GARLIC CHEDDAR CHEESY CHICKEN AND BROCCOLI PASTA

I love playing with sauces. This one was created because I found a very interesting, festive new cheese at Costco the other day. It is a cranberry white cheddar cheese. YUM! Definitely different, anyway. And an inspiration to get a little crazy in the kitchen.

I hope you enjoy this new rendition of a delicious cheese sauce for pasta, veggies, or whatever else you like.

Recipe

Broccoli, rinsed and chopped into 1-inch pieces

Chicken, cooked and chopped into 1-inch pieces

Spaghetti noodles (your favorite type), broken into 3-inch segments

Butter – 2 T

Whole wheat pastry flour – 2T

Milk – ½ C

Garlic clove, peeled and pressed - 1

Cranberry White Cheddar cheese, crumbled – ½ C

Boil and salt water to cook noodles. Put a steamer basket on top of the noodle pot (make sure it fits well) and steam the broccoli pieces at the same that you cook the noodles. When the  noodles are done (boil about 10 minutes) the broccoli should be tender. Remove both from the burner and drain noodles right away.

Place chicken, noodles and broccoli in a large bowl and make sauce.

For the sauce, in a saucepan, melt butter on low. Add flour and whisk together, then heat over medium until bubbly. Be careful not to burn! Add in milk and whisk to make sure it combines well. Add in garlic clove, freshly pressed. When well combined, cook until sauce starts to thicken a little, and is the thickness you prefer for your intended dish.

Mix in cheese and stir until it is melted. Pour over noodles, broccoli and chicken.

ENJOY in Good HEALTH!

CHICKEN AND PARMESAN SHEPARD’S CASSEROLE

Staying with our chicken and green bean theme…and Parmesan. Easy, affordable, and yum!

Recipe

Russet potatoes, half-peeled and diced – 6 large

Butter – 2 T

Milk – ½ C to 1 C

Salt – 2 teaspoons

Corn kernels, frozen – 1 C

Green beans, canned, drained – 2 cans

Chicken meat, cooked and chunked – 1 ½ C

Parmesan Cheese, shredded – 1 C

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place potato chunks in cold water and bring to a boil. When potatoes have boiled and become tender, drain the potatoes, and place in a large bowl with the butter. Once the butter has melted, add salt and ½ cup of milk. Blend until creamy, adding milk to bring them to your desired consistency.

Layer green beans, chicken and corn in the pan. Top with potatoes. Cover with foil and let bake about 25 minutes.

Top with parmesan, return to the oven, and allow cheese to melt (uncovered) – about 10 minutes.

ENJOY in Good HEALTH!

GREEN BEAN CASSEROLE WITH CHICKEN AND PARMESAN

This will probably be your new favorite green bean casserole. We’ve eaten it four times in the past few weeks. Just saying…

Recipe

Butter – 2 T

Flour (white or wheat) – 2 T

Salt – 1 teaspoon

Honey – 1 teaspoon

Onion – 1/3 C diced

Sour Cream – ½ C

Non-fat Greek Yogurt – ½ C

Green beans, canned, drained – 2 cans

Chicken meat, cooked and chunked – 1 ½ C

Parmesan Cheese, shredded – 1 C

Heat oven to 350 degrees. Melt two tablespoons of butter over low heat. Stir in flour and salt, and cook over medium-low for about one minute, or until smooth. Remove from heat, stir in salt, sugar, onion, sour cream and non-fat greek yogurt. Stir in green beans and cooked chicken chunks.

Spread into a 13 X 9 pan, and top with Parmesan cheese. You can also top with crushed buttery crackers if you desire.

Bake for about 30 minutes, until bubbly.

ENJOY in Good HEALTH!

PUMPKIN ZUCCHINI PANCAKES

YUM! These pancakes are easy, delicious, and give you two different vegetables to start off your day!

They are not too sweet, but can be dressed with honey…ooh, cinnamon laced honey would be amazing! Or a nice cream cheese glaze, or traditional pure maple syrup. I LOVE FALL TIME FOOD!

Recipe

Pumpkin puree - 2 C

Honey – ¾ C

Eggs – 4

Almond extract – 2 teaspoons

Milk – 1 C

Zucchini, shredded – 1 ¼ C

Salt – 1 teaspoon

Baking soda – 1 teaspoon

Cinnamon – 2 teaspoons

Nutmeg – 2 teaspoons

Soft White Whole Wheat pastry flour – 3 C

Mix pumpkin through zucchini. Blend dry ingredients together (salt through flour). Combine wet and dry ingredients.

Cook on a griddle or in a frying pan in oil/butter over medium-low heat.

