Stuffed Bell Peppers

When we went to the lake a couple weeks ago, we split up the meal responsibilities.  Cara and Derek had dinner one night and made some awesome stuffed bell peppers.  Tonight, I tried out my own version!  And took no pictures...they wouldn't have been good even if I did take them.  You aren't missing anything.

I took this one...you get the idea.  Instagram makes me feel like a better photog.

What you will need:

4 large green bell peppers
1 lb ground meat (We used venison tonight, beef is good too.  Turkey would be good as well.)
1-2 cups beans (A can would work, we had some that we had made over the weekend, so I just added a couple large spoon fulls)
1 can low sodium corn
A couple handfulls of fresh spinach
1-2 cups salsa (depending on how much you like)
Reduced fat cheese for topping

Preheat oven to 350.  Cut the tops off and remove the insides of bell peppers.  Bake for 30-45 minutes - until they are soft.

Meanwhile, brown meat.  Add beans, corn, spinach and salsa.  

Once mixed together, fill bell peppers with mixture.  Top with shredded cheese.  Cover with foil and bake for 15-20 minutes - until cheese is melted.

And, that's it!  The possibilities are endless - you could add rice, different salsas, more veggies, less veggies (don't recommend that, though!), taco seasoning, ranch powder...

Sidenote: this made a ton of stuffing.  I probably only used about half of it.  So, into the freezer it goes for an easy weeknight meal later on.

ENJOY!

Lori also enjoyed a very delicious dinner tonight courtesy of Sawyer, in case you were wondering.

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!

Baked Chicken and Squash

Quite the uncreative name I have come up with.  But, that's exactly what this is.  The night before we left for Florida a couple weeks ago I had some squash I needed to use, and I didn't want to make a mess in my kitchen.  And, in true Tara fashion (major procrastinator right here) I hadn't even begun to pack so I needed something quick.

Here is what I came up with to meet all of my criteria - use squash, minimal dishes, quick.

I chopped up the squash - this was one GIANT squash - and poured some marinara over the top, just enough to coat and cover it.

Place thawed chicken tenders on top of squash, add more marinara.

Top with Parmesan cheese and/or mozzarella.

Bake covered for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees.  I used chicken tenders so it didn't take too long to cook, would probably take closer to 40 with full chicken breasts.

This would have obviously been good with pasta, but that would have required more dishes and this way it was low carb and low calorie.

Super uncreative...and lazy... but maybe this will spark some more creative ideas for next time!

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!

Parmesan Fish and Veggies

It has been a while!!  I went back to work 2 weeks ago so we have been trying to get into a new routine...we are slowly getting there.  Part of this new routine is finding the quickest and easiest dinner recipes so I can get food on the table as fast as possible - that way we have more time to spend with Sawyer before she goes to bed!

I found this fish recipe and have made it twice already - I am a big fan!  Tonight I tried it with these veggies - it was super fast and super delicious!

First set your oven to broil.


For the zucchini I used...


Olive oil based cooking spray
2 medium sized zucchini, sliced
I Can't Believe It's Not Butter spray butter
Parmesan cheese


Spray a foil lined baking sheet with cooking spray.  Spread sliced zucchini on sheet.  Spray with butter, top with Parmesan cheese.

This seems like such an obvious way to make veggies...I will definitely be trying it with some others.


For the fish...


Olive oil based cooking spray
2 filets of tilapia, thawed
1/8 cup Parmesan cheese
1/8 cup olive oil base mayo
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon butter, softened
Few dashes of basil


Place fish filets on baking sheet prepared with cooking spray.

Combine remaining ingredients in small mixing bowl.

Spread mixture on top of fish.

Place both baking sheets in the oven for 10-12 minutes.  The fish is done when it flakes with a fork and the zucchini when it starts to brown.


Once again, excuse my TERRIBLE food photography!

Dinner is served!

ENJOY!

Corn, Bacon, Potato Chowder

This is my 100th post!  Who knew I would actually stick with this??  Being pregnant, and now having Sawyer has been pretty good motivation to keep up I guess.

I made this soup last week when it was "cold" - compared to the 75 degree weekend we just had!  This was another Pinterest find that turned out really good, originally a weight watchers recipe.  I already want to make it again.

