Cheesy Potato & Corn Chowder

This was really good and easy to make! (the girls didn't care for it, but whatever, they never like anything!) ☺

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons margarine or butter
• 1 cup chopped celery
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 2 (14.5 ounce) cans chicken broth (or vegetable broth if u really wanna make it vegetarian)
• 3 cups peeled and cubed potatoes
• 1 (15 ounce) can whole kernel corn
• 1 (4 ounce) can diced green chiles
• 1 (2.5 ounce) package country style gravy mix
• 2 cups milk
• 1 cup shredded Mexican-style processed cheese food (IDK what this even means! LOL, I just used shredded Pepper Jack Cheese and it was yummy!)

Directions

1. In large saucepan, melt margarine over medium high heat. Add celery and onion; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
2. Add chicken broth; bring to a boil. Add potatoes; cook over low heat for 20 to 25 minutes or until potatoes are soft, stirring occasionally.
3. Stir in corn and chiles; return to boiling. Dissolve gravy mix in milk; stir into boiling mixture. Add cheese; cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted.

Here's the link to the recipe as well. Enjoy!

Ratatouille Polenta Bake

This is what we are having for dinner tonight. I'm excited to try it. :)

Ingredients

1 medium onion, coarsely chopped (1/2 cup)

1 medium bell pepper, coarsely chopped (1 cup)

1 small unpeeled eggplant, (1 pound), diced (2 cups)

1 medium zucchini, diced (1 cup)

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 can (14 1/2 ounces) Italian-style stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 tube (16 ounces) refrigerated plain polenta (or any flavor) - I'm making my own.

2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese

3/4 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese (3 ounces)

1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Directions

Step 1 - Heat oven to 375ºF. Spray 12-inch nonstick skillet with cooking spray; heat over medium-high heat. Cook onion and bell pepper in skillet 2 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in eggplant, zucchini, salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, stirring occasionally, until vegetables are tender. Stir in tomatoes, breaking up with spoon; reduce heat to low. Cook 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Step 2 - Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches, with cooking spray. Cut polenta into 1/4-inch slices. Arrange slices on bottom of dish, overlapping and cutting to fit where necessary. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Spoon vegetable mixture evenly over top.

Step 3 - Cover and bake 30 minutes. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and parsley. Bake uncovered about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted and casserole is bubbly. Let stand 5 minutes before serving.

Cheese Enchiladas Verde

So we have decided to stop eating meat at night for the most part. Only because we generally eat really late and it's not very good for the body to try and digest meat when you are sleeping. Does this mean we are NEVER eating meat at night? No, of course not. Occasionally we will and in all reality we will still eat it on the weekends as we USUALLY eat earlier in the day and I have time to prepare. During the week it's sometimes like running around like a chicken with my head cut off. Yes I do prepare, no it's not always the greatest preparation, and sometimes I am just exhausted and meat takes much longer to prepare anyways so ha!

With all of that being said here is the recipe we tried last night. For the most part we really liked it. Sam and I did. The girls somewhat picked at the salsa, I don't know why they usually like it. Maybe because Jadyn wasn't feeling well and was being grouchy and Jakayla was... I dunno being a weirdy LOL!

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups shredded Mexican 4-cheese blend (6 ounces)

1 small zucchini, shredded (3/4 cup)

1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro

8 soft corn tortillas (5 or 6 inch)

1/3 cup soft cream cheese with roasted garlic

1 jar (16 ounces) green salsa (salsa verde) (2 cups)

1 medium avocado, diced

4 medium green onions, sliced (1/4 cup)

Directions

Step 1 - Heat oven to 350ºF. Spray rectangular baking dish, 11x7x1 1/2 inches, with cooking spray. Mix shredded cheese, zucchini and cilantro.

Step 2 - Spread each tortilla with about 2 teaspoons cream cheese. Spoon about 1/3 cup shredded cheese mixture onto each tortilla; spread to within 1 inch of edge. Roll up tortillas; place seam sides down in baking dish. Pour salsa over tortillas.

Step 3 - Cover and bake about 25 minutes or until hot. Top with avocado and onions.

SPAGHETTI AGLIO, OLIO, E PEPERONCINO

I came across this recipe on pinterest and decided to try it. SOOOO glad I did, it was AWESOME. I made a single serving, so I will give you exactly how I made it and the link to the original recipe as well.

2oz uncooked whole wheat thin spaghetti (I'm watching my protions, so I used a scale and actually measured)

1/4-1/2 teaspoon roasted garlic - use as much garlic as you like

1/2 - 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil - make it as oily as you like

2-3 shakes of red pepper flakes - make it as hot as you like

2 teaspoons Parmesan cheese (I only had the Kraft style, so it was a couple of shakes from the shaker, I can't wait to try it with real freshly grated Parmesan cheese) 

salt and pepper to taste (I used neither)

Cook spaghetti to al dente - don't over cook the pasta, that would not be good for this dish

Drain and put back in pan, turn heat on low

Add garlic, olive oil and red pepper flakes, stir and cook just until all is heated together.

Turn into a bowl, add cheese, salt and pepper, stir together

NOTE: Parmesan cheese was not part of the original recipe, so to save on calories, you could leave this out. I'm glad I added a little :)

ENJOY!!

Full Recipe Here

Black Bean Burgers

I'm just adding the link to the recipe I like.

Black Bean Burgers

Salsa Chicken

This is a rip off of a Pinterest recipe I found, with a few mods of my own


I made it today and it was darn good.


1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts (3 plump breasts)
1 can cream of mushroom or cream of chicken soup (I used the healthy no fat cream of chicken)
1 cup salsa (make sure you like the salsa you use, it's going to have this flavor)
1 package taco seasoning (or it could have been this taste, make sure you like this too lol)
1 cup sour cream or greek yogurt (I use greek yogurt everywhere I can in place of sour cream)
1 can black beans (because black beans should go in everything lol)
cilantro to taste
shredded cheddar-jack cheese


Directions: 


Put chicken, soup, and salsa in crock pot. Sprinkle taco seasoning over everything. Cook on low for 8 hours. If shredding the chicken, pull the breasts out and shred; return back to crock pot. Stir in black beans, greek yogurt (sour cream) and cilantro and heat just until everything is combined.


Serve over rice, it will be "soupy" and rice absorbs it nicely. Sprinkle on desired amount of cheese.

I couldn't think of a gluten free idea for this one, it needs to be served on something because of the consistency.

Chicken Avocado Salad

Since 2011 is almost over and there hasn't been a recipe yet, I thought I better get one in there.

This one goes in the "fast, easy, and yummy" category.

Chicken Avocado Salad

1 can canned chicken
1 ripe avocado
1/2 bag shredded lettuce (I cheat and buy already shredded lettuce)
mayo - just a little (you could use greek yogurt, that's good too)
salt and pepper to taste

optionals, all to taste
green onions
celery
cilantro

Drain and flake chicken. Dice avocado into small bite sized pieces, add lettuce, stir to combine.
Add mayo, salt, pepper and cilantro to taste.

You can leave the shredded lettuce out, but I like to add lettuce to recipes like this to make them go further.

Put on bread or crackers or if looking for gluten free, grab a fork and eat it right out of the bowl.