Lasagna Spinach Soup

So this soup is SO dang yummy I have made it twice this week! I found it on the website that I sited before Kitchen Parade. But I specifically found this recipe on her Veggie Venture blog. With her recipe she has it listed as 3 weight watcher points. I LOVED the broth and Spinach so much I altered it a bit and the way I have the recipe listed here is only 2 Weight Watcher points.

Ingredients

1/4-1/3 pound ground Turkey orhamburger (I prefer it with less, but she used 1 lb. I also used the 95% lean hamburger)

1 large chopped Onion
2 Tbsp minced Garlic
2 tsp basil
2 tsp Oregano
1 tsp anise seed
Salt & Pepper to Taste

15 oz can diced tomatoes
15 oz canned tomato sauce

(Today I actually just used 2 Heaping Tbsp of an italian seasoning mix since i wasn't about to spend the $7 for that tiny bottle of anise! NOt to mention that was much easier!)


6 Cups chicken Broth (I used Boullion)
3 OZ Lasagna (About 3 long strips)
Lots of Fresh Spinach! (about 12 ounces?)


In a large Pan or POt cook your hamburger until done. Add all seasonings and the onion. Cook thoroughly. Add the tomatoes, Sauce and Broth and bring to boil. Pretty much at this point you can add the lasagna, but just remember the longer it's in there the soggier it gets so if you aren't serving for awhile I would wait to add it. But...let's say we are ready to serve soon! Add the noodles and cook medium for about 15-20 minutes. Just before serving add the spinach for 1-2 miutes then serve. Today I just dished up my soup without the spinach, then added my own HUGE handful on the top, stirred then let sit in my bowl for a few minutes.


The original recipe suggests chopping the spinach, but I LOVE it so much It doesn't matter to me! Changes I also made from the original:

2 cups more broth, 1 oz more pasta, and lots more spinach. HEr recipe is also for 8 1 cup servings at 3 points each. Today I split mine into 6 servings (obviously more than 1 cup becuase I used more broth) and it was only 2 points per serving. You could certainly go for 8 servings and it would only be about 1 point as my 2 point figureation was actually rounded up!

Enjoy and sorry I blab so much!

Oregano Chicken

We made this the other night, kinda just whipped it up as I went along, but it turned out yummy so I wanted to share.



Ingredients:

1 TBSP Canola Oil
1 tsp garlic salt
1 tsp Oregan
3 chicken Breast cut into small pieces
1 Carrot
1 Celery stick
3-4 Brocoli Pieces
3-4 Cauliflower Pieces

Brush the oil in skillet, sprinkle garlic and oregano on bottom, then add chicken. Cook thoroughly. Finely chop all veggies and add to chicken until cooked. That's it! EAt!

Kinda like a stirfry, but the tiny veggies were super yummy, I cooked mine till they were a bit crispy, but having it smaller seemed to make them easier for my kids to eat. We had Salad that more fresh veggies with Ranch dip with it, but you could even add this over some pasta tossed with a little oil and more garlic and oregano. Very healthy and VERY tasty.

A plethera or things! Or at least 3

OKay, so I have a few things to add on here, but since I just posted them on my blog I'll just attach a link here that you can follow to there!

Christmas Cookies



Cookie Cutter Sandwhiches



Cake Balls

Beef Stroganoff

So I know all my recipes are kinda shady lately. That's how I cook, just throw in some of this, some of that and then when it turns out good I want to share it! This is the same stroganoff I make all the time except usually I use ground beef, but because of my beef excursion lately we had the REAL stuff!

Ingredients:

1 can Cream of Mushroom Soup
3/4 cup Sour Cream
1/2 onion
1/2 cup mushrooms (canned or fresh)
Beef (any variety really)
5 cups cooked Rice or Pasta

Slice thinly your beef and then cook in a large pan. Saute onions with your meat and then add the mushrooms. Once meat is thoroughly cooked add the cream of mushroom. Bring to boil (it's thick at this point) then add the sour cream. Cook at medium until heated through then keep warm until ready to serve.

Cook rice or pasta accordingly. Any pasta will do, but we prefer egg noodles.

I use the fat free soups, low fat sour cream and usually a very low fat ground hamburger or turkey. I also use wheat pasta or I think it's smart something? Anyway lower cal, higher fiber so any WW enthusiasts, it's only 3 points per cup instead of four! Anyway with these modifications you can enjoy your stroganoff for a reasonable amount of calories! Not to mention such an easy meal. We love some kind of bread and this week served it with our roasted carrots again...yummy!!

