Veggie Loaded Mac & Cheese

It's squash season! A couple of years ago I was intimidated by these yummy things. It seemed so daunting to cook them much less figure out what to cook them with. Intimidated no more my squashy friend! I love finding ways to cook healthier versions of our favorite dishes. It's also great when its budget friendly! This week I've been playing with my friend, butternut squash, and we have come up with some fabulous yummy dishes!

 

Have any of yall seen the Bethenny show, hosted by Bethenny Frankle from the Real House Wives of New York? If you haven’t, she started out as a healthy food chef and has now made part of this a segment on her show. Last week she made a "healthy" mac & cheese. WINNER, one of the hubby's favorite dishes! Check it out here. This, of course, made me start thinking about what can I do to jazz it up just a smidge more and make it into a meal. Here is my version of a healthy mac & cheese…

 

Ingredients:

5 chicken tenders

1/2 cup bell pepper (whatever you have works)
1/2 cup broccoli florets
12 ounces whole wheat mini pasta
1 cup skim milk
1 1/4 cup freshly shredded Parmesan
1 1/2 cup reduced fat sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
1 cup butternut squash puree (don't feel like making it? It's in the freezer isle) (see notes)
1 teaspoon salt plus some for seasoning chicken
1 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon pepper plus some for seasoning chicken
1/2 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp chili powder
2 tablespoons whole wheat bread crumbs
Reduced fat Monterey jack cheese, shredded

Directions:

1.       Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. On a baking pan lined with foil, lay out chicken tenders and salt and pepper on the top. Cook in the oven for about 10 minutes or until cooked.

2.        Boil pasta shells in salted water until slightly firm, according to package directions. Once cooked, drain and blanch broccoli florets in the water. Once they turn a bright green they will be cooked. Remove pan from heat, drain and splash broccoli with cool water. Return both pasta and broccoli to the pan  

3.       In another saucepan, combine the skim milk, Parmesan, cheddar, and butternut squash puree over medium heat until melted and combined. Turn off the heat. Add salt, mustard, pepper, Worcestershire sauce, and chili powder.

4.       Using two forks, shred chicken to desired size.

5.        Add cheese sauce, chicken and bell peppers to the pasta and broccoli. Mix together well.

6.       Spray a shallow baking pan with cooking spray and put the pasta-cheese mixture in it. Sprinkle with breadcrumbs and Monterey jack cheese. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes.

 

Notes: For a quick and easy butternut squash puree, see my recipe here.

Easy Hearty Sloppy Joe's

In my house, we try to get creative for weeknight dinners to try and keep it interesting. When we know we're making something yummy, we're less inclined to crave easy takeout. Once again, this is a great recipe to hide veggies in for those picky vegetable eaters I know a lot of us have in our home. While Ive tried some finely diced red and green bell pepper and a couple of other veggies, I've been wanting to add in some fresh corn! Now before I make myself any more hungry right before we're ready for dinner, I'm going to get this typed up for you and your families.

 

Hearty Weeknight Sloppy Joe's

Makes 4 filled sandwiches

 

1 tbsp Vegetable Oil

1 small Onion, chopped

1 lbs. Ground Beef

1/2 lbs. Ground Turkey (optional)

3 tbsp Tomato Paste

1/2 cup BBQ Sauce

1/4 cup Ketchup

2 tbsp Worcestershire Sauce

2 tbsp Soy Sauce

Any Add in Veggies

Salt & Pepper

Sandwich Rolls

 

1. Heat Oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook, stirring till they turn translucent. Add beef and  ground turkey to skillet, stirring and breaking up till crumbled. Once cooked, drain excess liquid.

 

2. Stir in tomato paste, BBQ sauce, ketchup, Worcestershire, soy sauce, pepper and salt to the skillet and mix well with meat and onion mixture. Let cook until sauce is slightly thickened.

 

3. Top your sandwich bun with your desired amount meat and top with extra goodies till your heart's content!

 

 

 

Cleaning Out Summer

The summer decor is down and the fall is going up. Not only do I love cooking for the seasons but I LOVE decorating. Now that my husband and I are fairly settled into our home of one year and all the big immediate decorating is done, not to say there aren't small touches needed here and there, but I finally feel like I can take up seasonal decorating project. I love going through magazines like Pottery Barn and Southern Living to see their decorating styles for the seasons. In fact, I have a large stack of magazine pages on my desk full of projects I'd like to do for the fall season and around the house in general. I realized that there was no way to physically, and for my husbands sake, financially going to be able to get them all done so I decided to make a fall project list, one each week till the end of fall and the rest will get filed away to potentially be done next season. The changing of the seasons also triggers a pantry, fridge and freezer clean out. My recipes this week are simple and great for a week night meal. One of them is a perfect example of how I also like to hide vegetables from my husband and trick him into eating them but shhh... don't tell him!

