Jalapeno Sweet Potato Chicken Chowder

Jalapeno Sweet Potato Chowder
2 large sweet potatoes
2 tbsp butter
1 small onion diced
1 quart chicken broth
2 cups cooked chicken
1 can whole kernel corn
1 or 2 jalapenos minced (I used half a can of fire roasted diced green chilies instead)
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste

Bake sweet potatoes until softened (I microwaved them). Scoop out flesh, discard skin and puree the flesh.
In a soup pot, saute onion in butter until softened. Add pureed sweet potato and broth (I didn't use the whole quart so it would be thicker). Bring to a boil. Add chicken, corn, jalapenos, heavy cream and salt/pepper.
Simmer for about 10 minutes. Enjoy!

Notes: I bought sweet potatoes from Costco on Sunday and there was a recipe card in the box that had this one and a few others in it. It was easy to make. I actually had a bag of the grilled chicken that is cut into strips and frozen (it’s on coupon at Costco right now) so I just used it after thawing it in the microwave and dicing it up. Quick and simple!

M.I.A

Sorry I have been M.I.A for a week. It is the GoldMedal basketball tournament so aside from watching games and hanging out with friends and Gerald's family I'm just trying to get through all my homework right now. I haven't cooked anything special or really worth blogging about. Saturday I made a yummy breakfast of egg beaters, chopped onion, peppers, spinach and garlic and some bacon. I also cooked some chicken breast in the crock pot (not recommended because it dries out!). I chopped it up and made a chicken salad for sandwiches with it. I stirred in some Greek yogurt, lots of mustard, onions, pickles and Mrs. Dash. We gobbled it up with the grain sprouted bread we're addicted to. Sunday, Monday and Tuesday we ate with friends/family. I did well limiting my portions even though not all the food was healthy. However, I have to confess that I did have a piece of cheesecake and REALLY enjoyed it!
Anyway, the bball tournament is over Saturday and things should be back to normal by Sunday....so look for blog updates next week!

"BBQ" Chicken

I have had a big craving for BBQ chicken lately. Because most BBQ sauce has a ton of sugar in it I have tried to resist...but let me tell you; if I could only have one condiment the rest of my life it would be Sweet Baby Ray's BBQ sauce, I LOVE IT! To satisfy my craving I attempted to make some lower sugar BBQ sauce with tomato paste, sriracha, garlic, onion and some Splenda brown sugar blend. My warning to you if you use the Splenda brown sugar is to use it very sparingly...it is VERY sweet! You only need to use 1/2 as much as you would regular brown sugar. Anyway, I mixed those ingredients together with some water to thin it out. Then I cut three chicken breasts into smaller pieces and put it in the sauce. I made sure to cover all sides of the chicken with the sauce. Then I baked it for about 35 minutes on 350 degrees. Some of the sauce burned to the side of the pan, but it actually cooked quite nicely.
I also made a mix of yukon gold potatoes, carrots, onions, green peppers and garlic. I used 4 mini potatoes, 2 carrots (the full size kind for once!), half an onion and a whole green pepper. I cooked the potatoes and carrots in some olive oil on the stove until they started to get tender and then added the onion, green peppers and garlic. I knew the carrots and potatoes would take longer to cook so I didn't want the other things to be totally shriveled up. This was a good mix with lots of flavors!
Overall, it was a pretty good flavor. The tomato paste made the chicken a little more tomato flavored than the BBQ flavor I'm used to, but it was good. I'm thinking I will make it again but definitely play around with spices.

Crockpot goodness and Coleslaw

Since I knew I was planning to workout tonight I wanted something quick and easy for dinner. So what better thing to do than use the crockpot?
I came home on my lunch break this afternoon to throw it all together. I put three chicken breasts in the pot, added a can of petite diced tomatoes with jalapeno, 1/2 a jar of corn and black bean salsa, a can of diced green chilies, some lemon juice, some cumin and a bag of frozen corn that had black beans, onions and peppers in it. I put the lid on and turned it on high and went back to work. A little over three hours later when I came back the chicken was super tender. I shredded it all up and mixed it together and this is what I got:
Since Gerald wasn't home from work yet I decided to put on a pot of rice to serve with it. I also made some coleslaw. I had a bag in the fridge (I usually use it or broccoli slaw instead of lettuce) and thought I'd try my hand at making some dressing. It turned out great but I'm sure if I tried to duplicate it it wouldn't taste the same. I mixed together a little plain Greek yogurt, apple cider vinegar, a bit of Splenda and a small squirt of mustard. The Splenda made it pretty sweet so it definitely appealed to my taste buds!