Philly Cheese Steak Sandwiches

This is something that I came up with, obviously it's nothing original, but it had been a very long time since I had been Grocery shopping, and running out of food, I raided my cupboards, fridge, & freezer, to find anything to make a decent meal for dinner! And Viola.........



They turned out so good! Thanks to my mother in law who gave me the hogie buns, and luckily, I had some leftover steak in my freezer. There is no set recipe to this, but I'll explain what I did!

Start out with a hot frying pan, with some oil. Add the Strips of steak, once halfway cooked, add the sliced onions and green peppers! (It would even be good with mushrooms!) Add salt and pepper to taste. I had a lot of juices left in the pan, so I dissolved a little bit of corn starch in water and added it to the steak mixture to thicken the rest up!

Then take your Hogie Bun, spread some cream cheese on top and bottom, use as much or little as you would like! I also prefer the low fat cream cheese! Once cream cheese is spread, pile on the steak mixture, then sprinkle on some shredded mozz. cheese on top! With both sides open, broil on high in the oven, just till cheese is melted! Close the sandwich up, and enjoy!

Serve with french fries, or a side salad! Very tastey, very easy, and very quick meal!

-Janine

Cutting the meat!

So, I have to apologize, this isn't a recipe. But, this weekend we purchased a LOT of meat and I mean a lot. Like....golly, I think 40 pounds? Maybe more? Beef was .99 cents a pound, the pork was 1.89, and then chicken was like 1.50. So I stocked up. I think about 34 pounds was just beef. Now I'm not a big beef eater, mostly I prefer chicken, but for that deal I could handle throwing some in the freezer.

Another thing, I HATE touching raw meat and dealing with it. So, this post is not necessarily about HOW to cut the meat, but how to cut it and not have to touch it! REad on, laugh at my ridiculousness, but then next time you buy meat and remember this you will love me! (I hope)

So you start with your HUGE slab of meat, or hopefully for your sake much smaller.



Find a large cup for sandwhich size baggies, or bowl for larger baggies.



Cut your meat as you desire it. I had large pieces cut for roasting, small pieces for kabobs, smaller pieces for stew, and even small pieces for stroganoff. I also cut slices for steaks on the grill which I placed on a pan lined with foil, froze for a few hours, then placed in Gallon ziplocks. This way I can pull out however many or little I want.

I used a fork and a knife making most efforts to NOT touch anything.



Then I use a spatula to scoop up the raw nastiness



Then as you spatula you dump into cup or bowl lined with your baggie! I double bag mine, so I had one bag already labeled with date and what was inside. The greatest part is you don't have to touch the meat, and the zip lock part of the baggie doesn't touch the meat.




And if you are bagging larger pieces , just turn the bag inside out, and place your hand inside then grab the meat., then just slide the bag up around your meat and seal!

Nothing super ingenious about all this, just a few little tricks I learned since I didn't have gloves and I HATE to touch the meat! (have I said that enough times?)

Whatever you want soup!

So lately I have been making this soup in my crockpot a lot! I made it first about 6 months ago and Duck loved it so much he asked for it for FAthers DAY! I thought he was crazy, but whatever. We like it served over rice, but we also have it just as soup with some french bread or crackers. But the recipe is SOOOO s imple

3 Chicken Breasts (fresh or frozen, or even canned I guess{technically ANY meat that you think would taste goo})
3-4 cups cut Veggies, frozen, fresh, or canned! (Or 2 cans with juices)
2 Cans Cream of Soup any variety

Dump in a crock pot and let simmer away. Keep it at low for about 6 hours, or high for 3. Super Yummy, super easy and so many variations. Our favorite is a mixed can veggie and creamed corn with Cream of chicken, then served over rice. But we have done the cheese broccoli soup with broccoli....cream of celery with beans and corn, yesterdays was cream of mushroom with mixed veggies, creamed corn AND green beans. My kids LOVE it, my husband LOVES it and I LOVE how dang easy it is! ONe day I even added a cup of Sour Cream during the last hour to make it a bit creamy. Try it your style and share what combinations you liked!

Oh, and this serves our family twice, which is 2 adults and three kids under 5....so probably would be good for a larger family once.

Hawaiian Chicken (POrk would be yummy too!)

