Monthly Archives: September 2011

Split Pea Soup with Smoked Turkey Thighs

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Split Pea Soup - Comfort Food at its Best!

Recipe

2 C (1 lb.) Split Peas

10 C Water

½ C Celery, chopped

½ C Carrots, chopped

2 C Onions, chopped

2 Bay leaves

3 Garlic cloves, minced

2 t Ground cumin

½ t Dried thyme

2 T Bragg’s Liquid Amino Acids or low sodium soy sauce

½ t Salt

2 Smoked turkey thighs

 

 

  1. Put everything in a crock pot and cook on high for 6-8 hours.

 

OR

 

  1. You can also cook on high for 3-4 hours the night before, put in the fridge before you go to bed, and finish cooking the next day.  Taking into account that the soup will be cold, cook on high for 6 more hours.
  2. Once soup is done, remove the smoked turkey thighs discarding the bones and skin.  Shred the meat and return to the soup.
  3. Serve with a dense whole grain bread (optional but delicious), and see how many recipes you can think of that taste this good and are this fast!

Split Pea Soup with Smoked Turkey Thighs

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9-22-11 Dinner Blog

Split Pea Soup - a very satisfying meal!

Last night’s story actually started Wednesday night.  To get a jump on Thursday’s dinner and knowing the flavor would be better if the soup had time to marinate, I gathered all the ingredients and within 10 minutes everything was in the slow cooker.

Split peas, carrot, onion, celery,smoked turkey thighs, and seasonings cook slowly to make this savory soup

I purchased pre-chopped vegetables to save time, so it was a matter of dumping the veggies, dropping in 2 smoked turkey thighs,  and measuring out the water and seasonings.  Super easy! Then I turned the crock pot on high for 4 hours.   Before I went to bed, I put the crock pot in the refrigerator over night.  The soup was not ready, but at least the flavors had begun to cook, and, around noon I took the soup out of the refrigerator and turned it on high for 6 more hours.  If you are going to be gone all day, you could probably finish cooking the soup on low for about 10 hours…

While I usually only shop once during the week, I did not want to get fresh bread on Sunday to use on Thursday.  So yesterday afternoon, I went to the local bread shop and purchased whole wheat sourdough bread – I had them slice it to save time.  It was a quick trip in and out, I didn’t buy anything else!!!

By 4 p.m., the house smelled amazing!  Due to sports, our family dinner was scheduled for 7 p.m.  To make sure we sat down right at 7, I pulled the smoked turkey thighs out of the soup at about 6:15, discarded the skin and bones, shredded the meat and returned the meat to the soup.  This took about 10 minutes – the meat just fell off the bones.

Once we were ready to sit down, I portioned the soup and stacked 5 pieces of bread on a plate (we had a guest for dinner).

Split Pea Soup ready for the table!

The Verdict
Two thumbs up all around!  A 10 from my son, a 9.5 from our guest, who is my brother and would never miss a chance to diss me, a 9 from my husband, and a 9 from my toughest critic, my daughter.  Wow!!!  It was quite satisfying.  The adults had an additional small portion, but the kids were quite satisfied with one bowl.

Split Pea Soup - a very satisfying meal!

You learn something new every day.  You can teach an old dog new tricks…  Yes, I am talking about myself…  I made some changes to this recipe, out of necessity, that really enhanced the flavor. I used to use ham hocks, but the store was out.  I explained to the butcher what I was making and he suggested smoked turkey thighs – said I wouldn’t tell the difference and I might even like it better.  A bit salesy?! He was right!  I love using the smoked turkey thighs and will try them in place of ham hocks in all future recipes that call for ham hocks.  Nothing against ham hocks except that they are bit more fatty.

The one thing about smoked turkey thighs is that they use salt in the process.  As a result, I used very little additional salt in the recipe.  No one asked to add salt. The flavor was just right!

I owe you the recipe for this.  It is too good to pass on!  Stay tuned…

Oven-Fried Chicken (The Second Time Around), Steamed Squash, Roasted Beets, and a Side Salad

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9-21-11 Dinner Blog

Oven-Fried Chicken (The Second Time Around), Steamed Squash, Roasted Beets, and a Side Salad

If you have noticed, I am a day behind this week.  This is no surprise to me – I always feel a day behind.  But because of today’s extraordinary craziness and mandatory “To Do’s” that were not on my list when I woke up, today’s dinner victory was all the more sweet.  Talk about easy – this one takes the cake!  I just warmed everything up and served. This is the pay off for planning and pre-prep!

