It’s been a busy week, and later nights due to my high schooler with after school things and a concert last night that didn’t get us home until almost 10:00 p.m. I didn’t really make anything fun yesterday, so today I am pulling out old recipes that have become buried in this blog. Someday I’ll have enough time to organize all the recipes, but for now I give you my recipe round up:
Tortellini Soup
I printed out a recipe from Spark People for what I thought was tortellini soup, but it turned out to be a recipe for a side dish that was just called “tortellini with vegetables.” Since I still had soup on my brain, I read the recipe a few times, thinking they missed an ingredient. “Where’s the broth?” Then I read the instructions and found out it wasn’t soup! BUT, I wanted to make it soup, so this is my version!
Ingredients:
1 medium red pepper, sliced
1 medium green pepper, sliced
1 orange pepper, sliced
4 cloves of garlic
1 cup snow peas, sugar snap peas, or green beans (I used pea pods)
2 tsp. olive oil
1 banana pepper, sliced (optional)
1 medium onion, chopped
5 or 6 fresh basil leaves (didn’t have that!)
salt and pepper to taste
2 quarts of chicken broth
2 chicken breasts, boneless, cubed and cooked
In a big blender, I chopped up the veggies (except the pea pods!) and added some of the chicken broth and pureed all the veggies.
I do not like chunks of veggies!
Blend the veggies!
In a big stock pot, I added the oil, the pureed veggies, and the rest of the chicken broth. Heat on low, stirring for about 10 minutes. Then in a separate skillet I cooked 2 chicken breasts, which I cut into small pieces until they were almost cooked through and added that to the pot. Then I added the frozen cheese tortellini (1 bag) and put the heat on high until it came to a boil, then reduced the heat and cooked for about 6-8 minutes until the tortellini was cooked. If you are using the fresh basil, after the soup is done, add the basil to the soup and stir it in. It turned out so great!
It was a little spicy, but the flavors of all the peppers was wonderful. For my bowl, I picked out 1 serving of tortellini (which was 12 tortellini for only 290 calories!) and I took about 1 1/2 cups of broth and picked out the pea pods and a little chicken. So I am thinking it’s about 320 calories or so for a nice big bowl. If you wanted to have it less calories, then you could reduce the amount of tortellini!
I will be making this one again for sure!
Next on recipe round up? Southwest egg rolls!
It’s a great way to use up leftover egg roll wrappers
Inside my egg roll wrap was:
2 oz. cooked Italian sausage
1/2 cup black beans
1/4 cup diced onions
a little cumin
a little chili powder
1 oz. chihuahua cheese
In a small skillet, I sauteed the onions until they were soft, added the Italian sausage, the black beans and spices and cooked until the sausage was cooked through.
Taking one egg roll wrap, I laid down .5 ounce slice of the cheese, and half the bean mixture and wrapped it up. I did the same thing with the other egg roll wrap. I brushed egg white over top and baked for about 17 minutes until the tops were browned.
I served it on a bed of greens, with some baby carrots cut up, the 2 egg rolls and a drizzle of fat free ranch dressing. All I can say is, OMG, these were so good!!
Calories for this HUGE plate are 486 calories, 17 grams of fat, 6 grams of fiber and 22 grams of protein!
Jenn’s fajita seasoning
Jenn’s Fajita Seasoning Mix
2 TB. chili powder
1/2 TB. salt
1 TB. paprika
1 TB. sugar
2 tsp. chicken boullion (crushed cubes or powder from a jar)
1 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp. (or more!) or crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp. ground cumin
Mix together in a bowl, use about 1-2 tablespoons per pound of meat.
Which leads me to this recipe for Crock Pot Fajitas!
Place fresh or frozen chicken breasts in a crock pot, add the above mentioned fajita seasoning to taste, add 1/2 cup of chicken broth and cook on low all day.
When you get home, just shred the chicken, quickly saute some peppers and onions and serve on tortillas! You could add the peppers and onions in the crock pot as well, but I don’t like them super mushy, so I preferred to cook those separately.
I hope everyone has a great weekend, my daughter and I are going apple picking at a farm in Indiana for Girl Scouts on Sunday, so that should be fun!
I’ve posted this recipe already, but it’s worth posting again. As soon as it starts turning into fall, I start getting out my soup and stew recipes, I can’t wait to make them again!
