Well I’m going to once again try to be more consistent with updating my blog. I’m trying to cook a lot more since I am trying to be more resourceful with the food in our house. Anyways, tonight the husband had an appointment after work which means I am on my own for dinner. I checked out the ingredients I had and decided to try the Balsamic Vinegar Chicken recipe. First off, this was super easy to make. Prep time was probably 7 minutes. As the meal was cooking my house smelled fantastic. I was excited for this meal to be done. I added rice as a side. Right as I took my first bite of chicken my daughter started fussing. Being a mom I’ve learned you don’t really get to enjoy your meals if your kids are awake. I have learned to scarf meals down in record times which is exactly what happened with this meal. 

The positive: This meal was extremely easy to make, prep time was under 10 minutes, it smelled delicious, it’s healthy, and its a clean eating recipe.

The Negative: While it smelled fantastic the taste was a little bland which surprised me. In the future I think I would add a little mozzarella cheese.to the meal.

Overall: I think it’s worth trying I’d give it a 3 out of 5 stars but maybe because I had a screaming baby in my face I really couldn’t focus on how good the meal tasted lol.

This recipe is from Shelly Heim’s website

Balsamic Vinegar Chicken with Fresh Tomatoes

Ingredients:

4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts

4 – 5 garlic cloves

I would say Chad’s favorite restaurant is Chili’s. He loves the Monterey Chicken. When I saw a copy cat recipe online I knew I needed to try it out. 

The Positive: The recipe is very easy to make and is full of flavor.

The Negative: It’s not Chili’s so naturally it didn’t taste exactly like their recipe.

Overall: If you are going to make this I’d highly suggest using chicken breasts instead of tenders. As you can see I struggled with space for the rest of the ingredients. The chili’s version also includes green onion, and tomatoes.  I’d highly suggest making this though the cheese and bbq combination is delicious!

We both give this meal a 4 1/2 out of 5 star rating

This meal was found here 

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1/4 c. bar-b-que sauce ( I use Bull’s Eye)
1/4 c. real bacon bits
1 c. colby and jack cheese, shredded
1 14 oz. can Rotel tomatoes, drained (canned with green chilies added)
sliced green onions
pepper

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Pound out chicken breasts to flatten. Season with pepper. Grill chicken until no long pink (we used our George Foreman grill) and place on baking sheet covered with foil. Top each chicken breast with one tablespoon bar-b-que sauce, 1/4 c. cheese, 1/4 c. tomatoes, green onions and one tablespoon of bacon bits. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted (about 5 minutes).

Happy Cooking!!!

I’m such a baby but it’s been freezing here! Like literally freezing temps. When I moved to Arizona I signed up for warm weather not below freezing temperatures, blah! Anyways, with the cold weather I knew I needed soup. I saw a skinny baked potato soup recipe and was intrigued. The secret to this soup is puree cauliflower to give it more consistency.

The positive: It was quick to make. The secret was heating the potatoes in the microwave to cook them. However, I had to also steam the cauliflower which added a tad bit more of time. This soup recipe is also less  than 200 calories (if you don’t include bacon). With the extra potato soup I threw it into my freezer and had it as leftovers and it tasted even better than when I originally made it. I also received compliments at work that it smelled really good.

The Negative: I had to add a lot of pepper to give it flavor. The lack of flavor really was a negative for me. Maybe if I had added some turkey bacon to the recipe I’d feel different but instead I kept adding cheese to give it flavor. However, as a left over maybe the flavors absorbed better together but it tasted fine as a left over. 

Overall: This soup was okay. Maybe it’s because it’s a skinny version but it wasn’t my favorite and it tasted kind of watery. I probably will try making it again and seeing if turkey bacon makes a difference but even if it doesn’t I’d probably make it and freeze it for lunches.

All in all I give the recipes a 3 out 5 star rating. 

This recipe was taken from Skinny Taste

Ingredients: 

• 2 russet potatoes, washed and dried
• 1 small head of cauliflower, stem removed cut into florets
• 1 1/2 cups fat free chicken broth
• 1 1/2 cups 1% reduced-fat milk
• salt and freshly cracked black pepper
• 1/2 cup light sour cream
• 10 tbsp reduced-fat shredded sharp cheddar cheese
• 6 tbsp chopped chives, divided
• 3 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled (you can use turkey bacon if you prefer)

Directions:

Pierce potatoes with a fork; microwave on high for 5 minutes turn over and microwave another 3 – 5 minutes, until tender. Or if you prefer to use your oven, bakeat 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes.

Meanwhile, steam cauliflower with water in a large covered pot until tender. Drain and return to pot. On medium heat, add chicken broth, milk, potatoes and bring to a boil. Use an immersion blender to puree until smooth. Add sour cream, half the chives, salt and pepper and cook on low another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Remove from heat. Ladle 1 cup soup into each bowl. Top each serving with 2 tbsp cheese, remaining chives, and bacon.

Happy Cooking!!!

