prepare in advance, like during nap time, and cook later. I definitely like to have a variety of things and keep it balanced during the week.  Maybe fish one night, pasta another, something with meat, etc.  

Below is the menu for this week. I will continue to share my ideas moving forward in hopes that maybe it'll help some of you.  I'll post some of these things in more detailed blogs throughout the week.  I hope you find this helpful!

Eggplant Parm with a twist - This crock pot recipe calls for Feta, instead of Parmesan, but I sprinkled some on top before cooking it.  I love cheese! My husband does not like eggplant so since he is out of town, I will be making this for myself and my sister. Maybe my toddler will try it. Maybe.  :-/

Slow Cooker Vegetarian Chili Shepard's Pie - This is another crock pot recipe from the same website as the Eggplant dish above. This will be the first time I am trying it. I will post about it though.

Salad - I recently went to a Dove Chocolate party. Yup, like Dove Dove. Yum! We tried out some of the products, including a chocolate martini which was DELICIOUS, and I thought the White Chocolate Raspberry Vinaigrette sounded good too. I do love me some white chocolate so we'll see how that goes. I'm still trying to figure out what to put in this salad. I'm thinking it'll be something like spinach, strawberries, sliced almonds, goat cheese....

Tuna Noodle Casserole - My husband and I make this often. I've gotten to the point where I kind of change it every time so its never exactly the same. That's the confidence I've gained by playing around in the kitchen more. I don't stray from recipes too much though. I'm still a little nervous about that.

Generally, here's what you would need:
1 large can of tuna
Small bag of frozen green beans
Salt to taste (I try not to cook with salt too much since you can't really taste it and you end up adding to it when you're eating anyway.)
1 can of reduced sodium cream of mushroom (or chicken) soup
Egg noodles (or any kind of noodle you prefer.) This week I'll be using Fusilli.
About 1/2 cup of milk. I usually just pour it in until I like the consistency.
Large can of fried onions
(Optional) Shredded cheese and/or bread crumbs to add to the mixture for added taste and consistency

Cook the pasta and add the peas in a few minutes toward the end of cooking to soften them up a bit. Drain pasta and mix all ingredients together before placing into a casserole dish. Bake 30 minutes @ 350 degrees.

Super easy, very tasty, and there will be leftovers since it makes a full 9X13 casserole dish worth.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup in bread bowls - I know I made chicken pot pies last week but I was craving a soup and I wanted a chicken dish. I have not tried this before but it looks pretty good. We have frozen bread dough in our freezer that we turn into bread bowls so we'll do that.  I'm kind of excited about this one.

Enjoy!!!

santa fe turkey stuffed peppers

I found this recipe on Pinterest (of course!) and it looked like a healthy way to eat some Mexican style food so I figured, why not? It is high in protein and fiber and it tastes delicious! Plus, it was pretty easy to prepare. Skinnytaste.com has some great recipes. Definitely another website to check out. 

 First, gather all of your supplies. 

You will need the following for the filling:
*1/2 lb 99% lean ground turkey (I used a full lb.)
*3/4 cup canned black beans, drained and rinsed
*3/4 cup frozen corn
*1 hot pickled serrano pepper, chopped (or jalapeno) more to taste (I'm a chicken so I only used half a jalapeno pepper.)
*1 large diced tomato
*1 clove garlic, minced
*3 tbsp chopped onion
*2 tbsp chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish (I use the cilantro in a seasoning jar.)
*1 tsp cumin
*salt to taste

For the peppers:
*3 red bell peppers, cut in half lengthwise
*1/3 cup reduced sodium, fat free chicken broth (I used vegetable broth.)
*9 tbsp shredded reduced fat Monterey Jack cheese
*1 tbsp chopped scallions for garnish, optional

In a large skillet, brown the turkey and season with salt. While the turkey is being cooked, prep all the other ingredients for the filling.  (onion, garlic, black beans, cilantro, serrano pepper, diced tomatoes, and cumin.)

