Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad

Grilled Chicken Spinach Salad

Ingredients
1 package baby spinach
1 bell pepper
1 small onion
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1 small cucumber
1/2 cup walnuts
2 small chicken breast cutlets
2 tablespoons olive oil

Method
Heat olive oil in skillet on medium heat. Once the oil is hot, add the chicken breast and cook for 7 minutes, only flipping once.

While the chicken is cooking, chop up the bell pepper, onion, tomatoes and cucumber. (You could do this before preparing the chicken, but I'm all about multi-tasking.) When, the chicken is finished chop it into small pieces.

Place the baby spinach leaves in a large salad bowl and add the chicken and veggies. Mix these ingredients, then add the walnuts to the top of the salad.  Serve with your favorite salad dressing!

Before Dressing

After Dressing

Chocolate Dunk Cookies with Splenda

So, I know there's a huge debate over artificial sweetners, but some of us are "sugar impaired". However, if anyone knows of any natural sweetners that have a low glycemic index, I'm all ears!  Feel free to substitute regular granulated sugar and I'll include those substitutions in my recipe. Please note that the nutritional information at the bottom of the recipe is based on the "Splenda" version. 

Chocolate Dunk Cookies with Splenda

Ingredients

1-3/4 cups flour

3/4 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt
4 squares BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, divided
3/4 cup (1-1/2 sticks) margarine, softened
1/4 cup SLENDA brown sugar, OR 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup SPLENDA® No Calorie Sweetener, Granulated (same amount for regular sugar)
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 Tbsp. thawed COOL WHIP Sugar Free Whipped Topping
1 tsp. warm water

Method

MIX flour, baking soda and salt. Chop 2 chocolate squares.

BEAT margarine, brown sugar and SPLENDA® Granulated Sweetener in large bowl with mixer until light and fluffy. Blend in egg and vanilla. Gradually beat in flour mixture. Stir in chopped chocolate. Drop heaping tablespoonfuls of dough, 2 inches apart, onto baking sheets.

BAKE 11 to 12 min. or until lightly browned. Cool on baking sheets 1 min.; remove to wire racks. Cool completely.

MELT remaining chocolate squares as directed on package. Stir in COOL WHIP and water. Dip half of each cookie in chocolate; let stand until firm.

VERY tasty!

Nutritional Information (1 cookie)

Calories 90

Total fat 5g
Saturated fat 1.5g
Cholesterol 5mg
Sodium 90mg
Carbohydrate 10g
Dietary fiber 0g
Sugars 4g
Protein 1g
Vitamin A 4%DV
Vitamin C 0%DV
Calcium 0%DV
Iron 2%DV

Grasshopper Pudding Pie

Makes 8 servings

Ingredients

1 pkg. Oreo 100 calories packs

1-1/2 cups cold fat-free milk
1/4 tsp. peppermint extract
1 pkg. (1 oz.) JELL-O Pistachio Flavor Fat Free Sugar Free Instant Pudding
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Sugar Free Whipped Topping
1 square BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate, chopped

Method
CRUSH the wafers inside the 100 calorie pack; sprinkle onto bottom of 9-inch pie plate sprayed with cooking spray.

BEAT milk, extract and pudding mix with whisk 2 min. Stir in COOL WHIP and chopped chocolate; spread into pie plate. Top with remaining wafers, cut into quarters.

FREEZE 6 hours or until firm. Remove pie from freezer 10 min. before serving; let stand at room temperature to soften slightly before cutting to serve.

Nutrition (per serving) **based on kraftfoods.com

Calories 100
Total fat 4g
Saturated fat 3g
Cholesterol 0mg
Sodium 200mg
Carbohydrate 15g
Dietary fiber 1g
Sugars 6g
Protein 2g
Vitamin A 2%DV
Vitamin C 0%DV
Calcium 6%DV
Iron 0%DV

Whole Wheat Blueberry Waffles

breaMakes 8 Waffles

Ingredients

1 1/4 cups Aunt Jemima Whole Wheat Blend mix

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg
3 tablespoons of oil
1/4 cup fresh or frozen (thawed and drained) blueberries

Method
Heat waffle iron.

Mix Aunt Jemima mix, milk, egg, and oil together; stir until large lumps disappear. For best results, allow batter to rest 4-5 minutes before baking. Pour desired amount of batter into lightly greased waffle iron. Bake until steaming stops.

Very delicious!

Mushroom Breakfast Casserole

This is the "cover and chill" recipe that gave me a hard time. It was the first recipe that I attempted on my blog. You can read my past blogs if you have no idea what I'm talking about! :) This recipe would be good for occasions when you have overnight guests. Do all the preparations the night before, then set it out at room temperature an hour before baking, then bake for 45-50 minutes and serve. It's very tasty!