Red Pepper & Herb Chicken Strips

I like doing several variations of chicken strip and using ingredients that sound good to me at that time. This time we used:

-2 strips of chicken per person (you can cut chicken breasts if you don't have strips) I used 4.
-1/2 cup flour
-1 egg, beaten
-3/4 cup panko
-1 tbsp red pepper flakes
-1/2 tsp thyme
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp oregano
-salt and pepper
-2 tbsp olive oil
Serve with a side sauce

1. Wash and pat dry chicken strips.
2. Put 1/2 cup flour in a bowl, beaten egg is a separate bowl and in another bowl mix together panko and the next 6 ingredients. Set up your assembly line in this order.
3. In a skillet heat 2 tbsp olive oil on medium heat.
4. Now that everything is in order, one at a time coat your chicken in flour, then the egg, and lastly the panko mixture. With the panko mixture use your fork to generously cover the chicken and press firmly, flip and do the same thing on the other side. Place your chicken one at a time in the skillet and cook each side until it's a deep golden brown.



Summer Squash & Cheese Orzo

A fresh take on mac-and-cheese 

Serving Size: 2

 

1 cup orzo

3/4 cup summer squash, diced

1/4 cup Cheddar cheese, grated

1 tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 tbsp butter

1/4 cup milk

1/2 tbsp parsley flakes

salt and pepper

 

1. Cook orzo according to package and add squash at the same to the same pot.

2. Once cooked, drain water, remove from heat and mix in  the cheese and the next 6 ingredients. Cover for 5 minutes.

3. Enjoy!  



Fall, Baby Fall

Well, it's that time of year again. Does anyone else feel like this year has flown by? Living in Texas I consider it fall when temps. stay in the low 90s and 80s. I also know fall is right around the corner or is here when everyone starts having their babies. Fall is by far, hands down, my favorite cooking season of the year. There's just something a little extra special about the flavors of fall; apples and cinnamon, pumpkin and nutmeg, and so many other warm flavors. Recently I cooked up some sweet baked potatoes for dinner and added, what I think, is the best sweet potato filling. When I first found a similar recipe my husband and I were a little hesitant but intrigued at the same time. I always know when a recipe is a winner when my husband is ready to literally lick his plate clean. This recipe is also what I like to refer to as a "dump" recipe; I go through my fridge, see what kind of veggies are in there and use what I have. So with out further adieu, Chipotle Chicken Southwestern Baked Sweet Potatoes.

 

What  You Need:

 

1 sweet potato per person

 

For the Chicken (serves roughly 6):

3/4 lbs Chicken breast

1/4 cup Olive oil

2 tbsp Fresh lime juice

2 Cloves of garlic, minced

1 6 oz can Chipotle chilies in adobo sauce

1 tsp Dried oregano

1 tsp Cumin

Salt and pepper

 

Potato Stuffing (Personal desired about of each ingredient):

(this can all be varied depending on what you have in your fridge)

Bell pepper, diced

Red or white onion, diced

Chili powder

Paprika

Cumin

Salt

Black Beans, drained

Corn, drained

Jalapeno

Scallions, Cilantro or Green Onion

Cheese

 

What to Do:

 

1. Wash and scrub sweet potatoes, dry with towel and wrap in foil. Put potatoes in a crockpot and if you're going to be gone for longer than six hours put temp on low or if you have less that 6 hours put them on high. The microwave works too for faster results.

 

2. When you're ready to start dinner, in a medium bowl mix olive oil, lime juice, garlic, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, oregano, cumin, chili powder, and a pinch of salt and pepper. Set aside.

 

3. In a skillet add a tbsp of oil and heat. Add chicken and flavor with salt and pepper. Once cooked through place on a cutting board and shred. Toss chicken in the chicken sauce and set aside.

 

4. Drain any juices left in the skillet and return skillet to medium heat. Saute peppers, onions, jalapeno, chili powder, paprika, cumin, and salt.

 

5.  While the veggies are cooking open and drain black beans and corn. Add to skillet and warm.

 

6. Once all veggie ingredients are warmed, remove chicken from sauce and add to skillet. Turn off heat and cover skillet.

