Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
It’s been too long since I have given you a new exciting recipe to try. I hope to be posting more oftenagain. Here is a very tasty dish from tonight that the family really enjoyed. The best thing is that it is a complete meal with veggies already included.
Enjoy!!
Chicken & Broccoli Casserole
Serve 6
Preheat oven 350o
Estimated Values per serving:
Calories = 300 Fat = 8 grams
Ingredients:
1 ½ broccoli
1 ½ pounds cooked skinless/boneless chicken breast – cut into bite sized pieces
1 tablespoon canola oil
¼ cup onion – chopped
2 cloves garlic
¼ cup sherry
3 – 4 dashes Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup flour
1 cup skim milk
1 cup chicken broth
6 ounces grated low fat Swiss cheese
Salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup bread crumbs
¼ cup parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Bring a large saucepan of water to boil. Add broccoli and cook for about 3 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water. Add to a large bowl with cooked chicken and toss.
- Coat a 9-by-13 inch baking dish with cooking spray and set aside.
- Heat a skillet on medium heat, coat with cooking spray, add oil and chopped onion. Cooke 3 – 5 minutes until tender. Add garlic and cook for an additional 1 minute. Add sherry, scraping any pieces from the pan an cook until almost all the liquid has evaporated.
- In a small bowl, whisk together milk, broth and flour then add to skillet. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring constantly until mixture is bubbly and has thickened. Remove from heat and add Swiss cheese, stirring until all the cheese has melted.
- Pour cheese sauce into mixing bowl with chicken and broccoli, adding salt and pepper to taste and toss until well coated.
- Spoon mixture into prepared baking dish.
- Mix the bread crumbs and parmesan cheese together then sprinkle on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until browned on top.
Beef Stew
This is a super easy recipe with loads of flavor.
If you enjoy cooking meals in a slow cooker, you can modify it to do so by browning the meat and onion then transferring that to the slow cooker adding the remaining ingredients except the vegetables and cook on high for about 4 hours. About 30 minutes before you are ready to eat, add the vegetables. I started this too late to do in the slow cooker and have written the directions on how I prepared it earlier today.
Note: If you do not have beef broth in the house, you can use chicken broth instead. Also, if you don’t have gravy master, GET IT!! It enhances so many meals, adds so much flavor and is worth keeping in your spice rack.
Enjoy!!
Beef
Stew
Servings 4
Beef Stew
Estimated Values Per Serving:
Calories: 300 Fat: 7 grams
Ingredients:
1 pound lean beef (London broil or sirloin) – cut into 1-inch cubes
¼ cup flour
Salt and pepper
2 small onions or 1 large – cut up
½ cup red wine
1 cup beef broth
½ teaspoon gravy master
½ teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1 bag (16 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables
Directions:
- Combine flour, salt and pepper in a mixing bowl.
Dredge beef in flour mixture. - Heat a large skillet on high and coat with cooking spray. Add beef and cook until browned (about 5
minutes), stirring frequently. - Add cut up onions and cook for another 5 – 7 minutes until onions are browned.
- Add wine and scrape the bottom of the skillet with a wooden spoon to get up
anything stuck to the bottom. - Bring the heat down to simmer and add chicken broth, gravy master, thyme and garlic
powder. - Simmer meat for 1 -2 hours.
- Add mixed vegetables and simmer for another 10 minutes.
- Serve hot.
Savory Chicken Cobbler
I love this time of year for a lot of reasonsincluding all the delicious comfort food recipes. Here’s a great low calorie/low fat take on the traditional Chicken Pot Pie. Sorry I didn’t have the time to caculate the estimated values but will update it soon.
NOTE: I rarely use brand names but “Best Life Buttery Spread” works really well for the cobbler because it needs to be firm.
In the meantime…Enjoy!
Savory Chicken Cobbler
Preheat oven to 400o
Savory Chicken Cobbler
Serves 8
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 325 Fat: 3 grams
Chicken filling Ingredients:
1 onion – chopped
8 ounces sliced mushrooms
¼ cup sherry
2 cups chicken broth
¼ cup flour
1 package (12 ounces) frozen mixed vegetables – thawed
1 teaspoon thyme
1 pound bones/skinless cooked chicken breast – cubed
Salt & pepper
Cobbler Ingredients:
1 cup flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon thyme
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon pepper
3 tablespoons low fat butter spread
¼ cup egg substitute
3 tablespoons skim milk
Directions:
Make the chicken filling:
- Heat a large skillet on medium low and coat with cooking spray. Add the mushrooms and sauté for about 10 – 12
minutes, turning occasionally, until browned. - Add onion, cover and sauté for about 5 – 7 minutes until the onions are soft and slightly browned.