Hawaiian Grilled Chicken

1/2 cup olive oil

1/3 cup lemon juice

1/2 cup soy sauce

3-4 cloves garlic, peeled and minced (could substitute with other garlic sources)

1-2 tsp fresh oregano

1-2 tsp fresh rosemary

1-2 tsp fresh basil

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black or lemon pepper

Chicken Breast

Combine all ingredients minus the chicken. Thinly slice chicken breast horizontally then cut again into strips. Place in a bag with marinade for at least 15 minutes, but the longer the better. I used about 1.5 lbs of chicken, but there was enough marinade you could probably even use as much as 4 pounds for this recipe.

Grill at a low heat setting allowing a nice color, but not over cooking your thin chicken slices.

Variation: Wine vinegar may be substituted for the lemon juice (I actually added both though!). If fresh herbs are not available, substitute 1/2-3/4 tsp dried.

Serve with Rice or other grilled meats and veggies. Enjoy!

Easy Chicken Parmesan

1 jar (26 oz.) spaghetti sauce

6 Tbsp. Grated Parmesan Cheese, divided

6 small boneless skinless chicken breast halves (1-1/2 lb.)

1-1/2 cups Shredded Mozzarella Cheese

HEAT oven to 375°F. Pour sauce into 13x9-inch baking dish. Stir in 1/4 cup (4 Tbsp.) Parmesan. Add chicken; turn to coat both sides with sauce. Cover with foil.

BAKE 30 min. Uncover.

TOP with remaining cheeses; bake 5 min. or until chicken is done (165ºF) and cheese is melted.

{This is delicious over your favorite pasta!! Tonight we are trying it with the Large Shells kind.}

3 Cheese Chicken Penne Pasta Bake

We made this last night and it was delicious!!
You can go here to see step by step instructions.

1-1/2 cups penne pasta, uncooked

1 pkg. (9 oz.) fresh spinach leaves (I left this ingredient out)

1 lb. boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into bite-size pieces

1 tsp. dried basil leaves

1 jar (14-1/2 oz.) spaghetti sauce

1 can (14-1/2 oz.) diced tomatoes, drained

2 oz. (1/4 of 8-oz. pkg.) Cream Cheese, cubed

1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese, divided

2 Tbsp. grated Parmesan Cheese

HEAT oven to 375ºF. Cook pasta as directed on package, adding spinach to the boiling water for the last 1 min.

COOK and stir chicken and basil in large nonstick skillet on medium-high heat 3 min. Add spaghetti sauce and tomatoes; bring to boil. Simmer 3 min. or until chicken is done. Stir in Neufchatel cheese.

DRAIN pasta mixture; return to pan. Stir in chicken mixture and 1/2 cup mozzarella. Spoon into 2-qt. or 8-inch square baking dish.

BAKE 20 min. Sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Bake 3 min.

Brazilian Chicken

So I'm not sure if this recipe is actually a real brazilian dish but that's what my family named it. About 6 years ago, my uncle married this brazilian woman and we all went over to meet her family and get to know them. They made this dish and our family fell in love with it. We continued to make it for years afterward. I finally tracked the recipe down from my older sister. I haven't made it in years but she said she makes it all the time and it's still great. I plan on making it sometime soon but I don't know when for sure. So if anyone makes it before me, let me know what you think! Sorry, I don't have a picture but it's a very pretty dish.

Brazilian Chicken

½ cube of butter
½ onion (yellow or white), chopped
3-4 green onions, sliced
1 Lrg. can Spaghetti Sauce (Hunt’s brand, Traditional)
½-1 can black olives, diced (depending on how much you want)
½-1 can green olives, diced(depending on how much you want)
½-1 can corn (depending on how much you want)
1 Small can Mushrooms (optional)
Sprinkle of parsley
1-2 pints cartons heavy whipping cream
2-4 cups boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked and cut
into bite-size pieces
Potato Sticks or 1 bag of Ruffles Original Chips

In a large frying pan, add butter, onion and green onions and cook about 5 minutes or until sautéed. Add spaghetti sauce, black and green olives and corn. Cook another 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add mushrooms (if desired) and parsley. Next add heavy whipping cream. You’ll want to pour enough in so that the mixture turns a light orange color. You may not use the full 2 pints. Last, add chicken and let simmer another 5-10 minutes. Serve over rice. Add a handful of Potato Stix or Ruffles Chips on top.