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CREAMY POTATO HAM SPINACH CASSEROLE

I don’t know about you, but I love potatoes. And though they are a starch, and not so popular right now with our carb-a-phobe society, I still champion them. They are a whole food, after all. And so delicious, versatile, and my kids will eat them. So that’s a major plus.

Try this recipe I just concocted today. A great experiment gone right!

Recipe

Potatoes, washed and diced into ¼ inch cubes – 7

Spinach, fresh – 6 C

Ham, chopped into ½ inch cubes – 2 C

Garlic cloves, peeled and crushed – 3

Nonfat Greek Yogurt – ½ C

Mayonnaise – ½ C

Milk – ½ C

Sour Cream – ¾ C

Gouda cheese, sliced – enough to cover casserole top

Set oven to 350.

Boil potatoes in a large pot, while steaming the spinach on top simultaneously. When potatoes are soft, drain both potatoes and spinach (separately). Add in ham, stir and then spread into a 10 X 14 pan.

Mix nonfat greek yogurt, mayo, milk, sour cream and garlic. Mix into potato/spinach/ham mixture. 

Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and top with cheese. Bake an additional 5-10 minutes, just until cheese melts.

 Enjoy in Good Health!

CRANBERRY AND CABBAGE CHICKEN SALAD

I love chicken salad. We didn’t have it much when I was a kid. I remember tuna. Yes, that memory is hard to forget. It is still a little hard for me to eat tuna today. But chicken salad I love.

This version is light, refreshing, and so tasty. I think the dressing is key to its delicious notes. It’s super easy to make, and should be an easy crowd pleaser.I hope you like it!

Recipe

Sweet onion, diced – 1/3 C

Roasted chicken, diced – 3 C

Cranberries, dried and sweetened – 1 C

Cabbage, finely shredded – 2 C

Nonfat Green yogurt, plan-  ¾ C

Mayonnaise – ¾ C

Garlic, peeled and crushed – 2 cloves

Lemon juice – 1 T

Combine onion, chicken, cranberries and cabbage. For the dressing, combine yogurt, mayo, garlic and lemon juice. Season to taste (a little pepper, a little salt).

Mix dressing over salad and ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

SPAGHETTI WITH CAPERS, ANCHOVIES, TOMATOES AND BASIL

I may never go back to marinara again! This recipe is one I found and then tinkered with. I went much heavier on the capers…because I LOVE their earthy, pickled tang. I also added in a some herring I had…yum! It may look “interesting” but I know you’ll love it. It’s easy, quick and delicious!

My four-year old and 6-year old didn’t complain once about dinner. They sat and ate it quickly. They even knew about the fish and capers in the sauce!

Recipe

Spaghetti noodles – 1 ½ lbs

Canola oil – 2 T

Garlic cloves, peeled and chopped – 5

Pickled herring in oil, drained and finely chopped (from a tin)– 2 oz

Anchovies in oil, drained and finely chopped (from a tin) – 2 oz

Black olives, roughly chopped - 12 oz (two cans)

Capers, drained/rinsed – 5 or 6 T

Cherry tomatoes, sliced in half – 10 oz

Sea salt

Basil leaves, roughly torn – ½ C

Put 4 Tablespoons of sea salt in 6 quarts of water. Heat to boiling. When boiling, place noodles in, stir, then cook until al dente.

Heat the oil over medium heat in a large, tall frying pan. Add in garlic, herring and anchovies. Cook until aromatic, about 1-2 minutes. Add in olives, capers, tomatoes and stir over medium heat. Cook until tomatoes begin to collapse.

Drain pasta and toss in a large bowl with the sauce. Adjust seasoning as needed, though the salted water the pasta was cooked in, and the saltiness of the sauce ingredients should be sufficient.

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH! 

PORK LOIN WITH RASPBERRY APRICOT SAUCE

I love the tang of raspberries, and the richness of sweet apricots. Here, I’ve married them in a chunky sauce to dress moist pork loin. Delicious!

Recipe

Pork loin, cut into pieces ¾ inch thick – 4

Oil – 3 T

Salt

Pepper

Apricots, dried – ¾ C

Water – 1 C

Raspberries, fresh – ½ C

Honey – 1 T

Basil leaves, for garnish

For the sauce, place dried apricots and water in a pot on the stove. Heat the water on a  medium setting. Simmer for 10 minutes.

While simmering, work on the pork.

Season pork fillets on all sides with desired amount of salt/pepper.

Heat oil in a  skillet or pan to medium heat. When nice and hot, place pork fillets in the pan. Sear on each large/flat side for about 3-4 minutes. Finish off smaller sides of pork (edges) in the pan to get a nice, dark sear.