Overall, it was super easy and pretty darn cheap to make this meal...and we have enough for both of our lunches tomorrow! Normally if I just make chicken breast, I will eat a small one and Gerald will eat two whole ones. So to be able to stretch these three this far by mixing in other things is pretty impressive! Now I have three more chicken breasts in the fridge from the family pack to cook tomorrow...not sure what I will do with them yet! My goal is to not grocery shop until Friday or Saturday so I'm going to try to make do with the things I still have in my kitchen.

My favorite salad for dinner and Split Pea Soup for lunch

My favorite salad is inspired by a taco salad. However, as most of you know, those big taco shells are deep fried and super unhealthy! The good thing is, I don't really miss the shell when I make this salad.
Ingredients:
Broccoli Slaw
Extra Lean Ground Turkey
Taco Seasoning
Kidney Beans (I usually use black beans but didn't realize I am out)
Onions
Cilantro
Corn
Olives
Salsa
Cheese

This is super easy to throw together. Brown the turkey and add the taco seasoning once it is done. Then build your salad...tada! I love using the broccoli slaw as opposed to lettuce because it is really crunchy, full of fiber and fills me up. Not to mention, it doesn't get wilted or soggy if I make a salad at night for my lunch the next day (which is what I did for tomorrow).

Last night I made split pea soup in the crockpot so we could have it for our lunches at work today. I can't take credit for this recipe because I found it online: http://southernfood.about.com/od/crockpotsoup/r/bl17c5.htm

Cook Time: 8 hours
Total Time: 8 hours
Ingredients:

* 1 (16 oz.) pkg. dried green split peas, rinsed
* 1 meaty hambone, 2 ham hocks, or 2 cups diced ham
* 3 carrots, peeled and sliced
* 1/2 cup chopped onion
* 2 ribs of celery plus leaves, chopped
* 1 or 2 cloves of garlic, minced
* 1 bay leaf
* 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped, or 2 teaspoons dried parsley flakes
* 1 tbsp. seasoned salt (or to taste)
* 1/2 tsp. fresh pepper
* 1 1/2 qts. hot water

Preparation:
Layer ingredients in slow cooker in the order given; pour in water. Do not stir ingredients. Cover and cook on HIGH 4 to 5 hours or on low 8 to 10 hours until peas are very soft and ham falls off bone. Remove bones and bay leaf. Mash peas to thicken more, if desired. Serve garnished with croutons. Freezes well.
Serves 8.

The reviews for this recipe are great. However, I personally thought it was a little bit bland. I will probably make it again but add more spices. Gerald enjoyed it, but added salt to his. I didn't add anything to mine and just ate it with a slice of grain sprouted flour-less bread. As my mom would say "It'll make a turd!" :)

Rouladen, Mashed Cauliflower and Brussel Sprouts

I've been eating Rouladen as long as I can remember. My Oma makes it and so does my mom. They both make it a little different from each other, and I make it even different from that. However, the end result is always delicious!
Start with some thin sliced top or bottom round. Usually if you tell a butcher that you are making rouladen, they will know how to cut it. I tell them it is about as long as a slice of bacon, as wide as a small pickle and almost as thin as they can slice it without shaving it.
Lay the slices out on a cutting board (or a clean countertop), spread some yellow mustard on each slice, sprinkle them with pepper, lay down a slice of bacon (I bought reduced fat and sodium--I know this is exactly healthy!), then put some diced onion and a dill pickle spear (or some diced pickle)at the end. Roll them up starting with the end with the onion and pickle. Poke each one with a toothpick to hold it together. Then brown them on a hot skillet. The next thing I do is mix together one packet of Onion Soup mix with about a cup and a half of water. I put this is a small baking dish and add the browned meat to it. Cover it with foil and bake for about an hour in 375 degree oven.

I also made some mashed cauliflower as the alternative to mashed potatoes. Oma almost always serves her rouladen with mashed potatoes and gravy...yum! This time I didn't put any potatoes in the mashed cauliflower. I just cut up the head, put it in boiling water and boiled the hell out of it until it was tender. Then I drained most of the water, mashed it with a potato masher, stirred in some chopped parsley, Mrs. Dash table blend, pepper and a little plain Greek yogurt.