I pre-heated the oven, put the chicken on a roasting pan, and just for kicks, sprinkled some more chili powder on half of the chicken, and popped the pan in the oven.

Warming up the Oven-Fried Chicken and Adding a bit of Chili Powder to Half

I got the squash, rest of the beets, greens, and the last of the pineapple and bell peppers out of the refrigerator.  Recall I cooked the squash on Sunday so I just had to warm it up.  I peeled the skin off the beets, cut them and warmed them too.  Then I portioned the greens, pineapple and bell pepper, topped with a bit of the no-oil balsamic vinaigrette.

Within 10 minutes the chicken was heated through, the sides warm and ready, and we sat down to eat!

Oven-Fried Chicken (The Second Time Around), Steamed Squash, Roasted Beets, and a Side Salad

The Verdict

The chili powder didn’t sweeten the deal for my daughter whose rating remained a 7. She reminds me this is not a bad rating, it just means it is not one of my top dishes.  Everyone else’s ratings remained high.  Though the chili powder was a nice change, the kids could only have one piece of chicken before their mouths got too hot. On the other hand, my husband and I really liked the “zip”.  In the future, I may just lightly sprinkle some chili powder on the adult’s portions once they are on the plate.

So you can’t please all of the people all of the time, but you can try to please most of them!

 

 

Recipe

Oven-Fried Chicken, Roasted Beets, Fresh Green Beans and a Side Salad

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

Recipe can be doubled and served again 2 days later. No need to reinvent this meal!

4-6 Beets

1 Acorn Squash

1.75 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 C Bread crumbs

1/2 C Finely shredded cheddar cheese – I use goat’s milk cheddar

¾ t chili powder

½ t salt

Olive oil or canola oil spray

Water in a small bowl

 

Make ahead of time:

Preheat oven to 400

  1. Wash beets and cut off root and stems
  2. Cover beets in foil
  3. Place beets in a foil lined roasting pan
  4. Cut acorn squash in half the long way, scrape out the seeds and put meat-side down in a roasting pan with 1/2″ of water
  5.  Pop both pans in the oven for 1 hr.
  6. Check for doneness: A fork should pierce the beet easily
  7. Place beets, still wrapped in their foil, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them
  8. Using a tablespoon, scrape out acorn squash meat and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to use it.

 

 

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 350

  1. Wash and cut the chicken into smaller pieces
  2. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Create an assembly line of chicken, water, breading, and a lightly sprayed roasting pan.  (If you are making a double batch you will need 2 roasting pans)
  4. Wet the chicken, dredge in breading and place on roasting pan
  5. Repeat until all chicken is breaded and on roasting pan
  6. Slide into oven and set timer for 20 minutes

 

For the rest of the meal:

  1. Take the beets out of the refrigerator.
  2. Peel off foil and with your fingers peel off beet skin
  3. Slice and place in a microwave-safe bowl
  4. Heat for 1-2 minutes
  5. Warm squash
  6. Set aside for serving
  7. Portion greens on each plate and add whatever salad fixings you have on hand

 

When chicken is ready, portion on each plate and serve. Compare to your favorite chicken nugget and see if we aren’t on to something…

 

 

Shrimp Stir-Fry with Vegetables and Soba Noodles

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9-20-11 Dinner Blog

 

Shrimp, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Green Onions, Pineapple, Soba Noodles, and Ginger Hoisin Sauce in the wok

An Easy Mistake to Make…

I started dinner early – around 3 o’clock when I took the shrimp out of the freezer and thought I would get ahead and make some brown rice for the stir-fry.  I set the rice cooker, put the shrimp in the fridge and left.

It wasn’t until I came home around 5:15 that I realized that I didn’t need brown rice – I was using soba noodles!  Well, now I have a generous portion of brown rice.  I will figure out some way to use it…

An Easy Fix…

Following “6 Steps to Better Stir-Fries”, from Cooking Light’s October 2011 issue, I began dinner prep by taking the shrimp and veggies out of the refrigerator. I rinsed the snow peas and heated water for the soba noodles.  Then I washed and chopped the green onion, tomato, bell pepper, and cut up the pineapple.  Then I made the ginger hoisin sauce, mixing green onions, rice wine vinegar, Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce, fresh ginger, honey and hoisin sauce.

