Easy Supper and Easy Clean Up!

This is my kind of supper. It was so easy and the clean up rocked. I got this idea from my friend Amber's blog. She had seen this done in the Kraft magazine with a taco flavor. I decided to try this with lemon pepper instead of an Italian theme. It was so good! I would add even more lemon pepper seasoning next time but the chicken was so tender and juicy. It will defintely be tried again.


Foil Packet Chicken
(source: Amber)

2 chicken breasts
2 tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 sliced baking potato
salt and pepper
EVOO
1/2 onion sliced
foil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lay out two large sheets of foil. Slice potatoes and onions and place in bottom of foil. Place chicken, seasoned with lemon pepper and salt/pepper on top. Drizzle with oil and fold up in foil. Bake in oven for 30-35 minutes until chicken is no longer pink. Unfold foil and enjoy!


I served this with oven potatoes and onions. I sliced another potato very thin along with the other half of onion. I sprinkled it with salt, pepper, EVOO, and garlic powder and baked them along side the chicken. This gave us a bit more potatoes. :)

Pasta Primavera - 100th Post!

Well, after 9 months I have finally gotten to my 100th post! I was hoping for my 100th post to be something elaborate and impressive...well, this was a pretty impressive dish but only took about 20 minutes to prepare. I'm fine with that! I am now about 12 weeks pregnant and so cooking is finally starting to become more appealing. Hopefully there will be more frequent blog updates to come. I saw this recipe done on Robin Miller, ironically enough, while I was home sick from work. usually turn the station when Robin comes on, but her line up sounded interesting so I watched it. This is one of our favorite pasta dishes now! It was delicious. So easy, light, and fast to prepare. I have my changes listed in green.





Pasta Primavera
(source: Robin Miller)

1 pound penne pasta
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/2 cup chopped red onion
3 to 4 cloves garlic, minced
2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup sliced carrots *I omitted*
1 cup sliced mushrooms *I omitted*
2 cooked chicken breast halves, diced (about 2 cups)
1 cup diced roasted red peppers
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes
1 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
1/2 cup frozen green peas, thawed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup grated Parmesan
1/4 cup freshly chopped basil leaves *I omitted*

Cook penne according to package directions. Drain and set aside.

In a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic and cook 3 minutes, until soft. Add broccoli, carrots and mushrooms and cook 3 minutes, until mushrooms soften. Add chicken, red peppers, tomatoes, and broth and bring to a simmer. Stir in penne and peas cook 2 minutes to heat through and season, to taste, with salt and black pepper. Transfer mixture to a serving plate and top with Parmesan and basil. I drizzled the pan with a little more EVOO, to help hold it together. She did this on the show but it is not listed in the recipe.

What's Cooking Recipe Exchange

I participated in a second round of the WC Recipe Exchange and I was very pleased with the results! I received the recipe for Golden Winter Soup, a butternut squash and potato creamy soup that was just delicious! I unfortunately do not have a picture, as my camera is still on the fritz, but I did make this last night and it was amazing! I have only had butternut squash once so I was a little weary on this but it was so creamy and warm, perfect for our -4 degree nights! It was originally in the Cooking Light magazine. The picture is from their website, sorry for not having my own! I am trying to talk my husband into getting us a new camera! :)


Photo taken from Cookinglight.com

Golden Winter Soup
(Source: Cooking Light)

2 tablespoons butter
5 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled butternut squash (about 1 1/2 pounds)
2 cups (1/2-inch) cubed peeled russet potato (about 12 ounces)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 cups sliced leek (about 2 medium)
4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
12 ounces baguette, cut into 16 slices
3/4 cup (3 ounces) shredded Gruyère cheese
3 tablespoons chopped chives
Freshly ground black pepper (optional)

Preheat broiler.Melt butter in a large Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add squash, potato, salt, and pepper to pan; sauté 3 minutes. Add leek; sauté 1 minute. Stir in broth; bring to a boil.

Reduce heat, and simmer 20 minutes or until potato is tender, stirring occasionally. Place half of potato mixture in a blender. Remove center piece of blender lid (to allow steam to escape); secure blender lid on blender. Place a clean towel over opening in blender lid (to avoid splatters).

Blend until smooth. Pour into a large bowl. Repeat procedure with remaining potato mixture. Stir in half-and-half. Cover and keep warm.

Arrange bread slices in a single layer on a baking sheet; sprinkle evenly with cheese. Broil bread slices 2 minutes or until golden. Ladle 1 cup soup into each of 8 bowls; top each serving with about 1 teaspoon chives. Serve 2 bread slices with each serving. Garnish with freshly ground black pepper, if desired.

Guess What?!