Last but not least, I steamed some frozen brussel sprouts. These aren't my favorite, but I do like them once in a while as long as they have lots of pepper on them!
My food choices this weekend weren't great but they weren't horrible either. It was hard, but I resisted the burgers and steaks at the brewery and at the Chena Hot Springs restaurants. I had a jalapeno chicken salad (and didn't eat the taco shell) from the brewery and a spinach chicken salad that had walnuts, tomato, red onion, mandarin oranges and Gorgonzola cheese from the hot springs. We're pretty darn tired after our trip, but we had a great time. I'll leave you with a pic of me in the ice phone booth at the Ice Festival....there sure were some amazing ice carvings there!

Sorry...

Sorry no posts for a couple days. Last night was busy so we had Subway with lots of veggies for dinner. Tonight I was trying to wrap up some homework and get packed for our trip to Fairbanks in the morning so we just gobbled up the last of the leftovers (soup and Shepherd's pie) for dinner. We head out bright and early and won't be back until Sunday night so I won't be posting until at least Monday. Here's hoping I shiver so much that I burn lots of calories...and find the will power to make healthful choices at meal time this weekend away from home!

Shepherd's Pie

This is Gerald's favorite meal...I guess it's probably because it is kind of a comfort food. I originally got the recipe from Weight Watchers but I have since adapted it to my own. I probably make it a little different each time I make it, but every time Gerald just can't get enough! I've made it with ground venison, ground turkey or ground sirloin. The meat you pick is totally up to you, just make sure it is lean.

Shepherd's Pie
I start by browning ground meat. Add in some diced onions, minced garlic, diced carrots, diced red peppers and diced tomatoes until the carrots are tender. Then stir in some chopped spinach and zucchini. I'm not a fan of really mushy zucchini, so that's why I don't add it in earlier. You can also stir in whichever spices you would like to use. We like this with a bit of spice to it, so I used some extra spicy Mrs. Dash, a bit of chili powder and some basil. Stir this up and put it in the bottom of a casserole dish.

The topping for this is mashed potatoes. I was too lazy to make real mashed potatoes tonight so I used one of those pouches of garlic flavored instant potatoes. The quantity is perfect for this dish. Spread the mashed potatoes over the meat and veggie mixture and bake it in the oven for about 20 minutes on 375. You can also add some cheese between the meat and potatoes....that makes it super gooey and good! One time that I made it, I put pepperjack cheese in there and let me tell you...HEAVEN! But, if you are watching calories, adding cheese might not be the wisest choice.

As a side, I just steamed some fresh cauliflower and broccoli. You can see by this picture that it really is one of Gerald's favorites. There usually aren't much leftovers. But if there is leftovers, it is great the next day for lunch as well. The possibilities of veggies for this dish are endless. You could use cubed squash, lots of peppers, corn, peas, beans or whatever your heart desires.

"This Looks Healthy"

I often kick Gerald out of the kitchen while I'm cooking...tonight he didn't enter it until I told him dinner was ready. After taking a look around, he said "man, this looks healthy!" I was wondering if that meant he was thinking I was feeding him bird food and was afraid to eat it. However, by the end of the meal he was telling me that I should be a chef...so I think I'll take that as a compliment.
Sun Dried Tomato Stuffed Chicken
2 decent size chicken breasts
1/2 small container of plain Greek yogurt
small handful of sun dried tomatoes-chopped
fresh basil
fresh mozzarella
garlic
Mrs. Dash
This is pretty similar to the stuffed chicken I made a week or two ago. However, I used sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil and mozzarella instead of spinach and feta. I like the sun dried tomatoes that are in the bag rather than the jar because generally the ones in the jar have olive oil in them. Since I use olive oil for many other things, I don't really need the added fat in the tomatoes too.
Anyway, mix together half a small container of plain Greek yogurt, a spoon of minced garlic, some diced sun dried tomatoes, chopped fresh basil, a little bit of cubed fresh mozzarella and some Mrs. Dash. Butterfly the chicken and spread the mixture in the middle. Bake for about half an hour at 350. In case you hadn't noticed, I'm a HUGE fan of Mrs. Dash. If you ever want to buy me a small gift that costs under $5, buy me a new bottle of Mrs. Dash! LOL. There are so many flavors and it doesn't have salt in it so I don't feel guilty using lots of it. My collection of flavors is slowly growing. Since I've been cooking a lot, I've been trying to buy one new bottle of a new spice each week when I go to the grocery store. My cupboard is starting to overflow but it gives me lots to choose from!