Serves 8

This hearty breakfast meal, full of fresh tomatoes and mushrooms, gets much of its terrific flavor and texture from the English muffins that line the bottom of the dish.

Ingredients

4 whole wheat English muffins, split
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
8 eggs
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 cup grated Gruyère cheese





Method

Arrange English muffin halves in the bottom of a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish, cutting them to fit, if necessary; set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid is thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon tomato mixture over the top of the English muffins, distributing it evenly; set aside to let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over tomato mixture, then sprinkle with basil. Cover and chill overnight.

Set dish aside at room temperature for 1 hour and preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle casserole with cheese and bake, uncovered, until puffed, cooked through and cheese is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

Nutrition

Per serving (about 7oz/200g-wt.): 240 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 225mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 19g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 15g protein

Thank You, Chelsea!

Did you think I gave up on blogging? Trust me, I did give it some thought. I'm not a fan of sitting at the computer, and my patience with it is slim to none. Thank the good Lord for my super sweet friend, Chelsea, for sitting down with me this morning and showing me the ropes of Blogger world. I honestly think we all need a "Chelsea" in our life. Why you ask? Because she's a beautiful woman of God who makes you want to do everything in your life better. She's one of those people you hang around, and when you leave, you think to yourself, "I'm so blessed to have this person in my life!" She and her husband are expecting a baby boy, Chandler, in a few weeks. What a lucky little man. I bet he has no idea how blessed his life is going to be to have such wonderful parents. Chelsea, if your reading this, I love you sweet lady! Thank you a thousand time for helping me with this blog, teaching me to sew scrunchy scarves, giving me "teacher stuff" and the hundreds of other things I've come to your classroom for throughout the day! You're amazing! :)


Here's my newest recipe: Chicken with Fresh Cherry Salsa

Serves 4

Instead of chicken, you could spoon this family-friendly salsa over pork chops or baked tofu, or serve it with tortilla chips in place of standard tomato salsa. Stir in chopped jalapeños, if you like.

Ingredients

FYI: This recipe made WAY more salsa than was needed for 4 chicken breasts. If you want extra to have for the next day or  for another recipe then stick to the original amounts, if not, use my amounts is red.

1/2 pound (about 2 cups), 1/2 cup, pitted **I also suggest buying them already pitted, but I wanted to avoid the canned cherries. Kroger has them on sale this week for $1.99 lb. compared to $4.99lb.
1/2 cup chopped white onion
1 1/2 cup large ripe tomato, cored and roughly chopped
3/4 teaspoon salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper, divided
2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3/4 cup whole wheat breadcrumbs You can not find these at Kroger, so I used plain breadcrumbs, or you could make your own.
4 (5-ounce) boneless, skinless chicken cutlets
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

Method
Put cherries, onion, tomato, 1/4 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper into a food processor and pulse to make a chunky salsa. (Or, finely chop all of the ingredients and toss together in a bowl.) Stir in cilantro and set aside.

Put breadcrumbs into a wide, shallow dish. Season chicken all over with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper, dredge in breadcrumbs to coat, shake off and discard any excess crumbs and transfer coated cutlets to a large plate.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Working in two batches, if needed, arrange chicken in skillet in a single layer and cook, flipping once, until cooked through and golden brown, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer to plates and spoon salsa over the top. If you are rushing things because your STARVING, like me, and you crank the heat up in order heat the oil up faster, MAKE SURE you turn the heat back down or the chicken will burn! Luckily, mine only burned a little, although the pictures make it look worse than it really was.

Finished product: See below...

Nutrition

Per serving (about 8oz/240g-wt.): 320 calories (100 from fat), 11g total fat, 2g saturated fat, 80mg cholesterol, 530mg sodium, 24g total carbohydrate (4g dietary fiber, 10g sugar), 32g protein

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2714

Mushroom and Swiss Patty Melt with Peas

Lunch was a success! So this recipe is good for days you need a light lunch or dinner. It fills you up, but it won't leave you wanting a nap. It was good!

Ingredients

The original recipe on the website was for 1 serving. I changed the amounts to make 4 servings.

1 pound ground turkey, formed into 4 patties
Salt and ground black pepper to taste or any other seasoning(s) of your choice
6 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 small onion, sliced
1 cup sliced mushrooms
1 cup frozen green peas
2 tablespoons shredded Swiss cheese

Method

Lightly season patty with salt and pepper. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat; add patty and cook until golden brown on the first side, about 3 to 4 minutes. Flip patty, move to one side of skillet. Add onions, mushrooms, salt and pepper to cleared side of skillet and cook until softened and golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add peas and cook for 1 minute more, checking to ensure patty is cooked through. Sprinkle patty with cheese and transfer to a plate. Spoon hot mushroom mixture on top and serve.