The best part about this soup is that it is so easy to make.
Ingredients:
Yield: 8 servings (serving size: about 1 1/2 cups soup, 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon)
Ingredients
4 big baking potatoes (about 2 1/2 pounds)
2/3 cup all-purpose flour (about 3 ounces)
6 cups 2% reduced-fat milk – I used skim milk
1 cup (4 ounces) reduced-fat shredded extrasharp cheddar cheese, (such as Kraft brand) divided
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup reduced-fat sour cream
3/4 cup chopped green onions, divided
6 bacon slices, cooked and crumbled – I used turkey bacon
Cracked black pepper (optional)
Preparation
Preheat oven to 400°. * Or to save on time I baked mine in the microwave!! Or this time, I baked my potatoes in the crock pot all day so they would be ready when I got home from work. Just wash the potatoes, and cook them on low all day. You don’t need to add anything else!
Pierce potatoes with a fork; bake at 400° for 1 hour or until tender. Cool. Peel potatoes; coarsely mash.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cup; level with a knife. Place flour in a large pot; gradually add milk, stirring with a whisk until blended. Cook over medium heat until thick and bubbly (about 8 minutes). Add mashed potatoes, 3/4 cup cheese, salt, and 1/2 teaspoon pepper, stirring until cheese melts. Remove from heat.
Stir in sour cream and 1/2 cup onions. Cook over low heat 10 minutes or until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Ladle 1 1/2 cups soup into each of 8 bowls. Sprinkle each serving with 1 1/2 teaspoons cheese, 1 1/2 teaspoons onions, and about 1 tablespoon bacon. Garnish with cracked pepper, if desired.
Let me just say there was just a small container of leftovers on this! My whole family loves it!
And to end the week on a positive note, have you seen this video yet?? It’s so inspiring!!
If you ever want to give up on your healthy eating plan, or you don’t feel like exercising, just watch this video again! It’s amazing what people can do when they put their mind to it!!!
Someone sent me this via e-mail today and I thought it was funny. Nothing like tempting someone who’s on the fence….which door should I go into?!
I thought I would mention a blog called “The Food Blog Diary”, here you can find up to date contests, food related topics and she was nice enough to announce me hosting BSI this week. Don’t forget the ingredient is PORK and you can e-mail me your recipe by Sunday, October 3rd and I will announce the winner on Monday October 4th. (You don’t have to have a food blog to participate, it’s open to everyone!)
And SARGENTO CHEESE sent me another free coupon for one of my readers to have. Just leave a comment and you could get chosen!!
I was sent a recipe from Sargento which I would like to share with you
Photo courtesy of Sargento Cheese
Artisan White Cheddar Corn Soup
Ingredients
3 Tbsp. butter
2 cups diced onion
1/2 cup diced red bell pepper
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 (32 oz.) pkg. reduced sodium chicken or vegetable broth
5 cups (28 oz.) frozen corn kernels
1 bay leaf
1/2 tsp. each: salt, freshly ground black pepper and dried thyme leaves
1/2 cup heavy whipping cream
2-1/2 cups (10 oz.) Sargento Artisan Blends® Shredded Wisconsin Sharp White Cheddar Cheese
Optional garnishes: additional cheese, croutons, finely diced ham, hot pepper sauce and/or unsweetened whipped cream mixed with Dijon mustard and chopped fresh herbs
Directions
1.Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and bell pepper; sauté 10 minutes. Add garlic; sauté 2 minutes.
2.Add broth, corn, bay leaf, salt, pepper and thyme leaves. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce heat; simmer uncovered 30 minutes.
3.Discard bay leaf. Transfer mixture 2 cups at a time to a blender container. Remove round plastic disc from lid; close lid and cover opening with a thick kitchen towel or pot holder. Hold towel over lid while blending mixture on high speed until mixture is pureed. Transfer mixture to a saucepan. Repeat with remaining soup mixture.
4.Add cream to soup; bring to a boil. Stir in cheese; turn off heat and stir until cheese is melted. Taste and adjust seasonings. Ladle soup into shallow bowls; garnish as desired.
It sounds delish, but if I were making this, I would lessen the butter to 1 TB. and lessen the amount of cheese. Other than that, everything else is very healthy!