With my ingredients ready to go, I heated the wok, added 1 T of canola oil down the side of the wok and spread it around. Adding the bell pepper and green onion, I let the veggies sit for a moment and then stirred it around, followed by the snow peas and tomato.

By this time, the water was boiling and I added the soba noodles.  I took the veggies out of the wok, added the shrimp and cooked for about 3 minutes.  Then I put the veggies back in, added the ginger hoisin sauce and the soba noodles that were now cooked.

2 minutes later, I portioned 4 servings topped with pineapple pieces and we sat down to eat!

Shrimp, Snow Peas, Tomatoes, Bell Pepper, Green Onion, Pineapple, Soba Noodles and Ginger Hoisin Sauce

An Easy A

This was a winner!  A 9 all around! Even my toughest critic gave it a 9 and a two thumbs up! The ginger hoisin flavor was really tasty and everyone loved the shrimp. I really liked the soba noodles – a buckwheat noodle, it was a healthy option and a nice change from rice.  The meal was very satisfying.  3 of us had a small second portion, and there were no leftovers!

 

Recipe

Shrimp Stir-Fry with Vegetables and Soba Noodles

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

 

Ingredients:

1 Package of Soba Noodles

1 Bell pepper

½ bunch green onions

1 Tomato

¼ – 1/3 lb. Snow peas

8 t rice wine vinegar

6 t Braggs Liquid Aminos or low sodium soy sauce

2 t Fresh ginger, chopped

2 t honey

4 t hoisin sauce

1.75 lbs. shrimp

2 T Canola oil

Fresh pineapple cut into pieces

 

Instructions:

  1. Heat water for soba noodles.
  2. Wash and chop bell pepper, green onions, tomato.
  3. Rinse snow peas.  You can substitute with different vegetables: broccoli, mushrooms, edamame, etc.
  4. Combine rice wine vinegar, liquid aminos (or low sodium soy sauce), ginger, honey, and hoisin sauce and set aside.
  5. When water is boiling, add soba noodles per package direction (~6 minutes).
  6. Heat wok and pour 1 T canola oil down the side of the wok and spread the oil around.
  7. Add bell pepper and green onions.  Let sit a moment before stirring.  When beginning to get tender, add tomato and snow peas and cook for 2-3 more minutes.
  8. Remove veggies from heat.  Add one more T of canola oil down the side of the wok, spread it around and cook the shrimp 3-4 minutes or until cooked.
  9. Add the veggies, noodles and ginger hoisin sauce.
  10. Portion a serving on each plate, top with pineapple and serve!

Recipe for Oven-Fried Chicken, Roasted Beets, Fresh Green Beans and a Side Salad

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Recipe

Oven-Fried Chicken, Roasted Beets, Fresh Green Beans and a Side Salad

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

Recipe can be doubled and served again 2 days later. No need to reinvent this meal!

Ingredients:

1.75 lbs Boneless Skinless Chicken Breasts

1 C Bread crumbs

1/2 C Finely shredded cheddar cheese – I use goat’s milk cheddar

¾ t chili powder

½ t salt

Olive oil or canola oil spray

Water in a small bowl

 

Instructions:

Make ahead of time:

Preheat oven to 400

  1. Wash beets and cut off root and stems
  2. Cover beets in foil
  3. Place in a foil lined roasting pan and pop in the oven for 1 hr.
  4. Check for doneness: A fork should pierce the beet easily
  5. Place beets, still wrapped in their foil, in the refrigerator until you are ready to use them

 

For the Chicken:

Preheat oven to 350

  1. Wash and cut the chicken into smaller pieces
  2. Mix remaining ingredients in a large bowl
  3. Create an assembly line of chicken, water, breading, and a lightly sprayed roasting pan.  (If you are making a double batch you will need 2 roasting pans)
  4. Wet the chicken, dredge in breading and place on roasting pan
  5. Repeat until all chicken is breaded and on roasting pan
  6. Slide into oven and set timer for 20 minutes

 

For the rest of the meal:

  1. Take the beets out of the refrigerator.
  2. Peel off foil and with your fingers peel off beet skin
  3. Slice and place in a microwave-safe bowl
  4. Heat for 1-2 minutes
  5. Set aside for serving
  6. Portion greens on each plate and add whatever salad fixings you have on hand