This is where I had to take the meat out and continue to cook the veggies for another 3 minutes. I like my veggies to be really soft, almost mushy, so if you like a little crunch you may want to just take them off the heat after the extra minute.

FINISHED PRODUCT:

Jim was proud, and that makes me happy!

Things I will do differently next time:
1. add more seasoning to the meat
2. throw some fresh garlic in the mix
Last but not least: Thaw the ground turkey in the fridge the day before. I used the microwave this time ( I know mom, you told me NEVER to do this with turkey, but it was desperate times) and let it defrost for too long and cooked the edges of the meat. I threw that part of the meat away and just used the pink part. So I probably only ended up with 3/4lb. of turkey. Oh well, I told you people that I wasn't a pro, right? :)

Would I ever prepare this again? You bet!

Dessert: Sugar-Free Vanilla Pudding
The directions are on the box. I swear a newborn could make this. However, I did find out that you can NOT use Soy Milk; it must be milk from a cow. There may be other forms of milk that work, but those are the only two I have worked with.

Bad-Will turn out to be vanilla soup!

Good - Will turn out to be this...

By the way, this blogging is more complicated than it looks. It took me 45minutes to post this. Can anyone give me a lesson?

Happy Eating!

It helps to read the ENTIRE recipe...

So I woke up this morning ready to set sail on this new adventure! I had the recipe picked out, Jim and I went to Kroger last night and bought all the ingredients and I even arranged those ingredients really nicely and took my "before" picture. So I'm up bright and early, grab the recipe, and discover that I failed to acknowledge some major details, and I quote “cover and chill overnight.” Really? I thought you only had to do things like that for JELL-O or sugar cookie dough. Not a breakfast casserole. It has eggs in it! Eggs can just “chill overnight” AFTER they’ve been beaten and mixed with other ingredients?! Well, come to find out they can. I’m feeling wiser by the second. This recipe seemed so simple. I thought finding the fancy cheese at Kroger was going to be the most difficult part. I was wrong. It was my lack of attention to detail that screwed this one up!

Here's proof that I had a plan...




So here’s the recipe that you will have to read about tomorrow, after I “cover and chill overnight.”



Serves 8This hearty breakfast meal, full of fresh tomatoes and mushrooms, gets much of its terrific flavor and texture from the English muffins that line the bottom of the dish.

Ingredients4 whole wheat English muffins, split
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium tomatoes, chopped
1 pound button or cremini mushrooms, trimmed and sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
8 eggs
1/2 cup low-fat milk
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
2 teaspoons dried basil
1 cup grated Gruyère

Method
Arrange English muffin halves in the bottom of a greased 9- x 13-inch baking dish, cutting them to fit, if necessary; set aside.

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add tomatoes, mushrooms, salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and liquid is thickened, 8 to 10 minutes. Spoon tomato mixture over the top of the English muffins, distributing it evenly; set aside to let cool.

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Pour evenly over tomato mixture, then sprinkle with basil. Cover and chill overnight.

Set dish aside at room temperature for 1 hour and preheat oven to 350°F. Sprinkle casserole with cheese and bake, uncovered, until puffed, cooked through and cheese is golden brown, 45 to 50 minutes. Serve immediately.

NutritionPer serving (about 7oz/200g-wt.): 240 calories (110 from fat), 12g total fat, 4.5g saturated fat, 225mg cholesterol, 430mg sodium, 19g total carbohydrate (3g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 15g protein

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/2395



So remember, always READ, a glance is not sufficient, the entire recipe! I do have a lunch/dinner recipe in the works for later today. I am hopeful to have a success story up by this time tomorrow! :)

One can not think well, love well, sleep well, if one has not dined well. - Virginia Woolf

My first day of summer vacation as a first grade teacher starts today, a.k.a, time to find a hobby. What do I want to be better at, that would be FUN to learn and healthy? Easy, become a chef that prepares healthyish meals! Yes, I did just mention that I was a teacher and used the word "healthyish", but again, I'm on "vacation". I’m going to be a chef that blogs. Yeah baby! Not only will I attempt to prepare some delicious meals and post the recipes, but I’m going to post pictures of the outcomes (both good and bad), and give you the low down on any specifics I find necessary for you to know. This should be an interesting and quite entertaining journey. My most elegant meal thus far in my cooking career is meatloaf. Yep, that’s as fancy as its been around here people, and it’s time to turn up the heat in the kitchen!