Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for quite a while, but am just now getting around to it. Dang you tax season. Dang you!
This is an incredibly easy soup to throw together, and as and added bonus it’s pretty low cal (not to mention tasty). Boo. ya.
I searched long and hard for wild rice, but could not find any at my grocery store. What the heck is up with that? So, I settled on some Rice a Roni Long Grain & Wild Rice:
I cooked the rice up according to the package directions (subbing in chicken broth for water and omitting the butter).
Then I heated up a large pot, sprayed it down with some cooking spray, and sautéed the following:
- 1 cup prechopped onion
- 2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1 cup cut carrots
- 3 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
My grocery store doesn’t have “gourmet” mushrooms, but these baby bellas always do the trick:
All the kids into the pool:
Once the veggies were softened, I added in a splash of chicken stock to decaramelize the brown bits on the bottom of the pan. Once I worked them all off the bottom, I tossed in the rest of the stock, and stirred in:
- 2 shredded chicken breasts
- the cooked Rice A roni
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
Awwwwww yeah.
This batch made up four delicious servings, two of which I popped in the freezer.
Cook once, eat fource…errr.. something like that.
Chicken & Wild Rice Soup Ingredients List (serves 4) — inspired by Cooking Light Magazine
- 4 cups fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth, divided
- 1 box Rice A Roni wild rice
- 1 cup prechopped onion
- 2/3 cup chopped red bell pepper
- 1 cup chopped carrots
- 3 teaspoon bottled minced garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 8 ounces baby bella mushrooms
- 2 shredded chicken breasts
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
A random questions for ya’ll this evening–anyone have a Griddler? If so, is it worth the $$$ and what model is the best?
Faux Chicken Parmesan
Do you guys every go through phases where you just don’t want anything to do with certain foods? Lately, that’s how I’ve been feeling about meat. I just have not been craving it!
While at Target over the weekend, I picked up a box of Morning Star Chick Patties. I think I’ve contemplated buying these dozens of times before, but never sealed the deal.
Over the weekend, I cooked one of these patties up in the oven and had it on a Pepperidge Farm 7 grain deli flat.
No sauce. No veggies. Just the faux meat and bun.
It was glorious. It seriously reminded me of the chicken pattie sandwiches from high school. I know that sounds disgusting, but in this instance it’s actually a very very good thing.
Then, the other night I had a VISION: Faux Chicken Parmesan… Healthified, no less:
Shut the front door!!!!
First up, grab a spaghetti squash and halve it…
I swear, every time I try and halve a squash I have flashes of severing a finger. I think to myself, “is this it?” Is this the day that I lose a finger in the name of squash??
Once it’s halved, scoop out the seeds, and pop this puppy onto a cookie sheet into a 415 degree over for 30 minutes. I ‘m no fan of mooshy squashoodles.
Next, I grabbed some leftover pasta sauce from the freezer. This was Nature’s Basket Roasted Garlic:
Why do I get such joy from stock piling individual servings of goods in the freezer? It’s uncanny really.
I defrosted the sauce a bit in the microwave, then tossed in a pan and added a hodge podge of seasonings including: red pepper flakes, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, oregano, parsley.
Once the squash was done, I pulled it out of the oven and used a fork to scrape out the innards. Then popped 1 chicken pattie and some broccoli into the oven to do their thang.
Once the pattie was cooked through, I combined all my delicious and oh-so-easy ingredients:
Faux-chicken-parmesan MASTERPIECE.
I am in love with these patties… seriously, if you haven’t tried them DO IT. Just make sure you cook them in the oven (and not the microwave) and you’ll get a crispy delicious bit of faux-meat-heaven.
Mmmm hmmmmmmmmmmm….
This WILL be making frequent appearance in my tax season dinner diet. For sure.
Stats on 1 serving faux chicken parmesan (1/2 squash, 1 pattie, 1/2 cup sauce): 274 calories, 44carbs, 7g fat, 12g protein, 8g fiber
Lest we not forget….. the winner of my Luna Bar giveaway is…….
Meagan! Yay!!! Email me with your mailing adddres and I’ll get the bars to you ASAP!
Shrimp & Mac & Cheese
WOW guys. WOW.
Drooling yet??
For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin. During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit! You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.
What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic.
Hello lover.
Clearly this was destiny.
First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water.
I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes. Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day. Don’t worry. I won’t judge you.
After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth. It should look like grits, ya’ll:
By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.
1
Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)
Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside. Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese.
It should be gloriously thick.
Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta. Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.
Sprinkle the top with
- 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Sprinkling of dried parsley
Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:
Cheesy deliciousness:
Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:
No joke. Big. Arse.
Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.
I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:
I also roasted up some broccoli that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese. Don’t judge.
VOILA!
That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!
I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are!
The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot. But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:
Can’t get over how delicious!
Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp): 275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber
Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp: 322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber
Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )
- 1 large Vidalia onion
- 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup water
- 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups reduced fat cheddar
- 2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Sprinkling of dried parsley
Shrimp & Mac & Cheese
WOW guys. WOW.
Drooling yet??
For the big game this past weekend, I was looking for a something a little different to take to the family party… Something a little healthified but that still packed a little somethin somethin. During my search, I stumbled upon the the Mac and Cheese Light recipe from the September 2010 Cooking Lite, and it looked like the perfect fit! You can never have too much cheese on super bowl Sunday, I always say.
What really drew me to this particular recipe was that it started off with the “secret weapon” – a puree consisting of one whole LARGE onion and 9 cloves of garlic.
Hello lover.
Clearly this was destiny.