 

7. Remove sweet potatoes from crockpot and cut as desired. Spoon filling on top of potato and top with scallions, cilantro or green onion, cheese, and sour cream.

 

8. Enjoy! 

 

 

Date Night In

Around noon on Fridays I usually send my husband a text saying 'in or out?', aka are we going out for dinner or staying in? While I like date nights out, it sure is nice to get creative at home with dinner, find a good movie to rent and pop open a bottle of wine. One of our favorite date night in dinners is pizza. When we first decided it would be fun to make our own pizza I was a little hesitant about the work involved in making pizza dough but after playing with a few recipes, I found what I think is the best base pizza dough EVER!

What you'll need:

3 1/2 - 4 cups Bread Flour ( you can sub in all-purpose flour but it will be a chewier crust)
1 tsp. Sugar
1 envelope instant dry yeast
2 tsp. Kosher salt
1 1/2 cup water at 110 degrees F
2 tbsp Olive Oil, plus 2 tsp.

What you'll do:

1.Using a stand mixer with a dough hook combine flour, sugar, yeast, and salt.

2. With the mixer running at medium speed, slowly add water and 2 tbsp. olive oil and beat until dough ball forms. The perfect dough ball wont stick to the sides of the bowl or have crumbles in the bottom of the bowl. If the ball sticks to the side, add 1 tbsp of flour at a time until the dough pulls from the side. If there are crumbles in the bottom, it means your dough is to dry so add a tbsp of water at time.

3. Place dough on a lightly floured surface and gently knead into a smooth ball.

4. Coat mixing bowl lightly with 2 tsp of olive oil and place dough back into the bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and a towel and place in a warm area to let rise (I usually place in a non-heated oven) for 1 hour.




5. Remove dough from bowl onto a lightly floured surface and divide into the number of desired pizzas ( we've done 2 and 4). Cover with a towel for roughly 10 more minutes.








6. While the dough has it's last rest, now is the perfect time to place your pizza stone in the oven and start heating the oven to 400 degrees.








7. Roll out dough to desired thickness and shape. Take a fork and poke several holes into the crust. This will help the pizza cook.













8. I would suggest building the pizza on the pizza stone as it can be tricky to transfer a pizza from one surface to another once topped.







9. The amount of toppings placed on the pizza will determine the cook time. Well topped pizzas should take about 30 minutes to bake through and create a yummy, crispy crust. Check the bottom of the crust occasionally and when the bottom is slightly golden it should be good to go!

Note: While the entire process take roughly 1 hr 30 mins. there's only about 20 minutes worth of work.
Note: The above recipe is a base recipe. Add what ever flavors desired. Roughly 3 tbsp. of honey give it a sweet flavor and 2-3 tbsp of Italian seasoning gives the crust a very fresh herb taste.

Dinner Challenge #2

With summer winding down and a lot of fruits at the peak of the season I decided I'd try a healthy summery salad from EatingWell for our dinner challenge this week. I don't know about you but I love cooking and eating seasonal flavors. This salad almost made me wish I had another month of summer but I have to say I'm ready for some cooler weather and hearty warm dishes the fall always seems to offer.

Raspberry, Avocado & Mango Salad

 EatingWell Magazine

 

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup red-wine vinegar

1 small clove garlic, chopped

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

pinch of ground pepper

Salad greens

1 ripe mango diced

1 avocado, diced

1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion

1/4 cup nuts

 

1. Dressing: puree 1/2 cup raspberries, oil, vinegar, garlic, salt and pepper in blender until well combine

2. Salad: Mix together salad greens, avocado, mango and onion. Toss with dressing and top with raspberries and nuts.

 

Dinner Challenge #1

It's finally Monday! Never thought I would say that but it's been baby shower mania in my house for the past week and I have one more shower to go. I will be the first to tell you that I LOVE hosting parties! My husband, Kevin, and I bought the house we did because, #1 we fell in love with it and, #2 it's a great party house! The downside to my love of throwing a party is that I love decorating and making food to go with the theme and it all MUST to be perfect! I usually drive myself crazy the day before and especially the day of the party (and I'm pretty sure I drive Kevin crazy too) but this is why I will always have some form of alcohol at my events; to celebrate of coarse!

I'll post pictures of the most recent shower later this week but for now I'll stick to the subject of this post, the first dinner challenge. With a laundry list of projects to do around the house, I have started to  look for ways to cut corners on some things, for example doing my own dry cleaning and ironing istead of sending it off. A big part of this change is eating at home more often. To give you a little bit more history on this challenge, I grew up never eating out and always at home where as my husband grew up eating out the majority of the time. While he is trying to bring his lunch to work more often, a goal of atleast twice a week (baby steps), I am trying to eat at home completely except for work lunches and our date night out! Yes, we feel it's important to either do a dinner out with friends or a date night once a week and it gives us something to look forward to at the end of a long week.