 

When chicken is ready, portion on each plate and serve. Compare to your favorite chicken nugget and see if we aren’t on to something…

 

Oven-Fried Chicken, Roasted Beets, Fresh Green Beans, and a Side Salad

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9-19-11 Dinner Blog

I have high hopes for tonight.  First, I feel prepared because I did a lot of pre-prep on Sunday night.  The chicken is washed, cut and ready to use. The beets are also cooked, which means I just need to warm them up, make a side salad, and prepare some fruit.  Second, I think that the family is going to really enjoy this chicken. I haven’t made it in a while, so it will probably seem new to them. Third, a close family friend is coming over which will make dinner even more fun than usual – and will keep me honest in my assessment of tonight’s dinner!

The Sunday night pre-prep…

Monday’s Dinner Prep

Dinner prep began at 5:45 when I preheated the oven to 350 and created an assembly line of the chicken, small dish of water, breading mixture, and a lightly sprayed roasting pan.

Baked, not fried, this chicken is tasty!

Piece by piece, I wet the mixture in water, dredged it in the breading and put it on the roasting pan.  This took about 20 minutes, but I knew the prep was also for Thursday night – so in reality I was getting ahead of  myself…

I ended up needing 2 roasting pans and once they were all breaded, I put them in the oven and set the timer for 20 minutes.  Then I took 3 beets from the refrigerator, peeled the skin off, sliced them and cooked them in the microwave for 1 minute.  Check to see if they are warm.  If not, put them in for another 45 seconds and check again.  I also made a small side salad with strawberries, blueberries, and tomatoes and had a few green beans from last week that I divided across the plates.

Once the chicken was finished (it took 10 extra minutes), I portioned the chicken and served.  The partially empty plate is my husband’s who was late coming home but wanted to be sure we saved him some dinner… 

The Verdict

9, 9.5, 9.5 and 7.  Aside from my daughter, everyone loved the chicken.  Our friend, who joined us for dinner said those were the best chicken nuggets she had ever had.  My son agreed.  Moist and tasty!  My daughter liked them but was not overwhelmed.  “It just isn’t as good as your tortilla soup, mom,”  she said.  What a tough critic!

The beets were a hit and the salad was easy to eat with the delicious berries on top.

Unlike my daughter, I thought the dinner was very tasty.  I think I will lightly sprinkle some extra chili powder on top when I warm the chicken for Wednesday and see if that adds more flavor and brings up my daughter’s rating.  Despite the harsh rating, this dinner was a hit with everyone else.  I would definitely make this recipe again.  7 or no 7!

Sept 18-21 Weekly Menu and Master Shopping List

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Sept 18-21 Weekly Menu and Master Shopping List

The weeks don’t seem to be getting any less busy.  And to tell you the truth, I am still trying to “get in the groove” with school, and after-school activities.  I am relying on the constant stream of alarms that go off on my phone during the day to make sure I get myself and everyone else to where they need to go… …And I still feel behind…

Once again, to make things easier this week, I shopped on Sunday and spent about 45 “active” minutes doing pre-prep.  I roasted the beets and the acorn squash, which took longer than 45 minutes, but I am not counting cook time as I can be, and was doing, other things.

I also washed and cut the chicken.  That should make dinner prep on Monday much easier.  Lastly, I hope to make the split pea soup on either Monday or Tuesday, because Thursday will be really crazy and this soup, like so many other soups, is better the next day after the flavors have marinated.

 

 

 

Weekly Menu

Mon: Oven-fried Chicken (bake Wednesday’s chicken too), beets, side salad, fruit

Tues:  Shrimp stir fry with soba noodles, snow peas, pineapple, tomatoes, green onions, and garlic with Ginger- Hoisin sauce

Wed: Oven-fried Chicken, squash, side salad, fruit

Thurs: Split Pea Soup

 

Master Shopping List

Entrees

3.5  lbs Boneless skinless chicken

1.75 lbs Shrimp

1 Ham hock or smoked turkey thighs

 

Vegetables

6 Beets (2 dinners and for lunch salads)

Acorn squash

Greens for salad

Snow peas

1 Red bell pepper

4 Tomatoes

1 Bunch green onions

5-6 Cloves garlic

1/2 C Carrots, chopped

1/2 C Celery, chopped

3 Medium onions finely diced

1/2 t Peeled, minced ginger

 

