Texas Caviar

This is a yummy bean dip! Via my Grandma via my Uncle Bill. I made it for Easter weekend and it was very good. I cut back on the sugar and it was still good. Excuse the cloudy pic taken from my phone.

Texas Caviar

1 can pinto beans

1 can black beans (or black eyed peas)

Drain and rinse beans

2 11 oz cans shoepeg corn (or 1 can of white corn)

1 cup green pepper

1 cup diced celery

1 cup onion

Boil over medium heat and cool

¾ cup oil

½ cup cider vinegar

½ cup sugar

½ tsp. salt

¼ tsp. pepper

Marinate overnight: drain and serve with corn chips.

Chicken Enchilada Casserole

Ok, so this is one of the tastiest things I have ever had...it's so good. I have had this recipe since freshman year of college.

Cheese & Chicken Enchilada Casserole (one of our favorites!)
Serves 4 (it serves more like 6-8)
1c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese (I used lowfat)
1c chopped tomato
1 can black beans
1 c corn
3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1c cottage cheese (I used fat free)
1/3 c sliced green onions
2t chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
9 corn tortillas
1 c enchilada/taco sauce
1/4 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 T chopped green onions

Boil chicken and shred it with 2 forks.


Preheat oven to 375*. Combine 1st 9 ingredients.

Arrange 3 small tortillas or 2 large ones in bottom of greased 11x7 pan. Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture over
tortillas.


Repeat procedure w/ 3 tortillas and remaining tortillas.
Pour taco sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese.



Bake @ 375 for 20 min or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with 2T of
green onions.

Some of you may want to copy & paste it, so here's the recipe without pictures:
Cheese & Chicken Enchilada Casserole (one of our favorites!)
Serves 4
1c shredded extra sharp cheddar cheese
1c chopped tomato
1 can black beans
1 c corn
3 chicken breasts, cooked & shredded
1c fat free cottage cheese
1/3 c sliced green onions
2t chili powder
2 garlic cloves, minced
9 corn tortillas
1 c enchilada/taco sauce
1/4 c shredded Monterey jack cheese
2 T chopped green onions

Preheat oven to 375*. Combine 1st 9 ingredients. Arrange 3 tortillas
in bottom of greased 11x7 pan. Spread 1/2 of cheese mixture over
tortillas. Repeat procedure w/ 3 tortillas and remaining tortillas.
Pour taco sauce over tortillas, sprinkle with Monterey jack cheese.
Bake @ 375 for 20 min or until cheese is melted. Sprinkle with 2T of
green onions.

Garlic Lime Chicken

This is one of our favorites. It's so tasty, the TINIEST bit spicy, and just a good healthy meal.


¾ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
1/8 teaspoon paprika
¼ teaspoon garlic powder
1/8 teaspoon onion powder
¼ teaspoon dried thyme
¼ teaspoon parsley
4 boneless, skinless, chicken breast halves
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 tablespoons lime juice
In a small bowl, mix together salt, black pepper, cayenne, paprika, ¼
teaspoon garlic powder, onion powder, thyme, and parsley, Sprinkle
spice mixture generously on both sides of chicken breasts. Heat butter
and olive oil in a large heavy skillet over medium heat. Saute chicken
until golden brown, about 6 minutes per side. Sprinkle with 2 teaspoons garlic powder and lime sauce. Cook for 5 minutes, tossing frequently to coat chicken evenly with sauce. Serve over corn chips if desired.

Quick chicken in wine

I got this recipe from Madison's Nana. It is really easy and super tasty.


Brown chicken breast in hot oil (I cut it into chunks and stirred it around in a skillet until it was all white). Place in baking dish. Cover with 1/2 cup white wine and 1 package dry onion soup mix. Add extra water if needed to over bottom of baking dish. Cover with casserole top or foil and bake approx. 1 hour for 350*F. Is desired, you an add 1 can cream of mushroom soup to the wine and dry onion soup mix (I didn't do this)

Enjoy!

Saute of Chicken, Corn & Snow Peas

Madison & I both do not like baby corn, so we omitted it. This is from my low fat cookbook again. It was really good! I would have added garlic and maybe a little bit more sauce, but other than that it was great!
I halved the recipe and it was just a bit more than we could eat.