*Potato Sticks may be harder to find and they don’t stay as crispy as the ruffles.

Yields: A lot! If you make it let me know! ; )

Baked Ziti

I'm not going to type this recipe because it's so much easier to just link you to it. so here's the link to the baked ziti III recipe. i got the recipe off the allrecipes.com website. i tried it for dinner tonight and it was delicious. i forgot to take a picture though. i do this all the time. when i start to clean up dinner, that's when i remember that i should have taken a picture.
Enjoy!

Marie Callender's Chicken Pot Pie

So I totally can't take credit for this one. First of all, it's Marie Callender's and second, I haven't even made it yet so I can't tell you if it's good. However, if it's from Marie, I bet it's awesome. The recipe and instructions are pretty long and look a little difficult. If you'd rather buy it frozen, you can. I will try it homemade one of these days. :)

CRUST:

1 1/2 C all-purpose flour

3/4 tsp salt

2 egg yolks

3 TBL ice water

2/3 C cold butter

FILLING:

1 C sliced carrots (3 carrots)

1 C sliced celery (1 stalk)

2 C frozen peas

1 C chopped white onion

4 boneless, skinless breasts (or more if you like a lot of chicken!)

4 TBL butter

5 TBL all-purpose flour

2 1/2 C chicken broth

2/3 C milk

1/2 tsp salt Dash of pepper

1 egg, beaten

Prepare the crust by sifting together the flour salt in a medium bowl. Make a depression in the center of the flour with your hand. Put the yolks and ice water into the depression. Slice the butter into tablespoon size portions and add it into the flour depression as well. Using a fork, but the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. When all of the flour is moistened, use your hands to finish combining the ingredients. This will ensure that the chunks of butter are well blended into the dough. Roll the dough into a ball, cover it with plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator for 1 to 2 hours. This will make the dough much easier to work with!

When the dough has chilled, preheat the oven to 425 degrees, and start on the filling by steaming the vegetables. Steam the carrots and celery for 5 minutes in a steamer or a saucepan with a small amount of water in the bottom. Add the frozen peas and onions and continue to steam for an additional 10 to 12 minutes or until the carrots are tender. Prepare the chicken by poaching the breasts in lightly salted boiling water for 8 to 10 minutes.

In a separate large saucepan, melt the butter over medium heat, remove from the heat, then add the flour and whisk together until smooth. Add the chicken broth and milk and continue stirring over high heat until the mixture comes to a boil. Cook for an additional minute or two until thick, then reduce the heat to low. Cut the poached chicken into large bite sized chunks and add them to the sauce. Add the salt and a dash of pepper. Add the steamed vegetables to the sauce and simmer the mixture over medium/low heat for 4 to 5 minutes. As the filling simmers, roll out the dough on a floured surface. Use one of the casserole dishes you plan to bake the pies in as a guide for cutting the dough. The filling will fit four 16-ounce casserole dishes perfectly, but you can use just about any comparable size, as long as they are oven safe.

Invert one of the dishes onto the dough and use a knife to cut around the rim. Make the cut about a half-inch larger all the way around to give the dough a "lip", which you will fold over when you cover the pie. Make four. Spoon the chicken and vegetable filling into each casserole dish adn carefully cover each dish with the cut dough. Fold the edge of the dough over the edge of each dish and press firmly so that the dough sticks to the outer rim. Brush some beaten egg on the dough on each pie. Bake the pies on a cookie sheet for 30 to 45 minutes or until the top crust is light brown.

ENJOY!!!

BBQ Cilantro Chicken Pizza

I would love to take credit for the amzing recipe...but I cannot...I found this recipe on another blog, and I tried (I am addict for pizza) TRY this on it's really really good.

(I did change mine a little I didn't add any pizza sauce and used Sweet Baby Rays BBQ sauce and that was just perfect.)



BBQ Cilantro Chicken Pizza

1 Pizza Crust - Uncooked
1 cup Pizza Sauce
1 cup BBQ Sauce
about a handful of fresh cilantro
3 cups of mixed cheddar and mozzarella cheese
2 chicken breasts cut into small pieces and cooked in BBQ Sauce
1 can pineapple tidbits - drained

Roll your pizza dough onto a pizza pan or pizza stone. Blend together the Pizza and BBQ Sauces, then add cilantro and pulse a few times. Add sauce to the top of the pizza dough, the sauce should be thick. Then top with cheese, chicken, and pineapple. Bake in the oven at 400 degrees for 18 min.