Place in a preheated over (200 degrees) to keep warm while you prepare the sauce.

Apricots should be softened now, so place them and the water you cooked them in, in a food processor. Add berries, seeds and all. Hurray for fiber! Add in honey and process until nicely combined.

Remove pork from the oven, dress with the sauce, garnish with basil and ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

ASIAN CHICKEN SALAD

If you’re like me, you’re always looking for a new way to use left-over chicken. We eat a lot of chicken around here, and it’s nice to dress it up differently, right?

This is totally easy, and totally yummy. And it is nice on a hot summer day…like we’ve been having so many of recently. Thank goodness for air conditioning!

Recipe

Soy sauce – ¼ C

Rice wine vinegar – 1/8 C

Ginger, peeled and finely chopped – 2 T

Sesame oil – 2 T

Demerara – 1 T

Shredded chicken (or pork) – 3 C

Green cabbage, finely shredded – 6 C

Celery, thinly sliced – 2 C

Sweet onion, finely chopped – ½ C

Cilantro, finely chopped – ¾ C

Combine soy sauce through demerara, and stir until nicely combined. Toss chicken, cabbage, celery, onion and cilantro together. Pour sauce over all, and let marinate in the fridge for at least one hour.

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

TOMATILLO PULLED PORK

Who doesn’t like good, saucy pulled barbeque pork? So good! But, I do long for different seasonings on my pork, now and then.

Enjoy this “South of the Border” version of pulled pork. Super easy, and super yummy! Also easy to transfer the recipe to dress up shredded chicken or beef.

Recipe

Pork roast – 4 lbs

Tomatillos, chopped – 4

Chicken broth – ½ C

Dried Chopped Onion – 1 T

Thyme – ½ teaspoon

Paprika – ½ teaspoon

Balsamic vinegar – 2 T

Fresh squeezed lemon juice – 1/3 C

Salt – to taste

Using your slow cooker, slow roast the pork until done. Put tomatillos and broth in pot on stove and cook over medium until the tomatillos are soft. Add in thyme, paprika, balsamic vinegar and lemon juice. Cook until flavors are well combined. Salt to taste, and then poor sauce over pork when the pork is thoroughly done.

Allow pulled pork to rest in the tomatillo sauce at least 1 hour before serving. Serve over rice, green salad, or mashed potatoes.

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

TURKEY MEATBALLS

I almost never cook with ground beef, ground turkey, ground veal, or ground whatever. But once in a while, a good meatball will just hit the spot.

These meatballs are a little different, but super delish. A few out of the ordinary ingredients make them fun to try, so go ahead…be daring!

Recipe

Ground turkey – 20 oz

Whole Wheat Italian Bread crumbs – 2/3 C

Milk – 1/3 C

Salt – ½ tsp

Worcestershire sauce – 1 tsp

Pepper – ½ tsp

Onion, chopped – ½ C

Egg, whisked – 1

Ginger, minced – 1 tsp

Garlic, peeled and pressed – 2 cloves

Goat cheese, crumbled – 1/3 C

Preheat oven to 400. Mix all ingredients and shape into balls about 1 inch in diameter. Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until no longer pink in the middle. Serve with your favorite sauce. AND ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CHICKEN CAULIFLOWER CASSEROLE WITH CREAMY CAPER SAUCE

Leftover chicken is a constant at my house. If it’s not gobbled up by my husband, I’m brainstorming how I can make it into something wonderful. This idea popped into my head, and as I love capers, I had to figure out a way to include them in this family-friendly casserole. They appear in the homemade sauce!

Cheese on the top is optional, but the kids were certainly love it more!

Recipe

Sauce ingredients

Butter – 3 T

Flour ( I used whole wheat ) – 3 T

Milk – 2 C

Capers – 3 T

Garlic cloves, pressed – 2

Green yogurt – ½ C

Sour cream – ½ C

Lemon juice – 1 T

Remaining ingredients

Cooked chicken, shredded – 4 C

Cauliflower, trimmed, chopped into florets and steamed ‘til tender – 1 head

Cheddar cheese, shredded – 1 C

First, you make the sauce. Melt butter over medium-low heat, and when melted, stir in flour. Cook until starting to bubble. Add in milk slowly, cooking over medium heat until bubbling and beginning to thicken. Add capers and garlic. When the consistency is about as thick as yogurt, remove from heat. Add greek yogurt, sour cream and lemon juice. Stir until well combined.