INGREDIENTS:
4 skinless, boneless, chicken breasts
9 oz baby corn
9 oz snow peas (I just had a bag of them from the other day, I think I used more than it called for but it was good!)
2 T sunflower oil
1 T honey
1 T sherry vinegar
1 T light soy sauce
1 T sunflower seeds
pepper
rice or egg noodles to serve


1. Using a sharp knife, slice the chicken breasts into long, thin strips. Cut the baby corn in half lengthwise, and trim the snow peas. Set veggies aside until required.
2. Heat sunflower oil in a wok or wide skillet, and cook the chicken over a fairly high heat, stirring constantly for 1 minute.
3. Add corn and snow peas and stir over moderate heat for 5-8 minutes, or until evenly cooked.
4. Mix together the sherry vinegar, honey, and soy sauce, and stir into the skillet with sunflower seeds. Season with pepper. Cook, stirring constantly, for 1 minute. Serve the saute hot with rice or egg noodles.

Difficulty: Extremely Easy
Serves 4
Prep: 5-10 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Cook's tip: Rice vinegar or balsamic vinegar makes a good substitute for the sherry vinegar used in this saute.

Delicious Salad

Crunchy Romaine Salad (our favorite salad!)

SERVES 4 -6
Dressing
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola or vegetable oil
1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper

Salad

1 (3 ounce) package ramen noodles – do not boil
1 cup pecans or walnuts, chopped
1 bunch broccoli, coarsely chopped
1 head romaine lettuce
2 cups fresh strawberries
(I also add a small amount of feta cheese)
For dressing combine all ingredients in an air-tight container and shake.
Break Ramen noodles into small pieces, discarding the flavor packet. Brown the noodles and pecans in the butter in a skillet.
Drain on paper towels and cool.
Combine the noodles, pecans, broccoli, romaine and green onions in a salad bowl and mix gently.
Add dressing to coat.

Pad Thai

Even if you're not incredibly adventurous, you really should try this pad thai. It is SO good! I love it. I make it every so often. This is day 1 of our diet. I planned all of our meals out of my diet cookbooks (I have low fat cookbooks, etc.). This one is from my sister. It is really good and under 300 calories per serving. Even Madison loved it! I highly recommend it.
A hint: do all prep work before you cook everything in your wok or skillet...otherwise you will be stressed, trying to do stuff while things are cooking. Get lots of bowls out and prep everything ahead of time and place in the different bowls. I have little silicone prep bowls, but even cereal or small mixing bowls work well.

All these ingredients were at Kroger - I found most ingredients at Dominick's and Whole Foods when I lived in Wheaton. I know Wal Mart wouldn't have everything, but just about any grocery store will. It may sound gross, but I promise it is good :-)

Yield: 4 servings
----
2 quarts water
3/4 lb. mung bean sprouts
6 oz Rice noodles
----
Sauce:

3 tablespoons lime juice
3 tablespoons katsup
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce or fish sauce (I use soy sauce...)
----
3 tablespoons Peanut oil or vegetable oil
3-4 cloves garlic, minced or pressed (or 2 teaspoons minced garlic)
1 tablespoon fresh chile (I used a jalepeno pepper) or 1 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
2 cups carrots; grated (I use a food processor grater, but you can grate w/ a cheese grater)
4 large eggs, lightly beaten with a pinch of salt
2/3 cup peanuts, chopped
6-8 scallions; chopped (about 1 cup)

In a covered pot, bring the water to a rolling boil.  Blanch the mung bean sprouts by placing them
in a strainer or small colander and dipping it into the boiling water for 30 seconds.
Set aside to drain well. When the water returns to a boil, stir in the rice noodles and cook for 3 to 5 minutes,
until tender but firm. These noodles stick easily, so stir often and put salt in the pot.
Drain the cooked noodles, rinse them under cool water, and set them aside to drain.       
Prepare the remaining ingredients and have them near at hand before you begin to stir-fry.
Heat the oil in a wok or large skillet.  Add the garlic and chile, swirl them in the oil for a moment, and stir in 
the grated carrots.  Stir-fry for 1 minute.  Push the carrots to the sides to make a hollow in the center.  Pour the
beaten eggs into the center and quickly scramble them.  When the eggs have just set, pour in the sauce mixture
and stir everything together.  Add the drained rice noodles and mung sprouts, and toss to distribute evenly.
Stir in the peanuts and scallions, and serve at once. Enjoy!!