Pork Chops & Apples

I've been making this lately because it makes it feel like fall even though it's still 90 degrees outside. All you need is pork chops, apples, and basic spices.

Salt and pepper both sides of pork chops and sear in a pan until outer skin is just barely white.
Line bottom of baking dish with sliced apples. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over apples.
Place seared pork chops over apples and bake, covered, about 50 minutes at 350 degrees.

Ricotta Manicotti

I know it takes extra time, but the sauce is what makes this recipe so fabulous. I recommend this as a first-class company meal. Enjoy :)

Basic Tomato Sauce
1 T olive oil
1 small diced onion
2 minced garlic cloves
2 28-oz. cans whole tomatoes in juice
1/4 tsp. oregano
salt and pepper to taste

In a medium saucepan, heat 1 Tablespoon olive oil over medium heat. Cook 1 small diced onion and 2 minced garlic cloves, stirring frequently, until translucent (2-4 min).
Add two 28-oz. cans whole tomatoes in juice and 1/4 tsp. oregano. Simmer, stirring occassionally, breaking up tomatoes with a spoon until thickened (20-30 min). Season with salt and pepper. Makes 6 cups.

Ricotta Manicotti
2 pkgs (8 oz) manicotti noodles, cooked, drained, and cooled
2 15-oz containers part-skim ricotta cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1/2 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. oregano
1 1/2 c shredded parmesan cheese
Basic Tomato Sauce (above)

Cook pasta, drain, and cool. Preheat oven to 375 F. In a large bowl, whisk together ricotta, eggs, thyme, oregano, and 1 c parmesan. Season with 1 tsp. salt and 1/2 tsp pepper.
Coat bottom of a 9 x 13 baking dish with 2 c tomato sauce. Stuff cooled pasta shells with ricotta filling and place in baking dish. Cover with additional 2 c sauce and sprinkle remaining parmesan over top. Bake until bubbly, about 30 minutes.

Sweet and Sour Chicken

Sweet and Sour Chicken

-Use the same chicken from sesame chicken recipe (see previous recipe)

Sauce:
2 tsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
8 Tbsp. sugar
6 Tbsp. vinegar
4 Tbsp. ketchup
Juice of 1 can chunk pineapple (add enough water to make 1 c.)


Cook until thick. Pour over chicken.

Sesame Chicken

Sesame Chicken

4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
½ cup cornstarch
Canola oil
1 1/3 cup water
¼ cup sugar
2 Tbsp. Soy Sauce
2 Tbsp. Oyster Sauce
½ tsp. garlic powder
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
1 ½ cups broccoli, cut into small pieces
Sesame seeds

Cut chicken into 1 inch cubes. Put ½ cup cornstarch in plastic bag and toss chicken cubes in bag until well coated. Add enough canola oil into your skillet to generously coat bottom. Fry chicken until medium brown. While chicken is frying, prepare sauce by mixing in saucepan water, sugar, soy sauce, oyster sauce, garlic powder and cornstarch. Stir mixture over medium heat until thickened and pour over chicken. Simmer 3 minutes. Add prepared broccoli and steam until desired tenderness. Stir in sesame seeds and serve over rice.

Pizza Pockets

This is our favorite and I am sure I make it almost every week. I can't take credit for this recipe, I got it from my sister-in-law Kristin.
Thanks for doing this blog Dixie, I can tell I'm going to love it!!

Pizza Pockets
Basic Dough:
1 T. yeast
1 c. warm water
2 1/2 c. flour
1 1/2 T. sugar
1/2 t. salt
1 T. oil
Desired toppings:
Cheese
Ham (I use cut up lunch meat)
Pepperoni
Pinneapple
Olives
Sausage
Combine 1 T. of sugar, yeast and warm water in a bowl and let yeast dissolve. In another bowl combine the rest of the sugar, salt, and flour. Mix oil in with yeast mix and then add dry contents. Fold mix and knead dough until ready.
Divide dough into balls depending on how many pockets you want to make. A batch will usually make 6-8. Roll out dough balls into long rectangles. Put in desired toppings and then fold pocket over in half, pinch the edge of dough and bake at 350 for 15 – 20 min. Serve with pizza sauce over the pockets.
-Brook