Sunday, March 27, 2011

Tortilla Soup

Ingredients
• 2 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1-½ teaspoon Cumin
• 1 teaspoon Chili Powder
• ½ teaspoons Garlic Powder
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• 1 Tablespoon Olive Oil
• 1 cup Diced Onion
• ¼ cups Diced Green Bell Pepper
• ¼ cups Red Bell Pepper
• 3 cloves Garlic, Minced
• 1 can Rotel Tomatoes And Green Chilies
• 32 ounces, fluid Low Sodium Chicken Stock
• 3 Tablespoons Tomato Paste
• 4 cups Hot Water
• 2 cans Black Beans, Drained
• 3 Tablespoons Cornmeal Or Masa
• 5 whole Corn Tortillas, Cut Into Uniform Strips Around 2 To 3 Inches
• Garnishes:
• Sour Cream
• Diced Avocado
• Diced Red Onion
• Salsa Or Pico De Gallo
• Grated Monterey Jack Cheese
• Cilantro

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Mix cumin, chili pepper, garlic powder, and salt.

Drizzle 1 tablespoon olive oil on chicken breasts, then sprinkle a small amount of spice mix on both sides. Set aside the rest of the spice mix.

Place chicken breasts on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until chicken is done. Use two forks to shred chicken. Set aside.

Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a pot over medium high heat. Add onions, red pepper, green pepper, and minced garlic.

Stir and begin cooking, then add the rest of the spice mix.

Stir to combine, then add shredded chicken and stir.

Pour in Rotel, chicken stock, tomato paste, water, and black beans. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to a simmer. Simmer for 45 minutes, uncovered.

Mix cornmeal with a small amount of water. Pour into the soup, then simmer for an additional 30 minutes.

Check seasonings, adding more if needed—add more chili powder if it needs more spice, and be sure not to undersalt. Turn off heat and allow to sit for 15 to 20 minutes before serving. Five minutes before serving, gently stir in tortilla strips.

Ladle into bowls, then top with sour cream, diced red onion, diced avocado, pico de gallo, and grated cheese, if you have it! (The garnishes really make the soup delicious.)

Saturday, March 19, 2011

Menu Planning Saturday!


This week you will see

  • Pizza Casserole
  • Incredibly Easy and Low-Fat Chicken, Pasta, Peppers & Onions
  • Fiery Fettuccine (lighter recipe)
  • Whole Wheat Angel Hair Pasta with Sautéed Multicolored Peppers
  • Crock Pot Minestrone Soup
  • Italian baked chicken
4 new Recipes and 2 recipe - redo's.

I'm really excited!

Tuesday, March 8, 2011

Menu Planning Monday

Yep, It really is(was) Monday again. Time for another round of Menu Planning Monday (even though its almost 1am on Tuesday)

This is what we're having in the Rotty House this week.
I've quit assigning days, because they always get messed up.

Turkey Stuffed Peppers
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 servings (1/2 pepper)  Time: 55 minutes  Old Points: 4 • Points+: 5
Calories: 184.7 • Fat: 2.3 g  Protein: 20.8 g  Carb: 20.2 g  Fiber: 1.6 g
• 1 lb lean chopped turkey meat
• 1 garlic, minced
• 1/4 onion, minced
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro or parsley
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp cumin powder
• salt to taste
• 3 large sweet red bell peppers, washed
• 1 cup fat free chicken broth
• 1/4 cup tomato sauce
• 1 1/2 cups cooked rice
• Olive oil spray
• 1/4 cup reduced fat shredded cheese

Heat oven to 400°. Spray a little olive oil spray in a medium size saute pan and heat on a medium flame. Add onion, garlic and cilantro to the pan. Saute about 2 minutes and add ground turkey. Season with salt and garlic powder, and cumin and brown meat for several minutes until meat is completely cooked through. Add 1/4 cup of tomato sauce and 1/2 cup of chicken broth, mix well and simmer on low for about 5 minutes. Combine cooked rice and meat together.

Cut the bell peppers in half lengthwise, and remove all seeds. Place in a baking dish. Spoon the meat mixture into each pepper half and fill it with as much as you can. Place all stuffed pepper halves on the baking dish and pour the remainder of the chicken broth on the bottom of the pan. Cover tight with aluminum foil and bake for about 35 minutes. Top with shredded cheddar cheese and enjoy.

Baked Chicken Parmesan
Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 8  Serving Size: 1 piece • Old Points: 5 pts • Points+: 6 pts
Calories: 224.5 • Fat: 8.6 g • Protein: 25.1 g • Carb: 14.2 g • Fiber: 1.3 g
• 4 (8 oz) chicken breast halves, sliced in half
• 3/4 cup seasoned breadcrumbs (I used 4C whole wheat)
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 2 tbsp butter, melted
• 3/4 cup reduced fat mozzarella cheese (I used Sargento)
• 1 cup marinara or Filetto di Pomodoro

• cooking spray
Preheat oven to 450°. Spray a large baking sheet lightly with spray.