Because there is some prep work, I chose to do this during nap time. The filling can easily be done ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill the peppers and cook it all together in the oven. It just gets too crazy to do this around dinner time with an almost 8 month old and a 2 1/2 year old. It goes much faster when I don't have to divide my time. That way I can spend more time with the kiddos before I have to feed them and then happily put them to bed for the night.  :-D

When the turkey is  browned, add onion, garlic, black beans, cilantro, serrano (or jalapeno) pepper, diced tomatoes, and cumin.

Mix well and simmer on low, covered, for 20 minutes. Remove lid, add corn and simmer an additional 5 minutes or until all the liquid reduces. Doesn't it look so good?

While the filling was cooking, I went ahead and cut up the peppers and placed them in the fridge. This was another way to save time later. (Remember, two crazy kids vying for my attention and therefore making feel guilty that I'm not paying attention to them?)  Cut the peppers in half lengthwise and remove the seeds and stems. Some of the peppers didn't stand up so I had to slightly cut the bottom to get it to stay upright.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and place the filling in the peppers.  Place peppers, cut side up, in an oven-proof dish. Pour about 1/3 cup of water or broth on the bottom of the dish.  (I poured a little more than that to make sure it was fully covered.)  Cover tight with foil and bake for 45-50 minutes, or until the peppers become soft.  Remove foil, top each with 1 1/2 tbsp of cheese and bake uncovered for an additional 5 minutes.  Top with scallions and serve with reduced fat sour cream, if desired.

My husband and I both enjoyed this meal. It wasn't ready for my toddler to eat it for dinner last night since I put it in the oven a little too late. I will try tonight and let you know. I can pretty much guarantee he will not touch it, even though he had stuffed peppers at daycare and devoured it. Go figure, right?  I think next time I might just buy smaller peppers, rather than the larger ones cut in half.  Otherwise, it was very tasty and I will definitely do this again. A touch of cayenne pepper might be good as well.  Yum!

Skinnytaste.com 

Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1/2 pepper • Old Points: 3 pts • Points+: 4 pts

Calories: 160 • Fat: 3 g • Carbs: 19 g • Fiber: 4 g • Protein: 15.5 g • Sugar: 1 g

Sodium: 119 (without salt)  

mini meals

Welcome to my first blog post!  I hope you'll find this blog a helpful place to find some fun new things to try out in your life...

I have a ton of recipe books. However, I much prefer the internet.  Pinterest is my new friend. I have found so many great ideas.  My husband and I have made muffin pan meatloafs before but I have recently found recipes for mini calzones and mini chicken pot pies!  I'm so excited, you have no idea.  I like food, can you tell?

The first one I tried was the mini calzone. I bought pizza dough in the deli section of the super market.  It was not the frozen kind, although you can probably do it that way.  Use a biscuit cutter (I used a round cookie cutter) to cut rounds in the pizza dough.  Place 1 round inside each well of a greased muffin pan.  Add your favorite fillings and place another round of dough on top. I used sauce, shredded mozzarella, and thawed frozen spinach. Lightly press dough rounds together.  Brush tops with butter and sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese. Bake on bottom rack at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Soooo good and very easy!

**Update: I just made these for the second time. When you are putting the "toppings" in, it may seem as though it's going to be too much. However, the dough will rise and give way to more room so feel free to put in a little more filling than you think will fit. Delicious!

The next muffin pan meal I made was mini chicken pot pies.  These were a big hit with my husband and, again, these are very easy to make.

First, lay down a layer of thawed frozen vegetables, followed by a layer of shredded cheddar cheese. You may want to throw in a little salt somewhere to add a little extra flavor. I did not do this and wish I had.

Next, put a layer of rotisserie chicken. You could just shred it but I put it in the food processor first. 

Then make pancake batter according to the instructions on the box and fill 3/4 of the muffin well. For me, that didn't work out. I just poured it on top of the mixture until it looked like there was enough.  I placed a little extra shredded cheese on top before baking.  You can never have too much cheese, right?

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Super easy recipe for those busy nights.  And, think about freezing them for later.  (Thank you shout out to my friend, Stefanie, for that idea!) 

Make sure to let these cool a little bit before cutting into them or this will happen.  I was hungry and didn't want to wait.

If you wait, this is what you'll get.  Enjoy!