Fruit

Pineapple

3 Pears

2 Mangos

3 Kiwi

 

Dry Goods – you will likely have most of these items if you used last weeks menu

Olive oil or canola oil

Olive or canola oil spray

2 Bay leaves

2 t Ground cumin

1/4 t Dried thyme

3/4 t Chili powder

3 1/2 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos (or low-sodium soy sauce)

1/2 t Honey

1 t Hoisin sauce

2 t Rice wine vinegar

Salt and pepper

Soba noodles

2 C Green split peas

1 C Bread crumbs

 

Dairy

1 C Finely shredded cheddar cheese (cow or goat)

 

Bakery

Bread for soup

 

Final Sept 12-15 Menu and Master Shopping List

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Final Sept 12-15 Menu and Master Shopping List

This week was not without it’s craziness and frenetic pace, but having a plan for dinners, shopping ahead of time, and even doing some pre-prep on Sunday, brought a bit of calmness to dinner prep AND gave me confidence that I could accomplish 4 healthy meals.

I was very happy with the on-the-fly modifications I made to the menus this week and have revised the menu accordingly.

So, who’s going to try this menu next week?!?!  C’mon, you can do it!!!

Menu:

Monday: Southwest Chicken, side salad, green beans, and fruit

Tuesday:  Turkey Burgers, green beans, fruit, and side salad

Wednesday: Asian Lettuce Wraps with Ground Turkey, avocado-tomato salsa, and fruit

Thursday:  Chicken Chili Bake and a side salad with figs, mangos, and tomatoes

Shopping List:

Please check this list against your pantry, particularly the dry goods. There are several items on the list that you might already have, and if you’re like me, you don’t want to buy more than you need, especially if you already have the ingredients in your pantry!

Entrees

3.5 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breast

3 lbs Ground turkey

Veggies

1 Bunch cilantro

2 Onions

Boston Bibb lettuce

Extra greens for salad – I get enough for lunch and dinner

3 Cloves Garlic

3 Tomatoes

1 Bunch green onions, chopped

2 Avocados

1 1/2 lbs Green beans (2 dinners and snack)

3 Bell peppers – you pick the color

1/2 lb Snow peas

Fruit

2 Limes for 1/4 c of lime juice for cilantro chicken – or purchase a bottle

Fruit for breakfast, lunch, and dinner:

Pineapple

Cantaloupe

1 QT Strawberries

3 Mangos

1 Pint figs (Just because I love them)

(Still have oranges from last week)

Dairy

Cheddar cheese or sheep’s / goat’s milk equivalent

Plain Yogurt or Goat milk yogurt if you don’t do dairy or you can use sour cream)

Frozen

I could not find the Tex Mex frozen mixture I used to buy so I have switched to 1 can of black beans and 2 bell peppers. If you find a frozen Tex Mex mixture or something similar, use it.

Dry Goods

1 Can black beans

Salsa

1 T + 1/4 cup Olive oil (or canola oil)

Olive or canola spray

1 T Soy sauce

1/4 C Hoisin sauce

1 T Rice wine vinegar

Asian chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce)

1 8 oz can Water chestnuts, drained and finely chopped

2 t Asian (dark) sesame oil

1 T Ground cumin

Salt and pepper

1/4 Worcestershire sauce

Bragg’s liquid amino acids all-purpose seasoning spray (optional) – I use instead of soy sauce

Bakery

Tortillas

Small Hamburger buns (can also use for sandwich bread to avoid getting too much bread…

Recipes

Southwest Chicken, Fresh Green Beans, Side Salad and Fruit

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

For the Chicken:

1.75 lbs Boneless skinless chicken breasts

¼ C Olive oil

¼ C Lime juice

½ C Chopped Cilantro

1 T Ground Cumin

½ t salt

1/8 t pepper

For the Rest of the Meal:

Greens for salad

Toppings for salad

Fruit

Healthy handful of green beans

Olive Oil or Canola Spray

Salt

Make Ahead

1. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients, holding the chicken out until mixed thoroughly.  Let marinate 30-40 minutes.  I prefer marinating overnight – the flavor is amazing.