This week's new dinner was Mexican Beef & Pasta! Sounds a little strange but I knew that for my food particular husband having a marriage between his two favorite types of food would be a win, and it was!

Mexican Beef & Pasta

Serving size: 4

2 cups Spiral Pasta (I used whole wheat) or any shape pasta will work
1/2 lbs ground beef
1 small onion or half a large onion (I used red onion)
2 cans (14 oz) no-salt- added diced tomatoes (undrained)
1 can black beans (drained)
1 ear fresh corn or 1 cup frozen corn (thawed)
1 cup salsa (chunky prefered)
1 can chopped green chilis or jalepenos
fajita seasoning or taco seasoning
                                                                                    sour cream (optional)
                                                                                    tortilla chips (optional)

1. Cook pasta according to package and drain. While pasta is cooking, brown ground beef and onions until meat is fully cooked and drain excess liquid.
2. Stir in the next 5 ingredients.
3. Sprinkle top of food with desired amount of seasoning to taste, stir together and bring to a boil.
4. Let simmer, uncovered, for 8-10 minutes.
5. Serve with sour cream and tortilla chips if desired.

Recipe adapted from Taste of Home

Easter, already?

Happy Lenten season! I know, I can't believe Easter is so close! It feels like it gets earlier every year. Did you give up anything for lent? I'll be honest and say that I did not. Besides my phone I'm not really addicted to anything. Instead of giving up something I usually try and do better with something that I think I need to work on. This year it is my patience. I hate waiting and my patience is truly going to be put to the test this year as I am searching for a new job, wanting to purchase a house and will be getting married in less than 6 months. As a Catholic my family and I follow the no meat on Friday's rule. This is really hard for me as I am a true carnivore! However, Lent is a time for sacrifice and one day a week shouldn't be that hard of after 23 years of this, it has proven to be a true challenge since I do not eat seafood. I can hear the " WHAT!!!"'s and "your crazy" through the computer. So, after years of grilled cheeses and bowls of mac and cheese (note that all of my past meals were cheese based), I have decide to make my Friday's of Lent healthy and yummy! The first go at this was so incredibly yummy that i think my no meat Friday's are going easy breezy!

It's not like take out... It's better!

The last couple of weeks have certainly been a whirlwind. Between going back and forth to Dallas for interviews, attempting to wrap up my current position and packing everything up to move, I'm exhausted! Stress and exhaustion combine usually adds up to eating badly but we are working hard on maintain our healthy eating habits even though a pint of  Blue Bell Moollenium Crunch found its way into the freezer (no, I didn't not get eaten in one sitting but it's not like it hasn't happened before).

There's no place like home...

Family dinners were a big thing when I was younger. Almost every night we sat down as a family, ate and talked about our day. This would also be the time that my parents would lecture my brother and I on whatever topic was relevant at the time. Now that I am older, I understand the importance of sitting down and having some family time. Both of my parents cook. I love my mom's cooking but when ever my dad cooks it's something I really look forward to because it didn't happen but maybe a few times a month. Now
that I live in a different city it's even more rare. He doesn't cook from books or written recipes but more from memory and how he feels that day. One of the things I've pick up from him is cooking how you feel. Nothing I cook is ever made the same as before. I have a base recipe that I use and add spices and vegetables that might not have been used before. One of my favorite examples of this kind of cooking I do is my dad's stuffed peppers that my brother and I have dubbed Big Jim's Stuffed Peppers (Big Jim is what my brothers friends call my dad). The recipe sounds more complicated than it really is because everything is happening all at one time. It is really a quick preparation and yummy dinner.  So, without further ado…

Big Jim's Stuffed Peppers

A Taste of Italy

This is one of my favorite dinners! Not only is it really yummy but the picky eater I live with loves it too! The sauce part of the recipe is something that I've played with for a while and happy to share. We like to make our own pasta sauce since we don't eat pasta enough to buy a big jar of it. Creating your own sauce is fun! It allows you to play with flavors and spices and discover new tastes. In particular it allows me to use some of the basil I grow and pop open a lovely bottle of wine to cook and drink! So, open up that spice cabinet a create something marvelous!

Spinach Manicotti in Creamy Tomato Sauce