First up, I put a big ole pot of water on the stove to boil, then tossed a large Vidalia onion and 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic into a bowl with 1/2 cup water.
I covered this guy with plastic wrap and nuked in the microwaved for 10 minutes. Prepare to smell like onions and garlic for the remainder of the day. Don’t worry. I won’t judge you.
After 10 minutes, you dump this onion garlic goodness out into a blender and pulse until smooth. It should look like grits, ya’ll:
By now the water should be boiling, so drop in 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni and cook until al dente.
1
Meanwhile season up you onion garlic puree with:
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- Salt and pepper to taste (I used A LOT)
Once the pasta is done, drain and set aside. Then heat your onion garlic puree up in a pot (large enough to hold the sauce and the pasta), and once hot and bubbly slowly whisk in 2 cups shredded reduced fat cheddar cheese.
It should be gloriously thick.
Once the cheese is all melted in, take it off the heat and whisk in 2/3 cup fat free plain greek yogurt, then add in the cooked pasta. Once everything is combined, pour the mac and cheese into a casserole dish greased with cooking spray.
Sprinkle the top with
- 1/2 cup whole wheat panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Sprinkling of dried parsley
Baked at 425 for 15 minutes:
Cheesy deliciousness:
Just to balance things out, I also made a big arse salad for the game:
No joke. Big. Arse.
Of course I finangled one serving of the mac and cheese to take home with me after the game, and I decided to spice it up a bit for dinner tonight.
I LIBERALLY seasoned up 4 jumbo shrimp with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and cayenne pepper and sautéed them up on a pan:
I also roasted up some broccoli that I had liberally seasoned with S&P … and I also microwaved the mac and cheese. Don’t judge.
VOILA!
That is a seriously grown up healthified mac and cheese masterpiece!!!
I havent had roasted broccoli in months!! I practically lived off of roasted veggies last summer, and I had somehow forgotten how friggin delicious they are!
The mac and cheese by itself was a little too mild for my tastes – so, at the super bowl party I topped it off with some Frank’s Red hot. But for tonight’s dinner this spicy cayenne shrimp added plenty of kick:
Can’t get over how delicious!
Get in my beeeeeeeeeeeelllllllllllllllllllllllllllllly!!!!!!!!!!!!
Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese (no shrimp): 275 calories, 30g carbs, 10g fat, 17g protein, 3g fiber
Stats on 1 serving mac and cheese WITH shrimp: 322 calories, 30g carbs, 11g fat, 26g protein, 3g fiber
Mac & Cheese Ingredients List (serves 8 )
- 1 large Vidalia onion
- 9 cloves roughly chopped garlic
- 1/2 cup water
- 8 Ounces Barilla Plus Elbow Macaroni
- 1 tsp dried mustard
- 1/4 tsp cayenne
- salt and pepper to taste
- 2 cups reduced fat cheddar
- 2/3 cup fat free Greek yogurt
- 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- Sprinkling of dried parsley
Mini Cheesy Meatloaves
Helloooooo cheesy meaty goodness!
Continuing on with my Cooking Light recipe rampage, the other night I cooked up some of the Cheesy Meat Loaf Minis featured in a recent issue of the magazine.
Super simple to throw together, and really really friggin tasty.
First up, I measured out all my ingredients like the oober organized little cook that I am (see the list at the bottom of the post).
Here are the goods:
I decided to go with New York style white cheddar cheese. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried that type of cheese before, but holy cow (no pun intended) is it delicious!
Cheeeesseeeeeee 🙂
Next up I sautéed the onion and garlic… The recipe called for 1/2 cup onion and 2 cloves garlic. Of course we all know that means you are actually supposed to use 1 whole cup of onion and no less than 3 cloves garlic.
Naturally.
The recipe also called for toasting of the breadcrumbs… Just be careful not to burn them! (AKA I burnt my first.. and second batch… dangit!)
Once the onions were nice and soft and the bread crumbs were toasty, I tossed all the goodies into a bowl along with 11 ounces of 90% ground sirloin.
Why do I always feel the need to include pics of the raw meat on my blog?
Good question…
This batch made 3 mini meatloaves, one of which I had for dinner along with some steamed broccoli with lemon juice:
This picture makes me start salivating uncontrollably….
Apparently, my body has been secretly feigning for a little red meat in its life!
Mmmmmgghhhhhhhhhh……
Meat.
Stats on 1 mini cheesy meatloafy: 350 calories, 19g carbs, 17g fat (red meat, folks), 29g protein, 1g fiber
Mini Cheesy Meatloaves Ingredients List (serves 3)
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 3 cloves minced garlic
- 1/4 cup bread crumbs
- 11 ounces 90/10 ground sirloin
- 1.5 ounces New York style white cheddar cheese, cubed
- 1/4 cup ketchup, divided (2 tbsp mixed in, and 2 tbsp for basting the tops)
- 1.5 tsp dijon mustard
- 1.5 tsp prepared horseradish
- 3/8 tsp dried oregano
- 1/8 tsp black pepper
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
- 1 tbsp grated parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
Instructions: Mix all ingredients (except 2 tbsp ketchup) in a large bowl. Divide into 3 equal sized loaves. Place on cookie sheet coated with cooking spray. Baste tops of the loaves with remaining 2tbsp ketchup. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes.
Speaking of droolworthy, I went to El Jalapenos in Barberton for dinner this evening and got a seriously amazing chicken fajita salad. I literally did not stop to drink, speak, or breathe from the moment it hit the table. Check out the insanely huge burrito my friend Allison got:
Insanity!!!
Can’t believe the weekend is here! Woot!