Grating the carrots
 Patting the carrots dry:


Adding garlic & chile with oil in wok



Boiling the noodles:

Adding everything to the wok:

Crock Pot Pot Roast

I never ever have made pot roast, and I don't cook with beef much...so this was a new experience for me! This will definitely be a recipe I keep and use on occasion. It had a lot of flavor (I don't really like the taste of plain beef without lots of spices, etc.). This recipe is from my friend Jordan - she's a great cook and has a lot of great recipes on her blog. It's also incredibly easy - you just throw it in the crock pot before you leave for work, and dinner is ready when you get home!

Jordan's Crock Pot Pot Roast

INGREDIENTS
2lbs Stew Meat
4 Carrots, chopped into big pieces
2 Stalks of Celery, also chopped
12 Small Potatoes (white or red)
1 Medium White Onion (I used small boiling onions, whole)
1C Water
1t Worcestershire sauce
2 Cloves garlic, whole
1/2T Oregano
1 Bay leaf
3/4T Salt
1/2T Black Pepper
1/2t Paprika

DIRECTIONS
Put everything into crock pot, stir just enough to mix spices. Cover and cook on low for 8-10 hours or on high 4 to 6 hours. Serve with homemade biscuits and you’ve got a warm and comforting meal.

Spinach Stuffed Chicken

It was funny, I went online to find a recipe that I could use a half of a bag of fresh spinach, some bacon, chicken, and sour cream (because these were all things I had to buy for our get-togethers this weekend) and I found this amazing recipe! I will definitely be making this again.

(note: this is not the halved recipe - we halved it and it still was too much!)
INGREDIENTS:
1 (10 oz) package fresh spinach leaves
1/2 cup lowfat or regular sour cream
1/2 cup shredded mozzerella
4 cloves garlic, minced
4 skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - pounded to 1/2 inch thickness
1 pinch ground black pepper
1 pinch chili pepper
8 strips turkey bacon or regular bacon (uncooked)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F

2. Place spinach in a large glass bowl, and heat in the microwave for 3 minutes, stirring every minute or so, or until wilted.

3. Stir in sour cream, cheese, garlic, black pepper, and chili powder.


4. Pound chicken breasts to 1/2 inch thickness. (I put saran wrap on the chicken so the gross chicken juice doesn't spray everywhere!)



5. Lay the chicken breasts out on a clean surface, and spoon some of the spinach mixture onto each one.


6. Roll up chicken to enclose the spinach, then wrap each chicken breast with two slices of bacon. Secure with toothpicks, and arrange in a shallow baking dish. (I did not have toothpicks, hence the crazy skewer sticks!)


7. Bake uncovered for 35 minutes in the preheated oven, then increase heat to 500 degrees F, or use the oven's broiler to cook for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to brown the bacon.



I took the bacon off (we are watching our fat intake) but it didn't necessarily say that you can't eat it. I also only like extra crispy bacon. It keeps the chicken nice & moist, and gives it just the slightest hint of bacon taste. mm!
I highly recommend this recipe! We were going to make it this weekend as a special treat, then we realized we were busy all weekend, so I decided to make it tonight. It's relatively low-fat and really tasty!

Chicken Tortellini

Chicken Tortellini

Yum! This recipe was given to me by my mother-in-law.
It is REALLY good. The spinach I put in is probably way more than called for, but we both love spinach, haha!

Chicken Tortellini

3 cups cooked, chopped chicken breasts
2 peeled, cubed Granny Smith apples
4 minced green onions
1/2 c mayo (I used lowfat - that's what I had in the fridge & it turned out great)
1 9 ounce package of cheese stuffed tortellini
1 bunch of fresh spinach, washed and torn
1/2 sunflower seeds
1 8 oz. bottle Italian salad dressing

Mix chicken, apples, green onions and miracle whip or mayo and let stand in fridge overnight. Cook cheese tortellini according to package directions. Combine tortellini with chicken mixture, add spinach and sunflower seeds and toss with salad dressing. Enjoy!

Apple Pie Filling

Apple pie filling:

1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon salt
8 cups peeled & sliced tart apples (8 medium sized apples)
2 T butter (I don't use it, but that's what the recipe calls for)

In large bowl, mix sugar, 1/4 cup flour, the cinnamon, nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon salt. Stir in apples until well mixed. Spoon into pastry-lined pie plate. Cut butter into small pieces; sprinkle over filling.