I love potato soup and am a pretty big fan of corn.  But, I HATE bacon, weird, I know.  I tried this recipe despite that - only because it was Canadian bacon and I was feeling adventurous.  I think this would also be really good with shredded chicken or left over carved ham.  I never know what to do with left over ham after the holidays - this would be perfect!

I was pretty curious how this would turn out since there was no cream in this chowder, but you use the potato to thicken the soup and it worked out great.

You will need:

1 medium sized baking potato
1 large shallot, diced (1/2 large onion would work too)
1-2 stalks of celery, diced (I only used one because I am not a huge fan, but you couldn't taste it)
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 oz (about 4 slices) uncooked Canadian bacon
2 cups of frozen corn (the original recipe called for corn shucked off the cob - I'm far too lazy for that)
Olive oil
2 cups skim milk
Pepper


Start by poking some holes in your potato and place in the microwave for about 8 minutes.  Meanwhile, get everything chopped.


Shallot...

Celery...

Bell Pepper...

Canadian bacon...

Once potato is done, remove from the microwave, cool enough to touch it, remove skin and mash with a fork.

In a large sauce pan, combine shallots, celery, bell pepper and corn.  Saute for about 5 minutes or so in olive oil.

Add bacon and milk.

Add mashed potato and mix well.  Season with pepper to taste.  The original recipe also called for hot pepper sauce, something like tabasco I am assuming, but since I don't do spicy I left it out!

Cover and simmer for 10 minutes or so.  Make sure it doesn't boil - don't want to burn the milk - it won't be pleasant!

And, a picture of Sawyer hanging out in her car seat.  Just because.

ENJOY!

Chicken Spinach Pasta Bake

I know it may seem like I have forgotten how to cook, and blog anything that is not baby related for that matter.  But, after 6 weeks of cooking hiatus I have found my way back to the kitchen!  This is still kind of baby related though, so I hope you don't mind cute baby pics!  I made this on Monday to take over to our friends on Tuesday for dinner. They just had twins so cooking dinner is not high on their list! Remember this?

14 and 19 weeks pregnant

27 and 32 Weeks pregnant. We are still waiting on Kristina's baby Caroline to join us...soon!

Now this!!

Beckham, Lleyton (I think!) & Sawyer

Three very hungry babies unwilling to cooperate with our photo shoot.  The boys are exactly three weeks younger than Sawyer...amazing what a difference that and a couple pounds makes!  On to the recipe...

I found this one on Pinterest (my new obsession - especially when I am up in the middle of the night feeding Sawyer).  I didn't change too much with it, just a couple tweaks.  Here is the link to the original recipe... from my Recipe Board on Pinterest.

Gather your ingredients:

1 medium sized onion, chopped
olive oil
8 oz whole wheat pasta (I used Barilla Plus bow tie - high in omega 3s and protein - good for the babies!)
3 medium/large chicken breasts
1 can Italian style diced tomatoes
8 oz chive and onion cream cheese
10 box of frozen spinach, thawed
1/2 tsp pepper
1 1/2 cup low fat mozzarella cheese


Preheat your oven to 375.  Place chopped onion in 9x13 casserole dish, drizzle with olive oil.  Bake for 15 minutes.

Meanwhile, boil pasta until tender.

I also boiled my chicken, but you could use precooked or rotisserie chicken to save some time if you want. To shred my chicken I used my mixer - my sister told me about this and it's AMAZING!  Such a time saver!  The chicken went from this...

Those are whole chicken breasts if you can't tell...

To this...in 30 seconds...

I should have made a New Year's resolution to improve my food photography.  Maybe next year.

Once the onions are done, transfer them to a large mixing bowl.

Add the tomatoes, cream cheese, pasta, spinach, and chicken.

Mix together.

Transfer back to casserole dish.

Top with mozzarella cheese.

Don't mind the shadow of my hands...

Bake at 375 for 30 minutes, covered.  Uncover and bake for 10-15 more minutes.

And my hands again...geeze.

I made this on Monday and didn't bake it until Tuesday - it worked.  So it is a great "make-ahead" recipe.  It was also good for lunch the next day!

ENJOY!