Set oven to 350. Place chicken pieces in the bottom of a 10 X 13 pan. Top with steamed cauliflower pieces. Pour sauce evenly over top. Bake at 350 for 20 minutes. Add cheese on top and bake five more minutes. ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CREAMY, ZESTY ITALIAN CHICKEN

So this is really cool, because my amazing 12 year old daughter, Haley helped to create this recipe.

We started off improvising an alfredo recipe we found. But what we ended up with tasted nothing like alfredo. Though it is VERY good. Even Dad, who is hard to please, I might add, had seconds, and even complimented the dish! Everyone liked it so, we didn’t even get a picture before it was completely eaten. So, I’ll get on that and get you one soon.

So, here you go. Have fun with this bold Italian experiment!

Recipe

Butter – 1 T

Garlic – 1 clove, pressed

Flour – 2 teaspoons

Coconut milk – 1 C

Salt – to taste

Neufchatel cheese – 2 T

Grated parmesan – ¾ C

Dried parsley – 3 teaspoons, or 3 T fresh, chopped

Fresh ground pepper

Chicken breasts, cut into ½ inch thick slices – 2

Nonfat Greek Yogurt, 2 C

Pasta, your choice – 1 lb

Melt butter over medium heat. Add in garlic and cook until soft (1-2 min). Add in flour and cook a minute. Whisk in the milk, 3/8 teaspoon salt, and whisk constantly until beginning to thicken. Add Neufchatel cheese and parmesan cheese, stirring until melted. Allow to cool about 5 minutes.

Cook chicken in a skillet in about 1 T of oil. Cook until no longer pink in the middle.

Dress the chicken with the sauce, and serve over your favorite pasta, previously cooked.

AVOCADO, CHEDDAR, SPROUT AND HONEY MUSTARD SAMMIE

A good sandwich is like your favorite blanket…super comforting! I like good comfort foods like this that aren’t warm, so we can enjoy them in the hot summer. I first tasted a sandwich like this at a unique little store in my city called The Antique Sandwich Company.

If you don’t like this recipe, there may be no hope for you. Please send me your sandwich creation “Express” and I will eat it for you.  J

Recipe

Whole wheat bread

Avocado, thinly sliced

Cheddar Cheese

Sprouts (I used clover)

Tomato

Lettuce

Cream Cheese (spread on one piece of the bread)

Honey mustard sauce (spread on the other piece of bread - recipe below)

I cannot give other instructions, other than, I mean, “layer the ingredients.” Pretty easy. But also, include this honey mustard dressing, because it is amazing.

Honey – 2 T

Yellow mustard – 2 t

Mayonnaise – ½ T

Mix and use to taste on the sandwich, on a salad, or whatever tickles your fancy. That is a funny phrase, huh?

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CHICKEN & MUENSTER BASIL CABBAGE ROLL

This sandwich is super simple, and super delicious! It got my husband eating raw cabbage and basil leaves, and vigorously so! Be careful to choose cabbage leaves that are not too thick. They have to be able to be bitten and chewed from raw, after all. If you like, Sweet Chili Sauce punches up the flavor even more.

Recipe

Green Cabbage leaves, thin – 8

Roasted chicken – 2 C

Muenster cheese – 8 ounces

Basil leaves, fresh – 16

Mayonnaise, or Non-fat Green Yogurt

Spread out cabbage leaves. Down the center of each cabbage leaf, spread a thin layer of mayo (1 tsp is sufficient). Cover mayo with chicken and muenster, then top with two basil leaves per cabbage leaf. Roll up and hold with a toothpick. If you’re feeling spicy, add some sweet chili sauce. There is almost nothing it doesn’t improve!

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CHICKEN FAJITA CASSEROLE

This dish started out as an easy way to make enchiladas. For those of you who don’t care too much about fancy preparation and presentation, we are the same. I mostly want something healthy that tastes good enough that my kids will ask for seconds.

And so this dish was born. It transformed slowly into a fajita casserole, because I wanted to use delicious onions and peppers. My husband pointed out that these items are not traditionally found in enchiladas. So instead of changing a recipe I loved, I just changed the name! Enjoy this easy chicken fajita casserole!

Recipe

Chicken, cooked and diced – 2 C

White navy beans – 1 ½ C

Corn tortillas, cut into fourths – 10 whole tortillas

Green enchilada sauce – 29 ounces

Oil – 2 T

Sweet onion, peeled and diced – 1

Red bell pepper, diced – 1

Olives sliced – 1 large can

Shredded cheese – 2 C

Preheat oven to 350. In a frying pan, sauté onions and bell pepper on medium-high heat in oil. When starting to soften, remove from heat.