- Increase heat to medium high and add sherry. Cook until all the liquid has absorbed. In a
small bowl, combine the chicken stock and flour then pour into the skillet and
stir until slightly thickened. - Add the vegetables, chicken and season with thyme, salt and pepper.
- Lower heat and simmer for about 10 minutes.
Make the cobbler:
- Whisk
together the flour, baking powder, thyme, salt and pepper. With a pastry knife, cut the butter spread
into the flour mixture until it resembles small peas. - Mix in the egg substitute and milk until moistened.
Assembly:
- Coat a large oven safe baking dish with cooking spray. Spoon chicken filling into the bottom and
then spoon cobbler on top, making mounds with the dough. - Bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the cobbler is slightly browned and cooked through.
- Serve hot.
Bingo Fiesta
Friday night I had some friends over for a fun bingo night out with the girls. To make things easy, I bought some frozen appetizers and limited my cooking to a few additions. Here are 3 recipes from that night:
Black bean Quesadillas
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 145 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans – drained and rinsed
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – softened
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – softened
1 packet cheese flavored taco seasoning
1 clove garlic – minced
1 cup low fat Mexican grated cheese blend
8 medium soft flour tortillas
Salsa for serving
Directions:
- Place black beans in a food processor with the cream cheeses, taco seasoning and garlic. Puree until the ingredients are smooth.
- Spoon into a bowl and mix in grated cheese.
- Spread the black bean mixture onto 4 tortillas then place the remaining 4 tortillas on top.
- Grill tortillas for 3 – 5 minutes on each side until the tortilla has browned and the cheese has melted inside.
- Cut each into 4 triangles per tortilla.
- Serve warm with salsa.
Cheese Quesadillas
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 7 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 115 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – softened
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – softened
1 packet cheese flavored taco seasoning
1 cup low fat Mexican grated cheese blend
8 medium soft flour tortillas
Salsa for serving
Directions:
- In a mixer, beat the cream cheeses and taco seasoning mix on high speed.
- Mix in grated cheese.
- Spread the cheese mixture onto 4 tortillas then place the remaining 4 tortillas on top.
- Grill tortillas for 3 – 5 minutes on each side until the tortilla has browned and the cheese has melted inside.
- Cut each into 4 triangles per tortilla.
- Serve warm with salsa.
Tortilla Crisps
Serves 20
Preheat oven 425o
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Bake Time: 8 – 10 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 110 Fat: 1 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
10 large soft flour tortillas
¼ cup melted low fat butter spread
Directions:
- Combine sugar and cinnamon in a bowl and set aside.
- Cut tortillas into triangles
- Wrap a large baking sheet with foil then coat with cooking spray.
- Spread tortilla triangles on the baking sheet on 1 layer (you may need to use more than 1 baking pan). Brush melted butter on the tortillas then sprinkle the cinnamon/sugar mixture on top.
- Bake 8 – 10 minutes until the tortillas are crisp.
- Cool to room temperature and serve.
Easy Italian Pasta Salad
We had a family BBQ over the weekend and with our crazy schedule, I had to make a menu that takes minimal effort. The night before I threw this together and it worked out really well. Instead of trying to come up with a homemade salad dressing, I figured it’s easier to buy the salad dressing and just “jazz” it up a little with fresh basil & garlic.
If there are some ingredients that do not appeal to you, feel free to substitute. Here are some ideas:
- grated parmesan instead of mozzerella
- Minced onion instead of garlic
- Chopped celery
- chopped tomatoes
Have fun with it because that’s what it’s all about…
Easy Italian Pasta Salad
Serves 16
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 8 minutes
Refrigerator: 2 hours
Ingredients:
8 ounces pasta
8 ounces Italian ham
1 can artichoke hearts – rinsed and drained
8 ounces roasted red peppers – drained and rinsed
¼ cup pitted calamata olives
1 cup low fat Italian salad dressing
2 cloves garlic – minced
½ cup low fat grated mozzarella cheese
¼ cup fresh basil – chopped
Directions:
- Bring a large pot of water up to a boil and add pasta. Cook according to package directions then drain and rinse under cold water until the pasta is cool to the touch.
- While the pasta is cooking, chop the ham, artichoke hearts, red peppers and olives and spoon into a large mixing bowl.
- Add pasta, salad dressing, garlic and cheese. Toss all ingredients together and refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
- Right before serving, chop fresh basil and toss.
Southwest Corn Salad
Here’s a great summer BBQ side to try this holiday weekend. It’s easy, quick & delicious.
