Creamy Orzo Chicken Dinner

Yup, it's true.  You aren't seeing things.  I am actually posting a recipe!  Now that Sawyer is more than content to sit in her high chair for about 45 minutes every night eating dinner, I have a little bit more time to try out some new recipes.  But, if it takes longer than 45 minutes to prep and prepare...its not happening! Nothing new.

I found this recipe on Pinterest as a side dish and decided to turn it into our dinner.  It caught my eye because, for some reason, I had a giant container of orzo pasta - which is pretty much just rice shaped pasta.  I used whole wheat orzo, and added some chicken and extra veggies to the original recipe.  I had boiled the chicken ahead of time over the weekend so it came together super fast!

1 cup whole wheat orzo pasta 
1 cup of asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces
1 cup of frozen peas
1-2 cups cooked, shredded chicken
1 tbsp butter
1/2 cup cream (not something I normally cook with, but it wasn't much so I went with it!)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
salt & pepper

Bring a large pot of water to a boil then throw the orzo in.  

After it cooks for about 5 minutes, add the veggies.

I put my shredded chicken in the colander before draining the pot.  I took it straight out of the fridge so I thought dumping a pot of boiled water over it would quickly heat it up.

It did.  After draining the pasta and veggies, return to pot along with chicken.

Add the butter, cream, Parmesan and salt & pepper.

Mix together.

And that's it.  Easy dinner & easy dishes - the best kind!  Sawyer got to try asparagus for the first time that night - she wasn't quite sure what to do with it!

ENJOY!

Greek Yogurt Pasta

Creamy pasta sauces are one of the worst foods out there, packed with TONS of calories, mostly coming from fat.  A dinner sized portion of Chicken Fettucini Alfredo from a popular Italian restaurant will cost you about 1400 calories and upwards of 80 grams of fat, half of which are saturated fat grams (the artery clogging kind).  I saw this recipe for a creamy pasta sauce made with Greek yogurt and it really piqued my interest...

I changed up the original recipe by using whole wheat, omega-3 (healthy fats) enriched pasta and using the vegetables I had on hand.  The original recipe also called for shrimp, but I opted for chicken this time.  This recipe is mostly about the sauce anyways, you could really use it for whatever pasta, protein, veggie combo you like - in other words, its a great "clean out the fridge" recipe!  This is by no means an alfredo sauce, but it is a great alternative to your basic marinara.

I used the following:

1 box (~14 oz) whole wheat pasta

1-2 tablespoons olive oil

5-6 chicken breast tenders, thawed and cubed

1/3 large onion, diced

1-2 tablespoons minced garlic (I was being lazy and bought the jarred, pre-cut kind - probably 3 cloves worth)

1 zuchinni, diced

1 bag fresh spinach

1 small jar of marinara sauce

1/2 cup low fat or fat free plain Greek yogurt

small handful of 2% mozzarella cheese

Start by preparing pasta according to package directions (I never add salt or oil).  Drain water out and return to pot.

Meanwhile, saute chicken in olive oil for a few minutes, until it begins to turn white.

Add in the zucchini, garlic and onion. (You could also use mushrooms, tomatoes, squash, etc...)

Once veggies begin to soften and chicken is cooked through, 5-8 minutes, add spinach and cover for 2-3 minutes, until spinach is wilted.  You may need to remove lid and stir after about a minute or so.

To the pasta, add marinara sauce and yogurt.

Add chicken/veggie mixture to the pot, stir until everything is coated with sauce, add the mozzarella.  The mozzarella is optional, but I had it on hand so I thought I would use it to add a little more creaminess!

Stir together and it's done!

ENJOY!

Skillet Lasagna

I made this for dinner sometime last week, clearly into skillet meals lately (I hate doing the dishes), and was pretty surprised that it actually tasted like lasagna!  I was a little leery because it called for cottage cheese instead of ricotta...and I am not a fan of cottage cheese - AT ALL!  Although I wish I was, its super high in protein and low in carbs, but I just can't make myself do it.

1 cup Regular (whole milk) Ricotta Cheese - what you normally use to make lasagna:

428 calories, 32 grams of fat, 7 grams carbohydrate, 28 grams protein

1 cup Low Fat (2%) Cottage Cheese

180 calories, 5 grams fat, 8 grams carbohydrate, 28 grams protein

Just a warning, I made this in my big pot instead of a skillet like the recipe said...it never would have fit in a skillet, so don't try it!  Other things I changed: extra lean ground beef instead of lean, low sodium canned ingredients, extra veggies.

1 pound extra lean ground beef

1/2 large onion, chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 can low sodium diced tomatoes, undrained

1 1/4 cup water

8 oz low sodium tomato sauce

1 tbsp parsley

1 tsp basil

1 tsp salt

2 1/2 cups whole wheat noodles broken into pieces (recipe called for whole wheat lasagna noodles, but I couldn't find them - I used a mixture of what I had in the pantry)

1 cup low fat cottage cheese

1/4 cup Parmesan cheese

1 egg

Low fat mozzarella cheese for topping

Brown ground beef in large pot with onion and garlic until no longer pink.  Drain.

Add tomatoes, water, tomato sauce, parsley, basil & salt.

Stir in uncooked pasta.  Bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and simmer until pasta is cooked - about 20 minutes.  You may need to add in some extra water at this point to make sure the noodles are actually boiling in liquid.  I think I added an extra cup or so.  I also added 1-2 cups of steamed zucchini and squash that I had left over from the night before when the pasta was done cooking - totally optional!

Meanwhile, combine cottage cheese, Parmesan cheese, egg and pepper to taste in small mixing bowl.

The recipe then said to drop the cheese mixture by spoonfuls on top of the pasta, cover and cook for 5 more minutes, sprinkle mozzarella on top, then serve.  But this is how that looked after 5 minutes of cooking...

Gross.  And, with mozzarella sprinkled on top...

Still gross.  So, I stirred it all together and it made a creamy tomato sauce.

Much better!  This recipe made a ton...after feeding both of us for dinner and putting away some for lunches the next day I still had enough to freeze...which we will be having for dinner again next week!

ENJOY!