So one of my Christmas presents was an upgraded crock-pot with a programmable timer on it. I feel like I now own the Mercedes of crock-pots. Anyways, I’m really excited for the new crock-pot since I can finally crock-pot during the week while I’m at work. I made the lemon garlic chicken meal over the weekend just to make sure the everything worked properly and it did! 

Overview of the meal: I forgot to set the crock-pot on high and it took a lot longer to cook which was unfortunate since I was starving!!! 

The positive: It was super easy to put together. I even did the recipe with frozen chicken. It had a lot of good flavor but you have to appreciate the lemon pepper Also,. If you do weight watchers it’s only three points for one serving.

The negative: Chad wasn’t super impressed with the recipe. He didn’t enjoy the fact I tried to slip some onion into the recipe.

Overall: Chad would rate it 3 out of 5 stars and I would give it 4 out of 5 stars.

Lemon Garlic Chicken Crock Pot Recipe

Ingredients:
- 8 boneless skinless chicken breasts
- 10 garlic cloves, finely chopped or minced
- 2 yellow onions, chopped
- 2 cups fat free, low sodium chicken broth
- 1/4 cup lemon pepper seasoning
- 4 tbsp paprika
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 1 tablespoon kosher salt
- 1 tsp lemon zest

Directions:
Rinse the chicken and pat dry. Mix together the lemon pepper seasoning, paprika and salt. Coat the chicken with the spice mixture. Place the coated chicken in the crock pot and cover with the fat free chicken broth, garlic cloves, parsley and onions and lemon zest. Cook on low heat for about 3-4 hours (or until done).

Entire recipe makes 8 servings
Serving size is 1 breast, with approx 4 tbsp of sauce
Each serving = 3 Point Total

Read more: http://www.laaloosh.com/2010/01/06/lemon-garlic-chicken-crock-pot-recipe/#ixzz2Hcl3yNX6

Happy Cooking!

The Herbed Pasta w/ toasted breadcrumbs recipe is one I’ve had for years. Back in college I created a  ghetto recipe book and it’s one of the original recipes.  It has always sounded good but I had no idea how I would ever convince Chad the meal was for him. I thought pairing it up with breadsticks would sweeten the deal. Let’s recap this meal a little more in detail

The positive: The meal was super easy to make. The actual ingredients required is 7 (I only used 6), it’s healthy, and it made a good leftover

The negative: Chad thought it had no flavor. He tried to spice it up by adding spaghetti sauce and he still couldn’t eat it. I will agree with Chad that it isn’t the most flavorful meal we’ve had. I knew from the start this recipe would never be something he would like but I made it anyway lol.

Overall: I liked the recipe. I hand made the breadcrumbs which gave me control of the flavor. I think the only way this meal could have been more exciting would have been to add some peppers or some other vegetable. However, like I said it tasted good as a left over. I would make this meal again in the future but only for lunch.

Per Chad’s request he asked that I start a rating system for each meal. On a 1 – 5 scale with 1 being don’t ever make this again to 5 being a make this every night. For this meal he gave it a 1. For everyone else who isn’t a picky eater I give it a 3 and 1/2 star. It’s quick, healthy, and I feel like this meal is good for a night when you have no groceries in the house but still need to eat..I feel like most of these ingredients could be staples in a persons home.

Herbed Pasta with Toasted Breadcrumbs

Ingredients 

11 ounces of whole wheat linguine (or any pasta of your choice)

3 tablespoons of Olive oil

2/3 cup seasoned breadcrumbs

2 garlic cloves (minced)

1 cup of vegetable stock (or the recipe says you can sub for dry white wine)

1/2 cup of Parmesan cheese

Optional: Fresh Parsley

Directions:

1. Cook pasta in boil water until al dente. Drain and set aside reserving 1/4 cup of the cooking liquids.

2. Heat 1 tbs of olive oil in skillet over medium high heat

3. Add breadcrumbs and saute for two minutes stirring constantly until golden.

4. Transfer breadcrumbs to plate and set aside.

5. Heat remaining oil into same skillet over medium heat and saute garlic for 30 seconds Add vegetable stock and bring to a boil

6. Simmer 2 minutes and add pasta, and remaining ingredients except breadcrumbs to vegetable stock mixture.

7. Toss until mixture is heated throughout and pasta is coated. Top with breadcrumbs and serve

Happy Cooking!!!

So I love enchiladas but I hate the red sauce. It creeps me out but the green sauce is totally fine by me. Weird I realize. I’ve been searching for a recipe for enchiladas that both the husband and I would enjoy. When I came across this version I knew I’d enjoy but wasn’t sure how Chad would. I figured if I loaded it with cheese it would be a hit. My theory only proved to be half correct. Chad thought it was okay at best where I really enjoyed the enchiladas. They were super easy to make which is always a plus! My only complaint was it made a ton of extras and as a re-heat, not my favorite. I would suggest making this recipe if your hosting a dinner for friends or family but if this is a meal your looking to eat for days then maybe try a different enchilada recipe. 