Happy 4th!!
Southwest Corn Salad
Serves 10
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 5 – 10 minutes
Refrigerate: 1 to 2 hours or overnight
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 130 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
6 slices turkey or center cut (low fat) bacon
3 cups corn kernels
1 can (15.5 ounces) black beans – rinsed and drained
½ cup minced red onion
½ cup red or green bell peppers
1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chili peppers
¼ cup fresh cilantro – finely chopped
¼ cup canola oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
Few drops of Tabasco (optional)
Directions:
- Heat a skillet on medium high heat, coat with cooking spray and fry bacon for 5 – 7 minutes until browned. Remove from heat and cool on paper towels.
- Crumble cooled bacon.
- In a small pot, boil ¼ cup water and add corn. Cook until tender for about 5 minutes. Rinse, drain and cool.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine corn, black beans, onions, bell peppers, chili peppers, cilantro and bacon.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the oil, lime juice and Tabasco. Pour on top of corn mixture and toss well.
- Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 hours.
Mixed Grill
This is such a great summer recipe and the best part is that you can get creative with it. If you don’t like eating pork, simply substitute it with beef instead. If you also don’t like some of the vegetable suggestions in the recipe, you can substitute others, some other suggestions might be escarole, eggplant,endive leaves or cauliflower .
The important thing is to have fun with it.
Enjoy…
Mixed Grill
Serves 8
Prep Time: 15 minutes
Grill Time: 20 – 25 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 250 Fat: 7 grams
Mixed Grill
Ingredients:
Seasoning:
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon dried thyme
½ teaspoon pepper
Vegetables:
10 ounce package button mushrooms – cut in half
2 zucchini – cut into 1” pieces
2 red bell peppers – cut into large pieces
2 medium onions – quartered
2 large potatoes – cut or sliced
Meat:
1 pound boneless pork loin
1 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
Directions:
- Heat an outdoor or indoor grill to 400o.
- Combine all spices in a small bowl.
- Season meats with half of the seasoning and set aside until ready to grill.
- Combine the zucchini and mushrooms in a bowl, coat with cooking spray and fold in half of the remaining seasoning.
- Combine peppers and onions in another bowl, coat with cooking spray and fold in the remaining seasoning.
- If you are using an outdoor grill, coat a vegetable basket with cooking spray and add the zucchini and mushrooms to the basket. Use an additional vegetable basket for the onions and peppers. If you only have 1 vegetable basket, you can grill the vegetables in batches.
- If the potatoes are large enough, add them directly on the grill (coating them with cooking spray first), if not, use a vegetable basket to grill them as well.
- Grill the vegetables and potatoes for 10 – 15 minutes until browned and softened.
- If you have a large grill, add the pork loin while the vegetables and potatoes are grilling. Grill the pork for about 7 minutes on each side or until the internal temperature reaches 165o. Remove from the grill, cover and rest the pork until ready to carve.
10. Grill the chicken breasts for 5 – 7 minutes on each side.
11. Transfer the grilled vegetables to a large serving platter. Carve the pork loin and transfer to the serving platter. Remove the cooked chicken breasts from the grill and transfer to the serving platter.
12. Serve hot.
Beer & Cheese Dip
I was so busy getting it all together for a BBQ that I did not have a chance to take a picture of this but it was a nice compliment to the other menu items we were serving that day.
Enjoy!!
Beer & Cheese Dip
Serves 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigeration Time: at least 2 hours
Estimated Values per Serving (dip only):
Calories: 72 Fat: 4 grams
Ingredients:
4 ounces low fat cream cheese – room temperature
4 ounces fat free cream cheese – room temperature
¼ cup fat free sour cream
1/3 cup stout beer
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
¼ cup low fat grated cheddar cheese
1 envelope ranch salad dressing
Carrot sticks, celery sticks and pretzels
Directions:
- Beat together cream cheeses, sour cream, beer, Worcestershire sauce and salad dressing at medium speed.
- Fold in cheddar cheese.
- Refrigerate and serve with carrots, celery and pretzels.
Eggplant Bruschetta
I served these on Sunday over the holiday weekend and they were such a hit, Dean went out and bought all the ingredients Monday morning so I could cook up another order for some family friends. They are a little heavier on calories and fat than most recipes I cover but after having 2 (which is a serving size), you are full for a while. You can even have these as a meal with a salad on the side and feel very satisfied.