Since I've been trying to eat more tomatoes, I decided to make something resembling a Caprese salad tonight. Sliced ripe tomatoes, thin slices of fresh mozzarella, fresh basil leaves and some balsamic vinegar. Yum!

And the final side dish was some asparagus. I found that my favorite way to cook it (and probably the easiest way) is to put it in a microwaveable dish, drizzle it with a little olive oil and sprinkle it with, you guessed it, Mrs. Dash! I cook it for 3 minutes and it is just about perfect. I HATE mushy asparagus, so over cooking it is the worst!
Please excuse the living room picture of my dinner...our big light burned out in the kitchen so I had to carry the plate to the living room to get some good lighting! Gerald is stopping at the store on his way home from basketball to get some light bulbs!
Oh, and I would like to thank you all for reading/viewing my blog! Holy cow, I started it 4 weeks ago today and I think I'll break the 700 views mark tonight! That is insane to me! And let me tell ya, it makes me want to keep on cooking because I know someone is out there enjoying what I'm posting! Thank you!

Sunday morning cooking

I spent the morning destroying my kitchen by doing quite a bit of cooking. I've been dreaming of the day I can afford a large kitchen with plenty of counter and cupboard space and tons of cool kitchen gadgets...until then, I make do with what I have.
I made two different kinds of soup and some black bean hummus to go with a veggie tray for a potluck today.

Black Bean Hummus
I got this recipe from a search engine online. I don't like tahini so I've been looking for a good hummus recipe that doesn't use it. I think this turned out pretty good...Gerald said "yuck" when he tried it though...

* 1 15 ounce can chickpeas, drained (garbanzo beans)
* 1 15 ounce can black beans, drained
* 2 cloves garlic
* 1 tbsp olive oil
* 2 tbsp lemon juice
* 2 tsp cumin
* 1 tbsp dried parsley
Blend all ingredients in a food processor and refrigerate to chill. It's that simple!
I know everyone won't like hummus, so I also mixed up some ranch using plain Greek yogurt as the base instead of sour cream. I think this hummus would be really great with pita chips or as a spread in a pita sandwich. You could play with the flavor by adding different spices. Next time I think I will add some jalapeno and cilantro for an extra kick of flavor.
I figured that if all these veggies don't get eaten at the party today I will just take them as snacks to work this week or steam some for dinner.

Chicken Veggie Soup
I baked a whole chicken yesterday for us to have for lunch. I love using the carcass and making chicken stock for soup, so that is what I did after we ate some of the meat from the chicken.
I put the chicken carcass with some meat still on it in the crock pot on low with some water for about 5 hours. Then I picked the chicken off it and tried to fish all the bones out. I added a bag of stir fry veggies with noodles, the other half of the bag of frozen peas and carrots that I had from the other night, some more stir fry veggies from the big Costco bag I had, some onion, garlic and soy sauce. I let that cook in the crock pot for about an hour or until it was hot all the way through. I also stirred in some pepper and some extra spicy Mrs. Dash.
This soup doesn't have a ton of flavor but I also didn't want to add a bunch of salt to it. You could definitely add some more soy sauce or other seasonings to falvor it up some more. Overall, it is pretty good though. The noodles in the one bag of veggies are a nice compliment instead of it being just shredded chicken and veggies...yet it didn't add a ton of carbs since there aren't a lot in the bag.

Lentil Soup
Lentil soup has always been one of my favorites. I don't like the runny version you find in cans...I prefer it thicker like stew. This is really easy to make too. It is delicious to use smoked ham hocks as well. Or, you can easily make it vegetarian by leaving out the meat and using vegetable broth instead of the beef broth.

* 1 small diced onion
* diced carrots (I'd guess it is about 2 big ones, I use a handful of baby carrots)
* 2 stalks celery-diced
* 1 large tomato diced
* 2 tbsp olive oil
* 1 bag of lentils
* diced turkey ham (optional)
* 2 SMALL Yukon potatoes-diced
* reduced sodium beef broth-1 quart
* water
* cumin
* coriander
* pepper
* maggi
* vinegar
Heat the oil in the bottom of a pot. Add the onion, celery and carrots. Cook until tender (4-5 minutes). Add the rest of the ingredients (except the vinegar and potatoes) and a few cups of water. Bring to a boil. I usually boil it hard for about 10 minutes, but keep stirring it and watch the water level to it doesn't all disappear. Reduce the heat, cover and continue cooking for about half an hour. Stir in the potatoes and cook for another half an hour. Once it is about done, stir in some vinegar to taste...it really brings out the flavor, so don't skip this step!