We are expecting a baby in September! This is a lot of the reason why I haven't been blogging much lately. I haven't really had much morning sickness, but I just haven't felt the greatest. We've been cooking alot of easy stovetop meals that just haven't been blogworthy. When not doing that, I have been eating peanut butter sandwiches. I am still trying to cook healthy, although of course not figuring WW points. I can though, so if you would like to know the points configuration, I can do my best. I no longer have a subscription to the WW etools though, I put it on hold until after the baby. My first craving though was Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. I used a recipe from a blog I visit often and they were amazing!! I followed this recipe exactly and will be making them again. As you may have read from my last post, my camera hates me (actually it's about 8 years old and may be time to trade it in) and so I was not able to get a picture of them. They were good though and I will be making them for our trip to Las Vegas next month as a little airplane treat! I am feeling better so I would hope that I will be updating my blog more frequently now. :o)

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Wow! It's been awhile since I last posted on here! It has been a whirlwind of a month and we haven't really been cooking much blog-worthy meals. I am excited that with the WC Nestie Recipe exchange and being a new member of Daring Bakers, it will pick up more! I am also sad to report that my camera has been on the fritzo lately. For some reason it thinks it needs NEW batteries every single time I use it. Because of this, I do not have pics for several of the recipes I am going to post tonight. No worries though! I will be making these recipes again and uploading photos as soon as I can. This soup is delicious and easy. I have never had much luck with soups....they either turn out too thick, too thin or just no flavor. This was not the case with the Chicken Tortilla Soup from the Buon Appetito blog that I visit.

Chicken Tortilla Soup
(source: Buon Appetito)

Ingredients

2 skinned and boneless chicken breasts, cubed
1 10 oz package frozen whole kernel corn, thawed
1 large onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, pressed
2 14 oz cans chicken broth
1 10 ½ oz can tomato puree
1 10 oz can diced tomatoes and green chiles
¾ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/8 tsp ground black pepper
1 bay leaf

Directions
Combine all in crockpot. Cover and cook on High 6 hours. Remove and discard bay leaf.
Serve with sour cream, tortilla chips and garnish with fresh cilantro.


This averaged out to about 3 points per good sized bowl (about a cup and a half).

Skinny Chimis

Another great creation from Take Out Tonight! :o) We both liked this recipe, me more so than my husband but I think that with a little extra spice, it would be perfect! Spraying the tortillas with a little Pam made them perfectly crunchy, it was just as if we fried them. Definitely give this one a try if you are looking for a POINT friendly Mexican dish, just add a little more spice to it (chili powder or green chiles). My changes in listed in green.



Skinny Chimis
(source: Take Out Tonight)

1/2 lb lean ground turkey I used 1lb of lean ground beef
2 tbsp diced green chiles I'd add a little more
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
2 tsp chili powder I would add a little more
8 oz tomato sauce
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/3 cup low fat cheddar cheese I used Mexican blend
1 garlic clove, minced
4 fat free tortillas
Pam

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Cook turkey (or hamburger) in skillet that is lightly sprayed with Pam. Add garlic, cumin, chili powder, chiles, tomato sauce and oregano and simmer for about 5 minutes, until the sauce thickens a bit.

On a Pam sprayed cookie sheet, fill each tortilla with a good scoop of goo (I had extra since I used extra meat but try to keep it as even as possible). Roll the tortilla up, pushing in the sides then rolling it. They will be thick and that is ok! Spray the tops of the tortillas so they glisten and bake about 20 minutes or until crisp.

These will be like little saunas inside, very very HOT! They are oh so good though! I served this with fat free refried beans topped with a little cheese. So tastey!

POINTS for Original Recipe with Turkey: 4 POINTS per Chimi
POINTS for My Recipe: 6 POINTS per Chimi

Back on Track! Chinese Food

So anyone on WW can tell you that Chinese food is one of the hardest kinds of cuisine to stay on track with. Sure you can get chicken and veggies but when compared to sweet and sour chicken, wonton soup, and crab ragoons....hmm, which would you pick?! Tonight we made the first dinner out of my new cookbook, Take Out Tonight.




I got this book for Christmas from my mom. She has loved this recipe book so much that she would not let me borrow it because she uses it so much! We tried the Beef and Broccoli recipe, which my dad just RAVES about. I loved it, my husband not so much. He isn't a big stir fry person though....that said, he told me it was good but not one of his favorite meals. Ok....so here it is though, I would definitely make this again, maybe on a bowling night when my husband eats out with his friends. My modifications are in blue.



Beef and Broccoli
(source: Take Out Tonight recipe book)

3/4 lb lean top round steak, cut into thin strips
2 tbsp corn starch
1/2 cup beef broth - I added an extra 1 tbsp of broth
2 tbsp oyster sauce - I omitted
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce - I added 1 extra tbsp to compensate for omitting oyster sauce
1 tbsp dry sherry - I omitted
1 lb broccoli, stalks cut off - my mom uses frozen and it turns out great
2 tsp canola oil
1 tbsp diced ginger
3 garlic cloves, minced

Directions:

Combine the beef with 1 tbsp corn starch, until evenly coated. Set aside. Combine the remaining corn starch, beef broth, honey, and soy sauce (dry sherry and oyster sauce also if using).

If using fresh broccoli, boil first for several minutes or steam in microwave. If using frozen omit this step.

Heat skillet or wok under HIGH heat. Add oil to pan and swish around to coat. Saute beef until no longer pink, about 3-5 minutes. Add ginger and garlic and saute an additional 2-3 minutes, stirring around frequently. Add liquid mixture and saute until sauce is nice and bubbly.

Serve with rice. Makes 4 servings.

POINTS per serving: 4
POINTS per serving with 1/2 cup white rice: 6