Dinner Time Prep

1. Pre-heat grill on high or pre-heat oven to 350

2. Lay plates out and portion greens

3. Put chicken on grill or in oven (in a roasting / baking pan)

4. Add salad fixings and a light drizzle of dressing on the greens

5. If chicken is on grill, flip the chicken

6. Portion the fruit on each plate

7. Cut tops off green beans, wash, and lightly spray with olive oil spray, lightly salt, and portion on plates

8. Pull chicken off grill, portion and serve!

 

Turkey Burgers, Fresh Green Beans, and Mango

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

1.75 lbs. Ground Turkey

1 3/4 T Bragg’s Liquid Aminos

1 3/4 T Worcestershire Sauce

Small Roll for Burgers (optional)

For the side dishes:

Large Handful of Fresh Green Beans

1 Mango cut up and divided across 4 plates

Instructions:

1.  Mix ground turkey, Bragg’s Liquid Aminos, and Worcestershire sauce in a bowl.

2.  Divide the burgers into 7 equally-sized balls and form 1/4 lb. patties about 1/2 ” thick. The burgers will feel moist and a bit sticky – like dough that needs more flour.  Resist the temptation to add anything like oats or bread crumbs to the mixture…

3. Preheat grill on high

4. Put the burgers on and turn the heat down to medium

6. Rinse the green beans, cut off the stems, and spray a bit of olive oil (or canola oil), salt (light salt) the beans, and portion them on the plates.

7. Flip the burgers. (about 4-5 minutes)

8. Portion the mango across the plates.

9. Pull burgers off  (about 3 more minutes).

10.  Serve and see if that isn’t one of the best turkey burgers you’ve had!

 

Asian Lettuce Wraps

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

 

12-16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

1.75 lbs. ground turkey

1 T cooking oil

1 large onion, chopped

3 cloves fresh garlic, minced

1T plus a little bit, soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

1/3 Hoisin sauce

1 T plus a little bit, rice wine vinegar

Asian chile pepper sauce or sweet chili sauce

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, sliced or finely chopped

¼ C chopped green onions

2 t Asian dark sesame oil

For the sides:

1 Avocado

1 Large tomato, or 2 smaller tomatoes

Fresh, seasonal fruit

Instructions:

  1. Rinse lettuce leaves and set aside to dry
  2. Brown the ground turkey.  Remove from pan
  3. In same pan, sautee onion.
  4. Add garlic, soy sauce (Bragg’s), hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce) to the onions and stir.
  5. Stir in water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked ground turkey
  6. Lay out plates and add fruit and one or two lettuce leaves
  7. Dice a tomato and avocado and mix them together with a touch of salt.  (for those kids who have strong preferences, add avocado, tomato or both separately on the plate (see the four settings: the adults got the mixture, and one had no tomatoes and one had avocado and tomato separate on the plate…)
  8. Make sure turkey mixture is still warm.  Spoon the mixture into center of leaves, making sure not to put too much in as it will be difficult to wrap.
  9. Serve!
  10. Show the kids how to “wrap” the lettuce like a tortilla – see how many points you get for creativity

 

Chicken Chile Bake

For 2 Adults and 2 Kids

For the “Casserole”

1.75 lbs. Chicken

1 Can black beans, drained

2 Bell peppers diced

1 onion, diced

1 jar salsa (you can mix a few together)

1 C plain yogurt

Cilantro

Canola oil spray

1 8 Whole-wheat tortillas

For the side dishes:

1 avocado

Greens with fresh fruit, tomatoes, or whatever salad fixin’s you have

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375

1.  Cook chicken – bake or grill.  Hopefully you can pair this dish with another chicken dish and cook the chicken at the same time and save time.

2.  In a large bowl mix all casserole ingredients, except the tortillas, in a large bowl

3.  Lightly spray bottoms and sides of a 9 X 13 and 8 X 8 baking pan

4. Place one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan, followed by some of the chicken mixture.

5. Repeat step 4, alternating a layer of tortillas and a layer of chicken mixture.

6.  Top with a final layer of tortilla and lightly sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

7. Place in 375 oven for 20 minutes to heat through

8. While Chicken Chile Bake is heating, divide the avocado across the 4 plates and lightly sprinkle salt if desired.  Portion some greens and salad fixin’s on each plate.