Combine breadcrumbs and parmesan cheese in a bowl. Melt the butter in another bowl. Lightly brush the butter onto the chicken, then dip into breadcrumb mixture. Place on baking sheet and repeat with the remaining chicken.

Lightly spray a little more cooking oil on top and bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Turn chicken over, bake another 5 minutes. Remove from oven, spoon sauce over chicken and top with shredded cheese. Bake 5 more minutes or until cheese is melted.

Crock Pot Minestrone Soup

Gina's Weight Watcher Recipes
Servings: 6 • Serving Size: 1 1/2 cups Old Points: 4 • Points+: 5
Calories: 215.7 • Fat: 0.7 g  Protein: 8.7 g  Carb: 42.0 g  Fiber: 6.7 g
• 1/2 onion, chopped
• 1 cup carrots, chopped
• 1 celery stalk, chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 (28 oz) can diced tomatoes
• 1 (15 oz) can white beans, drained, rinsed (cannellini or navy)
• 3 cups fat free chicken broth (or vegetable broth for vegetarians)
• 1 oz chunk of good Parmesan cheese rind
• 1 fresh rosemary sprig
• 2 bay leaves
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh basil
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley leaves
• salt and fresh pepper
• 1 medium zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups chopped fresh or frozen (defrosted) spinach
• 2 cups cooked small pasta like ditalini or elbows (al dente)
• extra parmesan cheese to top (extra pts)
Rinse and drain beans. Puree beans with 1 cup of the broth in a blender.

In a crock pot, combine broth, tomatoes, pureed beans, carrots, celery, onion, garlic, herbs, Parmesan cheese rind, salt and pepper. Cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.

Forty minutes before the soup is done cooking, add zucchini and spinach. Cover and cook 30 more minutes. Add cooked pasta, cook 10 minutes more. Remove bay leaves, rosemary sprig, parmesan rind and season to taste with salt and black pepper. Ladle soup into bowls and top with extra parmesan cheese.

Creamy Taco Mac
Annie's Eats

Ingredients:
1¼ lbs. ground turkey
8 oz. dry pasta shapes
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1 (14 oz.) can diced tomatoes, drained
4 tbsp. taco seasoning
3 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
Salt and pepper
Shredded cheddar cheese (optional)
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to boil. Cook pasta according to the package directions. Drain, reserving ½ cup of pasta water. Set aside.
Meanwhile, in a large skillet or sauté pan, cook the ground turkey over medium-high heat until no longer pink. A few minutes before the turkey is cooked through, add the chopped onion to the skillet. Once the turkey is cooked through, mix in the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Mix in the diced tomatoes and taco seasoning and let simmer over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Stir in the cooked pasta, cream cheese, sour cream and reserved pasta water, and continue stirring until the cream cheese is melted and the sauce is well blended. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Simmer over medium-low heat 3-5 minutes to reduce the sauce a bit. Remove from the heat and top with shredded cheddar cheese, if desired.


Fajitas

Ingredients:
2-4 Chicken breasts
2 peppers
1 onion
Fajita seasoning
Mexican cheese
Sour cream
Taco shells


Crock pot salsa chicken

Ingredients:
4 chicken breasts
2 jars salsa
1cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup pepper jack cheese
Brown rice

Put 2 jars salsa, and chicken breasts in a crock pot on low for 8 hours of on high for 4 hours.

right before you are ready to eat add shredded cheese to the crock pot

Cook brown rice

Serve chicken and salsa-cheese sauce over brown rice

I have no idea the calories. but it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOO good!




Photobucket

Sunday, March 6, 2011

Rotty's Everything-but -the-kitchen-sink Pasta Salad

hahahaha! I basically lived off this in the summer time back home. We were super broke and didn't have AC in out 2nd story apartment. In the peak heat of the season it was hard to function let alone cook. So I took a recipe my mom used to make and a salad my husband made once to make this recipe!

Everything-But-The-Kitchen-Sink Pasta Salad Ingredients:
1 box of your choice of pasta - my go to pasta is bow-tie, but what ever you have on hand is just spiffy.
2 sweet peppers
1/2 red onion
2 cucumbers
cherry tomatoes or 2 roma tomatoes (or whatever floats your boat tomatoes)
some turkey-peperoni
mozzarella
1 jar olives
1 bottle fat free Italian dressing
Parmesan cheese.

1) chop the ingredients and toss in a bowl

(I normally do the peppers first. No, the colors don't matter. I just like to switch it up for color)
(next I add the cucumbers, you can leave the skin on if you want. tomatoes, and onion. Bri prefers red onion.)
(Next I add the peperoni, I quarter them, makes for easier bites)
(next I cube the mozzarella. I use non fat part skim mozzarella to take the calories down)
(next add the olives)

2) meanwhile, boil the pasta till tender. drain, and rinse with cold water till cool to the touch.
place in bowl with veggies
3) Poor in Italian Dressing

4) add a fair amount of parmesian cheese.
5) Toss


Now you have the best pasta salad ever!!! It makes for good left overs the next day. but day 2 is a little soggy.
ENJOY!!!