Vegetable Soup

I got the basis for this recipe from one of the Biggest Loser books. We tried it this week and thought it turned out really good. Taryn met with her nutritionist today and told her about it. The nutritionist was very impressed by it.

1 small white onion, diced
1 green pepper, diced
12 baby carrots, diced
4 stalks celery, diced
1/2 cup frozen corn
1 12 ounce can fire roasted tomatoes
6 cups chicken stock
italian seasonings
garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup lentils
1 chicken breast, cooked, cubed

Heat up the olive oil. Saute the onion, pepper, carrots, and celery until soft. Add in the garlic. Add in the can of tomatoes, undrained. Stir so everything is incorporated. Add in the chicken stock and italian seasonings. Bring to a low boil. Add in the lentils and cook for 15 to 20 minutes. Add in the frozen corn and cook for another 7 minutes. We added in the chicken breast ourselves because we wanted it to be more like a full meal. This makes a lot so you may just want to reduce everything by half if there is just 2 or 3 to serve. But don't skimp too much on the stock. We didn't add in so much and it was a little thick, especially the next day. The actual recipe called for other seasonings and vegetables. But this is what we had on hand and what we like.

Shepherd's Pie

We used to make this with stew meat and beef gravy and not as many veggies. But we decided to make it a little healthier and it turned out great.

1 pound ground turkey
1 cup frozen peas and carrots
1 cup frozen corn
1 can tomato sauce
1 can tomato paste
1 can diced tomatoes (we used the fire roasted kind to give it a little more flavor)
1 diced white onion
4 cups mashed potatoes
1 cup shredded cheese

1. Brown turkey. Season to your liking. Add in diced onion at the very end.
2. Cook peas, carrots, and corn. Add to cooked turkey and onion.
3. Drain diced tomatoes. Add in tomatoes, tomato sauce and tomato paste.
4. Place in casserole dish. Top with mashed potatoes. Try to get it all the way to the sides to seal in the turkey/veggie mixture to avoid it boiling out the side. Then top with shredded cheese.
5. Bake for 30 minutes at 375 degrees.

Amazing Chocolate Chip Cookies

I got this recipe from my visiting teacher. They brought the dough to me and it was amazing. It is really healthy too!

Big Bowl

2/3 c. softened butter

2/3 c. crisco

1 c. sugar

1 c. packed brown sugar

2 t. vanilla

2 eggs

Cream this all together.

Smaller Bowl

3 c. flour

1 t. salt

1 t. baking soda

Mix together and then mix with the first set of ingredients. Add a cup of chocolate chips.

Bake at 375 for 9-12 minutes.

Spicy Chicken

1/3 cup Tabasco Sauce

2/3 cup water

1 cup all-purpose flour

2 1/2 teaspoons salt

4 teaspoons cayenne pepper

1 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon paprika

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder

4 chicken breast fillets

4 plain hamburger buns

8 teaspoons mayonnaise

4 lettuce leaves

4 tomato slices

4 slices Swiss Cheese

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Combine the pepper sauce and water in a small bowl.

3. Combine the flour, salt, cayenne pepper, black pepper, onion powder, paprika and garlic powder in another shallow bowl.

4. Pound each of the chicken pieces with a mallet until about 3/8-inch thick. Trim each breast fillet if necessary to help it fit on the bun.

5. Working with one fillet at a time, coat each piece with the flour, then dredge it in the diluted pepper sauce. Coat the chicken once again in the flour mixture and set it aside until the rest of the chicken is coated.

6. Cook chicken 20 to 30 minutes or until they are light brown and crispy. (About 180˚F). After they are done put the cheese on the chicken and back in the oven till the cheese is melted.

7. As chicken is cooking, prepare each sandwich by grilling the face of the hamburger buns on a hot skillet over medium heat. Spread about 2 teaspoons of mayonnaise on the face of each of the inverted top buns.

8. Place a tomato slice onto the mayonnaise, then stack a leaf of lettuce on top of the tomato.

9. On each of the bottom buns, stack one piece of chicken.

10. Flip the top half of each sandwich onto the bottom half and serve hot.

This is our replacement for Wendy's Spicy Chicken Sandwich. It is less greasy, cheaper, and it tastes better.

Sticky Lemon Chicken

1 lb. chicken

salt and pepper

4 T. olive oil

2 T. soy sauce

3-4 T. honey

1 head garlic, each clove sliced in half (I just used the minced stuff I bought in the jar)

1 whole lemon, sliced

1/4 - 1/3 c. water

1 T. thyme

1/4 c. fresh parsley or 2 T. dried parsley

In a large skillet pan, add the oil to med. high heat. Season the chicken well with salt and pepper. Add the chicken to the skillet and cook for about 5-6 minutes, turning each piece. Add the garlic cloves, soy sauve, and honey to the pan making sure to get all the chicken in the sauce. Continue to cook for 5 minutes. Add the water and lay the slices of lemon on top of the chicken in the pan. Put a lid on the pan and continue to cook for about 10-15 minutes. Season the chicken with thyme and parsley. Continue to cook until the chicken cooked through and no longer pink.

We ate this with rice and if you want it more saucey then double the sauce. I did and it was nice to put a little sauce on the rice. This is definetely a recipe that will become a regular on. It was so good. I loved that I could go out and use fresh lemons off the tree as well. It was great!

Turkey Chili

Ingredients:
1 pound of ground turkey
1 big can of crushed tomatoes
1 small can of fire roasted diced tomatoes
1 onion (white or red)
1 green pepper
2 jalepenos
1 spoonful of garlic
4 tablespoons of olive oil (divided)
1 1/2 cups of frozen corn
cumin, chili powder, cayenne pepper

Directions:
1. Heat half of the olive oil in a pot and saute diced onion, green pepper, and jalapenos. Add in garlic.
2. Brown ground turkey. Season w/ cumin, chili powder, and cayenne pepper.
3. Add both cans of tomatoes to pot w/ the vegetables. Season w/ spices.
4. Add turkey to pot of tomatoes and vegetables.
5. Simmer on low for a few hours. Depending on how much heat you want add in a round of the spices every hour.
6. 15 minutes before serving add in the frozen corn.
7. Serve with shredded cheese and sour cream.