9.  Once Chicken Chile Bake is hot, pull out and serve with salsa on the side.  Ol´e!

Chicken Chile Bake

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9-15-11 Dinner Blog

Close up serving of Chicken Chile Bake

Vintage Dinner Reinvented

I was smiling to myself as I was making the Chicken Chile Bake last night, (which is basically a casserole), because I couldn’t bring myself to type the word “casserole” on Monday’s “Weekly Menu” blog…

When I think of casseroles, I think of canned cream of “something” soup, (with way too much salt), and the cooking genre of the 60’s and 70’s.  Remember the tuna casserole? Tuna, noodles and peas?  My mom didn’t make casseroles very often, (She was actually ahead of her time in terms of healthy cooking), but I had more than my fair share of tuna, and hamburger (remember?) casseroles at parties, friend’s houses and relative gatherings.

This recipe is not vintage, but it is a casserole.  I got it from a cooking class my daughter took at her school about 6 years ago.  I modified it to make it more healthy and added veggies.

Getting Dinner Together

It was 4:40 and I had to get dinner prepped and cooked before 5:25. Earlier in the day I had realized that I forgot to cook tonight’s chicken on Monday when I cooked the Southwestern Chicken.  That would have been a time saver… Note to self…

So I began by preheating the oven to 375 and turning the grill on high.  Luckily, I had already washed and cut the chicken on Sunday, so it was just a matter of putting the chicken on the grill.  You can also bake the chicken at 350 for about 20 minutes– but the real time saver is if you cook this chicken earlier in the week when you make the Southwest Chicken.

While the chicken was cooking, I mixed the following in a large bowl:

1 Diced onion

2 Bell peppers, (which I had diced on Sunday – score!!)

1 Can of black beans, drained

1 Jar of salsa (I mixed 2 kinds together to make “one jar”)

1 Cup of plain yogurt (Consider using instead of sour cream.  I use goat’s milk yogurt because of my daughter’s allergy to cow’s milk.)

The other half of the cilantro from Monday, chopped.

In the middle of getting all these ingredients into the bowl, I flipped the chicken (after about 3-4 minutes).  3 minutes later, I tested the chicken, pulled it off the grill, diced it and mixed it in the large bowl with the other ingredients.

Mixing Ingredients for the Chicken Chile Bake

Then I lightly sprayed the bottom and sides of a 9X13 and 8X8 pan with canola oil spray, and then placing one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan.  I followed up with a portion of the chicken mixture, and another tortilla layer.  I repeated the layering, ending with a layer of tortillas on top.

Building the "Casserole"

I topped the casserole (OK, now this word is coming out easier…:)) with cheddar cheese and popped the casseroles in the oven at 5:00. (Not being able to use cheddar cheese derived from cow’s milk, I used goat’s milk cheddar cheese, which, even the harshest critics in the family says tastes amazing!)

Putting the "Casserole" in the oven

After 20 minutes, I pulled the casseroles out of the oven and went to my second “Back to School Night of the week.

An hour later, I was home, preheated the oven to 375 and put the casseroles in for 10 minutes – just enough to heat through.

I laid out the plates, split an avocado among the four of us, and made a small side salad with figs, tomatoes, and mangoes, topped with the no oil balsamic vinaigrette. I pulled the casseroles out of the oven and served.

4 portions of Chicken Chile Bake

The Verdict

A 9!  Everyone loved the dinner.  My husband had a small second portion, but everyone else was full.  It was really great to have most of my nutrition in one dish.  You really don’t even need the salad, because you have a great variety of vegetables in the casserole, but if you like salad like I do, it is always nice to eat fresh fruit and vegetables.

I will be looking for more “casserole” recipes for the fall and winter sans the canned soup. The one dish meal – so easy!  …History repeats itself – with a healthy twist!

Recipe

For the “Casserole”

1.75 lbs. Chicken

1 Can black beans, drained

2 Bell peppers diced

1 onion, diced

1 jar salsa (you can mix a few together)

1 C plain yogurt

Cilantro

Canola oil spray

1 8 Whole-wheat tortillas

For the side dishes:

1 avocado

Greens with fresh fruit, tomatoes, or whatever salad fixin’s you have

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 375

1.  Cook chicken – bake or grill.  Hopefully you can pair this dish with another chicken dish and cook the chicken at the same time and save time.