Enjoy…
Eggplant Bruschetta
Preheat oven 425o
Serves 12
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Bake Time: 30 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 360 Fat: 10 grams
Eggplant Bruschetta
Ingredients:
1 – 1 ½ loaves Italian bread – cut into 24 slices
Salt
1 eggplant – cut into 24 thin slices
3 cups seasoned bread crumbs
1 cup egg substitute
24 ounces (1 ½ pounds) low fat mozzarella cheese – thinly sliced
1 can (14.5 ounces) diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic, basil and oregano
¼ cup grated parmesan cheese
Directions:
- Sweat eggplant slices by lightly coating with salt and placing paper towels on top to absorb the excess water. Rinse salt off of the eggplant slices.
- While eggplant is sweating, coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add sliced Italian bread. Toast for about 5 minutes on each side until lightly browned.
- Heat a large skillet on medium high heat and coat with cooking spray. Dip eggplant slices in egg substitute then coat with bread crumbs. Add to the skillet and cook for about 3 – 5 minutes on each side to brown the bread crumbs.
- Coat a large baking sheet with cooking spray and add browned eggplant slices. Roast for 15 minutes until eggplant is cooked through.
- Top the toasted Italian bread with a slice of mozzarella, an eggplant slice, a little diced tomatoes and some grated parmesan.
- Bake for about 10 minutes until the cheese is melted and serve.
Pulled Pork with Amercian Style Coleslaw
Every year this weekend kicks off the holiday BBQ season. To get ready, I am experimenting with some classic menus that won’t make you feel guilty. Tonight we had pulled pork and coleslaw sandwiches.
One of the reasons I love serving this to company is because it is better if made a day or two before the BBQ. The coleslaw should be made at least 24 hour in advance and kept cold until ready to serve. The longer it sits in the refrigerator, the better it gets. The pulled pork can definitely be made the day before and heated up and served in a crock pot. So if you are looking for hassle free cooking the day of your party, this is a great menu.
The family loved it (even if it was 60 degrees and cloudy) and was asking for seconds.
Enjoy!
American Style Coleslaw
Pulled Pork with Amercian Style Coleslaw
Serves 8
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Refrigerate overnight
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 55 Fat: 2 grams
Ingredients:
½ cup low fat mayonnaise
¼ cup skim milk
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons white vinegar
½ teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon celery seed
¼ teaspoon salt
1 scallion – chopped
4 cups shredded cabbage
1 cup shredded carrot
Directions:
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together mayonnaise, milk, sugar, vinegar, pepper, onion powder, celery seed, and salt.
- Add shredded cabbage, carrot and scallion and toss.
- Refrigerate overnight or for several days and serve cold.
Pulled Pork
Serves 8
Pre heat oven 250o
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Bake Time: 4 – 5 hours
Cook time: 30 minutes
Estimated Values per Serving:
Calories: 200 Fat: 5 grams
Pork Loin Rub Ingredients:
2 pounds boneless pork loin
1 teaspoon finely ground black pepper
2 teaspoons ground oregano
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon thyme
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
Directions:
- Trim any excess fat from pork and set aside.
- To make the rub, combine all the ingredients. Rub over the surface of the pork loin to coat.
- Place pork in baking pan and cover with aluminum foil. Cook pork for about 4 – 5 hours.
- Cool pork until you are able to handle it then shred the meat.
BBQ Sauce Ingredients:
1 cup strong coffee
1 jar (12 ounces) chili sauce
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
2 tablespoons molasses
½ teaspoon liquid smoke
¼ cup white vinegar
1 teaspoon garlic powder
2 tablespoons chili powder
2 – 3 dashes pepper sauce (optional)
Directions:
- Combine all ingredients in large saucepan and bring to a simmer on medium low heat. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes.
- Add sauce to shredded pork and mix well. Serve hot.
-
Archives
- January 2012 (2)
- November 2011 (1)
- October 2011 (6)
- August 2011 (3)
- July 2011 (1)
- June 2011 (6)
- May 2011 (2)
- April 2011 (3)
- March 2011 (4)
- February 2011 (5)
- January 2011 (9)
- December 2010 (7)
-
Categories
- Appetizers
- Beef
- Breakfast
- Cocktails
- Cooking Styles/Techniques
- Dessert
- Easy
- Eating Out
- Eggs
- Fish
- Fruits
- Lunchalicious
- Main Courses
- Misses
- Pasta dish
- Poached
- Pork
- Potatoes
- Poultry
- Quick Breads
- Quick Poll
- Rice
- Salads
- Sauces
- Season
- Shrimp
- Side Dishes
- Soup
- Spices
- Tips/Hints
- Travel
- Uncategorized
- Vegetables
- Where it all began
-
RSS
Entries RSS
Comments RSS