In a 13 X 9 pan, spread a thin layer of enchilada sauce. Layer on ½ of the corn tortilla triangles. Evenly spread 1 C chicken, ¾ C beans, and half of the onion/bell pepper mixture. Pour ½ of the remainder of the enchilada sauce over the layers. Next layer remaining corn tortilla triangles, rest of chicken, beans, and onion/bell pepper mixture. Sprinkle olive slices over, then cover with remainder of enchilada sauce.

Cover with foil and bake for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven, top with 2 C shredded cheese and place in oven just until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

MAYOCOBA TOMATILLO NACHOS

                             

I love tomatillos. They are sour, juicy, and I love the tang they leave in my mouth. And I just tried these mayocoba beans for the first time today, and they are fabulous! Buttery smooth, mildly-flavored, and they made the perfect refried beans! I’ll post those too, because they are fabulous.

Recipe

Mayocoba beans – 2 C

Water

Oil – 2 T

Sweet Vidalia onion, diced – 1 large

Cumin – 1 teaspoon

Chili powder – 1 teaspoon

Garlic cloves, pressed - 2

Sea salt – 1 T

Tomatillos, diced – 4 medium sized

Tortilla chips – 4 C

Shredded Cheese – 3 C

Soak the beans overnight in water completely covering them. The next day, rinse the beans, drain them, and cover with new water by 1 or 2 inches. Bring to a boil, then cook over medium-low heat until tender, or about 1 ½ hours.

Drain the beans, reserving the liquid.

In a frying pan, heat oil over medium-high heat and add onions, cumin and chili powder. Cook about 3 minutes. Add pressed garlic and cook two more minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low. Add diced tomatillos and simmer for about 4 minutes. Add cooked, drained beans, 1 cup of reserved bean liquid and salt. Continue to cook until beans are warmed through, about five minutes.

Set oven to 400 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with foil. Spread tortilla chips over the foil. Strain 2 cups of mayocaboa bean/tomatillo hash until no more liquid drips from the mixture. Gently spread evenly over chips. Reserve the rest of the bean/tomatillo mixture to make refried beans (see next post). Top with chips/hash mixture with shredded cheese. Bake just until cheese is melting.

Remove from oven and ENJOY IN GOOD HEALTH!

CREAM CHEESE CHICKEN SALAD

For dinner tonight, I put this amazingly simple and delicious salad inside mini peppers. Roasting them really brings out the onion and garlic flavors of the salad. You will love this easy recipe!

Recipe

Chicken Breast, roasted and chopped fine – 2 breasts

Mizithra cheese – ¼ C *optional

Green onions, sliced thin – 6

Garlic cloves, pressed – 2

Mayonnaise – ½ C

Sour cream – ¼ C

Neufchatel Cheese – 8 ounces

Combine all ingredients and mix gently. This is wonderful served on toast, a bed of salad greens, or stuffed inside of mini-peppers and then roasted for 7-10 minutes. Enjoy in good health!

EASY CHICKEN SALAD

One of my favorite, go-to dinners. My family will attest that this is featured on the monthly menu at least twice! Very simple, very nourishing, and a great way to use left-over chicken.

Recipe

Romaine hearts, chopped – 2 heads

Fresh Mushrooms, sliced – 2 C

Tomatoes, wedge-sliced – 3 or 4

Chicken, chopped in 1 inch pieces – 2 to 3 C

Cucumber, sliced – 1

Avocado, chunked – 1

Roasted sunflower seeds – ½ C

Combine salad ingredients. Top with my homemade ranch dressing recipe. Delicious!

SPROUTED WHEAT BERRY AND FRUIT SALAD

Pictured above are spicy, zesty, delicious mustard greens. They are an essential ingredient to the below dish, so don't forget them!

This is definitely a hearty main dish salad. It is vibrant, full of great textures, and delicious. The mustard greens give it a kick, and the homemade dressing puts it over the top! Enjoy in good health!

Recipe

Salad ingredients

Romaine hearts – 2 heads, chopped (about 8 cups)

Mustard greens, finely chopped – 1 C

Salted/Roasted cashews , chopped – 1 C

Sprouted white wheat berries – 2 C

Dried cranberries – ½ C

Apple, chopped – ½ C

Dressing ingredients

Nonfat Greek yogurt – ½ C

Mayonnaise – ½ C

Sour Cream – ¾ C

Basil leaves, fresh and minced – ¼ C

Freshly minced onion – 1 ½ T

Garlic clove, freshly squeezed - 1

Combine salad ingredients. Blend dressing ingredients. Mix dressing (as much is desired) with salad and enjoy!