Then follow directions on whatever pie crust you are using.
Here's pictures from the pie I made:

Amazing Blueberry Muffins - my dad's recipe

Steve's Blueberry Muffins
1 ½ cups all-purpose flour
¾ cup white sugar
½ teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 TBS of finely grated lemon peel
1 egg
1 cup fresh blueberries

Crumble:
½ cup white sugar
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
¼ cup butter, cubed
1 ½ teaspoons ground cinnamon

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin tins with Crisco or line with muffin liners. Combine 1 ½ cups flour, ¾ cup sugar, salt, lemon peel, and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture. Mix the crumble ingredients with a fork before sprinkling on top of muffin mixture. Bake for 20-25 mins. Yield: 12 muffins

Shepherds Pie

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 lbs ground sirloin (or ground turkey)
  
• 1 onion chopped
• 1-2 cups vegetables - chopped carrots, corn, peas
• 1 1/2 - 2 lbs potatoes (3 big ones)
• 8 tablespoons butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup beef broth
• 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
• Salt, pepper, other seasonings of choice

1 Peel and quarter potatoes, boil in salted water until tender (about 20 minutes).

2 While the potatoes are cooking, melt 4 Tablespoons butter (1/2 a stick) in large frying pan.

3 Sauté onions in butter until tender over medium heat (10 mins). If you are adding vegetables, add them according to cooking time. Put any carrots in with the onions. Add corn or peas either at the end of the cooking of the onions, or after the meat has initially cooked.

4 Add ground beef and sauté until no longer pink. Add salt and pepper. Add worcesterchire sauce. Add half a cup of beef broth and cook, uncovered, over low heat for 10 minutes, adding more beef broth as necessary to keep moist.

5 Mash potatoes in bowl with remainder of butter, season to taste.

6 Place beef and onions in baking dish. Distribute mashed potatoes on top. Rough up with a fork so that there are peaks that will brown nicely. You can use the fork to make some designs in the potatoes as well.

7 Cook in 400 degree oven until bubbling and brown (about 30 minutes). Broil for last few minutes if necessary to brown.

Valentine's Day Cake

It all started when I was in Kroger, and they were selling heart shaped throw away cake pans. There were 2 of them in a pack. Then I went online and found this fun diet cake recipe on omnomicon's blog. I'm usually an unbleached flour, natural food when-it's-cheap type girl, so this was kind of a rare occasion for me! :-) Let's just say, Madison was SHOCKED when he cut open that cake! haha!

So here's what I did...

I divided the batter into 3 bowls. I used gel food coloring (better for you than the old stuff - and brighter!) and dripped it into the bowls to make pink, red, and left the yellow cake as is.














I greased the pans w/ crisco and flour to make it easy to flip them out to decorate.
One cake mix = 2 heart pans. I poured the majority of the red on the bottom of the first one, half of the yellow cake mix on top, and about 1/3 of the pink on the top. Then with the other, I did the opposite. Don't mix the colors, just dump on top of each other.

















I baked for the normal time on the box directions, they came out just right.
















I flipped the first one onto the cake platter and iced it.













Then I set the second layer & frosted it.











Tada!

Spinach and Mushroom Manicotti

Spinach & Mushroom Manicotti (I made it without mushrooms, ha!)
1 box (8 oz) Manicotti
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
6 oz. mushrooms, chopped
1 garlic clove, minced
1 bag (6 oz) FRESH spinach - it makes a huge difference (one time I didn't have fresh spinach, just the frozen kind and it was yucky - but then again, I'm picky)
2 eggs
1 container (15 oz) lowfat ricotta cheese
1/3 cup chopped basil leaves
1 teaspoon salt
1 jar Italian Baking Sauce or Marinara Sauce
1/2 cup fresh Parmesan cheese (I use the part skim shredded Italian Blend cheese)

Preheat oven to 350*F.
Cook Manicotti 7 minutes, drain and rinse in cool water. Set aside.
Meanwhile, heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add mushrooms and garlic; saute 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add spinach and continue cooking for 5 mins. (If you're not doing the mushrooms, add the spinach where they say to add the mushrooms and skip this step). Set aside to cool.
Beat eggs lightly in medium mixing bowl. Stir in ricotta, basil and salt. Stir in mushroom/spinach mixture.
Spread 3/4 cup Italian Baking Sauce/Marinara sauce over borrom of 13x9-inch baking dish. Fill Manicotti with mushroom/spinach mixture; place in dish. (I find it easiest to cheat and split the shells about halfway and paste it back together) - you can't tell after it's baked. Pour remaining sauce evenly over filled shells, sprinkle with cheese. Cover with foil. Bake for 30 minutes. Uncover, continue baking 5-10 mins until cheese is melted. Makes 6 servings.
Enjoy!