Oh and one more thing about this recipe is I substituted sour cream for Greek yogurt. I am not a fan of sour cream and didn’t have the heart to place it in my enchiladas. The substitute worked out great. Neither of us could tell a difference! To view the original version of this recipe please visit here 

When I found this recipe I knew it had potential. I’m not a huge fan of the ranch scene but since Chad is and he’s picky I knew I could take one for the team and give this recipe a try. It’s super easy to make and I always enjoy making my own sauce which this recipe has you do. Don’t be fooled though it’s super easy it’s literally milk, ranch, butter and flour. The meal came out great and it wasn’t an overload of ranch which I especially appreciated. The only downside is that if you hate washing dishes then this meal probably isn’t for you. I used 2 pots and 1 pan for the whole meal but I felt like Suzie homemaker using 3 out of 4 burners on the stove, lol.

I found this recipe on plain chicken. I wish I had read the directions a little better since they cooked everything in the same pot, oops!

Ingredients:

8 ounces penne pasta (or pasta of your choice. As you can see I had to use two different types of pasta since we were low)
1 Tablespoon butter
1 Tbsp flour
2 Tbsp dry ranch dressing seasoning mix
2 cups milk
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/3 cup cooked, chopped bacon
2 cups cooked chopped chicken 

Directions:

In a large pot, cook pasta according to package directions. 

In another pot melt butter. Add flour and stir. Cook flour for 1 minute. Slowly whisk in milk. Continue cooking until sauce thickens. Stir in ranch dressing mix and cheese. Stir until cheese melts. Add chicken, bacon and pasta.  Stir to coat.

Happy Cooking!!!

Now that the weather has cooled down here I’ve been wanting to make soup. Last week I was craving a hot bowl of soup. However, I was limited on ingredients. My go to soup is usually tortilla or potato but since I didn’t have the supplies to make those I remembered the spinach tomato orzo soup I found on pinterest a while back. Luckily, I had all the ingredients and was able to feed my craving. The soup was really easy to make. and it had good flavor. I added a little lemon juice for some extra flavor. The one thing is a little orzo goes a long way. I can’t get rid of it. Expect more recipes involving orzo lol.

Spinach Tomato Orzo Soup

Ingredients

1 large onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb spinach, fresh or frozen, defrosted
1 – 15 oz can diced Italian tomatoes (with oregano and basil)
1 lb package orzo pasta
2 quarts chicken or vegetable stock
2 quarts water
olive oil

Method

1. Preheat a large soup. Drizzle with olive oil. Add onions and saute until tender. Add garlic and saute for 2 – 3 minutes. Add canned tomatoes, spinach, chicken or vegetable stock and water. Bring to a boil and reduce heat to medium.

2. Add orzo cook for 12 – 15 minutes, or until orzo is tender.

Click here to view the original recipe

More pictures

Happy Cooking!

When I saw this recipe I thought there was no way this chicken is really perfect. I mean how many things in life are perfect? Not many in my book especially when there is always room for improvement. So I was a skeptic going into this recipe.

The chicken was surprisingly good. Well maybe not surprisingly good but we both enjoyed it more than we anticipated. The recipe doesn’t require a lot of ingredients and it’s super easy to make. I didn’t exactly follow the recipe I found online but I came close. I think I perfected the recipe by making it quicker. The original recipe requires grill and baking it and I grilled it on the stove cutting the time in 1/2. It’s a quick and easy meal full of taste. I’m not sure if it’s perfect but it’s pretty darn close

To view the original recipe please visit Recipe Crayon Box 

Happy Cooking!

Living with a picky eater sometimes means to my dismay cooking a separate meal for the husband. The night I made the pumpkin ricotta pasta was one of those nights. I thought there was potential for this meal. I feel like if it has the main ingredients of a pizza it will be a hit. Turns out I’m wrong. Chad was not a fan of this meal. However, I feel like if you like vegetables this would spruce up this meal. He thought it was okay but also said I never need to make it again. I guess if you have a picky eater you may want to skip this meal!

I would highly suggest visiting the original website to see a fancier version of this dish! Click here to view

Ingredients (I cut this probably in half or more since I was low on pasta)

• 1 lb. dry pasta of your choice
• 1 Tbsp. olive oil
• 1/2 tsp. dried oregano
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 cups marinara sauce
• 2 cups shredded Mozzarella cheese, divided
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese
• about 30 pepperonis, sliced into halves
• optional toppings: chopped fresh basil or Italian parsley, shaved Parmesan cheese

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Cook pasta al dente according to package instructions.

While pasta is cooking, heat olive oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and saute for 5 minutes, until it is cooked and translucent. Add the garlic and oregano and cook for 1 minute more, stirring occasionally, until the garlic is fragrant. Remove from heat.

Once the pasta is finished cooking, drain the water and return the pasta back to the pot. Stir in the garlic/onion mixture, the marinara sauce, diced tomatoes, Mozzarella (reserve a small handful of the cheese for the topping), Parmesan and pepperonis. Mix until wel-blended.

Transfer the pasta to a greased baking dish, and then sprinkle the remaining Mozzarella cheese on top. Cover the baking dish with aluminum foil and bake covered for 40 minutes. Then remove the aluminum foil and bake for an additional 10-15 minutes, until the cheese turns slightly golden.

Happy Cooking!