quick chicken-corn chowder

This was rated in the top 20 chicken recipes from one of my favorite cooking magazines, Cooking Light. It's healthy AND takes under 30 minutes to prepare! After reading some of the reviews I decided to use a rotisserie chicken and I'm glad I did. It gives it such a great flavor, I'll have to start keeping an eye out for the reduced price rotisseries. :)I still feel like it was missing a tiny bit of something though...maybe a little hot sauce? I'll have to play around with it, still a great recipe overall.

Yields: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 cup)
Only 257 calories per serving! 8.1g fat, 19.1g protein, 28.6g carbs, 668mg sodium

• 2 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 2 cloves garlic, minced 
• 1 jalapeño pepper, seeded and minced
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour 
• 3 cups 2% reduced-fat milk
• 2 cups chopped roasted skinless, boneless chicken breasts (I used the 2 breasts from the rotisserie chicken)
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen corn kernels
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh or 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper (I omitted)
• 1/8 teaspoon salt (or more to taste)
• 1 (14 3/4-ounce) can cream-style corn

Preparation

• Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onion, celery, and jalapeño; cook for 3 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Add garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add flour; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and remaining ingredients. Bring to a boil; cook until thick (about 5 minutes). Season with extra salt and pepper if needed. Enjoy!

pumpkin spice muffins

These are the moistest muffins I've ever tasted. And to think they only took 2 ingredients! No eggs, oil, or sugar! If you're an amateur at baking like me and want something that tastes and smells just like fall, these are for you. You could even sprinkle with powdered sugar, add chopped nuts, raisins, chocolate chips or top with cream cheese frosting if you're feelin' adventurous! ;)

This recipe makes about 14-16 regular sized muffins.

Ingredients:
1 box spice cake mix
15 oz 100% pure canned pumpkin
paper muffin/cupcake liners


Directions:
-Preheat oven to 350.
-In a large bowl, mix together cake mix and canned pumpkin until well combined.

-Spoon into paper lined small muffin/cupcake tins, 2/3 full. (Batter will be thick)

-Bake at 350 for 23 minutes (roughly 15 min. for mini muffins) or until toothpick comes out clean.

grilled chicken breast tostadas

 

I love nothing more than a tasty yet healthy meal, and this one did the trick! I thoroughly enjoyed this recipe and will be added to our weekly menu....at least until the snow hits and we can't grill anymore! :) Tony and I each had 2 tostadas and were full, the rest will be left overs for lunch tomorrow!

The differences I made from this recipe is instead of marinating my chicken I just rubbed a smashed clove of garlic on them and sprinkled the lime juice over top. You could add any other seasoning you like to it as well (I used a honey-lime seasoning I have) if you don't feel like taking time to marinate. I left out the cilantro in the pico de gallo and the green chiles in the guacamole. You don't put green chiles in guac!

Grilled Chicken Breast Tostadas

• 2 limes
• 3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 3 boneless skinless chicken breast (about 1 1/2 p0unds)
• kosher salt
• fresh ground pepper
• 1 cup sour cream (You could sub plain greek yogurt)
• 6 (6 inch) corn tortillas (I used white corn tortillas)
• additional olive oil
• easy guacamole
• pico de gallo

1. In a gallon sized ziploc bag, combine juice from 1 lime, olive oil, and garlic.  Season with salt and pepper.  Add chicken and marinate for 1 hour. (I skipped this step)
2. While chicken marinates, mix 1 cup sour cream with 1 tsp. lime zest and 1-2 Tbsp. lime juice (from remaining lime) to make a lime crema.  Store in refrigerator until ready to serve.
3. Preheat grill to high.  Grill chicken for about 4-6 minutes per side until juices run clear and chicken is cooked.
4. Brush tortillas with olive oil and toast on grill for about 30 seconds per side or until nice and crisp.  Remove from grill and sprinkle with salt. (I just sprayed with spray oil)
5. Slice cooked chicken breasts into slices and build tostadas.  To build: Spread tortilla with guacamole then top with chicken slices, pico de gallo, followed by lime crema.  Serve with Bush’s Texas Ranchero Grillin’ Beans on the side.  Makes 6 tostadas.

cookies 'n' cream ice cream

This stuff is amazing. 'Nuff said.


If you don't have an ice cream maker yet...you should go buy one.


Right now...