2.  In a large bowl mix all casserole ingredients, except the tortillas, in a large bowl

3.  Lightly spray bottoms and sides of a 9 X 13 and 8 X 8 baking pan

4. Place one layer of whole-wheat tortillas on the bottom of the pan, followed by some of the chicken mixture.

5. Repeat step 4, alternating a layer of tortillas and a layer of chicken mixture.

6.  Top with a final layer of tortilla and lightly sprinkle cheddar cheese on top.

7. Place in 375 oven for 20 minutes to heat through

8. While Chicken Chile Bake is heating, divide the avocado across the 4 plates and lightly sprinkle salt if desired.  Portion some greens and salad fixin’s on each plate.

9.  Once Chicken Chile Bake is hot, pull out and serve with salsa on the side.  Ol´e!

 

Asian Lettuce Wraps, Tomato-Avocado Salsa, Fresh Fruit

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9-14-11

Dinner Blog Dinner Prep

It’s a good night when things go as planned.  It’s a great night when someone says they want to drive your leg of the carpool!  Bonus!!!

I found tonight’s recipe on allrecipes.com.  It sounded easy, delicious, and fast.  Right up my alley.  The recipe estimated 20 minutes of prep time and 15 minutes of cook time, which was about how long it took me.  I entered the kitchen at 6:10 and began by cooking the ground beef.  I should have washed the Bibb lettuce first and let it dry, but I was too excited to start the meal to think in the right order…

Once the beef was done, I put it on the side and cooked the onion, adding the hoisin sauce, soy sauce (I used the Bragg’s Liquid Aminos), garlic and rice wine vinegar when the onion was tender. Then I added the beef back to the onion mixture with sliced water chestnuts and chopped green onions.

Mixing the ground turkey, onions, and asian seasonings

I laid out the plates adding pineapple, a sliced peach and the last of the strawberries.  And while the menu shows green beans for tonight, we had them the last two nights, so I made a tomato – avocado “salsa” mixture.  It was a nice change from a side salad since we were already using lettuce for our wraps.

At 6:25 I had to run and pick up my son’s carpool and at 6:45 when I was back home again, I washed the lettuce (should have done earlier so it would dry), and patted it dry.  I warmed up the ground turkey mixture and spooned a bit on each lettuce leaf. I thought we would probably eat more than one wrap, but I wanted to make sure everyone liked them before I loaded them up on their plate.  We sat down to eat at 7:05.

Asian Lettuce Wraps with Tomato-Avocado Salsa, pineapple, strawberries and peaches

Two Thumbs Up!

Everyone liked dinner and I even got points for creativity (using lettuce instead of a tortilla)!  We used the sweet chili sauce (you may still have extra from a couple of weeks ago) and that added another level of flavor.  My son and husband really enjoyed the wraps, had seconds, and gave the dinner a 9 and 9+ respectively.  This is a huge win as my son is not a huge turkey eater… My daughter was a little less enthusiastic, had a small second wrap, and gave the meal a 7, although I am not sure why and I am not sure she knows exactly why…

Recipe

Ingredients for Asian Lettuce Wraps:

12-16 Boston Bibb or butter lettuce leaves

1.75 lbs. ground turkey

1 T cooking oil

1 large onion

chopped 3 cloves fresh garlic

minced 1T plus a little bit

soy sauce (or Bragg’s Liquid Aminos)

1/3 Hoisin sauce 1 T plus a little bit,

1T rice wine vinegar

Asian chile pepper sauce or sweet chili sauce

1 8 oz can water chestnuts, sliced or finely chopped

¼ C chopped green onions

2 t Asian dark sesame oil

  1. Rinse lettuce leaves and set aside to dry
  2. Brown the ground turkey.  Remove from pan
  3. In same pan, sautee onion.
  4. Add garlic, soy sauce (Bragg’s), hoisin sauce, vinegar, and chili pepper sauce (or sweet chili sauce) to the onions and stir.
  5. Stir in water chestnuts, green onions, sesame oil, and cooked ground turkey
  6. Lay out plates and add fruit and one or two lettuce leaves
  7. Dice a tomato and avocado and mix them together with a touch of salt.  (for those kids who have strong preferences, add avocado, tomato or both separately on the plate (see the four settings: the adults got the mixture, and one had no tomatoes and one had avocado and tomato separate on the plate…)
  8. Make sure turkey mixture is still warm.  Spoon the mixture into center of leaves, making sure not to put too much in as it will be difficult to wrap.
  9. Serve!
  10. Show the kids how to “wrap” the lettuce like a tortilla – see how many points you get for creativity!