What are your plans for the weekend? The last 2 weekends I’ve been super busy with My Mom’s 70th birthday party and last weekend at Gourmet Chicago, so this weekend I am hoping for something a little less low key!
It was a great time this weekend! We celebrated my Mom’s 70th birthday with a huge party at her house. My brother flew in from Austin, Texas and my Mom’s sister and my cousin flew in as a surprise to her! By the time the party started, there were lots of people in every room of my Mom’s first floor.
She has really great friends and I think the best part was when one of her friends sat down at the piano, and a bunch of people were just singing their hearts out! It was such a good time. I haven’t downloaded pictures from it yet, my daughter grabbed my camera and not only took about 240 pictures, but took about 10 movies, ranging from just a few seconds to over 15 minutes long. My hard drive is packed to the hilt, so I have to delete some space to make room for all the pictures/movies. So, Mom I’m glad you had such a fun time!!
In case you missed it, my sister posted a video of when my sister and I were on Oprah back in 1991! It’s too funny, the shirts we are wearing made me laugh so hard.
Now on to the recipe! One thing that is great during the school year is cooking in the crock pot. 2 nights last week my husband and I had to go to school events and there was little time from the end of our work days and the time we had to be at school. Having dinner ready when you get home is awesome!
Jenn’s crock pot chicken soup
3 frozen chicken breasts
9 cups water
9 tsp. of chicken stock (the kind that comes in a jar)
3 stalks celery, diced
3-4 carrots, peeled and chopped
2 green onions, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1 cup pea pods, cut into bite sized pieces
6 ounces of linguine, cooked
1 tsp. dried oregano
1 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. dried basil
In my crock pot, I added the chicken, all the veggies, and the water, chicken stock and spices. Place a lid on top and cook on low for 8 hours.
I pre-cooked the linguine the night before and drained it and put it in the fridge. (If you put the noodles in all day, it will absorb too much of the liquid and get mushy). When I got home, I added the cooked linguine and turned the crock pot on high to warm the noodles up. The verdict? It was terrific. This is a great way to get rid of veggies towards the end of the week, just add whatever you like.
And, I haven’t even mentioned it, but I am volunteering this weekend at Gourmet Chicago at Millennium Park in Chicago!
This is going to be so much fun!
Back in April, I applied to be a volunteer and was so excited when a few weeks ago I got the e-mail with my time slot. I am working for 5 hours on Saturday and 3 hours on Sunday. After my shift, I can walk around and have access to everything there is to offer!
Click HERE to read more about the event. Tons of top chefs from around the country will be there. There will also be Cooking demonstrations on the main stage courtesy of Bon Appetit Magazine.
I am going to take a bunch of pictures!! I can’t wait!
First off, I have to give a shout out to TJ from TJ’s Test Kitchen!! I profiled her weight loss story a few months ago, you can read my interview about her HERE. She’s lost over 70 pounds and on her most recent weigh in, she is now the lowest she’s ever been as an adult!!! Yeah TJ!!! What a great feeling and what a great inspiration!!!
It inspired me to get moving at work today! I’ve been riding my bike to work, but that’s only 3.5 miles total, so a friend at work and I walked briskly for 30 minutes during lunch. It was absolutely beautiful outside and so nice to get away from my desk for a little bit! After discussing this with my sister Biz, she was suggesting I walk to work instead of riding my bike. It would be about a 25 minute walk, but if I did that twice a day, that’s 50 minutes AND walked 30 minutes during my lunch break, that can add up! So, I am going to try that experiment and see what happens.
Now, on to my dinner!!
I make chicken several times a week, and when I got home I knew I was going to do something, but was quite surprised at how good it came out! I cut up chicken breasts into cubes and threw them in a hot skillet coated with a little Canola oil. As I was searching my spice rack, I decided to coat the chicken with cumin, chili powder, garlic powder and a little black pepper. Just enough to coat all the chicken. On the side I made some roasted potatoes.
Once the chicken was done, I took a bite and thought, “This would taste good on a tortilla!”
So, I took a tortilla, added some romaine lettuce, chopped onion, a little cheese, the chicken and some hot sauce and it was so good!
So good!
You could probably do this dish in a crock pot too. Just add the chicken and the spices and maybe a 1/2 cup of chicken stock, some onion and green pepper and you could serve it over rice or noodles, add a little salsa on top, a little sour cream, there are LOTS of possibilities!