Prep Time: 8 minutes
Ice Cream Maker Time: Approximately 20-25 minutes
Makes: 1 1/2 quarts
Servings: Ten 1/2 cup servings

Ingredients:

1 cup milk
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups heavy whipping cream
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
3/4 cup crushed Oreo cookies*

*Place Oreo cookies in a Ziploc bag. Seal bag. Crush cookies using the heel of your hand or a kitchen mallet.

Directions: 

Using a wire whisk or hand mixer, mix milk and sugar until the sugar dissolves (about 1 -2 minutes).

Stir in heavy cream and vanilla extract.

Pour into ice cream maker.

Churn about 20 minutes or according to manufacturer's instructions.

Add crushed Oreo cookies to ice cream.

Churn for 5 additional minutes.

May need to freeze for several hours or overnight, mixture will be of milkshake consistency.

baked sweet potato fries

These things are delicious!! I think I might even like them better than regular fries. I love the sweet I get from the potato and the salty I get from the ranch (because everyone knows how much I love ranch right? lol) Ketchup just wouldn't do. It MUST be ranch. MmmMm. Tony loves these things too, he's always asking me to make them. 
Every time I see photos of these recipes though, their fries are always orange...I can't tell if they just have different sweet potatoes or if they are using yams instead. I just stick to the one that's labeled "sweet potato" at the grocery store :)

Ingredients:

- 1 sweet potato, (about 5" long) peeled and cut into 1/4" fries

- 2 tsp olive oil

- about 1/2 a dry packet of Zesty Italian dressing, or to your taste preference

- few shakes of garlic powder 

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

-In a medium bowl, toss sweet potatoes with olive oil, italian dressing powder and garlic powder. 

-Spread potatoes on a baking sheet or on top of a cooling rack. Avoid crowding so potatoes get crisp. Bake 15 minutes. Turn and bake an additional 10-15 minutes. Ovens may vary so keep an eye on them and be sure to cut all the potatoes the same size to ensure even cooking. 

healthy tortellini soup

This soup turned out WAY better than Tony and I had expected. A super easy and quick meal that left us both full. I accompanied it with a slice of garlic bread... yum! A must try for a cool day.

Tortellini Soup
Printer-Friendly Version

Yield: 3-4 servings
Ingredients:
1 tbsp. olive oil
½ cup onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
½ tsp. dried oregano
1 (15 oz.) can diced tomatoes, with juices (I used roasted garlic flavor)
4 cups low-sodium vegetable broth (they didn't have low-sodium so I used regular)

9 oz. whole wheat tortellini, any variety

3 cups fresh baby spinach, loosely packed
Grated Parmesan, for serving

Directions:
In a large pot or Dutch oven, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat.  Add the onions to the pan and cook until beginning to soften, about 5 minutes.  Add in the garlic and cook, stirring frequently, just until fragrant, about 1 minute.  Mix in the oregano and diced tomatoes.  Add the broth to the pot.  Bring the mixture to a boil.  Add the tortellini to the pot and cook according to the package directions.  One minute before the tortellini is fully cooked, stir in the spinach.  Remove from the heat.  Season with salt and pepper if needed.  Serve warm with grated Parmesan as desired.

turkey chili taco soup

I made this to take for lunch a few weeks ago, and it turned out really good! I accompanied it with a few multi-grain saltines since I didn't have any baked tortilla chips on hand. Not exactly a 'summery' recipe, but it rarely gets above 60 degrees here so anything goes! :) Very filling and it's only 200 calories for 1-1/4 cups!

• 1.3 lbs 99% lean ground turkey
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 bell pepper, chopped
• 10 oz can rotel tomatoes with green chilies
• 15 oz canned or frozen corn, drained
• 15 oz kidney beans, drained
• 8 oz tomato sauce
• 16 oz fat free refried beans (makes it thick and creamy, you can't taste them)
• 1 packet taco seasoning (you can use 40% less sodium)
• 2 1/2 cups fat free low sodium chicken broth

Directions:
In a large pot, brown turkey on medium heat, breaking up with a wooden spoon as it cooks. When cooked through, add onions and pepper and cook 2-3 minutes. Add tomatoes, corn, beans, tomato sauce, refried beans, taco seasoning and chicken broth. Bring to a boil and simmer about 10-15 minutes.

Serve with a few baked tortilla chips and your favorite toppings such as low fat sour cream, jalapeños, reduced fat cheese, chopped scallions,  onions, or chopped fresh cilantro. Freeze leftovers in individual portions for future meals.